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BBC Radio 4


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.


Arts & Ideas

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 spritiual mentor and the Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies who shares her thoughts on the role luck plays in sport.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Luck, predictability and superstition

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 the
School 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 politics.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Beer, Crisps and the British pub

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 to discuss when enough is enough, knowing when to stop and how far should free speech go.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Knowing When To Stop

“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 the philosopher Maximillian De Gaynesford.
And, as Radio 4 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Russell Hoban with a reading of his novel Turtle Diary as Book At Bedtime, writer Sonia Overall discusses his work.
Producer: Luke Mulhall

Diaries

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 Sandis is the author of The Things We Do and Why We Do Them.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Decision Making

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 Seldon. Plus composer, dramatist and regular silent film accompanist Neil Brand will be at the piano.

TJ Clark's new collection of Essays is called Those Passions: On Art and Politics.
The BFI is hosting a season of films by Chantal Akerman which runs for 2 months in London with further screenings at selected cinemas - and the 2k restoration of the film Jeanne Dielmann is in cinemas across the UK
Anthony Seldon's books include Truss At 10: 49 Days That Changed Britain; Johnson at 10: The Inside Story and The Fourth Education Revolution
Book by Anthony Seldon
Clare Carlisle's book is called Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Soren Kierkegaard

Producer: Luke Mulhall

Repetition

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 opposite figure to Eros - Anteros - the god of requited love, and the avenger of unrequited love, and his place in the history of philosophy
Catherine Wheatley: She is Professor of Film and Visual Culture at Kings College London
Mary Harrod: She is Professor of French and Screen Studies at the University of Warwick.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

All we need is love

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 Bett

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Malcolm X, life changes and flexible thinking

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 hosts.

David Soin Tappeser, along with Himali Singh Soin, is one half of Hylozoic/Desires, whose exhibition Salt Cosmologies is at Somerset House in London until the 27th April.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

A pinch of salt

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 Ukrainian East.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Uncertainty

The Light of Asia: A History of Western Fascination with the East is the new book from New Generation Thinker and historian Christopher Harding. In Passions of the Soul, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams looks at the classics of Eastern Christian writing. At Compton Verney in Warwickshire, the artist Gayle Chong Kwan is preparing to unveil ‘shrines’ made up of newly cast bronze offerings, incorporating references to Chinese, Taoist and Buddhist cultures, as well as focusing on ideas around food, soil and the body. Rana Mitter hosts the conversation.

Producer: Julian Siddle

The Taotie runs at Compton Verney from 21 March 2024 – 31 March 2026
On the Free Thinking programme website you can find more collections of conversations exploring religious belief, and South and East Asian culture

East West religious connections

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