Free Thinking

As Scotland heads towards a referendum on independence, Vicky Featherstone discusses the role of a modern day national theatre in shaping and capturing national identity and history. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4 November 2012.

Nandini Das, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the 16th Century craze for crime pamphlets; a phenomenon which revealed a new secret world to readers and which became the first best-selling sensation of the popular press. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage, Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.

Does World History still mean Western History, or do we need a radical new understanding of the past? To discuss, Rana Mitter is joined by historian Antony Beevor, broadcaster Andrew Marr and India expert Maria Misra. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3rd November.

Martin Goodman, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on the perils of writing biographies. "Following in the footsteps" is an obsession for biographers as they travel the world to bring their subjects to life, sometimes with dangerous consequences. Recorded at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival on Sunday 4 November 2012 at The Sage Gateshead.

Amos Oz, one of Israel's most influential thinkers, gives a talk on the Middle East and the prospect of future co-existence between Israel and Palestine. The event is chaired by Night Waves presenter Philip Dodd and recorded as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival 2012 on Saturday 3 November 2012 at The Sage Gateshead.

Timothy Secret, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers , gives a talk during Free Thinking 2012 exploring how we react when looked at by animals. Our world changes when we're on display. But how do we react when an animal, rather than a human, looks at us? Is there a difference, and what does this say about our relationship with animals? Recorded on Saturday 3 November 2012 at The Sage Gateshead.

Emma Griffin, one of Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk on what makes a good mother, recorded at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2012. Historian Emma Griffin of the University of East Anglia turns to the poor of Victorian Britain to ask what made a good mother then in families struggling to keep body and soul together. She finds that our own values and ideas about motherhood may not be as instinctive as we like to believe. Recorded on Sunday 4 November 2012 at The Sage Gateshead.

An audience with Lee Hall, writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, recorded at The Sage Gateshead as part of the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival. From a working-class background, much of Hall's work explores the complexities of what class means in the UK. At the festival Lee Hall discusses class and art, his own life, writing and ideas. The event is chaired by Night Waves presenter Philip Dodd and recorded on Sunday 4 November 2012.

Jonathan Healey, one of Radio 3’s New Generation Thinkers, gives a talk questioning the value of lessons learnt from history and applied to our own world today. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Theologian Mona Siddiqui and historian Tom Holland join Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival to explore what differentiates Islam from Christianity, and the impact that this has on the world today, from their different historical origins to their alternate versions of God. Presented by Samira Ahmed and recorded on Sunday 4th November 2012 at The Sage Gateshead.