Skewed

How Bias Distorts Our View of Other People and How to Make It Stop

By: Professor Keon West, Caryn Franklin MBE

Narrated by: Caryn Franklin MBE, Professor Keon West, Michelle Elman, Juno Roche, Natasha Devon

An Original Audiobook Production by W. F. Howes, written and presented by Caryn Franklin and Professor Keon West, with special guests.

• How do news outlets choose which crimes to report on–and does it matter?
• What do Disney films teach us about who is good and who is dangerous?
• Can adverts really change how we think and behave?

Underpinning these questions looms the spectre of bias; the hidden force that frames our thinking and skews the facts. This provocative audio original will have you rethinking everything from pornography and pop music to children’s books and fashion.

Tackling the complex subject of bias head on, Skewed investigates the hidden messages we absorb from birth. Looking closely at what the research can tell us, Caryn Franklin and Professor Keon West explain how our inner worlds are shaped by false information, media trends, and the brain’s preference for patterns and stereotypes. Exploring biases around gender, sexuality, race, age and appearance, Caryn and Keon explain how bias impacts all of our lives.

Through conversations with a diverse range of voices–from cognitive psychologists to activists and entertainers–Caryn and Keon offer a vision for an alternative future; a world in which we recognise and manage bias, and one in which diversity and difference can truly flourish.

Guest interviews include campaigner and life coach Michelle Elman, author academic and drag artist Cheddar Gorgeous, creative director and campaigner Trevor Robinson, forensic psychologist Dr Dominic Willmott and many more.

About the authors:

Caryn Franklin and Professor Keon West are two friends, connecting across a number of divides to share their different perspectives and explore the topic of bias in an open and insightful way.

Caryn Franklin MBE, MSc (Psyche) MBPsS is a former fashion editor and prime-time BBC TV Clothes Show presenter. Former co-editor of i-D Magazine, Caryn is a multi-platform broadcaster, fashion and identity commentator and activist. Across four decades of practice Caryn has explored the politics of image and self-esteem through commercial, educational and activist positions.

Caryn sat on steering groups for two successive Government Ministers of Equality: Lynne Featherstone and Jo Swinson. Consulting with the Advertising Standards Authority, Caryn has helped overturn the objectification of women in advertising.

Professor Keon West is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London and an expert on identity, prejudice, and representation. He has published over 60 empirical papers which have been cited over 1700 times in the wider scientific literature.

Keon has received numerous international awards for his research, teaching, media engagement, and social activism. He has also appeared several times in print, on radio and on television (including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Channel 4, and the Discovery Channel) discussing his research and area of expertise. Keon grew up in Jamaica and came to the UK as a Rhodes Scholar in 2006 to do a doctorate in Social Psychology at Oxford University.

Guest Contributors include:

Natasha Devon: Author, radio presenter and mental health campaigner

Dr Dominic Willmott: Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology researching bias within the Criminal Justice System

Michelle Elman: Author, life coach, body image campaigner

Professor Carolyn Mair: Behavioural Psychologist specialising in the psychology of fashion

Trevor Robinson OBE: Creative director and founder of Quiet Storm

Professor Jennifer Bosson: Social Psychologist

Dr Michael Atkinson: Drag Historian and TV’s Cheddar Gorgeous (Ch 4’s Drag SOS)

Georgina Lee: Host of the podcast Age on Trial and co-Founder of This Age Thing

Trevor Robinson OBE: Creative director and founder of Quiet Storm

Adam All: Drag King and entertainer

Cindy Gallop: Founder of radical online platform MakeLoveNotPorn

Juno Roche: Author and campaigner

Darren Miller: Founder of the Black Business Institute

©2022 Dr Keon West and Caryn Franklin (P)2022 W F Howes