Arts & Ideas Podcast
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives 鈥� looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on 麻豆社 Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
Episodes to download
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Thinking with Food
Friday
Felicity Cloake, John Lanchester, Prof Barry Smith, Suki Finn and Samantha Ellis
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Technologies of the Self
Fri 15 May 2026
From journaling to prayer: Shahidha Bari on the history and politics of self creation
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The Middle
Fri 8 May 2026
Middle - England, ground, child, age, pig in ... Anne McElvoy hosts a middling discussion
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Weapons, real and symbolic
Fri 1 May 2026
Matthew Sweet and guests discuss tanks, guns, gaming, drones and what weaponisation means
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Weapons, real and symbolic
Fri 1 May 2026
Matthew Sweet and guests explore what weapons mean - in the past and now.
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Purity
Fri 24 Apr 2026
David Aaronovitch, Catherine Coldstream, Linda Woodhead and others join Matthew Sweet
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Humility
Fri 27 Mar 2026
From Spinoza's thinking to the "humble brag" - Matthew Sweet and guests explore humility.
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Oral tradition and oracy
Fri 20 Mar 2026
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss look at fluently in politics, the classroom & society
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Women, language & experience
Fri 6 Mar 2026
Shahidha Bari's guests include Karen McCarthy Woolf, Lauren Elkin and Sara Ahmed
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Authority
Fri 27 Feb 2026
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss authority in politics, business and education.
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Crime and punishment medieval to modern
Fri 20 Feb 2026
Matthew Sweet's guests include Lord Sumption and criminal barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind
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Working Class Creativity
Fri 13 Feb 2026
Depictions of working class life on TV and in culture and how they've changed
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Is Might Right?
Fri 6 Feb 2026
The history of an idea that's shaped political philosophy, from Plato to Carl Schmitt
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Labour, work and productivity
Fri 30 Jan 2026
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss labour in terms of both work and childbirth
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Victorian Values
Fri 16 Jan 2026
Gisela Stuart, AN Wilson, Fern Riddell, Sarah Williams, Matthew Stallard, Matthew Sweet
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Travel
Fri 2 Jan 2026
Travel past and present and broadening the mind? Travel journalists and historians debate
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Influencing History
Fri 5 Dec 2025
Matthew Sweet and guests ask who makes history and debate arguments in the Reith lectures
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Marriage
Fri 28 Nov 2025
Shahidha Bari joined by guests including Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch and Zoe Strimpel
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Rocks
Fri 21 Nov 2025
How can earth sciences like geology transform our understanding of history and society?
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Revenge and reconciliation
Fri 14 Nov 2025
In the week we mark the Armistice of World War I, Anne McElvoy and guests discuss revenge
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The end of civilisations and societies
Fri 7 Nov 2025
Peter Hitchens, Rhiannon Firth, Neville Morley, Phil Tinline, Luke Kemp join Shahidha Bari
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Rational and Irrational decision making
Fri 24 Oct 2025
Anne McElvoy considers the value of irrationality with Lionel Barber and Bronwen Maddox.
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Traditions, roots and local pride
Fri 17 Oct 2025
Ex MP Penny Mordaunt's new book asks Why Britain's Traditions Matter. Matthew Sweet hosts
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The status of Science
Fri 10 Oct 2025
Shahidha Bari and guests discuss the status of science in society and culture
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The Good Life
Fri 3 Oct 2025
Michael Rosen,Fergus Butler-Gallie Sophie Scott-Brown, Rachel Wiseman, Sudhir Hazareesingh
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Finding my tribe
Fri 26 Sep 2025
Anne McElvoy and guests discuss connections, divisions and creating new political parties
