Ideas Matter

Shakespeare isn’t just a relic of the past—he is one of the foundational figures of Western civilisation. Yet today, activists and cultural gatekeepers seek to reduce him to just another “dead white man,” claiming his legacy is nothing more than a product of colonialism and outdated values. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In this talk, Andrew Doyle dismantles these ideological attacks and makes the case for Shakespeare’s enduring importance. His works capture the complexities of human nature, shape our cultural identity, and stand as monuments to the heights of artistic achievement. But in an age where art is expected to serve politics, where great works are rewritten to fit ideological narratives, and where our cultural institutions are captured by identity politics, what is at stake if we let these voices tear down our greatest playwright? 📖 Topics Covered: Why Shakespeare is a cornerstone of Western civilisation How ideological activists distort art to serve their agenda The danger of politicised theatre and bad modern adaptations Why Shakespeare’s plays are universal, not “Eurocentric” The conditions that allowed Shakespeare to emerge—and why we may never see his like again 🎭 “If you read Shakespeare through the lens of identity politics, you’re not reading Shakespeare at all.” This isn’t just a defence of a playwright—it’s a defence of the cultural heritage under attack.

Trigger warnings and microaggression policies have become increasingly familiar on campus. But while we can snigger at ‘de-stressing parties’ with colouring books, are students any different from the rest of society? After all, many people believe we face an unprecedented range of threats. Anxiety allied to yearning for safety is evident in warnings over formula milk and processed foods, panics over drink-spiking and catcalling, and paranoid parenting that is creating a generation of ‘cotton wool’ kids. What happened to resilience and how do we explain our existential insecurity? What is the balance between safety and freedom, and how do we successfully argue for taking risks? In the face of society-wide preoccupation with safety, what are the arguments we need today to renew the case for liberty? SPEAKERS Ella Whelan, journalist; co-convenor of the Battle of Ideas Festival READ ON Letter on Liberty: The case for women’s freedom Ella Whelan, Academy of Ideas, July 2022 https://academyofideas.org.uk/letters-on-liberty-the-case-for-womens-freedom/ Letter on Liberty: Beyond the Harm Principle Rob Lyons, Academy of Ideas https://academyofideas.org.uk/letters-on-liberty-beyond-the-harm-principle/ The danger of safetyism Matthew Crawford, UnHerd, 15 May 2021 https://unherd.com/2020/05/the-hypocrisy-of-safetyism/ LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See https://livingfreedom.org.uk/ and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk

Features the discussion ‘What does it mean to be human in a world of generative AI?’ recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. People are fascinated, amused and alarmed – often all three at once, at the generative AI tools that have taken the internet by storm over the last year. Some people welcome the new possibilities that these tools seem to offer for human creativity and flourishing. Others fear the consequences – from students getting AI to write their homework, to artists and journalists losing their livelihood to AI, to reputations being ruined and public discourse polluted by AI-generated scams and 'deepfakes'. What 20th-century events and philosophies originally shaped the invention of AI? What 21st-century phenomena are shaping the way we understand AI now? Will generative AI add to, or detract from, the meaning in our lives? LECTURER Sandy Starr deputy director, Progress Educational Trust, author of the Letter on Liberty AI: Separating Man from Machine READ ON Computing machinery and intelligence Alan Turing, Mind, Volume LIX, Issue 236, October 1950, Pages 433–460 The cynical hysteria around AI Timandra Harkness, UnHerd, 2 June 2023 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk

Features the lecture ‘‘Dystopian or dysfunctional? The 21st-century state’ recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. In recent years, governments have appeared directionless and often incompetent. Institutions riven with disputes over cultural values seem unsure of what they stand for. Crisis seems to be the word of the year - energy crisis, cost-of-living crisis, climate crisis, housing crisis – meaning a ‘state of emergency’ is now ubiquitous. What is distinct about today’s elites and their attempts to exercise authority? How should we understand the relationship between authority and authoritarian? For those keen to make the case for freedom, what should we be concerned about today and how do we make the case for renewing liberty? LECTURERJosie Appleton director, Manifesto Club; author, Officious: Rise of the Busybody state. READ ONThe emergency addiction Josie Appleton, Notes on Freedom, 21 May 2023Officious: Rise of the busybody state, Zer0 Books, 2016 LIVING FREEDOMLiving Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present, and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk

Features the lecture ‘Freedom of conscience: 21st century challenges’ recorded at Living Freedom Summer School 2023. For many centuries, in religious and secular times alike, societies have wrestled with dilemmas as to how we should live in accordance with our inner-most thoughts and beliefs. What should we understand by the term freedom of conscience, how did it emerge and why is it so important? What are the main threats to conscience-based freedoms today? LECTURER Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, 100 years of identity crisis and How Fear Works: culture of fear in the 21st century. READ ON On Tolerance: A Defence of Moral Independence, Frank Furedi, Continuum, 2011 There is nothing wrong with unconscious bias Don't let them control your thoughts! Frank Furedi, Roots and Wings, 29 August 2022 LIVING FREEDOM Living Freedom exists to renew freedom through education and debate, offering young adults the opportunity to explore ideas and debate ideals as they relate to the past, present and future of freedom. See www.livingfreedom.org.uk and @LivingFreedomUK IDEAS MATTER PODCAST Ideas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. Subscribe via Spotify, iTunes, Podbean or SoundCloud. Email us at info@ideasmatter.org.uk

Initiated in 2015, Debating Matters Beyond Bars is a project which takes DM's schools-debating format inside prisons. Using our acclaimed substance-over-style format, teams of prisoners engage in debate with one another on a whole range of contemporary social, political and cultural topics. The programme aims to inspire them to think about issues beyond their current situation and to look forward to their life ahead – in other words, beyond bars! In this podcast, Mo Lovatt - DM's national coordinator - and Geoff Kidder sat down with former Beyond Bars competitor Jon Floyd to discuss the impact the programme had on him when he took part in 2015 while he was serving his sentence. We were also joined by Heather Phillips, the chief executive of Beating Time, which runs, amongst other things, Inside Job – an employment programme she set up with Jon in 2020. For Jon, taking part in Beyond Bars was the catalyst for starting that programme with Heather as well as a whole range of initiatives he’s been involved with since 2015. As he says in the podcast, Beyond Bars gave him a purposeful activity, helped him change direction and kickstarted his journey of rehabilitation.

From the series ‘The elite: old and new’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in November 2021. The term ‘professional managerial class’ was coined in 1977. Thinkers on both left and right have drawn attention to the rise (and rise) of a seemingly new group in society who neither labour in traditional occupations nor own significant amounts of capital. This group of salaried professionals – in the civil service, education, management, public relations, public health etc. – not only increasingly manage the key institutions of society. They are also said to exert a social and ideological influence, promoting ‘progressive’ campaigns around gender, sexual, racial, and other identity causes. But who are this group? Can it really be said to be a ‘class’, and how do they differ from more familiar elites? Lecture by Catherine Liu, professor of film and media studies, University of California Irvine, and the author of ‘Virtue Hoarders: the case against the professional managerial class’ THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and newTo view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- READ: Barbara and John Ehrenreich, The Professional Managerial Class in Radical America, Vol 11, No. 2, 1977 (pdf) https://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1125403552886481.pdf READ: Catherine Liu, Virtue Hoarders: the case against the professional managerial class, 2021 https://amzn.to/3ehMCDS THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).

From the series ‘The elite: old and new’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in November 2021. In recent years, populist movements have thrived on a sense of anger at global elites who have distanced themselves from political control by their own national populations. The coronavirus pandemic has further served to suggest that the global system is extremely fragile. Yet, as betrayed by the likes of COP26 conference on climate change, the appetite for supranational decision-making is as strong as ever. This lecture examines the ‘globalist’ elite and their political culture of supranationalism, and asks what are its prospects are in a post-populist and post-pandemic world. Lecture by Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent, The Times THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and newTo view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING / LISTENING For this lecture you may wish to read:- READ: Phil Mullan, Beyond Confrontation: Globalists, Nationalists and Their Discontents https://amzn.to/3dCspbF READ: Hannah Arendt, Truth and Politics, The New Yorker, 1967 https://bit.ly/3GADGpd THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).

From the series ‘The elite: old and new’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in November 2021. Political discourse revolves around questions of power relations. Yet defining who really has power over society seems harder than ever. How do we understand the ‘elite’ and what gives them power? Has the elite changed its character, and if so how, and from when? This lecture examines the role of culture in elite self-understanding and self-definition and looks at how culture became a key battleground in challenges to their authority. Lecture by Professor Frank Furedi, sociologist and social commentator; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation THE ACADEMY ONLINE IV: The elite: old and newTo view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academy-online-iv ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- ‘The Power Elite’ by C. Wright Mills, 1956 https://amzn.to/2ZpC1TB ‘100 years of the culture war’, Frank Furedi, spiked, 17 September 2021 https://bit.ly/3E0Tscg THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to help us realise events such as the Academy Online, please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).

Fifth podcast in the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021. The founding ideals of the United States of America are increasingly called into question. Rather than an experiment in democratic self-government and throwing off the shackles of British imperialism, America is seen as a racist creation devoted to the institution of slavery. This episode assesses the contrast between the lofty ideals of the American founding fathers and the ‘original sin’ of slavery. Was its foundation marked by a distinctive attempt to take control of history? And what are the consequences of today’s impulse to tar the past as irredeemably corrupt? Lecturers: Dr Cheryl Hudson, lecturer in US Political History, University of Liverpool and Professor Francis Buckley, Foundation Professor, George Mason University; political commentator; author, The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORYA half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- • ‘American Slavery, American Freedom’ by Edmund S. Morgan (2003) https://tinyurl.com/up4hmf69 • ‘American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup’ by F.H. Buckley (2020) https://tinyurl.com/5buevvtm THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).

From the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021. The term ‘cultural Marxism’ has long proved controversial. Some insist that it helps explain a shift in left-wing thought from a materialist focus on economic transformation to a concern for cultural issues and identity politics. Others dismiss it as an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory with its origins in Nazi attacks on ‘cultural Bolshevism’. Nevertheless, many accept that the Frankfurt School – the term given to the group of mainly German émigré intellectuals including the likes of Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse – did indeed launch a distinctive critique of post-war capitalism that put cultural issues front and centre. This talk assesses the emergence and the legacy of those critiques. Lecture by Dr Tim Black, books and essays editor at Spiked THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORYA half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- Dialectic of Enlightenment, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, 1947 https://amzn.to/3vDk3qL ‘Who’s afraid of Cultural Marxism?’, Tim Black, spiked, 1 April 2019 https://bit.ly/3q4QnBU THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).

Introductory podcast to the series ‘The use and abuse of history’, theme of the boi charity’s event The Academy, held online in April 2021. Our politics is suffused with historical comparisons, and the meaning of key historical events is bitterly contested. How do we relate to history today? How can we learn from the past without reducing it to a series of moral parables? When are historical comparisons useful, and when do they obstruct understanding the present? What stands in the way of us seizing the present and making our own history? Introduction by Dr James Panton, teacher and lecturer in politics, associate professor of philosophy, Open University; co-convenor, The Academy THE ACADEMY ONLINE II: THE USE AND ABUSE OF HISTORYA half day online event via zoom that took place in April 2021. To view the full programme and some suggested background reading to the talks, please visit https://theboi.co.uk/academyonline3 ASSOCIATED READING For this lecture you may wish to read:- What is History by EH Carr, https://amzn.to/3fmUoOm THE ACADEMYIn the context of today’s instrumental approaches to knowledge, The Academy summer school is a modest attempt to demonstrate the value of scholarship, and of the worth of the university as a place of free enquiry dedicated to the pursuit of truth. DONATING TO THE BOI CHARITYThe BOI charity is committed to continuing to host discussion and debates throughout this period when society is restricted by measures to tackle coronavirus. In order to realise events such as the Academy Online, none of our staff are furloughed and instead remain working. If you can, then please consider a donation, small or large. Visit: https://theboi.co.uk/donate IDEAS MATTER PODCASTIdeas Matter is a podcast that takes the most important issues of our times and explores the ideas and intellectual trends that have shaped where we are today. You can subscribe and listen to Ideas Matter on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify or SoundCloud. For full details of all episodes, visit the podcast page on our website Keep up-to-date with Ideas Matter and all the initiatives organised by the Battle of Ideas charity by following us on Twitter (@theboi_uk) and on Facebook (battleofideas).