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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

56:51

Decadence

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/04/25

Some people think we live in an age of decline. Matthew Sweet investigates, with guests including political journalist Tim Stanley, art critic Louisa Buck, Professor Jane Desmarais who is head of the decadence research centre at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Neville Morley, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter.Plus, Matthew will talk to satirical artist Cold War Steve about his depictions of decadence in contemporary Britain.Producer: Luke Mulhall

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56:27

The Middle Classes

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/03/28

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the impact of the shifting geo political and economic trends on the British class system with specialist guests.Muriel Zagha is a writer and critic and Author of Finding Monsieur Right and co-host of the podcast Garlic and Pearls. Lisa Holdsworth is a Leeds based TV script writer who has worked on amongst others Emmerdale, Midsomer Murders, Robin Hood, New Tricks and Waterloo Road. Her latest series Dreamers premiers on Channel 4 this weekend. Professor Sam Friedman

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56:52

Isolation

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/03/21

As Radio 4 marks the 5th anniversary of the first COVID lockdown, Free Thinking investigates one of the defining experiences of that period for many people: isolation. It's a word that entered the English language in the 18th century, and arguably its emergence as a concept marked a change in the way people saw their relationships with other people and the wider community, towards a more individualistic society. And yet there's a long history of religious mystics seeking solitude. From Robinson

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57:10

Evidence

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/03/14

Matthew Sweet and his guests discuss our shifting relationship with evidence from the law, to science, academic study and the paranormal. He's joined by Uncanny TV presenter Danny Robins, the former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption and author of The Challenges of Democracy and the Rule of Law, Dr Sarah Dillon from the faculty of English at the University of Cambridge. Dr Jonathan Egid philosopher at SOAS in London and Dr Anthony Milligan a philosopher at Kings College London.Producer: Lisa

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56:58

Uncertainty

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/03/07

Anne McElvoy and guests discuss the issue of uncertainty from scientific discovery and the space race to the shifting geopolitical landscape and how it can act as a catalyst for creativity. She's joined by the entrepreneur and author of Embracing Uncertainty, Margaret Heffernan, journalist and economist Liam Halligan, Astrophysicist Chris Lintott who also presents The Sky at Night, historian Timothy Garton Ash and Professor Victoria Donovan and author of Life in Spite of Everything: Tales from the

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56:45

A pinch of salt

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/02/28

Free Thinking looks at today's world with "a pinch of salt" tonight. From stories in the bible to desalination plants, preserving food to salt taxes: how does salt help us think about the past and present? We use phrases like "being worth your salt" or "dropping salt" meaning to spread rumours. With food writer Bee Wilson, materials scientist Mark Miodownik, the novelist and writer on folklore Zoe Gilbert and artist David Soin Tappeser. Plus, especially salty guest Baga Chipz.Matthew Sweet

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35:18

Malcolm X, life changes and flexible thinking

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/02/21

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss changing course in life, flexible thinking and keeping an open mind with writer and curator Ekow Eshun, philosopher Sophie Grace Chappell, journalist Stephen Bush, author Timandra Harkness & philosopher Richard BettProducer: Lisa Jenkinson

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56:47

All we need is love

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/02/14

From classical thinking to the romcom films in cinema today: Why do we yearn to find our "other half" but struggle with the reality of long term relationships? To discuss Rana Mitter is joined by:Dr Susie Orbach: a psychotherapist and author of Fat is a Feminist Issue as well as many other books Classicist Prof Armand D'Angour: he has just published a book about Plato's thinking on love - How to Talk about Love: An Ancient Guide for Modern Lovers Dr Vittoria Fallanca: She has new research on the

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56:47

Repetition

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/02/07

Matthew Sweet with art critic TJ Clark, who has written about the importance of repeated viewing for appreciating a work of art; philosopher and film historian Lucy Bolton, who's seen a re-issue of Chantel Akerman's film Jeanne Dielman, which documents the crushing routine of a Belgian housewife; philosopher and theologian Clare Carlisle, who has written on the philosopher Kierkegaard, who discussed repetition as a major feature structuring human life, and historian and educationalist Anthony

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50:25

Decision Making

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/01/31

Matthew Sweet and guests talk about about the tools and processes of decision making today and through history.Justine Greening is a former Secretary of State for Education who is now working on social mobility and levelling up. Professor Bill Sherman heads the Warburg Institute, which has just opened an exhibition about tarot which the filmmaker and magik scholar K A Laity has visited. Gary Stevenson is a former financial trader and the author of The Trading Game, and the philosopher Constantine

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56:39

Diaries

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/01/24

“A diary is not only a text: it is a behaviour, a way of life, of which the text is a by-product", says the French theorist Philipe Lejeune. From ancient Babylon to journalling today, politicians' jottings and the notes made by eighteenth century writers like Mary Hamilton and Fanny Burney. Matthew Sweet discusses diaries with curator Irving Finkel, literary historian Sophie Coulombeau, political commentator Michael Crick and writer Oliver Burkeman, whose latest book is Meditation For Mortals, plus

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57:07

Knowing When To Stop

Arts & Ideas ·

2025/01/10

What tactics are justified in political campaigning from suffragettes to climate action? When is an art work finished? Do the moderation of Aristotle and Epicurus offer us a way of navigating life? Christmas - a time for panto, over-eating and gaudy decorations - was your festive season overwhelming or excessive? The writer and broadcaster Andrew Doyle, the classicist Edith Hall, comedian Rob Newman, environmentalist Rupert Read, and performer and suffrage historian Naomi Paxton join Shahidha Bari

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56:10

Beer, Crisps and the British pub

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/12/20

What makes the life, character and imagery of the British pub? Anne McElvoy talks to Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin, author Natalie Whittle whose book "Crunch: An Ode to Crisps" was published in October, Professor Philip Howell who has written about the history of the pub, Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen from theSchool of Archaeology & Ancient History at the University of Leicester who specialises in Viking history and BBC journalist Ben Wright who has written about the history of drinking in British

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57:04

Luck, predictability and superstition

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/12/13

Shahidha Bari and guests discuss luck, fortune and superstition. How much truth is there in the idea of making your own luck and why does supersition still play such an important part in many peoples' lives. To discuss this and more are: Dr Christian Busch author of the Serendipity Mindset, Bobby Seagull the maths wizard who shot to fame on University Challenge, Timandra Harkness the author and journalist who writes about the intersection of tech and society, Dr Kate Tomas a philosopher and

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56:56

How we think about evil

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/12/06

Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including Dr Jack Symes, philosopher at Durham University; Professor Lyndsey Stonebridge, Interdisciplinary Chair of Humanities & Human Rights at the University of Birmingham; novelist Ruth Ware; Dr Oliver Scott Curry, Chief Science Officer at Kindness.org and Research Affiliate in the Anthropology Department at the University of Oxford; and campaigner Zrinka Bralo, Director of Migrants Organize.Topics include the classical philosophical problem of evil, the

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56:51

Gifts and Gratitude

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/11/29

When you give a gift, do you expect anything in return? And if so, does that mean it was really about you all along? Could reciprocity form the basis of society? Or are we under no obligation to share what is essentially ours? Shahidha Bari investigates gifts and philanthropy, gratitude and greediness, with Elizabeth Oldfield – Former director of Theos, the thinktank of religion and culture, and the host of The Sacred podcast. Rhodri Davies – founder and Director of the thinktank Why

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56:39

Diplomacy from Ancient Greece to Trump

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/11/22

Anne McElvoy and guests discuss the art of diplomacy from Ancient Greece to the Tudors and today's shifting international security as well as how its portrayed on screen in dramas like the BBC's Wolf Hall and the Netflix series The Diplomat. Her guests include:Former EU and US Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald . Bronwen Maddox from the think tank Chatham House. Historian Dr Clare Jackson who is the author of Devil Land England Under Seige 1588-1688. Dr Holly Furneaux, Professor at Cardiff University

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56:54

Cosy comfort reading or Nietzsche?

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/11/15

A cosy cottage with warming fireplaces, comfort food, crime dramas on tv: Matthew Sweet and guests discuss art, literature and drama that are comfortable to engage with and how difficulty, a dedication to campaigning or the reading of Nietzsche might disrupt this. Does a theatre critic tell audiences they are in for a thought provoking show? And what role does it play in social and politial thinking today? Our guests include:Deborah Sugg Ryan, writer and broadcaster and Professor Emerita of Design

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56:54

Milton and our modern world

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/11/08

Political upheaval, the role of the press and free speech, attitudes towards divorce: the poet John Milton thought and wrote about all of these issues which also concern us today. Milton (9th Dec 1608-8th Nov 1674) might be best known to us today as the man behind the epic poem Paradise Lost, dictated after he had become blind, and published in 1674, but he was also the author of The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates and Eikonoklastes (1649) which examined the right of the people to hold authority to

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57:10

Ghosts, death and ecstatic states

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/11/01

With Day of the Dead, Halloween and All Souls Day being marked in different countries around the world - Shahidha Bari's guests discuss the belief in ghosts and the search for meaning in mysticism. They are:Dr Chris Harding is a cultural historian of Japan, India and East-West connections and is based at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of The Japanese and Japan Story.Dr Hetta Howes is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at City, University of London and Deputy Programme Director

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2,061 results

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