How To Academy Podcast

How To Academy

How To Academy is London's home of big thinking. From Nobel laureates to Pulitzer Prize winners, we invite the world’s most influential voices to share new ideas for changing ourselves, our communities, and the world. Our biweekly podcast is your chance to hear in-depth from the most exciting thinkers in global culture.

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20 episodes
Updated Tuesday

Episodes20

Newest first

Tuesday · 1 hr 6 min
Catharine Edwards - The Life of Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic
Renowned historian Catharine Edwards joins bestselling novelist Robert Harris to illuminate the extraordinary life and mind of Cicero, and the ultimate fall of the Roman Republic.
July 31 · 44 min
Suzy Hansen – Turkey in the Age of Erdoğan
Pulitzer finalist Suzy Hansen chronicles the age of authoritarianism in Turkey — through an intimate portrait of its people.
July 28 · 1 hr 12 min
Daniel Mendelsohn – Translating Homer's Odyssey
Editor-at-Large of The New York Review of Books and an award-winning, bestselling classicist, Daniel Mendelsohn reflects on the resonance of the Odyssey after twenty-eight centuries.
July 24 · 1 hr 3 min
Nir Eyal - The Science-Backed Way to Stop Limiting Yourself
Stanford’s Nir Eyal reveals a pragmatic, science-backed guide to dismantling the hidden beliefs that hold us back.
July 21 · 1 hr 17 min
Sir Roger Deakins – Reflections of a Cinematographer
Widely celebrated as the greatest cinematographer of all-time, Roger Deakins shot The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, Skyfall and 1917. He shares stories from a remarkable life in cinema.
July 17 · 1 hr
Emma Southon - How Slavery Made the Roman Empire
Acclaimed historian Emma Southon uncovers the groundbreaking truth of the millions of forgotten enslaved people who built the Roman Empire.
July 14 · 47 min
George Osborn — Video Games, Politics, and the Battle for Influence
Video games are the world's most popular form of entertainment—and authoritarian governments have been quicker to take advantage of their reach than liberal democracies. George Osborn asks what we can do about it.
July 9 · 1 hr 6 min
Therapist Emmy van Deurzen – The Philosopher’s Guide to Everyday Existence
Pioneering therapist Emmy van Deurzen looks to existential philosophy to reframe the way we understand ourselves and our relationships.
July 7 · 1 hr 15 min
Bill Browder and Jamison Firestone: Chaos and Murder in Putin's Russia
When their lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was assassinated for exposing the largest tax theft in Russian history, Bill Browder and Jamison Firestone began a global battle against Putin’s mafia state.
June 30 · 57 min
Tom McTague – Britain in Europe: The Hidden History of a Revolution
Editor-in-Chief of The New Statesman Tom McTague offers a definitive history of Britain’s tumultuous relationship with Europe as it’s never been told before.
June 26 · 1 hr 19 min
Malala Yousafzai - Finding My Way
How do you rebuild yourself when your world changes overnight? The youngest ever Nobel laureate joins Pandora Sykes with an intimate and vulnerable look at her life as a young woman.
June 23 · 55 min
Antonia Senior – The Cambridge Five and the Making of The Soviet Empire
Journalist, novelist and historian Antonia Senior offers a radical new look at how five people allowed an ideological obsession to overshadow loyalty to their country.
June 23 · 44 min
M. John Harrison - The End of Everything
In his new novel The End of Everything, the grandmaster of speculative fiction confronts the limits of human understanding.
June 16 · 1 hr 1 min
Mark Williamson – How To Live a Happier Life
‘Happiness Engineer’ Mark Williamson offers a refreshing guide to find meaning, make a difference, and make life happy.
June 13 · 1 hr 15 min
Carol Cadwalladr Meets Karen Hao - Sam Altman, ChatGPT, and the Global Resistance
Karen Hao joins The Nerve's Carole Cadwalladr for an eye-watering insider account of Sam Altman’s Open AI and the burgeoning resistance against it. When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, what do we really have to be afraid of? When long-time AI expert and award-winning journalist Karen Hao began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, it was meant, its leader Sam Altman told us, to act as a check against more purely market forces. But the mask quickly fell. She witnessed the company’s meteoric rise first-hand, and as the company came to abandon its founding principles, she sounded the alarm about the sinister impact the company and the wider industry is having on society. As Artificial Intelligence becomes a common enemy, creatives, protesters, labourers, and researchers across the world are fighting back; and Karen is at the heart of documenting this burgeoning global movement. An unmissable listen for anyone concerned with the seismic impacts of this new technology and the motives of the people who make it. This episode is presented in partnership with The Nerve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 9 · 37 min
Novelist Elodie Harper – Boudicca's Daughter
Boudicca. Infamous warrior queen of the British Iceni tribe and leader of one of history's greatest revolts. But what of the daughters who grew up in her shadow? In her latest historical fiction, Elodie Harper imagines their story.
June 5 · 1 hr 2 min
Caroline Sylge – How To Retreat
Caroline Sylge reminds us to press pause on the daily overwhelm of modern life by bringing the magic and solace of retreating into your every day. What comes into your mind when you hear the word 'retreat'? Meditation at a mountain monastery, or a trip to far-flung places? While ‘retreats’ can be misconceived as expensive, time-consuming or inaccessible, Caroline Sylge shows us that they don’t have to be. Whether it's for a long weekend, a day, or even an hour, Caroline will help you retreat whoever you are, and whatever your budget or schedule. In this practical guide, Caroline will offer realistic activities to bring the magic of retreating into your life, including how to create a retreat space, and how to retreat with friends and family as well as alone. Using the seasons as an optional guide, Caroline will take us through a range of activities to help you find and sustain a happier version of yourself. From decluttering, to coaching your own life, from finding your flow, to learning how to say no, Caroline will enable you to restore, repair and rejuvenate. Whether you are managing stress and overwhelm, in need of a life change, want to kickstart your creativity or find deep rest and sanctuary, join us for a guide to reconnecting with yourself in sustainable and meaningful ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
June 2 · 30 min
Novelist Erica Wagner - Washington Roebling and the Art of Life Writing
Washington Roebling built one of the wonders of the industrial age: the Brooklyn Bridge. Erica Wagner takes us inside his psyche.
May 29 · 1 hr 8 min
Neurologist Majid Fotuhi – How To Age-Proof Your Brain
World-renowned neurologist Majid Fotuhi reveals how to prevent and reverse cognitive decline, boost memory, and enhance mental sharpness at any age.
May 26 · 1 hr 18 min
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris - On Birds, Wonder, and Loss
The creators of The Lost Words Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris illuminate the splendours of birdlife, and share an impassioned call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky.