Free Thinking

Matthew Sweet dons his kinky boots to investigate the phenomenon of The Avengers, 50 years after its first transmission.

An interview with director Jim Loach on his film Oranges and Sunshine about child-deportation; the Victorian Prostitute as a character in fiction discussed by Lesley Hall and DJ Taylor; and an extract from the Night Waves Landmark edition on Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway.

Billy Bragg talks about protest songs, Rana Mitter hosts a discussion about the differing accounts of Chinese and British histories, Roger McGough and Ian Sinclair review the new film Howl, and an interview with Michael Grade.

We ask does the West really understand India? Director Peter Kosminsky discusses his new TV drama The Promise. We review the film version of Brighton Rock and hear why the tenth parallel is so significant to Muslims and Christians.

We review Oscar-nominated film Biutiful. A discussion about laughter with German choreographer, director, performer and filmmaker, Antonia Baehr. Philosopher John Gray on his new book, The Immortalisation Commission. Interview with artist Susan Hiller.

Salman Rushdie on his new book Luka and the Fire of Life. Biographer Bettany Hughes and philosopher Jonathan Ree reconstruct the life of Socrates. Aaron Sorkin talks about his new blockbuster film about Facebook and the winner of this year’s Man Booker prize, Howard Jacobson.

Ian McMillan discusses the story of Hansel and Gretal and its continuing relevance to children today and he also explores the relationship between poetry and music

A celebration of one of the great landmarks of culture as Matthew Sweet talks to the novelist, Will Self and the film director, Mike Hodges about Solaris. They discuss both Stanislaw Lem’s extraordinary 1961 science fiction novel of that name and the mesmeric film adaptation made by Andrei Tarkovsky some ten years later and the impact both have had on them and their own work.

Philip Dodd considers the enduring appeal of the film Alien and whether it's blend of intellect, suspense, technical skill and sheer bravado has ever been surpassed with guests Iain Sinclair and Linda Ruth Williams.