Rethink

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Professor Ben Ansell asks some of the world's sharpest minds about the latest thinking, and what it might mean for policy and society.

  1. 15 HR AGO

    Rethink... authenticity

    As generative AI and Deepfake technology has progressed over the last decade, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's never been more difficult to try to work out what is authentic and what is fake. The search for authenticity is not new. It's a task that's challenged humanity for hundreds of years. Forgers have always tried to pass off copies as great artworks, but it's not always clear when an artist was responsible for an entire painting or farmed out parts of the job to apprentices. A few well-known modern artists outsource all of the construction and manufacture of some of their works to skilled craftsmen and women. Although the idea is theirs, does that make the final product somehow less than the genuine article? Idiosyncrasies, perceived flaws or personal flourishes are often key indicators that show an image is authentic. We use those same tell-tale signs to judge the authenticity of another type of image: the one that politicians want to portray. How important is it to be a politician who is seen as authentic by voters? How can we measure political authenticity? If someone is carefully crafting their image on social media, how real is it? And even if it is fake, do voters care, if they have been seduced by the illusion? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editors: Lisa Baxter and Nick Holland Contributors: Estelle Lovatt, FRSA. Art Critic, Writer and Lecturer. Lone Sorensen, Associate Professor of Political Communication, University of Leeds Nick Clarke, Professor of Political Geography, University of Southampton Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology, at the City University of New York. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  2. 29 JAN

    Rethink... the promise of AI

    In 2023, ChatGPT took Artificial Intelligence into the mainstream. Now there's a bewildering choice of human-like chatbots to choose from. Generative AIs can produce pictures and video from a text prompt, and many websites and apps are now labelled "Powered by AI". This new technology can do lots of things and tech companies have raised vast amounts of money from investors based on its potential. But what is AI actually for? Certain specialised AIs have a clear purpose. AlphaFold2 can predict how proteins fold-up and won its creators the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and Google Translate is an AI with a purpose that’s clear from its name. But so far there is no must-have or "killer" application for the Large Language Models and Generative AIs. The future of AI is equally hazy. Will AI somehow lead to all-purpose "Artificial General Intelligence", autonomous robots or even machine consciousness? Or is this all just the stuff of fantasy and nightmares? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Mike Wooldridge, the Ashall Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford. Rosalind Picard, Grover M. Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. Ethan Mollick, Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and AI researcher. Pip Finkemeyer, author of "One Story" and software designer and researcher. Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology at the City University of New York. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  3. 22 JAN

    Rethink... regeneration

    The government has launched the Pride in Place scheme but is it possible to regenerate urban areas without leaving local people out? Most buildings have a certain shelf life before they need renovating. Social norms change and the ways people interact develop as society transforms with time. And local economies can change dramatically with once prosperous industrial areas falling silent, or tourist hot spots left behind by low-cost air travel. But is it possible to do this without being accused of gentrification? Swanky new buildings are introduced attracting people with money, house prices go up, expensive shops and cafes open up and before you know it, local people are priced out of the area. So are there ways to improve urban areas without leaving local residents behind? How much should any regeneration project acknowledge and honour local history? Isn’t attracting new people, with new ideas and new businesses a vital part of any regeneration project? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Dr Eilis Lawlor, Director of the research institute Just Economics. Patrick Murray, Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs, the Northern Housing Consortium. Wayne Hemingway, designer. Martha Grekos, Barrister who specialises in planning and environmental law. Paul Chatterton, Professor of Urban Futures in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  4. 21 JAN

    Rethink...middle age

    People are living longer and delaying life's milestone moments. How does this affect our middle years and should we be paying more attention to people in this phase of their lives? For some, middle age can be a very challenging period in their lives. Today, people are postponing the milestones in life that traditionally signified a change in priorities. People are having children later in life meaning parents in their 40s or even 50s are looking after small children. Jobs for life no longer exist and housing is so expensive that many have no choice but to pay costly rents. All of these phenomena have given rise to the so called “sandwich Generation” – simultaneously looking after children but also elderly parents. Many experience multiple roles- worker, parent, carer, spouse and friend – and juggling the demands of all of those roles can lead to burnout. Academic literature on happiness has until recently suggested that our satisfaction with life as we age is hump shaped. When we're young, we're happy — and then that declines, bottoming out in middle age. As we pass middle age and get older, we get happier again. But is that still the case? Is mid-life a uniquely unhappy place to be? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Ben Akers - Co-founder and co-CEO of Talk Club David Blanchflower - Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire Jane Green - Professor of Political Science and British Politics at the University of Oxford Andrew G Marshall - Marital therapist, communications trainer and author Les Mayhew - Professor of statistics at Bayes Business School, City University, London Kate Muir - Journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  5. 02/10/2025

    Rethink... nightlife

    The Night Times Industries Association says one in four venues have shut down since 2020, and the sector will face an irreversible decline unless the government provides urgent support. The industry was one of the worst hit during the pandemic, and it's asking for cuts to National Insurance, a permanent cut in VAT and a reform of business rates to help it keep afloat. The NTIA claims the night time economy contributes more than £153 billion to the UK economy and supports over 2 million jobs. Culturally, the sector punches above its weight. The nightclub boom in the last 50 years gave us disco, acid house, drum and bass and grime, as well as many other sub-genres of music. But nightclubs are expensive and consumers are finding their thrills elsewhere; drink is cheaper from supermarkets, and why search for someone you fancy on the dancefloor when you can use a dating app? And as nightclubs struggle, so do small music venues, where artists like Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys Blur and Oasis started out, as well as many others. People are willing to pay hundreds of pounds to see those same artists in giant venues like Co-op Live in Manchester or at Wembley Stadium, so what can be done to make sure the next wave of new artists have somewhere to play? Should the government intervene? Should big venues subsidise smaller ones, or is it up to fans to throw them a lifeline? Or has nightlife in its current form - much like variety music halls - taken its last curtain call? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Michael Kill - CEO, Night Time Industries Association Fat Tony - DJ Steve Lamacq - BBC 6 Music DJ and Patron of the Music Venues Trust Richard Simm - Co-owner, The Forum Tunbridge Wells Jane Darougar - Psychotherapist and counselor at the Central St Martins University, London

    28 min

  6. 25/09/2025

    Rethink... winners and losers

    Do you agree with either of these statements? Illegal migrants come here and are a burden on services and the taxpayer. OR The only way to reduce inequality is to tax billionaires and giant companies who avoid tax. They may seem on opposite poles of the political spectrum, but both anti-migrant campaigners and anti-capitalists share an identical mindset. Both are demonstrating zero-sum thinking; the belief that if one group wins, another has to lose. In itself, zero-sum thinking isn't moral or immoral, right or wrong. But Economists claim it leads to poor economic policy, and they say evidence shows it is possible to create win-win situations for everyone. But many of the main parties at Westminster also use zero-sum thinking in their political rhetoric - from Reform and the Greens, to the Conservatives and Labour. Also, the first past the post electoral system is literally a zero-sum process. So is this kind of thinking baked-into UK politics? So are there particular groups of people that are more prone to zero-sum beliefs? Where did this mindset come from? What economic conditions encourage zero-sum thinking, and how deeply are these beliefs held? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Richard Vadon Contributors: Stefanie Stantcheva, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard and founder and director of the Social Economics Lab. Dr Patricia Andrews Fearon, behavioural science researcher at social impact accelerator The Agency Fund, and Stanford University. Her research on zero-sum mindsets began during her doctoral studies at Cambridge, where she was a Gates Scholar. Dr Parth Patel, Associate director for democracy & politics at the Institute of Public Policy and Research Iain Mansfield, Director of Research and Head of Education and Science at Policy Exchange Cleo Watson, Former Downing Street strategist, adviser to Theresa May and Boris Johnson, author, and presenter of Radio 4's "How to win a campaign"

    28 min

  7. 18/09/2025

    Rethink: should we stop flying?

    Aviation is far more difficult to decarbonise than other sectors of the economy, because kerosene is the perfect fuel for planes. It produces enough power to enable planes to fly, yet it is light enough for them to get off the ground and cross the world. Alternatives are thin on the ground; batteries are too heavy, clean hydrogen power is in its infancy, while Sustainable Aviation Fuel - or SAF - is expensive and in short supply. Although the Government has a "SAF-mandate", only 22% of all jet fuel supplied by 2040 will have to be sustainable. New airliners are more fuel-efficient than ever before, and both routes and air-traffic control are being optimised. But if growth outpaces efficiencies, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise. And passenger demand is back at pre-pandemic levels. In 2024 the UK was the third largest market in the world for flights. In the absence of any immediate solution, should we fly less, if at all? How realistic and affordable are slower alternatives like the train? Could passengers be penalised for taking more than one return flight a year? And should the Government rather than individuals be taking responsibility for change? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy in the School of Engineering at the University of Manchester. Dr Roger Tyers, UK Aviation specialist at Transport & Environment Yannick van den Berg, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam Law School Tom Nevitt, project manager of Climate Perks Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive, Sustainable Aviation Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University

    29 min

  8. 11/09/2025

    Rethink: how can flying be less polluting?

    Aviation has a problem: it's reliant on fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases when they're burned in a jet engine. Other industries are worse polluters, but in the next few decades, they are likely to decarbonise much faster than the airline sector. Why? Because kerosene is a light enough fuel for planes to get off the ground, while producing enough thrust for them to do so. Also it enables airliners to carry passengers to the other side of the world. International flight has only been around for less than 100 years, but research suggests that it's responsible for 4% of total global warming to date. It's not just that airliners pump out carbon dioxide, but they also emit nitrous oxides and soot. Even contrails, which are mostly water vapour, have a warming effect high up in the atmosphere. Can efficiencies in jet engines, optimal routes and air traffic control lead to less fuel being used? What technologies are available to make flying cleaner? Is the pace of change fast enough to meet net zero by 2050? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: David Lee, Professor of Atmospheric Science and Director of the Centre for Aviation, Transport and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University. Dr Mark Bentall, Head of the Research and Technology Programme, Airbus Dr Naomi Allen, Head of Research at the Royal Aeronautical Society, Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy in the School of Engineering at the University of Manchester. Duncan McCourt, Chief Executive, Sustainable Aviation Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University

    28 min
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About

Professor Ben Ansell asks some of the world's sharpest minds about the latest thinking, and what it might mean for policy and society.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Sounds
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    109
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    Rethink

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