Explore every episode of the podcast Spring 2011 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdf

Contributor(s): Joshua Foer | Once upon a time remembering was everything. Today, we have endless mountains of documents, the Internet and ever-present smart phones to store our memories. As our culture has transformed from one that was fundamentally based on internal memories to one that is fundamentally based on memories stored outside the brain, what are the implications for ourselves and for our society? What does it mean that we've lost our memory? Joshua Foer studied evolutionary biology at Yale University and is now a freelance science journalist, writing for the National Geographic and New York Times among others. Researching an article on the U.S. Memory Championships, Foer became intrigued by the potential of his own memory. After just one year of training and learning about the art and science of memory, he won the following year's Championship. Foer is the founder of the Athanasius Kircher Society, an organization dedicated to 'all things wondrous, curious and esoteric' and the Atlas Obscura, an online travel guide to the world's oddities. Moonwalking with Einstein is his first book.

Contributor(s): John Cullen, Professor Zhang Xinmin, Robin Bellis-Jones, Andrew Shilston | 10.30, John Cullen, University of Sheffield, Innovation in the NHS - Can Accounting Stimulate and Facilitate Innovative. 11:30, Professor Zhang Xinmin, University of International Business and Economics, Corporate Governance and Strategic Cost Management: A View from China. 14:00, Robin Bellis-Jones, Director, Bellis-Jones Hill Group, Costing in the NHS - From Measurement to Management. 15:00, Panel Session. 16.30, Andrew Shilston, Chief Financial Officer, Rolls Royce, ICAEW Distinguished Practitioner Lecture. The theme for the 32nd MARG conference is Cost Management Strategies: Shifting Gears. The aim of the conference is to promote the discussion and development of leading edge ideas between researchers and senior practitioners.

Contributor(s): Luis Almagro | Foreign Minister Almagro will outline the Uruguayan Government's Policies on International Relations, focusing on the Southern Cone sub-region, Latin America and the world. Dr Almagro will highlight the positive outcome already achieved by the current Government, with regard to the country's attractive investor-friendly policies, its strategic geographical location as a financial hub in the Southern Cone, as well as its development in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation. Luis Almagro was appointed Foreign Minister by President Mujica in March 2010. A career diplomat and trained as a lawyer. He was a supporter of the National Party in his younger days before moving to the Frente Amplio. He joined the MFA in 1987. Diplomatic postings include Ambassador to China (2007 to 2010); Bonn (1998-2003) and Iran (1991-96). In the MFA in Montevideo he worked in the Minister's private office (1997-98) and was Deputy Director for International Economic Affairs in 2005. In 2006 he went to work for then Agriculture Minister José Mujica as head of the Ministry's International Affairs Unit. He is keen to promote commercial diplomacy in the foreign service and improve professionalism.

Contributor(s): Dr Chris Smith | Dr Chris Smith explores present-day predicaments and tomorrow's technologies, from the most surprising facts to the most innovative new inventions, from staggering stats to serious developments that will transform the world around us. Chris Smith is a medical doctor and scientist, employed as a specialist registrar and clinical lecturer in virology at Cambridge University. He is also the founder and driving force behind The Naked Scientist, a live weekly radio talkback show aired by the BBC.

Contributor(s): Professor Gareth Austin, Professor Joseph Inikori, Professor James Robinson | The relative poverty of Sub-Saharan Africa today is often attributed to the malevolent legacies of its past. This forum draws together three leading contributors to the ongoing debate about institutional legacies which still affect African development. Gareth Austin is professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. Joseph Inikori is professor of history at the University of Rochester. James Robinson is the David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University.

Contributor(s): Professor Nicholas Lardy | Nicholas Lardy will address charges that China's recent stimulus program was flawed by, among other things, a massive increase in bank lending; the creation of a property bubble, and the weakening of market forces. Nicholas Lardy is the Anthony M Solomon Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. This event is sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank.

Contributor(s): John Madeley, Professor Philippe Marliere, Professor Hakan Yilmaz | This series of events explores how our understanding of Europe's identity can be enhanced and developed in a new way by taking in a distinctively Turkish perspective. John Madeley is a senior lecturer at LSE's Government Department. Philippe Marliere is professor in French and European politics at UCL. Hakan Yilmaz is professor of political science at Bogaziçi University, Istanbul.

Contributor(s): Professor Henry G Overman, Professor Ian Gordon, Alex Jones, Hamish McRae | It was widely expected that London would, in the short to medium run, be the most severely hit of the UK regions in the recession initiated by the 2007-08 financial crisis. This lecture considers why this did not happen. Henry G Overman is professor of economic geography at LSE and director of the Spatial Economics Research Centre. Ian Gordon is professor of human geography at LSE. Alex Jones is chief executive of the Centre for Cities. Hamish McRae is an associate editor of The Independent. LSE Works is a new series of public lectures, sponsored by SAGE publications, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's Research Centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. The next LSE Works lecture is Where is Future Growth Going to Come From?

Contributor(s): Dambisa Moyo | This event celebrates the publication of Dambisa Moyo's new book How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly and the Stark Choices Ahead. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist who writes on the macroeconomy and global affairs. She is the author of critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working.

Contributor(s): Valdis Dombrovskis | After years of unsustainable growth and profligate spending, in 2009 Latvia experienced the deepest economic crisis in the European Union, with a GDP fall of 18%. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis came to power facing the daunting task of averting bankruptcy. Severe austerity measures, combined with an international loan package, have yielded results – in 2010 Latvia's recession ended and economic growth is expected to resume in 2011. In this lecture, the Prime Minister will outline the tough choices he had to make in order for Latvia to recover and grow. Valdis Dombrovskis is Prime Minister of Latvia. He studied physics and economics in Latvia, Germany and the US before entering political life. As a founding member of the 'New Era' party, Valdis Dombrovskis has been Latvia's Minister of Finance 2002-2004, member of the European Parliament 2004-2009, and Prime Minister since March 2009.

Contributor(s): Jonathan Safran Foer, Kristina Musholt | Eating Animals is an exhaustively-argued account of one man's decade-long struggle with vegetarianism. Part memoir, part exposé, the book examines the topics of factory farming and commercial fisheries and explores the cultural significance of food. Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Everything Is Illuminated, which won the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award.Kristina Musholt is deputy director of the Forum for European Philosophy and fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE.

Contributor(s): Evgeny Morozov | At the start of the twenty-first century we were promised that the internet would liberate the world. We could come together as never before, and from Iran's 'twitter revolution' to Facebook 'activism', technological innovation would spread democracy to oppressed peoples everywhere. We couldn't have been more wrong. Morozov destroys this myth, arguing that 'internet freedom' is an illusion, and that technology has failed to help protect people's rights. Not only that – in many cases the internet is actually helping authoritarian regimes. From China to Russia to Iran, oppressive governments are using cyberspace to stifle dissent: planting clandestine propaganda, employing sophisticated digital censorship and using online surveillance. We are all being manipulated in more subtle ways too – becoming pacified by the net, instead of truly engaging. This event marks the publication of Evgeny Morozov's new book The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate The World.

Contributor(s): Professor Niall Ferguson | 'Nixon goes to China' shattered the façade of Communist unity and dug the United States out of the hole it found itself in at the end of the 1960s. Critics have seen Nixon and Kissinger's policy as morally compromised, but was it actually the key to America's victory in the Cold War? Niall Ferguson is Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at LSE IDEAS for 2010-11.

Contributor(s): Alejandro Poiré | Alejandro Poiré is the National Security Spokesman, Presidencia de la República.

Contributor(s): Omar Nashabe | The indictment of the STL in the Hariri assassination case is expected to be filed soon. However there are suspicions that the judicial process has been politically manipulated. This lecture will attempt to show that there have been serious flaws in the STL as an international mechanism for achieving justice. Omar Nashabe received a PhD in Criminal Justice; he serves as editor of the justice section of al-Akhbar newspaper and advisor on human rights and prisons to the Lebanese government. In 2007 he published The Roumieh Prison, if it could speak [in Arabic] with Dar as-Saqi, Beirut/London.

Contributor(s): Dr René Castro | René Castro is the Minister for Foreign Affairs for Costa Rica. He obtained his Masters and PhD from Harvard University. His research focused on the design and development of an environmentally sustainable economy and management of natural resources. He had previously obtained a BSc in civil engineering from Universidad de Costa Rica. Dr Castro has also been Minister of Energy and the Environment, Vice Minister of the Interior, Director of the National Transport Institute, President of the Municipal Council for San Jose. Dr Castro led the Costa Rican delegations to the Biodiversity, Ozone and Climate Change Conventions, negotiated Costa Rica’s debt-for-nature swaps with Spain and Canada, and has served as advisor to other countries in their own negotiations. He was in charge of the first carbon trading transaction done in the world. Dr Castro is a professor at INCAE, and has lectured at Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT in the USA and at EHT in Switzerland and other universities around the world. He is the author of various books and articles, both in Spanish and English, on the relationship between the environment, politics and infrastructure.

Contributor(s): Professor Mary Evans | This lecture explores changing vocabularies of feminism and the possibilities of a new political language and new forms of politics. Mary Evans is LSE centennial professor attached to the Gender Institute from 2010 to 2013.

Contributor(s): Professor Sharon Zukin | Renowned sociologist Sharon Zukin will discuss her latest book, The Naked City: the death and life of authentic urban places, which explores the gentrification of cities. Sharon Zukin is professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and City University Graduate Center.

Contributor(s): Professor Danny Quah | Does economic strength determine global power? How long can under-performing economies continue to claim world political leadership? Danny Quah presents the arguments and evaluates the evidence. Danny Quah is professor of economics at LSE and co-director of LSE Global Governance.

Contributor(s): Pierre Calame, Judy El-Bushra, Dr Hakan Seckinelgin | The 2011 Yearbook provides a critical examination of the ways global civil society promotes and delivers social justice. How does the 'global' make a difference to traditional concepts of social justice? Pierre Calame is director of the Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer for the Progress of Humankind. Judy El-Bushra is Programme Manager of Africa Great Lakes Region and Researcher at International Alert. Hakan Seckinelgin is a lecturer in international social policy in the department of social policy at LSE.

Contributor(s): Professor Hugh Beale | A European Commission consultation paper suggests a single 'European' law of contract for businesses and consumers across Europe, which might supplant English law. Why? Hugh Beale is professor of law at the University of Warwick. He was appointed Honorary QC in 2002.

Contributor(s): Dr John Chalcraft, Professor Daniel Hochhauser | This is a joint event hosted by the LSESU Palestine Society and LSESU Israel Society, this debate will be centred around the following motion: "This house believes in an academic boycott of Israel". John Chalcraft graduated with a starred first in history (M.A. Hons) from Gonville and Caius college Cambridge in 1992. He then did post-graduate work at Harvard, Oxford and New York University, from where he received his doctorate with distinction in the modern history of the Middle East in January 2001. He held a Research Fellowship at Caius college (1999-2000) and was a Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh University from 2000-05. He is currently reader in the History and Politics of Empire/Imperialism in the Department of Government at the LSE. He is interested in the popular history of the Middle East and the global South, migration, uneven capitalism, imperialism, political contention, and counterhegemony. Daniel Hochhauser is Kathleen Ferrier Professor of Medical Oncology at UCL. He is a consultant medical oncologist at UCLH specialising in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer.

Contributor(s): Jeremy Hunt MP | At a time when there are major media policy decisions being made in government, the secretary of state will outline his vision of the creative industry landscape in conversation with leading media commentator Raymond Snoddy. Jeremy Hunt is UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. He was elected as MP for South West Surrey in May 2005. He was formerly Shadow Culture Secretary (2007-2010) and Shadow Minister for Disabled People (2005 - 2007). Before his election as an MP, Mr Hunt ran his own educational publishing business, Hotcourses. He also set up a charity to help AIDS orphans in Africa in which he continues to play an active role.

Contributor(s): Professor Steven Shapin | A survey and interpretation of historically changing ideas about food, knowledge, and the self. Steven Shapin is Franklin L Ford Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University.

Contributor(s): Pavan Sukhdev | Pavan Sukhdev is Study Leader for the G8+5 commissioned report on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a hugely influential global study launched in Nagoya in October 2010. He is also Special Advisor and Head of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative. Prior to his work for TEEB and UNEP, Pavan was Head of Deutsche Bank's Global Markets Business in India and a founding member of the Green Indian States Trust (GIST).

Contributor(s): Robert Rowland Smith | From Plato through Monty Python to Terry Eagleton and beyond, the question of the meaning of life has been a source of both mystery and mirth. In this lecture, based on his new book Driving with Plato, Robert Rowland Smith breaks life down into its milestones from cradle to grave: what does it mean not just to be born and to die, but to learn to talk, to lose your virginity or have a mid-life crisis? Robert Rowland Smith began his career as a Prize Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford before becoming a partner in a management consultancy. He now consults independently, has a column on moral dilemmas in the Sunday Times and contributes to BBC television and radio. His last book was Breakfast with Socrates, recently translated into sixteen languages.

Contributor(s): Enrique Peñalosa | Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá and one of the world's most challenging urban thinkers, describes the urgent need for governments to create socially inclusive and well-designed transport systems, public spaces and cities. Addressing mobility, public space, equity, quality of life and social inclusion, Peñalosa will propose that inequality and exclusion are the main causes of the problems that affect cities in developing countries, particularly issues relating to mobility and sustainability. Enrique Peñalosa was mayor of Bogotá, 1998-2001, and now acts as a consultant on urban vision. His advisory work concentrates on sustainability, mobility, equity, public space and quality of life.

Contributor(s): Stephen Kinzer | American and European policies toward the Middle East have produced a region immersed in violence, terror, anger and oppression. Yet although new and terrifying threats are emerging from the region, new opportunities also present themselves. To seize on them, the West needs to change policies that were shaped for the Cold War. Kinzer offers ideas for a new approach to the world's most turbulent region. Stephen Kinzer is the author of Reset Middle East(I.B.Tauris), All the Shah's Men and Overthrow among others. An award-winning foreign correspondent, he served as The New York Times bureau chief in Turkey. He teaches international relations at Boston University, contributes to The New York Review of Books and writes a world affairs column for The Guardian.

Contributor(s): Professor Luis Garicano | Spain is widely considered the weak link in the Euro construction. We examine the validity of this assumption by analysing the origins and evolution of the current crisis and the growth perspectives of Spain. Luis Garicano is a Professor of Economics and Strategy at the LSE's departments of Management and Economics. Through the Madrid based FEDEA foundation, he has been involved in efforts to promote structural reforms in the Spanish Economy. In particular he has co-authored proposals to reform the labor markets, housing markets, and the pension and health systems, as well as a recent study with McKinsey on the Growth perspectives for the Spanish economy. He co-edits the most widely read economics blog in Spanish, NadaesGratis.

Contributor(s): Dr Alex Voorhoeve | Individual lives have a unity that the lives of separate individuals do not. This truism has radical, and not fully appreciated, implications for distributive ethics. Alex Voorhoeve is senior lecturer in philosophy at LSE's Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.

Contributor(s): Ernesto Cordero | Ernesto Cordero is the Mexican Minister of Finance. This event marks the inauguration of Mexico Today Economic Prospects and Public Security, a week long conference of public events.

Contributor(s): Professor Dani Rodrik | Managing globalisation requires that we get the balance between markets and regulation and between the global economy and the nation-state right. A healthy globalisation is one that is not pushed too far. Esteemed economist Dani Rodrik examines the pressure points in the global economy and what can be done about them, and looks at the situation from its seventeenth-century origins through the milestones of the gold standard, the Bretton Woods Agreement, and the Washington Consensus, to the present day. Dani Rodrik is Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is one of the world's top economists, well known for his original and prescient analyses of globalisation and economic development. The book The Globalization Paradox is published by Oxford University Press this month. Dani Rodrik will be signing copies at the event. Global Policy is an innovative and interdisciplinary journal bringing together world class academics and leading practitioners to analyse both public and private solutions to global problems and issues.

Contributor(s): Lord Malloch Brown | The dramatic shifts underway in global economic, political and social society are leading to new stress points. Both at the global level as a country like China pushes its way to the top of the table and at the national level as power shifts, not just between countries but within countries as rapid wealth creation, and elsewhere destruction, creates new local winners and losers. Again China is a good example. Mark Malloch-Brown will then argue that rather than just obsessing over elusive, usually wrong, predictions about who the global and local winners and losers are, we have to accept change is now a constant and we need flexible new ways of managing our global and national affairs, whoever is up or down, that recognise that much of the old intergovernmental system is breaking down and leaving us dangerously ungoverned as change and global integration accelerates. Mark Malloch-Brown has held a unique set of positions across the heights of the international system. After leaving a career in journalism, he served as a World Bank vice president and as the head of the United Nations Development Program and deputy secretary-general to Secretary General Kofi Annan. Most recently, he was minister for Africa, Asia, and the UN in the government of Gordon Brown. Jeffrey Sachs named him one of Time Magazine's 100 Leaders and Revolutionaries.

Contributor(s): Martin Wolf | The financial crisis was the product of an unstable interaction between ants (excess savers), grasshoppers (excess borrowers) and locusts (the financial sector that intermediated between the two). In view of this history, is the current recovery solidly built? Or do the weaknesses the crisis revealed remain pervasive? Martin Wolf is the associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.

Contributor(s): David Gilmour, Marco Simoni | Italy today has the seventh largest economy in the world. Yet despite its economic and cultural riches, it has never achieved a successful political system. Does the blame lie with its founders? Was Italy predestined to be a failed nation state? David Gilmour, the author of The Pursuit of Italy, is a much-admired historian whose books include three prize-winning biographies, The Last Leopard: A Life of Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Curzon and The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling. He has written on Italy for numerous publications including the TLS, the New York Review of Books, the Sunday Times and the Spectator. Dr Marco Simoni is a lecturer in European Political Economy and (until August 2011) a British Academy post-doctoral fellow at the European Institute. He received his PhD in Political Economy from the European Institute, LSE in 2006 and his Laurea cum laude in Political Science and Political Economy (Masters degree with distinction) from the Università di Roma “La Sapienza” in 2000. His research interests revolve around topics of comparative capitalism, mostly the role of large organizations, such as trade unions, political parties, as well as their interaction with governments. His research explores both the determinants of their strategies and their impact on different measures of economic performance.

Contributor(s): Stuart Popham | Stuart Popham will discuss many of the changes which he has seen in his 35 year career. Stuart Popham is the senior partner of Clifford Chance LLP, worldwide.

Contributor(s): Vince Cable, Howard Davies, Angel Gurria | Now in its 50th year, the OECD has established itself as the leading international economic organisation for socio-economic analysis, best practice policy based on peer review, benchmarking and internationally comparable indicators and statistics. Its achievements have made a major contribution to both economic development within its membership and global economic issues. Bringing together business, think–tanks, academia, government and the media, the seminar will address the economic challenges facing policy makers working to transition the world economy from crisis to a period of strong, sustainable and balanced growth. The seminar will also foster a debate on future challenges that tomorrow’s economic policy makers will face, as the OECD looks forward to the next 50 years.

Contributor(s): John Cullen, Professor Zhang Xinmin, Robin Bellis-Jones, Andrew Shilston | 10.30, John Cullen, University of Sheffield, Innovation in the NHS - Can Accounting Stimulate and Facilitate Innovative. 11:30, Professor Zhang Xinmin, University of International Business and Economics, Corporate Governance and Strategic Cost Management: A View from China. 14:00, Robin Bellis-Jones, Director, Bellis-Jones Hill Group, Costing in the NHS - From Measurement to Management. 15:00, Panel Session. 16.30, Andrew Shilston, Chief Financial Officer, Rolls Royce, ICAEW Distinguished Practitioner Lecture. The theme for the 32nd MARG conference is Cost Management Strategies: Shifting Gears. The aim of the conference is to promote the discussion and development of leading edge ideas between researchers and senior practitioners.

Contributor(s): Professor Stephen Machin | In this lecture, the third in a series to celebrate 21 years of the CEP, Stephen Machin surveys significant research findings on wage inequality that have emerged from the Centre over the past three decades. Stephen Machin is director of research at CEP, and professor of economics at University College London.

Contributor(s): Charles Grant | China and other emerging powers are starting to transform the institutions of global governance. Can the EU exert any influence on the emerging international system? Charles Grant is director of the Centre for European Reform.

Contributor(s): Professor Edward Glaeser | Building and maintaining cities is difficult and density has costs, but in this presentation Professor Edward Glaeser will argue that these costs are worth bearing, because whether in London’s ornate arcades or Rio’s fractious favelas, whether in the high rises of Hong Kong or the dusty workplaces of Dharavi, our culture, our prosperity, and our freedom are all ultimately gifts of people living, working, and thinking together – the ultimate triumph of the city. Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard. He is widely regarded as one of the world’s most exciting urban thinkers. Travelling from city to city, speaking to planners and politicians across the globe, he uncovers questions large and small whose answers are deeply significant. His new book, Triumph of the City, is available on 18th March 2011.

Contributor(s): Antanas Mockus Sivickas | Corruption and generalized mistrust against public officers and against fellow citizens are mayor problem in several Latin-American Cities. This mistrust could be a consequence of corruption. But it could also be a cause. Surveys show that teachers are one of the most trustable categories of citizens. Understanding that at least part of government action is teaching might be a solution. Very elementary education exercises linked to strict anti/patronage behaviours implemented in Bogota seemed to be helpful in the fight against corruption (Cultura ciudadana, 1995/2003). Last year, during presidential election, social networks made possible a horizontal learning between high autonomous and involved electors and campaigners. Messages such as "life is sacred" and "public resources, sacred resources" helped foster basic human rights and promoted meritocracy against violence, clientelism and other forms of corruption. Antanas Mockus Sivickas is former Mayor of Bogota, being elected for office in two different periods, former President of the National University of Colombia and Associated Teacher of the Sciences Faculty in the same institution. Mr. Mockus, has been a Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at the David Rockefeller Canter for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. He has also been a visitor Fellow at the Nuffiel College, Oxford University. Mr. Mockus, holds a BA degree in Mathematics from the Universit de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. He also has a MA degree in Philosophy from the National University of Colombia. He is an honorary doctorate recipient of the National University of Colombia and of the Universit Paris Diderot-Paris VII. He has been a researcher in the Science Faculty of the National University of Colombia and in the in Center for the Political International Relations Studies (IEPRI) at the same university. Nowadays he is the cofounder of the Colombian Green Party, having represented that political formation during the last presidential elections in Colombia held in the year 2010. During this process, Mr. Mockus gained the second highest ballot, earning more than 3,500,000 votes. His more recent researches have turned principally in the study of coexistence and the relation between law, moral and culture.

Contributor(s): Dr Kai Spiekermann | Many airlines allow their customers to 'offset' the emissions caused by flying. Is it permissible to fly purely for pleasure as long as we buy carbon offsets? Kai Spiekermann is lecturer in political philosophy at LSE's Department of Government.

Contributor(s): Professor Diane Elson, Professor Nancy Folbre, Professor Maxine Molyneux | Each speaker will briefly reflect on a theme inspired by or departing from the International Handbook of Gender and Poverty by Sylvia Chant, after which there will be a question and answer session with the audience. Diane Elson is professor of sociology at the University of Essex. Nancy Folbre is professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Maxine Molyneux is professor of sociology and director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas, at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. This event is supported by the LSE Annual Fund. There will be a reception in the Atrium after the lecture open to all audience members.

Contributor(s): Professor Anthony Grayling | Philosophy has an important role in public life. Anthony Grayling is one of the most prominent public faces of philosophy in the UK. He is professor of philosophy at Birkbeck College and a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.

Contributor(s): Alec Ross | Technology and innovation have changed the conditions for statecraft in the 21st century. Just as the internet has changed economics, culture, and politics, it is also transforming the practice of foreign policy. It is not simply the fact that more people are using ever more sophisticated technologies; the structural and demographic changes that have accompanied these quantum leaps in connection technologies are highly disruptive. Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East have put a spotlight on these phenomena. The United States is responding to these shifts in international relations by extending the reach of our diplomacy beyond government-to-government communications. We are adapting our statecraft by reshaping our development and diplomatic agendas to meet old challenges in new ways and by deploying one of America's great assets – innovation. This is 21st Century Statecraft – complementing traditional foreign policy tools with newly innovated and adapted instruments of statecraft that fully leverage the networks, technologies, and demographics of our interconnected world. Alec Ross serves as Senior Advisor for Innovation in the Office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In this role, Alec is tasked with maximizing the potential of technology in service of America's diplomatic and development goals. Prior to his service at the State Department, Alec worked on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team and served as Convener for Obama for America's Technology, Media & Telecommunications Policy Committee. In 2000, Alec Ross and three colleagues co-founded One Economy, a global nonprofit that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information about education, jobs, health care and other vital issues to low-income people. During his eight years at One Economy, it grew from a team of four people working in a basement to the world's largest digital divide organization, with programs on four continents. Alec started his career as a sixth grade teacher in inner-city Baltimore through Teach for America. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Contributor(s): Mary Robinson | The debate on climate change is moving from stopping it to how best to manage its effects. Climate justice links human rights and development to achieve a human-centered approach to the issue, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and fairly. Mary Robinson was president of Ireland (1990-1997) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002).

Contributor(s): Sir Michael Lyons | The out-going chairman of the BBC's governing body will give his view on the future of the corporation and its role in British society. Michael Lyons is the outgoing chairman of the BBC Trust.

Contributor(s): John Cullen, Professor Zhang Xinmin, Robin Bellis-Jones, Andrew Shilston | 10.30, John Cullen, University of Sheffield, Innovation in the NHS - Can Accounting Stimulate and Facilitate Innovative. 11:30, Professor Zhang Xinmin, University of International Business and Economics, Corporate Governance and Strategic Cost Management: A View from China. 14:00, Robin Bellis-Jones, Director, Bellis-Jones Hill Group, Costing in the NHS - From Measurement to Management. 15:00, Panel Session. 16.30, Andrew Shilston, Chief Financial Officer, Rolls Royce, ICAEW Distinguished Practitioner Lecture. The theme for the 32nd MARG conference is Cost Management Strategies: Shifting Gears. The aim of the conference is to promote the discussion and development of leading edge ideas between researchers and senior practitioners.

Contributor(s): Professor Nikolas Rose | Thanks to the insights of genomics and neuroscience we now understand ourselves in radically new ways. Is a new figure of the human, and of the social, taking shape in the 21st century? Nikolas Rose is professor of sociology and director of BIOS at LSE.