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How Descartes fashioned a “method” to repel even the strongest and most radical forms of doubt, with the cogito argument as its foundation.

The ability to count your own heartbeat could be the answer to lowering anxiety and managing other conditions like PTSD, psychosis and even some aspects of autism. This skill is called interoception.

In his early years as editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter's budget had no ceiling. It was a time of lavish parties, unchecked expense accounts, hugely expensive photographers - and it was the last golden age of magazines.

Canadians are gearing up to vote in a snap General Election.

It's been called by Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, who in recent months replaced Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party. Carney is hoping to receive a fresh mandate from the public, and face down US President Donald Trump, whose rhetoric towards America's neighbour in the north has become increasingly belligerent since returning to the White House.

It's been a long journey for 60-year-old Carney - from growing up in a small town in Canada's Northwest Territories all the way to the very highest levels of international diplomacy.

In this episode of Profile, Stephen Smith charts the life and career of the man hoping to become Canada's Prime Minister.

Producers: Ben Cooper and Lucy Pawle

Archive:

Over ten years ago, Black Mirror burst onto our screens, bringing with it dystopian futures and exploring themes of how humanity would deal with rapidly evolving technology. Now in its seventh series, how much of this is a far-off future? And in 2025, are we now closer to the world of Black Mirror than ever before?

Charlie Brooker joins Emily and Lewis in the studio to talk about how his own anxieties shape Black Mirror, the future of TV in a world of AI, and why he believes humanity will triumph in the end.

The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

It's the week of William Shakespeare's birthday, so Gyles has poetry on his mind... and we thought we'd celebrate with a special conversation recorded with Simon Armitage, who has been Poet Laureate since 2019. Gyles finds out about Simon's childhood and early days, when he played out on the moors with his friends, watched TV and read comics... long before he became turned on to poetry by reading Ted Hughes. Gyles hears about Simon's parents, his love of indy music, and his first career as a probation officer. Gyles and Simon talk about poetry, about Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. We hope you enjoy this episode, and that it inspires you to read some poetry today - Simon's most recent book, Blossomise, it out now - it's a celebration of blossom and is well worth reading this springtime.

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This is a catch-up version of James O'Brien's Mystery Hour. To join the game, call 0345 60 60 973, Thursdays at 12pm.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), who was part of the movement known as phenomenology. While less well-known than his contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, his popularity has increased among philosophers in recent years. Merleau-Ponty rejected Rene Descartes’ division between body and mind, arguing that the way we perceive the world around us cannot be separated from our experience of inhabiting a physical body. Merleau-Ponty was interested in the down-to-earth question of what it is actually like to live in the world. While performing actions as simple as brushing our teeth or patting a dog, we shape the world and, in turn, the world shapes us.

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc

Thomas Baldwin

And

Timothy Mooney

Produced by Eliane Glaser

Reading list:

Peter Antich, Motivation and the Primacy of Perception: Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of

Dimitris Apostolopoulos, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Language (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019)

Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails (Chatto and Windus, 2016)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Basic Writings (Routledge, 2004)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Reading Merleau-Ponty (Routledge, 2007)

Renaud Barbaras (trans. Ted Toadvine and Leonard Lawlor), The Being of the Phenomenon: Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Indiana University Press, 2004).

Anya Daly, Merleau-Ponty and the Ethics of Intersubjectivity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)

M. C. Dillon, Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Northwestern University Press, 1998, 2nd ed.)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Alden L. Fisher), The Structure of Behavior (first published 1942; Beacon Press, 1976)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Donald Landes), Phenomenology of Perception (first published 1945; Routledge, 2011)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-Sense (first published 1948; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Signs (first published 1960; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible (first published 1964; Northwestern University Press, 1968)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Oliver Davis with an introduction by Thomas Baldwin), The World of Perception (Routledge, 2008)

Ariane Mildenberg (ed.), Understanding Merleau-Ponty, Understanding Modernism (Bloomsbury, 2019)

Timothy Mooney, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception: On the Body Informed

Katherine J. Morris, Starting with Merleau-Ponty (Continuum, 2012)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, Merleau-Ponty and Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, The Routledge Guidebook to Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Jean-Paul Sartre (trans. Benita Eisler), Situations (Hamish Hamilton, 1965)

Hilary Spurling, The Girl from the Fiction Department (Penguin, 2003)

Jon Stewart (ed.), The Debate Between Sartre and Merleau-Ponty (Northwestern University Press, 1998)

Ted Toadvine, Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature (Northwestern University

Kerry Whiteside, Merleau-Ponty and the Foundation of an Existential Politics (Princeton University Press, 1988)

Iris Marion Young, On Female Body Experience: “Throwing Like a Girl” and Other Essays (Oxford University Press, 2005)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production

Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher known for exploring consciousness, ethics, and the limits of scientific explanation. He is best known for his essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" and his critique of materialism in Mind and Cosmos.

Thomas discusses how he was drawn to philosophy, he elaborates on the major themes of his work, especially the challenge of understanding the subjective experience, and calls for a broader view of reality that encompasses both mental and physical dimensions. 

Beyond philosophy of mind, Nagel discusses ethical issues, such as the difficulty of comparing the suffering of different species and the tensions between impartial moral theories and personal loyalties.

Read: What Is It Like to Be a Bat?

Keep up to date with Peter on Substack

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Executive Producer: Rachel Barrett

Thanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi

And special thanks to Suzi Jamil

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Jonathan Dimbleby is a veteran British broadcaster known for his long-form interviews on BBC and ITV, and as host of Radio 4’s Any Questions.

In this episode, we discuss his latest book on World War II, the use of a journalistic background in writing history, challenging historical myths, the ‘special relationship’ between the US and Britain, the rise of populism and parallels between current political trends and historical threats to democracy, the critical role of public service broadcasting, the decline of the long-form interview, and why, after an organiser of a meeting of Jews associated with Belsen extended an invitation to Jonathan to speak, “we ended up mutually agreeing that I wouldn't speak at this occasion.”

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