interview

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes two segments. The first looks at how appropriate a western notion of secularism is in dealing with the complexities of a multi-faith society. Laurie Taylor is joined by Rajeev Bhargava, Professor of Political Science at the University of Delhi and Anshuman Mondal, Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of Leicester, to debate whether western secularism has outlived its purpose and if anything can be learnt from the Indian model of secularism.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on the history of the housewife. Laurie Taylor talks to Dr Justine Lloyd, Visiting Fellow in the School of Sociology at the University of Lancaster and co-author of 'Sentenced to Everyday Life - Feminism and the Housewife' which examines the history of the housewife in the 1940's and 1950's, and asks whether she was really more of a feminist than we might think. The segment is second in the audio clip after a discussion on cricket.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes two segments. In the first Laurie Taylor speaks to Dr Laura Piacentini about her new research on imprisonment in Russia which took her to prison colonies where she lived, shared vodka with the prison officers and listened to recitations of Alexander Pushkin's poetry. There, she discovered that contrary to expectations, the Russian penal system allowed prisoners certain freedoms denied them in British jails.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes two segments. The first looks at research published in 1960 on social change and kinship patterns in Swansea which showed how extended family networks operate. Forty years on, a group of social scientists decided to replicate the 1960 survey and track the changes that have taken place in that time.

Host, Laurie Taylor, is joined by Professor Nickie Charles, one of the co- authors of the new survey to talk about the ways in which family networks persist despite the instability of 21st century life.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on single women in light of Jan MacVarish's latest paper, 'Understanding the Popularity of Living Alone', which contains the results of her 10 years' study of single women.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on electronic tagging. In the summer of 2005, the UK Home Secretary, David Blunkett, announced the expansion of tagging schemes for offenders which was predicted to lead to an increase in the number that are tagged and the introduction of satellite tagging.

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at whether new legislation will address the problem of overcrowded family accommodation. A new Housing Bill is about to become law. One of the most significant changes it will make is a redefinition of overcrowding in family homes.

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at ways in which to help families who have been affected by the imprisonment of a family member. The charity, Action for Families, is co-ordinating 'family relationship workshops' in prisons. At Ashwell Prison near Leicester, wives and partners come together with male prisoners to spend a day thinking through some of the problems they may face. Caroline Swinburne joins Theresa Oldman of Relate.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on juvenile offending and looks at a new study which brings up to date the stories of fifty men first encountered as boys in an American reform school in the 1950s.

Laurie Taylor meets Professor John Laub to find out what the boys' subsequent biographies have to tell us about a widely accepted linkage between juvenile offending and long-term criminal careers. The segment is second in the audio clip after a segment on dirt and cleanliness.

This episode of Radio 4's Thinking Allowed series includes a segment on criminal policy transfer in view of criminals who increasingly operate across national boundaries and so apparently do ideas of criminal justice.

Laurie Taylor talks to criminologist, Professor Tim Newburn, and considers the claim that crime control policies here and in the United States are converging. The segment is second in the audio clip after a look at economies of design.