Ranked #1
Surgeon Gabriel Weston on medical technology
Surgeon Gabriel Weston on medical technology
Surgeons of the distant past were little more than skilled butchers, trying to minimise the agony of their bone-sawing c... Read more
29 Jan 2015
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12mins
Ranked #2
Historian Justin Champion on Francis Bacon
Historian Justin Champion on Francis Bacon
Historian Justin Champion on Francis Bacon's anxieties about the fallibility of technological innovators. The 17th centu... Read more
28 Jan 2015
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12mins
Ranked #3
Psychotherapist Mark Vernon on Freud
Psychotherapist Mark Vernon on Freud
What is love? Psychotherapist Mark Vernon looks at Freud's ideas on the Greek god Eros, which he saw as a kind of life f... Read more
30 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #4
Why Are Things Beautiful?
Why Are Things Beautiful?
A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices.Melvyn is joined by four guests with different ... Read more
17 Nov 2014
•
11mins
Ranked #5
Neuroscientist Paul Broks on Free Will and the Brain
Neuroscientist Paul Broks on Free Will and the Brain
Paul Broks tackles an age-old philosophical argument over whether humans have free will or whether all events are pre-de... Read more
14 Nov 2014
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12mins
Ranked #6
How Should We Live Together?
How Should We Live Together?
A history of ideas. Presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices. Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with di... Read more
20 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #7
Lawyer Harry Potter on Individual Freedom and the State
Lawyer Harry Potter on Individual Freedom and the State
Harry Potter is a criminal barrister and watches people being let off and locked up for a living. He is interested in th... Read more
12 Nov 2014
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12mins
Ranked #8
Theologian Giles Fraser on Religious Freedom
Theologian Giles Fraser on Religious Freedom
Theologian Giles Fraser thinks freedom is overrated. It has become a kind of tyranny or obsession. He is interested in t... Read more
13 Nov 2014
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11mins
Ranked #9
Classicist Edith Hall on Aristophanes in Plato
Classicist Edith Hall on Aristophanes in Plato
In 416BC the Greek playwright Aristophanes went to a drinking party. The guests included many famous Athenians, includin... Read more
28 Jul 2015
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13mins
Ranked #10
Economist Kate Barker on the Free Market
Economist Kate Barker on the Free Market
Is a Free Market the vital foundation of a fair, dynamic and creative society? The father of economics, Adam Smith certa... Read more
22 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #11
Philosopher Angie Hobbs on Plato's Philosopher Kings
Philosopher Angie Hobbs on Plato's Philosopher Kings
Professor Angie Hobbs asks if the key to harmonious living could be found in Plato's Republic where he proposes that the... Read more
23 Jul 2015
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13mins
Ranked #12
Writer Lisa Appignanesi on the Love of Children
Writer Lisa Appignanesi on the Love of Children
How should we love our children? Can we build on the feelings we experience when we see them for the first time, raise t... Read more
31 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #13
Theologian Giles Fraser on Altruism
Theologian Giles Fraser on Altruism
Giles Fraser discusses gene theory versus altruism with playwright Tom Stoppard whose play The Hard Problem explores the... Read more
29 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #14
Philosopher Timothy Secret on Ancestor Worship
Philosopher Timothy Secret on Ancestor Worship
If we're to live well together we must first learn to live well with the dead, says Timothy Secret.At traditional Chines... Read more
24 Jul 2015
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13mins
Ranked #15
Philosopher Jules Evans on Aristotle and Flourishing
Philosopher Jules Evans on Aristotle and Flourishing
Philosopher Jules Evans wants to prove there's been a revival of Aristotle's ideas about flourishing and how to live a g... Read more
31 Mar 2015
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13mins
Ranked #16
How Do I Live a Good Life?
How Do I Live a Good Life?
A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices. Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with... Read more
30 Mar 2015
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12mins
Ranked #17
Archaeologist Matt Pope on tools and human evolution
Archaeologist Matt Pope on tools and human evolution
There's a tiny bone needle at Creswell Crags in Derbyshire. For archaeologist Matt Pope it's hugely significant. 13,000 ... Read more
30 Jan 2015
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12mins
Ranked #18
Historian Justin Champion on Toleration
Historian Justin Champion on Toleration
Professor Justin Champion examines Locke's theory of Toleration through the inhabitants of Spitalfields past and present... Read more
21 Jul 2015
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13mins
Ranked #19
What Is Love?
What Is Love?
A history of ideas. Presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices.Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with dif... Read more
27 Jul 2015
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12mins
Ranked #20
Philosopher Barry Smith on Descartes and Consciousness
Philosopher Barry Smith on Descartes and Consciousness
Rene Descartes, one of the most influential philosophers ever, thought the mind was like an open book that could be read... Read more
17 Apr 2015
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12mins