Arts & Ideas Episodes Available now
African Empire Stories
Petina Gappah & Sarah LeFanu on Livingstone, Kipling and Mary Kingsley in Africa
The Surreal World of Alejandro Jodorowsky
Matthew Sweet talks to the Chilean French director Alejandro Jodorowsky and to critics
Queer histories
How do we apply modern LGBT+ language and identities to historical figures?
The History of Sex
Fern Riddell, Kate Lister and Robin Mitchell discuss their research with Matthew
The shadow of slavery
From sugar and spice, to reparations and memorials: slavery and how we acknowledge it
Early cinema: why are we obsessed with firsts?
Matthew Sweet looks back at the early history of cinema
Samuel Beckett & the purpose of culture
If we want the arts to be a comfort blanket, where does Beckett fit in?
Mocking power past and present.
The German joker Tyll Ulenspiegel. Anne McElvoy, Daniel Kehlmann & Karen Leeder discuss.
New Thinking: It all begins here? Understanding the Industrial Revolution
John Gallagher discusses the Industrial Revolution with Emma Griffin and William Ashworth
Fungi: An Alien Encounter
Are fungi out to get us or here to help? A look at mushrooms in art, food and psychology.
