Arts & Ideas Folgen

As the sun sets on the longest day of the year, Matthew Sweet talks to an eclectic group of guests about the illusion of time, the summer solstice and the philosophy of comedy. They are: Materials scientist & engineer; Director of the UCL Institute of Making; Author of Stuff Matters and other book Mark Miodownik. Philosopher Emily Herring who is about to publish the first English biography of the french philosopher Henri Bergson who was famous for his theory of time as well as his views on the meaning of comedy. Emily's book Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People is out in October. Comedian Rob Newman who made his name with the Mary Whitehouse Experience in the 90s and has presented two series on BBC Radio 4 including Rob Newman's Half-full Philosophy Hour. Also Professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London Fay Dowker who is an expert in Causal Set Theory and Quantum Relativity. And Author K A Laity will talk about the Women in Magick Conference being held in Birmingham this weekend. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson

Histories spanning the Big Bang to the present, and the story of an entire continent have been written by two of the Free Thinking guests tonight. What insights do big histories bring and what is the value of focusing on a single family or object ? And how do these approaches apply when looking at policy and government. Matthew Sweet's guests are:Professor Peter Frankopan has written New Silk Roads and The Earth Transformed: An Untold History Alison Light's most recent book of essays is called – Inside History: From Popular Fiction to Life-Writing, previous titles include Common People: The History of an English Family Zeinab Badawi is author of An African History of Africa. The first presenter of the ITV Morning News and co-presenter of Channel 4 News, she is president of SOAS University of London. Bronwen Maddox is CEO of Chatham House and a Visiting Professor in the Policy Institute at King's College London. She's been Director of the Institute for Government and editor and chief executive of the magazine Prospect. BBC Moscow Correspondent Steve RosenbergProducer: Lisa Jenkinson.

With D-day commemorations giving us images of "the finest generation" and discussion about how parties are targeting different age groups in the UK election, Anne McElvoy hosts a discussion looking at what divides and unites us in a fracturing world. Dr Eliza Filby - a historian of generational evolution and contemporary values and author of Inheritocracy and Generation Shift gives us the low down on boomers to Gen Alpha. Professor Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of books including China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping A New Nationalism and China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival. A presenter of Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3 before he joined Harvard, you can find him hosting plenty of Free Thinking discussions. Jo Hamya's debut novel was called Three Rooms. The Hypocrite explores what happens when we become frightened of the generations below us Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow at Wadham College. And joining the conversation to talk about how the political parties are trying to woo voters of different ages is Gaby Hinsliff, columnist for The GuardianProducer: Luke Mulhall