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New research on how society works

Updated: weekly
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Tech Workers

    Tuesday

    The hidden exploitation of workers at the heart of artificial intelligence.

  • Food Systems

    Tue 29 Oct 2024

    From tin cans to stretch-wrap, the secret life of food packaging.

  • Meaning of Work

    Tue 22 Oct 2024

    What makes work meaningful, from nurses to lawyers? Also, cleaners' quest for dignity.

  • Sea Travelling

    Tue 15 Oct 2024

    Shipboard travels and maritime maps.

  • Gender and Radicalisation

    Tue 8 Oct 2024

    How does gender influence men and women's participation in extremist politics?

  • Architecture and Hope

    Tue 1 Oct 2024

    Can building design create hope, from high security prisons to homeless hostels?

  • Sight and Power

    Tue 24 Sep 2024

    From Bentham's panopticon and surveillance cameras to conflicts over views of Mount Fuji.

  • Medical Icons

    Tue 17 Sep 2024

    Medical revolutions that transformed out relationship to our bodies and the world.

  • Coffee Culture

    Tue 10 Sep 2024

    Hipster baristas in Philadelphia and Chinese-run espresso bars in Italy.

  • The British Elite

    Tue 3 Sep 2024

    Who runs Britain today? Are they a conservative chumocracy or a different kind of elite?

  • Shopping

    Tue 25 Jun 2024

    From the rise of the mall, to the closure of shops during Covid.

  • The swimming pool

    Tue 18 Jun 2024

    The swimming pool: its iconic role in our society and culture. Also, pool etiquette.

  • The politics of the body

    Tue 11 Jun 2024

    The politics of the body: movement and posture.

  • Opioids

    Tue 4 Jun 2024

    Opioids in the US and UK: from illicit drug heroin to pharmaceutical drugs.

  • Garden Utopias

    Tue 28 May 2024

    Garden Utopias: from the suburban privet hedge to guerrilla gardening.

  • Richard Sennett

    Tue 21 May 2024

    Richard Sennett: A conversation with a leading cultural and social thinker.

  • Anonymity - Self-creation

    Wed 14 Feb 2024

    Laurie Taylor explores hidden and crafted identities.

  • Capitalism

    Wed 7 Feb 2024

    Capitalism: the origins of the word and a survey of attitudes to our economic system.

  • Traditionalism - Russian Orthodox Converts

    Wed 31 Jan 2024

    Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox converts.

  • THE ENGLISH

    Wed 24 Jan 2024

    THE ENGLISH: How the country house became β€˜English’, and changing notions of England.

  • The Passport

    Wed 17 Jan 2024

    The Passport: a cultural history. Also, the trade in 'golden passports'.

  • The Power of Song

    Wed 10 Jan 2024

    The power of song: An iconic hymn, and singing and peacebuilding in South Sudan.

  • Hope and the 'good enough' life

    Wed 3 Jan 2024

    Hope and the 'good enough' life.

  • Intersections

    Wed 25 Oct 2023

    Intersections - how violence impacts some people more than others.

  • The Grave - Memorial Benches

    Wed 18 Oct 2023

    Laurie Taylor explores the origins of the grave and the meaning of memorial benches.

  • Pets

    Wed 11 Oct 2023

    How the British relationship to companion animals has changed. Also, the dog walk.

  • Sugar

    Wed 4 Oct 2023

    Sugar: its social history and meaning in our lives.

  • Woke

    Wed 27 Sep 2023

    Laurie Taylor talks to philosopher Susan Neiman about the concept of β€˜woke’.

  • Guns

    Wed 20 Sep 2023

    Guns: from gun sellers in the US to the impact of the gun on human progress.

  • Water Ways

    Wed 13 Sep 2023

    An exploration of human relationships with water.

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