HARDtalk: Robert Plomin

Robert Plomin

It is an age old debate that engages scientists and philosophers; which is the more powerful influence on who we are, nature or nurture? In recent years, genetic science has done much to reframe the debate by highlighting the connections between our individual DNA and our traits and behaviours. At the forefront of this research is Robert Plomin, a professor of behavioural genetics at Kings College London. To what extent are our genes our destiny?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n3ct4f8k

Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are (The MIT Press)

Kimberle Crenshaw

The United States of America is a republic divided. The Trump presidency has exposed fissures that run along lines of race, gender, education, and culture. In next month's mid-term elections the fight for political power will be between the two traditional parties - Republican and Democrat, but perhaps a different sort of activism is needed to deliver real change? HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to Kimberle Crenshaw - a professor of law, a social activist and influential advocate of the idea of intersectionality. Is it the group, not the individual that matters most in today's America?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n3ct4f85

On Intersectionality: Essential Writings

Finally, the convergence of distinct social movements with a traditionally male-dominated socialist left would not have been possible without the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw, who pioneered intersectionality theory. Intersectionality has become the most influential framework for understanding the multiple, overlapping oppressions we face, and their relationship both to colonialism and economic exploitation. Once it was widely taught in universities it became the unacknowledged terrain on which social movements previously at war over their own primacy could begin to work together. Surprisingly, we will have to wait until 2019 for Crenshaw’s definitive collection, On Intersectionality: Essential Writings, but her more specific studies are widely available. And in the meantime, as they say, la lutte continue.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/19/paul-mason-five-books-to-understand-the-left

Peter Singer
When we talk of power we think of tangible institutions, governments, armies, big business. But how about the power of ideas? From Socrates to Marx philosophers have challenged us to rethink the way we see the world and our place in it. So too my guest today, Australian philosopher Peter Singer. His writing on the relations between rich and poor, on medical ethics and animal rights have seen him variously described as the most influential and dangerous philosopher alive today. Does he believe ideas can change the world?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/n3ct0c33

The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically (Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics, and Economics)