Free Thinking

Rana Mitter discusses Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch with the actress Fiona Shaw, the choreographer Michael Keegan Dolan, and the dance critic Sarah Crompton. Martin Amis’ new novel ‘Lionel Asbo: State of England’ has burst onto the literary scene like a hand grenade of brilliant divisiveness. Reviewers seem to either love or hate the book which describes the lottery winning lunacy of one feckless urban criminal and his grossly extended family. There was an all-nighter of philosophy at the Institut Francais in London at the week-end and Night Waves was there to find out whether such a French happening has much to teach us.And two new blockbuster films reimagine the story of Snow White: Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.

Victorian women cast a long shadow over our imaginations But do we do enough to differentiate between the fictional characters and the real women? What lies beneath our perceptions of either? Matthew Sweet embarks on an exploration of the Victorian woman's psyche with the writers, Kate Summerscale and Sarah Ruhl and the historians, Kate Williams and Lynda Nead.

Philip Dodd presents a Landmark edition devoted to Shakespeare's The Tempest, a drama reimagined by artists from Purcell to Derek Jarman via TS Eliot, Derek Walcott and Thomas Adès.

In the studio to discuss this strange and compelling play are the writer and director Jonathan Miller who first directed the Tempest in 1970 and again in 1988, David Troughton, the actor who played Caliban in Sam Mendes 1993 production, the Shakespeare scholar Helen Hackett, composer and director Jeremy Sams who created a version of The Tempest story, The Enchanted Island, for the Metropolitan Opera and the writer Kamila Shamsie.

Matthew Sweet presents a review of The English National Opera's The Flying Dutchman. He also traces the beginnings and history of Universal Motion Picture Manufacturing Company with Carla Laemmle,the founder’s niece and also asks if the stigma of being gay is melting away in secondary schools?

Sam West directing a new revival of Close the Coalhouse Door tells Anne McElvoy why the production still matters today. Anne is also joined by Ahmed Rashid to discuss his new book 'Pakistan on the Brink' and Louise Doughty on the tricky art of getting romantic comedy right in 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'.

And with calls for detailed personal tax statements on how our money is spent, we look at how this will change our relationship with the state. Will increased transparency in our public institutions change the cultural landscape of Britain?

Liberals want gentle dogs, and conservatives want obedient ones argues social and cultural psychologist Jonathan Haidt in his new book The Righteous Mind.

Music critic Hilary Finch has the verdict on a new film 'Mozart's Sister'. Also, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Night Waves explores the nature of hubris and its relation to engineering innovations and knowledge advancement.And writer and director Enda Walsh comes in to discuss Misterman.

Philip Dodd goes to Kew Gardens in London to watch David Nash carving sculpture from felled trees and author Tom Holland discusses In the Shadow of the Sword, his new account of the history of Islam.

Matthew Sweet chairs an "International Review" edition of the programme, with critics from around the world coming together to discuss the latest global cultural events and arts issues.

They'll be discussing an Afrikaaner drama Beauty by Oliver Hermanus about being secretly gay in Bloemfontein; an Egyptian novel Azazeel by Youssef Ziedan, set in a world populated by worshippers of both Jesus and Jupiter; and as the world's biggest ever Shakespeare festival kicks off later this month, we'll be asking how global Britain's greatest author really is.

Night Waves' Philip Dodd reflects on the paradoxes on snow in music and literature and life, with Schubert as the point of departure and return.

Attempts to explain both Schubert's achievements and mood swings through theory, often fall short of explanation. The writer, philosopher and retired medical doctor Raymond Tallis re examines the neurological and psychological evidence of a composer who increasingly meditated on the darker side of the human psyche and human relationships