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One series at a time, we break down complex issues into simple questions. 

Subscribe to the podcast here: https://mind-over-chatter.captivate.fm/listen 

In this first series, we’ll explore climate change. Climate change is likely to affect almost every area of our lives… like a toddler with sticky fingers. But how did it become this way? What are we doing about it now? And what does the future hold?

We’ll ask smart people some simple questions and see what happens!

New episodes every Thursday.

From the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero

Mind Over Chatter, the Cambridge University Podcast!

ACADEMY OF IDEAL

1441 - John - Sarah - Music

1 John 02

Ben talks about two movies he saw recently.

1517  Movie Take

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival (battleofideas.org.uk) on Sunday 14 October 2018.

Transhumanists aspire to go beyond the biological and other limitations of our species, including the human body and the human lifespan. Recent scientific and medical developments suggest we have more control over biology than ever before, with genome editing allowing us to make precise alterations to our DNA. Does transhumanism represent a confident belief in the human potential or does it underestimate the extent to which humanity has always transcended natural limitations? Do transhumanists perceive themselves as subjects of change, consciously bringing about radical transformation, or as objects of change giving themselves over to forces that have their own inexorable logic?

SPEAKERS

SANDY STARR
communications manager, Progress Educational Trust

DR GÜNES TAYLOR
researcher, Francis Crick Institute

DR DAVID WOOD
chair, London Futurists; author, The Abolition of Ageing: the
forthcoming radical extension of healthy human longevity

CHAIR: NIKOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS
lecturer in sociology, York St John University; author, The Rise of Lifestyle Activism: from new left to Occupy

Battle of Ideas 2018

Transhumanism: who wants to live forever?

A recording of the debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018 (https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/automatic-lovers-should-we-be-worried-about-sex-robots/)

Science fiction has long explored the use of robots for sex, but the application of new technologies has been pushing the boundaries of sexuality towards the mechanical in real life. Interaction with fully functioning robotic sexual partners could soon be a practical alternative to actual sex. Advocates claim many people could benefit, from men who struggle with intimacy to women trafficked into sex work. Critics claim sex robots are a ‘pornified’ ideal of female sexuality and they are concerned about how these robotic partners will represent women. So are sex robots an innovation to be embraced or a step towards sexual dystopia? 

DR PIERS BENN
adjunct professor at Fordham University London Centre

DR KATE DEVLIN
senior lecturer in social and cultural AI, King’s College London; author, Turned On: the science of the sex robot

SIMON EVANS
comedian; regular panellist, BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz

TIMANDRA HARKNESS
journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, FutureProofing; author, Big Data: does size matter?

Automatic lovers: should we be worried about sex robots?

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/understanding-anti-semitism-today/

From racist attacks to ominous  propaganda, anti-Semitism appears to be  making a comeback in Europe. In the UK,  the Labour Party has been very publicly  split over how it deals with the issue.  In one respect, it looks like the simple  return of what has been called ‘the longest  hatred’. But while anti-Semitism has long  been seen as a right-wing phenomenon,  particularly since the Nazis, today’s anti-  Semites are more likely to rail against Jews  in the name of the Palestinians, a favourite  cause of the left. Is hatred of Jews really on  the rise? Is it re-emerging in new forms?  

RICHARD ANGELL  
director, Progress; elected member,  TUC’s LGBT committee; formerly worked  for All Party Parliamentary Group on  Combatting Antisemitism  

DR STEPHEN LAW
philosopher; author, The War For Children’s  Minds  

BRENDAN O’NEILL  
editor, spiked; columnist, Penthouse; writer  the Sun and the Spectator; author, A Duty  to Offend  

JULIAN PETLEY  
professor of journalism, Brunel University;  editorial board member, British Journalism  Review; principal editor, Journal of British  Cinema and Television  

MELANIE PHILLIPS
columnist, The Times; regular panellist,  BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze; author, The  Legacy and best-selling book, Londonistan  

CHAIR: JACOB FUREDI  
junior commissioning editor, Daily Mail

Battle of Ideas Festival 2018

Understanding anti-Semitism today

1978 - from the "Bouyancy" collection on Cosmic Sounds
http://www.cosmicsounds-london.com/

"Motive" - Tone Jansa Quartet

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2018 (https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-robots-to-ubi-is-capitalism-digging-its-own-grave/)

After the fall of the Soviet Union, a broad political consensus emerged that ‘there is no alternative’ to capitalism, which even the 2008 financial crash did little to disturb. But now things appear to be changing, with support for politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders who call for a new way of organising the economy. A slew of recent books, epitomised by Paul Mason’s Post-Capitalism, argue that technological innovations have opened up ways to transcend capitalism from within. Are we now seeing the arrival of capitalism’s ‘undertaker’ in the shape of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation? Could it be true - is capitalism’s time nearly up? 

AARON BASTANI
co-founder, Novara Media; author, Fully Automated Luxury Communism: a manifesto

ROBERT HARRIES
membership coordinator, education trade association 

WENDY LIU 
software developer; editor, economics section, New Socialist 

NIKOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS 
lecturer in sociology, York St John University; author, The Rise of Lifestyle Activism: from new left to Occupy

PROFESSOR GUY STANDING 
professorial research associate, SOAS, University of London; author, Basic Income: and how we can make it happen 

CHAIR: ROB LYONS 
convenor, Academy of Ideas Economy Forum

From robots to UBI: is capitalism digging its own grave?

Why is ‘natural’ so often regarded positively, and ‘man-made’ and ‘artificial’ negatively? Many people favour ‘natural’ products, even though they are also a product of mass production. We worry about the use of chemicals in our homes, food, clothing and farms even when an ‘artificial’ intervention can be beneficial for both humans and natural flora and fauna. We worry about greenhouse gases warming the Earth while demanding ever greater economic growth. Is there a way out of such contradictions? Do they simply reflect two very reasonable if sometimes opposing goals for the future? How should we view our relationship to nature today?

BEN COBLEY
author, The Tribe: the liberal-left and the system of diversity; blogger, A Free Left Blog

LYNNE DAVIS
engagement lead, RSA Food Farming and Countryside Commission

CAROLINE DRUMMOND
chief executive, LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming)

AUSTIN WILLIAMS
author, China’s Urban Revolution: understanding Chinese eco-cities

CHAIR: DR HELENE GULDBERG
lecturer in psychology, Open University; author, Just Another Ape?

Humanity and nature: it's complicated...

Sarah and Todd talk about high school and mention many phrasal verbs along the the discussion.

High School - Phrasal Verbs

John and Sarah discuss it students should be taught music in school.

One series at a time, we break down complex issues into simple questions. 
Subscribe to the podcast here: https://mind-over-chatter.captivate.fm/listen

In this first series, we’ll explore climate change. Climate change is likely to affect almost every area of our lives… like a toddler with sticky fingers. But how did it become this way? What are we doing about it now? And what does the future hold?

We’ll ask smart people some simple questions and see what happens!

New episodes every Thursday.

From the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero

Welcome to Mind Over Chatter, the Cambridge University Podcast!

Climate change is likely to affect almost every area of our lives… but how did we get to this point? When and why did we first take notice of climate change? And why has climate change evaded our collective attention and action for so long?

We talked with professor of human geography, Mike Hulme,, science historian and journalist Dr Sarah Dry and environmental economist Dr Matthew Agarwala to try to figure all of this out. Along the way, we discovered new ways of thinking about climate change, from a tragic story where the issue is constantly caught between opposing forces, to more hopefully thinking of it as a source of generative change and innovation. 

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan and Naomi Clements-Brod. 

From the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero

Navigating the values of climate change

Last episode, we talked about how we got to where we are now with climate change, but do we even know what’s going on with climate change right now? In this episode we’ll talk about what tipping points we’re approaching, how and why we’re still struggling to gain momentum toward action on climate change, and what difference it would make if carbon dioxide was a brown smelly substance.

To figure all of this out, we talked to a mathematician, Emily Shuckburgh, an engineer Hugh Hunt and a psychologist, Sander van der Linden. 

Along the way, we discuss solutions like geoengineering, creating a fake news ‘vaccine’ and opportunities for businesses to be more transparent about how their activities contribute to climate change. If you’re curious to find out more specific ideas about how we can build a greener future, check out Cambridge Zero’s Green Recovery Report here: https://www.zero.cam.ac.uk/green-recovery-report 

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, and Naomi Clements-Brod.

What are we (as a global community) doing right now?

The future is becoming harder to predict thanks to climate change and a global pandemic. But a large part of what the future will look like is in our own hands. The biggest challenge to creating a better future may be political rather than scientific or technological. 

Subscribe to the podcast here: mind-over-chatter.captivate.fm/listen

In this episode, Diane Coyle, professor of public policy, Laura Diaz Anadon, professor of climate change policy, and architectural engineer, Ruchi Choudhary, join us to talk about how we can build a future that might not be anything like the past.

We cover topics like innovation, GDP, and how the uncertainty created by climate change can help propel policy and economic decisions. Plus, we look at some of the benefits that come with building a greener future together. 

Please take our survey. https://bit.ly/38uXJaG
How did you find us? Do you want more Mind Over Chatter in your life? Less? We want to know. So we put together this survey. If you could please take a few minutes to fill it out, it would be a big help.

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, and Naomi Clements-Brod.

Creating a future that is not like the past

How and what we eat, and where our food comes from, these everyday choices that we often think very little about, have become increasingly relevant to climate change. 

Subscribe to the podcast here: https://mind-over-chatter.captivate.fm/listen 

With a global population projected to reach 10 billion by 2050, it is not unreasonable to ask: how are we going to feed all these people... and without causing more damage? 

In this episode we’ll cover everything from how climate change will affect the way we grow and eat food, to the pros and cons of ‘non-poo’ fertiliser. Sound appetising?

Giles Oldroyd, professor of plant science at the new Cambridge Crop Science Centre, Helen Anne Curry, lecturer in the history of modern science and technology, and developmental economist, Shailaja Fennell, helped us connect the dots between food and climate change. They discuss how we ensure people around the world will still have food to eat as the climate becomes more unpredictable.

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, and Naomi Clements-Brod. 

Please take our survey. https://bit.ly/38uXJaG
How did you find us? Do you want more Mind Over Chatter in your life? Less? We want to know. So we put together this survey. If you could please take a few minutes to fill it out, it would be a big help.

Guest Bios: 

Dr Helen Anne Curry (@hacurry)

My current research focuses on the history of efforts to understand and use crop diversity as a resource for agricultural development. In August 2020 I launched the project 'From Collection to Cultivation: Historical Perspectives on Crop Diversity and Food Security'. This project has its origins in my investigation of history of genetic conservation, especially the preservation of seeds and other plant materials in seed and gene banks. It is also the subject of my current book project, Endangered Maize: Indigenous Corn, Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction. 

Dr Shailaja Fennell (@shailajafennell) 

Shailaja Fennell is a Co-Investigator on TIGR2ESS, a research programme to study how to improve crop productivity and water use, identify appropriate crops and farming practices for sustainable rural development. She is also a Co-Investigator on MillNeti, a sister research programme (2019-2021) that is focussed on how to improve iron nutrition status of people living in Ethiopia and The Gambia by assessing the bioavailability of iron from biofortified millet. Her work package focuses on the use of quantitative and qualitative surveys to understand how millets are currently grown, processed, cooked and consumed in focus villages in The Gambia and Ethiopia. 

Professor Giles Oldroyd (@gilesdoldroyd) 

Professor Giles Oldroyd studies the mechanisms by which plants form beneficial interactions with micro-organisms, both bacteria and fungi, that aid in the uptake of nutrients from the environment, including nitrogen. A long-term aim of this research is to reduce agricultural reliance on inorganic fertilisers and he currently heads an international programme funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to engineer nitrogen-fixing cereals.

How to feed 10 Billion people

University of Cambridge