LSE IQ podcast

Contributor(s): Dr Suzanne Hall, Dr Alan Mace, Dr David Madden, Emad Megahed, Dr Patria Roman-Velazquez | Why don't you join us for a live recording of the LSE IQ podcast? Join us on Tuesday 6 November when we’ll be asking, 'Can we afford our consumer society?'. For further information please see: http://bit.ly/lseiqlive. Welcome to LSE IQ, a podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. In 1964 the sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term ‘gentrification’ to describe the process of London’s working class neighbourhoods being taken over by the middle classes. Modest two-up two down terrace houses were bought cheap, done up and made into expensive residences. Once grand Victorian houses that had fallen on hard times and become lodging houses or homes to multiple families, were restored once again and sub-divided into luxury flats. Soon the working class residents had been squeezed out of the neighbourhood and its character changed completely. Fifty years on and this process continues apace in London and many other cities. In this episode of LSE IQ Sue Windebank asks, 'Is the gentrification of our global cities inevitable?' This episode features: Dr Suzanne Hall, Department of Sociology, LSE; Dr Alan Mace, Department of Geography and Environment, LSE; Dr David Madden, Department of Sociology, LSE; Emad Megahed, owner of Tekk Room and Chair of Elephant & Castle Traders Association and; Dr Patria Roman-Velazquez, Chair of Latin Elephant and Senior Lecturer at Loughborough University.

Contributor(s): Richard Bronk, Professor Lib Taylor, Professor Mary Morgan | Welcome to LSE IQ, the monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. "The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories." So says Mary Catherine Bateson, writer and cultural anthropologist. Narratives are all around us, from the TV shows we watch, the newspapers we read to the anecdotes we tell. But how do narratives shape our understanding of the world, ourselves and the people around us? Do they distort or clarify our view of reality? In this episode James Rattee asks, 'How do stories help us understand the world?'. This episode features the following academics: Mr Richard Bronk, LSE European Institute, Professor Lib Taylor, University of Reading's Department of Film, Theatre and Television and Professor Mary Morgan, LSE Department of Economic History. If you've been affected by the issues in this podcast, you could contact the Samaritans on 116 123. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Professor Anne Applebaum, Dr Cristian Nitoiu, Peter Pomerantsev | Welcome to LSE IQ, the monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. In this episode, Joanna Bale asks 'Are we entering a new Cold War?' She talks to LSE's Anne Applebaum, Cristian Nitoiu and Peter Pomerantsev.For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Dr Grace Akello, Rafat Ali Al-Akhali, Dr Duncan Green, Dr Ryan Jablonski | Welcome to LSE IQ, the monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. The UK spends a generous 0.7% of its Gross National Income on overseas development aid each year managed by its Department for International Development, or DFID. DFID’s website boasts that its work is building a safer, healthier and more prosperous world, not just for people in developing countries but also those in the UK. Despite this noble sentiment, not everyone supports the concept of aid, complaining that it’s too costly, that it aids corruption or that it is just another way for governments in developed countries to meddle in other nations’ affairs. Add to these objections the recent Oxfam scandal in Haiti – which has seen the organisation permanently banned from operating in the country due to claims of sexual exploitation - and is it time to rethink aid? This episode features: Dr Grace Akello, Visiting Professor at the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa at LSE; Rafat Ali Al-Akhali, a Fellow of Practice – Strategic Projects at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, Dr Duncan Green, Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB and a Professor in Practice in International Development at LSE, and Dr Ryan Jablonski, Assistant Professor in Political Science at LSE’s Department of Government. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Dr Tatiana Cutts, Professor Nigel Dodd, Dr Garrick Hileman, Dr Natacha Postel-Vinay | Welcome to LSE IQ, the monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. In 2008 a person or group going under the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ published a white paper setting out the fundamentals of a peer- to- peer electronic cash system called bitcoin. This would do away with the need to rely on financial institutions, acting as trusted third parties, to process electronic payments. Instead money could be sent directly from one party to another. Transactions would be verified and recorded permanently on the blockchain. This digital ledger would be distributed across a large network of computers and guard against a risk specific to digital currency - that it can be fraudulently spent twice. Technology, Satoshi Nakamoto claimed, would replace the need for trust. Bitcoin was the first decentralised cryptocurrency, and hundreds of others have been created since. In this episode of LSE IQ, Sue Windebank asks, are cryptocurrencies the future of money, a speculative bubble that will burst, or something else? This episode features: Dr Tatiana Cutts, Assistant Professor, LSE Department of Law Professor Nigel Dodd, LSE Department of Sociology; Dr Garrick Hileman, Research Associate, University of Cambridge and LSE, Dr Natacha Postel-Vinay, Assistant Professor, LSE Department of Economic History.

Contributor(s): Dr Owen Griffiths, Dr Bryan Roberts, Dr Bart Cammaerts, Professor Martin Bauer, Dr Alexandru Marcoci | Welcome to LSE IQ, an award-winning monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists – and other experts – to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. LSE IQ is one year old - and to mark its anniversary we’re looking at the theme of arguments – how to make them, evaluate them and win them. It’s a feature that’s underscored our previous episodes, from people arguing that democracy is declining and to why we shouldn’t wage a war on drugs. So, what makes a good argument and, more importantly, what’s the best way to argue effectively? In this episode, producers James Rattee, Nathalie Abbott and Sue Windebank consider how to debate with conspiracy theorists, see how US intelligence agencies are building tools to formulate better arguments, and ask whether certain people – and points of view – are too dangerous to confront. This episode features the following LSE academics: Dr Owen Griffiths, LSE Department of Philosophy, Dr Bryan Roberts, LSE Department of Philosophy, Dr Bart Cammaerts, LSE Department of Media and Communications, Professor Martin Bauer, LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and Dr Alexandru Marcoci, LSE Department of Government. For further information about the podcast and all the related links visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ. We are delighted to announce that the LSE IQ podcast, produced by a small team in LSE Communications Division, has won a 2018 Guardian University Award. It won the award in the category of ‘best marketing and comms campaign’ for ‘an imaginative university marketing or press campaign that imparts a clear message to engage its target audience and raise the profile of the university, or show it in a new light.’ To read more about the award please visit http://bit.ly/lseiqaward.

Contributor(s): Professor Jennifer Brown, Winnie Li, Professor Beverley Skeggs | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. In this episode, Joanna Bale asks 'are we seeing a new gender equality revolution?'. She talks to LSE's Jennifer Brown, Winnie Li and Beverley Skeggs. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Dr Jonathan Hopkin, Dr Brian Klass, Professor Tomila Lankina | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science. This is the podcast where we ask some of the leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. Earlier this year, the independent watchdog organisation Freedom House published a report cautioning that, in 2017, democracy had faced its most serious crisis in decades. In this episode, Jess Winterstein asks what might lie behind this decline in global freedom and what the future might hold for democracy. This episode features: Dr Jonathan Hopkin, Associate Professor of Comparative Politics, LSE Department of Government and co-director of Democratic Audit; Dr Brian Klass, a Fellow in Comparative Politics at LSE’s Department of Government; and Professor Tomila Lankina, LSE Department of International Relations and lead of the Political Mobilisation and Democracy project. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Professor John Hills, Professor Lucinda Platt, Dr Malcolm Torry | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. The welfare state is constantly under debate, whether it is the underfunding of the NHS or the amount we spend on benefits. With over 50% of the country's budget spent on the welfare state and an ever-changing political, technological and cultural landscape, its purpose, size and utility dominate public discourse. In this episode of LSE IQ, James Rattee looks at the research and asks, 'What's the future of the welfare state?'. This episode features: John Hills, Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy, LSE Department of Social Policy; Lucinda Platt, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology, LSE Department of Social Policy and; Dr Malcolm Torry, Visiting Senior Fellow, LSE Department of Social Policy. For further information about the podcast and all the related links visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ. You may also be interested in the LSE Festival: Beveridge 2.0, 19 - 24 February 2018 http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/LSE-Festival and the LSE Library exhibition 'A Time for Revolutions: Making the Welfare State', 8 January to 13 April 2018, http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/exhibitions

Contributor(s): Dr Connson Locke, Professor Elizabeth Samet, Professor Ben Voyer | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. If you do a quick Amazon search on ‘leadership books’ you’ll get nearly 200,000 results. These books promise to reveal the leadership secrets of luminaries such as Steve Jobs, notable explorers, military figures, and numerous sports men and women. Whether we’re seeking to improve our own ability to lead or wondering why those around us aren't better at it, there’s plenty of advice out there. In this episode of LSE IQ, Sue Windebank looks at the research and asks, 'What makes a great leader?' This episode features: Dr Connson Locke, Senior Lecturer in Practice, LSE Department of Management; Professor Elizabeth Samet, Department of English & Philosophy, US Military Academy, West Point and; Professor Ben Voyer, Visiting Fellow, LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. For further information about the podcast and all the related links visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.