Society

Those who criticise China have a case to complain about the contributory role the country's authoritarian system played in the spread of the pandemic, but that very system also allowed authorities to get a quick grip on it and bring it under control with impressive efficiency.

For me it is extremely important that commercial interests and social benefits are not mutually exclusive, but that they can complement each other wonderfully so I always look out for products that are innovative, forward-thinking and offer a true value for society.

Former Formula 1 World Champion, won 2016 title with Mercedes

When you have children, you have to ask yourself what the world will look like in the next 80-100 years, because people get that old these days if everything goes well. Last but not least, as a father I see it as my responsibility to think about my actions and my motives.

Former Formula 1 World Champion, won 2016 title with Mercedes

Until James DeGale won a World Title, no-one who'd won a gold medal for Britain in the Olympic Games had ever won a professional World Title, which is quite amazing. Sometimes the greatest boxers get overlooked.

Founder of PostSecret, anonymous confessions project & book series

We can expand our circle of sympathy – we can employ the logic of impartiality, and the emotional prompts of human contact and vicarious experience, and expand our fellow-feeling from our family to our clan, our nation, tribe, and from there to all of humanity and even other sentient beings.

Cognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature

There has never been a time at which Enlightenment values predominated in any culture. They have always faced pushback from forces that are embedded in human nature – tribalism, deference to authority, magical thinking, vulnerability to cognitive illusions and biases.

Cognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature

To be a billionaire in America today is less a matter of merit than it is a matter of being at the right place at the right time, and being a beneficiary of a set of rules designed to benefit billionaires.

Labor Secretary & Economist; Leading Voice on Inequality

America has a class system, and it's becoming more rigid all the time. As inequality widens the ladder becomes so long that you have little hope of getting too far up it in your lifetime.

Labor Secretary & Economist; Leading Voice on Inequality

Inside each of us are monsters and angels- there are no divisions between good and bad people- and I've seen how those times of insecurity can make us do terrible things to each other.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

You know what else is immoral? 700 million people who have no electricity. We need to have actual conversations about how to solve problems – and hold the uneasy tension of who pays for it, and how.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

We cannot focus only on the material aspects of poverty- we must address the poverty of spirit that's present in every one of our broken institutions: health systems, economic systems, criminal justice systems, and food systems.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

One of the undoubted triumphs of racism is how difficult it is to have an honest conversation about it.

Apartheid did not develop because of 'race'. Instead, race was used to justify the domination/exploitation of Apartheid. Once you understand the order, the mechanism, you understand the purpose.

I think it's an act of great arrogance and folly to imagine that in a highly racialized society that I would escape and not have racialized thoughts.

It's extraordinary to see the gains that have been won in the past half-century. The period from then till now is the blink of an eye in the vast passage of human history and the historic persecution of LGBT+ people.

Human rights activist & campaigner for LGBTQ+ equality and justice

People are not born homophobic – or racist or misogynist. That's learned behaviour. This is why the current bid for LGBT-inclusive education in schools is so important.

Human rights activist & campaigner for LGBTQ+ equality and justice