Speaker(s): Rolf Dobelli | Rolf Dobelli argues that we are swayed by cognitive biases when making decisions. By knowing what they are and how to spot them, we can avoid them and make better choices. In this lecture, Rolf will guide us through the most common errors of judgement and how to avoid them. It will transform your decision making – at work, at home, every day. Rolf Dobelli is a Swiss writer and entrepreneur. He has an MBA and a PhD in economic philosophy from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and is a co-founder of getAbstract, the world's leading provider of book summaries. Dobelli is also founder and curator of Zurich.Minds, an invitation-only community of the most distinguished thinkers, scientists and artists. His book, The Art of Thinking Clearly has sold in over 17 languages and has been a massive bestseller in Europe. Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The Art of Thinking Clearly: Better Thinking, Better Decisions [Audio]

Computer algorithms shape our lives and increasingly control our future. They have crept into virtually every aspect of modern life and are making life-changing choices on our behalf, often without us realising. But how much power should we give to them and have we let things go too far? Joanna Bale talks to Ken Benoit, Andrew Murray, Seeta Peña Gangaradhan, Alison Powell and Bernhard Von Stengel.
Research links: Hello World by Hannah Fry; 
Information Technology Law: The Law and Society by Andrew Murray; 
Explanations as Governance? Investigating practices of explanation in algorithmic system design by Alison Powell (forthcoming).

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Do algorithms have too much power?

What does the post-pandemic future hold for office workers? Will we drift back to old ways of working, or continue with hybrid/remote working? What do the experts advise on how best to adapt?

Joanna Bale talks to LSE’s Connson Locke, Grace Lordan and Carsten Sorensen, as well as Hailley Griffis, a social media management company executive, who believes that offices will soon become extinct.

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LSE IQ podcast

Has COVID killed the office?

This episode of LSE iQ asks do we need the arts to change the world?  

As the UK government looks to recover from the costs of the pandemic its decision to cut funding for creative higher education courses could be seen as a pragmatic response to the changed world or a short-signted move. LSE IQ talks to researchers who have used the creative arts to communicate their findings, and the President of the British Academy, about why the SHAPE (the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy) campaign is so important for today’s world.  

We’ll be hearing from Dr Alexandra Gomes, co-creator of Kuwaitscapes (More on the research project that inspired the game, and to download the Kuwaitscapes game), Professor Patrick Wallis, who created an audio drama from the records of a historical document discovered about the Lock Asylum, a home for down-and-out women, Professor Emily Jackson, whose work on fertility has led to a change in the law, and British Academy President and LSE Professor Julia Black, who is spearheading the SHAPE campaign.  

 
Dr Alexandra Gomes, Research Fellow, LSE Cities and co-creator of the Kuwaitscapes card.   

Professor Patrick Wallis, Professor of Economic History, Department of Economic History, LSE  

Professor Emily Jackson, Professor of Law, LSE Law School 

Professor Julia Black, Head of Innovation, LSE, and President, the British Academy.

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Do we need the arts to change the world?

In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University about her new book, with Lainey Newman, Rust Belt Union Blues Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party. Using Western Pennsylvania as a case study, their book examines the decline of labor unions and the shift of working-class voters away from the Democratic Party. We also discussed the appeal of Donald Trump to blue-collar voters and how unions might regain their previous role in American community life.

This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan.  

Contributors: Theda Skocpol (Harvard University)

LSE: The Ballpark | Rust Belt Union Blues with Professor Theda Skocpol

In August 2025, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held its 25th annual summit in Tianjin, China, with the country’s leader Xi Jinping, hosting representatives from more than 20 countries including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi. The absence of the United States in this gathering of global leaders may tell us about how China is competing with the US and building its own global order.

To discuss China’s strategic competition with the US, and how it is evolving under the Trump administration, in September 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Evan Medeiros, the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies and the Cling Family Senior Fellow in US-China Relations at Georgetown University.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	“China and Russia Will Not Be Split”, Michael McFaul and Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 4 April 2025
•	Medeiros, E. S., & Polk, A. (2025). China’s New Economic Weapons. The Washington Quarterly, 48(1), 99–123. 
•	“U.S.-China Relations for the 2030s: Toward a Realistic Scenario for Coexistence”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”, 17 October 2024
•	“The Delusion of Peak China”, Evan S. Medeiros, Foreign Affairs, 24 April 2024

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LSE: The Ballpark | US-China strategic competition with Professor Evan Medeiros

Will artificial intelligence cause huge unemployment? Will it free us from working? Will it replace us? In this special edition of LSE iQ, Sophie Mallett sits down with Professor Judy Wajcman, LSE’s Emeritus Professor of Sociology and one of the world’s leading voices on technology and society. Together, they explore one of the biggest questions of our time: what does artificial intelligence really mean for the future of work? 
 
In this wide-ranging conversation, Judy shares what really saves people time, talks about the fear of job replacement, and warns of the dangers of letting the most powerful tech companies design the future 
From Silicon Valley boardrooms to everyday lives, Judy challenges us to think differently about progress, productivity, and what we truly value as work. 
Contributors: Judy Wacjman  
Research links:  
From connection to optimisation 
How Silicon Valley sets time 
Feminism confronts AI: the gender relations of digitalisation 
LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science. 


Will AI free us from work?

The last three decades have seen China’s economic rise. Alongside this, China has become much more influential on the global stage, emerging as a competitor to the United States in many arenas, including as a technology and innovation leader. China has accomplished all this while continuing to be an authoritarian state, which is at odds with many conventional ideas about the relationship between autocracies and technology. 

To discuss China’s technological rise in the context of its autocratic government, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Jennifer Lind, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and a leading expert on the international relations of East Asia, about her new book, Autocracy 2.0 How China's Rise Reinvented Tyranny.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	Autocracy 2.0 How China's Rise Reinvented Tyranny by Jennifer Lind (Cornell University Press, 2025)
•	Jennifer Lind and Michael Mastanduno. Hard Then, Harder Now: CoCom’s Lessons and the Challenge of Crafting Effective Export Controls Against China - Texas National Security Review (2025)
•	Blue Blaze on Substack

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LSE: The Ballpark | Autocracy 2.0: How China’s Rise Reinvented Tyranny with Dr Jennifer Lind

As long as there has been photographic and video imagery, there have been manipulated videos and photos. But only in the last decade or so have the public become aware of what are known as “deepfakes”, computer or AI generated fake images, often of celebrities. The spread of deepfake imagery raises questions about truth and authenticity online – can we still trust what we see on screen?

To discuss deepfakes, and the idea of trust and authenticity in the digital sphere more broadly, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Gili Vidan, Assistant Professor of Information Science at Cornell University’s Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

•	Robert Chesney & Danielle K. Citron, Deep Fakes: A Looming Challenge for Privacy, Democracy, and National Security,107 California Law Review 1753 (2019).
•	Habgood-Coote, Joshua (2023). Deepfakes and the epistemic apocalypse. Synthese 201 (3):1-23.

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LSE: The Ballpark | AI and deepfakes with Dr Gili Vidan

It seems every week we hear a new report of a cyber-attack. Recent examples include the hacks on Marks and Spencer's, Jaguar Land Rover, and the Co-op, all causing massive economic disruption.    

While these attacks seem to have come from cyber criminals working within the UK rather than other nation states, they highlight the destruction that cyber-attacks can wreak. What if those attacks were on our critical infrastructure? Our national grid? Our water supply? Is the UK prepared? 

Charlotte Kelloway meets former Director of Operations and Intelligence for the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Nigel Inkster, who discusses when a cyber-attack could constitute a declaration of war.  

She also talks to former Director Cyber in the Foreign Office and Associate Dean for Strategic Development at the LSE School of Public Policy Professor Alexander Evans about what the UK is doing defensively and offensively to prevent cyber-attacks.  

Dr Lauren Sukin from Nuffield College at the University of Oxford explains why there is a lack of regulation in the cyberwar space and explores if depictions of cyberwar in the media are realistic.  

Contributors: Professor Alexander Evans, Dr Lauren Sukin, Nigel Inkster    

Research links:  

Lauren Sukin: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00220027231153580  

Nigel Inkster: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Decoupling-Struggle-Technological-Supremacy/dp/1787383830  

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.  

Will the next World War be a cyberwar?

Since returning to the White House for his second term in January 2025, Donald Trump has renewed his “America First” agenda by pursing a transactional approach to diplomacy and a desire to limit the US’ involvement overseas. This in turn is remoulding the global order.

To discuss Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and the US’ place in the changing world order, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	Charles A. Kupchan., No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn (Oxford Academic, 2012),
•	Charles A. Kupchan, Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).
•	The promise and peril of Trump's America first – LSE Phelan US Centre event, including links to event video and podcast recording

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LSE: The Ballpark | The promise and peril of Trump’s America First with Professor Charles Kupchan

This year LSE is celebrating its 130th anniversary, and how it has shaped history and driven change across the world. Much of LSE’s history is linked to the United States, from philanthropic support from the US in LSE’s early days to famous alumni and American directors of the School.

To talk about the LSE’s long and close relationship with the United States, in October 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Michael Cox. Professor Cox is a Founding Director of LSE IDEAS, LSE's foreign policy think tank, and was its Director between 2008 and 2019. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE and has been writing a history of LSE.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	Cox, Michael, John Ikenberry, and Takashi Inoguchi (eds), American Democracy Promotion: Impulses, Strategies, and Impacts (Oxford University Press, 2000)
•	Cox, M., & Stokes, D. (Eds.), US Foreign Policy (Oxford University Press, 2026)
•	Celebrating LSE's 130th anniversary

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LSE: The Ballpark | LSE at 130 and the United States with Professor Michael Cox

The last 40 years have seen a sharp decline in America’s manufacturing industries with growing joblessness in many previously prosperous industrial regions of the US. 

But how and why did these job losses happen, and how did the US move from an economy based on manufacturing to one that’s now based on services? And what can be done to help workers affected by technological disruption in what are called “left-behind places”?

To discuss the origins of job loss, left behind places, and the place-based policies that can help them, in November 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Gordon Hanson, the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Hanson is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse, New York Times, 14 July 2025
•	Reimagining the Economy at Harvard Kennedy School
•	What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth

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LSE: The Ballpark | How to help left behind regions and workers with Professor Gordon Hanson

Recent years have seen growth in the capability and use of AI tools across society, including by business, academia, the media, and in the economy more widely. Many institutions have embraced AI tools and models such as ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Gemini (Google) to provide solutions to a variety of challenges, from the everyday to the global. At the same time, many commentators have expressed concerns about bias in AI, its contribution to other global challenges like climate change, and that it may even be a threat to society or democracy.

In 2025, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for master’s students with the prompt, “Is AI a threat or an opportunity for the US?” 

In this episode we spoke to the author of the winning essay, Kayode Adeniyi, and the runners-up, Natasha Chávez and Francesca Nicolodi. We discussed their essays, the competition, what it’s like for students to engage with a wider audience, and the opportunity they had to present their essays in the UK parliament to MPs and the British-American Parliamentary Group.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Read the essays from the winner and runners-up on the Phelan US Centre’s USAPP blog

•	AI in the US: The Next Space Race or the Next Subprime Crisis? - Kayode Adeniyi - LSE Department of Management (winner)
•	The AI race: will the US lead or fall behind? - Natasha Chávez - LSE Department of International Relations (runner-up)
•	Trump’s hunger for AI domination is allowing Silicon Valley to seize the state but not its people - Francesca Nicolodi - LSE Department of Social Policy (runner-up)

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LSE: The Ballpark | “Is AI a threat or an opportunity for the US?” Master’s students essay competition for 2025

To talk about the current state of US-China relations, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a leading authority on Chinese economic policy and US-China commercial relations.

The discussion conversation covered the October 2025 deal between US president Donald Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping, the state of relations between China and the US two countries during the first months of the second Trump presidency, and the insights that can be gained by speaking to scholars and experts on the ground in China.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	China Field Notes podcast – with Scott Kennedy
•	The Center for Strategic and International Studies 
•	China’s Tech Obsession Is Weighing Down Its Economy – Scott Kennedy and Scott Rozelle – Foreign Policy, 10 October 2025
•	Red Ink: Estimating Chinese Industrial Policy Spending in Comparative Perspective by Gerard DiPippo, Ilaria Mazzocco, Scott Kennedy, and Matthew P. Goodman – CSIS – 23 May 2022

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LSE: The Ballpark | US-China relations in an era of illiberalism with Dr Scott Kennedy

What does the future of work really look like?  

 

Many workers today face unstable contracts, insecure employment, and widening inequalities. Yet, at the same time, rapid technological change and advances in AI are transforming productivity, reducing repetitive tasks, and opening new possibilities for creativity and flexible working.  

In this episode of LSE iQ, Maayan Arad explores how work is changing, and what it will take to ensure these shifts benefit everyone. He speaks to leading experts on job quality, AI, and remote work models that could reshape economies and communities worldwide.  

Dr Kirsten Sehnbruch from LSE’s International Inequalities Institute explains why improving job quality - not just quantity - is essential for tackling global inequalities and creating fairer labour markets.  

Professor Raj Choudhury from LSE’s Department of Management reveals how the ability to work from anywhere could reverse the ‘brain drain’ from smaller towns and rural regions.  

Fabien Curto Millet, Chief Economist at Google, discusses how artificial intelligence is reshaping creativity, productivity, and the nature of work - and gives advice for graduates entering the workplace.  

Together, they explore big questions about the future of work, from the rise of location flexible jobs to the impact of AI on human skills, innovation, and economic opportunity. 


Contributors: Kirsten Sehnbruch, Raj Choudhury, Fabien Curto Millet.  

Research links:  

Https://prithwirajchoudhury.com/the-world-is-your-office/ 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/19/jobs-ai-skills-training/ 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504851.2022.2156460 

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2024/09/17/why-the-flexicurity-model-of-the-labour-market-is-not-sustainable/ 

Are jobs getting better?

America is undergoing profound change. Demographic transformation, shifting global power dynamics, and a foreign policy establishment in transition are reshaping how the United States sees itself—and how the world responds.

These shifts raise fundamental questions: What does a more diverse America mean for its global role? As new voices emerge, how do longstanding foreign policy elites adapt, or will they lose influence? Given all these factors, how has the second Trump administration differed in its foreign policymaking? And how are rapid technological changes, including AI, reframing global governance?

To explore these issues, in November 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and a leading thinker on global governance, democracy, and U.S. foreign policy. The conversation ranged from demographic upheaval to America’s evolving relationship with global partners, the legacy of East Coast foreign policy elites, and the challenges America faces in its 250th anniversary year.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	For business, DEI should be an economic priority, Anne Marie Slaughter – Financial Times - 28 August 2024
•	A New World Order, Anne-Marie Slaughter, (Princeton University Press, 2004)
•	William H. Frey - Brookings Institution
•	Justice by Means of Democracy, Danielle Allen (The University of Chicago Press, 2023)
•	Substack resources mentioned – The Renovator; The All American
•	New America
•	America adrift: the end of the east coast foreign policy elite (for video and event podcast recording) – Phelan US Centre Event with Anne-Marie Slaughter, 12 November 2025 

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LSE: The Ballpark | America adrift with Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter

Understanding China’s role in the world has never been more important — or more complex. China projects itself variously as a moral global actor, a fiercely defensive power guarding its core interests, and a pragmatic, opportunistic player driven by economic incentives. At the same time, policymakers in the West interpret China through competing stories — from historical cycles and ideological clashes to narratives centred on national interests and the personalities of individual leaders. These overlapping perspectives shape how the US and its partners respond to China, and how stable — or unstable — the future might be.

To discuss these issues, in November 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Todd Hall, Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and Director of the University of Oxford’s China Centre. In the interview, they explored China’s “three personalities,” the politics of emotion in international relations, and the narratives that shape US–China competition. They talk about economic interdependence, climate cooperation, and how shifting perceptions influence policymaking on both sides.

Further reading and resources
•	University of Oxford China Centre - https://www.chinacentre.ox.ac.uk/ 
•	Hall, T.H. and Ross, A.A.G. (2019), Rethinking Affective Experience and Popular Emotion: World War I and the Construction of Group Emotion in International Relations. Political Psychology, 40: 1357-1372. 
•	Karl Gustafsson, Todd H Hall, The Politics of Emotions in International Relations: Who Gets to Feel What, Whose Emotions Matter, and the “History Problem” in Sino-Japanese Relations, International Studies Quarterly, Volume 65, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 973–984

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LSE: The Ballpark | China’s Three Personality Problem with Professor Todd Hall

Fertility rates are at record lows around the world, reshaping communities and even forcing some schools to close.  In 1950, the global average was around five live births per woman. Today, that number has more than halved to 2.2, and in England and Wales, it’s closer to 1.4. The UK’s falling birth rate reflects what the United Nations has described as ‘a global fertility slump’. 

In this episode of LSE iQ, Anna Bevan asks: Why are we having fewer children? 

From a closed down primary school in South London to demographic shifts unfolding across the globe, this episode explores the profound social, economic and personal forces behind declining fertility.  

Professor Berkay Ozcan explains how countries from Turkey to Chile have experienced some of the steepest drops in modern history, and why the timing of relationships, women’s careers, the economy and uncertainty about the future all play a role. 

Professor Emily Jackson, an expert in law and reproductive rights, examines the limits of governmental policies - from baby bonuses to China’s new tax on condoms - and explains why restrictive reproductive laws often have unintended consequences. 

Zoe Noble, the founder of We Are Childfree, discusses the growing global community of people choosing not to have children. She shares how one intrusive taxi ride helped spark a movement, and why blaming childfree women for falling birth rates misses the real issues. 

Is a shrinking population a problem or simply part of the natural ebb and flow of society? And what would it take to create a world people want to bring children into? 

Join us as we dig into the data, the politics and the personal choices behind one of the most important demographic stories of our time. 

Contributors:  

Berkay Ozcan, Emily Jackson and Zoe Noble 

Associated research 

The effects of unemployment on fertility (2021) 

Why are we having fewer children?

From China’s growing influence in Europe to deepening Russia–China cooperation and the ripple effects of Trump’s America First policies, Eurasia has emerged as a single, highly contested geopolitical space. These shifts are forcing countries — including India — to rethink old assumptions about alliances, security, and the global balance of power.

To discuss these issues, in November 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr C Raja Mohan, distinguished fellow at the Council on Strategic and Defence Research in Delhi and a visiting professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

Their conversation covers how Eurasia has become strategically integrated, what Trump’s return means for US allies and partners, and how India is navigating a more volatile environment as a rising middle power. They also discussed the future of regional orders in Asia and the pressures reshaping maritime and continental geopolitics.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	Ball, D, Béraud-Sudreau L, Huxley, T, Mohan, R & Taylor, B 2021, Asia's New Geopolitics: Military Power and Regional Order. Adelphi books, vol. 1, 1st edn, Routledge, London. 
•	C Raja Mohan: The West vs the Rest, a fiction, The Indian Express, 30 July 2025
•	Mohan, R 2025, India and the Rebalancing of Asia, Adelphi books, vol. 1, 1st edn, Routledge, London. 

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LSE: The Ballpark | America first and the future of Eurasian geopolitics with Dr C Raja Mohan

Speaker(s): John Milbank | After the collapse of modern quasi-religions, religions themselves have been ideologised, while at the same time atheism has become a politics and genuine religious elements challenge secular legitimacy. Once religion returns to influence, liberal religious tolerance is exposed as an attempt to marginalise religion. Decisions about what type and range of religion to allow and favour, if any at all, have now become inescapable. The new political fault lines are metaphysical, but we must strive to shape subtler metaphysical options as expressed by our practices of order, which now, as ever (following Eric Voegelin) ultimately claim to represent reality. John Milbank (@johnmilbank3) is Research Professor of Religion, Politics and Ethics and Director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham. He is the founder of the radical orthodoxy movement and author of many books, including Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason. Matthew Engelke is Professor of Anthropology at LSE. Religion and the Public Sphere (@LSE_RPS) is a research project hosted by The Institute of Public Affairs and supported by the LSE Annual Fund.

The End of Religious Freedom and the Return of Religious Influence [Audio]

For more episodes visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq. To subscribe on iTunes visit http://apple.co/2r40QPA or search for 'LSE IQ' in your favourite podcast app.

Welcome to LSE IQ, a new monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the smartest social scientists - and other experts - to answer pressing questions about economics, politics or society. 

In this episode, Jo Bale investigates how big company bosses continue to command ever increasing salaries despite shareholder rebellions, government intervention and public criticism. She talks to Sir Vince Cable of LSE's Institute of Global Affairs, Deborah Hargreaves of the High Pay Centre, Dr Dirk Jenter, Associate Professor of Finance at LSE, Professor Sandy Pepper of LSE's Department of Management and Max Steuer of LSE's Centre for Philosophy. 

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Why is CEO pay so high?

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Welcome to LSE IQ, a new monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. 

It is with alarming regularity that reports of prison violence, overcrowding and concerns over the impact of funding cuts are hitting the headlines. With 46% of all prisoners reoffending within a year of release last year, the system could be considered not just expensive and unpleasant, but failing. In this episode, Jess Winterstein takes a look at the prison system in England and Wales and asks, is our prison system broken?   

This episode features: Dr Simon Bastow, LSE Fellow, Department of Management; Professor Nicola Lacey, School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE; and Dr Sharon Shalev, a fellow of the Mannheim Centre for the Study of Criminology and Criminal Science at LSE and founder of SolitaryConfinement.org

For further information about the podcast and all the related links visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Is our prison system broken?

Speaker(s): Professor John Mearsheimer, Professor Stephen Walt | A look at the nature and activities of the 'Israel lobby' in the United States, and how various groups and individuals have encouraged policies that are unintentionally harmful to both US and Israeli interests. John Mearsheimer is at the University of Chicago. Stephen Walt is at the John F Kennedy School of Government. Tue, 6 Nov 2007 18:30:00 GMT

The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy [Audio]

Speaker(s): Professor Richard Rumelt | Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of any leader. Richard Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate motherhood and apple-pie values and fluffy packages of buzzwords with "strategy." Richard Rumelt is the Harry and Elsa Kunin Professor of Business and Society at UCLA Anderson. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:30:00 GMT

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: the difference and why it matters [Audio]

Speaker(s): Professor Dani Rodrik | Emerging and developing economies have grown much more rapidly than rich countries recently. This has led to hopes that these countries can close the gap with the advanced economies and propel world growth. Historically, rapid convergence on the part of lagging countries has been rare and episodic, and has required a "benevolent" global hegemon which regards "unorthodox" catch-up policies with benign neglect. On top, growth requires structural transformation policies which have been difficult for countries with comparative advantage in natural resources to adopt.  Together, these conditions suggest that much of the optimism with regard to continued high growth in the developing world is misplaced. Dani Rodrik is Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is one of the world's top economists, well known for his original and prescient analyses of globalisation and economic development. His latest book is The Globalization Paradox. Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:00:00 GMT

The Future of Economic Convergence [Audio]

Speaker(s): Professor Daniel Kahneman, Professor Lord Richard Layard | Two systems drive the way we think and make choices: System One is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System Two is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Over many years, Daniel Kahneman has conducted groundbreaking research into this – in his own words – "machinery of the mind". Fast thinking has extraordinary capabilities, but also faults and biases. Intuitive impressions have a pervasive influence on our thoughts and our choices. Only by understanding how the two systems work together, Kahneman shows, can we learn the truth about the role of optimism in opening up a new business, and the importance of luck in a successful corporate strategy, or the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, and the psychological pitfalls of playing the stock market. Kahneman shows where we can trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choice are made in both our business and personal lives – and how we can guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. This public conversation between Professor Kahneman and Professor Lord Layard celebrates the publication of Kahneman's new book Thinking, Fast and Slow. Daniel Kahneman is Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Princeton University and a Professor of Public Affairs Emeritus at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics for his seminal work in psychology that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making, his ideas have had a profound and widely regarded impact on many disciplines – including economics, business, law and philosophy. Until now, he has never brought together his many years of research and thinking in one book. Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, where he was, until 2003, the founder-director of the Centre for Economic Performance. He now heads the Centre's Programme on Well-Being. Since 2000 he has been a member of the House of Lords. Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT

Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman in conversation with Richard Layard [Audio]

Speaker(s): Professor Steven Mithen | What can the archaeological record of our stone age ancestors bring to our understanding of the relationship between music and language? Steven Mithen is professor of early prehistory and pro-vice chancellor at the University of Reading. He is the author of The Singing Neanderthals: the origins of music, language, mind, and body. Tue, 22 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT

Singing Neanderthals? The Evolution of Music and Language [Audio]

Sean Michael Morris, Sara Camacho Felix, Dustin Hosseini, and Lee-Ann Sequeira further explore the uncertainties faced by staff and students in the shift towards online learning and assessment

The Common Room | More Than A Pivot

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Welcome to LSE's award-winning podcast, LSE IQ, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society.

This episode is dedicated to David Graeber, LSE professor of Anthropology, who died unexpectedly in September this year. David was a public intellectual, a best-selling author, an influential activist and anarchist. 
He took aim at the pointless bureaucracy of modern life, memorably coining the term ‘bullshit jobs’. And his book ‘Debt: The First 5000 years’ was turned into a radio series by the BBC. 
But David started his academic career studying Madagascar. Anthropology interested him, he said, because he was interested in human possibilities - including the potential of societies to organise themselves without the need for a state - as he had seen in his own research. 
He was also a well-known anti-globalisation activist and a leading figure in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  
David was generous enough to do an interview for us in 2016 when LSE iQ was in its infancy. That episode asked, ‘What’s the future of work?’  and in his interview he reflected on the disappointments of technology, pointless jobs and caring labour. 
David was such an interesting speaker that we would have liked to use more of it at the time, but we didn’t have the space. Now, it feels right to bring you a lightly edited version of the interview. 

Contributors
David Graeber

Research 

The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy, published by Melville House.  
 
‘On the Phenomenon of Bullshit jobs: A work rant’, STRIKE! Magazine 

Bullshit Jobs: A theory, published by Allen Lane

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Bullshit jobs, technology, capitalism

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