World Questions

How second cities around the world can find a new shape and Houben's focus on transport patterns and the way people use public space. Recorded in partnership with RIBA.

The Olympic Cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick talks about the importance of 'making', getting your hands dirty and asking the right questions when designing a project. Recorded in partnership with RIBA.

David Adjaye has been described as an architect with an 'artist's sensibility'. His internationally renowned buildings are defined by his bold use of innovative materials, and imbued with the stories of people and dynamics of place. In this programme, recorded in partnership with RIBA, David Adjaye talks to Razia Iqbal about his approach to building, his many journeys and the projects and experiences that have defined him.

The Psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison is a world leading specialist in bipolar disorder, and suffers from the condition herself. She shares her unique perspective with A.C.Grayling and an audience at Wellcome Collection, London.

Why do locusts swarm? How do ants manage their traffic flow so much better than humans? Iain Couzin talks to Matthew Sweet about what we can learn from collective animal behaviour.

Henry Markram has received the biggest personal grant in the history of science. He has a billion euros to build a super computer which will replicate the human brain. He tells A.C.Grayling and an audience at Wellcome Collection how the virtual brain will reveal revolutionise the treatment of mental disorders.

Molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler, a world specialist in how bacteria communicate within the human body, discusses the key to solving the antibiotic problem and her groundbreaking discoveries in bacterial communication. Topics covered include the fascinating world of bacteria, their roles in our bodies, the concept of quorum sensing in bacterial communication, challenges posed by harmful bacteria and antibiotic resistance, and potential alternative strategies for treating bacterial infections.

Why doesn’t money make us happy? French economist Daniel Cohen explores the paradox of why growing economies do not lead to growing satisfaction with life. He tells Justin Rowlatt, and an audience at Paris Dauphine University that economics focusses us on competition while it’s cooperation and free-giving that makes us happy.

He has been described as a ‘super hero of the mind’ and ‘the hottest thinker in the world; the one-time business trader and full-time philosopher of randomness Nassim Nicholas Taleb joins Justin Rowlatt and an audience at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne in Paris for a special event staged in partnership with Paris Dauphine University.