Public service
Tuesday 10 July 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Philip Dodd explores the history behind Gordon Brown's 'new spirit of public service'. Where did the idea begin, and is it really still viable in Britain today?Philip Dodd explores the history behind Gordon Brown's 'new spirit of public service'. Where did the idea begin, and is it really still viable in Britain today?
Playlist
Public Service
Our new Prime Minister has been at pains to stress that for him, power means being a servant of the public.
But where does the notion of 'public service' come from? Has it always been bound up in the state? Did the churches do more to shape it than government? And, in a consumerist age that distrusts institutions and authority of all kinds, is the very idea of public service still tenable?
To discuss this, Philip is joined by two political thinkers who have worked at the heart of government - the historian and journalist Hywel Williams, who advised the Major Government on Welsh affairs in the mid-Nineties, and Geoff Mulgan, former director of Tony Blair's Strategy Unit and now head of the Young Foundation.
Global Television
Plus, as Iran's new worldwide English language TV channel is launched, Philip and Professor of Global Media and Communications, Annabelle Sreberny examine why more and more countries are turning to global broadcasting to put their national take on world events.
Sunsets
And there's the second in a series of meditations on sunset, to mark the end of this season of Night Waves. We hear from the writer Camilla Shamsie in Karachi.
