Free Thinking

Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives, looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4.

Radio 4,1448 episodes

Episodes

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2012 Festival
Joshua Nall
Joshua Nall gives a talk on Mars and the Victorians at the 2012 Free Thinking Festival.
14 Nov 2012,15 mins
2012 Festival
Sue-Ann Harding
Sue-Ann Harding gives a talk entitled 'expat or immigrant' at Free Thinking 2012.
15 Nov 2012,15 mins
2012 Festival
Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith gives a talk on peanuts and the rise of food allergies at Free Thinking 2012
16 Nov 2012,15 mins
2012 Festival
Mark Pagel
At Free Thinking 2012, Mark Pagel gives a talk: 'evolution and humanity - what next?'.
16 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Immigration and the Challenge to Belonging
Philip Dodd chairs a debate on immigration at the 2012 Free Thinking festival.
15 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Vicky Featherstone
Vicky Featherstone gives a talk on the idea of a national theatre at Free Thinking 2012.
14 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Rewriting World History
From the 2012 Free Thinking Festival, Rana Mitter chairs a debate about world history.
13 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Amos Oz
Amos Oz gives a talk on Israel and Palestine at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival.
12 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Lee Hall
Philip Dodd presents a special conversation with Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot.
08 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Islam and Christianity: The Essential Difference
From Free Thinking 2012, Tom Holland and Mona Siddiqui discuss Islam and Christianity.
07 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Is Social Mobility Overrated?
Anne McElvoy with a debate for Free Thinking 2012, asking 'Is social mobility overrated?'.
06 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff gives a talk on enemies in politics at the 2012 Free Thinking Festival.
05 Nov 2012,45 mins
2012 Festival
Live from Free Thinking
Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers.
04 Nov 2012,75 mins
2012 Festival
Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson with the first lecture of Free Thinking 2012, on the topic of women leaders.
02 Nov 2012,60 mins
2011
Charles Jencks
A talk in which landscape architect Charles Jencks calls for a new cosmic art.
24 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Neuro-scientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore discusses dramatic changes in the teenage brain.
23 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Were the Luddites Right?
Rana Mitter chairs a debate about the Luddite movement, to mark its 200th anniversary.
22 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Susie Orbach
Susie Orbach challenges the obsession with personal change at Free Thinking 2011.
21 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
New Generation Thinker: Lucy Powell
Lucy Powell gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty.
07 Nov 2011,15 mins
2011
Rachel Hewitt
Rachel Hewitt on the mapping of the Scottish border, from the Free Thinking Festival.
08 Nov 2011,15 mins
2011
Corin Throsby
Corin Throsby gives a talk on the fan mail Byron received.
09 Nov 2011,15 mins
2011
New Generation Thinker: Laurence Scott
Laurence Scott of King's College London on the fascinating figure of the gothic heroine.
10 Nov 2011,15 mins
2011
New Generation Thinker: David Petts
David Petts calls for the preservation of the industrial heritage of the North East.
11 Nov 2011,15 mins
2011
Aditya Chakrabortty
Economist Aditya Chakrabortty examines the impact of economic change on society.
18 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
What is the Future of Civilisation as the Oil Runs Out?
Anne McElvoy chairs a talk about the impact of a future energy crisis on our way of life.
17 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Can We Stop the Mania for Change?
Philip Dodd chairs a debate on obsession with change, with Molly Dineen and Giles Fraser.
16 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Julian Savulescu - The Moral Obligation to Improve
Julian Savulescu makes the case for human enhancement at the 2011 Free Thinking festival.
15 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Linda Colley
Historian Linda Colley delivers a lecture entitled The Present and the Past of Change.
14 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer questions the idea of freedom at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival.
10 Nov 2011,45 mins
2011
Kevin Fong
From the 2011 Free Thinking festival, scientist Kevin Fong calls for a 'second space age'.
09 Nov 2011,45 mins