2011 [Free Thinking]

Over the past 30 years governments of every political hue have promised that great prizes will follow economic change, whilst parts of society have been effectively written off. So argues Aditya Chakrabortty, economics leader writer at The Guardian. He believes even the newly fashionable zeal for a manufacturing revival will do little to help and calls for a radical solution.

Economist Aditya Chakrabortty examines the impact of economic change on society.

Continuing BBC Radio 3's three weeks of broadcasts from the 2011 Free Thinking festival of ideas, Philip Dodd and guests discuss the central theme of this year's festival: Change. Politics, work, fashion, technology, our personal lives - all now seem subject to never-ending change. Is this the sign of a dynamic and flexible society, or is it causing us instability and insecurity?

Debaters include the BAFTA award-winning director Molly Dineen, whose documentaries have chronicled change in British society, Rev Dr Giles Fraser, former Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral who recently resigned over the Occupy London protest, the futurologist and predictor of change James Woudhuysen, Professor of Innovation and Forecasting at Leicester's De Montfort University, and Dr Liz Mellon, author and leadership expert, Executive Director with Duke Corporate Education, part of Duke University.

The event is chaired by Night Waves' Philip Dodd and is recorded as part of BBC Radio 3's 2011 Free Thinking festival of ideas, taking place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November.

Producer: Craig Smith.

Philip Dodd chairs a debate on obsession with change, with Molly Dineen and Giles Fraser.

Charles Jencks is the visionary designer, theorist and landscape architect whose work includes gardens at the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, founded by his late wife Maggie Jencks. He is creating the world's largest sculpture of a human form, Northumberlandia, near the village of Cramlington in the North East.

Jencks argues that understanding the universe is too important to be left to scientists and theologians, and wants us to connect to pre-historic ideas about the cosmos, present in monuments such as Stonehenge.

This event is recorded in front of a live audience at The Sage Gateshead as part of the 2011 Free Thinking Festival. Presented by Rana Miter.

A talk in which landscape architect Charles Jencks calls for a new cosmic art.

Set during the recent riots, A Summer Night tells three personal stories from the night when the capital changed shape. A policeman on duty, a carer trying to get to her patient, a teenager on a night out - their paths cross and collide in ways you won't expect.

The play does contain strong language.

Cast

Mark - Toby Jones

Ant - Daniel Kaluuya

Diane - Victoria Elliott

Composer/ Musician: Patrick Dineen

Producer: Kate Rowland.

Set during the 2011 English riots, a drama written for Free Thinking by Jack Thorne.

One of the most influential intellectual voices of our times, Germaine Greer has caused controversy ever since her book The Female Eunuch became an international best-seller in 1970. Inspired by the Janis Joplin lyric 'Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose', she argues that the pursuit of freedom has caused havoc throughout the world, and calls for a new version of liberation.

Night Waves presenter Philip Dodd hosts Germaine Greer's talk, which was recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival 2011.

Free Thinking takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November and is broadcast on Radio 3 for three weeks following Friday 4 November.

Germaine Greer questions the idea of freedom at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival.

In a talk entitled The Moral Obligation to Improve, he argues that it is time to enhance humans by altering their moral dispositions.

Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford and Editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics, Julian Savulescu has some controversial opinions that challenge assumptions. He believes drugs should be allowed in sport, and that we should harness the incredible genetic revolution currently taking place and use technologies such as genetic manipulation and selection to improve our lives.

He argues that if the human race is to survive we must embrace cognitive and moral enhancement, possibly of whole populations. Without enhancement, he says, we face potential disaster because of our innate reluctance to accept the sacrifices necessary to combat global problems like climate change. He also argues that using drugs to change behaviour and moral outlook might be required as psychopaths now have the potential power to destroy millions of lives because of developing technology and ease of access to the tools of armageddon.

The event is chaired by Night Waves' Anne McElvoy and was recorded as part of BBC Radio 3's 2011 Free Thinking festival of ideas, which took place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November.

Julian Savulescu makes the case for human enhancement at the 2011 Free Thinking festival.

In the wake of the retirement of the space shuttle, Kevin Fong - who works for NASA - argues that now is no time to pull back from space exploration, calling for a Second Space Age. Co-director of the Centre for Aviation Space and Extreme Environment Medicine, he believes that Britain should be at the forefront of space science.

Night Waves presenter Rana Mitter hosts Kevin Fong's talk, recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3' Free Thinking Festival 2011, which takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November, and which is broadcast on Radio 3 for three weeks from 4 November.

From the 2011 Free Thinking festival, scientist Kevin Fong calls for a 'second space age'.

Continuing Radio 3's three weeks of Free Thinking broadcasts, Linda Colley delivers a lecture entitled: The Present and the Past of Change.

Linda Colley is an expert on the history of Britain, empire and nationalism, was invited by Tony Blair to give the Downing Street Millennium Lecture on Britishness, and is Professor of History at Princeton University.

Rana Mitter chairs the event, recorded at The Sage Gateshead in front of a live audience.

Historian Linda Colley delivers a lecture entitled The Present and the Past of Change.

Giles Fraser is the festival's Thinker-in-Residence.

He recently resigned as Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral over the handling of the Occupy London protest. At St Paul's Cathedral Giles was responsible for contemporary ethics and engagement with the financiers in the City of London. A popular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day, he also lectures the British army on moral leadership.

In a talk entitled The Magnificent Seven and the Crisis of Commitment, Giles Fraser claims we have become addicted to the detached, uncommitted lifestyle embodied in those wandering gunslingers from western movies, who never want to be tied down. Is individualism pushing out all other values and leaving us rootless?

This event is chaired by Night Waves presenter Matthew Sweet.

BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival 2011 takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November.

The rev Dr Giles Fraser on the 'crisis of commitment', from 2011's Free Thinking Festival.

Teenagers often act on impulse, are lazy, emotional and get into trouble with the police and parents. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London and a leading expert on teenage brains. Using recent research about the radical changes taking place in the adolescent brain, she argues it's time to rethink our attitudes towards youth and the place of teenagers in society.

Recorded in front of a live audience at The Sage Gateshead, at the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2011. Presented by Juliet Gardiner.

Neuro-scientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore discusses dramatic changes in the teenage brain.

Francis Wells has carried out over 5,000 operations including open heart surgery live on Channel 4. An expert on the anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, he's a passionate advocate for closer links between art and medicine, employing artists-in-residence at his operating theatre in Papworth, the UK's largest specialist cardiothoracic Hospital. Night Waves presenter Matthew Sweet hosts an indepth interview with Francis Wells, recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival 2011.

Francis Wells discusses the future of the heart, his work at the cutting-edge of surgery, and his fascination with Leonardo.

Matthew Sweet is also joined live at The Sage Gateshead by BBC Radio 3's New Generation Thinkers.

Free Thinking takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November, and is broadcast for three weeks on BBC Radio 3 from Friday 4 November .

Matthew Sweet presents an interview with leading heart surgeon Francis Wells.

Susie Orbach is Britain's most high-profile pyschotherapist, whose book Fat is a Feminist Issue revolutionised the way we understand our bodies. She co-founded The Women's Therapy Centre, has been a consultant for The World Bank and NHS, and is an advocate for body diversity and emotional literacy.

First broadcast in November 2011.

Susie Orbach challenges the obsession with personal change at Free Thinking 2011.

At the age of 50 the Rt Hon William Hague MP must be our youngest elder statesman. The MP for Richmond (Yorkshire) has been Welsh Secretary, Leader of the Conservative Party for five years, and since May 2010 the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. Night Waves presenter Anne McElvoy hosts an indepth interview recorded at The Sage Gateshead in front of an audience at the 2011 Free Thinking festival of ideas.

The BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November and is broadcast on Radio 3 from Friday 4 November for three weeks.

Anne McElvoy talks to Foreign Secretary William Hague at the 2011 Free Thinking festival.

There's music from the double platinum selling band Maxmo Park, one of the few bands of recent times to wear their intellectualism on their sleeves. Lead singer Paul Smith talks about the songwriting process.

We feature the first performance of a new poem on the theme of Change, Mutatis Mutandis, written together by Jackie Kay, Sean O'Brien and W.N. Herbert, and commissioned by the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts.

Celebrated children's writer David Almond grew up in the Gateshead area and discusses regionalism in art and what it's like to be labelled a 'northern writer'. He describes how he found his confidence as a writer from the North East by looking to the great writers of the southern states of America, like Flannery O'Connor.

And spoken word artist Kate Fox tells us why she's frightened of the metaphor.

Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

Max\u00efmo Park, Jackie Kay, and David Almond join Ian McMillan for The Verb at Free Thinking.

Two hundred years ago this November, artisans in the North of England started protesting against new machines that were destroying their way of life. Inspired by the mythic King Ludd, the Luddites have been condemned by history as standing on the wrong side of progress - but their legacy persists. So what did they want and what does it mean to be a Luddite in today's digital age?

Debaters include the historian of the Luddites Katrina Navickas, BBC technology correspondent Bill Thompson and fellow of the New Economics Foundation Andrew Simms.

Recorded at The Sage Gateshead in front of a live audience at the 2011 Free Thinking Festival.

Rana Mitter chairs a debate about the Luddite movement, to mark its 200th anniversary.

Broadcast live simultaneously on both networks, 5 live presenter Chris Warburton and Radio 3's Matthew Sweet are joined by a panel of guests from television news and the press. As internet bloggers and social media such as Twitter transform the consumption and distribution of news, and as celebrity gossip and audience generated stories push foreign affairs and politics further down the agenda, what is the future of traditional news?

The debate takes place at The Sage Gateshead in front of a live audience as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival of ideas 4 - 6 November.

Radio 3 and Radio 5 live join forces to debate the editorial choices behind news stories.

How will our world change as traditional energy supplies shrink and climate change forces us to use less fossil fuels? Should we return to a locally-focused pre-modern lifestyle where travel is a luxury for the few, will conflict over declining resources destabilise the globe, or will science save the day?

Debaters include Paul Younger, Director of the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability, the philosopher Melissa Lane from Princeton University, scientist Colin McInnes and gobal energy specialist Neil Hirst from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College.

Anne McElvoy chairs a talk about the impact of a future energy crisis on our way of life.

American internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales has created the most referenced source of knowledge on the planet. His ever-expanding invention Wikipedia has over 19 million free articles, is one of the internet's top five websites, and has revolutionised our access to information. Time magazine named him one of the world's most influential people.

Jimmy Wales' talk about the internet marks the start of three weeks of Free Thinking broadcasts on Radio 3. It was recorded earlier tonight in front of an audience at The Sage Gateshead and presented by Philip Dodd.

This year's festival theme is Change: exploring the mania for change sweeping the globe. Speakers include the Foreign Secretary William Hague, Germaine Greer, Giles Fraser, Susie Orbach, Linda Colley, Charles Jencks, Kevin Fong and Margaret Drabble. Plus original live drama by Skins writer Jack Thorne, and music from the Mercury nominated band Maximo Park.

Now in its sixth year, the Free Thinking Festival takes place at The Sage Gateshead 4 - 6 November and is produced and broadcast by BBC Radio 3. It's a platform for today's innovative thinkers, who debate the ideas shaping our world.

Go to www.BBC.co.uk/freethinking for more details.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales launches the 2011 Free Thinking ideas festival.

David Papp & Clara Nissen (producers).

Texts and music inspired by change, performed at the 2011 Free Thinking festival.