Best UCL Political Science Podcasts (2024)

1
The Age Divide in Contemporary Politics 34:58

9h ago34:58

34:58

Age appears to structure voting patterns in democracies around the world more today than ever before. One poll conducted before the UK’s recent general election found that just 4% of 18-24 year olds intend to vote Conservative, compared to 33% of those aged 65 or older. Big age divides are evident on the European continent as well, though not alway…

1
‘PhD from A to Z’: What can I do to maximise my PhD journey? | Academia et al. 56:06

6h ago56:06

56:06

Is being a PhD researcher just a continuation of being a university student? No! This episode's guest, Dr. Jenny Chanfreau, shares advice on how to treat your PhD like a full-time job. Drawing from her experience of embarking on a PhD after working at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the UK's largest independent social research ins…

1
How can researchers help politicians and policymakers do their jobs better? | Research for the Real World 29:39

9d ago29:39

29:39

The winners of elections in the UK and abroad need to ensure the right conditions are in place to allow cutting-edge ideas developed by experts in our universities to meet today’s policy challenges, and vice versa. Dr Laura Outhwaite talks to our guests, Professors Marc Stears and Huw Morris about their approaches to undertaking research that infor…

1
How War Makes States 39:03

14d ago39:03

39:03

The late great sociologist and political scientist Charles Tilly said that ‘war made the state and the state made war’. Fighting and winning wars was, he argued, a crucial part of the story of how modern states built their bureaucratic capacity and their ability to do all the things that we want states to do. But this so-called ‘bellicist’ account …

1
Why engaging with the media (as a PhD) will help your career | Academia et al 38:00

16d ago38:00

38:00

Academia et al is back with three new episodes exploring life as an early career academic! Today we're thinking about how to use media engagement as a vehicle for making an impact. Dr Alina Pelikh speaks to in-house media relations expert Chris Lane, who works in UCL's central press office team. We discuss the ins and outs of communicating research…

1
The Political Feasibility Of A Just Climate Transition 39:37

19d ago39:37

39:37

Action to address climate change is essential. But the effects of such action are often imbalanced: the benefits are diffuse and long-term, while the losses are often frontloaded and concentrated amongst certain communities. That imposes two kinds of challenge: - the idea that some people, such as workers in fossil fuel industries, might face highe…

1
Preview: Politics, policy and protest | Research for the Real World 4:57

23d ago4:57

4:57

Did you know that in 2024, more voters than ever in history will take part in elections across the world? In this season of Research for the Real World, it’s all about how research evidence informs policy. How could we not cover it when we know that policies implemented by the winning parties will prove consequential for years to come, shaping the …

1
Opinion Polls 54:18

27d ago54:18

54:18

In the run up to the UK General Election we have a secial episode on opinion polls. Opinion polling is a staple of modern elections, captivating political enthusiasts with fluctuating numbers but also sparking controversy. Polls are sometimes criticized for inaccuracies, notably in the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election. Pollin…

1
What’s the link between decision-making and eating disorders? | Research for the Real World 50:18

1M ago50:18

50:18

In this podcast we hear about research that seeks to understand the causes of eating disorders and develop innovative treatments and support. Dr Amy Harrison talks in detail about a project funded by the Medical Research Council looking into how decision-making skills in childhood is associated with eating disorder symptoms in adolescence. Full sho…

1
What’s Wrong with Neocolonialism? 31:45

1M ago31:45

31:45

Neo-colonialism concerns the actions and effects of certain remnant features and agents of the colonial era. One way in which neocolonialism can be seen is through unequal patterns of cultural goods between the Global North and Global South. Debates surrounding cultural globalization have traditionally divided proponents of free trade and cultural …

1
The Role of Information in State-Building 32:13

1M ago32:13

32:13

One of the most basic questions regarding any state is 'can it act?' Does it have the capacity, that is, to uphold the rule of law and to deliver security and public services? For a state has the capacity to act it needs information on its citizens. You can’t tax someone or assess their eligibility for services if you don’t know who or where they a…

1
Public Attitudes To The Economy 34:07

2M ago34:07

34:07

We're celebrating another inaugural lecture today and welcome the fantastic Professor Lucy Barnes. Lucy has made a career out of breaking new ground in the field of Political Economy. Economic policy clearly matters to us all. The view that the state of the economy is the primary driver of election results is often taken as a given. But we can only…

1
Should Russian Assets Be Seized? 30:44

2M ago30:44

30:44

Ukraine's ongoing struggle against the Russian invasion incurs an annual cost of approximately $50 billion, with projections indicating that post-war reconstruction will require at least half a trillion dollars. Western nations, primarily the EU and the US, have assumed much of this financial burden. In February, the EU pledged 50 billion euros, wh…

1
Should Experts Set The Fiscal Rules? 32:25

2M ago32:25

32:25

We’re back from our Easter break, and since we were last on the airwaves a book has been published by a certain former UK Prime Minister arguing – among other things – that elected politicians are unduly constrained by unelected technocrats, and that ministers should be freed from such fetters in order to enable them better to represent the will of…

1
How do we know if mental health support for people affected by humanitarian emergencies is working? | Research for the Real World 35:18

3M ago35:18

35:18

In this podcast we take a closer look at international development and global health research that shapes the way we respond during times of crisis. Dr Mukdarut Bangpan and Dr Kelly Dickson's work with governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) includes research on the impact of mental health and psychosocial support programmes to inform…

1
Sleep and the tales our mental health might tell | Research for the Real World 34:56

3M ago34:56

34:56

You’re not dreaming! There’s so much going on in the field of sleep and research right now. We take a closer look at how things have crossed over into tech and AI, cancer and our wellbeing. Professor Dagmara Dimitriou leads a lab that takes a multi-disciplinary approach to examine sleep’s role in affecting our cognitive, behavioural and academic ab…

1
The UK Healthcare Crisis 45:01

4M ago45:01

45:01

The NHS is currently in crisis: record numbers of people are on waiting lists, there are serious staff shortages, buildings and equipment are outdated, and research indicates that patient satisfaction is at rock bottom. There does not seem to be much optimism about the UK’s current health system and the NHS’s public support may be waning. Beyond cl…

1
Preview: 3 ways we're looking at mental health research | Research for the Real World 4:51

4M ago4:51

4:51

This season of Research for the Real World is all about mental health, and we’ll be hearing from researchers whose work encompasses such wide-ranging areas and offer solutions to address these challenges. Professor Dagmara Dimitriou on the role of sleep on neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer Dr Mukdarut Bangpan and Dr Kelly Dickson on humanitar…

1
Responding to Civilian Harm in Millitary Conflicts 33:05

4M ago33:05

33:05

Armed conflict is all too common around the world today. One of the consequences of conflict is that civilians are harmed. Military forces – if they respect basic moral and legal standards – seek to avoid those harms so far as they can. But sometimes they will fail in that. So how should armed forces and governments respond when they cause unintend…

1
"If participants don’t value their learning, then what is left?" | ECF Staffroom 59:08

4M ago59:08

59:08

In this podcast, Mark Quinn and Dr Polly Glegg talk about what makes great professional learning for teachers and leaders. Polly and Mark, the masterminds behind UCL’s High Quality Outcomes for Great Professional Learning, explain how their thinking about professional learning has been influenced by research and practice. They also let us into some…

1
Do Protests Affect What Politicians Say? 32:56

4M ago32:56

32:56

Protest is a fundamental part of democracy. From thousands attending pro-Palestine marches in London, to farmers driving their tractors into Paris, Berlin, and Cardiff, to Just Stop Oil spraying UCL’s famous portico orange – protests are rarely out of the spotlight. But what do protests actually achieve? Do they affect political debate and policy o…

1
Settling Disputes Between Governments and Investors 38:13

4M ago38:13

38:13

In the wake of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the new Bolshevik regime, keen to destroy the power of global capital, expropriated the commanding heights of the Russian economy and repudiated a mountain of foreign debt incurred by the Tsar. That action left thousands of international investors out of pocket. But addressing their claims proved exceptio…

1
Two men and their experiences of eating disorders 44:53

5M ago44:53

44:53

In this podcast, we discuss how eating disorder symptoms affect men. We cover what our guests have learned about how to ask for help and care for themselves. We speak about how eating disorders affect friendships and sexual relationships, and reflect on what our guests have learned through their experiences about how to cope with challenges in life…

1
Death Threats and Online Content Moderation 31:27

5M ago31:27

31:27

Death threats, on the face it, appear to be exactly the sort of content that an online platform ought to censor – or ‘moderate’, as the preferred and obscuring term has it. Surely it is impermissible to threaten someone’s life and surely it is appropriate for online spaces like Facebook – or now Meta – to remove such speech. But what if the stateme…

1
E3: Chris Watkins on existential risk and paths to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) 1:34:21

5M ago1:34:21

1:34:21

How far away are we from creating AI systems whose capabilities rival our own? And would doing so pose an existential risk? In this episode, we speak to Chris Watkins, Professor of Machine Learning at Royal Holloway, University of London. Professor Watkins introduced the hugely influential Q-learning algorithm during his PhD at Cambridge, which, wh…

1
E2: Lewis Griffin on how Large Language Models (LLMs) could be used for political influence 1:23:34

5M ago1:23:34

1:23:34

Will Large Language Models (LLM) allow states to wage propaganda campaigns of unprecedented scale and persuasiveness? Or is this just another moral panic about new technology? In this episode, we talk with Lewis Griffin, Professor of Computer Vision at UCL. He has recently found some evidence that humans and LLMs can be persuaded in similar ways, a…

1
E1: Marc Deisenroth on AI for science and the future of work 1:01:22

5M ago1:01:22

1:01:22

How can AI help mitigate the climate crisis? What are the advantages of simple models such as Gaussian Processes? And what will AI mean for the future of work? In this episode, we talk with Professor Marc Deisenroth, DeepMind Chair of Machine Learning and AI at UCL, and Deputy Director of the UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence, where he leads t…

1
Managing Diversity Amongst the EU Member States 39:08

5M ago39:08

39:08

For around a decade, the EU – which was founded by the principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law – has been struggling to contain anti-democratic developments in some member states. More broadly, the European Union faces a challenge of how to create unity, and yet accommodate the significant political, social, and economic diversity of i…

1
The Battle for LGBT+ Rights 40:42

5M ago40:42

40:42

One of the most remarkable transformations over recent decades has been the growing acceptance and celebration of LGBT+ rights. Here in the UK, for example, the proportion of respondents to the British Social Attitudes survey saying that same-sex relationships are not wrong at all has risen from just 11 per cent in 1987 to 67 per cent a generation …

1
‘Be ambitious and fail, but don't fail to be ambitious' | ECF Staffroom 41:14

6M ago41:14

41:14

In this podcast, George Wolstenholme talks about messing up, forgiveness, and being on the way to becoming the teacher he wishes to be. "Everyone's experience with neurodiversity is going to be different." George Wolstenholme – or Mr. W to his pupils – tells us how his practitioner inquiries have granted him his independence, liberating him to try …

1
How Parliaments Question Prime Ministers 37:22

6M ago37:22

37:22

How parliaments hold ministers (particularly prime ministers) to account is a fundamental part of parliamentary democracy. And one of those mechanisms of accountability involves asking questions. We take a good hard look at how – and how effectively – parliaments question prime ministers. We are joined by Dr Ruxandra Serban, Associate Lecturer in D…

1
The history of free school meals: how its past dishes out lessons for future servings | Research for the Real World 26:49

6M ago26:49

26:49

This podcast hears about the impact of the UK's School Meals Service on schools and their communities since its inception in 1906, and how it can adapt to the challenges of food insecurity and the impact of the economic crisis on children's learning. Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2024/jan/history-free-school-meals-how-it…

1
Fostering strong professional relationships: Find your staffroom friends | ECF Staffroom 56:16

6M ago56:16

56:16

Nancy Karmali-Belmonte and Farzana Akther respond to our ECTs' questions, and remind us that looking after wellbeing and being a good teacher are two sides of the same coin. "It is up to the induction tutors, I think, to set the school culture so that those more challenging feedback conversations are couched in a framework of support and everyone m…

1
The Future of Power-Sharing in Northern Ireland 40:31

6M ago40:31

40:31

Peace in Northern Ireland is widely recognised as one of the leading achievements of politics in recent decades. The Good Friday, or Belfast Agreement, reached in 1998 by the British and Irish governments and most of the main Northern Ireland political parties brought an end to thirty years of violent conflict in which over three and a half thousan…

1
‘Giving ECTs springs to run a marathon’: enthusiasm for UCL’s ECF programme | ECF Staffroom 41:03

7M ago41:03

41:03

Mark and Elaine speak to Louise Dwyer, Assistant Headteacher at the Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, and discuss how the ECF builds upon a growing movement of evidence-informed practice, enabling a more accessible exchange of ideas. "There will still be that joy to be found in teaching." Louise says that if we want to keep teachers in the professi…

1
Improving Public Services 36:08

7M ago36:08

36:08

The quality of public services – whether health, education, water supply, or sewage disposal – has a big impact on all of our lives. How to enhance that quality is therefore one of the big questions for political studies. Professor Marc Esteve is one of the leading experts on exactly that issue. We have recorded this special episode of our podcast …

1
What impact do food banks in schools have on children’s learning? | Research for the Real World 25:07

7M ago25:07

25:07

In the context of a cost-of-living crisis and increased child poverty, this podcast hears about the growing use of food banks, how they operate and the impact this has on children whose families use them. Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2023/dec/what-impact-do-food-banks-schools-have-childrens-learning-rftrw-s21e02…

1
Russian Discourses of Sovereignty 34:46

7M ago34:46

34:46

Analysts of Russia’s war in Ukraine have often – since its inception in 2014 – highlighted a seeming contradiction. On the one hand, Russia is violating the sovereignty of a neighbouring state in pursuit of its own interests. On the other, Russia simultaneously condemns Western interventions in places such as Syria, Iraq, and Libya, as well as Serb…

1
Historical Research in Political Science 33:56

7M ago33:56

33:56

Political science is centrally concerned with understanding how politics works. It’s a discipline of the present tense, and the bulk of our research focuses on gathering evidence in the here and now. But sometimes political scientists also dig into the past. From time to time, you’ll even find one of us trawling through the records in a dusty archi…

1
Poverty’s impact on mental health, food insecurity and academic performance | Research for the Real World 32:47

8M ago32:47

32:47

This podcast hears how mental health and life chances of young people and their parents are being dramatically affected by post-pandemic cost of living pressures. Not only is there an elevated risk of psychological distress, the research also found food bank use and long-term poverty is associated with lower GCSE attainment. This sparks additional …

1
Climate Change Loss and Damage 39:39

8M ago39:39

39:39

Our guest today is Professor Lisa Vanhala. A Professor in Political Science here at UCL and an expert on the politics of climate change. Lisa recently gave her inaugural lecture: Governing the End: The Making of Climate Change Loss and Damage, offering a fascinating insight into the way that UN meetings and negotiations over climate change get fram…

1
'Acts of speech' and how people recieve them 33:35

8M ago33:35

33:35

Today we are examining speech acts and uptake. A central contribution from J. L. Austin has been the idea that our speech sometimes doesn’t only say things – sometimes it does things. When we speak, we don’t only convey content or information. We sometimes also - for instance - promise, name, refuse, or order: in short, our speech sometimes acts. A…

1
Preview: Cost of living crisis and food insecurity - impact on children and schools | Research for the Real World 8:18

8M ago8:18

8:18

In January 2023, the Food Foundation estimated that 24% of UK households with children were living in food insecurity. This staggering figure brings to light issues affecting their life chances. We’ll hear about how IOE research is raising awareness and informing policies and efforts in the midst of a new school and academic year now underway, anot…

1
‘Speak up and speak out even if your voice shakes’: Anti-racism is too important to leave to chance | ECF Staffroom 42:44

8M ago42:44

42:44

Alison Wiggins, a PGCE and anti-racist lecturer, emphasises the need for teachers to develop their racial literacy – 'naming it changes the power of it.' She talks about building positive relationships and the connection she forges with mentees and students. One of her highlights, she explains, is they joy of being able to pass on her experiences o…

1
The Domestic Politics of IMF Lending 34:36

8M ago34:36

34:36

The book that we’re discussing in this episode suggests that IMF funding becomes a resource held by local leaders, which those leaders can use to benefit their own supporters to the detriment of the rest of the population. The book – called IMF Lending: Partisanship, Punishment, and Protest – has two authors, and we are joined by both of them. - Dr…

1
The Politics of Migration 36:56

9M ago36:56

36:56

Immigration is a hot political issue in many countries. Its economic and social costs and benefits are widely debated. The people who are most directly involved in it or affected by it are often highly vulnerable, meaning that policy debate ought to proceed with care and caution. Yet it’s often used as a political tool by one or other side, as camp…

1
But What Can I Do? In Conversation With Alastair Campbell 1:00:52

9M ago1:00:52

1:00:52

Political Strategist, New European editor-at-large, mental health campaigner and co-host of the country’s Number 1 podcast, The Rest is Politics, Alastair Campbell came to UCL for a special opening event of the UCL Department of Political Science's Policy & Practice seminar series for 2023-24, in partnership with the UCL European Institute and UCL …

1
Fiscal Transparency And The Public Purse 30:17

9M ago30:17

30:17

During the recent pandemic, unprecedented public spending was required to help tackle the deadly disease and minimise its economic fallout. But faced with heightened uncertainty, rapidly changing conditions, and imperfect information, fiscal transparency was perhaps not at the forefront of politicians’ minds when making important public investment …

1
‘Be unapologetically yourself’: ECF Director Hilary Adli shares her recipe for success | ECF Staffroom 49:17

9M ago49:17

49:17

Hilary talks about her journey as an educator and doles out some advice for early career teachers (ECTs): find the joy, discover your own teacher persona, and be unapologetically yourselves. "We want our new teachers to train and stay and thrive in our classrooms." Mark and Elaine speak to Hilary, the Programme Director of the Early Career Framewor…

1
Backyard Housing And The Dynamics Of Collective Action 35:57

9M ago35:57

35:57

Many people in South Africa live in very unsatisfactory so-called ‘backyard dwellings’. But few take part in collective action to improve their lot. Why not? This puzzle centres on the broader idea known to social scientists as the ‘collective action problem’, that people often struggle to work together to achieve a common goal, leading to suboptim…

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