Episódios
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Freedom is one of the leading values of our society. But with freedom comes responsibility, which is a much more contested principle. Deciding where responsibility lies, and what it means to take it, is the job of the courts. It is also debated in Parliament and in the media. It is often at issue on the psychotherapist’s couch. For Radio 4’s arts and ideas discussion programme, Shahidha Bari gathers a panel of experts who deal with the concept of responsibility in very different contexts. Recorded in front of an audience at the Hay Festival, Shahidha's guests are:
Baroness Hale served as the most senior judge in the UK. Her books include Spider Woman, and With the Law on Our SidePsychotherapist and artist Philippa Perry. Her books include The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, How to Stay Sane and now a crime novel Shrink Solves MurderPhilosopher Simon Critchley. His books include On Mysticism, Tragedy: The Greeks and Us, and What We Think About When We Think About FootballFormer Downing Street Director of Communications Guto Harri
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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The links between food and philosophy, ideas about experimentation, taste and how food and traditions become part of our identity are explored by Matthew Sweet in Radio 4's round-table discussion programme. His guests are:
Author John Lanchester, who writes restaurant reviews and whose latest novel is called Look What You Made Me Do
Food writer Felicity Cloake, who writes a Cook the Perfect column for The Guardian newspaper and has published books called Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey, Peach Street to Lobster Lane: Coast to Coast in Search of Real American Cuisine and now her debut novel The Underdog.
Professor Barry Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London's School of Advanced Study
Philosopher Suki Finn, whose book What's in a Donut Hole? uses food to explore classic philosophical puzzles
Author Samantha Ellis, whose book Chopping Onions on My Heart is a memoir about Iraqi Jewish food, language and culture
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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‘Technologies of the self’ is a phrase from the French philosopher Michel Foucault to describe things people might do to shape the people they are, like dieting, exercise, journaling, or in an earlier age perhaps like prayer, or confession. Shahidha Bari hosts Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme asking how this idea might help us make sense of the age of social media influencers and lifestyle trends.Her guests are:
Elizabeth Oldfield, host of The Sacred podcast, author of Fully Alive: Tending The Soul In Turbulent TimesAnouchka Grose, psychotherapist and author of The Revolution Will Be InternalisedTiffany Watt Smith, historian of emotions whose most recent book is Bad Friend: On Joyous Imperfect loveHeather Widows, philosopher and author of Perfect Me: Beauty As An Ethical IdealandDaniele Lorenzini, philosopher and Foucault scholar
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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From taking the middle ground to the mid-life crisis, Middle England to middle managers, to being a middle child - is occupying a position in the middle out of fashion?
Anne McElvoy hosts Radio 4's ideas discussion programme and her guests this week for a middling conversation are:
Journalist Catherine Carr. Her new book Who's the Favourite?: The Loving, Messy Realities of Sibling Relationships explores being a middle child and the relevance of birth order
Writer and broadcaster Mark Lawson, who has written novels set in middle England
Symeon Brown, home affairs correspondent at Channel 4 news, whose forthcoming book is The Good, the Black and the Boujee: The Story of Britain's New Black Middle Class
Adrian Wooldridge, journalist, author and Global Business Columnist at Bloomberg Opinion. His recent book is entitled Centrists of the World Unite! The Lost Genius of Liberalism.
and
Claire Ainsley, former adviser to Keir Starmer, now at the Progressive Policy Institute.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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How do weapons exert real and symbolic power, both now and in history?
Joining Matthew Sweet in Radio 4's round table discussion programme about ideas are:
The former soldier and politician Tobias Ellwood
The sculptor Hew Locke, whose artworks exploring colonial power have featured weaponry
The Renaissance historian Catherine Fletcher, whose latest book is The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires
The historian and broadcaster Mark Urban, whose books include Tank and Rifles
and
Hailey Austin, Lecturer in Visual Media and Culture at Abertay University who researches comics and videogames.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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How do weapons exert real and symbolic power, both now and in history?
Joining Matthew Sweet are:
The former soldier and politician Tobias Ellwood
The sculptor Hew Locke, whose artworks exploring colonial power have featured weaponry
The Renaissance historian Catherine Fletcher, whose latest book is The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires
The historian and broadcaster Mark Urban, whose books include Tank and Rifles
and
Hailey Austin, Lecturer in Visual Media and Culture at Abertay University who researches comics and videogames.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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From spiritual cleanliness to purity spirals: Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including David Aaronovitch; Catherine Coldstream, author of Cloistered – My Years as a Nun; Linda Woodhead, Professor of the Sociology of Religion at King's College, University of London; Izabella Scott, author of The Bed Trick; and Louise Brangan, author of The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries and Ireland’s Legacy of Silence. They’ll be discussing ideas of purity in political ideology, religion, anthropology and the experiences of teenage girls.
Producer Luke Mulhall
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From Spinoza's thinking and the approach of different religions to the Dickens' character Uriah Heep and the "humble brag" - in Radio 4's late night ideas discussion programme Matthew Sweet and guests explore humility.
Lamorna Ash is a writer and journalist and the author of Don't Forget We're Here Forever, which explores what it means to be a Christian for young people throughout the UK today and reflected on her own journey into faith.
Sir Robert Buckland is the former Conservative MP for South Swindon, a former Lord Chancellor and Solicitor General. He is a practicing barrister with Foundry Chambers, a visiting law professor at the LSE and the Third Church Estates Commissioner.
Aaron Reeves is Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and co author of Born to Rule: The Making and Remaking of the British Elite with Sam Friedman.
Ceri Sullivan is a Professor of English Literature at Cardiff University. Her research has encompassed the managerial techniques presented in Shakespeare's history plays, pragmatism in literary texts and devotional poetry.
Dr Dan Taylor is Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Thought at the Open University. He is the author of Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom and is involved in long term projects with long-term projects examining inclusion and housing in Barking and Dagenham; unpaid care in Gateshead; and community in the Fens.
Producer: Ruth Watts
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Oracy - the ability to express oneself fluently - has been included in plans to modernise the national curriculum, with a new focus on equipping young people with the skills they need for life and work. In Radio 4's round-table discussion programme, Anne McElvoy and guests look at how you teach oracy and explore the value of passing on traditional knowledge using methods like songs and poems. Joining Anne are
Reetika Subramanian is based at the University of East Anglia and is currently a researcher in residence with BBC Radio 4. She hosts the Climate Brides podcast and studies women’s work songs as records of environmental change
Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at Durham University who champions the use of Classical rhetoric to foster oracy in schools
Philip Collins, former speechwriter to Tony Blair
Edith and Philip have taken part in Our Public House, a theatre performance staged by Dash Arts that builds on workshops with over 700 people nationwide who shared their visions for our nation's future.
Stephen Batchelor, secular Buddhist teacher and writer and author of Buddha, Socrates and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times, published by Yale University Press (2025).
Tom F. Wright, historian of rhetoric at the University of Sussex
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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'It's all in the best possible taste'. But what does it mean to have good taste? And does pursuing good taste lead to favouring style over substance? Who are the thinkers who have considered a philosophy of aestheticsMatthew Sweet hosts Radio 4's late night ideas discussion programme. His guests are:
Film historian and New Generation Thinker Sarah Smyth, who lectures in film and TV at the University of EssexPhilosopher Dr John Callanan, who lectures on Kant at King's College LondonWriter and management consultant Peter York, whose books include Style War, co-author of The Official Sloane Ranger handbookBroadcaster and writer Emma Dabiri who co-presented Britain's Lost Masterpieces for BBC 4 and whose latest book is Disobedient Bodies: Reclaim Your Unruly BeautyOpera singer Le Gateau Chocolat
Producer Luke Mulhall
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In a special programme looking ahead to International Women’s Day on March 8th, Shahidha Bari looks at how women express themselves in language, argument, poetry and art. Her guests include:
Sara Ahmed is the author of No is Not a Lonely UtteranceKaren McCarthy Woolf's latest poetry collection is called UnsafeLauren Elkin's books include Art Monsters: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art, she translated Simone de Beauvoir's previously-unpublished novel The Inseparables and has a new book coming out in May Vocal Break: On Women, Music, and Power. She has been reading the new translation by Sophie Lewis of Angst by the French feminist thinker Hélène CixousMary Wellesley is a historian and author of Hidden Hands: The Lives of Manuscripts and Their MakersAsh Percival-Borley, military historian and former soldier
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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Is authority a justly unfashionable quality that we should consign to the past? Or does it still have a place in political and business leadership, schools, medical settings and in the home? What is the difference between authority and power, how have historical shifts such as the advent of the internet affected public perceptions of authority, and how much should authority feature in the raising of children?
In Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme about ideas past and present, Anne McElvoy and guests explore these questions and more.
Justine Greening is a former Conservative Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and EqualitiesMartin Gurri is a former CIA analyst who writes about the relationship between politics and media who published a book called The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New MillenniumSophie Scott-Brown is a philosopher and historian of anarchismPeter Hyman is a former headteacher and adviser to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer who writes a Substack, Changing the StoryTom Simpson is the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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How have attitudes to punishment changed over time, and what ideas about the rationale for punishment are circulating today? In Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme, Matthew Sweet and guests explore the criminal justice system through history.
With:
Stephanie Brown, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull and BBC / AHRC New Generation Thinker on the scheme which puts research on radio
Scout Tzofiya Bolton, poet and broadcaster who presents on National Prison Radio, and for Radio 4 the Illuminated episode called The Ballad of Scout and the Alcohol Tag. Her poetry collection is called The Mad Art of Doing Time
Joanna Hardy-Susskind, criminal barrister and presenter for Radio 4 of a series called You Do Not Have To Say Anything
Stephen Shapiro, Professor of American Literature at the University of Warwick
Jonathan Sumption, former Supreme Court judge and now Moral Maze panellist for BBC Radio 4 and author of a five-volume account of The Hundred Years War
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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From an impoverished neighbourhood in South London, Charlie Chaplin became one of the most significant figures in the development of cinema. More recently, TV writers like Sophie Willan and Michaela Coel have transformed the way working class lives are depicted on TV, from the concerned paternalism of the 1960s to a more celebratory view from the inside in the 2020s. In this week's edition of Radio 4's arts and ideas discussion programme, Matthew Sweet charts these changes, and considers what they mean for our understanding of class categories in wider society. With TV historian Laura Minor, art historian Jacqueline Riding, novelist Adelle Stripe, and historian Samuel Johnson-Schlee. Plus, an interview with Ian La Frenais, co-creator of such comedy classics as The Likely Lads and Porridge.The paperback of Adelle Stripe's memoir Base Notes, and Jacqueline Riding's book Hard Street: Working Class Lives in Charlie Chaplin's London, are both published in February.Producer: Luke Mulhall
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'The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must'. So claimed the powerful Athenians, according to the Ancient Greek historian Thucydides. Plato tried to demonstrate that might does not make right, and thinkers ever since, from Hobbes and Rousseau to Kant and Carl Schmitt, have placed the idea that might is right at the centre of their political philosophies, for better or worse. Matthew Sweet traces the intellectual history of the idea, with Angie Hobbs, Margaret MacMillan, Lea Ypi, and Hugo Drochon.Angie Hobbs' book Why Plato Matters Now, and Lea Ypi's book Indignity, are both out now, Hugo Drochon's book Elites And Democracy is published in MarchProducer: Luke Mulhall
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What do we mean when we talk about productivity?
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss labour in the context of both work and motherhood: what the language of childbirth tells us about how mothers and their bodies are viewed today; how the language of production and reproduction is used in the public and private contexts of the workplace, in macroeconomics, in the labour ward and at home; and the current public debates about parental and domestic labour, the maternal pay gap and the 'productivity puzzle'.
With:John Callanan, Reader in Philosophy at King's College LondonBeth Malory, Lecturer in English Linguistics at University College LondonPatrick Foulis, author and journalistCorinne Low, Associate Professor of Economics at the Wharton School and author of FemonomicsHelen Charman, Fellow in English at Clare College, Cambridge and author of Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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From undercover field operatives to online anonymity, via lives led in the closet and large scale infidelity, Matthew Sweet discusses the what can prompt people to lead double lives.With:Ashleigh Percival-Borleigh, Radio 4 New Generation Thinker, former soldier and historian, researching the lives of under-cover agents during WW2Lawrence Scott, literary critic and commentator on social media and the double lives people lead onlinePeter Parker, historian of gay life in Britain before homosexuality was decriminalized, has documented decades of lives lived in the closetClare Carlisle, philosopher and biographer of Soren Kierkegaard, who thought there’s always a difference between our inner selves and the face we present to the worldPlus the actress Ruth Wilson, whose 2018 drama Mrs Wilson unraveled the story of her own grandfather's multiple lives
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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What does the phrase 'Victorian values' conjure today? Matthew Sweet and guests explore what we have inherited from that formative era in relation to political ideas, civic culture, aesthetics, and social and sexual mores. How does our view of the Victorian age match the historical reality? And can we move beyond stereotypes of repression and the stiff upper lip?
AN Wilson, writer, biographer and historian
Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston, crossbench peer in the House of Lords
Sarah Williams, Research Professor in the History of Christianity at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada and author of When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women
Fern Riddell, historian and writer. Her latest book is Victoria’s Secret: The Private Passion of a Queen (2025)
And Matthew Stallard, Research Associate from the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at University College London.
Producer: Eliane Glaser
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Are we addicted to novelty? What are the cultural settings that allow innovation to flourish? And are novelty and innovation things we've always valued?Matthew Sweet is joined by writer and entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan, Professor of Innovation Tim Minshall, and historians Agnes Arnold-Forster, and Christina Faraday.
Tim Minshall is the author of Your Life is Manufactured.Margaret Heffernan's most recent book is Embracing UncertaintyAgnes Arnold-Foster has written Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous EmotionChristina Faraday is the author of The Story of Tudor ArtNick Hilton, presenter of The Ned Ludd Radio Hour podcast
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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Are you planning your summer holiday? The first Saturday in January is called Sunshine Saturday because typically more holidays are booked on that day than on any other in the year. Today, planning a trip might involve consulting AI rather than reading a travel guide or visiting a travel agent. And the trip itself is more likely to involve an airplane than a stagecoach. But it's not just the practicalities of travel that have altered over the years. Reasons for travelling have changed, so have the meanings assigned to it. Was it ever a good vehicle for self discovery?Shahidha Bari is joined by award-winning travel journalist Mary Novakovich, TV globe trotter Bettany Hughes, historian Alun Withey, literary historian Lucy Powell and philosopher Julian Baggini.
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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