Umberto Eco
Monday 10 December 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Philip Dodd talks to Italian writer Umberto Eco about his wide-ranging and diverse career, which has embraced best-selling novels such as The Name of the Rose, respected academic studies of semiotics, and witty literary essays on the issues of our time.
Eco has declared that the condition of our age is that of history in reverse gear, symbolised by the return of once forgotten debates on Darwinism and imperial clashes in Afghanistan. He explains to Philip why we must put a brake on this tragic regression
Umberto Eco
Italian writer Umberto Eco.
Playlist
Umberto Eco
Philip Dodd talks to one of the world's leading thinkers. In a rare and wide ranging interview the philosopher, mediaevalist, semiotician, and author of the Name of the Rose Umberto Eco looks back at his adolescent flirtation with fascism, his thoughts and feelings about contemporary Italy, the power of the word and the saving grace of humour.
Oliver Twist
We also review one the highlights of the christmas television schedules: BBC ONE's new adaptation of Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Symbolism
On Sunday Archbishop of York John Sentamu cut up of his dog collar live on BBC One's Andrew Marr show in protest of the Zimbabwean regime. Phillip talks to former Bishop of Edinburgh Richard Holloway about the power of symbolic gesture as a form of religious protest.
