RSA Events

Caroline Lucas MP is joined by Professor David Runciman to discuss the urgent need for reform of our political systems in order to confront the intractable challenge of climate change. Liberal democracy is coming apart, under threat from the rise of populism and increasingly unable to deliver the solutions to the multiple challenges facing society. We urgently need bold and radical ideas - not just for the policies we need to tackle the many crises we face - but for the processes necessary to unlock that change. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Monday 18th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/we-need-to-talk-about-climate

What’s missing from our public life? Renowned economist Raghuram Rajan explores the power of community in a world that’s left civil society behind. An assumption underlying the politics and economics of the moment goes like this: that what matters are governments and markets, and the interaction between them. What about the rest of society? The ‘third pillar’ – community – has been forgotten in a world increasingly shaped by globalisation and technological innovation. Focusing on the state and the market at the expense of social issues has proven not just short-sighted, but a dangerous factor in the rise of populism. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 13th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/how-to-revive-community-in-a-polarised-world

What lessons can we learn from successful leaders about how to navigate the challenges we face today? A panel gathers to reflect on the leadership of the moment and the take-home lessons from the worlds of politics and business. We’re seeing the effects of a crisis of leadership across the board, amidst the recent US government shutdown, abuse of corporate power, and the splintering of mainstream political parties. What’s gone wrong? What does it really mean to be a good leader in politics or in business, and how are they different? How do we adopt leadership principles like initiative, authority, and fairness, and put them to use in our own lives? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 7th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/the-leadership-we-need-now

The desire for fairness is a fundamental human attribute – but should it be a core business goal? With philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill and Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s. Whether the issue is pay, tax, or environmental harm, it’s clear that many people feel companies are not playing fair, highlighting an ongoing public dis-ease with business. This underlines the importance of fairness to individuals and in society - but also raises a question about whether fairness is a core business goal. This event was recorded live at The RSA on 5th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/how-not-to-run-an-unfair-business

Renowned psychotherapist and broadcaster Philippa Perry joins journalist and broadcaster Miranda Sawyer to discuss how to build emotionally intelligent relationships with children that benefit you, them, and the wider world. Through the combination of case studies, her own experiences as a parent, and therapeutic insight gained from a career spanning over 20 years, Perry tackles the wider issues of what it actually means to be a parent, rather than getting bogged down in the little details. She is not interested in developmental milestones, training your child to have enviable manners, or how to get the much idealised 'perfect' family. Instead, she shows how to create functional, emotionally intelligent relationships with your children so that they grow up feeling secure, knowing who they are and what they want – creating positive outcomes for them, you, and the wider world. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 28th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/how-to-be-a-parent

What is the negative news cycle doing to our politics and our mental health? An expert panel gathers to discuss how our media landscape can change for the better. Evidence shows that an overload of negative news stories affects our mental health and drives disengagement, with huge numbers of people deliberately avoiding the news. In a political climate defined by the rise of populism and “fake news”, we need to be able to trust our media to give us the full picture and empower us to act on the biggest issues of our time. But isn’t it true that outrage sells? Does staying up to date with what’s happening in the world have to cost us our sanity, or is there another way? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 21st February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/how-the-news-can-change-our-world

Professor Tim Lang and Helen Browning OBE join an expert panel to discuss the collective action required to transition to a global food system that ensures human health and environmental sustainability. EAT gathered 37 of the planet’s foremost experts who, for the first time ever, propose scientific targets for what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system – as published in the EAT-Lancet ‘Food in the Anthropocene’ report. To unpack what the EAT-Lancet framework might look like in a UK context, the Food, Farming & Countryside Commission and City University’s Food Thinkers Seminars are convening a panel of experts from food policy, farming, public health and government backgrounds as well as presenting new UK-specific modelling data. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 20th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/a-sustainable-future-for-food-health-and-planet

Renowned thinker Douglas Rushkoff argues that amidst increasing automation and alienation, humanity’s best path forward is to restore the social bonds that define our existence. Revealing how the intentional repression of humanity impacts diverse sectors of society, Rushkoff shows how money went from being a means of transaction to a means of extraction and how education transformed from the ideal of learning into an extension of occupational training. Digital age technologies have only amplified these trends, he argues, making our systems more brittle and presenting the greatest challenges yet to our collective autonomy: robots taking our jobs, algorithms directing our attention, and social media influencing our votes. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 14th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/team-human

What does the rest of this century look like for our planet? Viral sensation David Wallace-Wells issues an urgent wake-up call about climate collapse, leading the way for bolder action before it’s too late. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 13th February 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/02/a-story-of-the-future-of-earth

Professor James Fishkin, director of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, shows how a more deliberative politics can revive our modern democracies. Professor Fishkin’s research speaks to a recurring dilemma: listen to the people and get the angry voices of populism or rely on widely distrusted elites and get policies that seem out of touch with the public's concerns. Instead, there are methods for getting a representative and thoughtful public voice that really is worth listening to. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 6th December 2018. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2018/12/revitalising-our-politics-through-public-deliberation