Space is a key feature of social life. But does the digitalisation of society affect its spatial dimensions, and if so, how? 

In this podcast, Leverhulme Visiting Professor Theodore Schatzki discusses his work exploring digitality, different types of space and notions of virtual realities, such as cyber space.

With Dale Southerton and Leverhulme Visiting Professor Theordore Schatzki.

This podcast is brought to you by the Centre for Sociodigital Futures – a flagship research centre, funded by the ESRC and led by the University of Bristol in collaboration with 12 other Universities in the UK and globally.  The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is gratefully acknowledged.

Economic forecasting is particularly challenging during global crises, with predictions often hampered by uncertainty and external factors.

Hwee Kwan Chow and Keen Meng Choy from Singapore Management University examine Singapore’s GDP and inflation forecasts during the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, uncovering the influence of government projections and herding behaviour that affect prediction accuracy.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1007/s00181-022-02311-8

The fifth and final TRUUD podcast explores the future of urban development and the necessary investments for creating healthier places. Host Andrew Kelly with experts Daniel Black, TRUUD Research Co-Director and Thomas Aubrey, Credit Capital Advisory, discuss the issue of short-termism in planning and the importance of long-term vision, drawing parallels with historical and European examples. 

They highlight the need for integrated planning that includes transport, green spaces, and social infrastructure alongside housing. The conversation examines methods for measuring the impact of urban development on health and the economy, introducing the HAUS model from TRUUD. Financing models, including land value capture, are considered crucial for delivering sustainable and high-quality urban environments. 

The podcast also touches on the significance of leadership, devolution, and community involvement in achieving these goals.

Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.

Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/ 

Books recommended in the episode

Daniel Black:

The Death of Rural England by Alan Hawkins 

Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher 

How Institutions Think by Mary Douglas 

Thomas Aubrey:

Good Cities, Better Lives: How Europe Discovered the Lost Art of Urbanism by Peter Hall, with contributions from Nicholas Falk.

Andrew Kelly:

The film They Came to a City (1944) directed by Basil Dearden and adapted from a play by J.B. Priestley. Available on BFI Player.

Music credit: New York London Tokyo by Petrenj Music

Produced by Beeston Media.

The fourth podcast episode from the TRUUD programme explores public engagement in shaping healthier urban environments. Hosted by Andrew Kelly in conversation with Dr Andy Gibson, University of the West of England and Dr Miriam Khan, GP and member of the TRUUD Public Advisory Board, they explore the importance of involving communities and listening to their lived experiences in policy creation. 

They examine methods for effective engagement, such as deliberative approaches and the use of visual aids, highlighting challenges and successes in projects like low traffic neighbourhoods. The guests also recommend books that underscore the principles of people-centred urban development and the accessibility of scientific information.

Funded by the  UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.

Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/

Books recommended in the episode

Dr Miriam Khan

Happy Cities by Charles Montgomery

Dr Andy Gibson

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Andrew Kelly

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

Music credit: New York London Tokyo by Petrenj Music

Produced by Beeston Media.

The third podcast episode from TRUUD explores the complexity of achieving long-term, lasting change within urban development to foster healthier lives. Host Andres Kelly discusses with Dr Krista Bondy, University of Stirling, and Dr Neil Carhart, University of Bristol, how current systems struggle to address interconnected challenges, often leaving practitioners feeling powerless. 

The conversation emphasises the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach and systems thinking to understand the various influencing factors and overcome short-term perspectives. 

This episode investigates how to create interventions that are sustainable and prioritise health and equity for current and future generations, suggesting a need to reconsider societal values and decision-making processes.

Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.

Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/

Recommended reading from episode

Krista Bondy:

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal

Justice and the Politics of Indifference by Iris Marion Young

Neil Carhart:

Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows

Andrew Kelly:

The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World by Roman Krznaric

Music credit: New York London Tokyo by Petrenj Music

Produced by Beeston Media.

The second podcast in the series from the TRUUD research programme explores the challenges of translating urban health research into effective government policy and action. 

Host Andrew Kelly is in conversation with Professor Sarah Ayres, University of Bristol, and Dr Geoff Bates, University of Bath, about their work on the TRUUD project, specifically examining how to make government take notice of evidence and implement long-term preventative strategies. They discuss the Health Appraisal of Urban Systems model for understanding the costs of unhealthy urban environments, the importance of cross-departmental collaboration, and the potential of devolution and a focus on wellbeing economies. 

The conversation also reflects on the impact of COVID-19 and concludes with an optimistic outlook on achieving meaningful change through sustained engagement with civil servants.”

Funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.

Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/

Books recommended in the episode:

Sarah Ayres:

Managing Complex Networks by Walter Kickert, Erik Hans Klijn, Joop Koppenjan

Managing Uncertainty in Networks by Joop Koppenjan

Geoff Bates:

Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder by Samuel Wilson Fussell

Andrew Kelly:

The Child in the City by Colin Ward

Other recommended resources:

About The Green Book from HM Treasury to appraise policies, programmes and projects.

Music credit: New York London Tokyo by Petrenj Music

Produced by Beeston Media.

The first podcast for the TRUUD (Tackling the Root Causes Upstream of Unhealthy Urban Development) research programme explores how we value health and the opportunities to shape urban environments for healthier lives. 

Host Andrew Kelly interviews Daniel Black, TRUUD Research Co-Director and Professor Jim McManus, Public Health Wales, about the TRUUD programme, which examines the interplay between property, transport systems, and public health, aiming to reduce non-communicable diseases and health inequalities through preventative measures. 

Discussions cover the definition of upstream determinants of health, the barriers to implementing preventative public health policies, and the importance of cross-sector collaboration and assigning value to health outcomes. Examples of successful initiatives in Wales and inspiration from other countries are highlighted, along with book recommendations for further learning.
 
Funded by the UK which aims to reduce non-communicable diseases such as cancers, type-2 diabetes, obesity, mental ill-health and respiratory illnesses, TRUUD is providing evidence and tools for policy-makers in government and industry.
 
Six partner universities bring expertise and skills from public health, law, psychology, management, systems engineering, environmental and health economics, real estate, planning, urban development, policy and public involvement disciplines to the £10m programme with several industry, public and third sector partners.

Find more at the TRUUD website: https://truud.ac.uk/

Music credit: New York London Tokyo by Petrenj Music

Produced by Beeston Media.

Crowd management is key to evacuation safety. Yet, evacuation simulation programmes often lack experimental verification due to the inadequacy of benchmarks with real-world experiments.

Ilias Panagiotopoulus, Jens Starke, and Wolfram Just from the University of Rostock, Germany, have developed a model-free approach to analyse field experiments. This innovative method provides quantitative benchmarks and extends our understanding of crowd dynamics.

Read more in Research Features

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.043190

In the late 1960s Cambridge PhD student Jocelyn Bell Burnell was studying quasars (very luminous active galactic nuclei) when she reported anomalous data which was later identified as pulsars (‘pulsating stars’).

While she was controversially missed off the list for the Nobel Prize awarded in 1974 for this discovery, Bell Burnell continued to be a pioneer in the field.

Now nearing the end of her career, Dame Jocelyn tells Research Features what it was like to grow up in Northern Ireland, be the only woman in a male-dominated environment, and what space research looks like in the era of AI technology.

Read more in Research Features

The COST COSY Action is redefining scientific collaboration by fostering diversity, equality, and inclusion across chemistry, physics, and materials science. Led by María Pilar de Lara-Castells, the network of 400+ researchers from 45 countries is breaking barriers in academia by supporting women in science, early-career researchers, and underrepresented scientists.

Initiatives like FemCOSY, mentorship programs, and leadership training are transforming the research landscape, proving that inclusivity drives excellence.

Visit their website: cost-cosy.eu

In this episode, we’re looking at research from an interdisciplinary network named COSY, funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) agency. 

Their workgroup researching ‘Confined systems in Astrochemistry’ is led by Professors Lauri Halonen from Helsinki University in Finland and Malgorzata Biczysko from Wroclaw University in Poland. They are engaged in laboratory and computational experiments on new molecules detected in the interstellar medium. 

Visit their site: https://cost-cosy.eu/

Storage plays an important role in managing global resources, from energy and water to carbon and data, shaping landscapes, supply chains, and environmental systems.

Sayd Randle from Singapore Management University investigates resource storage, examining its types—including stockpiling, warehousing, and containment—and their impacts on socio-economic and environmental systems. Her research highlights how storage is not just a logistical necessity but a key force in addressing modern challenges like climate change and resource sustainability.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12733

The directions of Chinese politics and economics echo restrictive practices that may hinder China’s technological and economic competitiveness.

Professor Yasheng Huang’s The Rise and Fall of the EAST has shaken perspectives outside academia. He focuses on how exams, autocracy, stability, and technology (EAST) have historically shaped China’s governance, impacting both prosperity and creativity.

Read more in Research Features

Read the book: yalebooks.co.uk/9780300274912/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-east

Comedian, performer, and writer Robin Ince has been asking questions about the world around him for as long as he can remember. 

Perhaps most famous for his radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage which he co-hosts on BBC Radio 4 with Professor Brian Cox, Ince has been bringing science to the masses in new and hilarious ways since the 90s. 

In this interview with our sister publication, Research Features, we discover what it's like performing 'science' at Glastonbury, why people may be frightened of science, and neurodivergence in STEM.

In this International Women’s Day episode, we chat to Professor Gene Feder OBE, Professor of Primary Care at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School, about the Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse (HERA) programme.

For the past five years, HERA has been co-developing and testing women-centered and culturally-appropriate domestic violence and abuse (DVA) healthcare interventions in low-and middle-income countries – Brazil, Nepal, occupied Palestinian territories and Sri Lanka – with an aim to improve the rates of identification and reporting of DVA, and create more effective healthcare responses.

Professor Feder talks about the co-development of care models specific to each country, the outcomes and surprising findings of the study to date – and what working on HERA means to him as a health researcher.

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The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Group was co-led by the University of Bristol and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The Group reported their findings and published a PolicyBristol report in 2024

Read more about HERA on the University of Bristol Centre for Academic Primary Care webpage and the University of Bristol News page.

Professor Feder is Director of VISION, a UK Prevention Research Partnership focused on violence prevention.

Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues both in person and online. Yet, how many friends do you really have? 

Evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar says it won’t be more than 150. Proposed in the 1990s, ‘Dunbar’s number’ puts a limit on the number of stable relationships humans can maintain at any given time, and his ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. In short, the bigger the group, the bigger the brain. 

In this interview with our sister publication, Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar’s education moved from philosophy to psychology and how his research moved from primates to people, as well as why size matters when it comes to social groups and evolution.

Read more in Research Outreach 

Humanity is overwhelmed by planetary tragedies: climate crisis, widespread hunger, desertification, migrations, destruction of biodiversity, corruption and many more. They are out of control because they are too complex for common-sense approaches like analysis and committees.  

But now there are grounds for hope. Dr Alfredo del Valle’s method, ‘Participatory Innovation Praxis’, can make tragedies governable through new forms of social interaction, fostering ‘strong participation’ and ‘future-building communities’. It has saved thousands of lives and could positively impact millions globally. 

Read more in Research Features

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1016/j.socimp.2023.100004

In Switzerland, young adults face major challenges when transitioning from school to the workplace—especially those with special educational needs. How can peer support help them navigate career choices and build resilience?

Professors Claudia Schellenberg and Annette Krauss explore this question through the Empower Peers 4 Careers project, and examine how structured peer discussions can foster social-emotional skills, strengthen community, and support students’ career development.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.806103

In East Asia, high marriage rates coexist with some of the world’s lowest fertility rates. So, why are so few children born in these societies?  And  how is this related to the strongly embedded cultural and Confucianist influences?

Professors Sunha Myong, Jungjae Park, and Junjian Yi investigate the cultural and socioeconomic factors shaping these trends. Using a mathematical model, the team explore how deeply rooted social norms – like unequal childcare and stigma against out-of-wedlock births – impact fertility decisions. Importantly, they examine how shifts in gender roles and government policies could hold the key to reversing declining birth rates.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvaa048

The knowledge gained during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies could prove invaluable for devising responses to and planning for future health crises.

Dr Landry Ndriko Mayigane and Dr Stella Chungong from the Health Security Preparedness Department of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergency Programme recently devised the ‘Nuggets’ of Knowledge (NoK) platform, an open-source platform, to facilitate effective knowledge management and knowledge continuity during health emergencies.

Read more in Research Outreach

Read the original research: doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1427223

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a vital enzyme in the immune system, with the potential to revolutionise antiseptics and cancer therapy.

Professor Robert C. Allen has developed MPO-based antiseptics effective in blood which are systemically safe, while also demonstrating selective anticancer properties. Together with Jackson T. Stephens, the work overcomes obstacles to bring these therapies into widespread use, offering promising solutions for infection control and bladder cancer treatment.

Read more in Research Features

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2024-2029

Hybrid psychological agents and transformative hybrid contexts offer new ways to bridge cultural divides, foster inclusion, and drive social change.

Dr. Beatriz Macías-Gómez-Estern from Universidad Pablo de Olavide investigates hybrid learning spaces where diverse cultural, social, and institutional worlds connect. From service-learning projects with Roma communities to community music initiatives, her work highlights the transformative potential of collaboration, co-construction, and empathy in education and beyond.

Read the original research:

doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87406-3_2

doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-60583-3_13

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with treatment responses varying widely among patients.

Dr. Carminia Maria Della Corte from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is at the forefront of research into using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to identify immune biomarkers. Her work explores the cGAS/STING pathway, DDR gene mutations, and advanced 3D tumour models, offering insight into predicting immunotherapy responses and tailoring treatments for non-small and small cell lung cancer.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12040809

Memory is a problem for many people as they age. To combat this, wearable devices may help older adults recall precious memories through what is called 'life-logging', despite these technologies raising significant privacy concerns.

Researchers at Singapore Management University, led by Thivya Kandappu, have developed PrivacyPrimer, a tool designed to protect sensitive information captured by wearable cameras. Their approach uses selective image obfuscation to safeguard privacy, while preserving the ability to reminisce - striking a balance between memory recall and security.

Read the original research: doi.org/10.1145/3476047

While we may associate Messenger RNA (mRNA for short) with the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination programme, its study in fact began over 60 years ago.

Born in 1955 in rural Hungary, Katalin Karikó battled critics and scepticism for her research into mRNA for over 30 years before its role in the COVID-19 vaccination programme gained her recognition and, in 2023, a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In this interview, Karikó tells us about this journey and why she loves biochemistry, what it’s like to win a Nobel Prize, and how she would advise young scientists today.

Read Katalin's book: Breaking Through: My Life in Science

Read more in Research Outreach

Image credit for Thumbnail : OrionNimrod on Wikimedia commons