Paul Foot Award, John Gray, Literary Stalking

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Tonight on Night waves, as the winner of the Paul Foot award for investigative and campaigning journalism is announced, Matthew Sweet re-assesses the significance of this award, in a year the judges have described as "exceptionally strong". Is human progress a myth, and should we turn instead towards contemplation of the natural world and the non-human? In his latest book, political philosopher John Gray argues we spend our lives twisting and turning to avoid acknowledging that we too are animals, separated from the others only by our self-conceit. 'Give Me Everything You Have' is author James Lasdun's memoir of being stalked. But what happens when a writer uses some of the more extreme areas of their own experience as material? James Lasdun joins Matthew along with psychoanalyst Lisa Appignanesi and New Generation Thinker Martin Goodman to discuss the point where obsession, insanity and literature meet.