Podcasts by RSA Radio

Polarised: Capitalism and Conservatism, with Iain Dale and Jacob Field from 2022-04-21T11:17:55.684290

We’re living through the biggest backlash against neoliberalism for 40 years, and the biggest crisis over Britain’s relationship with Europe since the Second World War. Climate breakdown and new...

Polarised: Religion from 2022-04-21T11:17:55.680292

Is religion still shaping our politics? And has its decline led to a wider search for meaning in public life?

Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie are joined by Elizabeth Oldfield, director of t...

Polarised: Hope vs Fear, Live from Wilderness Festival from 2022-04-21T11:17:55.664652

Matthew Taylor is joined by a live Wilderness Festival audience and John Harris from The Guardian to explore the battle between the politics of hope and the politics of fear.

Hope can be ...

Polarised: The Week Politics Jumped the Shark from 2022-04-21T11:17:55.660822

The RSA's Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, look back on the week in which BBC Parliament had more plot twists than Line of Duty.

Polarised: Good Economics for Hard Times from 2019-11-19T02:27

RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor and journalist Ian Leslie are joined by this year's winner of the No...

Polarised: Do you understand public opinion as well as you think you do? from 2019-10-10T05:00:37

Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie dissect new (and sometimes controversial) research on the divide between ...

Polarised: The Four Deadly Sins of Modern Politics from 2019-07-19T04:30:09

Ian Leslie and Matthew Taylor analyse Theresa May’s final major speech as prime minister and Donald Trump’s latest racist statements, and try to predict what might happen in the first weeks of a...

Polarised: Utopia and Reality from 2019-06-22T16:23:02

Just as our reality has seemed to take a dystopian turn, there’s been a resurgence of political imagination. Utopian dreams have returned to the forefront of our politics.

How achievable ...

Elections, Fatalism, and Twitter Storms from 2019-05-31T17:48:05

Matthew Taylor speaks to French political journalist Marie Le Conte about the European elections, Fr...

Extinction Rebellion: what next? from 2019-05-18T18:46:56

At long last, for a few weeks in April, climate breakdown finally seemed to be at the top of the political agenda.

Extinction Rebellion shut down the streets. School children walked out o...

Polarised: How Change Happens from 2019-04-20T06:55

Insights from three of the world's leading thinkers on how political and societal change happens: presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, 'Nudge' author Cass Sunstein, and philosopher Rober...

Polarised: Denialism, with Caroline Lucas MP&Keith Kahn-Harris from 2019-03-21T20:13

From climate change to vaccines, there’s a worrying tendency in our culture to bury our heads in the sand, and for a growing number of people to turn their backs on the truth. At its most danger...

Polarised: Is the centre ground dead? from 2019-03-12T06:00

Commentators say the financial crisis and its aftermath sounded the death knell for centrist parties. Is the centre ground of British politics really dead, or could it make a comeback? And what ...

Polarised: Responsible Parties from 2019-02-25T00:01

Has the opening up of political parties been a vital force for change, or bad for democracy as a whole? How can politicians represent both their party members and the voters? Is it game over for...

Polarised: Talking to the Enemy, with Michael Sandel&Maria Exner from 2019-02-13T19:19

This week Ian Leslie and Matthew Taylor are asking: what's the best way to talk to people we disagree with? If we want to understand the other side – to bridge divides, or even persuade people w...

Polarised: Could a citizens' jury help break the Brexit deadlock? from 2019-01-17T20:00

Two days after the biggest government defeat in the history of the British parliament, Matthew Taylor makes the case for another form of democracy that might help sort out the mess. With James F...

Polarised: Francis Fukuyama on Identity from 2018-12-24T07:00

The phrase ‘identity politics’ has come to be used as a sort of political insult. It’s a short way of accusing someone of pandering to voters – based on race, religion or gender. From white nati...

Polarised: Stories, Myths and Belonging from 2018-11-21T11:00

It's been a turbulent week in UK politics. What could possibly happen next? Matthew Taylor and Ian Leslie talk Brexit predictions, and whether constant news updates are doing us any good.

Polarised: Nervous States from 2018-10-18T18:53

Have feelings taken over the world? Have we lost our collective grip on rationality? And what can a panic about nothing at Oxford Circus last year tell us about our relationship with the truth?<...

Polarised: Anger from 2018-08-24T05:00

Anger is all the rage, but is anger itself the problem? Some people say we need to push back against anger in our politics, and respond with tranquil civility. But what if anger is the only rati...

Polarised: The Media and Echo Chambers from 2018-07-25T16:44

Is it really true that we all live in our own echo chambers? Fake news and the filter bubble, post-truth and alternative facts… Are we all, as President Obama put it, ‘absorbing an entirely diff...

Polarised: Inequality and Generation Wealth from 2018-06-28T12:52

Are economic divides to blame for everything else that’s broken in our politics? Does 'economic anxiety' explain the Trump and Brexit votes? And what deeper cultural undercurrents are at play in...

Polarised: How Internet Culture Poisoned Politics from 2018-06-20T11:00

The third episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'. Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apar...

Polarised: Silicon Valley's Persuasion Machine from 2018-06-12T12:59

The second episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'. Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apa...

Polarised: Liberals and Authoritarians from 2018-05-18T00:00

The first episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'.

Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us furth...

Trailer: Polarised from 2018-05-11T11:00

A trailer for the new podcast series from the RSA: 'Polarised'. Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apart – and wha...

Work Shift: Can the gig economy deliver good work? from 2017-04-28T16:26

Login, complete gigs, get paid. The “gig economy” promises to deliver flexible working, efficiency and consumer convenience but some platforms may be dodging their responsibilities as employers....

Work Shift: Is Basic Income the right response to the new world of work? from 2017-04-21T16:25

A number of forces are combining to make work less stable and predictable. We’re switching jobs and retraining much more frequently. The job for life era appears to be history - is a universal b...

Work Shift: What should we do about job automation? from 2017-04-13T16:23

Could advances in technology like big data, machine learning and robotics replace jobs faster than new ones can be created? How should we understand the impact of automation on the labour market...

Why we need to talk about failure from 2017-03-10T17:20

We are anxious to succeed but terrified of failing. Matthew Taylor interviews RSA fellow Moses Sangobiyi about his single minded attempts to break into professional American Football, what he le...