Meritocracy; Desert Island Doctors
Thinking Allowed
BBC
4.4 • 997 Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2014
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Meritocracy, then and now. Laurie Taylor talks to Peter Hennessy, Attlee professor of contemporary British history at Queen Mary, University of London. How did meritocracy arise as a concept and has it ever been realised in practice given the persistence of notions of a British Establishment with control over access to the centres of power? They are joined by Danny Dorling, professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. Also, doctors' choice of desert island discs - what do they tell us about the possession of cultural capital? Ruth McDonald, professor of health science research at Manchester University, discusses the meaning of elite musical tastes.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, |
| 0:06.0 | the Science of Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.4 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.3 | This is a Thinking Loud Podcast from the BBC and for more details in our terms of use and |
| 0:37.0 | much, much more about Thinking aloud. |
| 0:39.5 | Go to our website at BBC.co. UK. |
| 0:44.0 | Hello, it was the wonderfully laconic Scottish Jewish comedian Arnold Brown who once observed |
| 0:50.1 | that there was so many pictures of the Queen dotted around his Glasgow home |
| 0:53.7 | when he was growing up that he assumed he must be a member of the royal family. |
| 0:58.0 | Well in my house it was equally easy to believe that I was being trained as a scaffold |
| 1:01.6 | because very early on there was constant talk for my parents |
| 1:04.2 | about getting one foot planted firmly on the ladder then moving on to the next rung and the next rung and so on. |
| 1:10.0 | First O levels, then A levels, then university up the the ladder and when I failed to get into university |
| 1:15.1 | ladders had to be swapped I was lined up to take a civil service exam and when that failed |
| 1:19.3 | father found one more ladder for six months I labored over a correspondence course leading to an examination |
| 1:24.9 | which would determine my suitability for a career in customs and excise. It was only much, |
| 1:29.9 | much later in life that my parents believe that you could only rise to the top through your own efforts |
| 1:34.8 | was undermined for me by the evidence spectacle of those who appear to reach the top without any such efforts |
... |
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