Episode 7: Is Society a Myth?

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks to the world-renowned political philosopher Michael Sandel about how we can return to a politics of the common good.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks to the Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker and the American philanthropist, Melinda Gates. First, Steven Pinker outlines his reasons for hope for a better world, drawing on themes from his recent book ‘Enlightenment Now’. Melinda Gates explores what motivated her and her husband Bill to dedicate their lives to philanthropy and explains who her moral role models were when she was growing up.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks finds out who young people see as their moral role models in the 21st Century and explores powerful reasons for hope for a better, more ethical and more responsible world.Contributors: Steven Pinker, Harvard cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author; Melinda Gates, Philanthropist and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Heather Templeton-Dill, President of the John Templeton Foundation; David Brooks, political and social commentator and author; Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto; Michael Sandel, political philosopher and professor at Harvard University; Students from The Manchester Grammar School, Manchester High School for Girls, Loreto College in Manchester, Graveney School in London and Queens' School in Hertfordshire.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks continues his exploration of the moral challenges posed by AI, by speaking to Nick Bostrom, Philosophy Professor at the University of Oxford, who was one of the first to warn of the dangers of “superintelligence” in his book by the same name.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks to Mustafa Suleyman, Co-founder and Head of Applied AI at DeepMind – one of the world’s leading innovators in Artificial Intelligence – who explores what he sees as the biggest moral questions around AI.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

AI is already fundamentally transforming our world, and in the coming years will have an enormous impact on almost every aspect of our lives. So the ethical questions surrounding its development are urgent and important. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argues that we must always be able to choose our fate, in the full dignity of responsibility, never forgetting that machines were made to serve human beings, not the other way around.Contributors: Mustafa Suleyman, Co-founder and Head of Applied AI at DeepMind; Nick Bostrom, Philosophy Professor at the University of Oxford; Students from Queens' School in Hertfordshire.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks travels to Harvard University to speak to the political scientist Robert Putnam about what we mean by ‘society’, starting with a discussion about his seminal book, ‘Bowling Alone’, in which he described the loss of what sociologists call ‘social capital’ – the benefits we get from our social networks.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks travels to New York to interview Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University, who reveals his concerns about what he sees as a new destructive form of tribalism in society.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

For most of history, societies have been held together by a shared moral code. But half a century ago, the West embarked on a great experiment: a move from "We" to "I," from "We're all in this together" to "I'm free to be myself." Recently, there's been a reaction against individualism in favour of the group. But what's returned isn't a sense of society as a whole, but rather, subgroups, defined by faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. What's lost, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argues, is our sense of collective belonging and the common good.Contributors: Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University; Robert Putnam, Political scientist and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University; Students from Loreto College in Manchester.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks to David Brooks, the New York Times columnist and author of two books on character: ‘The Social Animal’ and ‘Road to Character’. David Brooks talks about how he thinks individualism has gone too far and about how he failed as a social commentator to see the Donald Trump phenomenon coming.Producer: Dan Tierney Series Editor: Christine Morgan