Thinking Allowed
Episodes
Love and Romance
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
LOVE & ROMANCE – Laurie Taylor unpacks different conceptions of love. He’s joined by Raksha Pande, Senior Lecturer in Social Geography at Newc...
Afghanistan
06 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Afghanistan: The lives of Afghans in Britain today and the role of corruption in the return of the Taliban. Laurie Taylor talks to Nichola Khan, Reade...
Office Life
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Office life: As more people return to the conventional workplace, Laurie Taylor talks to Craig Robertson, Associate Professor of Media Studies at Nort...
Cool Consumers
22 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cool Consumers: Laurie Taylor considers how music acquires the social connotations of “cool” & its implicit association with youth and outside...
The Smartphone
15 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Smartphone: Nearly 90 per cent of British adults now own a smartphone and ownership among those aged 55 and over has soared from 55 per cent in 20...
Culture and Privilege
08 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Governments and arts organisations claim that culture brings joy to many lives and unites communities. But a recent study signals a note of scepticism...
The Changing Nature of Crime
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The changing nature of crime: What do current day thieves, gangsters and dealers say about their ‘business’ and how its evolved over time? How str...
Tourism - Travel
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tourism & travel: Laurie Taylor explores their past, present and future. He's joined by the Italian social theorist, Marco D' Eramo, whose latest ...
The Handshake - Social Interaction
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The handshake & social interaction. Laurie Taylor explores the history and meaning of a commonplace ritual which has played a role in everything f...
COALMINING - LUDDISM
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coalmining & Luddism: Laurie explores the meaning of progress, from the former pit villages of South Wales & Durham to contemporary high tech...
Migrants in London
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
MIGRANTS IN LONDON: how has London been shaped by the history of immigration? Laurie Taylor talks to Panikos Panayi, Professor of European History at ...
Fitness & fatness
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Fitness & fatness: Laurie Taylor asks if they are two sides of the same coin. He's joined by Jürgen Martschukat, Professor of North American Hist...
Blackface - Minstrelsy
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
BLACKFACE & MINSTRELSY - At its most basic level, 'blackface' is the application of any prosthetic to imitate the complexion of another race. In ...
Perfume
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
PERFUME: What’s the connection between perfume & politics in the 20th century and how do scents become invested with meaning? Laurie Taylor tal...
The Rural Idyll?
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Rural Idyll? Last year the National Trust produced a controversial report which revealed that 93 of its properties have direct links to coloniali...
Life Imprisonment
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Life imprisonment - Why is it that such sentences were almost unheard of a generation ago and what is their impact on prisoners, as well as society? B...
The Orange Order
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Orange Order in Northern Ireland and Scotland: Its origins, practices and principles, from the Battle of the Boyne to the Good Friday Agreement.. ...
Community & Social Capital
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Community & social capital. Laurie Taylor talks to Robert D Putnam, Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and co-author...
THE BED
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
THE BED: Laurie Taylor talks to Nadia Durrani, writer on archaeology and co-author of a study which explores 'what we did in bed', offering a social...
Disinformation
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Laurie Taylor talks to Annie Kelly, a researcher of the Digital Far Right, about the QAnon conspiracy theory and why it has attracted a striking numbe...
The Meaning of Work
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The anthropologist, James Suzman, explores the shifting meaning of work, and argues that for 95% of our species' history, it held a radically differen...
DIRT
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
DIRT: Laurie Taylor explores its material & symbolic meanings. Stephanie Newell, Professor of English at Yale University, traces the ways in whic...
TEA
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
TEA: A dark history. Laurie Taylor talks to the historian, Seren Charrington-Hollins, about the exploitation, wars & intrigue at the heart of th...
GAMBLING
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Gambling: Laurie Taylor talks to Rebecca Cassidy, Professor of Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London, about her research into a pastime w...
DEPORTATION
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
DEPORTATION: Laurie Taylor explores the lives of people whose criminal convictions have led to them being deported to Jamaica, although many of them l...
CORRUPTION
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Corruption: Laurie Taylor talks to Sarah Chayes, writer and former Senior Fellow in the Democracy and Rule of Law programme at the Carnegie Endowment ...
Civilians in the line of fire
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CIVILIANS IN THE LINE OF FIRE: Laurie Taylor talks to Nicola Perugini, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, ab...
The Rich
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Rich: Laurie Taylor talks to Rowland Atkinson, Research Chair in Inclusive Societies at the University of Sheffield, about his study of London as...
Fashion & VIP Parties
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fashion & VIP parties - Laurie Taylor explores the hidden stories behind the glamour and wealth. He's joined by Giulia Mensitieri, Social Anthropo...
REVOLUTION
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
REVOLUTION: Are all radical upheavals in the social, economic and political order destined to fail? Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Chirot, Herbert J....
Elites
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Elites: Laurie Taylor explores the anti elitism which has become a common staple of media commentary and political rhetoric. He talks to Eliane Glaser...
Cars
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CARS: How do cars transmit our identities behind the wheel? Laurie Taylor explores the meaning of cars from Bradford to China. Yunis Alam, Senior Lect...
Bunkers
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bunkers: The bunker has become the extreme expression of our greatest fears: from pandemics to climate change and nuclear war. Laurie Taylor talks to ...
CEO Society - Time Management
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CEO Society – Laurie Taylor talks to Peter Bloom, Head of the Department of People and Organisations at the Open University and author of a new book...
Au pairing and domestic labour
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With her 1974 study The Sociology of Housework, Ann Oakley offered a comprehensive sociological study of women’s work in the home. Analysing intervi...
Surveillance
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Surveillance: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which we have become the watchers, as well as the watched. From 9/11 to the Snowden leaks, stories abo...
The Politics of Memorials
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Politics of Memorials: Remembering Emmet Till – in 1955, a young African-American was lynched in Mississippi at the age of 14, after being accus...
Skateboarding - Parkour
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Skateboarding and parkour: Laurie Taylor explores lifestyle sports in the hyper regulated city. Iain Borden, Professor of Architecture and Urban Cult...
Metrics
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Laurie Taylor explores the increasing use of metrics across diverse aspects of our lives. From education to healthcare, charities to policing, we are...
Maoism
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Maoism: the changing face of a revolutionary ideology. Julia Lovell, Professor in Modern Chinese History and Literature at Birkbeck, University of Lon...
Ignorance
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Strategic ignorance and knowledge resistance: Laurie Taylor talks to Mikael Klintman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Lund, Sweden about o...
Rummage - Waste
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rummage & waste: Laurie Taylor talks to Emily Cockayne, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of East Anglia, about the overl...
Finance
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Traders and finance: Daniel Beunza - Associate Professor in the Cass Business School at City, University of London, talks to Laurie Taylor about his...
Blood
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Blood - Laurie Taylor explores the metaphorical, as well as material, reality of blood. He's joined by Gil Anidjar, Professor of Religion and Middle ...
Trust in a time of pandemic
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Trust in a time of pandemic. Laurie Taylor explores the role of social capital and trust in combatting Covid-19. He's joined by Michael Calnan, Profes...
Kidnap
11 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
KIDNAP - Millions of people live, travel, and work in areas with significant kidnap risks, yet kidnaps of foreign workers, local VIPs, and tourists ar...
Loneliness
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Loneliness - Fay Bound Alberti, Reader in History at the University of York, charts the emergence of loneliness as a contemporary emotional state. Als...
Citizenship
26 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Citizenship - Carol Vincent, Professor of Sociology of Education, explores the way in which children are being taught about ‘fundamental British va...
Loss
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Loss: How should we understand the 'road not taken'? Laurie Taylor talks to Susie Scott, Professor of Sociology at the University of Sussex, about he...
Water
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
WATER – Laurie Taylor explores the cultural life of a natural substance. Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, considers the...
Nudity
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
NUDITY – Laurie Taylor explores the cultural history of nudity and its impact on ideas about the body from the early twentieth century to the prese...
Hidden gay lives
29 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hidden gay lives: Laurie Taylor uncovers the ‘fabuloso’ history of Polari, Britain’s secret gay language with Paul Barker, Professor of English ...
Borders
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Borders: Laurie Taylor explores the control of national borders. He talks to Nira Yuval Davis, Director of the research centre on Migration, Refugee...
The Power of Oil
15 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Power of oil - Laurie Taylor explores the role of oil in shaping our society, economy and environment. He talks to James Marriott of Platform, co-...
The 'Happiness Industry' - The 'Wellness Syndrome'
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Happiness Industry: Laurie Taylor talks to Will Davies, Professor in Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, who asks why policy makers have...
Consuming passions
18 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Consumer pleasures - Laurie Taylor explores the place of shopping in our lives, as well as within sociological thought. He's joined by Professor Colin...
Love
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A Thinking Allowed special on 'love'. What are the origins of our notions of high romantic love? Was the post war period a 'golden age' for lifelong l...
The Religious Right in the US
04 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The religious right in the US - Laurie Taylor talks to Anne Nelson, writer and Adjunct Research Scholar in the Faculty of International and Public Aff...
Black music cultures in London
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Black music culture: Laurie talks to Caspar Melville, Lecturer in Global Creative and Cultural Industries at SOAS, about his study of the musical life...
Thrift
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Thrift: Through the strictures of the global financial downturn and its aftermath citizens have been urged to ‘keep calm and carry on’. This sloga...
Time
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Time: Laurie Taylor considers the extent to which the way we spend our time has changed over the last fifty years. Is it true that we are working more...
Disasters
06 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Disasters: Kathleen Tierney, Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado, sheds light on the social roots of disaster vulnerability. We know...
Immortality - transhumanism
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Immortality: Pursuing a life beyond the human. Anya Bernstein, Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University, talks to Laurie Ta...
Cool
23 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
'Cool' - Laurie Taylor traces the trajectory of the notion of ‘cool’ with Joel Dinerstein, Professor of English and American Studies at Tulane Un...
Serial killers
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Serial killers: Laurie talks to Ian Cummins, Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Salford, about the media and cultural responses to ...
Estates
09 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Council estates: Laurie Taylor talks to Insa Lee Koch, Associate Professor in Anthropology at LSE, and author of a new study which explores the histor...
Land and territory
02 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Land Struggles: From Bolivia to Britain, the way that land is owned and controlled is central to many contemporary inequalities and political battles....
War in the air
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
War in the air: Laurie Taylor explores the history of aerial bombing and tear gas; from the battlefield to urban streets. He's joined by Thomas Hipple...
Engineers of Jihad. Orange jumpsuits
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Laurie Taylor asks why so many Islamist extremists come from an engineering background. He talks to Steffen Hertog, Associate Professor of Comparative...
TV in prison - Live music in prison
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Prison TV: Laurie Taylor considers the therapeutic role of television in the modern day jail. He talks to Victoria Knight, Senior Research Fellow at D...
Organised crime in the UK
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Organised crime in the UK - how has it changed? Professor Dick Hobbs, joins Laurie Taylor, to discuss his work on 'Lush Life', a rich, ethnographic st...
The ways women age - Beauty politics
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The ways women age: Laurie Taylor talks to Abigail Brooks, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Providence College USA, and author of a study which ask...
The meaning of the face
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The meaning of the face: How critical is it to our sense of identity, and relationship with others? Sharrona Pearl, Assistant Professor in Communicati...
A special programme on Pierre Bourdieu
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A special programme on Pierre Bourdieu: Laurie Taylor explores the ideas and legacy of the French sociologist, best known for establishing the concept...
Michel Foucault - a special programme on his work and influence.
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Michel Foucault - Laurie Taylor presents a special programme on the life and work of the iconoclastic French philosopher and theorist. He's joined by ...
Erving Goffman - a special programme
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Erving Goffman - Laurie Taylor presents a special programme on the work and influence of this groundbreaking Canadian sociologist. He's joined by Prof...
Walter Benjamin - a special programme on his work and influence
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is the value of forgotten histories, of possibilities not realised? What can a quite amble down a backstreet tell us about the nature of modernit...
Conspiracy theories
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy theories: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas Konda, Professor of Political Science at SUNY, Plattsburgh, about the history and changing nature o...
No-Go Zones and Dangerous Holidays
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Laurie Taylor discusses the complex relationship between danger, travel and tourism. Ruben Andersson asks whether Western powers should reconsider th...
Detective fiction - homicide and social media
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Detecting the social – how the changing nature of crime stories illuminates shifts in society. Also, homicide confessions on social media. What does...
Branding
03 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Branding: Laurie Taylor explores the 'persuasion industries' and their role in creating modern consumer society. How has their use of an emotional m...
Kitsch - Cute
02 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Cute and kitsch - Simon May, visiting professor of philosophy at King’s College London, explores cuteness and its immense hold on us, from emojis a...
Debt
20 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Debt: we live in a culture of credit with a dramatic surge in private borrowing due to wage stagnation over several decades. Many people will now be i...
Spectacular Cities
13 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Spectacular urbanisation: The world’s tallest building is in Dubai and the 2022 World Cup in soccer will be played in fabulous Qatar facilities. But...
Corridors
11 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Corridors: We spend our lives moving through hallways and corridors, yet these channelling spaces do not feature in architectural histories. They are ...
Snobbery
20 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Snobbery is defined as the behaviour or attitude of people who think they are better than others. Laurie Taylor explores the social history, meaning a...
Walls
13 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Walls: A social history of the human made barrier which has divided people into those who should be kept safe and those who should be excluded. From H...
Motorbikes
06 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Motorbikes: Born to be wild. Randy McBee, Professor of Labor and Social History at the Texas Tech University, considers the rise of the American Mot...
The Class Ceiling
30 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Class Ceiling: Why it pays to be privileged. Drawing on four in-depth case studies – acting, accountancy, architecture and television – Sam Fr...
Migrants - Refugees
09 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Migrants and refugees: Laurie Taylor explores the historical and contemporary realities of the marooned, unhomed and displaced peoples of the world. T...
Work - what is it good for?
02 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Identity
26 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Identity: Laurie Taylor presents a special programme exploring the ways in which we define ourselves and gain a sense of belonging – from race, reli...
White Power Movement in US - Rise of Racist Right in Europe
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Night-time Economy
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Night-time Economy: Laurie Taylor talks to Adam Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Westminster, about the origins and cha...
Architecture and health
14 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Architecture, housing and health. Laurie Taylor explores a neglected aspect of well being. He's joined by the writer, Iain Sinclair, Daryl Martin, Le...
Shoes
07 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Shoes: Laurie Taylor explores their cultural history and sociological meanings. He's joined by Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator of the Bata Shoe M...
White Privilege - Racial Ambiguity
02 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Racial ambiguity in America: Lisa Kingstone, Senior Teaching Fellow in Race and Identity at Kings College, London, asks what happens to a country that...
Maps and Postcodes
24 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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? Laur...
Rich Russians - Millionaire tax flight
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rich Russians: Laurie Taylor talks to Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, about her study of the changing nature of the...
Palaces for the People
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Palaces for the People: can social infrastructure fight inequality and the decline in civic life? Laurie Taylor talks to the American sociologist, Eri...