RSA Events

How does class background affect our prospects in the workplace and in life? Sociologist Sam Friedman shares his insights into the hidden barriers to equality in elite occupations. Social mobility is a goal often hailed by politicians and voters across the spectrum, but evidence shows that we’re falling short of the meritocratic ideal. The effects of social class are shown to follow us throughout...

Caroline Lucas MP is joined by Professor David Runciman to discuss the urgent need for reform of our political systems in order to confront the intractable challenge of climate change. Liberal democracy is coming apart, under threat from the rise of populism and increasingly unable to deliver the solutions to the multiple challenges facing society. We urgently need bold and radical ideas - not jus...

What’s missing from our public life? Renowned economist Raghuram Rajan explores the power of community in a world that’s left civil society behind. An assumption underlying the politics and economics of the moment goes like this: that what matters are governments and markets, and the interaction between them. What about the rest of society? The ‘third pillar’ – community – has been forgotten in a...

What lessons can we learn from successful leaders about how to navigate the challenges we face today? A panel gathers to reflect on the leadership of the moment and the take-home lessons from the worlds of politics and business. We’re seeing the effects of a crisis of leadership across the board, amidst the recent US government shutdown, abuse of corporate power, and the splintering of mainstream...

The desire for fairness is a fundamental human attribute – but should it be a core business goal? With philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill and Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s. Whether the issue is pay, tax, or environmental harm, it’s clear that many people feel companies are not playing fair, highlighting an ongoing public dis-ease with business. This underlines the importance of fairness t...

Renowned psychotherapist and broadcaster Philippa Perry joins journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer to discuss how to build emotionally intelligent relationships with children that benefit you, them, and the wider world. Through the combination of case studies, her own experiences as a parent, and therapeutic insight gained from a career spanning over 20 years, Perry tackles the wider issues o...

What is the negative news cycle doing to our politics and our mental health? An expert panel gathers to discuss how our media landscape can change for the better. Evidence shows that an overload of negative news stories affects our mental health and drives disengagement, with huge numbers of people deliberately avoiding the news. In a political climate defined by the rise of populism and “fake new...

Professor Tim Lang and Helen Browning OBE join an expert panel to discuss the collective action required to transition to a global food system that ensures human health and environmental sustainability. EAT gathered 37 of the planet’s foremost experts who, for the first time ever, propose scientific targets for what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system – as published in the EA...

Renowned thinker Douglas Rushkoff argues that amidst increasing automation and alienation, humanity’s best path forward is to restore the social bonds that define our existence. Revealing how the intentional repression of humanity impacts diverse sectors of society, Rushkoff shows how money went from being a means of transaction to a means of extraction and how education transformed from the ideal...

What does the rest of this century look like for our planet? Viral sensation David Wallace-Wells issues an urgent wake-up call about climate collapse, leading the way for bolder action before it’s too late. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 13th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/a-story-of-the-future-of-earth

Professor James Fishkin, director of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, shows how a more deliberative politics can revive our modern democracies. Professor Fishkin’s research speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public's concerns. Inste...

UCL scientist and expert in criminal behaviour Julia Shaw reveals the surprising science behind humanity’s dark side. Shaw uses the topics of serial murderers, terrorism, sexual assault, technology and the morals we live by day to day to determine the true basis of bad behaviour. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 7th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www...

Innovation pioneer Charlie Leadbeater talks to winners of the 2019 Future Work Awards, a brand-new showcase for creative and inspiring models of work from around the world. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 6th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/future-work-awards-2019

Amidst a growing mental health crisis, how can we help children recognise their innate dignity and self-worth? Educator Rosalind Wiseman, author of the ground-breaking book behind the film Mean Girls, shows how to navigate them. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 29th January 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/01/creating-cultures-of-digni...

Author of 'Political Entrepreneurship', Josef Lentsch shows how innovative, civic-minded entrepreneurs can create new parties to produce positive political change. Managing Partner of the Innovation in Politics Institute, Josef Lentsch visits the RSA to tell their story, and show how they are taking on the populists by driving positive political change. This event was recorded live at The RSA on T...

Bestselling author Steven Johnson explains how the science of deliberative decision-making can help us make better long-term choices - both individual and societal. We've heard a lot in recent years about the science of quick-thinking, intuitive choices. But what about more consequential decisions, the ones that affect our lives and societies for years, or centuries, to come? Our most powerful sto...

Political analyst Anand Giridharadas reveals how the global elite's efforts to ‘change the world’ simply preserve an unjust status quo. A call to elites and citizens alike to build stronger institutions to make fairer progress. Taking us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, Giridharadas shows how the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can - except ways that threa...

How can better leadership enable us to face the challenges of the day? Pippa Malmgren and Chris Lewis explore new models of leadership fit for our ever-changing world. We live in a world that would have been hard to foresee even a few decades ago, and we need leadership that can keep pace with the changes. Challenges brought by technological, economic, social, and geopolitical shifts have exposed...

Award-winning editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, Farrah Storr explains how discomfort – the very thing modern culture teaches us to shirk from – can, in fact, lead us to personal and collective greatness. We inhabit a culture where children are routinely protected from struggle and failure, a time when our academic institutions incubate students from challenging ideas and where we bubble wrap oursel...

Renowned political philosopher Michael Sandel delivers an exclusive address on the birth of a better, wiser politics for the 21st century. Decades of increasing inequality, globalisation, technological change, unfettered markets and technocratic politics have given rise to ever more polarisation and populist sentiment. How do we gain a better, wiser politics in the context of these 21st century ch...

As 2018 draws to a close, our panel of expert commentators, Bidisha, Hugo Rifkind, Catherine Mayer and Matthew Taylor, reflect on the political and cultural moments that have defined a tempestuous year. Alongside a Brexit process plagued by deadlocks, defeats, and resignations, the big moments of the year – from the Irish abortion referendum to Labour’s antisemitism row – have revealed deep divisi...

Visionary designer Deanna Van Buren shows how innovative design approaches and systems thinking are helping to transform criminal justice. The Bicentenary Medal was instituted in 1954 to commemorate the founding of the RSA over two hundred years earlier, and has been awarded annually for outstanding contribution to the advancement of design in industry and society. In the RSA’s current account of...

Journalist, writer and critic John Harris joins RSA Public Services & Communities Director Ed Cox to host an evening of story-telling by ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Bringing a range of experience from across the UK, our narrators explore the ‘new giants’ facing 21st century Britain - inequality, isolation, intolerance, disempowerment and climate change. This event was recorded...

Morag Myerscough RDI uses design to transform spaces into places, creating specific local responses to create community and build identity. The title ‘Royal Designer for Industry’ was introduced by the RSA in 1936 to promote the important contribution of design in manufacturing in industry, to encourage and reward outstanding practitioners, and to raise the profile of the design profession. This e...

The RSA’s education director Julian Astle talks to a group of educators about the importance of ‘mission’ to excellent schooling. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 27th November 2018. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2018/11/my-school-my-mission