Contributor(s): Dr Ela Drazkiewicz-Grodzicka, Professor Bradley Franks, Dr Erica Lagalisse | Conspiracy theories fomented by political division and a global pandemic have gained traction in the public consciousness in the last couple of years. For some people these ideas are just fun and entertaining, but for others their interest in them becomes much more consuming. Why do people become involved in this kind of conspiratorial thinking? That’s the question that LSE iQ tackles in this month’s episode. Concerns that 5G phone masts reduce our bodies’ defences against COVID-19 and that vaccines are being used to inject us with micro-chips - allowing us to be tracked and controlled - may seem extraordinary to many of us. But these beliefs have led to the vandalism of 5G phone masts and made some reluctant to be vaccinated. In this episode of LSE iQ, Sue Windebank finds out how left-wing anarchists got caught up in conspiratorial thinking and how Irish parents looking for support and community were accused of spreading a conspiracy. And is LSE unknowingly carrying out the wishes of the Illuminati? Listen to hear how LSE became embroiled in a global conspiracy. Sue talks to: Dr Ela Drążkiewicz from the Institute for Sociology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences; Professor Bradley Franks from LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science; and Dr Erica Lagalisse from LSE’s Institute of Inequalities.   Contributors Dr Ela Drazkiewicz-Grodzicka Professor Bradley Franks Dr Erica Lagalisse   Research Taking vaccine regret and hesitancy seriously. The role of truth, conspiracy theories, gender relations and trust in the HPV immunisation programmes in Ireland (2021) by Elżbieta Drążkiewicz Grodzicka in Journal for Cultural Research Beyond “Monologicality”? Exploring Conspiracist Worldviews (2017) by Bradley Franks, Adrian Bangerter, Martin W. Bauer, Matthew Hall and Mark C. Noort in Frontiers in Psychology Occult Features of Anarchism: With Attention to the Conspiracy of Kings and the Conspiracy of the Peoples (2019) by Erica Lagalisse

LSE IQ podcast

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Contributor(s): Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dr Ian Sanjay Patel, Dr Megan Ryburn | Citizenship. What does that word really signify? This episode of LSE IQ takes a look at the issue in all its complexities, uncovering how decisions made by a 19th century West African Gola ruler connect to today’s Liberian land ownership laws; why British citizenship became racialised in the decades following the second world war – legislation that led to the Windrush Scandal, devastating the lives of hundreds of black Britons; and how Bolivian migrants in the present day have struggled to create new lives in Chile. To understand more about the many ways citizenship can impact our lives, Jess Winterstein spoke to Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dr Ian Sanjay Patel and Dr Megan Ryburn Speakers: Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Dr Ian Sanjay Patel and Dr Megan Ryburn Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, Department of Social Policy, LSE https://www.lse.ac.uk/social-policy/people/academic-staff/dr-robtel-neajai-pailey Dr Ian Sanjay Patel, Department of Sociology, LSE https://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/ian-patel Dr Megan Ryburn, Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC), LSE https://www.lse.ac.uk/lacc/people/megan-ryburn Research Development, (Dual) Citizenship and its Discontents in Africa: The political economy of belonging to Liberia by Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey (Cambridge University Press). To read the Introduction free on charge see https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/development-dual-citizenship-and-its-discontents-in-africa/B96CB2D100CFEC03EE476D103F46348B# The ebook is also available in the LSE library. We’re Here Because You Were There: Immigration and the end of empire by Dr Ian Sanjay Patel (Verso) https://www.versobooks.com/books/3700-we-re-here-because-you-were-there Uncertain Citizenship: everyday practices of Bolivian migrants in Chile by Dr Megan Ryburn (University of California Press). https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520298774/uncertain-citizenship  

What does it really mean to be a citizen?

Contributor(s): Ken Benoit, Andrew Murray, Seeta Peña Gangaradhan, Alison Powell, Bernhard Von Stengel | Computer algorithms shape our lives and increasingly control our future. They have crept into virtually every aspect of modern life and are making life-changing choices on our behalf, often without us realising. But how much power should we give to them and have we let things go too far? Joanna Bale talks to Ken Benoit, Andrew Murray, Seeta Peña Gangaradhan, Alison Powell and Bernhard Von Stengel. Research links: Hello World by Hannah Fry; Information Technology Law: The Law and Society by Andrew Murray; Explanations as Governance? Investigating practices of explanation in algorithmic system design by Alison Powell (forthcoming).

Do algorithms have too much power?

Contributor(s): Professor John Hills | This episode is dedicated to social policy giant Professor Sir John Hills, who died in December 2020. In this episode, John tackles the myth that the welfare state supports a feckless underclass who cost society huge amounts of money. Instead, he sets out a system where most of what we pay in, comes back to us. He describes a generational contract which we all benefit from, varying on our stage of life. His words remain timely after a year of pandemic which has devastated many people’s livelihoods. Many of us have had to rely on state support in ways that we could not have anticipated, perhaps challenging our ideas about what type of person receives benefits in the UK. This episode is based on an interview that John did with James Rattee for the LSE iQ podcast in 2017. It coincided with the LSE Festival which celebrated the anniversary of the publication of the ‘Beveridge Report’ in 1947 - a blueprint for a British universal care system by former LSE Director William Beveridge. Professor Sir John Hills CBE, was Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at LSE and Chair of CASE. His influential work didn’t just critique government policy on poverty and inequality, it changed it. He advised on a wide range of issues including pensions reform, fuel poverty, council housing, income and wealth distribution.   Contributors Professor John Hills   Research Good Times Bad Times: the welfare myth of them and us. Bristol: Policy Press by John Hills (2015)

Scroungers versus Strivers: the myth of the welfare state

Contributor(s): Dr Tali Sharot, Dr Joan Costa-Font, Professor David de Meza, Dr Chris Kutarna |   Despite our growing collective pessimism about the state of the world, when it comes to our own lives, research suggests we are generally optimistic.   After a year that will remain synonymous with anxiety, isolation, endless devastating news reports, and for too many – loss, this episode of LSE IQ asks: is optimism is good for us? And, beyond the effects on our wellbeing, is optimism an accurate lens through which to view the world?   Addressing these issues are: Dr Tali Sharot, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL; Dr Joan Costa-Font, Associate Professor in Health Economics at LSE; Dr David de Meza, Professor of Management at LSE; and Dr Chris Kutarna, author of Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of our New Renaissance.     Contributors   Dr Tali Sharot Dr Joan Costa-Font Professor David de Meza Dr Chris Kutarna Research   The Optimism Bias: Why we're wired to look on the bright side by Tali Sharot. Neither an Optimist Nor a Pessimist Be: Mistaken Expectations Lower Well-Being by David de Meza and Chris Dawson in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Why optimism and entrepreneurship are not always a good mix for business by David de Meza and Chris Dawson in The Conversation. Optimism and the perceptions of new risks by Elias Mossialos, Caroline Rudisdill and Joan Costa-Font in the Journal of Risk Research. Explaining optimistic old age disability and longevity expectations by Joan Costa-Font and Montserrat Costa-Font in Social Indicators Research. Does optimism help us during a pandemic? by Joan Costa-Font. Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance by Chris Kutarna and Ian Goldin.  

Should we be optimistic?

Contributor(s): Professor Laura Bear, Nikita Simpson, Professor Joan Roses, Dr Adam Oliver, Dr Clare Wenham, Professor Patrick Wallis | In this month’s episode of the LSE IQ podcast we ask, ‘What’s the point of social science in a pandemic?’.   On the 23rd March 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the country’s first national lockdown. In the months since, there has been a seismic shift in all our lives. As we embark on 2021 and, hopefully, the latter stages of the pandemic, now is an apt moment to reflect on how we’ve got to where we are. While the scientific community has taken centre stage in the fight to overcome the virus, how have social scientists helped us navigate – and evaluate –the UK’s response?   In this episode we talk to anthropologists Professor Laura Bear and Nikita Simpson, Economic historians Professor Patrick Wallis and Professor Joan Roses, Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy Dr Clare Wenham and behavioural economist Dr Adam Oliver.   Research   ’A good death’ during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: a report on key findings and recommendations, by the COVID and Care Research Group  A Right to Care: The Social Foundations of Recovery from COVID-19, by the COVID and Care Research Group  The Redistributive Effects of Pandemics: Evidence of the Spanish Flu. By Sergi Basco, Jordi Domenech, and Johanne Rohses  Separating behavioural science from the herd by Adam Oliver Reciprocity and the art of behavioural public policy by Adam Oliver What is the future of UK leadership in global health security post Covid-19? By Clare Wenham A Dreadful Heritage: Interpreting Epidemic Disease at Eyam, 1666-2000, by Patrick Wallis Eyam revisited: lessons from a plague village, by Patrick Wallis   Contributors   Professor Laura Bear Nikita Simpson Professor Joan Roses Dr Adam Oliver Dr Clare Wenham Professor Patrick Wallis  

What’s the point of social science in a pandemic?

Contributor(s): Dr Kitty Stewart | A campaign by the Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford, has prompted the UK government to provide extra support for children from low-income families during the pandemic. Even before coronavirus, child poverty had been rising for several years. This latest bite-sized episode of LSE iQ explores the question, ‘How can we end child poverty in the UK?’ Joanna Bale talks to Kitty Stewart of LSE’s Social Policy Department and Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. Dr Stewart is currently part of a major research programme examining what progress has been made in addressing social inequalities through social policies. Research links: K Cooper and K Stewart (2020): Does Household Income Affect children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review of the Evidence   K Stewart and M Reader (2020 forthcoming): The Conservatives’ record on early childhood: policy, spending and outcomes 2015-20.   Polly Vizard, John Hills et al (2020 forthcoming): The Conservatives’ Record on Social Policy: Policies, spending and outcomes 2015 to pre-Covid 2020.

How can we end child poverty in the UK?

Contributor(s): Professor David Graeber | This episode is dedicated to David Graeber, LSE professor of Anthropology, who died unexpectedly in September this year. David was a public intellectual, a best-selling author, an influential activist and anarchist. He took aim at the pointless bureaucracy of modern life, memorably coining the term ‘bullshit jobs’. And his book ‘Debt: The First 5000 years’ was turned into a radio series by the BBC. But David started his academic career studying Madagascar. Anthropology interested him, he said, because he was interested in human possibilities - including the potential of societies to organise themselves without the need for a state - as he had seen in his own research. He was also a well-known anti-globalisation activist and a leading figure in the Occupy Wall Street Movement. David was generous enough to do an interview for us in 2016 when LSE iQ was in its infancy. That episode asked, ‘What’s the future of work?’ and in his interview he reflected on the disappointments of technology, pointless jobs and caring labour. David was such an interesting speaker that we would have liked to use more of it at the time, but we didn’t have the space. Now, it feels right to bring you a lightly edited version of the interview.   Contributors David Graeber   Research   The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy, published by Melville House.   ‘On the Phenomenon of Bullshit jobs: A work rant’, STRIKE! Magazine   Bullshit Jobs: A theory, published by Allen Lane

Bullshit jobs, technology, capitalism

Contributor(s): Dr Thomas Curran | Jess Winterstein speaks to Dr Thomas Curran about the potential pitfalls of wanting to be perfect. Our society values perfection, but is the concept of perfect really that good for us? The latest episode of LSE IQ explores perfectionism. In this bitesized episode of the LSE IQ podcast, Jess Winterstein speaks to Dr Thomas Curran, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. While aspiring to perfection may still be viewed positively by many, Dr Curran’s research reveals that the drive to be the best can potentially do more harm than good. Are the potential downsides worth it when balanced against the possible achievements that can come from being a perfectionist? In a discussion which explores the realities of being a perfectionist, we ask, is perfection really worth it?   Contributors   Dr Thomas Curran https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Tom-Curran   Research  A test of social learning and parent socialization perspectives on the development of perfectionism by Thomas Curran, Daniel J Madigan, Andrew P Hill and Annett Victoria Stornæs https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339433945_A_test_of_social_learning_and_parent_socialization_perspectives_on_the_development_of_perfectionism Perfectionism Is Increasing Over Time: A Meta-Analysis of Birth Cohort Differences From 1989 to 2016 by Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101352/1/Curran_Hill2018.pdf

Is perfect the enemy of the possible?

Contributor(s): Paul Krugman, Andy Summers, Dr Luna Glucksberg | The coronavirus crisis has devastated economies and brought existing inequalities into sharper focus. Will it result in higher taxes on income and wealth, as we saw after the Great Depression and WWII? Or will the top 1 per cent continue to pull away from the rest of society? Exploring the question, ‘Can we afford the super-rich?’, Joanna Bale talks to Paul Krugman, Andy Summers and Luna Glucksberg. Research links: Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future by Paul Krugman. Capital Gains and UK Inequality by Arun Advani and Andy Summers. A gendered ethnography of elites by Luna Glucksberg.

Can we afford the super-rich?

Contributor(s): Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dr Ute Collier, Dr Sefi Roth, Dr Thomas Smith | Sue Windebank speaks to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah about her campaigning work for both clean air and a new inquest into the causes of her daughter’s death. In 2013, her daughter Ella Roberta died from a rare and severe form of asthma – she was just nine years old. According to an expert report there was a "real prospect” that without unlawful levels of air pollution near their home, Ella would not have died. As well as the impact on health, the episode looks at the effects of air pollution on crime and education. It also examines air pollution on the London Underground, forest fires and clean cooking. Addressing these issue are: Dr Ute Collier, Head of Energy at Practical Action; Dr Sefi Roth, Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics at LSE; and Dr Thomas Smith, Assistant Professor in Environmental Geography at LSE.

How can we tackle air pollution? [Audio]

Contributor(s): Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dr Ute Collier, Dr Sefi Roth, Dr Thomas Smith | Seven million people die of air pollution, worldwide, every year. This episode of LSE IQ asks how this invisible killer can be tackled.  Sue Windebank speaks to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah about her campaigning work for both clean air and a new inquest into the causes of her daughter’s death. In 2013, her daughter Ella Roberta died from a rare and severe form of asthma – she was just nine years old.  According to an expert report there was a "real prospect” that without unlawful levels of air pollution near their home, Ella would not have died.  As well as the impact on health, the episode looks at the effects of air pollution on crime and education. It also examines air pollution on the London Underground, forest fires and clean cooking.   Addressing these issue are: Dr Ute Collier, Head of Energy at Practical Action; Dr Sefi Roth, Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics at LSE; and Dr Thomas Smith, Assistant Professor in Environmental Geography at LSE.     Contributors   Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah  Dr Ute Collier  Dr Sefi Roth  Dr Thomas Smith    Research  ‘Crime is in the Air: The Contemporaneous Relationship between Air Pollution and Crime’ by Malvina Brody, Sefi Roth and Lutz Sager, a discussion paper by IZA Institute of Labor Economics.   ‘The Long-Run Economic Consequences of High-Stakes Examinations: Evidence from Transitory Variation in Pollution’ by Avraham Ebenstein, Victor Lavy and Sefi Roth in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.   ‘Spatial variability of fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) on the London Underground network’ by Brynmor M Saunders, James D Smith, T.E.L Smith, David Green and B Barratt in the journal Urban Climate.   ‘Review of emissions from smouldering peat fires and their contribution to regional haze episodes’ Yuqi Hu, Nieves Fernandez-Anez, T.E.L Smith and Guillermo Rein in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. 

How can we tackle air pollution?

Contributor(s): Dr Stephen L. Roberts, Dr Leeza Osipenko, Professor Barbara Prainsack, Dr James Somauroo | With more and more information about us available electronically and online, this episode of LSE IQ asks, ‘Is big data good for our health?’ Advances in bio-medical technologies, along with electronic health records and the information we generate through our mobile phones, Smart Watches or Fit bits, our social media posts and search engine queries, mean that there is a torrent of information about our bodies, our health and our diseases out there. Alongside this, the tremendous growth in computing power and data storage means that this ‘Big Data’ can be stored and aggregated and then analysed by sophisticated algorithms for connections, comparisons and insights. The promise of all of this is that big data will create opportunities for medical breakthroughs, help tailor medical interventions to us as individuals and create technologies that will speed up and improve healthcare. And, of course, during the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve also seen some countries use data, generated from people’s mobile phones, to track and trace the disease. All of this poses opportunities for the tech giants and others who want to be part of the goldrush for our data - and to then sell solutions back to us What are the risks in handing over our most personal data? Will it allow big data to deliver on its hype? And is it a fair exchange? In this episode, Oliver Johnson speaks to Dr Leeza Osipenko, Senior Lecturer in Practice in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; Professor Barbara Prainsack, Professor of Comparative Policy Analysis at the University of Vienna and Professor Sociology at King’s College London; Dr Stephen L. Roberts, LSE Fellow in Global Health Policy in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; and Dr James Somauroo, founder of the healthtech agency somX and presenter of The Health-Tech Podcast.

Is big data good for our health? [Audio]

Contributor(s): Dr Stephen Roberts, Dr Leeza Osipenko, Professor Barbara Prainsack, Dr James Somauroo | With more and more information about us available electronically and online, this episode of LSE IQ asks, ‘Is big data good for our health?’ Advances in bio-medical technologies, along with electronic health records and the information we generate through our mobile phones, Smart Watches or Fit bits, our social media posts and search engine queries, mean that there is a torrent of information about our bodies, our health and our diseases out there. Alongside this, the tremendous growth in computing power and data storage means that this ‘Big Data’ can be stored and aggregated and then analysed by sophisticated algorithms for connections, comparisons and insights. The promise of all of this is that big data will create opportunities for medical breakthroughs, help tailor medical interventions to us as individuals and create technologies that will speed up and improve healthcare. And, of course, during the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve also seen some countries use data, generated from people’s mobile phones, to track and trace the disease. All of this poses opportunities for the tech giants and others who want to be part of the goldrush for our data -  and to then sell solutions back to us What are the risks in handing over our most personal data? Will it allow big data to deliver on its hype? And is it a fair exchange? In this episode, Oliver Johnson speaks to Dr Leeza Osipenko, Senior Lecturer in Practice in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; Professor Barbara Prainsack, Professor of Comparative Policy Analysis at the University of Vienna and Professor Sociology at King’s College London; Dr Stephen L. Roberts, LSE Fellow in Global Health Policy in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; and Dr James Somauroo, founder of the healthtech agency somX and presenter of The Health-Tech Podcast.   Research Blockchain’s potential to improve clinical trials by Leeza Osipenko Big Data, Algorithmic Governmentality and the Regulation of Pandemic Risk by Stephen Roberts Personalized Medicine: Empowered Patients in the 21st Century? by Barbara Prainsack     Contributors Dr Leeza Osipenko Professor Barbara Prainsack Dr Stephen L. Roberts Dr James Somauroo

Is big data good for our health?

Contributor(s): Clare Wenham | A special bite-sized episode of LSE IQ asks, “What does gender have to do with pandemics?” Cholera, Ebola, Influenza, MERS, SARs, Smallpox, Yellow fever, Zika and of course novel Coronavirus – these are just some of the pandemic, epidemic diseases listed by the World Health Organisation. And until a few months ago, many of us – particularly in the West – had remained comfortably unaffected by these terrible diseases. Yet today it seems dreadfully routine to consume daily infection rates and sobering death tolls. And while the exact figures are unclear – men seem to be dying at a far higher rate. So it might be strange to be focus on women at a time like this. But in this episode Sue Windebank speaks to Dr Clare Wenham, Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at LSE about why it’s so important to think about gender when responding to epidemics and pandemics.

What does gender have to do with pandemics?

LSE IQ is a monthly podcast from the London School of Economics and Political Science in which we ask some of the smartest social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. #LSEIQ