Second episode of The Greatest Good podcast available!

Posted on 22nd October, 2024

UCL Press Play is delighted to announce the release of a brand new episode of the podcast series The Greatest Good, which explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL.

In the second episode, Professor Philip Schofield hosts Dr Jonathan Galton, a social scientist from UCL IOE’s Thomas Coram Research Unit, to explore his research into the perceived political tension on the progressive left between queerness and Islam. Discussing the historical and cultural context surrounding queerness and Islam, they find surprising affinities between Bentham’s writing on freedom of religion and sexual liberty, and the contemporary theological work reinterpreting Quranic verses on homosexuality today.

The full series will be made available in coming weeks, and will include episodes covering Queerness, Islam and the Left; Queer Aesthetics and the Panoptic Gaze; The UK’s First Gaysoc; and Nonbinary Gender in the Middle Ages. The documentary ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’ is available to stream now via YouTube.

About The Greatest Good

The inaugural series from UCL Press Play, The Greatest Good, explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL. As the first entirely secular university to admit students regardless of religion, UCL was inspired by Bentham’s principles of equality and intellectual freedom.

About UCL Press Play

UCL Press Play is a new initiative presenting documentary videos and podcasts featuring aspects of UCL’s sector-leading research, and casting light on the contribution UCL makes to society.

Just as UCL Press makes its work accessible through Open Access, UCL Press Play brings the ground-breaking research of London’s global university to audiences worldwide.