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 ±«Óãtv Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Episodes to download
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My Neighbour Totoro
Thu 3 Aug 2023
Japanese ideas about childhood innocence and the influence of a 1988 Studio Ghibli film.
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Oliver Postgate
Wed 2 Aug 2023
Matthew Sweet & Daniel Postgate, musicians Sandra Kerr & Neil Brand, critic Samira Ahmed
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The Wife of Bath
Tue 1 Aug 2023
Shahidha Bari is joined by Professor Marion Turner, poet Patience Agbabi and Hetta Howes
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The Wife of Bath
Tue 1 Aug 2023
Shahidha Bari is joined by Professor Marion Turner, poet Patience Agbabi and Hetta Howes
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Glenda Jackson on filming Sunday Bloody Sunday
Mon 31 Jul 2023
Matthew Sweet & guests including Glenda Jackson on John Schlesinger's love triangle film
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Writing and Place: Wales
Sun 30 Jul 2023
Zoë Skoulding and Tom Bullough talk to Joan Passey about Wales in their writing
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Writing and Place: The North-East
Sat 22 Jul 2023
Jessica Andrews and Jake Morris-Campbell compare notes with Ian McMillan
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Writing and Place: Northern Ireland
Mon 17 Jul 2023
Colin Bateman and Michelle Gallen talk about their writing to Shahidha Bari
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Rock Follies
Fri 14 Jul 2023
The groundbreaking 1970s TV drama reassessed with guests including actor Rula Lenska.
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Oxford Philosophy
Wed 12 Jul 2023
The influence of J.L. Austin, Gilbert Ryle, Elizabeth Anscombe and later Derek Parfit
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Childhood and play
Tue 11 Jul 2023
The V&A has re-opened its museum of childhood as Young V&A plus how kids learn to speak
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New Thinking: women and football
Thu 6 Jul 2023
Newspaper reports of the Lionesses analysed + early reports of women in American football
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South Asia: poverty and princes
Thu 6 Jul 2023
Historians Joya Chatterji and Tripurdaman Singh, plus the novels of Kamala Markandaya
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Liverpool Biennial + art at MIF
Tue 4 Jul 2023
Catherine Fletcher and 3 Biennial artists. Vid Simoniti visits Economics the Blockbuster
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A lively Tudor world
Tue 4 Jul 2023
From needlework to marriage portraits to depicting music on the page
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New Thinking: oral histories and the NHS
Tue 4 Jul 2023
New research on the stories held in the NHS archives and the voices that are missing
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New Thinking: Children and health
Mon 3 Jul 2023
What can we learn from children's experiences in the Pandemic at home and at school?
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New Thinking: health inequalities
Sun 2 Jul 2023
Health projects using Caribbean folk traditions, wild swimming, museums and the blues
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New Thinking: Design and health
Sat 1 Jul 2023
From sleeve design to stroke patient recovery and solving malnutrition
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New Thinking: Writing the NHS
Fri 30 Jun 2023
Dr Kim Moore and Dr Kim Wiltshire on how hospital staff have been helped by writing
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Dystopian thinking
Fri 30 Jun 2023
As Kay Dick's They opens at MIF, Matthew Sweet and guests trace the history of dystopias.
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Julian the Apostate
Wed 28 Jun 2023
We examine Rome's last pagan ruler via Ibsen's drama to apostasy in contemporary politics
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Boyhood to manhood
Mon 26 Jun 2023
Chris Harding with Luke Turner, Jeffrey Boakye and Lisa Sugiura discuss growing up now
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Gut instinct
Fri 23 Jun 2023
From gut feelings in your stomach to the language of disgust: Matthew Sweet hosts
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Diva
Wed 21 Jun 2023
As the V&A opens an exhibition about performers, Naomi Paxton discusses what makes a diva
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The Sorrows of Young Werther
Tue 20 Jun 2023
The book of the Sturm und Drang generation: Anne McElvoy explores the ideas behind it
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Life, art and drama in the kitchen
Fri 16 Jun 2023
Sarah Kent, Marianne Hem Eriksen, Melanie Williams and Angela Hui join Matthew Sweet
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Glenda Jackson and Filming Sunday Bloody Sunday
Thu 15 Jun 2023
With the death of Glenda Jackson announced here's a conversation she recorded last year
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Portraits
Wed 14 Jun 2023
As the NPG re-opens we look at portraiture in art, photography, documentary & oral history
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Ideas about health
Tue 13 Jun 2023
Gavin Francis on Thomas Browne, Polly Morland on John Berger, Matt Smith on mental health