What function do ceremonies like Armistice Day perform? How do we balance desires for reconciliation with feelings about revenge? How we remember wars and what commemoration means is much less settled than we might think. And that throws up questions, in times when conflicts are spreading close to us in western Europe, of how wars end and how we balance our concern for justice and peace with darker impulses?Joining presenter Anne McElvoy for BBC Radio 4's roundtable discussion about the ideas shaping our world are:
classicist Natalie Haynes whose most recent novel No End to this House re-imagines the story of Medea,
former solider Ashleigh Percival-Borley, who is now an academic and on the New Generation Thinkers scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Duncan Wheeler, author of Following Franco and an academic studying contemporary Spain.
neuro-scientist Nicholas Wright who advises the Pentagon and has written Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain
and, Andy West, prison philosophy teacher and author of The Life InsideProducer: Ruth Watts
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The end of civilisations and societies
"Doom-prepping" tech billionaires have been in the headlines recently and whether it’s ecological crisis or a breakdown in law and order, fear of societal collapse seems to lurk in the background of a lot of discussion in politics and wider society. But what does it mean? When has it happened in the past? Can we avoid it – or survive it – in the future? Joining presenter Shahidha Bari for Radio 4's roundtable discussion about the ideas shaping our world are:
Luke Kemp from the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, the writer and commentator Peter Hitchens, classical historian Neville Morley, historian of modern politics Phil Tinline and Rhiannon Firth, sociologist at University College London.Producer: Luke Mulhall
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Rational and Irrational decision making
From economics to dreams: Anne McElvoy and guests consider the value of irrationality. How often is emotion, instinct and unsound thinking behind the decisions taken by governments, financial markets and citizens? And does it matter if long term strategic thinking relying on calm assessments of the trade offs, conventional wisdom and the lessons of experience take a back seat. Is there a value in irrationality? Guests include: Bronwen Maddox, Director and CEO of Chatham House, the international think tank; Lionel Barber, author of Gambling Man: The Wild Ride of Japan's Masayoshi Son; Salma Shah, who sits on the boards of Policy Exchange and the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge; Patrick Foulis, the foreign editor at the Economist and, Jonathan Egid, philosopher and BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker.Producer: Ruth Watts
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Traditions, roots and local pride
From military ceremonies to folk customs - can traditions really provide an answer to nationalism and boost local pride? Former MP Penny Mordaunt is publishing a book called Pomp and Circumstance: Why Britain's Traditions Matter written with Chris Lewis. She's one of Matthew Sweet's guests in the Free Thinking studio alongside
Sunder Katwala, author of How to be a patriot: Why love of country can end our very British culture war. He is the director of British Future which conducted the biggest-ever public consultation on immigration.
Muriel Zagha is a journalist and co-host of the podcast Garlic & Pearls which compares French and British culture and attitudes.
Ceri Houlbrook is one of the academics involved in a National Folklore Survey for England and the co-author with Owen Davies of Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present.
Dr Uran Ferizi has a background in scientific and financial research and since January 2024 he has been the Albanian Ambassador to the UK and to Ireland.Producer: Robyn Read
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The status of Science
Science is one of the major sources of authority in society today. Scientists develop technologies to make our lives easier and more comfortable. They fight diseases, they have identified and are helping to combat climate change. Yet developments like AI, and some areas of genetic science, seem to raise ethical dilemmas that scientists on their own can't address. And at a time when the authority of 'experts' has been challenged, where does that leave the authority of scientists? Shahidha Bari discusses science in society with theologian Dr Dafydd Mills Daniel, who's been working on Samuel Clarke, known as Newton's Bulldog, as a case study in the status of science in 17th century England, and Dr Sandra Knapp, researcher at the Natural History Museum and chair of the judges of this year's Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. Also Hannah Devlin, science correspondent for The Guardian, Nick Spencer, Senior Fellow at Theos, and geneticist, author and broadcaster Adam Rutherford.Producer: Luke Mulhall
Leading thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives – looking back at the news and making links between past and present. Broadcast as Free Thinking, Fridays at 9pm on BBC Radio 4. Presented by Matthew Sweet, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
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