The Reith Lectures

Professor Laurence Martin, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, considers the strategic policy of the nuclear age in his series of Reith lectures 'The Two-Edged Sword'.In his second lecture entitled 'Plausibility and Horror', Professor Martin questions how to avoid a nuclear war. Is the horror of mutually assured destruction enough to deter countries from using their nuclear weapons? Professor Martin debates how countries protect their own security at the same time as averting the total destruction of the world. Evaluating the role of the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks or SALT for short, he asks, can any policy provide absolute assurance of not allowing a nuclear war?

Professor Laurence Martin, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, evaluates the subject of war and peace in a nuclear age in his series of Reith Lectures entitled 'The Two-Edged Sword'. Looking at the question of nuclear armament, Professor Martin surveys the landscape of the strategic policies relating to nuclear weapons. In his first lecture entitled 'If you knows of a better 'ole…', he asks how we can avert all out nuclear war. He brings in to question how nations govern and protect national security, whilst exploring the question; does an arms race naturally lead to war? He argues that new technology, rather than nastier technology, is not necessarily a bad thing for society.

British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in his sixth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'.In this lecture entitled 'Let's Kill All the Lawyers', Sir Ian Kennedy explores how consumerism can regulate the medical industry. He explains how consumerism sets standards, measures performances and provides sanctions for the medical profession. He compares Britain's free National Health Service with the privatised American Health Care System to analyse the best ways of managing the accountability of doctors.

British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in the fifth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'.In this lecture entitled 'The Doors of Mental Illness', Professor Kennedy explores the concepts of mental illness. Professor Kennedy questions the responsibility and power placed in the hands of medical experts and evaluates how mental differences are treated in society. He considers what mental health really is and demonstrates the shaky ground that the concept of mental illness rests on. Is it a medical complaint or is it a judgement created by society to highlight abnormalities?

British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in the fourth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'.In this lecture entitled 'If I Were You, Mrs B', Professor Kennedy contemplates the ethical medical issues that doctors have to make and debates whether they are trained enough to decide such complex issues. He argues that doctors are making principled and moral decisions rather than just technically medical ones and with this blurring of boundaries comes consequences. He explores some examples to argue his point that doctors need to be trained in the humanities and not just the sciences.

British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in the third Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'.In this lecture entitled 'Suffer the Little Children', Professor Kennedy considers how the National Health Service needs reforming and gives a conceptual blue print of how he believes improvements should be completed. Exploring the political, economic and social decisions which influence the way the NHS is run, he questions whether more preventative measures could be taken to stop certain illnesses reaching hospitalisation level?

British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in the second Reith lecture in his series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'.In this lecture entitled 'The New Magicians', Sir Ian Kennedy compiles a list of the inappropriate directions that modern medicine has taken, revealing how he believes that it can be pinpointed to the medical education system. He complains medical practitioners have become driven by solving problems of science to the detriment of humanity.

This year's lecturer is the British academic lawyer Professor Sir Ian Kennedy. He founded of the Centre of Law, Medicine and Ethics in 1978 and has lectured at prestigious universities in London, California and Mexico. Professor Kennedy explores the concepts of modern medicine in his Reith lecture series entitled 'Unmasking Medicine'. In his first lecture entitled 'The Rhetoric of Medicine', Professor Kennedy reviews how we define illnesses. Examining the role of the doctor in the modern world, Professor Kennedy questions the power medical authorities have over our minds and bodies. He calls for the public to become masters of medicine by learning its complicated language. He explores the political and social judgement centred on the definition of ill health, and asks, what is illness?

In his sixth Reith Lecture, Professor Ali Mazrui examines Africa's physical location on the globe in relation to its economic, political and military destiny. The Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan gives his last lecture in the series entitled 'The African Condition'. In this lecture entitled 'In Search of Pax Africana', Professor Mazrui explains that geographically, Africa is the most central of all continents, but politically and militarily it is probably the most marginal. What are the implications of this paradox, and how is Africa to get out of the prison-house of political dwarfs situated in the middle of the City of Man?

Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ali Mazrui, explores Africa's lack of cohesion in his fifth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The African Condition'. In this lecture entitled 'Patterns of Identity', Professor Ali Mazrui argues that an understanding of the size and fragmentation of Africa is essential in diagnosing the nature of its aches and pains.