Academy Of Ideas

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. GIRL, BOY, OTHER: HOW DO WE TALK TO KIDS ABOUT GENDER? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/girl-boy-other-how-do-we-talk-to-kids-about-gender/ How should we talk to kids about gender – if at all? Is it small-minded to feel uncomfortable about a more open discussion of sex and identity, particularly with younger children at school? Or are we allowing political trends in the adult world interfere with what’s best for kids? Is it a sign of a problem or an expression of greater freedom that, in recent years, there has been a notable increase in young people feeling alienated from their given gender identity? Should children’s gender identity be given the space to be playful, and does the toxic debate in the adult world risk putting limitations

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS IT TIME TO RETHINK THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-it-time-to-rethink-the-precautionary-principle/ Can we treat decisions about something like a pandemic in the same way as those to do with the environment and new technologies, like artificial intelligence? Or has this pandemic shown us that we need to consider each new threat in a more holistic way, considering the economy, well-being and people’s freedoms as much as the direct threat to health? Is it time to finally depoliticise precaution and treat each case as unique? Or with political alignments becoming as important as the dispassionate assessment of risk, will the precautionary principle remain another victim of the all-encompassing ‘culture war

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS LEVELLING UP REALLY LEVELLING DOWN? THE GREAT INEQUALITY DEBATE A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-levelling-up-really-levelling-down-the-great-inequality-debate/ This debate was run in partnership with the Ayn Rand Centre UK. So equality of opportunity – or perhaps more radically, allowing everyone (more or less) to have the same income – is a no brainer. If the economic consequences of the pandemic are that the poor seem to have got poorer while the wealthy have done even better, tackling this disparity should be a priority for policy. But is equality really all it is cracked up to be? While everyone would agree that poverty is a bad thing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should get the same. Even those on minimum wage

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. RACISM AND HOW TO FIGHT IT A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/racism-and-how-to-fight-it/ What does racism in the UK look like today, and how can we fight it? Is the contemporary anti-racist route of exposing white privilege the right way to challenge discrimination? Or does accentuating racial difference risk defeating any prospect of solidarity? Is it right to claim that society remains structurally racist, or should we be more specific about the differences between individual racist prejudices and institutional racism? Is contemporary anti-racism helping or hindering freedom and equality for people of colour, and who should have a say in how to fight for their rights?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. THE STATUS OF SCIENCE AFTER THE PANDEMIC A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-status-of-science-after-the-pandemic/ As we emerge from the impacts of Covid, what should we conclude about scientific authority and accountability? How should science and politics relate to one another? In what circumstances, and in what capacity, should scientists feel free to speak their mind publicly? Conversely, when is it reasonable for lay people to direct criticism at scientists? How should scientists use, and relate to, traditional media and social media? And how have the everyday challenges of a jobbing scientist – obtaining funding, pressure to publish, demonstrating impact, negotiating tensions with one’s seniors and colleagues – affected, and been

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. THE IRISH BORDER QUESTION: CAN THE UNION SURVIVE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-irish-border-question-can-the-union-survive/  Is it time for Unionists to accept a border poll as a democratic resolution and prepare their best arguments to save the Union? How should British citizens view the threat to the Union? If Lord Frost eventually tears up the Protocol, will that save the Union and resolve the border tensions? Or has the unravelling of the border become a fait accompli, based on the instability inherent in partition?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. WILL GREEN JOBS SAVE US? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/will-green-jobs-save-us/ Will a shift to a green economy revive the UK economy? Is the ‘green economy’ just the latest Big Idea to boost growth that will ultimately prove illusory? Is encouraging economic growth simply bad for the planet and should we accept that environmental problems mean we should strive for a zero-growth society?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. CAN OUR DATA BE USED FOR GOOD? THE ETHICS OF RESEARCH A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/can-our-data-be-used-for-good-the-ethics-of-research/ This debate was run in partnership with ADRUK. When there is such extensive scope to improve lives by making better use of data, what guiding ethical principles and data protections should be in place? Can governments be trusted to use this data for good, or do they deserve scrutiny? Are there useful differences between public bodies and companies, or between researchers and governments? Is ‘anonymous’ data ever truly safe from being re-identified, and if not, how can we balance risk with the benefits afforded by the digital revolution?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. PROTECTION FOR ME BUT NOT FOR THEE? THE EQUALITY CONUNDRUM A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/protection-for-me-but-not-for-thee-the-equality-conundrum/ Do we need to be recognised in law to feel secure about ourselves? Is there a difference in the role of the law to protect against discrimination and protect certain beliefs? Has the fight for equality and liberation been replaced by the demand for affirmation? Do concerns about equality end up tongue-tying workers who should be free to debate political and moral issues, or are there some things that should be off limits? Is equality worth fighting for any longer, or does it now mean something very different?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. HATE, HERESY AND THE FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/hate-heresy-and-the-fight-for-free-speech/ Would a public square that embraced free expression be a dangerous thing? Can words be as dangerous as physical violence? Are we in danger of creating a new form of heresy when so-called social-justice warriors complain about hate speech on Twitter and governments simultaneously ban protests? Or should we embrace moves to get tough on hate? Could an increasingly volatile debate about free speech mean that more people are likely to self-censor for fear of being called a bigot? And if we decide that we do value free speech as a fundamental tenet of a liberal society, how can we mount a modern case for it in the twenty-firs

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. FEMINISM'S CIVIL WAR A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/feminisms-civil-war/ Does feminism know what it stands for anymore? Are the current divides reflective of a sea-change for feminism, or does the current infighting stem from its roots in identity politics? Can feminism survive its current civil war, or is it time for a new women’s liberation movement?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. FROM PROFITS TO PROPHETS: WHY HAS BIG BUSINESS GONE WOKE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-profits-to-prophets-why-has-big-business-gone-woke/ This debate was run in partnership with the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum. Is it a positive sign that big corporations are starting to care about something more than profits? Are woke campaigns and branding a distraction from the need to provide good products and services that consumers want? Is there any truth in the critical joke ‘Get woke, go broke’? What does it mean for democracy if corporations play an increasingly activist role in pursuing a liberal agenda?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS THERE A CASE FOR FOSSIL FUELS? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-there-a-case-for-fossil-fuels/ This debate was held in partnership with the Ayn Rand Centre UK Governments have been striving to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewables, particularly in the past decade, to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. But renewables are intermittent and unreliable. So how can we get secure supplies of energy that are reliable and affordable? Have we been too hasty in phasing out fossil fuels? Is there still a place for them until a new technology, like nuclear fusion, can easily supply all the energy we need? Or is climate change such an immediate danger that we need to learn to live without coal, oil and gas?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. A ‘NUDGE’ TOO FAR? THE RISE OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOCRATIC RULE A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/a-nudge-too-far-the-rise-of-behavioural-psychology-and-technocracy/ All societies need expert advice, but what is the line between legitimate advice and sinister attempts to shift behaviour? Why has psychology especially become so prominent in how the government relates to the public? Does the rise of experts and ‘evidence-based policy’ capture a real shift in how people are seen, no longer as agents of their own destiny but as data-points to be managed to generate better policy outcomes? What is the line between a gentle nudge in the direction of better choices and an authoritarian shove? Who even decides what is the better choice?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN: WHAT HAPPENED? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/20-years-in-afghanistan-what-happened/ With the withdrawal of Western forces now complete, will 20 years of Western-led occupation and the promotion of liberal-democratic values have an impact on the future of Afghanistan, or will conservative, religious values predominate? Has military intervention and nation-building had a small, but positive impact or was attempting to impose democracy from above simply a doomed act of Western hubris?

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. WHO ARE WE? IDENTITY IN CRISIS A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021:
https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/who-are-we-identity-in-crisis/ Do we know who we are anymore? And does embracing our sense of identity hinder or help our ability to engage in collective ambitions, like figuring out what society stands for? How has the atomisation of modern life changed our identities – particularly when the online world offers opportunities to curate and manicure our own view of ourselves? Is identity important, or should we be telling young people that it’s what they do in the world, rather than who they are, that matters? And can today’s culture wars be seen as part of this identity crisis – or should we accept that all aspects of life are now up for grabs on the political stage? Thanks

Recording of the Academy of Ideas Education Forum discussion on Monday 29 November 2021. INTRODUCTION How should we view the teaching of ‘white privilege’? Is it a helpful tool in combating racial inequality or a divisive idea that sows mistrust? The concept originated in American academia in the 1980s, but entered British schools last year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd. White privilege asserts that white people are automatically advantaged by their skin colour, because they do not have to endure lives beset by racialised systemic discrimination. The fact that black people are more likely to be paid less, sectioned under mental-health rules, or stopped and searched by police is cited as evidence of white privilege at work by advocates of the theory. Yet opponents of the concept say this reading of the data fans the flames of an unnecessary culture war. They counter-claim that those least likely to go to university, for example, are poor white teenagers

Playwright and actor David Ireland does not hold back from dealing with controversial and difficult topics. Born in Northern Ireland, his experiences of living in that troubled country inevitably informs his work. His plays create a stir, with no holds barred, often shockingly hilarious, dialogue. As black comedies they expose the raw nerves of identity politics, sexual and family relationships, and contemporary political tensions and polarisations which can drive people to violence and push them to do mad things. Among his most recent work is the award-winning Cyprus Avenue, performed at the Royal Court in 2016, with Stephen Rea in the lead role, focused on a unionist convinced his new born grandchild is Gerry Adams and has to be killed. Ulster American, performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2018, focuses on the challenges of writing a play about Irish identity and had audiences laughing in horror. Sadie, due to be premiered in Belfast in early 2020 but cancelled due to lockdown, was recently screened on B

Recording of the Academy of Ideas International Salon panel discussion on 23 November 2021. INTRODUCTION From the pandemic to the environment, housing to food supply, politicians and experts often tell us that our choices are limited. When Covid-19 took the world by surprise, governments around the world understandably took a blinkered view – opting to shut down society for fear of the worst. But even before the chaos of the last 19 months, the discussion about how to deal with challenges both political and viral have taken on a fatalistic tone. The slogan There Is No Alternative might have been coined by Margaret Thatcher to defend the market economy, but a broader reliance on the TINA outlook has come to inform many aspects of modern politics. Politicians and commentators applauded climate activist Greta Thunberg when she accused them of robbing children of their futures. According to climate activists Extinction Rebellion: ‘We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Life on Earth is in crisis: scie

Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review. Check back next week for more recordings from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021. IS THE NHS FIT FOR PURPOSE? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021:
https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/is-the-nhs-fit-for-purpose/ How can we solve the problems of the NHS? Is it simply a matter of providing extra resources, or is the way those resources are used a problem, too? Do we expect too much from the NHS? And with some observers likening the NHS to a national religion, are politicians brave enough to have a proper debate about reform? Listen to Parth Patel, Professor Karol Sikora, Christopher Snowdon, Dolly Theis and Dave Clements discuss. Thanks for listening to the BattleFest podcast - you can support us by subscribing, sharing and leaving us a review.