Social Science Bites

Hetan Shah on Social Science and the Pandemic
Public Policy
April 27, 2020

Hetan Shah on Social Science and the Pandemic

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Ruth Wodak on How to Become a Far-Right Populist
Public Policy
March 2, 2020

Ruth Wodak on How to Become a Far-Right Populist

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Richard Layard on Happiness Economics
Public Policy
February 2, 2020

Richard Layard on Happiness Economics

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Susan Michie on Behavioral Change
Public Policy
January 7, 2020

Susan Michie on Behavioral Change

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Rupert Brown on Henri Tajfel

Rupert Brown on Henri Tajfel

Rupert Brown, the biographer of Henri Tajfel, talks about the pioneering explorer of prejudice in this Social Science Bites podcast. Brown reviews the roots of Tajfel’s research arising from the Holocaust, and the current repercussions of Tajfel’s personal misdeeds.

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Michele Gelfand on Social Norms

Michele Gelfand on Social Norms

“Social norms are the glue,” cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand tells interviewer David Edmonds in this Social Science Bites podcast, “that keep people together.” How much glue do we need? Gelfand describes the “simple tradeoff” between tight and loose cultures: tight opts for more order while loose aims for openness,

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Shona Minson on Children of Imprisoned Mothers

Shona Minson on Children of Imprisoned Mothers

When a mother with minor children is imprisoned, she is far from the only one facing consequences. Their children can end up […]

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Harvey Whitehouse on Rituals

Harvey Whitehouse on Rituals

One of the most salient aspects of what generally makes a ritual a ritual is that the action itself is divorced from real life or its real life roots – and that fascinates anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse. By his own admission, what intrigues the latest guest in the Social Science Bites podcast series is that ritual is “behavior that is ‘causally opaque.’

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Kayleigh Garthwaite on Foodbanks

Kayleigh Garthwaite on Foodbanks

“I think the debate about why people use the foodbanks has become really politicized to the point where apparently individual faults and failings are the reason why people are using them,” Kayleigh Garthwaite tells interviewer David Edmonds in this Social Science Bites podcast. To find out, she volunteered to work at a Trussell Trust foodbank in northern England’s city of Stockton, deploying ethnographic methods to learn from the workers and the food recipients.

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Jonathan Portes on the Economics of Immigration

Jonathan Portes on the Economics of Immigration

Britain’s former chief economist knows a thing or two about the impact of immigration on native Britons. In this Social Science Bites podcast, he reviews what data can tell us about the UK’s current heavy inflow — such as that new arrivals create both supply AND demand.

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Sam Friedman on Class

Sam Friedman on Class

“Education,” says sociologist Sam Friedman, “doesn’t wash away the effects of class background in terms of allocating opportunities. That’s quite profound – I believe there are a lot of people who believe quite strongly that these sorts of educational institutions can and do act as sort of meritocratic sorting houses.”

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Monika Krause on Humanitarian Aid

Monika Krause on Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarian aid organizations often find themselves torn by reasonable expectations – to address a pressing crisis and to show that what they are doing is actually helping. While these might not seem at odds, in practice, says sociologist Monika Krause, they often do. Krause, is the author of The Good Project, an award-winning book from 2014, and guest of this Social Science Bites podcast.

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