Four Thought

Writer Jake Wallis Simons describes how an ancient row within Tibetan Buddhism is causing a modern schism - and why it led him to give up Buddhism for good.

Recorded live at the RSA in London, Four Thought is unscripted, thought-provoking and entertaining, with a personal dimension.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Writer Johann Hari argues that our demand for gadgets has helped to drive the war in the Congo.

He says it is a resource war, being fought for minerals like coltan, which finds its way into everything from mobile phones to games consoles. He asks why our governments have not taken forceful action to stop the trade.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Judge and historian Jonathan Sumption discusses modern apologies for historical events.

Starting with Tony Blair's apology for the Irish potato famine and Pope John Paul II's 94 such apologies, he argues that the trend is turning into a tide.

He argues that such apologies rely on a concept of inherited guilt, and asks whether the benefits ever outweigh the serious moral and philosophical objections.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Columnist Christina Patterson discusses her own experiences of terrible nursing care.

She asks why we keep making excuses for bad nursing when good care is so important - and maintains that whatever the pressures on them, nurses always have a choice about how they behave.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Tom Gill, a professor of social anthropology, recalls some memorable and unsettling incidents he witnessed during his fieldwork with homeless people in Japan and explores the implications of the experience.

Recorded live at the RSA in London, Four Thought is unscripted, thought-provoking and entertaining, with a personal dimension.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Psychotherapist and journalist Naomi Shragai discusses what she learned from marrying out, and what we all could.

She describes how her mother's stories about returning from the concentration camps became embedded in her mind, and how years living in a Jewish neighbourhood in Los Angeles left her beliefs unchallenged.

It was only after years of mixing in and marrying out that they were. Eventually, Naomi says, she had to admit she may be wrong.

Recorded live at the RSA in London, Four Thought is unscripted, thought-provoking and entertaining, with a personal dimension.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif describes how the anti-Mubarak protests have allowed Egyptians to reconnect with thousands of years of history and regain their sense of self.

She describes a civilised and sophisticated protest which has shown Egyptians that they can rise above the divisions ascribed to them over the past 30 years. And she says whatever the outcome of the current political instability, this cultural change is permanent.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

David Goldblatt argues that current models of urban redevelopment are broken, and need replacing.

He draws a contrast between developments: the multi-million pound apartments of One Hyde Park in London, and Stoke's Croft in Bristol, with its 'don't develop Stoke's Croft, let Stoke's Croft develop' ethos.

He says that big developers are more interested in making life comfortable for the already comfortable and that a development like Stoke's Croft, with individuals taking the initiative when landowners and government have failed to act, is a far more positive model.

Historian Peter Hennessy discusses joining what he has spent a lifetime writing about: the British constitution.

At a time of constitutional upheaval, what does the second house still provide? He argues that expertise, in rare supply elsewhere in the political system, is abundant in the Lords, and offers a great deal to a system currently held in low esteem.

Four Thought combines big ideas and evocative storytelling in a series of personal viewpoints - speakers take to the stage ready to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Baroness Susan Greenfield gives the first of a new series of talks on Radio 4.

She discusses her work and fulfilling a life's ambition, exploring how stories develop our brains.

Producer: Giles Edwards.