
The Reith Lectures
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
Latest episodes

Dec 7, 2022 • 29min
2. Rhyddid i Addoli
Rowan Williams cyn Archesgob Cymru a Chaergaint yn traddodi ei ddarlith Reith i'r BBC yn y Gymraeg gan drafod ffydd a rhyddid. Yn ôl yr Arglwydd Acton, yr awdur ar ryddid o'r 19 ganrif a ddyfynnir yn y ddarlith, rhyddid crefyddol yw sail pob rhyddid gwleidyddol. Mae Rowan Williams yn cymhwyso hyn yng nghyd destun De Affrica, y gwrthdaro yn y ddadl gyfoes am erthylu ac amryw bynciau eraill. Dadleuir fod rhyddid i addoli yn gorfod cynnwys y rhyddid i fynegi argyhoeddiadau yn ogystal a'r rhyddid i gyd-gyfarfod.Recordiwyd y fersiwn Saesneg o'r ddarlith a sesiwn cwestiwn ac ateb o flaen cynulleidfa ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe gydag Anita Anand yn cyflwyno. Cyflwynir y ddarlith yn y Gymraeg gan John Roberts. Araith yr Arlywydd Franklin D. Roosevelt yn 1941 ar y pedwar rhyddid yw’r ysbrydoliaeth ar gyfer darlithoedd Reith 2022 gan holi pa mor hanfodol yw'r pedwar rhyddid heddiw. Traddodir pedair darlithydd yn Saesneg. Darlith Rowan Williams yn unig sydd wedi ei recordio yn y Gymraeg. Trafodir:
Rhyddid i lefaru gan Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
Rhyddid i addoli gan Rowan Williams,
Rhyddid rhag angen gan Darren McGarvey,
Rhyddid rhag ofn gan Fiona Hill. Cynhyrchydd y gyfres: Jim Frank
Cynhyrchydd y fersiwn Gymraeg: John Roberts (Cwmni Tonnau Cyf.)
Peirianwyr sain: Rod Farquhar, Neil Churchill a Gareth Turrell
Cydlynydd cynhyrchu: Brenda Brown
Golygydd: Hugh Levinson

Dec 7, 2022 • 1h 11min
2. Freedom of Worship
Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, gives the second of the 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing faith and liberty. In his lecture, he cites Lord Acton, the 19th Century thinker on freedom, who said that religious freedom is the basis of all political freedom. Williams addresses this with reference to South Africa and today's controversies around the abortion debate. He argues that for religious believers, freedom of worship must mean the freedom to express conviction, not just the freedom to meet. The lecture and question-and-answer session is recorded at Swansea University in front of an audience. The presenter is Anita Anand.The year's series was inspired by President Franklin D Roosevelt's four freedoms speech of 1941 and asks what this terrain means now. It features four different lecturers: Freedom of Speech by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
Freedom to Worship by Rowan Williams
Freedom from Want by Darren McGarvey
Freedom from Fear by Fiona HillProducer: Jim Frank
Sound Engineers: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill
Production Coordinators: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson

43 snips
Nov 30, 2022 • 1h 10min
1. Freedom of Speech
Best-selling Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gives the first of four 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing freedom of speech. She argues that it feels like freedom of speech is under attack. Cancel culture, arguments about “wokeness" and the assault on Salman Rushdie have produced a febrile atmosphere. Meanwhile autocrats and populists have undermined the very notion of an accepted fact-based truth which lives above politics. So how do we calibrate freedom in this context? If we have the freedom to offend, where do we draw the line? This lecture and question-and-answer session is recorded in London in front of an audience and presented by Anita Anand.The year's series was inspired by President Franklin D Roosevelt's four freedoms speech of 1941 and asks what this terrain means now?
It features four different lecturers. In addition to Chimamanda, they are:
Freedom of Worship by Rowan Williams
Freedom from Want by Darren McGarvey
Freedom from Fear by Fiona HillProducer: Jim Frank
Sound Engineers: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson

38 snips
Dec 22, 2021 • 58min
AI: A Future for Humans
Stuart Russell suggests a way forward for human control over super-powerful artificial intelligence. He argues for the abandonment of the current “standard model” of AI, proposing instead a new model based on three principles - chief among them the idea that machines should know that they don’t know what humans’ true objectives are. Echoes of the new model are already found in phenomena as diverse as menus, market research, and democracy. Machines designed according to the new model would be, Russell suggests, deferential to humans, cautious and minimally invasive in their behaviour and, crucially, willing to be switched off. He will conclude by exploring further the consequences of success in AI for our future as a species.Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley.The programme and question-and-answer session was recorded at the National Innovation Centre for Data in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

9 snips
Dec 15, 2021 • 58min
AI in the economy
Professor Stuart Russell explores the future of work and one of the most concerning issues raised by Artificial Intelligence: the threat to jobs. How will the economy adapt as work is increasingly done by machines? Economists’ forecasts range from rosy scenarios of human-AI teamwork, to dystopian visions in which most people are excluded from the economy altogether. Was the economist Keynes correct when he said that we were born to “strive”? If much of the work in future will be carried out by machines, what does that mean for humans? What will we do? Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Centre for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture and question-and-answer session was recorded at Edinburgh University.
Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound: Neil Churchill and Hal Haines

Dec 8, 2021 • 58min
AI in warfare
Stuart Russell warns of the dangers of developing autonomous weapon systems - arguing for a system of global control. Weapons that locate, select, and engage human targets without human supervision are already available for use in warfare,. Some argue that AI will reduce collateral damage and civilian casualties. Others believe it could kill on a scale not seen since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Will future wars be fought entirely by machines, or will one side surrender only when its real losses, military or civilian, become unacceptable? Professor Russell will examine the motivation of major powers developing these types of weapons, the morality of creating algorithms that decide to kill humans, and possible ways forward for the international community as it struggles with these questions.Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Centre for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture and question-and-answer session was recorded at Manchester University.
Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown

21 snips
Dec 1, 2021 • 58min
The Biggest Event in Human History
Stuart Russell explores the future of Artificial Intelligence and asks; how can we get our relationship with it right? Professor Russell is founder of the Centre for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley. In this lecture he reflects on the birth of AI, tracing our thinking about it back to Aristotle. He outlines the definition of AI, its successes and failures, and the risks it poses for the future. Referencing the representation of AI systems in film and popular culture, Professor Russell will examine whether our fears are well founded. He will explain what led him – alongside previous Reith Lecturer Professor Stephen Hawking to say that “success would be the biggest event in human history … and perhaps the last event in human history.” Stuart will ask how this risk arises and whether it can be avoided, allowing humanity and AI to coexist successfully.This lecture and question-and-answer session was recorded at the Alan Turing Institute at the British Library in London.
Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound: Neil Churchill and Hal Haines

28 snips
Dec 23, 2020 • 58min
From Climate Crisis to Real Prosperity
Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of England, discusses the deep crisis of values behind the climate change threat. He proposes creating an ecosystem where society's values expand the market's conception of value. The podcast covers the impact of the Industrial Revolution on climate, the transition to a green economy, aligning the financial sector towards net zero, valuing natural assets, achieving global zero net carbon emissions, and the urgent need for climate action.

Dec 16, 2020 • 58min
From Covid Crisis to Renaissance
Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, observes that the pandemic has forced states to confront how we value health, wealth and opportunity. During the first few months of the crisis, most states chose to value human life more than the economic well-being of the nation-state. But if that seems to be changing how do we assess value in this sense? Dr Carney elucidates surprising differences in the financial value put on a human life in different nations – and goes on to argue that this reductionist approach fails to take into account deeper thinking about the worth of human existence.Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson

Dec 9, 2020 • 58min
From Credit Crisis to Resilience
Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, takes us back to the high drama of the financial crisis of 2008, which ended a period when bankers saw themselves as unassailable Masters of the Universe. More than a decade on, how much have the bankers changed their ways? How far has the financial sector changed? Dr Carney says that we must remain vigilant and resist the “three lies of finance.” If we don’t, he warns, we will live with a system which is ill-prepared for the next crisis. Presenter: Anita Anand
Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson
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