society
Hosted by Ian Leslie · society · EN
Ian Leslie talks to the most interesting people he knows www.ian-leslie.com
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Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
28%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchThe Ruffian is hosted by Ian Leslie. The show has published 19 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "PODCAST: How To Think About AI and Jobs" (19 June 2026, 36 minutes), "NEW POD: Cass Sunstein On The Politics of The Beatles" (19 May 2026, 50 minutes), and "NEW PODCAST: Why Do We Keep Getting Education All Wrong?" (5 February 2026, 55 minutes).
The Ruffian publishes roughly monthly, with episodes averaging 50 minutes across 19 episodes.
Booking probability for The Ruffian is 28%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. The Ruffian requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. The Ruffian's contact route on record: public web form.
Ian Leslie hosts The Ruffian, a society podcast with 19 episodes published.
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The Ruffian
<p>For this episode I’m delighted to welcome Benedict Evans to discuss AI and jobs and much else besides. Benedict is an independent technology analyst who has spent 25 years thinking about tech-based industries. He’s...
<p>I'm delighted to say that my guest for this episode is Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School and one of America's pre-eminent legal scholars. Cass has been an adviser to President Obama and President...
<p>Ever since I wrote a book about the trait of curiosity I’ve taken an interest in the science of learning and education. In the book, I criticised the popular idea that teaching children facts and knowledge somehow...
<p>I know what you’ve been thinking: it’s been too long since the last Ruffian pod! Well, it’s back. Earlier this week I sat down with returning guest James Marriott, of The Times, to talk about our year in reading. I...
<p>“It is a sunny Sunday in June and I am sitting in a Porsche with a man I recently matched with on Bumble, two Spanish sighthounds, an intersex DJ and Curtis Yarvin. “Let’s go Team Fascist!” shouts my match as he...
<p>In this episode of The Ruffian’s podcast we ask whether the price of using increasingly smart machines is increasingly stupid humans. My guest is Daisy Christodoulou, director of education at No More Marking, and my...
The Ruffian
<p>Britain is in a depression. Not an economic one - we're still growing, albeit slowly - but a cultural and political one. We are running low on optimism, self-esteem and, most dangerously, on hope - on the sense that...
<p>A few weeks ago I posted an extract from a brilliant book called A Brief History Of Intelligence, by Max Bennett. It proved really popular with Ruffian readers, so I’m delighted to have Max on the podcast to discuss...
<p>There is a growing sense that Britain's fiscal position is unsustainable. We’re spending more than we’re raising in tax, our debt is growing faster than the economy, and bond market scepticism about the government’s...
<p>Are our new AI overlords tools intelligent in the same way humans are? Is an AI agent truly, well agentic? Does it have a mind of its own, so to speak? Might it just decide to destroy us? Or is this completely the...
<p></p><p>I recently talked to James Marriott about the future of writing and journalism in the age of AI. James was quite worried about how good the chatbots have got at writing and wondered if it spells doom for human...
<p>ChatGPT and Claude have got really quite good at writing. As they improve, will they make human writers, even highly skilled ones, as obsolete as typists? In the first part of this two-part episode, I discuss that...
The Ruffian
<p>In this episode of The Ruffian’s podcast we discuss what is possibly the single most important event in human history: the Industrial Revolution. If you look at all the economic data before (very roughly) 1780-1840...
The Ruffian
<p>I’m delighted to share with you a new conversation with returning guest, The Times columnist James Marriott. Those of you read James’ recent column about the mediocrities who rise to the top of our institutions will...
The Ruffian
<p>Note: if you’re in the UK, pick up a copy of today’s Sunday Times. The magazine is running an extract from the first chapter of John & Paul. You can also read it online FOR FREE if you click today (Sunday). (The...
The Ruffian
<p>Jemima Kelly is a columnist and reporter for the Financial Times and one of the most original and interesting voices in the British press. She writes about culture and economics and politics and always comes at them...
The Ruffian
<p>James Kanagasooriam on 'culturenomics' https://www.thetimes.com/article/culturenomics-will-define-new-political-era-fqvx0nvb3</p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other...
The Ruffian
<p>The Ruffian newsletter now has a podcast! In this inaugural episode, Ian Leslie and James Marriott discuss the phenomenon of Jordan Peterson, the most influential thinker of the last ten years. This episode was...
Recent guests on The Ruffian. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
independent tech analyst, independent
law professor, former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, co-author of Nudge, University of Chicago Law School
columnist at The Times of London and author of Cultural Capital, We are Sound Media
software engineer and blogger, Grey Mirror
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