Free Thinking

The Free Thinking Festival 2006 Archive
on the radio and online

Brian Eno lecture - broadcast Fri 3 Nov 06.

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future? - broadcast 5 Nov 06.
Read and add comments.

Will Our Grandchildren be Robotic? - broadcast 6 Nov 06.
Read and add comments.

Will Britain's Young all live in China? - broadcast 6 Nov 06.

Sex in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction - broadcast 7 Nov 06.

Cities: The Solution or the Problem? - broadcast 7 Nov 06.

Will the 21st century be the lonely century? - broadcast 8 Nov 06.
Read and add comments.

Open University lecture: Is the world really shrinking? - broadcast 9 Nov 06.
About the event.
Read and add comments.

It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that matters - broadcast 10 Nov 06.

Who does technology put in charge? - broadcast Thu 16 Nov 06.
About the event
Read and add comments

People's Choice debate: How do we know our beliefs are not, in fact, our prejudices? - broadcast 24 Nov 06.
Read and add comments.

Writers vs Scientists: who will tell us more about human nature in the decades to come? - broadcast Wed 29 Nov 06
About the event
Read and add comments

Is Liverpool and English city? - broadcast Wed 6 Dec 06.
About the event.

Philosophy in Pubs - broadcast 6 Dec 06.

Brain, Science and Memory? - broadcast Wed 13 Dec 06.
About the event


Listen to Free Thinking bloggers interviewed on Night Waves.

Radio Broadcasts

Wednesday 1 November 2006
9.30 - 10.15pm
Radio 3
Night Waves' Philip Dodd talks to philosopher Jonathan Rée and Literature Professor Jonathan Sawday about the possibilities for free thinking today.
About the broadcast
Listen again


Friday 3 November
9.30 - 10.30pm
Radio 3
In the first Free Thinking lecture Brian Eno unveils his manifesto for a new understanding of science and culture in the 21st century.
About the event
Listen again


Saturday 4 November

4.15 – 5pm
BBC7
Big Toe Radio Show
Live Broadcast on BBC7 from BBC Radio Merseyside
About the event
Listen online to Big Toe

9.30 – 10.15pm
Radio 3
The Verb live from Liverpool
About the event
Listen again until 11 Nov

10.15 – 10.45pm
Radio 3
Between the Ears: "Affirmation", sound installation by Julianne Swartz.
About the event
Listen again until 11 Nov




Sunday 5 November
Radio 3
8.00 – 10.15pm
Best of Free Thinking including...

A performance of "Complications"
About the event
Listen again until 12 Nov
and the debate: “Who Will Decide What’s Right and Wrong in the Future?”
About the event
Listen again
Read and add comments


Monday 6 – Friday 10 November, 9.30 – 10.30pm
Radio 3
All week a selection of the best of Free Thinking including debates such as “Who Does Technology Put in Charge?” and “It’s Not Where You Come From, Its Where You’re Going That Matters”; Carl Djerassi on sex in the future, Doreen Massey with the first Open University Radio Lecture and two challenging ten minute dramas.

Read audience comments and add your own to the debates.

Monday 6 November
including the debate Will Our Grandchildren be Robotic?
About the event
Listen again

Read and add comments
Tuesday 7 November
including Pioneer of the pill Carl Djerassi's guide to Sex in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
About the event
Listen again


Wednesday 8 November:
including the debate Will the 21st century will be the lonely century?
About the event
Listen againRead and add comments
and "Writing of Harlots" by playwright and Free Thinking blogger Esther Wilson - examines the isolating impact of Internet pornography. Performed by Simon Hadfield, Julia Rounthwaite, Laura Cockett.
Listen again until 15 Nov


Thursday 9 November
Professor Doreen Massey presents the first Open University Radio Lecture, Is the World Really Shrinking?
About the event
Listen again

Read and add comments
Friday 10 November:
including "Fused Rice Bowl" by Jim Morris. A meditation on science, ethics and the connections between Hiroshima and Liverpool. Performed by Kevin Doyle, Deborah McAndrew, Kevin Harvey, Tom Wu.
Listen again until 17 Nov


All festival events and contributors


Throughout the autumn and winter you’ll be able to hear more recordings of events from Free Thinking on Radio 3’s arts and ideas programme Night Waves.