LSE Review of Books

Contributor(s): Odd Arne Westad, John Van Reenen, Fatima El Issawi, Simon Glendinning, Dominic Muir | In this special LSE Literary Festival series, the LSE Review of Books blog asked prominent LSE professors to read from their favourite works of fiction, building on the Academic Inspiration series on their blog, LSEReviewofbooks.com. In the second part of this series, we hear from Director of LSE IDEAS, Professor Odd Arne Westad, reading from Hunger, Director of the Centre for Economic Performance, Professor John Van Reenen, reading from the non-fiction essay The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Research Fellow at POLIS Dr Fatima El Issawi, reading from the poem The Messenger With Her Hair Long to the Springs, and Reader in European Philosophy and Director of the Forum for European Philosophy, Dr Simon Glendinning, from Before the Law. Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Contributors: Odd Arne Westad, John Van Reenen, Fatima El Issawi, Simon Glendinning, Dominic Muir, Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of the following contributors at the FreeMusicArchive.org: Phopha (Macabre City – CC-BY-NC-ND); Machines in Heaven (bordersbreakdown – CC-BY-NC-SA); Dexter Britain (After The Week I’ve Had (CC-BY-NC-SA); and Alfred Bizarro To Be Exactly (Pineambient – CC-BY-NC-ND).

Contributor(s): Anne Applebaum, Nigel Warburton, Louise Gaskell | From 26th of February to 2nd March 2013, the London School of Economics will hold its 5th Annual Literary Festival under the theme ‘Branching Out’. The LSE Review of Books team been out on the road to meet some of this year’s Literary Festival speakers, and in this special edition podcast you’ll hear a taster of some of the events to come. Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winner and LSE’s current Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs, talks to us about her Literary Festival event ‘Narrative Memory and the Mind’, taking place on Wednesday 27th February. Anne speaks about how personal histories have played a role in her books on the Soviet Union. Nigel Warburton, Senior Philosophy Lecturer at the Open University and host of the extremely popular Philosophy Bites podcast, talks about his event taking place 26th February, ‘Philosophy by Podcast‘. Nigel speaks about philosophy in the 21st century and why the podcast may help rejuvenate the Socratic method. We also hear from LSE Literary Festival organiser, Louise Gaskell, about the host of events available to attend. Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Contributors: Anne Applebaum, Nigel Warburton, Louise Gaskell, Music came courtesy of the following contributor at the FreeMusicArchive.org: Dumbo Gets Mad (“Radical Leap” – CC-BY-NC-SA).

Contributor(s): Conor Gearty, Mary Evans, Sonia Livingstone | In this special LSE Literary Festival series, the LSE Review of Books blog asked prominent LSE professors to read from their favourite works of fiction, building on the Academic Inspiration series on their blog, LSEReviewofbooks.com. Professor of Human Rights Law Conor Gearty reads from The Trial, Centennial Professor at Gender Institute Mary Evans from Little Women, and Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications from The Warden. Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Contributors: Conor Gearty, Mary Evans, Sonia Livingstone. Music and sound came courtesy of the following contributors at the FreeMusicArchive.org: Silent Strangers (In the Elysian Field – CC-BY-NC-ND); Lee Maddeford with Les Gauchers Orchestra (Le petit jardin – CC-BY-NC-SA); and Clinic Archives Mix (Melting Clouds – Defoliation – CC-BY-NC-ND).

Contributor(s): Rosemary Sales, Xia Lin, Perry Fung, John Gitting,Ting Xu, Amy Mollett | We take a walk through London’s Chinatown with Rosemary Sales and Xia Lin, Researchers at Middlesex University, to discuss the complex of identities in the area and meanings of home for Chinese immigrants. John Gittings, Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African, talks about China’s early peace philosophers and the importance of engaging the country in diplomacy. Ting Xu, Research Fellow at LSE’s economic history department, speaks about growing up in China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution and how her parent’s boundless passion for books was a source of inspiration. Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other Contributors: Rosemary Sales, Xia Lin, Perry Fung, John Gitting,Ting Xu. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5); and Harp (Pryght-one); and the following user from the FreeMusicArchive.org: Jiony (Not Found_Invisible).

Contributor(s): Matthew Flinders, Armine Ishkanian, Elisa de Denaro Vieira, George Lawson, Cheryl Brumley, Amy Mollett | Professor of Politics at Sheffield University, Matthew Flinders, talks about his new book Defending Politics: Why Democracy Matters in the 21st Century, and argues that the problem with politics is not politicians themselves but the public’s understanding of the processes involved. LSE’s Armine Ishkanian speaks about her book Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia and how civil society and democratisation projects need a firm grounding in a country’s grassroots in order to successfully aid its transition to democracy. George Lawson, Professor of International Relations at the LSE and an expert in democratisation and revolutions, tells us about books and the role the anti-apartheid movement had in sparking his early interest in international relations. We also catch-up with LSE Bees to talk about the wonders of hive behaviour. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Presented by Amy Mollett. Other Contributors: Cheryl Brumley, Matthew Flinders, Armine Ishkanian, Elisa de Denaro Vieira, George Lawson, LSE Bees. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5); and Harp (Pryght-one). Published 26th September 2012.

Contributor(s): Professor Ricky Burdett, Iain Sinclair, Dr. Suzi Hall, Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley | Architectural Advisor to the 2012 Olympic Games and LSE Cities Professor Ricky Burdett talks about the primacy of Olympic legacy and the regeneration of East London. Author of Ghost Milk: Calling Time on the Grand Project, Iain Sinclair, takes us on a tour of London Fields in Hackney, a host borough for the Olympic Games, to talk us through what he sees as a negative acceleration of change brought about by the Olympic project. Dr. Suzi Hall, urban ethnographer and lecturer from LSE Cities, leafs through the beautiful architecture books that inspired her interests in the design of cities and urban multiculture. Presented by Amy Mollet. Other Contributors: Cheryl Brumley, Ricky Burdett, Iain Sinclair, Suzi Hall. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5) ERH (Swell pad); Tube mash-up: acclivity (mind the gap and stand clear),wim (London underground train arriving 6 and 13), Jerry F (tube train interior), ERH (underground announcement). Published 27th July 2012.

Contributor(s): Eli Zaretsky, Alex Callinicos, Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley | In this special episode we visit the Marxism 2012 Festival in London's Bloomsbury to hear the latest from Marxist thinkers and activists. Professor of European Studies at King's College London, Alex Callinicos, speaks about austerity and how Karl Marx's theories have found increasing relevance in today's recession-weary world. We then take a look at the leftist movements across the Atlantic with Eli Zaretsky, Professor of History at The New School for Social Research in New York. He talks to us about his latest book Why America Needs a Left, the rise of the Tea Party and how President Obama failed his left-leaning supporters. Presented by Amy Mollett and Cheryl Brumley. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music courtesy of Harri at freesound.org for his song Hypno5 as well as Thee Faction for their song "Ready".

Contributor(s): Lesley Hall, Melanie Williams, Mary Evans, Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley | Senior archivist at the Wellcome Library, Lesley Hall, talks to us about her book on the early 20th century reproductive rights campaigner Stella Browne and how her activism influences today’s feminist movements. Melanie Williams, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia, tells us how film and gender studies make natural companions. We also hear from LSE Centennial Professor Mary Evans on the books that inspired her into social theory and gender studies and how Scandinavian crime novels make for an exciting escape from the quiet academic life. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); nemo-day-a-dalus (projector); and harri (inspiration series intro); Riceballofdoom on YouTube (Toronto Slut Walk chant); Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for his song Hand Trolley.

Contributor(s): Professor Dan Everett, Philip Gross, Linda Yueh, Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley | Professor Dan Everett, linguistic anthropologist and author of Language: The Cultural Tool, tells us how a language spoken by a tribe living deep in the Amazon jungle poses a direct challenge to the widely-held view that language is inherent. Prize-winning poet Philip Gross talks to us about his father’s loss of language and reads from his collections Deep Field and The Water Table. As part of our academic inspiration series we speak to LSE economist and Bloomberg TV broadcaster Linda Yueh about the books that inspired her into economics. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound courtesy of the following users at Freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); reinsamba (Nightbirds – Amazon); Corsica_S (Museum atrium); mystiscool (stream); and eric5335 (meadow ambience).