Mill's Breakdown Changed My Personality

Towards the end of his comic rant about the descent of man, Simon Evans does something very dangerous.

He starts to read out to his audience an extract of John Stuart Mill. Potential comedy death?

He tells Matthew Parris why the famous Victorian philosopher with the squirly hair is his idea of genius.

As well as On Liberty, Mill wrote The Subjection of Women and was the first member of Parliament to call for women's right to vote.

The expert witness is Professor Anne Phillips of the London School of Economics.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.