Academy of Ideas

#BattleFest2017: Are science and medicine threatened by borders?

Scientists and doctors have emerged as among the most vociferous critics of Brexit and Trump. The March for Science expressed the concerns of many researchers and clinicians on both sides of the Atlantic about the future of funding and about the movement of researchers and students across national borders. Many were also alarmed at the apparent lack of respect for expertise and evidence in public policy. But whose responsibility should it be to fund scientific research? How can science and medicine best be defended and pursued, in an uncertain world of shifting borders?
SPEAKERS
DR ELIOT FORSTER CEO, Immunocore; chairman, MedCity
DR JOE KAPLINSKY assistant professor, DTU Nanotech; coauthor, Energise! a future for energy innovation
DR FIONA MCEWEN postdoctoral researcher, Queen Mary University of London
RAFAEL YÁÑEZ-MUÑOZ professor of advanced therapy, Royal Holloway University of London

#BattleFest2017: Medical dilemmas - who decides?

With the case of Alfie Evans in the news, this Battle of Ideas debate is very pertinent.ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
The tragic case of Charlie Gard, a baby with a terminal congenital illness whose parents refused to accept the decision of medical staff to withdraw life support, highlighted the problems that may arise when there is a breakdown of trust between doctors and parents. The old adage that ‘doctor knows best’ is being challenged not just by patients, but from within the medical profession itself, as paternalism gives way to shared decision-making. But can patients know enough to take responsibility for major decisions about treatment? If doctors relinquish authority, does this impose an undue burden on patients. What is the role of the courts?
SPEAKERS
DR FRANKIE ANDERSONpsychiatry trainee; co-founder, Sheffield Salon
SARAH BARCLAYfounder and director, The Medical Mediation Foundation
RAANAN GILLONemeritus professor of medical ethics, Imperial College London; president, Institute of Medical Ethics
PROFESSOR SIR SIMON WESSELYregius chair of psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London; president, Royal Society of Medicine

#BattleFest2017: Xi’s China - new global power?

Only 35 years ago a predominantly peasant economy, China has become the largest trading nation in the world. It is also remarkable that China has relinquished its status as environmental pariah to become a critic of the US president’s rejection of the Paris climate accords. Only recently a communist outsider, China is now a capitalist powerbroker, most notably in dealing with the challenge of North Korea. Can there be a peaceful adjustment of the West’s global domination to accommodate the rise of the new Eastern superpower? Is the demise of the West exaggerated? Is there a serious risk of military conflict?
JONATHAN FENBYauthor, Will China Dominate the 21st Century? managing partner, TS Lombard
ALAN HUDSONvisiting professor, Shanghai Jiaotong University; director, programmes in leadership and public policy, University of Oxford
DR CHUN-YI LEEassistant professor, The School of Politics and International Relations; director, Taiwan Studies Programme
DR LINDA YUEHeconomist, broadcaster and author; adjunct professor of economics, London Business School

#BattleFest2017: Silicon Valley - from heroes to zeroes?

Silicon Valley used to be regarded as the global hub of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. It was the home of the world’s best technologies, new products and services. Yet today, Silicon Valley’s tech companies seem to have become the twenty-first-century equivalent of mediaeval robber barons. They are condemned for fleecing customers, evading taxes, and pocketing monopoly profits. Once associated with freedom, Silicon Valley is now condemned as the agency of global surveillance. Has it gone from overhype to over-reach? Or given emerging new technologies – such as express transit systems, autonomous vehicles and biotech – is the criticism mostly unfair?
SPEAKERS
JAMIE BARTLETTdirector, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos; author, Radicals; presenter, BBC’s The Secrets of Silicon Valley
DANIEL BEN-AMIjournalist; author, Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress
ANDREW BERNSTEINauthor, The Capitalist Manifesto: the historic, economic, and philosophic case for laissez-faire; affiliate, Ayn Rand Institute
LAUREN RAZAVImanaging director, Flibl; award-winning writer and consultant

#BattleFest2017: Was it Big Data wot won it? Political campaigning today

How could so many people be convinced to vote for Donald Trump? Why did so many Brits vote to leave the EU, despite almost unanimous advice from experts, political leaders and celebrities that we should remain? Some attribute these results to the power of Big Data, specifically to the high-tech psychological marketing techniques of a company called Cambridge Analytica. Can the manipulation of data really swing important votes? What are the implications of this approach for privacy and democracy? What does the assumption that a few targeted messages can influence voters’ decisions tell us about elite attitudes towards the electorate?
SPEAKERS
JAMIE BARTLETT director, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos; author, The Dark Net and Radicals; presenter, BBC’s The Secrets of Silicon Valley
CAROLE CADWALLADR feature writer, Observer
SIMON COOKE member, Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing; leader of the Conservative group, Bradford City Council
TIMANDRA HARKNESS journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, FutureProofing; author, Big Data: does size matter?

#BattleFest2017: Safety first - do we live in a ’cotton-wool society’?

Recording of the debate at Battle of Ideas 2017 (https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/safety-first/)
The ‘safety first’ outlook, intending to keep us safe by imagining the worst, risks increasing our sense of existential insecurity. Always anticipating catastrophe may mean over-reacting, especially in the fields of science, health and technology. We have become the victims of scaremongering over theoretical risks – from mobile phone radiation or the latest strain of flu, even from familiar foods such as sugar and salt.
Has safety become an aim in itself, divorced from a common-sense assessment of risk? Does the desire to eliminate all danger undermine individual freedom? Is it time to confront the dangers of our ‘safety first’ society?
SPEAKERS
Richard Angelldirector, Progress
Terry Barnesprincipal, Cormorant Policy Advice; fellow, Institute of Economic Affairs; former special adviser to two Australian health ministers
Professor Bill Durodiéchair of international relations, former head of department, University of Bath
Dr Clare Geradamedical director, NHS Practitioner Health Programme; former chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
Lenore Skenazy'America’s Worst Mom'; president, Let Grow; founder, Free-Range Kids book, blog and movement

#BattleFest2017: Putin’s Russia - a new Cold War?

The Russian government is now routinely portrayed as a threat to the West, both on the international stage, in Ukraine and Syria, and in domestic politics, accused of interfering in elections.
Russia is certainly back on the world stage and no longer prepared to accept Western-backed regime change, but to what extent does Russia represent a threat? Does Russia have legitimate interests that it is entitled to defend as much as Britain is? Is Putin simply playing a weak hand well? Does Russia loom large, not because it is relatively strong, but because Western governments themselves lack direction?
SPEAKERS
Mary Dejevskyformer foreign correspondent in Moscow, Paris and Washington; special correspondent in China; writer and broadcaster
Dr Tara McCormacklecturer, international politics, University of Leicester
Dr Lukasz Pawlowskimanaging editor & columnist, Kultura Liberalna
Sir Adam Thomson KCMGdirector, European Leadership Network

#BattleFest2017: From Sandy Hook to Boston: guns, bombs and a changing America

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