University of Liverpool's Tales from the Square

Dr Jonathan Arlow is a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. His current research project is a comparative evaluation of Sinn Féin as an all-island party since the Great Recession. In this episode, he talks about his research into Sinn Féin's political strategies, his journey to the University of Liverpool through the Horizon Europe-funded Marie Curie Fellowship, and the opposition to the burgeoning far right movement in Ireland.

In this Researcher in Focus podcast, we are pleased to feature Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, a Reader in Global Journalism and Media in the Department of Communication and Media here at the University of Liverpool. Vera's work focusses on global journalism, its current state worldwide, and the safety of journalists around the world. Here she talks about keeping journalists alive, where the UK's press ranks globally, and what people have been saying about Trump around the world.

Research by Dr Christina Malathouni and Dr Barnabas Calder raised awareness of the UK’s post-war architectural heritage and contributed to the Grade II listed status of Preston Bus Station. Find out how they did it and what makes the architectural icon so special in this podcast.

In this podcast, we are pleased to feature Dr Eduardo Coutinho, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Music. Eduardo tells us all about his fascinating research into the emotional impact music can have on its listeners, and how this can affect our mental wellbeing and cognitive performance, and what the social and clinical implications of these may be.

Our researcher in focus for this month is Dr Sophie Jones, from the Department of History. In this episode, Sophie tells us all about her work exploring the social and cultural development of the North American colonies and how this shaped political identities during the American Revolution.

This month, we are pleased to feature Dr Mary Booth as our researcher in focus. In this podcast, Mary tells us all about her research interests, including the study of interpretation and memorialization techniques surrounding the representation of historical atrocities, and explains her work as Programme Manager for the Centre for the Study of International Slavery (CSIS).

This month’s researcher in focus is Dr Stella Morgana, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Politics. In this podcast, Stella discusses her research on the politics and practicalities of labour in Iran and the wider Middle East with a special focus on the digital gig economy, as well as how climate change is seen and approached in the region, as well as her upcoming projects and conferences.

This month’s researcher in focus is Dr Sarah Arens, Lecturer in French at the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film at the University of Liverpool. Find out all about her wide research interests, including the histories, texts, and visual cultures produced during and in the aftermath of Belgian and French colonialism.

Meet this month’s researcher in focus, Professor Susan Pickard, Professor of Sociology and Head of Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool. Learn more about her work exploring ideas around health, age, gender and ethnicity in this podcast from the Humanities & Social Sciences' Research and Impact team.

In the first of our new 'researcher in focus' series of podcasts, meet Dr Nicolás Brando from the School of Law and Social Justice at the University of Liverpool. Nico is a Colombian social and political philosopher who, after much hopping around the world, has ended up working on philosophical and legal questions around childhood and children’s rights in the city that saw The Beatles grow up.

Professor Catherine Tackley explores the influence of jazz on culture and society in the interwar years in Britain, when the arrival of two groups from America, Original Dixieland Jazz Band and the Southern Syncopated Orchestra, brought jazz to public attention.

Dr Matthew Fitzjohn and Dr Peta Bulmer explain how they use Lego, archaeology and the power of imagination to explore life in Ancient Greece.

Explore the state-of-the-art archaeological science labs at the Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology Department here at the University of Liverpool. Discover how hi-tech tools are bringing the lives of ancient and prehistoric peoples back into focus and giving us insights into their skills, lifestyles and attitudes to the world around them.

Rest in peace? That's not always been the case, as Dr Ruth Nugent explains. Learn about the history of burying, disinterring, and venerating the historic dead, and how our relationship with death, and its places of burial and memorialising prove that life doesn't end with death. 

Meet Professor Sara Cohen and explore the University of Liverpool's Institute of Popular Music. Learn about their collections, wider impact, and in particular the project highlighting the 'Chile in Liverpool' collection of Robert Pring-Mill. This features sound recordings, posters, albums and ephemera surrounding politically committed songs from Chile by artists including Víctor Jara and Violeta Parra, and explores the experience of Chilean exiles in Liverpool.

Explore the fascinating Ancient Egyptian collections of the University of Liverpool's Garstang Museum, and learn about the ground-breaking work by our photogrammetry team to bring the objects to life for audiences around the world.

The Science-Fiction Archive: Infinite Worlds, One Library

Join Dr Phoenix Alexander, Science Fiction Librarian at the University of Liverpool’s Special Collections & Archives as he opens the airlock and takes us on a tour of the outstanding sci-fi collection held at the Sydney Jones Library. Including the archives of John Wyndham and Arthur C. Clarke, this really is full of stars…

Learn more about the science fiction archive here.