Dystopias are a longstanding staple of film and literature, particularly science fiction, but what can we learn from them? Do they simply entrench despair or act as a prompt to improve the world? And what do The Two Ronnies have to do with all this? As a stage adaptation of Kay Dick's 1977 novel 'They: A Sequence of Unease' opens at the Manchester International Festival - a work that imagines a Britain that has been purged of culture - Matthew Sweet is joined by writer Una McCormack and New Generation Thinkers Sarah Dillon and SJ Beard to trace the history of dystopias and what they tell us about the fears and preoccupations of successive generations.Producer: Torquil MacLeodMaxine Peake, Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight's adaptation of 'They: A Sequence of Unease' by Kay Dick is at John Rylands Library, Manchester 5th-9th July 2023.

Ursula Le Guin's philosophical fiction, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," is discussed by guests including Una McCormack, Naomi Alderman, Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, Kevan Manwaring, and Sophie Scott-Brown. They explore Le Guin's writing career, thought experiments, and NK Jemisin's response to Omelas. Topics include themes of colonialism, exploitation, utilitarianism, the city of Ummhalat, breaking the fourth wall in Le Guin's writing, and upcoming books by Alderman and Jikiemi-Pearson.