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About Dave O'Brien

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

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

NBN Episodes hosted by Dave:

Critical Theory May 18, 2022

Held in Contempt

What's Wrong with the House of Commons?

Hannah White

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future for the House of Commons? In Held in Contempt: What’s Wrong with the House of Commons? (Manchester UP, 2022), Hannah White, Deputy Director of the Institute for Government …
Critical Theory May 12, 2022

Proxies

The Cultural Work of Standing In

Dylan Mulvin

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What are the hidden histories of how the modern world functions? In Proxies: The Cultural Work of Standing In (MIT Press, 2021), Dylan Mulvin, Assistant Professor in the Department of …
Critical Theory April 19, 2022

Black Culture, Inc.

How Ethnic Community Support Pays for Corporate America

Patricia A. Banks

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do corporations fund cultural organisations and events? In Black Culture, Inc.: How Ethnic Community Support Pays for Corporate America (Stanford UP, 2022), Patricia Banks, Professor of Sociology at Mount …
Critical Theory April 4, 2022

Hedged Out

Inequality and Insecurity on Wall Street

Megan Tobias Neely

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Is the finance industry fair? In Hedged Out: Inequality and Insecurity on Wall Street (University of California Press, 2022) Megan Tobias Neely, an assistant professor in the Department of Organisation at …
Critical Theory March 28, 2022

The Welfare State Generation

Women, Agency and Class in Britain Since 1945

Eve Worth

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand the history of post-war Britain? In The Welfare State Generation Women, Agency and Class in Britain since 1945 (Bloomsbury, 2022), Eve Worth, a Research Fellow on the …
Critical Theory March 22, 2022

How to Measure a World?

A Philosophy of Judaism

Martin Shuster

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What can the history of Jewish philosophy teach us about modern life? In How to Measure a World?: A Philosophy of Judaism (Indiana UP, 2021), Martin Shuster, an Associate Professor of …
Critical Theory March 16, 2022

Their Own Best Creations

Women Writers in Postwar Television

Annie Berke

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the hidden history of women in the television industry? In Their Own Best Creations: Women Writers in Postwar Television (U California Press, 2022), Annie Berke, film editor at …
Critical Theory March 4, 2022

Understanding Well-being Data

Improving Social and Cultural Policy, Practice and Research

Susan Oman

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we understand well-being? In Understanding Well-being Data: Improving Social and Cultural Policy, Practice and Research (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), Susan Oman, a Lecturer in Data, AI and Society at the …
Critical Theory February 11, 2022

The Early Foucault

Stuart Elden

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What were the key ideas and influences on Michel Foucault’s early career? In The Early Foucault (Polity Press, 2021), Stuart Elden, Professor of Political Theory and Geography at the University …
Critical Theory January 18, 2022

On Living with Television

Amy Holdsworth

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How should we understand the role of television in everyday life? In On Living with Television (Duke UP, 2021), Amy Holdsworth, a Senior Lecturer in Theatre, Film & Television Studies …
Critical Theory January 11, 2022

Reimagining the Creative Industries

Youth Creative Work, Communities of Care

Miranda Campbell

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we make creative industries fair and inclusive? In Reimagining the Creative Industries: Youth Creative Work, Communities of Care (Routledge, 2021), Miranda Campbell, an associate professor in the School …
Critical Theory December 15, 2021

The Trouble with Passion

How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality

Erin Cech

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Should we love work? In The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfillment at Work Fosters Inequality (U California Press, 2021), Erin Cech, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the …
Critical Theory October 21, 2021

The Care Crisis

What Caused It and How Can We End It?

Emma Dowling

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future of care? In The Care Crisis: What Caused It and How Can We End It? (Verso, 2021),  Emma Dowling, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, University …
Critical Theory October 18, 2021

Digital Black Feminism

Catherine Knight Steele

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How have Black women lead a digital revolution? In Digital Black Feminism (NYU Press, 2021), Catherine Knight Steele, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Maryland, places digital Black …
Critical Theory October 5, 2021

Cataloguing Culture

Legacies of Colonialism in Museum Documentation

Hannah Turner

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does colonialism still shape museums today? In Cataloguing Culture: Legacies of Colonialism in Museum Documentation (UBC Press, 2020), Hannah Turner, an assistant professor in the School of Information at the …
Critical Theory September 15, 2021

Trade and Nation

How Companies and Politics Reshaped Economic Thought

Emily Erikson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can ideas from sociology help us understand history and economics? In Trade and Nation: How Companies and Politics Reshaped Economic Thought (Columbia UP, 2021), Emily Erikson, Associate Professor of …
Critical Theory August 4, 2021

Sonic Intimacy

Reggae Sound Systems, Jungle Pirate Radio and Grime YouTube Music Videos

Malcolm James

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can music change the world? In Sonic Intimacy: Reggae Sound Systems, Jungle Pirate Radio and Grime YouTube Music Videos (Bloomsbury, 2020), Malcolm James, Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies …
Critical Theory June 29, 2021

The Museum as a Space of Social Care

Nuala Morse

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future for the museum? In The Museum as a Space of Social Care (Routledge, 2020), Nuala Morse, a Lecturer in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, rethinks …
Critical Theory June 29, 2021

The Business of Birth Control

Contraception and Commerce in Britain before the Sexual Revolution

Claire L. Jones

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does understanding business help us understand sex? In The Business of Birth Control: Contraception and Commerce in Britain before the Sexual Revolution (Manchester UP, 2020), Claire Jones, a Senior …
Critical Theory June 16, 2021

Book Wars

The Digital Revolution in Publishing

John B. Thompson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
What is the future of the book? In Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing (Polity, 2021) John Thompson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, examines the impact …
Critical Theory June 16, 2021

Getting Signed

Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society

Palgrave Macmillan

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How does the record industry work? In Getting Signed: Record Contracts, Musicians, and Power in Society (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), David Arditi, Associate Professor in Sociology and Anthropology at University of Texas at …
Critical Theory June 7, 2021

Violent Ignorance

Confronting Racism and Migration Control

Hannah Jones

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why does ignorance matter? In Violent Ignorance: Confronting Racism and Migration Control (Zed Books, 2021), Hannah Jones, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick, thinks through …
Critical Theory May 27, 2021

Reconstructing Public Housing

Liverpool's Hidden History of Collective Alternatives

Matthew Thompson

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
How can we develop solutions to the housing crisis? In Reconstructing Public Housing: Liverpool's Hidden History of Collective Alternatives (Liverpool UP, 2020), Matthew Thompson, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Heseltine …
Critical Theory May 26, 2021

The Good Glow

Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good

Jon Dean

Hosted by Dave O'Brien
Why do people give to charity? In The Good Glow Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good (Policy Press, 2020), Jon Dean, Associate Professor in Politics and Sociology at Sheffield Hallam …