Speaker: Professor John Worrall This event was recorded on 5 November 2009 in Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE’s academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed. Available as: mp3 (12 MB; approx 50 minutes) via Public Lectures and Events: podcasts – Podcasts – LSE.

Speaker: Professor Robert Baldwin, Julia Black This event was recorded on 25 February 2010 in Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House In this lunchtime series of lectures, a selection of LSE’s academics from across the spectrum of the social sciences explain the latest thinking on how social scientists work to address the critical problems of the day. They survey the leading ideas and contributions made by their discipline, explain the types of problems that are addressed and the tools that are used, and explore the kinds of solutions proposed. Available as: mp3 (25 MB; approx 53 minutes) Editors note: The last few minutes of the Question and Answer session are missing. via Public Lectures and Events: podcasts – Podcasts – LSE.

Speaker: Dr Paul Slovic Chair: Dr Adam Oliver This event was recorded on 11 November 2010 in D202, Clement House Dr. Slovic will describe the laboratory experiments that led to the concept of risk as feelings and illustrate some insights gleaned from this perspective for behaviors as diverse as cigarette smoking and apathy toward large scale natural and human caused disasters. Dr. Slovic studies judgment and decision processes with an emphasis on decision making under conditions of risk. His work examines fundamental issues such as the influence of affect on judgments and decisions. For further information visit Dr. Slovic’s website: www.decisionresearch.org Available as: mp3 (40 MB; approx 64 minutes) Editor’s note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. via Public Lectures and Events: podcasts – Podcasts – LSE.

Speaker: Professor David Spiegelhalter Chair: Professor Anthony C Atkinson This event was recorded on 17 November 2010 in Hong Kong Theatre, Clement House There has been a traditional division between ‚risk‘, which can be quantified using probability distributions, and ‚uncertainty‘, which is the surrounding mess of doubt, disagreement and ignorance. Spiegelhalter will use examples from swine flu to climate change to illustrate different approaches to dealing with uncertainty, from ignoring it to trying to fully quantify it, and conclude that we should all try to be aware and open about the magnitude and potential consequences of our ignorance. David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge as well as senior scientist in the MRC Biostatistics Unit. Available as: mp3 (30 MB; approx 63 minutes) Editor’s note: We apologise for the poor audio quality in the question and answer session of this podcast. via Public Lectures and Events: podcasts – Podcasts – LSE.

Stockholm Resilience Centre executive director Johan Rockström presents in-depth findings on the consequences and uncertainties of climate change. via Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Given rapid changes in large-scale human and biophysical processes — carbon emissions, population increase and migrations, over-harvesting and pollution leading to loss of species — many scientists are worried that many of the social-ecological systems existing today may collapse by the end of the 21st century. Is this an exaggerated worry? The thesis Ostrom will present is that the negative prognosis will indeed occur in many parts of the world if we do not worry a great deal about these processes and their consequences.More important than simply worrying, however, is the development of a strong diagnostic method for analyzing the diversity of processes and the multiplicity of potential social and bio-physical solutions that are needed to cope effectively with these varied processes. via Stockholm Resilience Centre.