Contributor(s): | By examining the history of the application of forensic techniques to humanitarian issues, can we now argue that the dead have human rights? LSE’s Dr Claire Moon has been exploring this history, as well as examining the challenges and innovations in the forensics field in contemporary Mexico. Her research project, Human Rights Human Remains: Forensic Humanitarianism and the Politics of the Grave, promises to confront the human rights paradigm by including the dead in the category of who counts as ‘human’. Find out more about the project: https://humanrightshumanremains.com

Contributor(s): | What are proxies and how do they influence our lives? This film — inspired by case studies in Dr Dylan Mulvin’s new book from Proxies The Cultural Work of Standing In — explores the power of proxies and how they shape our lives. "Underneath the world we know, there is a hidden landscape of carefully constructed stand-ins, models, prototypes. This ferociously original book maps that region and opens up new ways to explain how our technological infrastructures become what they are.” — Fred Turner, Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication, Stanford University; author of The Democratic Surround 🔴 Read more about this research in #LSEResearchForTheWorld: https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/resear...

Contributor(s): Rachel Ngai | Why have wages for low-skilled workers stagnated even in industries that have experienced years of economic growth? Rachel Ngai has been investigating why these workers have not seen the wage increases that trickle-down economics suggests they should have. 🔴 Find Dr Rachel Ngai’s article on this research in the LSE Research for the World online magazine: https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/economics/why-low-skilled-worker-wages-have-stagnated-even-while-the-economy-has-thrived

Contributor(s): Dr Spike Gibbs | How fair was life in medieval England? Was this time beset by power struggles, corruption and lawlessness? If not, how did a system of order prevail? LSE’s Dr Spike Gibbs has been looking at historical records of manorial courts to see how power was distributed in local communities throughout England. Through individual stories of crime and punishment, Dr Gibbs’ research provides an answer.   🔴 Find Dr Spike Gibbs’ article on this research in the LSE Research for the World online magazine: https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/economics/lords-of-the-manor-feudal-law-and-its-impact-on-rural-village-life

Contributor(s): Dr Sandra Obradović | Why are we so hostile towards anyone with a different opinion? Dr Sandra Obradović explains why we feel the way we do and what that’s got to do with election hostility. With populism on the rise and political debate polarised, it’s never been more important to understand the psychology of voters. 🔴 Find Dr Sandra Obradović’s article on this research in the LSE Research for the World online magazine: https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/politics/differences-in-opinion-growing-hostilities-and-politics-as-usual

Contributor(s): | Do you feel like you’re on a treadmill and happiness is always just around the corner? Are you disappointed that the things you buy don’t bring you lasting happiness? Professor Paul Dolan, from LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, explains why this happens and what to do to improve the way you feel.    This film is based in part, on Paul’s books Happy Ever After: A radical New Approach to Living Well and Happiness by Design: Finding Pleasure and Purpose in Everyday Life.    🔴 Find out more about Paul’s research: https://pauldolan.co.uk/ 🔴 Listen to Paul's brand new podcast, Duck-Rabbit: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0zUaiarx2SxILYha3gAtGE Acast: https://play.acast.com/s/duck-rabbit/duck-rabbit

Contributor(s): | The history of planning and housing in the United States and its violence towards communities of colour has played out in so many ways. From red-lining to restrictive covenants and from segregated public housing to deliberately segregated city plans, the Federal Government, financial institutions and planners have all promoted and facilitated a system that has ripped apart cities and communities across America.   Drawing on her work as a planning and housing specialist and her role with the Detroit land bank, Dekonti Mends Cole talks about the aftermath of the last financial crisis and its uneven geographic and human impacts on the city. She reminds us that “Housing is civil rights work” showing how profoundly disinvestment in communities of colour grew into pernicious, intergenerational financial inequality with White households having amassed ten times more wealth than their Black counterparts.

Contributor(s): Dr Grace Lordan | Dr Grace Lordan's new book, Think Big, provides a practical framework to keep you moving in the right direction. Find out more about Think Big: https://www.gracelordan.com/​ Praise for Think Big: "This is a rare self-help book that's actually informed by evidence. Drawing on her knowledge of behavioural economics and psychology, Grace Lordan shares a host of perceptive, practical tips for getting out of your own way and making progress toward your career goals." ― Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN and ORIGINALS, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife "A practical and accessible guide to using behavioural science in your career." ― Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women "Insights from Behavioural Science are being used around the globe for a variety of purposes but never, until now for career building-something Grace Lordan does systematically, eloquently, and instructively in Think Big." ― Author of INFLUENCE AND PRE-SUASION "In a refreshingly down to earth way, Grace shows how the insights from behavioural science can not only help you to build the career you want but also the career that will make you happy. This book will interest and entertain you whatever your stage of career." ― Professor Paul Dolan, London School of Economics, author of Happiness by Design and Happy Ever After "On your journey to thinking big — about yourself and about the world — Grace Lordan is a wise and winning guide. She's written the ultimate primer on enlisting modest changes to achieve monumental goals." ― Daniel H. Pink, author of WHEN, DRIVE, and TO SELL IS HUMAN

Contributor(s): Dr Sam Friedman, Dr Aaron Reeves | For more than a century, Who’s Who has functioned as a bible of the British establishment – the most trusted catalogue of who is (and who is not) in the country’s true upper echelons. Who’s Who allows elites to express their cultural preferences: their recreations and hobbies. By looking at 120 years of this data, Dr Sam Friedman (Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE) and Dr Aaron Reeves (Visiting Senior Fellow in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE) examine how elites signal their superior social position via the consumption of culture. From aristocratic pursuits like polo and dressage, to highbrow interests such as opera and fine arts, to the ordinariness of simply walking the dog, what does the historical timeline of these cultural preferences tell us about elites’ changing relationship to wider society? The full paper, From Aristocratic to Ordinary: shifting modes of elite distinction (2020) can be read in the American Sociological Review: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003122420912941   Find Dr Friedman and Dr Reeve’s article on this research in the LSE Research for the World online magazine.

Contributor(s): Dr Thomas Curran | In a competitive culture that values work ethic and merit, is perfectionism a benign trait that helps us succeed or a pernicious illness we need to take more seriously? Dr Tom Curran from LSE’s Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science researches perfectionism, its damaging effects and why society is making it more prevalent.