This event has now taken place.

Why do some ideas take off and others fail to spread?

We live in a world that's more connected than ever before. But even as we see our lives being shaped by the spread of ideas and trends, we sometimes struggle to grasp how it actually works. Outbreaks seem to be driven by randomness and hidden laws, and in order to understand them, we need to start thinking like mathematicians.

In this online event, epidemiologist Adam Kucharski was joined by Nesta CEO Ravi Gurumurthy to reveal how new mathematical approaches are transforming what we know about contagion - from the revolutionary initiatives that helped tackle gun violence in Chicago to the truth behind the spread of fake news. And along the way, they explored how innovations and emotions can spread through our friendship networks, and what STDs can tell us about banking.