Understanding Society Podcast Series

About Understanding Society Podcast Series

Understanding Society (https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk) is one of the largest household panel studies in the world. We follow thousands of households from across the UK to find out about people's real experiences of living and working in the UK today. Understanding Society asks questions about family life, education, employment, health, finances, social and political attitudes and wellbeing. The data from the Study is used by university researchers, government departments, charities and think tanks to better understand how the UK population is changing - and what stays the same over time. Our podcast series takes a look at some of the issues raised by the Understanding Society survey. The podcasts feature researchers who use the data and guest contributors who work in relevant areas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Understanding Society

Category

science · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

26 Feb 2019

Latest episode

28 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

65 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   28 Sept 2026

   Gene research with Understanding Society

   In the first of our new season of podcasts, we’re looking at research using Understanding Society’s biological data which examined how some genes work differently in different people. Our guests are Leo Schalkwyk (https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/SCHAL18107/Leonard-Schalkwyk), an emeritus professor in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex (https://www.essex.ac.uk/departments/life-sciences), and Radu Zabet (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/blizard/all-staff/profiles/radu-zabet.html), a Reader in AI and Cancer Epigenetics at Queen Mary University of London (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/epigenetics/about-us/zabet/). They’re discussing a paper they wrote with Olivia Grant (https://www.instagram.com/agenomicsphd/channel/) and Meena Kumari (https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/people/mkumari): Systematic investigation of interindividual variation of DNA methylation in human whole blood (https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-026-04021-1). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   13 Jul 2026

   Food banks and mental health

   In our last episode before the summer break, we’re looking at the effect food banks have on the mental health of the people who use them. Our guests are Muhammad Waqas, an Assistant Professor in Economics at the University of Bradford (https://www.bradford.ac.uk/staff/mwaqas9/), and Helen Barnard, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at Trussell (https://www.trussell.org.uk/). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   22 Jun 2026

   Health warnings and lifestyles

   In this episode, we’re looking at how we change our lifestyles – or not – when we face a health issue such as diabetes or a heart problem. Our guests are Zoey Verdun, a researcher at Imperial College London, and Claire Levy from the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

74,380

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

30

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

68

Contact Understanding Society Podcast Series

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.