Episodes
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Is the Government right to veto Sturgeon’s self-id bill?
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
Saturday Jan 21, 2023
The UK Government’s decision to veto a bill passed by the Scottish Government, which would make it easier for children older than 16 to legally change their gender, has set off something of a political storm (a great summary can be found over at Spectator by Iain MacWhirter).
Whilst this certainly has ramifications for UK-Scotland political relations, it also has set off a series of debates about gender identity, the rights of women, and even what the bill actually would mean in practice.
Without a doubt, these debates are some of the most difficult to navigate in contemporary politics - and also some of the most heated. So we sat down to try and make sense of it all.
On this episode of the Podcast of Ideas, Alastair Donald speaks to Susan Smith of For Women Scotland - the heroic campaigning organisation who have been defending the rights of women which are often undercut by legislation aiming to protect trans people. Claire Fox, Ella Whelan and Rob Lyons then join Alastair to mull over some of the implications in a bit more detail.
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Debating Matters Beyond Bars: Jon Floyd and Heather Phillips
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
This is guest podcast from our colleagues at Debating Matters.
Initiated in 2015, Debating Matters Beyond Bars is a project which takes DM's schools-debating format inside prisons. Using our acclaimed substance-over-style format, teams of prisoners engage in debate with one another on a whole range of contemporary social, political and cultural topics. The programme aims to inspire them to think about issues beyond their current situation and to look forward to their life ahead – in other words, beyond bars!
In this podcast, Mo Lovatt - DM's national coordinator - and Geoff Kidder sat down with former Beyond Bars competitor Jon Floyd to discuss the impact the programme had on him when he took part in 2015 while he was serving his sentence. We were also joined by Heather Phillips, the chief executive of Beating Time, which runs, amongst other things, Inside Job – an employment programme she set up with Jon in 2020.
For Jon, taking part in Beyond Bars was the catalyst for starting that programme with Heather as well as a whole range of initiatives he’s been involved with since 2015. As he says in the podcast, Beyond Bars gave him a purposeful activity, helped him change direction and kickstarted his journey of rehabilitation.
Friday Dec 16, 2022
#SportscastofIdeas: World Cup - the final
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons and Tom Collyer round up their World Cup highlights ahead of the final.
Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: clairefox.substack.com/subscribe
Friday Dec 02, 2022
#SportscastOfIdeas: World Cup 2022 Upsets and Underdogs
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons are joined by Tom Collyer, Denis Russell and Simon McKeon to discuss the kick off of the World Cup 2022.
Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: clairefox.substack.com/subscribe
Friday Nov 25, 2022
#SportscastOfIdeas: World Cup 2022 begins
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons are joined by Tom Collyer, Hilary Salt and Simon McKeon to discuss the kick off of the World Cup 2022.
Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Call To Courage: Winning The Battle Of Ideas
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
Thursday Nov 17, 2022
This is a recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 at Church House, Westminster: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/call-to-courage-winning-the-battle-of-ideas/
Subscribe to our Substack to get podcasts, updates and more: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe
Today – at a time of enormous upheavals and significant political challenges – do we need to bring courage back into politics? There are certainly encouraging signs – do recent successes of gender-critical activists, the push back against diversity policies, or support for those threatened with being cancelled indicate new forms of solidarity? Can fighting back against the cost-of-living crisis, under the banner of Enough is Enough, forge a new movement? And as millions of UK citizens courageously refused to back down – and succeeded in forcing the establishment to ensure their democratic vote was not overturned – is the democratic Brexit spirit of taking back control ready to be rekindled?
SPEAKERS:Julie Bindel journalist; author, Feminism for Women: the real route to liberation
Professor Sunetra Guptaprofessor of theoretical epidemiology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford; award-winning novelist
Ali Mirajcolumnist, TheArticle; founder, the Contrarian Prize; infrastructure financier; DJ
Tim Stanleycolumnist and leader writer, Daily Telegraph; author, Whatever Happened to Tradition? History, Belonging and the Future of the West
Bruno WaterfieldBrussels correspondent, The Times
CHAIR: Claire Foxdirector, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Podcast of Ideas - Claire Fox: ’Liz Truss is gone, but this isn’t over’
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Friday Oct 21, 2022
Liz Truss has gone, and we’ll be on to another Prime Minister (or maybe even Boris). At the moment, things seem utterly out of our hands. That is why it’s so important we understand what is going on, what historical trends are shaping it, and, even now, what opportunities exist.
Claire sat down with Academy of Ideas colleague Jacob Reynolds to do just that. At this moment, the key thing is to listen, read, think and argue. Please share our conversation with everyone you know who is angry, confused and demanding something better.
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Is the UK heading for economic meltdown?
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Ahead of the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 in London on 15 & 16 October, Jacob Reynolds talks to Phil Mullan and Rob Lyons about the turmoil in the financial markets this week and the longer-term problems for the UK economy.
For more about the festival, visit the Battle of Ideas festival website.