What does it really mean to live a good life? And what would social care look like if it were designed around people, rather than the systems they have to navigate?

These questions sit at the heart of Series 4 of State of Our Nation, our podcast exploring the future of social care and the changes needed to help everyone live with dignity, choice and control.

Technology has enormous potential to improve people’s lives. But how do we make sure that potential translates into meaningful, lasting change - particularly in social care and the voluntary sector?

In this episode of State of Our Nation, Andy McCabe is joined by award-winning writer, poet, performer and disability rights activist Penny Pepper. Penny has spent more than 30 years campaigning for disability rights and using storytelling and creativity to challenge how disabled people are represented and understood.

Will Pike joins Kari to discuss disability, autonomy, and the systems that shape access to support. Drawing on his experience of spinal injury and his work as a disability rights campaigner, Will explains how bureaucracy, inaccessible environments, and decisions made without disabled people can undermine dignity and inclusion.

They explore why lived experience matters, how universal design can benefit everyone, and what it takes to build care and support systems that work for the people who rely on them.

Watch Will’s short film, Yes I Can, If: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvYZ2jvvp8

In the latest episode of State of Our Nation, Kari Gerstheimer is joined by columnist and author Sonia Sodha to explore what needs to change in social care — from how we describe it, to how we fund it, and how we value the people who provide it.

In the first episode of State of the Nation: Personal Perspectives, Kari Gerstheimer is joined by Comedian Ria Lina, who challenges outdated approaches to education, social care and ageing, making the case for more accessible, visible and human-centred communities. The conversation also examines unpaid care, the value of humour in serious campaigns, and why we must design systems around real lives rather than forcing people to fit the system.

With a new Prime Minister pledging to invest political capital in social care reform and the Casey Commission's National Conversation closer, there is growing optimism that England has a genuine opportunity to rethink its approach to social care.