Rsa Events

This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 15th June 2017 How can we champion truth in a world of lies and ‘alternative facts’? The Brexit vote; Donald Trump’s victory; the rejection of climate change science; the vilification of immigrants; many of the huge political issues of recent years have been based on the power to evoke feelings and not facts. Renowned journalist Matthew d’Ancona distinguishes post-truth from a long tradition of political lies, exaggeration and spin. For D’Ancona, what is new is not the mendacity of politicians but the public’s response to it and the ability of new technologies and social media to manipulate, polarise and entrench opinion. Where trust has evaporated, conspiracy theories thrive, and the authority of the media wilts; it is the primacy of emotions and beliefs that shape the public. This makes for a terrifying time in which democracy and pluralism are all at threat. But how do we fight back? Speakers: Matthew d'Ancona, Journalist Eliane Glaser, Writer & Produ

This event was recorded live at The RSA on Monday 12th June 2017 What does it take for an organisation to truly live its values, and crucially - to sustain them over the long-term? It’s a recognizable feature of modern-day working life to many of us: the company mission statement is brandished from the website to the office walls, but day-to-day behaviours fall far short of the stated ideals – so far often as to feel downright hypocritical. Is it time to call this all out as business BS? Or is it really possible to create a values-based culture that is authentic and has staying power? Will there always a gap between values and practice? Is it just an inevitability of human nature? Or are there things we could do, individually and structurally, to help close it? At the RSA, a panel of expert thinkers and do-ers who have ‘been there, done that’, help us identify the barriers that stop organisations living up to their values – and show the way for us all to do better. Discover more about this event here: https:

This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 8th June 2017 How can we effect real change in the world? Is there a tried and tested method we can rely on that harnesses the best of both academia and practical learnings from the field? Duncan Green is one of the world's experts on change and international development, and he brings together the best research from a range of academic disciplines and the evolving practical understanding of activists to explore the topic of social and political change. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/06/how-change-happens

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

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 re

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can the cold logic of engineering be applied to the quest for happiness? Mo Gawdat is Chief Business Officer at [X], an elite team of engineers that comprise Google's futuristic dream factory. Applying his superior skills of logic and problem solving to the issue of happiness, in 2011 he proposed an algorithm based on an understanding of how the brain takes in and processes joy and sadness. He essentially ‘solved’ for happy. Thirteen years later, Mo's algorithm would be put to the ultimate test. After the sudden death of his son, Ali, Mo and his family turned to his equation--and it saved them from despair. In dealing with the horrible loss, Mo found his mission: he would pull off the type of ‘moonshot’ goal that he and his colleagues were always aiming for--he would share his equation with the world and help as many people as possible become happier.

Even though women are half the workforce, they still represent only eighteen per cent of the highest level leaders. The reasons are obvious: just as women reach middle management they are also starting families. Mounting responsibilities at work and home leave them with no bandwidth to do what will most lead to their success. Chief Leadership Officer of Levo and one of Fast Company’s League of Extraordinary Women Tiffany Dufu has been hailed as the heir apparent to Sheryl Sandberg. Offering new perspective on why the women’s leadership movement has stalled, Dufu urges women to embrace imperfection, to expect less of themselves and more from others. Only then can they focus on what they truly care about, devote the necessary energy to achieving their real goals, and create the type of rich, rewarding life we all desire.

Game theory was the popular model for international relations during the Cold War, but the 21st century sees us playing on a drastically different landscape. Anne-Marie Slaughter — one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers from 2009 to 2012, and the first woman to serve as director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning— visits the RSA to reveal how network theory provides a new set of strategies for the post–Cold War world. While chessboard-style competitive relationships still exist—U.S.-Iranian relations, for example—many other situations demand that we look not at individual entities but at their links to one another. We must learn to understand, shape, and build on those connections.

Writer and academic Jeremy Myerson explores how social challenges can catalyse design-led innovation in industry. Rather than seeing such issues as ageing populations, growing healthcare needs or climate change as a problem or a crisis, designers can reframe social challenges as creative opportunities for change.

Jonathan F. P. Rose - the man who “repairs the fabric of cities” - suggests a five-pronged model for how to design and reshape our cities with the goal of equalising their landscape of opportunity. Drawing from the musical concept of “temperament” as a way to achieve harmony, Rose argues that well-tempered cities can be infused with systems that bend the arc of their development toward equality, resilience, adaptability, well-being, and the ever-unfolding harmony between civilisation and nature.

Acclaimed cognitive scientist Steven Sloman visits the RSA to argue that we survive and thrive despite our mental shortcomings because we live in a rich community of knowledge. The key to our intelligence lies in the people and things around us. We’re constantly drawing on information and expertise stored outside our heads: in our bodies, our environment, our possessions, and the community with which we interact—and usually we don’t even realize we’re doing it.

What are the political and moral fault-lines that divide Brexit Britain — and how can we achieve a new settlement that works for everyone? Several decades of greater economic and cultural openness in the West have not benefited all our citizens. Founding editor of Prospect magazine, David Goodhart argues that among those who have been left behind, a populist politics of culture and identity has successfully challenged the traditional politics of Left and Right. He suggests that a new division has been created: between the mobile ‘achieved’ identity of the people from Anywhere, and the marginalised, roots-based identity of the people from Somewhere. This schism accounts for the Brexit vote, the election of Trump, the decline of the centre-left, and the rise of populism across Europe. Goodhart visits the RSA to reveal how the 'Somewhere' backlash is a democratic response to the dominance of 'Anywhere' interests, in everything from mass higher education to mass immigration.