Rachel O’Brien talks to ‘Tom’ – not his real name – who although still young, has spent nearly half of his life inside.

Despite some fantastic governors and staff, the prison service is still under acute pressure due to cuts in funding and staffing. Ironically, the officer due to join us for this episode was unable to do so because of an incident in the prison where he now works.

Rachel talks to ‘Tom’ about the nature of prisoners’ relationships with frontline staff, and whether or not the prison system is enabling positive connections to flourish.

RSA Radio

Rebuilding Life After Prison – 4: ‘Tom’

The first episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'.

Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apart – and what can be done about them. They start by asking the sociologist Paula Surridge whether we've become a nation divided into two tribes: liberals and authoritarians.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
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Subscribe on Android:
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Produced by James Shield, with production help from Alex Atack in Bristol. Artwork design by Emily Power.

Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Polarised

Subscribe to Polarised

Polarised: Liberals and Authoritarians

The second episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'. Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apart – and what can be done about them.

In this episode they ask: How effective were Cambridge Analytica's methods? Can ‘psychographic microtargeting’ really swing elections and referendums? And is it already driving a wedge in our politics?

Produced by James Shield. Artwork design by Emily Power.

Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Polarised: Silicon Valley's Persuasion Machine

The third episode of a brand new podcast series from the RSA, 'Polarised'. Matthew Taylor and the author of 'Born Liars' and 'Curious', Ian Leslie, investigate the forces driving us further apart – and what can be done about them.

In this episode: Is it inevitable that the internet and social media drive us to the extremes? Or do they just hold up a mirror to an already rotten culture? And we explore the dark side of the internet – trolls, racist memes, hate-filled comment sections and increasingly virulent culture wars – and ask whether it hijacked the White House.

Produced by James Shield.

Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Polarised: How Internet Culture Poisoned Politics

Are economic divides to blame for everything else that’s broken in our politics? Does 'economic anxiety' explain the Trump and Brexit votes? And what deeper cultural undercurrents are at play in unequal societies?

Ian and Matthew speak to Faiza Shaheen, director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) about inequalities in the UK and the US. And Matthew interviews the Emmy-winning director and photographer Lauren Greenfield, whose new documentary 'Generation Wealth' (out in the UK on 20th July) looks back at her career, and tells the story of how the American Dream came to be corrupted.

Produced by James Shield, with production help from Jade Vowles.

Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Polarised: Inequality and Generation Wealth

Is it really true that we all live in our own echo chambers? Fake news and the filter bubble, post-truth and alternative facts… Are we all, as President Obama put it, ‘absorbing an entirely different reality’?

In this episode we’re asking: Is our sense of a shared reality becoming even more fragile? And is fragmentation of the media the cause – or just the symptom – of our polarised politics? With guest Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford.

Produced by James Shield.

Brought to you by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Polarised: The Media And Echo Chambers

Podcasts from the RSA that inspire and provoke. Interviews and discussion programmes exploring the challenges of our time.

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