On the Transforming Society podcast this year we’ve spoken to authors and editors about how their work can help us understand and react to the key social challenges of the moment.
Here are our most listened to episodes from 2023:
1. Why we need to apply psychology to politics
How do rogue goals hinder our growth? How can we make necessary changes without using blame? What strategies could we implement for a psychology-informed progressive society? Mick Cooper, author of Psychology at the Heart of Social Change, reveals why we need to apply psychology to politics.
2. The war on dirty money
Nicholas Gilmour and Tristram Hicks, authors of The War on Dirty Money, talk about why financial investigation needs to be done in parallel with the criminal justice system. They discuss the danger of the ‘sophisticated’ money launderer myth, how so many criminals keep the proceeds of their crimes and why asset recovery is so important.
3. How should we respond to ‘youth violence’?
Luke Billingham and Keir Irwin-Rogers, authors of Against Youth Violence, discuss the extent of the violence affecting children and young people, how harmful the way it is reported and talked about can be, and how we should be talking to young people about violence. We need a new way of making sense of this issue by putting it in the context of social harm.
4. Dismantling the construct of finance
We take the existence of the all-powerful stock market for granted, but we should engage with it because it affects us as individuals and wider society in very deep ways. Philip Roscoe’s, author of How to Build a Stock Exchange, talks about this darkly comedic secret world, prompting us to demand better.
5. “I refuse to live with the stigma now”: Life on a low income
The Changing Realities project shines a light on what life is really like for households on low incomes, and pushes for urgent and permanent change. A Year Like No Other, features the stories of those involved in the project. Here they discuss their involvement in the project, what they hope people will take away from reading the book and what we can all do individually to make the necessary changes in our society.
6. Challenging the MacAlister Review of children’s social care
Robin Sen and Christian Kerr, authors of The Future of Children’s Care, address the recent ‘once in a generation’ MacAlister Review of Childrens Social Care in England. They highlight the problem of how reviews are commissioned and carried out, omissions in the report and the need for co-production and to stand up for people with less power.
7. The lure of dark destinations
From the Alcatraz East Crime Museum and Jack the Ripper guided tours to the Phnom Penh killing fields, ‘dark tourism’ is now a multi-million-pound global industry. What is the attraction and where is the line between acceptable and problematic dark tourism drawn? Adam Lynes, Craig Kelly and James Treadwell, editors of 50 Dark Destinations, tell us what dark tourism is, look at why we’re drawn to such macabre forms of tourism and the unique aspects the internet has brought to the industry.
8. Is Universal Basic Income the answer?
This debate about Universal Basic Income was inspired by a special issue of the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice. Howard Robert Reed and Matthew Thomas Johnson argue that UBI is affordable and feasible, whereas Donald Hirsch believes the necessary funds for UBI could be used to cut poverty in more targeted ways.
9. Learning from an unequal pandemic
What’s the emotional toll of COVID-19? Lucy Easthope and Kandida Purnell, two of the co-editors of When This Is Over, talk about the pandemic and its long lasting impact. Have we seen the full extent of the emotional toll of the pandemic?
10. Is philanthropy charity’s more rational cousin?
In one of three short conversations, Rhodri Davies, author of What is Philanthropy For?, talks about the difference between philanthropy and charity. But does this distinction bear scrutiny in a world of billionaire philanthropists, each with their own pet projects?
Browse all episodes of the Transforming Society podcast here.
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