A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
Radio 4,·825 episodes
Tom Shakespeare on our relationship with red tape, past and present.
Niall Ferguson argues that predictions of a 'Roaring Twenties' may be misplaced.
Zoe Strimpel argues that the culture war is not a storm in a teacup.
Howard Jacobson on Zionism and the disappointment of a dream.
Bernardine Evaristo on why the country's arts must be cherished.
Sara Wheeler rereads fifty years of diaries and ponders lessons learned.
Will Self muses on the joys of eavesdropping.
Rebecca Stott on why we need to rethink our love affair with concrete.
Adam Gopnik ponders New Yorkers' response to the passing of the pandemic there.
Zoe Strimpel questions some of the dominant gender narratives around the Me Too movement.
David Goodhart reflects on group identities in the aftermath of the Sewell report.
Howard Jacobson reflects on the 'incorrigible unseriousness' of our age.
Michael Morpurgo on how a personal meeting shaped his views.
Rebecca Stott on memories of Angel Delight, Smash powder and an invaluable device....
Adam Gopnik reflects on why Tik-Tok will never be his thing.
Sara Wheeler argues that the Mrs-Miss distinction has no place in contemporary Britain.
Michael Morpurgo reflects... a year on from the first lockdown.
Sarah Dunant ponders what effect this year will have on future conversation.
John Connell reflects on how the pandemic is breaking the spell of cities.
Tom Shakespeare on pubs in peril.
Susie Orbach on finding the right words to help get us through the pandemic.
Will Self on why he longs for the day he can travel again on the London underground.
Zoe Strimpel tries to understand her sense of panic at news of Britain closing its borders
Sarah Dunant imagines how the storming of the US Capitol building might go down in history
Rebecca Stott on why stories told over time seem so fitting for lockdown.
John Gray argues that social media bans on Donald Trump pose many risks.
Adam Gopnik attempts to make sense of events in Washington this week.
Adam Gopnik on the bitter-sweet joys of cycling round Central Park.
Bernardine Evaristo reflects on spirituality and syncretism.
Sara Wheeler on navigating unmapped territory.
