An Evening with Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The economist, essayist, philosopher and (in the words of The Sunday Times) 'hottest thinker in the world', Nassim Nicholas Taleb is probably more famous than you realise.

He's the author of the ingenious book Black Swan, which transformed thinking about the impact unpredictable events and people's proclivity for finding simplistic explanations. It coined a theory which has unsurprisingly come to be known as 'black swan'. You might also recognise him from Twitter – he got into a bit of a spat with classicist Mary Beard last summer.

This 'godlike oracle on the subject' (The Financial Times) comes to the how to: Academy to talk about his major new work Skin in the Game.

His new thesis highlights the importance of professional risk factors, and their impact during a business transaction. For example, citizens and hedge fund traders might have 'skin in the game' when theoreticians and journalists don't, influencing how they approach an event. It's about having something to lose and risk – what people say is practically irrelevant.

Culture Whisper Gold members are being offered tickets reserved especially for us at this otherwise sold out talk in the Emmanuel Centre. It is being sold as his 'most provocative and practical book yet', Taleb will discuss how the amount of 'skin in the game' is something that applies to all aspects of our lives.

Expect a discussion that encompasses everything from Donald Trump to social justice, risk, reward, politics, finance, religion and the argument that it is minorities and not majorities run the world.

In partnership with how to: Academy