Free Thinking Episodes Episode guide
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Common Sense
Anne Widdecombe and Rachel Wiseman join Matthew Sweet.
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Knowing when to stop
From art to activism, campaigning to cabaret, Shahidha Bari asks when is enough enough?
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Beer, crisps and the British pub
Tim Martin, Natalie Whittle, Professor Philip Howell, Dr Marianne Hem Eriksen, Ben Wright.
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Luck, predictability and superstition
Dr Christian Busch, Bobby Seagull, Sharron Davies, Dr Kate Tomas and Timandra Harkness.
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How we think about evil
Matthew Sweet and guests pick up from this year's Reith lectures and look at ideas of evil
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Gifts and Gratitude
Following Thanksgiving, and as Christmas approaches, Shahidha Bari on giving and receiving
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Diplomacy from Ancient Greece to Trump
Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Professor Clare Jackson, Bronwen Maddox, Dr Holly Furneaux
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Cosy comfort reading or Nietzsche?
Alexander McCall Smith, Susannah Clapp, Tom Shakespeare, Deborah Sugg Ryan & Hugo Drochon
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Milton and our modern world
It is 350 years since the death of Milton. We discuss ideas of Puritanism and divorce.
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Ghosts, death and ecstatic states
Shahidha Bari with Irving Finkel, Simon Critchley, Chris Harding and Hetta Howes.
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Are we all American now?
Freddy Gray, Dr Katie McGettigan, Amanda Taub, Kit Davis and Rana Mitter join Anne McElvoy
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Insiders & Outsiders
Matthew Sweet and guests explore the secret languages of the internet and beyond.
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Childhood and innocence
Katherine Rundell, Emily Baughan, Grace Lockrobin, Miriam Cates, Andrew Cooper
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Why we read
Shahidha Bari and guests discuss the value of reading fiction and of writing history.
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The eternal dynamic of Rivalry, Fredric Jameson, the newly reopened Warburg Institute
Michael Crick, Helen Castor, David Edmonds, Kate Maltby and Roger Luckhurst.
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Crisis & Decision
Do we live in a time of crisis? Matthew Sweet gets to grips with the present moment.
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Carl Schmitt, democracy and dictatorship
Anne McElvoy with guests including David Runciman and Gisela Stuart
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Escapism
Matthew Sweet and guests question whether you can ever really escape.
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The illusion of time, the summer solstice & the philosophy of comedy
Mark Miodownik, Emily Herring, Rob Newman and Fay Dowker consider Time with Matthew Sweet.
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History - the long and short of it
Peter Frankopan, Alison Light, Bronwen Maddox and Zeinab Badawi join Matthew Sweet.
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Generations - D-Day - Global Instability
Eliza Filby, Rana Mitter, Jo Hamya, Tom Simpson, plus Gaby Hinsliff.
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The Insurrectionists' Guide to the Movies
Stephen Bush, Dr Sarah Jilani, Kate Maltby and Keith Shiri join Matthew Sweet.
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Left and Right - still relevant in British and Global Politics?
Margaret MacMillan, David Aaronovitch, Phillip Blond and Gisela Stuart join Matthew Sweet.
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Positive and negative politics, 'intellectual vices' and the face you bring to work
Sir Richard Evans, Margaret Heffernan, Isabel Oakeshott, Quassim Cassam join Anne McElvoy.
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Life expectations, philosophy in the world, protest
Matthew Sweet with David Willetts, Elizabeth Oldfield, Will Davies and Tiffany Watt Smith.
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Winning and Losing, Plato scroll, the decline of Nightlife
Winning and losing with Lea Ypi, Peter Hitchens, Michael Mansfield KC and Cath Bishop.
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Kant today, Spice Girls Reunited, Impersonating an Animal
Girl power past and present, the wisdom of goats and seagulls and Kant's ideas on reason.
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Tacitus, Byron's fanmail and Bluey
Mary Beard, Konnie Huq, Helen Carr and Tom Peck join Shahidha Bari.
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Change, Scrabble and Cultural Christianity
Matthew Sweet and guests look at ideas about change: political, climate, personal.
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Hobbes, Abba, Waterloo and margarine
Matthew Sweet and guests look back at the week exploring the ideas shaping our lives today
