Summer 2015 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdf

Contributor(s): Nick Giles, Michael Hayman | Business as usual is over. Belief is the new currency and to succeed you must follow new rules: purpose as the route to profit; mind share to gain market share. At this event you will discover the secrets of some of the world's most renowned business leaders, and find out how to harness the power of purpose to win in business. Michael Hayman (@michaelhayman) and Nick Giles (@nick_giles) are the co-authors of Mission: How the Best in Business Break Through and the co-founders of Seven Hills, the highly acclaimed campaigns firm founded to generate momentum for Britain’s explosive growth companies and most exciting entrepreneurs. Michael is an alumnus of LSE. Erik Eyster is a Reader in Economics, and Academic Director of the LSE Summer School at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Michael Cox | We have been told for years that war between great powers is a thing of the past: something that has been consigned into that proverbial dustbin of history. Yet today serious writers and influential strategic thinkers in the USA and China are now suggesting that war in East Asia is a very real possibility as China rises - and becomes more assertive - and the United States supported by its Asian allies seeks to limit China’s reach. But how real is the danger of war? Is this just wild speculation by old style thinkers who have not caught up with globalization? Or is the threat real? In this debate between two experts we shall seek to answer these difficult but important questions.

Contributor(s): Professor Fawaz Gerges | Fawaz A. Gerges is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and holder of the Emirates Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. He wasalso the inaugural Director of the LSE Middle East Centre from 2010 until 2013. Gerges’ most recent books are The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World (Cambridge University Press, January 2014) and Obama and the Middle East: The End of America’s Moment? (Palgrave Macmillan, September 2013). On the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, Oxford University Press released Gerges’ book, The Rise and Fall of Al Qaeda.

Contributor(s): Ryan Pyle | Join adventurer and renowned photographer, Ryan Pyle, as he spends months exploring and photographing Western China’s remote Sacred Mountains in an effort to better understand these most sacred Tibetan regions. His human-powered adventure is “one of the ages” as he explores the remote provinces of Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan. Born in Toronto, Canada, Ryan Pyle (@RyanPyle) spent his early years close to home. After obtaining a degree in International Politics from the University of Toronto in 2001, Ryan realised a life long dream and travelled to China on an exploratory mission. In 2002 Ryan moved to China permanently and in 2004 Ryan became a regular contributor to the New York Times. In 2009 Ryan was listed by PDN Magazine as one of the 30 emerging photographers in the world. In 2010 Ryan began working full time on television and documentary film production and has produced and presented several large multi-episode television series for major broadcasters in the USA, Canada, UK, Asia, CHINA and continental Europe.

Contributor(s): David Smith | Sunday Times economics editor and best-selling author David Smith leads us through the mire of government policy and long-term economic trends to paint a vivid picture of how we got to now – and where we might go from here. David Smith (@dsmitheconomics) is economics editor of the Sunday Times and the author of a number of books including The Dragon and the Elephant and the best-selling guide to economics Free Lunch. This event marks the launch of his new book, Something Will Turn Up: Britain’s Economy, Past, Present and Future. Sushil Wadhwani is the founder of Wadhwani Asset Management LLP and a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. Dr Wadhwani was educated at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he obtained a BSc (Econ), MSc (Econ) and PhD (Econ).

Contributor(s): Tim Marshall | Foreign Affairs Broadcaster and Journalist, Tim Marshall, author of new book Prisoners of Geography explains how decisions made by world leaders are constrained by geography. It is true that to understand world events (such as President Putin's invasion of Crimea and events in the Middle East), you need to understand people, ideas and movements… but if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture. Tim Marshall (@itwitius), journalist, writer and broadcaster, is best known for his reporting and analysis of events in the world of foreign affairs and international diplomacy. Whilst at Sky News, Marshall covered twelve wars over a twenty-four year period. He is the founder and editor of 'thewhatandthewhy.com', a web platform for journalists, politicians and students to share their views on world events. Charlie Beckett (@CharlieBeckett) is the founding director of POLIS, the think-tank for research and debate in to international journalism and society in the Media and Communications Department.

Contributor(s): Lord Meghnad Desai | Lord Desai is an Indian-born British economist and Labour politician. He unsuccessfully stood for the Speaker in the British House of Lords in 2011, the first ever non-UK born candidate to do so. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in 2008. Starting as an economics lecturer at LSE,in 2003 he retired as Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, which he had founded in 1992, and remains Professor Emeritus at LSE. Desai has written extensively, publishing over 200 articles in academic journals, writing a number of books, and he still writes regularly for two leading Indian newspapers. He published abiography of Indian film star Dilip Kumar entitled Nehru’s Hero: Dilip Kumar in the life of India in 2004, which he has described as his “greatest achievement”. His latest book is Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One.

Contributor(s): Professor Frank Wilczek | In his new book, which he will discuss in this public lecture, world-class physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek argues that beauty is at the heart of the logic of the universe, a principle that had guided his pioneering work in quantum physics. As his book looks to demonstrate, this quest has also guided the work of all scientific pursuit in the western world, from Pythagoras and Plato to Galileo and Newton, Maxwell and Einstein. Indeed, Wilczek looks to show us just how deeply intertwined our ideas about beauty and art are with our scientific understanding of the cosmos. A Beautiful Question is the culmination of Wilczek’s life work, a work that looks to combine the age-old quest for beauty with the age-old quest for truth. Frank Wilczek (@FrankWilczek) won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student at Princeton University, when he was 21 years old. He is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at MIT.

Contributor(s): Gerard Grech | The extraordinary growth of the UK's Digital Economy reflects all the paradoxes of British culture and history. What has been the impact of the creative entrepreneur and disruptive technology on the way we live, and where could it take us next? Gerard Grech (@gerardgrech) is the CEO of Tech City UK. Gerard has 15 years experience in the world of digital media, web and mobile. His international experience in London, Paris and New York has given global vision and local expertise, spanning digital product development, business strategy and venture capital. Before that he was a new media journalist and started his career in the music business. Max Nathan (@iammaxnathan) is Deputy Director of the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth and a Research Fellow at the Spatial Economics Research Centre at LSE. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at NIESR. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Virginia Postrel | Drawing on her path-breaking new book, The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion, Virginia Postrel cracks the code of this mysterious and surprisingly pervasive phenomenon. She identifies the three essential elements in all forms of glamour and explains how they work to create a distinctive sensation of projection and yearning. Virginia Postrel (@vpostrel) is a Los Angeles-based author and columnist whose work spans a broad range of topics, from social science to fashion, concentrating on the intersection of culture and commerce. Her previous books are The Substance of Style (2003) and The Future and Its Enemies (1998). She is a regular columnist for Bloomberg View. She has been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Forbesand its companion technology magazine Forbes ASAP. Shani Orgad is Associate Professor in Media and Communications at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Wendy Brown | In the United States, the extension of civil liberties to corporations is transforming democracy through rights adjudication. Best known in this regard is Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission, the 2010 Supreme Court decision permitting corporate funding to flood the U.S. electoral process on the basis of corporate rights to free speech. In 2014, Burwell vs Hobby Lobby granted firms the right to the free exercise of religion, and hence the ability to withhold insurance coverage of abortions and abortifacients for their employees. This lecture explores the neoliberal logic of the Hobby Lobby decision, makes an argument about the transformations of democracy these decisions entail, and concludes with a critique of Foucault’s formulation of the relation of law, state and economy in neoliberalism. Wendy Brown is Class of 1936 First Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley. Emily Jackson is Professor of Law and Head of Department in the Law Department at LSE. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Contributor(s): Professor Ruth Simmons, Dr Purna Sen | This event is part of the Above the Parapet project, which seeks to capture the experiences of high profile women who have shaped public life. Ruth Simmons was the 18th president and first female president of Brown University and the first black person to be head of an Ivy-League Institution. Purna Sen (@Purna_Sen) is Deputy Director of the Institute of Public Affairs. Marie-Pierre Lloyd is the Seychelles High Commissioner to the UK. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Contributor(s): Professor Peter Ayton, Dr Sepideh Bazazi, Professor Chris Frith | In our modern world we are constantly exposed to the opinion of the group. When is the crowd wise and when is it prone to madness? Peter Ayton (@Thruthal) is Professor of Psychology at City University London. Sepideh Bazazi is a researcher at the Centre on Animal Cognition, DYNACTOM, Université Paul Sabatier. Chris Frith (@cdfrith) is a psychologist and Professor Emeritus at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London. Bahador Bahrami (@bahadorbahrami) is Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL. The Forum for European Philosophy (@LSEPhilosophy) is an educational charity which organises and runs a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Julia Gillard, Dr Purna Sen | This event is part of the Above the Parapet project, which seeks to capture the experiences of high profile women who have shaped public life. Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) was Prime Minister of Australia 2010-13 and the first woman to hold this position. She recently wrote My Story. Julia Gillard started her Arts and Law degrees at the University of Adelaide. In 1983 she was elected national Education Vice-President of the Australian Union of Students (AUS) and moved to Melbourne to complete her degree at Melbourne University. Later that year, she was elected President of the AUS. After graduating Ms Gillard began work as a solicitor in Melbourne with the law firm Slater and Gordon and became a Partner in 1990. Ms Gillard's work at the firm focused on employment law where she worked on securing fairer treatment for workers and fought for clothing trades outworkers who had been underpaid. From 1996 to 1998 Ms Gillard served as Chief-of-Staff to the then Opposition Leader of the State of Victoria, John Brumby. Julia Gillard first contested the Federal seat of Lalor for the Australian Labor Party in 1998 and was elected that year. From 1998 to 2001 Ms Gillard served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Workplace Relations. In 2001 Ms Gillard was appointed Shadow Minister for Population and Immigration and subsequently took on responsibilities for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs in 2003. From 2003 to 2006 Ms Gillard served as Shadow Minister for Health. On 4 December 2006 Ms Gillard was appointed Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party and served as Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Social Inclusion. Following the Australian Labor Party's victory at the 2007 Federal Election, Ms Gillard was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion. Purna Sen (@Purna_Sen) is Deputy Director of the IPA and leads on the Above the Parapet programme. Tessa Jowell is Professor of Practice for LSE Cities and the Department of Government at LSE. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Contributor(s): Dr Alina Averchenkova, Professor John Broome, Professor Robyn Eckersley, Fergus Green | Tackling climate change is crucial for human well-being. So why has the international community been faltering on effective climate action? How can we break through the collective-action impasse? Alina Averchenkova is Co-Head of Climate Policy in the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE. John Broome is Emeritus White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Robyn Eckersley is Professor of Political Science in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Fergus Green is Policy Analyst and Research Advisor to Professor Stern in the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Sir Paul Collier, Professor Dani Rodrik | 2015 marks the centenary of the birth of the LSE’s Nobel Prize winning economist, William Arthur Lewis (1915-1991). Sir Arthur Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics for “pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries”. As part of LSE's marking of the centenary, this event will see Rodrik and Collier reflect on some important themes on the subject of “Understanding Economic Development” and their relation to Lewis’s earlier work. Paul Collier is a Director of the International Growth Centre (IGC), Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies also at Oxford University. Dani Rodrik (@rodrikdani) is Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Centennial Professor at the LSE European Institute and Department of Economics. He has published widely in international economics and globalization, economic growth and development, and political economy. He is the author of The Globalization Paradox (Norton, 2011) andOne Economics, Many Recipes (Princeton, 2007). Stuart Corbridge is Deputy Director and Provost of LSE. Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording).

Contributor(s): Isaac Herzog | In his lecture Mr Herzog will argue that most Israelis want to live in a country that is not only secure, but just, democratic, liberal and at peace with its neighbours – as envisioned by Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Israel faces complex divisions within its society, and unique security threats. Mr Herzog will set out how Israel can overcome the politics of fear, and its internal divisions, to build an Israel which fully embodies the vision of its founders. Isaac Herzog, son of former Israeli President, Chaim Herzog was born in 1960. He completed his army service with the rank of major (res.). He holds a law degree from University of Tel Aviv and is an attorney by profession. In November 2013 Herzog was elected Chairman of the Labor Party and assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset. In December 2014 Herzog formed a political alliance with MK Tzipi Livni's Hatnua Party, making the newly-created Zionist Union Israel's largest Centrist political party, and Isaac Herzog was the leading candidate to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the national elections in March 2015. Isaac Herzog served as Secretary of the Economic-Social Council (1988-1990), as Government Secretary (1999-2001). He was elected to the 16th Knesset in 2003 as a member of the Labor Party. In January 2005 Isaac Herzog was appointed for the first time to a cabinet position in the Israeli Government, and served as the Minister of Housing and Construction. In May 2006, he was appointed Minister of Tourism. In March 2007 he was appointed Minister of Welfare and Social Services & Minister of the Jewish Diaspora, Society and the Fight against Anti-Semitism. In February 2009 he began his second term as Minister of Welfare and Social Services. In January 2011 he resigned from the government. The Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) (@LSEIGA) creates a dedicated space for research, policy engagement and teaching across multiple disciplines to pioneer locally-rooted responses to global challenges.

Contributor(s): Herman Van Rompuy | Herman Van Rompuy is a Belgian politician who formerly served as Prime Minister of Belgium and then as the first President of the European Council in the European Union. A politician from Belgium's Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Van Rompuy served as the 66th prime minister of Belgium from December 2008 until November 2009. In November 2009 he was selected by the members of the European Council as its first full-time President under the Treaty of Lisbon. He was appointed for the period from December 2009 until May 2012. On 1 March 2012 he was re-elected for a second (and last) term, which lasted from June 2012 until November 2014. Paul De Grauwe (@pdegrauwe) is John Paulson Chair in European Political Economy in the European Institute at LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) was established in 1991 as a dedicated centre for the interdisciplinary study of processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Assessment Exercise, the Institute was ranked first for research in European Studies in the United Kingdom. The LSE European Institute has been a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence since 2009.

Contributor(s): Professor Sam Scheffler | Imagine you discovered that shortly after your death an asteroid would destroy the world. How would that affect how you lived your life? Would you bother to come to this session with renowned philosophy professor Sam Scheffler? We think you should. Samuel Scheffler is University Professor and Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University. Edward Stourton is one of BBC Radio 4's leading presenters of news and documentaries.

Contributor(s): Professor Amitav Chakravarti | Successful consumer insights and policy interventions are elusive; often they tend to follow a hit-or-miss pattern. The GO-STOP signal framework explains why this pattern occurs and demonstrates how to avoid it. Amitav Chakravarti is Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management, LSE. Dr Simona Botti is Associate Professor of Marketing at London Business School, where she teaches Marketing and Brand Management. Her research focuses on consumer behaviour and decision making, and she specialises in the impact of perceived consumer control. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a globally diverse academic community at the heart of the LSE, taking a unique interdisciplinary, academically in-depth approach to the study of management and organisations.