Arts & Ideas

Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present.

Radio 4,1295 episodes

Episodes

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Wealth
Can the accumulation of wealth be ethical and what can we learn from Adam Smith's work?
05 Jun 2026,56 mins
Free Thinking at the Hay Festival: Responsibility
Baroness Hale, Philippa Perry, Guto Harri and Simon Critchley join Shahidha Bari at Hay
29 May 2026,56 mins
Thinking with Food
Felicity Cloake, John Lanchester, Prof Barry Smith, Suki Finn and Samantha Ellis
22 May 2026,56 mins
Technologies of the Self
From journaling to prayer: Shahidha Bari on the history and politics of self creation
15 May 2026,57 mins
The Middle
Middle - England, ground, child, age, pig in ... Anne McElvoy hosts a middling discussion
08 May 2026,57 mins
Weapons, real and symbolic
Matthew Sweet and guests discuss tanks, guns, gaming, drones and what weaponisation means
01 May 2026,56 mins
Weapons, real and symbolic
Matthew Sweet and guests explore what weapons mean - in the past and now.
01 May 2026,56 mins
Purity
David Aaronovitch, Catherine Coldstream, Linda Woodhead and others join Matthew Sweet
24 Apr 2026,56 mins
Humility
From Spinoza's thinking to the "humble brag" - Matthew Sweet and guests explore humility.
27 Mar 2026,56 mins
Oral tradition and oracy
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss look at fluently in politics, the classroom & society
20 Mar 2026,56 mins
Taste
Matthew Sweet and guests explore what it means to have "good taste".
16 Mar 2026,56 mins
Women, language & experience
Shahidha Bari's guests include Karen McCarthy Woolf, Lauren Elkin and Sara Ahmed
06 Mar 2026,56 mins
Authority
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss authority in politics, business and education.
27 Feb 2026,57 mins
Crime and punishment medieval to modern
Matthew Sweet's guests include Lord Sumption and criminal barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind
20 Feb 2026,56 mins
Working Class Creativity
Depictions of working class life on TV and in culture and how they've changed
13 Feb 2026,56 mins
Is Might Right?
The history of an idea that's shaped political philosophy, from Plato to Carl Schmitt
06 Feb 2026,56 mins
Labour, work and productivity
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss labour in terms of both work and childbirth
30 Jan 2026,57 mins
Double Lives
From spying behind enemy lines in WWII France to lives lived online
23 Jan 2026,56 mins
Victorian Values
Gisela Stuart, AN Wilson, Fern Riddell, Sarah Williams, Matthew Stallard, Matthew Sweet
16 Jan 2026,56 mins
Innovation
Matthew Sweet explores the cultures of novelty
09 Jan 2026,56 mins
Travel
Travel past and present and broadening the mind? Travel journalists and historians debate
02 Jan 2026,56 mins
Idleness
Is idleness ever a virtue? Matthew Sweet investigates
12 Dec 2025,56 mins
Influencing History
Matthew Sweet and guests ask who makes history and debate arguments in the Reith lectures
05 Dec 2025,56 mins
Marriage
Shahidha Bari joined by guests including Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch and Zoe Strimpel
28 Nov 2025,56 mins
Rocks
How can earth sciences like geology transform our understanding of history and society?
21 Nov 2025,56 mins
Revenge and reconciliation
In the week we mark the Armistice of World War I, Anne McElvoy and guests discuss revenge
14 Nov 2025,56 mins
The end of civilisations and societies
Peter Hitchens, Rhiannon Firth, Neville Morley, Phil Tinline, Luke Kemp join Shahidha Bari
07 Nov 2025,56 mins
Rational and Irrational decision making
Anne McElvoy considers the value of irrationality with Lionel Barber and Bronwen Maddox.
24 Oct 2025,57 mins
Traditions, roots and local pride
Ex MP Penny Mordaunt's new book asks Why Britain's Traditions Matter. Matthew Sweet hosts
17 Oct 2025,56 mins
The status of Science
Shahidha Bari and guests discuss the status of science in society and culture
10 Oct 2025,58 mins