Free speech, censorship and modern China
Rana Mitter hears about the women of modern China seeking identity and voice in the public sphere and the complicated ways in which ideas are expressed outside democracy.
Rana Mitter explores looks at the role of writing in propagating ideas and exposing political tensions. He hears how writers have given voice to personal and political ambitions, from Ding Ling to the teenagers of modern China. Yuan Yang discusses her new book, Private Revolutions. Simon Ings talks about his latest book Engineers of Human Souls which examines four writers whose ideas shaped the careers of some of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators. And Jeffrey Howard analyses the ethics of negotiating free speech and censorship today.
Producer: Ruth Watts
Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang is out now
Simon Ings' book Engineers of Human Souls: Four Writers Who Changed Twentieth-Century Minds looks at Maurice Barrès, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Ding Ling and Maxim Gorky.
Jeffrey Howard is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Public Policy at UCL and Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. You can find an Essay called Prison Break which he wrote for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3 asking if it is ever ok to escape from prison available on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds. He was chosen as a New Generation Thinker in 2020 on the scheme run by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on radio.
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Arts & Ideas
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives.