Talks

  • ‘This House Would Respect Our Elders.’ Speech to the Cambridge Union, 23 November 2023.
  • ‘I dissent! Challenging the culture of conformism.’ Panellist for Battle of Ideas keynote session, Church House, London, 29 October 2023.
  • ‘Holding Covid times to account.’ Panellist for Battle of Ideas session, Church House, London, 29 October 2023.
  • ‘Gen Z, identity politics, and the problem of belonging.’ Lecture to the conference Clout Culture: Youth Cultures in Changing Societies, Budapest, 8 September 2023.
  • ‘The “stolen years”: understanding the lockdowns’. Lecture to the 2023 Living Freedom summer school, London, 1 July 2023.
  • ‘Generational tensions in Higher Education’. Keynote lecture to the 2023 British Education Studies Association conference, University of Derby, 30 June 2023.
  • The trans teen trend: a case of social contagion?’ Panellist for Battle of Ideas session, Church House, London, 16 October 2022.
  • ‘The problem of the “Covid generation”’. Thought Leader Talk for the ESRC-funded ‘Connecting Generations’ project, University of Southampton, 19 July 2022.
  • ‘The problem of atomisation: from ‘bowling alone’ to lockdowns’. Keynote lecture for The Academy conference, ‘Old roots of the new disorder’, Bedfordshire, 16 July 2022.
  • ‘Universities post-pandemic: Reconceptualising the academic-student relationship and the importance of “thick ties”’. Presentation to the Sixth Cambridge Symposium on Knowledge in Education, Jesus College, Cambridge, 5 July 2022.
  • ‘From “protection” to “resilience” – the Covid-19 pandemic and the rhetoric of children’s wellbeing’. Presentation to the ERC-funded ‘Coaching Rituals’ project, Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles, 9 May 2022.
  • ‘The future of universities’. Panellist for webinar presented by Bristol University Press, 9 November 2021.
  • ‘Should we resist the new normal?’ Panellist for keynote debate at the Buxton Battle of Ideas Festival, 30 October 2021, Devonshire Dome, Buxton.
  • ‘Pandemic Or Pandemonium: Are The Kids Alright?’. Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas Festival, 9 October 2021, Church House, London.
  • ‘Talking About My Generation’. Panellist for British Library Data Debates Online, 20 December 2020.
  • ‘What is a generation?’ Paper presented with Helen Kingstone to the Future of Ageing 2020 conference, International Longevity Centre, 3 December 2020. 
  • ‘Coming of age in a crisis’. Paper presented with Emma Gilland to ‘Rainbows in our Windows: Childhood in a time of Corona’ conference, University of Warwick, 11 July 2020.
  • ‘Stop Mugging Grandma’. Talk at the East Midlands Salon, 13 February 2020.
  • ‘Generation wars: Are the young being left out of their future?’ Panellist for debate at Battle of Ideas satellite event, Under Fontänen/Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Sergelpassagen, Sergels torg, Stockholm, 30 November 2019.
  • ‘It’s the demography, stupid: Does population drive politics?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas, Barbican, London, 3 November 2019.
  • ‘Stop Mugging Grandma: The generation wars.’ Talk at the Battle of Ideas, Barbican, London, 2 November 2019.
  • ‘Intergenerational inequality: how real is it, and how important?’ Panellist for debate at the Challenges of Government Conference 2019, ‘The New Generations’, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University, 1 November 2019. Watch the session here.
  • ‘Who is stealing young people’s future?’ Talk for the East Kent Salon, The City Arms, Canterbury, 17 October 2019.
  • ‘Paying it forward, and handing it back: Understanding equity between generations.’ Panellist for Intergenerational Centre event, Resolution Foundation, London, 14 October 2019.
  • ‘Intergenerational fairness – Why solidarity beats conflict every time.’ Panellist for First Actual fringe event at the TUC Congress, Brighton, 10 September 2019.
  • Are students these days more fragile?’ Talk for the Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology public lecture series, Canterbury Christ Church University, 11 July 2019.
  • ‘Knowledge, scholarship, and the “schoolification” of the University.’ Presentation to the Fifth Cambridge Symposium on Knowledge in Education, held at Jesus College, Cambridge, 2 July 2019.
  • ‘Baby Boomers and the Pensions Crisis: Doomography and Gerontophobia.’ Presentation to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Pensions Conference, 19 June 2019.
  • ‘The Graduate Generation: How students navigate the contradictions of Higher Education.’ Canterbury Christ Church University, 17 May 2019
  • ‘Who cares about the University?’ Engaging Sociology talk, Canterbury Christ Church University, 21 November 2018
  • ‘Generation wars: myth or reality?’ Panellist for Battle of Ideas satellite debate, Hallmark Midland Hotel, Derby, 23 October 2018.
  • ‘Mum, Dad, and teenage kicks.’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas, Barbican, London, 14 October 2018.
  • ‘Grandparents: Role models or bad influences?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas, Barbican, London, 14 October 2018.
  • ‘Did the Baby Boomers steal my future?’ Panellist for debate at the Festival of Politics, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, 12 October 2018.
  • Millennials: Youthquake or Snowflakes?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 28-29 October 2017.
  • ‘Is it time to resist calls for more mental health interventions in education?’ Paper presented at the ResearchEd conference, Stratford, London, 9 September 2017.
  • ‘Generations, gender, and the intimate politics of reproduction.’ Paper presented at the workshop ‘Romantic relationships in a time of “cold intimacies”‘. Canterbury Christ Church University, 17 July 2017.
  • ‘Universities and the construction of a new generation gap.’ Paper presented at the Fourth Cambridge Symposium on Knowledge in Education, Jesus College, Cambridge, 4‐6 July 2017.
  • ‘If young people ruled the world?… Maximising the voice of younger people in an ageing society.’ Panellist for debate organised by the International Longevity Centre, Chartered Insurance Institute, 22 May 2017.
  • ‘Constructing the “perfect pregnancy” today.’ Paper presented at the conference ‘Policing Pregnancy: Who should be a mother?’, Canterbury Christ Church University, 18 May 2017.
  • BBC2 Daily Politics show. Debate with The Rt Hon. the Lord Willetts, former Minister of State (Universities and Science), and author of The Pinch. 23 February 2017.
  • Brexit delar generationerna. Interview on Sveriges Radio (Sweden), 23 December 2016. Listen here.
  • ‘Generational inequality: who should pay for the future?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 22‐23 October 2016. Watch the debate here.
  • ‘Dating apps: the end of romance?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 22‐23 October 2016.Followed by a Guardian podcast debate, ‘Codes of love: romance in the digital age’: listen to it here.
  • ‘What should post-millennials know?’ Panellist for debate at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 22‐23 October 2016. Watch the debate here.
  • ‘Baby Boomers and the discourse of parental irresponsibility: The turn against the Sixties in the present‐day cultural script.’ Paper presented at the international conference ‘Parenting and Personhood: Cross‐cultural perspectives on expertise, family life and risk management’, University of Kent, 22‐24 June 2016.
  • ‘Generations and the Intimate Politics of Reproduction.’ Paper presented at ‘Moralities and the Intimate Life’, a workshop for postgraduate students organised by the Centre for Research on Culture and Gender, University of Ghent, Belgium, 17‐18 May 2016.
  • ‘Generational determinism and detachment in British social policy.’ Paper presented at the British Sociological Association conference, Aston University, 5 April 2016.
  • ‘Generation wars: Is it time to stop the “Boomer Blaming”?’ Panellist at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 17 October 2015.
  • Peer‐to‐peer networking: David Willetts and Jennie Bristow in the latest Books podcast. Times Higher Education, 31 July 2015. Listen to the debate here.
  • ‘The Suffragettes: Women in public.’ Paper presented at The Academy conference, St Neots, 20 July 2015.
  • ‘The Baby Boomer generation and the problem of knowledge.’ Paper presented at the British Sociological Association annual conference, University of Leeds, 24 April 2014.
  • ‘Putting the past on trial: burning dead witches?’ Panellist at the Battle of Ideas festival, Barbican, London, 17 October 2013. Watch the debate here.
  • ‘“Permissive parenting” and the problem of authority.’ Paper presented at ‘Collisions, Coalitions and Riotous Subjects: The riots one year on’, London South Bank University, 28 September 2012.
  • ‘Standing up to Supernanny.’ Talk to the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies seminar ‘Child-rearing in a risk society’, Aston University, 16-17 September 2009. Watch it here.