On Podcasts

I have listened to and would recommend the following podcasts (2015-2018 recommendations to follow):

2014

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism and what they mean for our economic prospects Dr Ha-Joon ChangIt has been five years since the global financial crisis broke out. If this were a normal downturn, the economy should have already recovered. Instead, we are talking about the prospect of a lost decade.
A Brief History of HumankindYuval Noah Harari
A God-shaped Hole?Things UnseenThings Unseen Podcast 2014
A New DawnSimon Lewis, Dr Suzy Walton
A New Future for NatureGeorge Monbiot, Tony Juniper
A World Beyond Markets
Adrian Hon: A History of the Future in 100 ObjectsThe Long Now Foundation
Albert CamusTo the Best of Our Knowledge
Analysis: The philosophy of Russell Brand 03 Feb 2014BBC Radio 4Comedian Russell Brand wants a revolution. Why are so many young people cheering him on?
BottomLine: Futurology for Business 10 Jul 13BBC Radio 4Predicting the future is a skill that can earn investors and businesses a fortune - but get it wrong and disaster looms. How can business leaders know what the world will look like in 2030? This week Evan Davis meets three business leaders who place be
BottomLine: Planning for the future 07 Nov 13BBC Radio 4How do you plan for the future? Planning for infrastructure projects - in the UK and overseas - all require assumptions and predictions about the future. Evan Davis and guests discuss the problems and pitfalls of planning for the long view. Guests
BottomLine: The Sharing Economy 30 Jan 14BBC Radio 4The sharing economy is built around renting our possessions to strangers sharing our homes, cars, bikes, clothes, tools and much more besides. As entrepreneurs pile in, how much money can be made and is that the point anyway? In the first of a new s
Breakout Nations: In pursuit of the next economic miraclesRuchir Sharma, Matthew Taylor
Brian Eno, Danny Hillis: The Long Now, nowThe Long Now Foundation
Britain Etc.Mark Easton, John Kampfner
Chris AndersonThe Long Now Foundation
Crisis without End? The Unravelling of Western Prosperity [Audio]Professor Andrew GambleOne of the aims of LSE Summer School is to bring the LSE experience to all those attending its many courses between July and August. Five years ago we launched our first full programme of Lectures. These have been an immense success. All lectures are excl
Do Rich People Just Care Less?Daniel Goleman, Matthew Taylor
Does the News Do Us Any Good?Alain de Botton, Matthew Taylor
Economics, the Enemy? [Audio]Dr Philip RoscoeCould economics be responsible for the greatest problems we face? This lecture explores the making of the economic world and asks: does economics change what it means to be a person? Philip Roscoe (@Philip_Roscoe) is reader in management at the School of
Every Nation For ItselfIan Bremmer, Matthew Taylor
Exchanges: The Global Economy 11Jan14: Nassim Nicholas TalebBBC World ServiceHe has been described as a â€˜super hero of the mindâ€™ and â€˜the hottest thinker in the world; the one-time business trader and full-time philosopher of randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb joins Justin Rowlatt and an audience at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Sor
Feeding FrenzyPaul McMahon, David McNair
Forum: Inner Speech. Charles Fernyhough, Aleks Krotoski, Aamer Hussein 17 Aug 2013BBC World ServiceDo you ever talk to yourself? Maybe muttering in private what you won't say out loud, or giving yourself a pep talk. We explore inner speech, and ask if it is a good thing, or can it trap us inside ourselves? Psychologist Charles Fernyhough argues the inn
Forum: Mystery. Jonah Nolan, Helen Fisher, Janna Levin 3 Dec 11BBC World ServiceWhy are we so fascinated with magic and mystery? Anthropologist Helen Fisher de-mystifies the secret of love through the science of human attraction Ã¢â‚¬â€œ it really is all just chemistry. Jonah Nolan, critically acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter, longs to b
Forum: Reality 22 Feb 2014BBC World ServiceWhat's reality made of? This week, we're looking up at distant stars, and looking down at earth from space, in an attempt to uncover underlying structures. Bridget Kendall is joined by cosmologist and author of 'Our Mathematical Universe' Max Tegmark, awa
Forum: What home means to us, Ruth Padel, Stefana Broadbent, Sunil Kumar. 7 Jan 12BBC World ServiceHow have technology and globalisation changed what home means for us? With a record one billion people now on the move, poet Ruth Padel argues home is not a stable concept. Urban housing specialist Sunil Kumar looks at the difficult balance between home a
fourthought: Maria Popova, the Architecture of KnowledgeBBC Radio 4Maria Popova, Editor of Brainpickings, discusses how, with the world's knowledge more readily available to us than ever before, the fragmentation of our interests is driving us to seek out more and more of what we're already interested in. How, she asks,
Free is a LieAral Balkan, Nat Hunter
GlobalBiz: Global Look Ahead 2014 28 Dec 2013BBC RadioPeter Day talks with three experts in their fields about the trends that will be affecting our lives in 2014.
Going South: Why Britain will have a Third World Economy by 2014 [Audio]Dan Atkinson, Larry ElliottTwo leading journalists explain how and why Britain has fallen into decline from being a superpower in 1914 to having a third world economy by 2014. Dan Atkinson is the economics editor of The Mail on Sunday, previous to this he was a financial correspond
GreatLives: DanteBBC Radio 4Whenever I have too much to drink, I bang on about Dante .... Sarah Vine makes a choice from the heart - the great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, father of the Italian language and author of the Divine Comedy. Matthew Parris presents, the producer
Green PhilosophyRoger Scruton, Matthew Taylor
Gridlock: why global cooperation is failing when we need it most [Audio]Thomas Hale, Professor David Held, Kevin YoungThis event grapples with the causes and consequences of the failure of leadership and negotiations across leading sectors of international concern: security, the economy and environment. It examines worrying scenarios of continuing gridlock and pathways t
Heartsoul: The Man Behind The ProphetBBC World ServiceIan Skelly discovers the story of the enigmatic man behind one of the best-selling books of the century. The Prophet is the most famous work of the Lebanese-American poet and artist, Kahlil Gibran. Translated into more than 50 different languages, it has
HoP 005 - Old Man River - HeraclitusPeter AdamsonIn this episode, Peter Adamson of Kingâ€™s College London discusses the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, and tries to discover whether itâ€™s possible to step into the same river twice. Time 18:37, Size 15.3 MB.
How Adam Smith Can Change Your LifeRuss Roberts, Matthew Taylor
How to Build a Mass Movement NowJeremy Heimans, David Miliband MP, Simon Willis
How to Build the Future [Audio]Peter ThielIt's easier to copy a model than to make something new. Adding more of something familiar takes the world from 1 to n. But every time we create something new, we go from 0 to 1. Today our challenge is to imagine and create new technologies to make the fut
How to Change the FutureAdam Kahane, Josef Lentcsh
How to Change the Post-Crash EconomyCostas Lapavitsas, Paul Mason, Mariana Mazzucato, Seumas Milne
How to Deal with the Future: Using business insights to plan your lifeTamar Kasriel, Suzy Walton
How to Govern Intelligently in the 21st CenturyNicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Robin Niblett
How We Are: Negotiating Change in Daily LifeVincent Deary
Human Rights, Globalisation and How to Save the World [Audio]Professor Julio Faundez, Dr AsunciÃ³n Lera St Clair, Craig MokhiberWhat should most preoccupy people concerned with the socio-economic state of the world today and its attendant human costs? To which institutions, regions, and issues should we turn our attention? What disciplines and forms of interdisciplinarity might be
Imagining the Future
Inequality and the 1%Danny Dorling, Zoe Williams
Introduction to Quantum MechanicsPhilosophy Now
IOT: Benjamin Franklin 01 Mar 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Benjamin Franklin. A printer, statesman, diplomat, writer and scientist, Franklin was one of the most remarkable individuals of the 18th century. As the only Founding Father to have signed all three
IOT: Bertrand Russell 06 Dec 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the influential British philosopher Bertrand Russell. Born in 1872, Russell is widely regarded as one of the founders of Analytic philosophy, today the dominant philosophical tradition in the English-speaking world. His
IOT: Caxton and the Printing Press 18 Oct 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and influence of William Caxton, the merchant who brought the printing press to Britain. After working abroad for several years, Caxton set up his first printing press in Westminster in 1476. The advent of prin
IOT: Complexity 19 Dec 13BBC Radio 4Complexity is a young discipline which can help us understand the world around us. When individuals come together and act in a group, they do so in complicated and unpredictable ways: societies often behave very differently from the people within them. Re
IOT: Decline and Fall 21 Feb 13BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Evelyn Waugh's comic novel Decline and Fall. Set partly in a substandard boys' public school, the novel is a vivid, often riotous portrait of 1920s Britain. Its themes, including modernity, religion and fashionable soci
IOT: Epicureanism 7 Feb 13BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Epicureanism, the philosophical system based on the teachings of Epicurus and founded in Athens in the 4th century BC. At the centre of his philosophy is the idea that the goal of human life is pleasure, by which he mea
IOT: Erasmus 9 Feb 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the 16th century humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus, almost universally recognised as the greatest classical scholar of his age. An important religious writer, he was also an outspoken critic of th
IOT: Hadrian's Wall 12 Jul 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian's Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain. It was built across North England in about 122 AD by the Emperor Hadrian and, even after more than a century
IOT: LÃ©vi-Strauss 23 May 13BBC Radio 4Anthropologist Claude LÃ©vi-Strauss was one of 20th-century France's most celebrated intellectuals. He set out to show in his work that human thought processes were universal, whether people lived in tribal rainforest societies or in the rich intellectual
IOT: Le Morte Darthur 10 Jan 13BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Thomas Malory's "Le Morte Darthur", the epic tale of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, which was written in the 15th century. The Arthurian legend is one of the most enduring and popular in western literat
IOT: Measurement of Time 29 Mar 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the measurement of time. Early civilisations used the movements of heavenly bodies to tell the time, then mechanical clocks emerged in Europe in the medieval period. For hundreds of years clocks were inaccurate but now
IOT: Montaigne 25 Apr 13BBC Radio 4Montaigne's Essays deal with an eclectic range of subjects, from the dauntingly weighty to the apparently trivial. Born in France in 1533, Montaigne is often seen as one of the most outstanding Sceptical thinkers of his time. His approachable style, intel
IOT: Ordinary Language Philosophy 7 Nov 13BBC Radio 4Ordinary Language Philosophy was a school of thought which emerged in Oxford in the years following World War II. With its roots in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ordinary Language Philosophy is concerned with the meanings of words as used in everyday s
IOT: Simone Weil 15 Nov 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the French philosopher and social activist Simone Weil. Born in Paris in 1909, her philosophy was both complex and intense. She argued that the presence of suffering in the world was evidence of God's love and that love
IOT: Social Darwinism 20 Feb 14BBC Radio 4Social Darwinism was the idea that Charles Darwin's theory about evolution, as set out in his masterpiece On the Origin of Species in 1859, could also be applied to human society. One thinker particularly associated with this movement was Herbert Spencer,
IOT: The Borgias 22 Nov 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy. Famed for their treachery and corruption, the Borgias produced two popes during their time of dominance in Rome in the late 15th century. Murder, intrigue and
IOT: The Kama Sutra 2 Feb 2012BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Kama Sutra, one of the most celebrated and misunderstood texts of Indian literature. Although it is best known today for its chapter devoted to sexual pleasure, this Sanskrit work is a wide ranging manual to a life
IOT: Ulysses 14 Jun 12BBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss James Joyce's novel Ulysses. First published 90 years ago, Joyce's masterpiece charts a single day in the life of the Dubliner Leopold Bloom. Some early readers were outraged by its sexual content and daringly scatalogi
John-Paul Flintoff - There's an app for that: The QS movement is a spirituality for our timesAeon Magazine
Kate Pickett on the Case for EqualityEdmonds and Warburton
Kevin Kelly: Technium UnboundThe Long Now Foundation
Love, Death, Self and SoulJonathan Rowson, Marina Benjamin, Andrew Samuels, Claire Foster-Gilbert
Love, Hate and Everything In BetweenSimon Baron Cohen, Alex Gabbay, Mary Gordon and Matthew Taylor
On Being Touched and Moved: why spirituality is really about the bodyGuy Claxton, Jonathan Rowson
On Friendship [Audio]Dr Mark VernonWhat, in fact, is the love called friendship? What is the nature of its rules and perils, as well as its promise? Mark Vernon is a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London.
On SettlingRobert Goodin, Suzy Walton
One Way and AnotherAdam Phillips, Matthew Taylor
Pioneering the PossibleScilla Elworthy
Political Order and Political DecayFrancis Fukuyama, Martin Wolf
Possible FuturesWisconsin Public RadioPossible Futures - To the Best of Our Knowledge. Mitchell Joachim, Terreform1. Erik Brynjolfsson. Jonathan Foley. Stephanie Coontz. Eduardo Galeano. Future, forecasting, urban design, cities, architecture, homes, work, labor, employment, technology, educa
PoV: John Gray: Believing in reason is childish: 18 July 14BBC Radio 4Some critics of religion see having faith as being childish. But John Gray argues that believing that human beings are rational is more childish than believing in religion. The belief in the power of reason to improve humankind rests on childishly simple
Power Shift? The Rise of the Rest and the Decline of the West: facts, myths and economists [Audio]Professor Michael CoxIt has become the truism of our age that power is fast ebbing away from a declining West to the East and the "rest". Some indeed predict that the 21st Century will either be Asian or dominated by the so-called BRICs. But how far has this process really go
Religion for AtheistsAlain de Botton, Matthew Taylor
Robin Dunbar on EvolutionRobin Dunbar, Gillian Tett
RSA Audio: The Social AnimalDavid Brooks, Madeleine Bunting
RSA Commencement â€“ with Michael RosenMichael Rosen, Matthew Taylor
Solving the Worldâ€™s Problems DifferentlyDon Tapscott, Matthew Taylor
STW: Adair Turner, Charles Calomiris, Harris Irfan & Maggie Gee 24th February 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe discusses money with the American economist Charles Calomiris, who looks back at the history of financial disasters and argues that they're caused more by government failures, than individual bankers. The former head of the Financial Service
STW: Afghanistan to Mali: with William Dalrymple & Nadeem Aslam 4th Feb 2013BBC Radio 4Bridget Kendall discusses the roots and reach of Islamist terrorism from Afghanistan to Africa with the historian William Dalrymple; the novelist Nadeem Aslam; academic and expert on Al-Qaeda Dr Christina Hellmich; and political analyst and expert on Nort
STW: Africa: Nadine Gordimer, Jack Mapanje and Richard Dowden 19th March 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr talks to the Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer, the Malawian poet Jack Mapanje, and the journalist Richard Dowden.
STW: Ali Allawi, Richard J. Evans, Scott Anderson, Malu Halasa - 24th March 2014BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy explores the roads not taken with the historian Richard Evans. Counterfactual history began as an Enlightenment parlour game and has become a serious academic pursuit, but Evans argues against endless speculation as to what might have been. T
STW: Alison Woollard, Roger Kneebone, Mark Elder & Kathryn Asbury 9th Dec 2013BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy talks to the geneticist Alison Woollard about her Royal Institution Christmas Lecture; the psychologist Kathryn Asbury about the connections between genes and education; Professor Roger Kneebone about surgery; and the conductor Sir Mark Elder
STW: Andrew Hussey, Gabrielle Rifkind & Ziauddin Sardar 10th March 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to Andrew Hussey about the often fraught relationship between France and its Arab ex-colonies, and how that plays out in the banlieues of Paris. The psychotherapist Gabrielle Rifkind recounts her experience of conflict resolution in th
STW: Anna Coote, David Kynaston, Antony Gormley and Fintan O'Toole 9th Jan 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses 'austerity' with Anna Coote, David Kynaston, Antony Gormley and Fintan O'Toole.
STW: Antonia Fraser, David Graeber & Jesse Norman 20th May 2013BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy explores movements and people that have changed the political landscape with the MP Jesse Norman; the historian Lady Antonia Fraser; and one of the co-founders of the Occupy movement, David Graeber.
STW: Art and Design: Christopher Frayling, Ron Arad, Sarah Teasley & Antony Gormley 19th November 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses art and design with Antony Gormley, Christopher Frayling, Sarah Teasley and Ron Arad.
STW: Atul Gawande, Diana Athill, Deborah Bowman and Carl WatkinsBBC Radio 4Do we value longevity more than quality of life, towards our final years? That's the discussion Andrew Marr's having with surgeon Atul Gawande, who's giving this year's Reith Lectures. Joining them are the legendary editor, novelist and memoirist Diana At
STW: Carrie Cracknell, Jonathan Biss, Tom Burns & Richard Bentall 13th May 2013BBC Radio 4Jonathan Freedland talks to director Carrie Cracknell; the pianist Jonathan Biss; the psychiatrist Tom Burns; and the psychologist Richard Bentall.
STW: Colm TÃ³ibÃn, AS Byatt, Mark Pagel and Will EavesBBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses writers and their families, tribes and cultural ties with the authors, Colm Toibin and Will Eaves; evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel; and novelist A.S Byatt.
STW: Conservatism with Douglas Murray, Margot James, Peter Hitchens and Thomas Frank 6th Feb 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses 'Conservatism' and what it means today, both in the U.K and in America. He is joined by Peter Hitchens, journalist and writer; Douglas Murray, author and Associate Director of the Henry Jackson Society; Thomas Frank, American journa
STW: Daniel Kahneman, Henry Marsh, Michael Ignatieff and Lisa Appignanesi - 17th March 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe discusses how we make decisions with the Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Moral choices in politics can be a complicated business, according to the academic and former politician Michael Ignatieff, who explores whether the a
STW: David Cannadine, Margaret MacMillan, Ed Vulliamy & Aleksandar Hemon 18th March 2013BBC Radio 4Lisa Jardine asks whether the writing of history has been dominated by conflict and difference. With historian Sir David Cannadine; journalist and author Ed Vulliamy; writer Aleksandar Hemon; and historian and writer Professor Margaret MacMillan.
STW: Detlev Schlichter; Philip Coggan; Angela Knight and Maurice Glasman 16th Jan 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr delves into the world of the economy and considers the financial crisis with Detlev Schlichter; Philip Coggan; Angela Knight and Maurice Glasman.
STW: Diana Athill, Wendy Cope, Philip Hensher & Nigel Warburton 8th October 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses the dying art of handwriting with the novelist Philip Hensher, whilst the author and publisher Diana Athill celebrates the art of correspondence. With the poet Wendy Cope and philosopher and blogger, Nigel Warburton.
STW: Eastern Europe: Anne Applebaum, Victor Sebestyen, Mark Mazower, Helen Szamuely 1st October 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses Eastern and Central Europe with the historians Anne Applebaum and Mark Mazower, and the journalists Victor Sebestyen and Helen Szamuely.
STW: Eric Schmidt, James Ball, Honor Harger & David Spiegelhalter 27th May 2013BBC Radio 4Emily Maitlis discusses the digital future with Google head Eric Schmidt; data journalist James Ball; curator Honor Harger; and risk expert David Spiegelhalter.
STW: 'Fairytale Physics' with Jim Baggott, Hilary Rose, Stephen Minger & Jon Butterworth 3rd June 2013BBC Radio 4Allan Little grapples with particle physics, metaphysics, and genes, cells and brains with physicists Jon Butterworth and Jim Baggott; the sociologist Hilary Rose; and the world-renowned stem cell scientist Stephen Minger.
STW: Faith and Doubt: Richard Holloway, Karen Armstrong, Jonathan Safran Foer and Helen Edmundson 27th Feb 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses faith and doubt with former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway; writer and speaker Karen Armstrong; author Jonathan Safran Foer; and playwright Helen Edmundson.
STW: Gavin Turk, Rick Gekoski, Paul Roberts & Tanya Ronder 29th April 2013BBC Radio 4Lisa Jardine talks to the artist Gavin Turk; the rare book dealer & author Rick Gekoski; the curator of the Pompeii & Herculaneum exhibition at the British Museum, Paul Roberts; and the playwright Tanya Ronder.
STW: Grimm Tales: Philip Pullman, Keith Warner, Sara Maitland, Tim Supple 24th September 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr celebrates myth and fairy tales with the authors Philip Pullman, and Sara Maitland, and the directors Tim Supple and Keith Warner.
STW: Harry Collins, Irving Finkel, Colin Blakemore & Hattie Naylor 10th Feb 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe looks at the role of the expert. The curator Irving Finkel decodes the symbols on a 4,000 year old clay tablet and discovers the instructions for the building of an ark. Harry Collins asks why attitudes towards scientific expertise have chan
STW: History of Music: John Adams, Howard Goodall, Barb Jungr & Stephen PoliakoffBBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to the composers John Adams and Howard Goodall, the singer Barb Jungr and screenwriter Stephen Poliakoff.
STW: Jamal Edwards, Beeban Kidron, Adrian Hon & Farida Vis 23rd Sept 2013BBC Radio 4Stephanie Flanders considers the impact of new technology on 'digital natives' with film and TV director Beeban Kidron; entrepreneur Jamal Edwards; online gaming expert Adrian Hon; and academic Farida Vis.
STW: James Lovelock, Joanna Haigh and George Monbiot - 21st AprilBBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy looks back at the life of the maverick scientist James Lovelock who pioneered the theory of Gaia, of a self-regulating Earth. Lovelock also looks to the future and the next evolution of Gaia which could lead to the extinction of human life, a
STW: John Gray, Mary Beard, Mark Ravenhill & James Lasdun 1st April 2013BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe discusses the 'myth' of progress with the poet and novelist James Lasdun; the classicist Mary Beard; playwright Mark Ravenhill; and the philosopher John Gray.
STW: Josie Rourke, Dominic Lawson, David Runciman & Lawrence Freedman 16th Dec 2013BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to Josie Rourke about her production of Coriolanus; whilst David Runciman asks whether democracy breeds complacency rather than wisdom or reform; and in his study of Strategy, Lawrence Freedman asks why great military strategists often
STW: Karen Armstrong, Justin Marozzi and Christopher CokerBBC Radio 4Karen Armstrong argues against the notion that religion is the major cause of war. The former nun tells Tom Sutcliffe that faith is as likely to produce pacifists and peace-builders as medieval crusaders and modern-day jihadists. But Justin Marozzi charts
STW: Ken Loach, David Boyle, James Graham & Harriet Sergeant 11th March 2013BBC Radio 4On Start the Week Jonathan Freedland talks to Ken Loach about post-war Britain, and the spirit of unity which aimed to create a vision of a fairer society. With the playwright, James Graham; author, David Boyle; and Harriet Sergeant, author and Research F
STW: Linda Colley, David Pilling, David Charter & Maria Delgado 13th Jan 2014BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy talks to the historian Linda Colley about the history of the United Kingdom - what has brought it together, and what is driving it apart. David Pilling offers a contrasting island story, with his study of modern Japan. The correspondent David
STW: Luke Harding, David Omand, Alain de Botton & Annette Dittert 3rd Feb 2014BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy talks to the journalist Luke Harding about the inside story on the whistle-blower Edward Snowden. The former director of GCHQ, Sir David Omand, fears the leaks have endangered state security. Claims that America hacked the phone of the German
STW: Maajid Nawaz, Christopher Meyer, Elizabeth Truss & Robert Chesshyre 2nd July 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr talks to Maajid Nawaz about his journey from Islamist extremist to a champion of democracy. National identity and the state of the nation is at the heart of Robert Chesshyre's book; Conservative MP Elizabeth Truss, looks to an alternative fut
STW: Margaret Atwood, Vicky Featherstone and A.C Grayling 16th September 2013BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to the author Margaret Atwood about her vision of the future. There's more man-made corruption and savagery in Vicky Featherstone's first production as the new Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre: "The Ritual Slaughter of Gorg
STW: Mark Williams, Heidi Johansen-Berg, Ben Shephard and Charles Fernyhough - 30th June 2014BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses how far the brain can change and adapt with the neuroscientist Heidi Johansen-Berg. Decades ago it was thought that the adult brain was immutable but later research has shown that even brains damaged by stroke have the capacity to ad
STW: Martin Wolf, John Lanchester, Naomi Alderman and John Kampfner - 3rd November 2014BBC Radio 4'Money talks' in a special edition of Start the Week recorded in front of an audience at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. Anne McElvoy explores the language and morality of money, from the super-rich to zombie debt, with the writers Joh
STW: Michael Gove, Simon Schama, Margaret MacMillan & Tom Holland 30th Dec 2013BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses the teaching of history with the Government's Education Secretary Michael Gove. He's joined by the historians Margaret MacMillan, Simon Schama and Tom Holland.
STW: Michael Sandel, Diane Coyle & Grigory Yavlinksy 21st May 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses the relationship between markets and morals with the political philosopher Michael Sandel; and the economists Diane Coyle and Grigory Yavlinsky.
STW: Michael Wood, Rose George, David Barrie & Yrsa Sigurdardottir 3rd March 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to the historian Michael Wood about the spirit and adventure of the Vikings who travelled all over Europe and as far east as Central Asia. The Vikings sailed close to the coast whenever possible, David Barrie celebrates the invention o
STW: Middle Age: David Bainbridge, Simon Armitage, Deborah Moggach and Claudia Hammond 5th March 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr celebrates middle age with the scientist David Bainbridge; the poet Simon Armitage; the writer Deborah Moggach; and the psychologist Claudia Hammond.
STW: Modernism: Kevin Jackson, Ali Smith, Will Gompertz & Julian Anderson 22nd October 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr talks to the writers Ali Smith and Kevin Jackson, the BBC's Arts Editor Will Gompertz and the composer Julian Anderson.
STW: Naomi Klein, Tahmima Anam and Jeremy OppenheimBBC Radio 4Naomi Klein argues that the greatest contributor to global warming is not carbon and climate change, but capitalism. She tells Anne McElvoy that the market's addiction to growth and profit is killing the planet. Climate change is a global issue, but the a
STW: Natalie Abrahami, Dick Swaab, Julian Baggini & Helen Dunmore 20th Jan 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe discusses the relationship between neuroscience and free will with the neuroscientist Dick Swaab; philosopher Julian Baggini;author Helen Dunmore; and director Natalie Abrahami.
STW: Natural Capital : Tony Juniper, Ngaire Woods, William Fiennes & John PenroseBBC Radio 4Anne Mcelvoy discusses the value of nature and how we communicate its value with meaning.With Tony Juniper, Ngaire Woods, William Fiennes & John Penrose.
STW: New Elizabethans with Max Hastings, Mary Beard, John Guy and Lola Young 13th Feb 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses history, how we view it and who the defining figures of the second Elizabethan Age might be with the historian, John Guy; the classicist, Mary Beard; author and historian, Max Hastings; and independent cross-bench peer Lola Young, Ba
STW: Patrick Keiller, Robin Robertson, Victoria Henshaw & Giles Fraser 2nd Dec 13BBC Radio 4Bridget Kendall talks to Patrick Keiller about the relationship between film, cities and landscape; whilst academic and smell expert Victoria Henshaw is interested in what our cities smell like, and what we lose when we sterilise our environment. The poet
STW: Ramachandra Guha, David Reynolds, Phelim McDermott & Bronwen Maddox 18th Nov 2013BBC Radio 4Bridget Kendall looks back at the formative years of Gandhi with the historian Ramachandra Guha and opera director Phelim McDermott. International historian David Reynolds looks at the legacy of the Great War and its impact on the decision-makers of the f
STW: Richard Ford, Lionel Shriver, Edward Luce & Thomas Grant 15th October 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses the US with Richard Ford, Lionel Shriver, Edward Luce and Thomas Grant.
STW: Rupert Goold, Lucy Worsley, Paula Byrne and Chris BryantBBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe looks back three hundred years to the Hanoverian succession to the British throne. The curator Lucy Worsley explains how the German Georges claimed the crown and how they kept it. The Georgian period is also the setting for Paula Byrne's bio
STW: Saskia Sassen, Jeremy Rifkin and Kwasi KwartengBBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy talks to the social theorist Jeremy Rifkin who foresees the gradual decline of capitalism and the rise of a collaborative economy. As new technology enables greater sharing of goods and services, Rifkin argues that it provides a challenge to
STW: Science & Politics with David Nutt, Mark Henderson, David Blunkett & Jill Rutter 18th June 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr asks how far scientific evidence can influence the political agenda. His guests are Professor David Nutt, MP David Blunkett, Jill Rutter from the Institute for Government and science writer Mark Henderson.
STW: Science Shaping Civilisation: Ian Stewart, Mark Miodownik, Jane Rapley & Peter Randall-PageBBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe considers how science shapes civilisation with materials scientist Mark Miodownik; mathematician Ian Stewart; Jane Rapley, Head of Central Saint Martin's School of Art and Design; and the sculptor Peter Randall-Page.
STW: Science Special: Peter Wothers, Helen Bynum, Ewan Birney & Sanjeev Gupta 17th December 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr talks to Peter Wothers, Helen Bynum, Ewan Birney and Sanjeev Gupta.
STW: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Trevor Cox, Victoria Williamson & Waldemar Januszczak 27th January 2014BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe talks to the composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on the eve of the premier of his tenth symphony. Waldemar Januszczak turns to the 18th century and Rococo for his inspiration. The environment, both built and natural, is key to Trevor Cox's st
STW: The 'Life Unlived': Adam Phillips, Julian Baggini, Helen Dunmore & Frances Ashcroft 25th June 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr goes in search of a better life with the psychoanalyst Adam Phillips; the philosopher Julian Baggini; the poet Helen Dunmore; and the scientist Frances Ashcroft.
STW: Thomas Heatherwick, Jonathan Meades, Anna Minton & Robert Macfarlane 28th May 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses landscape and architecture with Thomas Heatherwick; Jonathan Meades; Anna Minton; and Robert Macfarlane.
STW: Vanessa Feltz, Susie Orbach, John Cornwell & Turney Duff, 17th Feb 2014BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses the history of confession with the writer John Cornwell, from its origins in the early church to the current day. The psychotherapist Susie Orbach explores whether the confession, both secular and religious, provides psychological re
STW: Werner Herzog, Geoff Dyer, Paul Farley and Liz Mermin 26 March 2012BBC Radio 4Anne McElvoy explores ways of seeing with filmmaker Werner Herzog, writer Geoff Dyer, poet Paul Farley and filmmaker Liz Mermin.
STW: William Gibson, Michel Faber, Dominic Sandbrook and Judy Wajcman.BBC Radio 4Tom Sutcliffe explores our relationship with computer technology and the interplay of alien and familiar in science fiction. Tom's joined in the studio by writer William Gibson, novelist Michel Faber, LSE Professor Judy Wajcman and historian Dominic Sandb
STW: World War II with Antony Beevor, Max Hastings, Niall Ferguson & Juliet Gardiner 11th June 2012BBC Radio 4Andrew Marr discusses World War II with Antony Beevor; Max Hastings; Niall Ferguson; and Juliet Gardiner.
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, StrategiesProfessor Nick Bostrom, Murray Shanahan
The AntidoteOliver Burkeman, Andy Gibson
The Contradictions of CapitalismDavid Harvery, Matthew Taylor
The Curve: the future of businessNicholas Lovell, Julian Thompson
The Future of the Liberal World Order [Audio]Professor Barry Buzan, Trine Flockhart, Professor John Ikenberry, Professor Charles KupchanThis roundtable of eminent scholars will debate the future of the liberal international order. The liberal order is a global system based on shared norms, economic openness, and commitment to cooperation through multilateral institutions. Will this system
The Inequality CrisisStewart Lansley, Matthew Taylor
The Leading Indicators: A Short History of the Numbers That Rule Our WorldZachary Karabell]
The Locust and the BeeGeoff Mulgan, Matthew Taylor
The nature of human beings and the question of their ultimate originRichard Dawkins, Rowan Williams, Anthony Kenny
The Next Crisis [Audio]Professor Julia Black, Dr Jon Danielsson, Professor Charles GoodhartThe official response to the current economic crisis may create longterm stability or, in actual fact, lay the seeds for the next. The panel of experts will debate what is the more likely outcome. Julia Black is director of LSEâ€™s Law and Financial Markets
The Optimism BiasTali Sharot, Jonathan Rowson
The Rise of the â€˜Biotechnosciencesâ€™Steven Rose, Hilary Rose, Marek Kohn
The Self Illusion: The brain's greatest con trick?Professor Bruce Hood, Matthew Taylor
The Self is Not an IllusionMary Midgley, Rob Newman
The Shifts and The Shocks: What we've learned â€“ and still have to learn â€“ from the financial crisis [Audio]Martin WolfChief Economics Commentator of the Financial Times Martin Wolf gives an insightful and timely analysis of why the financial crisis occurred, and of the radical reforms needed if we are to avoid a future repeat. At this event he will be in conversation wit
The Signal and the NoiseNate Silver, Dara O Briain
The Six Habits of Highly Empathic PeopleRoman Krznaric, Jonathan Rowson
The State of EnglandMartin Amis, Jonathan Freedland
The State of the International OrderThe Brookings Institution
The State of the World Economy in 2012 [Audio]Jean-Michel Severino, Martin WolfTwo economic experts discuss the state of the world economy after the eurozone financial crisis. Jean Michel Severino is inspector general at the French Ministry of Finance. Martin Wolf is a journalist at the Financial Times.
The Thoughts of Friedrich NietzschePhilosophy Now
The True Cost of EconomicsDr Philip Roscoe, Oliver Reichardt
The World Until Yesterday: What we can learn from traditional societiesJared Diamond
Thoreauâ€™s Fire: the Spark of â€œWaldenâ€Christopher Lydon
Thrive: the power of evidence-based psychological therapies [Audio]Professor David M Clark, Professor Lord Layard, Andrew MarrThis event marks the launch of David Clark and Richard Layardâ€™s new book, Thrive, which argues that mental health problems are pervasive. They have massive social impacts and huge economic costs. They can be effectively treated by evidence-based psycholog
TIMC: What is Death? 24 Jun 13BBC Radio 4Brian Cox and Robin Ince discuss the scientific nature of death, with comedian Katy Brand, Professor Nick Lane and Professor Sue Black.
Time Reborn - Lee Smolin and panelLee Smolin, A C Grayling, Gillian Tett, Bronwen Maddox
Time WarpedClaudia Hammond, Matthew Taylor
TogetherRichard Sennett, Matthew Taylor
TS Eliot: giant of poetry or literary obsessive? â€“ books podcastguardian.co.ukTS Eliot's Letters of 1929 are parodied by John Crace, while poetry editor Nicholas Wroe argues for their importance to understanding a great poet.
Tues 3.13.12 | Alternate FuturesAgainst the Grainwww.kpfa.org
tvoc 01 Jan 13: Culture and the AnthropologistsBBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg discovers how culture became a central idea of anthropology following the publication in 1871 of EB Tylor's book Primitive Cultures, and examines how this has broadened contemporary notions of what culture is.
tvoc 02 Jan 13: The Two CulturesBBC Radio 4Melvyn Bragg revisits a celebrated debate of the 1960s, and looks at the longer history of an often fractious relationship between the arts and the sciences.
WBC: Albert CamusBBC World ServiceCamus experts Olivier Todd and Professor David Walker celebrate the centenary of the feted French novelist's life with a discussion of his masterpiece The Outsider with presenter Harriett Gilbert and an audience in the library of the world famous Parisian
When the Money Runs Out: The End of Western Affluence [Audio]Stephen KingThe Western world has experienced extraordinary economic progress throughout the last six decades, a prosperous period so extended that continuous economic growth has come to seem normal. But such an era of continuously rising living standards is an histo
Where Do Values Come From?Kenan Malik, Matthew Taylor
Where Does the Responsibility for Community Lie?Tim Smit, Jonathan Carr West, Linda Quinn, Fi Glover
Why Itâ€™s Kicking Off EverywherePaul Mason, John Harris
Why Nations FailJames Robinson, Paul Collier
Why Weâ€™ve Had Enough of StuffJames Wallman, Tom O'Leary
Will China Dominate the 21st Century? [Audio]Jonathan Fenby, Isabel Hilton, Wu Jian MinJonathan Fenby will talk about the theme of his new book Will China Dominate the 21st Century? Jonathan Fenby is the China director at the research service Trusted Sources. Isabel Hilton is a journalist and the editor of China Dialogue.net Wu Jian Min is
Willpower: Self-control, decision fatigue, and energyRoy F Baumeister, Matthew Taylor

2013

The final Start the Week of 2013 featured a lively debate on the future of education.
Genetics and their connections with education, surgery and lost operas formed an eclectic mix on the month's third Start the Week.
The following Start the Week ranged from Coriolanus to whether democracy breeds complacency rather than wisdom or reform; on to why great military strategists often make such poor political leaders. and how one can keep one's moves hidden, inspired by the world of chess.
The relationship between film, cities and landscape was discussed on Start the Week; as was what our cities smell like, and what we lose when we sterilise our environment. The programme also explored remote communities and whether we've become merely nostalgic for a bygone age of close neighbourhoods, or whether it's possible to reconstruct them.
Start the Week explored the future of human rights with campaigner Bianca Jagger and academic Stephen Hopgood. Jagger pointed to the failure of the global community to tackle violence against women and girls, while Hopgood sounded the death knell for international Human Rights with the rise of religious conservatism and the decline in influence of Europe and America.
The Infinite Money Cage discussed the science of risk. Professor Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince, together with guests David Spiegelhalter, Sue Ion and former Goodie, Graeme Garden, explored such questions as: why is seven the safest age to be, how safe is nuclear power and how worried should we be by the threat of asteroid impact?
The Guardian Books podcast: The future – dystopia or utopia? asked: will our future be happy, will we control our technology or will it control us?
The RSA asked: why do democracies keep lurching from success to failure? In his new book The Confidence Trap political historian David Runciman showed how modern liberal democracies are remarkably good at recovering from crises, but remarkably bad at avoiding them.
In No Power Without Accountability, songwriter, activist and campaigner Billy Bragg discussed the nature of democracy, citizenship, power and responsibility.He argued that those in power must not only be held to account; they must also re-engage the electorate in participatory democracy.
Futurology for Business argued that Predicting the future is a skill that can earn investors and businesses a fortune - but get it wrong and disaster looms. In sectors like energy and technology planning decades ahead is an absolute necessity - but how can CEOs know what the world will look like in 2030 and how do they persuade shareholders and staff to come along for the ride?
Start the Week interviewed (a) the head of the Red Cross on whether the charity's principle of neutrality is still as relevant today as it was 150 years ago; (b) a journalist on major international conflicts and atrocities in the last few decades and the moral complexities of being neutral and impartial; (c) an economist attempting to defuse the explosive subject of immigration and (d) a politician proposing to sell working visas to the highest bidder.
Mass Flourishing featured Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps discussing necessary conditions for "mass flourishing" - where the opportunities for meaningful work, self-expression and personal growth are available to the many not just the few. Phelps argued that the modern economy is under threat by corporatist values that place the community and state over the individual, and the only way to recapture dynamism is through a re-commitment to modernity, indigenous innovation, experimentation and widespread self-realisation at the grassroots level.

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