Start the Week

Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday

Radio 4,760 episodes

Episodes

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Searching for economic solutions
Jeremy Hunt, Mariana Mazzucato and Patrick Foulis join Tom Sutcliffe.
01 Jun 2026,42 mins
Mythmaking at Hay: from Medea to Rasputin
Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Antony Beevor, Natalie Haynes and Susan Neiman at Hay Festival.
25 May 2026,42 mins
Farming, food production and rural life
Adam Rutherford talks to Minette Batters, Dave Goulson and Melissa Harrison about farming.
18 May 2026,42 mins
German history
Samira Ahmed with writer Katja Hoyer, art historian John-Paul Stonard & writer Julia Boyd.
11 May 2026,40 mins
Laurie Anderson: Strange and Disorientating Landscapes
Naomi Alderman talks to Laurie Anderson, plus JG Ballard's writing and Nancy Holt's art.
04 May 2026,41 mins
Chemical Reactions
Tom Sutcliffe with chemist Ijeoma Uchegbu, science historian Kit Chapman & Mark Miodownik
27 Apr 2026,42 mins
Why Stuff Matters: Objects, Power and the Past
Mary Beard, Greg Doran and Sophia Adams talk to Adam Rutherford.
20 Apr 2026,41 mins
Challenges and solutions
John Kampfner, Natasha Walter and Nicolas Niarchos join Tom Sutcliffe
13 Apr 2026,41 mins
Zoos, sex and conservation
Adam Rutherford on the origins of zoos and sex.
06 Apr 2026,41 mins
Industrial action: from 1926 General Strike to today
Tom Sutcliffe looks back to the General Strike a century ago, and to the future of work.
30 Mar 2026,41 mins
Growing Up
Naomi Alderman with Booker prize-winner David Szalay, Penny Woolcock and Laura Tisdall.
23 Mar 2026,41 mins
Consciousness and Identity
Tom Sutcliffe with Michael Pollan, Fay Bound-Alberti and Mary Costello.
16 Mar 2026,41 mins
Under the sea
Adam Rutherford discusses the sea with Julian Sancton, Joan Passey and Samanth Subramanian
09 Mar 2026,41 mins
Reading and storytelling
Tom Sutcliffe hears the case for literacy and literature.
02 Mar 2026,41 mins
Thinking about war
Sir Lawrence Freedman on strategy, art curator Rebecca Newell and historian Jane Rogoyska.
23 Feb 2026,41 mins
Breakage and repair
Tom Sutcliffe's guests include Booker Prize-winner George Saunders on his new novel, Vigil
16 Feb 2026,41 mins
Fun and games
Naomi Alderman with C Thi Nguyen, Keza MacDonald and Stephen Bush.
09 Feb 2026,41 mins
Censorship
Tom Sutcliffe talks to the artist Ai Weiwei about censorship and being held for 81 days.
02 Feb 2026,42 mins
Biology, technology and the future
Adam Rutherford asks what it might mean if we can build human bodies and minds.
26 Jan 2026,42 mins
Rethinking politics
Tom Sutcliffe explores how we might reform politics
19 Jan 2026,41 mins
The arts and health
Adam Rutherford and guests explore the connection between body and soul.
12 Jan 2026,41 mins
Animals and Meaning
Naomi Alderman with Justin Gregg, Peter Fretwell and Marianne Hem Eriksen
29 Dec 2025,41 mins
Poetry - reading, writing, editing and translating
Nick Makoha, Miles Leeson and Karen Leeder.
22 Dec 2025,41 mins
The Dark
Shadows in art, photography and poetry: Adam Rutherford's guests discuss darkness.
15 Dec 2025,42 mins
Histories, emotions and identity
Lyndal Roper, Masud Husain and Hannah Durkin.
08 Dec 2025,41 mins
Space, Quantum Frontiers and Cosmic Clues
Tom Sutcliffe looks to the stars with Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Paul Davies and Caroline Smith
01 Dec 2025,42 mins
Genes and hands: mapping character and health
Alison Bashford, Matthew Cobb and Charlotte Houldcroft with Adam Rutherford.
24 Nov 2025,41 mins
Digital Futures and Information Crises
Cory Doctorow, Naomi Alderman and Oliver Moody with Tom Sutcliffe.
17 Nov 2025,41 mins
Saving Tigers, Green Crime and Cli-fi
Jonathan Slaght, Juhea Kim and Julia Shaw in conversation with Adam Rutherford.
10 Nov 2025,41 mins
Storytelling: Jeanette Winterson, Rory Stewart and Soweto Kinch
Jeanette Winterson, Soweto Kinch and Rory Stewart, with Tom Sutcliffe.
03 Nov 2025,42 mins