The We Society
Beyond the politics, beyond our geography are the intangible connections that hold us together – The We Society. The We Society podcast is here to tell you about the thousands of ways the Social Sciences can help us understand and enhance this complicated and fascinating human network. What can we do to fix the NHS? How can we better manage climate change? How do we end the cost of living crisis? Brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and Leverhulme Trust, this podcast tackles the big questions through a social science lens and brings you some of the best ideas to shape the way we live. Join acclaimed journalist and Academy 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. Don’t want to miss an episode? Follow the show on your favourite podcast platform and you can email us on wesociety@acss.org.uk and tell us who we should be speaking to. The We Society podcast is brought to you by the Academy of Social Sciences in association with the Nuffield Foundation and the Leverhulme Trust.
Episodes
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 talks about the two decades of d...
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 History at the University...
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 causes of the SEND...
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 the world's foremost ...
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 latest book, The Next C...
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-recognised online bank...
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 one of the world's leadin...
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 Blundell who talk us through the find...
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, human geography and mo...
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 that for an economy to thri...
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 book, Privacy i...
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? Professor Tim Lenton is...
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 Economic Policy at the Ada ...
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 subjective to measure. He...
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 ‘walk in the ...
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 they transition into adultho...
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 some people seem...
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 some incredible...
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 aspirations that d...
Eleanor is one of the Programme Heads for Education at the Nuffield Foundation, which tackles the UK&rsq...
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