Rowan Conway, Charles Leadbeater, Jennie Winhall and Payal Dalal present a new approach to accelerating and sustaining social innovation. See a problem; develop a solution; help it scale and spread; change the system for good. This is the goal of every social venture. But the reality for many social businesses is that they often struggle to spread their ideas locally, let alone globally. Do we need a new way of thinking about how social enterprise can help make change happen in the world? This e...
Sep 13, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 291
Journalist Jack Shenker uncovers the root causes of our institutional chaos and explores the new political movements putting the people at the centre of power. Years of uncertainty and stagnation have exposed the failings of a political system no longer fit for purpose, from our leaders and their parties to the processes that select them. But disillusionment with the traditional levers of government has not, as we’re often told, just led to disengagement and defeatism: it has given rise to a pow...
Sep 13, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 290
Model, actor and entrepreneur Lily Cole explores how tech-focused innovation and planet-centric design can help us tackle the climate crisis and work towards a better world in the future. This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/lily-cole/
Aug 20, 2019•25 min•Ep. 289
Sustainability expert Solitaire Townsend delivers a dose of climate optimism and shares how to feel good by doing good. This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/how-to-change-your-life-by-changing-the-world/?pillar_id=&location=43433
Aug 20, 2019•30 min•Ep. 288
A panel gathers to explore the policy ideas urgently needed to address climate emergency, and how they could become reality. This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/ideas-to-fix-the-future/?pillar_id=&location=43433
Aug 20, 2019•43 min•Ep. 287
Campaigner Gina Martin shares her top tips for aspiring change-makers. This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/toolkit-for-activists/?pillar_id=&location=43433
Aug 20, 2019•29 min•Ep. 286
Economist Guy Standing asks: what it would take for us to be a happier, more equal and prosperous society? This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/a-manifesto-for-the-common-good/?pillar_id=&location=43433
Aug 20, 2019•26 min•Ep. 285
The Guardian’s John Harris speaks to the environmental campaigners putting climate change at the top of the public agenda. This event was recorded live at Wilderness Festival on Saturday 31st July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.wildernessfestival.com/programme/climate-change-time-to-act/?pillar_id=&location=43433
Aug 20, 2019•52 min•Ep. 284
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP and Sir Ian Cheshire are joined by an expert panel at the launch of the RSA Food, Farming and Countryside Commission final report. We have worked with farming and food businesses, public health and citizens groups, environment and economics experts and many more to understand how we can respond more effectively and urgently to global and domestic challenges, from climate change to spiralling diet-related ill health. This event was recorded live at Tuesday 16th July 2019. D...
Aug 20, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 283
What does it mean to be young in the UK today? A group of writers and activists share their stories with author and editor Nikesh Shukla. One in four people under twenty-five in the UK will be affected by mental illness. Over half of people under twenty-five have looked for advice on homelessness. University fees are rising, job opportunities are drying up, and buying a house is out of reach for all but a privileged few. This event was recorded live at Thursday 11th July 2019. Discover more abou...
Aug 20, 2019•55 min•Ep. 282
Leading designers explore the role of cross-cultural exchange in making design a force for change both locally and globally. With Morag Myerscough RDI and Abdulrahman Gazzaz, Bricklab. This event was recorded live at Monday 8th July 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/07/mission-driven-design
Aug 20, 2019•58 min•Ep. 281
What happens when reality surprises us? Writer Michael Blastland explores the curious anomalies that our usual modes of thinking struggle to explain. In a bid to understand the world, we develop theories – in science, medicine, psychology, economics – designed to discern patterns and order. But we encounter mysteries and surprises that these theories cannot explain; curious irregularities that mess up our attempts to comprehend the world. This is down to the ‘hidden half’ – the random, unknowabl...
Aug 20, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 280
Economist Jonathan Aldred reveals the extraordinary hold economics has on our morals and values. In his new book Licence to be Bad – How Economics Corrupted Us, Aldred tells the story of how a group of economic theorists changed our world, and how a handful of key ideas, from free-riding to Nudge, seeped into our decision-making, and, indeed, almost every aspect of our lives. This event was recorded live at Thursday 27th June 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/even...
Jun 28, 2019•57 min•Ep. 279
One of the world’s leading evolutionary thinkers David Sloan Wilson offers a bold new approach to solving the problems of our age. Darwin's theory of evolution provides a single theoretical framework for biology, and all life sciences, today. But among humanities scholars, it is widely assumed that our rich cultural and behavioural development operates outside the rules of evolutionary theory. In fact, Darwin's theory has been considered taboo in the study of the social sciences, in the light of...
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 278
Join us for the annual SDA ceremony and a keynote talk by designer Kate Dundas, planning leader for the City of Melbourne. The RSA Student Design Awards is a global competition focused around a set of project briefs that challenge participants to tackle the big issues of our time through design thinking. Winners receive practical and financial support from the RSA and our partners, as well as the opportunity to join a remarkably diverse community of alumni. This event was recorded live at Wednes...
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 277
Expert facilitator Priya Parker shows how simple changes can transform the ways we spend our time together – at work, home, and in our communities. Catch up on the conversation between Priya Parker and Rowan Conway after Priya's gathering experience at the RSA. We spend our lives gathering – at home, at school, in the workplace, in our communities and beyond. And yet all too often these occasions are lacklustre and unproductive. We rely too much on convention and routine, failing to focus on the...
Jun 12, 2019•26 min•Ep. 276
How do you get your passion project off the ground without sacrificing your sanity? Start-up founder Bec Evans offers a complete guide to making ideas happen. Many of us want to do and be more. We want to have ideas, create something new, go beyond the confines of our day-job and start something of our own. But once you have that lightbulb moment, what does it actually take to get an idea into the world? How do you overcome lack of confidence, experience, time and money? This event was recorded ...
Jun 07, 2019•57 min•Ep. 275
Economist Matthias Doepke reveals the impact of economic forces and growing inequality on how parents are raising their children. In many societies, we are now witnessing a growing “parenting gap” in response to rising economic inequality, with rich families able to plough greater resources into their children’s social, cultural and educational development as the social mobility stakes grow higher. This event was recorded live at Thursday 30th May 2019. Discover more about this event here: https...
May 31, 2019•56 min•Ep. 274
Renowned writer Amitav Ghosh explores the role of stories in understanding our place in the world and reframing how we approach the biggest challenge of our era. We were told we were nearing the end of history; that globalisation would lift millions out of poverty, and that the onward march of time would bring unprecedented peace and stability across the world. But globalisation is delivering on its promises only to a powerful minority, and the result is a global system that our planet can’t sus...
May 31, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 273
What does it mean to be human in the digital age? Writer and broadcaster Paul Mason explores how to defend our rights and freedoms against the forces that threaten our humanity. As we move towards a future defined by artificial intelligence, we must make a choice: will we accept machine control of human beings, or resist it? The logic of machines and market forces threaten to reduce us to little more than consumers whose every action can be programmed, leading some to declare that ‘humanity is o...
May 24, 2019•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 272
What’s gone wrong with our workplace culture? Dan Lyons explores how we can put people back at the centre of our working practices. Welcome to work in the modern economy, where the climate is cultish and management fads rule. Silicon Valley workplace culture has filtered through to other industries, dehumanising our working practices and putting tech in the driving seat. In a rapidly transforming world where entire industries are collapsing, companies scrabble to reprogramme their workforce to a...
May 15, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 271
Sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee looks at the big challenges facing Earth and offers guidance on what we can all do to help humanity thrive on our only planet. Should we frack? Should we fly? Do we all need to become vegetarian? What about population growth? Faced with so many pressing environmental questions and dilemmas, and a sense that time’s rapidly running out to make a difference, it’s no wonder that for many people this all adds up to a feeling of despair and paralysis. This event ...
May 09, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 270
In a new report presented to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, world authority on basic income Dr Guy Standing sets out how the idea could become a UK reality. An effective pilot has the ability to demonstrate the strengths or shortcomings of a basic income scheme. Pilots have been tried in many countries, most recently in Finland and the Netherlands. Now, Dr Standing argues, it is the UK’s turn. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 7th May 2019. Discover more about this even...
May 07, 2019•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 269
Renowned psychology professor Jennifer Eberhardt examines how racial bias affects every sector of society, and how we can work to overcome it. Drawing on scientific studies, investigative insights and personal experience, Jennifer Eberhardt explores the far-reaching and devastating consequences of racial bias. Such bias is not an innate and inevitable evil, she argues, but a universal human problem to be addressed. By acknowledging sometimes uncomfortable truths about how we perceive the world a...
Apr 26, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 268
Award-winning journalist, author and hit podcaster Elizabeth Day shares the valuable life lessons to be learned from things going wrong. In her new book, Elizabeth shares honest, uplifting stories of her own experience of failure, as well as insights gleaned from her interviews with people from all walks of life who found that life’s twists, turns and tragedies shaped them far more profoundly than the times of plain sailing. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 11th April 2019. Di...
Apr 16, 2019•59 min•Ep. 267
One of the world’s most influential public thinkers Cass Sunstein explores the different ways that social change can happen, from nudges to movements to cascades. Drawing from two new books On Freedom and How Change Happens, Sunstein explores the myriad ways that change can happen at both individual and social scale, ranging from gradual nudges, to growing movements to sudden cascades. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 4th April 2019. Discover more about this event here: https:...
Apr 04, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 266
How can storytelling help us navigate the world around us? Writer Will Storr explores the science behind humanity’s most powerful tool. Stories shape as well as reflect the world we live in, moulding our cultural identities, framing our politics and beliefs, and giving meaning to our experiences. Storytelling runs throughout our individual and collective lives, from our newspapers and our law courts to our religions, our song lyrics, and our teenage diaries. It’s out of these stories that our co...
Mar 29, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 265
How does class background affect our prospects in the workplace and in life? Sociologist Sam Friedman shares his insights into the hidden barriers to equality in elite occupations. Social mobility is a goal often hailed by politicians and voters across the spectrum, but evidence shows that we’re falling short of the meritocratic ideal. The effects of social class are shown to follow us throughout our lives in intangible ways, dictating how we are perceived by others, opening or closing doors to ...
Mar 22, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 264
Caroline Lucas MP is joined by Professor David Runciman to discuss the urgent need for reform of our political systems in order to confront the intractable challenge of climate change. Liberal democracy is coming apart, under threat from the rise of populism and increasingly unable to deliver the solutions to the multiple challenges facing society. We urgently need bold and radical ideas - not just for the policies we need to tackle the many crises we face - but for the processes necessary to un...
Mar 19, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 263
What’s missing from our public life? Renowned economist Raghuram Rajan explores the power of community in a world that’s left civil society behind. An assumption underlying the politics and economics of the moment goes like this: that what matters are governments and markets, and the interaction between them. What about the rest of society? The ‘third pillar’ – community – has been forgotten in a world increasingly shaped by globalisation and technological innovation. Focusing on the state and t...
Mar 14, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 262
