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Weapons, real and symbolic

Broadcaster and historian Mark Urban, former soldier and MP Tobias Ellwood, artist Hew Locke, historian Catherine Fletcher, gaming expert Hailey Austin join Matthew Sweet.

How do weapons exert real and symbolic power, both now and in history?

Joining Matthew Sweet for Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme about ideas are:

The former soldier and politician Tobias Ellwood

The sculptor Hew Locke, whose artworks exploring colonial power have featured weaponry

The Renaissance historian Catherine Fletcher, whose latest book is The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires

The historian and broadcaster Mark Urban, whose books include Tank and Rifles

and

Hailey Austin, Lecturer in Visual Media and Culture at Abertay University who researches comics and videogames.

Producer: Eliane Glaser

Available now

57 minutes

Last on

Fri 1 May 2026 21:00

Broadcast

  • Fri 1 May 2026 21:00

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

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