School for Government

The School for Government podcast | King's College London Exploring how government works – and how it could work better

🎧 Listen in full via the links on our website, where you can also check out past episodes of the podcast ⬇️

🔈 "...if the timing isn't right and/or you haven't got the right relationships and trust with the right people, your ideas are not going to go anywhere."

On the SfG podcast, Lecturer Dr Joseph Sherlock – a former behavioural researcher at HMRC – discusses his advice for new civil servants ⬇️

Brilliant new colleagues have joined King’s School for Government this year!

🔊 "They find the idea of an open society quite difficult to understand, and that pushes them to extreme positions."

🎧 On the next episode of the School for Government podcast, @gsamaras.bsky.social discusses the far-right radicalisation of young men ➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-sch...

School for Government welcomes new staff, including Deputy Director | King's College London New appointments bring further expertise in education policy, global governance, and behavioural science

📣 We're delighted to announce three new staff members at the School for Government!

💡 Dr Kate Hoskins joins us as Reader in Public Policy & Deputy Director of the School; Dr Gloria Novovic, PhD is our new Lecturer in Public Policy; & Joseph Sherlock joins as Lecturer.

Find out more about them ⬇️

🎉 📣 The Fourth International Behavioural Public Policy Conference is underway!

💥 We've kicked off our packed programme with opening remarks from Conference Chair and Convenor @sanchayanbanerj.bsky.social and our first keynote address from Prof Peter John.

Find out more ➡️ www.ibppa.org/conference

YouTube video by The Policy Institute at King's College London Can the public be trusted? With Yuval Feldman

The conference follows our event last night with Yuval Feldman, @sanchayanbanerj.bsky.social, @michael-sanders.bsky.social & Elisabeth Costa – "Can the public be trusted?" – exploring why governments rely on coercion and punishment when voluntary cooperation often produces better outcomes

We're gearing up to host the fourth annual International Behavioural Public Policy Conference this week, featuring four excellent keynotes by Gerd Gigerenzer, Linda Steg, Peter John and Bobby Duffy.

Find out more ➡️ www.ibppa.org/conference

School for Government welcomes new Visiting Faculty members Emma de Closset, Sir David Green KC, and Baroness Camilla Cavendish will enhance the School's work

📣 The School for Government is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Visiting Faculty members – Emma de Closset, Sir David Green KC, and Baroness Camilla Cavendish – as well as the continuation of Lord Peter Hain’s association with the School as a Visiting Professor.

Read more ⬇️

🔊 New podcast! 🔊

@michael-sanders.bsky.social speaks to Dr Olga Siemers, whose research looks at the intersection of government policy, decision-making and risk management in the context of global uncertainty and digital transformation

🎧 ➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-sch...

✅ And subscribe on:

🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3Y7RSs7...
🎧 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
🎧 Amazon: music.amazon.com/podcasts/aa4...

🔊 Have you listened to our new podcast yet?

In our new podcast series, we'll be unpacking what goes into good policy-making with a range of leading experts

In episode 1 we spoke to Dame Tamara Finkelstein DCB about using evidence in policy to create lasting impact

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-sch...

"There’s growing demand for Behavioural Public Policy... but now is a pivotal moment"

@sanchayanbanerj.bsky.social and Prof Peter John explore the future opportunities and challenges of Behavioural Public Policy in a new article in @policysociety.bsky.social

➡️ academic.oup.com/policyandsoc...

State capability, effectiveness, and policy reform What Germany can learn from the UK’s What Works Movement

"Germany shows real potential to implement scientific methods into the policy process, but it still lacks a coherent, system‑wide approach"

@michael-sanders.bsky.social & Vanessa Hirneis reflect on what Germany might learn from the UK re evidence based policy

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/state-c...

Excited to be launching our brand new podcast with an interview with policy heavyweight Tamara Finkelstein!

✅ And subscribe on:

🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3Y7RSs7...
🎧 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
🎧 Amazon: music.amazon.com/podcasts/aa4...

🎙️ New podcast alert!

In episode 1 of the School for Government Podcast, @michael-sanders.bsky.social sits down with Dame Tamara Finkelstein DCB to explore what it takes to make good evidence based policy with lasting impact.

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-sch...

Congratulations to all our School for Government students who graduated yesterday! 👏 🎉

We can't wait to see how you apply the insights you've learned to the organisations and causes you choose to serve.

Well done on a fantastic achievement!

EVENT: Can the public be trusted? With Yuval Feldman

Join us, @yuval-feldman.bsky.social, @michael-sanders.bsky.social, Elisabeth Costa & @sanchayanbanerj.bsky.social to explore how trust-based approaches could help solve major challenges facing governments today

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/events/can-t...

Employers can benefit from a four-day week too, a trial suggests | CNN Business Switching to a four-day work week can be good for the bottom line, according to the results of a new trial in the United Kingdom.

“it doesn’t tell us much about what would happen if someone else tried it”

@michael-sanders.bsky.social in @cnn.com cautioning against data from trials with self-selecting participants

Inside the scandal that rocked behavioural science – and paved the way for revolution Five years after a widely revered study was debunked as totally bogus, Helen Coffey asks the experts whether trust in the sexiest branch of science has been irrevocably eroded – and how to discern bet...

"Data is like people. If you torture it for long enough, it’ll tell you more or less whatever you want to hear"

@michael-sanders.bsky.social speaking to @the-independent.com about the consequences of dishonesty in behavioural science

➡️ www.independent.co.uk/life-style/b...

"the rock solid scientific basis of the work just wasn't there in this case"

@michael-sanders.bsky.social on the consequences of working with major behavioural science research that has since been found to be dishonest

➡️ More in the @thetimes.com : www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

🎉 A huge congratulations to our visiting faculty member, Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, Founder and Director of Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, who has been awarded a Medal of the Order of the British Empire in the King's Birthday Honours for services to Social Enterprise and Young People. 🎉

"When policymakers spend enough time discussing the nature of the problem with their counterparts from across Whitehall, they pave the way to successful collaboration"

Our Associate Prof Olga Siemers in Public Finance on cross-government collaboration

➡️ www.publicfinance.co.uk/opinion/2025...

Continuing efforts to find what works to improve frontline homelessness staff wellbeing Find out more about the findings from our recent report, 'Can a low-cost social support intervention improve wellbeing of frontline workers in the homelessness sector?'

A new study by @michael-sanders.bsky.social and colleagues for @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social provides important insights into what *doesn't* work to improve wellbeing and reduce burnout among those working in frontline roles in homelessness

If Nigel Farage becomes the next prime minister, it won’t be for long – here’s why After a week of chaos, Reform has a new chair and a leader insisting the party is on track, but the signs are there that this is a party not ready to be in charge – whatever the polls say, writes gove...

"Strategic misjudgements and internal disputes have become particularly evident in the aftermath of the May 2025 local elections."

✍️ Check out @gsamaras.bsky.social's long read for @the-independent.com on the turmoil within Reform UK and the party's impact on the councils it now controls

🧵8/8

"...the lack of long-term follow up, particularly using administrative data, is an example of dollar bills being left on the sidewalk"

Michael Sanders & Julia Ellingwood on the issue of only assessing immediate outcomes of policy interventions

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/we-must...

🧵7/8

“So what would a decentralised approach to What Works look like?”

Tris Lumley critiques the centralised model of the What Works Centres, advocating for a shift towards a practitioner-centric approach

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what-wo...

🧵6/8

“We need to expand the work of what works centres and evidence-based policy initiatives to engage with the messy but essential business of implementation”

Jane Lewis & Robyn Mildon on policy failures that often stem from inadequate implementation

➡️ www.kcl.ac.uk/news/reducin...