Thinking Allowed

Exploring the potential of boxing and kickboxing to transform lives, this podcast discusses the benefits and limitations of these sports. It examines the role of boxing in tackling social issues and the identity formation in a kickboxing gym. The podcast also delves into the hypermasculinity and vulnerability present in boxing and kickboxing, as well as the impact of gentrification on gyms. Additionally, it explores the potential of these sports to bring about positive change among vulnerable groups and marginalized individuals.

Daniel Evans, Research Assistant at Cardiff University, discusses the rise of the lower middle class, now a significant political force. Nicola Bishop, Senior Teaching Fellow at Loughborough University, explores the cultural impact of white-collar workers in British popular culture. Topics include the evolution of the petty bourgeoisie, portrayal in Victorian sitcoms, emasculation in media, and cultural values.

HIGH FINANCE: Laurie Taylor talks to Brett Christophers, Professor in the Department of Human Geography at Uppsala University, Sweden, whose latest book argues that banks have taken a backseat since the global financial crisis . Today, our new economic masters are asset managers who don’t just own financial assets, they also own the roads we drive on; the pipes that supply our drinking water; the farmland that provides our food; energy systems for electricity and heat; hospitals, schools, and even the homes in which many of us live—these all now swell asset managers’ bulging investment portfolios. They’re joined by Megan Tobias Neely, Assistant Professor in the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School and author of a study which takes us behind the designer suits and helicopter commutes to provide a glimpse of the lives and times of the mainly white men who dominate the hedge fund industry where about 10,000 firms manage $4 trillion in assets and the average earnings are $1.4 mm a year - which can rise to several billion. Producer: Jayne Egerton

FASHION RE-IMAGINED: Laurie Taylor talks to Angela McRobbie, Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London about the working lives of independent designers in London, Berlin and Milan, at a time when fashion is under the spotlight due to concerns about the environment and exploitation in the industry. How might we create a more equitable and inclusive fashion future? Also, Kat Jungnickel, Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths, uncovers the lesser-known clothing inventions which enabled women to access the male preserve of sports, move in new ways and expand female mobility and freedom.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Digital intimacy - Laurie Taylor asks how the algorithms embedded in digital technologies are transforming our relationships. He's joined by Anthony Elliott, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of South Australia and author of a new book which suggests that that machine intelligence is changing the nature of human bonds, from sexual partners to friendship and therapy. Also, Carolina Bandinelli, Associate Professor in Media and Creative Industries at the University of Warwick, discusses her study of Tinder, and other dating apps, and the surprising finding that sex and love are not at the core of how people use them.Producer: Jayne Egerton

PRISON ABOLITION: Laurie Taylor talks to Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, about a new study which considers the case for ending imprisonment. Mass incarceration and its devastating impact on black communities have been widely condemned as neoslavery or “the new Jim Crow.” Can the practice of imprisonment be reformed, or does justice require it to be ended altogether? They’re joined by Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law at Durham University, who questions 'anti carceral' approaches from a feminist perspective – do they serve the interests of survivors of male violence against women and girls?Producer: Jayne Egerton

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

Dance Culture: Laurie Taylor takes a journey through the dancefloor with the music writer, Emma Warren, whose latest research combines social history and memoir to answer the question 'why do we dance together?' Also, Melin Levent Yuna, a sociologist and anthropologist at Acibaden University, explains why Istanbul has become the Tango capital of the world, after Buenos Aires, in spite of its conservative government. Producer: Jayne Egerton

Democracy: Quinn Slobodian, Professor of the History of Ideas at Wellesley College, takes Laurie Taylor on the journey of radical libertarians who search for the perfect home, free from the burden of democratic oversight, from Hong Kong to Canary Wharf and the Honduras. What accounts for the explosion of new legal entities, including free ports, gated enclaves, city states and special economic zones? They're joined by Mukulika Banerjee, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics, whose latest study into the lives of West Bengal villagers finds that they promote democratic values in everyday acts of citizenship at a time when Indian democracy is under threat. How do their creative practices around kinship, farming and religion promote republican virtues of cooperation, civility, solidarity and vigilance? Producer: Jayne Egerton

Poverty in the UK & US: Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Desmond, Maurice P. During Professor of Sociology at Princeton University, whose latest study asks why the richest country on earth has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Also Elizabeth Jane Richards, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, explores the way in which understandings of poverty have changed over time.Producer: Jayne Egerton