Meet Professor Richard Mole

This month, we meet Richard Mole, who is Professor of Political Sociology and the Director of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

1. Hello! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do at UCL. 
   
   I am a Professor of Political Sociology and the Director of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. 
    
2. What are you most looking forward to working on over the coming months? 
   
   Going through the data on populism and homophobia I have been collecting over the past three years. 
    
3. What would you do (for a career) if you weren’t doing this? 
   
   Something with languages, probably. Before I started my PhD, I used to work as a translator for a Swiss bank. The subject matter wasn’t particularly exciting but I enjoyed the exercise of producing text in English that didn’t read as if it started life as a document in German. 
    
4. What are your main interests outside work? 
   
   Travelling, cooking, eating, drinking wine, walking my dog, hanging out with friends – the usual. 
    
5. If you had to eat one meal, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? 
   
   Confit of duck with mashed potatoes 
    
6. What would people be surprised to discover about you? 
   
   I once auditioned for an episode of Dallas. 
    
7. Where are you happiest? 
   
   On the sofa with my husband and my dog. 
    
8. What’s your favourite city, and why? 
   
   Berlin. It’s a beautiful city, architecturally. It’s an interesting mix of East and West. And I love that so many of the shops, cafes and restaurants are independently owned rather than chains. 
    
9. How was lockdown(s) for you and what did you learn from it? 
   
   It could have been a lot worse. I learned that having a garden in London is a godsend.  
    
10. Tell us a joke! 
    
    A Glaswegian goes to the dentist and settles down in the chair. 
    
    ‘Comfy?’ asks the dentist. 
    
    ‘Govan,’ he replies.