UofG Spotlight

On this episode, Kezia Dugdale speaks to Professor Jane Mair, Head of the School of Law. Professor Mair reflects on the status of Civil Law in Scotland, how it's evolving and what the new committee make up of the Scottish Parliament might mean for advancing civil justice.

Graeme Roy talks to Professor Ellen Boeren, from the School of Education, about the adult education landscape. She considers who is studying and learning later in life, what that tells us about educational inequality and whether our system is meeting the needs of the modern economy.

On this week's episode, we reflect upon 10 years since the publication of the Christie Commission on public services reform.

Graeme Roy speaks to Professor James Mitchell from the University of Edinburgh, a member of the Christie Commission, to get his reflections on where progress has been made.

Kezia Dugdale talks to Caroline Gardner, former Auditor General in Scotland and someone who has been actively involved in the public service reform debate in Scotland.

We also hear from Kirsty Peebles, Managing Director of News Direct, who gives us an update on Scottish Parliament activities prior to the summer recess.

On this week's episode, Graeme Roy speaks to Dr Heather Wardle, Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Reader in Sociology at the University of Glasgow, about the upcoming review of the UK Gambling Act and how to survive as a researcher in an area with powerful interest groups.

Kezia Dugdale also talks to Ruth Davidson, former Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, whose Channel 4 documentary exploring the relationship between football and gambling aired this week.

We also hear from Kirsty Peebles, Managing Director of News Direct, who gives us an update on the Scottish Parliament and progress made on the set-up of parliamentary committees.

This week's episode focuses on the topic of education, with two guest speakers from the University of Glasgow's School of Education.

Kezia Dugdale speaks to Louise Hayward, Professor of Educational Assessment and Innovation, who reflects on the recent controversies over school exams in the UK during the last year and the future of student assessment in schools.

Graeme Roy talks to Chris Chapman, Professor of Education Policy and Practice and Director of Policy Scotland, about the current state of Scotland's schools, progress on narrowing the attainment gap and that long-awaited OECD report into Scotland's curriculum due next month.

We also hear from Kirsty Peebles, Managing Director of News Direct, Spotlight's new regular guest commentator. Kirsty shares her thoughts on what's in store for newly formed Scottish Parliament in the coming weeks.

On our first episode following Scottish Parliament elections, Kezia Dugdale speaks to Will Jennings, Professor of Political Science at the University of Southampton and elections analyst for Sky News, about election results and trends elsewhere in the UK.

Graeme Roy talks to Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, about his predictions for the UK's economic recovery post-COVID.

We also hear from Kirsty Peebles, Managing Director of News Direct, as Spotlight's new regular guest commentator. Kirsty shares her predictions on what to expect from the Scottish Parliament in the coming weeks.

On this episode, Graeme Roy talks to Professor Sarah Armstrong from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and Dr Lucy Pickering of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow to discuss inequalities and COVID, looking at their research project 'Scotland in Lockdown'.

As we go live on polling day, Kezia Dugdale speaks to Professor Nicola McEwan from the University of Edinburgh to explore some of the underlying themes of the political campaign in Scotland and Wales, and what this means for the future of the United Kingdom.

We also have our final political round-up from Katrine Bussey, Political Editor of the Press Association Scotland, and her thoughts on the election 'count' – what to expect and when to expect it.

On this episode, Graeme Roy talks to David Phillips, Associate Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, on the tax and spending announcements of the main political parties in this election campaign.

Kezia Dugdale speaks to James Chalmers, Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow, about the potential for judicial reform around the 'Not Proven' verdict.

We also have the latest political predictions for the week from Katrine Bussey, Political Editor of the Press Association Scotland.

On this episode, Graeme Roy speaks to Professor Chris Carman, Stevenson Professor of Citizenship, and postdoc Dr Fraser McMillan. Chris and Fraser discuss their latest Scottish Election Study research and what it is telling us about public attitudes and how they might shape outcome of the election.

Kezia Dugdale talks to Professor Danny Blanchflower on the topic of economic wellbeing and happiness.

We also hear from Katrine Bussey, Political Editor of the Press Association Scotland with this week's political forecast.

On this episode Graeme Roy talks to Sharon Wright, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Glasgow, on the topic of inequalities and welfare reform policy implementation.

Kezia Dugdale also interviews Annie Gunner Logan, Chief Executive of the Coalition of Care and support Providers in Scotland, on ideas to reform social care in Scotland.

We also have a weekly round-up of the latest political news from Katrine Bussey, Political Editor of the Press Association.

On this episode, Kezia Dugdale talks to Gina Davidson, Deputy Political Editor of The Scotsman, on what it is like for a journalist to be reporting during an election campaign.

Graeme Roy speaks to leading polling expert Mark Diffley on how policy is reported and how decisions are made on what goes into a party manifesto - and what doesn't.

We are also joined by Katrine Bussey, Political Editor of the Press Association, who gives us an insight into what will make it into the news this week.