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Free Thinking Episodes

  1.

    The TV Debate

    Gore Vidal v William F Buckley Jr, Germaine Greer v Norman Mailer. Have debates changed?

  2. The Day of the Triffids

    Matthew Sweet and guests re-read John Wyndham's post-apocalyptic novel from 1951.

  3. Caribbean Art

    As a Tate Britain show opens, Shahidha Bari looks at Caribbean post-war writing and art

  4. D眉rer, Rhinos and Whales

    Writer Philip Hoare, curator Robert Wenley, historian Helen Cowie talk celebrity animals.

  5. Toys

    How toys are shaped by politics and why they have a spooky side.

  6. Christopher Logue's War Music

    Shahidha Bari and guests read Logue's version of 蜜芽传媒r's Iliad and look at its language.

  7. Romanian History and Literature

    Novelists Mircea C膬rt膬rescu and Georgina Harding and historian Philippe Sands on Romania.

  8. Faking It and Trompe-l'oeil

    From fake flowers carved by Grinling Gibbons to modern craft and internet images.

  9. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On

    Matthew Sweet and guests discuss what inspired Marvin Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On?

  10. Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex

    One of the key French existentialists in the 50s, how does Simone de Beauvoir read today?

  11. Being Human 2021

    Reseach into covid comics, codes in Dickens, projecting books onto hospital ceilings.

  12. Dogs

    Labradors Olive and Mabel became a Covid internet hit - can we know what a dog thinks?

  13. The Imperial War Museum Remembrance Discussion 2021

    How do we define a war? Anne McElvoy and guests look at how language changes attitudes.

  14. God's Body

    Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Hetta Howes and Mark Vernon join Matthew Sweet.

  15. Caesar, Hogarth and images of power

    Rana Mitter talks to Professor Mary Beard, artist Ali Cherri and looks at Hogarth's art.

  16. Oceans, art and pacific poetry

    Tania Kovats describes her sculptures from bleached coral and concrete moulded wetsuits.

  17. Time

    As the clocks go back, Matthew Sweet and guests host a party for time travellers.

  18. Twilight

    Poet Pascale Petit, photographer Jasper Goodall, Alexandra Harris, composer Sally Beamish.

  19. The Language of Flowers

    Rebecca Solnit's new book on George Orwell explores his interest in gardening and the land

  20. Rationality and Tradition

    Tim Stanley on tradition and Steven Pinker on rationality. Anne McElvoy hosts.

  21. Black British theatre archives and an Afro-Cuban star

    From an 18th-century Black Juliet to Ira Aldridge鈥檚 daughter Amanda. Plus, Rita Montaner.

  22. Sugar

    Matthew Sweet examines how sugar built the modern world.

  23. Colour

    Artist Lubna Chowdhary, author Mich猫le Roberts, art historians James Fox and Kelly Grovier

  24. Frieze: Museums in the 21st century

    Anne McElvoy talks to the directors at London's National Gallery, Yale and New York's Met.

  25. Choice

    Do poets choose their words or are they predetermined?

  26. The British Academy Book Prize 2021

    New ways of thinking about global problems - Rana Mitter reads this year's shortlist.

  27. Breakfast

    Literally "breaking the fast" - Matthew Sweet moves from the Full English to Tiffany's.

  28. Order and Chaos

    A history of indexes and ideas about tidiness, clutter and archiving in Ruth Ozeki's novel

  29. Thomas Mann

    Novelist Colm Toibin joins Anne McElvoy to discuss the German author's life and struggles.

  30. The continuing appeal of Tudor history

    Philippa Gregory, Nandini Das, Susan Doran and Adam Roberts with Matthew Sweet.

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