May 15, 2026

Technologies of the Self

57 minutes

‘Technologies of the self’ is a phrase from the French philosopher Michel Foucault to describe things people might do to shape the people they are, like dieting, exercise, journaling, or in an earlier age perhaps like prayer, or confession. Shahidha Bari hosts Radio 4's roundtable discussion programme asking how this idea might help us make sense of the age of social media influencers and lifestyle trends.

Her guests are:

Elizabeth Oldfield, host of The Sacred podcast, author of Fully Alive: Tending The Soul In Turbulent Times

Anouchka Grose, psychotherapist and author of The Revolution Will Be Internalised

Tiffany Watt Smith, historian of emotions whose most recent book is Bad Friend: On Joyous Imperfect love

Heather Widows, philosopher and author of Perfect Me: Beauty As An Ethical Ideal

and

Daniele Lorenzini, philosopher and Foucault scholar

Producer: Luke Mulhall

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