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Episode details

Radio 4,13 Jun 2017,44 mins

Free Thinking: Will Self, R. D. Laing and Mandy.

Arts & Ideas

Available for over a year

Will Self joins Matthew Sweet to discuss the mind, consciousness, ADHD, Alzheimer’s and PTSD - all woven together in his new novel Phone. Mad to be Normal director, Robert Mullan, talks about the man at the centre of his film, controversial psychiatrist R. D. Laing. Critic Melanie Williams considers Mandy, Alexander Mackendrick's 1952 film about a deaf child learning to find her way in post-war Britain. Mandy was played by the child actress Mandy Miller who recalls her starring role from sixty five years ago. Will Self's new novel, Phone is out now. Mad to be Normal is in selected cinemas, certificate 15. A new restoration of Mandy is out now on Blu-Ray and DVD. Producer: Craig Templeton Smith

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