
AntiSocial
Peace talks for the culture wars.
In an era of polarisation, propaganda and pile-ons, AntiSocial offers an alternative: understanding, facts, and respect. Each week, Adam Fleming takes on a topic that's generating conflict on social media, blogs, talk shows and phone-ins and helps you work out what the arguments are really about.
Latest episodes

Apr 25, 2025 • 54min
Sex, gender and the NHS
What does the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex mean for the health service?The UK’s top court says that under equality law a woman is a biological woman and a man is a biological man. It’s sparked discussion about how the NHS accommodates trans people when it comes to single sex spaces, like women-only wards. What do the judgment and equality legislation say about providing services to only one sex? What does NHS policy say and how might it change? And why has the language used by health services become so controversial when it comes to women’s health?Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Simon Maybin, Josephine Casserly, Bethan Ashmead Latham, Tom Gillett
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy

Apr 22, 2025 • 5min
How jail-time is decided
How much leeway do judges have when sentencing? Professor Julian Roberts of the Sentencing Academy explains what guidelines judges use and how public perceptions sometimes differ from what's actually happening in the courts.

Apr 18, 2025 • 54min
Two-tier justice
Lucy Connolly is a 42 year old woman from Northampton who is currently serving a custodial sentence for stirring up racial hatred after she posted on X on the day of the Southport attacks last year, calling for "mass deportations now" and referring to setting fire to asylum hotels. Her case has caused controversy online, with some describing her as a "political prisoner" and claiming that the justice system is treating some people more harshly than others. But to others, Lucy Connolly is being appropriately punished for an incendiary post at a time of high tensions. Are heftier sentences meted out to some people more than others? Are some groups treated differently in the courts because of their ethnicity or political views? Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Josephine Casserly, Simon Maybin and Beth Ashmead-Latham
Studio manager: Andy Mills
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Bridget Harney

Feb 24, 2025 • 7min
A potted history of the nudist movement
This month Bianca Censori, rapper Kanye West’s wife, broke the internet after appearing on a red carpet in a transparent dress. Meanwhile, artists were upset about their life drawing class being moved in North London. This prompted a conversation about public nudity and by extension, nudism. Professor Annebella Pollen is from the University of Brighton and author of Nudism in a Cold Climate, she explains the history and significance of the nudism movement in the UK.

Feb 21, 2025 • 53min
Nudity - the great cover up?
How comfortable are we with nudity and why does the naked body still have the power to shock?This month we’ve seen Bianca Censori break the internet after her red carpet appearance in a transparent dress and artists in north London upset about their life drawing class being moved. What actually happened and why were people so censorious about Bianca? Also, what is the history of nudism in the UK?
To discuss the power of the naked body Adam is joined by Dr Victoria Bateman – an economist and author of Naked Feminism: Breaking the cult of female modesty and Stephanie Murray , a freelance journalist and contributing writer for The Atlantic.Presented by Adam Fleming
Produced by Emma Close, Beth Ashmead and Clare Williamson
Studio manager: Annie Gardiner
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy

Feb 18, 2025 • 7min
Signs in other languages
How many people living in the UK do not speak English?
This week a Member of Parliament for Reform UK posts a picture of Whitechapel train station in East London. On the entrance of the station, it has the name in English and then also Bengali. Rupert Lowe MP said: “The station name should be in English and English only” Dr Ben Brindle is a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. He's been studying the data on foreign-born residents from the 2021 census. He explains how many people we're talking about when it comes to those who may not speak English well, or at all.

Feb 14, 2025 • 53min
Should signs be in English only?
This week a Member of Parliament for Reform UK posted a picture of Whitechapel train station in East London. At the entrance of the station, it has the name in English and then also in Bengali. Rupert Lowe MP said: 'The station name should be in English and English only.'We'll find out how the station got its bilingual sign and examine the data on immigrants' language skills. How are non-English speakers accommodated in other walks of life? Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Arlene Gregorius and Beth Ashmead
Studio manager: Hal Haines.
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Richard Vadon.

Feb 11, 2025 • 5min
Surrogacy: the law in the UK
When Lily Collins - the star of the American TV show Emily in Paris - announced she’d had a baby by surrogacy, a debate played out in her comments about the pros and cons of starting a family this way. Some of the criticism alleged that surrogacy is the preserve of the rich. In many countries commercial surrogacy – where the intended parents have a contract and pay a fee to the surrogate – is legal, including the US, Mexico and Colombia. In the UK, however, only altruistic surrogacy is legal. Katarina Trimmings from the University of Aberdeen explains what this means and how the UK law on surrogacy works.

Feb 7, 2025 • 53min
Surrogacy
An online debate about whether surrogacy should be allowed was energised this week after actress Lily Collins and her partner announced they had a baby by surrogate on Instagram. In this episode, we explore what surrogacy is like when you're not a celebrity including hearing from a woman who was a surrogate for her best friend. In the UK surrogacy is legal but it can't be done for money. We assess calls to change the law and find out where the movement in opposition to surrogacy comes from. Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Josephine Casserly, Beth Ashmead Latham and Emma Close
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy

Feb 4, 2025 • 6min
What is Nature?
As politicians weigh up what trade-offs with the natural world they’re willing to make in pursuit of growth, we look at how our understanding of our role within (or alongside) nature has shifted over time. Dr Andy Flack from the University of Bristol talks Adam Fleming through the various influences, changes and discoveries that have altered how we view our natural environment.
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