
RSA Conversations
The latest thinking from the world’s leading voices on topics ranging from education, design and creativity, to politics, philosophy and economics. Fresh ideas for better futures from the RSA.
Latest episodes

Apr 5, 2019 • 55min
Capitalism and Conservatism, with Iain Dale and Jacob Field
We’re living through the biggest backlash against neoliberalism for 40 years, and the biggest crisis over Britain’s relationship with Europe since the Second World War. Climate breakdown and new technologies present major threats to the way we live and work.
So against that backdrop, where does the politics of conservatism – and its relationship with capitalism – go next?
Presented by Matthew Taylor.
Guests
Economic historian Jacob Field, author of Is Capitalism Working?
Commentator and LBC broadcaster Iain Dale
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Music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Mar 21, 2019 • 41min
Denialism, with Caroline Lucas MP & Keith Kahn-Harris
From climate change to vaccines, there’s a worrying tendency in our culture to bury our heads in the sand, and for a growing number of people to turn their backs on the truth. At its most dangerous, denialism can shade into extremism.
Denialism is fundamentally a rejection of reality, but what drives it? What does it say about our psychology that sometimes we need to protect ourselves from what’s really going on? And what should we do about the malign online forces that are driving more people to construct their own truth?
Guests
Caroline Lucas MP
Keith Kahn-Harris, author of Denial: The Unspeakable Truth
Links
Watch on YouTube: We Need to Talk About Climate | Caroline Lucas MP | RSA Replay
Matthew Taylor on Twitter
Ian Leslie on Twitter
Caroline Lucas on Twitter
Keith Kahn-Harris on Twitter
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Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Mar 12, 2019 • 35min
Is the centre ground dead?
Commentators say the financial crisis and its aftermath sounded the death knell for centrist parties. Is the centre ground of British politics really dead, or could it make a comeback? And what does the ‘centre’ even mean these days?
This week, Ian Leslie and Matthew Taylor discuss the Independent Group, before talking to the political sociologist Paula Surridge from the University of Bristol about public opinion and the centre.
Plus: what is Tom Watson up to?
Links
Which values clan do you belong to?
‘Values clans’: how clusters of the electorate have shaped the political landscape
The ‘cross-pressured clans’ of British politics: a quarter of the electorate and their values
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Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Feb 25, 2019 • 34min
Responsible Parties
Has the opening up of political parties been a vital force for change, or bad for democracy as a whole? How can politicians represent both their party members and the voters? Is it game over for the old party politics of left vs right, and for the old party establishment? This week Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie are putting political parties in the spotlight.
Guests:
Ian Shapiro, co-author of Responsible Parties: Saving Democracy from Itself and professor of political science at Yale
Isra Allison, executive director of Brand New Congress
Nasim Thompson, co-founder of Justice Democrats
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Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Feb 13, 2019 • 39min
Talking to the Enemy, with Michael Sandel & Maria Exner
This week Ian Leslie and Matthew Taylor are asking: what's the best way to talk to people we disagree with? If we want to understand the other side – to bridge divides, or even persuade people we disagree with to think differently – what’s the best way to do that?
With Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, and Maria Exner, deputy editor of German news website Zeit Online.
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Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Jan 17, 2019 • 31min
Could a citizens' jury help break the Brexit deadlock?
Two days after the biggest government defeat in the history of the British parliament, Matthew Taylor makes the case for another form of democracy that might help sort out the mess. With James Fishkin and David Runciman.
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Links
The RSA's campaign for deliberative democracy
James Fishkin's talk at the RSA
Amazon: 'Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics Through Public Deliberation' by James S. Fishkin
David Runciman's talk at the RSA
Talking Politics podcast
Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
www.thersa.org

Dec 24, 2018 • 37min
Identity, with Francis Fukuyama
The phrase ‘identity politics’ has come to be used as a sort of political insult. It’s a short way of accusing someone of pandering to voters – based on race, religion or gender. From white nationalists and Donald Trump, to the politics of liberation and demands for equal rights, it feels like everyone is playing identity politics these days. Conflicts between identity groups now dominate our politics. How did we get here? Is the rise of identity politics really that big a problem? And if it is, what should we do about it?
Francis Fukuyama, author of 'The End of History and the Last Man' and more recently 'Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment', joins Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie to give his take on the rise of identity politics.
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Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
www.thersa.org

Dec 6, 2018 • 34min
The psychology of tribalism, with Jonathan Haidt
Is tribalism an indelible part of human nature? And if it is, can we overcome it? Matthew Taylor speaks to moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind.
Plus, Ian and Matthew discuss the recent protests in France, and we ask why the British people have claimed responsibility for 55% of all world history…
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Links
Washington Post: The top 10 reasons American politics are so broken, by Jonathan Haidt and Sam Abrams, January 2015
The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
YouTube: Why a 21st Century Enlightenment Needs Walls | Jonathan Haidt | RSA Replay
Twilight of the Elite: The Prosperous, the Periphery, and the Future of France by Christophe Guilluy
We Made History: Citizens of 35 Countries Overestimate Their Nation's Role in World History
Ian's newsletter, The Ruffian - TinyLetter
Twitter:
Matthew Taylor
Ian Leslie
Jonathan Haidt
Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
www.thersa.org

Nov 21, 2018 • 32min
Stories, Myths and Belonging
It's been a turbulent week in UK politics. What could possibly happen next? Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie talk Brexit predictions, and whether constant news updates are doing us any good.
That brings us on to a discussion about the stories we tell ourselves – fake news, and the importance of myths – before Matthew tests out his new 'theory of everything', and we ask whether all of our society's problems stem from a yearning for solidarity and belonging.
Links
Ian Leslie on fake news – New Statesman
The problem for democracies isn't "fake news" but pathological consumerism – Thomas Wells for ABC
Matthew Taylor: Reprogramming the future – on hierarchy, solidarity, individualism, and fatalism
Netflix: The Vietnam War
Bodyguard (BBC)
Produced by James Shield.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
www.thersa.org

Nov 1, 2018 • 28min
Is democracy failing?
Is democracy falling apart? How worried should we be? And how can we fix it? With Niheer Dasandi, author of 'Is Democracy Failing?' (part of the Big Idea series from Thames & Hudson), and Eliane Glaser, author of 'Anti-Politics: On the Demonisation of Ideology, Authority and the State'.
Links
Matthew Taylor's blog: Could politics ever be a source of wisdom rather than anxiety?
Is Democracy Failing? by Niheer Dasandi
Anti-Politics: On the Demonisation of Ideology, Authority and the State
Ian Leslie in the New Statesman: Why the invention of the fridge could be responsible for our love of fake news
Produced by James Shield. With thanks to Thames & Hudson.
Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
www.thersa.org