The We Society cover art

The We Society

The We Society

By: AcSS
Listen for free

About this listen

 Beyond the politics, beyond our geography are the intangible connections that hold us together – The We Society.

The We Society podcast is here to tell you about the thousands of ways the Social Sciences can help us understand and enhance this complicated and fascinating human network.

What can we do to fix the NHS? How can we better manage climate change? How do we end the cost of living crisis?

Brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and Leverhulme Trust, this podcast tackles the big questions through a social science lens and brings you some of the best ideas to shape the way we live.

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 wesociety@acss.org.uk 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.




549172 Personal Development Personal Success Politics & Government Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • S8 Ep8: Solving the Productivity Puzzle with Ed Balls, Anna Stansbury and Dan Turner

    S8 Ep8: Solving the Productivity Puzzle with Ed Balls, Anna Stansbury and Dan Turner
    Jul 9 2025
    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
    What should the UK learn from ‘Bidenomics’?
    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 wesociety@acss.org.uk 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


    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
  • S8 Ep7: The Social Life of Pain with Tom Shakespeare

    S8 Ep7: The Social Life of Pain with Tom Shakespeare
    Jul 2 2025
    In the UK alone, around one in four adults are experiencing chronic pain. And nearly a quarter of the population live with some form of disability. Yet despite these numbers, pain and disability are still too often talked about in hushed tones, misunderstood, or entirely overlooked in public life.

    How do we talk about pain that doesn’t go away? How do people live in bodies that society isn’t built for? And how can we shift the narrative from individual burden to collective responsibility?

    Professor Tom Shakespeare helps us answer these questions in this episode of the We Society. His work challenges the assumptions we make about ability, autonomy, and what it means to live a fulfilling life.

    As Professor of Disability Research in the medical faculty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Tom is a leading sociologist, bioethicist and one of the UK’s most influential voices in disability studies.

    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 wesociety@acss.org.uk 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.





    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • S8 Ep6: Borders, Brexit, and Fault Lines with Katy Hayward

    S8 Ep6: Borders, Brexit, and Fault Lines with Katy Hayward
    Jun 25 2025
    Borders contain nations, act as fault lines, but are also meeting points, where different cultures, people, and ideologies come into contact.

    Nowhere has this been more visible, more painful, and more politically charged than the island of Ireland.

    In this episode, Will Hutton is joined by Professor Katy Hayward. She’s one of the UK’s leading voices on Brexit, the Irish border, and cross border tension and transformation. A political sociologist at Queen’s University Belfast and Co-Director of the Centre for International Borders Research, her work bridges politics and the everyday experience of life on the border.

    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 wesociety@acss.org.uk 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.

    Show More Show Less
    29 mins

What listeners say about The We Society

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.com.au reviews

Amazon Reviews
No Reviews are Available
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.