Arts & Ideas Folgen

What kind of societies will the Arab Spring give birth to? Democratic, Capitalist, Islamic, or Unstable? Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, and Egyptian political economist Tarek Osman join Samira Ahmed to discuss this issue and to explore what the possible implications may be for the western world. Recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3rd November 2012.

Matthew Sweet debates how the discovery of alien life might change the way we think about humanity and how it will impact our moral and philosophical universe. Matthew is joined by the best-selling science-fiction writer Stephen Baxter, the science broadcaster and journalist Sue Nelson, the futurist and neuroscientist Anders Sandberg, and one of our leading space scientists, John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University. This event was recorded as part of Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday 4th November 2012.

Julie Bindel gives a talk arguing that sexuality is a choice at the Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival. In a talk titled Not Born This Way, the feminist, lesbian, columnist and writer Julie Bindel challenges liberal thinking by arguing that sexuality is indeed a choice, and that the current scientific quest to identify a gay gene is both pointless and dangerous. The event is chaired by Night Waves presenter Samira Ahmed and recorded at The Sage Gateshead on Saturday 3 November 2012.