Best Tom Goodfellow Podcasts (2026)

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Series 2 Urban Radar: Trailer 4:29

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1d ago4:29

4:29

Urban Radar is a podcast series which reflects on current events and emerging trends through the lens of cities and urban life. Launched in 2025, Urban Radar hit the UK social science podcast charts, and was amongst the top 5% of new podcast entrants (according to one major streaming platform!). It reached listeners in every continent, over 80 coun…

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18: WRAP UP, REFLECTION & REVEAL (+ Care and the city, +Aussie social media ban, +urban themes of the year and much more...) 50:07

21d ago50:07

50:07

This month, we (Beth and Tom) are podding alone, using the final episode of the year to reflect on some of the big themes we’ve discussed in 2025 as well as on the process of making Urban Radar. We start with our monthly radar for December, dipping into three current stories each as usual. Following this we offer some quick-fire thoughts on a numbe…

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17: CHILD LABOUR AND DISINFORMATION (+immigration policy, +COP30 in Belem, +ticket touts, +urban statistics and more…) 1:15:59

1M ago1:15:59

1:15:59

In this episode we are joined by Professor Julia Moses to consider the working lives and rights of children, and then Dr Dani Madrid-Morales to discuss disinformation and how it plays out across urban and rural areas. Reflecting on World Children's Day on 20 November, we explore children's rights and how these relate to questions of labour, as well…

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16: CHINA, THE GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE RACE AND ITS URBAN IMPACTS - A panel with Jon Silver, Zhengli Huang and Linda Westman 1:16:51

2M ago1:16:51

1:16:51

In this feature, Tom and Beth discuss the Global Infrastructure Race with colleagues from the Urban Institute (UI), recorded live as part of the UI’s 10 year anniversary celebrations. Drawing on insights emerging from the GlobalCORRIDOR and Pluralize projects, Jon Silver, Zhengli Huang and Linda Westman share their interpretation of the Global Infr…

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15: GREEN RESURGENCE & GAZA RECONSTRUCTION (+Brexit, +rats, +Louvre heist, +AI Friend and more) 1:20:37

2M ago1:20:37

1:20:37

Released to coincide with World Cities Day on 31 October, this episode sees Beth and Tom first joined by Prof. Matthew Flinders (26:09) to discuss what the rise in fortunes of the Green Party, UK, under Zack Polanski, means for progressive politics in the UK, and for a city like Sheffield. Then, with Said Zaaneen (51:46), they dive into what the hi…

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14: HUMANITY'S URBAN FUTURE - A conversation with AbdouMaliq Simone and Ash Amin 1:03:15

3M ago1:03:15

1:03:15

In this month’s feature Tom and Beth are joined by two leading scholars of the urban condition - Ash Amin and AbdouMaliq Simone - to reflect on questions of inclusion and belonging in the search for the 'good city'. Building on their collaborative work for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research's Humanity's Urban Future programme, our guests …

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13: CONFLICT & URBAN TERRITORY - FROM UK HOMELESSNESS TO UPRISING IN NEPAL (+West Bank settlements, +witchcraft, +cars and more) 1:19:46

3M ago1:19:46

1:19:46

This month we are joined by Dr Sam Burgum & Professor Simon Rushton to dive into what the new UK Minister for Homelessness should have on their agenda (27:50) and how we can understand the wider socio-economic issues shaping the recent Gen Z uprising in Nepal (50:08). Cutting across our discussions are questions of conflict over and in urban territ…

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12: URBAN INFORMALITY AND TRANSLOCAL LEARNING - A conversation with Melanie Lombard and Diana Mitlin 56:58

3M ago56:58

56:58

In this month's episode Tom and Beth discuss the value of translocal learning to address poverty and inequality for women in low income communities in India, Southern Africa, Kenya and the UK. Joined by guests Melanie Lombard and Diana Mitlin, they ask: What can we learn from informal processes and practices in South Asian and African cities to add…

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11: SCHOOLING AND SURVIVING IN ENGLAND AND SUDAN (+policing/protests, +flags/fakes, +mining and cities on the move) 1:21:21

4M ago1:21:21

1:21:21

This month we are joined by Drs Christina Tatham & Cathy Wilcock for a post-summer bumper episode. First in England, many children are starting school for the first time, including those with English as a second language, against a backdrop of stubborn spatial inequalities in educational outcomes later in life (31:26). Then, in the face of civil wa…

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10: URBAN LABS IN TIMES OF CONFLICT AND POST-TRUTH - A conversation with Mona Fawaz & Nausheen Anwar 54:23

5M ago54:23

54:23

In this month’s feature, Beth and Tom are joined by Professors Nausheen Anwar and Mona Fawaz, Directors of the Karachi Urban Lab and Beirut Urban Lab respectively. This feature is a live recording of an in-person event on Urban Research Labs in Times of Conflict and Post-Truth, recorded in July as part of the Sheffield Urbanism Summer Programme. Th…

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9: URBAN POLITICS OF TRUTH AND WEALTH (+ AI data centres, +extreme heat and more) 1:12:36

5M ago1:12:36

1:12:36

In this episode we are joined by Dr Katie Pruszynski and Professor Rowland Atkinson to explore how political and wealth elites are reshaping cities from New York to London and beyond. We dive into Zohran Mamdani's journey to becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for Mayor of New York City (25:10) and the pros and cons of increasing tax on the sup…

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8: CYBORG RIGHTS & THE CITY? A conversation on tech & urbanism with Simon Marvin & Allan McCay 47:21

6M ago47:21

47:21

In this month's special feature, Tom and Beth are joined by Simon Marvin and Allan McCay to discuss how advances in neurotechnology - specifically Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) - are changing the way we think about urban infrastructures and human-technology relations in the city. We discuss: How can we understand the complex and continuously cha…

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7: HOUSING SAFETY, TRANS RIGHTS & THE CITY (+ Bunkers, AI protest & more) 59:51

6M ago59:51

59:51

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 (22:33). Next, we consider trans rights in the context of Pride month and the impact of the UK’s recent Supreme Court ruling (38:40). Also on our radar: Bunkers and new forms of subterr…

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6: POWERING THE NORTH - A conversation with Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram 1:07:28

7M ago1:07:28

1:07:28

In this first stand-alone feature, Tom and Beth introduce an uncut conversation with Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram - the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region in the North of England, recorded at Sheffield's Festival of Debate. The conversation was chaired by Beth at the Octagon Theatre, and focussed on Andy and Steve's 10-po…

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5: POWER & THE POPE (+ Gaza urbicide, gambling cities & more) 54:20

7M ago54:20

54:20

In this month’s Radar, we dive into the issue of community power - the energy kind! - with Dr Jayne Carrick (22:28), before discussing how a new pope (or an AI confession box!) will alter relations between religion, faith and the city with Dr Krzysztof Nawratek (35:26). On our urban radar (02:41) we also consider: The UK government’s Immigration Wh…

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4: BATS, BUILDINGS & BIG IDEAS (+ local action on water, + the urban impacts of tariff wars, and more...) 1:12:26

8M ago1:12:26

1:12:26

In this month's bumper episode we are joined by Malcolm Tait, Kiera Chapman and Hugh Ellis for a feature (45:13) on the UK government's planning reforms, how we can save nature and whether we need more utopian thinking to engage citizens in planning for sustainable communities. With Liz Sharp and Antonio Navas, Tom and Beth also dive into the local…

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3: CITIES & AUTHORITARIANISM (+ addressing urban air pollution, + cities and the UK asylum crisis, and more) 56:36

10M ago56:36

56:36

This month’s special feature focuses on the rise of authoritarianism in cities (34:48). What are the strategies and tactics that authoritarian regimes might use to control their capital cities? Beth and Tom are joined by David Jackman to discuss the insights provided in his edited book with Tom, as well as a discussion of urban political dynamics i…

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2: MANCHESTER'S DEVELOPMENT MODEL (+ German elections, + UK local government reform, and more) 40:26

10M ago40:26

40:26

In this month's feature (21:09), Tom & Beth turn their attention to Manchester’s model of property-led development. As the UK government pins hopes on enabling greater private sector investment to boost economic growth, can the 'Manchester model' deliver the expected outcomes? They are joined by Adam Leaver and Richard Goulding to discuss their new…

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1: CITIES & CLIMATE CHANGE (+ human rights for mountains, + foreign aid cuts and more) 53:43

11M ago53:43

53:43

On this month's Urban Radar, Beth & Tom zoom in on: Why recognising the rights of a New Zealand mountain is an urban issue Conflict in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and its impacts on the city of Goma How cutting US international development funding will impact cities Whether ‘more-than-schools’ can offer community level responses to the cri…

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Urban Radar: Trailer 3:15

11M ago3:15

3:15

In this trailer, we set out the background to Urban Radar, the format of the show and the main questions that we will explore. Urban Radar is a podcast series which reflects on current events and emerging trends through the lens of cities and urban life. It is brought to you by Sheffield Urbanism, a community of urban researchers in the Faculty of …