Academy of Ideas
Episodes
Friday Nov 24, 2017
Friday Nov 24, 2017
Recording of the Battle of Ideas Stockholm 2017 debate at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern.
(Please note, there is a very short introduction to the recording in Swedish, but the debate is in English.)
Is #MeToo a valuable way for the everywoman to show solidarity with victims and raise awareness of the broader problems of sexual harassment everywhere? Or does it stir up the gender wars, exaggerating the idea that most men are sexual predators and most women their victims? What does #MeToo reveal about deeper cultural trends?
SPEAKERS
Dr Jan Macvarishvisiting research fellow, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, University of Kent
Marte Micheletjournalist and author
Jonathan Rollinsstand-up comedian
Cissi Wallintelevision and radio personality
Tuesday Nov 21, 2017
#BattleFest2017: From AI to Big Data - can technology save the NHS?
Tuesday Nov 21, 2017
Tuesday Nov 21, 2017
Recording of the debate at the Battle of Ideas 2017 in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering. See full details here: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-ai-to-big-data-can-technology-save-the-nhs/
At a time of ever-increasing healthcare costs, waiting times and ever-increasing strains on GPs and A&E departments, there is increased urgency in trying to find new approaches to treatment. Against this backdrop of cost-driven strains in patient care, can engineering innovations save the day, perhaps giving patients more independence to accurately self-diagnose and more broadly revolutionise healthcare in the coming decades?
SPEAKERS
Terry Barnesprincipal, Cormorant Policy Advice; fellow, Institute of Economic Affairs; former special adviser to two Australian health ministers
Trisha Greenhalghprofessor of primary care health sciences and fellow, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford
Timandra Harknessjournalist, writer & broadcaster; presenter, FutureProofing; author, Big Data: does size matter?
Professor Mark Tooleymedical technology consultant; president, Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
Dr ir Isabel Van De KeereCEO & founder, Immersive Rehab
Monday Nov 13, 2017
#BattleFest2017: Free speech for me, but not for thee
Monday Nov 13, 2017
Monday Nov 13, 2017
How should free speech activists respond to the challenge of identity politics? It no longer seems sufficient to cite the First Amendment, quote JS Mill, or cry academic freedom in trying to thwart assaults on free expression. There was a powerful illustration of this problem recently when protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter gatecrashed an event at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and prevented the invited guest from the American Civil Liberties Union from speaking, chanting ‘the revolution will not uphold the Constitution’ and ‘liberalism is white supremacy’.
Is it time for civil libertarians to adjust their priorities, to ensure that people with ‘protected characteristics’ are given ‘particular respect’, and their views given a veto on what they deem as hate speech? Are those who argue for free speech – no ifs, no buts – too often providing the privileged with a licence to talk over the marginalised, even to incite bigotry? Or is identity politics the new tool of censorship and, if so, how should we respond?
SPEAKERS
Professor Frank Furedisociologist and social commentator; author, Populism and the European Culture Wars; previous books include: What’s Happened to the University? and Invitation To Terror and On Tolerance
Nick GillespieUS journalist and commentator; editor in chief, Reason.com and Reason TV, the online and video platforms of Reason magazine
Jodie Ginsbergchief executive, Index on Censorship
Trevor Phillipswriter and television producer; founding chair, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Toby Youngdirector, New Schools Network; associate editor, The Spectator; editor, Spectator Life