Hello, Friends! I’m Ali Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research - a community critical, curious and creative researchers based in Scotland. Dedicated to rethinking crime and justice.

In this podcast series, I’ll be introducing you to the people that make the Centre, their lives and work, what inspires them and makes them tick. To pique your interest, perk up your ears, and probe your thinking.

In each episode we’ll look at a different topic, turning it over and holding it up to the light. We’ll hear stories of justice and injustice, darkness and light, laughter and hope. Stories of justice from the people who make it.

Welcome to the Just Humans Podcast.

Just Humans: Darkness with Dr Anna Souhami

Our first episode is about darkness with Dr Anna Souhami, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Edinburgh.

Anna takes us on an audio trip to Shetland, around 200 miles north of the Scottish mainland, where she researched policing on the periphery and discovered how the dark skies loomed large in people's daily lives.

"It struck me even on that first day; the sea and the weather and the light and the darkness was so fundamental and central to life in Shetland, and how could they not be to policing on Shetland also?"

Host: Dr Alistair Fraser

Produced and edited by Rachelle Cobain and Mark Cunningham

Follow Anna on twitter via: @AnnaSouhami

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Poems written by Christine de Luca www.christinedeluca.co.uk/

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk

Translation: Dr Phil Crockett Thomas

When we think about translation we usually think of translating from one language to another but research is an act of translation too. Often you are translating an experience, a conversation or observation into quotes and tables. Maybe there’s a better way of doing this?

Our guest, Dr Phil Crockett Thomas, a visual sociologist based at the University of Glasgow and research associate on the Distant Voices project, has found poetry to communicate her research and talks to Dr Alistair Fraser about her latest collection ‘Stir’.

“The poems really developed out of my time spent in these prison based song-writing workshops. What I found was that my ongoing practice as a writer of mainly fiction lead to the production of these fragmentary poetic fieldnotes.”

Host: Dr Alistair Fraser

Produced and edited by Rachelle Cobain and Mark Cunningham

Follow Phil on twitter via: @crowdedmouth

Phil’s collection of poems ‘Stir’ is available to read on her website: bit.ly/35H9Uj9

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk

Connection: Professor Laura Piacentini

Seldom has there been a time in history where human connection has meant more, but can we stay connected with one another and our work under these conditions?

To help us answer these questions Alistair Fraser is joined by our guest, Laura Piacentini, who is a Professor of Criminology at the University of Strathclyde. Laura has dedicated her professional life to forming connections in difficult circumstances from Russian prisons to former Soviet gulags and more recently has been using online forums to make connections.

Listen to Laura and Alistair's conversation where they talk about poetry, pickled herring and vodka and how singing 'Let it Be' by the Beatles broke the ice with prison officers in Siberia.

Host: Dr Alistair Fraser

Produced and edited by Rachelle Cobain and Mark Cunningham

Follow Laura on twitter via: @LauraPiacentin2

Read more about Laura's project "In the Gulag's Shadow" here: http://www.gulagshadow.org/

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk

Exceptionalism: Dr Louise Brangan

Our colleague Dr Louise Brangan from the University of Stirling was recently awarded the prestigious British Society of Criminology’s Brian Williams prize for her article, ‘Civilizing Imprisonment: The Limits of Scottish Penal Exceptionalism.’

It got us thinking about exceptions and exceptionalism – what makes one place that bit more special than somewhere else? In Scotland we often define ourselves to our big neighbour down south or look to Scandinavian nations to aspire to, often ignoring the complexities that can bring.

To help us make sense of these issues, Louise tells us about her years spent digging through the archives in Scotland, Ireland and the United States to try and work out what being exceptional actually means in relation to punishment.

Host: Dr Alistair Fraser

Produced and edited by Rachelle Cobain and Mark Cunningham

Follow Louise on twitter via: @LuluEile

You can read the award-winning article here: https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/59/4/780/5272445

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk

Family: Dr Cara Jardine

Our colleague, or should that be 'sister' of SCCJR, Dr Cara Jardine, Senior Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, joins our host Ali Fraser to help kick off Season 2 of the Just Humans podcast.

Cara's research focuses on the impact of imprisonment on family and relationships and recently published her book, 'Families, Imprisonment and Legitimacy: The Cost of Custodial Penalties'.

Cara and Ali talk about family as a verb, what prisons can do to help families connect and we hear Sophie's story who is a young mum trying to keep her family together while Kian is in prison.

Hosted Dr Alistair Fraser, Director of SCCJR

Produced & Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR.

Follow Cara on twitter via: @Cara_J_Says

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter @TheSCCJR

Friends: Dr Lisa Bradley and Dr Nughmana Mirza

SCCJR besties Lisa and Nughmana first met when doing their PhD's at the University of Glasgow and soon found they had a lot in common; their research interests, having busy home lives with young kids, wanting to do academia differently and a shared love of chatting over cake and coffee.

Soon their conversation sparked deep connection and collaboration.

In this episode of Just Humans we look at how friendship can be viewed as a radical act within the academy and examine the ways in which it may enrich research and the people who make it.

Since recording Dr Lisa Bradley is now a Lecturer in Creative and Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and Dr Nughmana Mirza is a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Glasgow.

Researchers Don’t Cry?! https://researchersdontcry.wordpress.com

Diversifying Justice https://diversifyingjustice.com

Hosted by Dr Alistair Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR).

Produced & Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR.

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter @TheSCCJR

Work: Dr Hannah Graham

Some of us have started to return to the office and in doing so we are relearning how to connect with our colleagues and professional networks.

The art of the office and how to share our work with the outside world is always a challenge and nevermore so than in these strange Covid times.

To help guide us we have gathered round the watercooler with our long-time friend and colleague, Dr Hannah Graham, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Stirling.

Hannah has established herself as a prominent public scholar who is never shy of raising her voice and speaking out about issues of crime and justice that are close to her heart.

In this episode we learn more about how Hannah has developed her public voice, how she (and others) can connect and support colleagues and why it's important to show up!

Hosted by Dr Alistair Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR).

Produced & Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR.

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit our website: www.sccjr.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter @TheSCCJR