Free Thinking Podcast
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives - looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Episodes to download
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What Do We Mean by "Working Class Writing"?
Wed 4 Apr 2018
Kit de Waal, Darren McGarvey, Adelle Stripe and Michael Chaplin with Shahidha Bari.
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Introducing the New Generation Thinkers 2018
Tue 3 Apr 2018
From piracy to vegetarianism, George Orwell to surrogacy, Newton's alchemy to C18 fitness
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Building Bridges and Other Megastructures
Thu 29 Mar 2018
Writer Erica Wagner, engineer Sean Wilkinson & architect Simon Roberts with Rana Mitter.
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#Speaking Up
Wed 28 Mar 2018
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown,Afua Hirsch & Tarjinder Gill debate identity with Philip Dodd.
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Mass Hysterics
Tue 27 Mar 2018
Comedians Alexei Sayle, Jen Brister & Sanjeev Kohli join Matthew Sweet at Sage Gateshead
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Can There Be Multiple Versions of Me?
Mon 26 Mar 2018
June Sarpong, Emma Frankland, Gavin Francis and Julian Baggini chaired by Anne McElvoy.
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Rethinking Civilisations
Thu 22 Mar 2018
David Olusoga, Kit Davies and Kenan Malik debate what civilisation means with Philip Dodd
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Gangs, the Usual Suspects
Wed 21 Mar 2018
Symeon Brown, James Docherty, Alistair Fraser chaired by Matthew Sweet.
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Power to the People?
Wed 21 Mar 2018
David Runciman, Rod Liddle, Caroline MacFarland Danny Dorling & Anne McElvoy in Gateshead
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Are We Afraid of Being Alone?
Tue 20 Mar 2018
Sara Maitland, Lionel Shriver, and John-Henry Clay explore solitude.
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Has Social Media Cracked the Code to the Crowd?
Thu 15 Mar 2018
Julia Hobsbawm, Jamie Bartlett, Laurence Scott and Abeba Birhane with Anne McElvoy.
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Podcast: There Is No I in Team
Thu 15 Mar 2018
MP Johnny Mercer, Theatre Director Elizabeth Newman and former footballer Paul Fletcher.
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The Dance of Nature
Wed 14 Mar 2018
Jim Al-Khalili, Melissa Bateson, Andrew McBain and Richard Bevan explore group behaviour
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The Population Bomb
Mon 12 Mar 2018
Danny Dorling, Lionel Shriver and Stephen Emmott debate with Matthew Sweet.
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The Free Thinking Lecture: Linda Yueh on Globalisation
Fri 9 Mar 2018
Economist Linda Yueh delivers her vision for restoring faith in the free market.
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New Research into the UK Women's Suffrage Movement.
Thu 8 Mar 2018
With Helen Pankhurst, Jane Robinson, Shahida Rahman, Fern Riddell and Miranda Garrett
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The Golden Notebook
Wed 7 Mar 2018
Lara Feigel, Xiaolu Guo, Melissa Benn + David Aaronovitch on Doris Lessing's 1962 novel.
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A Sentimental Journey
Thu 1 Mar 2018
Seán Williams rereads Laurence Sterne's subjective travel book & talks to Philip Hensher
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What Lies Beneath; Neanderthal Cave Art to Fatbergs
Wed 28 Feb 2018
Poetic and archaeological trip round our fascination with what comes up when we dig down.
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The Joy of Bureaucracy
Thu 22 Feb 2018
Matthew Sweet with guests including Lord Butler, André Spicer and Eliane Glaser
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Steven Pinker on Progress
Thu 22 Feb 2018
Steven Pinker explains to Philip Dodd why we should ignore headlines & be more optimistic
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Napoleon in Fact & Fiction
Wed 21 Feb 2018
Napoleon impersonators, ballads and what if he didn't die in exile?
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Reflecting Rural Life
Thu 15 Feb 2018
Film maker Clio Barnard and novelist Amanda Craig on rural life. Matthew Sweet presents.
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Free Thinking: Mark Dion; Colour, Insects, Virginia Woolf
Wed 14 Feb 2018
Human Beings are part of Natural History discuss: via art, science and the Bloosmbury set
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How Big Should the State Be?
Wed 14 Feb 2018
David Willetts, Polly Toynbee, Simone Finn, Julia Black & Adrian Wooldridge at LSE.
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Michael Ignatieff and Central Europe
Tue 13 Feb 2018
Philip Dodd talks to Michael Ignatieff about the political landscape of central Europe.
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Tariq Ali
Thu 8 Feb 2018
Rana Mitter talks to Tariq Ali, novelist, historian & political activist about 1968.
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Celebrating Buchi Emecheta
Thu 8 Feb 2018
Single motherhood, child slavery & parallels w/ Grenfell in the books of Buchi Emecheta
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Trade, Davos, Ocean travel and Mermaids
Fri 2 Feb 2018
Anne McElvoy on Davos discussions, Ocean liner style at the V&A and mermaids in fiction.
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The Working Class in Culture
Thu 1 Feb 2018
Philip Dodd and guests ask has culture forgotten the working class?
Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019
Angry politics, what we can’t say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV
Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional
Angry politics, what we can’t say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many
We examine the fast-changing relationship between the individual & the crowd
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival
Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life
