Managing Risk: A Global Imperative [Audio]
Speaker(s): Michael Chertoff | Given the threats posed by terrorism and natural disasters, the issue of how to handle risk remains an essential one for nations. While in free societies, people routinely make risk calculations, markets do an imperfect job of risk allocation. Governments must sometimes step in, but in a way that carefully manages risk through prudent, measured regulation. On February 15, 2005, Judge Michael Chertoff was sworn in as the second Secretary of the Department of Homelan
Georgia: has Europe let Russia off the hook? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Sabine Freizer, Professor Salome Zourabichvili | Sabine Freizer is Europe programme director of the International Crisis Group. Salome Zourabichvili is associate professor at Sciences Po, Paris and former foreign minister of Georgia.
Liberal Fascism: the uses and abuses of the F-word [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jonah Goldberg | For nearly a century the political left has controlled the commanding heights of intellectual discourse by asserting, contrary to the evidence, that the left holds a monopoly on political virtue. The further you move from the left on the political spectrum, it is asserted, the closer you get to evil. "Fascism" has long served as the central prop in this drama. Fascism and evil are interchangeable terms, we are told. The reality is that while fascism may be evil, it h
Who Owns Fairtrade? A debate on who benefits, influences and controls Fairtrade [Audio]
Speaker(s): Pauline Tiffen, Rajah Banerjee; Kate Sebag; Katie Stafford; Dyborn Chinonga | The idea of fair trade has become increasingly popular amongst consumers and some producers. But who does fair-trade really benefit? The producers? The consumers? The Farmers? These are some of the issues that the panel will debate.
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.
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?
LSE Literary Weekend - Ben Okri 'showcase' [Audio]
Speaker(s): Ben Okri | Poet in the City and LSE are honoured to be holding a special showcase event with the world famous poet and writer Ben Okri. Born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, he became world famous as a writer in 1991 when he won the Booker prize for his novel The Famished Road. Set in a Nigerian village, this was the first in a trilogy of successful novels about Azaro, a spirit child. In all he has published eight novels, and won countless awards and honours for his writing. His l
LSE Literary Weekend - New Audiences [Audio]
Speaker(s): Nandita Ghose, A.F Harrold, Andre Mangeot; Ife Piancu | This event is aimed at encouraging anyone who has never been to a poetry event before to come and see the amazing and exciting range of possibilities that poetry has. Poet in the City's New Audiences initiative has fast become one of our most popular set of programmes with events at the Guardian on Spoken Word and at Imperial University on Work, Space and Maths. This event has a mix of our favourite performance and up and coming
What should the next G20 meeting do? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Will Hutton; Professor Danny Quah | The upcoming meeting of the G20 in London in early April 2009 is crucial for the development of policies to stabilise the world economy and reform the international financial architecture. What will the G20 do and what should it do? Will Hutton, Danny Quah, Mick Cox and David Held debate the issues.
China in International Society: can 'peaceful rise' succeed? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Barry Buzan | China has moved closer to international society on regional and global levels. The tide of history will probably favour China's peaceful rise, but the country will need to act to ensure this happens.
Thinking Like a Social Scientist: a lecture by Professor Gilat Levy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Gilat Levy | In this lunchtime series lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.
Eastern DRC: what should the international community be doing? [Audio]
Speaker(s): David Leonard, General Olusegun Obasanjo; Professor James Putzel; Clare Short | With its most recent press release the Crisis States Research Centre (LSE) prompted fierce debate on the international response to the ongoing crisis in the Eastern DRC. Reactions to the arrest of the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda on 22 January are loud and divided, though international actions continue to follow the same three trends identified in the CSRC release. This response, says the CSRC, f
Majority Judgement: a completely new voting system. Part Three - Majority Judgement Compared with Ot
Speaker(s): Professor Michel Balinski | Balinski argues that, although the new Majority Judgement voting system is not perfect, Approval Voting fails in theory and in practice, and that Majority Judgement is better than Condorcet's and Borda's classical proposals, point-summing methods, first-past-the post and others.
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?
A Lecture by President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev - in English [Audio]
Speaker(s): President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev | Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev was elected President of the Russian Federation in March 2008. In November 2005 he was elected First Deputy Prime Minister, previous to this he was Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office.
Architecture as Investment: New Forms of Social Equity [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Alejandro Aravena, Professor Ricky Burdett | The challenge to provide affordable housing is a global issue. At a time when market forces are eclipsing architecture's social value, Elemental's pioneering housing is transforming urban communities in Latin America.
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.
Voodoo Histories: from the Protocols to 9-11 [Audio]
Speaker(s): David Aaronovitch | Why are people attracted to conspiracy theories and why are those theories are so damaging? David Aaronovitch is an award-winning journalist, who has worked in radio, television and newspapers in the UK since the early 1980s. This event marks the launch of his new book 'Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History'.
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.
