Overview

In a world where compelling stories often travel further than facts, how do expertise and democratic debate coexist?

In an age of political polarisation, social media fragmentation and artificial intelligence, who do we trust, and why?

From pandemics and climate change to economics, technology and war, modern societies depend more than ever on expertise. Yet trust in institutions, academia, journalism and public authority appears increasingly fragile. Experts are alternately elevated as unquestionable authorities or dismissed as disconnected elites. At the same time, digital media ecosystems reward emotion, identity and narrative as much as evidence and reason.

This special BRIGHTHINK conversation brings together Professor Andy Stirling (SPRU, University of Sussex),Professor Charlie Beckett (LSE and Polis), and broadcaster Rob Broomby, for a live discussion exploring the changing relationship between expertise, democracy and public trust. The conversation will examine whether institutions have become too reliant on presenting science and expertise as unified,…