RSA Events

What’s gone wrong with our workplace culture? Dan Lyons explores how we can put people back at the centre of our working practices. Welcome to work in the modern economy, where the climate is cultish and management fads rule. Silicon Valley workplace culture has filtered through to other industries, dehumanising our working practices and putting tech in the driving seat. In a rapidly transforming world where entire industries are collapsing, companies scrabble to reprogramme their workforce to adapt and survive, conducting large-scale experiments in organisational behaviour; in short, we’re all their lab rats. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 14th May 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/05/why-modern-work-makes-us-miserable

Sustainability expert Mike Berners-Lee looks at the big challenges facing Earth and offers guidance on what we can all do to help humanity thrive on our only planet. Should we frack? Should we fly? Do we all need to become vegetarian? What about population growth? Faced with so many pressing environmental questions and dilemmas, and a sense that time’s rapidly running out to make a difference, it’s no wonder that for many people this all adds up to a feeling of despair and paralysis. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 9th May 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/05/there-is-no-planet-b

In a new report presented to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, world authority on basic income Dr Guy Standing sets out how the idea could become a UK reality. An effective pilot has the ability to demonstrate the strengths or shortcomings of a basic income scheme. Pilots have been tried in many countries, most recently in Finland and the Netherlands. Now, Dr Standing argues, it is the UK’s turn. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Tuesday 7th May 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/05/basic-income-as-common-dividends

Renowned psychology professor Jennifer Eberhardt examines how racial bias affects every sector of society, and how we can work to overcome it. Drawing on scientific studies, investigative insights and personal experience, Jennifer Eberhardt explores the far-reaching and devastating consequences of racial bias. Such bias is not an innate and inevitable evil, she argues, but a universal human problem to be addressed. By acknowledging sometimes uncomfortable truths about how we perceive the world and each other, we can make real progress towards racial justice. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 25th April 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/04/how-bias-works

Award-winning journalist, author and hit podcaster Elizabeth Day shares the valuable life lessons to be learned from things going wrong. In her new book, Elizabeth shares honest, uplifting stories of her own experience of failure, as well as insights gleaned from her interviews with people from all walks of life who found that life’s twists, turns and tragedies shaped them far more profoundly than the times of plain sailing. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 11th April 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/04/how-to-fail

One of the world’s most influential public thinkers Cass Sunstein explores the different ways that social change can happen, from nudges to movements to cascades. Drawing from two new books On Freedom and How Change Happens, Sunstein explores the myriad ways that change can happen at both individual and social scale, ranging from gradual nudges, to growing movements to sudden cascades. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 4th April 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/04/how-change-happens

How can storytelling help us navigate the world around us? Writer Will Storr explores the science behind humanity’s most powerful tool. Stories shape as well as reflect the world we live in, moulding our cultural identities, framing our politics and beliefs, and giving meaning to our experiences. Storytelling runs throughout our individual and collective lives, from our newspapers and our law courts to our religions, our song lyrics, and our teenage diaries. It’s out of these stories that our complex human culture has developed, and by delving into the science of storytelling, we can better navigate the world around us and our experiences in it. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 28th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/how-stories-make-us-who-we-are

How does class background affect our prospects in the workplace and in life? Sociologist Sam Friedman shares his insights into the hidden barriers to equality in elite occupations. Social mobility is a goal often hailed by politicians and voters across the spectrum, but evidence shows that we’re falling short of the meritocratic ideal. The effects of social class are shown to follow us throughout our lives in intangible ways, dictating how we are perceived by others, opening or closing doors to elite jobs and education, and affecting our tendency to take risks. How can we ensure that privilege isn’t misread as merit, and reduce the impact of class on opportunity? This event was recorded live at The RSA on Thursday 21st March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/why-it-pays-to-be-privileged

Caroline Lucas MP is joined by Professor David Runciman to discuss the urgent need for reform of our political systems in order to confront the intractable challenge of climate change. Liberal democracy is coming apart, under threat from the rise of populism and increasingly unable to deliver the solutions to the multiple challenges facing society. We urgently need bold and radical ideas - not just for the policies we need to tackle the many crises we face - but for the processes necessary to unlock that change. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Monday 18th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/we-need-to-talk-about-climate

What’s missing from our public life? Renowned economist Raghuram Rajan explores the power of community in a world that’s left civil society behind. An assumption underlying the politics and economics of the moment goes like this: that what matters are governments and markets, and the interaction between them. What about the rest of society? The ‘third pillar’ – community – has been forgotten in a world increasingly shaped by globalisation and technological innovation. Focusing on the state and the market at the expense of social issues has proven not just short-sighted, but a dangerous factor in the rise of populism. This event was recorded live at The RSA on Wednesday 13th March 2019. Discover more about this event here: https://www.thersa.org/events/2019/03/how-to-revive-community-in-a-polarised-world