RSA Events

An expert panel gathers to look back on a year of seismic events and world-changing headlines. Featuring Ian Leslie, commentator and author of Born Liars and Curiosity: Why Our Future Depends on it. 2017 has had its fair share of news – Donald Trump’s inauguration; a snap election and subsequent coalition in the UK; the triggering of Article 50 and ongoing Brexit negotiations; the horrific Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester arena terror attacks; the Grenfell Tower tragedy; the cultural shift engendered by the Weinstein and Westminster scandals, and subsequent #metoo campaigns; Mugabe’s resignation…and countless other significant political and cultural events. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 14th December 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/12/2017-that-was-the-year-that-was

Author and FT contributor Stefan Stern debunks some of the famous myths surrounding management and leadership. Using insights from psychology, leadership theory and organizational behaviour, he will provide a compelling and practical guide to avoid falling into the trap of management cliché, misinformation and prejudice. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 7th December 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/12/what-people-get-wrong-about-being-the-boss

65 million people are caught up in the global refugee crisis. CEO of the IRC David Miliband shows why we should care, and what we can do to make a difference. Taking us from war zones in the Middle East to the heart of Europe, he explores the current crisis and shows what can be done, not just by governments with the power to change policy but by citizens with the urge to change lives. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 6th December 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/12/refugees-and-the-political-crisis-of-our-times

Tristram Carfrae, incoming Master of the RDI Faculty will speak about the value of the human aspects of design in an automated world. Carfrae considers the positive value of design and its impact on all our lives. From creating a process, service or plan that improves efficiency to transforming the world around us through a better built environment. He argues that the importance of creative design and innovation and its inherent human instinct, hunch and emotion will be more valuable in the future as automation and artificial intelligence proliferates. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 30th November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/rdi-address-2017-addicted-to-design

Bestselling author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin identifies four main personality types, and shows how using this framework will change everyone’s lives for the better. During her lifelong investigation into human nature, explored most recently in her bestselling book Better Than Before, Rubin realised that by asking the seemingly dry question 'How do I respond to expectations?' we gain life changing self-knowledge. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 30th November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/the-four-tendencies

What has led to the rise of the ‘intangible economy’? And what impact is it having on levels of inequality and productivity? Economic analysts Stian Westlake and Jonathan Haskel investigate. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. What does the future of an intangible world look like, and how can managers, investors, and policymakers exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow our companies and economies? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 23rd November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/capitalism-without-capital

Eden Project chief executive Gordon Seabright joins an expert panel to share insights into the characteristics, challenges and rewards of leading a community enterprise. Do we still need visionary ‘hero’ leaders – rugged individualist entrepreneurs that can inspire people and struggle through adversity to pursue their dream? Or is leadership a more collective quality to be shared and nurtured among groups bound together by a strong mission? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 21st November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/lessons-in-leadership-from-social-business

Julian Astle, Daisy Christodoulou, Peter Hyman and David Laws consider how to reform education so that it prepares young people not just to write a good exam, but to live a good life. Schools need to be accountable to taxpayers and parents to ensure money is well spent and children well taught. But with the accountability system dominating so much of what England’s state funded schools now do, are we in danger of becoming so pre-occupied by inspection judgements and performance targets that we lose sight of education’s real purposes? And with our obsession with performance data creating strong incentives for schools to game the system and teach to the test, are we in danger of narrowing and hollowing out the education our young people receive? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 16th November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/beyond-education-by-numbers

Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder and Head of Applied AI at DeepMind, considers what tech companies have got wrong, how to fix it, and how to ensure they contribute to greater economic and social justice. It’s no secret that technology companies are changing the world. But as technology plays a larger role in key social institutions we value and revere—from healthcare to electoral politics—guaranteeing a positive impact on society has become far more complex than many in the sector ever imagined. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 14th November 2017. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/rsa-presidents-lecture-the-technologists-dilemma

Professor David Harvey, the world’s leading expert on Marx, visits the RSA to outline the much-debated economist’s continuing relevance in 21st century economics and society. Marx’s ‘Capital’ is one of the most important texts of the modern era – it changed the destiny of countries, politics and people across the world – and continues to resonate today. But what are its key arguments, and how do they apply in a 21st century context? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Friday 10th November 2017. Discover more about this event here: www.thersa.org/events/2017/11/ma…-the-21st-century