Bournemouth University’s Dr Sam Goodman’s first New Generation Thinker (NGT) piece airs this week on BBC Radio 3.
Sam is one of the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) New Generation Thinkers 2015. The scheme features the brightest minds who have the potential to share their cutting edge academic ideas through radio and television.
The research by Sam covers Twentieth Century literature and linguistics with a broad focus on identity, medicine, notions of Englishness and Empire, and post-World War 2 popular culture.
The first piece, airing 10pm on Tuesday 30 June on BBC Radio 3 is all about the continued popularity of the spy in literature and culture. This year has been notable for spy fiction, particularly in cinema; the new Bond film, Spectre is due to be released October and other such as Spy, Mortdecai, Kingsman and Spooks: The Greater Good released in the past few months.
It examines why the spy has remained in the public eye, even after the end of the Cold War, and tries to explain why the British public in particular are so fascinated with the secret world of spy fiction.
Sam, who is a lecturer in linguistics at BU said: “It’s been a little strange but also very exciting to find myself in demand for blog posts, interviews and articles! It’s brilliant to be part of the NGT cohort for this year though, and it’s already brought me a range of great opportunities for sharing my research with the public.
“It’s also been great to see what my NGT colleagues are doing as well - they are all producing such fascinating research, so it’s a privilege to work with them and hear more about their interests.”
New Generation Thinkers will give him and the other selected academics the opportunity to write for and contribute to BBC Radio 3 programmes such as Free Thinking and The Essay. Sam will also make an appearance at the BBC Free Thinking Festival in November 2015.
In addition, Sam is writing an article on spy fiction and Empire for The Guardian. His book, British Spy Fiction and the End of Empire, is out on 30 June.
