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Podcast

New research on how society works

Updated: weekly
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Dogs

    Tue 15 Jul 2025

    Laurie Taylor on the history of keeping dogs as pets and the politics of dog-human links.

  • Learning Disabilities

    Tue 8 Jul 2025

    From cruel jibes to institutional care, a history of people with learning disabilities.

  • The Irish in the UK

    Tue 1 Jul 2025

    How Irish nurses shaped the NHS. Also, Irish migrants, in London and the UK.

  • Russian Propaganda

    Tue 24 Jun 2025

    How propaganda in Russia has intensified since the war in Ukraine.

  • Death

    Tue 17 Jun 2025

    A social history of death in the UK. Also, attitudes to dying in China.

  • Objects and Stories

    Tue 10 Jun 2025

    How objects like shoes and watches help tell the history of slavery and wartime atrocities

  • Solidarity

    Tue 3 Jun 2025

    Racial sympathy amongst white Americans and the meaning of solidarity.

  • Motherhood

    Tue 25 Mar 2025

    The politics of motherhood and US mums on the sharp end of the law.

  • Smoking

    Tue 18 Mar 2025

    Smoking in modern Britain and the Soviet Union.

  • Dress Culture

    Tue 11 Mar 2025

    How culture, stigma and discrimination impact dress choices.

  • ECOLOGY

    Tue 4 Mar 2025

    Ecological harms: from the Californian desert to the Salisbury Plain.

  • Crowds

    Tue 25 Feb 2025

    The rich and diverse history of crowds in entertainment, sports and politics.

  • Underwear

    Tue 18 Feb 2025

    From the humorous to the sensual, the hidden story of underwear.

  • Wealth

    Tue 11 Feb 2025

    Offshore finance and a millennial history of the wealthy.

  • Touch

    Tue 4 Feb 2025

    Touch: what a single sense can tell us about changing ideas of intimacy and privacy.

  • Crime Stories

    Tue 28 Jan 2025

    Why do stories about true crime exercise such a grip on the popular imagination?

  • Playgrounds

    Tue 21 Jan 2025

    The social history of the playground.

  • Tech Workers

    Tue 5 Nov 2024

    The hidden exploitation of workers at the heart of artificial intelligence.

  • Food Systems

    Tue 29 Oct 2024

    From tin cans to stretch-wrap, the secret life of food packaging.

  • Meaning of Work

    Tue 22 Oct 2024

    What makes work meaningful, from nurses to lawyers? Also, cleaners' quest for dignity.

  • Sea Travelling

    Tue 15 Oct 2024

    Shipboard travels and maritime maps.

  • Gender and Radicalisation

    Tue 8 Oct 2024

    How does gender influence men and women's participation in extremist politics?

  • Architecture and Hope

    Tue 1 Oct 2024

    Can building design create hope, from high security prisons to homeless hostels?

  • Sight and Power

    Tue 24 Sep 2024

    From Bentham's panopticon and surveillance cameras to conflicts over views of Mount Fuji.

  • Medical Icons

    Tue 17 Sep 2024

    Medical revolutions that transformed out relationship to our bodies and the world.

  • Coffee Culture

    Tue 10 Sep 2024

    Hipster baristas in Philadelphia and Chinese-run espresso bars in Italy.

  • The British Elite

    Tue 3 Sep 2024

    Who runs Britain today? Are they a conservative chumocracy or a different kind of elite?

  • Shopping

    Tue 25 Jun 2024

    From the rise of the mall, to the closure of shops during Covid.

  • The swimming pool

    Tue 18 Jun 2024

    The swimming pool: its iconic role in our society and culture. Also, pool etiquette.

  • The politics of the body

    Tue 11 Jun 2024

    The politics of the body: movement and posture.

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