Migrants and refugees: Laurie Taylor explores the historical and contemporary realities of the marooned, unhomed and displaced peoples of the world. Today's refugee 'crisis' has its origins in the political–and imaginative–history of the last century. Exiles from other places have often caused trouble for ideas about sovereignty, law and nationhood. Lyndsey Stonebridge, Professor of Humanities and Human Rights at the University of Birmingham, charts the changing meaning of exile. Also, how do th...
Jan 09, 2019•29 min
Work: What is it good for? Laurie Taylor presents a special programme which takes a provocative look at work as a cultural norm. Josh Cohen, Professor of Modern Literary Theory at Goldsmiths, University of London, considers the joys of inertia - of being rather than doing; Andrea Komlosy, Professor in the Department of Economics and Social History at the University of Vienna, probes the debate about work as burdensome toil versus work as creative expression and Anthony Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in ...
Jan 02, 2019•29 min
Identity: Laurie Taylor presents a special programme exploring the ways in which we define ourselves and gain a sense of belonging – from race, religion and nationality to membership of a subcultural tribe. He talks to Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, and author of a new book which takes issues with fixed notions of identity; Carrie Dunn, author of a study of female football fandom and Karl Spracklen, Professor of Music, Leisure and Culture at Leeds B...
Dec 26, 2018•44 min
The White Power Movement in the US: Laurie Taylor talks to Kathleen Belew, Assistant Professor of US History at the University of Chicago, and author of a new book which traces the origins and development of the racist far right. They're joined by Liz Fekete, Director of the Institute of Race Relations, who discusses her study of similar (and different) forces in Europe. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Dec 05, 2018•29 min
The Night-time Economy: Laurie Taylor talks to Adam Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Westminster, about the origins and changing nature of the after dark economy. They're joined by Emily Nicholls, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Portsmouth and author of a new, Newcastle based study into the phenomenon of the 'girls night out'. How do young women negotiate friendships, flirtations and fun on a night out with mates? Producer: Jayne Egerton
Nov 28, 2018•29 min
Architecture, housing and health. Laurie Taylor explores a neglected aspect of well being. He's joined by the writer, Iain Sinclair, Daryl Martin, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York and Christine Murray, founder of the “Women in Architecture” Awards. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Nov 14, 2018•29 min
Shoes: Laurie Taylor explores their cultural history and sociological meanings. He's joined by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Tim Edwards, Honorary Fellow in Sociology at the University of Leicester and Naomi Braithwaite, Senior Lecturer in the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Nov 07, 2018•29 min
Racial ambiguity in America: Lisa Kingstone, Senior Teaching Fellow in Race and Identity at Kings College, London, asks what happens to a country that was built on race when the boundaries of black and white have started to fade. She’s joined by the writer, Bidisha. Also, what is meant by white privilege? Kalwant Bhopal, Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, discusses her new study. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Nov 02, 2018•29 min
Maps and postcodes. Is there such a thing as a predictive postcode? Can it reveal more about us than our bank account, ethnicity or social class? Laurie Taylor poses the question to Roger Burrows, Professor of Cities at Newcastle University. Also, Mapping Society - Laura Vaughan, Professor of Urban Form and Society at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, examines how maps not only serve as historical records of social enquiry, but also reveal the ways in which difference and inequality are ...
Oct 24, 2018•29 min
Rich Russians: Laurie Taylor talks to Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, about her study of the changing nature of the Russian elite, from oligarchs to bourgeoisie. Also, millionaire tax flight - myth or reality? Cristobal Young, Associate Professor of Sociology at Cornell University, suggests that location is surprisingly important to the rich. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Oct 17, 2018•29 min
Palaces for the People: can social infrastructure fight inequality and the decline in civic life? Laurie Taylor talks to the American sociologist, Eric Klinenberg. They’re joined by Kate Pahl, Professor of Arts and Literacy at Manchester Metropolitan University and Katie Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at the University of the West of England. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Oct 10, 2018•28 min
Push Buttons: Laurie Taylor explores the pleasure, panic and the politics of pushing. The touch of a finger can summon a taxi, turn on a TV, call for an elevator or 'like' a Facebook post. But are buttons simply neutral and natural mechanisms which ease our daily lives? He's joined by Rachel Plotnick, Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University, Steven Connor, Professor of English at the University of Cambridge and Barbara Speed, Acting Managing Editor at the i newspape...
Oct 03, 2018•27 min
Creativity - has it become the meaningless buzz word for our times? Oli Mould, Lecturer in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, delivers a broadside against the injunction to 'be creative' and the 'creative economy' itself. He's joined by David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Media, Music and Culture and Eliza Easton, Principal Policy Researcher in the Creative Economy and Data Analytics team at Nesta. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Sep 26, 2018•29 min
Post-Truth – Laurie Taylor explores a very modern phenomenon, or is it? He’s joined by Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, Helen Pluckrose, Editor of Areo, a digital magazine focused on Enlightenment liberalism and Andrew Chadwick, Professor of Political Communication at Loughborough University. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Sep 19, 2018•29 min
Drifters: What place does the train hopping hobo have in working class history and the popular imagination? The travelling vagrant is a figure, at once romantic and pitiable, associated with the freedom of the open road, but also with destitution. How linked were drifting communities to a specifically American form of capitalism, one which demanded transient labour? Laurie Taylor takes a cross cultural and historical look a life of uncertain mobility, from America to Britain, and explores its co...
Sep 12, 2018•29 min
Smart Cities: Laurie Taylor presents a special edition of Thinking Allowed which was recorded at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He was joined by Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, Oliver Zanetti, Visiting Fellow at the Open University and Gillian Rose, Professor of Human Geography at Oxford University. Producer: Jayne Egerton.
Jul 25, 2018•28 min
Beauty and ugliness - to what extent are our ideas about physical perfection culturally and socially constructed? Laurie Taylor talks to Gretchen Henderson, Lecturer in English at Georgetown University & author of a study of perceptions of ugliness throughout history and to Heather Widdows, Professor of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham, whose latest book explores the radical transformation of the status of beauty and the increasing emergence of a global ideal. Producer: Jayne Eg...
Jul 18, 2018•28 min
Suburbia Revisited: Has it ceased to be a place of leafy affluence as poverty has migrated from the city? New research suggests the decline of an American 'golden age' of white picket fences and two garage homes. Laurie Taylor explores the origin, myth and reality of the suburban dream, in Britain as well as the US. Is the suburbanisation of poverty a widespread phenomenon? He's joined by Mark Clapson, Professor of Social and Urban History at the University of Westminster, Scott Allard, Professo...
Jul 11, 2018•29 min
'Selfies' - every day Facebook users upload 350million photos, Instagrammers share 95 million photos and there are 3 billion Snapchat snaps. A central element of visual sharing online involves 'selfies' -which often generate more comment than anything else. But why this fascination with images that can often be repetitive and unimaginative? Do they feed a culture of unhealthy narcissism, as critics assert, or are they a more complex cultural phenomenon? Also, Disconnected - why are some people t...
Jul 04, 2018•28 min
Gangs, spirituality and desistance from crime - what leads people away from criminality? Laurie Taylor talks to Ross Deuchar, Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Crime, Policing and Social Justice at the University of the West of Scotland. His new study draws on in-depth interviews with male gang members and offenders and spans three continents, focusing on the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong. They're joined by Ruth Armstrong, Senior Research Associate in the Institute of Cri...
Jun 27, 2018•28 min
Will China rule the world? Laurie Taylor talks to Yuen Yuen Ang, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and author of a study which explores China's unusual route out of poverty. They're joined by David Tyfield, Co-Director of the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University, and author of new book examining the prospects for an alternative global power regime. Producer: Jayne Egerton.
Jun 20, 2018•29 min
Illumination and darkness: Laurie Taylor is joined by Tim Edensor, Reader in Cultural Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University, and author of a study into the ways in which light and dark produce everyday life and the stories we tell about ourselves. In examining the modern city as a space of fantasy through electric illumination, he considers how we are seeking-and should seek-new forms of darkness in reaction to the perpetual glow of urban lighting. They're joined by Robert Shaw., lectu...
Jun 13, 2018•28 min
Laurie Taylor is joined by Lynne Vallone, Professor of Childhood Studies, to discuss her book, Big and Small, in which she explores the often uncomfortable implications of using physical measures to judge normalcy and perceptions of beauty. Tanya S Osensky is an attorney who has made it her personal crusade to highlight the discrimination faced by short people in our society and to suggest ways of changing this. In her book, Shortchanged, Tanya reflects on her own experiences of being short as w...
Jun 06, 2018•28 min
Laurie Taylor examines the role of business schools in the UK and abroad. Martin Parker joins him in the studio to discuss the arguments in his book Shut Down the Business School - What's Wrong with Management Education. Laurie is joined on the line from New York by the author of The Golden Passport - Harvard Business School, the Limits of Capitalism, and the Moral Failure of the MBA Elite, Duff McDonald. Are there similarities between the American business school model and its British counterpa...
May 30, 2018•28 min
Law and Order: the legacy - 40 years ago, GF Newman's quartet of plays, Law & Order, provoked calls from MPs for the author to be arrested for sedition and the summoning of the director-general of the BBC to the Home Office to explain himself. The dramas explored the role of the Metropolitan Police, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system around one central story. They provided a savage and uncompromising assessment of the criminal justice system, one in which corruption and stitch...
May 23, 2018•28 min
Sociological discussion programme. May 2018 sees the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth. Laurie Taylor explores the philosopher's ideas and legacy.
May 16, 2018•28 min
The Internet and Democracy: Laurie Taylor analyses the social and political consequences of our digitised world. In light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy? Why has the Internet failed to set us free? He's joined by Jamie Bartlett, Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media for Demos, in conjunction with The University of Sussex; Monica Horten, Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics &am...
May 09, 2018•29 min
Universal Basic Income: Laurie Taylor asks if it's the answer to an increasingly precarious job landscape. Could it bring greater financial freedom for women, tackle the issue of unpaid but essential work, cut poverty and promote greater choice? Or is it a dead-end utopian ideal that distracts from more practical and cost-effective solutions? He's joined by Stewart Lansley, Visiting Fellow at the School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol and editor of a new book which shares research and i...
May 02, 2018•28 min
The menswear revolution: Laurie Taylor explores the transformation in men's clothing with Jay McCauley Bowstead, lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at London College of Fashion. Also taking part is John Harvey, Life Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and author of a book charting the history of men's dress from the toga to the suit. They're joined by Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Kent, who talks about her research on older men and fashion...
Apr 25, 2018•28 min
The winner of the 2018 BSA/Thinking Allowed Ethnography award. Laurie Taylor talks to Anna Lora-Wainwright, Associate Professor in the Human Geography of China at the University of Oxford, and author of 'Resigned Activism: Living with Pollution in Rural China' . Her study revealed the health consequences of drinking tainted water and breathing visibly dirty air in villages effected by phosphorous mining & fertiliser production, lead and zinc mining and electronic waste production. Residents ...
Apr 18, 2018•28 min
