Solar panel installers, architects, environmental scientists, recycling coordinators, wind turbine engineers, geologists, project managers, electric vehicle manufacturers – these are just a small subset of the countless jobs connected to the green revolution. But, for renewable energy to be a sustainable part of our lives, we need to ensure it offers both economic growth and climate security.  The International Labour Organisation estimates that the energy transition could create 25 million...

In the final episode of Intelligence Squared's series Tides of Transformation, James Marriott of Platform London and the co-author of Crude Britannia: How Big Oil Shaped a Nation and Connor Watt, an anthropologist from the London School of Economics, are joined by the Executive Director of Uplift Tessa Khan for a conversation about what ending our relationship with oil could look like in the different areas that comprise the United Kingdom’s oil sector, including the offshore, finance,...

In this episode of Intelligence Squared's podcast Tides of Transformation, Gavin Bridge from Durham University and Gisa Weszkalnys from the London School of Economics are joined by Andy Samuel, the former Chief Executive of the North Sea Transition Authority, and Catherine Howarth, the CEO of ShareAction for a conversation about licensing and regulation in the oil sector: how policy has developed, and how it should evolve in the face of the climate emergency. Our panelists also explore how...

Solar panel installers, architects, environmental scientists, recycling coordinators, wind turbine engineers, geologists, project managers, electric vehicle manufacturers – these are just a small subset of the countless jobs connected to the green revolution. For renewable energy to be a sustainable part of our lives, we need to ensure it offers both economic growth and climate security. How do we ensure the social and economic benefits of clean energy are available to all, and not just those...

In this episode, Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries Hans Ulrich Obrist moderated a conversation between philanthropist and Creative Director of Lopud 1483 Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, artist Olafur Eliasson and President and CEO of World Monuments Fund Bénédicte de Montlaur. Together they discussed Francesca’s restoration of the 15th-Century Franciscan monastery Lopud 1483 in Croatia. They also talked about the relationship between art, history and botany at Lopud, and the broader...

In this episode, art historian Katy Hessel is joined by former National Gallery London curator Letizia Treves and Sotheby’s Edoardo Roberti for a conversation about the pioneering 17th-century artist Artemisia Gentileschi, whose work – in which she painted subjects that were traditionally the preserve of male artists, and intended for the male gaze – has inspired some of the greatest female artists of our time. This podcast was originally recorded to celebrate the opening of the National...

The idea of the artist’s muse conjures up a glamorous but passive woman portrayed by a male artist. Yet many women who are commonly identified as muses have been talents in their own right; they are creatively inspired as well as sources of inspiration for others. In this episode, photographer Mary McCartney, Golden Lion prize-winning artist Sonia Boyce, and the Daily Telegraph’s fashion director Lisa Armstrong sat down at Sotheby’s in London for a conversation celebrating female creativity,...

Marina Abramović is one of our greatest living artists: an art world icon and a performance art pioneer. In 2023, Marina presented her solo exhibition After Life at the Royal Academy and  became the first female artist in the institution’s 250-year history to fill the entire gallery space with her art. Will Gompertz was joined by Sotheby’s Marina Ruiz Colomer and Marina Abramović for a conversation about her life and work, and what it means to be a female artist more broadly.   To see...

For millennia, female power has been portrayed, mediated and exerted through visual art. But to what extent have women been packaged to fit a male template? And how much have they been able to control their own image? In today’s episode, which was originally recorded as a live event at Sotheby’s in London, Sotheby’s specialist Holly Braine was joined by Britain’s best known classicist Mary Beard for a conversation about how Western culture has represented powerful women through the ages. They...

In this episode, which was originally recorded as a live event, we are joined by two literary icons for a conversation about the beloved 19th-century novelist Jane Austen. Helen Fielding is the creator of the multi-million selling Bridget Jones novels and films, and Gill Hornby is the author of the bestselling Miss Austen, and The Story of Jane Austen. Along with Dr. Kalika Sands, a specialist from Sotheby’s Books and Manuscripts department, Helen and Gill sat down at Sotheby’s in London for...

Human beings have been making visual depictions of human life for tens of thousands of years. Fascination with our own likeness is one of the great constants of human history – and the portrait has long been the focus of that fascination. What can portraits tell us about the world? And what can they tell us about ourselves? In today’s episode – originally recorded live in Sotheby’s in the week that the National Portrait Gallery reopened in London – Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe,...

In this episode, art historian and broadcaster Carrie Scott is joined by Turner Prize-winning artist and activist Lubaina Himid, writer Lauren Elkin and Head of Modern and Contemporary African Art at Sotheby’s Hannah O’Leary for a conversation exploring modern city life from the perspective of female artists. This podcast was originally a live event, time to highlight the touring exhibition Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City, curated by Himid, which features works from the Arts...

There has never been a better time than now for women working in art, fashion and design. But female artists, gallerists, and collectors have always shaped taste, pushed patriarchal boundaries, and challenged orthodoxies to find ways of expressing themselves and championing the work of others. In this episode, originally recorded as a live event, Will Gompertz was joined at Sotheby’s in London by jewellery designer Paloma Picasso, art critic and 2024 Istanbul Biennale curator Iwona Blazwick,...

Julianne Moore is one of our greatest living actors: an Academy and Emmy award winner, and the first American woman to be awarded top acting prizes at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. She is also an avid collector. In this episode, Julianne joins curator and author Glenn Adamson, curator Dakin Hart, gallerist Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, and Sotheby’s Florent Jeanniard, for a conversation about 20th Century designers, including Isamu Noguchi and Claude Lalanne, and the role design...

Edvard Munch pioneered Expressionism and embraced life’s most painful experiences to create art: his pursuit of emotional truth changed art forever. Tracey Emin, who has been a major figure in contemporary art for more than 25 years, has always been fascinated by the Norwegian master and, in 2021, she exhibited 25 of her own works alongside Munch’s oils and watercolours at the Royal Academy. In this episode originally recorded at Sotheby’s in London, Emin sat down with Sotheby’s Simon Shaw to...

In this episode, originally recorded at Sotheby’s in London, award-winning singer-songwriter Celeste is joined by Sotheby’s Helena Newman for a conversation about female surrealist artists, including Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington, and the profound impact that their work – and the surrealism movement more broadly – has had on design and culture over the decades.  To see the works discussed in this episode, or to watch an extended version of this talk, visit...

In this episode, Y TREE’s Harriet Johnston is joined by a psychotherapist and a financial journalist for a conversation about the relationship between money and psychology. Lucy Beresford is a broadcaster and psychotherapist, and former investment banker. Robin Powell is the founding editor of the Evidence Based Investor blog. Learned behaviours – many of which we are not aware of – so often define our decision-making about our financial lives. Learning to transcend them can be difficult, and...

What does it mean to be truly successful? In the latest episode of our series in which Y TREE speaks to the people we admire about what success means to them, Harriet Johnston is joined by Niall Mills, the Managing Partner of Igneo Infrastructure Partners, for a conversation that seeks to get to the heart of this age-old question. Drawing on Niall’s upbringing, his early passion for getting to the bottom of how things worked, and his career to date, Harriet and Niall delve into questions...

In this episode, Kamal Ahmed is joined by two bestselling authors: a life designer and a behavioural scientist to discuss the tools and insights that we can use to build happy and healthy lives. A mechanical engineer by training, Dave Evans teaches the overwhelmingly popular Designing Your Life courses at Stanford, and is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. Dr Grace Lordan is an Associate Professor at the London School of...

In the second episode of our new podcast series Tides of Transformation: An Oil Story, produced in partnership with the Fraying Ties? project, Gavin Bridge from Durham University and Alexander Dodge from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are joined by Keith Myers, the former President of Westwood Global Energy Group and an ex-BP exploration geologist, and Chatham House’s Dr Valerie Marcel, for a conversation about who owns oil, and the implications of this for the energy...

In the first episode of our new series Tides of Transformation: An Oil Story, produced in partnership with the Fraying Ties? project, Gavin Bridge from Durham University and James Marriott of Platform London and the co-author of Crude Britannia: How Big Oil Shaped a Nation are joined by former CEO of the Net Zero Technology Centre Colette Cohen OBE and former trade union organiser Jake Molloy for a conversation about the evolution of the oil sector in Britain and the different components that...

In this episode, Y TREE’s Harriet Johnston is joined by two trailblazing women, Sharmadean Reid and Debbie Wosskow, for a conversation about their journeys as entrepreneurs and working mothers. What more needs to be done to support female entrepreneurs – and women more broadly – to ensure combining work and motherhood isn’t financially punitive? What can the entrepreneurial community do to ensure more female founders receive financial backing? And, why is investing in women simply good...

What does it mean to be truly successful? In this episode, Y TREE’s Head of Brand and Marketing is joined by former barrister, police officer, educator, and author Adam Pacifico for a conversation that seeks to get to the heart of this age-old question. Drawing on his learnings from talking to guests on his own podcast, ‘The Leadership Enigma’, Adam and Harriet delve into questions around meaning and fulfillment; whether having more money really does improve our wellbeing; and, how to decide...

No Bullsh*t Leadership is our straight-talking podcast that cuts to the chase about leadership.  In this episode, Chris speaks to Lord Karan Bilimoria, one of this country’s leading entrepreneurs, a business leader, and politician. He was born in Hyderabad, India in 1961, but moved to London in the 1980s, where he qualified as a chartered accountant and subsequently studied law at Cambridge. In 1989, he co-founded Cobra Beer from a flat in Fulham, a brand that has become globally recognised....