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The Good Society

And How We Make It
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The Good Society

By: Kate Pickett
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A fairer, healthier, more caring and sustainable society is entirely within our grasp. This book shows us the way.

How do we ensure that everyone has good health and is cared for when in need?
How do we provide education that allows every child to flourish?
How do we ensure safety, justice and a healthy environment now and for future generations?
How can we finally solve the problems of poverty and inequality that drive all the others?

Kate Pickett is one of the most renowned thinkers and leaders in social science. Her life’s work has been to identify the underlying causes behind society’s key challenges and how to solve them.

In The Good Society she draws on the deepest insights and the strongest evidence produced by social science over the last three decades to present a roadmap for change.

Ultimately, she shows that solving the fundamental problems of poverty and equality would enhance the quality of life for us all.

© Kate Pickett 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Politics & Government Social Classes & Economic Disparity Sociology

Critic reviews

Packed with vision, hope and a practical plan – just what these times are crying out for (Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics)
An electrifying book: audacious in its range, blistering in its analysis and yet warm and immensely readable (Polly Morland, author of A Fortunate Woman)
Genuinely transformative, grounded in rigorous evidence and focused on what really matters. A powerful and deeply humane vision (Daniel Chandler, author of Free and Equal)
This is what we need. A clear roadmap that makes the case for how things can be better in achievable and realistic ways (Sammy Wright, author of Exam Nation)
An uplifting vision for solving inequality that benefits everyone (Andy Burnham)
Grounded in practical, tried-and-tested solutions from across the world, The Good Society offers real hope that the problems we face are not insurmountable (Jonathan Aldred, author of License To Be Bad)
Optimistic and realistic - a brilliant personal account of what a lifetime of world-leading research on health and well-being shows us is possible (Danny Dorling, author of The Next Crisis)
Building on a long, distinguished career as a researcher on the links between ill-health and inequalities, Kate Pickett has brought the threads together in an elegant call for a Good Society (Guy Standing, author of The Politics of Time)
Kate Pickett brings much needed intellect, expertise, experience and empathy to the urgent challenges now facing our society (Melissa Benn)
The country desperately needs a new lodestar of hope. The Good Society is the book we have been waiting for (Neal Lawson, Director of Compass)
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