The We Society

Google processes billions of searches every day, and the data behind the searches say a lot about us. The data analysis presents fascinating insights not just for social science, but for every person using search engines to navigate modern life. In the final episode of Season 11 of the We Society with Will Hutton, join Simon Rogers, Data Editor at Google, and author of What We Ask Google , as he t...

It's the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year, but the mood isn’t purely about celebration. If you've wondered why the US and US politics feel so unstable despite the country being richer and more powerful than ever, this episode explains the paradox. In this episode of the We Society with Will Hutton, join Adam Smith, Professor of United States Politics & Political H...

The UK’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) system is buckling because of rising demand. One in five children now qualify for some form of SEND support, yet access still depends heavily on postcode and parental intervention.  In this episode of the We Society with Will Hutton, join Alice Reeves, Research Grants and Programmes Manager at the Nuffield Foundation, as she unpacks the root...

The ongoing war in Ukraine has recently hit a grim milestone: in June 2026 it surpassed the duration of World War One.  In this episode of the We Society, Michael Kofman talks to host Will Hutton about why what began as a bid for quick victory has become a grinding war of attrition, and now exhaustion, and how a social science lens aids his understanding of the conflict.  Michael Kofman is one of...

In today’s global media landscape we are confronted with seemingly endless urgent crises: issues like the housing crisis, the climate crisis and the wealth inequality crisis all vie for our attention, despite social science research proving these issues are often more nuanced than the headlines would have us believe. In this episode of the We Society, host Will Hutton and Danny Dorling discuss his...

Saul Klein is one of Europe's leading venture capitalists and co-founder of Phoenix Court, the venture capital firm behind some of Britain's most successful high-growth technology companies. He likes to say he is investing with venture capital in ‘practical science fiction’. Having spent more than three decades backing entrepreneurs, he has helped build companies including Monzo - now a well-recog...

Despite decades of campaigning, women's healthcare is an issue repeatedly neglected,  with systemic issues in UK healthcare and on the international stage leading to women disproportionally affected in healthcare emergencies. In this episode of the We Society with Will Hutton, Will speaks to Professor Sophie Harman, who is Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London and...

The UK is experiencing a crisis of inequality: core tenets like our education and UK healthcare system are geographically unequal and suffering, but what are the expert social policy solutions to these issues, and can we dare to be optimistic for the future? In this episode of the We Society with Will Hutton, join Institute for Fiscal Studies Director Helen Miller and economist Sir Richard Blundel...

The We Society returns for its 11th season on Wednesday, so join acclaimed journalist and Academy of Social Sciences 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. In this series social science calls on aspects of business, education, economics, geopolitics, healthcare...

We end Season 10 with an intimate interview between the Nobel Prize winning economist Philippe Aghion and Will Hutton.  They delve into the concept of "creative destruction," a term coined by economist Joseph Schumpeter, which highlights the dual nature of innovation in driving economic growth while simultaneously rendering older methods and certain industries and jobs obsolete. Aghion believes th...

Professor Carissa Véliz is a philosopher who is examining the threats and possibilities of today’s digital world. She is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford – and fellow at Hertford College. She currently holds a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship and her work has been featured by the Ada Lovelace Institute.  In her first landmark bo...

The consequences of climate change are everywhere. From record-breaking wildfires to catastrophic floods, climate disasters are killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. In the past decade alone, climate-related disasters have forced an estimated 250 million people from their homes. So why aren’t we moving faster? What’s holding back the systemic shifts needed to avoid disaster? Profe...

Artificial Intelligence is now at our fingertips, in our homes, and governing what we see and how we see it. We are currently riding a great wave of change.  But while private companies have embraced AI, how is the public sector keeping up? How can public institutions build and maintain trust amongst all this change?  Our guest today is Imogen Parker, she is Associate Director in Social and Econom...

Our guest,  Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve shares with us the top findings from the recently released 2026 World Happiness Report . He is Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Oxford and Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre. A leading voice in the science of happiness and wellbeing, Jan’s work brings data and empirical methods to questions once thought too subjec...

Professor Stephani Hatch has dedicated her career to making workplaces - especially the NHS - more inclusive by reducing discriminatory practices. She is the Vice Dean for Culture, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and Professor of Sociology and Epidemiology at King's College London.  Her work has seen her introduce 360 degree Virtual Reality headsets to NHS managers and staff to allow them to ...

In this episode of the We Society with Will Hutton, we are joined by two esteemed academics placing journeys to adulthood under a Social Science microscope.   Carey Oppenheim is a project lead on the Nuffield Foundation's Grown Up? Journeys to adulthood programme. Using young people's voices and robust data, Carey and her team are exploring the challenges and opportunities young people face as the...

In the first episode of Season 10, we are joined by Professor Richard Wiseman who has spent his career studying the intangible ways humans communicate with one another - not just through language, but with humour, magic tricks and belief in one’s own luck.  He is professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and one of the world’s leading experts on why som...

Join host Will Hutton for Season 10 of the We Society from next week to hear some of the best ideas to shape the way we live. Launching Wednesday 4th March with an array of great guests starting with Richard Wiseman who is going to talk to us about the psychology of luck and magic.  But we also wanted to celebrate this milestone - ten seasons!  Through this journey, our host Will Hutton has met so...

Joining Will Hutton for the final episode of Season 9 is Professor Rana Mitter, an authority on contemporary China and U.S relations. He is the ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School.  In the conversation, Professor Mitter argues that we should look past the often prevailing sense of doom regarding U.S.-China relations to explore the realities - both nations have distinct...

Almost a third of five-year-olds in Britain enter primary school without the essential language, communication, and literacy skills they need to thrive. Eleanor Ireland, our guest today, looks at the critical importance of early childhood development and the widening disadvantage gap as inequality deepens in Britain. Eleanor is one of the Programme Heads for Education at the Nuffield Foundation, w...

Professor Tim Grant is one of the world's most experienced forensic linguistic practitioners who specialises in the analysis of abusive and threatening communications.  He is an academic practitioner in the field of forensic linguistics - teaching and leading research as a professor at Aston University. As the former director of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics at Aston University he s...

Our guest today, Alex Beer, joins us at a critical time as the UK Government prepares to publish its child poverty strategy this autumn. According to official numbers, there are 4.5 million children living in poverty in the UK and 1.1m children are in families that have used a food bank in the past year.  The Nuffield Foundation launched a major new Strategic Review earlier this summer committing...

Professor Sander van der Linden explores the impact of misinformation and how to prevent its spread within the general public. His work as Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab focuses on the origins of "fake news" and its role in societal divisions.  In this conversation with Will Hutton, he discusses his research in...

Simon Calder is the man with the answers when it comes to any travel related questions. Having started as a travel journalist at the Independent newspaper in 1994, Simon has decades of knowledge and insight when it comes to the travel industry. He joins our host Will Hutton to impart some of his expertise and they tackle topics from the pros and cons of budget airlines to his love of train travel....

How can cities be better designed for the older generation and girls? These are the tough questions tackled in this episode of The We Society with Professor Tine Buffel and Dr. Julia King, prominent academics in urban sociology and architecture. In the conversation, Professor Tine Buffel highlights the barriers older individuals face in urban spaces. Dr. Julia King addresses the decline of youth s...