Free Thinking

The border separating East and West Germany was first breached in Leipzig. As the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra perform at the Proms, novelist Philip Kerr and historian Karen Leeder from the University of Oxford talk about East and West Germany, their differences and similarities and how massive peaceful demonstrations in Leipzig in 1989 triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall. The discussion is chaired by Rana Mitter who is a regular presenter of Radio 3’s Arts and Ideas programme Free Thinking and of Sunday Features.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

The composer and performer Paganini is alleged to have sold his soul to the Devil in order to become a musical prodigy. The Reverend Richard Coles and poet Imtiaz Dharker discuss the Devil in Christian and Islamic cultures. The discussion is chaired by Dr Christopher Harding from the University of Edinburgh who was selected as one of ten New Generation Thinkers in 2013.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Michael Pennington is a leading Shakespeare actor who co-founded the English Shakespeare Company with director Michael Bogdanov and has performed at theatres across the world. He is the author of several books about Shakespeare’s plays - the most recent of which is King Lear in Brooklyn. He also performs a solo Shakespeare show Sweet William. He is interviewed by Dr Sarah Dillon from the University of Cambridge and one of the BBC and AHRC’s New Generation Thinkers. Part of a series of discussions in which leading figures explore the way Shakespeare has depicted their profession in his plays.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

References to sheep, lambs, fleeces, wool and shepherds are to be found in many of Shakespeare’s plays. From Corin in ‘As You Like It’ who describes himself as a ‘natural philosopher’ to Perdita’s saviour in ‘The Winter’s Tale’, they are key characters in the plots and reflect the importance of the wool trade in Elizabethan England. James Rebanks, talks about his life as a shepherd in Cumbria and how much – if at all – the shepherd’s life has changed over the past 400 years. He will be joined on stage by Shakespeare expert Dr Emma Smith from the University of Oxford who presented Radio 3’s Sunday documentary looking at the buyers of Shakespeare’s First Folio. The discussion is hosted by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough from Durham University who was selected as a New Generation Thinker in 2013 in the scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academic broadcasters of the future.

Producer: Zahid Warley

No-one attributed more importance to naming the baby than Laurence Sterne's Walter Shandy but his attempts to ensure his son's future success came to naught and all because he couldn't get his trousers on. As the 2016 list of top baby names is revealed to a waiting world, Sophie Coulombeau explores literary archives to uncover the true story of What's In a Name? Just the fears, hopes and frustrations, ambitions and proclivities of British society over the centuries.

HG Wells was born 150 years ago this year. Although a prolific writer in many genres, he is best known today for his science fiction books, ‘The War of the Words’ and ‘The Time Machine’. As the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain prepare to perform Holst’s suite The Planets, novelist Stephen Baxter, who has been commissioned to write a sequel to ‘The War of the Worlds’ examines Wells’s novels and philosophy. He’s joined by science fiction expert and New Generation Thinker Dr Sarah Dillon from the University of Cambridge. The discussion is hosted by Dr Will Abberley from the University of Sussex, another New Generation Thinker.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

In the third discussion about the way Shakespeare depicted different professions in his plays, veteran sailor Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to circumnavigate the world single-handed, looks at playwright's view of the sea, shipwrecks and sea captains. He's joined on stage at Imperial College Union by New Generation Thinkers Dr John Gallagher from the University of Cambridge, and Nandini Das from the University of Liverpool who chairs the discussions.

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics who can turn their research into radio.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod.

Novelist Patricia Duncker, discusses George Eliot, her travels in Germany in the 19th century and the German music she refers to in her novels and diaries. Duncker's novel Sophie and the Sybil is a fictional version of George Eliot’s time in Germany just before the publication of the final part of Middlemarch. Alongside her on stage is Clare Walker-Gore of Trinity College, Cambridge, one of the academics selected last year by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Council to be a New Generation Thinker. The host is Anne McElvoy.

Producer: Zahid Warley

Continuing our exploration of the ways in which Shakespeare portrayed aspects of professional life, Geoffrey Robertson QC talks about the law and lawyers, contending that Shakespeare must either have studied at the Inns of Court or was close friends with those who did, illustrated with readings performed by Bill Paterson. Highlights of a discussion hosted by Anne McElvoy and recorded at Imperial College Union earlier this evening.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

Shakespeare's depiction of religion and clerics is discussed by the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, Ewan Fernie from the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham and presenter Rana Mitter. Highlights of a discussion recorded at Imperial College as part of a series exploring different professions and vocations in Shakespeare's work.

Producer: Zahid Warley