New Generation Thinkers At 10

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

Should Biographers Imitate Their Subjects?

20121112

20201123 (R3)

Would you don a diving suit or take a drug in a quest to understand the life of someone else? 'Following in the footsteps' is an obsession for biographers as they travel the world to bring their subjects to life, sometimes with dangerous consequences.

Hull University Professor of Creative Writing Martin Goodman, biographer of the sorcerer Carlos Castaneda, the Indian mystic Mother Meera and the scientist John Scott Haldane, draws on visits to high peaks, the seabed, coal mines and monasteries to reveal the challenges of the biographer's art. This episode was recorded at Sage Gateshead at the Free Thinking Festival in 2012.

The New Generation Thinkers scheme is 10 years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. You can also find a playlist of Documentaries, Discussions and other Essays by New Generation Thinkers on the Free Thinking website and over the weekend of November 28th and 29th they will appear across a variety of Radio 3 music programmes.

You can find Martin Goodman discussing his most recent novel J SS Bach in an episode of Free Thinking called Art and Refugees from Nazi Germany https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00027m6

Producer: Adrian Washbourne

Deep diving into the trail of an Indian guru: Martin Goodman's adventures in life writing

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Byron, Celebrity And Fan Mail

20111109

20201124 (R3)

Corin Throsby looks at the extraordinary fan mail received by the poet Lord Byron. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas.

We think of fan mail as a recent phenomenon, but in the early 19th century the poet Byron received hundreds of letters from lovesick 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 present.

This essay was recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011 at Sage Gateshead. You can hear Corin Throsby presenting Radio 3's Sunday Feature series Literary Pursuits on Truman Capote https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gl43 and find another Essay from her recorded at the York Festival of Ideas A Romanticist Reflects on Breast Feeding https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wn2rm

Producer: Craig Smith

Would Byron have embraced twitter? Corin Throsby considers the letters fans sent him.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Beastly Politics

20141110

20201125 (R3)

From pension schemes for police force dogs to political rights - can other animals be regarded as members of our democratic communities, with rights to political consideration, representation or even participation? New Generation Alasdair Cochrane, from the University of Sheffield, believes that the exclusion of non-humans from civic institutions cannot be justified, and explores recent attempts in court 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 in 2014. The court case referred to in the Essay was ruled on by a court in New York in 2017 when it was judged that in the case of caged adult male chimps Tommy and Kiko that there is no precedent for apes being considered people.

The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas.

You can find a playlist of other Essays, Documentaries and Discussions featuring New Generation Thinkers from across the different years on the Free Thinking website.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith

Alasdair Cochrane re-imagines a political world that takes animal rights seriously.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Politician And Pioneer: Writing The Life Of Arthur Kavanagh

20151110

20201126 (R3)

The colourful life of Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh overturns everything we think we know about disabled people's lives in the 19th century. Born without hands and feet, he was an adventurous traveller and a Member of Parliament, a tiger-hunting landowner whose attempts to resist the rising tide of Irish nationalism were ultimately defeated, and whose amazing career has been largely forgotten. But how did his first biographer meet the challenge of writing his life?

New Generation Thinker Clare Walker Gore of the University of Cambridge discusses the gaps in his published biography and what attitudes they reflect.

This Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead in 2015.

Producer: Zahid Warley

Clare Walker Gore on what a C19th MP without hands and feet tells us about stereotypes.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

New Generation Thinker Clare Walker Gore of the University of Cambridge discusses the gaps in his published biography and what attitudes they reflect.

This Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead in 2015.

Producer: Zahid Warley

Clare Walker Gore on what a C19th MP without hands and feet tells us about stereotypes.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

When Shakespeare Travelled With Me

20180320

20201127 (R3)

April 1916. By the Nile, the foremost poets of the Middle East are arguing about Shakespeare. In 2004, Egyptian singer Essam Karika released his urban song Oh Romeo.

Reflecting on his travels and encounters around the Arab world, New Generation Thinker Islam Issa, from Birmingham City University, discusses how canonical English writers (Shakespeare and Milton) creep into the popular culture of the region today. Recorded with an audience at Sage Gateshead as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival in 2018.

Islam's Issa's book, Milton in the Arab-Muslim World, won the Milton Society of America's 'Outstanding First Book' award. His exhibition Stories of Sacrifice won the Muslim News Awards 'Excellence in Community Relations' prize.

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio. There are now 100 early career academics who have passed through the scheme.

Producer: Fiona McLean.

New Generation Thinker Islam Issa looks at Shakespeare in 1916 Egypt to Arabic pop songs.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	Should Biographers Imitate Their Subjects?	20121112	20201123 (R3)	Would you don a diving suit or take a drug in a quest to understand the life of someone else? 'Following in the footsteps' is an obsession for biographers as they travel the world to bring their subjects to life, sometimes with dangerous consequences. Hull University Professor of Creative Writing Martin Goodman, biographer of the sorcerer Carlos Castaneda, the Indian mystic Mother Meera and the scientist John Scott Haldane, draws on visits to high peaks, the seabed, coal mines and monasteries to reveal the challenges of the biographer's art. This episode was recorded at Sage Gateshead at the Free Thinking Festival in 2012. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is 10 years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. You can also find a playlist of Documentaries, Discussions and other Essays by New Generation Thinkers on the Free Thinking website and over the weekend of November 28th and 29th they will appear across a variety of Radio 3 music programmes. You can find Martin Goodman discussing his most recent novel J SS Bach in an episode of Free Thinking called Art and Refugees from Nazi Germany https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00027m6 Producer: Adrian Washbourne Deep diving into the trail of an Indian guru: Martin Goodman's adventures in life writing Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
02	Byron, Celebrity And Fan Mail	20111109	20201124 (R3)	Corin Throsby looks at the extraordinary fan mail received by the poet Lord Byron. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. We think of fan mail as a recent phenomenon, but in the early 19th century the poet Byron received hundreds of letters from lovesick 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 present. This essay was recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011 at Sage Gateshead. You can hear Corin Throsby presenting Radio 3's Sunday Feature series Literary Pursuits on Truman Capote https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gl43 and find another Essay from her recorded at the York Festival of Ideas A Romanticist Reflects on Breast Feeding https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wn2rm Producer: Craig Smith Would Byron have embraced twitter? Corin Throsby considers the letters fans sent him. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
03	Beastly Politics	20141110	20201125 (R3)	From pension schemes for police force dogs to political rights - can other animals be regarded as members of our democratic communities, with rights to political consideration, representation or even participation? New Generation Alasdair Cochrane, from the University of Sheffield, believes that the exclusion of non-humans from civic institutions cannot be justified, and explores recent attempts in court 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 in 2014. The court case referred to in the Essay was ruled on by a court in New York in 2017 when it was judged that in the case of caged adult male chimps Tommy and Kiko that there is no precedent for apes being considered people. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. You can find a playlist of other Essays, Documentaries and Discussions featuring New Generation Thinkers from across the different years on the Free Thinking website. Producer: Jacqueline Smith Alasdair Cochrane re-imagines a political world that takes animal rights seriously. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
04	Politician And Pioneer: Writing The Life Of Arthur Kavanagh	20151110	20201126 (R3)	The colourful life of Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh overturns everything we think we know about disabled people's lives in the 19th century. Born without hands and feet, he was an adventurous traveller and a Member of Parliament, a tiger-hunting landowner whose attempts to resist the rising tide of Irish nationalism were ultimately defeated, and whose amazing career has been largely forgotten. But how did his first biographer meet the challenge of writing his life? New Generation Thinker Clare Walker Gore of the University of Cambridge discusses the gaps in his published biography and what attitudes they reflect. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. This Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead in 2015. Producer: Zahid Warley Clare Walker Gore on what a C19th MP without hands and feet tells us about stereotypes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. The colourful life of Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh overturns everything we think we know about disabled people's lives in the 19th century. Born without hands and feet, he was an adventurous traveller and a Member of Parliament, a tiger-hunting landowner whose attempts to resist the rising tide of Irish nationalism were ultimately defeated, and whose amazing career has been largely forgotten. But how did his first biographer meet the challenge of writing his life? New Generation Thinker Clare Walker Gore of the University of Cambridge discusses the gaps in his published biography and what attitudes they reflect. The New Generation Thinkers scheme is ten years old in 2020. Jointly run by BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, each year it offers ten academics at the start of their careers a chance to bring fascinating research to a wider public. This week we hear five essays from this last decade of stimulating ideas. This Essay was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead in 2015. Producer: Zahid Warley Clare Walker Gore on what a C19th MP without hands and feet tells us about stereotypes. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
05	When Shakespeare Travelled With Me	20180320	20201127 (R3)	April 1916. By the Nile, the foremost poets of the Middle East are arguing about Shakespeare. In 2004, Egyptian singer Essam Karika released his urban song Oh Romeo. Reflecting on his travels and encounters around the Arab world, New Generation Thinker Islam Issa, from Birmingham City University, discusses how canonical English writers (Shakespeare and Milton) creep into the popular culture of the region today. Recorded with an audience at Sage Gateshead as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival in 2018. Islam's Issa's book, Milton in the Arab-Muslim World, won the Milton Society of America's 'Outstanding First Book' award. His exhibition Stories of Sacrifice won the Muslim News Awards 'Excellence in Community Relations' prize. New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio. There are now 100 early career academics who have passed through the scheme. Producer: Fiona McLean. New Generation Thinker Islam Issa looks at Shakespeare in 1916 Egypt to Arabic pop songs. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.