LSE: Public lectures and events

It is no secret that the alumni of Britain’s elite schools remain disproportionately represented in positions of power and influence. But what is it about these institutions that gives their students such a lasting advantage? This event marks the launch of An Elite Education: How Privilege is Produced in a Private School by Emma Taylor.

30 October 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review at the Royal Society by Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor Gordon Brown and the Secretary of State for the Environment David Miliband, together with Nicholas Stern.

Two hundred and fifty years after the publication of The Wealth of Nations, Jeffrey D Sachs returns to one of Adam Smith's most striking claims: that "the discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind." Drawing on new geospatial datasets, Professor Sachs argues that Smith's observation captures deep truths about long-term global economic change — truths that remain profoundly relevant for our own age.

Join us to celebrate Hilde Himmelweit as part of LSE’s 130th anniversary programme, honouring the life and legacy of Hilde Himmelweit (1918–1989), a pioneering refugee scholar and one of the very few women to hold a professorship at the School in its early history.

So much of the recent focus of artificial intelligence (AI) has been on the quest to use massive data to build a single autonomous machine or agent that mimics and augments the human mind. And we only tend to think about AI on that one level – AI as single machine or agent.

Greece has travelled a remarkable path over the past decade, moving from deep economic crisis to a period of renewed stability and recovery. But what comes next? As geopolitical tensions intensify and the global economy becomes increasingly fragmented, the country once again finds itself navigating a shifting and uncertain landscape.

Join us for this talk and discussion with Andrea Lorenzo Capussela as he discusses his book, The Republic of Innovation.

In this public lecture, Rory Stewart explores how economic interdependence, technological networks and global supply chains have become instruments of geopolitical power.

One year on from receiving the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Philippe Aghion joins us at LSE to mark the official launch of the Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy.

The dialogue will bring together researchers from LSE's Department of International Development and practitioners from Amnesty International, International Secretariat (IS) & UK Section (AIUK) to share knowledge on putting policy into practice while centring the human experience in development.

Join us this Black History Month for a thought-provoking conversation between acclaimed author and broadcaster Reni Eddo-Lodge and LSE President Larry Kramer.

In this special event, the 2026 winner of the Coller Dolittle Prize Julie Elie, will present her work on decoding the language of zebra finches.

This public event celebrates Every Last Girl: A Journey to Educate India's Forgotten Daughters, a book by Safeena Husain. In conversation with Stephan Chambers, she will discuss the journey of Educate Girls and its mission to find and empower every girl in India.

The old socialist calculation debate asked whether markets or planners could allocate resources more rationally. But neoliberalism long ago shifted the terrain from calculation to creativity, experimentation and worldmaking — and AI now radicalises that shift by enclosing the infrastructures of knowledge, culture, judgment and imagination.

We are witnessing something unique in history. The most powerful and technologically advanced nation in the world is tearing down the very international order that it constructed eighty years ago.

Many people use social media simply because everyone else does. While these platforms help us stay connected, some argue that society would be better off if social media use were significantly reduced or even eliminated. This event explores why people continue to use products they may believe are ultimately harmful.

Join us for a conversation between Ricardo Reis, A. W. Phillips Professor of Economics at LSE, and Alberto Musalem, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, where they will talk about monetary policy and recent economic trends.

As the world looks ahead to COP32 in Addis Ababa, Africa has a unique opportunity to shape the direction of global climate negotiations. At a pivotal moment for international climate policy, the continent is setting the agenda on how climate action can support sustainable and resilient economic development.

How, when, and why did women in the US obtain legal rights equal to men’s regarding the workplace, marriage, family, Social Security, criminal justice, credit markets, and other parts of the economy and society, decades after they gained the right to vote?

In this conversation with Nobel Prize-winner and LSE alumnus Daron Acemoglu he will be talking about his new book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy?

Lazard CEO and Chairman Peter Orszag sees a new supply-side era taking shape, in which supply shocks that are increasingly geopolitical in origin and rooted in the physical world have displaced demand as the dominant source of macroeconomic variance.

This podcast was originally published in November 2024 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in October 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

In this conversation with Francis Fukuyama he will be talking about his new book, In the Realm of the Last Man.

This podcast was originally published in March 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in October 2024 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

The fracturing consensus on green growth, shifting trade dynamics, and security concerns are reshaping industrial policy priorities across the UK, Europe and beyond.

This podcast was originally published in May 2024 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in December 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in January 2026 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in September 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

This podcast was originally published in September 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

Britain's decision to leave the European Union was perhaps the most divisive and consequential event of modern British politics.

This podcast was originally published in April 2025 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

In this talk by Jeremy Hunt, he will talk about his new book, Can We Be Rich Again? The extraordinary potential of Britain's economy.

We were joined for a conversation on sustainability and economics by climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, political candidate and liberal activist, Tom Steyer.

This podcast was originally published in January 2026 and is being republished as part of our Summer archive series of LSE's Public Lectures and Events.

Join former US Secretary of State John Kerry for a wide-ranging conversation on global sustainability challenges and opportunities, reflecting on leadership, international cooperation, and the evolving intersections between sustainability, diplomacy and public policy.

In their books, both Mishal Husain and Lea Ypi have explored their family histories through periods of authoritarianism, conflict and political upheaval. In this conversation they will explore the resonance with the present of themes from the past, like the rise of fascism, migration, colonialism and inequality. What can history tell us about how to live through difficult political times, and where to find hope?

This event marks the launch of the Grantham Research Institute’s Global Trends in Climate Change Litigation 2026 Snapshot report, an annual report now in its ninth year. The report presents an overview of the expansion, complexity, and maturity in the global field of climate litigation.

We live in polarised times, when global problems seem to be turning us against each other, not bringing us together. Over Festival week we will explore ways of tackling the enormous challenges we face, but there will be no solutions without cooperation.

This public event marks the global launch of Smarter Than the Storm, a new book by Amitabh Kant and Siddharth Sinha, and explores its core ideas in conversation with Nicholas Stern.

With growing tensions between China and the United States, new "third spaces" are emerging beyond great-power competition. Gone South Village is a short documentary film that explores how overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia create social and global orders that are neither wholly Chinese nor Thai.

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping our world, transforming economies, societies, daily interactions and the institutions that support them. Many researchers and policymakers view this as a pivotal moment, one that could lead to greater global wellbeing if managed well or to growing instability if risks are left unchecked.

Adam Met, climate advocate, educator and member of the multiplatinum band AJR, discusses how we can protect the planet and examines the future of climate communication in an age of political polarization, algorithmic media, and public distrust.

Football is more than a game. It’s a global cultural force with the power to shift norms, inspire communities, and mobilise collective action. As the climate crisis demands transformative change in how we live and consume, the world of sport, and football in particular, faces a critical question: can it become a genuine catalyst for climate action?

Our current food system is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and global warming. It is also responsible for increasing the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, as well as public health threats such as antimicrobial resistance and pandemics emerging from industrial animal agriculture.

How can we reduce the inequalities and harms of commercial social media and the online world, while building spaces that better support our human need to connect and communicate?

We know the importance of data and evidence in tackling global crises like climate change, but is it stories rather than statistics that will drive change? Our panel discuss how art, literature and performance can be used to connect and inspire people, and how this feeds into activism.

How can scientific evidence help us in an age of “alternative facts”? As chief data reporter for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch uses statistics and graphics to dig into the most pressing issues of the day, covering everything from the economy to climate change, social issues and healthcare. His high-profile use of visualization and data science helped audiences around the world understand the complexities of the coronavirus pandemic. He helps to inject data and evidence-based argument into what can be very polarising topics.

The climate crisis is reshaping economies, societies, and livelihoods—but not everyone bears its costs equally.

This event brings together theatre and social science to explore some of the most urgent questions of our time, building on LSE IDEAS’ Geopolitics of Climate Change series.

Is the return of great power rivalry and conflict eroding the collective capacity and willingness of the international community to address environmental, trade, and public health crises globally?

We know that governments across the world are acting far too slowly in tackling the ecological crisis across its many dimensions, but can we usefully look elsewhere for radical action? Can we even find new solutions in in the most unexpected places - from innovative firms and financial actors emerging in an otherwise ecologically destructive capitalism?

The planet and its inhabitants face critical threats – including climate change, collapse of biodiversity, reverses in progress on global poverty and persistent inequality.

The European Investment Bank Group has, as its top priority, ensuring a green transition that benefits citizens, businesses and the planet. The need to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels and reinforce Europe’s energy security has become even more pressing in today’s geopolitical context.

What if the climate crisis requires us to fundamentally transform our economic systems? As global decision makers remain wedded to economic growth at any cost, this event responds to the urgent need to explore alternative approaches to sustaining life on Earth.

As the world races toward net zero, electricity systems are under pressure like never before. The push for cleaner power collides with soaring demand – driven by electrification, population growth, and energy-hungry technologies such as artificial intelligence and data centres. Can we keep the lights on, cut emissions, and keep energy affordable all at once?

As climate disasters intensify worldwide and displacement reaches historic levels, understanding the economic foundations of integration and their fragility in the face of climate shocks, has become critical for policymakers everywhere. Join experts on refugee integration and climate policy leaders for a film screening and conversation on how to promote the integration of refugees in an era of climate disruption

World events have shone a stark light on the vulnerabilities of energy markets, supply chains and global economic security. How will the need to tackle climate change be affected by the geopolitical shocks reshaping trade, production and investment?

The climate crisis is a global challenge requiring global cooperation to tackle it, but the political world seems further than ever from a consensus about how to do that. What explains the rollback of net-zero commitments, and the growing green backlash?

Join Youngjin Yoo for his inaugural lecture, where he will set out a new agenda for understanding how this technological and economic shift is reshaping value creation, technological design, and the organisation.

This lecture by Marwa Daoudy, held in honour of the renowned scholar Fred Halliday, will explore the entanglement of colonialism, capitalism, and environmental exploitation that has shaped the modern global order in ways that continue to structure global inequality.

Who gets access to books? And, to what extent does the act of reading shape our humanity?

In June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that reshaped British politics, society, and the economy in profound and lasting ways. Ten years on, this event brings together leading voices from politics, journalism, and academia to reflect on how Brexit has transformed political identities, party competition, public trust, and Britain’s place in the world.

The story of wealth in America isn’t just about Wall Street or Silicon Valley—it’s also about the quiet fortunes of Main Street business owners, whose growing economic and political power often escapes the spotlight.

In this public event, Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown discuss their new book, How to Win a Trade War.

In the 1970s, the European left was thriving. Across the continent, numerous groups emerged to defend the working‑class in all its diversity. New waves of organising—led by women, migrants, and young workers—pointed to the vitality of the labour movement. And then... the left’s progress came to a sharp halt. What brought about such decline? What lessons must we take away from this historical turning point?

Militarised policing is one of the preconditions for fascist rule, but how and why would police in liberal democracies militarise?

Inheritance institutions shape family structures and demographic decisions, with enduring implications for economic development. This lecture describes how inheritance rules affect fertility, marriage, and migration decisions in historical and development contexts.

In an increasingly fragmented global order, new forms of geopolitical and economic division are reshaping the world economy. Long‑standing trade partnerships face growing pressure, and rising tensions threaten to unwind decades of cooperation

Climate change and biodiversity loss are among the defining challenges of our time — but they also open the door to extraordinary possibility. The investments, innovation, and structural change required for climate action can unlock, particularly when combined with AI, far more dynamic and resilient paths of growth and development than anything the past has offered.

As companies in high-emitting sectors move from setting net zero targets to implementing detailed transition plans, investors are demanding greater transparency and fully quantified strategies.

In 2024, two billion people went to vote – and populism won big. Donald Trump returned to the White House. Marine Le Pen surged in France. Reform UK became Britain’s most successful far-right party in modern history. Across the West, authoritarian populists now govern one-quarter of the world’s democracies. But is this peak populism – or the populists’ tipping point?

This talk will examine housing and work, sleep and sociality, as key aspects of everyday life where strategies to create more equitable and sustainable access to cooling must focus.

The Trump Administration has closed the world’s largest bilateral aid programme, USAID and poured scorn on its past effectiveness. Other donors are also cutting their aid programmes at the same time as there is a growing chorus of concern around aid effectiveness. It has created ‘’ a perfect storm” in the world of development finance. Can there be a happy ending or is development another casualty of Trump’s new global disorder?

Commentators around the world draw some startling analogies when they seek to assess President Donald Trump, some even likening him to a Roman emperor or an inter-war dictator. In this lecture, Niall Ferguson puts Trump's foreign policy in an Anglo-American historical perspective.

As Black Lives Matter has exposed the legacies of transatlantic slavery and empire, Britain has launched a new moral crusade at home: the fight against “modern slavery.” This panel discussion marks the launch of Drugs, Race and the Politics of Modern Slavery Law by Insa Lee Koch and asks what this crusade is really doing.

The US capture of President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026 and the US–Israeli military campaign against Iran have thrust foreign intervention back to the centre of global debate.

This public lecture is for the book launch of Greek Prime Ministers in the Eye of the Storm: Crisis Management and Institutional Change, featuring authors Kevin Featherstone and Dimitris Papadimitriou.

Leaders of the world’s premier economic institutions and a Nobel Prize winning economist discuss how ideas have evolved to shape our world and what is needed for the future.

Why should governments back “Big Science” when discoveries are uncertain and the benefits may seem distant from taxpayers’ daily lives? In this public lecture, France A Córdova—astrophysicist and former Director of the US National Science Foundation, NASA Chief Scientist, and President of the Science Philanthropy Alliance—explores how curiosity-driven research and the large infrastructures that enable it deliver value well beyond the lab.

At a time of intensifying geopolitical rivalry, economic nationalism, and ideological extremism, this roundtable brings together a group of leading political scientists and historians to take stock of the choices and pathways that have brought America and the world to this unsettled moment.

Fifty years after powerful labour movements launched radical plans to democratise the economy and gain control of large businesses, what is the legacy of these efforts and what are the prospects for economic democracy today?

Join us in celebrating the launch of Bart Cammaerts’ latest textbook, Dichotomies in Media and Communication Theory — a bold and original exploration of the key theoretical tensions that shape our media landscape.

Domestic abuse affects roughly one-third of women worldwide and carries serious consequences for victims, their children, and society at large. This lecture presents findings from three studies examining the risk assessment process which has been used across England since 2009 to help police identify victims at high risk of serious repeat abuse and connect them with protective services.

Humans care about animals, and many would argue that animals are morally relevant. Many of our decisions profoundly affect the welfare of animals and yet welfare economics has not, up to this point, considered animals in its frameworks, theories and cost-benefit calculations.

Step into the lives of those whose pursuit of justice collided with the power of the press.

Join us for this special Economica Coase lecture which this year will be delivered by Harvard academic Edward Glaeser.

During the past decade, technological change and management practices have disrupted how organisations access global talent and organise work. Thousands of employees are now enabled to work from anywhere. Why? Because trailblazing organisations recognise that geographic flexibility offers a competitive edge.

By drawing upon multiple disciplines and weaving these threads into the broader practice of literary arts, the Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak offers an inspirational talk about our world today, the stories that bring us together, and the silences that keep us apart.

In her inaugural lecture, Shakuntala Banaji explores how our ethical and political imaginations of love, justice and rights—shaped by education systems, media and technologies under savage capitalism—differ between individuals, communities and geopolitical entities.

A panel of academic experts is brought together by the Middle East Centre at LSE to discuss the current Israel-US-Iran war.

Join us for this special event with LSE alumnus and President of Finland Alexander Stubb.

Join us for a timely conversation on equality, gender and culture in contemporary Britain with Sarah Owen MP, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

Join us for this lecture by Nathalie Tocci who will argue that Donald Trump’s foreign policy record has not been very successful so far, as wars continue to rage in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

Behind every algorithm lies a set of choices, some visible, many not. This panel discusses the unseen forces that shape AI, focusing on how gender bias enters systems through data, design, and deployment.

The LSE Health and Department of Health Policy Annual Lecture 2026 was delivered by Michelle A Williams, Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University.

Join us for Hans Steinmüller's inaugural lecture.