Episodes

  • Cambridge Professor David Spiegelhalter - How to Navigate Change, Ignorance, Risk and Luck

    Cambridge Professor David Spiegelhalter - How to Navigate Change, Ignorance, Risk and Luck
    Nov 22 2024
    We live in a world where uncertainty is inevitable. How should we deal with what we don’t know? And what role do chance, luck and coincidence play in our lives? Cambridge statistician and beloved broadcaster David Spiegelhalter has spent his career dissecting data in order to understand risks and assess the chances of what might happen in the future. In this episode of the podcast, recorded live in London with live examples with the audience, he guides us through the principles of probability, showing how it can help us think more analytically about everything from medical advice to pandemics and climate change forecasts, and explores how we can update our beliefs about the future in the face of constantly changing experience. Tune in to find why we can be so confident that two properly shuffled packs of cards have never been in the exact same order, what it means to be mathematically lucky, and how a classroom of people will result in a shared birthday in this essential guide to navigating uncertainty while also having the humility to admit what we do not know. To get an exclusive NordVPN deal, head to https://nordvpn.com/howtoacademy to get an extra 4 months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 15 mins
  • Psychologist Alison Fragale - How Women Can Get the Success They Deserve

    Psychologist Alison Fragale - How Women Can Get the Success They Deserve
    Nov 18 2024
    How do you balance kindness and competence in the workplace? How can you get the success you deserve, earn credit for your accomplishments, and navigate complex office politics without antagonising your colleagues? Over decades of research, behavioural scientist Alison Fragale encountered these recurring questions from high-powered and early-career women alike, determining that many women’s workplace issues boil down to the perception of others. Now she joins us to share her insights, offering actionable strategies that can help women elevate their esteem, all while remaining authentic to themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • WATCHMEN author Alan Moore - Twenty Six Letters, Infinite Worlds

    WATCHMEN author Alan Moore - Twenty Six Letters, Infinite Worlds
    Nov 14 2024
    “With just 26 letters, you can create any conceivable universe.” - Alan Moore With the rise of new technology, from artificial intelligence to virtual reality, what power remains in our more ancient forms of storytelling? Modern-day alchemist Alan Moore who transmuted comic books into literary gold joins Robin Ince to explore the enduring power of prose and the unique magic that written stories bring. To celebrate the release of Alan's new book The Great When which marks the beginning of his Long London series, Alan and Robin delve into the wonder of words, the power of art, and the enduring magic of prose fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • SAPIENS author Yuval Noah Harari - Humanity in the Age of AI

    SAPIENS author Yuval Noah Harari - Humanity in the Age of AI
    Nov 14 2024
    Long gone are the days when pigeons relayed our messages; now we have a flood of information at all times, from social media to artificial intelligence, all weaving narratives that shape our lives. But the rise of these new modes of information technology has the power to spread misinformation, challenge independent thought, and even threaten democracy. Bestselling author of Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari joins Robin Ince to explore how humanity can navigate these new networks, and asks, in this constant deluge of information and misinformation, where can we find real knowledge and truth? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 36 mins
  • Robyn Davidson - Journeys of a Lifetime

    Robyn Davidson - Journeys of a Lifetime
    Nov 9 2024
    Best-known for her journey trekking across the Australian desert, Robyn Davidson joins us to reveal a new expedition, this time into the past. From the lush tropics of Malabar to the loneliness of London, Robyn shares an illuminating portrait of her childhood, the loss of her mother, her journey as a writer, and the strange and wondrous persistence of memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    26 mins
  • Award winning novelist Rebecca Kuang - Yellowface

    Award winning novelist Rebecca Kuang - Yellowface
    Nov 1 2024
    Aged 27, Rebecca F. Kuang is already a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling, multiple-prize winning author of five novels, a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, and currently finding time to squeeze in finishing a doctorate at Yale while writing three more novels she has already sold. Now Rebecca reveals her own literary journey, and how her global sensation Yellowface strikes a deeply personal chord. From the art of crafting villains to loving one's characters, from waiting for hours at empty signings to rising to the heights of literary stardom, from newfound freedom to the insecurities that plague even the best of us, Rebecca Kuang reveals her extraordinary life to date. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 18 mins
  • Historian of Science Natalie Lawrence - Why Monsters Matter

    Historian of Science Natalie Lawrence - Why Monsters Matter
    Nov 1 2024
    Since the dawn of humanity monsters have loomed large in our collective imagination. But why do frightening beasts hold such a powerful grip on us? Natalie Lawrence has always loved monsters. Her passion that took her all the way to Cambridge, where she completed a phD in the history of early modern monsters that informs her new book, Enchanted Creatures. Now she joins us on the podcast to delight your adult brain and inner child alike. When does an animal become a monster? Why should anyone still care about monsters in the modern world, when so many of our favourite myths are fully debunked and true enchantment is hard to come by? Are robots and dinosaurs monsters, or something different? Discover the answer to all these questions and more in this journey through thousands of years of natural – and unnatural – history… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    36 mins
  • Yale Historian Sunil Amrith - How Humanity Reshaped the Planet

    Yale Historian Sunil Amrith - How Humanity Reshaped the Planet
    Oct 29 2024
    In the last five centuries, humankind has brought change to every inch of the Earth, in a story of environment and empire, of genocide and ecocide, of the expansion of human freedom and its costs. Asking whether humanity can now summon the collective wisdom to save itself, Professor Sunil Amrith joins the podcast to share a history of environmentalism from the perspective of social justice. Arguing for an empathetic approach to climate usage, Professor Amrith shares why environmentalism is ill-suited to headlines, and reveals the human stories that can compel us to take action. Tune in to understand why it will be the artists, not the technocrats, who determine what happens next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 8 mins