The Free Thinking Essay [Free Thinking]

Episode

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Broadcast

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New Generation Thinker: Lucy Powell

20111107

Lucy Powell, lecturer at University College London and one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011.

Today we think of originality as exciting, perhaps the most admired feature of new art. But in the past novelty was regarded as deeply suspect. Even Shakespeare disliked dreaming up new plots, preferring to borrow from others. So why the reversal? Lucy Powell charts the rise and rise of novelty.

This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts.

Lucy Powell gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty.

New Generation Thinkers: The Moor Of Florence, A Medici Mystery

20151109

For over 400 years it's been claimed that the first Medici Duke of Florence was mixed race, his mother a slave of African descent. Catherine Fletcher of Swansea University asks if this extraordinary story about the 16th-century Italian political dynasty could be true. Or do the tales of Alessandro de' Medici tell us more about the history of racism and anti-racism than about the man himself?

The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Catherine Fletcher discussing her research you can download the Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Catherine Fletcher on the claims that the first Medici duke of Florence was of mixed race.

The Human Copying Machine

20141103

Do you yawn when someone else does? Or inadvertently mimic other people's accents?

Today's neuroscientists say 'mirror neurons' are to blame. But long before MRI scanners, Victorian psychologists also believed we were hard-wired to imitate. Tiffany Watt-Smith from Queen Mary, University of London unearths the 19th-century fascination with the 'Human Copying Machine', and discovers why men of science turned to the world of Victorian theatre to understand this strange phenomenon.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the AHRC to find the brightest academic minds with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

Tiffany Watt-Smith explores the interest of Victorian scientists in our urge to imitate.

Rachel Hewitt

20111108

Rachel Hewitt, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the mapping of the Scottish border, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011.

The dividing line between Scotland and England has been a source of tension over the centuries, but it wasn't until the 1750s that the border was mapped from scratch, with the most sophisticated instruments and methods the Enlightenment had to offer. Rachel Hewitt, Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and author of an acclaimed history of the Ordnance Survey, tells the story of that mapping, the motives that fuelled it, and the role of maps as icons of national identity.

Rachel Hewitt on the mapping of the Scottish border, from the Free Thinking Festival.

Scold The Front Page

20141104

Who censors what, how, and why? Is this a job for the government, or for journalists themselves?

Tom Charlton is conducting research at Dr Williams's Library at Queen Mary, University of London. As debates over media regulation continue to rage, he argues that both sides misunderstand and misrepresent the history of press freedoms in England. He argues that the execution of the printer John Twyn, in 1664, says much about the way censorship works.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead

Producer: Harry Parker.

Tom Charlton on what 17th-century ideas about censorship share with the Leveson report.

Corin Throsby

20111109

Corin Throsby, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the extraordinary fan mail received by the poet Lord Byron, recorded at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival

We think of fan mail as a recent phenomenon, but in the early 19th Century the poet Byron receieved hundreds of letters from love-sick admirers. Cambridge academic Corin Throsby takes us on a journey into Byron's intimate fan mail and shows what those letters reveal about the creation of a celebrity culture that has continued into the globalised present.

Corin Throsby gives a talk on the fan mail Byron received.

Is Marriage An Identity Crisis?

20141105

Women are often urged to consider 'tradition' when deciding whether to take their husband's name, but where did that idea begin?

Sophie Coulombeau from Cardiff University explains the origins of the custom and recalls dissidents who bucked the trend, from Georgian women who went to extraordinary lengths to compel men to take their names, to the early twentieth-century feminist movement the 'Lucy Stoners', who used the slogan, 'My name is my identity and must not be lost'.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead.

Producer Fiona McLean.

Sophie Coulombeau explores the history of women changing their surnames when marrying.

New Generation Thinkers: Women On Their Own, Widows In Britain, Now And Then

20151111

Widows are exceptions to every rule', Charles Dickens tells us in his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, published in 1837. Eighty years later, in 1917, a tune called 'Widows are Wonderful' rings through the theatres and homes of a war-stricken Britain. 'Widow! That great, vacant estate!' writes poet Sylvia Plath after the Second World War as the country grieves in silence.

Nadine Muller of Liverpool John Moores University uncovers the hidden history of widows in Britain from the 19th century to the present day and explores what has made them so tragically melancholic, exceptional, and wonderful in British culture.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Nadine discussing her research you can download the Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Nadine Muller on the hidden history of widows in Britain from the 19th century to today.

Disraeli The Romantic

20141106

Daisy Hay from Exeter University explores the way in which Disraeli invented the modern politician as a man - or woman - of feeling, and asks whether the image he projected as an emotionally in-touch everyman stemmed from fact or fiction?

Politicians talking about their private lives are a commonplace of our age. However, long before it became obligatory for aspiring statesmen and women to be photographed unloading dishwashers and eating sandwiches, Benjamin Disraeli spun a public fantasy about his private life in order to win votes. What lessons does his story have for politicians today ?

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Harry Parker.

Daisy Hay considers the way Benjamin Disraeli used his private life for political ends.

New Generation Thinker: Laurence Scott

20111110

Laurence Scott, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the fascinating figure of the gothic heroine, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival.

Swooning maidens crowd early horror stories, but these hunted heroines are also stalked through the pages of 20th Century novels such as Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway and Iris Murdoch's The Unicorn. Laurence Scott explores the evolution of the gothic heroine.

This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanties with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts.

Laurence Scott of King's College London on the fascinating figure of the gothic heroine.

New Generation Thinkers: Nancy Cunard, The Rebellious Heiress

20151112

For nearly 200 years, the name Cunard has evoked glamorous images of sleek cruise ships and transatlantic sea travel. Yet the legacy of the Cunard family's black sheep, the disinherited granddaughter Nancy Cunard, is less well-known.

Sandeep Parmar of the University of Liverpool explores the tragic life of this scion of a wealthy family who became a revolutionary poet, publisher, modernist muse, anti-fascist and anti-racism activist.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Sandeep Parmar discussing her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Torquil Macleod.

Sandeep Parmar on the tragic life of Nancy Cunard, scion of the famous shipping family.

Beards And Whiskers

20141107

Jeremy Paxman made headlines when he grew a beard, taking his place alongside actors Jake Gyllenhaal and George Clooney, Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, folk-rocker Marcus Mumford and hipster model Johnny Harrington.

Historian Alun Withey from Exeter University says beards can shed light on a whole range of things from medicine to the military. Pogonotomy - or the art of shaving - is about more than fashion.

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

Alun Withey explains what shaving tells us about medical advances and military strategy.

New Generation Thinker: David Petts

20111111

David Petts, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk calling for the physical preservation of the industrial heritage of the North East, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival

The North-East of England was once one of the industrial heartlands of Britain, yet today the physical traces of entire industries have been swept away. Archaeologist and Durham University Lecturer David Petts argues that this is no way to treat the past, and that the physical remains of our recent history should be preserved now before they are lost forever.

This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts.

David Petts calls for the preservation of the industrial heritage of the North East.

New Generation Thinkers: Kilts, Celts And Clearances In World War One

20151113

Thousands of soldiers fought in kilted regiments during the First World War. But what kind of cultural identity was adopted with the kilt? How far was it pervaded by a fatalistic sense of the Celt who 'went forth to the war but - always fell', or by the memory of the Highland Clearances?

Peter Mackay of the University of St Andrews explores poetry and first-hand accounts from the war to find out.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Peter Mackay discussing his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Peter Mackay explores how WWI soldiers in kilted regiments discussed their allegiances.

Beastly Politics

20141110

Is man the only political beast? Can other animals be regarded as members of our democratic communities, with rights to political consideration, representation or even participation? Alasdair Cochrane from Sheffield University believes that the exclusion of non-humans from civic institutions cannot be justified, and explores recent attempts to re-imagine a political world that takes animals seriously.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Alasdair Cochrane of Sheffield University argues that animals should have greater rights.

New Generation Thinkers: The Medieval Scottish Dream State

20151116

The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum and this year's general election led to a passionate debate about nationhood and nationalism. Kylie Murray of the University of Oxford discusses the ways in which the sentiments about Anglo-Scottish relations and about Scottish identity can be seen in 15th-century Scottish literature including the Scottish Latin chronicle, the Scotichronicon and Harry's The Wallace, a vernacular epic poem about William Wallace, the champion of Scottish independence.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Kylie Murray discussing her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Kylie Murray explores visions of Scottishness in The Wallace and The Scotichronicon.

New Generation Thinkers: Inside A Pirate's Cookbook, A Culinary Journey Through The 17th Century

20151117

The 1667 recipe book by Sir Kenelm Digby featured tea with eggs brought from China, sugared mallow-leaves that cured gonorrhea and 'pan cotto' cooked by Roman Cardinals. Digby had journeyed far and wide to collect his dishes, feasting with pirate chieftains in Algiers and munching melons in the eastern Mediterranean.

Joe Moshenska of the University of Cambridge explores Kenelm Digby's culinary travels, revealing startling contacts between Britain and the East, between alchemy and cookery, and between the past and the present.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Joe Moshenka discuss his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod.d.

Joe Moshenska explores the travels of astrologer, diplomat and gourmet Sir Kenelm Digby.

Speech Before Words

20141111

Where did language come from? It's often been described as the fundamental barrier between humans and animals. However, many scientists now believe speech evolved gradually from animal communication. Will Abberley from the University of Oxford argues that some of the most compelling efforts to picture this evolution have been in science fiction, and that these stories still impact on debates about language today.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead.

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

Will Abberley explores the evolution of language and what we learn from science fiction.

A Theatre Of Their Own

20141112

Women's Theatre Week in London in December 1913 marked the beginning of a project that the Actresses' Franchise League hoped would change their industry for the better. Naomi Paxton from the University of Manchester explores the international movement for a Women's Theatre from the 1890s to the start of the First World War, and considers how their ideas may have changed how theatre is experienced today.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead.

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Fiona McLeaned.

Naomi Paxton on the movement for a women's theatre from the 1890s to the start of WWI.

New Generation Thinkers: Beer And The British Empire

20151118

From a breakfast drink to start the day to the treatment of bullet-wounds, beer has been a constant accompaniment to British life for centuries. Nowhere was this truer than in Imperial India where beer played a central role in colonial commerce, medicine and leisure.

Sam Goodman of the University of Bournemouth explores this colonial drinking culture and how many of its habits have lingered to the present day, noting that whilst the Empire might be long gone, British taste for beer has proved remarkably consistent.

Recording in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Sam Goodman discuss his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Torquil Macleod.

Sam Goodman explores the way beer was used as both beverage and medicine in colonial India

New Generation Thinkers: Jews In Occupied France, Co-existence With The Enemy?

20151119

The brutal treatment of Jews in Vichy France during the Second World War that culminated in their roundup and deportation is widely known. But is this the only way to consider Jewish life at this time? Focusing on the Jewish Scouting Movement.

Daniel Lee from the University of Sheffield reveals the possibility of coexistence between the Vichy regime and the Jews, exposing a world of Jewish creativity and expression that flourished just as the regime?s antisemitic measures intensified.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Daniel Lee discussing his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

Daniel Lee revisits Vichy France to uncover a different history of Jewish life there.

Shakespeare And India

20141113

India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, makes public speeches in Hindi, continuing his party's long campaign to reduce the cultural significance of English. Opponents argue that Hindi is the language of the Hindu religion, while English, whatever its colonial associations, has crossed the nation's often violent religious and cultural divides. Drawing on Shakespeare's plays and Indian translations of them from recent times - and on writing by Saadat Hasan Manto and Rabindranath Tagore, the voices of partition and independence - Preti Taneja from Jesus College Cambridge explores the power of gibberish to upset fixed notions of language and identity.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

Preti Taneja explores the politics of language and its impact on Indian literature.

New Generation Thinkers: Sculpture And Seduction In The 18th Century

20151120

The 18th century was the age of politeness - and of bawdiness. Fine manners and fine art co-existed with earthy attitudes to sex and the body, even in the most elevated circles.

Curator and art historian Danielle Thom of the Victoria and Albert Museum explains why classical sculpture, the high point of 18th-century artistic taste, had a surprising influence on rude, lewd and erotic prints; and what this tells us about the surprisingly modern attitude to sexuality in the Georgian period.

The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Danielle Thom answer questions about her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

Danielle Thom explores the links between bawdy prints and classical sculpture.

The Spin Doctors Of 19th-century America

20141114

In the age of spin, few people believe that they can actually know, let alone trust, a politician. But such public cynicism was not always our default attitude. Embracing the emerging sciences of the age, 19th-century Americans thought they might be able to combine physiognomy (the science of reading faces) and the techniques of photography to uncover the true characters of leaders and statesmen. Joanna Cohen from Queen Mary, the University of London explores their efforts and the lessons for voters now.

Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead earlier this month. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the AHRC to find the brightest academic minds with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts.

All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

Joanna Cohen compares 19th-century attitudes to American politicians with those of today.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
01	New Generation Thinker: Lucy Powell	20111107	Lucy Powell, lecturer at University College London and one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011. Today we think of originality as exciting, perhaps the most admired feature of new art. But in the past novelty was regarded as deeply suspect. Even Shakespeare disliked dreaming up new plots, preferring to borrow from others. So why the reversal? Lucy Powell charts the rise and rise of novelty. This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts. Lucy Powell gives a talk on the surprising history of novelty.
01	New Generation Thinkers: The Moor Of Florence, A Medici Mystery	20151109	For over 400 years it's been claimed that the first Medici Duke of Florence was mixed race, his mother a slave of African descent. Catherine Fletcher of Swansea University asks if this extraordinary story about the 16th-century Italian political dynasty could be true. Or do the tales of Alessandro de' Medici tell us more about the history of racism and anti-racism than about the man himself? The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Catherine Fletcher discussing her research you can download the Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Catherine Fletcher on the claims that the first Medici duke of Florence was of mixed race.
01	The Human Copying Machine	20141103	Do you yawn when someone else does? Or inadvertently mimic other people's accents? Today's neuroscientists say 'mirror neurons' are to blame. But long before MRI scanners, Victorian psychologists also believed we were hard-wired to imitate. Tiffany Watt-Smith from Queen Mary, University of London unearths the 19th-century fascination with the 'Human Copying Machine', and discovers why men of science turned to the world of Victorian theatre to understand this strange phenomenon. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the AHRC to find the brightest academic minds with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts. Producer: Zahid Warley. Tiffany Watt-Smith explores the interest of Victorian scientists in our urge to imitate.
02	Rachel Hewitt	20111108	Rachel Hewitt, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the mapping of the Scottish border, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011. The dividing line between Scotland and England has been a source of tension over the centuries, but it wasn't until the 1750s that the border was mapped from scratch, with the most sophisticated instruments and methods the Enlightenment had to offer. Rachel Hewitt, Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and author of an acclaimed history of the Ordnance Survey, tells the story of that mapping, the motives that fuelled it, and the role of maps as icons of national identity. This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts. Rachel Hewitt on the mapping of the Scottish border, from the Free Thinking Festival.
02	Scold The Front Page	20141104	Who censors what, how, and why? Is this a job for the government, or for journalists themselves? Tom Charlton is conducting research at Dr Williams's Library at Queen Mary, University of London. As debates over media regulation continue to rage, he argues that both sides misunderstand and misrepresent the history of press freedoms in England. He argues that the execution of the printer John Twyn, in 1664, says much about the way censorship works. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead Producer: Harry Parker. Tom Charlton on what 17th-century ideas about censorship share with the Leveson report.
03	Corin Throsby	20111109	Corin Throsby, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the extraordinary fan mail received by the poet Lord Byron, recorded at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival We think of fan mail as a recent phenomenon, but in the early 19th Century the poet Byron receieved hundreds of letters from love-sick admirers. Cambridge academic Corin Throsby takes us on a journey into Byron's intimate fan mail and shows what those letters reveal about the creation of a celebrity culture that has continued into the globalised present. This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run the BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts. Corin Throsby gives a talk on the fan mail Byron received.
03	Is Marriage An Identity Crisis?	20141105	Women are often urged to consider 'tradition' when deciding whether to take their husband's name, but where did that idea begin? Sophie Coulombeau from Cardiff University explains the origins of the custom and recalls dissidents who bucked the trend, from Georgian women who went to extraordinary lengths to compel men to take their names, to the early twentieth-century feminist movement the 'Lucy Stoners', who used the slogan, 'My name is my identity and must not be lost'. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. Producer Fiona McLean. Sophie Coulombeau explores the history of women changing their surnames when marrying.
03	New Generation Thinkers: Women On Their Own, Widows In Britain, Now And Then	20151111	Widows are exceptions to every rule', Charles Dickens tells us in his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, published in 1837. Eighty years later, in 1917, a tune called 'Widows are Wonderful' rings through the theatres and homes of a war-stricken Britain. 'Widow! That great, vacant estate!' writes poet Sylvia Plath after the Second World War as the country grieves in silence. Nadine Muller of Liverpool John Moores University uncovers the hidden history of widows in Britain from the 19th century to the present day and explores what has made them so tragically melancholic, exceptional, and wonderful in British culture. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Nadine discussing her research you can download the Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Nadine Muller on the hidden history of widows in Britain from the 19th century to today.
04	Disraeli The Romantic	20141106	Daisy Hay from Exeter University explores the way in which Disraeli invented the modern politician as a man - or woman - of feeling, and asks whether the image he projected as an emotionally in-touch everyman stemmed from fact or fiction? Politicians talking about their private lives are a commonplace of our age. However, long before it became obligatory for aspiring statesmen and women to be photographed unloading dishwashers and eating sandwiches, Benjamin Disraeli spun a public fantasy about his private life in order to win votes. What lessons does his story have for politicians today ? Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Harry Parker. Daisy Hay considers the way Benjamin Disraeli used his private life for political ends.
04	New Generation Thinker: Laurence Scott	20111110	Laurence Scott, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the fascinating figure of the gothic heroine, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival. Swooning maidens crowd early horror stories, but these hunted heroines are also stalked through the pages of 20th Century novels such as Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway and Iris Murdoch's The Unicorn. Laurence Scott explores the evolution of the gothic heroine. This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanties with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts. Laurence Scott of King's College London on the fascinating figure of the gothic heroine.
04	New Generation Thinkers: Nancy Cunard, The Rebellious Heiress	20151112	For nearly 200 years, the name Cunard has evoked glamorous images of sleek cruise ships and transatlantic sea travel. Yet the legacy of the Cunard family's black sheep, the disinherited granddaughter Nancy Cunard, is less well-known. Sandeep Parmar of the University of Liverpool explores the tragic life of this scion of a wealthy family who became a revolutionary poet, publisher, modernist muse, anti-fascist and anti-racism activist. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Sandeep Parmar discussing her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Torquil Macleod. Sandeep Parmar on the tragic life of Nancy Cunard, scion of the famous shipping family.
05	Beards And Whiskers	20141107	Jeremy Paxman made headlines when he grew a beard, taking his place alongside actors Jake Gyllenhaal and George Clooney, Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, folk-rocker Marcus Mumford and hipster model Johnny Harrington. Historian Alun Withey from Exeter University says beards can shed light on a whole range of things from medicine to the military. Pogonotomy - or the art of shaving - is about more than fashion. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage, Gateshead. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the AHRC to find the brightest academic minds with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Georgia Catt. Alun Withey explains what shaving tells us about medical advances and military strategy.
05	New Generation Thinker: David Petts	20111111	David Petts, one of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk calling for the physical preservation of the industrial heritage of the North East, recorded at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival The North-East of England was once one of the industrial heartlands of Britain, yet today the physical traces of entire industries have been swept away. Archaeologist and Durham University Lecturer David Petts argues that this is no way to treat the past, and that the physical remains of our recent history should be preserved now before they are lost forever. This essay is recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November. The New Generation Thinkers are winners of the inaugural talent scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find the brightest academic minds in the arts and humanities with the potential to turn their ideas into fascinating broadcasts. David Petts calls for the preservation of the industrial heritage of the North East.
05	New Generation Thinkers: Kilts, Celts And Clearances In World War One	20151113	Thousands of soldiers fought in kilted regiments during the First World War. But what kind of cultural identity was adopted with the kilt? How far was it pervaded by a fatalistic sense of the Celt who 'went forth to the war but - always fell', or by the memory of the Highland Clearances? Peter Mackay of the University of St Andrews explores poetry and first-hand accounts from the war to find out. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Peter Mackay discussing his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Peter Mackay explores how WWI soldiers in kilted regiments discussed their allegiances.
06	Beastly Politics	20141110	Is man the only political beast? Can other animals be regarded as members of our democratic communities, with rights to political consideration, representation or even participation? Alasdair Cochrane from Sheffield University believes that the exclusion of non-humans from civic institutions cannot be justified, and explores recent attempts to re-imagine a political world that takes animals seriously. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Alasdair Cochrane of Sheffield University argues that animals should have greater rights.
06	New Generation Thinkers: The Medieval Scottish Dream State	20151116	The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum and this year's general election led to a passionate debate about nationhood and nationalism. Kylie Murray of the University of Oxford discusses the ways in which the sentiments about Anglo-Scottish relations and about Scottish identity can be seen in 15th-century Scottish literature including the Scottish Latin chronicle, the Scotichronicon and Harry's The Wallace, a vernacular epic poem about William Wallace, the champion of Scottish independence. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Kylie Murray discussing her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Kylie Murray explores visions of Scottishness in The Wallace and The Scotichronicon.
07	New Generation Thinkers: Inside A Pirate's Cookbook, A Culinary Journey Through The 17th Century	20151117	The 1667 recipe book by Sir Kenelm Digby featured tea with eggs brought from China, sugared mallow-leaves that cured gonorrhea and 'pan cotto' cooked by Roman Cardinals. Digby had journeyed far and wide to collect his dishes, feasting with pirate chieftains in Algiers and munching melons in the eastern Mediterranean. Joe Moshenska of the University of Cambridge explores Kenelm Digby's culinary travels, revealing startling contacts between Britain and the East, between alchemy and cookery, and between the past and the present. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Joe Moshenka discuss his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Torquil MacLeod.d. Joe Moshenska explores the travels of astrologer, diplomat and gourmet Sir Kenelm Digby.
07	Speech Before Words	20141111	Where did language come from? It's often been described as the fundamental barrier between humans and animals. However, many scientists now believe speech evolved gradually from animal communication. Will Abberley from the University of Oxford argues that some of the most compelling efforts to picture this evolution have been in science fiction, and that these stories still impact on debates about language today. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Jacqueline Smith. Will Abberley explores the evolution of language and what we learn from science fiction.
08	A Theatre Of Their Own	20141112	Women's Theatre Week in London in December 1913 marked the beginning of a project that the Actresses' Franchise League hoped would change their industry for the better. Naomi Paxton from the University of Manchester explores the international movement for a Women's Theatre from the 1890s to the start of the First World War, and considers how their ideas may have changed how theatre is experienced today. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Fiona McLeaned. Naomi Paxton on the movement for a women's theatre from the 1890s to the start of WWI.
08	New Generation Thinkers: Beer And The British Empire	20151118	From a breakfast drink to start the day to the treatment of bullet-wounds, beer has been a constant accompaniment to British life for centuries. Nowhere was this truer than in Imperial India where beer played a central role in colonial commerce, medicine and leisure. Sam Goodman of the University of Bournemouth explores this colonial drinking culture and how many of its habits have lingered to the present day, noting that whilst the Empire might be long gone, British taste for beer has proved remarkably consistent. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. Recording in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Sam Goodman discuss his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Torquil Macleod. Sam Goodman explores the way beer was used as both beverage and medicine in colonial India
09	New Generation Thinkers: Jews In Occupied France, Co-existence With The Enemy?	20151119	The brutal treatment of Jews in Vichy France during the Second World War that culminated in their roundup and deportation is widely known. But is this the only way to consider Jewish life at this time? Focusing on the Jewish Scouting Movement. Daniel Lee from the University of Sheffield reveals the possibility of coexistence between the Vichy regime and the Jews, exposing a world of Jewish creativity and expression that flourished just as the regime?s antisemitic measures intensified. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Daniel Lee discussing his research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Zahid Warley. Daniel Lee revisits Vichy France to uncover a different history of Jewish life there.
09	Shakespeare And India	20141113	India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, makes public speeches in Hindi, continuing his party's long campaign to reduce the cultural significance of English. Opponents argue that Hindi is the language of the Hindu religion, while English, whatever its colonial associations, has crossed the nation's often violent religious and cultural divides. Drawing on Shakespeare's plays and Indian translations of them from recent times - and on writing by Saadat Hasan Manto and Rabindranath Tagore, the voices of partition and independence - Preti Taneja from Jesus College Cambridge explores the power of gibberish to upset fixed notions of language and identity. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Georgia Catt. Preti Taneja explores the politics of language and its impact on Indian literature.
10	New Generation Thinkers: Sculpture And Seduction In The 18th Century	20151120	The 18th century was the age of politeness - and of bawdiness. Fine manners and fine art co-existed with earthy attitudes to sex and the body, even in the most elevated circles. Curator and art historian Danielle Thom of the Victoria and Albert Museum explains why classical sculpture, the high point of 18th-century artistic taste, had a surprising influence on rude, lewd and erotic prints; and what this tells us about the surprisingly modern attitude to sexuality in the Georgian period. The New Generation Thinkers are the winners of an annual scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics at the start of their careers who can turn their research into fascinating broadcasts. The Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead. If you want to hear Danielle Thom answer questions about her research you can download The Essay and conversation as an Arts and Ideas podcast. Producer: Zahid Warley. Danielle Thom explores the links between bawdy prints and classical sculpture.
10	The Spin Doctors Of 19th-century America	20141114	In the age of spin, few people believe that they can actually know, let alone trust, a politician. But such public cynicism was not always our default attitude. Embracing the emerging sciences of the age, 19th-century Americans thought they might be able to combine physiognomy (the science of reading faces) and the techniques of photography to uncover the true characters of leaders and statesmen. Joanna Cohen from Queen Mary, the University of London explores their efforts and the lessons for voters now. Recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival of Ideas at Sage Gateshead earlier this month. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the AHRC to find the brightest academic minds with the potential to turn their ideas into broadcasts. All the discussions and essays from the Free Thinking festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads. Producer: Zahid Warley. Joanna Cohen compares 19th-century attitudes to American politicians with those of today.