Thinking Allowed

Gay life at home and in the 'city' - a special edition of Thinking Allowed presented by Laurie Taylor. From squatted terraces to rented bedsits, the social historian, Matt Cook, explores the domestic and family lives of gay men - the famous, infamous and unknown - in London over the past century. The social anthropologist, Rachael Scicluna, charts the changing domestic lives of metropolitan lesbians. And US sociologist, Amin Ghaziani, describes the way in which urban enclaves such as Greenwich Village in New York have long provided sexual minorities with a safe haven in an unsafe world.

How have gentrification, as well as increasing social acceptance and legal rights, impacted on the existence of gay neighbourhoods? And do lesbian and gay home lives now mirror those of heterosexuals rather than offering alternative models of domesticity, family and belonging?

Producer: Jayne Egerton. Published on August 6, 2014.

Gaybourhood and City Life

Place hacking the hidden city. Laurie Taylor talks to Bradley Garrett, Lecturer in Geography and Environment at the University of Southampton, about his research into the world of urban exploration. Bridges, sewerage and underground rail systems are just a few of the sites penetrated by crews of place hackers who want to journey beyond the boundaries of everyday metropolitan life. They are joined by writer and film maker Iain Sinclair whose work also involves uncovering unseen layers of the city. Also, Julia Twigg, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the University of Kent, discusses the role of handbags in the lives of women with dementia. How do they function as memory objects and sources of identity, particularly in the transition to care homes? 

Producer: Torquil MacLeod. Published on October 8, 2014.

Dementia Handbags; Place Hacking

Tea workers in Darjeeling. Laurie Taylor talks to Sarah Besky, Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, about her study of the tough lives of tea plantation workers, and the struggle to re-make one of the world's most expensive teas for the 21st century consumer. Also, the sociologist, Adam Fletcher, discusses an emerging underground trade in junk food at English secondary schools. Is this an unforeseen result of 'healthy food' policies? Published on October 22, 2014.

Junk Food Traders in Secondary Schools; Darjeeling Tea Workers

Fugitives from the law: Laurie Taylor talks to Alice Goffman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about 'On the Run' her study of the lives of African American men caught up in webs of criminality in Philadelphia. She spent six years living in a neighbourhood marked by pervasive policing, violence and poverty. She argues that high tech surveillance and arrest quotas have done little to reduce crime or support young lives in the most disadvantaged parts of the US. They're joined by Professor Dick Hobbs, Criminologist at the University of Essex. Also, Alison Phipps, Director of the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Sussex, explores the rise of 'lad culture' in Higher Education and its relationship to the 'marketisation' of learning. 
Producer: Jayne Egerton. Published on November 5, 2014.

'Lad culture' in higher education - Fugitives from the law in Philadelphia

Meritocracy, then and now. Laurie Taylor talks to Peter Hennessy, Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London. How did meritocracy arise as a concept and has it ever been realised in practice given the persistence of notions of a British Establishment with control over access to the centres of power? They are joined by Danny Dorling, professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. Also, doctors' choice of desert island discs - what do they tell us about the possession of cultural capital? Ruth McDonald, professor of health science research at Manchester University, discusses the meaning of elite musical tastes.

Producer: Jayne Egerton. Published on November 12, 2014.

Meritocracy; Desert Island Doctors

Creative Britain: Laurie Taylor explores its rise and fall with the British historian, Robert Hewison, who provides an assessment of the cultural policies of New Labour and the Coalition. Why has culture failed to escape class? Also, a new Sexology exhibition prompts an analysis of the changing field of sex research. Kaye Wellings, Professor of Sexual & Reproductive Health Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, charts a history involving book burning, scandal and shame.
Producer: Jayne Egerton. Published on November 26, 2014.

Thinking Allowed

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