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 thinke
Why is liberal democracy losing public confidence—and what would it take to renew it? Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu joins Financial Times chief economics commentator Martin Wolf to discuss. Liberalism offered a glittering promise of shared prosperity, equality, democratic values and the free pursuit of knowledge. Once a tantalising beacon of hope, today it has begun to erode and decay at the hands of elitism, intolerance and rising autocracy. One of the world’s most influential economists, Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu sits down with Martin Wolf to chart the rise and fall of…
From an early age we learn to stop asking questions, judged and rewarded for the answers we give, not the questions we ask. In this episode, Lani Watson traces the hidden life of the question – from school, to therapy, to dating. Drawing on research across psychology, philosophy and neuroscience, Lani explains why we start questioning long before we can speak, how the act of asking fires up the brain's reward systems and primes us to learn, and why questions, and who gets to ask them, are never neutral. In a world rushing towards answers, Lani Watson shows us how deeply questions matter, and…
David Duchovny has spent three decades refusing to stay in one lane. Two-time Golden Globe winner, four-time Emmy nominee, New York Times bestselling novelist, musician with three studio albums, filmmaker whose directorial debut premiered at Tribeca: the range is, by any measure, unusual. What connects it all is a preoccupation with the things that resist easy articulation. Grief, fathers, time, the self we can’t quite catch. David sits down with acclaimed actress, author, and musician Gina Gershon for a wide-ranging conversation that touches on poetry, acting, and the creative process.…
This week we have a guest appearance from our friends at John Murray, who have curated a curated a collection of some of the best historians, memoirists, academics, critics and national treasures publishing on their 2026 non-fiction list to introduce and share clips from their current and upcoming books. You’ll find some recognisable names and be introduced to some new voices. Listen to Miriam Margolyes on Britain, Graham Farmelo on the life of Stephen Hawking, Reece Sheersmith on the supernatural, Amy Jeffs on King Arthur and much more. Join us live! How To Academy hosts world-renowned…
In this episode, Louisa Young joins journalist and editor Natasha Poliszczuk to discuss the making of The Golden Hours, the sixth Cazalet novel. Louisa explains what it takes to inherit half a million words and fifty-five characters, why some of them had unfinished business she felt compelled to go back for, and how to write the sixties as they actually arrived. She will also discuss the rapid decline of the English upper middle class and the social observations that make the Cazalet Chronicles so beloved. Join us for a fascinating look at what it means to be trusted with a world somebody…
Having worked with top athletes and sportspeople, leading tech and finance corporations, and the World Health Organisation, Ben Crowe is one of the world's most in-demand mindset coaches. In this episode of the podcast, he reveals simple-yet-profound perspective shifts that will change the way you see the world and yourself. Showing how these perspective shifts are relevant to everyone, Ben demonstrates how self-compassion, imagination and appreciation can turn adversity into possibility, remove pressure and help us find that elusive balance between confidence and happiness, achievement and…
The central figure of the New Weird, an unofficial movement fusing science fiction, fantasy, and horror with a literary sensibility, China Mieville is equally known for his award-winning, internationally bestselling novels, which include Perdido Street Station, The City and the City and The Last Days of New Paris, and his work as activist, historian, and scholar of the Marxist Left. He joins us for a (mostly) spoiler-free conversation unveiling his most ambitious work of fiction to date. A heady brew of literary fiction, military and espionage adventure stories, horror, post-colonial magical…
A scholar, author, artist, and musician, Amy Jeffs is a polymath of British mythology, bringing the greatest stories of the Middle Ages to life in extraordinary books including Storyland, Wild, and Old Songs. She returns to the podcast to share a new life of King Arthur -- drawn not from Mallory's Morte d'Arthur, as most modern adaptations of his story are, but from older, darker, stranger, and more magical sources. This is a story you have never heard before: of a warlord and Roman Emperor, raised by fairies to conquer much of the known world. Join us live! How To Academy hosts…
Zahra Joya grew up under the first Taliban regime, when girls were banned from school. For years she dressed as a boy to access the basic rights denied to her. She became a journalist in Kabul, and founded a news organisation reporting on the lives of Afghan women. In 2021, when the Taliban took over power once again, she was forced to flee the country. In this episode of the podcast, Zahra discusses her experience of growing up under Taliban rule, the US-led war, their withdrawl in 2021, and the world's decision to look away in the wake of the Taliban's return to power. Zahra reflects on…
When Kimon de Greef began an investigation into the smuggling of white sage, a Californian herb popular in the wellness movement, he could not have foreseen that the story would lead him into the dark heart of the psychedelic renaissance and one of its most prominent advocates, Dr. Octavio Rettig: a Mexican physician dedicated to spreading the practice of smoking the secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad. The experience promises extraordinary relief for those suffering from PTSD, depression and drug addiction - but can also be fatal... Join us for a story of cults, cartels, and corporations…
What if the present moment – the ‘now’– isn’t just a tick of the clock? We feel that the present is everything; all we can know, yet physics finds no universal 'now'. So where does that leave us – and what is the 'now' we experience? Science journalist Jo Marchant draws on state-of-the-art discoveries in neuroscience, psychology, cosmology and quantum physics, to show how we each carve out our lived experience – sensations and emotions, actions and decisions – through our interactions with the world. Join us to explore how this evolving, interconnected tapestry is the source of our lives and…
“People have lost hope that peace is possible. Talking about peace seems too vulnerable, too naïve, too dangerous. We have resigned ourselves to this unending war as the only way forward. But we have tried this. We have tried war. The only war that is won is one that leads to peace.” On paper, Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah should not be friends. Aziz's brother was killed by Israeli forces. Maoz lost both his parents in the 7 October 2023 attacks. And yet these two lifelong peace activists have embarked on a searing journey to understand this holy, bloodstained land and explore each other’s…
As conspiracy theories, political polarisation and the blurred boundaries between truth and misinformation continue to shape our public life, Naomi Klein's prize-winning book Doppleganger (2023) feels more relevant than ever before. In this fascinating episode of the podcast, Naomi joins journalist Moya Lothian-McLean to explore the strange world of far-right conspiracy theories, wellness influencers and online radicalisation. What can following her own doppelganger into this mirror world teach us about our increasingly polarised politics, and how can escape this collective vertigo and get…
In an age of uncertainty, renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari joins Ritula Shah to make sense of a world in crisis and help us better understand the perils we face. In this episode of the podcast, bestselling author of Sapiens and Nexus Yuval Noah Harari joins Ritula Shah to explore the forces shaping our uncertain future: from the rise of AI and the changing nature of information, to nationalism, democracy and the question of what remains within our control. In a world increasingly difficult to predict, how can we make sense of where we are heading? Join us live! How To Academy hosts…
Cambridge Professor Mary Beard has done more than anyone to bring the world of ancient Rome to life again. Comedian David Mitchell once studied history and won’t let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything. In this special episode of the podcast, they join forces to tell the epic story of our rulers – from the emperors who ruled Britannia under the Roman occupation to the kings and queens who succeeded them and created England as we know it today. Join us live! How To Academy hosts world-renowned artists, thinkers, and leaders live on stage across the UK and USA. Find out who’s…
After experiencing multiple miscarriages and the societal shame that comes with it, recently married Alejandra fakes a pregnancy. What starts as an elaborate lie turns into a complex charade that threatens to upend her life and relationship, and ultimately unleashes a media scandal that shakes the entire country. In this episode of the podcast, Oscar nominated documentary filmmaker Maite Alberdi will offer a uniquely intimate look at the incident through the words of those who lived it, examining the crushing weight of societal expectations, the elusive nature of truth, and the enduring…
Today's computer scientists play the same role as the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages. Modern predictions not only advise on war, crop output, and marriages, algorithms and statisticians now determine whether we can get a loan, a job, an apartment, or an organ transplant. And when we cede ground to these predictions, we lose control of our own lives. In this powerful reassessment of the ways prediction shapes our everyday lives, Oxford professor Carissa Véliz will explain how putting too much stock in others' predictions makes us vulnerable to charlatans,…
Today, in our clock-bound, screen-immersed world, most of us rely on machines to mark the hours. Past generations, however, would tell time by shadows shrinking, the midday glow over a mountaintop, the crowing of the rooster in the darkness. They noticed the flowers that close at noon, sensed how the quality of light changes at dusk, and marked time at night by the motion of the stars. Artist and educator Cathy Haynes uncovers the patterns that once shaped the rhythm of our days, showing us how devoting an evening to tracing the stars might help us savour the fullness of the moment, how…
Frank Miller transformed the way comics are told and reshaped popular culture in America and the world. In this episode of the podcast, we’ll hear about his struggles as a fresh faced seventeen year-old kid in seedy 1970s New York and his transformation of Batman from a childish has-been into the gritty, noirish hero we love. We’ll head to Hollywood, hear about how the Sin City comics became a blockbuster movie, and find out what he's working on next. In conversation with fellow comics legend and horror novelist, Joe Hill, Frank will share insights into his artistic process, offering lessons…
Rising from provincial obscurity to the highest elected office in Rome, Cicero became the greatest orator of his age. Yet Cicero was far more than a master of rhetoric. His long and turbulent life unfolded alongside the collapse of the Roman Republic. Catharine Edwards, one of the world’s foremost experts on Roman history, joins bestselling novelist Robert Harris to trace the many facets of Cicero’s life and legacy – his phenomenal oratory, his political ambitions, his philosophical undertakings, and his ultimate demise. Together, they explore how his uneasy response to the rise of…
In the midst of a world in upheaval, Erdoğan has remade Turkey in his own image. Once a shining portal that straddled East and West, Istanbul's streets now teem with nationalistic fervour, political repression and rampant corruption. In the old Ottoman neighbourhood of Karagumruk, journalist Suzy Hansen goes looking for the truth about modern Turkey. In this episode of the podcast, Suzy will show how– through the lives of local inhabitants– conflicts are spiralling into regional crises, deepening the fault lines now fracturing Europe and the Middle East. Join us for an eye-opening account of…
America’s most celebrated living classicist, Daniel Mendelsohn’s new translation of Homer’s Odyssey has been universally acclaimed as the greatest and most authentic ever to appear in English; capturing both the music and archaic grandeur of Homer while bringing to vivid life the gripping adventure, profound human insight, and powerful themes that ensure this epic poem will continue to be celebrated and loved as one of the greatest works of culture for as long as there are humans alive to hear it. As Christopher Nolan’s new film guarantees a surge of new excitement to this timeless tale of…
Beliefs change how we see the world, how we experience suffering, and change what we are able to achieve. The defining characteristics of people who achieve their goals are persistence and the belief that they are capable of reaching what they set out to do. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and unforgettable case studies, behavioural expert Nir Eyal reveals how the hidden assumptions we carry shape what we see, how we feel, and what we do—and how to replace them with beliefs that expand what’s possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Over the course of a fifty-year career, Sir Roger Deakins has proven to be the greatest artist and visionary that the craft of cinematography has ever known. In conversation with James Ellis Deakins and George MacKay, Roger shares the stories behind crafting some of the most iconic and beloved films of all time, from 1917 to No Country For Old Men. From the uniting nature of the film set to the artistic process encompassing conception and technical craft, Roger illuminates the enduring power of cinematography and shares his creative vision from behind the lens. Learn more about your ad…
We associate the Romans with majesty and greatness: we marvel at their straight roads and innovative underfloor heating, at the dominance of their army and navy, at the grandeur of their palaces and temples. But the Romans were also enslavers. Acclaimed historian Emma Southon reveals why we have long perpetuated such a limited view of Roman history, one that has effectively erased slaves and their humanity. In this groundbreaking exploration spanning the Empire's homes, theatres and circuses, its fields, markets, and roads, Emma challenges us to take away a more human image of the Roman…
Video games are far more than an entertainment product: they connect people across the globe, creating digital communities capable of shaping reality. And bad actors across the world are keenly aware of their power. Saudi Arabia is spending tens of billions of dollars acquiring video games businesses to wash its reputation. Russia has funded video game development to help spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine. Steve Bannon utilised tactics deployed by online video game communities to propel Donald Trump into the White House. In this episode of the podcast, industry insider George…
How can we find our own direction and purpose in a world of endless possibilities? When life feels too much, is it possible to free ourselves from the concerns that weigh us down? Psychotherapist and psychologist Emmy van Deurzen looks to philosophy to offer a guide to the everyday challenges of living, providing a lifeline for rebuilding trust in the world through existentialism. In this illuminating conversation, Emmy will invite you to step back and discover what really matters. By considering each of the four key aspects of our experience: physical, social, personal and spiritual, Emmy…
Neither Bill Browder, a hedge fund manager, nor Jamison Firestone, a corporate lawyer ever intended to become activists fighting the Russian government. Both were building businesses in Moscow, great believers in Russia, and had front-row seats as Russia’s nascent disorderly democracy gave way to Putin’s initially stable but ultimately corrupt dictatorship. Bill’s Hermitage Capital was the largest foreign portfolio investor in post-Soviet Russia; Jamison was the founder of the country’s first independent foreign law firm. In the Yeltsin years when Bill launched his investment fund, Jamison…
How did a country go from joining the Common Market in 1973, only to leave the European Union in an explosive referendum a little over forty years later? Acclaimed political writer Tom McTague chronicles the battle of ideas, events, and personalities that led to the decision which shocked the nation. Drawing on unpublished sources and exclusive interviews, Tom will unearth the roots of ideological conflict that raged between the leading politicians of the twentieth century as they fought for the future of Europe – Charles de Gaulle, Harold Macmillan, Jean Monnet, Enoch Powell and Margaret…
Thrust onto the public stage at just fifteen years old after the Taliban’s brutal attack on her life, Malala quickly became an international icon — but away from the cameras and crowds, she was a young woman struggling to find her place in a world that was telling her the role she had to play. She joins Pandora Sykes to share her extraordinary story: not the one you think you know, but the one she has been waiting to tell. From transformative friendships and first love, to courage, fear, and her enduring commitment to education for girls around the world, Malala reveals an honest and deeply…
About How To Academy Podcast
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 thinke
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