Contributor(s): Professor Michael Barzelay | In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE's academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed.

Contributor(s): Will Hutton | Will Hutton is executive vice chair of the Work Foundation taking up this position in mid 2008 having served as chief executive since 2000. He began his career as a stockbroker and investment analyst, before working in BBC TV and radio as a producer and reporter. Prior to joining The Work Foundation, Will spent four years as editor in chief of the Observer and he continues to write a weekly column for the paper.

Contributor(s): Hilary Mantel | Public figures who were once lawyers or law students will speak about how, if at all, their experience of studying, teaching or practising law has been of value to them in their other careers. Hilary Mantel is an award winning novelist and an LSE alumnus.

Contributor(s): Andrew Altman, Councillor Paul Brickell, Professor Ricky Burdett, Roger Taylor | This event explores the planning and physical development of the Olympic Park after the 2012 games as well as the wider socio-economic benefits the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are bringing. Andrew Altman is chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company. Paul Brickell is executive member for Olympics and public affairs at Newham council and chief executive of Leaside Regeneration. Ricky Burdett is director of Urban Age at LSE and principal design advisor to the London 2012 Olympics. Roger Taylor is director of the Host Boroughs Unit.

Contributor(s): José María Aznar | A crisis that has impoverished the world has shown the need for an enhanced rules-based framework for the international financial system. More transparency, better regulation, incentives and oversight and a more in depth understanding of the implications of increased financial interdependence in a globalized world are the basis for the reforms needed.

Contributor(s): Professor Robyn Wiegman | This lecture explores the production of critical value and competency in contemporary feminist theory. Robyn Wiegman is Professor of Women's Studies and Literature and former Director of the Women's Studies Program at Duke from 2001-2007. Her publications include American Anatomies: Theorizing Race and Gender (1995), Who Can Speak: Identity and Critical Authority (1995), Feminism Beside Itself (1995), AIDS and the National Body (1997), The Futures of American Studies (2002), and Women's Studies on Its Own (2002). Professor Wiegman's research interests include feminist theory, queer theory, American Studies, critical race theory, and film and media studies. She is currently working on two manuscripts: Being in Time With Feminism focuses on the institutionalization of feminism in the U.S. academy; Object Lessons: The U.S. Knowledge Politics of Identity pays attention to relations of identification and affect in the constitution of identity as an academic object of study.

Contributor(s): Stephen J Dubner, Professor Steven D Levitt | Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling 4 million copies in 35 languages. Now, four years in the making, arrives the follow up: SuperFreakonomics. Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner return with a book that is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first. Freakonomics made the world safe to discuss the economics of crack cocaine and the impact of baby names. SuperFreakonomics retains that off-kilter sensibility (comparing, for instance, the relative dangers of driving while drunk versus walking while drunk) but also tackles a host of issues at the very centre of modern society: terrorism, global warming, altruism, and more.

Contributor(s): Michael Kirby | In 2009, the Delhi High Court in India upheld a challenge to the constitutional validity of s377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized homosexuality. Michael Kirby will explain why UK lawyers should be engaged in the reform movement as a matter of basic human rights.

Contributor(s): Professor Danny Quah | Through the stress test of this global economic crisis, it is China's performance that has continued to drive the global economy forwards. Is this likely to continue or will the sceptics of China's so-far enduring economic success be finally proven right? Danny Quah is professor of economics at LSE.

Contributor(s): Daniel Johnson, Lionel Shriver | Lionel Shriver in conversation with Daniel Johnson. Daniel Johnson is editor of Standpoint. Lionel Shriver is a novelist. Her seventh novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, won the Orange prize.