Four Thought

David Russell asks whether backing big charities is the best way of improving the world.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Robert Rowland Smith argues that we are coming to the end of the Age of Ideas. He examines how different 'ages' - of superstition, religion, reason and ideas - have emerged and gradually been eclipsed. And he hints at the age we may be about to enter.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Katy Long argues that we should think differently about citizenship. She compares how citizenship and passports are bought and sold, and explores the ethical implications.

Producer: Katie Langton.

Alex Marshall, fresh from writing a book about national anthems, discusses nationalism and patriotism.

Alex tells stories of meeting self-described patriots and nationalists from Japan to Paraguay via France and Kazakhstan, and explores how our thinking about nationalism and patriotism is highly dependent on place and time.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

John Osborne tells a story of waiting for a bill in a cafe, and explores how a proliferation of new ways of communicating can mean we end up feeling ignored.

Producer: Katie Langton.

Rachel Roberts argues that education needs a democratic revolution.

Rachel describes her own experiences in democratic schools - as a student, teacher, and now educational consultant. And she argues that even if every school won't make the transition to the full kind of radical democracy she enjoyed, every school - and every student - can benefit from the democratic ethos.

Producer: Katie Langton.

Adam Kelly discusses the sometimes surprising relationship between literature and economics, and argues that economics needs to get back in touch with its literary side.

Exploring the literary inclinations of John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Adam explores how a shift in the order in which students study the subject can explain a lot about modern economics.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Michelle Madsen makes the case for the life of a continuous cruiser on Britain's rivers and canals. Michelle is a poet and journalist who has spent the last two years living aboard a boat, and discusses how it has affected her poetry, her prose, her friendships and her life.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Ann York discusses diagnoses - and how receiving one of her own has made her think differently about giving them to others.

Ann is a world-renowned child and adolescent psychiatrist, whose expertise is sought far and wide. In this intimate and fascinating talk she discusses the difficulties of giving a diagnosis, describing the benefits and the disadvantages, and how the young people in her care, and their parents, respond when diagnosed. And in front of an audience at Somerset House she describes how her own experiences with an unexpected diagnosis have affected how she thinks about her own work.

Producer: Katie Langton.

Benedict Wilkinson challenges how we think about terrorism and uses stories of two very different terrorists to make the case for a different approach.

Benedict is a senior research fellow at the Policy Institute at King's College, London, and researches the strategies of different terrorist groups. He argues that terrorists' embrace of violence always comes from a position of weakness, and that it frequently fails to achieve their own political objectives.

As a result, he argues that the way in which we confront terrorists needs serious reconsideration.

Producer: Katie Langton.