Rutger Bregman & Rune Lykkeberg - On Moral Ambitions

Rutger Bregman and Rune Lykkeberg on Moral Ambitions
What if success isn't measured in salary, title and prestige -- but in the difference you make in the world? It's the starting point for Dutch historian and journalist Rutger Bregman's new book Moral Ambitions. Bregman is particularly known for his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2019, where he confronted billionaires with their hypocrisy.

We are trained from a young age to be ambitious; get high marks, choose a good education and get a prestigious job. But is this really the right place to put our ambitions? Are you getting enough out of all the time you spend on your full-time job? Imagine if we all spent our time on something more important? Bregman shows in his book an antidote to the great waste of talent: moral ambition. How we can lend our talents to the greatest challenges of our time — from the climate crisis and inequality to the next pandemic. With moral ambition, we can all help change history.

On the occasion of the publication of Moral Ambition, journalist Rune Lykkeberg and Rutger Bregman meet in a conversation about how the will to change the world allows us to be both idealistic and successful.

The conversation takes place in English and is presented in collaboration with People's Press and Golden Days.

After the conversation, there will be book sales and a signing with Rutger Bregman.



Rutger Bregman (b. 1988) is a Dutch historian and journalist. He has been referred to by many as one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers. Bregman's books Utopia for Realists (2017) and The Good Man (2021) have both been on the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller lists, have been translated into more than 46 languages and sold more than two million copies. In October 2026, his third book Moral Ambitions will be published.

Rune Lykkeberg (b. 1974) is editor-in-chief at Information. He is an active debater and writer and every week he interviews the greatest thinkers and intellectual superstars of his time on everything from poetry, punk and pop music to climate, economics and politics.