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It’s no secret that the biggest gains in the growing global economy are reaped by the extremely wealthy. And from philanthropy to tech initiatives, plenty of the world’s billionaires claim to have solutions to combat the escalating inequality. But while members of the winning class might believe their own arguments, the US writer Anand Giridharadas says they’re a naive fantasy: regardless of good intentions, those with power cannot elevate others unless they also give up something. In this animated excerpt from a lecture at the Royal Society of Arts in London, Giridharadas explains why, even if so-called ‘win-win solutions’ might sometimes apply in commerce and trade, they don’t make society more equal.
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Ageing and death
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Archaeology
How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world
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Art
A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships
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Making
Forging a cello from pieces of wood demands its own form of virtuosity
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Education
Scenes from a school year paint a refreshingly nuanced portrait of rural America
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Art
Watch as Japan’s surplus trees are transformed into forest-tinted crayons
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Meaning and the good life
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Food and drink
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War and peace
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