In this episode, we head to Café Artum in Hockley Social Club in Birmingham for Professor Helen Wood and Dr Mairi Brennan’s live talk: Reality TV: Who cares.

The Society matters LIVE talk took place on Thursday 29 February 2024.

Next up, for Society matters LIVE is the talk: Accountability: A Cure for a Toxic Workplace?

The contemporary workplace is evolving as a result of rapid digitalisation, human rights movements, and socio-economic turbulence. The post-#MeToo society pays greater attention to organisational accountability for workplace environment and culture, motivating employees to seek workplaces free from bullying, harassment, discrimination, and other toxic behaviours.

So, What is accountability at work? Who is accountable to whom and for what? How can you hold power to account?

Hosting the live talk on Thursday 28 March is Dr Galina Goncharenko - a Reader in Accounting at Aston University, who’s encouraging us to look at our workplace from the perspective of accountability.

Dr Goncharenko’s research focuses on social accounting, accountability at work, workplace democracy, netnography and accountability discourses on social media platforms. Her work has published in a number of leading accounting and management science journals, such as Critical Perspectives on Accounting and Business Ethics Quarterly.

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Join Danny as he explores the reason why football is becoming more political in the 21st century. Instead of focusing on the right and wrongs of each individual debate, this session will analyse how political theory can help us answer this question. 

If you fancy catching up on Danny's previous Society matters episode, click here.

The talk took place on Thursday 30 November 2023.

Next up, is Reality Television: Who cares?

We consider the new landscape for reality television production which demands a more caring environment.

After high-profile suicides and a Parliamentary enquiry, Ofcom changed the Broadcasting Code in 2021 to demand better welfare and ‘duties of care’ for participants.

Yet at the same time survey reports from unscripted production crew outline serious concerns about working conditions in reality television.  

So what does this mean for reality TV and their participants?

Professor Helen Wood and Dr Mhairi Brennan will share insights from their AHRC research project entitled ‘ReCARETV: Reality Television, Working Practices and Duties of Care’ - which considers policy, production and participation in the UK ‘unscripted’ television sector. The talk will last approximately 40 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A/discussion.

The talk will take place at Cafe Artum on Thursday 29 February from 1730-1900 hrs (doors open at 1700 hrs).

For more ticket information, click here. 

To catch up on all Society matters episodes, click here.

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Dr Emily Christopher, a lecturer in sociology and policy at Aston University, discusses her ongoing research into the gender split of household work. She suggests that although men are doing more housework tasks than they may have done historically, the majority continue to be responsible for ‘man-typed’ tasks that tend to be done solo, such as mowing the lawn or DIY. Many of the tasks that women are responsible for are being carried out simultaneously with other household tasks, including the cognitive labour of household management.

Read the full press release: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/podcast-research-household-chores-reveals-fascinating-home-truths

Dr Robbie Love, Lecturer in English Language at Aston University, suggests that schools could include teaching about swearing in lessons to help teenagers understand the differences between harmless cursing and deeply offensive slurs. Dr Love also discusses how swearing has been a part of the English language for centuries, and that swear words can be ‘cathartic’ in terms of easing pain or frustration.

Read the full press release: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/podcast-schools-could-teach-students-about-swearing-promote-responsible-language-use

Dr Alexis Paton, a health expert at Aston University, discusses how years of austerity have left the NHS devalued and underfunded. She argues that swift investment and long-term, cross-party planning are now needed for survival, with a focus on training more staff and maintaining existing hospital infrastructures.

Read more: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/nhs-needs-swift-investment-and-long-term-planning-survive 

Dr Parveen Akhtar, a senior lecturer and deputy head of politics, history and international relations at Aston University, discusses how the UK having its first non-white prime minister is a ‘big moment’. But she says his ability at restoring economic stability and tackling the cost-of-living crisis will decide his fate at the polls. 

Read more: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/podcast-uks-first-non-white-prime-minister-big-moment-can-rishi-sunak-survive

Dr Ilaria Scaglia, a senior lecturer in modern history at Aston University, explains how the ‘history of emotions’ can provide vital lessons for politics today, particularly when studying the 1920s and 30s. She said that the past can guide society on how it decides to conduct itself now, as individuals and countries.

Read more: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/podcast-history-emotions-provide-vital-lessons-politics-and-society

Dr Graeme Hayes, a reader in political sociology at Aston University, says protest through collective action can achieve meaningful climate change. But speaking ahead of the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, the expert in environmental activism argues that governments will only be persuaded to do the right thing if they face sustained movements, not one-off actions.

Read more: https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/podcast-collective-action-only-way-change-global-climate-policies