A Point of View

"Could it be that human rights simply don't exist?" asks Will Self provocatively. To illustrate his point, he writes: "One man's extraordinary rendition is another man's license to torture, which in turn is a flagrant denial of a third man's human rights". And he ponders how we can conceive of a person having any human rights, unless effective sanctions are in place to stop them being violated. He turns his attention to Syria and its "vicious dictator...actively and consistently violating the human rights of its own citizenry". But the UN Security Council is - he says - seemingly powerless to stop him. It is all a long way, he suggests, from Article 1 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." That - he points out - means that "no single one of the eight-and-a-half billion-odd human lives currently transpiring can be held to be of greater value that any of the others". Without the creation of an "independent global judiciary" and "an equally incorruptible international police force," he argues, this is little more than cant. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Will Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of "difficult" books and art, and value works which are more taxing than our increasingly low-brow popular culture. "The most disturbing result of this retreat from the difficult is to be found in arts and humanities education, where the traditional set texts are now chopped up into boneless nuggets of McKnowledge, and students are encouraged to do their research - such as it is - on the web." Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine looks ahead to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, reflecting on the history and significance of royal jubilees worldwide and, in particular, the celebrations for Queen Victoria. "Diamond jubilees... are very much a construction of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: both in terms of the grandiose ceremonials accompanying them, and also in terms of the narratives that have invariably been constructed to make some sort of sense of the six decades that are being commemorated." Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine reflects at Easter time on the architectural glories of cathedrals and the part these buildings have played in our national history and culture. He traces early and more recent traditions and identifies the world wide impact of Anglican cathedral building during the era of the British Empire. Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine reflects on the changing images of the typical policeman and our attitude towards the way they look in the light of a recent report that over half of the members of the Metropolitan Police are overweight. Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine recalls the heyday of cinema and television Westerns and wonders if the makers of a big screen adaptation of the Lone Ranger will capture a new audience when the film is released next year. Despite the decline in popularity of the Western, "the appeal of the mythical West has remained a powerful force in American political life." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Historian David Cannadine reflects on the power of the press, past and present, recalling how early twentieth century press barons attempted to influence politics. He recalls Stanley Baldwin's response to the campaign by Lords Rothermere and Beaverbrook to topple him as Conservative leader, accusing them of wielding "power without responsibility." Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine reflects on the enduring resonance of the important speeches which Winston Churchill delivered in colleges and universities in the United States. Westminster College, Fulton, has "become a shrine to Churchill and his 'iron curtain' speech" and Harvard was where he gave a speech on "Anglo-American Unity". Producer: Sheila Cook.

Historian David Cannadine compares the traditions of tie wearing on both sides of the Atlantic. He reflects on the social significance of this element of male dress and observes a recent phenomenon - that politicians seem to campaign in open neck shirts but govern wearing ties. Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Cannadine reflects on the history of monetary unions and what causes them to succeed or fail. Ancient Greece turns out to be a pioneer, whereas modern Greece has posed a threat to any monetary union it has joined. Producer: Sheila Cook.