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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

BBC Radio 4

Conversations about tomorrow, from Today.

Every week Amol Rajan talks to radicals, pioneers and innovators from all over the world. From populism and climate change, to economics and AI... How can their radical ideas help you win the future?

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan will be published on Thursdays on BBC Sounds. It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursdays at 11pm. Visualised versions of the podcast will also be available on BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast.

The Today Podcast

This week, Amol sits down with Lord Richard Layard, the author, economist, and Labour peer who has spent decades making the case for happiness and wellbeing. He successfully helped implement talking therapy to the NHS, and was a key figure in persuading the UK government to measure wellbeing.

But he wants to go further - in this conversation, Lord Layard outlines why he wants happiness to become the main objective of all government policy, and argues that this radical change would even pay for itself.

But what actually are happiness and wellbeing? How can we make ourselves happier? And why are young people less happy than ever before? 

GET IN TOUCH 
 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 
 
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. 
 
Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper. 
 
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray and Oscar Pearson. Technical production was by Jonny Baker. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. The series producer is Rufus Gray.

Happiness Rules: Should Wellbeing Dictate Government Policy? (Lord Richard Layard)

Oisín Rogers takes your questions on how pubs can not only survive, but thrive. In the main episode we heard Oisín’s radical ideas about why he thinks pubs are essential not just for our history and identity, but also for the problems of the modern age. 

Today, Oisín considers the old-fashioned pub customs some people cherish and others find faintly terrifying: no laptops, no swearing, no sprawling groups and even a landlord who is not desperately pleased to see you. Are these traditions part of what makes a proper pub special, or a route to making it irrelevant? 

And as pubs close while bars continue to evolve, Oisin and Amol tackle the chicken-and-egg question: has Britain changed its drinking culture and left pubs behind, or has the loss of pubs changed the way Britain socialises? 

Plus, what small touches can publicans do for free that will give patrons an unforgettable experience and keep them coming back? 

GET IN TOUCH 
 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 
 
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. 

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and he hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC, and the editor of The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray, Oscar Pearson, and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Leona Gasper. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. The series producer is Rufus Gray.

Should Phones Be Banned in Pubs? (Your Radical Questions with Oisín Rogers)

The British pub has played a huge part in our lives for hundreds of years: it’s a place to eat, drink, grieve, flirt, celebrate and put the world to rights. Yet thousands have disappeared, and many more are fighting to stay open. 

This week, Amol speaks to Oisín Rogers, co-founder of The Devonshire in Soho. For Oisín, saving pubs isn’t just about nostalgia - it’s about defending the everyday places that make communities feel less isolated and more human. 

He’s got some radical ideas on how to save the pub but, as drinking habits change, should we be saving them at all? And what is the reality outside of London where the economic viability of pubs is increasingly under scrutiny?

GET IN TOUCH: 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday. 

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray, Oscar Pearson, and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Joe Wilkinson. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The series producer is Rufus Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Last Call for the Local: Are Old Pubs the Solution to Modern Crises? (Oisín Rogers)

This week, Shiv Malik, the man behind the proposals for ‘Forest City 1’, takes your questions. He’s a former investigative journalist turned campaigner: instead of writing another book about Britain’s housing crisis, he’s trying to build his way out of it. 

Forest City is his ambitious pitch for Britain’s first new city in more than 50 years: a million-person settlement east of Cambridge, with around 400,000 homes, new rail links and thousands of acres of new woodland.

We hear Shiv talk about his own background and credentials, whether ‘Forest City’ is actually affordable, and if people can shift their mindset in favour of a new kind of city living. Plus, what will Shiv’s “beautiful” new homes actually look like?

GET IN TOUCH:
WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. 

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He also hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and editor of The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray, Oscar Pearson, and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Jonathan Greer. Technical production was by Leona Gasper. The series producer is Rufus Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Can Britain Change Its Ways on Housing? (Your Radical Questions with Shiv Malik)

This week, Amol is joined by the author and journalist Shiv Malik, to discuss his plan to build a new mega-city from scratch in East Anglia. 

In 2010 Shiv Malik wrote a book called the Jilted Generation, which argued that anyone born since 1979 has been robbed of their future because of how expensive home ownership has become. 

Now, he’s dedicating his life to a plan for a new city that he thinks will save Britain, and prove that we can be builders again.

Shiv wants to build ‘Forest City’ on 45,000 acres of farmland in East Anglia. His vision is one of Canary Wharf style sky-scrapers surrounded by England’s largest nature reserve of 12,000 acres, with 400,000 affordable homes for one million people.

The ambitious project has got some big economists and architects very excited. But people living in the proposed area are extremely upset by the prospect, with some experts saying it isn’t even logistically possible.

We put those challenges to Shiv, and find out why he thinks that his radical idea is necessary not just for housing British people, but also rebuilding British ambition.

GET IN TOUCH:
 
- WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
- Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday.

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray, Oscar Pearson, and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Leona Gasper. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The series producer is Rufus Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

The Great British Housing Crisis: Is a Brand New Mega-City the Answer? (Shiv Malik)

Kate Raworth believes that mainstream economists have got it wrong for decades. For her, reducing everything to a simple measure of gross domestic product and increasing that number every year is a huge mistake that is harming both people and planet. 

In 2017 she proposed a radical alternative in a book called ‘Doughnut Economics’. It proposes a new economic model that priortises social and environmental needs instead of how much we produce and consume. 

Many of you asked us to invite her on the podcast, and you've also sent in your questions - so we put them to her. 

We get Kate’s view on whether it's possible to build long term consensus for her approach at a time when people want short term solutions and whether there is a better metric to measure economic success. We also hear her assessment of universal basic income, and a former Radical guest challenges Kate’s fundamental beliefs on economic growth. 

GET IN TOUCH 
 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 
 
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. 
 
Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Oscar Pearson and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Daniel Raza. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The series producer is Rufus Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Is Our Idea of Economic Success Completely Broken? (Your Radical Questions with Kate Raworth)

What if growth wasn’t the main goal for economic prosperity? Kate Raworth, the author and economist behind Doughnut Economics, tells Amol why she thinks that measuring success by GDP growth is unsustainable, immoral, and an unfit economic model for the 21st century. Kate’s thesis goes against centuries of economic consensus and has radical ideas for how to overhaul the system by prioritising nature and wellbeing. She argues that real abundance is possible, but only if we learn from nature and live within the planet’s limits. 

GET IN TOUCH: 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday. 

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Oscar Pearson and Julian Paszkiewicz. Digital production was by Daniel Raza. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The series producer is Rufus Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

The End of Endless Growth: Should We Put the Brakes on Economic Expansion? (Kate Raworth)

This week, Amol is joined by Ben Cohen, one half of the team behind Ben & Jerry's ice cream, who stopped by on his way to the South by Southwest festival to answer your questions. They include queries on whether ethics is more important to business success than a good product? Can companies be trusted to fulfil corporate responsibilities without government oversight? And how does he square his ethical stance with the fact that his ice cream is an ultra processed food?

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Tom Smithard and Oscar Pearson. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Could Ben & Jerry's Be Created Today? (Your Radical Questions with Ben Cohen)

Amol is back from his stint in the Celebrity Traitors castle. This week, while in town for the South by Southwest festival, Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's drops by the Radical studio to talk about what took his ice cream company from a single store in rural America into a billion-dollar business. 

Ben Cohen argues that most corporations have trained people to believe profit and purpose are from separate worlds – while he says that a company’s values should be as important to its mission as making money. Cohen makes the case that consumers are not just shoppers – they are citizens with wallets. 

He criticises companies that pay lip-service to that through short-term social media campaigns backing the trendy topic of the day, without embedding those values into their business model. But in an age when many companies are dropping their principles when the politics changes, can business really be a force for good – or does purpose melt away when profits are at stake? 

GET IN TOUCH 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday. 

Amol Rajan presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and hosts University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was the BBC’s media editor and the editor of The Independent newspaper. 

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Tom Smithard and Oscar Pearson. Digital production was by Leona Gasper. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Business Reimagined: Should Firms Have a Purpose Beyond Profit? (Ben & Jerry’s Ben Cohen)

The FT’s John Burn-Murdoch stands in for Amol, joined this week by the immunologist and geneticist Professor Sir John Bell. After talking about the radical change being ushered in by successive medical breakthroughs on the main podcast, Sir John takes your questions on implications of this profound change. 

Will we see only wealthy people being able to benefit from these revolutionary treatments? What impact will the Trump administration have on the advance of medical science? And just how close are we to effectively curing cancer? 
 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk 
 
Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday. 
 
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray with Anna Budd and Oscar Pearson. Technical production was by Stephen Bailey. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Could Ben & Jerry's Be Created Today? (Your Radical Questions with Ben Cohen)

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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