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Night Waves

Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme, featuring in-depth interviews; vociferous debates on key cultural and philosophical questions; and critics' judgement on the latest releases.

And the Night Waves presenters will be hosting this year's Radio 3 Free Thinking festival of ideas, taking place at the Sage in Gateshead during the weekend of the 23rd - 25th October. Please see below for more information.

Get in touch...

nightwaves@bbc.co.uk
Call: 03700 100 300

Programmes:
on BBC iPlayer (13)
coming up (4)
Previous programmes:
by series (1)
by year (367)

Available now on BBC iPlayer

  1. Listen to the latest programme

    Free Thinking 2009 Lisa Jardine

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    Listen now (45 minutes)

    Available since Thursday.

    Lisa Jardine on how IVF is changing our ideas about the definition of a family.

  2. Also available

    1. Stephen Poliakoff/The White Ribbon/Michael Goldfarb

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      Listen now (45 minutes)

      Available since Wednesday with 4 days left.

      Matthew Sweet talks to film-maker Stephen Poliakoff and reviews Michael Haneke's latest.

    2. Steven Soderbergh/Steven Levitt/Hockney Retrospective

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      Listen now (45 minutes)

      Available since Tuesday with 3 days left.

      Matthew Sweet talks to American film director Steven Soderbergh.

    3. Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary Debate

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      Listen now (45 minutes)

      Available since Monday with 2 days left.

      Philip Dodd hosts a debate from Berlin 20 years after the fall of the Wall.

    4. Free Thinking 2009 Sport or the Arts

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      programme information

      Listen now (45 minutes)

      Available since Thu, 5 Nov 2009.

      Philip Dodd and guests debate which is the greater human achievement - sport or the arts.

8 more programmes available now.

Featured

Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin talks to Bidisha. The creator of the famous installation featuring an unmade bed, Emin was one of the most provocative artists of the 1990s.

Listen to an interview with Tracey Emin

Karen Armstrong

Isabel Hilton hears the case for God from Karen Armstrong, one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs.

Listen to Isabel Hilton speaking to Karen Armstrong

Terry Eagleton

Rana Mitter talks to Terry Eagleton, one of the most respected thinkers of our time, about his book, Reason, Faith and Revolution, in which he mounts a critique against both those who hate religion and religious zealots.

Listen to the interview

David Hare

Philip Dodd talks to that titan of British political drama David Hare and asks him why he thinks the BBC’s abandonment of the single TV play is a “spineless betrayal of the playwright, the art and the public”.

Listen to the interview

Free Thinking 2009

Join a weekend of talks, debate, conversation, film and performance at the Sage Gateshead over 23-25 October 2009 with speakers including Tanya Byron, David Miliband, Lionel Shriver, Dan Cruickshank and Ken Livingstone.

The central theme this year is 'The 21st Century Family', but you'll also find events on many other topics - from the future of the Western World, to the relationship between the rivers of the North East.

Sign up to the newsletter for updates on the festival

Coming up

Tomorrow, 21:30 on Radio 3

Shlomo Sand

Rana Mitter talks to Shlomo Sand, author of a controversial history of the Jewish people.

3 more programmes coming up in the next 7 days.

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