Thinking Allowed

Self-help & self-improvement. As thoughts turn to resolutions and making a fresh start in 2015, Laurie Taylor wonders if his scepticism about self-help books and self-improvement programmes is well founded. He goes for advice to Christine Whelan - Professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin and a self-help author. Further enlightenment is provided by Meg John Barker - Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University - who has studied self-help literature dealing with sex and relationships and has also written what she describes as 'an anti self-help book'. And Rebecca Coleman - Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London - explains how TV makeover shows and online dieting sites create powerfully gendered and class-based messages about changing our bodies.Producer: Torquil MacLeod.

Customs at Christmas and beyond. It may be best not to invite a sociologist for Xmas - they're liable to spend their time chronicling, even questioning your seasonal rituals. In this festive programme, Laurie Taylor looks at the ever shifting nature of our habits, practices and customs; changes in our lives which have been detected and discussed in previous editions of Thinking Allowed. Is our concept of romantic love as timeless as we often presume? How did bathrooms evolve from luxurious Victorian rooms to classless and clinical spaces? Do contemporary constructions of sophisticated drinking downplay the risks of middle class alcohol consumption? In what ways has the elevator changed the status associated with the top and bottom floors of homes and buildings? And when did consumerism cease to be about the satisfaction of mere wants as opposed to the indulgence of hedonistic pleasures? Thinking Allowed subjects the trivial, the everyday and the taken for granted to entertaining sociological scrutiny.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Fat gay men: Laurie Taylor examines a world in which men are doubly stigmatised - for their weight as well as their sexuality. Jason Whitesel, an Assistant Professor in Women's and Gender Studies at Pace University in the US, discusses a study which illuminates how such men negotiate and fight back against a gay culture which places them in an inferior and stigmatised position in the 'attractiveness' hierarchy.They're joined by Paul Simpson, a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester, who has researched the marginality of older gay men on the gay 'scene'.Also, the masculine world of the butchers. Dr Natasha Slutskaya, lecturer of Organization Studies at Brunel Business School, discusses a study into the values and meanings butchers ascribe to the 'dirty work' of meat production and sale.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Global payday loans: Laurie Taylor talks to Carl Packman, a researcher and writer, who has analysed the growth of a worldwide industry. Today there are more payday lender shops in the US than McDonald's restaurants. They cater mainly to those without access to mainstream credit and with no other option. But how did they evolve and proliferate? And what is their impact on the most financially vulnerable consumers? He's joined by Johnna Montogomery, an economist from Goldsmiths, London.Also, redundancy at a Welsh aluminium plant. Tony Dobbins, Reader in Employment Studies at Bangor Business School, asks why re-training has failed to provide jobless workers with a fresh future.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Port cities in the global age; from Marseilles to Liverpool and New Orleans. Laurie Taylor talks to Alice Mah, a sociologist at the University of Warwick, about her study of transformation along city waterfronts. What happens when world harbours are relegated to minor seaports? Can they ever return to their former greatness? Also, middle class alcohol use often exceeds safe levels but little research explains why. Lyn Brierley-Jones, a Research Fellow at the University of Sunderland, explores the meaning of drinking amongst professional workers. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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.

Shoes - a journey through our lives and identities. From 'brothel creepers' to perilous stilettos, our choice of footwear changes and evolves over a life time. Laurie Taylor talks to Victoria Robinson, Reader in Sociology at the University of Sheffield, about the ways in which shoes can, variously, plunge us back into the past or inform the present. Whether worn for comfort or glamour, they are powerful indicators of taste and identity. Also, Maruta Herding, a sociologist at the German Youth Institute, discusses her Europe wide research into Muslim youth, subcultures. She's joined by Tufyal Choudhury lecturer in law at the University of Durham.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

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.

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.

Post dictatorship art in Argentina and beyond. Laurie Taylor talks to Vikki Bell, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths College, about the role of the arts in a society's journey to democracy. Whilst scholars of transitional justice tend to focus on the courts and the streets; this study asks how culture enables a country marked by state oppression to both mark, as well as transcend, its past. They're joined by Professor Sanja Bahun from the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex. Also, Charles Umney, Senior Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour at the University Of Greenwich, talks about the 'creative labour' of jazz musicians in London. Producer: Jayne Egerton.