RSA Events

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RSA Events episodes

June 15, 2017 A New Theory of Human Understanding
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 1st June 2017
Many of us believe our capacity to reason helps us to acquire knowledge and make better decisions - but what if it has an entirely different purpose?
Cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier and his colleague Dan Sperber have made waves with the surprising results of years of research – that our power to reason has nothing to do with accuracy or truth-seeking. Mercier visits the RSA to present their astounding thesis: that the essential function of reason is not solitary but social - it exists to help us convince other people or groups of our arguments.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/a-new-theory-of-human-understanding
58 min
May 30, 2017 Snap Election Special
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 25th May 2017
If the preliminary polling is accurate, Jeremy Corbyn will be leading Labour to its biggest defeat since 1935, and Theresa May’s gamble for a firmer handle in Brexit negotiations will have paid off. Whilst the left is riven by ideological crisis, the Conservatives have seen off the populist far-right challengers and absorbed the excess. But does anyone outside the Westminster bubble really care about the minutiae?
Life continues as usual for the majority of the British public, and even as austerity bites and Brexit regret lingers, many voters feel powerless to alter the status quo. Class is no longer the telltale political divider it once was, with the Conservatives attracting significant support from Labour’s heartlands. Disillusioned by the major parties and too pragmatic to invest in smaller ones, a huge proportion of the voting public is planning to let inertia lead the way.
But what does this mean for the country? Will the Labour party recover from such a crushing defeat, and what will a Conservative victory mean in the years to come? And perhaps more importantly – how can we re-engage the public in democracy after it has lost so much faith in its processes?
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/general-election-panel
1 hr 4 min
May 30, 2017 Cities 3.0
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 11th May 2017
We've had 'Sharing Cities' and 'Smart Cities' - what's next for the evolution of the city?
Modern cities are having to face up to a whole host of wicked problems like demographic change, inequality, housing shortages, homelessness, environmental degradation and access to public services.
The RSA envisions Smart Cities evolving into ‘Networked Cities’, re-imagining the use of technology to emphasise a human-centred approach to problem-solving. In recognition that the use of technology can be disempowering for some citizens of Smart Cities, Networked Cities seeks to enable citizens to reclaim power over technology, encouraging the use of P2P technology to address collective challenges. Whereas citizens were once passive bystanders to technology, in Networked Cities they are now actively participating in its use to achieve a shared goal of inclusive growth.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/cities-3.0
58 min
May 30, 2017 Butterfly Politics
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 16th May 2017.
Under the right conditions, small simple actions can produce large complex effects.
Pioneering lawyer and activist for women’s rights Catharine A. MacKinnon argues that seemingly minor interventions in the legal realm can have a butterfly effect that generates major social and cultural transformations.
Catharine MacKinnon is a pioneer of legal theory and practice, a groundbreaking activist for women’s rights, and one of feminism’s most significant figures. For over forty years MacKinnon’s intellectual, legal, and political pursuits have been defined by a driving motivation: to end inequality, including abuse, in women’s lives. Many of her ideas are now staples of legal and political discourse. Others urge changes that have yet to be realized.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/butterfly-politics
1 hr 2 min
May 18, 2017 Lobbying for Change
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 11th May 2017
We’re living in troubled times. Many democratic societies are experiencing a crisis of faith. People are making clear their frustration with supposedly representative governments, and yet feel powerless to effect change. Populists are capitalising on this disconnection and discontent. What can we do to fix democracy, get our voices heard and create a better society?
The answer, argues leading academic, civic entrepreneur and public interest lawyer Alberto Alemanno, is to become citizen lobbyists – learning the tools that traditional corporate lobbyists use, but to advance causes we really care about.
We all have skills that we can use to mobilise others and achieve change. Switching off is no longer an option. We all have the power – we just have to learn how to unleash it.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/lobbying-for-change
59 min
May 12, 2017 Good Work for All
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 9th May 2017
The world of work is changing fast. Globalization, de-industrialisation, automation - all have had a disruptive effect on traditional jobs and working practices in the UK in recent decades.
With this disruption comes opportunity, no doubt, but also insecurity and anxiety. The Brexit ‘leave’ vote was particularly high in areas of poverty, low skills and lack of opportunity, and many interpreted this as a signal of anger and frustration from those ‘left behind’ by the modern work economy.
What would it look like, and what might we achieve, if the UK, as a country, truly cared about and committed to quality work for every citizen?
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the RSA and Chair of the Government’s Review into Modern Employment Practices, proposes a new national goal of good work for all.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/Good-Work-for-All
1 hr 10 min
May 12, 2017 Populism and the Fate of the West
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 4th May 2017
The traditional liberal democracies of the West are in decline, and divisive populist sentiment is on the rise.
When faced with global instability and economic uncertainty, it is tempting for states to react by closing borders, hoarding wealth and solidifying power, and for citizens to look upon one another with suspicion, incomprehension and mistrust.
Former Economist editor-in-chief Bill Emmott explains that we have seen this phenomenon at various times in Japan, France and Italy and now it is infecting all of Europe and America - as vividly demonstrated by the vote for Brexit in the UK and Trump in the US.
Investigative journalist Joris Luyendijk argues this environment provides the ideal conditions for populist anti-politicians to thrive. Trump, Johnson, Farage, Beppe Grillo and their ilk are cresting the waves of popularity, whilst their mainstream opponents (whose incompetence, corruption and dismissal of their constituents brought us this mess) watch on.
FT US columnist and commentator Edward Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society's losers, and complacency about our system's durability - attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall, treated by the West as an absolute triumph over the East.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/05/populism-and-the-fate-of-the-west
1 hr 4 min
May 03, 2017 Supporting Refugee Children in Education
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 26th April 2017
Over the last year, the RSA has been working in collaboration with ECIS, on a project looking at how the skills and expertise of different players within a city can be mobilised to best support the needs of refugee young people. In the context of uncertainty, budget cuts and limited resources, how can a city act pragmatically for refugee young people through collaboration and innovation?
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/04/Supporting-Refugee-Children-in-Education
1 hr 4 min
May 03, 2017 How to Seize the Political Day
This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 27th April 2017
With the failure of successive governments to tackle challenges ranging from climate change and terrorism, to growing inequality and far-right extremism, we have seen a sharp decline in trust and confidence in politics. The result? The rise of anti-politics, anti-expert, anti-system politicians, of which Donald Trump is just one example. Is there a way of saving democracy from its own failures?
Leading social philosopher and former political scientist Roman Krznaric offers a new roadmap for reinventing democratic politics in the twenty-first century.
Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/04/How-to-Seize-the-Political-Day
58 min
April 20, 2017 What Should We Do About Job Automation?
In the first episode of RSA Radio’s 'Work Shift' series on the changing nature of work Matthew Taylor is joined by: Michael A. Osborne of Oxford University, who’s estimated up to 47% of US jobs could be automated, Ryan Avent from The Economist and author of the recent book 'The Wealth of Humans: work and its absence in the 21st century' and Judy Wajcman, Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. Her recent book 'Pressed for Time: the acceleration of life in digital capitalism' explores the relationship between work, technology, time and speed.
To hear the other podcasts in the ‘Work Shift’ series subscribe to “RSA Radio”.
Original music by Dan Wilson
30 min