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BBC Radio 4

Conversations about the global forces reshaping our world and the radical ideas that could define the future.

Radical is a twice-weekly podcast where pioneering thinkers, bold innovators and influential voices explore the ideas, trends and breakthroughs transforming society. From politics and climate change to economics and artificial intelligence, each episode tackles the biggest challenges facing our world, and the solutions that could help shape what's next.

LISTEN: 
Listen to Radical every Monday and Thursday on BBC Sounds. You can also listen on your smart speaker - just say: "Ask BBC Sounds to play Radical." Available on most smart speakers.

GET IN TOUCH:
- Send us a message or voice note on WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480.
- Email: Radical@bbc.co.uk
- Or join the conversation using #BBCRadical.

The Today Podcast

This week, guest presenter Sophia Smith Galer speaks to David Runciman, a podcaster and former politics academic, about his radical proposition to lower the voting age to six.

It’s a position that has been met with laughter, scorn, and even anger, but he believes it’s not just in accordance with our democratic principles - it could also help give our stale and fractious democracy a much-needed shot in the arm. David talks us through the history of the arguments about suffrage (some of which have echoes now in the debate around children), his work talking to children in schools about politics and voting, and how he thinks his radical proposal could shake-up democracy.

Next week, John Burn-Murdoch talks to the conservationist Derek Gow, one of the country’s leading Rewilders, who argues that we should be reintroducing indigenous but long-vanished species to the UK countryside.

We’ll be putting your radical questions to Derek for a Q&A episode, so please get in touch.

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

Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday. 

Series Producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Nathan Gower, Ivana Davidovic
Digital Producer: Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical Producer: Philip Bull
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham

Votes for Six-Year-Olds: Could Child Suffrage Revive Democracy? (David Runciman)

Writer Lamorna Ash, author of Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, answers Your Radical Questions. In the main episode, Lamorna told James Marriott what she discovered while travelling around Britain and meeting young Christians across the religious and political spectrum. Now, you ask her why some people under 40 are finding faith in older and more ritualistic churches, and whether Christianity is beginning to feel countercultural. 

Lamorna is also challenged on whether Christianity offers genuine help to people experiencing psychological distress, or if it allows them to surrender their agency. And have modern forms of spirituality, from tarot and astrology to manifestation and energy, made a return to traditional religion less likely? 

 GET IN TOUCH: 

- WhatsApp: +44330 123 9480 
- Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday. 

Series producer: Rufus Gray 
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower 
Technical producer: Robin Schroder 
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Is Christianity Becoming Countercultural Again? (Your Radical Questions with Lamorna Ash)

This week, James Marriott speaks to the writer Lamorna Ash about her journey through the changing world of British Christianity. 

Raised with little religious belief, Lamorna spent a year visiting churches, festivals, monasteries and Christian communities across the country. What began as an investigation into why young people were rediscovering faith gradually became a much more personal search for meaning and belief. 
 
James and Lamorna discuss the decline of organised religion, the loneliness and uncertainty of modern life, and Christianity’s surprising appeal to a new generation with diverse beliefs and politics. Is Britain witnessing a genuine religious revival? And could answers to very modern problems be found in our old, religious institutions?

Next week, Sophia Smith Galer speaks to David Runciman, an honorary Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, about his very radical proposal to lower the voting age to six years old.

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

Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday. 

Series producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower
Digital producers: Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical producer: Robin Schroder
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Gen Z and God: Is the Church Answering Young People's Prayers? (Lamorna Ash)

Professor David Keith, one of the world’s leading researchers in geoengineering, answers Your Radical Questions. In the main episode, David told Gabriel Gatehouse why deliberately reflecting a small amount of sunlight away from Earth could slow global warming. Now, you ask him whether we could ever know the unintended consequences before trying it, and whether sunlight reflection could be stopped safely once it had begun.

David’s also challenged on whether carbon capture and carbon removal genuinely help tackle climate change, or if they offer oil companies an excuse to continue operating as usual. And is continued economic growth compatible with protecting the planet?

GET IN TOUCH:

- WhatsApp: +44330 123 9480
- Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.

Series producer: Rufus Gray

Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower

Technical producer: Michael Regaard

Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Could Climate Engineering Do More Bad Than Good for the Environment? (Your Radical Questions with Professor David Keith)

What if the answer to climate change is not only to cut carbon emissions, but to make the Earth more resilient using tech?

Professor David Keith is one of the world’s leading researchers of geoengineering which aims to do just that. Efforts to capture carbon are already underway, but Professor Keith is particularly interested in sunlight reflection - the controversial idea of cooling the planet by reflecting the sun’s rays back into space. To do this, he wants to release sulphur high into the atmosphere, and believes governments should consider starting within years.

To critics, it’s an arrogant and potentially disastrous attempt to interfere with a climate system we don’t fully understand. But, Professor Keith is now willing to say that we should be more radical in the face of the scale of our climate problem, and that a carefully managed intervention would be worth the downsides.

Gabriel Gatehouse sits in this week, and asks who would control the technology, who would be liable if it went wrong, and whether humanity should have the power to redesign the climate.

Next week, James Marriott speaks to Lamorna Ash about why Generation Z are turning to religion for answers to the problems of the modern world.

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

Series producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower 
Digital producers: Leona Gasper, Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical producer: Jonny Hall
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Engineering the Climate: Can Injecting Chemicals in the Sky Help Save the Planet? (Professor David Keith)

On Amol’s last day as the host of Radical, he shares five conversations that really stand out. Matt Clifford, Emma Grede, Jacob Dunne, Katherine Birbalsingh and James Marriott.

Next week, Gabriel Gatehouse speaks to Professor David Keith about geoengineering, deliberate large-scale interventions in the Earth’s climate system designed to fight human-caused climate change.

If you have a Radical question for Professor Keith, get in touch:

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

Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.

Series producer: Rufus Gray

Producer: Oscar Pearson

Technical producer: Jonny Hall

Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

The Best of Radical with Amol Rajan

Sophie Pender, founder of The 93% Club, returns to answer your questions on class, privilege and education. 

In the main episode, Sophie told Amol why she thinks Britain needs to stop talking politely about social mobility and confront the power of private schools. Now, listeners ask whether class identity has become too slippery, whether people downplay their own privilege, and whether support for state-school students risks helping those who are already advantaged. 

Sophie also discusses oracy, accent and confidence in the classroom, the culture shock of elite universities, the case for and against grammar schools, and why she thinks vocational education should be about aptitude rather than origin. 

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. 

Series producer: Rufus Gray 

Producers: Oscar Pearson, Julian Paszkiewicz 

Digital producers: Leona Gasper, Joe Wilkinson 

Technical producer: Jonny Hall 

Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Why Do People Pretend to Be Working Class? (Your Radical Questions with Sophie Pender)

Sophie Pender grew up on council estates in North London, became the first in her family to go to university, trained as a corporate lawyer - then walked away from a six-figure salary to fight Britain’s class problem. 

She’s the founder of ‘The 93% Club’, a network for state-educated students and professionals, named after the proportion of people in Britain who go to state schools. But Sophie argues that “social mobility” has become too polite a phrase for something much deeper: how much class, accent, money and private education shapes who gets power – and who doesn’t. 

In Amol’s final Radical interview, Sophie explains why she’s made it her life’s mission to make private schools redundant, why networks matter as much as talent, and what it would take to build an old boys’ network for everyone else. 

GET IN TOUCH: 

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 

* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk

Episodes of Radical 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. 

Series producer: Rufus Gray 

Producers: Oscar Pearson, Julian Paszkiewicz 

Digital producers: Leona Gasper, Joe Wilkinson 

Technical producer: Jonny Hall 

Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

We Need to Talk About Class: Is It Time to Abolish Private Schools? (Sophie Pender)

For this week’s Q&A, Amol is joined by the economist, author, Labour peer, and happiness champion Lord Richard Layard. In their previous conversation, Lord Layard outlined his radical idea; that government policymaking should be decided first and foremost by how it impacts overall happiness and wellbeing.

Now, he answers your questions on the NHS and mental health, how we should measure success, the ethics of farming animals for food, and whether pacifism is the answer for how we achieve greater happiness around the world.

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 Rufus Gray and Oscar Pearson. Technical production was by Jonny Baker. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. The series producer is Rufus Gray.

What Is The Secret To Happiness? (Your Radical Questions with Lord Richard Layard)

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.

What Is The Secret To Happiness? (Your Radical Questions with Lord Richard Layard)

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