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Free Thinking Episodes

  1.

    Food, the Environment and Richard Flanagan

    Bush fires in novelist Richard Flanagan's new book, and Anne McElvoy looks at veganism.

  2. John Rawls's A Theory of Justice

    Anne McElvoy and guests re-read this 1971 work of political philosophy about inequality.

  3. James Baldwin and Race in the USA

    Rana Mitter and guests re-read James Baldwin as a new US president is inaugurated.

  4. Harlots and 18th-century working women

    Hallie Rubenhold, Moira Buffini and Laura Lammasniemi discuss the TV series Harlots.

  5. Witchcraft, Werewolves and Writing the Devil

    New novels from Jenni Fagan and Salena Godden depict Mrs Death and the devil's daughter.

  6. Women and Slavery

    New research into female slave owners in Britain to women on Caribbean plantations.

  7. Autism, Film and Patterns

    From Rain Man to Atypical. Matthew Sweet looks at autism on screen and in everyday life.

  8. Aphra Behn

    John Gallagher's guests decode changes in Behn's loyalties from her plays and dedications.

  9. Dostoevsky

    Rana Mitter reads from a new biography of Dostoevsky, 200 years after his birth.

  10. Mildred Pierce

    Matthew Sweet and guests discuss James M Cain's classic novel and its film adaptation.

  11. Marlene Dietrich

    Tracing the sensual and radical Marlene Dietrich, from Europe to Hollywood.

  12. Winter Light

    From paintings and folk tales to Brian Cox on the stars and Susan Greaney on Stonehenge.

  13. Hegel's Philosophy of Right

    Anne McElvoy listens out for echoes of Beethoven in Hegel

  14. Ancient Wisdom and Remote Living

    From medieval science to the ingenuity of Arctic peoples and the resilience of island life

  15. Hey Presto

    From a history of Panto to magic tricks and what surgeons can learn from them.

  16. The 1920s - Philosophy's Golden Age

    Matthew Sweet on Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Adorno, Carnap and other philosophical greats.

  17. Ways of Talking about Health

    Des Fitzgerald with projects that use films and books to rethink how we approach health.

  18. Times of Change

    Can the Industrial Revolution and the end of the Aztecs help us shape a post-Covid world?

  19. Mould-Breaking Writing

    Will Harris, Max Porter and Chloe Aridjis, Christine Yao and Shahidha Bari.

  20. Leadership

    From Tudor courts to plantations to the Arab Spring: a Bristol Festival of Ideas debate.

  21. Conformity and Rebellion

    Activist Obi Egbuna, Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, Japanese child star Misora Hibari

  22. Bedrooms

    From the most private space to office: Matthew Sweet, Tiffany Watt Smith and Fern Riddell.

  23. Democracy, Hong Kong and USA

    Democracy and dissent in Hong Kong and the USA. Are confrontational politics here to stay?

  24. Helen Mort and Blake Morrison, Oulipo

    How do you teach writing? Helen Mort and Blake Morrison compare notes.

  25. About Face

    What would you change about your nose if you could? What about an entire face transplant?

  26. Postcolonial Derby: Privateers, Pieces of Eight and the Postwar Playhouse

    New research on Herman Moll's maps, looted Mexican coins and Alan Bates's early career.

  27. The Imperial War Museum 大象传媒 Radio 3 Remembrance Debate 2020

    What is the role of artists in shaping our understanding of history by commemorating war?

  28. What we cherish and what we give away

    What objects do we value most and what do we give away to charity shops?

  29. Billy Wilder

    Matthew Sweet, novelist Jonathan Coe and others discuss the director of Some Like It Hot.

  30. Depicting Disability

    The history of disabled people鈥檚 political activism, to portrayals in fiction & at courts.

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