Maoism

Maoism: its origins and development as a global political force.

• 28 mins

Night-time Economy

The Night-time Economy: How has it changed over the years?

• 28 mins

White Power Movement in US - Rise of Racist Right in Europe

The White Power Movement in the US. Also, the racist, far right in Europe.

• 28 mins

Au pairing and domestic labour

Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.

• 28 mins

Metrics

Laurie Taylor explores the increasing use of metrics across many aspects of our lives.

• 27 mins

Identity

Identity: a special programme exploring the way in which we define ourselves.

• 43 mins

Work - what is it good for?

Laurie Taylor explores the history, harms and downsides to our contemporary work culture.

• 28 mins

Migrants - Refugees

Migrants and refugees.

• 28 mins

Surveillance

Surveillance - how we are both watchers, as well as the watched.

• 28 mins

The Class Ceiling

The Class Ceiling: does privilege pay?

• 29 mins

Motorbikes

Motorbikes - a social and cultural history.

• 28 mins

Walls

Walls: Laurie Taylor explores the social history and symbolism of human-made barriers.

• 28 mins

Snobbery

Snobbery - its meaning, history and changing nature.

• 28 mins

Skateboarding - Parkour

Skateboarding and parkour: lifestyle sport in the hyper regulated city.

• 25 mins

Corridors

Corridors - their evolution and changing nature.

• 28 mins

Spectacular Cities

Spectacular cities - from Kazakhstan to the United Arab Emirates.

• 28 mins

Debt

Debt - from household to national.

• 28 mins

Kitsch - Cute

Cute and kitsch: their nature and changing meaning.

• 28 mins

Branding

Branding - the 'persuasion industries'.

• 28 mins

CEO Society - Time Management

CEO Society and Time management.

• 27 mins

Detective fiction - homicide and social media

Detective fiction - how it represents social change. Also homicide confessions on Facebook

• 28 mins

No-Go Zones and Dangerous Holidays

Global no-go zones and the complex overlap between conflict and tourism.

• 29 mins

The Politics of Memorials

The Politics of Memorials - from Ireland to the Mississippi Delta.

• 26 mins

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories - their origins and evolution.

• 28 mins

Land and territory

Land struggles: from Bolivia to Britain.

• 28 mins

Estates

Council estates - then and now. Laurie Taylor explores the concept of the 'sink estate'.

• 28 mins

Serial killers

Serial killers: the media and cultural response to these crimes.

• 28 mins

Cool

The origins & meaning of 'cool'

• 28 mins

Immortality - transhumanism

Immortality and transhumanism

• 28 mins

Disasters

Disasters: from Haiti to New Orleans.

• 28 mins

Time

Time - how do we use & how has this changed in the last 50 years?

• 28 mins

Thrift

Thrift and austerity

• 28 mins

Black music cultures in London

Black music cultures - how did they evolve in London?

• 28 mins

The Religious Right in the US

The religious right in the US - an exploration of their route to power.

• 28 mins

Borders

Borders: from Calais to Mexico.

• 28 mins

Hidden gay lives

Hidden gay lives, from Polari to true crime stories.

• 29 mins

Nudity

Nudity - its cultural history and changing meaning.

• 29 mins

Water

Water: a cultural as well as a natural substance.

• 29 mins

Loss

Loss - an exploration of different forms of lost experience.

• 29 mins

Citizenship

Citizenship - from schools to the process by which immigrants become British citizens.

• 28 mins

Loneliness

Loneliness - is it a uniquely modern emotion?

• 28 mins

Kidnap

Kidnap for ransom, past and present.

• 28 mins

Trust in a time of pandemic

Trust in a time of pandemic.

• 28 mins

Blood

Blood - its many meanings.

• 28 mins

Finance

Traders and finance.

• 27 mins

Rummage - Waste

Rummage & waste: a social history of recycling and an examination of the meaning of waste.

• 27 mins

Ignorance

Strategic ignorance and knowledge resistance.

• 27 mins

Bunkers

Bunkers: building for doomsday.

• 27 mins

Cars

Cars: How do cars transmit our identities behind the wheel?

• 27 mins

Elites

Elites: Why has anti-elitism become such a common stable of media and political rhetoric?

• 27 mins

REVOLUTION

Revolution: Must all radical upheavals in the social and political order end in tragedy?

• 28 mins

Fashion & VIP Parties

Fashion & VIP parties - the hidden stories behind the glamour and wealth.

• 28 mins

The Rich

The Rich in London. Also, global attitudes towards the wealthy.

• 28 mins

Civilians in the line of fire

Civilians in the line of fire.

• 28 mins

CORRUPTION

Corruption - what is it and how can it be tackled?

• 28 mins

DEPORTATION

Deportation - from the UK to the US.

• 29 mins

GAMBLING

Gambling: Who are the winners and losers?

• 29 mins

TEA

Tea: A dark history of Britain's favourite beverage.

• 27 mins

DIRT

DIRT: Its material and symbolic meaning.

• 28 mins

The Meaning of Work

The meaning of work: how has it shifted and evolved over time?

• 27 mins

Disinformation

Laurie Taylor examines the spread of disinformation and how it can be challenged.

• 28 mins

THE BED

The Bed: an exploration of its history and many uses.

• 28 mins

Community & Social Capital

Community & social capital. How connected to each other are we compared to previous eras?

• 29 mins

The Orange Order

The Orange Order: an exploration of its origins, practices and principles.

• 27 mins

Life Imprisonment

Life imprisonment - why are those convicted of murder serving longer sentences than ever?

• 28 mins

The Rural Idyll?

The Rural Idyll? The hidden relationship between the countryside and colonialism.

• 29 mins

Perfume

Perfume: a social history of Chanel No 5 and Red Moscow. Also, the meaning of scents.

• 29 mins

Blackface - Minstrelsy

Blackface and minstrelsy - a troubled history.

• 29 mins

Fitness & fatness

Fitness & fatness: a programme exploring two sides of the same coin.

• 29 mins

Migrants in London

How has London been shaped by the history of immigration?

• 29 mins

COALMINING - LUDDISM

Coalmining & Luddism: What do we mean by progress?

• 28 mins

The Handshake - Social Interaction

The handshake & social interaction

• 29 mins

Tourism - Travel

Tourism & travel. How have they evolved over the years and what is their future?

• 29 mins

The Changing Nature of Crime

The changing nature of crime and the impact of Covid on criminal opportunity.

• 28 mins

Culture & privilege

Culture & privilege: are the cultural & creative industries meritocratic?

• 28 mins

The Smartphone

The Smartphone: how has it transformed everyday life, from China to Ireland?

• 28 mins

Cool Consumers

Cool Consumers: the construction of 'cool' music tastes & the marketing of menthol smoking

• 28 mins

Office Life

Office life: the evolution and meaning of the filing cabinet. Also, objects at work.

• 28 mins

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Afghan migrants in Britain. Also, the return of the Taliban.

• 28 mins

Love and Romance

Love and romance in changing times.

• 28 mins

Freedom

Freedom: how it came to be equated with limited government and white people.

• 28 mins

Covid

Covid: Crisis or opportunity?

• 28 mins

The Value of Things

The value of things: why do we hang on to objects?

• 28 mins

Food, Identity & Nation

Food, identity and nation - why food matters.

• 28 mins

Strangers

Strangers & Xenophobia: an exploration of a historically rooted phenomenon.

• 29 mins

Why Sociology Matters

Why Sociology matters: an exploration of the meaning and purpose of Public Sociology.

• 28 mins

Extremism

Extremism: going undercover with the far right, Islamists and anti feminists.

• 28 mins

SKILL

Laurie Taylor explores the social construction of the notion of skilled work.

• 29 mins

The Underclass

The Underclass: its rise and fall.

• 27 mins

Strongmen

Strongmen: what accounts for the global rise of authoritarian leaders?

• 27 mins

Footwear

Footwear: the 'magic' and the material reality.

• 28 mins

Prison Protest

Prison protest: from riots to hunger strikes.

• 28 mins

Psychiatry: a social history

Psychiatry: Laurie Taylor explores the history of modern psychiatric practice.

• 29 mins

Workplace Misbehaviour

Workplace misbehaviour: how has it changed over the years?

• 28 mins

Covid and change

Covid: how has it changed our economy and home lives?

• 29 mins

Wealth - Plutocratic London

Plutocratic London and dynastic wealth.

• 28 mins

Ballroom dancing

Ballroom dancing: its social history and sexual politics.

• 29 mins

Shopping

The history of the high street. Also, dreams of consumption.

• 28 mins

Package holidays and 'authentic' travel

Package holidays and ‘authentic’ travel: Laurie Taylor on the origins of budget tourism.

• 28 mins