Academy Of Ideas

In recent years, the popularity of e-cigarettes has exploded. They have been celebrated by many as being the greatest aid to smoking cessation ever invented, with even the anti-smoking group ASH giving them grudging approval. E-cigarettes do not contain the tar and toxins that make cigarettes harmful, but as this is a relatively new technology, some argue we cannot be sure of their long-term effects on people’s health. And even if they do turn out to be harmless, detractors worry they will ‘renormalise’ smoking and act as a gateway to smoking for young people. On these grounds organisations like the British Medical Association say they should be subject to the same stringent regulation, advertising bans and high taxes as tobacco. Internationally, a WHO report has called for them to be banned in public globally and the sale of e-cigarettes and the nicotine liquid they use is already banned in most Scandinavian countries. Several US cities, including New York and Chicago, have banned their

Debate at the Battle of Ideas 2015 (http://www.battleofideas.org.uk) With the rise of fantasy and sci-fi, geek culture is now mainstream. Yet trailing its success has come vicious infighting amongst fans. 'Gamergate' moved quickly from a dispute between game developers and journalists to a row over gamers' attitudes towards women. Dr Matt Taylor's choice of a bawdy shirt overshadowed his work in landing the Philae lander on a comet. The rise of social media has led to 'calling people out', harnessing the power of public shaming. 'Social Justice Warriors' have provoked sub-cultures such as 'Sad Puppies', who reject perceived politically correct orthodoxies. How are the frontlines of the culture wars changing? SPEAKERS Allum Bokhari (columnist, Breitbart) Serena Kutchinsky (digital editor, Prospect) Dr Maren Thom (researcher, film, Queen Mary University of London) Jason Walsh (journalist; foreign correspondent, CS Monitor) Milo Yiannopoulos (technology editor, Breitbart)

Trigger warning: 'If you're easily offended you really shouldn't come.' - Claire Fox With just a few days to go before the Institute’s annual Battle of Ideas at the Barbican in London, Rob Lyons, Claire Fox and David Bowden get together to talk about what makes the festival unique and why it’s an unapologetically unsafe space where ideas are fought over and contested, as well as discussing some of the sessions they’re looking forward to most. To find out more about this weekend’s festival and buy tickets visit the Battle of Ideas website.

Listen to the introductory remarks from last week's Battle of Ideas satellite in Amsterdam We are living longer, healthier and richer lifes than ever before. These trends have already spread to billions of people in poorer countries. But are the costs of all this progress beginning to outweigh the benefits? Greens worry that the Earth cannot sustain our desire for more, more, more. Do their worries halt progress? Some believe that environmental concerns have gone too far, putting a brake on growth, especially in poor countries. Are the world’s poor only allowed to experience ‘sustainable’ development? Lately, a new brand of greens is emerging. These so-called ‘eco-modernists’ believe the planet can be ecologically vibrant even with many billions more people living a good life - if only we would use our scientific knowledge to steward the world’s resources. But can science also tell us what kind of balance is desirable between allowing humanity to flourish while preserving the natural world

Listen to the introductory remarks from this week's Battle of Ideas satellite at the House of St. Barnabas in London The announcement that the UK population grew last year by half a million – roughly the population of Edinburgh – has provoked much discussion about whether the country will cope with an increasing demand on resources. With half that rise coming from migration rather than births, there have been inevitable calls to impose tougher limitations on who can move to this country, heightening debate around free movement in the context of Britain’s European Union membership and amid a migrant crisis at Calais. For London, the situation is even more pressing, with the population this year breaking its historical peak of 8.6million and expected to rise to 10 million by 2030. With UK national house-building at record low levels – less than 150,000 new homes per year and with soaring rents in the capital and beyond – many are questioning whether the UK can afford an ever-expanding populati

Podcast: Rob Lyons speaks to Dr Shirley Lawes about the state of French politics and society The world’s spotlight fell on France early this year with the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. The subsequent wave of solidarity, which rallied France around the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’, was heralded by many as a bold reassertion of the nation’s commitment to the liberal values of the French Revolution. Indeed, Voltaire’s ‘Treatise on Tolerance’ climbed to the top of France’s bestseller list in the wake of the attacks. These sentiments seemed to be confirmed by President François Hollande’s address to the nation, where he defended France’s ‘attachment to freedom of speech’ and said that ‘in France all beliefs are respected’. Nevertheless, this apparent liberal zeal was undermined by a government crackdown the same week, which resulted in the arrest of dozens of people, including the controversial comedian Dieudonné, for inflammatory remarks about the attacks on social media. Does France r

Rob Lyons speaks to Sandy Starr about the history of eugenics and whether the term is useful today Using techniques like mitochondrial donation - ‘three-person IVF’ - we can alter genes to resolve congenital medical conditions. Other techniques that change our heritable characteristics will follow. But such developments often inspire resistance: the ability to manipulate our germlines is sometimes described as ‘eugenics’, invoking the horrors of Nazi racial policies, although the term was coined by Francis Galton in 1883. Are we going too far in altering our genes or should we embrace the ability to conquer illness? Should we worry about attempts to ‘improve’ human beings? In this week’s podcast Rob speaks to Sandy Starr from the Progress Educational Trust and convener of the Battle over Life and Death strand at this year’s Battle of Ideas about the dark history of eugenics and the use and abuse of the term today ahead of a session he’s chairing called Eugenics: myth and reality. T

Listen to the opening remarks from the Battle of Ideas launch event at the Barbican in London London has, by most accounts, emerged as one of the premier cities of the twenty-first century: firmly established as a global hub for finance, technology and culture. Yet there have been growing anxieties about the effect rising inequality levels are having on the city and its inhabitants. Soaring private rental prices and strain on social housing have fuelled fears about gentrification driving out long-term residents as unfashionable neighbourhoods become regenerated. Such fears have also begun to spread among the relatively affluent, with even the New York Times‘s departing London correspondent bemoaning the distorting effects of foreign investment into the capital’s ‘crazyexpensive’ property market. Stories abound of young creatives being priced out to the extent that they find commuting from Spain or Berlin a more affordable option. More generally, there is a growing conviction that London’s develop

Rob Lyons speaks to philosopher Piers Benn about the nature of happiness and why it has become a Government policy objective in recent years.

In this week's Podcast of Ideas Rob Lyons, Claire Fox and David Bowden discuss the week's news, including the migrant crisis and the drone assassinations of two British Jihadis in the Islamic State.

In this week’s Podcast of Ideas, Rob Lyons, Claire Fox and David Bowden discuss the murder of two journalists on live television by a disgruntled former colleague in the United States, and the latest tragic events in the ongoing European migration crisis. Rob talks to Martyn Perks about the growing fears about the role of artificial intelligence and robots in society in everything from manufacturing to warfare, and why a machine could never become truly human, ahead of his session at the upcoming Battle of Ideas session titled Man vs machine: who controls the robots?. And after the release of this year’s GCSE results, Philip Walters comes in to discuss the state of education in the UK and whether exams for 16-year-olds are necessary any more.   

Discussion of the news, race and policing in America and Immanuel Kant In this edition of the Podcast of Ideas, Rob Lyons, Claire Fox and Dave Bowden discuss the big stories of the past few weeks, including the scandal at Kid’s Company, doping in sport and the row over falling milk prices. Rob speaks to Jean Smith from the New York Salon about race and policing in America ahead of her session on the subject at the Battle of Ideas, and we have Steve Murphy’s mini lecture from the Institute’s recent event University in One Day on Immanuel Kant and the nature of enlightenment.

In this edition of the Podcast of Ideas Rob Lyons, Claire Fox and Dave Bowden discuss the big stories of the last few weeks including the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, the fall of Lord Sewell, the Ashley Madison leak, David Cameron's miguided strategy for tackling ISIS and the Brighton smoking ban.

Highlights from the Institute's Justice Money Power debates at the City of London Festival In this week’s podcast we here some of the most informative and inspiring speeches from the Institute’s recent Justice, Money and Power debates at the City of London Festival, including chairman of the Night Time Industry Association’s Alan Miller’s defence of the night-time economy as a force for societal good at our Fight For Your Right To Party debate at the Bishopsgate Institute. Economist Phil Mullan gives a worrying prognosis for the British economy unless we can stimulate real econonic growth at our Are We Heading For Another Crisis? event, also at the Bishopsgate Institute. Architect Alastair Donald makes a powerful argument for building huge numbers of new houses across the UK to end the housing crisis at A Tale Of Two Cities: Skyscrapers And Slums at London & Partners, and Professor of Law John Fitzpatrick gives a history of the development of human liberties since Magna Carta and proff

In this week’s Podcast of Ideas, Rob speaks to Greg Lukianoff from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) about the fight for freedom of speech on US campuses amid an increasingly intolerant climate. Following the Institute’s inaugural University in One Day this week, we hear Sebastian Morello’s mini-lecture from the event on why Pico della Mirandola’s 1486 Oration on the Dignity of Man is a foundational work for humanist thought. David Bowden and Adam Rawcliffe come in to give us their views on the week’s news stories, and Nadia Butt reports back on last weekend’s Debating Matter National Final at the British Library in London.

In this week’s Podcast of Ideas, Rob Lyons and David Bowden dissect the week’s news including the pope’s encyclical on climate change, the Rachel Dolzeal fiasco and the oppressive licensing laws killing off the nation’s nightlife. Professor Alan Hudson talks about University in One Day, the Institute’s new initiative for sixth formers, and why the Renaissance matters. Jason Smith tells us about next week’s Debating Matters National Final, and we hear some of the highlights from the recent Birmingham Salon event on the rise of transgender issues as a political force. 

In official terms, ‘the vulnerable’ used to be narrowly defined by the 1995 Care Commission report as referring to people in extreme circumstances, like the homeless, or those unable to look after themselves mentally or physically. Today, however, it is the term of choice to describe anyone and everyone deemed to be in need of sympathy, especially those hit by government cuts – ‘a savage attack on the most vulnerable members of our society’, etc - but also much more widely. The unemployed are vulnerable to depression; women are vulnerable to ‘everyday sexism’; immigrants are vulnerable to trafficking or even slavery, not to mention FGM; teenage girls are vulnerable to body-image issues; and teenage boys are vulnerable to being warped by pornography. A coroner recently called on the Ministry of Defence to review its care for vulnerable soldiers at risk of suicide and bullying. Meanwhile, more radical campaigners increasingly seem to see ‘vulnerability’ as a collective condition affecting just about everyone un