Politics & Society

The way we manage organisations seems increasingly out of date. Survey after survey shows that the vast majority of employees are disengaged at work, while organisational leaders complain that their organisations are too slow, siloed and bureaucratic for today’s world. Could it be that we’ve reached the limits of our current model, and that a

Acclaimed neuroscientist Tali Sharot visits the RSA to explain the biological bias of optimism, and its effect on our lives and societies. Listen to the podcast of the full talk: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2012/the-optimism-bias

Google’s Jolly Good Fellow reveals how to calm your mind on demand and return it to a natural state of happiness, deepen self-awareness in a way that fosters self-confidence, harness empathy and compassion into outstanding leadership, and build highly productive collaborations based on trust and transparent communication. Chade Meng Tan shows how to grow inner

Animator: Arthur Kearns Voice: Sam Conniff Allende BRIEF: Moving Pictures, conceive and produce an animation to accompany one of two selected audio files that will clarify, energise and illuminate the content AWARD: RSA Legacies fund £500 Visit the RSA Student Design Awards website: http://sda.thersa.org/ Follow the RSA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSAEvents Like the RSA on Facebook:

Professor Philip Zimbardo reveals how our individual perspective on time affects our work, health and well-being. Watch the RSA Animate of this talk: http://youtu.be/A3oIiH7BLmg Follow the RSA on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thersaorg Like the RSA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thersaorg

The EU Referendum: Brexit or Bremain? As we draw nearer to the EU referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, we bring together two leading voices from either side of the debate, Nick Clegg MP and Andrea Leadsom MP – and aim to get closer to what really divides them. Speaking for Remain: Nick

How to live to 100 with professor Lynda Gratton. What will your 100-year life look like? Does the thought of working for 60 or 70 years fill you with dread? Offsetting the excess of negative debate about longevity, Lynda Gratton takes a fundamentally different approach – seeing long life as an opportunity for a fundamental

Journalist and memory champion Joshua Foer asks: how will we adapt to a new culture where most memories are stored outside the brain?

Renowned neuroscientist and economist Paul J. Zak reveals how a single chemical governs all of our morality and behaviour. Listen to the podcast of the full event including audience Q&A: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2012/the-moral-molecule Our events are made possible with the support of our Fellowship. Support us by donating or applying to become a Fellow. Donate: http://www.thersa.org/support-the-rsa Become

Taking action to reduce health inequalities is a matter of social justice. In his lecture to the RSA, Professor Sir Michael Marmot will explain that in developing strategies for tackling health inequalities we need to confront the social gradient in health, not just the difference between the worst off and everybody else.  There is clear

Co-founder of the innovative start-up “factory” Rainmaking, Martin Bjergegaard challenges the myth that being a successful entrepreneur requires you to sacrifice most other aspects of life. This event was chaired by Andy Gibson entrepreneur and consultant specialising in technology for social change. Follow the RSA on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thersaorg Like the RSA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thersaorg Our

Technologist Ben Hammersley asks: how do our traditional workplace models conflict with our new internet-driven expectations of how we might live and work to our full potential, and how might companies and organisations learn to adapt in the 21st century? Listen to the podcast of the full event including audience Q&A: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2013/tomorrows-work.-why-yesterdays-expectations-are-ruining-todays-future Follow the RSA

The Psychology of Money with Claudia Hammond. Why don’t money and friendship mix? Can money buy happiness? Why does money have such a hold on us? The surprising psychology of money reveals that our relationship with it is more complex than we might think. BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Claudia Hammond explores the latest research in

New York Times bestselling author, Professor Adam Grant shows us how to improve the world by championing novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battling conformity, and bucking outdated traditions. Watch author Adam Grant in our latest RSA Spotlight – the edits which take you straight to the heart of the event! Loved

Acclaimed writer and documentary maker Jon Ronson has spent his life meeting extraordinary people and exploring curious events. In his RSA Commencement address he shares some of the life lessons he’s learned along the way. For more information about the event go to the RSA event page http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2014/rsa-commencement-with-jon-ronson Listen to the podcast of the full

With the old assumptions about immigration dissolving fast David Blunkett, Robert Winder, Sarfraz Manzoor and Dr Titi Banjoko debate how modern mobility is changing our attitudes to integration, identity and belonging. Listen to the full audio file: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2011/e-migration-migrants-in-the-digital-age

For more information about the event and to listen to the podcast go to the RSA event page: http://bit.ly/1iwgxav Designer and social entrepreneur Aral Balkan believes it is time to build an alternate future where we own our own tools, services, and data. And to do this we must create a new category of design-led,

Pioneering palaeontologist Neil Shubin reveals the deep connections between the cosmos and the human body — from today right back to the Big Bang. Listen to the podcast of the full event including audience Q&A: www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2013/the-universe-within Follow the RSA on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thersaorg Like the RSA on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thersaorg Our events are made possible with the

Renowned leadership specialist Khoi Tu identifies the essential elements of the route to excellence in team-building, from finding a common purpose to mastering conflict and managing change. Chair: Matthew Gwyther, editor, Management Today Listen to the podcast of the full event including audience Q&A: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2012/the-secrets-of-superteams Follow the RSA on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/thersaorg Like the RSA on

Bestselling journalist and author Jonah Lehrer shows how new research is deepening our understanding of the human imagination and considers how this new science can make us happier. Listen to the podcast of the full event including audience Q&A: http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2012/imagine-how-creativity-works Our events are made possible with the support of our Fellowship. Support us by donating

What is fear costing you? Your career; connection with others; believing in yourself? Fear is part of all of our lives but left unchecked it can drive many negative emotions and hold us back from finding fulfilment. Fear of failure, inadequacy and rejection can make us jealous, self-critical or turn us into perfectionists. Cultures of

We are becoming increasingly aware of how widespread trauma is, and of the huge costs it imposes not only on individuals and their immediate communities, but also on society more generally. But what exactly do we mean by the word ‘trauma’? There is a great deal of misunderstanding about trauma, and we need to develop

The most successful leaders educate, persuade and bring about change through the stories they tell, but we rarely have the background knowledge to explore how they do so. Watch award-winning television and radio presenter Gavin Esler as he shares the leadership secrets he’s gleaned from thirty years interviewing the world’s greatest frontrunners. Chair: Joe Hallgarten,

What accounts for the divides between east and west, rural and urban, left and right, secular and religious? Award-winning social psychologist Michele Gelfand explains how the clash between ‘tight societies’ (with clearly stated rules and codes of ethics) and ‘loose societies’ (more informal communities with weak or ambiguous norms), drives many of our most polarised

The truth behind tech start-ups with novelist, journalist and screenwriter Dan Lyons. What is the truth behind the Silicon Valley hype? Is it solid business or a hot-air bubble full of ‘wantrepeneurs’? When Dan Lyons joined one of the buzzy Boston start-ups that typify the industry, he ended up with a fascinating inside perspective. Lyons

Channel 4’s economics editor Paul Mason shows how, from the ashes of the recent financial crisis, we have the chance to create a more socially just and sustainable global economy. Watch the full replay: https://youtu.be/rrzXIV8eZPo RSA Spotlights – taking you straight to the heart of the event, highlighting our favourite moments and key talking points.

r versus g? Or a Debt Jubilee? David Graeber’s bestselling book “Debt: The First 5000 Years” revolutionised our understanding of the origins of money and the role of debt in human societies. But intellectual revolutions take time, and David’s sudden and untimely death left this revolution unfinished. David’s widow Nika Dubrovsky has established ‘The Fight

How can we measure wellbeing? What causes it, and how can it be improved? Richard Layard and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve present a case for making wellbeing the central goal – for government, for business and for educators. Drawing from their field-defining publication on the science of wellbeing across the life course, they call for a

Internationally acclaimed fashion designer and educationalist, Betty Jackson, visited the RSA as the incoming Master of the Faculty for the Royal Designers for Industry, and spoke on ever-evolving technology and innovation within design. Watch Betty Jackson in our latest RSA Spotlight – the edits which take you straight to the heart of the event! Watch

What needs to be done to give people more security and a greater say in their political and economic future? Watch Dambisa Moyo, global economist, in our latest RSA Spotlight – the edits which take you straight to the heart of the event! SUBSCRIBE to our channel! Follow the RSA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RSAEvents Like RSA