Valis and Philip K Dick

A weirdly autobiographical science fiction novel from 1981 inspired by hallucinations.

• 45 mins

Sankofa and Afrofuturism

Curator Ekow Eshun, academic Sarah Jilani, sculptor Zak Ové with Shahihda Bari

• 44 mins

Sleep

John Gallagher gets sleeping tips from research pioneers and early modern history

• 44 mins

Eliza Flower and non-conformist thinking

Matthew Sweet hears about research into the singer & friend of JS Mill feat. live songs!

• 45 mins

Robert Aickman

For Halloween, Matthew Sweet & guests discuss supernatural fiction, bad teeth & canals

• 45 mins

African identity via China and photography

Teju Cole, Noo Saro-Wiwa and Tate curator Osei Bonsu talk to Laurence Scott.

• 45 mins

New Thinking: Writing exile and overcoming statelessness

The lives of Bengalis in Pakistan/a novel about a Lebanese boy wanting to be an astronaut

• 31 mins

New Thinking: Food

Lisa Mullen hears about new research into eating habits and ideas about hospitality

• 44 mins

New Thinking: Playhouses and opera-going

What spectacles did Elizabethan playhouses stage other than plays? Is opera really posh?

• 37 mins

The Imperial War Museum Remembrance discussion 2023

As the IWM unveils its new art galleries, Anne McElvoy & guests discuss photographing war

• 44 mins

New Thinking: How and why we talk

John Gallagher hears about tongue shapes, accent prejudice and the importance of gossip

• 44 mins

New Thinking: The Box Office Bears project

From digging for bones to the connection between bear baiting and Elizabethan theatre

• 31 mins

Shakespeare as inspiration

From Bollywood films and Pre-Raphaelite art to productions of Shakespeare in places at war

• 44 mins

Women, art and activism

Naomi Paxton and guests on exhibitions at Tate Britain, the Barbican and Modern Art Oxford

• 44 mins

Ursula Le Guin and The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Naomi Alderman, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson and others discuss the politics of this 1973 fable

• 45 mins

New Thinking: Rediscovering women making film and sculpture

Kathleen Collins’ film scripts and women sculptors working in wax

• 40 mins

Sam Selvon and The Lonely Londoners

Selvon's evocative 1956 novel discussed at the British Library by Shahidha Bari & guests.

• 44 mins

Post-War Germany

Forging the modern German nation from the moral and material ruins of WW2

• 44 mins

AS Byatt and The Children's Book

AS Byatt discussed her writing life with Matthew Sweet as she published a novel in 2009

• 43 mins

Lorca

As the National Theatre stages The House of Bernarda Alba, Rana Mitter discusses Lorca

• 45 mins

Libraries

From Alexandria to Mid Wales, Laurence Scott and guests look at library history.

• 44 mins

Kadare, Gospodinov, Kafka and Dickens

Bureaucracies of the soul satirised in novels. Matthew Sweet's guests include Lea Ypi.

• 45 mins

New Thinking: Disability in Music and Theatre

Dr Louise Creechan and guests discuss adaptive music technology & musical theatre roles

• 39 mins

Humboldt, soil, gardens and Frank Walter

For World Soil Day, a celebration of art, research and ideas to revive the earth

• 44 mins

Narnia and CS Lewis

Exploring the literary and theological terrain of C.S. Lewis's Narnia

• 54 mins

Margaret Cavendish

Nandini Das and guests discuss the Duchess of Newcastle - philosopher, poet and scientist

• 44 mins

Harry Belafonte

The long career of the American singer, film star & activist with Matthew Sweet & guests

• 45 mins

Prize Winners 2023

Nandini Das, Tania Branigan, Halik Kochanski, Ed Yong, John Vallaint talk to Rana Mitter

• 44 mins

Greek myth, goddesses and art

From classic myths rewritten by Natalie Haynes to the art of John Craxton in Crete

• 44 mins

New Thinking: Carols and Convents

English Nuns abroad, and are carols just for Christmas?

• 27 mins