Arts & Ideas Podcast
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Episodes to download
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Free Thinking - Salman Rushdie. Niall Ferguson on Henry Kissinger.
Wed 14 Oct 2015
Salman Rushdie talks to Philip Dodd. Also historian Niall Ferguson on Henry Kissinger.
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Free Thinking - Man Booker Winner. Weather and Twilight. The Kibbo Kift.
Tue 13 Oct 2015
Matthew Sweet on how weather and twilight can make the world strange.
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Free Thinking - Landmark: Leaves of Grass
Thu 8 Oct 2015
For National Poetry Day, Matthew Sweet explores Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.
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Free Thinking - Free Speech on Campus. Acting Arthur Miller
Wed 7 Oct 2015
ZoΓ« Wanamaker, Antony Sher and David Suchet discuss acting Arthur Miller with Philip Dodd
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Free Thinking - Suffragette. Thatcherism and Conservatism now. James Fenton.
Tue 6 Oct 2015
James Fenton on his poetic career. Suffragette reviewed. Mrs Thatcher's legacy discussed.
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Free Thinking - James Shapiro, Macbeth on Film, Barrie Keeffe, East End museum
Thu 1 Oct 2015
Matthew Sweet looks at Macbeth on film and talks to Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro.
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Free Thinking - Populism. Romola Garai on Measure for Measure.
Wed 30 Sep 2015
Philip Dodd presents a discussion about populism in politics and culture.
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Free Thinking - Margaret Atwood, Yuval Harari, Celts
Fri 25 Sep 2015
Rana Mitter interviews novelist Margaret Atwood, Professor Yuval Harari and reviews Celts
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Free Thinking - Edmund de Waal, Orhan Pamuk
Thu 24 Sep 2015
Ceramicist Edmund de Waal and author Orhan Pamuk are in conversation with Philip Dodd.
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Free Thinking - Autism, The Financial Crisis, The Fallen Woman: 22 September 15
Wed 23 Sep 2015
Steve Silberman on attitudes to autism, Gillian Tett on silos, Lynda Nead on fallen woman
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Free Thinking - Everything That You Never Knew About Indian History
Thu 17 Sep 2015
Rana Mitter explores new research into India in the second world war and the British Raj
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Free Thinking - Emotion in Art - Frederick Forsyth: 15 September 15
Wed 16 Sep 2015
Frederick Forsyth discusses spy fiction and fact and Matthew Sweet explores our emotions.
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William Kentridge and William Boyd
Tue 15 Sep 2015
South African artist William Kentridge and novelist William Boyd talk to Philip Dodd
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Proms Poetry Competition - 08 September 15
Tue 8 Sep 2015
The winning entries in this year's Proms Poetry Competition
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PROMS EXTRA - Arabian Nights - 7 Sep 15
Mon 7 Sep 2015
Shahidha Bari and Houda Echouafni on this powerful islamic folk-cycle - Arabian Nights
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Proms Extra: David Hare's memoir 'The Blue Touch Paper' - 04 Sep 15
Fri 4 Sep 2015
The playwright David Hare discusses his new memoir, 'The Blue Touch Paper'.
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PROMS EXTRA - 120 years of London School of Economics: 2 Sep 15
Wed 2 Sep 2015
Michael Cox explores the history of the London School of Economics with Stephanie Flanders
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Proms Extra: Willa Cather's The Song of the Lark - 31 August 15
Mon 31 Aug 2015
Hermione Lee on the American writer Willa Cather's 1915 novel 'The Song of the Lark'.
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Proms Extra: The Lumiere Brothers in 1895 - 22.08.15
Sat 22 Aug 2015
Ian Christie on the Lumiere brothers' invention of the world's first film camera in 1895.
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Proms Extra: Hans Christian Andersen 20 August 15
Thu 20 Aug 2015
Lars Tharp and Julia Eccleshare on the work and legacy of Hans Christian Andersen.
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Proms Extra: The National Trust - 17.08.15
Mon 17 Aug 2015
The history of the National Trust with Dame Helen Ghosh and Patrick Barkham.
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Proms Extra: DH Lawrence's The Rainbow 09 August 15
Sun 9 Aug 2015
Novelists Helen Dunmore and Louise Welsh on DH Lawrence's 1915 novel, 'The Rainbow'.
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Proms Extra: Oscar Wilde in 1895: 3 Aug 2015
Mon 3 Aug 2015
Philip Hoare and Merlin Holland discuss Wilde's tumultuous year. With Shahidha Bari.
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Proms Extra: Memory in Performance – 2 Aug 15
Sun 2 Aug 2015
Actress Lisa Dwan and singer Susan Bullock discuss the role of memory in performance.
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Proms Extra: Alice in Wonderland 30 July 15
Thu 30 Jul 2015
Anne McElvoy discussses the enduring appeal of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.
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Proms Extra: Ezra Pound's 'Cathay - 29 July 15
Thu 30 Jul 2015
Poets Jo Shapcott and Sean O'Brien discuss Ezra Pound's poetry collection, 'Cathay'.
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Proms Extra: Holst's The Planets Suite
Tue 28 Jul 2015
Oscar-winning composer Steven Price on the inspiration of Holst's Planets Suite.
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Proms Extra: Fiddler on the Roof
Sat 25 Jul 2015
Rana Mitter discuss the appeal of Fiddler on the Roof.
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Proms Extra: Beethoven and German Romantic Poetry
Fri 24 Jul 2015
Anne McElvoy discusses the German Romantic poetry which inspired Beethoven.
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Proms Extra: 1895 The First Proms
Sun 19 Jul 2015
Rana Mitter with Nicholas Kenyon and Leanne Langley
