Metal music, developed in the sixties and seventies, is notorious for its dark and disturbing imagery and its aggressive sound. But there’s nothing to be afraid of, says sociologist and fan Keith Kahn-Harris: it’s all part of the mythmaking of metal.

Current UK higher education policies, which treat students as consumers, are not only killing thinking but also likely to lead to a financial crisis. And yet, academia is a beautiful vocation, with the power to transform lives year in, year out. University of London professor, Les Back, picks the best books on academia.

Religion has an ability to create groups and communities that has yet to be surpassed, argues Selina O’Grady, author of And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus.

Popular culture shapes our fantasies, our expectations and our beliefs about what is real, argues Susan Bordo. She picks five books that shed light on popular culture.

The feminist author chooses liberating literature for women, from Virginia Woolf to Erica Jong. She says that men still don’t share equal responsibility in the home, and that life after divorce can be easier.

As Romney vs Obama enters the final stretch, the statistician and author of Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State uncovers the (often surprising) realities of how Americans of different backgrounds vote

One of our myths is the idea of progress – that things always get better. But many human civilisations before ours have risen and then collapsed. We’re no different, says the co-founder of the Dark Mountain project

It’s important to understand social aspects of economic behaviour, particularly when times of crisis reveal the shortcomings of traditional economic theory, says sociologist Neil Fligstein.

Critics claim that Muslims don’t fit in with our secular policies but, although Britain may be a secular country, the ways in which we are secular are ways inclusive of religious people, says sociology professor Tariq Modood. He recommends the best books on multiculturalism.

The Professor of Communication and Culture enlightens us about musical enthnography — what people do with music, and how they interact with music (and with one another)

Editor of The New York Times Book Review explains how the American right reinvented itself as a cultural counter-revolution and selects five books as backgrounders to Conservatism, including Updike and and Bellow

KCL Professor Alison Wolf is an authority on education and the labour market. She recommends books on education and society, highlighting Icelandic pastoral neo-myth Independent People