LSE IQ

Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Coker | For the late Professor Christopher Coker the answer lay in the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In an episode of LSE iQ which explored China’s position in the world in the coming century, Professor Coker talked about this, the potential for war between the United States and China and what that might look like. Christopher Coker, was Professor of International Relations at LSE for almost four decades, and co-Director of LSE IDEAS, LSE’s foreign policy think tank. He was a scholar of war and warfare. This episode of LSE iQ is a lightly edited version of our 2019 interview recorded before the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is dedicated to his memory. Contributors Professor Christopher Coker Research The Rise of the Civilizational State by Christopher Coker The Improbable War, China, the United States and the Logic of Great Power Conflict by Christopher Coker

Contributor(s): Nikki Sullivan, Paul Frijters, Sarah Appleton, Helen | Joanna Bale talks to Helen, who found Ozempic ‘life-changing’, Clinical Psychologist Sarah Appleton, and LSE’s Nikki Sullivan & Paul Frijters.

Contributor(s): Professor Sam Friedman | More than one in four people in the UK, from solidly middle-class backgrounds, mistakenly think of themselves as working-class. Why is this? In this episode of Extra iQ, a shorter style of the LSE iQ podcast, Sue Windebank speaks to Sam Friedman, a sociologist of class and inequality at LSE to find out more. Sam spoke to the podcast in November 2022 for an episode which asked, ‘How does class define us?’ The whole interview was fantastic but we couldn’t include it all in the original episode. This episode features some more of the thought-provoking content from that interview. Contributors Sam Friedman Research Deflecting Privilege: Class Identity and the Intergenerational Self by Sam Friedman, Dave O’Brien and Ian McDonald

Contributor(s): Heather Kappes, David McDaid, Molly Taylor | According to the Office for National Statistics, 7.1 per cent of adults in Great Britain - nearly 4 million people - say they 'often or always' feel lonely. Look around you when you’re in a crowded place – a supermarket or an office - 1 in 14 of the people you’re looking at are likely to be lonely, not just sometimes but most of the time. And that’s half a million more people saying that they feel chronically lonely in 2023 than there were in 2020 – suggesting that the pandemic has had some enduring impacts in this respect. Sue Windebank talks to a young person who responded to her own deep feelings of loneliness by campaigning to help others. She hears how people can be influenced to feel more or less lonely – at least for a short time. And she got a surprising insight into which group of people are the loneliest. Sue talks to: Heather Kappes, Associate Professor of Management at LSE; David McDaid Associate Professorial Research Fellow in the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at LSE; and Molly Taylor, Loneliness Activist, Founder of #AloneNoMore.

Contributor(s): Faiza Shaheen, Duncan Green, Dr Jens Madsen | Experts will discuss how change isn't as straightforward as we'd like it to be – How it can be all in the timing and that, at times, you just need to wait for the right moment to make change happen. We’ll hear from an academic striving to become a Member of Parliament and make change from within the political system, rather than by lobbying from the outside. And an author and strategic advisor to Oxfam will explain how change is built around communities and groups of people rather than the individual. Mike Wilkerson talks to: Faiza Shaheen, an author and a Labour candidate running to become an MP; Dr. Jens Madsen an Assistant Professor at LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science; and Dr. Duncan Green a Professor in Practice and Senior Strategic advisor to Oxfam. Contributors Faiza Shaheen Duncan Green Jens Madsen Research How change Happens: Duncan Green

Contributor(s): Ryan Centner, James, Jamal | Homosexuality is illegal in just over a third of countries across the globe. Some nations, like Barbados, have recently repealed anti-gay laws, but others, like Uganda, have just introduced the death penalty. Joanna Bale talks to LSE’s Dr Ryan Centner about how Western gay men living in Dubai create covert communities where they can meet and socialise. James, a British gay man, and Jamal, an Emirati gay man, also share their very different experiences of life in the city. Research links: Peril, privilege, and queer comforts: the nocturnal performative geographies of expatriate gay men in Dubai http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/110762/ The Pink Line: The World’s Queer Frontiers https://www.markgevisser.com/the-pink-line

Contributor(s): Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, Professor Charlie Beckett, Dr Giulia Gentile | We’ll hear about the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the courtroom, and what might happen if robots take over the roles of judges. Experts will explore how journalism and other professional fields could be affected by the AI revolution. They will discuss what individuals can do to prepare, and the role of governments and businesses in addressing practical and ethical concerns about the technology. Maayan Arad talks to: Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, LSE professor of economics and Nobel Prize winner; Professor Charlie Beckett, LSE media professor and director of Polis, LSE’s journalism think-tank; and Dr Giulia Gentile, Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex Law School and former a Fellow at LSE Law School. Contributors Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides Professor Charlie Beckett Dr Giulia Gentile Chat GPT Research LawGPT? How AI is Reshaping the Legal Profession by Giulia Gentile The digitisation of justice risks blurring the lines between public and private actors by Giulia Gentile AI in the courtroom and judicial independence: An EU perspective by Giulia Gentile Forthcoming report by JournalismAI – a project of Polis, the LSE’s journalism think-thank. The Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing The Institute for the Future of Work

Contributor(s): Dr Jonathan Birch, Professor Kristin Andrews, Dr Rosalind Arden | Since this episode was recorded the UK Animal Welfare Act 2022 has become law. This extends animal welfare protections to animals such as octopuses, lobsters and crabs - a direct result of the findings of LSE academic Dr Jonathan Birch – featured in this episode - that animals are sentient. They have the capacity to experience pain, distress or harm.For this episode, James Rattee travels to the local park to find out how smart dogs are, he’ll hear about a campaign arguing that chimpanzees are animals deserving of their own rights and, finally, he’ll ask whether insects and other invertebrates have feelings. The episode features Jonathan Birch, Associate Professor in LSE's Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Professor Kristin Andrews, the York Research Chair in Animal Minds at York University (Toronto) and Dr Rosalind Arden, Research Fellow at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science. Research Foundations of Animal Sentience Project Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief, Kristin Andrews, Gary L Comstock, Crozier G.K.D., Sue Donaldson, Andrew Fenton, Tyler M John, L. Syd M Johnson, Robert C Jones, Will Kymlicka, Letitia Meynell, Nathan Nobis, David Pena-Guzman and Jeff Sebo. A general intelligence factor in dogs, Rosalind Arden, Mark James Adams, Intelligence Volume 55, March–April 2016, Pages 79-85      

Contributor(s): Ralitsa Angelova, Oliver Bulleid, Christian Hilber, Kath Scanlon | We’ll hear how planning restrictions established in the 1700s are still preventing development on some of London’s most valuable land. Experts will set out why we can’t afford to not build on the greenbelts that circle some of our major cities. And an Executive Director will explain how his organisation is building homes that will be truly affordable in perpetuity. Sue Windebank talks to: Ralitsa (Rali) Angelova, a young mum whose family has had the chance to buy an affordable flat in London; Oliver Bulleid, Executive Director of the London Community Land Trust; Professor Christian Hilber, an urban and real estate economist at LSE and; Kath Scanlon, Distinguished Policy Fellow at LSE London.

Contributor(s): Dr Stuart Gordon, Sveto Muhammad Ishoq, Halima | The UK government could soon be sending some asylum-seekers on a one-way flight to Rwanda as part of a controversial strategy to deter those crossing the English Channel on small boats. Joanna Bale talks to Dr Stuart Gordon, Sveto Muhammad Ishoq and Halima, an Afghan refugee living in a hotel, about what it’s like to flee your country and policy ideas to help resolve the situation. Research links: Regulating humanitarian governance: humanitarianism and the ‘risk society’ by Stuart Gordon: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/105296/ The protection of civilians: an evolving paradigm? by Stuart Gordon: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101979/ Afghan women’s storytelling and campaigning platform: https://chadariproject.com/about-chadari/