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 thinkers in global culture.
1
Ian Mortimer - The Time Traveller's Guide to En...
'Historical truffle hound' Ian Mortimer (Sunday Times) finds the most exciting, horrifying, and delightful facts in English history. He joins us to reveal how the country has tranformed from Chaucer's time to the present.
38 min
2
Nish Kumar Meets Jimmy Wales - Trust and the Fu...
Comedian Nish Kumar asks Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: can truth survive the post-truth age?
78 min
3
Jens Stoltenberg - Leading NATO in a Time of War
His decade as Secretary General of NATO was marked by war, diplomatic crises, and hard choices. Now he joins Adam Boulton to share his insights into securing global peace for the future.
76 min
4
Marie Kondo - How to Live
The internationally beloved author and organiser shares new ideas for living wisely and well, drawn from the ancient traditions of Japanese culture.
37 min
5
Award-Winning Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir — On th...
Award-winning filmmaker Annemarie Jacir discusses her latest feature film, Palestine 36 — Palestine’s official entry for the Academy Awards. In Cinemas 31st October.
28 min
6
Philippa Gregory - Jane Boleyn Reimagined
Bestselling novelist and historian Philippa Gregory re-examines one of the Tudor court’s most maligned figures: Jane Boleyn.
29 min
7
Ray Nayler - Why Dystopian Fiction Matters
All systems fail. All societies crumble. All worlds end. Diplomat and novelist Ray Nayler joins us to reveal his extraordinary new speculative thriller Where the Axe is Buried.
43 min
8
Dr Kerry Burnight – A Short Guide to Enjoying a...
America’s most prominent gerontologist, Dr Kerry Burnight, shares a practical, science-based guide to aging well.
59 min
9
Yuval Noah Harari - Making Sense of a World in...
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.
69 min
10
Adam Aleksic - How the Internet is Transforming...
Linguist and content creator Adam Aleksic takes us down a deep dive into how social media has reshaped the way we write and speak—and how it might transform the language of tomorrow.
24 min
11
Robert Macfarlane Meets Elif Shafak – Rivers of...
Robert Macfarlane and Elif Shafak illuminate the life-giving force of rivers, the resilience of storytelling, and our intricate relationship with the natural world.
72 min
12
Corinne Low - What Data Can Tell Us About Women...
Corinne Low blends clear-eyed economics with real-world experience to make life’s biggest choices—career, family, partnership—feel navigable, evidence-based, and genuinely empowering.
57 min
13
Mark Kermode – The Stories of Movie Music
Mark Kermode blends a lifelong love of cinema with backstage craft to make film music—and the way it shapes our lives—feel vivid, human, and delightfully luminous.
61 min
14
Kate Wilson - The Spycops Files
Kate Wilson reveals the story of her relationship with Mark, a fictional character contrived by the Metropolitan Police to spy on her. After twenty years of pursuing the truth and seeking justice, she joins us to unravel a dark reality of state surveillance.
29 min
15
Jay Heinrichs - How Classical Rhetoric Can Chan...
Jay Heinrichs blends timeless rhetorical technique with contemporary pop culture to make changing habits—and hitting goals—feel achievable and even fun.
60 min
16
Philip Hoare - The Revolutionary Genius of Will...
Baillie Gifford Prize-winning author Philip Hoare takes us on a unique journey through William Blake’s exhilarating artistic vision and eccentric genius.
57 min
17
Dr Jenna Macciochi - The Game-Changing Science ...
Immune resilience: what does it mean across a lifetime, and how can we rethink it today?
57 min
18
Marina Warner - Reimagining Sanctuary for a Wor...
Sanctuary: what did this ancient right use to mean, and how might we change the way we understand it today? Historian and mythographer Marina Warner explores the roots of sanctuary, and how we can reimagine this ancient right for our world in need.
55 min
19
Emily Kasriel - The Art of Deep Listening
Why do so many conversations leave us feeling unheard and disconnected? Journalist Emily Kasriel reveals the answer: perhaps it is because we have forgotten how to truly and deeply listen.
61 min
20
Caitlin Moran Meets Alex James - Cocaine, Crash...
Blur’s legendary bassist Alex James shares his heartfelt and hilarious account of being catapulted back into the limelight with Times journalist Caitlin Moran.
64 min
21
Yuval Noah Harari – Humanity in the Age of AI (...
Humanity has always evolved with its technology, but now a new threat looms. Yuval Noah Harari joins us to explore how the rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping humanity as we know it.
87 min
22
Herman Pontzer – The Surprising Science of Huma...
Evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer takes us on a tour through the science of human diversity and evolution, and the intricate interplay between our bodies and our environments.
57 min
23
Dexys' Kevin Rowland - A Life Story
Dexys's Kevin Rowland invites us in for an unvarnished account of his wild rock-n’roll life.
60 min
24
Lara Lewington – How Technology is Rewriting th...
At a time when fear and confusion often dominate our conversations around artificial intelligence, Lara Lewington offers a radically hopeful alternative: technology not as a threat to our humanity, but as a means to extend and enhance it.
60 min
25
Hope Reese - The Dark History of the Angel Make...
The women of Nagyrév are desperate. They're abused by their husbands. In response, their village's midwife asked one question: "Why bother with them?" Her solution was arsenic. Journalist Hope Reese joins us to tell the story.
34 min