Episodes from Night Waves broadcast in 2008

Matthew Sweet presents more highlights from the 2008 Free Thinking festival of ideas.

Philip Dodd and guests debate the state of global capitalism.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss why operas are finding their way onto the big screen.

Tony Benn gives a talk on the value of experience at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival 2008

Anne McElvoy talks to Gilles Kepel about his vision for the future of Islam and the West.

Philip Dodd asks what Milton's classic text Samson Agonistes tells us about terrorism.

Rana Mitter talks to India's greatest living artist MF Husain, known as India's Picasso.

Matthew Sweet with Free Thinking 2008 highlights, including Paul Preston and Mark Haddon.

Philip Dodd talks to one of France's best-known intellectuals, Bernard-Henri Levy.

Isabel Hilton finds out what ingredients are necessary to make a good Eyptyian gallery.

Matthew Sweet discusses the first production of Dylan Thomas's newly discovered radio play

Ruth Deech asks what high-profile divorce settlements say about partnership.

Bidisha discusses the art of Saul Steinberg, who worked on The New Yorker for six decades.

Philip Dodd looks at what makes certain people successful with writer Malcolm Gladwell.

Matthew Sweet discusses the actress and suffragette Sybil Thorndike with Jonathan Croall.

Trevor Phillips of the Equality and Human Rights Commission on democracy's tough choices.

Anne McElvoy presents the arts and ideas programme.

Matthew Sweet presents a debate on bridging the generation gap from Free Thinking 2008.

Bidisha presents the arts and ideas programme - with interviews, debate and reviews.

The arts and ideas programme.

Matthew Sweet reviews Gethsemane, the new play by David Hare at the National Theatre.

Matthew Sweet and guests explore the value of experience in society today.

Philip Dodd discusses the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon of 1970s Germany.

Matthew Sweet presents more highlights from the 2008 Free Thinking Festival.

Philosopher John Gray argues that 'being green' can be dangerous.

Susan Hitch chairs a debate about the US Constitution, at the Free Thinking Festival 2008.

Philip Dodd chairs a debate from the Free Thinking Festival in Liverpool about privacy.

Brain scientist and author Susan Blackmore explores the notion of free will.

Matthew Sweet presents Free Thinking 2008 debates, interviews, dramas and lectures.

Author and columnist Will Self gives the opening lecture for Radio 3's festival of ideas.

Philip Dodd talks to Philip Roth, one of America's most celebrated living writers. (R)

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss David Lean's 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. (R)

With Tim Robinson on his books about life in Connemara, Ireland, plus Love's Labour's Lost

Bidisha reviews Oliver Stone's film W and debates the idea that the brain is overestimated

Matthew Sweet and a panel discuss ideas currently being debated in the field of economics.

Anne McElvoy talks to film director Terence Davies about his film Of Time and the City.

Presented by Rana Mitter. Including a biography of William Hazlitt.

Matthew Sweet discusses the film Quiet Chaos, starring actor-director Nanni Moretti.

Bidisha gives the verdict on the Coen brothers film Burn after Reading.

Philip Dodd talks to historian David Starkey, who discusses his biography of Henry VIII.

Rana Mitter talks to Richard Evans about his distinguished career as a historian.

Matthew Sweet introduces art historian Evelyn Welch plus a discussion on anti-semitism.

Anne McElvoy talks to Simon Schama about his new book The American Future: A History.

Philip Dodd talks to Stephen Fry about his his journey across America in a taxi.

Matthew Sweet discusses the winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Physics and Medicine.

Bidisha is joined by artist Grayson Perry and American satirist Barbara Ehrenreich.

Isabel Hilton and guests explore the iconic medical text, Gray's Anatomy.

Philip Dodd talks to Tim Robinson about his book on life in Connemara, Ireland.

Rana Mitter talks to Elie Wiesel, author of the famous holocaust memoir, Nigh.

Matthew Sweet reviews the film version of Evelyn Waugh's classic Brideshead Revisited.

Philip Dodd looks at the economic and cultural legacy of the Ford Model T car.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss former Czech president Vaclav Havel's new play Leaving.

Bidisha talks to American writer Marilynne Robinson about her new book Home.

Isabel Hilton talks to veteran foreign correspondent Ann Leslie about her autobiography.

Philip Dodd talks to novelist Howard Jacobson about his new book The Act of Love.

Matthew Sweet speaks to famous novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux about his new book.

Rana Mitter talks to historian Tom Holland about his new book, Millenium.

Philip Dodd talks to Philip Roth, one of America's most celebrated living writers.

Matthew Sweet investigates stories that feature the last surviving person on earth.

With writer Marshall Berman, a look at shopping malls and Andrew Sean Greer's latest book.

Philip Dodd and guests explore whether we have become an emotionally incontinent society.

Rachel Campbell-Johnston reviews Errol Morris's new documentary about Abu Ghraib prison.

With musician/artist Bill Drummond on his latest project. Plus novelist Andrew Sean Greer.

Writer Christopher Hitchens talks about his decision to undergo 'waterboarding'.

Lawrence Pollard talks to Russian writer Masha Gessen about her book Blood Matters.

Anne McElvoy talks to economis Richard Thaler about his book Nudge.

Matthew Sweet presents the arts and ideas programme.

Philip Dodd and guests discuss the future of food.

Isabel Hilton talks to Newsweek International's editor Fareed Zakaria about his new book.

Bidisha talks to Lou Reed about the upcoming screen version of his 1973 album Berlin.

Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to Stuart Murray about how autism is represented in modern culture

Philip Dodd talks to important figures in the contemporary Chinese cultural scene.

Rana Mitter and guests discuss Red Sorghum, Zhang Yimou's film about peasant life in China

Matthew Sweet presents the arts and ideas programme.

Presented by Kenan Malik. With writer Marek Kohn discussing trust and its origins.

Isabel Hilton reports from Beijing about the health of the media in China today.

Rachel Campbell-Johnston and guests review the new BBC4 series Jews.

Philip Dodd marks the 20th anniversary of A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

With John Laughland on his book The History of Political Trials, and Bob Dylan's paintings

With a first-night review of The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold, author of National Velvet.

With Michael Frayn on his new play Afterlife, about the founder of the Salzburg Festival.

With a review of Nicholas Hytner's Royal Opera House production of Verdi's Don Carlo.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss David Lean's 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.

With Albanian writer Ismail Kadare, who won the first Man Booker International Prize.

Isabel Hilton talks to Heidi Holland about her new book on the life of Robert Mugabe.

Historian Julian Jackson examines the legacy of Charles de Gaulle.

With psychoanalyst Adam Philips discussing his new book Intimacies.

With Julia Neuberger on her new book Not Dead Yet, a manifesto for 'grey power'.

Paul Allen talks to American short story writer Lorrie Moore.

Philip Dodd and guests discuss censorship. Was Mary Whitehouse right after all?

Rana Mitter talks to Robert Kagan about his new book on issues facing liberal democracies.

Philip Dodd is joined by historian Tony Judt to discuss history and myth-making.

With a review of the musical Margueritte, based on Alexander Dumas's La Dame aux camelias.

Richard Holmes discusses his new book about John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough.

With international lawyer Philippe Sands on his new book Torture Team.

Author Doris Lessing discusses her new book Alfred and Emily, about her parents' lives.

Playwright Shelagh Stephenson discusses her latest work, The Long Road.

Susan Greenfield discusses her new book and her role as director of the Royal Institution.

With Xu Bing, one of China's leading artists, on his new work and the Chinese art scene.

DJ Matt Mason looks at whether 'youth culture' has anything meaningful to offer society.

Kenan Malik talks to a group of laywers about acting in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

Another programme in the series devoted to exploring the great cultural landmarks.

Isabel Hilton talks to Richard Reynolds about the history of 'guerrilla gardening'.

American writer Nicholson Baker discusses his new book Human Smoke.

Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to Sebastian Barry about his new novel The Secret Scripture.

Matthew Sweet talks to Bishop Gene Robinson - the first openly gay man to become a bishop.

A discussion on the British fashion for 'Chinese Style' in the 17th and 18th centuries.

A programme exploring the changing art and culture inspired by Armageddon.

Bill Emmott considers Japan's role in the newly emerging world order.

Writer David Lodge discusses his new novel about a man coming to terms with deafness.

Matthew Sweet talks to film maker Paul Watson about one of his new plays for radio.

In a programme-length interview, author Salman Rushdie discusses his latest novel.

Will Self talks about his new novel The Butt.

Philip Dodd on the classic 1960s film Blow-Up, directed by the late Michelangelo Antonioni (R)

In an extended interview, British film director Mike Leigh talks about his new film.

A special interview with poet and dramatist Tony Harrison.

With Lord Lawson and Prof Mike Hulme debating climate change.

With Misha Glenny on his new book on and Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal.

Night Waves' Landmarks series focuses on The Diary of Samuel Pepys.

Isabel Hilton presents the arts and ideas programme.

Isabel Hilton talks to South African Justice Albie Sachs. (R)

Julie Andrews talks Matthew Sweet about her new autobiography.

Matthew Sweet explores the life and work of the First World War poet Isaac Rosenberg.

With Philip Dodd talking to the new head of the National Gallery, Nicholas Penny.

Rana Mitter talks to Israeli writer Ron Leshem about his novel set in occupied Lebanon.

Arts and cultural news and debate, plus reports from spring festivals around the world.

Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to psychologist Susan Pinker about her book on gender difference.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the controversial population theories of Thomas Malthus.

Psychotherapist George Makari talks about his new book on Freud.

A look at the work and influence of French playwright Yasmina Reza.

Architect Lord Richard Rogers talks to Philip Dodd about his life's work. (R)

Kenan Malik sees the results of the Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool's expensive refit.

Matthew Sweet talks to the Booker Prize-winning Irish writer Anne Enright.

Philip Dodd talks to Mike Davies, the architect in charge of the new Heathrow Terminal 5.

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss DW Griffith's controversial classic The Birth of a Nation

Isabel Hilton talks to Samantha Power, an adviser to US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

Julian Barnes discusses his new book abd actress Fiona Shaw reviews a new Major Barbara.

Journalist Susan Faludi talks to Rana Mitter about 9/11's influence on American women.

Philip Dodd and guests discuss key issues facing Britain's Jewish community.

Kenan Malik talks to author Hanif Kureishi about his new novel Something to Tell You.

Rana Mitter meets controversial Nobel Prize-winning economist Josepsh Stiglitz.

Matthew Sweet talks to David Edgar about his new play on Britishness, Testing the Echo.

Gabriel Gbadamosi visits Bradford to explore the state of social cohesion in Britain.

Isabel Hilton presents the arts discussion programme.

Philip Dodd reviews a major new exhibition of work by artists Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray.

With a debate on what our pets say about ourselves and our place in the cosmos.

With German writer Bernard Schlink and an exhibition of classic photos from Vanity Fair.

Philip Dodd meets Sudhir Venkatesh, a sociologist who became a gang leader.

With Rana Mitter and guests debating the state of Pakistani democracy.

With a discussion on miracles, plus Edward Cullinan on architecture and climate change.

Philip Dodd and guests explore Plato's classic text The Trial and Death of Socrates.

With an exhibition of the work of avant-garde Russian photographer Alexander Rodchenko.

Matthew Sweet talks to author Peter Carey about his new book His Illegal Self.

Sociologist Richard Sennett talks about the the work of the hand and the work of the brain

With a leading mathematician's new book on symmetry and Nick Broomfield's latest film.

Philip Dodd meets Martin Amis and JG Ballard, who are publishing new works of non-fiction.

With a look at the plight of women in Pakistan, political summits and the royal theatre.

Kenan Malik and guests the sensory condition of synaesthesia and its link with creativity.

Matthew Sweet talks to Paul Haggis, director of Crash, about his new film.

A special programme dedicated to the many new books being published about modern China.

Orlando Figes reviews the new exhibition of Masterpieces from Russian Museums.

With a discussion on the art of arguing and a look at the new film version of Sweeney Todd

Philip Dodd hosts a debate asking whatever happened to childhood?

Gabriel Gbadamosi talks to author AS Byatt about a new anthology of writing on memory.

Isabel Hilton talks to Xiaolu Guo about her new novel 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth.

Matthew Sweet and a round table of guests debate the cultural issues of the week.

A special panel re-examines the classic BBC drama Boys from the Blackstuff.

Kenan Malik and guests talk about Tom Hanks's new film and debate the use of non-violence.

Philip Dodd talks to literary scholar and writer George Steiner about his new work.

Matthew Sweet takes a tour behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum.