Thinking Allowed

Maps and postcodes. Is there such a thing as a predictive postcode? Can it reveal more about us than our bank account, ethnicity or social class? Laurie Taylor poses the question to Roger Burrows, Professor of Cities at Newcastle University. Also, Mapping Society - Laura Vaughan, Professor of Urban Form and Society at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, examines how maps not only serve as historical records of social enquiry, but also reveal the ways in which difference and inequality are etched deeply on the surface of our towns, villages and cities.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Rich Russians: Laurie Taylor talks to Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University, about her study of the changing nature of the Russian elite, from oligarchs to bourgeoisie. Also, millionaire tax flight - myth or reality? Cristobal Young, Associate Professor of Sociology at Cornell University, suggests that location is surprisingly important to the rich.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Palaces for the People: can social infrastructure fight inequality and the decline in civic life? Laurie Taylor talks to the American sociologist, Eric Klinenberg. They’re joined by Kate Pahl, Professor of Arts and Literacy at Manchester Metropolitan University and Katie Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at the University of the West of England. Producer: Jayne Egerton

Push Buttons: Laurie Taylor explores the pleasure, panic and the politics of pushing. The touch of a finger can summon a taxi, turn on a TV, call for an elevator or 'like' a Facebook post. But are buttons simply neutral and natural mechanisms which ease our daily lives? He's joined by Rachel Plotnick, Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at Indiana University, Steven Connor, Professor of English at the University of Cambridge and Barbara Speed, Acting Managing Editor at the i newspaper. Revised repeat.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Creativity - has it become the meaningless buzz word for our times? Oli Mould, Lecturer in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, delivers a broadside against the injunction to 'be creative' and the 'creative economy' itself. He's joined by David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Media, Music and Culture and Eliza Easton, Principal Policy Researcher in the Creative Economy and Data Analytics team at Nesta. Producer: Jayne Egerton

Post-Truth – Laurie Taylor explores a very modern phenomenon, or is it? He’s joined by Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, Helen Pluckrose, Editor of Areo, a digital magazine focused on Enlightenment liberalism and Andrew Chadwick, Professor of Political Communication at Loughborough University.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Drifters: What place does the train hopping hobo have in working class history and the popular imagination? The travelling vagrant is a figure, at once romantic and pitiable, associated with the freedom of the open road, but also with destitution. How linked were drifting communities to a specifically American form of capitalism, one which demanded transient labour? Laurie Taylor takes a cross cultural and historical look a life of uncertain mobility, from America to Britain, and explores its contemporary equivalent. He's joined by Jeff Ferrell,Professor of Sociology at Texas Christian University, Selina Todd, Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford and Amy Morris, Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Cambridge.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Smart Cities: Laurie Taylor presents a special edition of Thinking Allowed which was recorded at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He was joined by Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, Oliver Zanetti, Visiting Fellow at the Open University and Gillian Rose, Professor of Human Geography at Oxford University. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Beauty and ugliness - to what extent are our ideas about physical perfection culturally and socially constructed? Laurie Taylor talks to Gretchen Henderson, Lecturer in English at Georgetown University & author of a study of perceptions of ugliness throughout history and to Heather Widdows, Professor of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham, whose latest book explores the radical transformation of the status of beauty and the increasing emergence of a global ideal.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Suburbia Revisited: Has it ceased to be a place of leafy affluence as poverty has migrated from the city? New research suggests the decline of an American 'golden age' of white picket fences and two garage homes. Laurie Taylor explores the origin, myth and reality of the suburban dream, in Britain as well as the US. Is the suburbanisation of poverty a widespread phenomenon? He's joined by Mark Clapson, Professor of Social and Urban History at the University of Westminster, Scott Allard, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Washington and Anne Power, Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics Producer: Jayne Egerton.

'Selfies' - every day Facebook users upload 350million photos, Instagrammers share 95 million photos and there are 3 billion Snapchat snaps. A central element of visual sharing online involves 'selfies' -which often generate more comment than anything else. But why this fascination with images that can often be repetitive and unimaginative? Do they feed a culture of unhealthy narcissism, as critics assert, or are they a more complex cultural phenomenon? Also, Disconnected - why are some people turning their back on the use of any information communication technologies? Laurie Taylor talks to Mariann Hardy, Acting Director, Advanced Research in Computing at Durham University, about new research which uncovers the motives and lives of a global population which explicitly rejects our hyper connected world. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Gangs, spirituality and desistance from crime - what leads people away from criminality? Laurie Taylor talks to Ross Deuchar, Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Unit on Crime, Policing and Social Justice at the University of the West of Scotland. His new study draws on in-depth interviews with male gang members and offenders and spans three continents, focusing on the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong. They're joined by Ruth Armstrong, Senior Research Associate in the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge and author of a study exploring the role of fatalism in offenders' relapses into crime. A final guest, Shadd Maruna, Professor of Criminology at the University of Manchester, asks if the future of desistance lies in its transformation into a social movement. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Will China rule the world? Laurie Taylor talks to Yuen Yuen Ang, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and author of a study which explores China's unusual route out of poverty. They're joined by David Tyfield, Co-Director of the Centre for Mobilities Research at Lancaster University, and author of new book examining the prospects for an alternative global power regime. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Illumination and darkness: Laurie Taylor is joined by Tim Edensor, Reader in Cultural Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University, and author of a study into the ways in which light and dark produce everyday life and the stories we tell about ourselves. In examining the modern city as a space of fantasy through electric illumination, he considers how we are seeking-and should seek-new forms of darkness in reaction to the perpetual glow of urban lighting. They're joined by Robert Shaw., lecturer in geography at Newcastle University, who has studied the relationship between night and society in contemporary cities. He claims that the economic activity of the 'daytime' city has so advanced into the night, that other uses of the night as a time for play, for sleep or for escaping oppression have come increasingly under threat.Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Laurie Taylor is joined by Lynne Vallone, Professor of Childhood Studies, to discuss her book, Big and Small, in which she explores the often uncomfortable implications of using physical measures to judge normalcy and perceptions of beauty. Tanya S Osensky is an attorney who has made it her personal crusade to highlight the discrimination faced by short people in our society and to suggest ways of changing this. In her book, Shortchanged, Tanya reflects on her own experiences of being short as well as addressing 'heightism' in the workplace, in social situations, and beyond. She joins the discussion on the line from Atlanta, Georgia. Producer Natalia Fernandez.

Laurie Taylor examines the role of business schools in the UK and abroad. Martin Parker joins him in the studio to discuss the arguments in his book Shut Down the Business School - What's Wrong with Management Education. Laurie is joined on the line from New York by the author of The Golden Passport - Harvard Business School, the Limits of Capitalism, and the Moral Failure of the MBA Elite, Duff McDonald. Are there similarities between the American business school model and its British counterpart? With some MBAs costing in excess of £75,000 in the UK, what is the lure for prospective students and is the qualification worth the money? Or should we be thinking beyond the monetary value of MBAs and focus instead on what MBA graduates could be giving back to society and the importance of corporate responsibility? Maeve Cohen is the Director of Rethinking Economics, an organisation which argues for a change in the way that economics is taught and calls for more diversity and historical context in the economics cu

Law and Order: the legacy - 40 years ago, GF Newman's quartet of plays, Law & Order, provoked calls from MPs for the author to be arrested for sedition and the summoning of the director-general of the BBC to the Home Office to explain himself. The dramas explored the role of the Metropolitan Police, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system around one central story. They provided a savage and uncompromising assessment of the criminal justice system, one in which corruption and stitch ups were common. Laurie Taylor considers the impact of those plays and the extent to which they created a public and political debate which produced positive reform. Four decades later, have we any cause for complacency? He's joined by the writer, GF Newman, Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology at the LSE and Charlotte Brunsden, Professor of Film & Television Studies at the University of Warwick. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Sociological discussion programme. May 2018 sees the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx's birth. Laurie Taylor explores the philosopher's ideas and legacy.

The Internet and Democracy: Laurie Taylor analyses the social and political consequences of our digitised world. In light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy? Why has the Internet failed to set us free? He's joined by Jamie Bartlett, Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media for Demos, in conjunction with The University of Sussex; Monica Horten, Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics & Political Science and Will Davies, Reader in Political Economy at Goldsmiths College. Producer: Jayne Egerton.

Universal Basic Income: Laurie Taylor asks if it's the answer to an increasingly precarious job landscape. Could it bring greater financial freedom for women, tackle the issue of unpaid but essential work, cut poverty and promote greater choice? Or is it a dead-end utopian ideal that distracts from more practical and cost-effective solutions? He's joined by Stewart Lansley, Visiting Fellow at the School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol and editor of a new book which shares research and insights from a variety of nations including India and Finland; John Rentoul, Visiting Professor at King's College, London and Ursula Huws, Professor of Labour and Globalisation at the University of Hertfordshire Business SchoolProducer: Jayne Egerton.