Thomas Paine
Presented by Philip Dodd. With a discussion on the legacy of Thomas Paine, South African judge Albie Sachs, a play about the Kursk disaster and John Woo's new film Red Cliff.
Philip Dodd's guests include writer Christopher Hitchens and Conservative front bench MP Michael Gove, who discuss the legacy of political writer and theorist Thomas Paine. Do his ideas on radical political reform have anything to teach us in the current crisis?
South Africa's leading judge Albie Sachs talks about 15 years at the head of the country's justice system, how his turbulent life has influenced his judgement on cases and the challenges his country faces as it tries to overcome the injustices of its past.
Philip hears from the creators of Kursk, a theatre work inspired by the Russian submarine disaster of August 2000.
Plus a discussion about John Woo's film Red Cliff, a historical epic, set during the Han Dynasty. Featuring spectacular battle scenes, it is the most expensive and highest-grossing Chinese language film ever made.