LSE Literary Festival - Speaking of Love [Audio]
Speaker(s): AS Byatt, Ben Okri, Helen Simpson, Colin Thubron | Four very different writers consider four very different aspects of love: love as enchantment, and love as madness; passion in youth, and compassion in age. They read their favourite passages on love both from their own work, and from the work of others, and, on Valentine's eve, discuss Shakespeare's notion that 'The lunatic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact'.
Renewing the Left's ideology: what should be the principles and goals of the centre-Left today? [Aud
Speaker(s): James Purnell MP | The credit crunch was followed by a consensus on the centre-Left that the world was entering a "progressive moment", and that the financial crisis represented a failure of the ideas of the New Right. Yet, in Europe at least, social democracy has struggled to articulate what the progressive response to the crisis, and has struggled electorally as a consequence. To resolve this paradox, the Left needs to recognise that the financial crisis challenges its received ide
Jimmy Stewart Is Dead -- Ending the World's Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking [A
Speaker(s): Professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff | Let's call a spade a spade. Today's financial system, with its limited liability, insider rating, political kickbacks, director sweetheart deals, non disclosure, and internal corporate raiders, was built for hucksters -- hucksters who systematically manufactured and sold trillions in fraudulent securities, grabbed hoards of loot, and left the public to pick up the pieces.
Barack Obama and the Muslim World [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Gilles Kepel | This lecture will assess how successful President Obama's engagement with the Muslim world has been. Gilles Kepel is Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE IDEAS.
Civil Society, Aid and Security [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Sally Healy, Dr Jeremy Lind, David Peppiat, Elizabeth Winter | The Obama administration has abandoned the term 'War on Terror' and taken steps to undo the worst excesses of the post-9/11 security regime. However the legislation, structures and practices introduced after the attacks remain deeply embedded. The event is followed by the launch of Jude Howell and Jeremy Lind's new book Counter-terrorism, Aid and Civil Society.
Independent Prosecutors and Democratic Accountability [Audio]
Speaker(s): Sir Ken MacDonald QC | Public prosecutors must be free from political influence to command confidence. But if they are not answerable to politicians, how are they accountable to the public for their work?
Education for Sustainable Development [Audio]
Speaker(s): Tony Juniper | This event will explore the role of universities in driving the sustainability agenda. Tony Juniper is a campaigner, writer, and a senior associate with the Cambridge University Programme for Sustainability Leadership. Professor Janet Hartley is Pro-director for teaching and learning at LSE.
New Labour, Xenophobia and Immigration [Audio]
Speaker(s): Arun Kundnani, Nira Yuval-Davis, Joseph Harker | With immigration issues increasingly taking centre-stage during New Labour's tenure in government, and with the electoral success of the BNP and the rise of the Right arguably signalling a resurgence of racism and xenophobia in British society, this event will discuss the relationship between these two contentious developments.
Inter-party Debate: Featuring Vince Cable V. Greg Hands V. Labour [Audio]
Speaker(s): Vince Cable MP, Greg Hands MP, James Plaskitt MP | Keeping in context the events that unfolded in the recent economic crisis, the fiscal burden of the associated policies enacted during that period, and with the likely possibility of a general election soon, the LSE Economics Society is proud to play host to an inter-party debate featuring key members from the three main contending parties of this year's General Election.
LSE Asia Forum 2010 - 15:30 - 17:00 - Plenary session: Health care: trust, mistrust, voice or choice
Speaker(s): Professor Julian Le Grand; Henk Bekedam; Professor Hu Yonghua; Howard Davies | The fifth LSE Asia Forum took place in Beijing on 25-26 March 2010 with the support of the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). The Forum addressed a wide range of issues of deep interest to policymakers and wider society, under a general theme relating to the recent challenges and changes that have affected the global economy. A key focus of the Forum was on the role of China in tackling the r
'Running While Others Walk': the challenge of African development [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Thandika Mkandawire | Africa lags behind other developing nations both economically and by other related social indicators. There is widespread feeling in Africa that, in the words of Nyerere, 'Africa must run while others walk'. The lecture will consider the implications of this task on African scholarship.
Red Tory: How Left and Right have Broken Britain and How we can Fix It [Audio]
Speaker(s): Phillip Blond | Conventional politics is at a crossroads. Amid recession, depression, poverty, increasing violence and rising inequality, our current politics is exhausted and inadequate. In Red Tory, Phillip Blond argues that only a radical new political settlement can tackle the problems we face.
Islam, Secularisms and Law across Europe [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor John Bowen | This lecture will draw on the understandings of Islam and secularism that have been explored in earlier talks to compare recent processes of social and legal adaptation across Europe, with a focus on the contrast between England and France and further comparisons of North American and German legal cases.
Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: assessing the economic rise of China and India [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Pranab Bardhan | Professor Pranab Bardhan will deliver two lectures on the evening of 4 and 5 May. In this first lecture he will give a broad critical overview of the main achievements and failures in the two giant economies.
Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: assessing the economic rise of China and India [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Pranab Bardhan | Professor Pranab Bardhan will deliver two lectures on the evening of 4 and 5 May. In this first lecture he will give a broad critical overview of the main achievements and failures in the two giant economies.
Do No Harm: International Support For State Building In Fragile Situations [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jon Lømoy, Dr Funmi Olonisakin, Professor James Putzel. | This panel discussion will focus on the January 2010 OECD report Do No Harm: international support for statebuilding in fragile situations, for which CSRC director, James Putzel, is the principal author.
Obliquity: Why Our Goals Are Best Pursued Indirectly [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor John Kay | Many goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly: the most profitable companies are not the most aggressive in chasing profits and the wealthiest are not the most materialistic. By understanding the principle of Obliquity we can make better decisions in our personal and professional lives
On Narrative And Ritual [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Richard Sennett, Dr Rowan Williams. | A dialogue between a social philosopher and theologian about ritual and narrative.
The Realities And Relevance Of Japan's Great Recession [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Adam S Posen | There is a battle for the future of our planet between profiteers who threaten to destroy natural resources for gain and backward-looking environmental romantics who thwart constructive development. Paul Collier uses his ground-breaking research to offer realistic and sustainable solutions that reconcile the immediate needs of the world's growing population without despoiling the planet for future generations.
Beirut Normal [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Hashim Sarkis | Is there anything to say about Beirut beyond the obvious, and by now exhausted, lessons of post-war reconstruction and identity politics? What is a "Beirut normal"? Is it worth examining? The lecture puts forward these questions not in order to diminish the city's architectural output but to reveal aspects of the city that have been overwhelmed by the discourses of war and politics. Through a series of specific architectural and urban analyses, the lecture
