Transforming Society podcast

Today’s organisations are increasingly complex with many rules and procedures and little space to think outside the box and take personal responsibility.  In this Transforming Business episode, Martin Parker speaks with Mats Alvesson and Dennis Nørmark, co-authors of ‘Return to Judgement’, about how we can tackle this and give workers more space to use their judgement.  They discuss the...

Among the challenges for FIFA, the world governing body for football, when it was set up in 1904, was securing agreement on a shared set of rules for the game. It’s come a long way since then: it’s now a multi-billion-dollar behemoth, an unparalleled power in world sport. But on the eve of what it bills as ‘the greatest show on earth’ – the 2026 World Cup hosted in North America – it’s worth pausi...

Immigration policy is one of the most contested areas of contemporary politics. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Public debate often degenerates to trading numbers – how many people are coming in, and whether that number is too high or too low – but as Madeleine Sumption argues, the reality is both more complex and more difficult to resolve than that suggests.  In this episode of the...

We often think of vulnerability as weakness - but what if it’s the very thing that connects us all?  In this Transforming Business episode, Martin Parker speaks with Melissa Tyler, author of 'Organizing Vulnerability', about why we need to rethink vulnerability as a shared, deeply social condition shaped by inequality and interdependence.  From workplaces to the climate crisis, Tyler off...

In today’s escalating climate crisis, more employees are asking how they can make a meaningful environmental difference at work - but where do we start and what can we really do?  In this Transforming Business episode, Martin Parker speaks with Barbara Kump and Babette Julia Brinkmann, authors of ‘The Green Handprint at Work’, about how we can all create change from within our organisations.&...

Tens of thousands of individuals are affected by disappearance and enforced disappearance every year, but until now the study of this phenomenon has often been disjointed and disconnected due to academic silos. In this podcast, Richard Kemp speaks with Bahar Baser and Élise Féron, two of the co-editors for the new Journal of Disappearance Studies, about how the journal serves as a space to break t...

What happens when Nature is given a voice, and a vote, in business?  In this Transforming Business podcast episode, Martin Parker speaks with Simeon Rose, author of ‘Nature’s Boardroom’, about how businesses can embed ‘Nature governance’ into their organisations.  They discuss Faith In Nature and their decision to appoint Nature to its board of directors, the challenges and insights gain...

In 2024 the news was full of stories of the GMB Union’s fight for formal recognition at Amazon’s BHX4 Coventry warehouse. Yet, despite skyrocketing membership, the union narrowly lost a ballot that would have forced Amazon to grant them this recognition.  In this episode of the Transforming Business podcast, Martin Parker speaks with Tom Vickers, author of ‘Organizing Amazon’, about the union...

Why are liberation and independence movements so often betrayed when their leaders get into power?  In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Lord Peter Hain, author of ‘Liberation and Corruption’, about this uncomfortable question.  They discuss Peter’s involvement with the fight for Nelson Mandela’s freedom, the reasons why liberation movements from ANC to the Sandinistas have corrupte...

Each January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists adjusts the hands of its Doomsday Clock to signal how close humanity stands to catastrophe. At the end of the Cold War, the clock was set at 17 minutes to midnight. Today, it is at just 89 seconds – its closest-ever setting.  In this episode of the podcast, George Miller speaks to Patricia Shamai, Principal Lecturer in International Relation...

Whether we like to admit it or not, we’re all growing older. However, the experience of growing older at work remains surprisingly overlooked and under theorised in management and organisation studies. In this Transforming Business podcast, Martin Parker speaks with Kathleen Riach, author of ‘Working through Ageing’, about her groundbreaking 10-year longitudinal study that offers fresh theoretical...

True crime is a huge cultural industry, yet behind its stories lies real victims and uncomfortable ethical implications. In this podcast, Richard Kemp speaks with Ian Cummins and Martin King, two of the authors of ‘True Crime: Key Themes and Perspectives’, about the impact true crime has on society. They discuss Serial, the groundbreaking podcast, and how it sparked the industry anew, the media’s...

In this episode of the podcast, N.J. Enfield, professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney, joins George Miller to discuss ' W hat Is Truth For? '   — a book that sees truth not as a battlefield but as a shared practice of collaboration, error correction and trust. Together they explore what it takes to keep words and reality aligned when confidence in institutions and expertise is lo...

Have you ever been part of an HR investigation? Whether you were the subject, the investigator or simply an outside observer, there is growing evidence of the significant harm they can cause.   In this episode of our Transforming Business podcast series with Martin Parker, Andrew Cooper and Adrian Neal, editors of ‘Under Investigation: Transforming Disciplinary Practice in the Workplace’ , di...

When you think of people in debt, what do you imagine? Irresponsible people who leave telephones ringing and hide from debt collectors, or people faced with an impossible situation?   In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Ryan Davey, author of ‘The Personal Life of Debt’, about the true, everyday lives of indebted people.   They discuss the people Ryan met during his fieldwork on a s...

We often hear that working-class boys in education are misogynistic, aggressive and unwilling to learn. But how true is this?  In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Alex Blower, author of ‘Lost Boys: How Education is Failing Young Working-Class Men’, about how the education system often fails these boys.  They discuss the role of masculinity in the lives of working-class boys and men...

The goal of drug policy is clear, according to the United Nations, whose convention on narcotic drugs largely sets the framework for what individual states do. The aim, the UN says, is to end the ‘serious evil’ of addiction. This, it adds, is to be achieved by preventing public access to dangerous substances, while at the same time ensuring adequate provision of narcotics to meet medical and scien...

In many ways neoliberalism is an extreme ideology, much like fascism and communism, but we very rarely recognise it as such. It hides behind the free-market, deregulation and privatisation, but in reality it’s quietly increasing isolation, inequality, poverty, disease and environmental threat. In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Peter Beresford, author of ‘The Antidote: How People-Powered Mo...

Despite claims that we now live in a post-racial society, race continues to disadvantage those from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Kalwant Bhopal, author of the second edition of ‘White Privilege: The myth of a post-racial society’, about why those from black and minority ethnic communities continue to be marginalised. They discuss the backlash aga...

The welfare state is often talked about as a universal safety net, a system designed to catch anyone who falls. But does that image really capture how different countries understand and organise welfare around the world? In this episode, George Miller talks to Professor Paul Spicker, author of What Is the Welfare State For? , about some of the historical roots, moral foundations, and practical wor...

As basic income trials take place around the world, the idea can no longer be dismissed as purely utopian. But can it truly reshape economies and societies? In this episode, Richard Kemp talks with Howard Reed and Elliott Johnson, two of the co-authors of Basic Income: The Policy That Changes Everything , about the reality of basic income.  They explore various models of implementation, how s...

What does a humanist feel when they gaze up at the stars? In this episode, George Miller speaks to philosopher Richard Norman, author of What Is Humanism For? , about wonder, meaning and morality in a world without God. Their conversation traces Norman’s intellectual journey, from religious upbringing to secular commitment, and explores how humanism answers some of life’s deepest questions — not t...

Within the next 30 years the European workforce will be down by a quarter, upsetting the systems we have had in place for decades.  In this episode, Richard Kemp speaks with Giles Merritt, author of 'Timebomb: When Ageing Explodes', about this impending ageing crisis.  They discuss the multiple factors that have led us here, as well as what needs to be done to defuse this bomb before it...

With the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles, Britain has entered a new era — and questions about the future of the monarchy have become more pressing. Does it have a long-term role to play in modern Britain, or is it an anachronism whose days are numbered? In this episode, George Miller talks to Laura Clancy, lecturer in media at Lancaster University and author of the ne...

There are many truisms about journalism. That it should speak truth to power. That it must be rooted in community. But what do these mean in practice, especially at a time when journalism is facing an unprecedented set of threats – financial, technological, and political?  In this episode, George Miller talks to journalist and media commentator Jon Allsop about the challenges confronting jour...