Housing Safety, Trans Rights and The City
Explore building safety after Grenfell, trans rights, city life, AI protest and more.
In this month’s episode, we are joined by Jenny Preece to dive into the issue of building safety in the context of the recent anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Next, we consider trans rights in the context of Pride month and the impact of the UK’s recent Supreme Court ruling.
Also on our radar:
- Bunkers and new forms of subterranean exclusion
- Urban festivals
- Touristification and the commodification of cities
- The LA riots and urban stigma
- AI propaganda and AI protest
- Vape fires and the disposable vape ban
Guests:
Dr Jenny Preece is a Lecturer in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. Her research focuses on understanding housing choices and aspirations, particularly in changing contexts and with relevance to issues of constraint and exclusion. I am interested in people's lived experiences of home, and how people experience change, whether in the dwelling itself or the wider neighbourhood.
SJ Cooper-Knock is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations and School of Law at the University of Sheffield. Their work focuses on the politics of urban life in South Africa, including everyday policing and punishment; being and belonging in the city; the politics of crisis; and concepts of urban justice.
Recommended Reading:
- Artificial Intelligence - Based Aesthetics of Dissent in Turkey
- Preece, J. (2025) - Inhabiting unsettlement: Living through building safety remediation works in England
- Preece, J. and J.Flint (2024) - Unhoming, Trauma and Waiting: The Post-Grenfell Building Safety Crisis in England
- Peter Apps (2022) - Show me the Bodies: How we let Grenfell happen
- Stuart Hodkinson (2019) - Safe as houses: Private greed, political negligence and housing policy after Grenfell
Credits
- Guest: Dr Jenny Preece (Lecturer at the University of Sheffield)
- Guest: SJ Cooper-Knock (Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield)
- Podcast Production, Presentation & Editing: Tom Goodfellow (Professor of Urban Studies and International Development at the University of Sheffield)
- Podcast Production, Presentation & Editing: Beth Perry (Professor of Urban Epistemics at the University of Sheffield and Director of the Urban Institute)
- Post-Production Editing & Marketing: Polly Clifton (Student at the University of Sheffield)
- Training & Production Support: Jack Claytonn (Creative Media Service Support Adviser at the University of Sheffield)
- Sheffield Urbanism Editing Advice: Dr Linda Westman (Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield)
- Distribution, Promotion and Marketing: Riya Singh (Research Assistant at the Urban Institute)
- Distribution, Promotion and Marketing: Vicky Simpson (Research Manager at the University of Sheffield)
- Podcast Cover: Dan Farley Designs
- Music: Horizon (Music by Tom Goodfellow, Recorded & Produced by Alan Thomson), Falling Down (Music by Tom Goodfellow, Performed by the Dice, Produced by Alan Thomson)
- Special Thanks: Supported by the Faculty of Social Science and the Creative Media Suite at the University of Sheffield