Schedule

19:00 - 20:00 Lecture

1. The Free Thinking Lecture - Naturalism and Sanity: Is the Mind Really as it’s Portrayed? Celebrated author and essayist Will Self launches the festival arguing that the way the mind is portrayed in most novels is preposterous.

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21:30 - 22:30 Performance

2. Live edition of The Verb Poet Ian McMillan is joined by a host of dazzling guests, including Liverpool’s own Alexei Sayle, award-winning eartoonist Peter Blegvad, and Free Thinking writer in residence Angie Clarke for Radio 3’s cabaret of new writing and the spoken word.

• Watch and listen to Peter Blegvad's animated eartoon created especially for the 2007 festival.

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10:30 - 11:30 Guest speaker

3. Books at Breakfast: Clare Allan In association with The Reader Organisation In the first of two Free Thinking events hosted by The Reader, Clare Allan, winner of the first Orange/Harpers Bazaar Short Story Competition and author of Poppy Shakespeare, talks about her work.

The Reader is a ground-breaking organisation that celebrates books, writers and readers.

See also event 21.

www.thereaderonline.co.uk

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10:30 - 11:30 Debate

4. Debate: Computers Make You StupidFrom search engines to spell-check and calculators to copy and paste, life’s a lot easier with a little computer support. But are we losing ground on previous generations who could do these things themselves?

Meet the Free Thinkers of the future as Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips keeps the peace between two teams of young debaters from Liverpool schools.

In collaboration with the English Speaking Union.

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11:00 - 12:00 Participation event

5. Interactive Drama: Scratch Come and experience a ground breaking audio drama. You’ll be issued with a GPS device, headphones and a space to explore.

How the story of Scratch unfolds depends on where you move. You’ll encounter characters, overhear secrets and wander into territory that threatens to unhinge all involved.

Scratch, written by Penelope Skinner, is a collaboration between BBC Radio Drama and The Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts . With thanks to Hewlett- Packard.

See also event 12 and event 23.

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12:00 - 13:00 Free Thinker

6. Tony Benn: Letters to my Grandchildren Is there anything the older generation can teach the young to help solve the problems of the future?

A personal perspective on the value of experience with the veteran Labour politician, famous for his meticulous diary keeping and love of tea, who resigned as an MP in 2001 ‘to spend more time in politics’.

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12:15 - 13:15 Debate

7. Is Privacy Dead? Have we forgotten the importance of keeping some things to ourselves?

Philip Dodd challenges a panel including cultural historian Jonathan Sawday and Sonia Livingstone, psychologist and member of the Home Secretary’s task force for Child Protection on the internet, as they debate whether privacy is an idea that’s simply run its course.

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13:30 - 14:30 Free Thinker

8. Susan Blackmore: The Myth of Free Will Are the choices we make really free?

Many scientists now believe that there can be no such thing as “free will” - our genes, our inheritance and our biology are in control.

Leading brain scientist, TV presenter and best-selling author Susan Blackmore says that doesn’t matter - we can live a moral and meaningful life without it.

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13:45 - 14:45 Daniel in the Lion’s Den

9. Trevor Phillips: Six Questions Liberal Democracy Can’t Answer.Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, remains one of the most outspoken figures in Britain today, asking searching questions about the nature of modern society.

In this challenging session, he asks whether modern liberal democracies have all the answers to the most important questions of our age.

Or will some of the challenges thrown up by today’s hyperdiversity stump even our most progressive thinkers?

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14:00 - 15:00 Participation event

10. Speed Dating With a Thinker Ideas for the open-hearted.
Join Ian McMillan and date seven seductive minds one after the other as our irresistible experts have 5 minutes to persuade you that their idea is best.

A Free Thinking annual blockbuster which proves that even in the 21st century the brain is still the sexiest organ.

See also event 29

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15:00 - 16:00 Daniel in the Lion’s Den

11. Ruth Deech: What’s a Woman Worth?Baroness Ruth Deech is best known as the former chair of the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority – a controversial job for any public figure.

She comes to Free Thinking to argue that recent high profile divorce settlements and the growing trend in the courts equating cohabitation with marriage show that the law is out of touch with the real meanings of partnership.

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15:00 - 16:00 Participation event

12. Interactive Drama: Scratch. Come and experience groundbreaking audio drama.

For details see event 5

15:00 - 16:00 Landmark

13. Cathedral CityLiverpool’s skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city’s pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

Join presenter Susan Hitch and a panel of guests including Simon Jenkins, Gavin Stamp, Sister Anthony and Canon Anthony Hawley to explore the myths, meanings and mechanics of the twin guardians of Hope Street.

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15:15 - 16:15 Debate

14. 14 Debate: What is the Value of Experience? For the first time ever in this country there are more pensioners than under-16s. Yet why as a society do we persist in valuing innovation and novelty above hard-won experience?

Presenter Matthew Sweet and the philosopher turned management consultant Robert Smith, award-winning novelist Andrew O’Hagan, brain scientist Susan Blackmore and technological entrepreneur Charles Armstrong debate whether its time to redress the balance in favour of accumulated wisdom.

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16:30 - 17:30 Free Thinker

15. Sean Spence: Drugs - Saviour of Society? In the future, might drugs make us better people? And if so, what are the ethics of using them?

Join psychiatrist Sean Spence, whose work has exposed him to some of the most extreme states that human beings can inhabit, to discover the latest thinking in managing our morality.

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17:00 - 17:30 Daniel in the Lion’s Den

16. John Gray: Being Green can be Dangerous. Do humans really have the capacity to control the environment?

Philosopher John Gray, author of the bestselling Straw Dogs and one of Britain’s most audacious and original thinkers, argues that to think that we can ‘save the planet’ is absurd or even dangerous.

We need to look to technological fixes - including some that “Greens” fear and reject.

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18:00 - 19:00 The Free Thinking Interview

17. Revd Ian Paisley Preacher, politician and author the Revd Ian Paisley, until June this year First Minister of Northern Ireland, founded the Democratic Unionist Party in 1971 and is Northern Ireland’s longest serving MP in the House of Commons.

He talks to Philip Dodd about his faith, his controversial life story, and his extraordinary political journey.

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19:00 - 20:00 Drama

18. 24 Weeks. A provocative and challenging drama about abortion by award-winning TV dramatist Tony Marchant.

Robert and Sarah’s relationship is challenged to the very limits by her developing pregnancy. "It’s so there now. So real" says Robert at the scan.

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20:30 - 22:15 Performance

19. Words and Music Live: The Seven Ages of Man Young Liverpudlian actors Annabelle Dowler and Kevin Harvey join leading British pianist Ashley Wass, folk singer Belinda Sykes, the prize-winning Elias String Quartet and cutting-edge rock and jazz percussionist Bill Bruford, of Earthworks and formerly of bands Yes, Genesis and King Crimson, in an evening of music, poetry and drama inspired by Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man.

From the Mersey Sound to Kipling, folk ballads to Bartok, Marlowe to Pinter, and percussion improvisations to Bach.

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09:00 - 11:30 Walk

20. Walk: Hyper Ventilation A guided tour in the Mersey Tunnel Shafts. With the guidance of the artist Jean Grant The Mersey Tunnel becomes the body of Liverpool itself, from the ancient computer brain to the vast fans of its lungs and the nerves of interconnecting walkways.

In association with 'Pool.

Places are limited and this event is not suitable for children under 10 and may not be suitable for those who suffer with asthma or have difficulty with steps.

Meet at the entrance to the ventilation shaft, Georges Dock Building, Georges Dock Way, Liverpool, Merseyside, L3 1DD

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10:00 - 11:30 Guest speaker

21. Books at Breakfast: Mark Haddon In the second of two Free Thinking events hosted by The Reader, the multi-award winning writer Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and A Spot of Bother, talks about his latest work.

www.thereaderonline.co.uk

See also event 3.

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10:30 - 11:30 Free Thinker

22. Richard Reynolds: Flower Power for the 21st Century Richard Reynolds began Guerrilla Gardening four years ago by going out into the night to weed and plant in the scrubland and abandoned planting boxes.

Now Guerrilla Gardening is an international movement dedicated to reclaiming and re-defining public spaces across the world.

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12noon - 13:00 Participation event

23. Interactive Drama: Scratch Sessions run between 12noon and 1.00pm The Oratory, St James’s Gardens Another chance to experience ground-breaking audio drama.

For details see event 5.

12noon - 13:00 Free Thinker

24. Bill Drummond: The Bill Drummond Bit Modern technology puts music everywhere - from our pockets to our offices and airports.

Artist and musician Bill Drummond - the man behind KLF who once burned £1m - argues that this could rob recorded music of the meaning it held for us in the 20th century.

Yet it is possible that forward-thinking music makers of the next few decades will use this technological crisis to construct and perform music in ways not yet imaginable.

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12:15 - 13:15 Free Thinker

25. Hans Van der Heijden: Whose Space is Public Space? Hans van der Heijden is the leading Dutch architect who redesigned the Bluecoat - now nominated for a world architecture award.

He addresses head on the confusions he has seen in Britain’s understanding of public space.

Can the architecture of the future change the way we behave in the city spaces we all have to share?

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13:00 - 14:00 Children's event

26. Go4it Calling all 6 – 11 year olds! You are the future, but adults seem to be making all the decisions. Do oldies always know best?

Come along and join Barney Harwood for a special edition of Go4it, BBC Radio 4’s children’s programme.

Please note: this is an event for children and all children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

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13:30 - 14:30 Free Thinker

27. Paul Preston: Us, Them and Europe Professor Paul Preston is one of the foremost historians of modern Europe, whose work on the Spanish Civil War has led to fame and controversy in Spain itself.

As Liverpool celebrates its year as European Capital of Culture, he returns to his home town putting the case for our need to reassess British history.

He argues that we should look at the way continental Europeans see both themselves and us in order to rid ourselves of some of the myths at the heart of our national identity.

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13:45 - 14:45 Participation event

28. Workshop: Thought Into Action Would you like to give up a nasty habit, but just can’t seem to kick it? Want to help save the world, but don’t know where to start?

If you do, then this is your session. Eugenie Harvey from the pioneering movement We Are What We Do and psychologist and behavioural expert Professor Ben (C) Fletcher will be on stage in an open session devoted to your ideas, problems, questions, frustrations and ambitions.

Come along and learn how to turn your good intentions into action. Don’t just Free Think. Free Do!

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14:00 - 15:00 Participation event

29. Speed Dating With a Thinker Ideas for the open-hearted. Join Ian McMillan and date seven seductive minds.

For details see event 10.

15:00 - 16:00 Landmark

30. Landmark: The US ConstitutionThe Declaration of Independence remains to this day one of the most poetic and resonant of all political documents.

On the eve of the American presidential election, join a panel including Andrew O’Hagan and Florida State University’s Diane Roberts to ask if America still honours its founders’ commitment to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

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15:00 - 16:00 Participation event

31.Free Thinking Manifesto - Bridging the Generation Gap What can the generations learn from each other?

Free Thinking sends a pensioner and a teenager out into the festival weekend to discover what each of their generations would like to say to the other.

They report back in this entertaining session chaired by Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips.

With the help of the audience we draw up a manifesto for crossing the age gap.

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15:15 - 16:15 Free Thinker

32. Francis Gilbert: Silent Voices, Still Lives To be articulate is to be powerful.

Writer and read commentsator Francis Gilbert argues that unless we teach our children to speak openly, publicly and confidently, their voices will not be heard and their ideas will not change society.

Mona Siddiqui has cancelled. If you booked a ticket for Mona's talk it remains valid for this event.

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16:15 - 17:15 Free Thinker

33. Do we need vulgarity?.
We regret that Bernard-Henri Lévy has had to withdraw due to personal circumstances.

We are very pleased that this session will be replaced by a discussion entitled: Do We Need Vulgarity? The panel will include the comedian Alexei Sayle, novelist Andrew O’Hagan, the American writer and academic Professor Diane Roberts, Professor Jonathan Sawday from Strathclyde University. Your tickets for event 33 remain valid and there will also be a standby queue at the door of screen 2 for those without tickets.

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Films intro

A showcase for some of the best recent films which reflect the key topics of the festival – our brains, our privacy and the generation gap.

Tickets for the films are available from FACT on 0871 704 2063 or in person from the box office.

In partnership with Picturehouse.

Look out too for Free Thinking on the BBC Big Screen in Liverpool's Clayton Square.

Fri 19:00 Film

Double Bill Last Regal King Size
Two disaffected boys from the Protestant community of Glasgow decide to spend the day of the Orange march trying to get the area’s local whipping-boy out of his house. The prize on offer for success is a packet of cigarettes. The consequences prove to be shattering.

This screening will be introduced by the film’s writer Gavin Scott Whitfield.

Young at Heart
A documentary portrait of the Young At Heart Chorus from Northampton, Massachusetts. Despite an average age of 81, they refuse to be daunted either by the most up-to-date repertoire or the heart-breaking challenges they face to put on a performance.

Sat 18:00 Film

Hidden
Already a classic, Michael Haneke’s brilliant thriller centres on a young couple whose lives are disturbed by the video tapes which mysteriously appear on their doorstep. Who is filming them? And why?

Sat 18:00 Film

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Painter and director Julian Schnabel’s multi award-winning film tells the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, whose stroke at the age of 43 left him able to move only his left eyelid.

A beautiful and challenging story of a powerful mind locked inside a body that no longer functions.

All day Saturday and Sunday

Philosophy in Pubs

Saturday and Sunday

The Big Screen Liverpool presents video work in association with the BBC Radio 3 Festival of Free Thinking, curated by Bren O'Callaghan.