We end Season 10 with an intimate interview between the Nobel Prize winning economist Philippe Aghion and Will Hutton.

They delve into the concept of "creative destruction," a term coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter, which highlights the dual nature of innovation in driving economic growth while simultaneously rendering older methods and certain industries and jobs obsolete. Aghion believes that for an economy to thrive creative destruction is key. They talk about certain countries such as Finland where creative destruction is allowed and supported to thrive by the Government.

Aghion is Professor of Economics at the LSE. In the We Society podcast, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on wesociety@acss.org.uk and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust.

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch
Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert
A Whistledown Production for the Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Carissa Véliz is a philosopher who is examining the threats and possibilities of today’s digital world. She is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford – and fellow at Hertford College. She currently holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship and her work has been featured by the Ada Lovelace Institute.

In her first landmark book, Privacy is Power (2020), she discussed the vital necessity of protecting our data as a precondition of sustaining our freedom. But the algorithms constructed by AI and data don’t just stop there; they have born a new era of data based predictions masquerading as objective. Like all predictions, they are shaped by human choices, assumptions, and incentives. In her latest book, Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI (Out 21st April) Carissa Véliz challenges us to see predictions not as neutral forecasts, but as power over others.

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on wesociety@acss.org.uk and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust.

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch
Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert
A Whistledown Production for the Academy of Social Sciences

The consequences of climate change are everywhere. From record-breaking wildfires to catastrophic floods, climate disasters are killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. In the past decade alone, climate-related disasters have forced an estimated 250 million people from their homes.

So why aren’t we moving faster? What’s holding back the systemic shifts needed to avoid disaster? Professor Tim Lenton is one of the world’s leading climate scientists tackling exactly that question, but with a positive twist.

Tim is a Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter and founding Director of the Global Systems Institute. He is renowned for his pioneering work on climate “tipping points”; critical thresholds in the Earth system that, once crossed, can trigger dramatic and irreversible change.

More recently, his research has focused on positive tipping points: how rapid, self-propelling shifts in technology, economics and social behaviour could accelerate climate action. His work shows that change does not always move slowly. Under the right conditions, it can cascade.

Tim’s research and latest book tell a more hopeful story, one in which shifting and adjusting our lifestyles can create a positive ripple of change and steer us away from the current trajectory of climate disaster.

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on wesociety@acss.org.uk and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust.

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch
Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production for the Academy of Social Sciences