LSE IQ podcast

Contributor(s): Dr Stephen Roberts, Dr Leeza Osipenko, Professor Barbara Prainsack, Dr James Somauroo | With more and more information about us available electronically and online, this episode of LSE IQ asks, ‘Is big data good for our health?’ Advances in bio-medical technologies, along with electronic health records and the information we generate through our mobile phones, Smart Watches or Fit bits, our social media posts and search engine queries, mean that there is a torrent of information about our bodies, our health and our diseases out there. Alongside this, the tremendous growth in computing power and data storage means that this ‘Big Data’ can be stored and aggregated and then analysed by sophisticated algorithms for connections, comparisons and insights. The promise of all of this is that big data will create opportunities for medical breakthroughs, help tailor medical interventions to us as individuals and create technologies that will speed up and improve healthcare. And, of course, during the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve also seen some countries use data, generated from people’s mobile phones, to track and trace the disease. All of this poses opportunities for the tech giants and others who want to be part of the goldrush for our data - and to then sell solutions back to us What are the risks in handing over our most personal data? Will it allow big data to deliver on its hype? And is it a fair exchange? In this episode, Oliver Johnson speaks to Dr Leeza Osipenko, Senior Lecturer in Practice in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; Professor Barbara Prainsack, Professor of Comparative Policy Analysis at the University of Vienna and Professor Sociology at King’s College London; Dr Stephen L. Roberts, LSE Fellow in Global Health Policy in LSE’s Department of Health Policy; and Dr James Somauroo, founder of the healthtech agency somX and presenter of The Health-Tech Podcast. Research Blockchain’s potential to improve clinical trials by Leeza Osipenko Big Data, Algorithmic Governmentality and the Regulation of Pandemic Risk by Stephen Roberts Personalized Medicine: Empowered Patients in the 21st Century? by Barbara Prainsack Contributors Dr Leeza Osipenko Professor Barbara Prainsack Dr Stephen L. Roberts Dr James Somauroo

Contributor(s): Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Dr Ute Collier, Dr Sefi Roth, Dr Thomas Smith | Seven million people die of air pollution, worldwide, every year. This episode of LSE IQ asks how this invisible killer can be tackled. Sue Windebank speaks to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah about her campaigning work for both clean air and a new inquest into the causes of her daughter’s death. In 2013, her daughter Ella Roberta died from a rare and severe form of asthma – she was just nine years old. According to an expert report there was a "real prospect” that without unlawful levels of air pollution near their home, Ella would not have died. As well as the impact on health, the episode looks at the effects of air pollution on crime and education. It also examines air pollution on the London Underground, forest fires and clean cooking. Addressing these issue are: Dr Ute Collier, Head of Energy at Practical Action; Dr Sefi Roth, Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics at LSE; and Dr Thomas Smith, Assistant Professor in Environmental Geography at LSE. Contributors Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah Dr Ute Collier Dr Sefi Roth Dr Thomas Smith Research ‘Crime is in the Air: The Contemporaneous Relationship between Air Pollution and Crime’ by Malvina Brody, Sefi Roth and Lutz Sager, a discussion paper by IZA Institute of Labor Economics. ‘The Long-Run Economic Consequences of High-Stakes Examinations: Evidence from Transitory Variation in Pollution’ by Avraham Ebenstein, Victor Lavy and Sefi Roth in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. ‘Spatial variability of fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) on the London Underground network’ by Brynmor M Saunders, James D Smith, T.E.L Smith, David Green and B Barratt in the journal Urban Climate. ‘Review of emissions from smouldering peat fires and their contribution to regional haze episodes’ Yuqi Hu, Nieves Fernandez-Anez, T.E.L Smith and Guillermo Rein in the International Journal of Wildland Fire.

Contributor(s): Professor Christopher Coker, Dr Debin Ma, Dr Yu Jie | Welcome to LSE IQ, the award-winning podcast where we ask social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question. In this episode Sue Windebank asks, “Is the 21st Century the Chinese century?” This month sees the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War. Having overthrown the nationalist government of the Republic of China, Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic on October 1st in Tiananmen Square. The last 70 years have been tumultuous for the People’s Republic of China. Under Mao it experienced economic break down and societal chaos. Famously the Great Leap Forward, a campaign designed to industrialise and modernise the economy, led to the largest famine in history, with millions of people dying of starvation. And yet today, after widespread market-economy reforms started by Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s, China is the second largest economy in the world. This wealth is reflected in the country’s international influence, which is growing through sizeable investments the country is making in large infrastructure projects around the world. And, of course, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students study abroad every year – including at LSE. This episode features: Professor Christopher Coker, LSE Department of International Relations and LSE IDEAS; Dr Debin Ma, LSE Department of Economic History; and Dr Yu Jie, Chatham House. For further information about the podcast and all the related links visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr Brett Heasman, Paula Kiel, Brian D. Earp | Welcome to LSE's award-winning podcast, LSE IQ, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about economics, politics or society. No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. So wrote John Donne in 1624. Almost 400 years later, the value we place on relationships is more tangible than ever. In 2016, the British public voted the smartphone as the 21st century’s most important invention. From Facebook and WhatsApp to Tinder and Twitter, the modern world reflects our desire for friendships, relationships and professional networks. But does the modern world enhance or inhibit our ability to build and maintain meaningful relationships? Is society making us more facile and selfish? In this episode, James Rattee asks 'How does the modern world affect relationships?' – looking at 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. This episode features the following LSE academics: Dr Brett Heasman, LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, Paula Kiel, LSE Department of Media and Communications and Brian D. Earp, The Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford. For further information about the podcast visit lse.ac.uk/iq and please tell us what you think using the hashtag #LSEIQ.

Contributor(s): Lea Ypi, David Hope, Julian Limberg, Tomila Lankina | Joanna Bale talks to Lea Ypi, David Hope, Julian Limberg and Tomila Lankina about defining freedom, debunking trickle-down economics and defying the Bolsheviks.