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Episode details

Radio 4,06 Jul 2026,28 mins

Common Ground: Language

Common Ground

Available for 30 days

In Common Ground, Evan Davis travels around the UK to find out how divided we really are. The series asks whether our society is really becoming increasingly polarised and what people across the country are doing to build stronger communities and connections. In this episode, Evan travels to Leicester to explore language and how it interacts with integration of immigrant communities. Is the number of people who don’t speak English increasing or decreasing? What is stopping people from learning? And how important is a common language for the way communities integrate? He’ll also be joined by an expert panel to discuss the role of language in how well we live together: Author and campaigner, Dame Jasvinder Sanghera and Jacqui Broadhead, director of the Global Exchange on Migration at Oxford University. Presenter: Evan Davis Producers: Scott Adam, Emma Close and Katie Haseldine Editor: Alicia Queiro Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Neil Churchill

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