Playlist
Philip Zimbardo
Social psychologist Philip Zimbardo discusses his notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, in which students were randomly assigned roles as prisoners and guards in a mock prison. It formed the basis of his argument that a person's situation can lead apparently good people to commit terrible and violent acts.
Zimbardo claims this view is only strengthened by his analysis of the treatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Baghdad. He is joined by the evolutionary biologist Oliver Curry to ask whether evil is innate or situational.
Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis, director of Leaving Las Vegas and Time Code, tells Matthew Sweet why he's written a guide to the new techniques of the digital revolution.
He says it has transformed the art of film including his own work, such as the recent film CO/MA, assembled in just six days with limited resources.
Bakelite
Dr Susan Mossman from the Science Museum joins Matthew to chart the history and cultural impact of the first completely synthetic man-made substance - Bakelite - which is a hundred years old this year.
