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PODCAST

Arts & Ideas

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.

society & culture

All Episodes

56:52

Rocks

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/11/21

Rocks have shaped the fates of civilizations and the study of geology has transformed our intellectual landscape. In the 19th century developments in earth sciences led to the scientific rejection of Biblical timescales in favour of the far greater spans of geological time, which opened the way for Darwin's development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. More recently, historians have been keen to incorporate factors like access to natural resources and major events like earthquakes and

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56:56

Revenge and reconciliation

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/11/14

What function do ceremonies like Armistice Day perform? How do we balance desires for reconciliation with feelings about revenge? How we remember wars and what commemoration means is much less settled than we might think. And that throws up questions, in times when conflicts are spreading close to us in western Europe, of how wars end and how we balance our concern for justice and peace with darker impulses?Joining presenter Anne McElvoy for BBC Radio 4's roundtable discussion about the ideas

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56:49

The end of civilisations and societies

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/11/07

"Doom-prepping" tech billionaires have been in the headlines recently and whether it’s ecological crisis or a breakdown in law and order, fear of societal collapse seems to lurk in the background of a lot of discussion in politics and wider society. But what does it mean? When has it happened in the past? Can we avoid it – or survive it – in the future? Joining presenter Shahidha Bari for Radio 4's roundtable discussion about the ideas shaping our world are:Luke Kemp from the Cambridge Centre for

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57:02

Rational and Irrational decision making

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/10/24

From economics to dreams: Anne McElvoy and guests consider the value of irrationality. How often is emotion, instinct and unsound thinking behind the decisions taken by governments, financial markets and citizens? And does it matter if long term strategic thinking relying on calm assessments of the trade offs, conventional wisdom and the lessons of experience take a back seat. Is there a value in irrationality? Guests include: Bronwen Maddox, Director and CEO of Chatham House, the international

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56:31

Traditions, roots and local pride

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/10/17

From military ceremonies to folk customs - can traditions really provide an answer to nationalism and boost local pride? Former MP Penny Mordaunt is publishing a book called Pomp and Circumstance: Why Britain's Traditions Matter written with Chris Lewis. She's one of Matthew Sweet's guests in the Free Thinking studio alongsideSunder Katwala, author of How to be a patriot: Why love of country can end our very British culture war. He is the director of British Future which conducted the biggest-ever

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58:00

The status of Science

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/10/10

Science is one of the major sources of authority in society today. Scientists develop technologies to make our lives easier and more comfortable. They fight diseases, they have identified and are helping to combat climate change. Yet developments like AI, and some areas of genetic science, seem to raise ethical dilemmas that scientists on their own can't address. And at a time when the authority of 'experts' has been challenged, where does that leave the authority of scientists? Shahidha Bari

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56:58

The Good Life

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/10/03

What does living a good life involve? Michael Rosen's new book is called Good Days and offers suggestions to brighten our daily lives. Dr Sophie Scott-Brown is a research fellow at St Andrews' Institute of Intellectual History. The Rev'd Fergus Butler-Gallie has spent time working in the Czech republic and South Africa and ministering in parishes in Liverpool and London. His most recent book is Twelve Churches: An Unlikely History of the Buildings that made Christianity. Dr Rachel Wiseman lectures

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56:44

Finding my tribe

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/09/26

In party conference season, we look at what bonds party members and what it means to create a new network with its own shared beliefs and rituals. What light can the big thinkers from the worlds of anthropology and sociology shed? From political tribes to criminal gangs, from social media to social class - how do shared beliefs, rituals, rules and values bond us together - and pull us apart?Anne McElvoy is joined by Kit Davis, emeritus professor of anthropology at the School of Oriental and African

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56:58

Friendship

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/07/11

The French philosopher Michel Foucault though friendship could be one of the most subversive relationships around. Our friends can be the most important people in our lives. But managing friendships can be hard work too. Matthew Sweet is joined by a psychotherapist, a historian, a philosopher, a literary historian, and a film critic to discuss the history, politics, and psychology of friendship.Tiffany Watt Smith is the author of Bad Friend: A Century of Revolutionary FriendshipsSusie Orbach's

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57:07

Censorship, editing and self-censorship

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/07/04

Shahidha Bari looks at censorship, editing and self-censorship with guests including historian of China, Rana Mitter, Jemimah Steinfeld of Index on Censorship and Nigel Warburton, host of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Amelia Fairney discusses her research on sensitivity readers and the conversations that take place in publishing houses. And, Nicola Wilson, who’s been studying reading recommendations from The Book Society which operated in the UK between 1929 and 1968. The book selectors sometimes

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56:21

Christian faith, politics and culture

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/27

Anne McElvoy and guests explore the intersections between Christian faith and political decision-making and look at some recent dramas which explore the impact of belief.Chine McDonald is director of the Christian Think Tank Theos, Mark Lawson is a writer, broadcaster and theatre critic of Catholic journal The Tablet, Prof Anna Rowlands is St Hilda Professor of Catholic Social Thought & Practice at the University of Durham, Dafydd Mills Daniel is a Lecturer in Divinity at the University of St

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56:44

Language

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/20

Journalists Peter Hitchens and Oliver Kamm, radio presenter and comedian Ellis James, languages expert Ross Perlin, Diana Sutton director of The Bell Foundation and podcaster and academic Reetika Revathy Subramanian join Matthew Sweet for a conversation about how language unites and divides us.Ross Perlin's book Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues was the winner of the British Academy Book prize and he is in London for the British Academy Summer showcase.Reetika Revathy

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56:56

Failure

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/13

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." The words of Samuel Beckett from a 1983 short story Worstward Ho inspire a Free Thinking conversation about failure chaired by Matthew Sweet. His guests are:Cath Bishop rowed for Britain in the Olympics, winning a silver medal and worked as a diplomat and business coach. She has written a book called The Long Win and co-hosts the Inside Out Culture Podcast with Colin Ellis which explores what can go wrong from business to

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56:59

Podcasting difficult histories

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/06

Personal Identity is at the heart of contemporary culture. Political philosophies are built around it and family history is a hobby undertaken by hundreds of thousands. Understanding where you came from is seen as central to understanding who you are. But what if the things that are uncovered are uncomfortable, upsetting or even life-changing?Matthew Sweet is joined at the Hay Festival by three writers who have hosted podcasts which raise these questions – Joe Dunthorne, whose memoir Children of

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56:51

Common Sense

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/04

What do we mean by 'common sense'?In 1925 the philosopher GE Moore wrote a Defence of Common Sense which argued against philosophical idealism, on the grounds that it seemed to deny a set of propositions that he claimed were indisputably true. His colleague Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote a detailed response to Moore's paper, and its influence extended into the work of contemporaries like Susan Stebbing. How do we understand common sense now? What role does common sense play in politics? Matthew Sweet's

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57:00

Power: A User's Guide

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/06/04

Political power can take many forms, from the top-down model of the Roman Empire, to operating in the democratic politics of today, to the possibilities offered by new technologies for more horizontal power structures in the future.Matthew Sweet is joined on a stage at the Hay Festival by historian Tom Holland, whose new translation of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars examines Roman power politics from the inside; Guto Harri, who saw the inside workings of power as Downing Street Director of

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56:41

WOLVES

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/05/23

Wolves were once hunted and persecuted to the point of near extinction but are now enjoying a come back across Europe, if not the UK. What can explain the way they've been targeted, and even demonised, given the low risk they pose to human beings? Shahidha Bari talks to Adam Weymouth, author of Lone Wolf, which describes his journey tracking a wolf called Slavc across the Alps, folklore experts Zoe Gilbert and Daisy Black, the environmentalist, Ben Goldsmith and Brian Zimmerman, the Director of

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56:51

Political Visions

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/05/16

What is the role of vision in politics? Must politicians have a vision of what kind of society they’re working towards, ultimately? What kind of role does this vision play in the day-to-day practice of working politicians? Or is this a misunderstanding of the nature of politics?We mark the anniversary of the landmark text of modern libertarianism, Anarchy, State & Utopia, by Robert Nozick. Anne McElvoy is joined by the politician Gisela Stuart, General Secretary of the Fabian Society Joe

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56:45

Peace

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/05/09

On the 8th May 1945, the Allies declared victory over Nazi Germany. How has war and the threat of war shaped society in the intervening years? Do 'war' and 'peace' mean the same things, 80 years on?Matthew Sweet is joined by political scientist David Runciman, peace negotiator Gabrielle Rifkind, historian Ashleigh Percival-BorleyProducer: Luke Mulhall

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56:20

Community

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/05/02

Post local elections and pre VE day anniversary events across the UK, Shahidha Bari explores ideas about community. Mike Savage, Professor of Sociology at the LSE, explains how social capital enables networks and bonds among people. Selina Todd, Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, discusses the fracturing of working class community, community theatre and the role of women in forging connections. Phillip Blond, the Director of ResPublica and creator of the term, Red Toryism,

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2,061 results

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