LSE Research channel | Video

Sharks have survived for 450 million years, yet in the past 50 years their populations have dropped by 71%. An estimated 80 million sharks are killed every year, driven by global demand for shark fin soup, a dish with no taste or nutritional value that became a symbol of prestige in Ming Dynasty China.

In this talk, Professor John Sidel discusses these key features of infrastructure politics in the region through the lenses of rent capitalism and railway and telegraph imperialism, with a focus on the Philippines.

Can AI systems go rogue? How and why might they be harmful to humans and society? Can AI think and understand in the way that people do? What is really going on behind the screen when you ask an AI bot a question or to perform a task for you?

On the 4th of November 2026 the LSE Phelan US Centre hosted the event Making sense of the US midterms 2026.

What does it truly mean to achieve a sustainable future — and what kinds of change will get us there?

Since its origins, sociology has shaped—and been shaped by—multiple political traditions, including liberalism, radicalism, progressivism, and conservatism. This lecture examines the conservative tradition in sociology, a tradition central to yet insufficiently recognised within the discipline’s formation.

Given the potential repercussions of trying to work across the aisle, for many in Washington DC, working in a bipartisan manner has become an act of courage.

In the week before COP31, the annual platform for negotiating and advancing global action on climate change, this event will reflect on the state of national transition planning in 2026.

More stuff. Same habits. Can we break the cycle? In this episode of LSE iQ, Sue Windebank unpacks the psychology, social pressures and economics that keep us buying—and explores what could help us change.

How do capitalist economies change over time? And what political consequences follow?