LSE IQ podcast

Why do we buy so much stuff, and what would it take to break the cycle of overconsumption? In this episode of LSE iQ, Sue Windebank explores the social, psychological and economic forces that encourage us to keep buying, when many of the things that we own could be repaired, reused, or shared.
Drawing on research in India, Julia Cohen (Corwin) from LSE's Department of Geography shares stories from Delhi's thriving repair and reuse economy, where skilled traders and repairers breathe new life into printer cartridges, laptop batteries and electronic devices that might otherwise be discarded.
Frédéric Basso, from LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, explains some of the ways consumer culture encourages us to keep buying, from planned obsolescence, rapid product cycles and targeted marketing.
The episode also explores how ultra-cheap online shopping has accelerated overconsumption. Lilia Akatova, from the LSE Centre for Economic Transition Expertise, explains how a customs duty exemption for low-value imports helped fuel a surge in parcels arriving directly from China, and discusses efforts by governments to curb the flow of low-cost goods.
Contributors
Lilia Akatova
Frédéric Basso
Julia Corwin/Cohen
Research
Submission to the UK Government consultation on the proposed reform of the customs treatment of low value imports into the UK by Liilia Akatova
Translating system-level change to individuals: Experimental evidence on avenues to communicate about degrowth and green growth by Dallas O’Dell, Frédéric Basso and Ganga Shreedha
Analog Labor in a Digital World E-Waste in India and the Politics of Repair by Julia Corwin

Everything is facilitated for you to consume, by Fred Basso
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/11/03/how-can-we-stop-buying-so-much-stuff-everything-is-facilitated-for-you-to-consume/
Importers are bypassing the usual customs and safety standards, by Lilia Akatova
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/11/04/how-can-we-stop-buying-so-much-stuff-importers-are-bypassing-the-usual-customs-and-safety-standards/
We can have a caring relationship with our things by Julia Cohen (Corwin)
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2026/11/04/how-can-we-stop-buying-so-much-stuff-we-can-have-a-caring-relationship-with-our-things/

We all have an anecdote of a time when we’ve had an in-person conversation and then received an online advert about something we discussed. This leads many of us to believe our phones are eavesdropping on our conversations.
In this episode of LSE iQ, Charlotte Kelloway asks: Are our phones listening to us? She speaks to Professor Edgar Whitley of LSE’s Department of Management about the dangers of algorithms controlling the information we see.
Privacy expert Dr Carissa Véliz from the University of Oxford reveals how sensitive personal data can be bought and sold by data brokers.
Professor Nick Couldry from LSE’s Department of Media and Communications, discusses our increasing dependence on AI and how it’s training us to use it more and more.

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to commit in law to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But seven years later, the world looks very different. Since then, we've experienced a global pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, energy price shocks, US attacks on Iran, more energy price shocks, and growing political opposition to climate policies.
As governments face competing priorities around economic growth, energy security and the cost of living, some are questioning whether net zero is still achievable, affordable or even necessary.
In this episode of LSE iQ, Anna Bevan asks: Should we still care about net zero? She speaks to Professor Anna Valero, from LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance and the Global School of Sustainability, about her surprising findings on the UK’s transition to net zero.
Bloomberg journalist Akshat Rathi explores how investment, technology and public policy can accelerate the move towards a low-carbon economy.
Professor Riccardo Crescenzi and Oliver Harman, from LSE’s Department of Geography and Environment, discuss what an exploding toaster reveals about the manufacturing slogan “Made in Britain”, and what green global value chains mean for net zero. Contributors: Anna Valero Akshat Rathi Riccardo Crescenzi Oliver Harman

From stage-show stereotypes to life-changing treatment, this episode explores the science - and the myths - behind hypnosis and hypnotherapy. We uncover extraordinary stories of addiction recovery, pain relief, and everyday healing from a form of talking therapy that remains widely misunderstood.
Asking whether we should take hypnotherapy more seriously, Joanna Bale talks to LSE anthropologist Dr Nick Long, who spent 18 months researching hypnosis and hypnotherapy in Indonesia. There, hypnotic practices are woven into everyday life - used in classrooms, homes and communities to calm, encourage and connect. In the UK, by contrast, hypnotherapy remains marginalised and constrained by cultural suspicion, despite recognition from the NHS.
Joanna also speaks to Amanda Joy, who left the NHS to retrain as a hypnotherapist after witnessing hypnosis succeed in relieving pain where conventional medicine had failed. And Sarah Ibrahim shares a moving personal account of how hypnotherapy helped her break free from a cocaine addiction that had gripped her for two decades.
These powerful first-hand testimonies help to illuminate what hypnosis really is, what it might be capable of, and why we may be too quick to dismiss it.
Contributors
Nick Long
Amanda Joy
Sarah Ibrahim
Research
Suggestions of power: searching for efficacy in Indonesia’s hypnosis boom by Nick Long
Therapeutic aQompaniments: Walking together in hypnotherapy—and ethnography by Nick Long

From the pets we love to the animals we rarely see, our relationship with non-human life is full of contradictions. In this episode, we explore what it really means to protect animals and whether welfare is enough, or if rights are the way forward.
Beginning with a simple question inspired by my own dog, Pip, this episode moves from the personal to the global. Through conversations with experts including Jeff Sebo, Jonathan Birch, Jo-Anne McArthur and Carrie Friese, we examine how ideas about sentience, law, and ethics are shaping the future of animal protection.
In this episode of LSE iQ, Mike Wilkerson asks: Should animals have rights?
This year’s #LSEFestival, taking place from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026, will explore the impact of these global challenges, and how individuals, communities, organisations, corporations, and those with political power should be tackling them to save the planet!
Find out more info and browse the programme here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/LSE-Festival/2026