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New research on how society works
Radio 4,·774 episodes
Laurie Taylor on the history of keeping dogs as pets and the politics of dog-human links.
15 Jul 2025,·28 mins
From cruel jibes to institutional care, a history of people with learning disabilities.
08 Jul 2025,·27 mins
How Irish nurses shaped the NHS. Also, Irish migrants, in London and the UK.
01 Jul 2025,·28 mins
How propaganda in Russia has intensified since the war in Ukraine.
24 Jun 2025,·27 mins
A social history of death in the UK. Also, attitudes to dying in China.
17 Jun 2025,·28 mins
How objects like shoes and watches help tell the history of slavery and wartime atrocities
10 Jun 2025,·27 mins
Racial sympathy amongst white Americans and the meaning of solidarity.
03 Jun 2025,·28 mins
The politics of motherhood and US mums on the sharp end of the law.
25 Mar 2025,·29 mins
Smoking in modern Britain and the Soviet Union.
18 Mar 2025,·28 mins
How culture, stigma and discrimination impact dress choices.
11 Mar 2025,·28 mins
Ecological harms: from the Californian desert to the Salisbury Plain.
04 Mar 2025,·28 mins
The rich and diverse history of crowds in entertainment, sports and politics.
25 Feb 2025,·27 mins
From the humorous to the sensual, the hidden story of underwear.
18 Feb 2025,·28 mins
Offshore finance and a millennial history of the wealthy.
11 Feb 2025,·28 mins
Touch: what a single sense can tell us about changing ideas of intimacy and privacy.
04 Feb 2025,·29 mins
Why do stories about true crime exercise such a grip on the popular imagination?
28 Jan 2025,·28 mins
The social history of the playground.
21 Jan 2025,·28 mins
The hidden exploitation of workers at the heart of artificial intelligence.
05 Nov 2024,·28 mins
From tin cans to stretch-wrap, the secret life of food packaging.
29 Oct 2024,·28 mins
What makes work meaningful, from nurses to lawyers? Also, cleaners' quest for dignity.
22 Oct 2024,·28 mins
Shipboard travels and maritime maps.
15 Oct 2024,·28 mins
How does gender influence men and women's participation in extremist politics?
08 Oct 2024,·28 mins
Can building design create hope, from high security prisons to homeless hostels?
01 Oct 2024,·28 mins
From Bentham's panopticon and surveillance cameras to conflicts over views of Mount Fuji.
24 Sep 2024,·28 mins
Medical revolutions that transformed out relationship to our bodies and the world.
17 Sep 2024,·28 mins
Hipster baristas in Philadelphia and Chinese-run espresso bars in Italy.
10 Sep 2024,·27 mins
Who runs Britain today? Are they a conservative chumocracy or a different kind of elite?
03 Sep 2024,·28 mins
From the rise of the mall, to the closure of shops during Covid.
25 Jun 2024,·28 mins
The swimming pool: its iconic role in our society and culture. Also, pool etiquette.
18 Jun 2024,·27 mins
The politics of the body: movement and posture.
11 Jun 2024,·29 mins
