About Dave O'Brien

Dave O'Brien is Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, at the University of Manchester

Dave O'Brien is Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, at the University of Manchester.

NBN Episodes hosted by Dave:

March 3, 2026

Music Refuge

Ailbhe Kenny

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How can music change people’s lives? In Music Refuge: Living Asylum Through Music (Oxford UP, Press 2025) Ailbhe Kenny, an Associate Professor in Musi…

March 2, 2026

The Accidental Equalizer

Jessi Streib

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Are jobs fair? In The Accidental Equalizer: How Luck Determines Pay after College (U Chicago Press, 2023), Jessi Streib, an associate Professor of So…

February 21, 2026

Feminisms and Domesticity in Times of Crisis

Jessica Martin

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Is the home still a site for feminist resistance? In Feminisms and Domesticity in Times of Crisis: The Rise of the Austerity Celebrity Jessica Martin,…

February 21, 2026

The Division of Rationalized Labor

Michelle Jackson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How have jobs changed in the last 150 years? In The Division of Rationalized Labor (Harvard UP, 2025) Michelle Jackson, an Associate Professor in the …

January 23, 2026

Art Cure

Daisy Fancourt

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Is culture good for you? In Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives (Cornerstone Press, 2026) Daisy Fancourt, a Professor of Psychobiology & …

January 20, 2026

The Social Codes of Tech Workers

Robert Dorschel

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Who are the people staffing the digital economy? In The Social Codes of Tech Workers: Class Identity in Digital Capitalism (MIT Press, 2025) Robert Do…

January 16, 2026

Deconstituting Museums

Helen Graham

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What is the future of museums? In Deconstituting Museums: Participation’s Affective Work Helen Graham, an Associate Professor in School of Fine Art, …

January 9, 2026

Opera Wars

Caitlin Vincent

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How can cultural industries survive in the twenty-first century? In Opera Wars Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future Caitlin Vincen…

December 2, 2025

Songs of Seven Dials

Matt Houlbrook

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How has central London changed in the last 100 years? In Songs of Seven Dials An Intimate History of 1920s and 1930s London (Manchester UP, 2025), Mat…

November 26, 2025

Capital, Privilege and Political Participation

Joe Greenwood-Hau

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Who gets involved in politics? In Capital, Privilege and Political Participation (Liverpool UP, 2025) Joe Greenwood-Hau a Lecturer in the John Smith C…

November 12, 2025

Influencer Creep

Sophie Bishop

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How are influencers changing the arts? In Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity, and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture (U California…

November 4, 2025

Latin American Comics in the Twenty-First Century

James Scorer

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How do comics cross boarders? In Latin American Comics in the Twenty-First Century: Transgressing the Frame James Scorer, a Professor of Latin America…

October 25, 2025

Critical Games

Tim Beasley-Murray

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Which parts of life are serious, and which are a game? In Critical Games: On Play and Seriousness in Academia, Literature and Life (Manchester UP, 202…

October 23, 2025

Artists at Work

Joanna Woronkowicz

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What does it mean to be an artist? In Artists At Work: Rethinking Policy for Artistic Careers (Stanford UP, 2025) Joanna Woronkowicz, the co-founder o…

October 10, 2025

Culture, Capital and Carnival

Will Kitchen

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How is the world of work depicted on page and on screen? In Culture, Capital and Carnival: Modern Media and the Representation of Work Dr Will Kitchen…

September 13, 2025

Listeners Like Who?

Laura Garbes

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Why is radio so white? In Listeners Like Who? Exclusion and Resistance in the Public Radio Industry (Princeton UP, 2025) Laura Garbes, a Sociologist a…

September 10, 2025

Growing Up Godless

Anna Strhan and Rachael Shillitoe

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What do children believe in? In Growing Up Godless: Non-Religious Childhoods in Contemporary England (Princeton UP, 2025) Anna Strhan, a Reader in the…

August 30, 2025

A Sociology of Awkwardness

Pauwke Berkers and Yosha Wijngaarden

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How does sociology help to explain modern life? In A Sociology of Awkwardness: On Social Interactions Going Wrong (Routledge, 2025), Pauwke Berkers, a…

August 2, 2025

Trading on Art

Sarah E. K. Smith

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What is the relationship between culture and trade? In Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America Sarah E. K. Smith, an Associ…

August 1, 2025

Critical Theory: the Basics

Martin Shuster

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Why does critical theory matter today? In Critical Theory: The Basics (Routledge, 2024), Martin Shuster, a Professor of Philosophy and the Isaac Swift…

June 30, 2025

Selling Sexual Knowledge

Sarah Bull

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

What is the relationship between medicine and commerce? In Selling Sexual Knowledge: Medical Publishing and Obscenity in Victorian Britain (Cambridge …

June 29, 2025

Growing Up and Going Out

Sarah Kenny

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Sarah Kenny Growing up and going out: Youth culture, commerce and leisure space in post-war Britain Manchester University Press 2025 How did young pe…

June 13, 2025

'Gifted Children' in Britain and the World

Jennifer Crane

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

Who are 'gifted' children? In ‘Gifted Children’ in Britain and the World: Elitism and Equality since 1945 Jennifer Crane, a senior lecturer in the Sch…

June 10, 2025

Achieving Creative Justice in the U.S. Creative Sector

antonio c. cuyler

Hosted by Dave O'Brien

How can cultural organisations better support diversity? In Achieving Creative Justice in the U.S. Creative Sector antonio c. cuyler, Professor of Mus…