Ideas from the world's biggest thinkers. Hear philosophers, scientists, politicians, novelists, historians and artists challenge each other. Podcast weekly on Saturdays.
Episodes available for:
30 Days 
Sat, 15 Jun 13
Duration:
41 mins
Available:
26 days remaining
This week’s Forum comes from the Zamyn Cultural Forum 2013 where we're asking how globalisation is changing the way we think about ourselves and others. What impact is it having on personal and national identity? Are we all more connected as global citizens now, or is globalisation actually driving us further apart? Joining Bridget Kendall and a lively audience at the iconic Tate Modern Art Gallery: NoViolet Bulawayo, Zimbabwean author and previous winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing; Pratap Bhanu Mehta, eminent Indian political scientist and commentator; and Ben Okri, award-winning Nigerian novelist, poet and writer.
Sat, 8 Jun 13
Duration:
41 mins
Available:
19 days remaining
Why are some materials and ecosystems easier to break than others? And what gives others better resilience? Joining Bridget Kendall are the celebrated American writer Barbara Kingsolver, whose latest novel contemplates vulnerability in butterflies and humans; one of world’s leading experts on bumblebees, professor David Goulson, who explains why artificially rearing bumblebee nests can paradoxically lead to mass extinction; and Markus Buehler, bio-engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who studies the molecular basis of strength and weakness in natural materials such as human bones and spider webs.
Sat, 1 Jun 13
Duration:
41 mins
Available:
12 days remaining
What is the proper place for curiosity in the 21st century? Have theoretical physicists lost sight of it in a dogmatic theory of the universe? Cosmologist Lee Smolin discusses his unsettling new theory about evolution and the laws of physics. We ask science historian Philip Ball what are the lessons in the scientific spirit of the 17th century. And in the developing world, does curiosity sometimes carry dangers for young people in changing societies? Social scientist Masooda Bano explains.
Sat, 25 May 13
Duration:
41 mins
Available:
5 days remaining
Are you sitting comfortably? Because on today’s programme we’re going to tell you a story. It’s a tale of our unquenchable thirst for stories, of stories that could stop wars, and of why no matter how hard we try, we can’t avoid telling the same story, over and over again. Helping Bridget Kendall construct this narrative are Afghan writer Qais Akbar Omar, MIT neuroscientist Emile Bruneau and award-winning drama producer and screenwriter John Yorke.
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Make the English you speak sound more natural with The English We Speak from bbclearningenglish.com. Every week, we look at a different everyday English phrase or piece of slang in this fun…
Mon, 17 Jun 13
3 minutes
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Fri, 1 Oct 10
14 minutes
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