Public ideas, recorded in the room.
RSA Events turns live public talks into thoughtful audio on urgent civic and cultural questions. Its episodes pair formal introductions with searching conversations about art, feminism, disinformation, AI, environmental security, and later life.
PRESS PLAY
RSA Events is a live-event podcast built around public thought rather than casual conversation. It records talks, panels, screenings, and staged interviews from the RSA orbit, often beginning with the room, the partner institutions, and the reason the gathering matters. The tone is composed. The subject matter is wide. Recent episodes consider the future of ballet and opera, the cultural role of art, Chornobyl's legacy, AI and consciousness, global feminism, disinformation, ageing, and how creative thinking might help people face uncertain times. The series treats culture as civic infrastructure. A conversation about the Royal Ballet and Opera becomes a question about relevance, access, and survival for old art forms. A discussion of Chornobyl becomes a warning about environmental security during Russia's war against Ukraine. Feminism is handled through global rights, violence against women, and organizations working across countries. Technology is not reduced to gadgets. In the AI episode, the discussion moves from neurons and machine intelligence to deepfakes, social media, jobs, consciousness, and democracy. The show can be ceremonious, with long introductions and careful acknowledgements. That formality is part of the texture. Listeners hear not only the argument, but the public setting that gives the argument weight. The guests and moderators tend to speak in institutional, cultural, or activist registers, so the series rewards patience more than skimming. It is not a hot-take feed. It is a civic listening room. The best episodes connect an urgent issue to a broader moral or social frame, then let specialists, campaigners, artists, and public figures test the question in front of an audience. Sensitive subjects appear, including self-harm in an opera screening, violence against women, war, nuclear risk, political conflict, and disinformation. The editorial center remains serious but accessible. RSA Events suits listeners who want public ideas with ceremony, evidence, and a sense of responsibility.
Made for: For listeners who prefer serious public conversation about culture, democracy, technology, rights, and social change. It especially suits people who enjoy lectures, panels, civic institutions, and thoughtful long-form context.
What sets it apart: Unlike studio interview shows, RSA Events keeps the live public setting intact: introductions, institutional context, audience energy, and the formal weight of the room. The result feels closer to attending a civic forum than overhearing a chat.
World-changing ideas. For free. For everyone.Featuring the world’s most exciting public thinkers, innovators and changemakers, RSA talks bring people and ideas together to shape a better future for all.
A live hall becomes your crash course in wildfire, AI consciousness and the future of reading.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A public debate that treats AI as a question about minds, labor, and democracy.
The conversation frames AI less as a gadget than as a test of how minds work. David Malone presses Professor Suri on whether intelligence can emerge from simple wiring, and the discussion ranges from motivation and teaching to job loss, deep fakes, and the claim that AI paired…
A conversation about Bradford that treats culture as civic work.
Saima's conversation with Andy Haldane moves from books, fairy tales, and fantasy to the Bradford Literature Festival, then into the practical work of bringing children, parents, and young people into the room.
A clear, vivid discussion of fire, fossil-fuel dependence, and the limits of control.
Fire sits at the center of this RSA Events conversation, as Gaia Vince brings John Valiant into a focused discussion of Fire Weather. What emerges is a sharp account of a changed relationship: fire, once treated as a tool to be managed, now moves through conditions shaped by…
Career agency for unstable times.
Author John Vaillant discusses his book 'Fire Weather,' which examines the catastrophic 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
This episode examines Russia's war in Ukraine as a lens for discussing global challenges, democracy's fragility, and the need for justice and international solidarity to achieve lasting peace.
This episode introduces a final talk in a series by the RSA Events Podcast, focusing on climate change and the UK's role in climate leadership, marking 10 years since the UN launched the Sustainable Development Goals.
This episode explores the undervaluation of care systems, focusing on gender inequality and the need for policy reform to properly reward care work.
Syima Aslam, founder of Bradford Literature Festival, discusses her personal journey from childhood book loss to creating one of the UK's largest festivals.
Daniel Susskind says schools should “teach both, test both” when preparing children for AI.
At an RSA Events Podcast discussion titled “Yes, there is an alternative,” Jeremy Lent and George Monbiot examine climate breakdown, inequality, authoritarianism, and the economic system they say drives extraction and exploitation.
RSA Events hosts Lee Child, Dreda, and Karen Napier in a discussion about declining reading confidence, literacy, and the social value of books.
John Kampfner presents A Braver New World as a search for ten practical ideas from countries including Japan, Taiwan, Canada, and Austria that could transfer to Britain.
This episode features a conversation with Sir Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Ballet and Opera, discussing how classical art forms like ballet and opera can remain relevant in today's changing cultural landscape.
This episode examines the 40-year legacy of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and discusses current challenges to European environmental security posed by Russia's war against Ukraine and the weaponization of nuclear power.
This episode previews a screening of the opera 'Angels on the Underground' and features a panel discussion on art's role in society, hosted by the RSA Events Podcast as part of the Genesis Foundation's 25th anniversary.
This episode features an interview with Prue Leith discussing her book on ageing, exploring topics like shifting priorities, loss, and confidence in later life.
This episode is a panel discussion on global feminism and women's rights, featuring activists and leaders as part of The Circle's International Women's Day series in collaboration with the RSA.
This episode features a panel discussion on how disinformation threatens democracy by spreading falsehoods about climate change, migration, and colonization, with experts exploring solutions and action steps.
AI is an “emergent machine,” but it still lacks the body-driven goals that shape human wanting.
This episode explores how to thrive in uncertain times by thinking like artists, noticing complex truths, and finding new paths at the intersection of ideas and paradoxes.