Free Thinking

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Free Thinking - Antonia Fraser Jan 06, 2015

Show notes

Lady Antonia Fraser talks to Matthew Sweet about her childhood in Oxford and London in the 30s and 40s, her lifelong fascination with history, and her forthcoming book, My History: A Memoir of Growing Up. Academics Susan Neiman and Robert Pogue Harrison discuss our modern day obsession with youth. And as a major retrospective of the late French director, Eric Rohmer, begins at the British Film Institute, critics Jonathan Romney and Ginette Vincendeau look at the auteur's fascination with characters in the summer of their lives.

Free Thinking - Clive James Dec 18, 2014

Show notes

In an extended interview, Philip Dodd talks to Clive James whose writing and broadcasting in the last fifty years has made him one of the most distinctive voices in Britain. He confirmed his credentials as a translator last year with his version of Dante's Divine Comedy and his latest book, Poetry Notebook, is a testament to his consuming love of poetry in general. Philip Dodd explores this passion with him and learns how it has informed and illuminated his thinking throughout his life.

Free Thinking - Pantomime past to present Dec 17, 2014

Show notes

Matthew Sweet on Pantomime past to present with writer Jeffrey Richards and actor/director Tony Lidington. Bryony Lavery talks stage writing ahead of her double-Christmas offerings of Treasure Island at the National Theatre in London and The One Hundred and One Dalmatians at Chichester's Festival Theatre. American biologist EO Wilson on the meaning of human existence.

Free Thinking - Protest Dec 16, 2014

Show notes

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek speaks to Philip Dodd about the re-emergence of a radical left and the need for a clearer agenda for change. Douglas Carswell, Beatrix Campbell and Gabriella Coleman explore the success of protest movements from online activists and Anonymous to demonstrations on the street. And Matt Wolf joins Philip for a first-night review of City of Angels at the Donmar Warehouse.

Free Thinking - TV Drama Dec 11, 2014

Show notes

TV dramatist Jed Mercurio, producer Caryn Mandabach and writer-director, Dominic Savage talk to Anne McElvoy about creating successful dramas including The Line of Duty and Peaky Blinders. Novelist Sarah Waters discusses her play with Christopher Green called The Frozen Scream and latest novel The Paying Guests. And New Generation Thinker Sarah Peverley looks at Christmas customs in Medieval England.

Free Thinking - Wonder Woman Dec 10, 2014

Show notes

American author Rebecca Solnit discusses the impact of "mansplaining" which she explores in her book Men Explain Things To Me. Matthew Sweet looks at the image of Wonder Woman with comic artist Steve Marchant and Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder Woman. And New Generation Thinker Dr Will Abberley and film critic Ian Christie discuss the genre of submarine films.

Free Thinking - Mecca, Qur'an, Islam Dec 09, 2014

Show notes

Mona Siddiqui talks to Philip Dodd about her book called My Way: A Muslim Woman's Journey. The scholar Ziauddin Sardar has written Mecca, The Sacred City which explores the history of the birthplace of Muhammad and his own pilgrimages to it. And Navid Kermani has written God Is Beautiful: The Aesthetic Experience of the Qur'an which considers the manner in which the Qur'an has been perceived and experienced from the time of the Prophet to the present day.

Free Thinking - British Monarchy Dec 04, 2014

Show notes

Philip Dodd and a panel including historians Philip Ziegler and John Guy, biographer Sarah Bradford, journalist Deborah Orr and author William Kuhn explore British monarchy past and present and ask what is the role of a royal head of state in the twenty first century.

Free Thinking - Political Theatre Dec 03, 2014

Show notes

Philip Dodd, Roger Scruton and Janet Suzman look at theatre in South Africa - a year since Mandela’s death and in the Czech Republic 25 years on from the Velvet Revolution. Director Howard Davies discusses 3 Winters - a new play by Tena Stivicic which depicts a family living through the remnants of monarchy to Communism, democracy, war and the EU: Croatia 1945–2011.

Free Thinking - Landmark: 2001 Dec 02, 2014

Show notes

Scientist Brian Cox and Professor Chris Frayling join the actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood for a discussion about Stanley Kubrick's landmark film 2001: A Space Odyssey chaired by Matthew Sweet and recorded in front of an audience at the BFI in London on 30.11.14.

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