Arts & Ideas

“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

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

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

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

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 psychology of evil, Hannah Arendt's concept of the banality of evil, and the question of why the Devil gets the best lines in literature. Plus, we look at t6he work and legacy of social psychologist Philip Zimbardo, who devised the controversial Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971, and who died in October 2024.Producer: Luke Mulhall

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 Philanthropy Matters and researcher at the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent. Gerald Moore - Professor at Durham University And political philosopher Sophie Scott Brown Plus, New Generation Thinker Lauren Working on how Thanksgiving looks for an American historian in the UK and a history of turkeys as symbols. Producer: Luke Mulhall

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 talks about her research into "enemy intimacy" which is part of a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London called War and the Mind.

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 History at the University of Portsmouth. Sir Alexander McCall Smith prolific author of the best selling Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Bioethicist and Fellow of the British Academy Tom Shakespeare Theatre Critic Susannah Clapp. Philosopher and Nietzsche expert Hugo Drochon.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

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 account and provided a defence of regicide. He also attacked pre-printing censorship in Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England (1644). Matthew Sweet and his guests look at the resonances of Milton's writing now.Andrew Doyle writes plays, performs stand-up, hosts a show on GB news and has written articles for Spiked. He is the co-author with Tom Walker of Jonathan Pie: Off the Record and has published a book called The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World. He has a doctorate in early Renaissance poetry from the University of Oxford. Professor Alice Hunt is based at the University of Southampton and is working on a book titled England’s Republic: The Lost Decade, 1649–1660 supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship Dr Kate Maltby is a lead columnist for The i newspaper and a theatre critic. She is also a Senior Research Associate at Jesus College, Cambridge working on Renaissance literature. Professor Islam Issa is based at Birmingham City University. His books include Alexandria, the City that Changed the World, Milton in the Arab-Muslim World and Milton in Translation, ed. with Angelica Duran and Jonathan OlsonProducer: Luke Mulhall

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 for the BA in English. She is a BBC Radio 3 and 4 New Generation Thinker and the author of a new book “Poet Mystic Widow Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women.”Simon Critchley is a philosopher and the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York, USA. His latest book is On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy.Dr Iriving Finkel is Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum and has published The First Ghosts: A rich history of ancient ghosts and ghost storiesProducer: Lisa Jenkinson

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 column and newsletter about world events for The New York Times. Kit Davis, an American living in London, an anthropologist and Emeritus Professor at SOAS. Rana Mitter ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

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, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham Daniel Herskowitz, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Theology & Religion, University of Oxford Hugh Cullimore, PhD student at the Warburg InstituteAnd Constantine Sandis, Director of Lex Academic discusses the shortlist for the 2024 Nayef Al-Rodhan Book Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy. The shortlisted books are: Chris Armstrong, Global Justice and the Biodiversity Crisis (Oxford University Press). Mazviita Chirimuuta, The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience (The MIT Press). Shannon Vallor, The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking (Oxford University Press).https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/book-prize/Producer: Luke Mulhall

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 Baughan, Senior Lecturer in 19th/20th Century British History at the University of Sheffield and author of Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism and Empire. She is a New Generation Thinker working with BBC Radio 4 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to share her research on radio. Miriam Cates former Conservative MP who is now Senior Fellow at the Centre for Social Justice. Andrew Cooper, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick who teaches courses on philosophy of nature, philosophy of mind, and existentialism. Grace Lockrobin who is Co-Director of SAPERE - a UK charity that works to realise the benefits of a philosophical education as widely and equitably as possible.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

"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 joined by novelist Elif Shafak - winner of the British Academy's President's Medal, her latest novel is called There Are Rivers in the Sky; journalist Gabriel Gatehouse - host of the podcast and Radio 4 series The Coming Storm; New Generation Thinkers Janine Bradbury - a poet, and Jonathan Egid - a philosopher; Tiffany Watt Smith - a historian of emotions and author of a book on schadenfreude and by the historian of China Professor Rana Mitter - chair of the judges for this year's Cundill History Prize. The winner will be announced on October 30th and the books in contention are: Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia by Gary J. Bass Native Nations: A Millennium in North America by Kathleen DuVal Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights by Dylan C. PenningrothProducer: Luke Mulhall

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 culture. Matthew Sweet is joined by the journalist Michael Crick, historian Helen Castor, Philosopher David Edmonds and the writer and academic Kate Maltby.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

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 Ecology Jessica Frazier, Lecturer in the Study of Religion at the University of Oxford Clare Chambers, Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Cambridge Jessica Wade, Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer in Functional Materials at Imperial College London and one of the judges for They are all appearing at the How the Light Gets in Festival of Ideas this weekend in London - more information at howthelightsgetsin.org Plus Mark Solms, neuroscientist and editor of the newly published Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund FreudThe Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize 2024 which will be announced on October 24th. The books shortlisted are:Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon Your Face Belongs to Us: The Secretive Startup Dismantling Your Privacy by Kashmir Hill The Last of Its Kind: The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction by Gísli Pálsson Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality by Venki Ramakrishnan A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith Everything Is Predictable: How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World by Tom ChiversProducer: Luke Mulhall

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 Labour politician she now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords David Runciman is former Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge and now hosts Past Present Future: The History of Ideas Podcast. His most recent book is called The History of Ideas : Equality, Justice and Revolution Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Katya Adler is the BBC's Europe EditorPlus Charles Tripp, emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern politics at SOAS is chair of the judges for the 2024 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding Books on the shortlist announced this week are: Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues by Ross Perlin Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future by Ed Conway The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492 by Marcy Norton Divided, Racism, Medicine and why we Need to DeColonise Healthcare by Annabel Sowemimo Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics and its Unsung Trailblazers by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy RevellThe winner of the prize of £25,000 will be announced on October 22nd 2024. And Free Thinking will be looking at some of the other non fiction book prize shortlists over episodes this AutumnProducer: Luke MulhallYou can find past episodes of Free Thinking available on BBC Sounds and as the BBC Arts & Ideas podcast

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 Labour politician she now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords David Runciman is former Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge and now hosts Past Present Future: The History of Ideas Podcast. His most recent book is called The History of Ideas : Equality, Justice and Revolution Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Katya Adler is the BBC's Europe EditorPlus Charles Tripp, emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern politics at SOAS is chair of the judges for the 2024 British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding Books on the shortlist announced this week are: Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues by Ross Perlin Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future by Ed Conway The Tame and the Wild: People and Animals after 1492 by Marcy Norton Divided, Racism, Medicine and why we Need to DeColonise Healthcare by Annabel Sowemimo Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh The Secret Lives of Numbers: A Global History of Mathematics and its Unsung Trailblazers by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy RevellThe winner of the prize of £25,000 will be announced on October 22nd 2024. And Free Thinking will be looking at some of the other non fiction book prize shortlists over episodes this AutumnProducer: Luke MulhallYou can find past episodes of Free Thinking available on BBC Sounds and as the BBC Arts & Ideas podcast

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 at University College London, author of The Rainbow's GravityJonathan White, Professor of Politics and Deputy Head of the European Institute at the London School of Economics and author of In The Long Run: The Future as a Political IdeaJules Evans, writer, historian of ideas and practical philosopher whose books include The Art of Losing Control, and Philosophy for Life and other dangerous situations.Plus, Maximillian de Gaynesford, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading, on the philosophical significance of dreams and dreaming from Descartes and Freud to Norman Malcolm.Jules, Noreen and Kirsty are all New Generation Thinkers on a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to share academic research on radio.Producer: Luke Mulhall

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 meaning of comedy. Emily's book Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People is out in October. Comedian Rob Newman who made his name with the Mary Whitehouse Experience in the 90s and has presented two series on BBC Radio 4 including Rob Newman's Half-full Philosophy Hour. Also Professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London Fay Dowker who is an expert in Causal Set Theory and Quantum Relativity. And Author K A Laity will talk about the Women in Magick Conference being held in Birmingham this weekend. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

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 History Alison Light's most recent book of essays is called – Inside History: From Popular Fiction to Life-Writing, previous titles include Common People: The History of an English Family Zeinab Badawi is author of An African History of Africa. The first presenter of the ITV Morning News and co-presenter of Channel 4 News, she is president of SOAS University of London. Bronwen Maddox is CEO of Chatham House and a Visiting Professor in the Policy Institute at King's College London. She's been Director of the Institute for Government and editor and chief executive of the magazine Prospect. BBC Moscow Correspondent Steve RosenbergProducer: Lisa Jenkinson.

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 Kennedy School and author of books including China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping A New Nationalism and China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival. A presenter of Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3 before he joined Harvard, you can find him hosting plenty of Free Thinking discussions. Jo Hamya's debut novel was called Three Rooms. The Hypocrite explores what happens when we become frightened of the generations below us Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow at Wadham College. And joining the conversation to talk about how the political parties are trying to woo voters of different ages is Gaby Hinsliff, columnist for The GuardianProducer: Luke Mulhall

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 Heffer

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 thinker Phillip Blond from the ResPublica Think Tank and Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at Oxford University, will talk about their own political journeys as well as discussing the wider geo political environment and the future of liberal democracy.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt.

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 is an historian of modern Germany and modern Europe, and has published over 20 books in the field, most recently The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1915 and Eric Hobsbawm: A Life in History. In August his new book comes out called Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich Margaret Heffernan is an entrepreneur, CEO and author of books including Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together and Beyond Measure: The Impact of Small Changes Quassim Cassam is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. His books include Ekstremisme, The Epistemology of Democracy and Vice Epistemology. Isabel Oakeshott is an award winning British political journalist. Her books include The Pandemic Diaries written with Matt Hancock, Life Support: Farmaggedon written with Michael Ashcroft. Dr Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal is a Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies at Queen Mary University of London. She's been announced this week as one of 10 early career academics who’ve been chosen as the 2024 New Generation Thinkers – that’s a scheme to share academic research on the radio which the BBC runs with the Arts and Humanities Research Council. You can hear from all ten in a special New Thinking episode of our Arts & Ideas podcast where you will also find episodes of Free Thinking.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

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 2024 New Generation Thinkers. Dr Emily Baughan, a historian at the University of Sheffield, is researching childcare. She is the author of Saving the Children: Humanitarianism, Internationalism, and Empire. Dr Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal, lectures in drama at Queen Mary, University of London. Her research looks at the way workplaces, from serving coffee to providing care, ask people to perform a role. Dr Janine Bradbury is an award-winning poet and critic who is interested in exploring reading, empathy and sentimentality. A lecturer at the University of York, she has recently published a poetry pamphlet “Sometimes Real Love Comes Quick & Easy”. Jade Cuttle is writing a book called Silthood and studying for a PhD at the University of Cambridge, looking at the language used by British nature poets of colour and their new word coinings. She has released an album of songs and written poems and articles including for The Times, The TLS, The Guardian, Poetry Review, Ledbury Poetry Festival and the BBC Proms. Dr Jacob Downs is departmental lecturer in music at the University of Oxford. He has written on AI-generated music, Beyoncé, how people use headphones for listening and is also an active musician and arranger, and recently worked on Erland Cooper’s Folded Landscapes. Jonathan Egid has spent the past few years digging through the archives on the trail of a brilliant and neglected thinker from 17th century Ethiopia, and the question of whether or not Zera Jacob existed. Based at King’s College, London, he also hosts the podcast and interview series ‘Philosophising In…’ on philosophy in lesser-studied languages. Dr Shona Minson is a criminologist at the University of Oxford. Originally from Belfast, her work on mothers in prison has helped changed legal professional practice in the UK and overseas. Dr Kirsty Sinclair Dootson is interested in the politics of making images in colour. Based at University College London, she has published a book exploring this called The Rainbow’s Gravity. Dr Jack Symes is a public philosopher and researcher at Durham University. He hosts The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast, and edits Bloomsbury’s Talking about Philosophy book series. His most recent book was called Defeating the Evil-God Challenge: In Defence of God’s Goodness Dr Becca Voelcker's research explores artistic and filmic responses to the environmental crisis. Based at Goldsmiths, University of London, she writes for Sight & Sound and Frieze magazines, introduces films at the BFI, and serves on film festival juries.Dr Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough has made a series of programmes for the BBC about Norse sagas, forest bathing, the history of runes, the far north, Roman bathing since being chosen as a New Generation Thinker in 2013. This New Thinking podcast and the New Generation Thinkers scheme are run as a partnership between the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. You can hear more insights from academics based at a host of UK universities in a New Research playlist on BBC Radio 4's Free Thinking programme website.

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 Why They Should Give It Back Dr Tiffany Watt Smith is Director for the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary, London. Her books include Schadenfreude: The Joy of Another’s Misfortune, and The Book of Human Emotions. She was chosen as a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker in 2014 and you can hear her in Free Thinking discussions about happiness, schadenfreude and she presented a short feature about the science of baby laughs. Professor Will Davies is a sociologist and political economist teaching at Goldsmiths University of London. His books include Nervous States: How feeling took over the world, The Happiness Industry: How the government and big business sold us wellbeing and This is Not Normal: The collapse of liberal Britain. Elizabeth Oldfield's latest book is called Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times. She hosts The Sacred podcast and is a former director of Theos, a religion and society think tank.Plus a report from an event this week in which the Royal Institute of Philosophy was paying tribute to its outgoing president, the political philosopher and ethicist Onora O’Neill, and welcoming her successor, the political philosopher Jonathan Wolff. We hear from Angie Hobbs, Paul, Tom Shakespeare, Grace Lockrobin, Onora O’Neill and Jo Wolff.Producer: Luke Mulhall

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 author 'The Long Win' which examines how we define success in sport, business, education and life. Professor Graziano Ranocchia, of the University of Pisa will talk about the discovery of an ancient scroll which contains a previously unknown narrative detailing how the Greek philosopher Plato spent his last evening, describing how he listened to music played on a flute by a Thracian slave girl. The team discuss how our understanding of history is altered as new artefacts or evidence emerge. And they consider the cultural role of nightlife against a backdrop of record closures of music venues, nightclubs and pubs.Presenter: Matthew Sweet Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer

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 about peace, reason and finding ways to have rational discussion. Plus we hear from Thomas Thwaites, author of Goatman: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human.Tim Stanley is a journalist. You can hear him discussing rationality and tradition with Steven Pinker, the argument against democracy, and the ideas of John Henry Newman on Free Thinking episodes available on the programme website and BBC Sounds Alexandra Reza teaches comparative literature at the University of Bristol. You can hear her in Free Thinking episodes discussing the ideas of Aimee Cesaire, Frantz Fanon and the film-making of Susan Maldoror Dr John Callanan teaches philosophy at Kings College London Angela Breitenbach is Professor of Philosophy at the University of CambridgeProducer: Luke Mulhall

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 advertisers across time and asks how the role of the local press is changing in the digital age.Anna Muggeridge has been looking into the hidden history of women politicians in local politics, in the first half of the twentieth century. This was an age when many important decisions on education and welfare were made at a local level – and where the story of women in local politics became intertwined with arguments around female suffrage.Producer in Cardiff: Fay LomasPresenter Dr Joan Passey teaches English at Bristol University and is a New Generation Thinker working with the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to share research on radio. Dr Sarah Ward Clavier, from the University of the West of England, researches the expansion and travails of the early Post Office, early modern news and communications, and Wales in the seventeenth century. Her most recent book is Royalism, Religion and Revolution: Wales, 1640-1688. Dr Rachel Matthews, from Coventry University, researches the impact of local journalism on the people and places to which it relates, both across history and in a contemporary context. She is the author of The History of the Provincial Press in England. Dr Anna Muggeridge is Lecturer in History at the University of Worcester and is currently researching a history of women in local government in interwar England and Wales. She also researches women’s political activism in the 20th century. This New Thinking episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the AHRC, part of UKRI. You can find more conversations about new research available on the website of Radio 4’s Free Thinking programme and on BBC Sounds

Classicist Mary Beard picks Tacitus as a figure who still has relevance if we're thinking about satire, power and celebrity. Shahidha Bari is joined by Mary, historian Helen Carr, who co-edited What is History Now? political sketch-writer from The Times newspaper Tom Peck and Konnie Huq, writer and former presenter of the children's TV show Blue Peter. On April 21st 1964, the tv channel BBC 2 launched with an episode for children of Play School and programmes like Bluey and Peppa Pig, have been making headlines so what do we want from kids TV? Plus - poet Lord Byron died 200 years ago this week - scholar Dr Corin Throsby has been reading the fan mail he received.Listen out for Mary Beard and the new series of Being Roman coming to BBC Radio 4 in May - and the first series is available on BBC Sounds. And if you're a fan of Oliver Postgate - The Clangers, Bagpuss and Noggin you can find a Free Thinking episode exploring those programmes.Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer

"The times they are a changin" or are they? In politics people are talking about an appetite for change, or being a candidate for change but how radical can you be? With climate change, seasonal change and a change of broadcast time for this programme, Matthew Sweet and his guests discuss change, play a new collaborative version of scrabble, and after Richard Dawkins gave an interview talking about "cultural Christianity" - what do we understand by that phrase?Kate Maltby is a critic, columnist and cultural historian who holds a PhD in Elizabethan literature Sophie Grace Chappell is a Professor of Philosophy at the Open University, whose books include Epiphanies: An Ethics of Experience and Trans Figured Takeshi Morisato teaches philosophy at the University of Edinburgh Dorian Lynskey is a journalist, author and one of the hosts of the politics podcast Oh God, What Now? His books include The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell's 1984 and Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the WorldGemma Tidman is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary University London researching A History of French Literary Play, 1635–1789. You can hear more from her in a Free Thinking episode called Game PlayingProducer: Luke Mulhall

What do you owe the state and what does it provide for us? Writing during the English civil war, Thomas Hobbes came up with an outline for the social contract between individuals and the sovereign – on Free Thinking, Matthew Sweet and guests unpick his ideas and come up with a version for now. They also explore the politics of butter, margarine and scones and seek guidance about history from Abba lyrics.Barry Smith is Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study and founding director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses. For BBC Radio 4 he presented a 10 part series called The Uncommon Senses. You can find him on previous Free Thinking conversations about Pleasure, and Futurism. Joanne Paul is the author of The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England. She's Honorary Senior Lecturer in Intellectual History at the University of Sussex and was a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker and presented her research in a Radio 3 Essay exploring Speaking truth to power James Kirkup is a Senior Fellow at the Social Market Foundation think tank and he writes for publications including The Times Sophie Scott-Brown is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, where she teaches intellectual history. She is the author of The Histories of Raphael Samuel - A Portrait of A People’s Historian. You can find her in the Free Thinking programme archive discussing anarchism and David Graeber, and HappinessDr Stu Eve is Archaeological Director of the Waterloo Uncovered project.Previous episodes of Free Thinking are available on the programme website and BBC Sounds and as the BBC Arts & Ideas podcast.Producer: Robyn Read

Gold sequins, silk and vibrant colour threads might not be what you expect to find in a sampler stitched by a Quaker girl in the seventeenth century. New Generation Thinker Isabella Rosner has studied examples of embroidered nutmegs and decorated shell shadow boxes found in London and Philadelphia which present a more complicated picture of Quaker attitudes and the decorated objects they created as part of a girl's education.Dr Isabella Rosner is a textile historian and curator at the Royal School of Needlework on the New Generation Thinker scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to highlight new research. You can hear more from her in Free Thinking episodes called Stitching stories and A lively Tudor worldProducer: Ruth Watts

In 1910 Virginia Woolf and a group of friends caused a stir when they were welcomed on board the HMS Dreadnought, disguised as a delegation of Abyssinian royalty. At the 2017 Conservative Party conference, Theresa May was handed a P45 in the middle of giving her speech. Both these events made the headlines, but what was the intention behind them and did they have any impact beyond provoking either amusement or outrage? Matthew Sweet is joined by Danell Jones who has looked in detail at the Dreadnought Hoax, Simon Brodkin who has staged various high profile stunts including delivering Theresa May's P45 and Kerry Shale whose father was an inveterate prankster who sold practical jokes for a living.Producer: Torquil MacLeodThe Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race and the Dreadnought Hoax by Danell Jones is out now. Simon Brodkin's 'Screwed Up' tour continues throughout the UK from May onwards.

Who's Holding the Baby? was the title of an exhibition organised to highlight a lack of childcare provision in East London in the 1970s. Was this feminist art? Bobby Baker, Sonia Boyce, Rita Keegan and members of the photography collective Hackney Flashers are some of the artists who've been taking part in an oral history project with New Generation Thinker Ana Baeza Ruiz. Her essay presents some of their reflections on what it means to make art and call yourself a feminist.Dr Ana Baeza Ruiz is the Research Associate for the project Feminist Art Making Histories (FAMH) at Loughborough University and a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the AHRC to showcase new research into the humanities. You can hear her in Free Thinking episodes on Portraits and Women, art and activism available as an Arts & Ideas podcastProducer: Ruth Watts

The impact of light bulbs on cities like New York and Paris at the turn of the twentieth century and the way modernist poets like Mina Loy and Lola Ridge depicted this, is at the heart of research being done by Dr Nicoletta Asciuto. For this New Thinking conversation hosted by Dr Sophie Coulombeau, she joins Dr Jaqueline Yallop, whose book Into the Dark looks at living in dark places and at experiences including "sundowning" - experienced by some people diagnosed with dementia, this is a change in behaviour that occurs in the evening, around dusk as darkness grows, causing agitation and anxiety. When Jacqueline Yallop’s father was diagnosed with dementia, he began experiencing exactly that, which prompted Jacqueline’s profound self-reflection on the world’s relationship to the dark. Dr Jacqueline Yallop is an award-winning author of fiction and creative non-fiction, and her book Into the Dark explores darkness in science, literature, art, philosophy and history. She teaches creative writing at Aberystwyth University. Dr Nicoletta Asciuto is a Senior Lecturer in Modern Literature at the University of York. She is currently working on her first monograph, Brilliant Modernism: Cultures of Light and Modernist Poetry, 1909-1930 which discusses the impact of new lighting technologies on the birth of new avant-garde and modernist poetics. Dr Sophie Coulombeau is an author and academic based at the University of York, and was chosen as a 2014 New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and AHRC to put research on the radio.This New Thinking episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. You can find more on BBC Sounds and in a collection on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme website under the title New Research including conversations about music and disability, language learning, sign language, green thinking and neglected women artists.Producer in Salford: Lola Grieve

Viking burials, preserving archaeology in Uganda, the morgues of Paris and New York and the medieval attitude to dying are our topics as Chris Harding hears about new research from archaeologists Marianne Hem Eriksen and Pauline Harding, and historians Cat Byers and Harriet Soper.Catriona Byers is completing a PhD at King’s College London on the nineteenth-century morgues of Paris and New York Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen is Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Leicester and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. You can find an Essay she has written for BBC Radio 3 drawing on her research available now on BBC Sounds Dr Harriet Soper is Lecturer in Medieval Literature at the University of Bristol Pauline Harding is working on a PhD at UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, about spirits and approaches to cultural heritage in UgandaProducer: Robyn Read

The Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens produced around 1,500 artworks, and a new research project explores the Islamic themes in his art. Dr Adam Sammut discusses why the Ottoman Empire’s influence on Rubens has been at the periphery of research, and what it reveals about the early modern understanding of cultural identity. Dr Nil Palabiyik has been researching the artist, musician and linguist Ali Bey who was taken as a war captive from Poland and placed at the palace school in Constantinople. He became a key figure at court, bridging cultural differences between east and west through his collections of Ottoman music and translation of the bible. Dr Adam Sammut is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in History of Art at the University of York. His current project is called ‘Rubens and Islam: Global exchange and European identity in early modern Antwerp. Dr Nil Palabiyik is Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Studies at Queen Mary University of London. In 2023 she was awarded the Philip Leverhulme prize and is the author of ‘Silent Teachers: Turkish Books and Oriental Learning in Renaissance Europe, 1544-1680’. Dr Sarah Jilani is a Lecturer in English at City, University of London, looking at post-colonial world literatures and film and was a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on the radio. This New Thinking episode of the Arts & Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. You can find more on BBC Sounds and in a collection on Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme website called New Research with discussions on topics ranging from disability in music and theatre to why we talk Producer: Martha Owen

A 1660s board game made by a Jesuit missionary sent to the Mohawk Valley in North America is the subject of New Generation Thinker Gemma Tidman's essay. This race game, a little like Snakes and Ladders, depicts the path of a Christian life and afterlife. Gemma explores what the game tells us about how powerful people have long turned to play, images, and other persuasive means to secure converts and colonial subjects.Dr Gemma Tidman is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Queen Mary University London and a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on radio. You can hear more from her in Free Thinking discussions about Game-playing, and Sneezing, smells and noses.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

An ancient Sussex church - home to a medieval anchorite and the cottage where William Blake received the poetic spirit of Milton are two of the places explored in the new book from Alexandra Harris, as she returns to her home country Sussex and consults sources ranging from parish maps, paintings by Constable to records of the fish caught on the River Arun. In her new book Harriet Baker explores the impact of a move away from city life on three twentieth century writers - Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann. Julien Clin talks about his research into place in contemporary London writing and ideas of heimat in the work of Heidegger. Shahidha Bari hosts the conversation.Producer: Torquil MacLeodRural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann by Harriet Baker is published April 2024 The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape by Alexandra Harris is out now. You can hear her in other Free Thinking discussions exploring trees in art and twilight available as Arts & Ideas podcasts. She has also written Essays for Radio 3 exploring A Taste for the Baroque, Dark Arcadias, and a series of walks for Radio 4 in the footsteps of Virginia Woolf. Julien Clin is a researcher based at Kingston University London working on a project about the poetics of place in contemporary London writing.

The A13 runs from the City of London past Tilbury Docks and the site of the Dagenham Ford factory to Benfleet and the Wat Tyler Country Park. As he travels along it, talking to residents about their ideas of community and change, New Generation Thinker Dan Taylor reflects on the history of the area and different versions of hopes for the future.Dr Dan Taylor lectures in social and political thought at the Open University and is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the AHRC to share insights from academic research on radio. You can hear him in Free Thinking discussions about Essex, and discussing medieval bestiaries in Beast and Animals. He is also the author of a book Island Story: Journeys Through Unfamiliar Britain.Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Whilst water is the most important substance on earth, we take it for granted in our modern lives. As an archaeologist, Jay Ingate looks at water in the development of urban centres in early Roman Britain. Whilst the Romans sought to channel water for human purposes they also had a respectful relationship to it because of its believed connection to spirits and deities. Their largest sewer was even blessed with the name of a Goddess. Sam Grinsell explores how that connection to nature was lost as European colonialism led to the grand history of dam making and British engineers sought to ensure a pipeline to Egyptian cotton. He explains how this mastery over water continues with the artificially constructed landscapes of the 19th and 20th century North Sea coasts. How does out detachment from waters’ source diminish our ability to connect what comes out of our taps to the intensifying dangers of droughts and floods resulting from climate change? Might an understanding of its history illuminate and offer solutions to our current dilemmas?Jay Ingate is Senior Lecturer in Roman and Classical Archaeology at Canterbury Christ Church University and his research focuses on the complex role of water in the development of urban centres in early Roman Britain Sam Grinsell is a Research Fellow at the Bartlett School of Architecture and follows rivers, canals, seas and oceans in the way they shape the spaces in which we live. He is currently working on a three-year project titled ‘Making North Sea coasts in England, Flanders and the Netherlands, c.1800-1950’. Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough is a Lecturer in Environmental History at Bath Spa University She’s a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker on the scheme which promotes research on the radio.This New Thinking episode of the Arts & Ideas podcast was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UKRI. You can find more collected on the Free Thinking programme website of BBC Radio 3 under New Research or if you sign up for the Arts & Ideas podcast you can hear discussions about a range of topics.Producer: Jayne Egerton

From 1922, between 10-30,000 women and girls are thought to have been incarcerated at the Magdalene laundries which operated in Ireland. New Generation Thinker Louise Brangan has been reading the testimonies of many of the girls who survived these institutions. As the Irish state tries to come to terms with this history, how should it be spoken about? Is a language of legal blame and guilt enough to make sense of this history?Dr Louise Brangan is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Strathclyde and is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (part of UKRI) to put research on radio. You can find her contributing to Free Thinking discussion episodes looking at Ireland's hidden histories and secret storiesProducer in Salford: Olive Clancy

Canvey Island: cradle of innovation for gas heating and home to music makers Dr Feelgood, who drew inspiration from the Mississippi Delta. New Generation Thinker Sam Johnson-Schlee is an author and geographer based at London South Bank University. His essay remembers the influence of Parker Morris standards on heating in the home, songs written by Wilko Johnson and the impact of central heating on teenage record listening and playing instruments.Producer: Julian SiddleYou can hear more from Sam in Free Thinking episodes exploring Dust and Sound, Conflict and Central Heating New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on radio

Looking at the way human and animal bodies were treated in death and used in rituals prompts New Generation Thinker and archaeologist Marianne Hem Eriksen, from the University of Leicester, to ask questions about the way humans, animals and spirit-worlds were understood. Her Essay shares stories from a research project called Body-Politics’: presenting worlds where elite men could shapeshift into animals — and some people’s bones ended up in rubbish pits.This Essay is part of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers scheme which puts academic research on radio.Producer: Luke MulhallYou can hear Marianne discussing insights from her research in episodes of Free Thinking called The Kitchen and in one broadcasting next week looking at Attitudes towards death.

Two years living at sea taught New Generation Thinker Kerry McInerney values which she wants to apply to the development of AI. Her Essay explores the "sustainable AI" movement and looks at visions of the future in novels including Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan and Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl. Dr McInerney is a Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge and a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the AHRC to put academic research on radio.Producer: Julian SiddleYou can hear more from Kerry in Free Thinking and New Thinking episodes available as Arts & Ideas podcasts called AI, feminism, human/machines and Yellowface, AI and Asian stereotypes

Amalia Holst's defence of female education, published in 1802, was the first work by a woman in Germany to challenge the major philosophers of the age, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant. Unlike Mary Wollstonecraft writing in England, Holst failed to make headway with her arguments. New Generation Thinker Andrew Cooper teaches in the philosophy department at the University of Warwick. His essay explores the publishing of Holst's book On The Vocation of Woman to Higher Intellectual Education.Andrew Cooper is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI.Producer: Luke MulhallYou can hear more from Andrew in a Free Thinking discussion about The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe available as an Arts & Ideas podcast and on BBC Sounds

In 2024, Scotland marks two big anniversaries: David I ascended the throne nine centuries ago and James I of Scotland began his reign 600 years ago. Both Kings played a role in shaping Scotland's ideas about its monarchy. How did David shape Scotland, and what relevance does the Stone of Destiny have - then, and now, as it returns to its native Perthshire? We look at the Scottish dream-vision, initiated by James I in writing Scotland's first love poem, sparking a new tradition lasting through the Renaissance and beyond. Anne McElvoy hears about distinctly Scottish ideas of Kingship.Kylie Murray is the author of The Making of the Scottish Dream Vision and a BBC Radio 3 AHRC New Generation ThinkerAlexandra Sanmark is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of the Highlands and IslandsDonna Heddle is Professor of Northern Heritage and Director of the UHI Institute for Northern Studies at the University of the Highlands and IslandsWilliam Murray is Viscount Stormont and owner of Scone PalaceProducer: Ruth WattsYou might be interested in other Free Thinking episodes exploring Scottish history and writing including programmes about The Declaration of Abroath; John McGrath's Scottish drama, Tales of Scotland: A Nation and its literature with Janice Galloway, Peter Mackay, Murray Pittock and Kathleen Jamie; The Battle of Culloden - Outlander and Peter Watkins; crime writer Ian Rankin talks to Tahmima Anam.

Rana Mitter explores looks at the role of writing in propagating ideas and exposing political tensions. He hears how writers have given voice to personal and political ambitions, from Ding Ling to the teenagers of modern China. Yuan Yang discusses her new book, Private Revolutions. Simon Ings talks about his latest book Engineers of Human Souls which examines four writers whose ideas shaped the careers of some of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators. And Jeffrey Howard analyses the ethics of negotiating free speech and censorship today.Producer: Ruth WattsPrivate Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang is out nowSimon Ings' book Engineers of Human Souls: Four Writers Who Changed Twentieth-Century Minds looks at Maurice Barrès, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Ding Ling and Maxim Gorky.Jeffrey Howard is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Public Policy at UCL and Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. You can find an Essay called Prison Break which he wrote for BBC Radio 3 asking if it is ever ok to escape from prison available on BBC Sounds. He was chosen as a New Generation Thinker in 2020 on the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on radio.