Joining Will Hutton for the final episode of Season 9 is Professor Rana Mitter, an authority on contemporary China and U.S relations. He is the ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

In the conversation, Professor Mitter argues that we should look past the often prevailing sense of doom regarding U.S.-China relations to explore the realities - both nations have distinct aspirations that do not lead automatically to conflict. He argues that the tendency of apocalyptic framing oversimplifies reality.

Professor Mitter puts forward his view that rather than a clash of liberalism versus authoritarianism, today’s geopolitics is defined by competing antiliberal views. They talk about China’s booming economy, especially now that the green energy market is open to investment following America’s renewed focus on fossil fuels. 

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to. 

 The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Almost a third of five-year-olds in Britain enter primary school without the essential language, communication, and literacy skills they need to thrive. Eleanor Ireland, our guest today, looks at the critical importance of early childhood development and the widening disadvantage gap as inequality deepens in Britain.

Eleanor is one of the Programme Heads for Education at the Nuffield Foundation, which tackles the UK’s biggest social challenges by funding research, generating evidence, and guiding decision-makers to implement solutions that improve people’s lives. 

In her conversation with Will, they look at how support systems for parents and children have changed over the years, and the potential impact of the new UK Government policy of providing 30 hours of free childcare a week for working parents with under 5s.

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to. 

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Professor Tim Grant is one of the world's most experienced forensic linguistic practitioners who specialises in the analysis of abusive and threatening communications. 

He is an academic practitioner in the field of forensic linguistics - teaching and leading research as a professor at Aston University. As the former director of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University he spearheaded the Institute’s expansion between 2013 and 2024.  

Tim joins Will Hutton and explains how forensic linguistics is used to improve the delivery of justice across various contexts from police interviews with vulnerable witnesses to providing evidence in court cases. He introduces us to the concept of "identity performance" within language use, which allows linguists to profile gender and education levels based on the linguistic style of the texts.

They also delve into the impact AI is having on Forensic Linguistics noting its tendency to lack a distinct style and personality. 

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy President Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Our guest today, Alex Beer, joins us at a critical time as the UK Government prepares to publish its child poverty strategy this autumn.

According to official numbers, there are 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK and 1.1m children are in families that have used a food bank in the past year. 

The Nuffield Foundation launched a major new Strategic Review earlier this summer committing £30 million annually over the next five years to fund research and innovation that addresses some of the UK's most urgent social and economic challenges. Read more about it here (https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/nuffield-foundation-announces-150-million-funding-commitment-to-tackle-uks-biggest-social-challenges) 

As Assistant Director of Strategy at the Nuffield Foundation, Alex's role is to develop and deliver programmes of work that deliver the strategy and improve social wellbeing in the UK. In this conversation with Will, Alex shares some evidence-backed policy suggestions for alleviating child poverty, which includes changes to the two-child limit and the benefit cap, but also emphasises the importance of taking a holistic approach. 

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy President Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Professor Sander van der Linden explores the impact of misinformation and how to prevent its spread within the general public. His work as Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab focuses on the origins of "fake news" and its role in societal divisions. 

In this conversation with Will Hutton, he discusses his research into proactive strategies like "pre-bunking" to build defences against manipulation through misinformation. His lab has created a game called Get Bad News aimed at building psychological resistance against online misinformation. You can play his game and learn more about it here (https://www.sdmlab.psychol.cam.ac.uk/research/bad-news-game).  The conversation also addresses the responsibilities of social media companies and the need for stronger regulation when it comes to countering online misinformation. 

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Simon Calder is the man with the answers when it comes to any travel related questions. Having started as a travel journalist at the Independent newspaper in 1994, Simon has decades of knowledge and insight when it comes to the travel industry. He joins our host Will Hutton to impart some of his expertise and they tackle topics from the pros and cons of budget airlines to his love of train travel. There might even be a couple of holiday destination recommendations peppered in!

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to.

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

How can cities be better designed for the older generation and girls? These are the tough questions tackled in this episode of The We Society with Professor Tine Buffel and Dr. Julia King, prominent academics in urban sociology and architecture.

In the conversation, Professor Tine Buffel highlights the barriers older individuals face in urban spaces. Dr. Julia King addresses the decline of youth spaces and safety concerns for young women. Both guests stress the need for participatory design, which involves genuine community collaboration.

Professor Tine Buffel is a Professor of Sociology and Social Gerontology at the University of Manchester, where she directs the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group. In 2021, she was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award. Her five-year project examines how urban environments can adapt to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly diverse ageing population, drawing upon an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach involving fieldwork in seven cities across the world.

Dr. Julia King worked for a decade at LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science, a centre that investigates the complexities of the contemporary city. In 2024 she started her own practice, Social Place, to focus on brief-development, community engagement and participatory design.

In the We Society, join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to. 

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Professor Lucy Easthope is a leading authority on recovering from disaster and she joins our host Will Hutton in the first episode of Season 9 of the We Society.

They discusses the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters on societal resilience. Drawing from her experiences and insights in emergency planning, she highlights the importance of community responses and the emotional significance of preserving personal belongings after a disaster.  

To find out more about Lucy, and her two books - When the Dust Settles and Come What May - go to her website: https://whatevernext.info

In Season 9, continue to join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to. 

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production 

Join host Will Hutton for Season 9 of the We Society from next week to hear some of the best ideas to shape the way we live.

In this podcast series, you will hear interviews from social scientists, business leaders and public figures to hear their solutions to society's most pressing issues.   

Please subscribe, rate and share with your friends. 

This podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

In the final episode of Season 8 of the We Society, our host Will Hutton is joined by economist and former Labour politician Ed Balls, Dr. Anna Stansbury, a researcher in labour and macroeconomics from MIT, and Dan Turner, Chief Research Officer for the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown focused on national and regional inequalities. 

All three have recently collaborated on research to do with regional inequality in the UK and the lessons the UK can learn from Bidenomics. 

In this conversation, they discuss the worsening regional disparities in productivity, income, and overall economic performance within the UK, particularly highlighting the stark contrast between the economic conditions in London and the South East compared to cities like Nottingham, Manchester, and Birmingham.  

The traditional narrative of the North-South divide, which primarily focused on employment levels and unemployment rates, has evolved. Instead, the emphasis has now shifted towards productivity, revealing that while employment rates may be comparable across regions, the productivity of economic output varies greatly.  

To read more about Ed, Anna and Dan’s research papers, find them here:

Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: Binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/publications/awp/awp198 

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/publications/awp/awp252 

Join acclaimed journalist and Academy president Will Hutton, as he invites guests from the world of social science to explore the stories behind the news and hear their solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on [email protected] and tell us who we should be speaking to. 

The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Producer: Emily Uchida Finch

Assistant Producer: Emily Gilbert

A Whistledown Production