Thinking Allowed

Debt and Wealth Inequality

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 fro...

Extreme Sports

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What can the worlds of mountaineering and endurance running reveal about changing ideas of freedom, identity and the body? Laurie Taylor talks to Sara...

The demise of Grand Theory?

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What explains the apparent decline of grand theory in sociology, and what does this shift mean for the discipline today? Laurie Taylor asks whether so...

Gentrification in Detroit and London

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What do we learn when a city’s future is defined not by rapid change, but by who leaves and who stays? Laurie Taylor looks at two neighbourhoods in ...

Prison violence, sound and survival

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The winner of the British Society of Criminology Book Award in 2025 was Kate Herrity. Her study looks at the way our different senses contribute to th...

The go-along research method

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How does the environment we move through shape the way we see and experience the world? Laurie Taylor talks to Alex Prior (London South Bank Universit...

Colour in Film

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How did the arrival of colour and film technology transform cinema and its cultural politics? Laurie Taylor explores the intertwined histories of tech...

Dogs

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

DOGS – Laurie Taylor explores the making of the modern companion animal, from working animals to pampered pets. Chris Pearson, Professor of Environ...

Learning Disabilities

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Simon Jarrett, Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, about the social history of people with learning disabilitie...

The Irish in the UK

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Louise Ryan, Professor of Sociology at the London Metropolitan University, about her oral history of the Irish nurses who were ...

Russian Propaganda

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Nina Khrushcheva, Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City about her research into the propaganda ...

Death

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Molly Conisbee, Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, about her ‘people’s...

Objects and Stories

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Seth Rockman, Associate Professor of History at Brown University, talks to Laurie Taylor about his study into the stories of the plantation goods whic...

Solidarity

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor is joined by Jennifer Chudy, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, Boston, who discusses her pioneering explora...

Motherhood

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Helen Charman, Fellow and Assistant College Lecturer in English at Clare College, University of Cambridge, about her study of m...

Smoking

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Ivan Markovic, Lecturer in Human Geography at Durham University, about the unique social atmosphere surrounding tobacco use in ...

Dress Culture

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Fatima Rajina, Senior Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicest...

ECOLOGY

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Vron Ware, Visiting Professor at the Gender Institute of the LSE, about the reality of living next to a huge army community i...

Crowds

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to the writer, Dan Hancox, about the part that crowds play in our lives and how they made the modern world. From Notting Hill car...

Underwear

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Nina Edwards, the author of a new study which unravels the intimate narratives woven into the fabric of our most personal garme...

Wealth

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wealth: Laurie Taylor talks to Brooke Harrington, Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, about the world of offshore fin...

Touch

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When, where, and who gets to touch and be touched, and who decides? How does touch bring us closer together or push us apart? These are urgent contemp...

Crime Stories

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor explores the fascination for true crime stories. He's joined by Jennifer Fleetwood, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at City, University o...

Playgrounds

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the Second World War, a vast experiment took place in which adventure playgrounds transformed bombsites and waste ground in the UK, creating opp...

Tech Workers

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor lifts the lid on a sector of the economy associated with wealth, innovation & genius. Mark Graham, Professor of Internet Geography ...

Food Systems

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Ann Murcott, Honorary Professorial Research Associate, at SOAS, University of London about the origins and development of food ...

Meaning of Work

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Jana Costas, Chair of People, Work & Management at the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany about the un...

Sea Travelling

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Helen Sampson, Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, about her voyage into the lives and work of se...

Gender and Radicalisation

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is misogyny implicated in radicalisation, across the political spectrum? Laurie Taylor talks to Elizabeth Pearson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at R...

Architecture and Hope

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yvonne Jewkes, Professor of Criminology at the University of Bath, talks to Laurie Taylor about the design of prisons and the importance of an archite...

Sight and Power

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Becca Voelcker, Lecturer in the Art Department at Goldsmiths, University of London, about her research into the relationship be...

Medical Icons

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Stethoscope and the X-ray: Laurie Taylor explores two medical innovations which have achieved iconic status. Nicole Lobdell, Assistant Professor o...

Coffee Culture

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Urban baristas in a US city and Chinese managed coffee bars in Italy.Laurie Taylor talks to Geoffrey Moss, Professor of Instruction in the Department ...

The British Elite

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do today's power brokers correspond to the familiar caricatures of old? Laurie Taylor talks to Aaron Reeves, Professor of Sociology and Social Polic...

Shopping

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1986 in Gateshead the MetroCentre opened on the site of a former power station. Laurie Taylor talks to Emma Casey, Reader in Sociology at the Uni...

The swimming pool

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The swimming pool: Laurie Taylor explores its iconic role in our culture, as well as its unspoken rules, routines and rituals. Piotr Florczyk, forming...

The politics of the body

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The politics of the body: movement and posture. Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Beaumont, Professor in English Literature at UCL, about how race, class...

Opioids

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Opioids in the US and UK; Laurie Taylor explores the changing nature of opioid use, from street heroin to synthetic prescription drugs. Helena Hansen ...

Garden Utopias

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Garden Utopias: Michael Gilson, Associate Fellow of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex, takes Laurie Taylor behind the pri...

Richard Sennett

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Sennett, leading cultural and social thinker and Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, talks to Laurie Taylor. Gr...

Anonymity - Self-creation

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anonymity and self creation: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas DeGloma, Associate Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City U...

Capitalism

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Capitalism – what's the story behind the word and a cross cultural survey of peoples attitudes to it. Laurie Taylor talks to Michael Sonenscher, F...

Traditionalism - Russian Orthodox Converts

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox Converts – Laurie Taylor talks to Mark Sedgwick, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, abo...

THE ENGLISH

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

THE ENGLISH: Laurie Taylor asks how the country house became ‘English’ and explores changing notions of Englishness over the past 60 years. He’...

The Passport

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

THE PASSPORT: Laurie Taylor explores the cultural history of an indispensable document which has given citizens a license to travel and helped to defi...

The Power of Song

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The power of song: Laurie Taylor talks to James Walvin, Professor of History Emeritus at the University of York and author of a new study which explor...

Hope and the 'good enough' life

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology at University College London, about his highly original exploration of what life coul...

Intersections

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Intersections - Laurie Taylor talks to world-renowned, Black feminist scholar, Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Sociology at ...

The Grave - Memorial Benches

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

THE GRAVE AND MEMORIAL BENCHES: Laurie Taylor talks to Allison C. Meier, New York based researcher, about how burial sites have transformed over time....

Pets

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

PETS: Laurie Taylor talks to Jane Hamlett, Senior Lecturer in Modern British History at Royal Holloway, University of London, about her study of the...

Sugar

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

SUGAR: Laurie Taylor explores the ways in which the sweet stuff has transformed our politics, health, history and even family relationships. He’s ...

Woke

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Woke: Laurie Taylor talks to Susan Neiman, philosopher and director of the Einstein Forum about her analysis of the concept of ‘woke’. Contrary to...

Guns

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Guns: Laurie Taylor talks to Jennifer Carlson, Professor of Sociology at Arizona State University and author of an in depth study of gun sellers in th...

Water Ways

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Water Ways: Laurie Taylor wades into the deep end with an exploration of human relationships with water. He talks to Veronica Strang, Professor of An...

Boxing and Kickboxing

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

BOXING AND KICKBOXING: Can they transform lives? Boxing has long been cited as a potential cure for a range of social ills, including criminal justic...

The Petite Bourgeoisie

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Petite Bourgeoisie - Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Evans, Research Assistant at Cardiff University and author of a new study which explores the un...

High Finance

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

HIGH FINANCE: Laurie Taylor talks to Brett Christophers, Professor in the Department of Human Geography at Uppsala University, Sweden, whose latest bo...

Fashion Re-imagined

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

FASHION RE-IMAGINED: Laurie Taylor talks to Angela McRobbie, Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London about the working lives of indepe...

Digital intimacy

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Digital intimacy - Laurie Taylor asks how the algorithms embedded in digital technologies are transforming our relationships. He's joined by Anthony E...

Prison Abolition

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

PRISON ABOLITION: Laurie Taylor talks to Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, abo...

Taste and Lifestyle

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Taste and Lifestyle: Laurie Taylor talks to Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, whose latest study explores the w...

Dance Culture

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dance Culture: Laurie Taylor takes a journey through the dancefloor with the music writer, Emma Warren, whose latest research combines social history ...

Democracy

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Democracy: Quinn Slobodian, Professor of the History of Ideas at Wellesley College, takes Laurie Taylor on the journey of radical libertarians who sea...

Poverty

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Poverty in the UK & US: Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Desmond, Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, whose latest stu...

Elite Universities - Working Class Students

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

CLASS AND EDUCATION Laurie Taylor talks to Kalwant Bhopal, Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Birmingham, about her resea...

Asylum and 'Home'

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Asylum and 'home' - the impact of asylum dispersal and Syrian refugees' quest for home. Laurie Taylor talks to Jonathan Darling, Associate Professor i...

Museums

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Museums - Laurie Taylor talks to Adam Kuper, most recently Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economic, about their history...

Religion of Work and Welfare

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The religion of work and welfare: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which our understanding of jobs and joblessness has become entangled with religiou...

Parenting

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Parenting - Laurie Taylor explores its cultural history and the shift towards intensive parenting. Andrew Bomback, Associate Professor of Medicine ...

Dirty Work

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dirty work - Laurie Taylor explores the invisible labour we choose not to see. The writer and sociologist, Eyal Press, considers the morally dubious, ...

Self-improvement

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

SELF IMPROVEMENT: Laurie Taylor explores the 'wellness' and 'confidence' cultures that injunct us to be better versions of ourselves. He talks to Shan...

The football pools - mass investment

28 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Betting and Investment: Laurie Taylor explores the connections and the differences between two apparently very different phenomena - the football pool...

The Internet - how it shapes the past and the future

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Internet and time – how the World Wide Web has transformed our understanding of history as well as the future. Laurie Taylor talks to Jason Ste...

The NHS

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The NHS and the 'sick note': Laurie Taylor talks to Gareth Millward, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Southern D...

Protests

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Protests: from Occupy to MeToo and the current situation in Iran. Laurie Taylor is joined by Sara Burke, Senior Policy Analyst at Friedrich-Ebert-Sti...

Gender and Alcohol

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gender and Alcohol: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas Thurnell-Read, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Loughborough University, about the masculine domain o...

Futilitarianism - Extreme Pessimists

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Futilitarianism & Extreme Pessimists: Laurie Taylor talks to Neil Vallelly, Researcher at Economic and Social Research Aotearoa (ESRA) at the Uni...

Rules and Order

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rules & Order: Laurie Taylor talks to Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology and Social Policy at the LSE, about the social history of ‘orderly ...

Gentrification revisited

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gentrification revisited: Laurie Taylor talks to Leslie Kern, Associate Professor of Geography and Environment at Mount Allison University, Canada a...

The Sea

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Sea – Laurie Taylor explores the privatisation of our oceans and the threat of plastic pollution. He gets into deep waters with Guy Standing, P...

Survival of the city

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Survival of the City: Laurie Taylor talks to Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and author of a study...

Package holidays and 'authentic' travel

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Package holidays and ‘authentic’ travel: Michael John Law, retired research fellow in History at the University of Westminster, investigates the o...

Shopping

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shopping: Laurie Taylor talks to Rachel Bowlby, Professor of Comparative Literature at University College London, about the history of shops & sho...

Ballroom dancing

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ballroom dancing: Laurie Taylor explores its social history and sexual politics with Hilary French, Professor of Design Studies at Bath Spa University...

Wealth - Plutocratic London

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Plutocratic London and dynastic wealth. Caroline Knowles, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, takes Laurie Taylor on a tour o...

Covid and change

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Covid: Laurie Taylor explores the impact of the pandemic on our working and home lives. Will Davies, Professor in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, Uni...

Workplace Misbehaviour

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Workplace Misbehaviour: Laurie Taylor talks to Paul Thompson, Emeritus Professor of Employment Studies at the University of Stirling, about workers be...

Psychiatry: a social history

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Psychiatry: Laurie Taylor explores the social history of modern psychiatric practice. He's joined by Andrew Scull, Emeritus Professor in Sociology at ...

Prison Protest

27 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Prison protest: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which prisoners have sought to transform the conditions of their imprisonment and have their voices ...

Footwear

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Footwear - the ‘magic’ & the material reality. Laurie Taylor talks to Claudio Benzecry, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Soc...

Strongmen

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Strongmen – what accounts for the global rise of authoritarian leaders? Laurie Taylor talks to Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Stu...

The Underclass

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The ‘Underclass’: Laurie Taylor explored a vexed concept which has engaged social scientists, philanthropists, journalists, policy makers and pol...

SKILL

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

SKILL: Laurie Taylor explores the social construction of skilled and unskilled work. Far from being objective categories, Chris Warhurst, Professo...

Extremism

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Extremism: Laurie Taylor talks to Julia Ebner, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, about her experience of going undercov...

Why Sociology Matters

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Taylor explores the meaning and purpose of public sociology with Michael Burawoy, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berk...

Strangers

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Strangers: Laurie Taylor explores Xenophobia, the fear or hatred of those we do not know. Evolutionary psychologists often describe it as a natural a...

Food, Identity & Nation

05 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

FOOD, IDENTITY AND NATION - At a time when many of us are feeling overstuffed by festive eating, Laurie Taylor asks why food matters. He’s joined by...

The Value of Things

29 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The value of things: At a time when many of us are sorting through Christmas presents, both wanted and unwanted, Laurie Taylor explores the value of a...

Covid

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Covid: Laurie Taylor explores the financial impact of the coronavirus & asks if it represents an opportunity, as well as a crisis. He's joined by ...

Freedom

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Freedom: Laurie Taylor explores an unruly & disputed concept. Annelien de Dijn, Professor of Modern Political History at Utrecht University, asks ...