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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

56:55

Are we all American now?

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/10/25

Does the reach of the USA and its cultural influence mean "we're all American now?" Anne McElvoy and her guests discuss the similarities and differences across the Anglosphere and think about the changing dynamics on the international stage. They are:Freddy Gray, Deputy Editor of the Spectator Magazine and host of the Americano podcast. Dr Katie McGettigan, Senior Lecturer in American Literature and co-editor of the Journal of American Studies. Amanda Taub writes The Interpreter, an explanatory

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56:54

Insiders & Outsiders

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/10/18

The philosopher Leo Strauss claimed that many of the great texts of Western philosophy can be read in two ways. There's the message intended for everybody, but also a deeper level, accessible only to those who can see it. Taking this as a starting point, Matthew Sweet grapples with the closed world of social media tribes, the challenges posed by conspiracy theory, and the history of thinking in allegorical symbols.With: Marianna Spring, the BBC's Disinformation Correspondent Lisa Bortolotti,

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56:16

Childhood and innocence

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/10/11

Can we still be idealistic about childhood? How do we square the impact of war, stories of sexual abuse, the impact of time spent on screens with the idea of children's experiences being about play, learning to be social, listening and creating stories ? Anne McElvoy's guests include:Katherine Rundell, author of the Waterstones book of 2023 Impossible Creatures, her series about children's literature is on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds next week. It's called The Lion, the Witch and the Wonder. Emily

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56:47

Reading & Empathy

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/10/04

"I never read novels" is something you hear people say. What is the point of reading - be it histories or fiction? Does it help us empathize with the situation of other people or shed insights into our historical moment? With the news story that university students these days are, apparently, unaccustomed to reading entire books, cover to cover, favouring excerpts, abridgements, and introductions and ahead of the biggest date in the publishing calendar (Super Thursday on Oct 10th)Shahidha Bari is

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56:38

The eternal dynamic of Rivalry, Fredric Jameson, the...

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/09/27

Sibling rifts, leadership battles in politics and history, philosophical schools of thoughts and their key players all come into our discussion of the way rivalry shapes the world. Roger Luckhurst reflects on the legacy of the American literary critic and philosopher Fredric Jameson who died earlier this week. Plus a report from the Warburg Institute Library which holds over 360,000 volumes available to scholars studying the afterlife of antiquity and the survival and transmission of

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56:56

Crisis & Decision

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/09/20

Climate, trust, politics, communication. Some would say we live in a period of crisis several areas of society and life. How can we make sense of the present moment, and where do we go from here?Plus, we hear about the short list for this year's Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize and ask what that tells us about scientific publishing.Matthew Sweet is joined byTimothy Morton, whose most recent book is Hell: In Search of a Christian EcologyJessica Frazier, Lecturer in the Study of Religion at

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56:38

Carl Schmitt, democracy and dictatorship

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/09/13

With the success of the far right Alternative for Deutschland party in the German elections, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris making their pitches to American voters to be their leader and the Conservatives in this country voting for their: we look at Carl Schmitt, the German political theorist of democracy, crisis and dictatorship, to see if he can help us make sense of the present moment.Anne McElvoy's guests are:Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston, is a British German politician. A former

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56:38

Carl Schmitt, democracy and dictatorship

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/09/13

With the success of the far right Alternative for Deutschland party in the German elections, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris making their pitches to American voters to be their leader and the Conservatives in this country voting for their: we look at Carl Schmitt, the German political theorist of democracy, crisis and dictatorship, to see if he can help us make sense of the present moment.Anne McElvoy's guests are: Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston, is a British German politician. A former

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56:58

Escapism

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/06/28

Travel, reading, cinema and psychedelic drugs are all means people have used to try to escape. But do they ever really lead us where we want them to? With the election looming, Glastonbury in full swing and lists of beach read suggestions starting to appear -Matthew Sweet discusses the difference between escape and escapism withNoreen Masud, Lecturer in Twentieth Century Literature at the University of Bristol and author of the memoir A Flat PlaceKirsty Sinclair Dootson, Lecturer in Film and Media

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56:36

The illusion of time, the summer solstice & the...

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/06/21

As the sun sets on the longest day of the year, Matthew Sweet talks to an eclectic group of guests about the illusion of time, the summer solstice and the philosophy of comedy. They are:Materials scientist & engineer; Director of the UCL Institute of Making; Author of Stuff Matters and other book Mark Miodownik. Philosopher Emily Herring who is about to publish the first English biography of the french philosopher Henri Bergson who was famous for his theory of time as well as his views on the

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56:39

History - the long and short of it

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/06/14

Histories spanning the Big Bang to the present, and the story of an entire continent have been written by two of the Free Thinking guests tonight. What insights do big histories bring and what is the value of focusing on a single family or object ? And how do these approaches apply when looking at policy and government. Matthew Sweet's guests are:Professor Peter Frankopan has written New Silk Roads and The Earth Transformed: An Untold HistoryAlison Light's most recent book of essays is called –

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56:55

Generations - D-Day - Global Instability

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/06/07

With D-day commemorations giving us images of "the finest generation" and discussion about how parties are targeting different age groups in the UK election, Anne McElvoy hosts a discussion looking at what divides and unites us in a fracturing world.Dr Eliza Filby - a historian of generational evolution and contemporary values and author of Inheritocracy and Generation Shift gives us the low down on boomers to Gen Alpha. Professor Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard

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56:45

The Insurrectionists' Guide to the Movies

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/31

The Insurrectionists' Guide to the Movies looking at some of the latest releases at the cinema and what they say about our culture society and democracy today. Matthew Sweet speaks to Financial Times columnist Stephen Bush, Critic and historian Kate Maltby, film curator Keith Shiri who has advised on a new Pan-African season at the British Film Institute called Tigritudes and Dr Sarah Jilani - an expert in Anglophone postcolonial literature and world film.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Tim

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57:00

Left and Right - still relevant in British and Global...

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/25

British politics has long been defined by the labels of left and right but the terms are now often seen as defunct with research showing voters increasingly struggle to identify policies as being from one wing or another. We look at the historical origins of the terms and whether it is parties, voters, or both who have shifted in recent years. Our guests, the cross bench peer Gisela Stuart who heads the Foreign Office Executive Agency Wilton Park, Author and broadcaster David Aaronovitch, right wing

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56:44

Positive & negative politics, "intellectual vices"...

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/21

Sir Richard Evans, Margaret Heffernan, Isabel Oakeshott, Quassim Cassam join Anne McElvoy to look at the ideas shaping our lives today. Are they optimists or pessimists ? How negative should we be in political campaigning, doomscrolling, parenting, writing reviews or giving academic feedback. What are intellectual vices and how might they help us think about truth and conspiracy theories? And "Have a nice day" - we look at the demand to perform a role in the workplace.Professor Sir Richard J Evans

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44:31

New Thinking: 2024’s New Generation Thinkers

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/16

Does reading really encourage empathy? Are we asked to perform a role when we walk into the workplace? How was early film and technicolour embraced for political ends? Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough finds out about the latest research being undertaken by ten academics chosen to work with the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council as the 2024 New Generation Thinkers. They'll be sharing their research on a series of BBC Radio 4 programmes across the coming year and here's a taster from the

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56:14

Life expectations, philosophy in the world, protest

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/10

Can we still expect a meaningful job, stable income, a chance of owning property? How have expectations changed and what is the place of protest? Matthew Sweet's guests this week are: David Willetts is a former Universities Minister and now a life peer. The Rt Hon Lord Willetts FRS is also current President of the Resolution Foundation, Chair of the UK Space Agency and a visiting Professor at King’s College London. His books include The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children's Future – And

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57:06

Winning & Losing, Plato Scroll, the Decline of Nightlife

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/05/04

Matthew Sweet talks about the philosophy of winning and losing with Professor Lea Ypi a political scientist at the London School of Economics and the journalist and author Peter Hitchens. They'll be joined by the lawyer Michael Mansfield KC who has headed some of the biggest legal cases in recent history - including the Birmingham Six, the Bloody Sunday massacre and the Hillsborough disaster and also by Cath Bishop a triple Olympian, former British diplomat, leadership and culture coach. Cath is the

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57:04

Kant today, Spice Girls Reunited, Impersonating an...

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/04/26

Marshmallows and Kant, ideas about girl power from Mary Wollstonecraft (born April 27th 1759) to the Spice girls; and galloping horses, sea-gull sounds and life as a goat. On today's Free Thinking Shahidha Bari is joined by literary historian Alexandra Reza, philosophers Angela Breitenbach, John Callanan and journalist Tim Stanley to look back at the week and discuss ideas about our relationship with birds and beasts; and how the philosophy of Immanuel Kant (born 22nd April 1724) outlined ideas

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43:32

New Thinking: Exploring the local

Arts & Ideas ·

2024/04/26

Women made up 10-15% of the workforce in the early days of the post office. Looking at a series of different records from the 17th century onwards, Sarah Ward Clavier has discovered stories about spying, how pubs, the links between pubs and post offices.Research suggests that communities with a local newspaper are more likely to vote in local elections. Rachel Matthews, who worked as a journalist in local news before turning to academia, explores the relationship between newspapers, readers, and

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2,061 results

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