Theme: Brave New World

TEDxLSE 2022: Brave New World will feature 10 distinguished speakers, both internal and external to LSE, with talks on a huge variety of topics, including: living with deafness, Afghan women's rights, lessons from military service, psychometric testing, the meaning of citizenship, scientific revolutions, wealth inequality, sex workers’ rights, open-source intelligence, and creating meaningful connections.

View the event programme here: https://bit.ly/3wmDKXO

This year, our flagship TEDxLSE conference was organized by a team of 23 LSE student volunteers, united in their curiosity and desire to engage with insightful new takes on prevalent global issues. Our subcommittee members come from 15 countries around the world, and study in 14 different academic departments at LSE; our diversity is a key component of our identity, mirroring the city and university we call home.

2022 marks the 10th year anniversary since our first event, and is our first in-person conference in three years. This year’s theme alludes both to Huxley’s novel as well as turbulent recent events, which have upended the perception of ‘normality’ in our lives, and reshaped our collective priorities as we move forward. We have sought speakers whose message resonates with the post-pandemic zeitgeist, and whose unique ideas, from stoic optimism to philosophical rock’n’roll, deserve to be heard. Aged 20 to 75, our speakers hail from across the world, including Afghanistan, Singapore, the UK and Nigeria.

❌ Speaker Block 1 | 10:30 - 12:00
• Julia Sturz: Penultimate year BSc Economic History Student, LSE
• Sveto Muhammad Ishoq: Women's Rights Activist, Founder of Chadari
• Avinash Ashok: Entrepreneur, Public Speaker & Reservist Army Officer

❌ Speaker Block 2 | 12:30 - 13:30
• Adrian Furnham: Professor of Psychology, Norwegian Business School
• Sabrina Idukpaye: MSc Politics and Communications Student, LSE
• John Worrall: Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science, LSE

❌ Lunch | 13:30 - 14:30 (Staff Common Room)

❌ Speaker Block 3 | 14:30 - 16:00
• Amir Anzur: Author and Internet Entrepreneur
• Samantha Sun: Co-Founder and Director of East London Strippers Collective
• Manas Chawla: Political Risk Entrepreneur
• Christian Busch: Bestselling Author, Connect the Dots - The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck

❌ Post-Conference Reception | 16:00 - 17:00 (Staff Common Room): 'meet-and-greet' the speakers

Old Theatre, London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London, London, City of, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Adrian Furnham

Professor of Psychology, Norwegian Business School

Adrian is an academic, writer, broadcaster and consultant on organizational behaviour for over 30 multinational companies (public and private) in the UK and abroad. Adrian is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and is among the most productive psychologists in the world. He has written 1350 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and 95 books. He is on the editorial board of a number of international journals, and formerly President of ISSID. He was previously a newspaper columnist at the Financial Times, Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph, and a guest blogger for Psychology Today. He is a regular contributor to the BBC, CNN, and ITV. Like Noel Coward, he believes work is more fun than fun and considers himself to be a well-adjusted workaholic. He rides a bicycle in London and claims it by far the best way to get around. Adrian enjoys writing popular articles, travelling to exotic countries, consulting on real-life problems, arguing at dinner parties and going to the theatre.

Amir Anzur

Author and Internet Entrepreneur

Amir Anzur is an internet entrepreneur whose clients include Amazon, Google, Samsung and Xbox. He won the European Prize for innovation and has advised the Governments of UAE, UK, US and Pakistan on improving the digital lives of their citizens. One of his digital innovations was audited by KPMG to save a client USD 820 million per year. Amir has mentored several hundred employees to become entrepreneurs including many who have gone on to run multi-million dollar businesses. He is a digital nomad spending time between the US, UK and Pakistan and has opened offices in many other countries including Philippines and Kenya. Amir is the author of "Wealthology - Why some countries and people are rich and how the others can catch up faster" and "Internetism - How to create wealth in the Internet economy", both available on his website.

Avinash Ashok

Entrepreneur, Public Speaker & Reservist Army Officer

Avinash is a Singaporean student undergoing a BSc in Politics and Economics at the LSE. Prior to pursuing his undergraduate degree, Avinash served two years in the Singaporean Army, during which he overcame significant hurdles regarding being overweight and dealing with unpredictability. Along his journey towards officership, and ultimately a healthy lifestyle, Avinash learned crucial lessons about resilience in the face of uncertainty that he was determined to share on a wider stage at TEDxLSE.

Christian Busch

Bestselling Author, Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck

Prof. Dr. Christian Busch is the bestselling author of Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck – “a wise, exciting, and life-changing book” (Arianna Huffington) that "provides excellent practical guidance for all” (Paul Polman, former CEO, Unilever) – and an internationally known expert in the areas of innovation, purpose-driven leadership, and serendipity. He is the director of the CGA Global Economy Program at New York University (NYU), and Visiting Fellow at the LSE's Marshall Institute. He is a cofounder of Leaders on Purpose and the Sandbox Network, and a former co-director of LSE's Innovation Lab. His work has been featured by outlets such as the Strategic Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, The Guardian, Washington Post, and the BBC. He is member of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Expert Forum, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and on the Thinkers50 Radar list of the 30 thinkers "most likely to shape the future." Twitter: @ChrisSerendip.

John Worrall

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science, LSE

John Worrall was born in 1946 in Lancashire – about midway between Manchester and Liverpool. He came to London aged 18 to study statistics at LSE, but, having been impressed by Karl Popper’s lectures, switched to Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, and ended up making a career as a Philosopher of Science, becoming Professor at LSE in the 1990s. He is chiefly known for his work on confirmation theory and a position called structural realism, as well as for his work on methodological issues in medicine. He has held fellowships in the US and in New Zealand, was elected a Patron of Humanists UK, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of A Coruňa in Spain for his contributions to philosophy of science. Outside of philosophy, he is a dedicated supporter of Liverpool FC, and an enthusiastic (if limited) rock and roll guitarist.

Julia Sturz

Penultimate year BSc Economic History Student, LSE

Julia is a second-year Economic History student at The London School of Economics. At three weeks old, a medical error left her completely deaf. Julia will talk about the unique path she has carved for herself, from being the world’s youngest child to receive two cochlear implant processors. Despite implants only restoring partial hearing, Julia’s unflinching philosophy of stoic optimism has helped her overcome obstacles not only in relation to her setback.

Manas Chawla

Political Risk Entrepreneur

Manas Chawla is the Founder and CEO of London Politica, the world’s largest Pro bono political risk advisory. Manas started London Politica with a vision to democratize the political risk space by provide political risk analysis and forecasting to NGOs, charities and social impact organizations that have traditionally been crowded out of the advisory space. He leads a team of over 200 analysts and associates based around the world and has advised over fifty clients, including The International Committee of the Red Cross, UK Police, UN World Food Program, Global Citizen, and the Confederation of Indian Industries. Manas frequently speaks on political risk and open-source intelligence methodologies at conferences and universities across Europe. He studies International Relations at the London School of Economics.

Sabrina Idukpaye

MSc Politics and Communications Student, LSE

Sabrina is a postgraduate student in the media and communications department at the LSE, a former TV presenter for Spice TV and an Influencer. She is a McGill University alumna, with a BA in Political Science and minors in Italian Studies and Religion & Globalization. Sabrina was president of McGill’s International Student Network: the first president to implement the inclusion of initiatives and donations towards alleviating social issues (homelessness, mental health stigma, and Syrian refugee crisis). In her Toronto community, Sabrina led award-winning campaigns and actively contributed to the community mobilization. She is an award-winning model and actor, who is a familiar face in Nigeria with multiple commercials. Upon graduating from LSE, she looks forward to utilising her expertise in media and communications for the 2023 Nigerian Presidential Election. Sabrina aspires to become a charismatic Nigerian politician that stands by good governance, innovation, and empathic action.

Samantha Sun

Co-Founder and Director of East London Strippers Collective

Samantha Sun is an artist, activist, professional circus & cabaret performer, gogo dancer, semi-retired stripper, academic, pro-nude scallywag pocket rocket bimbo extraordinaire. She is Hong-Kong Chinese, born & raised in Toronto, moving to London at the age of 18 to study Fine Art. She began stripping at 19 to support her art practice. Shortly after graduating, she quit her life to join the circus, performing with all sorts of freaks, drag queens and beautiful creatures of the night across London and internationally. (Mykonos, Shanghai, Rotterdam, etc.) She currently studies Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at LSE in hopes of leveraging her knowledge to improve the operations of ELSC Productions CIC, a social enterprise focusing on the wellbeing and livelihoods of strippers. When she's not yelling about sex worker justice, art critique and critical theory, she enjoys weightlifting, running, contortion, costuming, playing with makeup & open world video games.

Sveto Muhammad Ishoq

Women's Rights Activist, Founder of Chadari

Sveto Muhammad Ishoq is an Afghan women’s rights activist, public speaker and Afghanistan’s first Schwarzman Scholar. Sveto authored her first publications on women’s rights in Afghanistan aged 14, marking the start of her activism. In 2018, she founded a social enterprise, Ayat, to empower illiterate Afghan women to gain financial independence through fashion. Living in 6 different countries and witnessing the negative assumptions about life in Afghanistan inspired Sveto to create a storytelling platform, Chadari, which has gathered 57 volunteers inspired by its mission. The Chadari Project gives Afghan women the opportunity to express their opinions, talk about their achievements, share stories of bravery, and show the world that Afghanistan is much more than what is seen in the media. Sveto proudly represents Afghanistan on national and international platforms, including the British Red Cross, UN Women, UNDPPA, UNHCR UK, and SCO, and promotes the unheard experiences of Afghan women.