Ben Highmore, a Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex and author of "Playgrounds: The Experimental Years," discusses the revolutionary adventure playgrounds that emerged after WWII, transforming bomb sites into vibrant spaces for child creativity. He explores the influential figures behind these playgrounds and their vision for fostering autonomy and social change. Highmore also reflects on the evolution of play in today’s risk-averse society, the challenges these playgrounds face, and their lasting impact on community and child development.

Taste and Lifestyle: Laurie Taylor talks to Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, whose latest study explores the ways in which consumer culture remade the tastes of an emerging middle class – from pine kitchen tables to Mediterranean cuisine. Did this world of symbolic goods create new feelings and attitudes? Also, Michael McMillan, Associate Lecturer for Cultural and Historical Studies at the London College of Fashion, discusses the migrant experience of African-Caribbean families setting up home in the UK in the mid-20th century. How did the artefacts and objects which dressed the West Indian front room provide an outlet for feelings of displacement and alienation in a society where they weren't always made to feel 'at home'?Producer: Jayne Egerton

Ben Highmore, author of 'Lifestyle Revolution: How Taste Changed Class in Late 20th-Century Britain', discusses how consumer culture reshaped class dynamics in postwar Britain. Topics include the impact of mass consumption on class culture, the evolution of symbolic goods, and the intimate environment shaped by new feelings and attitudes. The podcast explores the influence of consumerism on personal identity, the democratization of modern furniture through Habitat shops, and the role of magazines in shaping consumer culture in the 1960s. Additionally, it delves into the changes in class definitions, sociology's role in understanding class dynamics, and the interrelation between race, class, and taste in Britain.