Space Exploration
Tuesday 9 January 2007 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)
Isabel Hilton and guests discuss the importance of space exploration. Do we need space more than ever?
Ghosts
Ai Qin Lin as 'Ai Qin' in Nick Broomfield's film Ghosts
Playlist
Revenge or justice?
The controversial conduct of Saddam Hussein's execution has led to accusations that it was simply an act of Shia revenge on Sunnis.
But how much of justice in Middle Eastern countries actually comprises revenge?
In Night Waves Isabel Hilton explores what the events surrounding Saddam's death tell us about the role of justice both in Iraq and in the west.
Nick Broomfield's Ghosts
Isabel talks to documentary maker Nick Broomfield about his latest film Ghosts and why he's moved from documentary to drama to tell this story of modern slavery in Britain.
Space Exploration
And should we send humans into space? Stephen Hawking speaking on the Today programme recently said that Mankind will need to leave planet Earth to ensure the long-term survival of the species.
Meanwhile, the British government are currently reconsidering the decision made back in the 1960s not to fund a British astronaut programme.
And day-trips for space tourists may not be far away - but is the hunger for space-travel fuelled by altruism or greed?
Poetry quoting detectives
As the best-selling crime writer Qiu Xiaolong publishes his third mystery featuring Inspector Chen Cao - the poetry-loving detective - writer and critic John Williams asks why so many fictional detectives are given to quoting poetry and what it tells us about them.
