Faculty researchers join University of Leeds podcast exploring how we unlock arts and culture for all

The third series of the University of Leeds' podcast, 'How to Fix...', launches today with an episode about who gets to make, shape and enjoy arts and culture.

Featuring three leading experts, including two researchers from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, and returning host Rich Williams, the discussion covers social class on TV, the poetry of everyday life, the importance of art education and critical thinking skills, and more.

The new episode launches alongside the University of Leeds’ biggest ever contribution to Light Night Leeds (Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October), with 18 installations for all ages. 

This episode’s guests are:  

• Beth Johnson, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Professor of Television and Media at the University of Leeds’ School of Media and Communication

• Abigail Harrison Moore, Professor of Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Leeds’ School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies

• Nick Barley, Director of the National Poetry Centre and former Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 

The 'How to Fix...' series launched in 2023 to explore how researchers at the University of Leeds are working with policymakers and partners to find solutions to some of society's biggest problems. This episode explores how people from all walks of life can not just access creative and artistic spaces but feel they belong and have a sustained voice there. It's not just about consuming art, TV and poetry – it's about who gets to shape and create these important artforms.  

Professor Beth Johnson, who has worked behind the scenes on TV productions with the BBC and Channel 4 to investigate class inequality, talked about her recent research project, What's On?, which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The research found that 61% of roles in television dramas were secured through personal networks and previous contracts, while only 8% were publicly advertised. 

Professor Johnson said: "We do have a reasonable diversity in terms of class on our TV screens... but just counting the amount of working-class characters doesn't give us a full picture. We had to look at how those characters were represented, and we found quite narrow facets and pockets.  

"Our research showed that audiences want to see diversity of working class lives on-screen. They want to see joy and ordinary day-to-day, rather than working-class characters purely connected with poverty or extreme moments." 

Professor Abigail Harrison Moore leads the award-winning Art Teachers Connect programme, which brings teachers from state schools across the country to the University for a continuing professional development programme.   

Speaking about the power of arts education, Professor Harrison Moore said: "On every phone, through every TikTok video – we're in a world where young people have to think critically through the visual image. I don't know what the next ten years are going to hold but I do know that for young people today, the only way they're going to survive it is to have critical thinking skills and the curiosity, to look at a piece of text, to watch a television programme, to see a visual image and think, what does that mean to me, and to question it." 

The conversation also covers poetry's presence in everyday life, not just on the page but in football chants, hip-hop and general phrases.  

Nick Barley talks about how poetry can improve young people's communication skills, highlighting the work of the National Poetry Centre's Young Poet Laureates programme, in partnership with the National Literacy Trust.  

Mr Barley said: "In private schools, debating skills and public speaking are valued, but not so much in state schools. But poetry - reading, presenting and performing it – is a way of helping young people build confidence to be in front of an audience, to deliver words and improve their diction... It will help them in job interviews, team settings, and leadership. It's an absolute foundation stone of what Britain needs to be a successful country." 

The National Poetry Centre, spearheaded by Professor of Poetry and Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, plans to provide an accessible, public-facing hub for poetry on the University of Leeds campus, in former nightclub, Trinity St David’s Church. Plans for the space include an extensive poetry collection with research facilities, rehearsal and performance spaces, a cinema, opportunities for writers to exchange ideas, and a wide range of facilities and activities. The newly formed national charity hopes to encourage people of every age and background to enjoy poetry in all its forms. 

Listen to the full episode to hear more, wherever you get your podcasts.  

The full third series of ‘How to Fix...’ continues with:  

• How can we get ahead of Alzheimer’s disease? – arriving in November 

• How to eat well in an ultra-processed world – December.