Art Auctions - How do auctioneers and buyers transact sales in seconds? Laurie Taylor hears from Professor Christian Heath who discusses his detailed study into the tools and techniques which lead to the strike of a hammer. They're joined by the arts writer and critic, Georgina Adam. Also, the Guatemalan cemetery with no more room. The growth of the city combined with high death and murder rates means the cemetery is overflowing. The anthropologist, Kevin O'Neill, talks about the harsh effects o...
Mar 13, 2013•28 min
Drugs for life - Laurie Taylor talks to the US anthropologist, Joseph Dumit, about his research into the burgeoning consumption of medicine in the US. Dumit did ethnographic research with drug company executives, marketers, researchers, doctors and patients, and assessed the industry's strategies for expanding their markets. He asks if the huge growth in medication ties us to a radically new conception of ourselves as intrinsically ill and need of treatment. Is this a uniquely American developme...
Mar 06, 2013•28 min
'Red Racisms' - Laurie Taylor talks to the Professor of Racism and Ethnicity Studies, Ian Law, about his study of racism in Communist and Post Communist countries. He hears about the battle to challenge the racist underground in the Russian Federation, the post war experiences of the Roma in Hungary, the emergence of new forms of racism in Cuba and Tibetan struggles against Chinese domination. They're joined by the historian, Michael Stewart. Also, Katherine Appleford's research on class, mother...
Feb 27, 2013•28 min
Weapon dogs - Laurie Taylor discusses the phenomenon of status dogs with Simon Harding, the author of 'Unleashed..' Also, the growth of 'Ned' pride in Scotland. 'Ned', or non educated delinquent, is the Scottish equivalent of the English term 'Chav'. It refers stereotypically to uneducated and anti social youth. But the sociologist, Robert Young, finds that some young Scots, including middle class teenagers, are proudly adopting the 'Ned' label as a mark of sub cultural rebellion. Stephanie Lawl...
Feb 20, 2013•28 min
Stan Cohen - Laurie Taylor presents a special programme which pays tribute to the work and legacy of one of the most significant sociologists of our times. Eminent social scientists, Stuart Hall, Conor Gearty and Howard Becker, highlight his unique personality and contribution. And in the studio, three younger academics, Dr Claire Moon, Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Human Rights, Dr Karen Lumsden, Lecturer in Sociology and David Scott, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, d...
Feb 13, 2013•28 min
Russian women prisoners - in the light of Pussy Riot's imprisonment, timely research on Russia's distinctive penal geography. The sociologist, Judith Pallot, talks to Laurie Taylor about a study based on extensive interviews with prisoners and officers in different regions of Russia. She finds that the vast distances between prisons and womens' homes imposes harsh penalties on women and their families. They're joined by the criminologist, Dr Sharon Shalev. Also 'Bolt Wars': Lisa Bogardus spent 1...
Jan 30, 2013•28 min
Climate change - what lies beneath its widespread denial? Laurie Taylor talks to Sally Weintrobe, the editor of the first book of its kind which explores, from a multi disciplinary perspective, what the ecological crisis actually means to people. In spite of a scientific consensus, many continue to resist or ignore the message of climate communicators - but why? What are the social and emotional explanations for this reaction? They're joined by the Professor of Social Policy, Paul Hoggett. Also,...
Jan 23, 2013•28 min
Neo liberalism - its genesis and development. Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Stedman Jones, the author of a new book which traces the origins of neo liberal economics. Also, the enduring and complex relationship between race and music. Laurie meets Jo Haynes, the author of a new study which considers the significance of race to the understanding of music genres and preferences. What does the 'love of difference' via music contribute to contemporary perspectives on racism? The research draws on in...
Jan 16, 2013•28 min
Contagion - how commerce spreads disease. Laurie Taylor talks to Mark Harrison, Professor of the History of Medicine, about the close intertwining between trade and germs from the 14th century to today. His new book explores the development of public health in the Western world as well as the global misuse of quarantines for political ends. Also, young men working in retail. The sociologist, Steven Roberts' research finds evidence for a new and softer kind of masculinity. He's joined by Professo...
Jan 09, 2013•28 min
Intoxication - In a special programme, Laurie Taylor explores the role and meaning of both alcohol and drugs in human life. Why do so many people chose to alter their consciousness with stimulants, whether legal or illicit? Professor James Mills, the author of 'Cannabis Nation..' is joined by Professor Fiona Measham and Professor Chris Hackley. Producer: Jayne Egerton.
Dec 26, 2012•28 min
Military Migrants and the British Army. From Fiji to Ghana, the British military recruits soldiers to fight Britain's wars. Since 1998 overseas recruitment has been stepped up in response to labour shortages and diversity programmes. The sociologist, Vron Ware, talks to Laurie Taylor about her new book 'Military Migrants: Fighting for Your Country'. She argues that this new category of soldier inhabits a contradictory situation - on the one hand, praised as a 'hero' but on the other, stigmatised...
Dec 19, 2012•28 min
British politics, heritage and history. Laurie Taylor explores the divergent stories political parties construct about our history and their own historical roles. From disputes over the National Curriculum for History to the assertion of a lost 'social democratic' tradition by New Labour. Research Fellow, Emily Robinson, argues that politicians' manipulation of the past leaves them unable to speak of different futures. Also, Allison James talks about her research on the experience of sick childr...
Dec 12, 2012•28 min
How to be Gay - Laurie Taylor talks to David Halperin, the US Professor of History and Theory of Sexuality, whose controversial new book explores the way in which a gay male sensibility subverts mainstream culture, from Grand Opera to Broadway Musicals. Whilst some gay men repudiate what they perceive as a narrow and stereotypical version of their sexual identity; Halperin argues that a love of kitsch, camp and melodrama is, in fact, linked to a uniquely gay culture: Furthermore, its genius lies...
Dec 05, 2012•28 min
Red Tape in India - a major new study by the renowned anthropologist, Akhil Gupta, seeks to understand why state bureaucracy hinders the fight against poverty in the world's third largest economy. Laurie Taylor hears about his ethnographic study among officials in charge of development programs in rural Uttar Pradesh. Why is it that the expansion of government programmes have failed to improve significantly the lives of the poorest? Fellow anthropologist, Dr Alpa Shah, joins the discussion. Also...
Nov 28, 2012•28 min
Residential care revisited - Laurie Taylor considers Peter Townsend's landmark research, 'The Last Refuge', fifty years after its publication. Retracing Townsend's footsteps, a hundred, older volunteer researchers sought to find out what had happened to the 173 care homes in his classic study. Julia Johnson, one of the authors of the new study, charts the changes and continuities in care for older people in England and Wales. She's joined by Robin Darton, an expert in social care, Also, the arch...
Nov 21, 2012•28 min
What was behind the British riots? From Blackberry and gossip to hard facts and first hand accounts. Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Briggs about his research into last year's summer of discontent and damage. A definitive account of the nature and causes of the riots of 2011. Also, is it all over for the weekend? The sociologists, Jill Ebrey and Guy Standing, ask whether or not the weekend as a time for rest, family life and pleasure, is threatened with extinction by contemporary patterns of work....
Nov 19, 2012•28 min
Ever in need of a new way to travel? 'Couchsurfing', in the form of online social networking, allows users to travel with and stay at the homes of fellow users. It's just one example of how the internet aids face to face intimacy - sometimes amongst strangers. Paula Bialski talks to Laurie Taylor about her book 'Becoming Intimately Mobile' . Based on five years of ethnographic research amongst coach surfers and online hitchhiking website users, it documents new forms of human hospitality and con...
Nov 07, 2012•28 min
Growth of the strip clubs - Why has erotic dance and stripping become a staple of the night time economy in the UK? Kate Hardy tells Laurie Taylor why her research suggests that the proliferation of these clubs has little to do with the demands of male customers. Instead, it's a by product of the economics of an industry which maintains its profits, even during a recession, by passing the financial risks on to its workers. Also, the anthropologist, Daniel Miller asks what the ubiquity of blue je...
Oct 31, 2012•28 min
Trouble at work: Laurie Taylor considers the findings of the largest UK study on ill treatment in the workplace ever undertaken. He's joined by the researchers, Ralph Fevre and Amanda Robinson, who claim that organisations which are well versed in modern management practices may create a culture in which bullying, harassment and stress thrive. Also, travellers versus tourists - Lara Week's research questions whether or not those seeking 'authentic culture' provide more to foreign countries than ...
Oct 24, 2012•28 min
Are the stringent checks at airports really for our benefit? 'Against Security', a new book by the acclaimed American sociologist, Harvey Molotch, explores the complex systems which are designed to make us feel safe in public places. He tells Laurie Taylor why he thinks that security measures in airports and subways, post 9.11, have damaged the pleasure and dignity of our daily lives. They're joined by the design critic, Stephen Bayley. Also, Sociology's failure to address the financial crisis. ...
Oct 17, 2012•28 min
The 'New' Arab Man: Middle Eastern, Muslim men are often represented as 'zealots' and oppressors of women. But Laurie Taylor hears how 2 decades of research by the Professor of Anthropology, Marcia Inhorn, is undermining such cultural stereotypes. Her study found that ordinary Arab men who confront childlessness and infertility are re-thinking conventional masculinity. Also, research by Matthew Bond into elite club membership in the House of Lords. Is a British establishment still evident in the...
Oct 10, 2012•28 min
Sickness benefit claimants and their fear of the 'brown envelope'. Laurie Taylor hears about a new study into the views and experiences of the long term sick and disabled in the context of ongoing welfare reforms. The researcher, Kayleigh Garthwaite, highlights their ambivalence - whilst some have a deep seated anxiety about losing rights and income; others hope it will distinguish between the genuinely ill, such as themselves, and those that are 'faking'. Also, the former social science magazin...
Oct 03, 2012•29 min
Bletchley Park, the decoding organisation, was at the heart of British intelligence operations in the Second World War. A mythology has grown around its secret activities, which some claim shortened the war by several years. Professor Christopher Grey talks to Laurie Taylor about his seminal research into the romance and reality of Bletchley Park. They're joined by Professor Anthony King. Also, race and 'belonging' in an English village. The social anthropologist, Katharine Tyler, explores the a...
Sep 26, 2012•28 min
Segregation: a Global History of Divided Cities' Laurie Taylor talks to Carl Nightingale, the author of a groundbreaking new book about the ideology and practice of racial segregation in the city. Traversing continents and millennia, he analyses the urban divide from its imperial origins to postwar suburbanisation; from the racially split city of Calcutta to the American South in the age of Jim Crow. Finally, he considers the extent to which separation by race continues to deform the contemporar...
Sep 19, 2012•28 min
'Odd Couples' - friendships which cross the boundaries of gender and sexuality. A new book challenges the widespread assumption that men and women are fundamentally different and can only forge significant bonds within romantic relationships. It charts the deep friendships between gay men and straight women, and also between lesbians and straight men. Laurie Taylor talks to the sociologist, Anna Muraco, who claims that such 'intersectional' friendships serve as as a barometer for shifting social...
Sep 12, 2012•29 min
What has cause the Italian family to decline so fast? What are the prospects for encouraging Italians to start having more children? Laurie is joined in the studio by three experts in order to discuss his explorations of the family in Italy. Geoff Andrews, David Gilmour and Annalisa Piras give their views on what has caused the Italian crisis and what hopes there are for the future. Producer: Charlie Taylor.
Sep 05, 2012•28 min
Italy, home to the Pope and the Holy See, perhaps the most Catholic of all countries, is undergoing a peculiarly un-Catholic crisis; it now has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. There are so few children being born that if the current trend persists, traditional Italians are at risk of dying out in just a handful of generations. How can the nation famed for Romanticism, for enormous affectionate families, for Mamma Mia and for an enviable certainty that all you need is good food, good ...
Aug 31, 2012•28 min
Italy, home to the Pope and the Holy See, perhaps the most Catholic of all countries, is undergoing a peculiarly un-Catholic crisis; it now has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. There are so few children being born that if the current trend persists, traditional Italians are at risk of dying out in just a handful of generations. How can the nation famed for Romanticism, for enormous affectionate families, for Mamma Mia and for an enviable certainty that all you need is good food, good ...
Aug 29, 2012•28 min
The first generation of women to establish themselves on Wall Street began their careers in the 1960s. Laurie Taylor hears from Melissa Fisher about her in depth study of the working lives of the women at the heart of America's financial centre, and Liz Bolshaw joins the discussion to bring a comparison with women in The City of London. Also, Beth Hardie joins Laurie to discuss her new report on youth crime in Peterborough called Breaking Rules. Does morality have a role in preventing people com...
Aug 15, 2012•28 min
What happens when middle class white people move into vibrant, ethnically diverse and challenging areas in inner city London? Emma Jackson talks to Laurie about the developing attitudes of the 'gentrifiers' in Peckham and in Brixton. Also, Irena Grugulis, author of Jobs for the Boys returns to the programme: She address points raised by listeners on her study of networking in the media and discusses the concept of 'social capital'. Producer: Charlie Taylor.
Aug 10, 2012•28 min
