Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Security

Assessing the role of security and intelligence services in a democracy.

• 43 mins

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Freedom

Ex M15 boss Eliza Manningham-Buller discusses foreign policy in her third Reith Lecture.

• 43 mins

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Human Hive

Niall Ferguson argues that institutions determine the success or failure of nations.

• 42 mins

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Darwinian Economy

Niall Ferguson reflects on the causes and lessons of the global financial crisis.

• 42 mins

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Landscape of the Law

Niall Ferguson asks if different systems of law are key to economic success.

• 42 mins

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

Civil and Uncivil Societies

Niall Ferguson asks what constitutes a vibrant and independent civil society.

• 58 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Democracy has bad taste

The artist Grayson Perry on how to judge quality in contemporary art

• 42 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Beating the Bounds

Grayson Perry questions the often-heard assertion that anything can be art.

• 42 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!

The artist Grayson Perry discusses art and revolution.

• 42 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

I Found Myself in the Art World

Grayson Perry discusses the painful yet rewarding process of becoming an artist.

• 42 mins

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

Why Do Doctors Fail?

Surgeon and writer Dr Atul Gawande explores the nature of fallibility in medicine.

• 42 mins

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Century of the System

Atul Gawande calls for a radical rethink of medical systems to transform healthcare.

• 42 mins

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Problem of Hubris

Atul Gawande calls for a new approach to the 'great unfixables' - ageing and death.

• 42 mins

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Idea of Wellbeing

Atul Gawande calls for a new focus on systems to ensure doctors work more effectively.

• 42 mins

Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes

Do black holes have no hair?

Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the first of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.

• 28 mins

Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes

Black holes ain't as black as they are painted

Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the second of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.

• 28 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Creed

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah says we overestimate scripture in our view of faith.

• 60 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Country

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues against a mythical and romantic view of nationhood

• 60 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Colour

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations.

• 43 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Culture

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah asks us to give up the idea of western civilisation.

• 58 mins

Hilary Mantel

The Day Is for the Living

Art can bring the dead back to life argues novelist Hilary Mantel.

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

The Iron Maiden

How do we construct our pictures of the past asks Hilary Mantel.

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Silence Grips the Town

The story of how historical obsession killed a Polish writer, told by Hilary Mantel.

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Can These Bones Live?

Hilary Mantel on how historical fiction can make the past come to life.

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Adaptation

Hilary Mantel on how fiction changes when adapted for stage or screen.

• 43 mins

Michael Sandel on Bertrand Russell

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

• 21 mins

Anand Menon on Robert Birley

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

• 15 mins

Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

• 28 mins

Grayson Perry on Nikolaus Pevsner

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

• 15 mins

Angela Stent on George Kennan

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

• 14 mins

Margaret MacMillan

War and Humanity

Margaret MacMillan asks if war is an essential part of being human.

• 45 mins

Margaret MacMillan

Fearing and Loving: Making Sense of the Warrior

Margaret MacMillan explores our complex relationship with the people who go to war.

• 44 mins

Margaret MacMillan

Civilians and War

Margaret MacMillan examines the role of civilians as supporters and victims of conflict.

• 60 mins

Margaret MacMillan

Managing the Unmanageable

Margaret MacMillan assesses attempts to constrain and justify conflict.

• 60 mins

Margaret MacMillan

War's Fatal Attraction

Margaret MacMillan examines how we remember and represent war in art.

• 28 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

1/5. Law's Expanding Empire

Jonathan Sumption argues that the law is taking over the space once occupied by politics

• 57 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

2/5. In Praise of Politics

Jonathan Sumption explains how democracy can accommodate opposing opinions and interests

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

3/5. Human Rights and Wrongs

Jonathan Sumption argues that courts have usurped power via human rights law

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

4/5. Rights and the Ideal Constitution

Jonathan Sumption assess the pros and cons of written and unwritten constitutions

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

5/5. Shifting the Foundations

Jonathan Sumption argues against Britain adopting a written constitution

• 42 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Moral to Market Sentiments

Why have financial values come to be considered more important than human ones?

• 42 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Credit Crisis to Resilience

Mark Carney assesses what lessons have been learnt from the 2008 financial crash.

• 57 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

Mark Carney looks at the tensions between economic and human values during the pandemic.

• 57 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Climate Crisis to Real Prosperity

Mark Carney argues that the market can be redirected to alleviating climate change.

• 57 mins