The Reith Lectures: Ben Ansell - Our Democratic Future

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Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series.

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The Reith Lectures: Ben Ansell: Our Democratic Future: 1. The Future of Democracy

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1. The Future of Democracy

Ben Ansell: Our Democratic Future

BBC Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures, Ben Ansell: Our Democratic Future, 1. The Future of Democracy

Professor Ben Ansell delivers the first 2023 Reith Lectures on Our Democratic Future.

This year's BBC Reith Lecturer, Ben Ansell, asks how we can make politics work for all of us as we face the challenges of the 21st century, from AI to climate change.

This year's BBC Reith Lecturer is Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford University.  He will deliver four lectures called “Our Democratic Future,”  asking how we can build a politics that works for all of us with systems which are robust to the challenges of the twenty first century, from climate change to artificial intelligence. 

In this first lecture, recorded at New Broadcasting House in London in front of an audience, Professor Ansell asks whether we are in a 'democratic recession', where longstanding democracies are at risk of breakdown and authoritarianism is resurgent.  And he examines how resilient democracies are to the challenges of artificial intelligence, social media and if they can effectively address core challenges from climate change to inequality. 

The Reith Lectures are presented by Anita Anand and produced by Jim Frank. 
The Editor is China Collins.
Reith Co-ordinator is Brenda Brown. 
The series is mixed by Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill.

The Reith Lectures: Ben Ansell: Our Democratic Future

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Professor Ben Ansell asks how we can make politics work for all of us in the 21st century.

Professor Ben Ansell asks how we can make politics work for all of us as we face the challenges of the 21st century, from climate change to artificial intelligence.

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1. The Future of Democracy

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