Reith Lectures 2011
The 2011 BBC Reith Lectures will be delivered by two speakers – Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former Director-General of MI5, Baroness Manningham-Buller. They will be broadcast on Radio 4 and the BBC World Service in June and September, respectively. The lectures, entitled Securing Freedom, arise out of an extraordinary period of global convulsion. Aung San Suu Kyi’s lectures from Burma will focus on the struggle for democracy inside an authoritarian regime. Back in the UK, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Eliza Manningham-Buller discusses how, once secured, a country maintains its freedom. The five lectures will all be available for download.
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Recent episodes (6)
Eliza Manningham-Buller: Freedom 20 SEP 2011
Tue, 20 Sep 11
Duration:
54 minsBaroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director-general of MI5, the British security service, gives her third and final BBC Reith Lecture, entitled Freedom. She discusses policy priorities since 9/11 and reflects on the Arab Spring, and argues that the West's support of authoritarian regimes did, to some extent, fuel the growth of al-Qaeda. The lecture also considers when we should talk to "terrorists".
Eliza Manningham-Buller: Security 13 SEP 2011
Tue, 13 Sep 11
Duration:
43 minsBaroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director-general of MI5, the British security service, gives the second of her BBC Reith Lectures, entitled Security. She argues that the security and intelligence services have a good record of protecting and preserving freedom, but concedes that the use of water-boarding by the United States has not made the world a safer place. "Torture is illegal" and "never justified," she says.
Eliza Manningham-Buller: Terror 06 SEP 2011
Tue, 6 Sep 11
Duration:
43 minsBaroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former director-general of MI5, the British security service, gives the first of her BBC Reith Lectures, entitled Terror. On the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States she reflects on the lasting significance of that day. Was it a terrorist crime? An act of war? Or something different?
Aung San Suu Kyi: Dissent: 05 Jul 2011
Tue, 5 Jul 11
Duration:
43 minsAung San Suu Kyi examines what drives people to become dissidents in the second of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Dissent. The Burmese pro-democracy Leader reflects on the history of her own party, the National League for Democracy and explores the meaning of opposition and dissidence. She also explains her reasons for following the path of non-violence.
Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty 28 Jun 2011
Tue, 28 Jun 11
Duration:
54 minsAung San Suu Kyi discusses what freedom means in the first of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Liberty. The Burmese pro-democracy leader reflects on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, exploring the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.
Welcome 24 Jun 11
Fri, 24 Jun 11
Duration:
1 minWelcome to the 2011 Reith Lectures, Securing Freedom. This year's lectures will be given by two speakers, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former MI5 director-general Baroness Manningham-Buller. The five lectures will all be available as podcasts.
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