Academy of Ideas
Episodes
Friday Feb 23, 2018
Friday Feb 23, 2018
After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida on 14 February 2018, the issue of gun control and the meaning of mass shootings in America has come to the fore once more. This session from Battle of Ideas 2013, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting and Boston Marathon bombing, took a step back to examine these issues in a wider context.
SPEAKERS
Nancy McDermott writer; advisor to Park Slope Parents, NYC's most notorious parents' organization
Christine Rosen fellow, New America Foundation; senior editor, New Atlantis
Dr Tim Stanley leader writer and columnist, Daily Telegraph
Dr Kevin Yuill senior lecturer, history, University of Sunderland; author, Assisted Suicide: the liberal, humanist case against legalization
Chair:Jean Smith specialist development consultant; co-founder and director, NY Salon
Friday Feb 16, 2018
#BattleFest2017: The corruption of political language
Friday Feb 16, 2018
Friday Feb 16, 2018
Recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas festival at The Barbican on Sunday 29 October 2017.
George Orwell claimed that ‘political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable’. Today, many claim that the increasing corruption of language has become detrimental to our democracy. Political labels, such as fascism and populism, right-wing and left-wing, are used promiscuously, often as insults against opponents. The rise of identity politics has given us new words, such as ‘ze’ and ‘cis’. Do such novel terms encourage discussion or help to shut it down? Should we go back to basics, and pin down what we mean by such contested terms as liberalism and nationalism, even democracy?
SPEAKERS
BRENDAN O’NEILLeditor, spiked
RACHEL HALLIBURTONjournalist and novelist
NICK HILTONbroadcast editor, Spectator
DR PAUL A TAYLORsenior lecturer in communications andcultural theory, University of Leeds
Friday Feb 09, 2018
#BattleFest2017: Diversity - does it matter?
Friday Feb 09, 2018
Friday Feb 09, 2018
Diversity is widely celebrated in contemporary society. Big employers have adopted elaborate strategies to recruit more diverse workforces. On the world stage, diversity is posited as a progressive antidote to ‘backward forces’ clinging to outdated national cultures. But has diversity become an illiberal orthodoxy? When Google engineer James Damore notoriously inquired whether diversity was an incontestable virtue, he lost his job. Do diversity policies invite a permanent war of cultures, resulting in a society increasingly segmented along the lines of identity? Can we achieve fair treatment and equal access to jobs without creating discriminatory and divisive hiring practices?
SPEAKERS
JOSIE APPLETONdirector, civil liberties group, Manifesto Club; author, Officious: rise of the busybody state; blogs at notesonfreedom.com
AMALI DE ALWISCEO, Code First: Girls; chair, BIMA Diversity panel; fellow, RSA
DREDA SAY MITCHELLauthor, journalist, broadcaster and campaigner; winner, CWA’s John Creasey Dagger for debut novel, Running Hot; latestnovel, Blood Daughter
CATHY YOUNGUS journalist and commentator; weekly columnist, Newsday; author, Ceasefire!