Spring 2014 | Public lectures and events | Video

Contributor(s): Mark Solomon, Professor Catherine Harper, Surat Rathgeber Knan, Searle Kochberg, Peter Tatchell | Rainbow Jews is a pioneering oral history/archive project that records and showcases Jewish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history from the 1950s to today. This exhibition takes place during LGBT History Month. Please check the Rainbow Jews web page for details see http://bit.ly/1kkzNFE This podcast is a recording of the Q&A session that followed the film screening to mark the opening of the exhibition on 6 February 2014.

Contributor(s): Paul Donovan, George Magnus | Come along to an economics debate to help you consider what will happen next in Europe. Paul Donovan is managing director of global economics at UBS. George Magnus is senior economic advisor at UBS.

Contributor(s): Cardinal Peter Turkson | The current global financial crisis has already continued for six years now – much longer than most feared at the beginning. Moreover, there have been several sequels, the Euro crisis being the most notable. Let us reflect on the surprising technical origins of the crisis and the shocking moral ones. Let us ask what the system has learned, what insights have been acted upon, what reform is underway. And let us explore areas that remain to be reformed, in particular the responsibility of governments to embed practices of financial stewardship. Would the restoration of economic stability and prosperity be enough? Pope Francis would have the economy commit to real remedies for grinding poverty, growing inequality, social exclusion and environmental degradation. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast (Ghana). On 6 October 1992 he was appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast and received episcopal ordination on 27 March 1993. He served as president of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference (1997-2004). He was a member of Governing Council of the University of Ghana, Legon (2001-2006) and of the Board of Directors of Central Region Development Commission (CEDECOM) (2002-2006). He served as treasurer of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) (2007-2009) and presently serves as Vice President of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA). He served as President of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) (2007-2010). He was also Chairman of the Ghana Chapter of the Conference of Religions for Peace (2003-2007) and Ghana National Peace Council (2006-2010). On 24 October 2009 he was nominated President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. On September 24, 2013, he was confirmed by Pope Francis as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He has been awarded numerous honorary degrees and speaks 6 languages (Fante, English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew).

Contributor(s): Mike Marqusee | Why does the partisan choice between Real Madrid and Barcelona affect the identity of millions in North Africa, the Middle East and beyond? How does the India- Pakistan cricket rivalry remain salient in a world of 'globalised' sport? Why doesn't North America enjoy the same sports as the rest of the world?' Mike Marqusee seeks to explain the phenomena of 'globalised' spectator sport through examining its origins. He argues that the transnational, transcultural tendency, universal rules and theoretically 'level playing field' shared by capitalism and sport have joint origins in 18th century England. From here, he looks at the effects of market driven 'globalised' spectator sport on identities and loyalties and asks how, despite this, national identity remains salient and, increasingly, financially valuable. He also addresses the issue of American exceptionalism, and how this is reflected in the bifurcation between North American sports and those preferred by the rest of the world. Ultimately, he asks if there is a sporting internationalism that can be posed against the corporate globalisation of sport, and what the elements of that might be. Mike Marqusee is a journalist and activist. He writes widely on sport, politics and their interaction. He is the former editor of Labour Briefing.

Contributor(s): Hazel Blears MP, Annie Machon, Professor Sir David Omand, Matthew Ryder QC | Without whistle blowers and the media the current debate over the accountability of the secret state would not be happening. What should be the future role of the media, if any, in holding the security services to account? Hazel Blears (@HazelBlearsMP) is a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of parliament. Annie Machon (@AnnieMachon) is director of LEAP Europe and former intelligence officer for MI5. David Omand was the UK’s first security and intelligence coordinator. Matthew Ryder (@rydermc) is a barrister at Matrix Chambers.

Contributor(s): Professor Sami Zubaidi | For the BRISMES annual lecture, Sami Zubaida will explore the question of changing identities. What constitutes authenticity in different spheres of culture is contested between political and religious groups and ideologies. Discourses of difference between Muslim/national cultures and ‘the West’, and the resistance to perceived cultural invasion have featured prominently in these contests, over the generations from the inception of modernity to the present, and accelerated globalisation. These themes are explored in relation to religion, national culture, sexuality, music and food. The BRISMES Award for Services to Middle East Studies will be presented immediately after the lecture to Alastair Newton. Sami Zubaida is Emeritus Professor of Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck, University of London, Fellow of Birkbeck College, Research Associate of the London Middle East Institute, and Professorial Research Associate of the Food Studies Centre, both at SOAS. He has held visiting positions in Cairo, Istanbul, Beirut, Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Berkley CA and NYU, written and lectured widely on themes of religion, culture, law and politics in the Middle East, with particular attention to Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. His other work is on food history and culture. Books: Islam, the People and the State: Political Ideas and Movements in the Middle East (3rd edition 2009); A Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East (edited, with R Tapper, 2nd edition 2000); Law and Power in the Islamic World (2003) and Beyond Islam: A New Understanding of the Middle East (2011).

Contributor(s): Dr Gabriel Wollner | Gabriel Wollner offers a political philosophy perspective on questions of international finance and defends the idea of an international financial transaction tax as an instrument for making the international financial system more just. Gabriel Wollner is lecturer in philosophy at LSE.

Contributor(s): David Epstein | In his ground-breaking exploration of athletic success, The Sports Gene, award-winning writer David Epstein get to the heart of the great nature vs nurture debate, and explodes myths about how and why humans excel. Join him for a thought provoking examination of the truth behind talent and success. David Epstein (@DavidEpstein) is an award-winning senior writer for Sports Illustrated, where he covers sports science, medicine and Olympic sports. Ed Smith (@EdSmithWriter) is a journalist and author, most recently of Luck: What It Means and Why It Matters. He is a former professional cricketer and played for both Middlesex and England.

Contributor(s): George Papandreou | Professor Amartya Sen, the Eva Colorni Trust and LSE are delighted to be hosting this year's Eva Colorni Memorial Lecture. The Colorni lectures are held regularly in memory of Eva Colorni, who taught economics at the former City of London Polytechnic - now incorporated into London Metropolitan University - until her early death in 1985. A collection of the earlier lectures is published by Oxford University Press, under the title Living As Equals. This year's lecture will be delivered by former prime minister of Greece, George Papandreou. George Papandreou is president of Socialist International, a member of the Hellenic Parliament and former president of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He served as the 11th prime minister of Greece from October 6 2009 – November 11 2011, after PASOK’s victory in the October 2009 national elections. After completing his university studies at Amherst College in Massachusetts and graduate studies at London School of Economics and Political Science, Papandreou won an MP seat for the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party in 1981. He has served in the Greek parliament ever since. He has held the posts of under-secretary for cultural affairs, minister for education, and minister for foreign affairs. As education minister from 1994-1996, George Papandreou founded Open University in Greece, an innovative national effort to facilitate undergraduate and graduate distance learning. As foreign minister from 1999–2004, he was widely praised for his diplomatic bridge building. He successfully negotiated better relations with former rival Turkey. In 2004, Papandreou was elected leader of PASOK in the country's first open primary—a move highly symbolic of his commitment to participatory governance—and held that position until March 2012. Papandreou is also the president of the Socialist International, an international association of political parties, of which PASOK is a member. In 2012, Papandreou was named a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics. In 2013, he served as a global fellow and adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs as well as a faculty member in the Master of Public Affairs program at Sciences Po in Paris.

Contributor(s): Dr Florence Gaub | The lecture will cover post-2011 Libya and ask key questions related to post-conflict reconstruction, security sector reform and transitional justice. What can we learn for future cases of regime change? How can security be built without external security provision? What are the factors that facilitate or impede political transitions? Florence Gaub joined the European Union Institute for Strategic Studies in May 2013 where she works on the Arab world with a focus on strategy and security. In addition to monitoring post-conflict developments in Iraq, Lebanon and Libya, she works on Arab military forces, conflict structures and geostrategic dimensions of the Arab region. Previously employed at NATO Defence College and the German parliament, she wrote her PhD on the Lebanese army at Humboldt University Berlin and holds degrees from Sciences Po Paris, Sorbonne and Munich universities.