Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

Thanks to Living and Dying Well for their partnership on this debate.

The question of whether assisted suicide (often known as assisted dying) is morally defensible, or should be legally permitted, is a familiar issue of medical ethics. Polls suggest that most people in Britain support a change in the law to allow it. By contrast, the British medical establishment has a longstanding record of opposition to legalisation – though there are suggestions that this may be changing. Should the law look leniently on relatives who help a patient to die? What if the patient would suffer more harm by staying alive? Indeed, should the idea of ‘harm’ be redefined and, if so, how? What would be the role of doctors, and ‘conscientious objection’, were the law to change?

Dr Jacky Davis

Dr Carol Davis

John Harris

Dr Kevin Yuill

Chair: Dr Piers Benn

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas newsletter at battleofideas.org.uk/subscribe

A recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival on Sunday 3 November 2019.

The angry exchanges in parliament after the Supreme Court ruled against prorogation were typical of the ill-tempered discourse around Brexit. This year it was also deemed acceptable to ‘milkshake’ those you disagree with. Looking at a world seemingly filled with slurs, angry social-media comments, inflammatory remarks about migrants and nasty jibes about ‘gammons’ and ‘TERFs’, many commentators have called this an age of ‘toxic politics’. Should we lament a lost civility, or is the emergence of more forthright and angry disagreements in fact a good thing? What is the line between passionate disagreement and toxic bile? How can we fi nd ways to disagree with other people constructively?

DOLAN CUMMINGS

TIMANDRA HARKNESS

DR DEBORAH E LIPSTADT

JACOB MCHANGAMA

JAMES TOOLEY

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

Earlier this year, Gillette produced an advert aimed at challenging ‘toxic masculinity’. Although somewhat frivolous, the example illustrates a growing trend among the world’s biggest companies to weigh in on social issues. In perhaps the most infamous example of all, in 2017, Pepsi released an advert with Kylie Jenner healing divisions at a protest march. The advert was widely condemned for appropriating the legacy of the civil-rights movement. But many companies seem to genuinely care about social causes. Unilever, one of the world’s biggest companies, has made ambitious environmental commitments that are priorities at all levels of the company. For some observers, this is evidence of a genuine shift in how businesses think about their role, often underpinned by new generations of employees demanding change. But critics have condemned what’s been called ‘woke capitalism’ or even ‘wokewashing’. Are 'woke' corporations a cynical attempt to curry favour with the lucrative millennial market, or should we celebrate demonstrations of corporate conscience? What does the rise of woke capitalism tell us about the prospects and possibilities for more radical change today?

Asad Dhunna

Dr Eliane Glaser

Dr Norman Lewis

Dan Mobley

Toby Young

CHAIR: Patrick Hayes

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas newsletter at battleofideas.org.uk/subscribe

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

DR ASHLEY FRAWLEY

DR BETH GUILDING

VANITY VON GLOW

CHAIR: JANE SANDEMAN

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas newsletter at battleofideas.org.uk/subscribe

Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival 2019.

Today’s political culture seems obsessed with dark, apocalyptic visions. From young people staging ‘die-ins’ to protest about the environment to talk of an ‘insect apocalypse’, fears and threats loom large. Extinction Rebellion argues that the threat of catastrophe means we must reject growth and material progress in favour of a new eco-austerity. Even proponents of new technology often see it as a means of avoiding environmental catastrophe rather than transforming the world for the better. What can we learn about the present from our attitude to the future? Do we need to recover our faith in the future – and by extension, ourselves?

DR SHAHRAR ALI

GREGORY CLAEYS

DR ASHLEY FRAWLEY

BRENDAN O’NEILL

CHAIR: JACOB REYNOLDS

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in the UK on 8 November 1979. The film had problems from the start, with its funding withdrawn by EMI films at the last minute, but it was rescued by former Beatle George Harrison putting up the money for it to be made. Forty years later, it would be nice to say that we’re more relaxed about religion and comedy. But in truth, while Christianity is considered fair game (notwithstanding the later controversy over Jerry Springer: The Opera), satirising Islam remains deeply controversial, as illustrated by the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the mealy-mouthed reaction to the killings by many supposedly liberal commentators and artists. Could Brian be made today? Why does it still work today? Have we lost the ability to ridicule the dominant ideas of our society? And have comedians, writers and producers lost their edge for fear of causing offence?

SIMON EVANS

RIA LINA

ANN MCELHINNEY

DR JOEL NATHAN ROSENJ

ANDY SHAW

CHAIR: ROB LYONS

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas newsletter at battleofideas.org.uk/subscribe

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

‘Humour is a weapon of the patriarchy.’ So says Titania McGrath, the Twitter superstar who describes herself as an activist, healer and radical intersectionalist poet. Titania has become famous for her ‘woke’ words of wisdom, such as ‘heterosexuality is a hoax’. Of course, those of us who have been following Titania’s rise to fame will know that she is, in fact, fictional – a satirical character dreamt up by the author and comedian Andrew Doyle. Boasting a Twitter following in the hundreds of thousands, Doyle’s parody of a ‘typical Guardian reader’ has managed to fool some so-called ‘social-justice warriors’ into believing Titania’s cries of oppression, as well as revealing uncomfortable truths about the degraded state of identity politics. But not everyone is a fan of Titania. Doyle has been accused of ‘punching down’ with his satire of contemporary ‘leftie’ politics. Is poking fun at social-justice campaigns merely a right-wing ploy – even though Doyle himself is a self-declared leftie? And what has it been like for Doyle, to be a comic writer in a world that sometimes seems unable to laugh at itself? Now that Titania’s real identity is out, where does she go from here?

ANDREW DOYLE

writer and comedian; author, Titania McGrath's Woke: A Guide to Social Justice

CHAIR: ELLA WHELAN

co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist and frequent commentator on TV and radio; author, What Women Want

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas newsletter at battleofideas.org.uk/subscribe

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas Festival 2019.

A recent EU report found 89 per cent of Jews living in member countries feel anti-Semitism has increased over the past decade, while 85 per cent believe it to be a serious problem. Anti-Semitism has traditionally been associated with the political right and with national chauvinism, but today it is often radical Islamists or even leftists, rather than nationalists, who are accused of prejudice against Jews. But can alleged anti-Semitism in the British Labour party really be compared to the fascist Oswald Mosley? Is anti-Zionism a distinct and legitimate position? How best can we define anti-Semitism? As Israel descends into political and, some would say, moral crisis, is it possible to criticise Israel without being anti-Semitic? And most importantly, if anti-Semitism is on the rise, how can we best combat it?

PROFESSOR FRANK FUREDI

DR DEBORAH E LIPSTADT

CHAIR: CLAIRE FOX

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas festival 2019.

Many commentators have observed that Britain enjoys, by European standards at least, a uniquely stable party-political system. In many other European countries, collapsing empires, social uprisings or world wars fuelled new parties and shifting popular allegiances. Britain, on the other hand, is notable for the longevity – and adaptability – of its established parties. But amid rising volatility, fragmentation and polarisation in the early twenty-first century, are we reaching a historic moment of change? Are new-style political ‘movements’ such as the Brexit Party or independent, local initiatives a promising way forward? Could we be on the brink of a new political landscape and, if so, how should we seek to shape it?

JONNY BALL

MIRANDA GREEN

SHERELLE JACOBS

JOHN MILLS

TOM SLATER

CHAIR: JOEL COHEN

Recording of the opening remarks from a Battle of Ideas festival satellite event on Monday 18 November 2019.

Schools are unique institutions. Their most obvious role is in relation to education and the generational transfer of knowledge. However, they also mediate between the state and parents in shaping the next generation. Schools enforce behavioural expectations and instil particular values while preparing children for the responsibilities of adulthood.

Schools have always played this role. However, over recent years the values and expectations championed by schools have become more explicitly political and more contested. From lessons on climate change and recycling to cultural awareness days, it can appear as if schools, through children, aim at broader social change.

In this respect we seem to now be witnessing the emergence of the ‘Culture Wars’ in Education. One consequence is that tensions between schools and parents spill out in conflicts over contentious issues such as teaching of sex and relationships education. However, from the contents of lunchboxes to disputes over ‘gender neutral’ school uniform policies, few area of school life now seem beyond controversy.

In this special lecture and discussion, Joanna Williams, author of Consuming Higher Education: why learning can’t be bought, explores how these conflicts might be resolved. Should it be the state or parents who decide which values and behaviours to inculcate in children? And how should schools mediate between the two?

SPEAKER