Arts & Ideas Podcast
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Episodes to download
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Proms Plus Literary
Thu 11 Aug 2011
Tariq Ali and Daniel Karlin discuss the writer Kipling and authors Val McDermid and in...
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Proms Plus Literary
Wed 3 Aug 2011
Playwright Mark Ravenhill and actor and writer Simon Callow discuss Faust with Matthew...
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Proms Plus Literary
Mon 25 Jul 2011
Kate Mosse and Edmund de Waal discuss great French literary classics with Matthew and...
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Arianna Huffington, Bertrand Tavernier & Hollywood portraiture
Tue 12 Jul 2011
Arianna Huffington talks about the launch of her online newspaper, the Huffington in...
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Light Fantastic, Raymond Tallis, Libya, New Generation Thinker
Tue 5 Jul 2011
Highlights from a Night Waves special as part of the Light Fantastic Festival weekend.
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Margaret Drabble, Emma Rothschild ,Stanley Spencer exhibition and Authenticity and the In
Mon 27 Jun 2011
Nightwaves looks at the subject of internet anonymity, visits a new exhibition of work...
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Arundhati Roy, Siddharta Deb and Retromania
Tue 14 Jun 2011
Acclaimed novelists Arundhati Roy and Siddhartha Deb look at India as an emerging...
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Sherry Turkle, Candace Allen, Amnesty International, Senna
Tue 7 Jun 2011
Sherry Turkle on how new technology is changing the way we think and form relationships.
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Nightwaves
Tue 31 May 2011
Anne McElvoy talks to the Egyptian cultural historian Leila Ahmed about her new book a...
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Francis Fukuyama, train murders, Dining with Alice, Vidal Sassoon
Mon 23 May 2011
Francis Fukuyama talks about his new book. A discussion about train murders.
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Malcolm X, Diana Athill and Ai Wei Wei
Tue 17 May 2011
An overview of the legacy of Malcolm X, Diana Athill on her short stories, a new film...
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Night Waves - Vidal Sassoon
Mon 16 May 2011
In remembrance of Vidal Sassoon, Night Waves podcasts an interview with Philip Dodd on...
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Molly Dineen, Brian Christian, Bin Laden, Shah of Iran
Tue 10 May 2011
Molly Dineen discusses her first collection of documentaries on DVD. Brian Christian...
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Edward St Aubyn, Super Injunctions & Pakistan
Wed 4 May 2011
Edward St Aubyn talks about his new book, At Last, the final in the Patrick Melrose...
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The Avengers
Wed 27 Apr 2011
Matthew Sweet dons his kinky boots to investigate the phenomenon of The Avengers, 50...
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Michel Sheen, Cameron Mackintosh & Wim Wenders
Mon 18 Apr 2011
Michael Sheen talks about his role in the Passion Play in his home town of Port Talbot.
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Edna O'Brien, Siddhartha Mukherjee
Thu 14 Apr 2011
Edna O'Brien talks to Philip Dodd about her new book Saints & Sinners.
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Ai Weiwei, the value of Arts & All About Love
Mon 11 Apr 2011
Isabel Hilton on the artist Ai Weiwei and his recent problems with the Chinese state.
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Jim Loach, Victorian Prostitutes, Mrs. Dalloway
Mon 4 Apr 2011
An interview with director Jim Loach on his film Oranges and Sunshine about the as a...
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Butlins, Herzog, Jennifer Egan, Pet Shop Boys
Mon 28 Mar 2011
A look at Butlins at 75 with Roy Hudd and Martin Parr, an interview with Werner Egan...
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Italy, David Baddiel, Frank Skinner, existence
Tue 22 Mar 2011
A panel of guests discuss the state of Italy, as the country marks 150 years of...
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Rattigan, Arab world, Maxine Hong Kingston, Mark Malloch-Brown
Mon 14 Mar 2011
Trevor Nunn on reviving Terence Rattigan's play Flare Path. What does it mean to be an...
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Niall Ferguson, Joanna Hogg & Tom Hiddleston
Mon 7 Mar 2011
Niall Ferguson talks about his new series, Civilisation and the importance of 'killer...
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Billy Bragg, China, Beat Poets, Michael Grade
Mon 28 Feb 2011
Billy Bragg talks about protest songs, Rana Mitter hosts a discussion about the of and...
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07 Feb: David Chipperfield & Colin Thubron
Mon 7 Feb 2011
Travel writer Colin Thubron talks about his journey of discovery through Tibet.
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Biutiful, laughter, John Gray and Susan Hiller
Mon 31 Jan 2011
We review Oscar-nominated film Biutiful. A discussion about laughter with German and...
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Night Waves
Mon 31 Jan 2011
We ask does the West really understand India? Director Peter Kosminsky discusses his...
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Black Swan, Wilbert Rideau, Rudyard Kipling & Mary Midgley
Mon 24 Jan 2011
We review the film, Black Swan. Anne McElvoy talks to Wilbert Rideau who spent 44 in...
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Danny Boyle, Nev Schulman, David Harding and Will Self
Thu 30 Dec 2010
Directors Danny Boyle and Nev Schulman on their latest films; psychotherapist Susie on...
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Peter Weir, Garry Kasparov & The King's Speech
Tue 21 Dec 2010
Director Peter Weir talks about his new film, The Way Back. Chess grandmaster, Garry...
