Society matters is a podcast from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) at Aston University. The podcast series, presented by journalist Steve Dyson, explores some of the fascinating work of academics within the School on current societal matters that shape our world and the way that people live.
The 'Society matters' podcast can be found on all major streaming services including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Episode 7 - Why football fans' European Super League fury was no surprise
Dr Danny Fitzpatrick, a 'politics of sport' specialist in the Politics and International Relations department at Aston University, discusses how football fans’ fury over the European Super League was 30 years in the making. His research traces how fans’ activism has been growing since protests against the ‘breakaway’ Premier League in the 1990s.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 2nd June 2021
Episode 6 - Tackling the inequalities of COVID-19
Dr Alexis Paton, a social epidemiology and sociology lecturer at Aston University's School of Social Sciences and Humanities, discusses how ethnic minorities and other groups have not been treated equitably during COVID-19. She argues that ethics could create more fairness when tackling future pandemics.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 12th May 2021
Episode 5 - How storytelling is helping people with dementia
Dr Stephen Fay, a lecturer in Spanish at Aston's School of Social Sciences and Humanities, describes how a new narrative therapy project carried out via Zoom in Latin America has improved the lives of people with dementia. He's hoping to spread the work to Cuba and bring it back to the West Midlands.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 14th April 2021
Episode 4 - Live music: surviving COVID-19
Dr Patrycja Rozbicka, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Aston University’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities, describes how the live music sector will survive, despite being devastated by the lockdowns resulting from COVID-19.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 10th March 2021
Episode 3 - Online abuse: understanding what's offensive
Dr Tamineh Tayebi, a lecturer at the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, hopes her research into online abuse and why people are offended by certain words and phrases will help to combat digital hate crime and cyberbullying.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 10th February 2021
Episode 2 - The superiority complex of super-rich Russians
Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl, senior lecturer in Sociology and Policy at Aston University’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities, discusses how her research found that many super-rich Russians often saw themselves as ‘biologically superior’.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 27th January 2021
Episode 1 - Understanding the language used to report abuse
Dr Emma Richardson, research fellow in forensic linguistics at the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics, discusses how her methodology initially used to study pub-talk is now helping police interviewers understand victims of sexual assault and call handlers to assist domestic abuse victims.
Read the full press release here.
Release date: Wednesday 13th January 2021
