The Governance Podcast
Episodes
Podcast - Prof Roman Frigg - Prof Roman Frigg
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk How do we make reliable decisions when our scientific models cannot predict outcomes with absolute certainty? In this episode, Our Asso...
Podcast - Knowledge and Expertise in Democratic Politics.
28 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the Governance Podcast Associate Director Sam DeCanio, Dr. Jonny Benson, and Professor Jason Brennan discusses the r...
Podcast - False Prophets of Economics Imperialism: a discussion with Matthew Watson
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of The Governance Podcast, CSGS Director Mark Pennington discusses with Matthew Watson some key themes in Matthew’s n...
Podcast - Liberal Democracy and the Challenge of Anti-Democratic Viewpoints
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the Governance Podcast Mark Pennington discusses with Alasia Nuti the contribution of her new book Politicising Poli...
Podcast - The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the Governance Podcast, CSGS Director Mark Pennington speaks with Dr Samuel Bagg about his recent book - The Dispers...
Podcast: Liberal vs Paternalist Approaches to Economic Development Policy with Prof William Easterly
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the Governance podcast, our Director Mark Pennington speaks to Prof. William Easterly from New York University on li...
Podcast - Estonia and Socialist Reality with Matthew D. Mitchell
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the Governance podcast, our Director Mark Pennington interviews Dr. Matthew Mitchell on the socialist reality in Est...
From Panmure House to State Capitalism: Adam Dixon on the relevance of Adam Smith
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the podcast, Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Prof. Adam Dixon on the contemporary relevance of the Scottish philoso...
The Life and Times of F.A. Hayek: A Conversation with Bruce Caldwell
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk In this episode of the podcast, Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Prof. Bruce Caldwell, one of the co-authors of this recently published...
Podcast: Liberty and Complexity in Liberalism and Conservatism with Dr. Greg Collins
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk Can a moral or divine law independent of contingency accommodate the social and economic complexities of circumstance? Does a defense o...
Podcast: When Law sends the Wrong Message: Understanding What Laws Communicate About ‘Socially Acceptable Behavior’ with Shubhangi Roy
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
About the Talk Lawmakers, activists, and academics, often, presume that enacting a law sends a (powerful) message about what is socially desirable and...
Complexity and the Politics of Regulation: A Discussion with Andrew Haldane
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, Mark Pennington, the Director at the Study of Governance and Society here at King College London, ...
‘Too much’ and ‘too little’ content moderation: Internet governance as a case study in advanced liberal modes of government: In Conversation with Terry Flew
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, Mark Pennington, the Director at the Study of Governance and Society here at King College London, ...
The data that is and that data the isn’t: the pitfalls of using big data: In conversation with Diane Coyle
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, Mark Pennington, the Director at the Study of Governance and Society here at King College London, ...
Politics and Expertise: In Conversation with Zeynep Pamuk
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our ability to act on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from pandemics and climate change to artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons, ...
Use of Algorithms in Society: In Conversation with Cass Sunstein
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, Mark Pennington, the Director at the Study of Governance and Society here at King College London, ...
UK Pensions Crisis and Central Banking: Dr. Steven Klein interviews Prof. Martin Weale
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, Dr. Steven Klein interviews Prof. Martin Weale from the Department of Political Economy at King's ...
Bettering Humanomics: A Conversation with Deirdre McCloskey
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode explores Prof McCloskey’s criticism of the way the discipline of economics has unfortunately been separated from matters of ethics, the...
Cultures of Expertise in Economics: In Conversation with Dr. Danielle Guizzo
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Mark Pennington interviews Dr. Danielle Guizzo from University of Bristol. This episo...
Governing Markets as Knowledge Commons with Dr. Erwin Dekker
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Dr. Erwin Dekker from the Mercatus Center at George ...
Counterfactual History with Niall Ferguson
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Associate Director Dr. Samuel DeCanio interviews historian Niall Ferguson from the Hoover Inst...
Sovereignty and International Law: In Conversation with Carmen Pavel
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Prof. Carmen Pavel from the Department of Political ...
How Neo-Liberal are Contemporary Modes of Governance? In Conversation with Will Davies
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Prof. Will Davies from Goldsmiths, University of Lon...
Culture, Science, and the Predicament of Climate Change: In Conversation with Michael Hulme
08 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington interviews Prof. Michael Hulme from Cambridge University. This ...
Money and the Rule of Law: In Conversation with Daniel Smith
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Assistant Director Dr. Bryan Cheang interviews Prof. Daniel Smith from Middle Tennessee State ...
Understanding and Misunderstanding Governance in Afghanistan: In Conversation with Jennifer Murtazashvili
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington, interviews Prof. Jennifer Murtazashvili from the University of...
Social Movements and Liberal Political Economy: In Conversation with Mikayla Novak
12 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode of the Governance Podcast, our Director Prof. Mark Pennington, interviews Dr Mikayla Novak from the Australian National Univers...
Should Everything Be for Sale? In Conversation with Mark Pennington
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's episode of the Counterintuitive Series on the Governance Podcast, Professor Mark Pennington (King's College London) argues that if not ...
The Bloomington School: beyond the romance of ideologies with Prakash Kashwan
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest issue of the Governance podcast Mark Pennington interviews Prakash Kashwan of the University of Connecticut. The conversation considers ...
Identity Politics as Modern Duelling? In Conversation with Clif Mark
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What can early modern practices of duelling teach us about the contemporary 'culture wars' over identity politics? According to Dr Clif Mark, a lot mo...
Post Truth Politics? In Conversation with Matt Sleat
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
That we live in an era of 'post truth politics' has become a widespread mantra since the shock of the Brexit vote and the 2016 election of Donald Trum...
Universal Basic Income: Free Money for All? In Conversation with Diana Popescu
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Diana Popescu (Department of Political Economy, King's College London) joins the Counterintuitive Series of the Governance Podcast this week to argue ...
The Case for Direct Democracy: In Conversation with Jonathan Benson
14 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Given the upheavals unleashed by the Brexit referendum of 2016, many are now wary of direct democracy. But Jonathan Benson (Utrecht University) argues...
Should the State Recognise Marriage? In Conversation with Clare Chambers
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the first episode of the Counterintuitive Series on the Governance Podcast, Professor Clare Chambers (University of Cambridge) defends the ideal of...
Political Parties And the Health of Democracy: In Conversation with Ian Shapiro
11 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why are political parties important for liberal democracy? Which institutional reforms can alleviate the burdens of globalisation on the working class...
Self-Governance in Public Policy: In Conversation with Simon Kaye
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Join us on this episode of the governance podcast between Simon Kaye and Mark Pennington for a conversation on the impact of Elinor Ostrom's work on p...
Prisons and the Origins of Social Order: In Conversation with David Skarbek
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David Skarbek (Brown University) describes his ethnographic work on prison governance as a historical analogy to the emergence of states. Join us in t...
Poverty, Informality and Politics in India: In Conversation with Tariq Thachil
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Slums are home to 850 million people worldwide, making them prime territory for distributive politics. In this episode of the Governance Podcast, Tari...
Womanhood in Tocqueville's Democracy: In Conversation with Sarah Wilford
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Alexis de Tocqueville argued that American democracy was rooted in associational life. What role did women play in building this capacity for associat...
The Case Against the Sovereign State: In Conversation with David Thunder
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
David Thunder (University of Navarra) argues that many modern political theorists, from Hobbes to Rawls, overstate the importance of state sovereignty...
Socialism and the Future of Heterodox Economics: In Conversation with Geoffrey Hodgson
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Is socialism feasible? What is the future of heterodox economics after the financial crisis? In this episode of the Governance Podcast, Mark Penningto...
Fukuyama on Liberalism, Dignity and Identity: In Conversation with Humeira Iqtidar and Paul Sagar
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Where are the fault lines in the modern liberal project? In this episode of the Governance Podcast, Dr Humeira Iqtidar and Dr Paul Sagar of King's Col...
Migration and Economic Development: In Conversation with Volha Charnysh
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does migration affect economic development? In this episode of the Governance Podcast, Volha Charnysh (MIT) talks to Humeira Iqtidar (King's Colle...
The Politics of Order in Informal Markets: In Conversation with Shelby Grossman
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Social science theories suggest that informal governance thrives when the state is weak. Shelby Grossman of Stanford University argues otherwise. In t...
The Governance of Science: In Conversation with Terence Kealey and David Edgerton
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How does science drive the economy? What are the origins of the creative sector, and how should it be governed? In this episode of the Governance Podc...
How Ideas Govern Public Life: A Conversation with Mark Bevir
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What can we know about the social world, and how much of it can we control? How high are the stakes in the battle between positivism and interpretive ...
Self-Governing Social Orders, Economic Methods and Academic Women
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this special roundtable discussion on the Governance Podcast, we sit down with Jennifer Murtazashvili (Pittsburgh), Liya Palagashvili (SUNY Purchas...
Forms of Domination in the Market: A Conversation with Elizabeth Anderson
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Can employers wield dictatorial power over employees? Join us for a lively discussion between Mark Pennington (King’s College London) and Elizabeth ...
Can We Trust the Polls? A Conversation With Roger Mortimore
29 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode of the Governance Podcast, we're partnering with Andrew Blick of the KCL Centre for British Politics and Government to discuss...
States as Laboratories for Policy Experimentation: In Conversation with Jenna Bednar
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How do states learn how to solve problems? Does federalism create chaos or diffuse conflict in complex societies? Join us for this conversation betwee...
Post-Communism Derailed: A Conversation with Roger Schoenman
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Thirty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, how are post-communist nations changing their relationship with the west? Are right wing populists in ...
What's Behind the London Housing Crisis? In Conversation with John Myers
28 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Urban housing prices are skyrocketing in London and around the globe. What's behind the crisis and how do we fix it? In this episode of the Governance...
Lessons from British Economic History: In Conversation with Gary Cox
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What are the origins of constrained government? How did globalisation influence politics in Victorian Britain, and are there lessons for modern times?...
Radical Solutions to Liberal Problems: In Conversation with Lea Ypi
09 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Modern political life is fraught with difficult choices: cosmopolitanism or statism? Liberalism or socialism? Where do these debates stand and can pol...
What's Wrong With Democracy? A Conversation with Larry Bartels
02 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Larry Bartels and Chris Achen argue that we have a romanticised view of democracy. How is democracy letting us down and what can we do to reverse cour...
Brexit and the British Constitution: In Conversation with Vernon Bogdanor
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How do we interpret the current political moment in Britain? Is Brexit changing Britain’s unwritten constitution? Tune in to our special Brexit edit...
Unipolarity and International Politics: In Conversation with Nuno Monteiro
29 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When does political violence result in stability and order? Does realist international relations theory help us understand war and peace? Will the wor...
The Dark Side of Human Institutions: A Conversation with Sheilagh Ogilvie on the European Guilds
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What role did guilds play in the economic development of Europe? Why do bad institutions persist throughout history? Join us for this conversation bet...
Morality in Bureaucracy: In Conversation with Bernardo Zacka
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What do the working conditions of street-level bureaucrats tell us about the nature of democratic governance? What new moral questions do we start ask...
Don't Look for Big Pictures: In Conversation with Jon Elster
19 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What can social scientists tell us about the world? How do psychology and history enrich economics? In this episode of the Governance Podcast, Jon Els...
The Erosion of American Governance: In Conversation with Stephen Skowronek
09 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen Skowronek (Yale) and Karen Orren (UCLA) argue that the institutional fabric of American government is crumbling. Why is this happening? Is the...
Economics, Morality and the Puzzle of Civilization: In Conversation with Ernesto Dal Bo
22 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How do economists study morality? What are the origins of secure and prosperous societies? Are political dynasties good or bad? Tune in to the latest ...
Hayek, Economic History and the Liberal Project
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How did F.A. Hayek influence the course of economic history? What is the fate of his liberal project in the 21st century? Are we on the road to serfdo...
The Legacy of Adam Smith: A Conversation With Jesse Norman MP
22 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“Smith’s answer is that human beings have a basic capacity to observe, to be aware of, and in due course to be moved by the feeling of others. He ...
Self Governance, Green Politics and Social Justice
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Is good governance a choice between markets and states, or is there a third way? How can institutional diversity help us fight climate change or enhan...
Lessons on Governance from Afghanistan
06 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why did state building fail in Afghanistan? What are the root causes of corruption and endemic poor governance? Ilia Murtazashvili from the University...
Small Wars, Big Data: The Information Revolution in Modern Conflict
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Wars don't look like what they used to. Using a variety of new data sources from modern war zones, Jacob Shapiro of Princeton University offers transf...
Economics, Justice and Culture: A Conversation with Herbert Gintis
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Has economic theory changed in the last 50 years? How can we incorporate notions of social justice and culture into economic thinking? In this episode...
The Road to Peace and Prosperity: A Conversation with Barry Weingast
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What are the paradoxes of economic development? How can we preserve liberal democracy in an era of populism and polarisation? In this episode of the G...
Governing Wildlife, Oil and Climate
26 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Which governance arrangements best help us manage and preserve natural resources? Markets, states, or something in between? In this episode of the Gov...
The Meaning of Property
15 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What are the dangers of theory building about property rights in development economics? Are we becoming more ethical in the way we conceptualize prope...
Bottom Up Climate Governance
23 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On our latest episode of the Governance Podcast, Professor Mark Pennington interviews Professor Frans Berkhout of King's College London on his latest ...
What Intellectual History Teaches Us: A Conversation with Quentin Skinner
10 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tune in to a special conversation on the governance podcast between Professor Jeremy Jennings of King’s College London and Professor Quentin Skinner...
Nudge: Past Limitations and Future Possibilities
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tune in to the Governance Podcast with Professor Peter John of King’s College London, who discusses the history of behavioral economics, the limits ...
Blockchain, Governance and Trust, Part I
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Can blockchain put an end to election fraud? Can it help us rebuild trust in distant institutions and companies that handle our data? How does blockch...
A New Philosophical Case for Open Borders
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tune in to the Governance Podcast with Dr Adam Tebble on the philosophical case for open borders, the role of experimentation in poverty alleviation, ...
Can Markets Provide Regulation in a Globalised World?
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can we produce effective regulations when governments can no longer cope with the demands of an increasingly complex and digitised world? Professo...