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About the show

Latest episodes

• Ageing and Society

  July 7, 2026 · 28 min

  What does it mean to grow older in Britain today? Laurie Taylor explores the changing realities of later life, from health and independence to inequality and support. Professor Judith Phillips OBE, Professor of Gerontology at the…

• Charity Shops and Pocket Money

  June 30, 2026 · 28 min

  What does it really mean to give something away - or to buy something second-hand? And what, in the process, are we choosing not to see? Laurie Taylor talks to Gaby Harris, Sociologist and Lecturer in Fashion Cultures at Manchester…

• Strikes, Solidarity and South Asian Britain

  June 23, 2026 · 28 min

  How have South Asian communities in Britain fought for rights, dignity and belonging - and what can that history teach us today? Laurie Taylor explores the overlooked histories of labour struggle, resistance and political activism among…

• Rethinking Sociology: Empire, Knowledge and Connection

  June 16, 2026 · 28 min

  What happens when we tell the story of modern Britain as part of a much bigger, global history? Professor Kate Pickett OBE has recently been appointed as the UK's first-ever Professor for the Public Understanding of Social Science at the…

• Football and gambling

  June 9, 2026 · 28 min

  As a new World Cup approaches, what does it mean that gambling now sits so close to the heart of football - and how far has the game travelled from its local roots? Laurie Taylor explores two distinct ways of understanding football’s place…

• Ethics in sociological research

  June 2, 2026 · 28 min

  What does it mean to undertake "ethical" research in complex and changing social settings? Marion Vannier, from the University of Manchester, uses diaries and letters written by prisoners in her research with older men serving life…

• Suicide, Society and Liveability

  May 26, 2026 · 27 min

  What does Émile Durkheim’s 1897 study of suicide tell us about the social conditions that shape whether life feels worth living and how does a current project add to our understanding? Laurie Taylor is joined by Alexander Oaten, from the…

• Debt and Wealth Inequality

  March 10, 2026 · 28 min

  What does an 18-month study of residents on a housing estate in southern England tell us about living with debt? Laurie Taylor talks to Ryan Davey from Cardiff University about his new book The Personal Life of Debt - Coercion…