How did the Mughal empire – which then generated just under half the world’s wealth – come to be replaced by the first global corporate power – the East India Company? And how does the legacy of British imperialism continue to shape life and culture in Britain today? Bringing together Empireland and Empireworld author and Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera and bestselling award-winning historian William Dalrymple, this episode of the How To Academy Podcast will tell a story that is barely taught i...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 10 min
We're told repeatedly that if we’re going to achieve anything, we’d better do it while we’re young. But society is wrong. With armfuls of examples from from Olympic athletes, sitcom stars and titans of architecture who rewrote the rule book for midlife, writer Henry Oliver shares the lessons for seizing upon the truest versions of ourselves later in life and asks, what part of your goal can you achieve today? Tune in to discover a range of blueprints for self-reinvention, tips for rebuilding you...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr 4 min
For the first time in history, autocracies are working together to stay in power. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad actor, but by sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, security services—military, paramilitary, police—and technological experts who provide surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation. The democratic world is in denial about how it has unwittingly helped to consolidate this new reality. What we stand to lose is our ability to dictate our ow...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 4 min
Lhakpa Sherpa broke a record: she was the first Nepali woman to climb and descend Everest. Then she broke another: summiting for the tenth time, she had now summited the tallest peak in the world more times than any other woman. But the gruelling ascent mirrored her own journey through life: from braving her way and disguising herself as a man to become a sherpa, to finding the courage to leave a violent marriage to give her daughters a better life, Lhakpa has shown that there is no summit she c...
Jul 31, 2024•27 min
Stanford neuroscientist Patrick House joins us with an introduction to the best of our current paradigms for making sense of consciousness. In conversation with Robin Ince, he weaves brain science, analogy, and philosophy into a tapestry that illuminates how the brain works and what scientists currently believe enable consciousness to reveal the strangeness of the relationship between our inner selves and our environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 6 min
A household name following both the mapping of the human genome and, in 2010, the creation of the first synthetic organism, J Craig Venter is a singular figure in 21st century science: a biologist whose legacy is secure and who, at 77, still continues to push boundaries. He joined us in conversation with David Malone to share a story that is equal parts thrilling global adventure and a journey of momentous scientific discovery: his fifteen year, 65k mile quest to map the microbiome of the oceans...
Jul 23, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Renowned as a pioneer of climate fiction, Paolo Bacigalupi's novels The Windup Girl and The Water Knife earned him a reputation as one of the essential speculative novelists of our time, with a prophetic gift akin to established genre masters like William Gibson and Magaret Atwood. His new novel Navola is part of a different tradition: a fantasy novel where historical realism takes precedent over the overtly imaginary, exploring the relationship between family, money, and power in a lightly disg...
Jul 19, 2024•56 min
After years of running a failing farm in West Sussex, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell decided to hand back control to nature. Slowly but surely, plants shot up, creatures crept in, and the landscape began to heal. The area now hums with life and is home to some of the rarest species in Britain, such as peregrine falcons, turtle doves and purple emperor butterflies. Free from human intervention and monocultures, the farm has become a safe haven for nature which self-corrects and sel...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Kelly Clancy is both a neuroscientist and a physicist, and has held positions at MIT and DeepMind. She's also the author of Playing With Reality, a new intellectual history of games that explores the influence that games have played - if you'll forgive the pun - over many centuries on warfare, gambling, economics and much more. If you've ever wanted to know why chess is used as a stand-in for intelligence or what game theory really is, this episode of the podcast is for you. Learn more about you...
Jul 12, 2024•46 min
After years of biopsies, best-selling author Sarah Thornton made the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy. But, after her reconstructive surgery, she was perplexed: What had she lost? And gained? Blending sociology, reportage, and personal narrative with refreshing optimism and wit, her new book Tits Up has one overriding ambition―to liberate breasts from centuries of patriarchal prejudice. She sat down with Aimee Morris to tell us more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...
Jul 09, 2024•36 min
In a society where stress and competition run rampant, how can we find a more fulfilling sense of happiness? Well-being expert and founder of The New Happy Stephanie Harrison joins us to not only address societal woes but also share what we can do about them. Drawing on her background in positive psychology, Stephanie sheds new light on prevailing concepts—from misconceptions of Maslow's hierarchy to the rat race of capitalism—and reveals how we can move away from rigid societal rhythms to find ...
Jul 05, 2024•1 hr 8 min
What went wrong with capitalism? Drawing on his decades of experience as a world-leading investor and FT columnist, leading financial analyst Ruchir Sharma offers an insider’s perspective, offering a critique of capitalism unlike any you have heard before: that capitalism itself has been corrupted from its original inception, and that less government regulation rather than more might be our most viable solution. In conversation with the FT's Gillian Tett, Sharma dives into how we can save our fr...
Jul 02, 2024•1 hr 5 min
For twenty years, Mark Tuitert has used the principles of Stoic philosophy to become a gold-medal winning Olympic champion athlete, successful entrepreneur, as well as to deal with the challenges in his professional and private life. Now he's here to to share what he learned. In this episode of the podcast, the athlete lays out the practical lessons through which everyone, in any situation, can develop a Stoic mindset. Applying principles from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus to the twenty...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Welcome to technofeudalism. The owners of big tech have become the world’s feudal overlords—replacing capitalism with a new system that defies democracy and rewrite the rules of global power. But this is no dystopian story—as visionary economist Yanis Varoufakis argues, this is our world today. In conversation with Ash Sarkar, Varoufakis illuminates the dark underbelly of this new system—and reveals what we can do to thwart it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 19 min
Social connection is essential to our wellbeing, not only fuelling creativity and enriching our sense of meaning in life, but also adding years to our life span. And yet, many of us struggle to form strong and meaningful bonds. Drawing on neuroscience and cutting-edge philosophy, science journalist David Robson joins us to reveal the science of meaningful connection. From the science of first impressions, to how to move away from “frenemies” towards more supportive connections, to how to be a pr...
Jun 21, 2024•1 hr 4 min
When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who shared her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously. Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? To find out, K...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 7 min
When her husband's work required journalist Clover Stroud to uproot from Oxfordshire to Washington DC, she began a deep and profound reflection on the many ways she was tethered to her home -- from family roots to knowledge of its ancient history, an appreciation of the local landscape to precious personal memories -- and considered what it would mean to break that tie. This lyrical and moving episode of the podcast that everyone will be able to relate to, wherever you were raised. Learn more ab...
Jun 14, 2024•1 hr 7 min
If you read the major biographies of George Orwell you would be hard-pressed to know that his wife Eileen shaped his life and writing in profoundly significant ways: from saving his life in the Spanish civil war to seeding the ideas for Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The award-winning author of Stasiland Anna Funder has uncovered Eileen's story in full and joins us on the podcast to share her insights into the character and times of Eric Blair and his tempestuous first marriage. Learn mor...
Jun 11, 2024•50 min
One of Australia's leading authors, Richard Flanagan won the Booker for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a novel informed by his father's experiences as a slave labourer in the second world war. He returns to that subject in his new book Question 7, a profound and powerful book that contemplates love and death, resilience and tragedy, and how the world shapes fiction and fiction shapes the world in turn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 07, 2024•48 min
A decade ago, living in a city and feeling exhausted and empty, Craig Foster decided to return to his birthplace—the Cape of Good Hope—and dive into the great African Sea forest each day. His daily oceanic adventures not only helped him “rewild”, but helped him come to see his own “amphibious soul” as a powerful metaphor for the human condition. Now, in conversation with his close friend Kate Humble, he shares his insights into the wonder of the natural world. From understanding diverse species ...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Who and what are supercommunicators? They’re the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They’re brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it? In this podcast Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators, unpacking the different types of everyday con...
May 31, 2024•1 hr 13 min
An iconoclast unafraid to speak truth to power, George Monbiot has been fighting for a better future for our planet for decades. In this episode, he joins comedian and podcaster Nish Kumar to share his insights into the ideology that preys on every aspect of our lives – neoliberalism. Revealing how the network of neoliberalism 'kicks down and kisses up', George shows us how this fringe philosophy was adopted by wealthy elites and came to dominate our society and our economy. But nothing is inevi...
May 28, 2024•1 hr 28 min
How do we build authentic relationships with others and with ourselves when we feel like we're walking on eggshells so much of the time? In our deeply divided world, Africa joins actor and activist Jameela Jamil to share a new vision of authenticity, a third perspective in our highly polarised society. Bravery meets liberation; honesty meets openness; listening meets self-expression: Africa reveals how we can connect deeply with one another when we move beyond the confines of self-censorship and...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 18 min
What do we do when 'we are given too many lemons to make into lemonade'? Zen Buddhist teacher and international bestseller Haemin Sunim joins us with lessons from his new book, When Things Don't Go Your Way, to show us how we can find happiness even when life seems to overwhelm us, and reveal how inner peace is always within reach. From how to fall asleep with greater ease to how to transcend jealousy, from reconnecting with our friends to reconnecting with ourselves, Haemin illuminates practica...
May 21, 2024•44 min
After spending decades as a leader in tech, Mo Gawdat turned his brilliant mind towards human flourishing, and showed how we can grow from our lives' darkest moments. After the tragic death of his son Ali, Mo authored international bestseller Solve for Happy in honour of his son, and shared a formula for happiness that can be learned and adopted by all. Now he returns with Unstressable, co-authored with stress management expert Alice Law, and together they joins us for a moving conversation on m...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 18 min
In this spirited and candid episode, the incisive LBC presenter and bestselling author James O'Brien addresses the state of the nation. In conversation with political journalist Ian Dunt, James maps the UK's hidden webs of power and shares his candid reflections on the bruisers of British politics. It's an unmissable conversation for anyone who wants to understand how we got here - and discover why a nation on its knees is not in fact a foregone conclusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...
May 14, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Erudite and comic, ironic and profound, philosopher Slavoj Žižek has travelled into territory where few of us dare to tread – and at 75 he shows no signs of becoming less provocative. In this very special birthday podcast, he shares his life story and intellectual journey with broadcaster and journalist Ash Sarkar. A one-of-a-kind glimpse into the makings of the man widely known as ‘the most dangerous philosopher in the West’. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 10, 2024•1 hr 18 min
In a world fixated on the conventional notion of success – marked by relentless hustle, sacrificing wellbeing and missing out on cherished moments with loved ones in the pursuit of fame and material possessions – Robin Sharma offers a life-changing new philosophy and methodology for enjoying an honestly rich life: one filled with personal power, authenticity, fulfilling work and a beautiful lifestyle that will cause you to feel like real fortune has finally smiled on you. Learn more about your a...
May 07, 2024•1 hr 17 min
George the Poet knows better than anybody the importance of understanding your surroundings. Born to Ugandan parents on the St Raphael’s Estate in Neasden, north-west London, George Mpanga has always been aware of his community. It was both his teacher and his inspiration – giving him the language, the experiences, and the skills to become the person he is today. In this episode George joins former Guardian columnist Professor Gary Younge to unveil the power dynamics that shape our world, sheddi...
May 03, 2024•1 hr 13 min
With the majority of today's youths in the UK having more than a 50% change of living past 90, the key question becomes: how do we live well for longer? How can our health span match our growing life span? From healthy habits to the larger role which societies must play in shifting approaches to ageing and health, economist and longevity expert Andrew Scott explores the systemic impact, and potential, of our lengthening lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 30, 2024•44 min
