Podcast

Breathing unequal air in the UK

Does pollution affect immigrant populations disproportionately?

an industrial site with smoking chimney — Photo: Chris Leboutillier on Unsplash

In this episode, host Chris Coates looks at air pollution and in particular how common is it for immigrant populations to live in more polluted areas. His guests are Tobias Rüttenauer, Assistant Professor in Quantitative Social Sciences UCL and L’myah Sherae, Director of Enact Equality, a non-profit organisation which campaigns for racial justice and equality in the UK.

Read a transcript

Ethnicity and immigration Health and wellbeing Transport and environment

What else is Understanding Society doing?

Links between disability and smoking

Smoking rates have been falling for decades, but tobacco is still a major cause of illness and premature death – and different groups in society remain persistent smokers

23 Feb 2026

Photo of a UK town from above showing houses and the countryside beyond.

Join our Strategic Oversight Board

Could you help us develop Understanding Society?

29 Jan 2026

Social life during COVID-19 in France, Germany, Italy and the UK

How did the pandemic change our lives, institutions and attitudes?

27 Jan 2026

Photo of a child on a tyre swing in a playground.

Insights 2026: Children and young people’s futures

Registration is now open for our Insights 2026 policy conference - book your place

12 Jan 2026

Email newsletter

ESRC Institute for Social and Economic Research University of Essex

The Economic and Social Research Council is the primary funder of the study
The Study is led by a team at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex.

Visit our Bluesky Page