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How To Academy
How To Academy is London's home of big thinking. From Nobel laureates to Pulitzer Prize winners, we invite the world’s most influential voices to share new ideas for changing ourselves, our communities, and the world. Our biweekly podcast is your chance to hear in-depth from the most exciting thinkers in global culture.
Cambridge Professor David Spiegelhalter - How to Navigate Change, Ignorance, Risk and Luck
We live in a world where uncertainty is inevitable. How should we deal with what we don’t know? And what role do chance, luck and coincidence play in our lives?
Cambridge statistician and beloved broadcaster David Spiegelhalter has spent his career dissecting data in order to understand risks and assess the chances of what might happen in the future.
In this episode of the podcast, recorded live in London with live examples with the audience, he guides us through the principles of probability, showing how it can help us think more analytically about everything from medical advice to pandemics and climate change forecasts, and explores how we can update our beliefs about the future in the face of constantly changing experience.
Tune in to find why we can be so confident that two properly shuffled packs of cards have never been in the exact same order, what it means to be mathematically lucky, and how a classroom of people will result in a shared birthday in this essential guide to navigating uncertainty while also having the humility to admit what we do not know.
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01:15:2422/11/2024
Psychologist Alison Fragale - How Women Can Get the Success They Deserve
How do you balance kindness and competence in the workplace? How can you get the success you deserve, earn credit for your accomplishments, and navigate complex office politics without antagonising your colleagues?
Over decades of research, behavioural scientist Alison Fragale encountered these recurring questions from high-powered and early-career women alike, determining that many women’s workplace issues boil down to the perception of others. Now she joins us to share her insights, offering actionable strategies that can help women elevate their esteem, all while remaining authentic to themselves.
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01:06:4718/11/2024
WATCHMEN author Alan Moore - Twenty Six Letters, Infinite Worlds
“With just 26 letters, you can create any conceivable universe.” - Alan Moore
With the rise of new technology, from artificial intelligence to virtual reality, what power remains in our more ancient forms of storytelling? Modern-day alchemist Alan Moore who transmuted comic books into literary gold joins Robin Ince to explore the enduring power of prose and the unique magic that written stories bring. To celebrate the release of Alan's new book The Great When which marks the beginning of his Long London series, Alan and Robin delve into the wonder of words, the power of art, and the enduring magic of prose fiction.
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01:07:2414/11/2024
SAPIENS author Yuval Noah Harari - Humanity in the Age of AI
Long gone are the days when pigeons relayed our messages; now we have a flood of information at all times, from social media to artificial intelligence, all weaving narratives that shape our lives. But the rise of these new modes of information technology has the power to spread misinformation, challenge independent thought, and even threaten democracy.
Bestselling author of Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari joins Robin Ince to explore how humanity can navigate these new networks, and asks, in this constant deluge of information and misinformation, where can we find real knowledge and truth?
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01:36:1914/11/2024
Robyn Davidson - Journeys of a Lifetime
Best-known for her journey trekking across the Australian desert, Robyn Davidson joins us to reveal a new expedition, this time into the past. From the lush tropics of Malabar to the loneliness of London, Robyn shares an illuminating portrait of her childhood, the loss of her mother, her journey as a writer, and the strange and wondrous persistence of memory.
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26:2609/11/2024
Award winning novelist Rebecca Kuang - Yellowface
Aged 27, Rebecca F. Kuang is already a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling, multiple-prize winning author of five novels, a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, and currently finding time to squeeze in finishing a doctorate at Yale while writing three more novels she has already sold.
Now Rebecca reveals her own literary journey, and how her global sensation Yellowface strikes a deeply personal chord. From the art of crafting villains to loving one's characters, from waiting for hours at empty signings to rising to the heights of literary stardom, from newfound freedom to the insecurities that plague even the best of us, Rebecca Kuang reveals her extraordinary life to date.
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01:18:1001/11/2024
Historian of Science Natalie Lawrence - Why Monsters Matter
Since the dawn of humanity monsters have loomed large in our collective imagination. But why do frightening beasts hold such a powerful grip on us?
Natalie Lawrence has always loved monsters. Her passion that took her all the way to Cambridge, where she completed a phD in the history of early modern monsters that informs her new book, Enchanted Creatures. Now she joins us on the podcast to delight your adult brain and inner child alike. When does an animal become a monster? Why should anyone still care about monsters in the modern world, when so many of our favourite myths are fully debunked and true enchantment is hard to come by? Are robots and dinosaurs monsters, or something different? Discover the answer to all these questions and more in this journey through thousands of years of natural – and unnatural – history…
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35:5701/11/2024
Yale Historian Sunil Amrith - How Humanity Reshaped the Planet
In the last five centuries, humankind has brought change to every inch of the Earth, in a story of environment and empire, of genocide and ecocide, of the expansion of human freedom and its costs. Asking whether humanity can now summon the collective wisdom to save itself, Professor Sunil Amrith joins the podcast to share a history of environmentalism from the perspective of social justice.
Arguing for an empathetic approach to climate usage, Professor Amrith shares why environmentalism is ill-suited to headlines, and reveals the human stories that can compel us to take action. Tune in to understand why it will be the artists, not the technocrats, who determine what happens next.
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01:08:1429/10/2024
Harvard Historian Serhii Plokhy - Chernobyl Under Russian Occupation
Harvard Professor and Ukrainian-born historian Serhii Plokhy joins the podcast to reveal the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian workers held hostage inside Chernobyl under Russian occupation. As hours stretched into weeks of hostility with no help from the outside world, the crew members' critical decisions alone prevented another nuclear catastrophe reminiscent of the disaster three decades earlier. In a wider warning to the world, Serhii Plokhy uncovers just how unprepared we are to deal with acts of nuclear terrorism.
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01:05:3621/10/2024
Pulitzer Prize winners Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig - How Donald Trump Squandered His Fortune
Soon after announcing his first campaign for presidency, Donald J. Trump declared that life “had not been easy for me”, delivering a campaign narrative around his business acumen based on his journey from talented upstart to a multi-billionaire. This narrative was a lie.
Drawing on access to twenty years’ worth of Trump’s confidential tax information, business records and interviews with Trump insiders, reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig won a Pulitzer Prize for the investigations into Trump’s finances – and the deceptions at the core of his claims of business success.
In this episode, Buettner and Craig share insights from the school playground to the set of The Apprentice as well as never-before-seen financial records and intelligence on the relationship with his father Fred Trump, all belying the public image that took Trump all the way to the White House, and demonstrated that a lie will become truth if it is told often enough.
Can a man who has squandered fortune on money-losing businesses continue to be saved by blind luck in the future?And can Trumpism survive beyond Trump? Tune in to find out.
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01:07:4815/10/2024
Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk - When the Body Keeps the Score
Traumatic experiences leave their imprint on the body as well as the mind, but they need not define us. Fusing insights from thirty years at the cutting-edge of neuroscience, and with the weight of decades of experience as an active therapist, Dr van der Kolk reveals the power of our relationships – whether the intimacy of the home or in our wider communities – to both hurt and heal.
In this episode, recorded live in London, Dr van der Kolk explores trauma, abuse and suicidality to reveal new approaches to recovery that move away from talking and drug therapies to heal mind, brain and body.
Tune in for a deep dive into some of the most staggering new research in the field.
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01:53:5111/10/2024
Anthropologist Webb Keane - Animals, Robots, Gods
Since the dawn of humanity, our sense of ourselves has been shaped by things that seem human - or nearly human - but are not. From sacrificial animals to household pets, ancient gods to future technologies like robots and AI, human ethics was, is and will continue to be profoundly influenced by its relationship with intelligences other than our own. What moral responsibility do we have toward the prey that we hunt and the machines that clean our homes? Why did medieval Europeans put pigs and cats on trial, and what can the Delphic Oracle tell us about ChatGPT? Anthropologist Webb Keane takes us beyond the boundaries of the human world in this episode to answer these questions and more.
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41:2407/10/2024
Psychologist Mary Anderson - How to be a Happy High-Achiever
Ambitious yet anxious? Harvard-trained clinical psychologist Dr Mary E. Anderson joined us with an actionable guide to maintaining your edge all while reducing stress and finding happiness along your journey. From understanding thoughts and behaviours that might be causing obstacles for you, such as negative forecasting and perfectionism, to building sustainable habits that can help you thrive, Dr Anderson reveals that success doesn't have to come at the expense of your wellbeing.
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01:06:4304/10/2024
David Olusoga and Alan Lester - The Truth About the British Empire
In our turbulent times, how do we grapple with our past? Are we capable of grappling with Britain's imperial history without whitewashing? David Olusoga and Alan Lester believe that the truth matters; it matters far too greatly to be hijacked by apologists and racists. They joined us in conversation to reveal the truth about the British Empire and fight back against those who smear the integrity of professional historians; together, they reveal a new way forward in understanding the history of the nation that is honest, open, and not warped by contemporary politics.
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01:21:1403/10/2024
Psychotherapist and Bestselling Author Anna Mathur - How to Tame Your Mind's Greatest Fears
Psychotherapist and Sunday Times bestselling author Anna Mathur joins the podcast to debunk traditional strategies to manage common worries and introduce her new approach to overcoming the ten fundamental, uncomfortable truths in life: acceptance.
Drawing upon her experience as a therapist as well as her own personal journey of grief, and training as a therapist alongside her mother, she dives into topics that many of us are afraid to face. In the episode Anna proposes that joy and heartbreak will always coexist, and that we are not built to thrive alone.
Tune in to learn how to accept rather than avoid the worries with a stranglehold on your life, and discover who you are without worry and doubt.
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01:05:1328/09/2024
Sam Leith and Amy Jeffs - Tales of Wonder, Myth and Magic
Longtime listeners will remember the artist and folklorist Amy Jeffs from her episode exploring the medieval wilderness; her latest book Saints returns to the medieval world to explore the lives and legends of European saints -- from men raised by wolves to women communing with flocks of birds. She joined us in conversation with the author and critic Sam Leith, whose new book The Haunted Wood is a history of and reflection upon children's literature from Aesop to the modern day. Their dialogue is a must-listen for anyone of any age willing to be enchanted by the power of storytelling.
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01:14:5624/09/2024
Oliver Burkeman - How to Live a Meaningful Life in an Age of Bewilderment
Oliver Burkeman’s global bestseller Four Thousand Weeks was a reflection upon our brief time on earth that changed lives and inspired thousands. Now armed with a meadow of playful metaphors to illustrate his philosophy, he joins the podcast to offer us a crash course in how to make the most of our lives without giving into the cult of self-help.
Sharing his cynicism of society’s overemphasis on hyperproductivity, which has held us hostage to a ‘daily productivity deficit’, Oliver shows that ‘done not perfect’ is always better. Tune in to discover why letting things happen rather than making them happen could increase your productivity, and why realising that things are worse than you imagined can be the liberating force your life needs.
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01:11:1320/09/2024
Novelist Rumaan Alam - on Wealth, Power, and Entitlement
Barrack and Michele Obama loved Rumaan Alam's apocalyptic third novel, Leave the World Behind, so much they helped turn it into a wildly successful Netflix movie. That novel anticipated and captured the feel of life in the COVID pandemic with uncanny accuracy, and Rumaan's new book is no less attuned to the way we live now.
Entitlement is the story of Brooke, a young, ambitious Black New Yorker who finds herself in the employ of ageing billionaire-philanthropist Asher Jaffee - with unpredictable and profound consequences. Does money inevitably corrupt everyone who comes within its orbit? Is philanthropy just self-interested PR by the super-rich or a genuine force for good? How far would you go to fix your life, climb the ladder, and ascend to the upper echelons of the establishment? Rumaan joined us on the podcast to dissect all of these questions - without offering any easy answers.
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56:0916/09/2024
Superstar election forecaster Nate Silver - The Art of Risking Everything
Nate Silver's remarkable career has seen him conquer many seemingly unrelated worlds: professional poker, sports journalism, and the political forecasting that made him a star of US politics. He joined us on stage in London to reveal the ideas that glue these together - an idea that helps to explain how power, business, and politics really work.
There is a new paradigm of power with global importance. This power belongs to a new class of professional risk-takers – including VCs, gamblers, tech moguls like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and crypto-kings like Sam Bankman-Fried. This class, which Silver calls “The River”, drives progress: but these individuals can also cause chaos and deepen disparity. And despite plenty of bad press, the risk-takers are winning against their counterparts in government, academia and the media…
As a professional risk taker and member of 'The River' himself, Nate Silver joined award-winning presenter Jeremy Vine to uncover how this new class is changing the landscape of politics, power, and technology as we know it.
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01:15:5710/09/2024
Stefan Stern - The Lady Macbeth Guide to Ambition
Many of us wrestle with daunting life-choice questions from time to time: what should I be aiming for? Am I being ambitious enough? Has an excess of ambition led me astray?
Stefan Stern has dedicated a lifetime to answering these questions. The FT's former management columnist, a think-tank director, and now a professor at Cass Business School, Stefan joins the podcast to investigate how ambition and success work together through the unlikely icon of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Whether your looking for a change of direction or emphasis on how to move forward, this meditation on the complex nature of ambition is for you.
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34:5106/09/2024
Mark Galeotti - Putin, Prigozhin and the Future of Russia
Yevgeny Prigozhin emerged as one of the most dangerous warlords in the world and as one of Vladimir Putin’s chief rivals in Russia’s tumultuous political climate, exiled after leading Wagner’s attempted coup and killed in a mysterious plane crash. But what is the truth about this enigmatic figure, and the chaos unleashed across Russia by his turn against Putin? And, in the aftermath of his death, what is next for Russia in the new stage of late Putinism that Prigozhin’s life forged?
Drawing on years of research, in this episode Professor Mark Galeotti traces the rise of Russia’s most prominent non-state actor and examines the political climate that propelled a convicted gangster with no government office to the formidable role he came to occupy.
This is the essential story of Russia’s recent history. Tune in for insights into the country’s future from one of the foremost Russia experts of our time.
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01:04:0003/09/2024
Senior Jewellery Curator at the V&A Helen Molesworth - The Dazzling History of Gems
From ancient thrones to Hollywood stars, gems have not only adorned humanity but also shaped its history. How did emeralds and rubies etch our origin stories? How did garnets embody the flickering soul or jade the tenets of living a good life? Senior Jewellery Curator at the V&A Museum Helen Molesworth reveals how gems came to embody our most cherished ideals, our most vicious battles for power, and our evolving understanding of ourselves.
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55:4230/08/2024
Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith - How Animal Minds Transformed Planet Earth
Traditional stories of the evolution of life on our planet tell us that we and all other creatures on Earth were shaped by evolution. But how do minds that are shaped by evolution go on to transform nature in their own right? In the final volume of the landmark trilogy that began with Other Minds and continued with Metazoa, philosopher of science Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the role that animal minds - and, especially, human minds - have had on our world. If you've ever wondered why it was primates and not dolphins who developed language and culture, whether or not medical testing on animals can be ethically justified, and which aspects of Gaia theory hold up today, this episode is for you.
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55:1927/08/2024
Yuval Noah Harari Meets Katherine Rundell - Unstoppable Us (Summer Repeat)
Have you ever wondered how we got here? From hunting mammoths, to flying to the moon?
Historian Yuval Noah Harari introduced millions of readers to the story of the human species with his global bestseller Sapiens. His new book Unstoppable Us is the first in a new four-book series telling that story to younger readers. Over the summer he joined children's author and essayist Katherine Rundell on stage to tell us more.
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01:14:3522/08/2024
Fern Academy Prize winner Gabriela Denise Frank - Fear and Loathing in White Collar America
Created in collaboration with Fern Press and Tortoise Media, the Fern Academy Prize was created to discover and nurture unpublished writers who shine a light on the universal human experience and speak to the times we live in. Gabriela Denise Frank won the 2024 prize with A Self She Can Continue Living With: a tragicomic depiction of the middle manager's lot in corporate America and the soul-crushing absurdities of the white collar world. In this episode of the podcast, Gabriela reads the essay in full and offers further reflections on art, life, and writing.
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01:18:4220/08/2024
Dr Emily Leeming - The Life Changing Science of Gut Health
A healthy gut functions like a successful company, with different roles and employees. So how do we keep these employees happy?
In this episode of the podcast, microbiome scientist and dietician Dr Emily Leeming joins us to reveal the groundbreaking new evidence between food and mood, and actionable steps for a healthier, more energising lifestyle. She reveals the impact of sedentary lifestyles on our gut, the microbiome benefits of a ten second kiss, and a disco inspired mnemonic for keeping your fibre intake on track.
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01:07:1916/08/2024
William Dalrymple and Sathnam Sanghera – British Imperialism in India (Summer Repeat)
How did the Mughal empire – which then generated just under half the world’s wealth – come to be replaced by the first global corporate power – the East India Company? And how does the legacy of British imperialism continue to shape life and culture in Britain today? Bringing together Empireland and Empireworld author and Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera and bestselling award-winning historian William Dalrymple, this episode of the How To Academy Podcast will tell a story that is barely taught in schools or mentioned in museums but is critically important to who we are as a nation in the 21st century.
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01:09:3113/08/2024
Henry Oliver - How To Find Success in Midlife
We're told repeatedly that if we’re going to achieve anything, we’d better do it while we’re young. But society is wrong. With armfuls of examples from from Olympic athletes, sitcom stars and titans of architecture who rewrote the rule book for midlife, writer Henry Oliver shares the lessons for seizing upon the truest versions of ourselves later in life and asks, what part of your goal can you achieve today?
Tune in to discover a range of blueprints for self-reinvention, tips for rebuilding your confidence, and the power of the word 'perhaps'.
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01:03:4709/08/2024
Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum - The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
For the first time in history, autocracies are working together to stay in power.
Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad actor, but by sophisticated networks relying on kleptocratic financial structures, security services—military, paramilitary, police—and technological experts who provide surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation. The democratic world is in denial about how it has unwittingly helped to consolidate this new reality. What we stand to lose is our ability to dictate our own economic future and possibly our democratic systems.
Joining legendary foreign correspondent Luke Harding, historian and journalist Anne Applebaum shares how rogue states survive under sanctions, what anonymous companies mean for democracy, and what is at stake in November for America and the world beyond.
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01:03:4506/08/2024
World Record Breaking Mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa and Filmmaker Lucy Walker
Lhakpa Sherpa broke a record: she was the first Nepali woman to climb and descend Everest. Then she broke another: summiting for the tenth time, she had now summited the tallest peak in the world more times than any other woman. But the gruelling ascent mirrored her own journey through life: from braving her way and disguising herself as a man to become a sherpa, to finding the courage to leave a violent marriage to give her daughters a better life, Lhakpa has shown that there is no summit she cannot overcome.
In conversation with filmmaker Lucy Walker whose film Mountain Queen follows Lhakpa’s record-breaking tenth summit and illuminates her extraordinary life, Lhakpa shares her inspiring story and her lifelong dream of empowering women.
Image credit: Netflix
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27:2031/07/2024
Neuroscientist Patrick House - How to Make Sense of Consciousness
Stanford neuroscientist Patrick House joins us with an introduction to the best of our current paradigms for making sense of consciousness. In conversation with Robin Ince, he weaves brain science, analogy, and philosophy into a tapestry that illuminates how the brain works and what scientists currently believe enable consciousness to reveal the strangeness of the relationship between our inner selves and our environment.
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01:06:1329/07/2024
Pioneering Biologist J Craig Venter - The Future of Life on Earth
A household name following both the mapping of the human genome and, in 2010, the creation of the first synthetic organism, J Craig Venter is a singular figure in 21st century science: a biologist whose legacy is secure and who, at 77, still continues to push boundaries.
He joined us in conversation with David Malone to share a story that is equal parts thrilling global adventure and a journey of momentous scientific discovery: his fifteen year, 65k mile quest to map the microbiome of the oceans. Traveling in the Sorcerer II, a 100ft sailboat turned research vessel, Venter and his team discovered millions of unknown genes, thousands of unseen protein families, and new lineages of bacteria that revealed the unimaginable complexity of life on earth.
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01:02:2923/07/2024
New York Times Bestseller Paolo Bacigalupi - Money and Power in the Fantasy Renaissance
Renowned as a pioneer of climate fiction, Paolo Bacigalupi's novels The Windup Girl and The Water Knife earned him a reputation as one of the essential speculative novelists of our time, with a prophetic gift akin to established genre masters like William Gibson and Magaret Atwood. His new novel Navola is part of a different tradition: a fantasy novel where historical realism takes precedent over the overtly imaginary, exploring the relationship between family, money, and power in a lightly disgused version of Renaissance Italy. His protagonist Davico di Regulai is the reluctant heir to a Medici-inspired banking empire and the coming-of-age story Bacigalupi tells transports us to another world where contemporary themes reasonate deeply within a thrilling, escapist narrative.
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56:0219/07/2024
Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell - When the Wild Things Returned
After years of running a failing farm in West Sussex, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell decided to hand back control to nature. Slowly but surely, plants shot up, creatures crept in, and the landscape began to heal.
The area now hums with life and is home to some of the rarest species in Britain, such as peregrine falcons, turtle doves and purple emperor butterflies. Free from human intervention and monocultures, the farm has become a safe haven for nature which self-corrects and self regulates.
In this episode of the podcast they share their rewilding journey, dispel myths about the antagonism between farming and wilding, and share their hopes for the future of the movement with Hannah MacInnes.
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01:07:5816/07/2024
Neuroscientist Kelly Clancy - How Games Change Reality
Kelly Clancy is both a neuroscientist and a physicist, and has held positions at MIT and DeepMind. She's also the author of Playing With Reality, a new intellectual history of games that explores the influence that games have played - if you'll forgive the pun - over many centuries on warfare, gambling, economics and much more. If you've ever wanted to know why chess is used as a stand-in for intelligence or what game theory really is, this episode of the podcast is for you.
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45:5912/07/2024
Bestselling Sociologist Sarah Thornton - Why Breasts Matter
After years of biopsies, best-selling author Sarah Thornton made the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy. But, after her reconstructive surgery, she was perplexed: What had she lost? And gained? Blending sociology, reportage, and personal narrative with refreshing optimism and wit, her new book Tits Up has one overriding ambition―to liberate breasts from centuries of patriarchal prejudice. She sat down with Aimee Morris to tell us more.
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36:0909/07/2024
Stephanie Harrison - How to Get Happiness Right in a World That’s Got it Wrong
In a society where stress and competition run rampant, how can we find a more fulfilling sense of happiness? Well-being expert and founder of The New Happy Stephanie Harrison joins us to not only address societal woes but also share what we can do about them. Drawing on her background in positive psychology, Stephanie sheds new light on prevailing concepts—from misconceptions of Maslow's hierarchy to the rat race of capitalism—and reveals how we can move away from rigid societal rhythms to find our own path towards happiness.
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01:08:2505/07/2024
Ruchir Sharma - How Capitalism Went Wrong
What went wrong with capitalism? Drawing on his decades of experience as a world-leading investor and FT columnist, leading financial analyst Ruchir Sharma offers an insider’s perspective, offering a critique of capitalism unlike any you have heard before: that capitalism itself has been corrupted from its original inception, and that less government regulation rather than more might be our most viable solution. In conversation with the FT's Gillian Tett, Sharma dives into how we can save our free markets.
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01:04:5502/07/2024
Olympic Gold medallist and entrepreneur Mark Tuitert – How Stoic Philosophy Can Change Your Life
For twenty years, Mark Tuitert has used the principles of Stoic philosophy to become a gold-medal winning Olympic champion athlete, successful entrepreneur, as well as to deal with the challenges in his professional and private life. Now he's here to to share what he learned.
In this episode of the podcast, the athlete lays out the practical lessons through which everyone, in any situation, can develop a Stoic mindset.
Applying principles from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus to the twenty-first century, he shares how Stoicism can change your life and help you reach your full potential.
Stoicism is not about achieving success or happiness for their own sake. It is about doing what is important to you with a focused mindset, and developing a Stoic calm and mental balance when faced with setbacks. Mark will set you on the path to mastering a Stoic mindset, helping you to apply the insights of the Stoics anywhere, anytime.
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01:07:0928/06/2024
Yanis Varoufakis - The Rise of Technofeudalism
Welcome to technofeudalism. The owners of big tech have become the world’s feudal overlords—replacing capitalism with a new system that defies democracy and rewrite the rules of global power. But this is no dystopian story—as visionary economist Yanis Varoufakis argues, this is our world today. In conversation with Ash Sarkar, Varoufakis illuminates the dark underbelly of this new system—and reveals what we can do to thwart it.
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01:18:3425/06/2024
Bestselling Science Writer David Robson - The Laws of Social Connection
Social connection is essential to our wellbeing, not only fuelling creativity and enriching our sense of meaning in life, but also adding years to our life span. And yet, many of us struggle to form strong and meaningful bonds. Drawing on neuroscience and cutting-edge philosophy, science journalist David Robson joins us to reveal the science of meaningful connection. From the science of first impressions, to how to move away from “frenemies” towards more supportive connections, to how to be a proactive listener and interlocutor, David reveals practical insights to help our social lives flourish.
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01:04:0321/06/2024
Naomi Klein - The Mirror World of Conspiracists and the Far-Right
When Naomi Klein discovered that a woman who shared her first name, but had radically different, harmful views, was getting chronically mistaken for her, it seemed too ridiculous to take seriously.
Then suddenly it wasn't. She started to find herself grappling with a distorted sense of reality, becoming obsessed with reading the threats on social media, the endlessly scrolling insults from the followers of her doppelganger. Why had her shadowy other gone down such an extreme path? To find out, Klein decided to follow her double into a bizarre mirror world: one of conspiracy theories, anti-vaxxers and hucksters, where wellness influencers make common cause with fire-breathing far-right propagandists.
In this episode of the podcast, Naomi joins journalist Moya Lothian-McLean to explore why our politics has become so polarised, and ask what we can do to escape this collective vertigo and get back to fighting for what really matters.
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01:06:5219/06/2024
Clover Stroud - On Home, Belonging, and Letting Go
When her husband's work required journalist Clover Stroud to uproot from Oxfordshire to Washington DC, she began a deep and profound reflection on the many ways she was tethered to her home -- from family roots to knowledge of its ancient history, an appreciation of the local landscape to precious personal memories -- and considered what it would mean to break that tie. This lyrical and moving episode of the podcast that everyone will be able to relate to, wherever you were raised.
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01:07:2914/06/2024
Anna Funder - Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life
If you read the major biographies of George Orwell you would be hard-pressed to know that his wife Eileen shaped his life and writing in profoundly significant ways: from saving his life in the Spanish civil war to seeding the ideas for Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The award-winning author of Stasiland Anna Funder has uncovered Eileen's story in full and joins us on the podcast to share her insights into the character and times of Eric Blair and his tempestuous first marriage.
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49:4011/06/2024
Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan - On Love, Memory, and History
One of Australia's leading authors, Richard Flanagan won the Booker for The Narrow Road to the Deep North, a novel informed by his father's experiences as a slave labourer in the second world war. He returns to that subject in his new book Question 7, a profound and powerful book that contemplates love and death, resilience and tragedy, and how the world shapes fiction and fiction shapes the world in turn.
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47:4607/06/2024
My Octopus Teacher star Craig Foster - How to be Wild
A decade ago, living in a city and feeling exhausted and empty, Craig Foster decided to return to his birthplace—the Cape of Good Hope—and dive into the great African Sea forest each day. His daily oceanic adventures not only helped him “rewild”, but helped him come to see his own “amphibious soul” as a powerful metaphor for the human condition.
Now, in conversation with his close friend Kate Humble, he shares his insights into the wonder of the natural world. From understanding diverse species through the smallest details of their call, their tracks, and their habits, to learning how to reconnect with our most ancient common tongue—the language of wildlife—he reveals how we are all born wild, and that we have the power to reconnect with our innermost nature: nature itself.
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01:13:2205/06/2024
Charles Duhigg - How to be a Supercommunicator
Who and what are supercommunicators? They’re the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They’re brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it? In this podcast Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators, unpacking the different types of everyday conversation and pinpointing why some go smoothly while others swiftly fall apart.
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01:12:5731/05/2024
George Monbiot Meets Nish Kumar - The Secret History of Neoliberalism
An iconoclast unafraid to speak truth to power, George Monbiot has been fighting for a better future for our planet for decades. In this episode, he joins comedian and podcaster Nish Kumar to share his insights into the ideology that preys on every aspect of our lives – neoliberalism.
Revealing how the network of neoliberalism 'kicks down and kisses up', George shows us how this fringe philosophy was adopted by wealthy elites and came to dominate our society and our economy. But nothing is inevitable. Although we may believe that a better world is an impossible fantasy, George and Nish show us that this could not be further from the truth - and deliver a rallying cry for all of us to fight back.
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01:28:1928/05/2024
Africa Brooke and Jameela Jamil - How To Break Free From Self-Sabotage
How do we build authentic relationships with others and with ourselves when we feel like we're walking on eggshells so much of the time? In our deeply divided world, Africa joins actor and activist Jameela Jamil to share a new vision of authenticity, a third perspective in our highly polarised society. Bravery meets liberation; honesty meets openness; listening meets self-expression: Africa reveals how we can connect deeply with one another when we move beyond the confines of self-censorship and embrace the potential of a more nuanced world.
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01:18:0423/05/2024
Haemin Sunim - When Things Don't Go Your Way
What do we do when 'we are given too many lemons to make into lemonade'? Zen Buddhist teacher and international bestseller Haemin Sunim joins us with lessons from his new book, When Things Don't Go Your Way, to show us how we can find happiness even when life seems to overwhelm us, and reveal how inner peace is always within reach. From how to fall asleep with greater ease to how to transcend jealousy, from reconnecting with our friends to reconnecting with ourselves, Haemin illuminates practical and meaningful ways to improve our wellbeing.
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43:4921/05/2024