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Free Thinking Episodes

  1.

    Goddesses

    Christopher Harding investigates the feminine divine with Ronald Hutton and others.

  2. Gandhi, Indian architecture

    Rana Mitter looks at a new play at the National Theatre about the man who murdered Gandhi.

  3. Soho

    Matthew Sweet is joined by Jingan Young, Benjamin Halligan and David McGillivray.

  4. Soil

    John Gallagher and guests dig deep into the significance of soil.

  5. Mental Health

    Anne McElvoy looks at ASMR, clean air, loneliness and a memoir exploring mental health.

  6. Odessa Stories

    Linda Grant and Boris Dralyuk discuss the writer Isaac Babel with Matthew Sweet.

  7. Windows

    From Rear Window to stained glass, TB to paintings at Dulwich. Shahidha Bari hosts.

  8. Kawanabe Ky艒sai and Yukio Mishima

    Japanese cultural experimentation: painter Ky艒sai 1831-1889 and writer Mishima 1925-1970.

  9. May Day Rituals

    Matthew Sweet and guests explore ideas about community, collective action and May revels.

  10. Rainer Maria Rilke

    Anne McElvoy discusses the visionary poet with a composer and two literature experts.

  11. Speaking Welsh

    Catherine Fletcher explores the relationship between Cymru and Cymraeg - Wales and Welsh.

  12. Teaching and Inspiration

    Novelist Julian Barnes, historian Daisy Hay and New Generation Thinker Louise Creechan.

  13. Shakespeare, history, pathology and dissonant sound

    Shahidha Bari on a new staging of Shakespeare's Henry VI. Why is Warwick a key figure?

  14. Preserving our heritage

    From knitting patterns to greetings cards: Naomi Paxton looks at a series of UK archives

  15. Housework

    Gender, class and domestic tasks. Matthew pulls on his rubber gloves and gets stuck in.

  16. Ships and History

    Artist Hew Locke plus historians Sarah Caputo, Jake Subryan Richards and Tom Nancollas.

  17. Grief

    Matthew Sweet and guests look at the role of ritual, laments and how we express grief.

  18. China: World Politics, Ink Art and Insomnia

    Kevin Rudd talks about avoiding catastrophic conflict between China and the USA.

  19. Bridgerton and Georgian Entertainment

    Shahidha Bari with Ian Kelly, Hannah Greig, Sophie Coulombeau, Brianna Kirkland-Robertson.

  20. New Generation Thinkers 2022

    Laurence Scott introduces the ten academics chosen to share their research on radio.

  21. Leopoldo Torre Nilsson's Hand in the Trap

    Confronting the man who jilted you is the plot of this 1960s Argentine expressionist film

  22. Enter the Dragon and Bruce Lee

    Matthew Sweet watches the 1973 martial arts film made before Bruce Lee's death aged 32.

  23. Dark Places

    A poet, crime writer, theologian and marine biologist explore darkness.

  24. After Dark Festival: Equinox

    Finding meaning in the moment when the length of day and night is equal.

  25. John Maynard Keynes

    From HM Treasury to Versailles and Bloomsbury: a look at the life and legacy of JM Keynes.

  26. Vikings

    From the Victorian craze to modern takes on Norse myths, Netflix and archaeological finds.

  27. The Stasi poetry circle, Nazi schools and German culture

    How an East German creative writing class fought the cold war - was their poetry any good?

  28. Blackmail and Shame

    Mark Ravenhill on staging the play on which Hitchcock based Blackmail.

  29. New research into women's history

    The Clean Break theatre company, sex strikes, East European feminism. Naomi Paxton hosts.

  30. Sisters

    The Unthank sisters, Sally Alexander, Lucy Holland, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Shahidha Bari.

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