Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Scientist Susan Greenfield, painter Fiona Rae, poet Paul Farley and artist and TV presenter Matt Collings discuss abstract art past and present. The event recorded in front of an audience at the Starr Auditorium at Tate Modern is chaired by Anne McElvoy. Part of a series of broadcasts tying into BBC 4 Goes Abstract
Martin Amis talks to Philip Dodd about his reputation for courting controversy and his 14th novel The Zone of Interest. Recorded in front of an audience as part of the BBC Proms.
Rudy's Rare Records stars Lenny Henry as the son who works alongside his father in a record shop. The Radio 4 comedy has been adapted for stage and is being performed with live music at Birmingham Rep and the Hackney Empire. In a conversation recorded in front of an audience at The Studio at Birmingham Rep, Lenny Henry talks to Matthew Sweet about performing on radio, stage and screen and his campaign for better Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) representation.
Peter Watkins' film Culloden is 50, and in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Festival, Matthew Sweet discusses its influence on portrayals of Scotland's Highland identity in book and film with Diana Gabaldon, author of the best-selling Outlander series, historian Tom Devine and media expert John Cook.
The poet Daljit Nagra and Radio 3 presenter Ian McMillan introduce the winning entries in this year's Proms Poetry Competition - and welcome some of the winners on stage to read them. In association with the Poetry Society. Recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music.
In 1914 the American poet Robert Frost published his collection 'North of Boston'. It was hailed as 'one of the most revolutionary books of modern times' by the English poet Edward Thomas. Matthew Hollis, who has written about the friendship between the two writers, is joined by Frost's biographer Jay Parini to discuss the poet. This programme presented by Matthew Sweet, was recorded in front of an audience at The Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information a...
Poets Andrew Motion and Kate Clanchy discuss the writing of Philip Larkin and his collection, 'Whitsun Weddings', which was first published 50 years ago in 1964. This programme presented by Matthew Sweet, was recorded in front of an audience at The Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms.
Novelist Martin Amis discusses 'The Zone of Interest', his 14th novel, in which he revisits the Holocaust for the first time since his controversial book, 'Time's Arrow'. This programme presented by Philip Dodd, was recorded in front of an audience at The Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms.
From HG Wells and Margaret Atwood to Battlestar Galactica, science fiction texts and tv series have long used birth control as a metaphor for the limits on individual freedom. New Generation Thinker Sarah Dillon, from the University of St Andrews, looks at the roles for women which science fiction has imagined and asks is sci-fi sexist? Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival.
The audience at a rock concert adoring the star; a Pentecostalist congregation praising God; an athlete reaching the pitch of performance known as "the zone" - these can all be described as feelings of "ecstasy". Jules Evans, from Queen Mary, University of London, examines rationalist arguments about elation being a form of madness and asks whether it is beneficial or dangerous to feel ecstatic. Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio...
Defenders of traditional English language and grammar often present themselves as purists but New Generation Thinker John Gallagher, from Cambridge University, argues that we have always borrowed words and adapted phrases. His essay outlines the impact C16th and C17th global exploration and trade had on our native tongue. Recorded on Sunday 27th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival.
What do recent debates among medical ethicists and lawyers over male infant circumcision reveal about the different ways we view male and female bodies? Rebecca Steinfeld, from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, looks at changing attitudes to religious traditions involving genital cutting. Recorded on Sunday 27th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival.
Annie Besant promoted contraceptive advice to the Victorian working classes. In 1877 she was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. New Generation Thinker Fern Riddell, from King's Collge London, outlines Besant's arguments and explores the ensuing debates about respectability and sexual behaviour in 19th-century England. Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival.
What is the place of food and body image in contemporary culture? Lionel Shriver is the author of novels including We Need To Talk About Kevin and Big Brother, which depicts the impact of food obsession on family relationships. Dr Val Curtis from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is the author of Don't Look, Don't Touch: The Science Behind Revulsion. Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival, ...
As the Iceland Symphony Orchestra appear at the Proms, Radio 3's New Generation Thinker and expert in Nordic sagas Eleanor Rosamond Barraclough joins novelist Joanna Kavenna to discuss Icelandic culture with Ian Macmillan. This programme was recorded in front of an audience at The Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms.
Wilfred Owen is one of the greatest First World War writers. The poets Fred d'Aguiar and Michael Longley discuss the work of the poet whose poetry inspired Britten's War Requiem. This programme, is presented by Ian McMillan and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
Professor Sugata Mitra's pioneering experiments gave children in India access to computers to teach themselves and inspired the novel which became the film Slumdog Millionaire. He is now using retired volunteers in the UK to share their knowledge and guide children across the other side of the world. At the Free Thinking Festival he outlines the way he plans to use the $1 million 2013 Ted Prize to further his vision of "schools in the cloud". Presented by philip Dodd and recorded on Saturday 26t...
Can a map reveal too much? How do they direct our thinking? From ancient atlases to satnav and Google, maps continue to be a key planning tool, but how much are they now instruments of control? To discuss what the very word ‘mapping’ now means Rana Mitter is joined by Vanessa Lawrence CB, head of the Ordnance Survey and Professor Jerry Brotton, Professor of Renaissance Studies in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London. Recorded on Sunday 27th October 2013 in front of a live ...
Melbourne prides itself on being the 'cultural and sporting capital of Australia'. It's a UNESCO City of Literature. As the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform at tonight's Prom concert the publisher Carmen Callil, founder of Virago Press, and novelist Helen Fitzgerald discuss Melbourne. The programme is presented by Rana Mitter and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to atte...
Increasing resistance to antibiotics is a threat to Britain which could be as dangerous as terrorism. That's the argument put by Professor Dame Sally Davies in her Free Thinking lecture at Sage Gateshead. She is joined on stage by Professor Hugh Pennnington and Dr Andrew Sails to talk about strategies for combatting infection and improving the nation’s health. Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in an event hosted by Anne McElvoy in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead.
Award-winning novelist and poet Helen Dunmore and the writer Simon Heffer discuss the myths and realities behind the idea of the Lost Generation of World War 1. This programme, is presented by Rana Mitter and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
Nature writers Miriam Darlington and Horatio Clare join Rana Mitter to discuss the Scottish author of Ring of Bright Water Gavin Maxwell on his centenary. Readings by Scott Handy. This programme is presented by Rana Mitter and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
The current National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke and the painter Peter Blake celebrate the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas. The reader is Trystan Gravelle. This programme, is presented by Shahidha Bari and and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
The poet and playwright Tony Harrison talks to Matthew Sweet about his passionate commitment to the classics, poetic language and political writing over the last fifty years. This programme, presented by Matthew Sweet, was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
The poet Craig Raine discusses the ways in which borrowing and reshaping existing phrases is a feature of music and literature and why writers adopt a magpie approach to language. This programme, presented by Anne McElvoy, was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
On the centenary of Britain's entry into the First World War Dame Shirley Williams and Colonel Tim Collins introduce an anthology of poetry from the war. Recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music, before this evening's Prom, and featuring actors Roslyn Hill and Monty d'Inverno. This programme, is presented by Anne McElvoy and and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which...
Rana Mitter talks to the actors Janet Suzman and Alexandra Gilbreath about Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Both women have played the part of Kate -- both in acclaimed RSC productions and both made it their own. They'll be discussing the play's sexual politics and what Shakespeare has to say to audiences today. This programme was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to atten...
Poet and librettist Michael Symmons Roberts and broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles on the literature which inspired John Tavener from George Herbert and John Donne to Blake. This programme presented by Matthew Sweet and was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms.To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
The Booker prize winning novelist Pat Barker, author of the Regeneration Trilogy on the subject of the First World War, and the poet Owen Sheers discuss writers', musicians' and painters' responses to war including the work of Keith Douglas, UA Fanthorpe, David Jones, Alun Lewis and the paintings of CW Nevinson. The reader is Samuel West. This programme was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events wh...
Professor Rana Mitter discusses contemporary Chinese culture with a novelist and film maker Xiaolu Guo and Dr Katie Hill, an expert on Chinese Modern Art. The event was recorded in front of an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of BBC Proms. To find out further information about the events which are free to attended go to bbc.co.uk/proms
