大象传媒

Rana Mitter explores looks at the role of writing in propagating ideas and exposing political tensions. He hears how writers have given voice to personal and political ambitions, from Ding Ling to the teenagers of modern China. Yuan Yang discusses her new book, Private Revolutions. Simon Ings talks about his latest book Engineers of Human Souls which examines four writers whose ideas shaped the careers of some of the twentieth century鈥檚 most infamous dictators. And Jeffrey Howard analyses the ethics of negotiating free speech and censorship today.

Producer: Ruth Watts

Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang is out now

Simon Ings' book Engineers of Human Souls: Four Writers Who Changed Twentieth-Century Minds looks at Maurice Barr猫s, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Ding Ling and Maxim Gorky.

Jeffrey Howard is Associate Professor of Political Philosophy and Public Policy at UCL and Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. You can find an Essay called Prison Break which he wrote for 大象传媒 Radio 3 asking if it is ever ok to escape from prison available on 大象传媒 Sounds. He was chosen as a New Generation Thinker in 2020 on the scheme run by the 大象传媒 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to put research on radio.