Derry-londonderry [Free Thinking]

In the first of 2 programmes from Derry Londonderry Radio 3's Matthew Sweet will be celebrating the city's status as City of Culture 2013 and exploring its cultural past and present with a series of discussions, events and interviews recorded at The Playhouse

From its world-famous walls to its history of 'no surrender', Derry is a city in which history and politics exert real power. But what is the city like for its citizens, as a place to live and work? Radio 3's Matthew Sweet invites writer Owen Hatherley, Derry-based architect Mary Kerrigan and local crime writer Brian McGilloway to reflect on the architecture and landscape of Derry, on its multiple identities, from Londonderry to Stroke City to LegenDerry, and on how its political and religious history has shaped not only its buildings, but also the lives of its citizens

This event is chaired by Matthew Sweet and was recorded at the Playhouse Theatre in Derry-Londonderry, this year's UK City of Culture

Free Thinking has been festivals throughout the summer including HowTheLightGetsIn at Hay, the Institute Fran瀀ais Philosophy Night in London, York Festival of Ideas and the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival in Wiltshire. These events lead the way towards Free Thinking's annual weekend of debate at the Sage, Gateshead on October 25th to 27th.

Producer Laura Thomas.

How Derry-Londonderry and its citizens have been shaped by political and religious history

In the second of 2 programmes from Derry Londonderry Radio 3's Matthew Sweet will be examining the work and legacy of director Michael Grigsby, who died earlier this year, and who made a trilogy of films in Ulster. In the first two, Too Long A Sacrifice and The Silent War, he invited people to talk about how The Troubles had impacted on their lives. Grigsby famously banned voiceover from his films, giving his subjects the space and time to tell their story in their own words. In 2005 Grigsby returned to Ulster to make Rehearsals, an impressionistic snapshot of Belfast. Michael Grigsby's three films bear witness to two decades (and several centuries) of Ulster history. Matthew Sweet is joined by two film-makers who worked closely with Michael Grigsby, Rebekah Tolley and John Furse, to pay tribute to his work.

This event was recorded at the Playhouse Theatre in Derry-Londonderry, this year's UK City of Culture

Free Thinking has been festivals throughout the summer including HowTheLightGetsIn at Hay, the Institute Fran瀀ais Philosophy Night in London, York Festival of Ideas and the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival in Wiltshire. These events lead the way towards Free Thinking's annual weekend of debate at the Sage, Gateshead on October 25th to 27th.

Producer Laura Thomas.

Matthew Sweet discusses the work of the late film director Michael Grigsby.