Psychocultural
Psychocultural is hosted by Candida Yates, a professor emerita in psychosocial and cultural studies. The podcast brings together voices from clinical practice, academia, media, and the arts to explore the keywords and ideas shaping contemporary life. Each episode uses free-associative conversation to examine cultural moments and concepts such as identity theft, conspiracy, manifesting, cringe culture, and AI intimacy. It offers a psychodynamic lens on culture, politics, and society, with co-sponsorship from the British Psychoanalytic Council and Bournemouth University.
Episodes
4: Episode 4: Complicity
What does it really mean to be complicit? In this episode, Candida Yates is joined by psychosocial scholar Dr Lita Crociani-Windland and psychoanalytic psychotherapist Dr Noreen Giffney to explore complicity as a concept which is far richer and nuanced than its current usage often suggests. Tracing the word's roots from the Latin complicari - to fold together - through to its modern deployment as
3: Episode 3: Manifesting
Why has "manifesting" captured the imagination of millions and what does it really reveal about us? In this episode of Psychocultural, host Candida Yates is joined by psychoanalytic psychotherapist and attachment specialist Dr Nicola Diamond to examine one of contemporary culture's most talked-about ideas. Rooted in the belief that focused thought and positive intention can shape reality, manifes
2: Episode 2: Conspiracy
Why do conspiracy theories take hold and what do they reveal about the world we're living in?In this episode of Psychocultural, Candida Yates is joined by psychotherapist and digital culture scholar Dr Aaron Balick and doctoral researcher Callum Blades, who applies Kleinian psychoanalysis to understandings of the anti-vax movement, to explore one of the defining phenomena of our times. Moving bey
1: Episode 1: Chatbots
Are chatbots a threat to meaningful human connection — or something more complex and interesting?In this episode of Psychocultural, Candida Yates is joined by Emerita Professor Lynn Froggett and Dr Jacob Johanssen to explore one of the most urgent and fascinating questions of our digital age. With a billion users worldwide and growing, AI chatbots are no longer a niche curiosity but instead are c
Welcome to the Psychocultural Podcast
Welcome to the Psychocultural podcast... Where host Candida Yates brings together voices from clinical practice, academia, media and the arts to explore the keywords and ideas shaping our world today - and the anxieties and fantasies that underlie them. Through free-associative, accessible conversation, each episode takes up the cultural moments and concepts we all encounter but rarely pause to e
