2014 Festival

Disraeli the Romantic

Daisy Hay considers the way Benjamin Disraeli used his private life for political ends.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

Beards and Whiskers

Alun Withey explains what shaving tells us about medical advances and military strategy.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

Beastly Politics

Alasdair Cochrane of Sheffield University argues that animals should have greater rights.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

Speech Before Words

Will Abberley explores the evolution of language and what we learn from science fiction.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

A Theatre of Their Own

Naomi Paxton on the movement for a women's theatre from the 1890s to the start of WWI.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

Shakespeare and India

Preti Taneja explores the politics of language and its impact on Indian literature.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

The Spin Doctors of 19th-Century America

Joanna Cohen compares 19th-century attitudes to American politicians with those of today.

• 15 mins

2014 Festival

Knowing Your Characters: David Greig and Siobhan Redmond in Conversation

Siobhan Redmond and David Greig discuss drama and how much one has to know about a play.

• 45 mins

2014 Festival

Happy Talk: Beatrix Campbell, Vincent Deary and Paul Dolan

Rana Mitter and a panel consider 'how much self-knowledge do we need to be happy?'.

• 45 mins

2014 Festival

The Cost of Free Information

Rana Mitter hosts a debate asking if the internet can make knowledge open to all.

• 45 mins

2014 Festival

Fear or Wonder: Everything Under the Moon

Have science fiction and space travel changed people's relationship with the world?

• 45 mins

William Kentridge, William Boyd, Photography

South African artist William Kentridge and novelist William Boyd talk to Philip Dodd.

• 45 mins

Frederick Forsyth, Emotion in Art

Presented by Matthew Sweet. With novelist Frederick Forsyth and a discussion on emotions.

• 45 mins

Everything You Never Knew About Indian History

Rana Mitter explores new research into India in the Second World War and the British Raj.

• 45 mins

Autism, The Financial Crisis, The Fallen Woman

Steve Silberman on autism, Gillian Tett on silos and Lynda Nead on 'fallen women'.

• 45 mins

Edmund de Waal, Orhan Pamuk

Ceramicist Edmund de Waal and author Orhan Pamuk are in conversation with Philip Dodd.

• 45 mins

Margaret Atwood, Yuval Harari, Celts

With novelist Margaret Atwood, exploring the history of mankind and an exhibition on Celts

• 45 mins

David Hare

David Hare discusses his career in playwriting and his memoirs with Matthew Sweet.

• 45 mins

Populism, Romola Garai on Measure for Measure

Philip Dodd presents a discussion about populism in politics and culture.

• 45 mins

Macbeth on Film, James Shapiro, Barrie Keeffe

Matthew Sweet looks at Macbeth on film and talks to Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro.

• 45 mins

James Fenton, Suffragette, Thatcherism and Conservatism

James Fenton on his poetic career, Suffragette reviewed and Thatcher's legacy discussed.

• 45 mins

Acting Arthur Miller, Free Speech on Campus

Zoe Wanamaker, David Suchet and Antony Sher talk about interpreting Arthur Miller's work.

• 45 mins

Landmark: Leaves of Grass

Poets Mark Doty and Andrew McMillan and Professor Sarah Churchwell on Walt Whitman's poem.

• 45 mins

Man Booker Winner, Weather and Twilight, The Kibbo Kift

Matthew Sweet with Peter Davidson and Alexandra Harris on Britain's weather and twilight.

• 45 mins

Salman Rushdie, Henry Kissinger

Salman Rushdie talks to Philip Dodd. Plus historian Niall Ferguson on Henry Kissinger.

• 45 mins

Meera Syal and Tanika Gupta in Conversation at Birmingham Rep

Meera Syal and Tanika Gupta talk to Rana Mitter about turning Anita and Me into a play.

• 45 mins

Plants and The Black Panthers

Matthew Sweet with The Invention of Nature, The Cabaret of Plants and The Black Panthers.

• 45 mins

Home: Marilynne Robinson, Thomas Harding, Imtiaz Dharker

Ideas of home: Marilynne Robinson, Edwin Heathcote, Thomas Harding, Imtiaz Dharker.

• 45 mins

James Bond in Spectre, Nawal El Saadawi, Lord Browne, IS and Poetry

With writer Nawal El Saadawi on protest, Lord Browne on business, and IS and Arabic poetry

• 45 mins

Witch-Finding, Marina Warner

Matthew Sweet and guests including Marina Warner consider the season of the witch.

• 45 mins