This year's BBC Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He will deliver four lectures called “Our Democratic Future,” asking how we can build a politics that works for all of us with systems which are robust to the challenges of the twenty first century, from climate change to artificial intelligence.
In this first lecture, recorded at New Broadcasting House in London in front of an audience, Professor Ansell asks whether we are in a 'democratic recession', where longstanding democracies are at risk of breakdown and authoritarianism is resurgent. And he examines how resilient democracies are to the challenges of artificial intelligence, social media and if they can effectively address core challenges from climate change to inequality.
The Reith Lectures are presented by Anita Anand and produced by Jim Frank. The Editor is China Collins. Reith Co-ordinator is Brenda Brown. The series is mixed by Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill.
A Child of the Moment
An Image of Truth
Chang Tzu and the Butterfly
The Divinest Part of Us
The Birth of Exploration
On Difference
Justice Without Bondage
The Liberal Option
From Expansion to Improvement
The Search For A New Order
The Troubled Giant
Wanted: An Instrument For Crisis Management
From Technocracy to Democracy
European Foreign Policy Towards Asia & the Soviet Bloc
The American Connection
The French Spirit and the British Intruder
Melting Pot or Bag of Marbles?
A Common Ground
The Loss of the Stable State
Social Cohesion and Human Nature
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins