Free Thinking Folgen

Archiving or hoarding - the mother in Ruth Ozeki's new novel The Book of Form and Emptiness is overwhelmed by the newspaper cuttings she is supposed to categorise for her job. In his new history of indexes, Dennis Duncan tells us about why people were criticised as "index rakers" in the Restoration, and the links between Cicero, the idea of alphabetical ordering and a former Bishop of Lincoln. Saxophone player Alam Nathoo is helping Ruth Ozeki launch her novel at the Southbank Centre in London and he joins us to explore the ideas of structure and improvising in jazz music.Ruth Ozeki launches her new novel The Book of Form and Emptiness at the Southbank Centre London alongside a performance by Alam Nathoo on October 7th. BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting a series of concerts from Southbank Centre London - all available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Dennis Duncan's book is called Index, A History of the You can hear him discussing title pages and marginalia in a Free Thinking episode called Book Parts and Difficulty https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006tnf and translation in an episode called Africa, Babel, China https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002h89Producer: Luke Mulhall

Would he condemn Hitler? That's the question novelist Thomas Mann was continually asked, after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 following novels such as Buddenbrooks and The Magic Mountain. Colm Toibin's new novel The Magician details the differences of opinion between Mann and his brother, and the way his children were part of a bold and experimental younger generation of writers. Anne McElvoy brings Colm Toibin, Sean Williams and Dr Erica Wickerson together for a discussion about Mann's life and writing and the pressure put upon writers to make a public stand on topical issues.Colm Toibin is the author of ten novels including Brooklyn, Nora Webster and The Testament of Mary. His latest book, The Magician, is out now.Sean Williams is a BBC Radio 3 AHRC New Generation Thinker and Senior Lecturer in German and European Cultural History in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sheffield.Erica Wickerson, is the author of The Architecture of Narrative Time: Thomas Mann and the Problems of Modern Narrative, she's a British Academy Rising Star and recent holder of a research fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge.Producer: Ruth WattsImage: Colm Toibin Credit: Reynaldo RiveraYou can find Colm Toibin in a Free Thinking discussion about women's voices in the Classical world recorded at Hay Festival https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rsrlt and talking about his novels at the 2012 Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p2shpYou can find Free Thinking discussions about German culture including Neil McGregor and crime writer Volker Kutscherhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079mcgf New Angles on Post-War Germany and Austria with Sophie Hardach and Florian Huber https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006sjx Mocking Power past and present with Daniel Kelhmann, Karen Leeder https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dzww Anne McElvoy talks to Susan Neimann, Christopher Hampton and Ursula Owen about tolerance, censorship and free speech and lessons from German history https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008hvz

Historical novelist Philippa Gregory, historians Susan Doran and Nandini Das, and literary scholar and author Adam Roberts join Matthew Sweet at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry to discuss the enduring appeal of Tudor history and the role that historical fiction plays in shaping our view of history. Plus the connection between Sir Walter Scott and nearby Kenilworth Castle. Part of the BBC Contains Strong Language festival.Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens opens at the British Library opens 8 October 2021–20 February 2022. Professor Susan Doran has edited the exhibition catalogue and will be giving an online talk on October 13th called Too Close to Her Throne: The Other Cousins Kenilworth Castle and Garden are run by English Heritage https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenilworth-castle/ Walter Scott (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) wrote many historical novels including Kenilworth - his account of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Leicester and the murder of his wife Amy Robsart which was published 13 January 1821. Philippa Gregory's novels include The Other Boleyn Girl, The King's Curse and her current Fairmile Series. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London. Adam Roberts teaches at Royal Holloway, University of London and Nandini Das teaches at the University of Oxford. She is a BBC/ARHC New Generation Thinker.You can find a Free Thinking discussion about Waverly available to download as an Arts & Ideas podcast from the Free Thinking programme website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04dr39q There is also a discussion about how we used to feel in the past and the idea of emotional history which hears from author and historian Tracy Borman https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003zp2Producer: Torquil MacLeod