When an art exhibition featuring stickers made to look like graffiti opened in Canterbury Cathedral, there was a surprisingly loud reaction from right-wing activists in the US - even JD Vance, the American vice-president, chimed in. Many on the political right see cathedrals, churches, and monuments in Europe as a grand cultural heritage which they feel they have to defend. And many of Donald Trump's supporters believe that Britain is under attack from multiculturalism, and that the UK is a coun...
Oct 21, 2025•6 min
An art exhibition in Canterbury Cathedral has enraged traditionalists who believe that it doesn’t fit with the holy site’s beauty or the church’s mission. The works consist of a set of temporary vinyl stickers with questions like “Why did you create hate when love is by far more powerful?” and “Does our struggle mean anything?” The questions for God were devised after artist Alex Vellis and curator Jacquiline Creswell consulted a series of marginalised groups. The organisers say the stickers wer...
Oct 17, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Are middle aged white men angry and if so why and how does that affect our politics? Professor of political science at the University of Manchester, Rob Ford, speaks to Adam Fleming about what is driving this anger from financial insecurity to broader social and cultural attitudes. He covers everything from the motte-and-bailey fallacy to measuring how tolerant someone is based on whether they’d be happy if a family member brought someone with a different political belief home.
Oct 14, 2025•6 min
Football pundit and former Manchester United star Gary Neville posted a video that he pitched as a call to national unity. But was greeted by a wave of online vitriol for one line in which he blamed “angry middle-aged white men” for creating political division. Many middle-aged white men took to social media – to deny they are angry, to describe their anger as justified, or to call Neville’s comments the out-of-touch ramblings of a “champagne socialist”. But the footballer has his supporters too...
Oct 10, 2025•54 min
Patriotism is a concept that’s been used throughout history. From rallying the troops in wartime to acting as the “glue” that brought revolutionaries together in 18th Century France; the idea of loving one’s civilisation and supporting its values, dates all the way back to Ancient Greece. Georgios Varouxakis, professor of the history of political thought at Queen Mary University of London, runs Adam Fleming through a potted history of patriotism and how it’s evolved over time.
Oct 07, 2025•6 min
It seems like everyone wants to be a patriot this week, from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to people hoisting flags up British lampposts. But what does patriotism really mean? At the Labour Party conference there was lots of talk of 'progressive patriotism' - a definition of the term that emphasises Britain's tolerance and multiculturalism. Others invoke patriotism when seeking a return to the past. Others reject the word entirely because of its links to nationalism. We find out why Keir Starmer a...
Oct 03, 2025•54 min
When people come to the UK seeking asylum they’re supposed to be placed in homes all over the country while their claims are processed – not hotels. Jonathan Darling, professor of human geography at Durham University, tells Adam Fleming where this policy of dispersal came from, how it’s evolved, and why it’s broken down.
Aug 19, 2025•7 min
Anger has flared outside hotels used to house asylum seekers. Protestors say they are worried about illegal migration, cost to the taxpayer and a lack of consultation, but one issue seems to spark even more concern - the safety of women and children. Opponents have accused protestors of racism and whipping up hate. Is there any evidence that asylum seekers are more likely to commit sexual offences? We trace the clamour for more data to answer that question. Police have been given new guidance on...
Aug 15, 2025•51 min
At first it was about creating an image that people could aspire to. Then, in the 2000s, brands started promoting their products based on values. Now marketers have entered the ‘dark mode shift’ where the only aim is to ‘ruthlessly’ make money. So says Eugene Healey, brand strategy consultant. He talks to Adam Fleming about the thought process behind branding and how it has evolved over time.
Aug 12, 2025•7 min
A jeans advert featuring the American actress Sydney Sweeney talking about her good genes provoked fierce reaction - and then came the backlash to the backlash. Some people say the advert promotes a eugenicist ideal of blonde hair and blue eyes. Others say it's a sign that the days of diversity in the advertising industry are over. Is 'woke' dead? And what does the controversy tell us about how brands use culture to get our attention? Presenter: Adam Fleming Producers: Simon Tulett, Lucy Proctor...
Aug 08, 2025•54 min
Cheating, ghosting and catfishing are all rife in modern dating and it’s often assumed that men are the ones behaving badly, with women the victims. But the evidence on which of the sexes deserves the most red flags is more complex than we might assume. Adam Fleming speaks to Dr Jenny van Hooff, reader in sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, about what studies have shown.
Aug 05, 2025•5 min
An app offering women dating safety tools and advice has suspended some of its services following a hack, sparking a debate between the sexes about fairness and respect in dating. Tea, which lets women do background checks on potential male dates, is only available in the USA, but the incident has prompted discussion about similar online groups available in the UK, like 'Are We Dating The Same Guy' on Facebook. Some users say online spaces where they can flag concerns about infidelity or potenti...
Aug 01, 2025•54 min
In 2023, a big piece of research was published examining the way different ethnic groups experienced racism in the UK. Racism and Ethnic Inequality in a Time of Crisis analysed the responses to one the largest surveys of ethnic minorities ever conducted in Britain. Dr Dharmi Kapadia is a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Manchester and worked on the project. She told Adam about what the study found.
Jul 29, 2025•6 min
The debate around a hierarchy of racism was reignited this week when Labour MP Diane Abbott appeared on a BBC Radio 4 podcast and discussed previous comments she'd made about racism. She maintained there is a difference between racism based on skin colour and other kinds of racism. This sparked conversation around the different types of racism and prejudice faced by Black people, Jewish people, and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller people. We look at the statistics and discuss the history of the anti-r...
Jul 25, 2025•54 min
It’s always been difficult to get a book published. But is it especially difficult now if you’re man who writes fiction? That’s the claim being made by some who say female authors are squeezing their male counterparts off the bookshelves. So who decides which books get published? Amelia Fairney spent 30 years in the publishing business. She talks Adam through the process.
Jul 22, 2025•6 min
Just a few years ago the gender gap in book publishing was seen as an issue to address, with many publishing houses focussed on boosting women authors. Has it all gone too far? Are men, especially straight, white men, now being locked out of telling their stories? And what might that mean for society? Presenter: Adam Fleming Producers: Nik Sindle, Lucy Proctor, Tim Gillet Editor: Richard Vadon
Jul 21, 2025•53 min
A new law to bolster workers' rights by making it an employer's job to prevent staff being harassed by customers and clients, as well as fellow colleagues, has been criticised by some as an attack on free speech. Opponents worry that harmless banter - in pubs, for example - might need to be monitored as a result of this new legislation. That's denied by the government. The word ‘banter’ has seen a resurgence in the last few decades. Tony Thorne, a lexicologist and language consultant at King’s C...
Jul 15, 2025•6 min
An extension of workers' rights, designed to further protect them from harassment on the job, has been criticised as an attack on free speech. The Employment Rights Bill, first tabled in October 2024, would make it an employer's responsibility to prevent harassment of their staff by customers, clients and members of the public, as well as fellow colleagues. Some argue the bill, which is not yet law, would effectively outlaw banter - particularly in settings like pubs - and pressure companies to ...
Jul 11, 2025•54 min
Government ministers have been trying to promote grit among young people in England as part of proposals to improve young people's mental health and increase school attendance. 'Grit' is the latest in a lengthy line of interventions from education secretaries who've been keen to emphasise the values they think children should be learning in school. Dr Lydia Marshall, head of research at the education consultancy Oxford Measured, tells Adam about the long and winding history
May 28, 2025•6 min
The government has launched a new initiative to help teachers address a crisis in mental health among young people and a sharp drop in school attendance since the pandemic. The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says she wants schools to teach children greater "grit and resilience" to handle "life's ups and downs". It's the latest in a long line of interventions from education secretaries seeking to encourage the values they think children should be learning in school. Is this the promotion ...
May 23, 2025•54 min
In the last few weeks Adam has been noticing things popping up on his social media timeline tagged with the word “Yookay”, which is supposed to be a reference to how UK is pronounced in a multicultural London accent. The content is a combination of pictures of streets or public transport and sometimes videos. So what's going on? I spoke to Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, analyst at the thinktank the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, who researches anti-migrant sentiment online.
May 22, 2025•5 min
As the Prime Minister announced reforms to the UK's immigration system, he warned that without these changes we risk becoming an "island of strangers". This has drawn criticism comparing his remarks to historical examples of inflammatory language on immigration. Others say this comparison is unfair and his comments were part of a sensible conversation about immigration. Presenter: Adam Fleming Producers: Bethan Ashmead Latham, Josephine Casserly, Viv Jones and Nik Sindle Editor: Richard Vadon Pr...
May 16, 2025•54 min
A group of Labour MP's say they're opposed to government plans to cut the benefits paid to disabled people, with a lot of the online debate focusing on PIP - Personal Independence Payments. BBC journalist Emma Tracey presents the BBC's disability and mental health podcast, Access All, she explains what these payments are, how they can be used and who is eligible to claim.
May 13, 2025•6 min
There's a row in the Labour Party about cutting the benefits paid to disabled people. Ministers say they're trying to manage a budget that's ballooning. That's partly because of more claims from the young and from people with mental health conditions. But others say that these payments are lifelines for people with both mental and physical disabilities. Presenter: Adam Fleming Producers: Josephine Casserly, Viv Jones, Bethan Ashmead-Latham and Tom Gillett Production Coordinator: Janet Staples St...
May 09, 2025•54 min
A campaign to get verbal abuse on the agenda has sparked debate with headlines that say shouting at children is as bad as physical abuse. What does the evidence actually say about the words we use when speaking to children? Where did the phenomenon of gentle parenting come from, and how do you do it? And who decides how we treat our kids? Presenter: Adam Fleming Producers: Lucy Proctor, Josephine Casserly, Bethan Ashmead Latham, Tom Gillet Production coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Penny Murp...
May 02, 2025•54 min
What does the Supreme Court ruling mean for trans people and single sex services? Michael Foran, lecturer in public law at the University of Glasgow, explains.
Apr 29, 2025•7 min
What does the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex mean for the health service? The UK’s top court says that under equality law a woman is a biological woman and a man is a biological man. It’s sparked discussion about how the NHS accommodates trans people when it comes to single sex spaces, like women-only wards. What do the judgment and equality legislation say about providing services to only one sex? What does NHS policy say and how might it change? And why has the language used by health ...
Apr 25, 2025•54 min
How much leeway do judges have when sentencing? Professor Julian Roberts of the Sentencing Academy explains what guidelines judges use and how public perceptions sometimes differ from what's actually happening in the courts.
Apr 22, 2025•5 min
Lucy Connolly is a 42 year old woman from Northampton who is currently serving a custodial sentence for stirring up racial hatred after she posted on X on the day of the Southport attacks last year, calling for "mass deportations now" and referring to setting fire to asylum hotels. Her case has caused controversy online, with some describing her as a "political prisoner" and claiming that the justice system is treating some people more harshly than others. But to others, Lucy Connolly is being a...
Apr 18, 2025•54 min
This month Bianca Censori, rapper Kanye West’s wife, broke the internet after appearing on a red carpet in a transparent dress. Meanwhile, artists were upset about their life drawing class being moved in North London. This prompted a conversation about public nudity and by extension, nudism. Professor Annebella Pollen is from the University of Brighton and author of Nudism in a Cold Climate, she explains the history and significance of the nudism movement in the UK.
Feb 24, 2025•7 min
