RSA Events: Audio

Leading-edge bioscience promised so much – but did it really deliver? Renowned neuroscientist Steven Rose and sociologist Hilary Rose visit the RSA to tackle the claims of the bioscience industry head on.

Influential political philosopher Thomas Pogge argues for a new global institutional commitment to the swift and complete eradication of severe poverty.

Distinguished social theorist Robert Goodin calls for a new recognition of the positive value of “settling”, and explains why it really is different from compromise, resignation and failure.

CEO of Purpose.com Jeremy Heimans shows how to harness the collective power of citizens and consumers to solve the world’s biggest problems. David Miliband MP will repsond.

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Michael Bichard, Ian Mulheirn and Ben Lucas debate the scale of the public finance challenge, and what this means for the future of public services.

For decades, liberal democracy has been trumpeted as the best system of governance available to us. But in a rapidly changing cultural landscape, is that any longer the case? Join investor and philanthropist Nicholas Berggruen and editor of New Perspectives Quarterly Nathan Gardels as they ask: How can East and West learn ‘best practice’ from each other in order to survive the unique challenges of the 21st century?

Award-winning film-maker and author, Stephen Trombley offers a fresh analysis of the key thinkers whose work from the Enlightenment to the present day is of continued importance as we proceed into the 21st century.

High-profile human rights abuses in Africa regularly provoke condemnation and outrage from international observers. But does this outrage really drive progressive change, or does it actually fan internal flames, entrench attitudes and perpetuate the sense of African societies as benighted, regressive and tragic?

In the 2012 Angus Millar Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Lord Rees argues that science will play a major role in solving the urgent challenges of the 21st century.

Renowned leadership specialist Khoi Tu identifies the essential elements of the route to excellence in team-building, from finding a common purpose to mastering conflict and managing change.

Man’s capacity for kindness and compassion is overshadowed only by his ability to be as cruel and destructive. Can empathy resolve issues of aggression and subjugation, where wars, politics and economic sanctions have failed? In this audience Q&A with Alex Gabbay, Mary Gordon, founder and president, Roots of Empathy and Simon Baron Cohen, professor of developmental pyschopathology, University of Cambridge.

Can Obama hold on for a second term, or has he simply not delivered enough? What will be the outcome of the most costly political campaign in history? Candace Allen, Sarah Churchwell, Ian Leslie and Colleen Graffy gather to dissect, analyse and de-mystify the 2012 US election.

Oxfam senior researcher and former co-author of the UN’s annual Human Development Report Kate Raworth visits the RSA to explain ‘doughnut economics’ – the bold new theory that is sweeping the development world.

Award-winning journalist Hanna Rosin argues that the transitional economy is ushering in a new era in gender relations, and explores how both men and women can adapt to our rapidly changing social and cultural dynamics.

Are we really taken in by all this 'call me Dave' political sincerity? Journalist and author Eliane Glaser dissects the party conference pomp and spin with the expert help of Stephen Tall, editor of the Liberal Democrat Voice, and some damning YouTube footage.