Research Podcasts Director Christine Garrington has joined forces with the presenter of The Rights Track podcast Professor Todd Landman from the University of Nottingham to co-author a book reflecting on six series of their human rights podcast.
The Rights Track: Sound evidence on Human Rights and Modern Slavery (Anthem Free Press) uses the rich content from The Rights Track podcast in what is being hailed as an “innovative book that enhances and enriches our understanding of the human rights challenges facing the world today” and which “showcases the important role of evidence in tackling those challenges and explores the medium of podcasting as a tool for discussing how research evidence is used to protect and promote human rights”.
Explaining the motivation behind the book: Todd said:
This book is situated in the context of the post-9/11 era and the many geo-political changes that have taken place over the first two decades of the twenty-first century. We wanted to demonstrate the healthy and inspiring work being carried out on multiple dimensions of human rights, capture the different kinds of insights and knowledge about human rights through the dialogic and conversational format of podcasts, and illustrate the enduring importance of human rights, particularly during increasingly challenging times.
Todd Landman
Written for a general audience and in a user-friendly style, the book provides background and context to the podcast content which includes conversations about human rights mobilisation, human rights in times of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global challenge of modern slavery.
Christine added:
The conversational format of our podcast has ended up providing a rich source of human rights content that stays close to the voice of the very people seeking to advance human rights. It has been a privilege to work on this podcast over 7 years and a joy to write this important book with Todd.
Chris Garrington
The book has received a number of glowing reviews including one from the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Dame Sara Thornton, who said:
The Right Track podcast series brought research and scholarship on human rights and modern slavery to wide audiences. This book tells the story behind the series – a fascinating insight which powerfully demonstrates the value of technology in making knowledge accessible. But it also provides a collation and analysis of the rich material from the series and provokes thought, challenges mindsets and ultimately has the potential to transform lives.
Dame Sara Thornton