Editing London School of Economics (section)

== LSE in literature and other media ==
The London School of Economics has been mentioned and formed the basis of setting for numerous works of fiction and in popular culture. 

=== Novels ===
The first notable mention of the LSE was in literature was in the epilogue to [[George Bernard Shaw|Bernard Shaw's]] 1912 play ''[[Pygmalion (play)|Pygmalion]]'', [[Eliza Doolittle]] is sent to the LSE.<ref>{{cite book |title=Listener and BBC Television Review Volumes 100–101 |date=1978 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |page=435}}</ref>

In around a dozen other novels, the LSE was mentioned as short-hand for a character being witty and clever but outside the establishment. This is best exhibited by [[Ian Fleming]]'s CV of [[James Bond]] that included the detail that his father, Andrew, is an LSE graduate.<ref name="Fiction">{{cite news |title=As others see us – LSE in fiction |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsehistory/2015/02/25/as-others-see-us-lse-in-fiction/ |access-date=26 March 2024 |publisher=London School of Economics}}</ref> These occurrences have continued into contemporary fiction: Lenny is the young 'hip' LSE graduate and criminologist in [[Jake Arnott]]'s tour of the London underworld in ''[[The Long Firm]]''. [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]]' ''[[Enigma (novel)|Enigma]]'' includes Baxter, a code breaker with leftist views, who has been an LSE lecturer before the war and ''My Revolutions'' by [[Hari Kunzru]] traces the career of Chris Carver aka Michael Frame who travels from LSE student radical to terrorist and on to middle England.<ref name="Fiction"/>

LSE alumna [[Hilary Mantel]], in ''The Experience of Love'', never mentions LSE by name but [[Holborn|Houghton Street]], the corridors of the LSE Old Building and Wright's Bar are immediately recognisable references to the campus of the school. [[A. S. Byatt]]'s ''[[The Children's Book]]'' returns to LSE's Fabian roots with a plot inspired in part by the life of children's writer [[E. Nesbitt]] and Fabian [[Hubert Bland]], and characters that choose LSE over older educational establishments (namely [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]]).

=== Television ===
The popular 1980s British sitcom ''[[Yes Minister]]'' and ''[[Yes, Prime Minister|Yes Prime Minister]]'' make regular references to the LSE with Minister [[Jim Hacker]] (later Prime Minister) and Sir Mark Spencer (special advisor to the Prime Minister) regularly being subtly ridiculed for having attended the LSE.<ref name="Screen">{{cite news |title=LSE on the big and the small screen |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsehistory/2016/02/22/lse-on-screen/ |access-date=26 March 2024 |publisher=London School of Economics}}</ref> A fictional LSE graduate also appears in season three episode six of the US series, ''[[Mad Men (season 3)|Mad Men]]''.<ref name="Screen" /> The popular American series ''[[The West Wing]]'' following the Democratic administration of [[Josiah Bartlet|Josiah (Jed) Bartlet]] makes several references to Josiah Bartlet being an alumnus of the LSE.<ref name="Screen" /> Other fictional LSE alumni are present in ''[[Spooks (TV series)|Spooks]]'', at least one episode of ''[[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]'' and ''[[The Blacklist]]'' series.

=== Film ===
In the 2014 action spy thriller ''[[Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit|Shadow Recruit]]'', the young [[Jack Ryan (character)|Jack Ryan]], based on a Tom Clancy character, proves his academic credentials by walking out of the Old Building as he graduates from the LSE before injuring his spine being shot down in Afghanistan.<ref name="Screen" /> The LSE is acknowledged in ''[[The Social Network]]'' naming the institution along with [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]] universities in a reference to the rapid growth [[Facebook]] enjoyed both within and outside the United States in its early years.