Contributor(s): Professor John Hills | This episode is dedicated to social policy giant Professor Sir John Hills, who died in December 2020. In this episode, John tackles the myth that the welfare state supports a feckless underclass who cost society huge amounts of money. Instead, he sets out a system where most of what we pay in, comes back to us. He describes a generational contract which we all benefit from, varying on our stage of life. His words remain timely after a year of pandemic...

Contributor(s): Dr Tali Sharot, Dr Joan Costa-Font, Professor David de Meza, Dr Chris Kutarna |   Despite our growing collective pessimism about the state of the world, when it comes to our own lives, research suggests we are generally optimistic.   After a year that will remain synonymous with anxiety, isolation, endless devastating news reports, and for too many – loss, this episode of LSE IQ asks: is optimism is good for us? And, beyond the effects on our wellbeing, is optimism an accurate...

Contributor(s): Professor Laura Bear, Nikita Simpson, Professor Joan Roses, Dr Adam Oliver, Dr Clare Wenham, Professor Patrick Wallis | In this month’s episode of the LSE IQ podcast we ask, ‘What’s the point of social science in a pandemic?’.   On the 23rd March 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the country’s first national lockdown. In the months since, there has been a seismic shift in all our lives. As we embark on 2021 and, hopefully, the latter stages of the pandemic, now is an...

Contributor(s): Dr Kitty Stewart | A campaign by the Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford, has prompted the UK government to provide extra support for children from low-income families during the pandemic. Even before coronavirus, child poverty had been rising for several years. This latest bite-sized episode of LSE iQ explores the question, ‘How can we end child poverty in the UK?’ Joanna Bale talks to Kitty Stewart of LSE’s Social Policy Department and Centre for Analysis of Social...

Contributor(s): Professor David Graeber | This episode is dedicated to David Graeber, LSE professor of Anthropology, who died unexpectedly in September this year. David was a public intellectual, a best-selling author, an influential activist and anarchist. He took aim at the pointless bureaucracy of modern life, memorably coining the term ‘b******t jobs’. And his book ‘Debt: The First 5000 years’ was turned into a radio series by the BBC. But David started his academic career studying...

Contributor(s): Dr Thomas Curran | Jess Winterstein speaks to Dr Thomas Curran about the potential pitfalls of wanting to be perfect. Our society values perfection, but is the concept of perfect really that good for us? The latest episode of LSE IQ explores perfectionism. In this bitesized episode of the LSE IQ podcast, Jess Winterstein speaks to Dr Thomas Curran, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. While aspiring to perfection may still be...

Contributor(s): Paul Krugman, Andy Summers, Dr Luna Glucksberg | The coronavirus crisis has devastated economies and brought existing inequalities into sharper focus. Will it result in higher taxes on income and wealth, as we saw after the Great Depression and WWII? Or will the top 1 per cent continue to pull away from the rest of society? Exploring the question, ‘Can we afford the super-rich?’, Joanna Bale talks to Paul Krugman, Andy Summers and Luna Glucksberg. Research links: Arguing with...

Contributor(s): Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dr Ute Collier, Dr Sefi Roth, Dr Thomas Smith | Sue Windebank speaks to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah about her campaigning work for both clean air and a new inquest into the causes of her daughter’s death. In 2013, her daughter Ella Roberta died from a rare and severe form of asthma – she was just nine years old. According to an expert report there was a "real prospect” that without unlawful levels of air pollution near their home, Ella would not...

Contributor(s): Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dr Ute Collier, Dr Sefi Roth, Dr Thomas Smith | Seven million people die of air pollution, worldwide, every year. This episode of LSE IQ asks how this invisible killer can be tackled.  Sue Windebank speaks to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah about her campaigning work for both clean air and a new inquest into the causes of her daughter’s death. In 2013, her daughter Ella Roberta died from a rare and severe form of asthma – she was just nine years...

Contributor(s): Dr Stephen L. Roberts, Dr Leeza Osipenko, Professor Barbara Prainsack, Dr James Somauroo | With more and more information about us available electronically and online, this episode of LSE IQ asks, ‘Is big data good for our health?’ Advances in bio-medical technologies, along with electronic health records and the information we generate through our mobile phones, Smart Watches or Fit bits, our social media posts and search engine queries, mean that there is a torrent of...

Contributor(s): Dr Stephen Roberts, Dr Leeza Osipenko, Professor Barbara Prainsack, Dr James Somauroo | With more and more information about us available electronically and online, this episode of LSE IQ asks, ‘Is big data good for our health?’ Advances in bio-medical technologies, along with electronic health records and the information we generate through our mobile phones, Smart Watches or Fit bits, our social media posts and search engine queries, mean that there is a torrent of...

Contributor(s): Clare Wenham | A special bite-sized episode of LSE IQ asks, “What does gender have to do with pandemics?” Cholera, Ebola, Influenza, MERS, SARs, Smallpox, Yellow fever, Zika and of course novel Coronavirus – these are just some of the pandemic, epidemic diseases listed by the World Health Organisation. And until a few months ago, many of us – particularly in the West – had remained comfortably unaffected by these terrible diseases. Yet today it seems dreadfully routine to...

Contributor(s): Clare Wenham | A special bite-sized episode of LSE IQ asks, “What does gender have to do with pandemics?” Cholera, Ebola, Influenza, MERS, SARs, Smallpox, Yellow fever, Zika and of course novel Coronavirus – these are just some of the pandemic, epidemic diseases listed by the World Health Organisation. And until a few months ago, many of us – particularly in the West – had remained comfortably unaffected by these terrible diseases. Yet today it seems dreadfully routine to...

Contributor(s): Bob Ward, Svenja Surminski, Ivan, XR | This month’s episode of the LSE IQ podcast asks if the climate crisis can be averted. If you can, cast your mind back a few months. Can you remember a time when toilet roll wasn’t a prized possession? Or when going out meant more than a trip to the supermarket? You may recall talk of another crisis, one that threatened millions of lives and livelihoods. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this episode turns its attention back to...

Contributor(s): Bob Ward, Svenja Surminski, Ivan, XR | This month’s episode of the LSE IQ podcast asks if the climate crisis can be averted. If you can, cast your mind back a few months. Can you remember a time when toilet roll wasn’t a prized possession? Or when going out meant more than a trip to the supermarket? You may recall talk of another crisis, one that threatened millions of lives and livelihoods. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this episode turns its attention back to...

Contributor(s): Michael Muthukrishna, Sandra Sequeira, Jonathan Weigel | Welcome to LSE IQ, the award-winning podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question. In this episode Jess Winterstein asks, "Is corruption inevitable?" Bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism – corruption comes in many forms, with varying levels of legality, it costs countries trillions of dollars per year and causes great damage to a nation’s economic prosperity and...

Contributor(s): Michael Muthukrishna, Sandra Sequeira, Jonathan Weigel | Welcome to LSE IQ, the award-winning podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question. In this episode Jess Winterstein asks, "Is corruption inevitable?" Bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism – corruption comes in many forms, with varying levels of legality, it costs countries trillions of dollars per year and causes great damage to a nation’s economic prosperity and...

Contributor(s): Yvonne Lawson, Professor Tom Kirchmaier, Carmen Vila-Llera, Janet Foster, Kerris Cooper | Knife crime in England and Wales hit a record high in 2019, up by 7% on the previous year. A disproportionate number of victims - and perpetrators - are young and disadvantaged. Exploring the question, ‘How do we stop knife crime?’, Joanna Bale talks to Kerris Cooper, Janet Foster, Tom Kirchmaier, Yvonne Lawson and Carmen Villa-Llera. Research links: Physical safety and Security:...

Contributor(s): Yvonne Lawson, Professor Tom Kirchmaier, Carmen Vila-Llera, Janet Foster, Kerris Cooper | Knife crime in England and Wales hit a record high in 2019, up by 7% on the previous year. A disproportionate number of victims - and perpetrators - are young and disadvantaged. Exploring the question, ‘How do we stop knife crime?’, Joanna Bale talks to Kerris Cooper, Janet Foster, Tom Kirchmaier, Yvonne Lawson and Carmen Villa-Llera. Research links: Physical safety and Security:...

Contributor(s): Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Lord Richard Layard, Liz Zeidler | This month we have raided the LSE IQ archives for an episode from 2017 when we ask, ‘What’s the secret to happiness?’ Western societies have been getting steadily richer for several decades, but social scientists have shown that we are no happier for it. In fact we now have more depression, more alcoholism and more crime. Why does happiness elude so many of us and what can we do about it? Joanna Bale talks to...

Contributor(s): Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Lord Richard Layard, Liz Zeidler | This month we have raided the LSE IQ archives for an episode from 2017 when we ask, ‘What’s the secret to happiness?’ Western societies have been getting steadily richer for several decades, but social scientists have shown that we are no happier for it. In fact we now have more depression, more alcoholism and more crime. Why does happiness elude so many of us and what can we do about it? Joanna Bale talks to...

Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Coker, Dr Debin Ma, Dr Yu Jie | Welcome to LSE IQ, the award-winning podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question. In this episode Sue Windebank asks, “Is the 21st Century the Chinese century?” This month sees the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War. Having overthrown the nationalist government of the Republic of China, Mao Zedong...

Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Coker, Dr Debin Ma, Dr Yu Jie | Welcome to LSE IQ, the award-winning podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question. In this episode Sue Windebank asks, “Is the 21st Century the Chinese century?” This month sees the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War. Having overthrown the nationalist government of the Republic of China, Mao Zedong...

Contributor(s): Professor Tim Newburn, Paul Lewis, Professor John Drury | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists – and other experts – to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. In August 2011 England experienced the largest outbreak of rioting in a generation. The disorder began after the shooting of young man, Mark Duggan, by police officers in Tottenham. A protest...

Contributor(s): Professor Tim Newburn, Paul Lewis, Professor John Drury | Welcome to LSE IQ, a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where we ask leading social scientists – and other experts – to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. In August 2011 England experienced the largest outbreak of rioting in a generation. The disorder began after the shooting of young man, Mark Duggan, by police officers in Tottenham. A protest...