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2 months ago | 
benansell.substack.com | Ben W. Ansell
Since I caused a minor firestorm writing about growth in my last Substack post, I thought I would move to the much calmer waters of the AI meltdown this time. What could go wrong?And I do so for a self-interested reason. This week on Rethink (coming up this Thursday) we have an episode called ‘Is Big Tech Stealing Your Life’, which will look at whether AI companies should be paying for the intellectual property - books, art, music, news - that they use to train their models. They hope not to.
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Jan 15, 2025 | 
benansell.substack.com | Ben W. Ansell
Before we begin, a quick reminder that Radio 4’s Rethink, which I present, is back on air for the second run of seven shows for this season. We’re going to be rethinking museums, AI, heath data, and more. But first off, we’re rethinking political labels, with Claire Ainsley, Giles, Dilnot, Paula Surridge, and Sara Hobolt. This Thursday at 4 or anytime after here. Pity the poor elected politician. One thing above all can keep them in office: ‘the economy, stupid”.
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Dec 20, 2024 | 
npr.org | Ben W. Ansell
Ben Ansell is a professor of comparative democratic institutions at the University of Oxford's Nuffield College. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the host of the What's Wrong with Democracy? podcast. This article is published as part of NPR's 2024 Year of Global Elections series. Thirty-five years ago, political scientist Francis Fukuyama wrote perhaps the best-known statement on the then-apparent triumph of liberal democracy.
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Nov 6, 2024 | 
benansell.substack.com | Ben W. Ansell
I was wrong. On Monday I set out the four scenarios that I had written about in October for the US Presidential election - a big Harris victory, a tight Harris victory, a tight Trump victory and a big Trump victory. When I had initially written about those scenarios I had argued, following the polls, that the election was indeed a coin flip so all were equally likely.
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Oct 2, 2024 | 
tortoisemedia.com | Ben W. Ansell
#Politics Host: Professor Ben AnsellProducers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs Editor: Jasper Corbett Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
tortoisemedia.com | Ben W. Ansell
What’s Wrong With Democracy? When politics turns nasty Your browser does not support the audio element. #Politics Host: Professor Ben AnsellProducers: Ada Barume and Eleanor Biggs Editor: Jasper Corbett Original artwork: Jon Hill | Emma O’Neil What’s Wrong with Democracy? is produced by Tortoise Media and supported by the Open Society Foundations.
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Sep 19, 2024 | 
benansell.substack.com | Ben W. Ansell
Lots of things to announce today. First off, and most immediately urgent, my new show Rethink drops on BBC Radio 4 at 4pm UK time today (as in a few minutes from now!). Fear not if you failed to read this email immediately on sending - it will be available on BBC Sounds for your nonlinear listening pleasure. The first episode is on internet enshittification, which somehow, I managed to convince Radio 4 that we could say pre-watershed. Wish. Me. Luck.
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Sep 4, 2024 | 
tortoisemedia.com | Ben W. Ansell
What makes a good US president? Your browser does not support the audio element. US Election 2024 #Politics #DonaldTrump #KamalaHarris This week, Ben wants to know what kind of leaders American voters are drawn to. What makes a good president? And is the US primary system of choosing candidates a good way of selecting a leader?
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Aug 30, 2024 | 
benansell.substack.com | Ben W. Ansell
This Substack is back from holiday. As is What’s Wrong With Democracy?, where we have just begun a three part mini-series on the US Presidential Election. You can listen to the first episode on voting demographics, with Chris Towler, Kira Sanbonmatsu, and Mark Hugo Lopez, here. Consider a comparison. Two Labour Prime Ministers. Both elected in landslides with over four hundred parliamentary seats. Both crushing the Conservative Party into a remnant of its past glory.
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Aug 17, 2024 | 
bristoliver.substack.com | Oliver Johnson |Ben W. Ansell
In 2020, the author and commentator John Kampfner published his book “Why the Germans do it better: Notes from a Grown Up Country”. Amazon tells me it was rated as book of the year in the Guardian, New Statesman and Economist, and longlisted for the Orwell Prize. At that time, Germany was obtaining 24% of its electricity from coal, but 15% from nuclear. Since then, the coal share has actually gone up, while nuclear has dropped to zero.
