BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed

The British Elite

Who runs Britain today? Are they a conservative chumocracy or a different kind of elite?

From the rise of the mall, to the closure of shops during Covid.

The swimming pool: its iconic role in our society and culture. Also, pool etiquette.

The politics of the body: movement and posture.

Opioids in the US and UK: from illicit drug heroin to pharmaceutical drugs.

Garden Utopias: from the suburban privet hedge to guerrilla gardening.

Richard Sennett: A conversation with a leading cultural and social thinker.

Laurie Taylor explores hidden and crafted identities.

Capitalism: the origins of the word and a survey of attitudes to our economic system.

Traditionalism and Russian Orthodox converts.