Arts & Ideas

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

Radio 4,1251 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

Decadence
Matthew Sweet assesses the state of contemporary culture
25 Apr 2025,56 mins
The Middle Classes
Muriel Zagha, Prof. Sam Friedman, Lord Willetts, Lisa Holdsworth & Prof. Melinda Mills
28 Mar 2025,56 mins
Isolation
Matthew Sweet explores ideas about being on your own
21 Mar 2025,56 mins
Evidence
Lord Sumption, Danny Robins, Dr Sarah Dillon Dr Jonathan Egid and Dr Anthony Milligan
14 Mar 2025,57 mins
Uncertainty
Chris Lintott, Margaret Heffernan, Liam Halligan, Tim Garton Ash, Victoria Donovan
07 Mar 2025,56 mins
A pinch of salt
A key preservative, the subject of taxes, a danger to plant-life - how much salt is good?
28 Feb 2025,56 mins
Malcolm X, life changes and flexible thinking
Timandra Harkness, Ekow Eshun, Sophie Grace Chappell, Richard Bett and Stephen Bush
21 Feb 2025,35 mins
All we need is love
Susie Orbach, Armand D'Angour, Vittoria Fallanca, Mary Harrod and Catherine Wheatley.
14 Feb 2025,56 mins
Repetition
Matthew Sweet and guests discuss routine, repetition and our sense of time
07 Feb 2025,56 mins
Decision Making
From think tanks & tallies to tarot, what tools do we use to help us choose our actions?
31 Jan 2025,50 mins
Diaries
Michael Crick, Irving Finkel, Sophie Coulombeau and Oliver Burkeman join Matthew Sweet
24 Jan 2025,56 mins
Knowing When To Stop
From art to activism, campaigning to cabaret, Shahidha Bari asks when is enough enough?
10 Jan 2025,57 mins
Beer, Crisps and the British pub
Tim Martin, Natalie Whittle, Prof Philip Howell, Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen, Ben Wright.
20 Dec 2024,56 mins
Luck, predictability and superstition
Dr Christian Busch, Bobby Seagull, Sharron Davies, Dr Kate Tomas and Timandra Harkness.
13 Dec 2024,57 mins
How we think about evil
Matthew Sweet and guests pick up from this year's Reith lectures and look at ideas of evil
06 Dec 2024,56 mins
Gifts and Gratitude
Following Thanksgiving, and as Christmas approaches, Shahidha Bari on giving and receiving
29 Nov 2024,56 mins
Diplomacy from Ancient Greece to Trump
Sir Nigel Sheinwald,Clare Jackson, Holly Furneaux and Bronwen Maddox discuss diplomacy
22 Nov 2024,56 mins
Cosy comfort reading or Nietzsche?
Alexander McCall Smith, Susannah Clapp, Tom Shakespeare, Deborah Sugg Ryan & Hugo Drochon
15 Nov 2024,56 mins
Milton and our modern world
It's 350 years since the death of Milton - we discuss ideas of Puritanism and divorce
08 Nov 2024,56 mins
Ghosts, death and ecstatic states
Shahidha Bari with Irving Finkel, Simon Critchley, Chris Harding & Hetta Howes
01 Nov 2024,57 mins
Are we all American now?
3Short Freddy Gray, Dr Katie McGettigan, Amanda Taub, Kit Davis, Rana Mitter
25 Oct 2024,56 mins
Insiders & Outsiders
Matthew Sweet and guests explore the secret languages of the internet and beyond
18 Oct 2024,56 mins
Childhood and innocence
Katherine Rundell, Emily Baughan, Grace Lockrobin, Miriam Cates, Andrew Cooper
11 Oct 2024,56 mins
Reading & Empathy
With Shahidha Bari and guests
04 Oct 2024,56 mins
The eternal dynamic of Rivalry, Fredric Jameson, the newly reopened Warburg Institute
Michael Crick, Helen Castor, David Edmonds, Kate Maltby and Roger Luckhurst
27 Sep 2024,56 mins
Crisis & Decision
Do we live in a time of crisis? Matthew Sweet gets to grips with the present moment
20 Sep 2024,56 mins
Carl Schmitt, democracy and dictatorship
Anne McElvoy with guests including David Runciman and Gisela Stuart
13 Sep 2024,56 mins
Carl Schmitt, democracy and dictatorship
Anne McElvoy with guests including David Runciman and Gisela Stuart
13 Sep 2024,56 mins
Escapism
Matthew Sweet and guests question whether you can ever really escape
28 Jun 2024,56 mins
The illusion of time, the summer solstice & the philosophy of comedy
Mark Miodownik, Emily Herring, Rob Newman & Fay Dowker consider Time with Matthew Sweet
21 Jun 2024,56 mins