Arts & Ideas

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.

Sue-Ann Harding, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk in which she ponders the differences between an expat and an immigrant. She draws on television portrayals of migrants and personal experience to explore and challenge the ideas we have about migration. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage, Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.

What does it mean to belong? Multiculturalism, integration and social division are increasingly part of the political debate. But what impact does immigration have on everyone's sense of national identity? To debate, Philip Dodd is joined by David Goodhart, director of Demos think-tank, Migration Watch Vice Chairman Alp Mehmet, Professor Jean Grugel of Sheffield University, and Sunder Katwala, director of think-tank British Future. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4 November 2012.

Joshua Nall, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the Victorian obsession with the planet Mars at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival. With the recent success of NASA's Curiosity lander, Mars is firmly back on the agenda. But where did our fascination with the red planet start? Recorded at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.

As Scotland heads towards a referendum on independence, Vicky Featherstone discusses the role of a modern day national theatre in shaping and capturing national identity and history. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4 November 2012.

Nandini Das, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the 16th Century craze for crime pamphlets; a phenomenon which revealed a new secret world to readers and which became the first best-selling sensation of the popular press. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage, Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.