Arts & Ideas Folgen

Veteran politician Tony Benn talks to Matthew Sweet about his final volume of diaries, A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine. Historian Eliza Filby and journalist David Aaronovitch examine how much political traditions shape contemporary politics. Writer Brian Sibley reveals the lesser-known side of Mary Poppins author PL Travers. Writer Will Self discusses Guy Debord’s prescient polemic, The Society of the Spectacle.

With the return of the Young Vic's Theatre Uncut season, Anne McElvoy is joined by Neil LaBute, Hannah Price and Tiffany Jenkins to discuss the role and nature of political theatre. Writer Scott Turow reflects on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, 50 years on. As part of Radio 3's Britten 100 celebrations, Alexandra Harris and Francis Spalding discuss the life and work of his librettist Myfanwy Piper.

Penny Woolcock talks to Samira Ahmed about directing a film version of John Adams's opera The Death of Klinghoffer. For the Free Thinking Festival, she returned to the city where she began her career. During her work at Trade Films in Gateshead she depicted the aftermath of the closure of the steelworks in Consett in When the Dog Bites. Her most recent project involved negotiating a truce between rival Birmingham gangs which she documented in One Mile Away. Recorded on Saturday 26th October 2013 in front of a live audience at Sage Gateshead as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking festival.