Thinking Allowed

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Liverpool Riots - Children and Politics Jul 13, 2011

Show notes

30 years ago riots broke out in Liverpool which lead to 160 arrests and 258 police officers needing hospital treatment. The four days of street battles, arson and looting lead to violent disturbances in many other British cities and have changed community relations and disorder policing in the country forever. On today's Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor explores a study of first hand accounts of those tumultuous days, from police officers, rioters and residents. Richard Phillips and Diane Frost recreate the times. Also on the programme, what makes a child political? Dorothy Moss discusses research which reveals how engaged young children are in issues and social change. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Comedy capital - Work's intimacy Jul 06, 2011

Show notes

British comedy, from Music Hall to TV sitcom, was once a democratic medium. Humour united people otherwise divided by class and education. But new research finds that the Alternative Comedy Movement transformed comedy's place in our culture. It rejected the 'lowbrow' tone of earlier humour, creating the basis for comic taste to provide new forms of social distinction. The sociologist, Sam Friedman joins Laurie Taylor to debate comedy snobbery. Also, mobile communications have elided the distinction between work and home. The cultural studies lecturer, Melissa Gregg, and the Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, Rosalind Gill, ask if the lines between our personal and professional lives are increasingly blurred. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Chavs - Ageing Goths Jun 29, 2011

Show notes

Have the working class in modern Britain become objects of fear, scorn and ridicule? That's the claim of Owen Jones who joins Laurie and Imogen Tyler on today's Thinking Allowed. He claims that the media and politicians alike dismiss as feckless, criminal and ignorant a vast, underprivileged section of society whose members have become stereotyped by one, disgust-filled word - 'chavs'. If this is true, then how has the reality of the working-class majority become regularly served up as a feral rump for our contempt and amusement? Also, what happens to Goths when they get old? Laurie talks to Paul Hodkinson about his study of members of that youth cult which used to be called Gothic Punk. How have they adapted their love of black clothes, multiple piercings, make up and androgyny to mortgages, children and the rites of passage incumbent upon middle age? Producer: Charlie Taylor.

The Politics of Sleep - Women Who Kill Jun 22, 2011

Show notes

One third of us now think we are sleep deprived. Why should that be? Who loses the most and how is society reacting? Laurie is joined by Stephen Williams to discuss a new area for sociology, the contested area of the 'politics of sleep'. Also, what happens when a woman commits murder? It is a very rare event and can challenge ingrained notions about the nature of femininity. Perhaps because of that, a new study finds that there are existing stereotypes which guide the reaction of both the media and the judiciary to women who kill. Lizzie Seal and Louise Westmarland join Laurie to discuss our attitudes towards women, murder and femininity Producer: Charlie Taylor.

HG Wells, Utopias, Paraphernalia Jun 15, 2011

Show notes

HG Wells was so involved in establishing sociology in this country that he wrote to Prime Minister Balfour to ask for a special endowment so he could give up on his novels. His emphasis was on utopias, he felt that social science could only progress if an ideal version of society was created with which to compare our own. He lost his battle but the sociologist Ruth Levitas tells Laurie that sociology has become boring and that Wells was right! Also, some everyday things - keys, combs, glasses - have the ability to enchant or absorb. Laurie Taylor talks to Steven Connor and Michael Bywater about how paraphernalia can have an almost magical power. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

08/06/2011 Jun 08, 2011

Show notes

Dirt is dust, soil, refuse, excrement, bacteria, filth, sleaze, slime, smut. How easily the word changes its meaning from the physical to the moral. It is this fascinating relationship and threat which dirt seems to pose that is explored in the Wellcome Collection's exhibition 'Dirt: The Filthy Reality of Everyday Life'.

In a special edition recorded with an audience of the public at Wellcome, Laurie Taylor and a panel of experts explore the meaning of dirt, its relationship to order and how hygiene and the mass generation of dirt have become such potent symbols of civilisation.

He is joined by the anthropologist Adam Kuper, the writer and cartoonist Martin Rowson and the historian Amanda Vickery to discuss dirt and why it provokes such fear, loathing and occasionally desire.

Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Household breakup in New Orleans - Communist memories Jun 01, 2011

Show notes

Hurricane Katrina led to the compulsory evacuation of all the residents of New Orleans. They were sent to shelters in distant destinations ranging from Houston to Tennessee. The scale of the disaster meant that most were unable to stay with or near family. But new research finds that this trauma was compounded by the authorities' failure to recognise the prevalence of extended families amongst the New Orleans poor. The trailers to which they re-located were set up for nuclear families as was the reconstructed housing to which they returned. The American social scientist Michael Rendall discusses post Katrina family breakdown with Laurie Taylor. Also, the process of remembering Communism in Central Eastern Europe. The historian James Mark's new book considers how countries come to terms with the legacies of the past. He joins the Psychology lecturer, Dr Jovan Byford, to question whether people's actual memories of the communist era at odds with officially imposed narratives?

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Playboy - Celebrity politics May 25, 2011

Show notes

Carrie Pitzulo, the author of a new history of Playboy claims it has "a surprisingly strong record of support for women's rights and the modernisation of sexual and gender roles". Are Bunny Girls and Playmates of the Month really allies of the feminist cause? Laurie is joined by the author Carrie Pitzulo and the sociologist Angela McRobbie to discuss the secret and surprises of the bunny brand. Also, why do young people trust popular entertainers more than politicians? Sanna Inthorn discusses her new research into celebrity politics. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Cemetery Taboo - The City May 18, 2011

Show notes

Cities are growing at an enormous rate all over the world. As they wrestle with overcrowding, pollution, resource vulnerability and an increasing gulf between the rich and poor what will be the dominant factor to define them? Which forces will shape the experience of urban life for the individual and will our imagination and creativity enable cities to survive into the future? The sociologist Sophie Watson and the geographer Matthew Gandy join Laurie Taylor to discuss the future of the city. Also, the taboo of the body in the cemetery. Kate Woodthorpe reveals her research into what remains unmentionable at the graveside. Producer: Charlie Taylor.

Russian Children in Custody - Paranormal Media May 11, 2011

Show notes

Why is modern media teeming with vampires, witches, ghosts and ghouls? Laurie Taylor explores representations of the paranormal. Also, how Russia deals with criminal youngsters.

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