Can administrative data save your life? Our Connecting Society podcast returns with big questions for season two
Categories: Research using linked data, ADR UK Partnership, Health & wellbeing, Housing & communities, Social mobility & inclusion
29 January 2026
Connecting Society is back! ADR UK’s podcast, which explores how everyday data can shape our lives, has returned with a new series for 2026. Connecting Society brings together speakers from a wide range of backgrounds to tackle some of the big questions around data, public life and beyond.
Conversations will be guided by our co-hosts: Shayda Kashef, ADR UK’s Senior Public Engagement Manager, and Mark Green, ADR UK Ambassador and Professor of Health Geography at the University of Liverpool. Throughout the series, they’ll be learning from our guests on what data can tell us about our lives today.
What does responsible data journalism look like in an age of misinformation? What does the ongoing surge in AI innovation mean for public data? How far can data help us understand what’s working – and what isn’t - in society? Find out by tuning into Connecting Society this year!
Plus, you can now watch our episodes on YouTube, as well as listening on your favourite podcast platform.
Episode 1: Can administrative data save your life?
Good health is something we all need – but it doesn’t simply start and end with the body. Increasingly, we’re beginning to understand how different parts of our lives and circumstances can combine and interact to shape our health, including from before we’re even born. Economic circumstances, social inequalities and childhood experiences all have a role to play in public health.
Because administrative data contains a wealth of information about these different areas of our lives, it can be a valuable tool for research to help us understand and improve wellbeing. By linking this data together, we can build a better picture of how different aspects of public life affect our health.
In the first episode of series 2, co-hosts Shayda Kashef and Mark Green are joined by Helena Benes Matos da Silva. Helena is an epidemiologist working with the Nutrition Group at Cidacs, the Centre for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health in Brazil. The conversation draws on her varied career to explore the complex human experiences underlying our health, and how data can shed light on these connections.
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