Start the Week Folgen

Andrew Marr celebrates middle age with the scientist David Bainbridge, who dismisses any suggestion of mid-life crisis, to argue that there's much more to middle age than just a period between youth and being old. The poet Simon Armitage asks in 'Knowing what we Know Now', whether we'd choose to live our life backwards once we got to the mid point, but the writer Deborah Moggach suggests there's a gender divide to reaching 50. And the psychologist Claudia Hammond discusses perceptions of time, and explores why we're so obsessed with its passing. Producer: Katy Hickman.

On Start the Week Andrew Marr discusses faith and doubt. Richard Holloway started training for the priesthood from the age of 14, but as the former Bishop looks back on his life he reveals a restless spirit, always questioning his beliefs. Karen Armstrong has had similar crises of faith, and asks in a forthcoming talk, 'What is Religion?' For the 17th century Mexican nun, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, faith was wrapped up in her love of writing and poetry - her life is brought to the stage by the playwright Helen Edmundson. And Jonathan Safran Foer celebrates the Jewish text Haggadah which tells the story of the Exodus to the Promised Land.Producer: Katy Hickman.

On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe looks at how science has shaped our civilisation. Mark Miodownik explores how the discovery of new materials has transformed the way we live, from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age. While the mathematician Ian Stewart argues that calculations made centuries ago have led to untold innovations, and that mathematical equations really have changed our world. The natural world is the starting point for the sculptor, Peter Randall-Page and his abstract geometric form carved in stone. And Jane Rapley from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design considers how far fashion designers are influenced by modern materials and techniques, and inspired by the natural world. Producer: Katy Hickman.