Why we read and the idea of the 'woman writer'

From Elizabethan poet Anne Dowriche and Anne Bronte to what women say they read now.

• 44 mins

Simplify your life - ideas from 20th-century radicals

Laurence Scott looks at the rise of vegetarianism, a basic income, world peace and nudism.

• 44 mins

Psychohistory: Isaac Asimov and guiding the future

Matthew Sweet asks if the fictional science of psychohistory changed the future of humans.

• 44 mins

Pioneering women: academics and classics

Nikita Gill & Francesca Wade on classicist Jane Harrison, goddesses and LSE's Eileen Power

• 44 mins

Poetry and Science

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Greg Tate, Sam Illingworth & Sunayana Bhargava join Anne McElvoy.

• 44 mins

What is good listening?

Matthew Sweet with New York Times journalist Kate Murphy, Anne Karpf and David Toop.

• 44 mins

Remembering Auschwitz

Rana Mitter marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation and talks to author Anne Michaels

• 44 mins

How we see pregnancy past and present

Anne McElvoy hears the story of a woman who gave birth to rabbits and the news from Davos.

• 44 mins

Fungi: An Alien Encounter

Are fungi out to get us or here to help? A look at mushrooms in art, food, and psychology.

• 44 mins

Mocking power past and present

The German joker Tyll Ulenspiegel. Anne McElvoy, Daniel Kehlmann and Karen Leeder discuss.

• 44 mins

Samuel Beckett & the purpose of culture

If we want the arts to be a comfort blanket, where does Beckett fit in? Lisa Dwan responds

• 44 mins

Early Cinema

Matthew Sweet looks back at an early female film director and a British film pioneer.

• 44 mins

The shadow of slavery

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough talks to a panel about slavery, sugar and the costs.

• 44 mins

How we talk about sex and women's bodies

Fern Riddell, Kate Lister and Robin Mitchell discuss their research with Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Queer Histories

How do we apply modern LGBT+ language and identities to historical figures?

• 44 mins

The Surreal World of Alejandro Jodorowsky

Matthew Sweet talks to Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky and to critics.

• 44 mins

Japan Now 2020

Hiromi Ito, Tomoko Sawada, Yukiko Motoya and Motoyuki Shibata

• 44 mins

African Empire stories

Petina Gappah and Sarah LeFanu on Livingstone, Kipling and Mary Kingsley in Africa.

• 44 mins

Genes, racism, ageing and evidence

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin and geneticist Adam Rutherford join Rana Mitter.

• 44 mins

Women Behaving Badly?

Helen Lewis joins Shahidha Bari to talk feminist pioneers, dating, and power dynamics.

• 44 mins

How architecture shapes society

Ricky Burdett, Liza Fior, Des Fitzgerald, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Edwin Heathcote at LSE

• 44 mins

Anne Enright, The value of gossip

The Irish novelist talks to Laurence Scott, plus a discussion of gossip past and present.

• 44 mins

Maths and philosophy puzzles

Shahidha Bari looks at the legacy of 20th-century polymath Frank Ramsey (1903-1930).

• 44 mins

Jewish Identity in 2020

Howard Jacobson, Bari Weiss, Hadley Freeman, Jonathan Freedland and Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Fighting Women

Maaza Mengiste, Christina Lamb, Julie Wheelwright & Shawn Sobers join Eleanor Barraclough.

• 44 mins

Advertising, Renaissance Art and Artemisia Gentileschi

Historians Catherine Fletcher, Selina Todd and art critic Jonathan Jones join Rana Mitter.

• 44 mins

Slebs: Warhol, Beaton and celebrity culture

Lisa Mullen, Caroline Frost and historian & podcast host Greg Jenner join Matthew Sweet.

• 44 mins

Does Growth Matter?

Is the economic future all about growth? Danny Dorling discusses Slowdown.

• 44 mins

Shoes

From Roman sandals to trainers and stilettos, Shahidha Bari looks at the shoe trade.

• 44 mins

Contagion & Viruses

Matthew Sweet talks to John Dupré, Mark Honigsbaum, Lisa Mullen & Matt Adams

• 44 mins