Four Thought

Novelist James Friel, author of "The Posthumous Affair", defends the value and virtues of the single life against the widespread cultural view that being in a couple is a superior state of being.

Four Thought is a series of talks offering a personal viewpoint recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London.

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Anna Minton, author of "Ground Control", argues that the increasingly high security surrounding public and private buildings creates a sense of fear rather than safety.

Alan McInnes, director of Secured by Design responds:

"SBD is awarded when homes and buildings meet a minimum security standard. Security has become a factor in planning because of high levels of crime, inadequate, low grade security fittings by builders in past years and the Crime & Disorder Act which logically required public authorities and police to have crime prevention on their agenda for the benefit of the whole community.

SBD is only one of several strategies, including social and community interventions that are supported by these agencies. Police specialists in each force spend their time advising architects, builders and members of the public about security methods and the principles of designing out crime.

This is a free service. Insurers have no part to play in this. What Anna Minton is complaining about is not SBD but design concepts of particular architects.

Many SBD estates are mixed development and the social housing elements certainly do not stand out as ghettos. SBD is about reducing crime and the fear of crime through a blend of design and realistic physical security.

There are many thousands of homes benefitting from SBD. Independent research in cities and towns around the UK has shown that SBD properties suffer 50% less burglary crime. Just upgrading the doors in Glasgow social housing reduced burglary by 20%, whilst car related crime can fall by 25% and surveys of residents, many of who have not heard of the project, report feeling safer in their home and their community."

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Ben Dyson, founder and director of Positive Money, tells how his disillusionment with mainstream economics led him to campaign for a proper understanding of how money works as the first step in fixing a failed banking system.

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Author and independent local councillor Rabina Khan calls for a new understanding of multiculturalism which acknowledges people's multiple identities and avoids simplistic labels.

"Regardless of which label we choose, there are different experiences for each label, and so there are many different ways of observing any religion or culture or lifestyle," she says.

"By valuing multiple identities, multicultural Britain enhances rather than undermines British identity among minority communities."

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Writer and former priest Mark Vernon says we should rehabilitate the concept of narcissism as a valuable form of self-love.

"Love others as if they were yourself, yes. But also, love yourself so you can love others. Proper self-regard resources other regard," he says.

Producer: Sheila Cook.

The eminent psychiatrist Colin Murray Parkes illuminates the importance of secure attachments for human happiness and sees insecurity at the root of conflict and extremism.

Accepting advice from wise outsiders is crucial, he argues, whether healing the emotional wounds of bereavement or breaking the cycle of political violence.

"Out of this support new national and personal identities are emerging with subtle changes in the feelings that go with them," he says.

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan challenges the negative view of whistle-blowers and argues that people who dare to speak uncomfortable truths are vital to the success of businesses and other organisations.

All too often important information is available, but acting on it is avoided because it would cause conflict. As a former CEO, she believes that a positive attitude to dissent is the key to progress.

Producer: Sheila Cook.

Where is the next growth economy? Investment expert Ruchir Sharma spends his time looking for economic growth in unlikely places - he describes his search for economic potential for Radio 4's Four Thought.

Gaelic broadcaster Niall Iain MacDonald vanished from his Stornoway home on May 17th 2007.

In this powerful talk he discusses his extraordinary fightback against depression: to row 45 miles of grey water in a challenge to himself and his illness: Rowing the Minch.

Ian Robertson is Professor of Psychology at Trinity College, Dublin.

He argues that success and being a winner has an effect on us that is "as strong as any drug" - and so does that mean there is a neurological explanation to the old idea that power corrupts?