social mobility

In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage rates have plummeted but the babies keep coming, and the U.S. now leads the world in single-parent households. Plus: our friends at Atlas Obscura explore just how many parents a kid can have.

In this wide-ranging interview with Rachel Wearmouth, Keir Starmer discusses the “really damaged economy” Labour will inherit if they win the next election – and attacks Rishi Sunak for being “out of touch” with ordinary people.

Speaking in front of a live audience at the New Statesman politics live conference on 27 June 2023, Starmer said a Labour government would have to “go at pace” to rebuild public services, but refused to commit to recommended public sector pay rises.

He also addressed claims that he is planning to create hundreds of new Labour peers, acknowledging an “imbalance” in the House of Lords.

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The prospect of another by-election looms after Parliament's standards committee recommended an eight-week suspension of former Conservative whip, Chris Pincher.

If the name is familiar, it’s because he was arguably the one who sealed the fate of Boris Johnson and led ultimately to his resignation.

Today we discuss the ramifications of the sexual assault and we look at Keir Starmer's pledge to give working class kids better oracy skills.

Women have turned away from the Conservative Party over the past few decades, who since 2010 have been more likely to vote for Labour. The Conservatives’ failure to support women – who are bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis – has not helped things.

Anoosh Chakelian, Zoë Grünewald and Rachel Wearmouth discuss why the Tories have failed to win over female voters, the rise of newly politicised mums, and how gender equality has been weaponised to fuel the culture wars.

Then in You Ask Us a listener asks why Labour has never elected a female leader.

If you have a question for You Ask Us, go to newstatesman.com/youaskus

This week we’ve been celebrating our women writers from around the world. Read more here.

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Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit rankles China, civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis discusses his book "Usual Cruelty," and comedian Ms. Pat talks about her series "The Ms. Pat Show."

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Dr. Adrian Wooldridge is a political editor at The Economist and author of the new book ‘The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World.’

In this episode, Dr. Wooldridge and I discuss how his new book has been received, the history of meritocracy, how IQ testing shaped educational policy, group-based judgement, and the importance of defending liberal individualism. 

—Links—

Follow Dr. Wooldridge on Twitter: ​​https://twitter.com/adwooldridge

‘The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World:’ https://amazon.com/Aristocracy-Talent...

More books by Dr. Wooldridge: https://amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/...

—Chapters—

[0:00] Intro

[1:06] Reviews of ‘The Aristocracy of Talent’

[3:47] Measuring the Mind, History of IQ Testing, & British Education

[7:22] 11+ System vs. the Modern Prolonged Educational System

[10:22] Workplace Selection Tests 

[11:58] IQ Literature & IQ Testing for the US Military

[14:55] Michael Young’s ‘The Rise of the Meritocracy’

[16:58] Pareto Distribution, Matthew Principle, & Creative Achievement Tests

[18:22] History of Meritocracy 

[22:43] Conflating Moral Worth with Intellectual Ability

[24:25] Conceptual Inadequacy & “Bell Curve Liberals”

[29:45] Blank Slate Argument & Ethnic Differences in IQ Testing

[34:59] White Working Class in England 

[37:45] Perception of Meritocracy in the UK vs. US

[42:21] Judging People as Group Members   

[48:17] Distinction Between Affirmative Action & Diversity

[51:36] Idea of Meritocracy as Propaganda for the Elite

[54:00] Openness of Competition of Examinations

[56:10] Foucault & the Complexity of Perception

[59:55] Social Justice, Economic Efficiency & Growth Rates

[1:05:35] Challenges to Western Dominance

[1:10:59] European Ladder of Opportunity & Plutocracy 

[1:14:32] Ethics: Levels of Analysis

All social classes have unspoken rules. From A-list celebrities to teachers, doctors, lawyers, and journalists — there are social norms that govern our decisions, whether we realize it or not. This week on Hidden Brain, the invisible qualities that all celebrities have in common, and how our interest in them builds because of cues we get from one another. Later in the episode, we look at another elite group: the yoga-loving, Whole Foods-shopping, highly-educated group that researcher Elizabeth Currid-Halkett calls the "aspirational class."