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Subscribe_on_iTunes_Badge_US-UK_110x40_0824The LSE Review of Books podcasts aim to give listeners the opportunity to hear prolific authors and academics discussing the ideas behind their latest books. Scroll down to browse and listen to episodes, or subscribe via iTunes, RSS feed, or on Soundcloud.

Our podcasts have received the attention of the British Universities Film and Video Council – we were featured in their March 2013 magazine. We were also voted #1 UK Academic Podcast in the European Podcast Awards. Across all our episodes we have received over 85,000 listens from around the world. You can also read our Simple Guide to Academic Podcasting.


LSE Review of Books in Brazil: Politics, People, and Petroleum

In this episode, we head inland to the heart of the country’s political life: the capital of Brasília. Authors from the LSE including Francisco Panizza (Senior Lecturer in Latin American Politics), Anthony Hall (Professor of Social Policy), Guy Michaels (Associate Professor of Economics) and Francesco Casselli (Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics), talk to LSE Review of Books about left-of-centre politics and social development in the country. We also find out whether Brazil proves or disproves the “oil curse” theory.

Other guests: André Vitor Singer (Former Press Secretary for the Lula presidency), Armando Simões (Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger in Brasilia), Antonio Claret Campos Filho (Secretary of State of Social Assistance and Human Rights: Rio de Janeiro State), Marcos Mendes (Legislative Consultant, Brazilian Senate), Fernando Postali and Marislei Nishijima (Department of Economics, University of São Paulo).

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of: Groove Gravy Records for “Jazzilicious Sambossa” from their Brazil Remixed album (purchase on iTunes here) with special permission; TVBNR “Em pronunciamento, Dilma do Bolsa Familia” via Youtube (CC BY); DJ Sunho from the album DJ Sunho in Brasil with special permission; and selections from SoulBrigada presents One Note Samba Mixtape Vol.2 (CC BY). Collage image: Oil platform: Håkon Thingstad; Dilma and Lula: Blog do Planalto; Bolsa Familia: Fotos GOVBA. Published 22 July 2014.

LSE Review of Books in Brazil: Favela Life: From Drug Gangs to Drum Beats 

Sandra Jovchelovitch, Director of the Social and Cultural Psychology Programme at the LSE, and researcher Jacqueline Priego-Hernandez, speak about their new book: Underground Sociabilities: Identity, culture and resistance in Rio’s favelas.

Paul Heritage, Professor of Drama and Performance at Queen Mary College in London, also talks about art in the city’s periphery at a circus school in central Rio.

Other guests include: Silvia Ramos,  Public Security expert in Rio and Celso Athayde, founder of CUFA (Central Unicas das Favelas) and more.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. All contributors in order of appearance: Sandra Jovchelovitch, Jacqueline Priego-Hernandez, Silvia Ramos, Jailson de Souza e Silva, Celso Athayde, Cristal Moniz de Aragão, Angela Arruda, Pedrinho Guareschi, Paul Heritage. Translations by: Sierra Williams (Silvia Ramos), Simon Bastow (Jailson de Souza e Silva), Chris Gilson (Celso Athayde), Eduardo Feteira (Pedrinho Guareschi).  Music and sound came courtesy of: DJ Sunho from the album DJ Sunho in Brasil with special permission; The Prelinger Archives: Brazil: South American Medley (National Geographic, 1948); Banda AfroReggae for their songs:” Capa de Revista” and “Conflitos Urbanos”; CriadaFavela via Soundcloud for “Feito pra favela mast. gravação voz ProDbeats”; Adventure Beats for their song “Jazzilicious Sambossa” on NuJazz Mixtape via Soundcloud; Robinhood: A circus jump via Freesound.org; and Ergo Phizmiz “Music for an Underground Circus” via Free Music Archive. Crescer e Viver photos: © 2013 Catarina Heeckt. Published 2nd April 2014.

Academic Inspiration: The books that inspired Ellen Helsper

In this podcast, Dr Ellen Helsper, Lecturer in the Media and Communications Department at the LSE, talks us through the books that have inspired her interest in media technologies and privacy. Ellen will contribute to the Literary Festival event titled “Private Lives: Do we still value our privacy?” on 1st March 2014.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other contributor: Ellen Helsper. Music courtesy of Candlegravity for the song Tomie’s Bubbles on Freemusicarchive.org.

Academic Inspiration: The books that inspired David Stevenson

In this podcast, David Stevenson, Professor of International History at the LSE, tell us about the books on World War I that have had the most impact on his academic career. Professor Stevenson will chair at this year’s Literary Festival titled “Why Remember? Reflections on the First World War Centenary” on 26th February.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other contributor: David Stevenson. Music courtesy of Nic Bommarito for his song Casiotone Walt on Freemusicarchive.org.

Academic Inspiration: The books that inspired Craig Calhoun

In this podcast, the Director of the LSE and world-renowned sociologist, Professor Craig Calhoun, tells us about the classical social theorists who inspired him early in his career, and why the most inspiring books are the ones with which you find a multitude of limits and problems.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other contributor: Craig Calhoun. Music courtesy of Podington Bear for his song Lilywhite on Freemusicarchive.org.

LSE Review of Books in Brazil: Rio in transition

This podcast features Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities, and architectural adviser to the London 2012 Olympics; Washington Farjado, Adviser on Urban Affairs to the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro; Dame Tessa Jowell, MP and former UK Minister for the Olympics; Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogota; Amanda Burden, Director of the New York City Department of Planning; and many others.

Presented and produced by Cheryl Brumley. All contributors in order of appearance: Ricky Burdett, Antoni Vives, Washington Farjado, Jurgen Bruns-Berentelg, Dame Tessa Jowell, Anthony Williams, Andy Altman, Jailson de Sousa e Silva, Simon Bastow (translation)  Suketu Mehta, Alejandro Echeverri, Edgar Pieterse, Amanda Burden, Silvio Torres. Eduardo Feteira (translation), Maria Olivia Rocart, Enrique Penalosa, Adam Greenfield. Music and sound came courtesy of: DJ Sunho from the album DJ Sunho in Brasil with special permission; The Prelinger Archives: Brazil: South American Medley (National Geographic, 1948).

Architecture and Design: Framing the urban experience

David Kohn, architect and co-designer of A Room for London, discusses how design can influence the way we experience everything from time to the urban experience.

Fran Tonkiss, LSE Reader in Sociology and Director of the LSE Cities Programme, talks about her latest book Cities by Design on the social life of urban form and why ‘the devil gets all the best designs’.

Hyun Bang Shin, LSE Associate Professor in Geography and Urban Studies, talks about reading Marx under South Korea’s strict national security laws and how this has influenced his own work on urban displacement.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other Contributors: David Kohn, Fran Tonkiss, Hyun Bang Shin. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at  freesound.org: Corsica_S (Argon Sky Multisample), Klankbeeld (Riverside and (traffic horns city nervous busy); inchadney (seagulls); Synth pad (ambient pad); The Working Bamboo (Piano ambient); Bosk 1 (wind houling); Stomachache (New Year 2012); Leady (War Noise REV); Fonogeno (police sirens); Suonho (crystal airlines). From The FreeMusicArchive.org: Dumbo Gets Mad (Radical Leap), Podington Bear (Sneaker Chase); Sunsearcher (Latin Rhythm); and Telegraphy (Grey Matter). Photo collage:matt_e (Seoul city skyline) from Flickr.com. Published 3 December 2013.

Academic Inspiration: The books that inspired Stuart Corbridge

Stuart Corbridge, Professor of International Development, Provost and Deputy Director at the LSE, focuses on the books that have inspired him throughout his academic career: From the Marxist theory that shaped his undergraduate study, to the many books on India and development studies that have inspired his passion for these areas, and finally through to a very special history of The Beatles.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Contributors: Stuart Corbridge. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music courtesy of Podington Bear (Falcon Hood) from the Freemusicarchive.org.

Behind Economics and Finance: Prisoners’ Dilemmas and Payday Loans

Episode7FinalCollage

Mary Morgan, LSE Professor of History and Philosophy of Economics, speaks to us about her book The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think and how the once prose-heavy discipline founded by Adam Smith has been transformed by maths and modelling.

Carl Packman, author of Loan Sharks: The Rise and Rise of Payday Lending, discusses the exponential growth of the payday lending industry in the UK.

Director of LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance,  Professor John van Reenen, thinks back to his early career and identifies the books that shaped his thinking about the economic world.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other Contributors: Mary Morgan, Carl Packman, John van Reenen, Joel Suss. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at  freesound.org: wim (London underground train arriving 6 and 13), Foop (Edithouse); and The FreeMusicArchive.org: Dumbo Gets Mad (Radical Leap), Podington Bear (Dark Matter, Light in Branches, Pink Blossoms, Light Touch), Deltason (Groundloop). Collage photo: Photo: Payday Loan (Thomas Hawk) and Prisoner’s Dilemma Guila.Forsythe via Flickr. Published 17th July 2013.

The Women’s Library @ LSE

This special joint podcast from the LSE Review of Books and LSE Equality and Diversity, examines the history of the newly acquired Women’s Library at the LSE through the eyes of a long-term librarian. David Doughan MBE, who has been at the Women’s Library for 23 years, speaks to Asiya Islam about the continued significance of the library and its role in the late 20th century feminist movement.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Contributors: Asiya Islam, David Doughan. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music courtesy of Duke Hugh (Sweet and Lowdown) from the Freemusicarchive.org.

Academic Inspiration: Odd Arne Westad, John Van Reenen, Fatima El Issawi, and Simon Glendinning

We hear from Director of LSE IDEAS, Professor Odd Arne Westad, reading from Hunger; Director of the Centre for Economic Performance, Professor John Van Reenen, reading from the non-fiction essay The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte; Research Fellow at POLIS Dr Fatima El Issawi, reading from the poem The Messenger With Her Hair Long to the Springs; and Reader in European Philosophy and Director of the Forum for European Philosophy, Dr Simon Glendinning, reading from Before the Law.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Contributors: Odd Arne Westad, John Van Reenen, Fatima El Issawi, Simon Glendinning, Dominic Muir, Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of the following contributors at the FreeMusicArchive.org: Phopha (Macabre City – CC-BY-NC-ND); Machines in Heaven (bordersbreakdown – CC-BY-NC-SA); Dexter Britain (After The Week I’ve Had (CC-BY-NC-SA); and Alfred Bizarro To Be Exactly (Pineambient – CC-BY-NC-ND).

Academic Inspiration: Conor Gearty, Mary Evans, and Sonia Livingstone

Professor of Human Rights Law Conor Gearty reads from The Trial; Centennial Professor at Gender Institute Mary Evans reads from Little Women; and Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications reads from The Warden.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Contributors: Conor Gearty, Mary Evans, Sonia Livingstone. Music and sound came courtesy of the following contributors at the FreeMusicArchive.org: Silent Strangers (In the Elysian Field – CC-BY-NC-ND); Lee Maddeford with Les Gauchers Orchestra (Le petit jardin – CC-BY-NC-SA); and Clinic Archives Mix (Melting Clouds – Defoliation – CC-BY-NC-ND).

China: Home and Away

 

We take a walk through London’s Chinatown with Rosemary Sales and Xia Lin, researchers at Middlesex University, to discuss identities in the area and meanings of home for Chinese immigrants.

John Gittings, Research Associate at SOAS, talks about China’s early peace philosophers and the importance of engaging the country in diplomacy.

Ting Xu, Research Fellow at LSE’s Economic History department, speaks about growing up in China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution and how her parents’ boundless passion for books was a source of inspiration.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other Contributors: Rosemary Sales, Xia Lin, Perry Fung, John Gittings,Ting Xu. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5); and Harp (Pryght-one); and the following user from the FreeMusicArchive.org: Jiony (Not Found_Invisible). Published 19th December 2012.

podcastinteractiveLSERB Podcast Interactive: Explore Chinatown with our interactive map: Each blue map pin features slideshows, original content, or podcast excerpts, marking a notable place unearthing the complexities behind the area’s diasporic identities and practices.

 


Democracy and Its Discontents

Professor of Politics at Sheffield University, Matthew Flinders, talks about his new book Defending Politics: Why Democracy Matters in the 21st Century, and argues that the problem with politics is not politicians themselves but the public’s understanding of the processes involved.

LSE’s Armine Ishkanian speaks about her book Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia and how civil society and democratisation projects need a firm grounding in a country’s grassroots in order to successfully aid its transition to democracy.

George Lawson, Professor of International Relations at the LSE and an expert in democratisation and revolutions, tells us about the role the anti-apartheid movement had in sparking his early interest in international relations. We also catch-up with LSE Bees to talk about the wonders of hive behaviour.

Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Presented by Amy Mollett. Other Contributors: Cheryl Brumley, Matthew Flinders, Armine Ishkanian, Elisa de Denaro Vieira, George Lawson, LSE Bees. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5); and Harp (Pryght-one). Published 27th September 2012.

London 2012 Olympics: What happens when global meets local?

 

Ricky Burdett, Architectural Advisor to the 2012 Olympic Games and Professor at LSE Cities, talks about the primacy of Olympic legacy and the regeneration of East London.

Author of Ghost Milk: Calling Time on the Grand Project, Iain Sinclair, takes us on a tour of London Fields in Hackney, a host borough for the Olympic Games, to talk through what he sees as the negative acceleration of change brought about by the Olympic project.

Dr. Suzi Hall, urban ethnographer and lecturer from LSE Cities, leafs through the beautiful architecture books that inspired her interests in the design of cities and urban multiculture.

Presented by Amy Mollett. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Other Contributors: Cheryl Brumley, Ricky Burdett, Iain Sinclair, Suzi Hall. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); Harri (Hypno1 and Hypno5) ERH (Swell pad); Tube mash-up: acclivity (mind the gap and stand clear),wim (London underground train arriving 6 and 13), Jerry F (tube train interior), ERH (underground announcement). Published 27th July 2012.

Marxism and the Left

 

In this special episode we visit the Marxism 2012 Festival in London’s Bloomsbury to hear the latest from Marxist thinkers and activists. Professor of European Studies at King’s College London, Alex Callinicos, speaks about austerity and how Karl Marx’s theories have found increasing relevance in today’s recession-weary world.

We then take a look at the leftist movements across the Atlantic with Eli Zaretsky, Professor of History at The New School for Social Research in New York. He talks to us about his latest book Why America Needs a Left, therise of the Tea Party and how President Obama failed his left-leaning supporters.

Presented by Amy Mollett and Cheryl Brumley. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music courtesy of Harri at freesound.org for his song Hypno5 as well as Thee Faction for their song “Ready”. Published 19th July 2012.

Gender and Feminism

 

Senior archivist at the Wellcome Library, Lesley Hall, talks to us about her book on the early 20th century reproductive rights campaigner Stella Browne and how her activism influences today’s feminist movements.

Melanie Williams, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia, tells us how film and gender studies make natural companions.

We also hear from LSE Centennial Professor Mary Evans on the books that inspired her into social theory and gender studies and why Scandinavian crime novels make for an exciting escape from the quiet academic life.

Presented by Amy Mollett and Cheryl Brumley. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound came courtesy of the following users at freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); nemo-day-a-dalus (projector); and harri (inspiration series intro); Riceballofdoom on YouTube (Toronto Slut Walk chant); Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for his song Hand Trolley. Published 26th June 2012.

Language and Poetry

 

Professor Dan Everett, linguistic anthropologist and author of Language: The Cultural Tool, tells us how a language spoken by a tribe living deep in the Amazon jungle poses a direct challenge to the widely-held view that language is inherent.

Prize-winning poet Philip Gross talks to us about his father’s loss of language and reads from his collections Deep Field and The Water Table.

As part of our academic inspiration series we speak to LSE economist and Bloomberg TV broadcaster Linda Yueh about the books that inspired her into economics.

Presented by Amy Mollett and Cheryl Brumley. Produced by Cheryl Brumley. Music and sound courtesy of the following users at Freesound.org: bebeto (Intro music); reinsamba (Nightbirds – Amazon); Corsica_S (Museum atrium); mystiscool (stream); and eric5335 (meadow ambience). Published 8th May 2012.

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