Ballroom dancing: Laurie Taylor explores its social history and sexual politics with Hilary French, Professor of Design Studies at Bath Spa University and author of a new book which charts the evolution of a form of dance which originated in upper class, private balls but became a mass, working class pastime in the early 20th century. From Hollywood movies to Mecca dance halls. What explains its rise and fall and rise again, in the current moment? They're joined by Vicki Harman, Reader in Sociology at University of Surrey, who unpacks the intriguing appeal of ballroom in the light of changing …
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Plutocratic London and dynastic wealth.
Covid: how has it changed our economy and home lives?
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Psychiatry: Laurie Taylor explores the history of modern psychiatric practice.
Prison protest: from riots to hunger strikes.
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Strongmen: what accounts for the global rise of authoritarian leaders?
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Extremism: going undercover with the far right, Islamists and anti feminists.
Why Sociology matters: an exploration of the meaning and purpose of Public Sociology.
Strangers & Xenophobia: an exploration of a historically rooted phenomenon.
Food, identity and nation - why food matters.
The value of things: why do we hang on to objects?
Covid: Crisis or opportunity?
Freedom: how it came to be equated with limited government and white people.
Love and romance in changing times.
Afghanistan: Afghan migrants in Britain. Also, the return of the Taliban.
Office life: the evolution and meaning of the filing cabinet. Also, objects at work.