The handshake & social interaction. Laurie Taylor explores the history and meaning of a commonplace ritual which has played a role in everything from meetings with uncontacted tribes to political assassinations. He's joined by the paleoanthropologist, Ella Al-Shamahi, who asks what this everyday, friendly gesture can  tell us about the enduring power of human contact. They're joined by Steven Shapin, Franklin L. Ford Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, & author of a recent article which considers the way in which social distancing and self isolating have put us 'out of touch' with each other. As he says,  COVID is a social disease, a pathological experiment on the nature of our social relations. Will it irrevocably change the way we interact with other human beings?  Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University. Producer: Jayne Egerton

The Handshake - Social Interaction

Science

Anonymity and self creation: Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas DeGloma, Associate Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, about hidden identities and how and why we use anonymity, for good or ill.  He explores a wide range of historical and contemporary cases, from the Ku Klux Klan to 'Dr H' the psychiatrist who disguised his identity in a meeting which changed his profession's regressive attitudes towards homosexuality.  In recent years, anonymity has featured widely in the political and social landscape:  from  the pseudonymous artist, Banksy, to Hackers Anonymous and QAnon.  What is anonymity, and why, under various circumstances, do individuals act anonymously? How do individuals use it, and, in some situations, how is it imposed on them?  Also, Tara Isabella Burton, Visiting Fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, on the crafting of public personae, from Beau Brummell to the Kardashians. She finds the trend for personal branding, amongst ordinary people as well as celebrities,  originated with the idea that we could shape our own destiny,  once the power of the church had waned.  What are the connections between the Renaissance genius and the Regency dandy, the Hollywood 'IT' girl and Reality TV star? Might there be social costs to seeing self-determination as the fundamental element of human life? Producer: Jayne Egerton

Anonymity - Self-creation

Capitalism –  what's the story behind the word and a cross cultural survey of peoples attitudes to it.  Laurie Taylor talks to Michael Sonenscher, Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge about the evolution of a word which was first coined in France in the early 19th century. How has its meaning changed over time and how can a historical analysis shed light on political problems in the here and now? What’s at stake in our understanding or misunderstanding of  the term?   They’re joined by the German sociologist and historian, Rainer Zitelmann, whose latest study argues that many people are buying into myths about Capitalism and includes the largest international survey of attitudes towards our economic system.  He finds negative attitudes to be widespread, including in Great Britain, the motherland of Capitalism  -  only in 12 countries are attitudes more critical. What accounts for this disillusion?  Producer: Jayne Egerton

Capitalism

Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox Converts – Laurie Taylor talks to Mark Sedgwick, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, about the radical project for restoring sacred order. Traditionalism is founded on ancient teachings that, its followers argue, have been handed down from time immemorial and which must be defended from modernity. How has this mystical doctrine come to have contemporary sway on the political right, inspiring ex President Trump's former chief strategist, as well as  the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, sometimes dubbed as “Putin’s brain”? They’re joined by Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, Assistant Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Northeastern University, Boston,  who has uncovered an extraordinary story of religious conversion in one corner of Appalachia. Here, a group of American citizens has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church and through it Putin’s New Russia.  They look to Russian religion and politics for answers to Western secularism and the loss of traditional family values.  Producer: Jayne Egerton

Traditionalism - Russian Orthodox Converts

THE ENGLISH: Laurie Taylor asks how the country house became ‘English’ and explores changing  notions of Englishness over the past 60  years. He’s joined by  Stephanie Barczewski, Professor of Modern British History at Clemson University, South Carolina and author of a new book which examines the way the country house came to embody national values of continuity and stability, even though it has lived through eras of violence and disruption. Also, David Matless,  Professor of Cultural Geography at Nottingham University, considers the way that England has been imagined since the 1960s, from politics to popular culture, landscape and music. How have twenty-first-century concerns and anxieties in the Brexit moment been moulded by events over previous decades? Producer: Jayne Egerton

THE ENGLISH

THE PASSPORT: Laurie Taylor explores the cultural history of an indispensable document which has given citizens a license to travel and helped to define the modern world.  Patrick Bixby, Professor of English at Arizona State University, delves into the evolution of the passport through the tales of historical figures, celebrities, artists, and writers, from Frederick Douglas to Hannah Arendt.  How has the passport become  both an instrument of personal freedom as well as a tool of government surveillance? They’re joined by Kristin Surak , Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the LSE and author of a new study which investigates the routes taken by wealthy elites in pursuit of a ‘golden passport’. Through six years of fieldwork on four continents, she discovered how the sale of passports has transformed into a full-blown citizenship industry that thrives on global inequalities. Producer: Jayne Egerton

The Handshake - Social Interaction

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