Free Thinking

Latest Episodes:

Free Thinking: Light: Ann Wroe, Dan Flavin, Blackpool Illuminations, The Sun. Mar 31, 2016

Show notes

In a programme exploring light, Anne McElvoy is joined by Ann Wroe - who has walked the South Downs for her latest book considering painters including Ravilious and Samuel Palmer. Prof. Lucie Green has written a journey to the centre of the sun. The fluorescent creations of Dan Flavin the post war American artist go on show at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery curated by director Jonathan Watkins. And in Blackpool - home of the Illuminations - the Grundy Art Gallery is adding to its collection of light works – curator Richard Parry explains.

Dan Flavin: It is What It Is and It Ain't Nothing Else runs at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham from 13th April to 26th June.

Six Facets Of Light by Ann Wroe is out now. She is also the author of Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man.

15 Million Degrees - A Journey to the Centre of the Sun is written by Dr Lucie Green, solar physicist at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Nationalisms: Jerry Brotton, Elif Shafak, John Breuilly Mar 30, 2016

Show notes

Jerry Brotton talks to Rana Mitter about the links between Elizabethan England and the Islamic World. They're joined in studio for a conversation about the history and growth of nationalism around the world by the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, by Professor John Breuilly from the London School of Economics and by the novelist Gillian Slovo - who has written a thriller inspired by the Tottenham riots and a verbatim drama based on interviews asking why young Muslim men and women from across Western Europe are leaving their homes to answer the call of Jihad.

This Orient Isle: Elizabethan England and the Islamic World by Jerry Brotton - Professor of Renaissance Studies in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London is out now and is being read on Radio 4 as this week's Book of the Week. The Radio 3 Sunday Feature he presented on The Venice Ghetto is available on the iPlayer or as a download from Radio 3's website.

Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State written by Gillian Slovo and directed by Nicolas Kent is at the temporary space at the National Theatre from 9th April to 7th May. Gillian Slovo's novel is called Ten Days.

Professor John Breuilly is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism which is out in paperback in April.

Elif Shafak's most recent novel is The Architect's Apprentice.

Producer: Ruth Watts

Suits. Neil LaBute Mar 24, 2016

Show notes

Anne McElvoy is joined by New Generation Thinker Shahidha Bari to explore the history of the suit as the Jewish Museum in London opens an exhibition on men's fashion. American playwright Neil LaBute is the author of plays including The Shape of Things, Bash, The Mercy Seat and Fat Pig. He discusses happiness as he follows up Reasons to be Pretty with a new drama called Reasons to be Happy.

Moses, Mods and Mr Fish: The Menswear Revolution runs at the Jewish Museum in London from March 31st - June 19th 2016. Reasons To Be Happy runs at the Hampstead Theatre from March 17th to April 16th.

Producer: Ruth Watts

Free Thinking - The Green Man. George Monbiot. Mar 23, 2016

Show notes

Rana Mitter considers the myth of the Green Man and our relationship to Nature, talking to George Monbiot, writing at the interface of politics, equality and nature, Nina Lyon whose exploration of Green Man rising takes her from Wales to London and american novelist Charlie Jane Anders whose sci-fi story takes in wicca magic and technological uber-geekiness. Joining them in the studio, Kate Maltby, expert in renaissance literature and political commentator.

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders is out now. Uprooted: On The Trail of the Green Man by Nina Lyon is out now. How Did We Get Into This Mess? by George Monbiot is out April 22nd.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith

Free Thinking – Daniel Clowes; Alan Clarke's TV career; Ken Loach tribute to Barry Hines Mar 22, 2016

Show notes

Ahead of a major retrospective at the British Film Institute, Matthew Sweet shines a light on the career of director Alan Clarke with filmmaker Clio Barnard, his daughter Molly Clarke, and actor Phil Davis, who appeared in The Firm alongside Gary Oldman.

Ken Loach pays tribute to Barry Hines, the Yorkshire writer behind one of his most memorable films, Kes.

The American cartoonist Daniel Clowes talks about his latest graphic novel, Patience.

The Alan Clarke BFI retrospective runs from March 28th to April 30th and includes the newly discovered director's cut of The Firm, David Bowie in Baal, three previously-thought-lost TV episodes from 1967-68 and footage from an unfinished documentary project. It includes screenings and events at London's South Bank, at 9 mediatheques around the UK and DVD releases.

Patience by Daniel Clowes is out now.

Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

Free Thinking - Russia and the Arts: Julian Barnes, Roxana Silbert and Suhayla El-Bushra Mar 17, 2016

Show notes

Anne McElvoy and Julian Barnes discuss images of Russian cultural figures on display at the National Portrait Gallery. Director Roxana Silbert and playwright Suhayla El-Bushra discuss putting Russian satirical dramas on stage in Britain. And Soumaya Keynes from teh Institute of Fiscal Studies, journalist Ann Treneman and journalist and director of the Institute for Government Peter Riddell discuss the theatre of the budget.

Russia and the Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky runs at the National Portrait Gallery from 21 April - 24 July Meanwhile Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery hosts Elizabeth to Victoria: British Portraits from the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Julian Barnes' most recent novel The Noise of Time is inspired by the life of Dmitri Shostakovich.

Roxana Silbert is directing a version of Gogol's The Government Inspector written by David Harrower which is on stage at Birmingham Rep in association with Ramps on the Moon. It runs from March 19th to 26th. It then tours to New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich 6-16 April West Yorkshire Playhouse 20-30 April Nottingham Playhouse 4-14 May Theatre Royal Stratford East 18-28 May The Everyman, Liverpool 1-11 June Crucible Theatre, Sheffield 17-25 June

Suhayla El-Bushra has written an adaptation of Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide which is being directed by Nadia Fall at the National Theatre in London. It runs in rep from April 6th.

Producer: Eliane Glaser.

Free Thinking - Philosophy: Bryan Magee Mar 16, 2016

Show notes

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the state of academic philosophy in the UK today. It’s often thought of as being difficult, abstract, and far-removed from the concerns of every-day life. It even came up recently in the US Presidential campaign, when Republican hopeful Marco Rubio claimed America needs fewer philosophers and more welders. So what is the place of philosophy in today’s universities? And what role can it play in wider culture? Few people in the UK have done more to help philosophers reach a wider audience than Bryan Magee, whose TV interviews with leading philosophers were prime-time viewing in the 1970s and '80s. As Magee publishes a new book, Ultimate Questions, Matthew and his guests discuss his legacy as a broadcaster who interpreted philosophy for a wider audience. With with philosophers MM McCabe, Lucy O'Brien, Nigel Warburton and Constantine Sandis.

Ultimate Questions by Bryan Magee is out now from Princeton University Press.

Producer: Luke Mulhall.

Free Thinking – Identity in Britain: Martin Parr. Mar 15, 2016

Show notes

Martin Parr has curated an exhibition bringing together views of the UK taken by international photographers including Tina Barney from the USA. Both join Philip Dodd, plus journalists Tim Stanley and Ben Judah, and philosopher Mahlet Zimeta to examine what British identity looks like in 2016.

Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers runs at the Barbican 16 March 2016 - 19 June 2016

Unseen City: Photos by Martin Parr City of London photographer-in-residence since 2013 runs at the Guildhall Art Gallery, 4 Mar–31 Jul 2016.

This is London: Life and Death in the World City by Ben Judah is published by Picador.

Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

Free Thinking – The Holy Roman Empire; Peter H Wilson, Janet Soskice, Rupert Shortt. Iranian art Mar 10, 2016

Show notes

Rana Mitter reads a new history of the Holy Roman Empire written by Chichele Professor of History Peter H Wilson and discusses Christianity today with the religion editor of the TLS Rupert Shortt and Professor Janet Soskice.

Iranian artist Reza Derakshani is presenting new work including paintings from his ongoing Hunting series, which draws on traditions of Persian miniature painting and upon the American Abstract Expressionist movement which he encountered while living in exile in New York. The exhibition is the first to be staged at a new gallery in London specialising in contemporary art from the Middle East founded byVassili Tsarenkov, Lali Marganiya and Lili Jassemi.

The Holy Roman Empire: A Thousand Years of Europe's History by Peter H. Wilson is out now. Rupert Shortt's book is called God is No Thing: Coherent Christianity

Reza Derakshani: The Breeze at Dawn runs from 9 Mar - 23 Apr 2016 at Sophia Contemporary, 11 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair.

Producer: Eliane Glaser

Free Thinking – Javier Marias; Cervantes; Spanish politics today Mar 09, 2016

Show notes

In a programme exploring Spanish culture and politics, Philip Dodd is joined by the influential novelist, columnist and translator Javier Marias - author of 16 books and former winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Also, following the opening of a new musical version of Don Quixote at the Royal Shakespeare Company, what is the the influence of Cervantes 400 years after his death? Ben Okri has been to Stratford and joins Javier Marias to discuss Cervantes. Plus, as the country's political future hangs in the balance, Sirio Canos Donnay, spokesperson for Podemos London, and journalist Jimmy Burns consider what's next for Spain.

Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias is now published in English in the UK.

Don Quixote, adapted by James Fenton from the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, directed by Angus Jackson, with songs by James Fenton and Grant Olding, is at the Swan Theatre in Stratford 25 February - 21 May 2016

Ben Okri is taking part in Cervantes and Shakespeare 400, a project marking the anniversary of both authors. Events are happening at the Hay Festival and at the British Library on Tuesday April 12th when the anthology Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories After Cervantes and Shakespeare, featuring new work from 12 contemporary international authors is being unveiled. The British Library has a free display of illustrated editions of Don Quixote in the Treasures Gallery running until May 22nd.

Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

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