Topic description and stories

How 9,000 lists written over 300 years are helping to test theories of economic growth

03 Jul 2018

The handwritten inventories had lain largely untouched for centuries. Sand used to dry the ink still lay between the pages. Written neatly inside...

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All the things

Living in a material world: why 'things' matter

18 Oct 2017

Things structure our lives. They enrich us, embellish us and express our hopes and fears. Here, to introduce a month-long focus on research on...

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Whatta lotta bottles

End-of-aisle displays encourage consumption of alcohol and fizzy drinks

14 Mar 2014

Restricting displays – which increase sales of displayed drinks by up to 46% for alcohol and by 52% for carbonated drinks - could curb consumption...

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Thinkin' about the code

Are we being sold online?

27 Oct 2012

A panel discussion for the Festival of Ideas examines whether social media giants are profiting from our willingness to share the most intimate...

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Casey Brienza

Men of wonder: gender and American superhero comics

01 Nov 2011

Boys and action comics go together like Batman and Robin – but how are girls represented in comics? Sociologist, Casey Brienza, investigates the male...

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Katy Barrett

Things are getting complicated

24 Oct 2011

In the recent riots looters made off with some of the items that have come to symbolise our materialistic society - trainers, track suits and flat...

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Stephen Leonard in Greenland.

Death by monoculture

02 Sep 2011

Having just returned from a year spent documenting the language and culture of the remote Inughuit community of north-western Greenland, Dr Stephen...

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Michael Scott.

How luxury became a four-letter word

27 Jun 2011

A new series presented by Michael Scott examines the history of luxury and the origins of our ambivalent attitude to the finer things in life.

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Marriage inventory, Württemberg, 1682

300 years of list-making

20 May 2011

Personal inventories spanning three centuries are helping researchers unlock the mysteries of how economies edge towards growth and prosperity.

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