LSE Podcasts

Climate change is one of the most important issues facing the world today, with the rise in global temperature now predicted to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit set out in the 2016 Paris Agreement in the next few years. Data is incredibly important when it comes to predicting climate change and its impacts. Now, climate scientists are increasingly using artificial intelligence to help them interpret climate data and to help make more accurate predictions about climate change and its impacts.

For this episode of our series on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Tiffany Shaw and Associate Professor Pedram Hassanzadeh from the University of Chicago’s Department of Geophysical Sciences. Their work focuses on understanding the climate system and climate prediction, and how AI can be used to make better predictions about climate change.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

• Workshop: Unpacking AI Weather Emulators What and How Do They Learn? September 28 — October 2, 2026

• AICE: AI for Climate

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As the popularity of AI continues to grow, this new technology is increasingly being applied to make decisions based on interactions with humans, and their behaviours. But what happens if the way these AI systems have been built mean that they get it wrong? AI systems are increasingly being used to make important decisions about people but are often being designed as if people don’t exist.

In July 2026 the Phelan US Centre spoke to behavioural data scientist, Ganna Pogrebna, the David Trimble Chair in Leadership and Organisational Transformation at Queen’s University Belfast Business School, about these issues and how to navigate them as AI development continues.

The conversation covers how AI can make existing human biases worse, how businesses often design AI systems that don’t take people into account, and how we might need to train ourselves to think better when we work with AI.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

• Pogrebna, G. & Hills, T. (2026) eds. Handbook of Behavioural Data Science, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.

• Kenny, Graham, and Ganna Pogrebna. 2026. “Don’t Let AI Destroy the Skills That Make Your Company Competitive.” Harvard Business Review. April 2026.

• Harvard Business Review by Ganna Pogrebna: https://hbr.org/search?term=Ganna+Pogrebna

• ‌Pogrebna, G. (2025) The Missing B in AI: Why Behavioral AI is the Missing Piece in How We Design Products, Services, and Systems, Behavioural Data Science Press, Sydney.

• Pogrebna, G. and Renaud, K. (2025) Big Bad Bias Book, Behavioural Data Science Press, Sydney, Australia.

• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to commit in law to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But seven years later, the world looks very different.

Since then, we've experienced a global pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy price shocks, US attacks on Iran, more energy price shocks, and growing political opposition to climate policies. As governments face competing priorities around economic growth, energy security and the cost of living, some are questioning whether net zero is still achievable, affordable or even necessary.

In this episode of LSE iQ, Anna Bevan asks: Should we still care about net zero? She speaks to Professor Anna Valero, from LSE’s Centre for Economic Growth and the Global School of Sustainability, about her surprising findings on the UK’s transition to net zero.

Bloomberg journalist Akshat Rathi explores how investment, technology and public policy can accelerate the move towards a low-carbon economy.

Professor Riccardo Crescenzi and Oliver Harman, from LSE’s Department of Economic Geography, discuss what an exploding toaster reveals about the manufacturing slogan “Made in Britain”, and what green global value chains mean for net zero.

Contributors:

Anna Valero

Akshat Rathi

Riccardo Crescenzi

Oliver Harman

Research

Innovation through crises: survey evidence on digital, AI and net zero innovation in the UK by Anna Valero

Innovation, growth and the transition to net zero emissions by Nicholas Stern and Anna Valero

Climate Capitalism by Ashat Rathi

Harnessing global value chains for regional development by Riccardo Crescenzi and Oliver Harman

Made in Britain or designed in Britain? What Port Talbot teaches us about the green economy by Riccardo Crescenzi and Oliver Harman

The widening use of AI raises questions of transparency and accountability, as well as challenges for regulators. Since the emergence of AI as a highly transformative force for modern society, governments, industries, and communities have faced challenges in updating their policies to address the potentially harmful effects of unrestricted AI development and integration into everyday life. Yet as some scholars have pointed out, governing AI is not just a question of balancing economic opportunities with political control, but also one which involves social contracts; as individuals and institutions decide the extent to which AI will become part of their day-to-day decision-making.

For this episode of our AI mini-series, I spoke to Mona Sloane about the societal dimensions of AI’s influence, how these relate to AI accountability and transparency, and the current challenges facing AI regulators.

Mona Sloane is an Assistant Professor of Data Science and Media Studies at the University of Virginia. She heads the Sloane Lab, a growing research group which focuses on social science leadership on AI in professions and responsible AI governance.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

• Predicted: How AI is Restructuring Social Life – Mona Sloane – 2026, University of California Press

• Co-Opting AI: Public Conversations About Artificial Intelligence and Society – virtual public speaker series at the Digital Technology for Democracy Lab at the University of Virginia

• Sloane, Mona. 2022. “To Make AI Fair, Here’s What We Must Learn to Do.” Nature 605 (7908): 9–9.

• Calhoun, C., Duus, E., Ho, D., Kitzmann, O., and Sloane, M. (2025): ‘Students in the Driver’s Seat: Establishing Collaborative Cultures of Technology Governance at Universities.’ In: Reimagining AI: For Environmental Justice and Creativity. University of Virginia: Digital Technology for Democracy Lab.

• Buolamwini, Joy, and Timnit Gebru. 2018. “Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification.

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From helping assign tasks and determine prices on delivery and rideshare platforms to recommending certain individuals over others on freelance hiring sites, AI is fast becoming a core part of the modern gig economy. Yet even as companies continue to explore the possibilities unlocked by greater AI integration, many commentators both within and outside the gig economy have expressed concerns with the negative consequences of automation in an industry where people are so important.

To discuss the issues surrounding AI in the gig economy, for the second episode of our mini-series on AI and the US, in June 2026 the Phelan US Centre spoke with Lindsey Cameron, Assistant Professor of Management and the Dorinda and Mark Winkelmann Distinguished Faculty Scholar at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

• O’Neil, C. 2017. Weapons of math destruction. Penguin Books.

• Luca, and Dan Svirsky. 2017. “Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 9 (2): 1–22.

• Hannák, Anikó, Claudia Wagner, David Garcia, Alan Mislove, Markus Strohmaier, and Christo Wilson. 2017. “Bias in Online Freelance Marketplaces.” Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing - CSCW ’17.

• Fast, Nathanael J, and Arthur S Jago. 2020. “Privacy Matters… or Does It? Algorithms, Rationalization, and the Erosion of Concern for Privacy.” Current Opinion in Psychology 31 (February): 44–48.‌

• ‌Doorn, Niels van, and Darsana Vijay. 2021. “Gig Work as Migrant Work: The Platformization of Migration Infrastructure.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 56 (4): 0308518X2110650.

• ‌Dubal, Veena, On Algorithmic Wage Discrimination (January 19, 2023). UC San Francisco Research Paper

• Edelman, Benjamin, Michael Weigel, Moira. 2025. “Notes Toward a World Systems Theory of Platforms: Made in China and India on Amazon.Com.” Social Media + Society 11 (2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251340863.

• ‌‌Rosenblat, Alex. 2026. “The Form Asked My Permission to Share My Health Data. Then It Wouldn’t Let Me Say No.” CalMatters. May 27, 2026.

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AI has become easily accessible, easy to use, and for many people, it’s a useful tool. This means that AI is being used by individuals and institutions to help solve a variety of challenges, from everyday decision-making to pressing global issues. At the same time, however, many commentators and policymakers have expressed concerns about the effects of AI on society, politics, and the economy. In 2025, The Ballpark launched a mini-series on AI and the United States, focused on its potential impacts on society both today, and looking into the future.

For our first episode on AI this year, in June 2026 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Chinmayi Sharma about how and why AI can cause harm, issues of responsibility and accountability in AI usage and AI’s relationship with cybersecurity. Professor Chinmayi Sharma is an Associate Professor at Fordham Law School and a Research Affiliate at the Institute for Law and AI.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

Further reading and resources

• Sharma, Chinmayi and Adler, Sam, Immigration Enforcement Intermediaries (March 04, 2026). 52 BYU L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2027), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6345099 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6345099

• Sharma, Chinmayi, AI's Hippocratic Oath (March 14, 2024). Washington University Law Review, Available at SRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4759742

• 404 Media - https://www.404media.co/

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The Ballpark is ten years old in 2026, and we want to hear from you to make the podcast even better, so we’re running a listener survey.

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In 2026 the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. During this important year for the US, there are increasingly questions about its role in the world and how its citizens can shape its domestic and foreign policy.

In 2026, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for LSE master’s students with the prompt, “What role can democratic citizenry play in shaping America’s role in the world as it enters its 250th year?"

In this episode we spoke to the author of the winning essay, Alexander Minford, and the runners-up, Iman Shaikh and Kristýna Šimonová. 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

• The most important act of American global leadership may be winning a local primary- Alexander Minford - LSE School of Public Policy (winner)

• Finding Tocqueville in Times Square: how lessons from America’s vibrant civic past can reinvigorate its citizenry in the present - Iman Shaikh - LSE Department of Government (runner-up)

• At 250, the world's oldest democracy is autocratising at a global cost that its citizens have the power to stop - Kristýna Šimonová - LSE Department of International Relations (runner-up)

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

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The global economy is undergoing profound transformation. Geopolitical realignments, rising economic nationalism, climate disruption, trade fragmentation, and technological upheaval are reshaping the foundations of international economic relations. Recent trends point to a US retreat from global economic leadership and a turn toward economic nationalism and protectionism. US industrial policy has become more assertive, emphasizing domestic manufacturing and technological self-sufficiency, particularly in strategic sectors like semiconductors and clean energy. At the same time, Washington is actively working to realign global economic networks, encouraging allies and partners to “de-risk” from China and adopt parallel economic strategies while asking them to commit to restraints on export restrictions. These shifts have profound implications for multilateral institutions, global supply chains, and strategic economic alliances.

To discuss and consider these issues, in May 2026, the LSE Phelan US Centre held the conference: The Global Economy in a Changing World Order. The conference, also supported by the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania, brought together leading scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom to explore the implications of US economic nationalism and strategic competition with China for the future of global economic governance.

The conference was convened by Phelan US Centre Affiliate Professor Stephanie Rickard of LSE Department of Government and Professor Edward Mansfield (Director of the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania).

In this episode of The Ballpark, we spoke to Professor Stephanie Rickard about the main themes and takeaways from the conference. We also talked to four of the conference participants, Edward Mansfield (University of Pennsylvania), Nita Rudra (Georgetown University), Jon Pevehouse (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Jeffry Frieden (Columbia University), about their thoughts on trends in the global economy and the future of global economic governance

This episode of The Ballpark was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.

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The 1990s were an important decade. They saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, falling trade barriers, an expanding capitalist democratic order and the rise of what came to be called the liberal international order.

But the 1990s also sowed the seeds of the rise of populism and anti-globalism in Western democracies that are now complicating global politics and governance. A new book, Rethinking the 1990s, Liberal World Order-Building in the Aftermath of the Cold War looks back at how important the 1990s were and to the opportunities that were missed at that time by politicians.

In April 2026 the Phelan US Centre spoke with the book’s editors, Professor G. John Ikenberry and Professor Peter Trubowitz. The discussion covered what makes the 1990s such an important decade for the world today, how the US’ liberal bet on China failed, and how US and Western attempts to expand liberal internationalism were met with resentment abroad and at home. We also talked about the lessons the US can take from the decisions made in the 1990s that are still affecting global politics.

Further reading and resources

• Ikenberry, G John, and Peter Trubowitz (eds), Rethinking the 1990s: Liberal World Order-Building in the Aftermath of the Cold War (New York, NY, 2025; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Sept. 2025), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197813133.001.0001

• Text of George F. Kennan’s “Long Telegram” - https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/coldwar/documents/episode-1/kennan.htm

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From stage-show stereotypes to life-changing treatment, this episode explores the science - and the myths - behind hypnosis and hypnotherapy. We uncover extraordinary stories of addiction recovery, pain relief, and everyday healing from a form of talking therapy that remains widely misunderstood.

Asking whether we should take hypnotherapy more seriously, Joanna Bale talks to LSE anthropologist Dr Nick Long, who spent 18 months researching hypnosis and hypnotherapy in Indonesia. There, hypnotic practices are woven into everyday life - used in classrooms, homes and communities to calm, encourage and connect. In the UK, by contrast, hypnotherapy remains marginalised and constrained by cultural suspicion, despite recognition from the NHS.

Joanna also speaks to Amanda Joy, who left the NHS to retrain as a hypnotherapist after witnessing hypnosis succeed in relieving pain where conventional medicine had failed. And Sarah Ibrahim shares a moving personal account of how hypnotherapy helped her break free from a cocaine addiction that had gripped her for two decades.

These powerful first-hand testimonies help to illuminate what hypnosis really is, what it might be capable of, and why we may be too quick to dismiss it.

Contributors

Nick Long

Amanda Joy

Sarah Ibrahim

Research

Suggestions of power: searching for efficacy in Indonesia’s hypnosis boom by Nick Long

Therapeutic aQompaniments: Walking together in hypnotherapy—and ethnography by Nick Long

🗓️ This year’s #LSEFestival, taking place from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026, will explore the impact of these global challenges, and how individuals, communities, organisations, corporations, and those with political power should be tackling them to save the planet!

Find out more info and browse the programme here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/LSE-Festival/2026