How To Academy Podcast

Economist Mariana Mazzucato and collaborator Rosie Collington debunk the value of consultancies. They highlight failures in responding to challenges like climate change and COVID-19. They discuss the role of government, the drawbacks of excessive reliance on consultants, and the need for mission-oriented policy. They delve into historical context, aligning government actions with citizens' interests, and strengthening organizational capacity. They also address the impact of consulting firms in global health and the importance of transparency for driving change.

We feel, therefore we are. Conscious sensations ground our sense of self. They are crucial to our idea of ourselves as psychic beings: present, existent, and mattering. But what does this magical dimension of experience amount to? What’s it for, and why has it evolved? Humphrey's solution implies that phenomenal consciousness, far from being primitive, is a relatively late and sophisticated evolutionary development. The implications, for the existence of sentience in nonhuman animals, are startling and provocative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An underdog who became an international icon, unafraid to speak truth to power and defend ordinary people against vested interests and the billionaire class, Bernie Sanders is more than a politician: he is an inspiration to anyone unwilling to accept a system fuelled by uncontrolled greed. Senator Sanders joins comedian and bestselling author Frankie Boyle live on stage at How To Academy to demand fundamental economic and political change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thirty years ago the poet and critic Blake Morrison forged the way for a new genre of confessional memoir with his groundbreaking book And When Did You Last See Your Father?. His new memoir Two Sisters is an even more poignant and profound exploration of family and human frailty, fusing personal storytelling with an examination of sibling relationships in history and literature. Esme Bright sat down with Blake to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our guest on this episode, Caroline Dodds Pennock, is the UK's only Aztec historian. Countless books have been written about Europeans in the Americas in the age of Discovery but Caroline's new book On Savage Shores is the first to tell the story of the tens of thousands of indigenous Americans who came to Europe: as enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants and traders. She sat down with Luke Naylor Perrott to tell us more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ray Nayler, an American diplomat and author of 'The Mountain in the Sea,' dives into the fascinating world of interspecies communication. He explores how octopuses might possess their own language and culture, drawing parallels to human interaction. Ray reflects on his marine conservation experiences and the intricate dynamics between humans and AI. Through personal anecdotes, he contrasts human loneliness with the unique life of solitary creatures like octopuses, urging a deeper understanding of consciousness and the importance of empathy in storytelling.

Distinguished neuroscientist Tracey Shors has dedicated her life to explaining how the mind and body respond to stressful events we can’t control – from difficult childhoods to bereavements, stressful jobs to pregnancy. Some dissipate with time; while other, long-term stresses – like the experience of the pandemic - can change the structure of our brains.Now, drawing on years of research into the long and short-term effects of stress and trauma, she joins the podcast to share her insights into strengthening our resilience and improving difficult symptoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are living in an age when economic failings have shaken faith in global capitalism. Political failings have undermined trust in liberal democracy and in the very notion of truth. The ties that ought to bind open markets to free and fair elections are being strained and rejected, even in democracy's notional heartlands. Some now argue that capitalism is better without democracy; others that democracy is better without capitalism. What can be done? In this episode of the podcast, Martin Wolf and Mervyn King consider the present and future of our political and economic framework. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can science tell us about why love lasts? Why do some couples stay together forever, while others fall apart? Is there a formula for building a relationship that endures the test of time? Widely regarded as America’s leading relationship experts, Drs John and Julie Gottman have studied love for more than fifty years. In conversation with eminent psychotherapist and author Julia Samuel, they share ideas for realising deeper intimacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On 26 March 2020, a new law appeared. In 11 pages, it locked down tens of millions of people, confined us to our homes, banned socialising, closed shops, gyms, pubs, places of worship. It restricted our freedoms more than any other law in history, justified by the rapid spread of a deadly new virus. A state of emergency was declared, lasting for 764 days, during which time ministers brought in over 100 new restrictions, almost never debated, increasingly confusing the public, and some - we would find out - stained with corruption.Adam Wagner was described in the House of Lords as ‘the only person in the country who can make sense of [the COVID-19] regulations’. In conversation with peer and Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein, he tells the startling story of the state of emergency which became an emergency state and how extreme measures caused constitutional chaos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices