Democracy in America: Jefferson, Tocqueville, and Lincoln [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Peter Onuf | Professor Onuf explores the development of the elusive and controversial ideal of democracy from Thomas Jefferson's revolutionary writings to Abraham Lincoln's great effort to vindicate republican principles in the American Civil War. Peter Onuf is Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia and Harmsworth Professor of American History at the University of Oxford.
Asia and Russia in the Age of Globalisation: the impact for Europe's future [Audio]
Speaker(s): Joschka Fischer | Joschka Fischer was Germany's foreign minister and vice-chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
Many Voices: understanding the debate about preventing violent extremism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Hazel Blears MP | The tragic events of 7/7 illustrated the threat to our society posed by violent extremism. Preventing it is one of the defining challenges of our age. Hazel Blears will explore the tough choices government has to make - how to empower new voices to join the debate, how to support people standing up for shared values and how to equip communities with the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to be part of the solution. In June 2007, Hazel Blears became the Sec
LSE Literary Weekend - The Founders' Tradition: literature as social commentary [Audio]
Speaker(s): Mohsin Hamid, David Hare; Boyd Tonkin | This event marks the launch of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Weekend, the LSE's first ever Literary Festival, celebrating the completion of the New Academic Building. A discussion about not only the links between the social sciences and the arts, but the role of the arts in the LSE's past, present and future. Is literature relevant today?
Unjust Rewards: Exposing Greed and Inequality in Britain Today [Audio]
Speaker(s): Polly Toynbee, David Walker | The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. City workers earn millions. Manual workers earn less than they did thirty years ago. The widening gap is tearing apart the fabric of our society. In their new book Unjust Rewards: Exposing Greed and Inequality in Britain Today, Polly Toynbee and David Walker present a worrying portrait of Britain.
Europe's Growth and Decline [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Vytautas Landsbergis | Professor Vytautas Landsbergis will in his lecture be giving his perspective on the today's pressing events in the western world. His lecture will be an examination of consequences of doubtful mentality, as growth in population figures and average living standards have not resulted in increased happiness. Growing frustration and the crumbling myth of welfare state point to a crucial need to consider a new philosophy for life. The lecture will be follo
Nudge: improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Richard Thaler | Standard economic analyses rely on an unrealistic model of human behavior in which economic agents are hyperrational robots. Modern behavioral economics takes a more realistic approach and assumes that economics agents are humans, who sometimes forget where they put their keys, panic in the face of economic volatility, and are growing more obese by the day. The theme of Nudge is that it is possible to help such humans make better choices without taking away
Changing Values for a Just and Sustainable World [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Peter Singer | We live in a world of great affluence as well as extreme poverty, and in which the rich nations play a disproportionate role in changing the planet's climate, from which the poor will suffer most. What values would best guide us to a more just and sustainable world? Can we realistically expect them to be put into practice?
Controversies in the Economics of Climate Change [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Geoffrey Heal | The Stern Review stirred up the controversy surrounding the economics of climate change. This lecture will review these issues and give an assessment of the debate - where it is leading and what issues remain open.
The Saudi-U.S. Relationship; Past Developments and Future Prospects [Audio]
Speaker(s): Prince Turki Al-Faisal | The Saudi-U.S relationship has always faced challenges that constantly test its strength. However, recent events in the region, such as the Iraq war, the 2006 war in Lebanon and the war in Gaza, have strained this relationship further. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, with his long and extensive experience in this area, gives his personal insight into this important relationship, its historical development and future challenges and prospects.
Documentary Photography: the long term project [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jessica Dimmock | Jessica Dimmock outlines the issues and obstacles relating to documentary photography, and the value of the long term project. She explores the process of engaging with subjects and the stories resulting from such sustained focus. This talk also considers the development of story ideas for the freelance photographer.
A World without Particles or Forces [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Richard Healey | Physicists talk about 'elementary particles'. But do particles exist? The Newtonian world depended on forces between particles, but the real world may be much stranger. Richard Healey is professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona.
Bulls or Bears in the China Shop? Global Crises, Global Linkages and Asian Manufacturing [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Andrew Bernard | This annual Sir Patrick Gillam Lecture examines the impact of the global economic downturn on East Asia and the prospects for East Asian manufacturing in its aftermath. Andrew Bernard is Jack Byrne Professor of International Economics and director of the Center for International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, USA.
A Conversation between Bill Gates Sr. and Howard Davies [Audio]
Speaker(s): Bill Gates Sr., Howard Davies | Bill Gates Sr., is a prominent lawyer, civil activist, and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is the author of Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime, a memoir that shares reflections on lessons from a lifetime of 'showing up' - lessons he learned growing up during the Great Depression, and that he instilled in his children and continues to practice on the world stage as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun
The Return of Depression Economics Part 3: The night they reread Minsky [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Paul Krugman | The global economic crisis has shaken a lot of what we thought we knew about economics. Over three consecutive evenings, Professor Krugman will cover the causes of the crisis; the deeply vexed question of how and when the world economy can recover; and the implications of the whole mess for economics and economists. Paul Krugman is centenary professor at LSE and professor of economics and international affairs at Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. I
Capitalism 3.0 [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Dani Rodrik | Capitalism needs to be reinvented for a new century in which the forces of economic globalization are much more powerful than before. Just as Adam Smith's minimal capitalism was transformed into Keynes' mixed economy, we need to contemplate a transition from the national version of the mixed economy to its global counterpart. We have to imagine a better balance between markets and their supporting institutions at the global level. Sometimes, this will require
The Museum of the 21st Century [Audio]
Speaker(s): Neil MacGregor, Nicholas Serota | In this 60th anniversary year of publishers Thames & Hudson, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, and Nicholas Serota, director of Tate, will be in conversation exploring the various roles of national, and other, collections in the 21st century. This rare joint appearance by two of today's most influential figures in the international world of arts and culture promises to provide a stimulating discussion touching on topics of contemporary
The Idea of Justice [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Amartya Sen | Amartya Sen explores the ways in which, and the degree to which, justice is a matter of reason, and of different kinds of reason. This event marks the launch of Professor Sen's new book The Idea of Justice. Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard and an honorary fellow of LSE. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge 1998-2004. His books include Development as Freedom (OUP), The Argumentative India
Climate Change: Are We Heading for a New Cold War? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Graciela Chichilnisky | There is an historic standoff between China and the US on the issue of global warming. Neither wants to limit emissions unless the other does so first. In Copenhagen December 2009 the nations of the world will decide whether to resolve the Global Warming problem extending Kyoto after 2012 - or to start a new Cold War of escalating emissions - the outcome of which may determine the fate of humankind. Professor Graciela Chichilnisky suggests two modest
An Alternative to Statecraft: should diplomacy adapt to a new world environment? [Audio]
Speaker(s): His Excellency Georg Boomgaarden; Dr Mary Martin; Her Excellency Pilar Saborio | The European Union is designing a new external action service as part of the changes to foreign policy proposed under the Lisbon Treaty. This lecture examines the contemporary demands on diplomatic missions. Pilar Saborio is the ambassador of Costa Rica to the UK. Georg Boomgaarden is the ambassador of Germany to the UK. Nick Mabey is chief executive of E3G Third Generation Environmentalism. Mary Martin
