Arts & Ideas

Archiving or hoarding - the mother in Ruth Ozeki's new novel The Book of Form and Emptiness is overwhelmed by the newspaper cuttings she is supposed to categorise for her job. In his new history of indexes, Dennis Duncan tells us about why people were criticised as "index rakers" in the Restoration, and the links between Cicero, the idea of alphabetical ordering and a former Bishop of Lincoln. Saxophone player Alam Nathoo is helping Ruth Ozeki launch her novel at the Southbank Centre in London and he joins us to explore the ideas of structure and improvising in jazz music.Ruth Ozeki launches her new novel The Book of Form and Emptiness at the Southbank Centre London alongside a performance by Alam Nathoo on October 7th. BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting a series of concerts from Southbank Centre London - all available to listen to on BBC Sounds. Dennis Duncan's book is called Index, A History of the You can hear him discussing title pages and marginalia in a Free Thinking episode called Book Parts and Difficulty https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006tnf and translation in an episode called Africa, Babel, China https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002h89Producer: Luke Mulhall

Would he condemn Hitler? That's the question novelist Thomas Mann was continually asked, after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 following novels such as Buddenbrooks and The Magic Mountain. Colm Toibin's new novel The Magician details the differences of opinion between Mann and his brother, and the way his children were part of a bold and experimental younger generation of writers. Anne McElvoy brings Colm Toibin, Sean Williams and Dr Erica Wickerson together for a discussion about Mann's life and writing and the pressure put upon writers to make a public stand on topical issues.Colm Toibin is the author of ten novels including Brooklyn, Nora Webster and The Testament of Mary. His latest book, The Magician, is out now.Sean Williams is a BBC Radio 3 AHRC New Generation Thinker and Senior Lecturer in German and European Cultural History in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Sheffield.Erica Wickerson, is the author of The Architecture of Narrative Time: Thomas Mann and the Problems of Modern Narrative, she's a British Academy Rising Star and recent holder of a research fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge.Producer: Ruth WattsImage: Colm Toibin Credit: Reynaldo RiveraYou can find Colm Toibin in a Free Thinking discussion about women's voices in the Classical world recorded at Hay Festival https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rsrlt and talking about his novels at the 2012 Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p2shpYou can find Free Thinking discussions about German culture including Neil McGregor and crime writer Volker Kutscherhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079mcgf New Angles on Post-War Germany and Austria with Sophie Hardach and Florian Huber https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006sjx Mocking Power past and present with Daniel Kelhmann, Karen Leeder https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dzww Anne McElvoy talks to Susan Neimann, Christopher Hampton and Ursula Owen about tolerance, censorship and free speech and lessons from German history https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008hvz

From a "monthly nurse" registered in the census, to local newspaper reports of strikes and industrial accidents, an auction of household goods and furniture to the records of an asylum: just some of the sources and stories that have gone into the most recent programmes broadcast in the BBC TV series A House Through Time. In this podcast exploring the research process, producer Kat Feavers and freelance researcher and historian Melanie Backe-Hansen share some of the work that goes on behind the scenes with presenter John Gallagher, including a discussion about why house numbers can be misleading, some of the family histories which didn't make it on air and the difficulties of finding proof when interpreting some historical records. A House Through Time is made for the BBC by the twenty twenty production company and you can see episodes of series 4 on the i player now A book from the series is now available co-written by Melanie and the presenter David Olusoga Melanie Backe-Hansen's website is http://www.house-historian.co.uk/ This podcast is made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) which is part of UKRI. A playlist on the Free Thinking programme website called New Research collects all the episodes together https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03zws90

Historical novelist Philippa Gregory, historians Susan Doran and Nandini Das, and literary scholar and author Adam Roberts join Matthew Sweet at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry to discuss the enduring appeal of Tudor history and the role that historical fiction plays in shaping our view of history. Plus the connection between Sir Walter Scott and nearby Kenilworth Castle. Part of the BBC Contains Strong Language festival.Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens opens at the British Library opens 8 October 2021–20 February 2022. Professor Susan Doran has edited the exhibition catalogue and will be giving an online talk on October 13th called Too Close to Her Throne: The Other Cousins Kenilworth Castle and Garden are run by English Heritage https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenilworth-castle/ Walter Scott (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) wrote many historical novels including Kenilworth - his account of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Leicester and the murder of his wife Amy Robsart which was published 13 January 1821. Philippa Gregory's novels include The Other Boleyn Girl, The King's Curse and her current Fairmile Series. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London. Adam Roberts teaches at Royal Holloway, University of London and Nandini Das teaches at the University of Oxford. She is a BBC/ARHC New Generation Thinker.You can find a Free Thinking discussion about Waverly available to download as an Arts & Ideas podcast from the Free Thinking programme website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04dr39q There is also a discussion about how we used to feel in the past and the idea of emotional history which hears from author and historian Tracy Borman https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003zp2Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Rebellion and causing offence: Shahidha Bari looks at punk and finds that beyond the filth and the fury of the ‘70s music scene, it provided a new vocabulary for artists that’s shaped the cultural scene to the present day, with photographs of the British punk scene on show, a new documentary coming in the Autumn and the opening of a play this week drawing on the idea of punk. Shahidha's guests are: Morgan Lloyd Malcolm whose drama, opening in Sheffield, features women in a prison becoming inspired by a punk band; Philip Venables, the classical composer of works including 4:48 Psychosis and Denis and Katya; musican and 6 music broadcaster Tom Robinson, and Radio 3 and AHRC New Generation Thinker Diarmuid Hester, author of Wrong, A Critical Biography of Denis Cooper. They look at figures ranging from Rimbaud up to the Slits and Derek Jarman. Plus - as Ru Paul's Drag Show returns to TV, Diarmuid Hester considers an earlier portrayal of queer culture in the paintings of Edward Burra.Typical Girls - Morgan Lloyd Malcolm's play produced by Sheffield Theatres and Clean Break runs from Sept 24th to October 16th You can find out more about Philip Venables at https://philipvenables.com/ Diarmuid Hester's website with information about his queer tours of Cambridge and Rye https://www.diarmuidhester.com/ The photographs of Michael Grecco and Kevin Cummins were on show at Photo London. Rebel Dykes, is a documentary set in 1980s post punk London, directed by Harri Shanahan and Sian A. Williams Edward Burra's work is on show at the Rye Art Gallery in Burra and Friends (until October 3rd).Producer: Luke Mulhall

Soil nurtures plant, animal and human life. Industrial farming practices have depleted soil and agrochemicals have been used to revive it. In recent years some farmers have adopted regenerative methods, to create and nurture soil, before turning their attention to growing crops and livestock. So what does the latest research suggests we need to change if we are to encourage greater sustainability in our soil culture and practices? Des Fitzgerald talks to Maria Puig de la Bellacasa and Daryl Stump about how we might change the way we think about and treat soil. Maria Puig de la Bellacasa is an AHRC Leadership Fellow and a Reader at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies, University of Warwick. Her research covers science and technology studies, feminist theory and environmental humanities. Her current work explores the formation of novel ecological cultures, looking at how connections between scientific knowing, social and community movements, and art interventions are contributing to transformative ethics, politics and justice. Her current work explores the changes in human-soil relations. Inspired by a range of interventions and practices from science, community activism, art, and soil policy and advocacy, Maria explores contemporary human-soil encounters that happen beyond the usual uses of soil for production. Through her research, Maria hopes to change the way we relate to soils and to contribute to nurturing everyday ecological awareness. You can find details about Maria’s research here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT00665X%2F1. And, you can watch a talk Maria gave for the Serpentine Galleries here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfNSPx24f2l Daryl Stump is an archaeologist in the Departments of Archaeology and Environment and Geography at the University of York. His research makes use of archaeological techniques to assess the sustainability of human-environment interactions, with a particular focus on historic agricultural systems in eastern Africa. He is currently leading on the AHRC-funded project, SOIL-SAFE, which explores the benefits of soil erosion and river-side sediment traps for agricultural production and, in turn, food security. Building on relationships with agricultural NGOs in the UK, Europe and eastern Africa, this project combines archaeological, ethnobotanical and development studies research to design a method of assessing the costs and benefits of sediment traps that can be applied by NGOs and researchers to a range of social and ecological environments worldwide. It aims to benefit rural communities where soil erosion presents a serious threat to their future livelihoods. You can find details about Daryl’s research here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT004185%2F1 And here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV000551%2F1#/tabOverview Professor Des Fitzgerald is a New Generation Thinker based at the University of Exeter.You can find a new podcast series Green Thinking: 26 episodes 26 minutes long in the run up to COP26 made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI, exploring the latest research and ideas around understanding and tackling the climate and nature emergency. New Generation Thinkers Des Fitzgerald and Eleanor Barraclough will be in conversation with researchers on a wide-range of subjects from cryptocurrencies and finance to eco poetry and fast fashion.The podcasts are all available from the Arts & Ideas podcast feed - and collected on the Free Thinking website under Green Thinking where you can also find programmes on festivals, rivers, eco-criticism and the weather. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07zg0r2 For more information about the research the AHRC’s supports around climate change and the natural world you can visit: https://www.ukri.org/our-work/responding-to-climate-change/ or follow @ahrcpress on twitter. To join the discussion about the research covered in this podcast and the series please use the hashtag #GreenThinkingPodcast.Producer: Ruth Watts

Hannah Arendt tackled the big ideas behind possibly the most dangerous period of the twentieth century: Anti-Semitism, Imperialism and Totalitarianism. These phenomena and the concepts of freedom and evil were all the more immediate to her, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in her writing which has often focused on mass propaganda, the differences between fact and fiction and the rise of the strong man leader. It's 70 years since Hannah Arendt published The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, so what does a re-reading of it tell us about our own world?Anne McElvoy is joined by the guests: Author and journalist Paul Mason, who has just published a book called How to Stop Fascism; Samantha Rose Hill is a senior research fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and the Humanities and her latest book is a biography, Hannah Arendt (2021). Her edition of Hannah Arendt's Poems will be published in 2022. Daniel Johnson is a journalist and the editor of The Article And, Gavin Delahunty is the curator of On Hannah Arendt: Eight Proposals for Exhibition running at the Richard Saltoun Gallery throughout 2021.Producer: Ruth WattsIn the Free Thinking archives and available to download as an Arts & Ideas podcast: Anne McElvoy talks to Susan Neimann, Christopher Hampton and Ursula Owen about tolerance, censorship and free speech and lessons from German history https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008hvz Matthew Sweet looks at What Nietszche Teaches Us with biographer Sue Prideaux and philosophers Hugo Drochon and Katrina Mitcheson https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000d8k Orwell's 1984: A Landmark of Culture brings together Peter Pomerantsev, Joanna Kavenna, Dorian Lynskey and Lisa Mullen to explore Orwell's ideas about surveillance and propaganda. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005nrl

"I have no relation or friend" - words spoken by Frankenstein's monster in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel. That story, alongside Georg Büchner's expressionist classic Woyzeck, has inspired the new production for English National Ballet put together by Akram Khan.He joins poet Hannah Lowe, who's been reflecting on her experiences of teaching London teenagers; Tash Aw, who explores his Chinese and Malaysian heritage, and his status as insider and outsider in memoir Strangers on a Pier; and New Generation Thinker Eleanor Lybeck, who's been looking at the images of music hall performance and circus life in the paintings of Walter Sickert (1860 - 1942) and Laura Knight (1877-1970) for a conversation exploring different ideas about belonging.Shahidha Bari hosts.Creature: a co-production between English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen opens at Sadler's Wells on 23rd Sept and then tours internationally. Hannah Lowe's new collection from Bloodaxe is called The Kids. Strangers on a Pier by Tash Aw is published by Fourth Estate. Sickert: A Life in Art is on show at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool from 18 Sep 2021—27 Feb 2022. It's the largest retrospective in the UK for 30 years. Laura Knight: A Panoramic View is on show at the Milton Keynes Gallery from 9 Oct 2021 - 20 Feb 2022. Eleanor Lybeck is an academic on the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council called New Generation Thinkers which turns research into radio. She is a lecturer in Irish Literature at the University of Liverpool and explored her own family history and her great grandfather's links with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in a short Sunday Feature for Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pqsqrProducer: Tim BanoImage: Akram Khan Credit: Jean-Louis FernandezYou might also be interested in our exploration of language and belonging in which the writers Preti Taneja, Michael Rosen, Guy Gunaratne, Deena Mohamed, Dina Nayeri and Momtaza Mehri compare notes https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006fh9

The fast fashion industry stands accused of depleting natural resources, creating vast carbon emissions and producing endless garments destined for landfill. So, what can be done? Researchers across creative and scientific disciplines have been looking at how the fashion industry can cut waste, recycle, consume less – and, critically, change our attitudes to what we wear. Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough talks to Professor Jane Harris and Professor Simon McQueen Mason about how we can change clothes production and curb our shopping habits. Professor Jane Harris is Director of Research and Innovation (Stratford) and Professor of Digital Design and Innovation at the University of the Arts London. She has over 25 years’ experience in transdisciplinary research, with a background in textile design and extensive experience of computer graphic imaging. Through her research, Professor Harris has devised novel approaches to the digital representation of dress and textiles. She is also Director of the Business of Fashion, Textiles and Technology (BFTT), a five-year industry-led project, funded by the Industrial Strategy through the Arts and Humanities Research Council and part of the Creative Industries Cluster Programme. The project, which delivers sustainable innovation within the entire fashion and textile supply chain, aims to create a new business culture that supports fashion, textiles and technology businesses of all sizes to use R&D to grow. Its focus on sustainability centres around sustainable design and business practice, material usage, and new methods of manufacturing. You can read more about the project here: https://bftt.org.uk/ and its recent report co-authored by here: https://bftt.org.uk/publications/ Professor Simon McQueen-Mason is Chair in Materials Biology at the University of York. His research encompasses various aspects of plant cell wall biology. He is a member of the UKRI-funded Textiles Circularity Centre (Royal College of Art, RCA) and its Materials Circularity Research Strand where his work plays a critical role in helping to establish new processes for using biotechnology to convert household waste and used textiles into new, functional and regenerative textiles designed for circularity. His research makes use of waste cellulose to create textile fibres, which are sent from the University of York to the University of Cranfield where they are spun to make new textiles. These textiles are then sent to the Royal College of Art for the students to design and make new clothing with. You can read more about McQueen Mason’s work around sustainable fashion here: https://www.plasticexpert.co.uk/york-biologists-discover-method-of-turning-waste-into-fashion/ and his latest project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), and here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FT017023%2F1#/tabOverview You can also read more about the Textiles Circularity Centre here: https://www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/research-centres/materials-science-research-centre/textiles-circularity-centre/ and find out more about the five UKRI-funded circular economy research centres here: https://www.ukri.org/news/circular-economy-centres-to-drive-uk-to-a-sustainable-future/ Dr Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough is a New Generation Thinker based at the University of Durham.You can find a new podcast series Green Thinking: 26 episodes 26 minutes long in the run up to COP26 made in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UKRI, exploring the latest research and ideas around understanding and tackling the climate and nature emergency. New Generation Thinkers Des Fitzgerald and Eleanor Barraclough will be in conversation with researchers on a wide-range of subjects from cryptocurrencies and finance to eco poetry and fast fashion.The podcasts are all available from the Arts & Ideas podcast feed - and collected on the Free Thinking website under Green Thinking where you can also find programmes on festivals, rivers, eco-criticism and the weather. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07zg0r2 For more information about the research the AHRC’s supports around climate change and the natural world you can visit: https://www.ukri.org/our-work/responding-to-climate-change/ or follow @ahrcpress on twitter. To join the discussion about the research covered in this podcast and the series please use the hashtag #GreenThinkingPodcast.Producer: Ruth Watts

One definition of a glitch is a short-lived fault in a system operating otherwise as it should. Glitches in digital systems have been used by artists for at least a decade to produce work with a characteristic aesthetic, that invite reflection on the computer systems that play an ever bigger part in our lives. Matthew Sweet is joined by the artists and theorist of glitches Rosa Menkman and Antonio Roberts to discuss the glitch as a meeting point between technology and aesthetics, along with the novelist Tom McCarthy whose new novel The Making of Incarnation features the work of the psychologist and industrial engineer Lilian Gilbreth (1878-1972), who developed a series of time-and-motion studies which aimed to improve the organisation of factory production lines, and ultimately arrive at the one most efficient way of doing everything. And they're joined by the philosopher Hugo Drochon, who's investigated conspiracy theories and the role glitches play for people who follow them.The Making of Incarnation by Tom McCarthy is published in September 2021. Antonio Roberts' website is https://www.hellocatfood.com/ Rosa Menkman's is http://rosa-menkman.blogspot.com/Producer: Luke MulhallYou can find Tom McCarthy in a Free Thinking conversation about the "experimentalism" of Alain Robbe Grillet https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000xr4m and he discusses a previous novel Satin Island in this episode with Anne McElvoy https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054t24q