Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. FEMINISM'S CIVIL WAR A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/feminisms-civil-war/ Does feminism know what it stands for anymore? Are the current divides reflective of a sea-change for feminism, or does the current infighting stem fro...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 228
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. FROM PROFITS TO PROPHETS: WHY HAS BIG BUSINESS GONE WOKE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-profits-to-prophets-why-has-big-business-gone-woke/ This debate was run in partnership with the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum. Is...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 228
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS THERE A CASE FOR FOSSIL FUELS? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-there-a-case-for-fossil-fuels/ This debate was held in partnership with the Ayn Rand Centre UK Governments have been striving to phase out fossil fuels in f...
Jan 03, 2022•45 min•Ep. 228
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. A ‘NUDGE’ TOO FAR? THE RISE OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOCRATIC RULE A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/a-nudge-too-far-the-rise-of-behavioural-psychology-and-technocracy/ All societies need expert advice, but what is the li...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 227
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN: WHAT HAPPENED? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/20-years-in-afghanistan-what-happened/ With the withdrawal of Western forces now complete, will 20 years of Western-led occupation and the promotion of l...
Jan 02, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 226
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. WHO ARE WE? IDENTITY IN CRISIS A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/who-are-we-identity-in-crisis/ Do we know who we are anymore? And does embracing our sense of identity hinder or help our ability to engage in collective ambition...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 225
Recording of the Academy of Ideas Education Forum discussion on Monday 29 November 2021. INTRODUCTION How should we view the teaching of ‘white privilege’? Is it a helpful tool in combating racial inequality or a divisive idea that sows mistrust? The concept originated in American academia in the 1980s, but entered British schools last year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd. White privilege asserts that white people are automatically advantaged by...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 224
Playwright and actor David Ireland does not hold back from dealing with controversial and difficult topics. Born in Northern Ireland, his experiences of living in that troubled country inevitably informs his work. His plays create a stir, with no holds barred, often shockingly hilarious, dialogue. As black comedies they expose the raw nerves of identity politics, sexual and family relationships, and contemporary political tensions and polarisations which can drive people to violence and push the...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 223
Recording of the Academy of Ideas International Salon panel discussion on 23 November 2021. INTRODUCTION From the pandemic to the environment, housing to food supply, politicians and experts often tell us that our choices are limited. When Covid-19 took the world by surprise, governments around the world understandably took a blinkered view – opting to shut down society for fear of the worst. But even before the chaos of the last 19 months, the discussion about how to deal with challenges both p...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 222
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS THE NHS FIT FOR PURPOSE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-the-nhs-fit-for-purpose/ How can we solve the problems of the NHS? Is it simply a matter of providing extra resources, or is the way those resources are used a pr...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 221
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. DISINFORMATION AND CONSPIRACY: TACKLING THE CRISIS OF TRUST A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/disi…is-of-trust/ Why have disinformation and conspiracy theories become such mainstream preoccupations? What is a healthy distrust of offici...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 220
Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. GOING GREEN: ECO-DOGMA OR SALVATION? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/goin…r-salvation/ In partnership with the Freiblickinstitut. How can we solve a problem like climate change? Should it be treated as an emergency that should subsum...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 219
----more----ASSISTED DYING: HAS ITS TIME COME? A new, live, #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/assi…s-time-come/ After previous efforts failed, will this year be the year the UK grants a ‘right to die’? What are the moral issues at stake? What, politically, does a right to die mean in a society seemingly obsessed with good health? Should people be given the choice, and assistance, to end their lives, or is it a threshold which must not ...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 218
SPORTSCAST OF IDEAS: Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons with special guests David Bowden and Austin Williams to discuss everything happening in Tokyo.
Aug 04, 2021•44 min•Ep. 217
For our latest Sportscast of Ideas, Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald, Rob Lyons, Jacob Reynolds and Mo Lovatt to dissect *that* match - and the fallout from Italy's victory.
Jul 14, 2021•43 min•Ep. 216
For our latest Sportscast of Ideas, Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons, with special guest Dominic Standish zooming in from Italy.
Jul 08, 2021•34 min•Ep. 215
SPORTSCAST OF IDEAS: Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald, Rob Lyons and Jacob Reynolds, with special guest and Manchester United fan, Hilary Salt.
Jul 02, 2021•36 min•Ep. 214
Para Mullan and Hilary Salt introduce a discussion at the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum on what the post-pandemic office means for employers, employees and the wider economy. Apart from a brief and ill-starred campaign early last autumn to get staff back to the office, for over a year workers have been told that they should work at home if they can. Yet with Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths now back down to the level we saw at the end of last summer, it seems workers are not exactly rus...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 213
For our latest Sportscast of Ideas, Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons, and special guest Adam Rawcliffe. They chew the fat on Scotland's departure and wonder if England will ever play exciting football. They also look at UEFA's ban on lighting up the Allianz Arena for Pride, the row over Ronaldo and Pogba moving drinks bottles and the hypocrisy of allowing 2,500 UEFA hangers-on into the UK while we all struggle to travel abroad at all....
Jun 23, 2021•28 min•Ep. 212
SPORTSCAST OF IDEAS: On this second 2021 Sportscast of Ideas, Geoff Kidder, Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons from the Academy of Ideas are joined by sociologist, author and Tottenham fan Frank Furedi to discuss all that's new in the world of sports, politics and upcoming tournaments.
Jun 18, 2021•26 min•Ep. 211
On this Sportscast of Ideas, Geoff Kidder, Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons from the Academy of Ideas are joined by author and Norwich City fan George Harrison to discuss all that's new in the world of sports, politics and upcoming tournaments.
Jun 08, 2021•37 min•Ep. 210
LOCKDOWN DEBATE: Given the extension of state power during lockdowns, have worldwide lockdowns revealed the need for stronger, more hard-wired human rights legislation, like the Bill of Rights in the United States? Or has the whole framework of human rights been revealed as little more than symbolic? Putting the progressive case against human rights, Gittos asks whether it is time to do away with human rights in favour of a new way of thinking about our personal and political freedoms. Join Luke...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 209
Discussion at the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum on Tuesday 4 May 2021. INTRODUCTION Love it or loathe it, the UK’s Special Relationship with the USA has been around since Churchill coined the phrase in 1946. And as the first nation to leave the European Union, the UK’s ongoing relationship with the EU is, at the very least, ‘special’ by definition. In his presentation, Jonathan Grant will offer a perspective on these two unquestionably special relationships: one with the EU that has only recent...
May 05, 2021•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 207
BOOK CLUB: Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love? Ella Whelan, journalist and author of What Women Want, gives the introduction.
May 01, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 206
Welcome to this special sports edition of Podcast of Ideas. Alastair Donald is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues, Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons, along with Hilary Salt and Simon McKeon, two regular speakers and session producers at the annual Battle of Ideas festival. Over the past week, football has hogged the headlines on the front as well as the back pages as the plan for a new European Super League emerged and then collapsed, almost in the blink of an eye. The headlines claimed this has bee...
Apr 23, 2021•34 min•Ep. 205
Academy of Ideas Economy Forum discussion, 13 April 2021. Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on 20 January 2021. But what does Biden stand for and what will his administration aim to achieve? Most notably, his first major move was the American Rescue Plan Act, a package of stimulus, welfare and other measures that will cost $1.9 trillion. The act provides for a round of $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals making less than $75,000 a year and for married couples earning un...
Apr 13, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 208
LOCKDOWN DEBATE: Whether you’re a cyclist, driver, pedestrian or all three, the real question is: why, at a time when little political scrutiny is available in a pandemic, have councils and the government felt comfortable instituting such drastic changes? Have some underestimated the drastic effect of restricting car access on people’s lives and routines? Should we take advantage of the benefits of lower activity in cities and learn a lesson about what life could be like without cars? Are groups...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 204
SCOTLAND SALON: What do the revelations of the past few weeks mean for the independence campaign and for the devolved Scottish Government? Have we seen nothing more than political opportunism on behalf of opposition MSPs, or have the hopes for IndyRef2 been dashed? Is faith in Scottish independence inextricably linked to faith in the SNP? And, more broadly, is there something rotten in the democratic settlement for the people of Scotland? What next for Scottish independence? Jim Sillars, Iain Ma...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 203
BOOK LAUNCH In his latest book, Free Speech and Why It Matters, Writer and comedian Andrew Doyle looks at the most common concerns of free-speech sceptics and offers a robust defence of this most foundational of principles. Andrew spoke to Academy of Ideas associate director Alastair Donald for this book launch of Free Speech and Why It Matters.
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 202
ARTS & SOCIETY FORUM: The Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier (1887 –1965) is strongly associated with post-war mass housing projects; his name is often used as shorthand for their failings. He was arguably the most talented architect of the twentieth century and but he is popularly known for his association with the technocrat aspects of modern planning. Architecture lecturer, Penny Lewis 'visits' two of Le Corbusier’s most influential buildings the Villa Roche in Paris (1923) and the Unité...
Mar 08, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 201
