大象传媒

POST SOVIET DEATH RATES
After 1991 when Boris Yeltsin stood on top of a tank and successfully resisted a coup in Soviet Russia, the country sped towards capitalism. Optimism was unleashed as shares in state industries suddenly became available the following year and many people swiftly became rich. However, for many others in Eastern Europe and the Soviet block, that optimism was unfulfilled as the era brought chaos and uncertainty.

A new study published in the Lancet argues that mass privatisation led to large rises in mortality, the swifter the pace of privatisation the higher the rate of premature death. Laurie Taylor discusses this controversial new report with two of its co-writers, Martin McKee and David Stuckler, and explores the human cost of rapid economic change.

PRISONERS' PARTNERS
Megan Comfort, talks about her new book called Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of Prison - a study of women who have husbands or boyfriends incarcerated in San Quentin prison. The study shows that in many cases, such women actually find that this incarceration improves the quality of their relationship.