Arts & Ideas

Jessica Andrews grew up in Sunderland and has written two novels - Saltwater and Milk Teeth. Jake Morris-Campbell still lives in his native South Shields and his poetry includes the collection Corrigenda for Costafine Town and various Radio 3 commissioned pieces. He is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. They talk to Ian McMillan, host of Radio 3's new writing programme The Verb, about how their sense of the North East of England has fed into their writing.Producer Torquil MacLeodYou can find a collection of conversations about Prose, Poetry and Drama on Radio 3's Free Thinking programme website, all available to download as Arts and Ideas podcasts.

Small town life in Northern Ireland is the focus of this conversation about writing and place. Since his debut Divorcing Jack in 1994, Colin Bateman has written many novels, dramas and screenplays and most recently Thunder and Lightning: A Memoir of Life on the Tough Cul-de-Sacs of Bangor. Michelle Gallen’s novels Big Girl, Small Town and Factory Girls have appeared on literary prize lists and they focus on life in a border town. Shahidha Bari, who presents Radio 3's arts and ideas programme Free Thinking is the host of the first in this series of conversations about writing and place to tie into a series of BBC Proms concerts. Producer: Robyn ReadYou can find a collection of conversations about Prose, Poetry and Drama on Radio 3's Free Thinking programme website, all available to download as Arts and Ideas podcasts. You can find recordings of Michelle Gallen's books available to listen to on BBC Sounds

Rula Lenska was one of the stars of this 1970s TV series about a fictional female band, playing the role of Nancy "Q" Cunard de Longchamps, alongside Julie Covington and Charlotte Cornwell. She joins Matthew Sweet along with Howard Schuman, who wrote the series, and Andy Mackay, saxophonist with Roxy Music, who co-wrote the songs with Howard. Also taking part are Chloë Moss who has written the book for a stage adaptation of the series that is opening at the Chichester Festival Theatre, and critic David Benedict.Producer: Torquil MacLeodRock Follies based on the television series written by Howard Schuman. Book by Chloë Moss/ Songs by Howard Schuman and Andy Mackay runs at Chichester Festival Theatre from Mon 24 Jul – Sat 26 AugYou can find other discussions about groundbreaking TV in our Free Thinking archives and available on BBC Sounds including Russell T Davies, Sabina Dosani and Jill Nalder on Depicting AIDS in Drama and It's A Sin Crossroads and TV soaps with Paula Milne, Gail Renard and Russell T Davies Quatermass discussed by Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Una McCormack, Claire Langhamer and Matthew Kneale Star Trek with George Takei, Naomi Alderman, Una McCormack and José-Antonio Orosco Oliver Postgate discussed by Sandra Kerr, Daniel Postgate, Neil Brand and Samira Ahmed

Explore the influence of World War Two on philosophical thinking, particularly in the context of Oxford Philosophy. Discuss the concept of ordinary language philosophy and its significance at Oxford University. Discover J.L. Austin's contributions during the war and the influence of war experience on a philosopher's approach. Delve into the exploration of language and the difference between 'mistake' and 'accident'. Explore aesthetics and the impact of World War II on Philosophy at Oxford, including the rise of women philosophers. Discuss the flaws in logical positivism and introduction to Derek Parfitt. Dive into the problem of personal identity and obligations to future generations.

Explore the history of childhood play and language development, from Tudor toys to modern museum experiences. Learn about the significance of toys in children's learning, the evolution of wooden figures, and the relationship between vocabulary and educational achievement. Delve into the challenges of measuring language acquisition in children and the impact of technology on play behavior.

Joya Chatterji has written about the South Asian twentieth century in her new book called Shadows at Noon. Tripurdaman Singh has been researching Indian princely states. Novels by Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004) are being republished. Her daughter Kim Oliver and literary scholar Alastair Niven discuss Nectar in a Sieve. A bestseller when it first came out in 1954, it's a story about a tenant farmer, his wife and the impact of a tannery built in a neighbouring village. Rana Mitter hosts.The books recommended by our guests are: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Those-Days-Sunil-Gangopadhyay/dp/0140268529 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lady-Alice-Bhatti-Mohammed-Hanif/dp/0099516756 https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/23130761Producer: Julian Siddle

In 1897 women played American football in San Fransisco. Dr Katie Taylor, is a qualified coach who previously managed the Great Britain Men's Flag Football Team, supporting the team at three European Championships. She is a Lecturer in Sociology of Sport at Nottingham Trent University and has been researching the history of women playing the sport and the language used in newspaper to describe both women players and coaches working in the game. Stacey Pope is Associate Professor in the Department of Sport and Exercise at Durham University. She is author of The Feminization of Sports Fandom and has recently published research looking at newspaper coverage of women’s football, the impact of the Lionesses and at continuing sexist attitudes amongst male fans to women playing football. She has also worked on an oral history project with women fans of Newcastle football club recording their experiences of attending games which you can find here https://womenfootballfans.org And you can read more here https://canvas.vuelio.co.uk/5047/study-reveals-misogynistic-attitudes-towards-womens-sport/view Christienna Fryar is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker who studies sport, and Caribbean/British history This Arts & Ideas podcast is part of the New Thinking series of episodes which focuses on new research from UK universities. It was made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. You can find a collection under New Research on Radio 3’s Free Thinking programme website

The Sacred Return of Lost Things is the theme of this year's Art Biennial in Liverpool. Catherine Fletcher talks to some of the artists showing work about how they have engaged with the city's history. Visual artist Melanie Manchot introduces her first full length feature film, STEPHEN, about a character recovering from gambling and alcohol addictions. Rudy Loewe describes their new large-scale installation The Reckoning, based around the Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. And Charmaine Watkiss introduces a sacred space she has created in Liverpool’s Victoria Gallery & Museum, with life-size drawings and a sculpture representing unheard voices and stories that survived the Middle Passage.New Generation Thinker Vid Simoniti gives his view and reports on an exhibition at the Whitworth in Manchester called Economics the Blockbuster – It’s not Business as Usual which looks at disrupting ideas about value, ownership, trade and economy. Liverpool Biennial runs until 17th September 2023.Economics the Blockbuster – It’s not Business as Usual is part of Manchester International Festival MIF23 and this show runs until October 22nd. You can hear about music featured in MIF in other Radio 3 broadcasts and on BBC Sounds and on the Free Thinking programme website there is a collection of discussions about art, architecture, photography and museums.

Marrying someone based on a portrait was part of life in Renaissance Europe. An exhibition in Bath explores the politics of wedlock and painting - New Generation Thinker Christina Faraday has been to visit. Eleanor Chan has been studying the history of depicting musical notes on the page, whilst Sew What podcast host Isabella Rosner looks at needlework skills in Tudor England. John Gallagher hosts the conversation.Producer: Nick HolmesBBC Radio 3 is marking the anniversary of the Tudor composer William Byrd with episodes of Composer of the Week, concerts including one during the Proms season at Londonderry and other discussions - all available on BBC Sounds.You can also find Eleanor Chan's Essay about another Tudor composer - The discordant tale of Thomas Weelkes .Painted Love: Renaissance Marriage Portraits runs at the Holburne Museum in Bath until October 1st 2023.Christina Faraday's book Tudor Liveliness: Vivid Art in Post-Reformation England is out now from Yale University Press.You might also be interested in other Free Thinking conversations about Tudor history, including:The Tudor Mind with guests including Helen Hackett https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017dspTudor Families with guests including Joanne Paul and Emma Whipday https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017dvcWhat do you call a stranger with guests including Nandini Das and John Gallagher https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b89sspA collection of discussions about Shakespeare collected on the Free Thinking programme website

160 volunteers recorded over 2,400 interviews with over 1,200 people on their lived experience of the NHS - as patients, staff and members of the public in an oral history project run by the University of Manchester. Professor Stephanie Snow discusses the way these help us understand how caring for children has changed in the NHS, what it felt like to get health care and not have to pay for it and other stories which interviews with policy makers in the archives didn't reveal. The Voices of Our National Health service is held at the British Library and a book has been published Our Stories: 75 Years of the NHS from the People who Built it, Lived it and Love ithttps://www.nhs70.org.uk/story/voices-our-national-health-service-nhs https://blogs.bl.uk/sound-and-vision/2021/07/the-nhs-at-73.html Film maker Sara David talks about NHS Untold Film Stories and her documentary Khichdi which focuses on three Indian women, including the filmmaker’s mother, who trained together in India, became friends and came to work as nurses in the NHS in the 1990s You can find out more about her film and others which have been funded in this article https://www.ukri.org/news/next-generation-of-filmmakers-to-tell-nhs-untold-film-stories/ and you can find more archive films here https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/collection/nhs-on-film Dr Sarah Jilani is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker who is a Lecturer in English at City, University of LondonThis New Thinking conversation is part of a series marking NHS75 made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI. If you don’t want to miss an episode sign up for the BBC Arts & Ideas podcast from BBC Sounds.