Academy Of Ideas

This event was held on 17 March 2022 hosted by the Academy of Ideas and the Free Speech Union: academyofideas.org.uk/event/free-speech-a-global-history-from-socrates-to-social-media/  Free speech is often hailed as the ‘first freedom’ and the bedrock of democracy. Free exchange of ideas underlies all intellectual achievement and has enabled the advancement of both freedom and equality worldwide. But free speech is also a challenging and even contentious principle that today is often considered to be under threat. In his new book, Free Speech: A Global History from Socrates to Social Media, Jacob Mchangama traces the fluctuating history of this idea, arguing that it is not enough to have free speech legally enshrined – it has to be culturally accepted too. While the desire to restrict speech has been a constant, what are the threats from free-speech sceptics that we should worry about most today and how have they come to be? At a time when ideas, language and even history itself are the target of contentious i

This meeting was held live at the Royal National Hotel on the 14 March 2022: academyofideas.org.uk/event/ukraine-in-the-crosshairs-of-history A famous old Russian once said: ‘There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.’ The past week feels exactly like that since Russia’s appalling decision to invade Ukraine. Not only will there be enormous bloodshed, but a nation’s independence and sovereignty is under threat. It feels like an earthquake has taken place in international relations, with old certainties undermined and gathering trends suddenly coming to fruition. We need to ask how we got to this point, what we need to do now and what the wider ramifications are. How did we get here? In all the confusion, the ‘Vladimir Putin is a mad dictator’ explanation really isn’t a good enough answer. We need a much better historical perspective than we’ve been getting so far, at the very least on events since the fall of the Soviet Union, but also how the current world order is, i

As war breaks out in Ukraine, the Academy of Ideas team is joined by Professor Frank Furedi and international affairs correspondent Mary Dejevsky to discuss Vladimir Putin's invasion and the fallout among Western nations. Articles discussed in the podcast: Patrick Cockburn in the Independent / Tom McTague in the Atlantic / Brendan O'Neill in spiked

Panel discussion organised by the Academy of Ideas Education Forum on 21 February 2022. INTRODUCTION As the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) approaches its 30th birthday, many are increasingly concerned that Ofsted is becoming overly political and moralistic and insufficiently educational in its approach. The anniversary of Ofsted’s creation seems a good moment to take stock. Ofsted employs more than a thousand people and has an annual budget of close to £130 million. For this, it takes responsibility for regularly inspecting all publicly funded schools and colleges in England. In addition to setting the agenda of her inspection teams, Ofsted’s head, Amanda Spielman, writes a widely read annual report on the state of state education. Spielman herself has strong educational, political and moral opinions, and intervenes regularly in public debates. Last year, for example, she rejected calls to decolonise the school curriculum. Ofsted was established in 1992 in the final phase of the Thatcherite ref

Recording of the Academy of Ideas International Salon panel discussion on 3 February 2022. https://academyofideas.org.uk/event/boiling-point-russia-and-the-west/ INTRODUCTION: Russian troops on the border of Ukraine, riots in Kazakhstan, brutal suppression of recent protests in Belarus, talk of a new Cold War, threats of catastrophic sanctions from America, and demands from Russia for new security guarantees. As negotiations begin between Russia and the West, how do we make sense of the confusing – and highly charged – state of East-West relations? Why have tensions continued to rachet up in the first place? Is there some validity to Russian security concerns amidst the enlargement of NATO and the EU, or is Russia to blame for seeking to expand its sphere of influence? Is this a genuine opportunity for Biden and Putin to lower tensions, or even negotiate a new settlement for relations between the West and Russia, after the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union? Or is this just a prelude to further hostili

This is a recording from the Arts & Society Forum event - What’s in store for the arts in 2022? - that took place on 10 January 2022: https://fb.me/e/7cT8pWcle What can we expect of the arts in 2022? On the one hand, the measures taken to protect us against COVID19 have imposed onerous restrictions on the arts, closing down theatres, museums, galleries and most other venues. But the arts seem to be returning to life with renewed (if somewhat cautious) energy. On the other hand, controversy continues to dog the arts, whether it’s what to put on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, sponsors and patrons with unsavoury histories, artists who fall foul of new moral codes, or increasing calls for censorship and cancellation. These controversies might help to keep the arts in the public eye, but what impact do they have on artistic development and production? What can we expect in terms of new work of artistic merit? As 2022 gets started, after two years of hiatus and disruption, can we expect things to get

For our first Sportscast of Ideas of 2022, Geoff Kidder is joined by Academy of Ideas colleagues Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons, with special guest and Aussie, Charlie Pearson.

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. WHAT ARE WESTERN VALUES - AND SHOULD WE DEFEND THEM? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021:
 https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/what-are-western-values-and-should-we-defend-them/   The recent abandonment of Afghanistan by the UK and the US is widely seen as a humiliating defeat for the West. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the hurried exit and its consequences have led to a soul-searching discussion about what the West really means today. Are we prepared to fight for Western values, and do we even agree on what Western values are?

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 POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY: HOW IS IT GOING? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-post-pandemic-recovery-how-is-it-going/ Will the post-pandemic recovery continue? Why has the UK economy experienced such a long period of relative stagnation, with productivity barely growing for years? What, if anything, can be done to change this dynamic? How can living standards be boosted in more deprived areas? The Covid-related economic crisis is itself unlikely to ‘change everything’, but to what extent could it be the catalyst for accelerating economic changes already underway?

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 SPORT SURVIVE THE CULTURE WARS? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/can-sport-survive-the-culture-wars/ Is sport in danger of being consumed by these wider cultural issues or is it part of a healthy cleansing process? Is the praise heaped upon Biles and Osaka a sign that sport needs to change to put athletes wellbeing first?

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. CARE FOR THE ELDERLY: THE FORGOTTEN MINORITY? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/care-for-the-elderly-the-forgotten-minority/ Negative attitudes to the elderly go far beyond financial support. Long before COVID, social policy has been ambivalent about increased longevity. Far from being treated as unalloyed good news, the trend has often been problematised as a demographic time bomb, a financial burden to be paid for by the young and a drain on the NHS. Are these problems solely down to governments? If politicians have out-sourced elderly care, have some families themselves done the same, with Covid only highlighting the underlying weaknesses in intergenerational family bonds? How should we view care of the elderly in the future? What less

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 GB NEWS TO BEN & JERRY’S: BOYCOTTS OR CENSORSHIP? A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-gb-news-to-ben-jerrys-boycotts-or-censorship/ If boycotts are simply legitimate expressions of preference or political opinion, can we complain about them? Or, if they stray into the territory of suppressing political debate, do they then become more of a threat? Are boycotts an attack on free expression or a weapon for those fighting for accountability? How has the use of boycotts changed over the years, and why have they become so contentious?

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 FSU FILES: HOW TO FIGHT CANCEL CULTURE AND WIN A new #BattleFest recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2021: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-fsu-files-how-to-fight-cancel-culture-and-win/ What is it like to be publicly shamed for your views or beliefs, to have your words scrutinised by an employment tribunal or even by the police? More importantly, what inspires some to stand their ground and make their struggle public? Are new communities and movements beginning to flourish around freedom of speech? And how can we successfully defend individual speech rights, campaign for greater legislative protection and try to turn the tide on the wave of intolerance sweeping through our institutions?

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?