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Hay Festival

Jeanette Winterson, Naomi Wolf and John Browne discuss morality, sexbots and engineering with Tom Sutcliffe at the Hay Festival.

In a special edition recorded live at the Hay Festival, Tom Sutcliffe discusses the impact of human ingenuity. From the myth of Frankenstein to geoengineering, he explores how normality and deviancy became entrenched in society.

In her latest novel, the award-winning writer Jeanette Winterson moves between 1816, when the young Mary Shelley wrote the great Gothic novel of scientific hubris, Frankenstein, and the present day, exploring the far-reaching consequences of the AI revolution.

John Browne, the former CEO of BP, argues against putting the brakes on technological advance. He maintains that civilisation is founded on engineering innovation.

Naomi Wolf looks back to the 1857 Obscene Publications Act to pinpoint the moment that law enforced the sexuality morality of the time. She sees reverberations lasting to this day.

Producer: Katy Hickman

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42 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 May 2019 21:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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  • Mon 27 May 2019 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Mon 27 May 2019 21:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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  • Start the Week

    Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday