Free Thinking

Geoff Dyer reviews Milan Kundera's first novel in 12 years The Festival of Insignificance. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks talks to Philip Dodd about confronting religious violence

Director John Boorman talks to Matthew Sweet about his new film Queen and Country and its place in a career that includes Deliverance and Excalibur as well as Hope and Glory

Poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger reflects on his writing, and German history, in his latest book New Selected Poems. New Generation Thinker Danielle Thom and the historian and columnist Tim Stanley, join Anne McElvoy to discuss Tate Britain’s exhibition of history painting from the eighteenth century to present day. Plus writer Lindsay Johns reviews the first night of a new RSC production of Othello staring Hugh Quarshie and Lucien Msamati.

Martin Amis, Zachary Leader and Sarah Churchwell join Matthew Sweet to discuss Saul Bellow and his masterpiece, Herzog with readings by Kerry Shale.

Matthew Sweet has a go on Carsten Höller's slide at the Hayward Gallery with arts critic Charlotte Mullins and discusses freaks and fairgrounds with Dr Helen Davies, Vanessa Toulmin, Director of the National Fairground Archive and performance artist Martin O'Brien

Anne McElvoy discusses maths and music with Mathematician Eugenia Cheng. Susan Abulhawa talks about her latest book The Blue Between Sky and Water. And, New Generation Thinker Gregory Tate shares his research into the way British writers were inspired by the figure of Napoleon.

Rana Mitter talks to Kate Grenville, one of Australia's leading novelists, about depicting the history of white working class Australia and thinking herself into her mother’s life to write 'One Life: My Mother's Story'.

'One Man, Two Guvnors' playwright Richard Bean and novelists Steve Tolz and AD Miller join Matthew Sweet to discuss male friendships. Also filmmaker Johanna Hamilton on her new documentary - 1971, focusing on the events of March 8th that year when eight people broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania leading to embarrassing revelations for the agency.

BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council run a scheme to find the best young academics able to turn their research into radio. We meet some of this year's winners.

Rana Mitter and guests New York Times journalist David Brooks, the Iranian novelist Azar Nafisi and historian Tom Holland discuss the concept of humility. Vice or virtue? (Recorded earlier this week at the Hay Festival 2015)