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Thinking Allowed

Two Hundred Sixty Two episodes. First broadcast from 20030604 to 20080827.

All the episodes are available on the official site.

Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Description
Australian State Boundaries	20030604		Laurie Taylor hears from Australia about a State boundary that only makes sense when Western and Aboriginal concepts of mapping are combined.
Capital Punishment	20031007
	20031105		Laurie Taylor explores how internet usage and public policy towards consumer rights have transformed traditional relationships between the public and the professional services.
	20031112		Laurie Taylor explores how the presence of 13 million Muslims in Western Europe is beginning to expose the inadequacies of the continent's historic links between church and state.
	20031126		Laurie Taylor investigates why people complain about their work culture.
	20031203		Laurie Taylor explores the multi-agency approach to our youth justice system.
The Sources Of Social Power	20031210		Laurie Taylor talks to sociologist Michael Mann about his classic series, The Sources of Social Power, and what its findings imply for the future of the American Empire.
The Auld Enemy	20031217		Laurie Taylor hears about SCOTLAND's largest migrant population, the ENGLISH, and discovers how their life stories contradict popular ideas of Scottish attitudes to the Auld Enemy. A dominant feature in Scottish historiography is the relationship between SCOTLAND and ENGLAND; remarkably no history has been written, until now, of ENGLISH migration north of the border. Histories have been written about SCOTLAND's other migrant communities, Jews, Italians, Lithuanians, PAKISTANis but not the ENGLISH. Following an enormous increase in post-war migration, ENGLISH-born Scots now account for one in twelve of the population. Murray Watson, author of Being ENGLISH in SCOTLAND talks to Laurie Taylor about his new book and discusses how and why his research methods came up with results which contradicted popular fears that anti-ENGLISHness is on the increase.
	20031231		In the spirit of the age Laurie Taylor and guests discuss the idea that ideas by themselves are a source of material change.
	20040107		Sociologist Loic Wacquant talks to Laurie Taylor about how he became a boxer called Busy Louis and joined the very community he was meant to be studying.
Dirt	20040114		This week Laurie Taylor discusses our attitudes towards dirt and cleanliness. Laurie Taylor talks to Tim Dant, sociologist at the University of East Anglia who has been exploring the significance of dirt in the work of technicians who service and repair cars. Having to deal with dirt and grease, which both have an ambiguous form, feel, colour and texture means that the work of technicians can be seen as 'dirty work' and is often regarded as low status and unattractive in comPARISon to high status 'clean work' of offices. Laurie contrasts his work with Elizabeth Shove, sociologist at Lancaster University and author of 'Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience' who has been examining our changing attitudes towards cleanliness and dirt removing strategies such as bathing and showering.
No Logo Or Pro Logo?	20040121		Laurie Taylor investigates a business-led response to the claim that brands are the source of all evil. Anything but say the new disciples of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Punjabi Suit	20040128		The salwar-kameez, or Punjabi Suit, is now a world fashion item. Laurie Taylor explores its history and how it has become an emblem of exciting new cultural fusions.
Modern Office Design	20040204		Laurie Taylor investigates modern office design. Radical innovation in the workplace can boost corporate performance and sell the company not just to the public but to staff.
Seduction By Credit Card And The Moral Transformation Of Debt	20040211		Personal debt was until very recently seen in terms of moral transgression. No more. With the rapid disappearance of the Puritan work ethic, which emphasised saving over consumption, debt has become socially acceptable in a remarkably short time. Once regarded as an earned privilege of the thrifty few, the plastic in your pocket has come to be seen as a fundamental social class entitlement - sometimes called affectionately 'Yuppie Food Stamps'. Today for the first time in the nation's history all three sides of what Manning calls America's debt triangle - government, private business and consumers -- are simultaneously in debt. Laurie Taylor talks to the economic sociologist Robert D Manning about seduction by credit card and the moral transformation of debt.
The Gangs Of New York	20040218		During the years 1995-1999 the NEW YORK chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, one of the most notorious and criminally pursued gangs in the UNITED STATES, declared it was a social movement acting on behalf of the dispossessed. It renounced violence, refused to be associated with the underground economy and made attending school a criterion of membership. At the same time 40 of its leaders were indicted for racketeering and murder and received average sentences of 20 years. The founder, King Blood, the only one not to plead guilty, duly stood trial and received the harshest federal sentence since World War II - 250 years in with the first 45 to be spent in solitary confinement. Sociologist David Brotherton spent several years with the NEW YORK chapter of the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation. He talks to Laurie Taylor about his research into a gang demonised by the State as domestic terrorists whilst simultaneously emerging as a quasi-political entity with strong ideological roots and a clear set of social goals.
The Reuse Of Graves	20040225		could markedly improve the economic viability of the West's neglected cemeteries. However, as Laurie Taylor hears, the issue is highly contentious.
Sex	20040303		Laurie Taylor considers the politics of Britain's increasingly frank sex culture.
	20040310		Laurie Taylor hears about new links between colonial history and long term economic growth, investment and financial development. Is it who gets colonised by whom or how a society gets colonised that counts?
Transvestism	20040317		Laurie Taylor talks to Charlotte Suthrell about transvestism and its cultural practice and discusses why transvestites are accepted in some societies yet in the UK are so often viewed as deviant or perverse.
Conflict, Anxiety And Discontent	20040324		Laurie Taylor reports from the British Sociological Association Annual Conference in YORK - the theme is conflict, anxiety and discontent.
	20040331		Laurie Taylor and guests, Professor in Colonial and Postcolonial studies Elleke Boehmer and American academic and author Jay Mechling, discuss the social and cultural impact of the boy scout movement.
	20040407		Jonas Larsen of Roskilde University in Denmark talks to Laurie Taylor about tourism and photography - what do our holiday snaps tell us about ourselves?
The Globalization Of Communication And Internationalization Of Language	20040414		Laurie Taylor talks to Deborah Cameron, the Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication at OXFORD.
	20040421
Englishness	20040428		Laurie Taylor considers what it is that makes the ENGLISH quite so ENGLISH.
Rituals, Traditions And Conventions	20040505		are all under threat as Laurie Taylor invites his guests to think the unthinkable about Society, and the ideas that shape it.
	20040512		Rituals, traditions and conventions are all under threat as Laurie Taylor invites his guests to think the unthinkable about society and the ideas that shape it.
	20040519		Rituals, traditions and conventions are all under threat as Laurie Taylor invites his guests to think the unthinkable about Society and the ideas that shape it.
Networks Of Trust	20040526		Laurie Taylor considers how humans have built up the networks of trust upon which our economic institutions are based.
	20040602		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues from the academic and research world.
The Protestant Ethic	20040609		Laurie Taylor celebrates the centenary of Max Weber's famous work The Protestant Ethic. Why did capitalism emerge in the West when it did, and what is the ongoing relationship between economics and religion? Was Weber right, and how is he still relevant in the 21st Century?
The Protestant Ethic	20040616		Laurie Taylor celebrates the centenary of Max Weber's famous work, The Protestant Ethic. Why did Capitalism emerge in the West when it did, and what is the ongoing relationship between economics and religion? Was Weber right, and how is he still relevant in the 21st Century?
	20040623		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues coming out of the academic and research world.
	20040630		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues coming out of the academic and research world.
	20040707
	20040714		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues coming out of the academic and research world.
	20040721		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues coming out of the academic and research world.
	20040728		Laurie Taylor and guests explore some of the ideas that shape modern society.
Emerging Tolerance	20040804		This programme marks the start of the Thinking Allowed summer series, a four part ethnographic portrait of Amsterdam. Laurie Taylor explores the origins of the city's much admired reputation for tolerance - from the roots of Calvinism and the democratic principles of water management to the squatter movement and the momentous effect this had on the city.
Regulated Tolerance	20040811		Second of a four-part ethnographic portrait of Amsterdam. Laurie Taylor examines the city's policies on drugs and prostitution.
Intolerable Strangers	20040818		Amsterdam's tolerance is showing signs of strain. One particular flashpoint is the issue of immigration. Whereas the city has traditionally welcomed immigrants there has been a hardening of attitudes towards those wanting to settle in Holland. Laurie Taylor looks at who is visible and who is not on the streets of Amsterdam.
Whose City?	20040825		The guide books love to talk of Amsterdam as a homely city but whose home is it now? The growing numbers of international corporations of the so called creative city, the tourists who swamp the central districts, or the residents who since the great revolutionary days of the sixties have gone on insisting that this is their town? Laurie Taylor concludes his four part series on Amsterdam by asking 'Whose City?'.
	20040901		As the Government plans to increase the use of tagging for criminals, Laurie Taylor examines the origins and effects of this form of punishment.
	20040908		From Robben Island to the Maze Prison, the preservation of sites associated with conflict is a sensitive issue. Laurie Taylor considers how the appropriate afterlife of such places is decided upon.
	20040915		Laurie Taylor ponders cross cultural diffusion and asks why cricket has become the national game of PAKISTAN, INDIA and the West Indies yet failed to take root in CANADA and the UNITED STATES Laurie Taylor ponders cross cultural diffusion and asks why cricket has become the national game of PAKISTAN, INDIA and the West Indies yet failed to take root in CANADA and the UNITED STATES. Evening Morning Afternoon. .
	20040922		Laurie Taylor and guests explore some of the ideas that shape modern society.
	20040929
	20041006
	20041013
Another World If Possible If	20041020		Laurie Taylor talks to veteran anti globalisation campaigner Susan George about her new book 'Another World is Possible If' which proposes that fellow activists should balance their zeal with a dose of realism.
	20041027
The Milltown Boys Revisited	20041103		In this week's edition of Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor speaks to Howard Williamson about his new study The Milltown Boys Revisited. It's the sequel to Five Years, his groundbreaking 1970s study of one of Europe's largest council estates. The boys he interviewed had few prospects and bleak futures at its close, in The Milltown Boys Revisited Williamson returns to find out what has become of them.
Reality Tv	20041110		has taken the world by storm. Its ubiquity is only matched by the universal criticism it attracts for being voyeuristic, vulgar and dehumanising. But what about those who watch it? Laurie Taylor explores the way in which reality television affects people's perceptions of their everyday lives.
Prophets Facing Backward	20041117		Laurie Taylor talks to author Meera Nanda, whose new book Prophets Facing Backward is a controversial and courageous look at Hindu nationalism in modern INDIA.
	20041124		How have kinship patterns changed over the last forty years? Sociolgist Nickie Charles joins Laurie Taylor on this week's Thinking Allowed to talk about the ways in which contemporary family networks persist despite the instability of 21st century life.
Ottoman Women	20041201		Laurie Taylor looks at the little known life of Ottoman women from the beginning of the twentieth century as told through their memoirs, autobiographies and travel journals.
Gay Muslims	20041208		Laurie Taylor talks to sociologist Dr Andrew Yip, who has looked at the ways in which gay Muslims have bridged the gap between their sexuality and their Islamic culture and beliefs.
Tribute Bands	20041215		Laurie Taylor explores a growing sector of the music industry, the tribute band. Shane Homan, editor of Access all Eras: Tribute Bands and Global Pop Culture, explains the popularity of nostalgia.
The Coffee House	20041222		Laurie Taylor is joined by Markman Ellis the author of The Coffee House: A Cultural History to debate the significance of the 17th and 18th century power houses that underpinned culture and encouraged progress and change, and that of the ubiquitous modern day equivalent in the form of Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee.
Jazz	20041229		Has jazz lost its soul? During the black civil rights movement jazz was seen as a radical musical form both politically and artistically. It was threatening and dangerous to the white bourgeoisie who, according to jazz musician Gilad Atzmon, responded by claiming jazz as their own academic and technical adventure. Laurie Taylor is joined by Gilad Atzmon and Caspar Melville, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths University of LONDON and author of an essay The Shape of Jazz, to discuss whether despite becoming a huge money spinner, jazz can once again become an innovative musical form of resistance. Fairytales Is there still a place for childrens fairy stories in contemporary life? Laurie Taylor goes in search of CINDERELLA with Sally Feldman, Head of Media, Arts and Design at University of Westminster and author of an article You shall go to the ball and Dr Karin Lesnik-Oberstein, Director of The Centre for International Research in Childhood at University of Reading and editor of Childrens Literature: New Approaches.
	20050105		Laurie Taylor speaks to Laura Piacentini about her time living in a RUSSIAn prison colony. Piacentini's research is an investigation into the notion of imprisonment, a notion that appears to be ingrained in the psyche and social lives of RUSSIAn people.
	20050112		Thinking Allowed goes underground into the illegal world of night-time car racing in Helsinki. Looking into this carnival of danger, Laurie Taylor explores the seduction of speed, immortality and danger and asks how these settings become spaces for the expression of emotion, sexuality and desire.
Plastination For Display: A New Way To Dispose Of The Dead?	20050119		Laurie Taylor looks at the legitimacy of 'plastination for display', the technique used in the controversial exhibition Body Worlds, where plastinated bodies were viewed by the public. Sociologist Dr Tony Walter talks about public attitudes to this form of disposal of the dead and whether it is a viable alternative to burial and cremation.
Charisma	20050126		Winston Churchill was a charismatic leader, but what exactly makes a person charismatic? Laurie Taylor investigates.
	20050202
Gangsta Rap	20050209		In the late 1980s, gangsta rap music emerged in urban America, giving voice to, and making money for, a social group widely considered to be in crisis: young, poor, black men. On this weeks Thinking Allowed Laurie Taylor is joined by Eithne Quinn to talk about her research into the culture and commerce of gangsta rap in her new book 'Nuthin' But a ""G"" Thang'. In explaining how this music genre emerged, Quinn argues that gangsta rap both reflected and reinforced the decline in popular protest politics and the rise in individualism and entrepreneurialism that took place after the 1970s.
	20050216		From the sight of an artwork to the scent of perfume or the savour of dinner, sensory perception informs our social world. In Western society sight and sound is favoured over any other sense, but what is the world like to cultures that privilege touch or smell? Why do many people in west-African societies hold hands when they talk; how in the rain forests of Papua New Guinea is the time of day is told by bird calls? In Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor finds out the answers, exploring the role the senses play in mediating cultural experience and expression.
	20050223		Ratna Kapur, author of Erotic Justice: Law and the New Politics of Postcolonialism joins Laurie Taylor to argue that anti-trafficking strategies and laws have meant women from developing countries are increasingly limited in their freedom to move, are under greater surveillance, and are ever more constrained by regressive views on sexual integrity and women's central place in the home.
	20050302		What is an intellectual? What distinguishes them from philosophers, scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs? What codes do they live by? And are they on the verge of extinction or, at the very least, enforced exile from public life? Laurie Taylor is joined by Steve Fuller Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and author of The Intellectual.
	20050309		Does an Arab idea of terrorism constitute something radically different from Western notions? Jordanian academic Fares Braizat joins Laurie Taylor to present the findings of his extensive research.
	20050316		In 2001, Wanda Jean Allen was the first Black woman in America to receive the death penalty since 1954. As a poor, far from intellectual female who murdered her lesbian lover, her case excited a level of interest and prurience similar to that of the infamous Aileen Wournos. Laurie Taylor, in conversation with Professor Kendall Thomas from Columbia University in NEW YORK, looks at the factors that led to Allen's execution and asks what role does race, gender and sexuality play in sentencing someone to death?
	20050323		Laurie Taylor presents a special edition from the British Sociological Association 2005 Conference in YORK, featuring speakers who discuss changing perceptions of risk.
Gift Giving	20050330		Laurie Taylor looks at the social function of gift giving and asks whether you can solve the problem by giving money or does that somehow make a nonsense of it all?
	20050406		New research has been carried out looking at the migratory experience of British ex-patriots now living in the Lot Valley, a largely rural and agricultural area in Southwest FRANCE that has been described as The Place that Time Forgot. Michaela Lord, from the University of Hull, the co-author of the study, joins Laurie Taylor on Thinking Allowed to discuss the individual and varied motivations behind the decision to migrate, of which the most influential is the cultural change taking place in the UK. But how far does the migratory experience meet their expectations and how much has the pattern of migration transformed the lifestyles of the local community for better or worse?
Queuing	20050413		The queue has been a visually redolent image for decades. From queuing for rations during World War II to the dole queues of the 70s and 80s, the queue has been exploited for its political capital and social importance. But why are the British so obsessed with queuing, what does this social norm reveal about us? Laurie Taylor looks at this apparently daily routine and discovers how fraught and politically charged it can be.
	20050420
	20050427		Laurie Taylor explores international relations in the Middle East with Professor Fred Halliday, whose new book asserts that the complexity of the region is underestimated.
	20050504		Laurie Taylor looks at the concept of skill. Policy makers suggest that skills are vital ingredients for national economic prosperity. But precisely what is a skill? In the past skills were equated with technical know-how or manual dexterity, but they now seem to include personal characteristics, behaviours and attitudes. Has the concept of skill become so broad and wide that to speak of skills is almost meaningless? If so, what are the implications for contemporary education and training, and will we witness the marginalisation of theoretical knowledge?
	20050518		Laurie Taylor discovers a long-suppressed medical scandal where a leading PSYCHIATRIST of the early 20th century came to believe that mental illnesses were the product of chronic infection that poisoned the brain. A ruthless course of surgical treatment then followed which many patients did not survive. What does the case say about the relationship between doctors and patients and are there any contemporary resonances of this case?
	20050525		In the summer of 2003, Laurie Taylor travelled to Cape Town in South Africa to learn from social scientists about the other side of this celebrated tourist spot. As part of Radio 4's Africa Day 2005, Thinking Allowed revisits some of the issues uncovered in these landmark programmes, as Laurie retraces his steps analysing the changes that have taken place in areas such as crime and violence, land reform and intellectual life. Then Cafe Africa Taking tea in the afternoon.
	20050601		While baseball is America's most popular sport, soccer is the world's most popular sport. Laurie Taylor looks at what these two iconic sports reveal about the societies and economies that spawned them. Why are Americans appalled that star players like David Beckham are traded like horsemeat, but then why do baseball clubs make money while soccer clubs don't?
	20050608
	20050615		Notions of identity have overwhelmed people for centuries. Tales from life and literature show how people put on masks to discover who they really are under the masks they usually wear. Laurie Taylor explores the idea of self-imitation, looking at the basic human ways of negotiating reality, illusion, identity and authenticity, only to find that it is not unusual for us to become travesties of ourselves, particularly as we age and change.
	20050622
	20050629
	20050706		Laurie Taylor looks at the cultural history of dieting and finds out why we are so obsessed with food. For centuries, what we eat has been a significant part of our daily ritual.
	20050713		Drinking, especially drinking alcohol, has been a significant part of different cultures across the world. From the sake drinking salarymen of Tokyo to the burgundy sipping flaneurs of Paris, alcohol plays a wide range of functions. It has religious, familial, social and political meaning and it has always played a key role in the production and expression of identity. In Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor discovers how the act of consuming, or indeed abstaining from alcohol ties in with self-presentation, ethnicity, class and culture.
	20050720		Laurie Taylor speaks to music journalist Peter Shapiro about his new book, Turn the Beat Around, which traces the history of disco - the music that taste forgot.
	20050727		Laurie Taylor is joined by Maurice Bloch, professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics to discuss his latest research which explores the highly controversial territory between the cognitive and social sciences.
	20050803
	20050810		Laurie Taylor travels to Sheffield to visit Norfolk Park Housing Estate. Built in the 1960s with 15 high rise blocks set in rolling parkland, the estate was much loved by the residents. But in the early '90s the decision was taken to demolish the towers and re-develop the estate. Ten years on, most residents are still waiting to be re-housed. What went wrong and why has well-intentioned council policy failed so many of those who lived on the estate?
	20050817		Laurie Taylor visits Belfast to discover why since the Good Friday agreement there has been a flourishing of Protestant Marching Bands.
	20050824		In 1997 the Scottish Tories suffered a wipeout at the General Election and in the last election, only one Scottish Conservative was voted in. Laurie Taylor travels to Dumfries and Galloway, a former Conservative stronghold, and finds out how local Tory Party activists have mobilised themselves.
	20050831		The world of the bouncer who patrols the doors to the pubs and clubs lining our high streets, has been a male dominated arena, apparently full of violence and aggression. However, in recent years more and more women have started to take on this role, but they have done so in a very different way. Laurie Taylor walks the streets of London's Soho to speak to some of these female bouncers, or door supervisors, to find out what kind of skills and resources they bring to the job and he asks why they are more in demand than ever before.
	20050907
	20050914
	20050921		From shopping to politics, celebrity culture affects every facet of our lives whether we like it or not. But exactly how much influence does celebrity culture have on contemporary society? Are they an important part of our national or cultural identity; and how do celebrities articulate constructions of gender, age, class and sexuality? Laurie Taylor explores some of these issues and asks since when has celebrity culture become a serious subject to study? Is it more bling bling than the academic real thing?
	20050928		Laurie Taylor speaks to Stefan Szymanski, professor of economics at Imperial College London, who challenges some of our preconceptions of transnational pharmaceutical companies. He argues that in order to supply drugs on humanitarian grounds in poor countries, we need to protect the profits of these companies in rich countries.
	20051005
	20051012		The weChishanu Christians are one of the fastest growing religious movements in Zimbabwe having seen a marked increase in the 1990s, not just in the number of people attending the services but also in the number of services they hold each day. They are the Christians who don't read the Bible. Academic attention to a flat and lifeless scriptural text, they affirm, can only impede their live and direct relationship with God. Though claiming a distinct break with African custom, the movement is informed by African history and culture - they believe in witchcraft and in spirit possession. Taking witchcraft seriously has been key to the success of many African churches and seems no less successful here. In this week's Thinking Allowed, Laurie Taylor speaks to Matthew Engelke lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics about his research on religion in Zimbabwe. The anthropology of Christianity - now a branch of anthropology of emerging importance - helps provide an understanding of the history and culture of Zimbabwean society.
	20051019		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads the discussion on topical items and issues coming out of the academic and research world.
	20051026		The vibrant and captivating world of post war London was a place for gay liberation. The city had forged an extensive and diverse queer culture that still exists today, and provided a space for men to make sense of their sexuality. Laurie Taylor explores the intimate and complex world of queer London - how did the city influence the culture and politics of gay life, and how in turn did gay life shape the culture and politics of the city?
	20051102		Why is it that in our modern multicultural society we still turn out every November 5th to commemorate a planned act of Catholic terrorism which was defeated four hundred years ago? Laurie Taylor looks at our celebration of Guy Fawkes Night and how it has changed over the centuries.
	20051109		Over the past two decades, a vast number of new jobs have been created in affluent economies. They are seen as more rewarding, requiring more skill and employees are paid more for their trouble. But despite these beneficial trends, employees work longer hours, are less satisfied at work and there is a marked increase in inequality. Laurie Taylor talks to Francis Green, who addresses this paradox in his new book 'Demanding Work'.
	20051116		Laurie Taylor discusses how The Beatles kick-started the trend for fans to identify with particular band members and the way in which cultural role models have developed since then. Part of the run up to Radio 4's season marking the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death.
	20051123		Laurie Taylor examines the cultural politics of weddings and the reasons why both participants and onlookers regard them as key indicators of class, taste and aspiration.
	20051130		The town of Anna in Illinois has about 7000 people. It benefits from a mild four-season climate, with spring arriving early, and is the perfect place for retirement, outdoor recreation or an exceptionally enjoyable family life. But Anna is a 'Sundown Town', so called because until the 1970s, it was common to see at the city limits signs such as, 'Nigger, Don't Let the Sun Go Down on You in Anna'. Anna, in fact, is an acronym for Aint No Niggers Allowed. Laurie Taylor looks at the phenomenon of these US 'white only' towns that stretch from Maine to California, and finds that the informal practice of barring blacks (and sometimes other groups) after nightfall is astonishingly wide.
	20051207		Street traders in Barcelona form a vibrant back bone to the city. Many of them come from South Asia and West Africa, forming a diverse and animated community with strong social bonds. Laurie Taylor looks at the experiences of this distinct community finding out how travelling and negotiating new cultures have helped form their fluid and diasporic identities.
	20051214		The Oakland Riders enjoy the distinction of attracting the most feared fans in American football, with a reputation for drinking, fighting - and outrageous costumes. Devotion to the team binds this working class, multiracial group of people together. Laurie Taylor talks to Professor Jim Miller who followed the fans through a dramatic season in an attempt to get to grips with the reality behind the ferocious image.
	20051221		Laurie Taylor looks at the popularity of 'chick lit', a new genre of romance writing aimed at women, and finds out what this says about contemporary culture.
	20051228		The end of apartheid in South Africa was heralded as a new, modern, democratic beginning for the country. But despite this, support for the authority of chiefs and chieftancy, based on hundreds of years of tradition, has thrived. Laurie Taylor looks at the role chiefs play in South Africa and how they are no longer considered relics of the past but key figures in national and local politics.
	20060104		Laurie Taylor follows the growth of the occult tradition and the part it plays in the history of ideas. What cultural shifts caused its rise in popularity in the 19th Century?
	20060111
The Culture Of The New Capitalism	20060118
Communities In The Mind - Creolisation	20060125
The West Indian Front Room	20060201
Sorcery And Politics In Mozambique; Inventing Intelligence	20060208
The New East End	20060215
The New Enlightenment	20060222
Sati - Pub Drinking Culture - Memes	20060301		The Indian custom of Sati or widow burning, where a wife burns herself on the funeral pyre of her husband, is thought to be a thing of the past. But Laurie Taylor discovers that's not the case, and the custom occurs in other parts of the world as well. She looks at the enduring importance of this traditional custom to find out why women voluntarily sacrifice themselves, and what significance this still has in contemporary culture.
The Games Black Girls Play - Punishment	20060308		Laurie Taylor explores the legitimacy of punishment and the relationship between prisons and social order.
Jazz And Politics	20060315		Jazz rapidly became one of America's greatest cultural exports, but did Britain initially embrace or resist it? Laurie Taylor is joined by George McKay - professor of cultural studies and leading chronicler of British countercultures - to examine the surprising ways that jazz accompanied social change during what was a period of rapid transformation in Britain.
The New Enlightenment	20060322		The role of religion in society has emerged as one of the key political issues of the beginning of the 21st century. From Islamist terror attacks to religious hatred laws in the UK, from the increased visibility of the Christian Right in the US, to the riots in Paris last summer, the question of the changing relationship between the secular state and faith has become central to political debate. Laurie Taylor examines the role of religion in society. What are the appropriate boundaries between state and faith in a liberal democracy and what role should religion play in public life?
White Lives - Northern Soul	20060329		Laurie Taylor is joined by Andy Wilson to look at how and why individuals became involved in the secretive subculture that existed in the 1970s Northern Soul scene.
Quiz Shows - The Politics Of Good Intentions	20060405		In the wake of 9/11, politicians have claimed we are at an increased risk from terrorist attacks and their actions to deal with this risk spring from good intentions. Laurie Taylor is joined by David Runciman to discuss whether we are actually witnessing 'politics of good intentions', or whether politicians are exploiting the language of risk for their own ends.
Culture - Abstinence And Personal Identity	20060412		How do humans decide to withhold from doing something? Labels like vegetarian, virgin, recovering alcoholic or non-smoker get thrown around to identify forms of abstinence. Laurie Taylor investigates.
British Asian Identity - Bsa Annual Conference - Cycle Messengers	20060419		What is the significance of employment within Pakistani men's peer group relations? And how do the social dynamics that underlie those relations provide the context for understanding the particular nature and form that ethnicity takes? Laurie Taylor looks at Britain's South Asian communities, the variations within it and the nature of the inequalities it faces, by exploring how labour market positions influence identity.
Cunning - Online Dating	20060426		Laurie Taylor explores what it means to be cunning, as he is led through an enticing labyrinth full of problems. How do we strip away pretext to unmask the underlying reality?
Same Sex Marriages - The Price Of Whiteness	20060503		Laurie Taylor looks at what it means to be Jewish in America.
Home Improvement And Diy - Caribbean Languages In British Schools	20060510		How have the racialised politics of Britain had a detrimental effect on succeeding generations of white and Black Britons? Have Black communities allowed themselves to be incorporated into arrangements that work against their collective interests? Eminent Professor Gus John joins Laurie Taylor, in Thinking Allowed, to answer these questions and to discuss John's latest book Taking a Stand, which calls for a radical evaluation of Government policies, structures and prescriptions.
Wolves - Neoliberalism & Neoconservatism In Usa	20060517
British Chinese Pupils - Sudden Deaths	20060524
Polish Migrants To The Uk - The Shipping Container	20060531
Industrial Ruins - Kamikaze	20060607
Skateboard Park - Everyday Arias	20060614
Are You Being Served? - Madame Tussaud	20060621
Market Forces	20060628
Pills, Power And People - Tour De France	20060705
Children And Consumption - Pessimism	20060712
Evil Incarnate - Violent Night	20060719
Journalists & The Old School Tie - Classical Liberalism	20060726
Moving On From Sex Work - The Challenge Of Affluence	20060802
Working-class Lesbians - National Identity & The Media	20060809
Norway	20060816		In the first of a four-part series on Scandinavia, Thinking Allowed visits Norway, a country that has existed independently only since 1905 and but has built a strong national identity. Laurie Taylor meets a young ethnically diverse hip hop group who have created a new language and asks how their hybrid form of culture fits into ideas of Norway and belonging.
Denmark	20060823		is a country well known for its tolerance of alcohol, drugs and pornography - but it also boasts the highest rates of under-age binge drinkers in Europe. Laurie investigates the reasons behind these figures and asks whether there is a growing ambivalence in Denmark towards their famed liberality.
Finland	20060830		The spotlight is on a country that has swiftly embraced a global identity and through technological advancement has positioned itself squarely on the world stage. But underneath this hi-tech modernity are a number of fascinating cultural distinctions, which are easily overlooked. Laurie explores these distinctions, examining the resurgence of the traditional reindeer herders, the Sami and their culture, while also exploring the ambivalent relationship between the Russians - the hidden minority of Finland - and native Finns.
Sweden	20060906		A country famous for its cradle to the grave welfare system - one that is so well ingrained in the national consciousness that Swedes are content to continue paying high taxes to ensure the continuation of their generous welfare provision. Laurie looks at one particular aspect of Swedish 'welfarism', where 'cultural integrators' or 'linkworkers' live among immigrants and help them to integrate into Swedish society.
Scandinavia - Lingerie Adverts - Slumpy Class	20060913		Laurie Taylor finds out how sexual liberality goes hand in hand with an increasingly conservative attitude towards televisual depictions of class, race and sexuality.
Binge Drinking & British Alcohol Policy - Rural Racism	20060920		Does our rural idyll include those of the wrong colour? Laurie Taylor explores the reality of rural racism; the forms it takes and the ways in which it can be challenged.
Change - Working Class Education	20060927
Shifting Demography - Mobile Communications	20061004
Religion And Spirituality - Designing The Seaside	20061011
Democracy, Liberty And Human Rights	20061018		Why are American politics in such an appalling state? And what does it mean for the rest of us? Laurie Taylor is in conversation with distinguished law professor, and leading political philosopher, Ronald Dworkin, in his weekly look at the latest academic research.
Women, Work And Youth Culture Between The Wars; Wildlife Documentary	20061025
The New Elites And Philanthropy	20061101		Laurie Taylor looks at the role played by philanthropy in modern society. Peter Frumkin explains the importance of having a framework when developing a philanthropic strategy.
Gym - Ageing Inside Out	20061108
Hidden Spaces And Urban Life - Geodemography	20061115
Alexis De Tocqueville - Call Centres	20061122		Laurie Taylor examines the legacy of one of the greatest political thinkers of all time, Alexis de Tocqueville. With his biographer and eminent American studies scholar, Professor Hugh Brogan, Laurie wonders what would de Tocqueville have to say about democracy today.
Straight Edge - Cremation	20061129
Crime Mapping - Obituary Yuri Levada	20061206
Automobility And The Hummer - Khat	20061213
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	20061227
	20070103		To mark the beginning of Liverpool's 800th year, Laurie Taylor visits the city to explore its contribution to the social sciences.
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	20070221		Mortuary worker, sewer engineer, sex worker, refuse collector? how do the people who do society's dirtiest jobs manage to make their occupations seem more palatable? Laurie Taylor discusses a major new study on how to survive the world's worst jobs.
	20070228		The Death of Honour Are we living in a 'post-honour society'? Social theorist James Bowman claims that the ancient idea of honour has become meaningless in the Western world, and that it is this development more than anything else which underlies the clash between Eastern and Western cultures. Laurie Taylor hears the arguments and the evidence, and asks whether we are better off without honour.
	20070307
	20070314		The established cultures of the financial world's trading markets are succumbing to modern technology. Laurie Taylor talks to former share dealer turned anthropologist Caitlin Zaloom about the arcane rites of a dying world.
	20070321		Concern is growing over violence in the workplace, with an increasing number of assaults on nurses, transport workers, retail staff and other workers. Laurie Taylor talks to P J Waddington, the author of a major new study into violence at work and its effects.
	20070328		Both suicide and deliberate self-harm involve large numbers of young people, many in their teens and many lesbian or gay. Laurie Taylor discusses new research into the role of sexuality and gender identity in suicide among young people. How often do struggles over issues of being gay, lesbian or transgender lead to suicidal practices, and what can be done to help these young people?
	20070404
	20070411		China is set to become the world's second biggest economy by 2015, but there is a social cost for such expansion. Laurie Taylor is joined by an international panel of experts to look at China's enormous floating population of some 200 million migrant workers, who are moving great distances from rural areas to cities in order to find work.
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	20070509	20070514	Laurie Taylor discusses a scholarly study of Esalen, the Californian institute which introduced the West to the spiritual teaching of the East.
	20070516	20070521	Laurie Taylor hears surprising tales from a Peruvian anthropologist on how Amazonian Indians make friends.
	20070523	20070528	Why do street people and rough sleepers use names to disguise their identity and how can an understanding of that culture aid the people who want to help them? Laurie Taylor discusses new research with Tom Hall
	20070530	20070604
	20070606	20070610	Laurie Taylor discusses a new study with author Kester Aspden into one of the most notorious cases of police racism in Britain, after the body of David Oluwale was pulled from a canal in Leeds in May 1969.
	20070606	20070611	Laurie Taylor discusses a new study with author Kester Aspden into one of the most notorious cases of police racism in Britain, after the body of David Oluwale was pulled from a canal in Leeds in May 1969.
	20070613	20070618
Sexual Revolutions	20070620	20070625	Laurie Taylor talks to Jeffrey Weeks about his new book The World We Have Won, which claims that successive revolutions in erotic mores since 1945 have led to the democratisation of everyday life.
	20070627	20070702	How has erotic and intimate life changed since 1945? Laurie Taylor hears the findings of a new report by sociologist Jeffrey Weeks
	20070704	20070709	Laurie Taylor hears surprising tales from a Peruvian anthropologist on how Amazonian Indians make friends.
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	20070822	20070827	Laurie Taylor presents three programmes examining the social gaps in today's divided Britain. He is joined by politicians David Willetts and Frank Field to explore the geography of poverty and the effect of today's vastly increased home ownership on those who rent.
	20070829	20070903	Laurie Taylor presents three programmes examining the social gaps in today's divided Britain. Politicians David Willetts and Frank Field explore the generation gap. How different are today's young people from their parents' generation and why is communication between age groups more difficult today?
	20070905	20070910	Laurie Taylor presents the final programme of a special series examining the social gaps in today's divided Britain. In this programme on The Attainment Gap, he and two politicians, David Willetts and Frank Field, explore the statistics and cross-examine the specialists. Why are the children of professional children so much more able to prosper in school and at work? And how can you predict someone's achievements and attainments at 26 when they are only 26 months?
The Sex Lives Of Us	20070912	20070917
	20070919
	20070924		Human behaviour, institutions and conventions are put under the microscope as Laurie Taylor leads a discussion on topical issues coming out of the academic and research world.
Planet Of Slums	20070926	20071001
Planet Of Slums (follow Up) - Popular Comedy	20071003	20071008
The Hairless Body - Ghosts	20071010	20071015
Gender Voting - Revolution	20071017	20071022
China And The Markets - Ufo Religion	20071024	20071029
Channel 4 - The Day Of The Dead	20071031	20071105
The Day Of The Dead - Nature	20071107	20071112
Suicide Bombers - Luxury	20071114	20071119
John Stuart Mill - Bob Marley	20071121	20071126
Joseph E. Stiglitz - Globalisation	20071128	20071203
Grandparents - Tourism	20071205	20071210
Sex Trafficking - History Of Hunger	20071212	20071217	Laurie Taylor explores a new study of the history of hunger, from the famines of the 19th century to the Jarrow March. James Vernon explains how a changing attitude towards hunger marked the development of a social conscience in Britain and led to the development of the welfare state.
The British Love Of Gardening - Finance And World Events	20071219	20071224	Laurie Taylor explores the history of British gardening. Historian Niall Ferguson discusses the vastly underestimated influence of financial markets on the course of world events.
The Ghosts Of Berlin	20071226	20071231	Laurie Taylor visits Berlin to explore the city's continuing struggle with its troubled history. He visits Nazi monuments, Russian graveyards and Jewish memorials. He is guided by Brian Ladd's classic work The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape.
Cities And Memory	20080102	20080107
Violence - Arab Television	20080109	20080114
Wealthy Irish And Sandwiches	20080116	20080121
Culture Of Apocalypse - Politics Of The Veil	20080123	20080128
Urban Nightlife - The Burlesque	20080130	20080204
Craftwork And Skill	20080206	20080211
Family Life Running Hotels - Slum Travellers	20080213	20080218	Laurie Taylor explores the lot of London's poor a century ago through the accounts of pioneering Socialist reformer Beatrice Webb.
Superheroes - Ribbon Culture	20080220	20080225
Hoodies - City Planning	20080227	20080303
Mass Colaboration - Free Trade	20080305	20080310
Euro-islamaphobia - Viewing The Body	20080312	20080317
Scotland Independence - Viewing The Body Feedback	20080319	20080324
Marseille	20080326	20080331	Laurie Taylor visits Marseille to explore its unique racial geography. When France was torn apart by riots, why did its most diverse city remain unscathed?
Cities And Ethnicities	20080402	20080407	Can identifying with a city rather than a nation help racial integration? Laurie Taylor asks what causes harmony and what causes racial tension in today's cities.
Pets As Kin - India And Spirituality	20080409	20080414
Gay Chav Erotic - Investment Clubs	20080416	20080421
Cook Books And Identity - Cultural Identities And Globalisation	20080423	20080428
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	20080611		Gentrification in Harlem Laurie Taylor presents a special programme from New York, exploring the changes in a neighbourhood undergoing a huge economic revival and their effect on local residents.
	20080616		Gentrification in Harlem Laurie Taylor presents a special programme from New York, exploring the changes in a neighbourhood undergoing a huge economic revival and their effect on local residents.
	20080618		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080623		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080625
	20080630		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080702	20080707	He discusses the nature of trust in modern society with the social theorist Marek Kohn.
	20080709	20080714	He discusses the history of glamour with Stephen Gundle.
	20080716	20080721
	20080723		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080728		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080730		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080804
	20080806
	20080811		Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
	20080813		Laurie Taylor discusses how imagination and reality combine to create the environments in which we live. 1/3. Imagination and the Countryside Novelist Joanna Trollope, sociologist Howard Newby and rural ethnographer Martin Phillips discuss the rural idyll. The dream the British have of the countryside is not always borne out by the experience of living there, yet the ideas we hold about the countryside often prompt changes. Martin's research revealed long-term residents complaining of too many village fetes and incomers who are simply too keen to get involved in everything. Joanna Trollope explains what drove her out of the countryside five years ago.
	20080818		Laurie Taylor discusses how imagination and reality combine to create the environments in which we live. 1/3. Imagination and the Countryside Novelist Joanna Trollope, sociologist Howard Newby and rural ethnographer Martin Phillips discuss the rural idyll. The dream the British have of the countryside is not always borne out by the experience of living there, yet the ideas we hold about the countryside often prompt changes. Martin's research revealed long-term residents complaining of too many village fetes and incomers who are simply too keen to get involved in everything. Joanna Trollope explains what drove her out of the countryside five years ago.
	20080820		Laurie Taylor discusses how imagination and reality combine to create the environments in which we live. 2/3. Imagination and the Suburbs He talks about facts and fantasies of suburban life with writer Iain Sinclair and sociologists Paul Barker and Nick Hubble.
	20080825		Laurie Taylor discusses how imagination and reality combine to create the environments in which we live. 2/3. Imagination and the Suburbs He talks about facts and fantasies of suburban life with writer Iain Sinclair and sociologists Paul Barker and Nick Hubble.
	20080827		Laurie Taylor discusses how imagination and reality combine to create the environments in which we live. 3/3. Imagination and the City In front of a live audience at the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House, Laurie is joined by writer Will Self, sociologist Richard Sennett and geographer Doreen Massey.