The Backstage Academic

I had the distinct honour of interviewing Kevin Wong, who is an associate Director of Criminal Justice at MMU (bio link below) for the universities annual researcher conference (link below). I got to ask him some fantastic questions, from some of the problems with the criminal justice system, how it targets certain groups/communities disproportionally, definitions of hate crime, COVID implications for criminal justice and even some possible solutions to these challenges. 

https://www.mmuperu.co.uk/about-us/mr-kevin-wong

https://www.mmu.ac.uk/research/research-study/events/pgr-conference/

Damian (an American pastor and historian) joins me this week to discuss America's historical and contemporary problems with race, from slavery to the modern inequalities within the criminal justice system.

What an episode that was! This week we have Anita, a very passionate biology researcher from MMU talking a little about her PhD research and taking loads of really complex questions. Why do chimps bare their teeth? Do they have a sense of self? Can a primate understand fairness and have a sense of morality? We also cover some hilarious experiments and discuss some wider human implications for what intelligence means.

Speaker bio:

Anita is a current PhD student in the Preziosi lab: her current research project focusses on the genetics of endangered African mammals and the impact of the One Plan approach on conservation of several species, both in and ex situ. My research interests more broadly span from conservation genetics to the influence of welfare on conservation outcomes, using behaviour as an indicator; I have previously worked with mammal and bird species, but my interests range across taxa

I got to interview the talented Aaron Davies, a comedian/MC from New Zealand. We cover a lot of great topics, can anyone do comedy? The link between depression and comedians, the worst experiences while performing and the purpose of comedy itself.

Joined by the talented and nomadic Benjamin from Toronto Canada, we Cover china, lizard people, Illuminati and in general the psychology of conspiracy theories and why certain people so innately vulnerable to them.

Two legal boffins/students from the Netherlands and London respectively (Suzanne and Mat) explain to me some of the strange origins of our laws and what they mean for our understanding of right and wrong. .

Holly, a very talented psychology teacher joins me your host Anton War in an entertaining discussion into the fascinating world of criminology. We cover all sorts of ground from criminal ethics, definitions and understandings of psychopaths, push and pull factors of crime, models of justice, and much much more.