Academy of Ideas

This is a recording of a public discussion hosted by the Academy of Ideas Arts & Society Forum on 24 January 2023.

Arts institutions shape themselves and their policies around promoting social good, and have accepted a political agenda around climate change and identity politics. They want to be seen to be on the ‘right side’ of progress, but have they become overly instrumentalist and constraining in their approach? What harm are they doing to the development of the arts and artists?

Now it appears that the arts are responding not just to the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) agenda, but also to the government’s levelling up policy. Under pressure to take funding outside London, controversial recent Arts Council plans threaten English National Opera with closure unless it relocates to the north.

Yet it seems that progressive arts polices have largely failed. Recent research shows that while a few women and BAME people are now more likely to achieve higher status professional roles than in the past, there are fewer people from working class backgrounds involved in the arts than in the 1970s.

How can we argue for a renewed discussion about artistic merit? What remains of the idea of art as a source and expression of beauty? Contemporary arts now often seem to be judged primarily on the basis of who they represent and their political message, on what ‘good’ they might do in society. In theatre, music and visual arts, artists and artistic projects run the risk of crossing a line if they are not politically and socially ‘on message’. And is instrumentalism (political and social) now embedded in the way most people, perhaps particularly younger generations, think about the arts? What kind of arts institutions do we need?

SPEAKERS Alexander Adams artist, critic and author. His publications include Abolish the Arts Council (co-authored with David Lee) and Culture War (Alexander’s latest publications will be avilable to buy at the event)

Dr Mo Lovatt national coordinator of Debating Matters; programme coordinator, Academy of Ideas

Jack Hues singer, Wang Chung; composer; musician; songwriter

The UK Government’s decision to veto a bill passed by the Scottish Government, which would make it easier for children older than 16 to legally change their gender, has set off something of a political storm (a great summary can be found over at Spectator by Iain MacWhirter).

Whilst this certainly has ramifications for UK-Scotland political relations, it also has set off a series of debates about gender identity, the rights of women, and even what the bill actually would mean in practice.

Without a doubt, these debates are some of the most difficult to navigate in contemporary politics - and also some of the most heated. So we sat down to try and make sense of it all.

On this episode of the Podcast of Ideas, Alastair Donald speaks to Susan Smith of For Women Scotland - the heroic campaigning organisation who have been defending the rights of women which are often undercut by legislation aiming to protect trans people. Claire Fox, Ella Whelan and Rob Lyons then join Alastair to mull over some of the implications in a bit more detail.

This is guest podcast from our colleagues at Debating Matters.

Initiated in 2015, Debating Matters Beyond Bars is a project which takes DM's schools-debating format inside prisons. Using our acclaimed substance-over-style format, teams of prisoners engage in debate with one another on a whole range of contemporary social, political and cultural topics. The programme aims to inspire them to think about issues beyond their current situation and to look forward to their life ahead – in other words, beyond bars!

In this podcast, Mo Lovatt - DM's national coordinator - and Geoff Kidder sat down with former Beyond Bars competitor Jon Floyd to discuss the impact the programme had on him when he took part in 2015 while he was serving his sentence. We were also joined by Heather Phillips, the chief executive of Beating Time, which runs, amongst other things, Inside Job – an employment programme she set up with Jon in 2020.

For Jon, taking part in Beyond Bars was the catalyst for starting that programme with Heather as well as a whole range of initiatives he’s been involved with since 2015. As he says in the podcast, Beyond Bars gave him a purposeful activity, helped him change direction and kickstarted his journey of rehabilitation.

Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons and Tom Collyer round up their World Cup highlights ahead of the final.

Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: clairefox.substack.com/subscribe

Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons are joined by Tom Collyer, Denis Russell and Simon McKeon to discuss the kick off of the World Cup 2022.

Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: clairefox.substack.com/subscribe

Regular Sportscast of Ideas guests Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons are joined by Tom Collyer, Hilary Salt and Simon McKeon to discuss the kick off of the World Cup 2022.

Subscribe to our Substack to keep up-to-date with all of our work at the Academy of Ideas: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe

This is a recording from the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 at Church House, Westminster: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/call-to-courage-winning-the-battle-of-ideas/

Subscribe to our Substack to get podcasts, updates and more: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe

Today – at a time of enormous upheavals and significant political challenges – do we need to bring courage back into politics? There are certainly encouraging signs – do recent successes of gender-critical activists, the push back against diversity policies, or support for those threatened with being cancelled indicate new forms of solidarity? Can fighting back against the cost-of-living crisis, under the banner of Enough is Enough, forge a new movement? And as millions of UK citizens courageously refused to back down – and succeeded in forcing the establishment to ensure their democratic vote was not overturned – is the democratic Brexit spirit of taking back control ready to be rekindled?

SPEAKERS: Julie Bindel journalist; author, Feminism for Women: the real route to liberation

Professor Sunetra Gupta professor of theoretical epidemiology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford; award-winning novelist

Ali Miraj columnist, TheArticle; founder, the Contrarian Prize; infrastructure financier; DJ

Tim Stanley columnist and leader writer, Daily Telegraph; author, Whatever Happened to Tradition? History, Belonging and the Future of the West

Bruno Waterfield Brussels correspondent, The Times

CHAIR: Claire Fox director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

Liz Truss has gone, and we’ll be on to another Prime Minister (or maybe even Boris). At the moment, things seem utterly out of our hands. That is why it’s so important we understand what is going on, what historical trends are shaping it, and, even now, what opportunities exist.

Claire sat down with Academy of Ideas colleague Jacob Reynolds to do just that. At this moment, the key thing is to listen, read, think and argue. Please share our conversation with everyone you know who is angry, confused and demanding something better.

Ahead of the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 in London on 15 & 16 October, Jacob Reynolds talks to Phil Mullan and Rob Lyons about the turmoil in the financial markets this week and the longer-term problems for the UK economy.

For more about the festival, visit the Battle of Ideas festival website.

Recording of an Academy of Ideas debate on Tuesday 28 June 2022.

INTRODUCTION Around the world, prices of a wide range of goods and commodities have been rising sharply for the past few months. In particular, the wholesale cost of energy has been rising fast as the world economy recovered from the pandemic restrictions. Petrol prices have risen by almost a third in the past 12 months. The UK domestic energy ‘price cap’, which hit a low of £1,042 in 2020, is expected to rise to £2,800 in October. Consumer price inflation has hit 9% and is likely to reach 10% by the end of the year. For those on lower incomes, who spend more of their income on food and energy, the impact is even greater.

There are multiple explanations for the rises: the post-pandemic recovery and problems with shipping have been widely cited. The war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia are hitting energy and food prices. Many economists also point to the rise in the money supply – thanks to ultra-low interest rates, quantitative easing and huge government spending programmes. Rises in production have not kept pace with rising demand, so prices have risen.

But the other side of the story is that wages are not keeping up with rising prices. As a result, most people are seeing real-terms cuts in their living standards. Governments and central bankers seem desperate to keep a lid on wage rises, desperate to avoid a ‘wage-price spiral’, but the effect is to make most people significantly poorer. Those on fixed incomes may be hardest hit of all.

What are the main reasons for the rise in living costs? What can be done to help reduce the impact? Should we be looking beyond short-term and temporary factors? Is this a crisis that has been coming for some time?

SPEAKERS Robert Fig principal, Metals Risk Team, a commodity risk-management consultancy; previously worked at ArcelorMittal and London Metals Exchange

Phil Mullan writer, lecturer and business manager; author, Beyond Confrontation: globalists, nationalists and their discontents

Hilary Salt actuary; founder, First Actuarial