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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Free Thinking: Russian Art and Revolution
Tue 7 Feb 2017
Dolya Gavanski, Stephen Smith, Victor Sebestyen, Charlotte Hobson and Anne McElvoy.
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Borders: On the ground, on the map, in the mind
Thu 2 Feb 2017
From Ireland to Turkey, from soldiering to walking to photographing - with Anne McElvoy.
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Free Thinking: Anger and friendships with Pankaj Mishra and Elif Shafak.
Wed 1 Feb 2017
Novelist Elif Shafak, US magazine editor Julius Krein, Douglas Murray and Pankaj Mishra.
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Free Thinking - Caribbean Culture.
Tue 31 Jan 2017
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, Colin Grant and Kei Miller discuss the Caribbean with Matthew Sweet
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Free Thinking: Yaa Gyasi. Daniel Levitin. Peter Bazalgette, James Bartholomew on Clarity, Civility and Strong States.
Thu 26 Jan 2017
Tooling a stronger civil society plus a novel on Slavery on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Davos Discussions. Shobana Jeyasingh. New Generation Thinker Seán Williams
Thu 26 Jan 2017
Anne McElvoy explores topics discussed at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
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Free Thinking: Oscar Nominations; T2 Trainspotting; Denial
Tue 24 Jan 2017
Matthew Sweet and guests consider film making in 2017.
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Free Thinking - Victorian Bodies, Citizens of Everywhere
Thu 19 Jan 2017
Rana Mitter talks Victorian bodies and looks at the Citizens of Everywhere arts project.
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Free Thinking - The influence of the British Black Art movement.
Wed 18 Jan 2017
Artists Sonia Boyce, Isaac Julien, Eddie Chambers and Harold Offeh talk to Anne McElvoy.
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Free Thinking: The War of the Worlds sequel, Eimear McBride
Tue 17 Jan 2017
Matthew Sweet talks to Stephen Baxter about his sequel to HG Wells's novel.
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Free Thinking - Chibundu Onuzo; Nadeem Aslam. Lockwood Kipling's art.
Thu 12 Jan 2017
Anne McElvoy reads novels set in Pakistan and Nigeria; plus Lockwood Kipling art teacher.
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Free Thinking: The Arts of Running
Wed 11 Jan 2017
Artists Kai Syng Tan and Angus Farquhar join Hayden Lorimer and Vybarr Cregan-Reid.
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Free Thinking: La La Land and Hollywood - past and present
Wed 11 Jan 2017
Matthew Sweet and guests consider Hollywood's obsession with Hollywood.
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Free Thinking - Breaking Free: Karl Kraus - Jonathan Franzen.
Mon 2 Jan 2017
Philip Dodd looks at the biting satire and contemporary relevance of Austrian Karl Kraus
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Free Thinking: Patriotism: The Union Jack
Fri 23 Dec 2016
Afua Hirsch, Graham Bartram, John Bew, Ash Sarkar & Andrew Rosindell join Anne McElvoy.
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Free Thinking - Patriotism: China, Russia, Japan, Latin America.
Wed 21 Dec 2016
Xiaolu Guo, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Michael Auslin and David Priestland join Rana Mitter
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Free Thinking - Patriotism: Alain Finkielkraut, Karim Miské
Tue 20 Dec 2016
Philip Dodd talks to Alain Finkielkraut and Karim Miské about French identity
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Free Thinking: Calling to Account: Bronwen Maddox, Margaret Hodge, Matthew Parris.
Fri 16 Dec 2016
Are public enquiries good government? Plus Matthew Parris on scorn. Anne McElvoy presents
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Free Thinking: John Simpson on the death of the war correspondent.
Wed 14 Dec 2016
Philip Dodd and guests consider what we mean by 'news' in 2016.
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Free Thinking - A Brexit reading list.
Tue 13 Dec 2016
Edith Hall, Chris Kissane + Matthew Sweet consider what might be on a Brexit reading list
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Our Relationship with Animals: Will Abberley, Chris Packham, Helen Pilcher, Alan Hook
Thu 8 Dec 2016
Shahidha Bari looks at computing for cats, de-extinction and an animal symphony.
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Maths: Alex Bellos, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Serafina Cuomo, Vicky Neale
Thu 8 Dec 2016
As a newly designed Maths gallery opens at the Science Museum,why we need better numeracy
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Free Thinking - Voices in Our Ears: Colin Grant, Josie Rourke, Charles Fernyhough, Clare Walker Gore
Tue 6 Dec 2016
Matthew Sweet looks at epilepsy considering Joan of Arc, Wilkie Collins & hearing voices
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Free Thinking - Rauschenberg - performance, identity and the writings of Erving Goffman.
Thu 1 Dec 2016
What price the self in the 21st century? with Dexter Dalwood, Susie Scott + Tom McCarthy
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Elites.
Wed 30 Nov 2016
Douglas Carswell, David Runciman and Eliane Glaser join Matthew Sweet to discuss elites.
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The Weird. Science and Art at FACT. Japanese film Your Name.
Tue 29 Nov 2016
Rana Mitter on science and art on show at Liverpool's FACT and what we mean by the weird.
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Schiller's Mary Stuart; Günter Grass. Preti Taneja on translated fiction, Rachel Reeves.
Thu 24 Nov 2016
Anne McElvoy on Robert Icke's version of Mary Stuart and the last novel from Günter Grass
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Zadie Smith
Wed 23 Nov 2016
Zadie Smith talks dance, depicting teenage friends and US/UK differences with Philip Dodd
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Free Thinking - Beards. Listening. Masculinity.
Tue 22 Nov 2016
Alun Withey on beards, Josh Appignanesi & Devorah Baum on fatherhood, with Matthew Sweet
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Free Thinking: Being Human: What the Archives Reveal
Thu 17 Nov 2016
Matthew Sweet visits the London Survey, Kew, a cemetery and a hut used by Anzac soldiers.
