The Reith Lectures

Philosopher Michael Sandel discusses the inaugural Reith Lectures given by Bertrand Russell in 1948 and 1949. They explore controlling savage instincts, forbidden impulses, and the tension between government control and individual freedom. They also discuss the importance of non-conformity, the feasibility of a global government, the role of daydreams and escapism in society, and concerns about anti-science movements.

Bestselling author Hilary Mantel discusses the transformative power of adaptations in storytelling. She articulates how different mediums can breathe new life into historical narratives. Mantel emphasizes that adaptation is not a betrayal of the original work but an act of creative collaboration. With anecdotes about her own experiences, she explores the challenges and nuances of portraying historical figures, especially in theater. Her insights underscore the essential role of art in understanding our past, reminding us that without it, history may become a mere flicker.

Bestselling author Hilary Mantel shares her insights on bringing history alive through fiction, emphasizing the delicate dance between factual accuracy and imaginative storytelling. She reflects on the challenges of 'resurrection' in historical fiction, particularly how to balance narrative instinct with historical truth. Mantel critiques popular narratives while exploring the empathy required to understand historical figures. Her observations on the emotional ties between history and modern identity invite listeners to reconsider the past's relevance to contemporary issues.

Hilary Mantel, a best-selling author renowned for her novels about Thomas Cromwell, delivers a powerful lecture on Polish writer Stanislawa Przybyszewska. She examines Przybyszewska's obsessive relationship with history, which ultimately led to her isolation and early death. Mantel poses challenging questions about the sacrifices artists make for authenticity, the complexities of historical perception, and the importance of skepticism in today's 'post-truth' landscape. Her insights bridge past and present, illuminating the struggles of embodying history in literature.

Hilary Mantel, the acclaimed author known for her captivating novels about the Tudor court, dives deep into how we perceive history. She challenges us to think critically about the romanticized and often brutal representations of the past. Mantel warns against oversimplified comparisons like those between the English Reformation and Brexit and emphasizes the importance of revisiting untold stories, particularly of women. Throughout her lectures, she reflects on the complex interplay between history, memory, and fiction, urging us to respect the past's strangeness.

Art can bring the dead back to life, argues the late novelist Hilary Mantel, starting with the story of her own great-grandmother. 'We sense the dead have a vital force still,' she says. 'They have something to tell us, something we need to understand. Using fiction and drama, we try to gain that understanding.' She describes how and why she began to write fiction about the past, and how her view of her trade has evolved. We cannot hear or see the past, she says, but 'we can listen and look'. This was the first of a series of five lectures recorded in 2017, in which Dame Hilary discussed the role that history plays in our culture. How can we understand the past, she asks, and how can we convey its nature today? Above all, she believed, we must all try to respect the past amid all its strangeness and complexity. This lecture is being rebroadcast as a tribute to Dame Hilary. It was recorded in front of an audience at Halle St Peter's in Manchester, followed by a question and answer session chaired by Sue Lawley. Producer: Jim Frank Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Hugh Levinson

The philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah says the idea of "Western civilization" or "Western culture" is a mistaken one and that we should abandon it.He uncovers the history of the idea from its roots at the time of the Crusades to its modern incarnation in the second half of the 20th century. However, we have very little culturally in common with our forebears in say the England of Chaucer's time. And indeed much of the knowledge supposedly at the heart of Western civilisation was actually transmitted via Islamic scholarship. No-one, he argues, can claim exclusive ownership of culture. "The values European humanists like to espouse belong just as easily to an African or an Asian who takes them up with enthusiasm as to a European," he says.The lecture is recorded in front of an audience at New York University in Appiah's adopted home city. The series is presented and chaired by Sue LawleyThe producer is Jim Frank.

The philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations. He tells the story of Anton Wilhelm Amo Afer. He was five years old when he was brought from the Gold Coast to Germany in 1707, educated at a royal court and became an eminent philosopher. He argues that this elaborate Enlightenment experiment illuminates a series of mistaken ideas , including that there is a "racial essence" which all members of that race carry. Modern science long ago disproved this, as almost all of the world's genetic variation is found within every so-called racial group. Instead, "race is something we make; not something that makes us."The lecture is recorded in front of an audience at the British Council in Accra, Ghana. The series is presented and chaired by Sue LawleyThe producer is Jim Frank.

The philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah argues against a mythical, romantic view of nationhood, saying instead it should rest on a commitment to shared values.He explores the history of the idea, born in the 19th century, that there are peoples who are bound together by an ancient common spirit and that each of these nations is entitled to its own state. He says this idea is a mistaken one, illustrating his argument through the life story of the writer who took the pen name Italo Svevo - meaning literally Italian Swabian. He was born a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and became a citizen of the new republic of Italy, all without leaving his home city of Trieste. Appiah argues that states exist as a set of shared beliefs rather than membership of some sort of mythical and ancient group. "What binds citizens together is a commitment," he says, "to sharing the life of a modern state, united by its institutions, procedures and precepts."The lecture is recorded in front of an audience at the University of Glasgow. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Future lectures will examine the themes of colour and culture.The producer is Jim Frank.

Philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah argues that when considering religion we overestimate the importance of scripture and underestimate the importance of practice.He begins with the complexities of his own background, as the son of an English Anglican mother and a Ghanaian Methodist father. He turns to the idea that religious faith is based around unchanging and unchangeable holy scriptures. He argues that over the millennia religious practice has been quite as important as religious writings. He provides examples from Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Buddhist texts to show that they are often contradictory and have been interpreted in different ways at different times, for example on the position of women and men in Islam. He argues that fundamentalists are a particularly extreme example of this mistaken scriptural determinism.The lecture is recorded in front of audience at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The series is presented and chaired by Sue Lawley. Future lectures will examine identity in the contexts of country, colour and culture.The producer is Jim Frank.