Better Human Podcast Adam Wagner

The modern human rights system emerged from the flames of the Holocaust. Professor Philippe Sands QC has done as much as anyone to tell that story through the prism of his own tragic family history. In this discussion, recorded live at an even organised by Tzedek, we discuss how Philippe's wonderful book East West Street came to be written, why the lessons of the 1940s are still fundamentally important today and what we can do to honour them as living memory of the Holocaust disappears. 

Are algorithms controlling our thoughts? Does Facebook resemble a totalitarian state? How can we stop political parties exploiting our innermost thoughts? International human rights barrister Susie Alegre and I discuss why the human right to freedom of thought might be the most useful prism through which to answer these questions. An absolutely fascinating discussion which gets to the heart of some of the most important issues involving the fast evolving technology which we all use but barely understand. As always, more information at patreon.com/betterhuman

The climate emergency is a human rights emergency. As global temperatures rise, along with sea levels, there is likely to be a profound effect on people's access to their basic needs such as food, water and clean air. In this week's episode, I speak to Molly Lipson and Tobias Garnett from Extinction Rebellion and Keina Yoshida, barrister and expert on human rights and the environment, about how the human rights and environmental activist worlds overlap and sometimes collide. More info on patreon.com/betterhuman

Professor Francesca Klug OBE and Jonathan Cooper OBE relate the fascinating inside story of how the UK passed its first modern bill of rights: the Human Rights Act 1998. In our current times of division it is inspiring to hear how cross-ideological consensus was built and practical solutions found to seemingly impossible problems. This was an amazing discussion and timely given the Conservative Party's commitment to "update" the Human Rights Act.

Will the Human Rights Act survive the next government? What other human rights issues are in the party manifestos? A conversation with Natasha Holcroft-Emmes. We have tried to pick out some of the main points from the manifestos but inevitably there is so much which could impact on human rights that the review is not comprehensive, but hopefully helpful for those considering who to vote for.

The UK has a dark and dangerous constitution...  this episode is about how Brexit shows it's finally time to write it down. The mismanaged referendum, an attempt by a Prime Minister to shut down Parliament to avoid scrutiny and the continued efforts to water down fundamental rights are all reasons, in my view, for working towards a written constitution. This was recorded at a lecture I gave to the Pembroke College Cambridge Politics Society. As always, you can find out more at www.patreon.com/betterhuman