Democracy - what threatens or promotes it? Read more
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Democracy
Democracy - what threatens or promotes it?
Dance Culture
Laurie Taylor takes a journey through the dancefloor, from the electric slide to the tango
Taste and Lifestyle
Taste and Lifestyle: how consumer culture remade taste and the West Indian front room.
Prison Abolition
Laurie Taylor considers the radical case for ending imprisonment.
Digital intimacy
How are algorithms transforming our relationships?
Fashion Re-imagined
Fashion Re-imagined: how might we create a more equitable industry?
High Finance
Laurie Taylor considers the impact of the asset management industry on our everyday lives.
The Petite Bourgeoisie
Laurie Taylor explores the unstoppable rise of the lower middle class.
Boxing and Kickboxing
Boxing and Kickboxing: Laurie Taylor explores their potential for transforming lives.
Water Ways
An exploration of human relationships with water.
Guns
Guns: from gun sellers in the US to the impact of the gun on human progress.
Woke
Laurie Taylor talks to philosopher Susan Neiman about the concept of ‘woke’.
Sugar
Sugar: its social history and meaning in our lives.
Pets
How the British relationship to companion animals has changed. Also, the dog walk.
The Grave - Memorial Benches
Laurie Taylor explores the origins of the grave and the meaning of memorial benches.
Intersections
Intersections - how violence impacts some people more than others.
Hope and the 'good enough' life
Hope and the 'good enough' life.
The Power of Song
The power of song: An iconic hymn, and singing and peacebuilding in South Sudan.
The Passport
The Passport: a cultural history. Also, the trade in 'golden passports'.
THE ENGLISH
THE ENGLISH: How the country house became ‘English’, and changing notions of England.
Traditionalism - Russian Orthodox Converts
Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox converts.
Capitalism
Capitalism: the origins of the word and a survey of attitudes to our economic system.
Anonymity - Self-creation
Laurie Taylor explores hidden and crafted identities.
Richard Sennett
Richard Sennett: A conversation with a leading cultural and social thinker.
Garden Utopias
Garden Utopias: from the suburban privet hedge to guerrilla gardening.
Opioids
Opioids in the US and UK: from illicit drug heroin to pharmaceutical drugs.
The politics of the body
The politics of the body: movement and posture.
The swimming pool
The swimming pool: its iconic role in our society and culture. Also, pool etiquette.
Shopping
From the rise of the mall, to the closure of shops during Covid.
The British Elite
Who runs Britain today? Are they a conservative chumocracy or a different kind of elite?
Coffee Culture
Hipster baristas in Philadelphia and Chinese-run espresso bars in Italy.