Academy of Ideas

By academyofideas

The Academy of Ideas has been organising public debates to challenge contemporary knee-jerk orthodoxies since 2000. Subscribe to our channel for recordings of our live conferences, discussions and sal... more

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FAQs about Academy of Ideas:

How many episodes does Academy of Ideas have?

The podcast currently has 488 episodes available.

Academy of Ideas episodes:

May 12, 2016 Podcast of Ideas: Local election analysis, mad anti-Brexit arguments and the kid's strike
In this edition of the Podcast of Ideas, the team chews over Sadiq Khan's election as London mayor and the implications of the different election results across the country for the major parties - particularly the way old assumptions about political strongholds have been called into question. With BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg being targeted over her coverage by Corbynistas, how should accusations of media bias be handled? The team also discusses the claim that Brexit might lead to war in Europe, the controversy over SATS exams and the effect on wider society of claiming that schoolkids are too sensitive to be tested.
...more
34min
May 06, 2016 #BattleFest2015: The Personal is Political - is identity politics eating itself?
In her 1969 essay, ‘The personal is
political’, feminist Carol Hanisch defended consciousness-raising groups
against the charge they brought ‘personal problems’ into the public
arena. She argued that most difficulties women experienced in private
were rooted in political inequality, so personal problems could spur
women to political action in public life.
Today, consciousness-raising groups are less common. Yet the idea
that ‘the personal is political’ has survived, albeit giving way to an
increasing fractious identity politics. The bizarre story of Rachel
Dolezal, a white woman presenting herself as a mixed-race leader in the
NAACP, has raised sharp questions about how we think about who a person
is.
More broadly, there has been an explosion of different groups vying
with one another for social recognition and respect. US writer Cathy
Young argues this has led to a ‘reverse caste system in which a person’s
status and worth depends entirely on their perceived oppression and
disadvantage’. Burgeoning feminist clubs in universities and a diversity
of gender, ethnicity, religious and cultural identity groups on college
campuses and in the world of activism, reflects a substantial shift in
how politics is understood and practiced in modern society. In
particular, such groups are often divisively set up in competition with
others’ claims to be the victim.
Feuds over ‘intersectionality’ and ‘hierarchies of oppression’ have
created internecine warfare between ‘terfs’ and the ‘trans’ community,
between black women and white feminists, middle-class lesbians and
working-class men: checking ‘privilege’ has become a routine pastime. As
some critics of contemporary feminism note, identity politics
inevitably turns each individual into her own group: demanding the right
to assert ‘who I am’ becomes the primary goal of political action. So
when Rachel Dolezal claims to be black, who are we to argue against her
self-identification?
Is this any different from the demand for public applause for Caitlyn
Jenner – once known as Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner – who now
self-defines as a woman? Is there a point past which we can’t choose our
personal identity, as suggested by those who reject comparison between
Dolezal’s ‘cultural appropriation’ (‘a glaring example of white
privilege in action’) and Jenner realising who she/he always really was?
Do today’s identity wars preclude possibilities for transcending
gender, race, disability? Does the feminist war cry of ‘personal is
political’ inevitably lead to such a narcissistic focus on self?

Speakers

Julie Bindel

journalist, author, broadcaster and feminist activist; research fellow, Lincoln University

Andrew Doyle

stand-up comedian; playwright; biographer

Sabrina Harris

technical author; longtime gamer; regular commentator on issues relating to freedom of speech and internet subcultures

Jake Unsworth

trainee solicitor, Bond Dickinson; convenor, Debating Matters Ambassadors

Dr Joanna Williams

author and academic; education editor, spiked

Chair

Claire Fox

director, Institute of Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze
...more
1h 17min
May 06, 2016 The Personal is Political: is identity politics eating itself?
In her 1969 essay, ‘The personal is
political’, feminist Carol Hanisch defended consciousness-raising groups
against the charge they brought ‘personal problems’ into the public
arena. She argued that most difficulties women experienced in private
were rooted in political inequality, so personal problems could spur
women to political action in public life.
Today, consciousness-raising groups are less common. Yet the idea
that ‘the personal is political’ has survived, albeit giving way to an
increasing fractious identity politics. The bizarre story of Rachel
Dolezal, a white woman presenting herself as a mixed-race leader in the
NAACP, has raised sharp questions about how we think about who a person
is.
More broadly, there has been an explosion of different groups vying
with one another for social recognition and respect. US writer Cathy
Young argues this has led to a ‘reverse caste system in which a person’s
status and worth depends entirely on their perceived oppression and
disadvantage’. Burgeoning feminist clubs in universities and a diversity
of gender, ethnicity, religious and cultural identity groups on college
campuses and in the world of activism, reflects a substantial shift in
how politics is understood and practiced in modern society. In
particular, such groups are often divisively set up in competition with
others’ claims to be the victim.
Feuds over ‘intersectionality’ and ‘hierarchies of oppression’ have
created internecine warfare between ‘terfs’ and the ‘trans’ community,
between black women and white feminists, middle-class lesbians and
working-class men: checking ‘privilege’ has become a routine pastime. As
some critics of contemporary feminism note, identity politics
inevitably turns each individual into her own group: demanding the right
to assert ‘who I am’ becomes the primary goal of political action. So
when Rachel Dolezal claims to be black, who are we to argue against her
self-identification?
Is this any different from the demand for public applause for Caitlyn
Jenner – once known as Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner – who now
self-defines as a woman? Is there a point past which we can’t choose our
personal identity, as suggested by those who reject comparison between
Dolezal’s ‘cultural appropriation’ (‘a glaring example of white
privilege in action’) and Jenner realising who she/he always really was?
Do today’s identity wars preclude possibilities for transcending
gender, race, disability? Does the feminist war cry of ‘personal is
political’ inevitably lead to such a narcissistic focus on self?

Speakers

Julie Bindel

journalist, author, broadcaster and feminist activist; research fellow, Lincoln University

Andrew Doyle

stand-up comedian; playwright; biographer

Sabrina Harris

technical author; longtime gamer; regular commentator on issues relating to freedom of speech and internet subcultures

Jake Unsworth

trainee solicitor, Bond Dickinson; convenor, Debating Matters Ambassadors

Dr Joanna Williams

author and academic; education editor, spiked

Chair

Claire Fox

director, Institute of Ideas; panellist, BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze
...more
1h 17min
April 29, 2016 #BattleFest2015: Can we manufacture a new economy?
Recorded at the Battle of ideas 2015.

While the UK economy has
recovered from the economic crisis, few would argue that the recovery
is built on strong foundations. Wages are only just starting to rise in
real terms after a number of years of decline. Economic output remains
weak compared to previous recoveries, and the state is still spending
almost £90 billion a year more than it receives in tax. A particular
concern for economists is low productivity – the amount of wealth
produced by each worker – which is well below that of other countries
and 15 per cent below where it would have been if pre-crisis trends had
continued.
Yet across the main political parties there seems little vision of
how the UK economy could look different in five, 10 or 20 years’ time.
The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has made much play
about the creation of a ‘northern powerhouse’. The HS2 railway has
cross-party support, but many are sceptical about its economic
potential. Beyond this, there seems little sense of how the economy
could be transformed. Indeed, many new industries with the potential to
revolutionise the UK economy – like fracking, nuclear power and biotech –
have faced considerable resistance.
In 2014, the Wright Report, an independent report commissioned by the
Labour Party, called for ‘a modern, active industrial policy’ that was
not about ‘government “picking winners”, investing in large companies,
or trying to plan the economy’ but focused on ‘improving the environment
in which companies operate, recognising the positive influence that
government can have, and working together to tackle the challenges’.
These included barriers to investment, the overall load of taxation and
the lack of skilled workers, all still serious problems. That said,
there are causes for optimism. In certain sectors, productivity has
risen sharply in recent years. Productivity in car manufacturing is
high, while in aircraft engine manufacturing and financial services, the
UK is a world leader. Moreover, the UK’s universities offer excellent
capacity for research and development.
If UK businesses can be excellent in some arenas, why is the UK
apparently so unproductive overall? What are the barriers to a new and
innovative economy? Why is new business investment so low? Do we need a
bout of creative destruction, making painful choices about leaving some
areas of economic activity behind, in order to allow new sources of
wealth creation to flourish?

SPEAKERS

Frances Coppola

associate editor, Pieria; contributor to Nesta’s Our Work Here is Done, exploring the frontiers of robot technology

Katie Evans

economist, Social Market Foundation

Phil Mullan

economist; director, Epping Consulting business advice; author, The Imaginary Time Bomb

Bauke Schram

business reporter, International Business Times UK

Mike Wright

executive director, Jaguar Land Rover

CHAIR

Rob Lyons

science and technology director, Institute of Ideas
...more
1h 14min
April 29, 2016 Can we manufacture a new economy?
Recorded at the Battle of ideas 2015.

While the UK economy has
recovered from the economic crisis, few would argue that the recovery
is built on strong foundations. Wages are only just starting to rise in
real terms after a number of years of decline. Economic output remains
weak compared to previous recoveries, and the state is still spending
almost £90 billion a year more than it receives in tax. A particular
concern for economists is low productivity – the amount of wealth
produced by each worker – which is well below that of other countries
and 15 per cent below where it would have been if pre-crisis trends had
continued.
Yet across the main political parties there seems little vision of
how the UK economy could look different in five, 10 or 20 years’ time.
The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has made much play
about the creation of a ‘northern powerhouse’. The HS2 railway has
cross-party support, but many are sceptical about its economic
potential. Beyond this, there seems little sense of how the economy
could be transformed. Indeed, many new industries with the potential to
revolutionise the UK economy – like fracking, nuclear power and biotech –
have faced considerable resistance.
In 2014, the Wright Report, an independent report commissioned by the
Labour Party, called for ‘a modern, active industrial policy’ that was
not about ‘government “picking winners”, investing in large companies,
or trying to plan the economy’ but focused on ‘improving the environment
in which companies operate, recognising the positive influence that
government can have, and working together to tackle the challenges’.
These included barriers to investment, the overall load of taxation and
the lack of skilled workers, all still serious problems. That said,
there are causes for optimism. In certain sectors, productivity has
risen sharply in recent years. Productivity in car manufacturing is
high, while in aircraft engine manufacturing and financial services, the
UK is a world leader. Moreover, the UK’s universities offer excellent
capacity for research and development.
If UK businesses can be excellent in some arenas, why is the UK
apparently so unproductive overall? What are the barriers to a new and
innovative economy? Why is new business investment so low? Do we need a
bout of creative destruction, making painful choices about leaving some
areas of economic activity behind, in order to allow new sources of
wealth creation to flourish?

SPEAKERS

Frances Coppola

associate editor, Pieria; contributor to Nesta’s Our Work Here is Done, exploring the frontiers of robot technology

Katie Evans

economist, Social Market Foundation

Phil Mullan

economist; director, Epping Consulting business advice; author, The Imaginary Time Bomb

Bauke Schram

business reporter, International Business Times UK

Mike Wright

executive director, Jaguar Land Rover

CHAIR

Rob Lyons

science and technology director, Institute of Ideas
...more
1h 14min
April 22, 2016 #PodcastOfIdeas: monarchy, Brexit, German free speech under attack
Claire Fox, David Bowden and Rob Lyons discuss the week's news

In this week’s edition of the Podcast of Ideas the team discuss
whether, on the Queen’s 90th birthday, the monarchy has any place today.
There’s analysis of the latest in the Brexit referendum, what’s behind
the prosecution of a German comedian for composing an insulting poem
about Turkish President Erdoğan and why Dolmio has made the strange move
of encouraging the public to eat less of its pasta sauce.
...more
29min
April 22, 2016 Podcast: monarchy, Brexit, German free speech under attack and more
Claire Fox, David Bowden and Rob Lyons discuss the week's news

In this week’s edition of the Podcast of Ideas the team discuss
whether, on the Queen’s 90th birthday, the monarchy has any place today.
There’s analysis of the latest in the Brexit referendum, what’s behind
the prosecution of a German comedian for composing an insulting poem
about Turkish President Erdoğan and why Dolmio has made the strange move
of encouraging the public to eat less of its pasta sauce.
...more
29min
April 15, 2016 #BattleFest2015: Is the NHS still worth defending?
Podcast: listen to this debate from our Battle of Ideas archive.

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas 2015
We all love the NHS, don’t we? Despite the ubiquity of platitudes
about defending ‘our’ NHS, though, exactly what we are defending and
why?
The NHS has undergone significant changes since its inception in
1948. Shifts within patient demographics, combined with increased
patient demands and advances in technology and medical care, have
resulted in a system at breaking point. One million patients are seen
every 24 hours, at a cost of £2 billion each week. The kind of care
available and sums of money involved would surely astonish the
institution’s founders. Indeed, although often perceived as one
homogeneous care provider, high-profile scandals, such as those at Mid
Staffordshire and at the Morecambe Bay Maternity Unit, have illustrated
the variability in care across different hospitals – even within the
same trust. And on many important measures – for example, cancer
survival rates – the NHS seems to perform badly compared to health
services in comparable countries.
Nevertheless, the NHS is one of the few manifestations of the British
state that elicits strong and often positive feelings from significant
numbers of people. Politicians and parties often define themselves in
relation to the NHS and compete to be seen to be supporting it – even
when this can be difficult to reconcile with their policies and track
record. No major party seems willing to have a more fundamental
discussion about whether a taxpayer-funded health service, governed by
national and local government, is the best way to take care of the
nation’s health.
Yet, at the same time, the reality is that more and more publicly
funded healthcare is provided by profit-making or third-sector
organisations. The introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012,
particularly in relation to the commissioning of services from ‘any
willing provider’, has opened the doors to private and volunteer input,
often with variable results. Following the Conservatives’ victory in the
2015 general election, many supporters of the NHS fear that these
reforms will be pursued further.
Yet is the NHS everyone queues up to defend more national myth than
effective health care? Can it survive in its current form, and more
importantly, should it?
...more
1h 4min
April 15, 2016 The NHS: still worth defending?
Podcast: listen to this debate from our Battle of Ideas archive.

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas 2015
We all love the NHS, don’t we? Despite the ubiquity of platitudes
about defending ‘our’ NHS, though, exactly what we are defending and
why?
The NHS has undergone significant changes since its inception in
1948. Shifts within patient demographics, combined with increased
patient demands and advances in technology and medical care, have
resulted in a system at breaking point. One million patients are seen
every 24 hours, at a cost of £2 billion each week. The kind of care
available and sums of money involved would surely astonish the
institution’s founders. Indeed, although often perceived as one
homogeneous care provider, high-profile scandals, such as those at Mid
Staffordshire and at the Morecambe Bay Maternity Unit, have illustrated
the variability in care across different hospitals – even within the
same trust. And on many important measures – for example, cancer
survival rates – the NHS seems to perform badly compared to health
services in comparable countries.
Nevertheless, the NHS is one of the few manifestations of the British
state that elicits strong and often positive feelings from significant
numbers of people. Politicians and parties often define themselves in
relation to the NHS and compete to be seen to be supporting it – even
when this can be difficult to reconcile with their policies and track
record. No major party seems willing to have a more fundamental
discussion about whether a taxpayer-funded health service, governed by
national and local government, is the best way to take care of the
nation’s health.
Yet, at the same time, the reality is that more and more publicly
funded healthcare is provided by profit-making or third-sector
organisations. The introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012,
particularly in relation to the commissioning of services from ‘any
willing provider’, has opened the doors to private and volunteer input,
often with variable results. Following the Conservatives’ victory in the
2015 general election, many supporters of the NHS fear that these
reforms will be pursued further.
Yet is the NHS everyone queues up to defend more national myth than
effective health care? Can it survive in its current form, and more
importantly, should it?
...more
1h 4min
April 08, 2016 #PodcastofIdeas: British steel, the Panama papers and Brexit
Claire Fox, David Bowden and Rob Lyons discuss the week's news

In this edition of the Podcast of Ideas the team ask whether,
with Tata Steel’s operations in Britain haemorrhaging £1million a day,
renationalisation is really the answer. Instead, should we be demanding
investment in new and dynamic industries rather than propping up zombie
sectors of the economy? With the release of the Panama Papers making the
not-so-startling revelation that the super rich sometimes avoid paying
tax, the team ask why the rich feel the need to sit on their capital in
the first place rather than using it productively. And finally, there’s
analysis of the latest in the Brexit referendum campaign including the
government’s latest controversial move: using public money to peddle the
Remain line.
...more
34min

FAQs about Academy of Ideas:

How many episodes does Academy of Ideas have?

The podcast currently has 488 episodes available.

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