{"id":28048,"date":"2026-01-06T12:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/?p=28048"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:51:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:51:39","slug":"rethink-returns-with-a-new-series-on-society-technology-and-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/around-ou\/tv-radio\/rethink-returns-with-a-new-series-on-society-technology-and-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethink returns with a new series on society, technology and change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The fifth series of the BBC\/Open University radio programme <em>Rethink<\/em> begins Thursday 15 January at 4pm on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. The series continues its exploration of issues across politics, society, economics, technology and culture, asking how we might approach them differently in the future.<\/p>\n<p>The weekly four-part series tackles a diverse range of themes, from how we understand and experience middle age, to the meaning of urban regeneration, what artificial intelligence is actually for, and the changing nature of authenticity in contemporary life.<\/p>\n<p>Academic consultant to the series, Professor Simon Usherwood, Professor of Politics and International Studies said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201c<em>Rethink<\/em> asks us to look at the world around us with a critical eye, to consider why things are the way they are and to explore opportunities to make change. Whether discussing the regeneration of our towns and cities, how we can be our authentic selves online or trying to find the \u2018killer app\u2019 of AI, the series is a chance to think, discuss and act. This really chimes with our work at The Open University to help everyone develop the skills and understanding to play an active and informed role in their communities and societies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Supporting Online content:\u00a0<\/strong>Discover our interactive guide on bias on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/connect.open.ac.uk\/society-psychology-and-criminology\/rethink\/#bias\">OU Connect,<\/a>\u00a0written by Dr Jim Turner, examining how our opinions are shaped, not just by facts, but by the mental shortcuts we all use.<\/p>\n<p>This series was commissioned by <a href=\"https:\/\/openuniv.sharepoint.com\/sites\/intranet-learner-discovery-services\/pages\/broadcast.aspx\">Broadcast and Partnerships<\/a>\u00a0and is supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences<em>,<\/em>\u00a0with particular relevance to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/courses\/social-sciences\/degrees\/ba-social-sciences-r23\">BA (Hons) Social Sciences<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/courses\/politics\/degrees\/ba-politics-philosophy-economics-q45\">BA (Hons) Politics, Philosophy and Economics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/courses\/modules\/dd102\">Introducing the Social Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Commissioned by\u00a0<strong>Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Director, Broadcast and Partnerships<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Academic Consultant:\u00a0<strong>Professor Simon Usherwood<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Media Fellow:\u00a0<strong>Professor Zoe Walkington<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Broadcast Project Manager: <strong>Jo Shipp and Laura Connor<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Supporting Online Content:\u00a0<strong>Matt Ray<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fifth series of the BBC\/Open University radio programme Rethink begins Thursday 15 January at 4pm on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. The series continues its exploration of issues across politics, society, economics, technology and culture, asking how we might approach them differently in the future. The weekly four-part series tackles a diverse range [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":27363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[232,860,1525,1640],"class_list":["post-28048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-radio","tag-bbc","tag-faculty-of-fass","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28048"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28076,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28048\/revisions\/28076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}