Assorted Podcasts

The Secret Impact of Social Norms
Robert Cialdini, author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion", talks about "Which messages spur citizens to protect the environment?"

Islam and Democracy in Indonesia
Dr. Amien Rais, former chairman of Indonesia's largest modernist Islamic Organization, Muhammadiyah

A Conversation with Abdullah Gul

The Neoliberal City
David Harvey, distinguished professor of geography, department of anthropology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Burns, Presidential Historian, Discusses Book `Running Alone'

Ravi Batra Sees `Political Turmoil' Followed by `Golden Age'

Sala-i-Martin of Columbia Says Aid `Does Not Promote' Growth

Sachs of Columbia Says U.S. Aid to Africa Has Been `Too Little'

Lazear of White House Calls U.S. Payrolls Data `Confusing'

Norton Garfinkle, Author, Discusses Rise of U.S. Middle Class

Robert McTeer Says Globalization Has `Disinflationary' Effect

Bacevich of Boston University Says More Troops Needed for Iraq

Perceptions of body image
Karen Throsby from The University of Warwick's Sociology Department talks about the relationships between gender and body image as well as cosmetic and weight loss surgery

Marketing the Movies
Chris Meir talks about the Marketing the Movies Conference and how academics are analysing the way films are promoted

Metal ring round white dwarf solves missing planets puzzle

Veiling
Not since the introduction of the miniskirt has an item of women's clothing caused such a stir. But the Islamic headscarf has stolen the limelight

Baghdad Bell
After the first world war, Iraqis revolted against a British occupation which hadn't moved fast enough to create an independent Iraqi nation. It was the era of Lawrence of Arabia, an intelligence officer who was sent to the middle east to encourage Arab nationalists to side with Britain. But precious few have heard of another talented informer who often crossed paths with Lawrence. Her name was Miss Gertrude Bell. Europe correspondent Jane Hutcheon looks at how a little known woman made a big difference in Iraq

Religion and Tourism

2007 Index of Economic Freedom (starts at end of the podcast)

The Catholic Origin of Everything- Part 1 and Part 2

Sporting globalisation

Free Yourself from Mind Control

Spiritual Classics II - Bede Griffiths and Thomas Merton

Breast density and the risk of breast cancer
A recent study has suggested that breast density is a risk for breast cancer. There is also a risk that mammography will not pick up a breast cancer the higher the density

Chronic disease self-management

Palliative Care

Uncomfortable Thoughts on Gallipoli and the Armenian Genocide

The origin of crops
Martin Jones is an archaeologist, but he's not digging for shards of pottery or hidden ruins, he's looking in archaelogical sites for early grains. This week, In Conversation traces the origin of ancient crops

Tim Entwisle
Dr Entwisle is a specialist on algae, but he is also involved in a botanical curiosity: the Amorphophallus titanum, a gigantic phallic plant which smells extremely bad but attracts plenty of attention every few years when it flowers.

Derek Denton
Brains are expensive to run, so why do human beings invest 20% of their energy in running what is 'the most complex collection of matter in the universe'? Could it be that something so 'primitive' as thirst was the impetus? Professor Derek Denton, founding director of the famed Florey Institute in Melbourne has written a new book on this idea

The social intelligence hypothesis

The anthropic universe

Stalin and the Soviet Science Wars
From 1945 until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin paid special attention to the disputes and debates going on in the scientific community, weighing in on genetics, editing reports on physics and writing journal articles on linguistics, amongst other things

Unintended Consequences
The unintended consequence of the current war in Iraq are obvious. However, historians Ian Bickerton and Kenneth Hagan argue that every one of the last ten MAJOR wars the U.S. has been involved in have resulted in outcomes far removed from those intended at their outset

Poverty and the Super Rich
Professor Atkinson says the escalation in corporate CEO salaries is a product of globalisation and tends to be restricted to English speaking economies

Somalia: a land in chaos

Where to now?
This week, Graham Priest, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, asks where philosophy has got to at the start of the 21st century and where it may go from here. What were the major influences that brought us to where we are now, and what will these be in the years to come?

Taking stock of America's global PR offensive

Charles Dickens: the journalist as novelist; the novelist as journalist

The changing media environment in Singapore

Who Will Explode the Next Nuclear Bomb

World Economic Update
Listen to Roger W. Ferguson Jr., R. Glenn Hubbard, Stephen S. Roach, and Daniel K. Tarullo discuss recent global economic developments as part of the Council's signature World Economic Update Series

C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics: Developments in the Global Economy and Implications for the United States

Ending Global Poverty
Listen to Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, discuss the role of microcredit in fighting poverty

Diamonds for Development
Listen to Botswana President Festus G. Mogae discuss how diamond production has shaped the country's economy and development.

The lure of Sierra Leone diamonds

Michael Sherraden on Savings
A penny saved is a penny earned, they say. But for impoverished people, that’s often easier said than done. In this presentation, Professor Michael Sherraden from the Washington University at Saint Louis discusses savings and whether the banks can outperform the mattress

Ron Ross on E-Security

Aart Kraay on Measuring Governance

Guiseppe Iarossi on The Power of Survey Design

Robert Bates on Governance Systems and Political Effectiveness

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita on Democracies and Dictatorships

Lucas on Growth, Poverty and Business Cycles

Richard Epstein on Property Rights and Drug Patents

Has U.S. Income Inequality Increased?
Featuring Alan Reynolds, Cato Institute; Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute; and Gary Burtless, Brookings Institution

On the Wealth of Nations
P.J. O’Rourke will give a modern-day spin on The Wealth of Nations and Adam Smith’s revolutionary theories on liberty: pursuit of self-interest, division of labor, and freedom of trade. Employing Smith’s insights, P. J. will tackle such present day topics as outsourcing, blogs, central banks, and lobbyists, to name just a few. As P. J. puts it, he read The Wealth of Nations "so you don’t have to".

Remembering Milton Friedman

Author Robert Wright argues that history has an arrow: That humans have continued to evolve -- if not biologically, than culturally and technologically -- toward greater complexity and intelligence

Economist Bjorn Lomborg makes a persuasive case for prioritizing the world's biggest problems. His recommendations controversially place global warming at the bottom of the list (and AIDS prevention at the top

Kurzweil talk at TED
Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is author of The Age of Spiritual Machines, and The Singularity is Near: When humans transcend biology

Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them