Morality in the 21st Century

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...

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 Templeto...

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.

Contributo...

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 sexu...

Traditionally, morality meant altruism, care for others, the world beyond the self. Today's icon, though, is the "selfie," the image of ourselves we present to others by way of smartphones and social media. In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the impact this has had on how we see ourselves and live our lives.

Contributors: Jean Twenge, Professor of psychology at San Diego State University; David Brooks, political and soc...

In this episode, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks speaks to Noreena Hertz, an economist, author and broadcaster whose 2005 book 'IOU: The Debt Threat' was one of the first to predict the 2008 financial crash. Noreena Hertz talks about her research into Generation K (those born after 1995), gives her verdict on the current state of capitalism and explores what she sees as the failure of markets to deliver moral outcomes.

Producer: Dan Tierney Se...

In this episode, Rabbi Sacks argues that a world in which we each pursue our own interests and leave everything else to the state and the market can be incredibly liberating, but outsourcing moral responsibility can also leave us feeling vulnerable and alone, without meaning and direction in our lives.

Contributors: Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto; Noreena Hertz, economist, author and broadcast...