Arts & Ideas

Ray Kurzweil, renowned American inventor, thinker and futurist, joins Rana Mitter to discuss questions of consciousness and humanity, and the possibilities of a world where humans and intelligent machines live side by side. Rana explores the idea of the ‘Anglosphere’, and whether there is a shared identity across the English-speaking world, with historians John Darwin and Tim Stanley and the writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. And playwright Anders Lustgarten discusses his new production for the Royal Court theatre.

Adam Mars-Jones reviews the first West End revival of the nine Tony award winning; A Chorus Line. What is old age, and when we get there, how do we face the end? Philip Dodd discusses with the best-selling novelist Lynne Reid Banks, historian Pat Thane and Professor of English Literature at Oxford, Helen Small. Plus an interview with the controversial Israeli historian Shlomo Sand.

Matthew Sweet debates how the discovery of alien life might change the way we think about humanity and how it will impact our moral and philosophical universe. Matthew is joined by the best-selling science-fiction writer Stephen Baxter, the science broadcaster and journalist Sue Nelson, the futurist and neuroscientist Anders Sandberg, and one of our leading space scientists, John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Geoffrey Robertson QC joins Anne McElvoy to pay tribute to American philosopher and constitutional law expert Ronald Dworkin, who died on 14th February 2013 aged 81. We hear from award-winning author Andrew Solomon about his monumental study of modern identity - Far From the Tree. Writer and historian Joanna Bourke reviews Complicit, Channel 4's new feature-length drama, which explores an MI5 officer’s moral dilemma over the use of torture in the War on Terror. And did brutal conquest rather than political liberation lie at the heart of Italian unification? Historian Lucy Riall discusses.

Matthew Sweet discusses the legacy of Sylvia Plath, who died 50 years ago this week, with her friend Ruth Fainlight and the poet Fiona Sampson. Tacita Dean and film maker Mike Figgis join Matthew in the studio to discuss the shift in film from traditional to digital technology and its implications. A review of The Bride and the Bachelors, a new exhibition of the work of Marcel Duchamp. And the science writer Marcus Chown and futurologist Anders Sandberg discuss the potential threats caused by two asteroids passing close to the Earth.

Mark Ravenhill on translating Bertolt Brecht's A Life of Galileo; the value of the mundane is discussed; and is the way in which today's corporations are run now obsolete?

Novelist, poet and musician Amit Chaudhuri joins Samira Ahmed to discuss his latest book which reflects on his relationship with Calcutta. Clifford Longley and Peter Stanford discuss the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Susannah Clapp joins us for a first-night review of Robert Lepage’s Playing Cards 1: Spades, the latest production by one of theatre's boldest and most innovative directors. And former Whitehall insider Gill Bennett lifts the lid on the workings of British foreign policy.

Anne McElvoy talks to William Dalrymple about his new book Return of A King - an account of Britain's first Afghan War in the 19th century. A major retrospective of Man Ray, at the National Portrait Gallery, is discussed by writer Kevin Jackson, film critic and Parisienne Ginette Vincendeau, and cultural historian Andrew Hussey. All three discuss the artistic melting pot of Paris in the 1910s and 20s - the subject of a major event at The Rest is Noise Festival at the South Bank centre in London. Psychologist Oliver James discusses office politics with leadership expert and author Dr Liz Mellon.

Samira Ahmed visits the British Museum to see its new show about Ice Age art. She is also joined by Nadeem Aslam - a Pakistani writer whose latest book, The Blind Man's Garden, offers a perspective on the last ten years of world history. Amanda Hopkinson reviews Pablo Larraín's latest film, No. And the novelist Rosie Thomas and biographer Matthew Dennison reflect on Rumer Godden, the author of Black Narcissus.

Philip Dodd talks to psychologist Bertolt Meyer, the model for the world's first complete bionic human and recipient of a bionic arm. Opera Now Editor Ashutosh Khandekhar joins Philip to review Kasper Holten's much anticipated debut at the ROH with Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. A new exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London looks at the positive sides of extinction and palaeontologist Norman Macleod, scientist Georgina Mace and psycho-geographer and poet Iain Sinclair discuss. And Philip speaks to the lawyer Conor Gearty about his new book Liberty and Security.

The King in the car park: what is the significance of the University of Leicester’s discovery of the bones of Richard III, one of Britain’s most vilified monarchs? Matthew Sweet is joined by human remains sociologist Tiffany Jenkins and historian Jonathan Healey to discuss. BFI curator Nathalie Morris reviews the new film Hitchcock, and discusses the importance of his wife, Alma, for his career and reputation. We look at cross-dressing in the late nineteenth century, with biographer Neil McKenna. And Pulitzer Prize-winning geographer Jared Diamond discusses his new thought-provoking study of tribes from New Guinea to the Kalahari Desert.

Anne McElvoy discusses the libraries of Timbuktu, and what they teach us about literacy and book culture in Africa, with Dr Shamil Jeppie, Dr Marion Wallace, Head of African Collections at the British Library, and the novelist Aminatta Forna. Susannah Clapp delivers a first-night review of a revival of Harold Pinter’s play, Old Times. Historian Paul Kennedy delves into the story of the problem solvers of the Second War, the subject of his new book The Engineers of Victory. And Karl Sharro gives us his reflections from the top of The Shard.

Philip Dodd along with Dr Tim Stanley and Paul Glastris review the American version of the political thriller House of Cards. Deborah Cohen, Mark Vernon and Charlotte Blease discuss shame and guilt amongst the British family from the Victorian era to the present day. Rufus Norris and Rotimi Babatunde discuss Feast, a new production at the Young Vic, London. And Auschwitz survivor Otto Dov Kulka tells Philip about his unique education at the hands of the Nazi's.

Rana Mitter & Susannah Clapp review a new production of Simon Gray's Quartermaine's Terms starring Rowan Atkinson. Rana also talks to Neil Shubin about his new book, the Universe Within, which traces the history of the cosmos in the human body. In another new book co-author Juan Pablo Cardenal along with Professor O.A. Westad discuss China's Silent Army and whether their investments abroad have sinister and disturbing implications? And Rana talks to Nihad Sirees and Malu Halasa about writing in Syria.

As the Tate Britain opens a new exhibition of the work of Kurt Schwitters, art critic Charlotte Mullins joins Matthew Sweet to review and to reassess the oeuvre of the German painter and sculptor. Dr Rupa Huq discusses her new book On The Edge, in which she argues that the English suburb has transformed from a paradise to a pressure cooker. As gender has been a topic for national debate recently, Julie Bindel, Jane Fae and Lynne Segal debate the concept of gender as a social category. And Lara Feigel discusses her new book The Love Charm of Bombs, a wartime biography of five writers.

With the publication of a new, updated version of The Rotten Heart of Europe, a book which caused outrage and delight on its first release, Anne McElvoy discusses the current situation in Europe with the book’s author Bernard Connolly and economist Anatole Kaletsky. Journalist Michael Goldfarb reviews Zero Dark Thirty, the new film which traces the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Anne heads a debate on the shifting definition of the artist, with Tom Morris, poet Don Paterson and critic Sarah Kent. And photographer Juergen Teller takes Anne on a walk around his new exhibition at the ICA.

This Night Waves special explores ‘kitchen sink realism’, the cultural movement which gave urgent, vivid expression to the reality of post-war Britain. Samira Ahmed is joined by celebrated film maker Ken Loach, film historian Melanie Williams and theatre critic Michael Billington to discuss the aims and achievements of the movement. Composer Neil brand performs live, illustrating a brief history of how music is used in ‘kitchen sink’ films. And art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston explains the how the term was originally coined to describe the work of painters such as John Bratby.

Matthew Sweet with a review, from Lynda Neade, of the UK's first ever retrospective devoted to the portraiture of Edouard Manet. Maria Konnikova says that Sherlock Holmes can offer us the key to a world where we use our brains to their full potential. Alan Rusbridger and Matthew Taylor explore the status of the amateur in society and ask whether there has been a genuine shift in how we value the role of the non-professional. And Matthew Sweet talks to Norman Stone about his latest book: A Short History of World War II.

This Night Waves special is devoted to Abraham Lincoln. As Steven Spielberg's new biopic of Lincoln is released in the UK, the pioneering president remains a towering figure in American life. And yet his legacy is not without controversy. Was he really such a saintly figure? And why should Barack Obama feel such a strong connection with Lincoln? Rana Mitter and guests discuss the man, the politics and the legacy.

Anne McElvoy settles decorously into Regency England to celebrate the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen's enduringly popular novel, of a single man in possession of a good fortune, was an immediate success - but it hasn't always inspired slavish admiration: critics have objected to the apparently narrow focus on affairs of the hearth and heart, while the Napoleonic wars raged and the industrial revolution brewed. Anne is joined by leading Austen-ologists Professors John Mullan and Janet Todd, novelist and screenwriter Natasha Solomons and the actress Susannah Harker.

Philip Dodd is joined by the playwright David Hare whose play, The Judas Kiss, is about to open in the West End starring Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde. We review The Sessions, a new film based on the true story of a man confined to an iron lung who is determined, at age 38, to lose his virginity. Historian Carl Watkins joins Philip to discuss everything from memento mori to haunted moorland, along with philosopher and New Generation Thinker Timothy Secret. And Mark Binelli guides us as we venture into the heart of Detroit, once the very engine of American capitalism, but now an urban wilderness.

Matthew Sweet talks to the Artistic Director of the South Bank Centre, Jude Kelly and the cultural historian, Peter Conrad about The Rest is Noise, a year-long festival at the Southbank Centre which maps the history of the 20th century through its music. We hear an appraisal, by Diane Roberts, of the Cuban-American and openly gay poet Richard Blanco chosen to read at Barack Obama's inauguration next week. One of this year's New Generation Thinkers Adriana Sinclair discusses rape with the historian Joanna Bourke. And Ian Christie discusses the life and legacy of the Japanese filmmaker Nagisa Oshima who has died.

In this edition of weekly highlights, David Benedict reviews the New Year Blockbuster Les Misérables. Philip Dodd is joined by Professors Michael King and Linda Woodhead, and theologian Mark Vernon, to explore whether we can make any sense of the idea of ‘spirituality’ without religion. And Anne McElvoy and guests discuss the life and work of the Russian director Konstantin Stanislavski, born 150 years ago this month.

Django Unchained, the newest Quentin Tarantino film causing controversy, is reviewed by Philip Dodd with cultural commentator Kit Davis and film critic Tim Robey. Author Lucy Hughes-Hallett joins Philip to discuss the life of Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, the subject of her new book The Pike. We explore the complex code of English manners with Henry Hitchings, whose new book tells their history, and Chinese writer Xiaolu Guo. And Philip interviews Sharon Olds, winner of this year’s T S Eliot prize for Poetry.

Anne McElvoy and guests discuss the life and work of the Russian director Konstantin Stanislavski, born 150 years ago this month. Adam Mars-Jones reviews Utopia, a new drama on Channel 4. Which should be our priority, growing the economy or protecting the environment? Environmental campaigner Tony Juniper joins Anne, along with Dr Benny Peiser to discuss. And the historian Jonathan Healey, one of our New Generation Thinkers, reflects on the proposals to change succession laws and what they might mean for the future of our monarchy.

To mark the 60th anniversary of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, Rana Mitter is joined by philosophers Rupert Read and Barry Smith, and Wittgenstein’s biographer Ray Monk, to examine his legacy in Western philosophical tradition. Graham Stewart talks about his new book which details the influence and paradoxes of the 1980s. And Aidan Foster-Carter and Shakuntala Banaji discuss the ‘soft’ power that K-Pop and Bollywood have generated for their respective countries.

Fiona Shaw takes to the stage with Samuel Coleridge’s epic The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; she joins Philip Dodd to discuss language, endurance and death. Professors Michael King and Linda Woodhead, and theologian Mark Vernon, explore whether we can make any sense of the idea of ‘spirituality’ without religion. And David Benedict reviews the New Year Blockbuster, Les Misérables.

Matthew Sweet picks over the bones of the Profumo affair with the historian Richard Davenport-Hines, author of a passionate new account of the scandal. There’s also a discussion of Gangster Squad – the latest love letter from Hollywood to the world of rackets, mobsters and molls. And to round things off in real style, Matthew talks to the writer, Michael Frayn, whose 80th birthday is being celebrated with a short series of radio plays including one of his best known works; Copenhagen.

Best-selling novelist Philippa Gregory talks to Rana Mitter about writing historical fiction, her fascination with the Tudors, and how her fiction turns the spotlight on the lives on women at significant moments in history. Recorded at The Sage Gateshead at Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Bernard Rose, whose new film Boxing Day is a modern rework of Tolstoy’s Master and Man, is in conversation with Philip Dodd. In a year when public inquiries have been especially resonant, we consider what we mean by ‘the public’ and its right to justice. Historian Helen Bynum talks about the history of tuberculosis and how the disease has been romanticised in culture. And Radio 3 New Generation Thinker Nandini Das spots an unexpectedly seasonal image in the British Library’s new exhibition about Mughal India.

Matthew Sweet discusses The Girl, a new film about Alfred Hitchcock’s vexed relationship with Tippi Hedren, with the leading lady herself and actor Toby Jones. We celebrate the centenary of Tarzan with author Michael Chabon and the former ‘Ape Man’ stars Johnny Weissmuller and Ron Ely. And Matthew examines the compelling creations of the writer, artist and creative polymath, Alasdair Gray.

Anne McElvoy talks to the director Ang Lee about his latest film The Life of Pi. Susannah Clapp reviews August Strindberg's play The Dance of Death which has a new adaptation by Conor McPherson. Polish-born writer and critic Agata Pyzik and Jatinder Verma who founded the South Asian theatre company Tara Arts discuss why some immigrant groups make more cultural impact than others. And Anne talks to Valery Rees about her new book, From Gabriel to Lucifer: A Cultural History of Angels.

Columnist and youth worker Lindsay Johns argues that we should stop listening to the young, in a talk recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival presented by Rana Mitter. He explains that we need to stop pandering to young people, and that all too often we tell them only what they want to hear. Recorded at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

How relevant is the Nation-State in today's world? Philip Dodd debates the future of the Nation -State with political commentator Will Hutton, New Generation Thinker Adriana Sinclair, Turkish novelist Elif Shafak and historian Quentin Skinner. Susannah Clapp reviews Martin Crimp's new play In The Republic of Happiness. And Philip talks to Wm Paul Young, the American Christian author whose debut novel The Shack has sold over 18 million copies.

Matthew Sweet chairs an "International Review" edition of the programme and is joined by two novelists, from China, Xiaolu Guo, and from Poland, A.M. Bakalar and also by the Cairo-based Middle East affairs commentator Magdi Abdelhadi and critic Konstantin Eggert. They discuss the 50th anniversary of Lawrence of Arabia; the international reaction to the Leveson report and how media practices differ around the world; and the new English translation of a 19th century Polish novel, The Heathen by Narcyza Zmichowska.

Constable, Gainsborough and Turner, the three towering figures of English landscape painting, have their artwork showcased in a new exhibition at the Royal Academy – Anne McElvoy is joined by art critic Lynn Nead and historian Andrew Wulf to review. Sir Ronald Harwood talks about adapting his play Quartet for the big screen. Advertising executives Robin Wight and Barry Delaney discuss the legacy of David Ogilvy. And the artist Katrina van Grouw gets under the skin of birds in a remarkable book of anatomical drawings.

Colm Toibin is one of Ireland's finest writers, whose books explore issues such as Catholicism, immigration and homosexuality. His 2009 novel Brooklyn won the Costa novel of the Year, and his latest The Testament of Mary is a controversial re-imagining of the life of the Virgin Mary. In an extended interview recorded at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3 November, Philip Dodd talks to Colm Toibin about his own life, his ideas, and thoughts on literature.

Matthew Sweet speaks to acclaimed director Michael Grandage whose theatre company launches with a new production of Peter Nichols's celebrated play Privates on Parade. As a new centre in Cambridge is set up to assess the dangers that might arise from progress in artificial intelligence, Matthew talks to one of its founders Sir Martin Rees and sustainability innovator Rachel Armstrong. And Jonas Mekas, film-maker, artist, poet, and a leading figure of avant-garde and experimental cinema, discusses his remarkable and prolific sixty-year career.

Samira Ahmed hosts a discussion about cross casting with Fiona Shaw and Carol Rutter as the all female production of Julius Caesar opens at the Donmar Warehouse and Susannah Clapp gives a first night review. Tim Pat Coogan talks about his new book and what he sees as the role of Britain in the Irish Potato Famine of 1845. There's a discussion about the role of violence in Buddhist history and traditions and Samira meets two up and coming Brazilian writers: Michel Laub and Tatiana Salem Levy.

As Radio 3 marks the bicentenary of Napoleon Bonaparte’s historic retreat from Russia, Anne McElvoy examines the ambivalent relationship between France and the notorious leader, with political commentator Agnes Poirier, Professor Peter Hicks from the Napoleon foundation and Professor Michael Broers. Critic Adrian Searle discusses the winner of this year’s Turner Prize, Elizabeth Price. And there's a look at the first comprehensive history of Georgia for decades, using recently accessible archives from author Donald Rayfield.

Economist Ian Goldin gives a talk on Globalisation and the Future at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival. Presented by Anne McElvoy, Ian explores whether globalisation is a force for good, or whether it will be the source of an ever more unequal and unstable world. Recorded at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Critic Kevin Jackson and Andrew Biswell join Samira Ahmed to review Napoleon Rising, a play by Anthony Burgess, ahead of its world premiere on Radio 3 on 2nd December. Samira will also be weighing up the latest film adaptation of Great Expectations with its screenwriter, David Nicholls. Designer Tom Dixon and historian Amanda Vickery review the V&A Museum’s new furniture wing. And writer and journalist James Buchan and Azar Nafisi reflect on the legacy of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Matthew Sweet talks to Antony Gormley about his gigantic new sculpture Model. The leading Sondheim interpreter Maria Friedman reveals why she has decided to move from acting to directing for a new production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. Matthew is joined by the psychologists Nicholas Humphrey and Thomas Hill to debate whether we are as smart as we used to be. And as the literary archive of the great Russian film-maker Andrei Tarkovsky comes up for auction, Matthew looks at his potent legacy.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the banker-turned-philosopher who predicted the 2008 financial crash, joins Rana to present his argument on being ‘antifragile’. Jeremy Jennings and Patricia Thornton consider why it is that, according to rumours, the new Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping is turning to a political text by Alexis de Tocqueville. And Sarah Dunant reviews The Hunt, the new film by Thomas Vinterberg which chronicles the chilling story of a teacher falsely accused of abusing a child.

What kind of societies will the Arab Spring give birth to? Democratic, Capitalist, Islamic, or Unstable? Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, and Egyptian political economist Tarek Osman join Samira Ahmed to discuss this issue and to explore what the possible implications may be for the western world. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3rd November 2012.

Matthew Sweet debates how the discovery of alien life might change the way we think about humanity and how it will impact our moral and philosophical universe. Matthew is joined by the best-selling science-fiction writer Stephen Baxter, the science broadcaster and journalist Sue Nelson, the futurist and neuroscientist Anders Sandberg, and one of our leading space scientists, John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Julie Bindel gives a talk arguing that sexuality is a choice at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival. In a talk titled Not Born This Way, the feminist, lesbian, columnist and writer Julie Bindel challenges liberal thinking by arguing that sexuality is indeed a choice, and that the current scientific quest to identify a gay gene is both pointless and dangerous. The event is chaired by Night Waves presenter Samira Ahmed and recorded at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.

As our global population increases and technology encourages instant communication, are we becoming more sociable, or lonelier in a high tech crowd? To debate, Anne McElvoy is joined by broadcaster Kate Adie, clinical psychologist Oliver James, The Times columnist David Aaronovitch and philosopher Julian Baggini. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3rd November.

Matthew Smith, one of Radio 3’s New Generation Thinkers, explores why the simple peanut has become a battleground of medical debate. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage, Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Why have humans evolved to speak so many incomprehensible languages? Why do we work against our own survival by going to war with one another? Evolutionary Biologist Mark Pagel explores how humanity will evolve in the future and if we are likely to become a world with one state and one language. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November.