Four Thought

Anthony McGowan, award-winning author of novels for young adults and teenagers, thinks that the world would be a better place if we cast ourselves as the villains rather than the heroes of our own life stories and he has a personal confession to make. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Perks, state school physics teacher and founder of the Physics Factory in London, believes current science teaching is depriving children of the academic science education they deserve.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Sheila Cook.

Science writer Angela Saini confesses that as a late adopter of new technology. She struggles to reconcile a deep human desire to make, mend and recycle with the throwaway culture on which the development of new computers, gadgets and phones seems to depend. Much of this is inherited from the thrifty traditions of her parents. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Sheila Cook.

Clinical veterinary anatomist at Cambridge University and science writer David Bainbridge dispels the myth of the mid-life crisis and celebrates the evolution of middle age as a distinctively human phenomenon, central to the success of our species. Middle age is not about getting old but rather "the changes of middle age represent a developmental stage of life as distinct as infancy or adolescence," he says. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Sheila Cook.

James Daunt issues a ringing defence of printed books, and argues that libraries and local bookshops - the 'purveyors of the written word' - are vital social and cultural spaces.Brought in to turn around the Waterstones chain of bookshops, James argues that book chains should continue to play a vital role in introducing readers to books, but will only succeed if they re-connect with their communities.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.

American designer Aza Raskin proposes a design renaissance in healthcare, making it easier and more enjoyable.Whose fault is it that video recorders are hard to programme, he asks? And why do we complete so few courses of antibiotics - with all the terrible individual and social consequences?His answer in both cases is that the products are badly designed, and they don't take into account how human beings actually behave. He argues that by applying cognitive psychology, design, and feedback loops to some of our most intractable medical problems, we can dramatically improve our health.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.

Author Dreda Say Mitchell argues that the importance of cultural institutions like family, faith and community has been ignored in the debate about social mobility.Born into an extended working-class family, she found her own upbringing was influenced by each of these institutions, and she believes their importance in promoting social mobility has been underestimated.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.

Novelist and former paediatric nurse Christie Watson asks whether there are some things worse than death.She describes the extraordinary medical breakthroughs which allow children to be kept alive today who previously would have died. But she asks whether community care and medical ethics have kept up with the increasing number of technology-dependent children, that is, children who cannot breathe without life support machines.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.

Science journalist and blogger Ed Yong explores the physical and philosophical implications of being host to billions of microbes.He reports the latest science showing how the bacteria we come into contact with can profoundly affect our lives - from the ability to digest different foodstuffs to our susceptibility to asthma, diabetes and even stress and anxiety. And, he asks whether he should be seen as a human, or a universe of bacteria in a "human shaped sack"?Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.

Social anthropologist Kate Fox argues that we need to re-learn much of what we think we know about the effects of alcohol.Alcohol does not make us disinhibited, violent or anti-social, she says. Many cultures around the world, some of which drink more than we do, have none of these problems. So what causes them here?Kate Fox, whose research centre has conducted numerous studies into the social and cultural aspects of alcohol for the government, the drinks industry and others, argues that it is down to what we believe alcohol will do to us. And while she cites science and sociology, it is her conclusions about how we fight the harm currently caused by our mistaken beliefs which are so far-reaching. Out should go the approach which says alcohol causes bad behaviour, she says, with a focus instead on taking responsibility and normalising alcohol.Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London, speakers take to the stage to air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society.Producer: Giles Edwards.