Archive

Lord Alton

Debate

Will the 21st century be the lonely century?
Novelist AS Byatt, Professor of Citizenship Lord Alton, philosopher and computer games enthusiast Andy Martin and techno writer Tim Guest discuss whether the 21st century will be the lonely century.

Charles Armstrong

Debate

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

The audience.

Debate

How do we know our beliefs are not, in fact, our prejudices?
The subject of this Debate was chosen by the Free Thinking audience from a shortlist of 4 topics selected from the 2006 Free Thinking blogs.

The audience

Creative writing

Haiku
Free Thinking haiku sent in by the audience.

The audience

Personal thoughts

Thought wall
Dozens of brief thoughts from the Free Thinking audience written on colourful sticky notes and stuck to the wall.

The audience

Personal thoughts

ABCs of Childhood
Thoughts from the Free Thinking audience about what childhood means in 2007.

Felix Barrett

Discussion

What's theatre for?
Guests Gemma Bodinetz and Felix Barrett propose some radical solutions for the survival of theatre in the multimedia age.

Tony Benn

Interview

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,

Susan Blackmore

Debate

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

Susan Blakemore

Talk

The Myth of Free Will
Many scientists now believe that there can be no such thing as "free will" - our genes, our inheritance and our biology are in control.

Peter Blegvad

Humour

Eartoons and Cartoons
Brain food for ears

Gemma Bodinetz

Discussion

What's theatre for?
Guests Gemma Bodinetz and Felix Barrett propose some radical solutions for the survival of theatre in the multimedia age.

Nick Bostrom

Debate

Will Our Grandchildren be Robotic?
Sue Nelson is joined by Director of the Future of Humanity Institue Nick Bostrom, founder of HMC Media Labs Adam Montandon, and Philosopher Dylan Evans to explore the future for the human body.

AS Byatt

Debate

Will the 21st century be the lonely century?
Novelist AS Byatt, Professor of Citizenship Lord Alton, philosopher and computer games enthusiast Andy Martin and techno writer Tim Guest discuss whether the 21st century will be the lonely century.

A S Byatt

Discussion

Writers vs Scientists: who will tell us more about human nature in the decades to come?
Will scientists or writers tell us more about what it means to be human or is it finally time for the two cultures to work together?

Tom Cannon

Short talk

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
We asked four Liverpool-based thinkers to formulate a proposal upon which the Free Thinking 07 People's Choice Debate would turn.

Zia Chaudhry

Debate

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future?
Roger Philips is joined by Frank Field MP, director of the Centre for Policy Studies Ruth Lea, multi-faith leader Zia Chaudhry and neuroscientist Dr Mark Lythgoe to Debate the question: 'Who Will Decide What?s Right and Wrong in the Future?'

Philip Collins

Discussion

we Freer than we think?
Is freedom in peril from CCTV, smoking bans and ASBOs? Or, in an individualistic and deference-free age, are we freer than we've ever been before?

Philip Collins

Discussion

we Freer than we think?
Is freedom in peril from CCTV, smoking bans and ASBOs? Or, in an individualistic and deference-free age, are we freer than we've ever been before?

Philip Collins

Talk

Rhetoric in a Prosaic Age
Philip Collins, once Tony Blair's chief speech writer, has seen sophisticated modern political communication from the heart of government. Now he asks: just how effective is it at reaching out?

Rana Dasgupta

Discussion

blogger Rana Dasgupta with Matthew Sweet
Novelist Rana Dasgupta talked to Matthew Sweet on Night Waves on 2 October 2006. Rana's Free Thinking blog focusses on the idea of The City.

Siobhan Davies

Discussion

Free Thinking Evening - Introduction
Matthew Sweet and guests introduce an evening of Free Thinking including dancer and choreographer Siobhan Davies' exploration of the power of non-verbal communication.

Jane Davis

Short talk

Of all the arts, only books allow us to fully understand the human experience.
We asked four Liverpool-based thinkers to formulate a proposal upon which the Free Thinking 07 People's Choice Debate would turn.

Ruth Deech

Talk

WAG or Worker? Women and Money
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.

Carl Djerassi

Lecture

Sex in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction 
Pioneer of the pill Carl Djerassi asks if sex and reproduction are heading for divorce with his guide to Sex in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

Carl Djerassi

Discussion

Writers vs Scientists: who will tell us more about human nature in the decades to come?
Will scientists or writers tell us more about what it means to be human or is it finally time for the two cultures to work together?

Philip Dodd

Debate

Is Privacy Dead?
In a society where many are happy to confess all to strangers and millions flaunt their personal lives online, have we forgotten the importance of keeping some things to ourselves?

Philip Dodd

Interview

The Free Thinking Interview
Ian Paisley talks to Phillip Dodd about his faith, his controversial life story, and his extraordinary political journey.

Brian Eno

Lecture

A new understanding of culture and science for the 21st century
Artist, musician and man of ideas Brian Eno unveils his personal manifesto for a new understanding of culture and science in the 21st century.

Dylan Evans

Debate

Will Our Grandchildren be Robotic?
Sue Nelson is joined by Director of the Future of Humanity Institue Nick Bostrom, founder of HMC Media Labs Adam Montandon, and Philosopher Dylan Evans to explore the future for the human body.

Frank Field

Debate

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future?
Roger Philips is joined by Frank Field MP, director of the Centre for Policy Studies Ruth Lea, multi-faith leader Zia Chaudhry and neuroscientist Dr Mark Lythgoe to Debate the question: 'Who Will Decide What?s Right and Wrong in the Future?'

Mike Figgis

Talk

Is there too much culture?"
One of the most innovative and successful British film-makers working today challenges our understanding of a healthy culture.

Professor Ben (C) Fletcher

Workshop

Thought Into Action
Learn how to turn your good intentions into action. Don't just Free Think. Free Do!

Liam Fogarty

Short talk

Britain needs to take an anger management course.
We asked four Liverpool-based thinkers to formulate a proposal upon which the Free Thinking 07 People's Choice Debate would turn.

Juliet Gardiner

Debate

It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that matters
Howard Jacobson, James Woudhuysen, Juliet Gardiner and Kenan Malik discuss our national obsession with the past.

Jonathan Glancy

Debate

Cities: The Solution or the Problem?
Piers Gough and Jonathan Glancey speculate on the future of the city and ask whether they are part of the problem or the solution to the challenges facing the human race.

Piers Gough

Debate

Cities: The Solution or the Problem?
Piers Gough and Jonathan Glancey speculate on the future of the city and ask whether they are part of the problem or the solution to the challenges facing the human race.

Linda Grant

Discussion

Costa Gavros's Missing
Writer Linda Grant explains why Costa Gavros's 'Missing' starring Jack Lemmon is her favourite "Free Thinking" film.

Jean Grant

Walk

Freedom of the city
Join artist Jean Grant on a unique walk through the stories of Liverpool’s past.

John Gray

Talk

Being Green can be Dangerous
One of Britain's most audacious and original thinkers, argues that to think that we can 'save the planet' is absurd or even dangerous

Tim Guest

Debate

Will the 21st century be the lonely century?
Novelist AS Byatt, Professor of Citizenship Lord Alton, philosopher and computer games enthusiast Andy Martin and techno writer Tim Guest discuss whether the 21st century will be the lonely century.

Mark Haddon

Talk

Books at Breakfast: Mark Haddon
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.

Sarah Harper

Lecture

Will Britain's Young all live in China?
Dr Sarah Harper the Director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing shows how youth will become a scarce commodity fought over by the world's economies.

Eugenie Harvey

Workshop

Thought Into Action
Learn how to turn your good intentions into action. Don't just Free Think. Free Do!

Canon Anthony Hawley

Discussion

Liverpool: Cathedral City
Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city's pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

Isobel Hilton

Talk

Rhetoric in a Prosaic Age
Philip Collins, once Tony Blair's chief speech writer, has seen sophisticated modern political communication from the heart of government. Now he asks: just how effective is it at reaching out? Isobel Hilton chairs the ensuing Discussion.

Susan Hitch

Discussion

Liverpool: Cathedral City
Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city's pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe

Discussion

we Freer than we think?
Is freedom in peril from CCTV, smoking bans and ASBOs? Or, in an individualistic and deference-free age, are we freer than we've ever been before?

Jon Jacob

Introduction

What is Free Thinking for?
You Tube's best known admirer of the BBC Proms, is sent to sample Free Thinking on behalf of the uninitiated.

Howard Jacobson,

Debate

It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that matters
Howard Jacobson, James Woudhuysen, Juliet Gardiner and Kenan Malik discuss our national obsession with the past.

Simon Jenkins

Discussion

Liverpool: Cathedral City
Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city's pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

James Jones

Debate

Have we destroyed the dream of equality'
The gap between rich and poor grows wider. Science tells us that more of our life chances are determined at birth. And we value difference as much as shared experience. What hope for equality?

Ruth Lea

Debate

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future?
Roger Philips is joined by Frank Field MP, director of the Centre for Policy Studies Ruth Lea, multi-faith leader Zia Chaudhry and neuroscientist Dr Mark Lythgoe to Debate the question: 'Who Will Decide What?s Right and Wrong in the Future?'

Sonia Livingstone

Debate

Is Privacy Dead?
In a society where many are happy to confess all to strangers and millions flaunt their personal lives online, have we forgotten the importance of keeping some things to ourselves?

Mark Lythgoe

Debate

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future?
Roger Philips is joined by Frank Field MP, director of the Centre for Policy Studies Ruth Lea, multi-faith leader Zia Chaudhry and neuroscientist Dr Mark Lythgoe to Debate the question: 'Who Will Decide What?s Right and Wrong in the Future?'

Kenan Malik

Debate

It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that matters
Howard Jacobson, James Woudhuysen, Juliet Gardiner and Kenan Malik discuss our national obsession with the past.

Henry Marsh

Lecture

the brain and memory
Henry Marsh, one of Britain's leading neurosurgeons, delivers a lecture on the brain and the memory.

Andy Martin

Debate

Will the 21st century be the lonely century?
Novelist AS Byatt, Professor of Citizenship Lord Alton, philosopher and computer games enthusiast Andy Martin and techno writer Tim Guest discuss whether the 21st century will be the lonely century.

Doreen Massey

Lecture

Is The World Really Shrinking?
We need to think more about our globe itself, if we want to understand the processes of globalisation.

John McGuirk

Discussion

Blogger John McGuirk.
John McGuirk from Liverpool community media organisation Tenantspin talks to Night Waves on 26 September 2006 about reactions to his blog for Free Thinking.

Ian McMillan

Short talk

McMillan on Freedom
Ian shares a personal take on what freedom is.

Munira Mirza

Debate

Have we destroyed the dream of equality'
The gap between rich and poor grows wider. Science tells us that more of our life chances are determined at birth. And we value difference as much as shared experience. What hope for equality?

Sue Nelson

Debate

Will Our Grandchildren be Robotic?
Sue Nelson is joined by Director of the Future of Humanity Institue Nick Bostrom, founder of HMC Media Labs Adam Montandon, and Philosopher Dylan Evans to explore the future for the human body.

Andrew O'Hagan

Debate

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

Andrew O'Hagan

Discussion

The US Constitution
Does America still honours its founders' commitment to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

The older generation

Discussion

Bridging the Generation Gap
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 each other.

Revd Ian Paisley

Interview

The Free Thinking Interview
Ian Paisley talks to Phillip Dodd about his faith, his controversial life story, and his extraordinary political journey.

Vivienne Parry

Discussion

Who does technology put in charge?
One of the highlights of the 2006 Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival, a Discussion called 'Who Does Technology Put in Charge?', presented by Vivienne Parry.

Roger Philips

Debate

Who will decide what's Right and Wrong in the future?
Roger Philips is joined by Frank Field MP, director of the Centre for Policy Studies Ruth Lea, multi-faith leader Zia Chaudhry and neuroscientist Dr Mark Lythgoe to Debate the question: 'Who Will Decide What?s Right and Wrong in the Future?'

Roger Philips

Discussion

Is Liverpool an English City?
Roger Philips and guests discuss in front of a local, vocal audience at FACT in Liverpool.

Roger Philips

Debate

Exams prove nothing and should be abolished.
Meet the Free Thinkers of the future. Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips keeps the peace between two teams of young Debaters from Liverpool schools. In collaboration with the English Speaking Union.

Roger Philips

Debate

Have we destroyed the dream of equality'
The gap between rich and poor grows wider. Science tells us that more of our life chances are determined at birth. And we value difference as much as shared experience. What hope for equality?

Roger Philips

Debate

Computers Make You Stupid.
Are computers eroding human mental ability? Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips keeps the peace between two teams of young Debaters from Liverpool schools.

Trevor Phillips

Talk

Six Questions Liberal Democracy Can't Answer
Do some of the challenges thrown up by today's hyper-diversity stump even our most progressive thinkers?

Philosophy in Pubs

Discussion

Philosophy in Pubs
Night Waves reports from the Free Thinking festival on the group "Philosophy in Pubs"

Paul Preston

Talk

Us, Them and Europe
Preston 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.

Phil Redmond

Lecture

The Free Thinking Lecture
A personal and wide-ranging exploration of the competing political and cultural forces redefining our personal identities.

Jonathan Rée

Discussion

Jonathan Ree with Jonathan Sawday
Philip Dodd talks to philosopher Jonathan Rée and Literature Professor Jonathan Sawday about the greatest free thinkers of the past, and the possibilities for free thinking today.

Jonathan Rée

Discussion

Blogger Jonathan Ree
Philosopher Jonathan Rée discusses his experience of being a blogger for Free Thinking with Philip Dodd in Night Waves 11 Sept 2006.

Diane Roberts

Discussion

The US Constitution
Does America still honours its founders' commitment to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

Justice Albie Sachs

Discussion

we Freer than we think?
Is freedom in peril from CCTV, smoking bans and ASBOs? Or, in an individualistic and deference-free age, are we freer than we've ever been before?

Justice Albie Sachs

Interview

Albie Sachs: A life in pursuit of freedom
Sachs talks about his remarkable past and his hopes for the future, and discusses his understanding of freedom with the audience.

Jonathan Sawday

Discussion

Jonathan Ree with Jonathan Sawday
Philip Dodd talks to philosopher Jonathan Rée and Literature Professor Jonathan Sawday about the greatest free thinkers of the past, and the possibilities for free thinking today.

Jonathan Sawday

Debate

Is Privacy Dead?
In a society where many are happy to confess all to strangers and millions flaunt their personal lives online, have we forgotten the importance of keeping some things to ourselves?

Liverpool school teams

Debate

Exams prove nothing and should be abolished.
Meet the Free Thinkers of the future. Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips keeps the peace between two teams of young Debaters from Liverpool schools. In collaboration with the English Speaking Union.

Liverpool school teams

Debate

Computers Make You Stupid.
Are computers eroding human mental ability? Radio Merseyside's Roger Phillips keeps the peace between two teams of young Debaters from Liverpool schools.

Will Self

Lecture

Naturalism and Sanity: Is the Mind Really as it's Portrayed?
Author and essayist Will Self launches the 2008 festival arguing that the way the mind is portrayed in most novels is preposterous

Tom Shakespeare

Debate

Have we destroyed the dream of equality'
The gap between rich and poor grows wider. Science tells us that more of our life chances are determined at birth. And we value difference as much as shared experience. What hope for equality?

Robert Smith

Debate

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

Gavin Stamp

Discussion

Liverpool: Cathedral City
Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city's pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

Mike Stubbs

Short talk

It's time to end the myth that things will continue to get better.
We asked four Liverpool-based thinkers to formulate a proposal upon which the Free Thinking 07 People's Choice Debate would turn.

Matthew Sweet

Discussion

Is this the Brave New World?
70 years on since Aldous Huxley's darkly visionary novel, have we finally surpassed Huxley's predictions?

Matthew Sweet

Debate

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

Matthew Sweet

Discussion

Bridging the Generation Gap
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 each other.

Esther Wilson

Discussion

Blogger Esther Wilson with Isobel Hilton.
Playwright Esther Wilson talked to Isobel Hilton on Night Waves on 24 October 2006. Esthers Free Thinking 06 blog took a Liverpool perspective.

Sister Anthony Wilson

Discussion

Liverpool: Cathedral City
Liverpool's skyline is dominated by two cathedrals, whose stories reflect the city's pride and achievement as much as its divisions and contradictions.

James Woudhuysen

Debate

It's not where you come from, it's where you're going that matters
Howard Jacobson, James Woudhuysen, Juliet Gardiner and Kenan Malik discuss our national obsession with the past.

The younger generation

Discussion

Bridging the Generation Gap
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 each other.

John Zarnecki

Talk

Space: why are we there?
John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University, tackles some of the fundamental questions about our future in space.

John Zarnecki

Discussion

Is this the Brave New World?
70 years on since Aldous Huxley's darkly visionary novel, have we finally surpassed Huxley's predictions?