Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
The former Director-General of the Security Service (MI5), Eliza Manningham-Buller gives the second of her BBC Reith Lectures 2011. In this lecture called " Security" she argues that the security and intelligence services in a democracy have a good record of protecting and preserving freedom.
The former Director-General of the Security Service (MI5), Eliza Manningham-Buller gives the first of her BBC Reith Lectures 2011 called " Terror." On the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the United States on September 11th she reflects on the lasting significance of that day. Was it a "terrorist" crime, an act of war or something different?
The pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, examines what drives people to dissent in the second of the 2011 Reith Lecture series. 'Securing Freedom'. Reflecting on the history of her own party, the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, examines the meaning of opposition and dissident. She also explains her reasons for following the path of non-violence.
The Burmese pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, explores what freedom means in the first of the 2011 Reith Lecture series, 'Securing Freedom'. Reflecting on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, she explores the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.
THE REITH LECTURES 2010 4. The Runaway World In the last Reith Lecture of 2010, Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, explores how fast our world is moving in the 21st century. Speaking at the Open University in Milton Keynes, the home of online learning, he acknowledges how the internet and other technologies have transformed our lives. Now he calls on politicians and other authorities to provide the funding that will keep the UK among the world's front runners in sc...
3. What We'll Never Know In the third of this year's Reith Lectures, recorded at the Royal Society during its 350th anniversary year, its President Martin Rees continues to explore the challenges facing science in the 21st century. He stresses there are things that will always lie beyond our sphere of comprehension and we should accept these limits to our knowledge. On the other hand, there are things we've never even dreamt of that will one day be ours to explore and understand. The outcome of ...
Lecture 2: 'Surviving the Century' In the second of this year's Reith Lectures, recorded for the first time in Wales in the National Museum Cardiff, Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, continues to explore the challenges facing science in the 21st century. Our planet is coming under increasing strain from climate change, population explosion and food shortages. How can we use science to help us solve the crisis that we are moving rapidly towards, as we use up our na...
Lecture 1: ''The Scientific Citizen' In the first of this year's Reith Lectures, entitled Scientific Horizons, Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, Master of Trinity College and Astronomer Royal, explores the challenges facing science in the 21st century. We are increasingly turning to government and the media to explain the risks we face. But in the wake of public confusion over issues like climate change, the swine 'flu vaccine and, more recently, Iceland's volcanic ash cloud, Martin R...
Professor Michael Sandel delivers four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Sandel makes the case for a moral and civic renewal in democratic politics. Recorded at George Washington University in Washington DC, he calls for a new politics of the common good and says that we need to think of ourselves as citizens, not just consumers.
Professor Michael Sandel delivers four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Recorded at the Centre for Life in Newcastle, Sandel considers how we should use our ever-increasing scientific knowledge. New genetic technologies hold great promise for treating and curing disease, but how far we should go in using them to manipulate muscles, moods and gender?
Professor Michael Sandel delivers four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Sandel considers the role of moral argument in politics. He believes that it is often not possible for government to be neutral on moral questions and calls for a more engaged civic debate about issues such as commercial surrogacy and same-sex marriage.
Michael Sandel, Harvard Professor of Government, delivers four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Sandel considers the expansion of markets and how we determine their moral limits. Should immigrants, for example, pay for citizenship? Should we pay schoolchildren for good test results, or even to read a book? He calls for a more robust public debate about such questions, as part of a 'new citizenship'....
Chinese Vistas: Jonathan Spence lectures about China. Recorded at Lord's cricket ground. Spence discusses how Chinese ideas of sport and athleticism have slowly evolved over the centuries, from languorous courtship and formalised martial arts to the demanding arenas of team sports and the ultimate Olympic challenges that China will controversially host in August.
Chinese Vistas: Jonathan Spence lectures about China. Recorded at The Asia Society in New York. Spence explores the two centuries in which the United States gradually moved from its position as a dominant beacon of freedom and democracy for China, to becoming a more demanding global rival during and since World War II. Is America right to be wary of the emerging superpower or can the two economic and military giants co-exist happily?
Jonathan Spence lectures about China. Spence examines China's relations with the United Kingdom through three centuries of trade, warfare, unequal treaties and missionary endeavours that shaped their mutual perceptions.
Chinese Vistas: In a lecture recorded at the British Library in London, Jonathan Spence reflects on China's most enduring thinker, Confucius. Who was this man, what did he believe in, and what contemporary relevance does his message have, nearly 2,500 years after his death? The Confucian message has survived countless attacks and is being recycled by the Chinese Communist leadership today.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers the last of five lectures. He calls for a new Enlightenment to help make globalisation work for all and lays out a blueprint for global co-operation.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers the fourth of five lectures. He considers the challenges of extreme poverty and the worry of the developed world which fears for its own prosperity.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers the third of five lectures from the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York. He talks about the need for international co-operation.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers the second lecture from the University in Beijing. He discusses China's emergence as an economic superpower and asks what this means for the challenges ahead.
Jeffrey Sachs delivers the first of five lectures, recorded at The Royal Society, London. Sachs outlines the challenges facing mankind and argues that we must adapt to the new age.
This year's lecturer is Daniel Barenboim, who has become known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. His skill as a conductor and a musician has led him to world recognition and the appointment as Chief Conductor for Life by the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also won a Grammy for his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser and received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize for his work with the Staatskapelle Berlin. In his final lecture, delivered in Jerusalem's International YMCA, Daniel Bar...
This year's lecturer is Daniel Barenboim, who has become known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. His skill as a conductor and a musician has led him to world recognition and the appointment as Chief Conductor for Life by the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also won a Grammy for his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser and received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize for his work with the Staatskapelle Berlin. In his fourth Reith Lecture, delivered from Jerusalem, Daniel Barenboim talks...
This year's lecturer is Daniel Barenboim, who has become known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. His skill has led him to world recognition and the appointment as Chief Conductor for Life by the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also won a Grammy for his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser and received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize for his work with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Speaking from Berlin, Daniel Barenboim argues in his third Reith Lecture that classical music is not an exc...
This year's lecturer is Daniel Barenboim, who has become known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. His skill as a conductor and a musician has led him to world recognition and the appointment as Chief Conductor for Life by the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also won a Grammy for his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser and received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize for his work with the Staatskapelle Berlin. In his second lecture, delivered from Chicago, Daniel Barenboim argues that w...
This year's lecturer is Daniel Barenboim, who has become known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. His skill as a musician and a conductor has led him to world recognition and the appointment as Chief Conductor for Life by the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has also won a Grammy for his recording of Wagner's Tannhäuser and received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize for his work with the Staatskapelle Berlin. In the first of his five Reith Lectures, Daniel Barenboim explores the physic...
This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers. Alec Broers is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. In his fifth and final lecture, Lord Broers explores the responsibilities of the technologist and questions their role in society. Who regulates technology? Is it up to the individual technologist or for companies, or governments to decide? He also examines the areas where we are likely to see the ...
This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers. He is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. He was a pioneer of nanotechnology and the first person to use the scanning electron microscope for the fabrication of micro-miniature structures. In his fourth Reith Lecture, Lord Broers examines nanotechnology - the manipulation of matter at an atomic or molecular scale. He believes it has captured the pu...
This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers. He is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. In his third Reith lecture Lord Broers argues that profound changes have taken place in the development of ideas and their translation in to the market place. This innovation revolution demands a new approach to research and product development. Some argue that technology threatens our way of life and must ...
This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers. He is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. In the second of his Reith Lectures, Lord Broers explores the origins of modern technologies and argues that global collaboration is essential for success. He argues that advancement must take in to account, social, environmental, economic, and political factors on a world level.
