Best Michaela Benson Podcasts (2025)

1
S3 E11 Labour’s new immigration plan is anything but Brexit 34:17

5d ago34:17

34:17

Michaela and Nando get together to discuss the UK’s Labour Government 2025 promise to restore control over immigration by reducing net migration. The resonance with Brexit rhetoric couldn’t be clearer in the language and narrative surrounding this. Yet, Brexit remains the elephant in the room. They reflect on several key elements of the paper: heal…

1
S3 E10 Migration and the making of Global Britain 53:19

1y ago53:19

53:19

What’s the significance of migration for the making of ‘Global Britain’? And what are the theoretical and conceptual tools that can help to unpack this question? In this episode, we turn our attention to the value of racial capitalism for understanding migration to and from the UK after Brexit. Elena Zambelli explains what we mean when we talk abou…

1
S3 E9 (Not so) safe routes 54:56

1+ y ago54:56

54:56

What are the UK Government’s ‘safe and legal routes’? How do these relate to ‘stop the boats’, the Rwanda Plan, and the curtailment of asylum as laid out in the 1951 Refugee Convention? What can we learn from listening to the Hong Kongers and Ukrainians beneficiaries of these humanitarian visas? And what if these routes are not so safe after all? I…

1
S3 E8 Fortress Britain? 55:01

1+ y ago55:01

55:01

What’s Brexit got to do with the ‘small boats’ crisis? What does racialised border violence in the Channel tell us about 'Global Britain’? And what can we learn about the UK’s approach to its borders from the Hong Kong BN(O) and Ukrainian visas? We discuss all of this and more as we turn a lens onto Fortress Britain. Elena Zambelli explains what we…

1
BtH2 E2 Beyond the headlines … Care Activism with Ethel Tungohan 37:02

1+ y ago37:02

37:02

Migrant laborers worldwide are engaged in care work, but who provides care for them? And where can they seek care? In this discussion with Ethel Tungohan, the author of 'Care Activism', we go beyond the headlines that portray migrant domestic workers as victims or heroes. By focusing on their daily lives and the experiences of migrant care workers,…

1
S3 E7 Families at the borders 51:28

1+ y ago51:28

51:28

What happens when borders cross families? How do families navigate these interruptions to their ability to live together? This episode considers what shifting perspective to families opens up to view in terms of thinking about the work of borders and their impact on people’s everyday lives. Helena Wray, Professor of Migration Law at the University …

1
BtH2 E1 Beyond the headlines … at Manchester Museum with Senna Yousef and Caitlin Nunn 32:44

1+ y ago32:44

32:44

We’re out and about in this episode! Ala and Michaela have been on the road. And in this episode they visit Manchester Museum and a new project aimed at decolonising the museum collection. They are joined by members of the Ancient History, Contemporary Belonging research project—youth researcher Senna Yousef and Dr Caitlin Nunn from Manchester Metr…

1
S3 E6 Migrant Rights 2.0 44:11

1+ y ago44:11

44:11

Borders around the world are becoming increasingly digitised. But who does the digitisation of borders serve? How are these technologies related to state-led projects of securitisation and surveillance? And what do digital bordering practices mean for migrants, migrant rights and advocacy? In this episode we lift the lid on digital bordering. We de…

1
S3 E5 Migration, diaspora, diplomacy 54:19

1+ y ago54:19

54:19

What role do diplomacy and the power play between states play in the development of migration policy? And how can turning our attention to the significance of foreign policy within migration governance help us in understanding the post-Brexit migration regime in the UK? In this jam-packed episode, we consider how foreign policy and geopolitics shap…

1
S3 E4 A New Plan for Migration? 49:57

2y ago49:57

49:57

What’s changed in the UK’s approach to migration since Brexit? How has this impacted on migration flows? Who is and isn’t migrating to the UK ? In A New Plan for Migration? we consider the shape and structure of the UK’s regulation and governance of migration since leaving the European Union. Catherine Craven explains what we mean when we talk abou…

1
S3 E3 Bye, Bye Britain 49:19

2y ago49:19

49:19

Understandings of migration are invariably reduced to immigration, framed by the policy agenda of receiving states. But what about the people who leave? And why does it matter that we remember, as French-Algerian sociologist Abdelmalek Sayad stressed, that ‘every immigrant is also an emigrant’? From the role of emigration in the making of the Briti…

1
BONUS Interview with Elspeth Guild 39:40

2y ago39:40

39:40

This bonus episode features the full length recording of Elspeth Guild, legal scholar and counsel and our guest in Season 3 Episode 2, offering deep insights into the development of the EU's free movement regime, from its early form as a structure supporting the mobility of workers to its current form linked to EU citizenship. She reflects on the c…

1
S3 E2 Free Movement, limited 46:11

2y ago46:11

46:11

We’re talking Freedom of Movement, its role in the formation of an EU–wide imagined community, and the experiences of people who have lost their FOM rights due to Brexit. Catherine Craven explains what we mean when we talk about Freedom of Movement within the EU, its institutional underpinnings and social implications. Elspeth Guild, legal scholar …

1
S3 E1 Of Kings, Songs and Migrants 45:48

2y ago45:48

45:48

What does Eurovision have to do with the Coronation? We’re talking about what we learn about ‘Global Britain’ and its imagined community from looking at how migrants understand major cultural events. Elena Zambelli explains what social scientists mean when they talk about the imagined community. Laura Clancy, sociologist of the royal family, joins …

1
[SWAP] Uncommon Sense: Security, with Daria Krivonos 47:23

2y ago47:23

47:23

Too often, talk about security seems to belong to politicians and psychologists; to discussions about terrorism and defence, individual anxiety and insecurity. But how do sociologists think about it? And why care? Daria Krivonos – who works on migration, race and class in Central and Eastern Europe – tells Alexis and Rosie why security matters. Wha…

1
S2 BONUS Behind the Scenes 24:27

2y ago24:27

24:27

Here’s a little season end bonus, where our presenter, Michaela Benson and podcast researcher, George Kalivis go behind the scenes at Who do we think we are? They reflect on the origins of the series, the role of the podcast in challenging taken for granted understandings of migration and citizenship in the UK today. They unpack what goes into the …

1
S2 E10 In dialogue 33:30

2y ago33:30

33:30

For the final episode of Season 2, we bring you a set of conversations about what Who do we think we are? achieves through dialogues with archival and social science research around migration and citizenship in the UK and beyond. We’re joined by former guest, Bolaji Balogun (University of Sheffield) who reflects on what excited him about taking par…

1
S2 E9 East-West inequalities and the remaking of unequal Europeans 40:43

2+ y ago40:43

40:43

What does the characterisation of those from Europe’s east as migrants by politicians and in some corners of the media make visible about the politics of migration? What is distinctive about the ways in which they are migratised and racialised? And what does this offer to understandings of racism and racialisation? We’re joined by Aleks Lewicki (Un…

1
S2 E8 Who is a migrant? 40:55

2+ y ago40:55

40:55

There is nothing politically neutral about classifying and categorising people as migrants. This is a process through which certain individuals and populations are defined as migrants, whether they have crossed borders or not. It has political consequences and impacts for those who find themselves labelled as such. In this episode we turn to this a…

1
BtH1 S8 Beyond the headlines … with İdil Akıncı-Pérez 33:56

2+ y ago33:56

33:56

All eyes have been on Qatar because of the World Cup. And with it, attention to the poor working conditions and treatment of migrant construction workers. We go beyond the headlines with İdil Akıncı-Pérez (University of Edinburgh) to explore the back story to these issues. We look in depth at how the Gulf States approach migration and citizenship, …

1
S2 E7 European Identities from the Aliens Act 1905 to Brexit 40:04

2+ y ago40:04

40:04

Who is unquestionably European? From Brexit to the war in Ukraine, this question has come to the fore as people of colour have found themselves disproportionately questioned as they try to exercise their rights as European citizens. We’re joined by Bolaji Balogun (University of Sheffield) and Marius Turda (Oxford Brookes) to discuss the longer hist…

1
BtH1 S7 Beyond the headlines … with Hannah Lewis 30:16

2+ y ago30:16

30:16

In July 2022 the news broke that Sir Mo Farah, four times Olympian for Team GB, had been trafficked to the UK as a child. The headlines enhanced public understandings of trafficking. They brought into the frame the children forced into domestic servitude and the circumstances which mean that their situations may not come to light. Hosts Ala Sirriye…

1
S2 E6 Imagining a new Britain, 20 years on 37:39

2+ y ago37:39

37:39

Who do we think we are? In the early 2000s, with the beginning of the New Labour government, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown asked this question, calling for a radical reimagining of who was considered as British and outlining her hopes for a new Britain. In this special episode, she joins Michaela Benson in conversation to consider why 20 years la…

1
BtH1 E6 Beyond the headlines … with Cecilia Menjívar 32:07

2+ y ago32:07

32:07

For many people, migration is about escaping persecution and state violence. But in the context increasingly criminalisation of migration, state violence may characterise the lives of immigrants. Hosts Ala Sirriyeh and Michaela Benson are joined by Professor Cecilia Menjívar to discuss her work with Central American migrants in the US. She highligh…

1
S2 E5 What can we learn about what British and EU citizenship from Brexit? 44:44

2+ y ago44:44

44:44

As people find themselves queueing up at border controls in EU member states, as their passports are stamped, there have been questions about why these things are happening. It’s all because of Brexit, and more specifically, the end of free movement between the UK and EU which means that British citizens are no longer EU citizens. But what do you k…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Michaela Benson Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
Who do we think we are?

Professor Michaela Benson

1
Brexit Brits Abroad

Dr Michaela Benson

1
S3 E11 Labour’s new immigration plan is anything but Brexit 34:17

1
S3 E10 Migration and the making of Global Britain 53:19

1
S3 E9 (Not so) safe routes 54:56

1
S3 E8 Fortress Britain? 55:01

1
BtH2 E2 Beyond the headlines … Care Activism with Ethel Tungohan 37:02

1
S3 E7 Families at the borders 51:28

1
BtH2 E1 Beyond the headlines … at Manchester Museum with Senna Yousef and Caitlin Nunn 32:44

1
S3 E6 Migrant Rights 2.0 44:11

1
S3 E5 Migration, diaspora, diplomacy 54:19

1
S3 E4 A New Plan for Migration? 49:57

1
S3 E3 Bye, Bye Britain 49:19

1
BONUS Interview with Elspeth Guild 39:40

1
S3 E2 Free Movement, limited 46:11

1
S3 E1 Of Kings, Songs and Migrants 45:48

1
[SWAP] Uncommon Sense: Security, with Daria Krivonos 47:23

1
S2 BONUS Behind the Scenes 24:27

1
S2 E10 In dialogue 33:30

1
S2 E9 East-West inequalities and the remaking of unequal Europeans 40:43

1
S2 E8 Who is a migrant? 40:55

1
BtH1 S8 Beyond the headlines … with İdil Akıncı-Pérez 33:56

1
S2 E7 European Identities from the Aliens Act 1905 to Brexit 40:04

1
BtH1 S7 Beyond the headlines … with Hannah Lewis 30:16

1
S2 E6 Imagining a new Britain, 20 years on 37:39

1
BtH1 E6 Beyond the headlines … with Cecilia Menjívar 32:07

1
S2 E5 What can we learn about what British and EU citizenship from Brexit? 44:44