Advertise on podcast: Room for Discussion

Sinds 2017 is Ferdinand Grapperhaus minister van Justitie en Veiligheid en zal voor de aankomende verkiezingen onderaan de kieslijst staan voor het CDA. Tijdens het interview zullen wij ingaan op de ontwikkelingen rondom het corona-beleid en de gevolgen hiervan binnen de Nederlandse samenleving. Zo vragen wij ons af hoe de Minister denkt over mogelijke sociale en politieke polarisatie binnen Nederland. Daarnaast zal ook tijdens het interview de ontwikkeling van de Nederlandse rechtsstaat centraal staan. Dus pak een kopje koffie of een biertje, het belooft een interessant gesprek te worden!

Professor Jack Goldstone is the man who over ten years ago developed a model that predicted the onset of massive social unrest in the United States beginning “around 2020". Incidentally, just two days ago Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In this age of social unrest, from the George Floyd protests in the US, to the yellow vest protests in France and anti-lockdown protests in Germany, across the world, people are taking to the streets and rebelling against the establishment.  Many people are struggling to understand what is driving continuing social unrest in the West. For some it might seem like this age of unrest came out of nowhere and was totally unpredictable. But not for Professor Jack Goldstone, leading sociologist, political scientist, and historian. With his model, he purports to be able to boil down the drivers of political instability to just three factors. Having successfully applied this model to revolutions and periods of instability both past and present, he is a leading scholar on revolutions, democratic transitions, and demography.  And that’s why we’ve invited him to Room for Discussion to discuss his model, the driving forces behind social unrest in the West today, and what we can expect in the future. Given the recent period of unrest in the United States, but also the uncertainties of a post-COVID world in Europe, it is critical that we at Room for Discussion bring on the experts to help us make sense of these complicated times.

We are honoured to welcome the next President of the European Council, and former prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel. Mr. Michel does not only have a significant relationship with the European Union, but he also has his own personal relationship with the University of Amsterdam as a former alumnus. The interview will not only touch upon the president-elect’s prior experience at the UvA, but they will also dive into the topics of Europe Divided, the European Project, Europe’s Global Position, and ultimately what his position as the next president of the European Council will mean for our Union in the coming years.

Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She was also a visiting Professor of Philosophy for 5 years at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. How can we think of liberalism in the 21st century? What kind of transformations has the idea of liberalism faced over the course of history, and to what extent are these applicable to our current political and economic realities? With Professor McCloskey we aim to delve into what produces 'bourgeois virtues', and understand how her religious beliefs can fit into the mould of liberal values. The discussion will centre on issues that are paramount to the disciplines of philosophy, governance, politics, morality and economic history.