LSE hosts a wide range of public lectures, podcast interviews and commentary with experts in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, like our Facebook page, and visit our Events page to keep up to date with upcoming public lectures and talks.
Find out more about our Behavioural Science and the Wider World seminar series here, and our Departmental Seminar Series (for the LSE community) here.
September 2022
Sea levels are rising, carbon emissions are increasing and deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate. Human created climate change is drastically reshaping life on earth, with up to 75% of the diversity of the species on our planet on their way to becoming extinct.
LSE iQ asks: How can we survive the next mass extinction? Dr Ganga Shreedhar and David Shukman discuss the dangers of greenwashing, what it’s like to witness an environmental catastrophe and how we can change our behaviour to benefit the planet.
Listen to this episode of LSE iQ on LSE Player here.
EVENT | Notes from the field: Experiments towards a psychology of society
June 2022
Professor Hazel Rose Markus (SPARQ, Stanford University) described experiments in diverse domains and explored the role of identity in everyday experience, framed by examples of the work being undertaken at Stanford SPARQ - a behavioral science “do tank” at Stanford University.
Chaired by Dr Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE.
Listen to the podcast recording here.
Notes from the field
Watch the event video recording (with slides)
June 2022
In his book Too Much Information, Professor Cass R. Sunstein (Harvard) examines the effects of information on our lives. Policymakers emphasize “the right to know,” but Sunstein takes a different perspective, arguing that the focus should be on human well-being and what information contributes to it.
Chaired by Professor Susana Mourato, Pro-Director for Research at LSE.
This event was co-hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment and Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science.
Watch this event recording on YouTube.
May 2022
In their book Hidden Games, MIT economists Dr Moshe Hoffman and Dr Erez Yoeli find a surprising middle ground between the hyperrationality of classical economics and the hyper-irrationality of behavioural economics. They call it hidden games. Joined by Professor Nichola Raihani (PI of the Social Evolution and Behaviour Lab).
Chaired by Dr Michael Muthukrishna, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE.
Listen to the podcast recording on LSE Player.
February 2022
In this event for #LSEPostCOVID, Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh (Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations) discussed research looking at the relationship between 'moments of change' and environmental behaviour change. Chaired by Dr Ganga Shreedhar (LSE).
Listen to the podcast on LSE Player | Watch the event on YouTube
December 2021
Originally published over a decade ago, Nudge by Nobel Laureate Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein is available in a completely revised final edition with six new chapters.
Co-author Richard H. Thaler spoke to Professor Liam Delaney (LSE) about the book, the key theories and their wider impact on society.
Listen to the podcast on LSE Player | Watch the event on YouTube
Event | Workshop on Behaviour, Wellbeing and the Environment, hosted by the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (LSE) and the Behavioural Science and Policy Group (University College Dublin)
This two-day online workshop brought together experts in the fields of behavioural science, wellbeing and the environment to explore future research in these areas. You can watch the conversations in full on YouTube here.
October 2021
Professor Lord Alderdice, Dr Fabio Idrobo, Professor Nicola Lacey and Federico Rodriguez looked at the context of peace, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation processes in Colombia and beyond, by sharing international experiences from other post-conflict societies. Chaired by Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch.
Listen to the podcast
September 2021
Mary Ann Sieghart discusses her book The Authority Gap with Dr Grace Lordan.
Listen to the podcast
Professor Paul Dolan, Dr Lasana Harris, Professor Anil Seth, Dr Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Dr Tiffany Watt Smith and Professor Simon Hix discuss the neuroscience and social science behind our polarisation problem.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
The late Professor Jim Sidanius (John Lindsley Professor of Psychology in memory of William James and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University) presented his latest ideas on the psychological foundations of intergroup inequality, with Dr Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington.
Listen and download the podcast | Watch the video
LSE Festival short film | What work disappeared? COVID-19 and labour market outcomes for under-25s. With Ganga Shreedar and Teresa Almeida
Watch the short film on YouTube
Teresa Almeida, Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Julian Le Grand, Dr Grace Lordan and Professor Tony Travers analyse what behavioural science research has added to the policy debate on COVID-19 so far, and what questions have been overlooked.
Listen to and download the podcast recording
Dr Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Dr Ganga Shreedhar, Dr Sanchayan Banerjee, Professor Nick Chater and Dr Adam Oliver, experts in behavioural public policy and sustainability, discuss how the experience of the pandemic can be leveraged to enable new, transformative behaviours and policies.
Listen to the podcast
Dr Grace Lordan (PBS and TII) leads a panel discussion on lessons from social science to take forward in discussions about careers and skills, post-COVID-19. With Dorie Clark, Dowshan Humzah, Professor Connson Locke, Simon Ong and Helen Tupper.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
LSE Research Short Film | Is Perfectionism an Illness?
In a competitive culture that values work ethic and merit, is perfectionism a benign trait that helps us succeed, or is it a pernicious illness we need to take more seriously? Dr Thomas Curran speaks about his research.
Watch the short film "Is Perfectionism an Illness?"
Selected archive
Professor Dame Sally Davies, Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Sunetra Gupta, Professor Carl Heneghan, Professor David Hunter and Professor Julia Black seek to flush out the costs and benefits of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Ann Cairns, Ruth Cairnie, Wanda Hope, Lance Uggla, Nate Yohannes and Grace Lordan discuss the impacts of the pandemic on workplace inclusion.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
There are challenges and joys of a dual-career life and Dr Jennifer Petriglieri explores through rigourous research how couples can make their lives work for them. Chaired by Dr Ilka Gleibs.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Michael Tomasello, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University, talks to Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch on his research into social learning, communication and language in human children and great apes.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Professor Nick Chater, Professor Paul Dolan, Dr Grace Lordan, Professor Tali Sharot, Rory Sutherland and Professor Simon Hix on the lessons we can learn from behavioural science in a post-Covid world.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Dr Rochelle Burgess, Professor Ama de-Graft Aikins, Professor Helene Joffe, Professor Stephen Reicher and Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch focus on the social and community based aspects of human behaviour and health, and the importance of going beyond a purely individual or top-down paternalistic approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Professor Paul Dolan, Dr Daisy Fancourt, Lord Layard, Lord Gus O'Donnell, Professor Carol Proper and Professor Julia Black attempt to shine a light on the risks to wellbeing as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Professor Nick Chater, Professor Liam Delaney, Professor Paul Dolan, Professor Ulrike Hahn, Dr Grace Lordan and Professor Julia Black consider some of the lessons behavioural science can learn about how it can be best placed to provide guidance in an uncertain world?
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
A panel discussion on ‘Inclusion in the City’, a report that gives practical insights from behavioural science research to the problems and solutions posed by people who understand the financial and services industry the best: its own talent. With Dr Grace Lordan, Karina Robinson, Irshaad Ahmad, Richard Nesbitt, Teresa Parker, Brenda Trenowden and chaired by Minouche Shafik.
Listen to the podcast | Find out more about The Inclusion Initiative
A discussion on recent advancements in helping to tackle climate change and how to develop long-lasting behaviour change. With Professor Peter John, Professor Theresa M Marteau, Sanchayan Banerjee, Professor Gerry Stoker and Dr Ganga Shreedhar.
Listen to the podcast
A discussion on the growth of behavioural science and the various research collaborations that behavioural scientists across all the LSE have been developing in a variety of policy domains by working together with numerous partner institutions. With Professor Liam Delaney, Dr Barbara Fasolo, Dr Adam Oliver, Dr Jet Sanders and Dr Matteo M Galizzi.
Listen to the podcast.
Professor Cass R. Sunstein presents research on how and why social change happens and does not, from his book How Change Happens. With Professor Paul Dolan.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the event
An archive episode from 2017, republished in 2019, on why, despite greater wealth in Western societies, many people seem to be less happy. Professor Paul Dolan discusses his research.
Listen to the podcast
Why are self-confident ignoramuses so often believed? Why are thoughtful experts so often given the cold shoulder? And why do apparently irrelevant details such as a person’s height, their relative wealth, or their Facebook photo influence whether or not we trust what they are saying? Behavioural experts Joseph Marks and Steve Martin join Professor Paul Dolan to discuss findings from their book.
Listen to the podcast
LSE Thinks | What are the consequences of expressing religious identity in the workplace?
What are the consequences of expressing religious identity in the workplace? Dr Ilka Gleibs speaks to LSE Thinks.
Watch the LSE Thinks film
LSE IQ podcast | Is Gender Equality Possible?
In this episode, Jess Winterstein asks ‘Is gender equality possible?' This episode features LSE's Sarah-Banet-Weiser, Grace Lordan and Shani Orgad, who examine issues of gender inequality in our culture, work and home lives.
Listen to the podcast
Three female leaders in business and finance, Pavita Cooper, Bronwyn Curtis and Elisabeth Stheeman share their experiences from their varied careers to mark International Women’s Day, 2019. Chaired by Dr Grace Lordan.
Listen to the podcast
LSE IQ podcast | How Does the Modern World Affect Relationships?
Dr Brett Heasman, Paula Keil and Brian D. Earp explore how the digital realm is extending our relationships beyond death, whether drugs can improve our romantic relationships, and how we can all learn to become more empathetic.
Listen to the podcast
Professor Bradley Franks, Dr Erica Lagalisse and Dr Matijs Pelkmans explore how only some “conspiracy theories” fail tests of reason, and discuss the problems and potential of “conspiracy theory” for social movements. Chaired by Professor Martin Bauer.
Listen to the podcast
Professor Paul Dolan discusses his book Happy Ever After, and explores the narratives society installs in us, using good evidence to debunk bad stories. With Professor Tali Sharot and Professor Julia Black.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video
Professor Jonathan Haidt offers a timely investigation into safety culture in universities and the dangers it poses to free speech, mental health, education, andultimately democracy. Chaired by Professor Paul Dolan.
Listen to the podcast
Professor Saadi Lahlou discusses themes from his book Installation Theory, offering a powerful and robust framework for nudge and intervention.
Listen to the podcast | Watch the video