Changed My Mind

World-renowned behavioural economist Cass Sunstein on why dismissing his friends' fears about democracy being at risk in the US was wrong.

Former advisor to the Foreign Secretary at the time of the Iraq War, Ed Owen, on why he now feels differently about the decision to go to war in Iraq. 

The Authors of Union: a Search for Common Ground on how an American road trip woke them up to the failings in the criminal justice system and the limitations of beloved media outlets.   

Danny Finkelstein, associate editor of the Times and Conservative peer, talks to us about why being able to clearly see both sides of an argument is important but can also feel debilitating in a world that craves certainty. He shares his lessons from switching parties and why it is critical to reduce the cost of people changing their minds.

Peter Geoghegan, author of Democracy for Sale and investigative journalist, left Ireland as a young man desperate to get away but has returned in lockdown to find a country much changed. He tells us why, from his childhood bedroom, and explains the need to dig deeper into unaccountable money in politics, in the UK as well as the US.

Helen Lewis, a journalist at the Atlantic and author of Difficult Women: the History of Feminism in 11 Fights, talks about how she came to question her previous liberal beliefs on prostitution, a former Labour MP who cried after receiving an apology for being deselected when she came out in the 70s, the limits of unconscious bias training, and more. 

The Director of Change.org in the UK Kajal Odedra talks about realising no platforming tended to backfire, her changing relationship with her own identity and how Change.org's supporters come from a much broader base than most people imagine. 

Author of Future Politics, Jamie Susskind, left the Labour Party after 10 years of activism due to antisemitism. He tells us what happened, why he is on the cusp of going back and what politicians need to think about now to prepare for the tech of the future.    

Author Derek Bardowell used to think mainstreaming would be enough to tackle racism. Over decades over work he's realise that on it's own, it is far from enough.

When Leah Garces sat opposite Craig Watts in his living room it was an unlikely occurrence. Leah, a vegan and CEO at Mercy for Animals, did not expect to have much in common with the factory farmer she had spent years campaigning against. Yet, she and Watts were to become unexpected allies in the fight to improve animal welfare. She tells us how that happened, why she changed her mind about people and what her Trump supporting family taught her.

Aimen Dean was a bombmaker for Al-Qaeda before leaving to become an MI6 informant. He and the Middle East expert Thomas Small join us to explore why and what we can learn from a 14th century Muslim scholar.

Social psychologist, rising star at UCL & MIT, and author of new book Messengers on why he’s changed his mind (several times) on positive discrimination. Plus, learn why the messenger is now the message and what you can do (and should NOT do) to be heard.

Chief Leader writer at The Observer and The Guardian, Sonia Sodha was very active in the campaign to make higher education free. Fifteen years on, she has changed her mind. We talk about why, what her 20 year old self would make of it and the role of the media in polarization.

Jeff Pfeffer once wrote that leaders often made little difference to a company, now he thinks they can. We talk about why telling people to be authentic is terrible advice and how flattery helps change people's minds with one of the world's leading management thinkers.

Stanford Professor and expert in protest movements on how she performed a total u-turn on the value of online learning. From thinking it was never going to work to leading courses and persuading colleagues to join in. With such a strong background in protest we also talked to her about when they work, why and how in 2019 our political polarization problems are playing out so very differently.

Carwyn Jones, the former First Minister of Wales talks leadership, why he switched his position to be in favour of another referendum on the UK's membership of the EU and what chastisement of children is reasonable.

World renowned negotiations expert Stanford's Professor Maggie Neale talks about becoming comfortable with conflict, learning that you don't always need to be nice and the importance of owning a dog.

Georgetown University's Dr Marcia Chatelain takes it to a meta level with us. We talk about her work looking at the relationship between race and fast food in the States, why people don't own up to mistakes and how she has changed her mind on capitalism.

When are people more likely to change their minds? Steve Martin, one of the world's leading experts on behaviour change and persuasion talks about the limitations of information in influencing people. 

Former UK Government Minister Jo Swinson MP talks about gradually changing her mind on how to get more women into politics, the experiences and gentle persuasion that achieved it, and the times former colleagues in Government surprised her.

Derek Black was one the US White Nationalist movement's rising stars. But in his early 20s Derek changed his mind and now actively campaigns against those who hold these views. We unpack what caused him to abandon his beliefs and what could be done to encourage others to follow in his footsteps.

Tali Sharot, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London and best selling author of The Optimism Bias and The Influential Mind joins us for this special episode of Changed My Mind to share her research on what the brain reveals about how beliefs are formed, what works to change others’ minds and what does not.

Small-business guru and UK lobbyist, Craig Beaumont, talks to us about his changing views on devolution, whether he’s an a-typical thinker and the need to support small business owners as they seek diversity of thought.

Singer, songwriter and renowned humanitarian activist Peter Gabriel questions his previous belief in the power of the internet to do good for democracy.

One of America's leading activists Shannon Downey on how her mum made her rethink her views on abortion, the impact of a being woken up by a bullet in her Chicago bedroom and why some unusual career choices made her happy.

Business leader, former think-tanker and journalist Julia Margo talks about her radical volte-face on marriage. We explore - and question - the value of direct experience in changing people’s minds, as well delving into why it’s so much harder to divert from the status quo on some issues than it is on others.

World leading moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt on his changing view about the value of testing on children. We also discuss his latest book, The bestselling Coddling of the American Mind and the importance of risk taking and value of play in parenting.

Over 80% of people in the UK and US think their country is divided. Most of them believe our divisions are getting worse not better.   Changing that demands that we dig into what’s going on in our minds when our beliefs are challenged. With world renowned pollster, Deborah Mattinson, we explore this, why voters change their minds and what she has changed her mind on.    Further reading: IPSOS Mori - BBC Global Survey on the world divided