Start the Week

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Fairy Tale Physics? Jun 03, 2013

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On Start the Week Allan Little grapples with super-symmetric particles, superstrings and multiverses with the help of Jon Butterworth. But the writer Jim Baggott dismisses many of the ideas of modern theoretical physics as mere fairy tales and fantasy. The sociologist Hilary Rose bemoans the commercialisation of biological sciences and warns against believing the hype. But the world-renowned stem cell scientist Stephen Minger believes recent developments show great promise for the treatments of many life-threatening diseases. Producer: Natalia Fernandez.

Eric Schmidt on the New Digital Age May 27, 2013

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On Start the Week Emily Maitlis talks to the Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt about the digital future. A future where everyone is connected, but ideas of privacy, security and community are transformed. Former Wikileaks employee James Ball asks how free we are online. The curator Honor Harger looks to art to understand this new world of technology. And worried about this brave new world? David Spiegelhalter, offers a guide to personal risk and the numbers behind it.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Antonia Fraser: Democracy and Reform May 20, 2013

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On Start the Week Anne McElvoy explores movements and people that have changed the political landscape. The MP Jesse Norman champions the founder of modern conservatism, the 18th century philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke. Lady Antonia Fraser brings to life the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which transformed the way Britain was governed. And one of the co-founders of the Occupy movement, David Graeber, looks afresh at the idea of democracy. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Music and the mind: Carrie Cracknell May 13, 2013

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On Start the Week Carrie Cracknell talks to Jonathan Freedland about her new production of Berg's opera, Wozzeck, and the descent of the central character into madness and despair. The pianist Jonathan Biss looks at whether Schumann's later music reflects the troubled state of his mind. The psychiatrist's diagnostic bible is to be updated later this month, and Tom Burns and Richard Bentall discuss the controversies that continue to dog the world of psychiatry. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Michael Rosen at the Brighton Festival May 06, 2013

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Start the Week is at the Brighton Festival. Stephanie Flanders talks to Michael Rosen about why the 1929 children's novel, Emil and the Detectives, is at the heart of the festival, with its city tale of hope, invention and dissent. But the writer and traveller Jay Griffiths criticises a Western risk-averse society for denying children the opportunity to roam free. Stanmer Woods is the setting of Matt Adams's latest theatrical experience which traces the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and the artist Mariele Neudecker brings the outside world inside in her transformation of a Regency Town House.

Producer; Katy Hickman.

Gavin Turk on the Value of Art Apr 29, 2013

Show notes

On Start the Week Lisa Jardine talks to the artist Gavin Turk about the construction of artistic myth and the question of authorship and authenticity. The rare book dealer Rick Gekoski searches for lost treasures amid tales of theft, forgery and destruction, while the curator Paul Roberts reveals the life and culture preserved in the volcanic devastation of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The everyday object - a table - is at the centre of Tanya Ronder's new play of belonging, identity and inheritance.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Bernardo Bertolucci Apr 19, 2013

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On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe looks at the cultural history of Italy. The world renowned film director, Bernardo Bertolucci discusses his latest film Me and You. The journalist and film-maker Annalisa Piras looks back at her country's political, economic and social decline over the last two decades while the English born conductor with Italian roots, Antonio Pappano, talks about the musical soul of Italy. And Tim Parks offers a portrait of his adopted homeland - the 'charmingly irritating dystopian paradise' of Italy - as he travels the country by train.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

The Origin and Future of Life Apr 15, 2013

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On Start the Week Jonathan Freedland journeys from the origin of life to the possibilities of new life-forms with the geneticist Adam Rutherford. Steve Jones updates the Bible from the point of view of modern science and Barbara Sahakian looks at our ability to make decisions, and whether 'smart drugs' should be used to boost our reactions. The artist Susan Aldworth is inspired by neuro-scientific imagery to explore the relationship between mind and body in her portraits of those with epilepsy and in doing so asks how this material corresponds or contrasts with the subject's sense of self.

Producer: Natalia Fernandez.

'Home' and cultural identity with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Apr 08, 2013

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On Start the Week Stephanie Flanders talks to the award-winning novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, about the notion of 'home' in today's globalised world. It's a theme taken up on stage in 'Paper Dolls' directed by Indhu Rubasingham, which follows a Filipino drag act working in Tel Aviv. David Goodhart explores the British Dream and the successes and failures of post war immigration. And from the movement of people, to the trade in powders, salts, paints and cures, the poet Michael Symmons Roberts's latest collection is called Drysalter. Producer: Katy Hickman.

Tom Sutcliffe talks to John Gray and Mary Beard Apr 01, 2013

Show notes

On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe discusses the 'myth' of progress with James Lasdun, Mary Beard, Mark Ravenhill and John Gray.

The poet and novelist James Lasdun talks about his experience of being cyber-stalked and the terrifying opportunities new technology offers. Mary Beard looks back to classical times to see how far the relationship between persecutor and persecuted have changed.

Playwright Mark Ravenhill discusses his comic reworking of Voltaire's 'Candide'. But is everything in the 21st century still for 'the best in the best of all possible worlds?' John Gray argues that ethical progress in human civilisation is easily reversible and yet people need to believe in myths to shape their lives and give them meaning.

Producer: Natalia Fernandez.

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