University of Cambridge

The future is becoming harder to predict thanks to climate change and a global pandemic. But a large part of what the future will look like is in our own hands. The biggest challenge to creating a better future may be political rather than scientific or technological.

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In this episode, Diane Coyle, professor of public policy, Laura Diaz Anadon, professor of climate change policy, and architectural engineer, Ruchi Choudhary, join us to talk about how we can build a future that might not be anything like the past.

We cover topics like innovation, GDP, and how the uncertainty created by climate change can help propel policy and economic decisions. Plus, we look at some of the benefits that come with building a greener future together.

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This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, and Naomi Clements-Brod.

Last episode, we talked about how we got to where we are now with climate change, but do we even know what’s going on with climate change right now? In this episode we’ll talk about what tipping points we’re approaching, how and why we’re still struggling to gain momentum toward action on climate change, and what difference it would make if carbon dioxide was a brown smelly substance.

To figure all of this out, we talked to a mathematician, Emily Shuckburgh, an engineer Hugh Hunt and a psychologist, Sander van der Linden.

Along the way, we discuss solutions like geoengineering, creating a fake news ‘vaccine’ and opportunities for businesses to be more transparent about how their activities contribute to climate change. If you’re curious to find out more specific ideas about how we can build a greener future, check out Cambridge Zero’s Green Recovery Report here: https://www.zero.cam.ac.uk/green-recovery-report

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, and Naomi Clements-Brod.

Climate change is likely to affect almost every area of our lives… but how did we get to this point? When and why did we first take notice of climate change? And why has climate change evaded our collective attention and action for so long?

We talked with professor of human geography, Mike Hulme,, science historian and journalist Dr Sarah Dry and environmental economist Dr Matthew Agarwala to try to figure all of this out. Along the way, we discovered new ways of thinking about climate change, from a tragic story where the issue is constantly caught between opposing forces, to more hopefully thinking of it as a source of generative change and innovation.

This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan and Naomi Clements-Brod.

From the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero

One series at a time, we break down complex issues into simple questions.

Subscribe to the podcast here: https://mind-over-chatter.captivate.fm/listen

In this first series, we’ll explore climate change. Climate change is likely to affect almost every area of our lives… like a toddler with sticky fingers. But how did it become this way? What are we doing about it now? And what does the future hold?

We’ll ask smart people some simple questions and see what happens!

New episodes every Thursday.

From the University of Cambridge and Cambridge Zero

A new report from the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge finds that investing public funds - in people’s health and skills, and in social, natural, and physical capital - is the best way to build forward to a more resilient and prosperous future, and to deliver the ‘levelling up’ agenda.

Professor Diane Coyle, Dr Matthew Agarwala and Dimitri Zenghelis, from the Wealth Economy project team, discuss the key findings from the report such as: the returns to any single element will be higher if they are treated as a portfolio; there is a need to measure and value these assets so that they are a part of policy and business decision making; and investing in these assets across the UK is the best way to restore prosperity and ensure fiscal health even if there is a temporary rise in the government debt/GDP ratio.

Listen to their economic wisdom and lively debate that shares the practical and immediate policy lessons for Building Forward to something better.

Read the report: Building Forward: Investing in a Resilient Recoveryhttps://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications/building-forward-investing-resilient-recovery/

o subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-a…ty/id1450822598

We speak to Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Diageo Professor in Organisation Studies, at the Cambridge Judge Business School.

This is a fascinating conversation, we look at organisational culture through an 800 year old lens, by examining how Cambridge University sustains and conveys a culture. Jennifer debunks the myths about organisation culture and explains how organisational culture is more than a mere “statement of values” but instead reflects the practices and expectations of people working together.

We also discuss what the future of work might look like post Covid-19 and how organisations and leaders can maintain a culture after the shift to remote working.

We look at organisational culture through an 800 year old lens, when we discuss how Cambridge University conveys and sustains a culture.

Jennifer debunks the myths about organisation culture and explains how it can be broken down into practices and beliefs, rather than physical environments and rituals.

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-a…ty/id1450822598

In this episode Dr Kamal Munir, reader in strategy and policy at the Cambridge Judge Business School, joins us to talk about how racial inequality is reproduced in organisations and why it continues to escape scrutiny.

We think about how the Black Lives Matter protests have prompted organisations to do some soul-searching, and we explore some practical solutions to achieving racial equality at the workplace.

About Kamal:

Dr Kamal Munir is Reader in Strategy & Policy at the Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, where he also serves as the Academic Director of the Centre for Strategic Philanthropy. His research interests lie in social change and stasis. Dr Munir is a Fellow of Homerton College and also serves as the Race Equality Champion for the University of Cambridge.

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-a…ty/id1450822598

In this episode we speak to Professor Sarah-Jane Blakemore from the Department of Psychology, about the adolescent brain and the return to school.

We think about the effects of social isolation on teenagers, the long term impact of COVID-19 and we ask if we are doing the right thing by having students return to university during a pandemic.

The Speaker

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor of Psychology and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group. Her group's research focuses on the development of social cognition and decision-making in the human adolescent brain, and adolescent mental health, running behavioural studies in schools and in the lab, and neuroimaging studies, with adolescents and adults.

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-are-the-university/id1450822598

In this episode, we speak to Simone Eringfeld, MPhil student at the Faculty of Education and producer of the Cambridge Quaranchats podcast.

We talk about education in the time of COVID-19, how the move to online education will affect the idea of the university and how she sees the disruption as an opportunity to reimagine the future of the post COVID-19 university.

Simone shares conversations from her Quaranchats podcast where guests reimagine the learners’ journey, possible ways forward, and how institutions like Cambridge might embrace necessary change.

Guests

Simone Eringfeld @SimoneEringfeld MPhil student at the Faculty of Education @CamEDFac , educationist, writer and photographer. Co-Chair of Cambridge Peace and Education Research Group @CPERGUK

Researching ‘post coronial’ futures of Higher Education. Podcast host of @CamQuaranchats.

More Info

http://www.simoneeringfeld.com/

https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ceid/2020/07/09/eringfeld/

https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/UE-Simone-Eringfeld

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-a…ty/id1450822598

In this episode, we speak to Dr Helen McCarthy, a Historian of Modern Britain at the Faculty of History and Author of Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood.

In recent months, many working parents have had to juggle looking after kids at home with their usual jobs. We talk about how the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on working mothers.

We take the historical perspective and the long view to try and make sense of these gender divisions.

We talk about our reliance on childcare, the broader economic impact of the last few months on women, and how to ensure it is truly valued in the coronavirus recovery.

Guests

Dr Helen McCarthy (@HistorianHelen), Historian of Modern Britain at Faculty of History (@CamHistory) and Fellow of St John’s College (@stjohnscam) Author of Double Lives: A History of Working Motherhood @BloomsburyBooks