Progressive Governance: Greece and the New International Order [Audio]
Speaker(s): George Papandreou | George A. Papandreou is president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and president of Socialist International. He was minister of foreign affairs from 1999 to 2004, a period that saw inter alia a new rapprochement with Turkey. He has served as minister for national education and religious affairs on two occasions (1988-89; 1994-96).He is the son and grandson of two Greek prime ministers. In 2006 he became president of the Socialist International. The la
Future Directions in the Law Regulating Weaponry in Armed Conflict [Audio]
Speaker(s): Group Captain Bill Boothby | A discussion on future directions in the law regulating weaponry in armed conflict to mark the release of Bill Boothby's new book Weapons and the Law of Armed Conflict. Bill Boothby has served for 27 years as an officer in the Royal Air Force legal branch. He developed and implemented the British system for the legal review of new weapons, and formed and led the team charged with conducting these reviews. Tom Porteus is London director of Human Rights Wa
The State between Migration and Sojourning: the China difference [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Wang Gungwu | At the end of the 19th century, the Qing court described all Chinese living overseas as sojourners. Under the Republic, overseas Chinese were enjoined to be patriotic. After 1949, migration policies changed several times. Why did three different Chinese states pay so much attention to this subject?
Consolidating Kosovo's European Future: tracing next steps [Audio]
Speaker(s): Peter Feith | A look at Kosovo's achievements and challenges over the past year, highlighting the current state of play and the priorities and vision of the Kosovo government and its international partners as the country prepares for European Union membership.
Religion and the Market: are they in conflict? [Audio]
Speaker(s): John Micklethwait, Professor John Gray | The global revival of religion has been predominantly fuelled by the creation of a religious free market defined by entrepreneurship, choice and personal revelation. So can religion and the market sit together and what can economics teach us about religion? John Gray is emeritus professor of European thought at LSE and author of Gray's Anatomy. John Micklethwait is editor of The Economist and co-author of God is Back.
'Enjoy Poverty' [Audio]
Speaker(s): Renzo Martens | Editor's note: Unfortunately, owing to technical difficulties, the last few minutes of the question and answer session are missing from the audio podcast. Renzo Martens will present a special screening of his film Episode III, (88 minutes). Episode III – 'Enjoy Poverty' investigates the emotional and economic value of Africa’s most lucrative export: filmed poverty. As with more traditional African exports such as cocoa and gold, the suppliers of this new African c
Is America in Decline? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Walter Russell Mead | The rise of China and the global economic crisis have led many observers to speculate about whether the decline of American power, often predicted in the past, has now finally begun. The picture is more complex; a survey of world conditions suggests that while the American role is changing, the U.S. will continue to be a unique force in the international arena.
LSE Director's Dialogue with Stephen Green [Audio]
Speaker(s): Howard Davies, Stephen Green | As the world's financial order is in a state of flux, how do we align our desire to improve material human wealth, and capitalism, with our spiritual and psychological needs? Do businesses and banks in particular have a duty to society that goes beyond the creation of profit? Does open market capitalism remain our best hope for creating wealth that benefits all of society? Green and Davies discuss history, politics, religion and economics. This event ma
The Consolations of Economics [Audio]
Speaker(s): Tim Harford | For six years, Tim Harford has been answering readers' personal problems in the pages of The Financial Times, using the latest economic research to provide advice on dating, etiquette, parenting and even personal hygiene. In a light-hearted but thoughtful lecture, Tim explains what he has learned about whether economics really can bring us personal happiness. Tim Harford is a columnist for the Financial Times, presenter of Radio 4's More or Less, and author of The Under
Justice and the Moral Limits of Markets [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael J. Sandel | The financial crisis raises hard questions about justice, ethics, and the role of markets. In this lecture, Michael Sandel will examine the moral limits of markets, one of the themes of his new book, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
UN Ideas that Changed the World [Audio]
Speaker(s): Louis Emmerij; Sir Richard Jolly | UN ideas have more influence and impact than is generally realized, on economic and social development and environment as well as on human rights and peacekeeping. In this well-illustrated lecture, two of the co-directors of the UN Intellectual History Project will present the findings of a ten-year project and launch the summary volume, UN Ideas That Changed the World.
Fiction and Reality: writing novels in a world weirder than anything you could make up [Audio]
Speaker(s): Daniel Johnson; Lionel Shriver | Lionel Shriver in conversation with Daniel Johnson. Daniel Johnson is editor of Standpoint. Lionel Shriver is a novelist. Her seventh novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, won the Orange prize.
People Power and the End of the Cold War [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Sir Adam Roberts | Was the end of the Cold War a victory for power politics, or for people power? Twenty years after the opening of the Berlin Wall, debate continues about what factors sealed the fate of the Soviet system in eastern and central Europe, and eventually in the Soviet Union itself. Non-violent popular movements -- especially in Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia -- played a significant part in the events. How did they relate to other forms of power, and wh
Digital Britain [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jeremy Hunt MP; Peter Bazalgette; Professor Robin Mansell; Sacha Deshmukh | Jeremy Hunt MP is the Shadow Communications Minister. Peter Bazalgette is a media entrepreneur. Robin Mansell is a professor of new media and the internet and head of the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. Sacha Deshmukh is CEO of Mandate Communications. Charlie Beckett is Direcor of Polis. Jeremy Hunt will be joined by Professor Robin Mansell and Peter Bazalgette in a panel discussion about t
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work [Audio]
Speaker(s): Alain de Botton | This talk will raise a host of questions about the meaning and purpose of work - in particular investigating the effects of industrialisation and modernisation on the individual worker. Alain de Botton is a philosopher, author and entrepreneur.
Burquas aren't always blue: Kandahar 1968 - 2010 [Audio]
Speaker(s): Felix Kuehn, Alex Strick van Linschoten | Born in a small village of Kandahar, Abdul Salam Zaeef rose to become a senior member of the Taliban. His memoirs of his former role, recently translated from Pashto and edited by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, reveal an extraordinary and provocative counter-narrative to the standard accounts of Afghanistan since 1979. Using My Life with the Taliban as an entry point to discussion at this lunchtime event, Alex Strick van Linschot
Out of the Bretton Woods: Building a World Bank for the 21st Century [Audio]
Speaker(s): Douglas Alexander MP | The first decade of the 21st Century has shown the extent to which we are increasingly interdependent for our prosperity, security and environmental sustainability. Tackling global poverty in today's world is not only a moral imperative, but in our common interest. Douglas Alexander will assess the importance of the World Bank in the fight against poverty, and propose the reforms that are necessary to equip it for the challenges that lie ahead.
LSE Literary Festival - Literature and the Sciences: Where do they meet? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Michael Blackburn, Mario Petrucci, Richard Tyrone-Jones | Three poets discuss the interrelationship between art and literature and the social sciences. What are the links between these seemingly polarised disciplines? Does art have any concrete influence on the social and political sciences?
This Sporting Planet: global sport and global capitalism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor David Goldblatt | Globalisation has seen sport achieve a hitherto unequalled global cultural significance, but it has also left it in thrall to capitalism. Will economic forces continue to shape sport? David Goldblatt is a writer, broadcaster and teacher. He is author of The Ball is Round: a global history of football.
The Importance of Alternative Financing: global perspectives on Islamic finance [Audio]
Speaker(s): Stephen Green, Dr. M. Umer Chapra | This lecture discusses the growing role alternative financing arrangements, such as Islamic finance, have on the global financial markets. It explains how morality or faith based forms of finance can continue to enhance modern finance in the future.
