A Brief History of Time
Monday 16 June 2008 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Philip Dodd marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking - said to be a book bought by many and read to the end by few.
Killer of Sheep. Courtesy of the BFI
Killer of Sheep. Courtesy of the BFI
Playlist
Stephen Hawking
Twenty years ago, Hawking's 'A Brief History of Time' shot into bestseller lists all over the world and stayed there for more than four years. Now, as we wait for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland to be switched on, the machine that will come closer than ever before to recreating the Big Bang for which Hawking himself provided the mathematical proof, Philip Dodd talks to Hawking about the future of physics and whether rationality is coming under threat.
The Book of Dead Philosophers
Simon Critchley on 'The Book of Dead Philosophers', an attempt to lead the reader into the world of philosophy via the death of some of history's great thinkers. But how does the knowledge that Rousseau died after being knocked over by a Great Dane, Heracleitus by being suffocated in cow dung and Diderot by choking to death on an apricot help us to understand how to live?
The Book of Dead Philosophers is published by Granta
Killer of Sheep
The film maker John Akomfrah joins Philip to discuss the legendary 'Killer of Sheep'. Charles Burnett's 1977 film classic, which has been re-issued. Made as Burnett's graduation film at UCLA it was shot in black and white using mainly non-professional actors in the black working class area of Watts in South Central LA.
Killer of Sheep is released on 20 June at BFI Southbank, Barbican and Ritzy. www.bfi.org.uk/releases <http://www.bfi.org.uk/releases> A season of Charles Burnett's landmark films will screen at BFI Southbank until 19 July.
Coming of Age in Second Life
Millions of people around the world log into Second Life, an online virtual world which allows them to be anyone they want to be and do - almost - anything they want to do. Anthropologist Tom Boellstorff has been conducting research in Second Life since 2004, through his avatar (or virtual self) Tom Bukowski. In tonight's Night Waves he reports back on the culture of this hugely popular virtual world.
Coming of Age in Second Life is published by Princeton University Press
Breathing
Jaume Plensa's memorial sculpture Breathing sits on top of Broadcasting House in London, commemorating journalists who have lost their lives whilst reporting on international conflicts. It incorporates a 900 metre light beam which will shine directly up into the night sky every evening at 10pm. As this memorial beam is switched on for the first time, sculptor Jaume Plensa talks live to Philip Dodd.
