In the final episode of Four Thought, Sheila Cook reflects on what she has learned from producing it for eleven years. Sheila, who left the BBC in 2022, produced around 150 episodes on Four Thought, and in this reflection on the power of hope she looks back at some of the talks which have reminded her that - amidst bad news - we are often surrounded by remarkable people, doing remarkable things. Producer: Giles Edwards

Three years on from her first appearance on Four Thought, Dr. Dina Rezk returns to Four Thought. Her first talk was about the shocking and unexpected death of her mother; this time, as she describes another bereavement, the tone is unexpectedly positively, even exultant, as Dina reflects on the difference between the two experiences. Producer: Giles Edwards

Farrah Jarral explains why she believes we need to put care at the centre of our society. Sharing a story about how her beloved grandmother's lifetime of caring for others - family members and others - meant many people wanted to care for her when the need arose, Farrah reflects on what care does for us as individuals. Producer: Giles Edwards

Ted Harrison argues that only art can truly capture the essence of spirituality. Ted is a former journalist who, close to turning sixty, decided to turn away from using words and instead chose art. It was, he says, because he realised the limitations imposed by words, and the way in which art can capture the ineffable, the spiritual. Producer: Giles Edwards

Martin Warde is the first Irish Traveller to become a professional comedian. In this talk he recounts his early years travelling before his family settled down and he and his brothers attended school in Galway. His school days weren't easy, he and other traveller boys were treated differently. One teacher however inspired him to pursue his dream of being a performer. Now as a writer and comedian focussing on Traveller life Martin examines the surprising ways people in which respond to his material - both travellers and the settled community. Martin argues it's important to engage in comedy that can make you feel uncomfortable.

Sarah Williams always wanted to become a mum. But the more she learnt about the climate crisis, the more she questioned her decision. In this talk Sarah explains why she's chosen not to have children in order to save the planet, and how she encourages others to think twice about it. She says that she is not anti-child but that overpopulation is something that should concern everyone. Sarah also points out there are more sustainable ways to start a family, like adoption.

Martin Hibbert's life changed forever in 2017. He survived the Manchester Arena bomb but was left with life-changing injuries. Now a wheelchair user, Martin says he doesn't dwell on his old life but instead embraces his new one. He says he's determined to turn an act of terror into a force for good, and now campaigns to make sure others with spinal injuries receive the support that they need.

Meg Sunshine, a 21 year old professional gamer is dedicated to becoming one of the best in the industry. Gaming is her life. But her journey has not been an easy one. She’s experienced threats of sexual violence from male gamers and has frequently felt unsafe online. She’s determined to bring about change however. In this episode she argues gaming needs to tackle its toxic culture, encourage a more diverse range of players and keep girls gaming.

Philosopher Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert describes a change in how philosophers are beginning to think about the moral capacity of animals, and asks us to think differently about our pets. Beginning with her own pet dog showing compassion for her when she is injured, Virginie explains why new research may fundamentally affect some of what we have long held to be true about animals. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Author Rachel Genn describes her fascination with regret. Rachel tells stories of regret, beginning in her earliest childhood. “An early adopter of regret,” she says, “I was displaying the prodigy’s irritating flair for it.” Producer: Giles Edwards

Anna Wardley argues that we should better support children whose parents kill themselves. Beginning her talk in the dark waters of the English Channel as she attempts to swim non-stop around the Isle of Wight, Anna describes darkness of a different kind as she explains the need for children whose parents kill themselves to be better supported. And that should start with counting them. Producer: Giles Edwards

Author Joe Nutt argues we need to fight back against what he calls 'linguistic piracy'. Joe is concerned that activists are challenging the commonly-understood meaning of words. "The trust which becomes naturally embedded over time in any shared language, is under threat," he argues, and now "the English language itself is creaking under the strain of a sustained barrage of abuse". Producer: Giles Edwards

Kasmira Kincaid opens up about the challenges of her childhood and her experiences of the care system. Despite her many personal challenges Kasmira found solace in learning and successfully graduated from Corpus Christi College. She now argues that a good education should be a basic right for everyone, no matter of age, background, or educational attainment, and that the current exam system is arbitrary. “Like most winners I never really questioned the rules of the game I was playing. But exams are some of the most artificial activities human beings can engage in. They are, after all, a closed system: the exam board sets the marking criteria, which most schools then teach to, and their students are judged by how well they fulfilled the marking criteria the exam board set.”

After an incident at school which shattered Lizi Jackson-Barrett’s confidence in her appearance, she spent much of her life chasing what society thinks of as beautiful. Only when she suffered from Alopecia at the age of forty, did she find confidence in herself and her beauty. She urges society to question engrained ideas of what beauty is. “I can’t remember ever crying as much as I did in those first months of being bald. I felt a grief that was deeper than any I’d known before. Everything I’d ever done felt so pointless: I’d spent my entire life trying to make myself look “right” and now I was further from that goal than ever.” Image Credit: The Woman And The Wolf

Crime writer Amit Dhand shares his experiences of growing up in Bradford in the 1980s. His family actively integrated with the local community. “We simply had to integrate; to talk to the locals, to create friendships. Sharing language and food was a key part of this process. It wasn’t optional – it was vital and it is how Bradford succeeded in creating a new future.” But Amit argues some of that willingness to mix has now been lost. In recent times an abandoned redevelopment project known locally as the “hole in the ground" dominated Bradford city centre for years and he says it set life in the city back. Different communities no longer had a space to congregate. Integration is, he argues, an "active process" and in this talk Amit offers solutions from sports, arts and health to get it back on track.

Former Love Island contestant Malin Andersson reflects on how reality TV changed her outlook on life and her relationship with social media. In an honest and open talk, Malin shares what led her to go on reality TV, her experience of eating disorders, how grief forced her to examine her relationship with social media, and what she learnt from being on reality TV. “Once you’re in the limelight your whole life is out there for people to see and comment on and it isn’t easy. You feel like you are constantly comparing yourself to others, you have to do more – and if you aren’t booking work or TV you feel like a failure.” Image Credit: Kimmie Hoo

Novelist Richard Owain Roberts shares a story about a friendship. Producer: Giles Edwards

Chloe Juliette welcomes the movement for those with 'lived experience' of public services to share their stories, but says more stories are needed. In this extraordinary talk Chloe, a social researcher who has experienced the care system and been invited many times to share those experiences with professionals, takes us inside one of those talks. She tells us the stories she shares with professionals, and explains why she feels now is the time for more voices to join the conversation. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Laura Simpson argues that online meetings have good for individuals and companies, and that we should be wary of returning to the status quo. The meeting, says Laura, is the fundamental unit of white collar working life. And in the last couple of years it's undergone a revolution - out have gone the suits, glass tables and rigid hierarchy; in have come moments of vulnerability, the hand raise function, and unannounced visits from children. It's happened in plain sight, but its consequences have been little discussed. Laura is a Global Director at advertising and marketing company, McCann Worldgroup. As she shares stories from some of the meetings she has been in, she explains why she believes this change has created a re-imagining of what meetings could be, and a rebalancing of power within them - with more people, and in particular more junior people and those who previously felt marginalised, empowered to contribute. Producer: Giles Edwards

Jonathan Evershed argues that we should re-imagine how we think of the Irish Sea. Jonathan is a political anthropologist who has been studying the relationship between Ireland and his native Wales since Brexit. And he believes it's time to start thinking of the Irish Sea not just as a space between the two, but as an important place itself - a place with its own history and natural history. In this talk, Jonathan invites us to join him on cliffs, in ports and on ferries, looking at the Irish Sea, as he asks us to think differently about it. Producer: Giles Edwards

Criminologist Dr Laura Bui wants us to ask the right questions when it comes to crime. The popular genre of ‘true crime’ may be popular but is it helping us better understand the origins of crime? We turn to crime novels, film and documentaries to compare ourselves to both victims and perpetrators. How different are we? This genre loves to tell us the ‘origin stories’ of infamous criminals to tell us of their childhoods and often past traumas - as if to explain their future actions. But this can have the effect of erasing the victims, diminishing their memory in some way. But is the habit of asking ‘why’ a criminal committed a crime and not ‘how’ they got to the point of becoming a criminal flawed? We take one criminal out of the public only to have them replaced by another - Laura argues asking ‘how’ helps to finally break this cycle. Presenter - Olly Mann Producer- Jordan Dunbar Editor - Tara McDermott SM- Rod Farquhar

Dr Layla McCay asks us to think again about how our buildings and towns can both benefit and harm our mental health. As a trained psychiatrist and head of the Centre for Urban Design she has brought together the research around this topic for the first time. Looking at how plants and water can reduce the risk of psychosis and ‘bumping’ places, where people can casually meet to form connections and potentially ease depression. Layla’s work as the Director of the NHS Confederation has convinced her of the importance of design and physical health but also how little attention has been paid to it’s impact on the mind. She says the concept of ‘restorative cities’ - those that help heal or calm the mind are what we should be aiming for. Designing places that help counter loneliness, improve connections and keep depression at bay. Post Pandemic can we redesign our surroundings to support a happier and healthier life? Presenter Olly Mann Producer- Jordan Dunbar Editor- Tara McDermott

Watchmaker Rebecca Struthers shares her passion for the art and science of horology. She warns that this traditional skill and its allied trades to make and restore watches, are endangered in Britain unless we make it easier for the next generation to be trained in them. "When well-made objects are cared for, it's a cycle of relationships that can span centuries. The oldest family watch I've worked on was five generations and 250 years old. When working on an object that symbolises the passing of time itself, I'm acutely aware of the fact that I've become a moment in the history of this watch, a moment in time for an object that was made centuries before my birth and will live on centuries after I'm gone." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Penny Murphy

James Helm gives a practical guide to dealing with grief and sudden single parenthood. Following the early death of his wife Charlotte, he found himself without the love of his life and single-handedly bringing up their three sons. He shares what he has learnt from personal experience - "what helps and what hurts". "People may think bereavement is in the past when in fact it is very much in the present. And it's really not a weakness to signal when things are tough, or when sadness or loneliness gather like clouds. In my view, it's a sign of real strength." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Penny Murphy

Ai-jen Poo argues that we should all value caring, and carers. Ai-jen, a MacArthur Fellow, is Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, an advocacy organisation in the United States representing domestic workers, many of them carers. In this powerful, intimate talk, she tells the story of how two of her grandparents' very different experiences when they needed carer emphasised the importance of valuing caring. Producer: Giles Edwards

Beth Stevens talks about the brain cells most people have never heard of, and suggests what they might have to teach us. Beth is a neuroscientist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, who in 2015 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship - the so-called 'genius grant' - for her work on microglial cells. In this talk she describes the connections between her research and her own family history, and explains why these cells - for so long overlooked in favour of neurons - may be the key to understanding much about the brain we don't yet know. Producer: Giles Edwards

Tara Munroe reveals what she learned when she rescued some badly damaged paintings which were due to be thrown out. Tara is an arts curator and researcher. Ten years ago she found a pile of paintings marked with the words 'for disposal'. She was immediately intrigued, and as she began to research them, she became more and more drawn into their story, and how it connected with her own history. Now, a decade on, she is hoping to return them to the gallery walls, where they belong. Producer: Patrick Cowling.

Philippa Greer discusses the imprisonment of people convicted of genocide. Philippa is a human rights lawyer who has worked around the world. In this powerful talk she tells the story of a visit to West Africa to prepare for the funeral of a man who had recently died in prison. This man had been convicted of genocide, but Philippa reveals that many such prisoners will eventually be released, and what that suggests to her about the use of prison as a response to the most serious crimes against humanity. Producer: Patrick Cowling.

Nicola Reindorp, who once doubted her own abilities to be a CEO, says we should rehabilitate doubt as a strength rather than a weakness in leaders. "I'd seen my own doubts as negative, disqualifying me from leadership. I had seen others believe the same. But, I asked myself, aren't the best leaders not the ones that say they have all the answers, but those who know they don't? Not those who say they see it all, but those who ask whose perspective is missing? Rather than a deficiency to be hidden, maybe doubt should be seen as a power to be harnessed?" Nicola Reindorp is CEO of Crisis Action Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Eva Hnizdo reflects on the impulses which drive people to emigrate - or not, drawing on her Czech Jewish family's experience of the Holocaust and her own as a political asylum seeker. "Whenever members of my family thought about emigrating but didn't actually leave, they made a mistake, sometimes paying for it with their lives. In my case, some might say I made a mistake not to stay. Was it worth the struggle?" Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook Eva Hnizdo is a former GP and author of "Why Didn't They Leave?"

Robyn Travis believes that labelling children as criminals is counterproductive in the fight against violence. He says they need to be freed from the mentality that keeps them as "prisoners to the streets". "It deeply saddens me that the media, film makers and rappers alike see a beneficial gain in telling stories which further criminalise the youth of today and yesterday without losing sleep. I don't see gang members, I see prisoners to the streets." He believes in prevention rather than intervention, calling for primary school children to be taught how to avoid conflict, and for parents to stop saying, "if someone hits you, hit them back". Robyn Travis is the author of Prisoner to the Streets, Mama Can't Raise No Man and Freedom from the Streets Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Laura Dockrill describes her frightening experience of post partum psychosis after giving birth to her son. She calls for a wider conversation about risks to parental mental health and for help to be open to everyone. "This almost invisible illness was an assassin. An apparition that nobody else could see." "Silence only inflames the symptoms, the stigma and creates an ideal culture for a mental illness to thrive. Shame, judgment and fear follow fast in the wake and it's a perfect storm, one that can unfortunately end in tragedy. But it doesn't have to. Post-Partum Psychosis is treatable." Laura Dockrill is an award winning author, illustrator and performance poet. "What Have I Done?" is her memoir on motherhood and mental health. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Angela Frazer-Wicks tells her extraordinary story of being a mother. Years ago, Angela's sons were taken into care and adopted, and in this powerful talk she describes her heartbreak as they gradually lost contact and she lost faith in the future. But as she explains, with support from some very unexpected places, Angela is now in a position to help other women and families going through similar experiences. Producer: Giles Edwards

Simon Morden argues that we should resist the privatisation of space. Simon is a scientist and science fiction writer, and in this talk he reflects on what science fiction has taught us. "We know about the hubris of science through Frankenstein, we know of totalitarian state-controlled media through 1984, and we also know it’s a terrible idea to break quarantine protocols through the film Alien," he says. "Science fiction doesn’t prevent us from doing those things, but we can’t say we didn’t know what the results would be." Simon is concerned that science fiction has also shown us a dark future where the coming era of space exploration - and the exploitation of extra-terrestrial objects - is dominated by private companies. And having recently written a non-fiction book about the natural history of Mars, this is a future he is keen to avoid. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Jessica Barker argues that we should rediscover overlooked sculptures of women. She didn't know it at the time, but as a child Jessica spent part of every Christmas day looking at a famous medieval monument. Later, when she became an expert in medieval art, she was angered by the phrase 'and his wife', so often associated with such monuments. Yet as she dug into the stories behind the women depicted in them, she discovered a more surprising, more subversive, and more interesting story. Producer: Giles Edwards

Steven Dowd's life changed in an instant one spring morning in 2016. In this inspiring talk, Steven describes what happened, and how a promise to his wife enabled him to regain control of the change - and his life. Producer: Giles Edwards

Professor Atul Shah draws on his background as a Jain to argue that we need a healthier relationship with finance: people often feel afraid of money matters because they lack knowledge and are prey to unplanned debt. He calls for more teaching about finance in schools and in the home, plus a more balanced attitude to consumption. “When money was invented, it was supposed to serve society – instead today it has become our master.” Professor Atul Shah is Professor of Accounting and Finance at City University and the author of several books on finance and ethics, including "Jainism and Ethical Finance" and "Reinventing Accounting and Finance Education – For a caring, inclusive and sustainable planet." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook http://www.diverseethics.com/atul-blog/ethical-finance-a-jain-perspective https://www.taxjustice.net/2017/11/21/reforming-multi-billion-dollar-accounting-finance-education-industry/ Photo credit: @vintagesunglassez

Joe Friedman, who grew up with deaf parents, reflects on what it means to hear. As a young psychotherapist, treating one particularly challenging client taught him the difference between listening that was only "skin deep" and really hearing someone else's pain. It helped him to lose his "deaf ears". "I assumed, like my parents, that being Hearing meant you could communicate, listen and hear - naturally. On reflection, of course, this is obviously idiotic. We all know people whose ears function perfectly well, but who don't hear a word you say!" Joe Friedman is a psychotherapist and author of children's books. He is also the author and performer of a one man show "Deaf Ears - How I Learned to Hear" https://camden.ssboxoffice.com/performances/deaf-ears-how-i-learned-to-hear/ Presenter: Olly Mann. Producer: Sheila Cook

Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre argues against the tyranny of positivity which forms part of a culture of "performative wellness", which she says sees illness as a form of personal failure. When extrapolated to other aspects of human life, this attitude is a "poison to society". Presenter; Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Leon Bosch reflects on the power of classical music to transform lives, beginning with his own. He overcame the obstacles of racism in apartheid era South Africa to study the classical double bass. Despite encountering prejuduce in the UK, too, after moving here to study, he went on to build a distinguished international career as a virtuoso performer, conductor and teacher. He is currently Professor of double bass at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and director of the chamber ensemble he founded, I Musicanti. "Classical music had been my ticket out of the ghetto. It dissolved the psychological prison of poverty and oppression, and it catapulted me into a full and meaningful participation in human society. Now it was my responsibility to utilise the power of classical music to transform other people's lives and, perhaps, society itself." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Luke Rigg argues that more young magistrates will improve justice. When Luke told his friends and family he wanted to be a magistrate aged just 20, they all had one question: "Why are you doing that, Luke?" In this talk Luke takes us inside the magistrates' courts where for six years he has been convicting, sentencing, and acquitting offenders, many of his own age, to explain how he answers that question. Luke is introduced by host Olly Mann. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Tracey Follows explores how virtual assistants can help us survive after death. Tracey is a futurist who has become fascinated by the memories of people after they die, and in this talk she asks who and what is being memorialised - is it us, or something else altogether? Producer: Giles Edwards

Dr Shona Minson argues that we shouldn't punish children if their parents go to prison. Years ago, as a barrister specialising in care cases, Shona was familiar with the Children Act, and in particular its central principle: that the child's best interests are the paramount consideration of the court. And so when she was asked to write about what happened to children when their mums were imprisoned, she assumed something similar would apply, or at least that she could find some research about what happened to them. She was shocked to find almost nothing, and even more shocked when she started doing the research herself. In this talk she describes some the change she believes is needed - from major institutions thinking properly about the problem, to the judgement children face from their schoolmates' parents, and how she works with judges and other criminal justice professionals to achieve it. Shona is introduced by host Olly Mann. Producer: Giles Edwards

Dr. Tamsin Ellis is a GP who looks for ways to improve her patients' health and the environment. Welcoming us into her consulting room to meet her patients, Tamsin describes her journey to climate activism, and why she's convinced that looking for 'double wins' is the way forward. From giving a lecture about the environment to a sea of faces all sipping coffee from plastic cups, to the challenges of winning over already hard-pressed colleagues, in this witty talk Tamsin describes the realities of climate activism on the NHS frontline. As she prescribes health interventions with positive side-effects for the planet, she offers a new way to talk about climate change. Tamsin is introduced by host Olly Mann. Producer: Giles Edwards

Jak Beula says statues and memorials matter because they show who a society values. His organisation is working to erect more to honour people of colour, including a new statue which he has designed for Windrush and Commonwealth nurses and midwives at the Whittington Hospital in London. "It helps to improve equality and inclusion, to uncover the stories of historic characters who have positively impacted Britain, but for whatever reason remain unknown, unsung and unheralded." Dr Jak Beula is the founder and CEO of Nubian Jak, an African and Caribbean community organisation. Presenter: Olly Man Producer: Sheila Cook

Helena Goodwyn interrogates the near universal practice of giving children their father’s - not their mother’s - surname. She and her husband plan to buck the trend in a stand against structural inequality when their first baby is born. "We have the feminist movement to thank for many of the changes that have led us to our present moment, where broadly speaking, British society no longer stigmatises people based on whether they were conceived in or outside of marriage but in the case of cohabiting heterosexual couples the giving of the father's surname remains the norm." Dr Helena Goodwyn is Vice-Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow in English Literature at Northumbria University. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Sergeant Rhys Rutledge of the Welsh Guards explains why he thinks people deserve a second chance after turning his own life around from convicted drug dealer to successful soldier. He's set up a project with the Army's backing called Defeat Don't Repeat to help prisoners and young people who might be at risk of offending to stay away from crime. Through presentations and a residential training course involving physical challenges and teamwork, he aims to communicate a message of hope. "I want to engage with people who share a similar background to me, who may have found themselves on the wrong side of the law and have now managed to turn their life around and move on to a successful path. This would demonstrate how it's possible to move on in life and make the ultimate change for the better." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Dina Rezk describes how she made a friend of fear following the murder of her mother. The trauma of her mother's violent sudden death risked leaving her with a crippling sense of fear which she called "the beast". Over time she has found an ultimately life affirming way to live with it. "My life force had to match its presence. I had to exist in conversation with it rather than deny or repress its existence." Dr Dina Rezk is Associate Professor and lecturer in Middle Eastern History at the University of Reading. She is also a Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Alastair Hendy explains why he thinks we've lost our food culture and how we can rediscover it. Remembering the seventies when convenience food was less available and it was normal to cook from scratch, he urges us to understand more about where our food comes from and calls for basic cookery skills to be taught again in schools. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook aghendy.com

Penny Wincer reflects on what it means to be a carer, drawing on her own and other people’s experiences. Especially during the pandemic when support services have been unavailable, it’s time, she argues, for society to take care of the carers. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

As one of Britain’s youngest imams, Sabah Ahmedi, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, is on a mission to overcome Islamophobia. Conversation, he believes, is the way to tackle misconceptions and prejudice surrounding Islam. A relaxed chat over a coffee is his ideal forum for answering difficult questions. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Adam Morse, who is registered blind, explains how he directed an award winning film by seeing differently. When he was diagnosed at the age of nineteen with a rare eye condition, he feared at first that his ambitions to act and direct might be thwarted. A decade later, his dreams are being fulfilled and he hopes to blaze a trail for other artists with disabilities. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook Adam Morse @themorseforce

Ranjit Saimbi explains why he doesn't want to be defined by his cultural heritage. In this talk, by turns intimate, by turns expansive, Ranjit describes the disconnect he felt from the Sikh culture in which he was born and raised, and proclaims his wish to be able to assert his own identity, free both from the constraints of that community and those in the rest of society who wish to put him in a particular box. Producer: Giles Edwards

Anne-Marie Douglas discusses her own experience of empathy-infused services, and why we need to see more of them. Anne-Marie's charity, Peer Power, works with children, young people and adults who have experienced significant trauma and adversity, using an empathy-focused approach to support them. In this powerful, personal talk, she outlines how her own experiences prompted her to focus on this approach. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Lydia Furse looks at the personal and political benefits of playing women's rugby. Lydia has long played rugby, and in this passionate talk discusses the harmony of bodies working together, a well-executed try, and how being in a scrum has made her feel differently about her physical image. She argues that women's rugby - much more than a game - is empowerment, it is boundary breaking, and it needs to be feminist. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Rufaro Mazarura discusses what the graduating class of 2020 have learned from the pandemic. A year ago, Rufaro carefully marked 23rd March in her diary - the day on which she'd be printing out and handing in her final year dissertation, and starting the transition to her new life, out of full-time education. But when the day arrived, she instead submitted her dissertation by email, and travelled home on an empty train, arriving just before the coronavirus lockdown. Rufaro has always been interested in transitions, and so she decided to make a podcast about the experiences she had in common with fellow members of the Class of 2020. In this talk, Rufaro shares some of the insights which she gleaned, and in particular the way in which their proximity to the edge may have shaped their worldview. Producer: Giles Edwards

Ann Morgan, who read a book from every country in the world to broaden her homogeneous reading habits, commends the challenge of reading outside your comfort zone. "When you break out of that hall of mirrors and open yourself up to what the world's stories offer, amazing things can happen." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Sarah Corbett explains the power of 'craftivism', a form of activism which uses craft to create gentle protest. Activists craft objects which communicate respectful messages calling for social change. She explains how words embroidered on a handkerchief, for example, can be just as effective as louder forms of protest. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Tiffany Atkinson rehabilitates the concept of embarrassment, seeing its potential to be a positive force in social encounters, in contrast to the negative power of shame. "Sometimes shame may be appropriate, but we do not have to file all errors and pratfalls and misunderstandings under shame. Is this a healthy way to live with others? Would an embarrassment culture not be a useful counterbalance?" Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Stephen Bourne thinks we are short changing young people by failing to teach them about the history of black Britons, especially their contribution in the armed forces and on the home front when Britain was at war. Their stories, he believes, deserve wider recognition. Presenter: OIlly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Jelena Sofronijevic tells a story of Serbia, Yugoslavia - and Telford. In this talk Jelena explores questions of diasporic identity through her family's connection with Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. On a visit to Serbia, she discovers that her upbringing in Telford had been more traditionally ‘Serbian’ than that of her Belgrade and Novi Sad relatives. And she finds herself, despite being born after Yugoslavia ceased to exist, drawn to its blended nationalism; her lived experiences traversing harsh borders. And she likens Yugoslavia, a country born of republics, to her home town of Telford, itself a collection of small, independent towns. Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon.

Claire Lynch describes how she navigated motherhood. When Claire arrived at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit shortly after the birth of her daughters, the nurse on duty looked alarmed, then flustered, and finally realised, in Claire's words, 'that I have not risen, Lazarus-like, from an epidural, but might just be another kind of mother all together.' This is how Claire begins her beautiful meditation on what it means to be a mother - reflecting on her experiences trying to get pregnant, of what she has experienced of motherhood, and what she has not. Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon

Sam Gallivan examines the similarities between surgery and sculpture. Sam is an orthopaedic surgeon, and in this talk takes us into the operating theatre to experience how it sounds, and how it feels. And it's the sense of feeling - of drilling into a bone or cutting through a ligament - where she finds unexpected similarities between surgery and sculpture. What, she asks, can each learn from the other? And how might this sense of surgery as a craft challenge the dominant way of seeing the medical world? After all, she reasons, 'to accept surgery as a craft is to accept that there are unexpected ways of knowing in medicine that we might not be able to pin down in numbers or statistics.' Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon.

Lois Pryce argues that bicycles need to be reclaimed as simply a mundane means of transport - and cycling needs to be uncool again. As a passionate advocate of two-wheeled transport, whether it's powered by an engine or her own legs, Lois is tired of disapproving looks. And she thinks that in the case of bicycles, it's partly because cycling has turned into an identity. She wants to revert to the time it was just a way of getting around. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Reggie Nelson believes in the importance for young people of finding a mentor and tells the extraordinary story of how he found his own. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Caoilinn Hughes discovers the power of embracing uncertainty instead of always fearing it. In her work as a writer and in life, she commends a little more leaping into the unknown. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Carl Honoré believes we're all missing out by stereotyping older people as "over the hill". He argues for recognition of the positive sides of ageing, and thinks everyone would benefit from more inter-generational mixing. "Spending time with people of different ages makes us happier – and less ageist. After all, nothing shoots down stereotypes more than getting to know the people being stereotyped." Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook www.carlhonore.info

Mahamed Hashi draws on his experience as a teacher, youth worker, councillor and victim of a stabbing and shooting to speak out against racist stereotyping. He explains why he thinks community outreach is a two way process: meeting people's needs but also listening to what they have to say, especially young people. Positive engagement with the police and representative bodies is the way, he believes, to change racist culture and a discriminatory status quo. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook Mahamed Hashi: Twitter @drnbyp and Instagram @hashiwho

Nwando Ebizie describes the world she senses: one of glowing lines and shapes; whizzing, fizzing dots; and auras around people, trees and stars. Nwando's experiences with a condition called 'Visual Snow' have been an important impetus to her work as an artist. Other people's reactions, when Nwando describes them, have been another. In her art, and in this beautiful talk, Nwando tries to bring others into her world, a world which she describes as a denial of absolutes, and one in which everyone understands that their own sensory experiences are unique. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Giles Edwards

Sammy Wright asks why we put such weight on exam results. Sammy is a deputy headteacher of a large secondary school. He spends his days teaching students knowledge which will uplift and enrich them; he demands rigour and high standards; and he wants to help his students succeed in their exams. But why, he asks in this talk, do we elide success in exams with some moral quality? And why do we put such weight on the exam results? In this powerful talk, Sammy suggests that much of it has to do with a certain set of expectations from those in charge. Presenter: Olly Mann. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Ali Goldsworthy explains why campaigns which succeed by polarising people can cause long-term harm, and suggests ways we might tackle the resulting damage. Ali was a top digital campaigner, working with charities, campaigns and political parties to mobilise hundreds of thousands of people to take action on behalf of causes. But in this honest and introspective talk she reveals how her doubts about some of the techniques she was using eventually suggested a dramatic change of direction. Ali now heads up the Depolarization Project, seeking to create space for people to change their minds. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Giles Edwards

Emma Hayes explains why the fit of our clothes matters, particularly for women. Inviting us to join her journey from fitting rooms to advising on the latest innovations in technology, Emma describes the many failures of size to capture a woman's body. And with many more of us now buying clothes online, and unable to find out before buying it whether a garment which appears to be the right size actually fits, the problem is getting worse. The costs, as she explains, can be serious for the individual, for the business, and for the environment. Producer: Giles Edwards

Alice Moloney discusses how best to express negative emotions in the digital realm. When Alice's father was diagnosed with cancer, she found herself at a loss as to how to communicate with him digitally. One solution was sending more personal objects. But Alice works in digital communication, and in this talk at the Shambala Festival she describes her journey to improve the tools available to communicate grief and sadness. Producer: Giles Edwards

Andrew Hankinson tells the story of a boy who died, and his parents, who wanted him alive. Recorded at the Shambala Festival in 2019, this is also an extraordinary story about Andrew's quest to understand the family's story, his feelings of discomfort, and his reasons for wanting to tell it in the first place. Producer: Giles Edwards

Anna Della Subin takes a journey with a man once worshipped as a living god. Anna Della has been writing a book about people inadvertently turned into gods, and in this bewitching talk she describes a journey across Morocco with one of them. She discusses what prompts people to regard others as gods, and what it might tell us about our society. Producer: Giles Edwards

Sarah Gristwood is worried that the vogue for tidying will make history harder to uncover. Sarah is an historian herself, and in writing her books has relied heavily on documents which might easily have been discarded. But that's not all: she wonders, too, how her successors will access our digital clutter in 500 years' time. Producer: Giles Edwards

Ashley Hickson-Lovence says his powerful mother and his love of reading kept him out of gangs while growing up on an estate in East London. As a former English teacher and now a debut novelist, he believes black boys, in particular, need books to read that engage them by reflecting their own lives. "Not everyone can have a mother like mine, but everyone deserves the key to the world of books which could change their lives." Recorded at Primadonna literary and arts festival. Presenter: Farrah Jarral Producer: Sheila Cook

Monisha Rajesh says the romance of train travel is not dead. After exploring the railways of India, she travelled across continents to research her book "Around the World in 80 Trains", discovering that the romance, " Wasn't dead, just reincarnated, living on in the passengers who would always tell their story to strangers, offer advice, share their food, and give up their seats." Recorded at Primadonna literature and arts festival. Presenter: Farrah Jarral Producer: Sheila Cook

Winnie M Li talks about her traumatic experience as a survivor of sexual violence, describing its lasting impact. She also charts her recovery through writing and activism.

Louise Doughty, whose novels include Apple Tree Yard, explains why Peterborough railway station, the setting of her latest novel, has particular significance in her life as a place of transit. As she journeys back into her past, she discovers her own personal history sheds light on the experience of others. Recorded at Primadonna literature and arts festival in Suffolk. Presenter: Farrah Jarral Producer: Sheila Cook

Lora Stimson uses sky and starscape to navigate her grief. In this beautiful and emotional talk, recorded at the Green Man Festival in mid-Wales, appropriately enough an internationally-certified Dark Sky Reserve, Lora draws connections between the sky and her grief after her father's death. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Rabab Ghazoul makes the case for Wales as a place of post-colonial possibility. Rabab has been living in Wales for more than thirty years, and in this talk reflects on Wales's position as a nation which, as she puts it, "was colonised by the English, yes - but has also been complicit in the British imperial enterprise, and been a recipient of the wider European colonial project." As she does, she talks about the benefits of settling down, digging deep, and finding ourselves in the places that we choose to stay in. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Rachael Gibbons discusses class, social mobility and Imposter Syndrome. In a talk recorded at the Green Man Festival in mid-Wales, Rachael discusses her experiences as a working-class woman. She asks what social mobility means when you find it difficult to fit in at grammar school or university, while at home your friends do different things and you're no longer part of their circle. She tells stories about her imposter syndrome, and how she overcame it. But at the heart of her talk is another syndrome - the so-called 'Jonah Complex', where you're afraid of your own success. Rachael recognises this not just in herself, but in many of her working class friends, she reveals: a fear that success will alienate you from what and who you know and love. Producer: Giles Edwards

Penny Andrews argues that thinking of political supporters as fans helps explain the current state of politics. Penny is an academic and a serial fan - covering everything from David Bowie to Ed Balls. And in this energetic and witty talk Penny argues that many of the characteristics of fandom elsewhere - a rich interest, a wish to protect the sanctity of the fandom, and a refusal to tolerate criticism - also mark politics and political fans, whatever side they're on. And that understanding politics in this way may help us understand it better. Producer: Giles Edwards

Emmanuel Ordóñez-Angulo asks whether Virtual Reality (VR) could be an 'empathy machine', and whether that would be a good thing. Emmanuel is a former film-maker, and current philosopher, and in this rich talk, recorded at the Larmer Tree Festival, he uses both traditions to probe the reaches of human empathy. Can VR fulfil the promise, long-held by some filmmakers, to allow us to walk in the shoes of others, increasing empathy and demanding wide-ranging social change? Or is the very notion of walking in another's shoes flawed? Producer: Giles Edwards

Richard Lynch-Smith argues that social workers need to be more open in acknowledging the role that poverty plays in the lives of the families with which they work. Introducing us to several of his families, social worker Richard details the many ways, large and small, in which poverty affects their life experience. But he also reveals how these experiences are understood, and interpreted, by the state. Richard also describes the movement amongst social workers to acknowledge the role that poverty plays and explains what impact that might have. Producer: Giles Edwards

Helen Cullen makes the case for the art of letter writing. In this talk, recorded at the Larmer Tree Festival, Helen reveals how writing letters has been a constant throughout her life and discusses its importance in deepening her relationships with her friends, family and partner. Helen, a novelist whose first book revolved around letters, argues that those of us who have fallen out of the habit of writing letters, or never acquired it in the first place, should take up our pens. And she makes a bold promise to anyone who writes to her. Producer: Giles Edwards

Historian Kasia Tomasiewicz discusses how to commemorate war. Reporting for her first day shadowing the curatorial team at the Imperial War Museum, Kasia found herself conflicted. Feeling awe at the size of the tanks, planes and other machines of war, and remembering the pleasurable associations from Airfix kits and games with her siblings from her own childhood, she tried to balance these feelings with the awareness that the objects also embody death and destruction. How do these different responses affect what Kasia describes as the 'pleasure culture of war'? Producer: Giles Edwards.

Liv Boeree explains why the thinking skills required for good poker playing translate so well to the real world. "As any of us who have studied a science, or ran a business or raised a family know, the mark of a great decision-maker is not raw intellect… but a willingness to truly question your knowledge, and maybe even change your mind if enough evidence presents itself to counter it." "Like poker, life is messy and complex and full of randomness and luck... Our willingness to admit our uncertainty can be our greatest asset." Recorded in front of a live audience at the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook

Dr Mark Williams believes we need to preserve the traditional GP home visit. Alongside new acute visiting services and an emerging role for artificial intelligence, he thinks the traditional home visit still plays a vital part in the delivery of good healthcare and can even be a lifeline back into society. "The truth is that home visits give us the best insights into our patients' real life". Recorded in front of a live audience at the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook

Harriet Beveridge says we don't take humour seriously enough and thinks it's a "woefully misunderstood and underused tool". She extols its power in managing human relationships, dealing with adversity and overcoming prejudice. "Cracking a joke is a hugely effective way to hold up a mirror, to challenge fixed ideas, because jokes shatter assumptions." Recorded in front of a live audience at Womad, the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook

Bex Burch, who plays and composes for the Ghanaian xylophone, explores the difference between 'doing' and 'being' as a source of creativity, and shows how it works in her music. "A great example of the difference between doing and being is that I don’t be, or become my teacher. I learn their way of doing something and still have to figure out who I am and what those tools are working with in me." Recorded in front of a live audience at Womad, the World of Music, Arts and Dance festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook

Kevin Carr charts the agony of the first-time house buyer: is it worth the pain to avoid a lifetime of paying rent? "As you know, a mortgage is a loan where property is used as collateral. The first part of the word 'mort' is French for death, so named because trying to understand the process of getting a mortgage makes you want to die". Recorded in front of a live audience at the Kelburn Garden Party festival in Ayrshire. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Millennial Harleen Nottay says we should stop snooping and spying via social media on our partners, past and present, for the sake of our mental health. "It's clear that we are creating a culture where we are normalising these toxic behaviours...behaviours that only a couple of decades ago would have classed us as stalkers." Recorded in front of a live audience at the Kelburn Garden Party festival in Ayrshire. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

R.M. Sánchez-Camus describes how art can be used as a language with which to communicate the fear of death and dying. Drawing on his experience as a Social Practice Artist working in a hospice, he reveals how art-making can create a space where individuals can mentally remove themselves from the state of dying, and produce a lasting testament to their lives. He believes death anxieties over global extinction can similarly be approached through making art. "It’s urgent to break the taboo of speaking about death. If we can hold this conversation within the community we can begin to support each other as citizens. Recorded in front of an audience at the Kelburn Garden Party festival in the grounds of Kelburn Castle in Ayrshire. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

Author Zoë Strachan charts her journey of self-discovery through reading. She describes how fiction helped her to find her identity as a gay woman and explains why she believes that access to books is vital for human flourishing. "While I was reading Swallows and Amazons, booksellers were being arrested for making available the kind of texts that changed my life. When we start banning books or censoring them from school libraries, we deny people the chance to read themselves into being." Recorded in front of a live audience at the Kelburn Garden Party festival in the grounds of Kelburn Castle near Glasgow. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook

The Last Poets discuss why they're still performing after 50 years. The Last Poets were borne out of the origins of the civil rights movement in the United States. They have been writing and performing together in various formations ever since the late 1960s. Abiodon Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan reveal the motivation behind the collective's work and why they feel they're message about black empowerment is as relevant today as it was in 1968. Recorded at the Shambala Festival. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Sunday league football is played up and down the country. The writer Ewan Flynn says that forging a team spirit against the odds can bring out the best in people. Recorded at the Shambala Festival. Producer: Peter Snowdon

Julia Unwin asks whether we've lost the human touch in a world of automation and technology. Touch screens, contactless cards and e-tickets are supposed to make our lives so much easier and more convenient. Julia Unwin, former chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, asks whether technology and automation and the loss of those everyday human connections are harming the way we interact with each other. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Ian Brennan is a Grammy award-winning music producer. He and his wife have travelled the world discovering music that most people have never heard. He argues that the 'West' and in particular English speaking countries have dominated music for so long they have drowned out voices from around the world. This includes the incredible story of the Tanzanian Albinism Collective, from one of the most isolated places on earth. The members have suffered persecution for years for their condition. Brennan describes how music has brought them together with their neighbours.

John Connell speaks about how the connection to land and animals can heal the modern urban soul John Connell returned home to his native Ireland after years abroad living and working in cities. He had experienced a breakdown and was in the depths of depression. For an urbane young man a return to the farm that he grew up in could have been seen as a failure but it turned out to be anything but. The birth of a calf and the life cycle of his family's cattle helped to show him how he could finally quieten the demons of his past. Recorded in front of a live audience at the WOMAD music festival in August 2018.

Mari Kalkun comes alive in forests. The folk singer and Estonian native has been inspired and revived by them from a young age. Estonians are connected to the forest in a way most other nations can barely imagine, she says, they are a part of both the birth and death of it's citizens. Mari's ethereal music reflects this special bond and takes the listener to a calmer place and suggests that if we listen hard enough the forest might just speak. Recorded in-front of a live audience at WOMAD world music festival.

Clare Pooley was a working mum and loved a bottle of wine...or three. Her love of drink began to get in the way of her love of life. The realisation that alcohol was no longer her best-friend caused her to break up with it. This wasn't easy she says in a society that celebrates, commiserates and procrastinates using alcohol. But the ensuing breakup showed her how being sober can be just as much fun if not more than being drunk.

Sophie Howe explains how she tries to get politicians in Wales to put the future first. Sophie is the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, an independent role in which she has to keep politicians thinking about the future. In this talk, recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Volcano Theatre in Swansea, she explains how she does it. And as she does, she reveals how her own history motivates her to think about future generations, and how politics can better serve them. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Ann John examines the current discussion around young people's mental health. A Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry at Swansea University, Ann thinks the current focus is welcome in many ways, but also poses dangers. Is it possible, she asks, that it could turn into a moral panic - like the one she remembers when she first became a doctor, around the MMR vaccine? Do we risk medicalising normal human emotions? And who is getting access to treatment - is it those who most need care, or those with easiest access to services? Ann identifies mixed messaging around young people's mental health - on the one hand we want young people to be emotionally literate; on the other we criticise a 'snowflake' generation. And she argues that social media - so often the fall guy for young people's mental health problems - actually offers upsides, too. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Author Lloyd Markham shares a dystopian tale about belonging - and not belonging. Recorded at Swansea's Volcano Theatre as part of the BBC's Biggest Weekend, Lloyd has the audience hanging on every word as he shares the story of his relationship with the Department for Work and Pensions. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Belfast blogger Gemma Louise Bond better known as 'That Belfast Girl' thinks about how we grieve the end of friendship, why we have no words or traditions for this process when it can completely change our lives. For many of us our friends have been around longer than our partners. They have helped us grow and been present at the most important times in our lives, yet when they leave we rarely talk about it. "It's not a 'break up", Bond say, "we don't eat ice cream to mourn it, in-fact as a society we have no traditions to process it at all" "Isn't it about time we valued the amazing things friendships bring to our lives and think about how we mourn when they end?".

Maura Campbell asks us to think differently about difference, she argues now is the time to retire the village 'idiot' and think about the language around learning disabilities. For example; the stereotypes of people with autism as cold, emotionless automatons and the medical community using words like 'diagnosis', 'risk' and 'symptoms' all have a negative narrative. But what about the positives? These often include honesty, directness, loyalty, a strong sense of natural justice, excellent memory, expertise in intense interests, originality, creativity and independent thinking. Everyday we use words to describe people's intelligence without thinking about it. 'idiot', 'moron' and 'imbecile' are in-fact the clinical terms used to describe learning disabilities but they are most frequently used to call someone a fool. Perhaps, Maura Campbell suggests, we could think of people as different but not less.

Actress and comedian Diona Doherty says we need a big rethink about who we allow to make a speech at weddings. She tells us why if we want true equality it all starts with letting the bridesmaids speak. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Palm House in Belfast as part of the BBC Music Biggest Weekend Festival 2018. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Jordan Dunbar.

Chris Warhurst reveals how good looking you are may determine whether you get a job. Should looks be relevant to your employment prospects if you're a plumber or a shop assistant? As Director of the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, Professor Chris Warhurst has spent much of his career examining trends in the labour market. He discusses whether 'aesthetic labour' is becoming an established form of discrimination in the work place and asks whether 'lookism' can be addressed in the law. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Laiba Husain discusses life before, and after, marriage. A Fulbright Scholar from Michigan, Laiba studies at Birmingham University and has recently got married. She discusses how educated women in her family were expected to stay at home after marriage rather than pursuing careers and higher education. But how much is this due to patriarchal culture and religious misconceptions? Laiba argues that marriage and religion do not impede her ambitions; instead, she feels empowered. And she calls on Muslim women to embrace individual choice rather than being bound by cultural expectations. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

David Baker asks what happens to the families of people shot by the police. Over the years, he has spent time with many such families - bereaved, grieving, often angry - in the UK and overseas. In this powerful talk David reflects on his time with three families in the United States, and asks whether their experience - not just the loss of a relative but what happened afterwards - was exceptional, or sadly not. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Felicity Boardman discusses genetic screening for 'serious conditions'. But what, she asks, is a 'serious condition'? The answer to that question will vary, and might increase as genomic medicine expands. The answer, too, will have dramatic consequences for which people we will accept as future members of our society, and which we will not. As a medical ethicist, and an Assistant Professor at Warwick Medical School, Felicity believes that individuals and families living with inheritable and screened-for conditions should be key to answering the question. Producer: Peter Snowdon.

Zia Chaudhry reflects on his role as a Muslim Dad to help his children to feel British, recalling his own father's focus on education as the path to success and integration. Schools could help, he believes, by including Muslim Spain in the history curriculum. "I am not advocating the teaching of Pakistani history to the children of Pakistani immigrants but rather the teaching of a chapter of European history in which Muslims co-operated with Christians and Jews to create a society that flourished on so many levels. What would be the effect on Muslim youngsters of a message reminding them of the great contributions to European civilisation made by their religious ancestors, other than perhaps to encourage them to seek an education so that they too can achieve and contribute to their society,?" Recorded in front of a live audience at Leaf in Liverpool. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Julie White shares her passion for young children learning outdoors in the natural world as the best way for them to achieve wellbeing and develop resilience. "I think there is a big divide between the older generation and a lot of millennials in terms of our outdoor experiences growing up - whilst we had the freedom to explore our surroundings, younger generations have been accompanied by adults doing more structured and supervised activities. The result is a more fearful mentality, which we are in danger of perpetuating with the next generation. Finding a more natural way to educate our children seems to be gaining popularity with parents, but we need government and policy makers to really take this on board." Recorded at Leaf in Liverpool. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

David Reid warns of the dangers of encoding unconscious bias into artificial intelligence. "It's tempting, but extremely perilous, to outsource our moral responsibilities to machines...I believe it's important to keep people in the loop, but it may also be important to evolve nurturing AI to guide the underlying AI. When we link this to emotional awareness, we may be able to develop empathy, and this empathy may be able to mitigate bias." Recorded in front of a live audience at Leaf in Liverpool. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Maggie O'Carroll calls for action to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs. She contrasts the "palpable positive culture towards entrepreneurship and for female entrepreneurs" of the US with a lack of organised support in the UK. Recalling her mother's success as a farmer in the West of Ireland, she feels sure there were other powerful women behind the scenes. "We need these invisible entrepreneurs to step out into the spotlight and become the role models and the inspiration for others to join them." Recorded at Leaf in Liverpool. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Theatre maker Raquel Meseguer, who lives with chronic pain, has a vision for public resting spaces. Challenging our etiquette and perceptions of people lying down, she imagines how our cultural spaces might embrace 'Cloudspotters', her euphemism for people with hidden conditions like her own. "It was a lightbulb moment to realise that I am able, but I am also disabled by a built environment and vertical culture that is simply not designed for me... my lying down invariably proves problematic, and reveals strict etiquettes of our public spaces, and prejudice towards the simple act of lying down." "It was only by challenging etiquette that my world got bigger again." Recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/detail/a-crash-course-in-cloudspotting https://uncharteredcollective.com/a-crash-course-in-cloudspotting/ Photo credit: Paul Blakemore.

Young entrepreneur Bejay Mulenga tells the story of his youthful business success and shares his vision for helping other young people overcome the barriers to achieving their dreams. "I believe we'll have more entrepreneurs if talent can be unleashed earlier and helped to thrive." Recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Former army intelligence officer Andy Owen explains why he thinks philosophy can help soldiers cope in complex war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. "There's much on the counter-insurgency battlefield not fully covered by the law...philosophy provided arguments to support the law and navigate issues not covered by it." Recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Artist Zarah Hussain recalls her father's love of gardening and growing roses as a link to his native Pakistan. She reflects on the rose as a symbol of British national identity while also having foreign origins and universal appeal. "The rose is a migrant, a traveller, beholden to no land, culture or language, but embraced by all. Something that started as foreign has become our own and has been absorbed over time into our culture and our history." Recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Presenter: Olly Mann Producer: Sheila Cook.

Karen Chapple discusses gentrification and how to keep our cities diverse. As she explains while telling two stories about finding a place to live, she has often found herself asking 'Am I a gentrifier?'. A professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Karen argues that in the past we had to fit our own story with the story of the neighbourhood we wanted to move into; now data can offer a much richer picture of where we live. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Michael Merrick challenges how we think about social mobility. Sharing his own story, Michael makes the case that social mobility often involves pressure on individuals to move away - both physically and metaphorically - from the family and community which nourished them. He argues that the graduate professions thus take on a particular character, making those professions uncomfortable places to be for people arriving in them from working class backgrounds. And he suggests that this division, which often makes itself felt in education, is unwise. "In a contest between home and academic flourishing," he says, "some choose home; not because of ignorance, but because of a refusal to shed heritage as participation fee." Producer: Giles Edwards.

Dalia Elmelige tells the story of her life as a Muslim in America after 9/11. 'I didn't get to celebrate my little brother's first birthday', begins Dalia, as she describes her life as a Muslim in post-9/11 America. From playground bullying to work at the Carter Presidential Center on countering ISIS propaganda, in many ways her life has been defined by the aftermath of 9/11. In this moving talk, introduced by Olly Mann, Dalia shares some reflections on isolation and identity. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Geoff Colman discusses truth and reality in acting. As Head of Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Geoff has an unparalleled view of the shifting worlds of acting and drama. But in recent years he has been asked to coach artists across the performing arts, in fields where acting - in particular acting for the camera - would never previously have been a concern. In this Four Thought, Geoff tells the story of how he fell in love with the theatre of acting, and how technology is forcing a new relationship with reality, and truth. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Dan Mayfield, founder of the School of Noise, explains why he believes everyone is capable of making music, and why the right kind of music education is so important to encourage young people's creativity. "I believe... there is musicality in all of us, because I think of music as nothing more nor less than organised sound, and it shouldn't be something to be afraid of." Recorded in front of a live audience at the WOMAD world music and arts festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Richard Knight.

Comedian Nick Revell explains why he manages to be optimistic - despite all the evidence. "These days it's perhaps easier than ever to get pessimistic at the state of the world; I've had periods when I would wake up in the morning, check the news and ask myself if it's even worth moisturising. But I have a very positive attitude to life now. So let me take you on my journey of discovery." Recorded in front of a live audience at the WOMAD world music and arts festival in Wiltshire. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Richard Knight.

Natalie Maddix, founder of the House Gospel Choir, explains why she believes in the power of singing together. She gets the audience at WOMAD to join in to prove her point. "Singing really has this healing property. There is a truth inside of us that maybe we're not ready to face and sometimes it's not until we sing together that we even become aware of our feelings." Recorded in front of a live audience at the WOMAD world music and arts festival in Wiltshire. Producer: Richard Knight.

Syrian qanun virtuoso Maya Youssef explains why - to her - music is "the opposite of death" in this powerful and poignant talk. "I played a concert in a refugee centre in Aalborg, Denmark," she says, "and afterwards a ten-year old child approached me and said, 'Your music brought back the memory of beautiful days in Syria and the smell of lemon and jasmine.' Another woman added, 'I haven't felt happy like this for a long time'. I felt joy and grief at the same time hearing this." Recorded in front of a live audience at the WOMAD world music and arts festival in Wiltshire. Producer: Richard Knight.

Ivo Gormley tells the story of his bright idea to combine getting fit with doing good in the community, at a time of growing social isolation. Recorded at the Phoenix Artist Club. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Annie Broadbent shares her experience of being bereaved, and thinks we should overcome the taboos that surround talking about grief. "If we have the courage to change our way of feeling and thinking about death, not only will we be better placed to support the ones who are left behind, we will change our relationship with life." Recorded at the Phoenix Artist Club in London. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Andrew Martin explains his passion for using cash in the face of the advancing tide of electronic payments. An aid to thrift, it also spares him from feeling that every purchase is being recorded and potentially monitored. "I have become like my Dad, who forty years ago, would be deflected from a whimsical purchase because it would mean "breaking into a tenner". Recorded at the Phoenix Artist Club in London. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Hanna Pickard says we need to understand the reasons why desperate people become addicted to drugs, seeing them neither as "victims of a neurobiological disease", nor as "selfish, lazy hedonists". "Choosing to use drugs, including alcohol, to gain pleasure and escape from life's banality, isn't the same as choosing to use drugs to relieve suffering." Recorded at the Phoenix Artist Club in London. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Juno Dawson thinks we should get over our prurient obsession with transgender people and value them like any other individuals, in her case as a writer of young adult fiction. "All any of us can ever talk about is our own experience of transitioning, but this has intrinsically tied our value to - at best - our heroic journey and - at worst - our genitals." Recorded at the Hay Festival. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

John Ballatt calls for a new approach to supporting the NHS, using "intelligent kindness" to transform the culture of healthcare. "Simplistic faith in industrialisation and procedural rules leads us to tell staff what to do , when, how and with what result, and to monitor them with quite ruthless intrusiveness. Inevitably this distracts, creates anxiety, squeezing out the very intelligence, and kindness, upon which good work depends." Recorded at the Hay Festival. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Hugh Warwick charts the fragmentation of the British landscape by the lines which cross it, and he calls for urgent reconnection to allow our flora and fauna to flourish. "I believe we need to reinterpret the landscape in order to hold back the deterioration of the land we share with wildlife." Recorded at the Hay Festival. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Cyberpsychologist Dr Mary Aiken warns of the risk to human development posed by our obsession with cyberspace. Millions of babies round the world deprived of eye contact and proper attention, because their parents are distracted by their smartphones, could cause "an evolutionary blip". "We cannot stand by passively and watch the cyber social experiment play out. In human terms to wait is to allow for the worst outcomes, many of which are unfolding before our eyes." Recorded at the Hay Festival. Presenter: Helen Zaltzman Producer: Sheila Cook.

Richard Gillis explains how a mistake at the 2014 Ryder Cup explains a trend across our society. Richard is a sports and business writer who believes that the leadership industry is bolstered by ideas about what it means to be in charge garnered from and popularised by sport. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Josie Appleton argues that petty rules stifle our human responses and damage society. Josie is Director of The Manifesto Club, which campaigns against state intrusion into everyday life. In this Four Thought, recorded at the Design Museum in London, she argues that it isn't just the state which is coming up with rules, but many other parts of civil society. She thinks we need to rally against this trend, arguing that we need to respond as normal human beings should, not according to a set of rules or policies. Our rallying cry, she said, should be simply "behave normally". Producer: Giles Edwards.

Andrea Cooper argues that football is an 'electric currency', and explains why she believes it can change the world for the better. Andrea is Head of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, and in this talk she describes watching young people listening intently to their favourite footballers, and how her foundation now hopes to work with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the developing world. She hopes to use the deep wellspring of affection amongst Liverpool Football Club's immense global fanbase to encourage young fans to pay more attention to healthcare messages. It could, she says, tilt the world on its axis, and prove a concept which would work elsewhere. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Jay Owens argues that dust is a lot more interesting than we think, and we ought to pay more attention to it. Jay has spent years researching dust, and produces a popular newsletter on the subject. In this fascinating Four Thought, recorded at the Design Museum in London, she shares some stories from the field of dust research that up until now have only been known to other 'dust people', as she calls her fellow dust researchers. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Astrid Alben explains how only art and science together can help us appreciate complicated phenomena like moonlight. Astrid is a poet and founder of the arts and science organisation, the PARS Foundation. In this meditative talk, she explains how bridging the artificial divide between science and the arts leads to a greater understanding of concepts as varied as moonlight, laughter and elasticity. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Daniel Hahn, a judge for this year's Man Booker International Prize, asks what really makes a good book. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Mark Breeze asks why architects haven't done more to design shelter for refugees. An architect himself, he tells us that his training was aimed at helping him come up with solutions to the toughest problems, yet none is tougher than finding a balance between impermanence, sustainability and low cost in homes for refugees. After visiting the so-called 'Jungle' camp in Calais and witnessing conditions there, Mark explains how he hopes to find a better framework for architects like him to help. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Rowland Manthorpe explains why he thinks the quality of confidence is overrated and is more of a curse than a blessing. "Far from being good for everything, confidence comes with its own set of priorities, not all of which fit the things we claim to want or need." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Ellen Mara De Wachter says collaborative art or "co-art" offers new insights into human relationships and the role of sharing in society. "The co-artists who were successful in their collaborations were those who recognised and valued difference within the group...The key was not to get over personal differences, but to value them as essential to the creative process." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Franklyn Addo describes how witnessing a murder transformed his life. It made him all the more determined to help other young people from underprivileged backgrounds go to top universities, as he did, and to challenge stereotypes. "There's so much more to talk about regarding council estates other than crime and anguish; more pertinent things, more celebratory things and more interesting things," he says. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Writer Jonathan Stroud explains why he thinks ghost stories are good for you. "While it may seem odd that it's pleasurable to be frightened, it's actually - like other activities that get the heart racing - a celebration of being alive. While so much around us is frankly mind-numbing, there's something pure and bracing about a nicely delivered scare." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Jonnie Bayfield reflects on being the last generation to grow up in an analogue childhood. "Looking back, I can see that no-one had any idea what the chemical, biological, or social ramifications of this burgeoning technology might be. In my school we had computer classes, but no-one ever suggested that intense use would lead to anything other than a personal and global liberation." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Matt Hood says we need to raise the standards of teaching by treating it like a performance profession where techniques are honed in rehearsal rather than tried out "live" in front of a class. "When we have low expectations of how complex teaching is, it translates directly into low expectations for how sophisticated training and development for teachers needs to be. As a result teachers learn less. That is a disaster." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Sarah Thomas de Benitez says our image of childhood has skewed our attitude towards street children and it's time to listen to them. "We listened, learned and found that the most important thing for each child was not 'where' they were but 'who' was there for them." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Tommy Whitelaw, who was his late mother's carer, calls for more support and respect for people living with dementia. "If we really are going to make a difference to each other we have to change the conversation from 'what's the matter with you' to 'what matters to you'". Recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House. Presenter: Mike Williams Producer: Sheila Cook.

VV Brown explains why after years of relaxing, weaving and extending it, she has embraced her natural hair. A singer-songwriter, model and record producer, VV has long needed to take care of her image. But recent changes in her life have prompted her to ask why that has meant covering up her natural hair. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Lucy Hurst-Brown asks why so many learning disabled people are so lonely. Having worked with learning disabled people for 25 years, Lucy describes a system which has moved a very long distance from the impersonal, institutional care of the twentieth century, but which still has a long way to go before learning disabled people are properly integrated into their communities. And in describing how she and her colleagues realised they may be causing the problem, and how they set about finding a solution, she also challenges all of us to play our part. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Jeremy Leslie explains why reports of magazines dying have been greatly exaggerated. Jeremy has spent years working in the print magazine industry, and runs the shop and website magCulture. But in recent years, as much commentary has focused on the rise of online and the accompanying death of print, Jeremy has instead seen a series of small, new and often niche print titles opening, and thriving. But why, and will it continue? Producer: Giles Edwards.

Hannah Jane Walker makes the case for being a bit sensitive. As a child Hannah was told to toughen up, not to be so sensitive, but now she says her sensitivity is who she is, and it's how she makes her income. And she thinks that people should embrace their sensitivity, and not pretend to be tough if they're not. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Katz Kiely argues that we should all learn to better manage change. Katz has advised governments, companies and international bodies on managing change. She says she is always surprised by how many organisations still adopt a top-down model of managing change, and she makes the case for a radically different way of doing so. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Chris Pierson makes the case for a radical rethinking of private property. Arguing that we are currently in the midst of a property crisis, Chris challenges us to go back to basics, to ask whether 'property is theft' and to consider whether there might be another way of allocating property. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Kerry Littleford argues that mothers who have multiple children taken into care need help to stop it happening again. As she shares her own story, Kerry makes the case for focusing not just on the children who have been taken into care, but the women whose problems haven't gone away. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Annie Zimmerman and James Wheale argue that food is the perfect storytelling medium. Working together as Understory, they are developing foods which go beyond taste and nutrients, but which pose another question: will people eat food if it doesn't taste delicious? Producer: Giles Edwards.

Anna Derrig asks who has the right to tell someone else's story. Anna has worked in the media, in international development and in social and community work telling stories, and now she is writing the story of her life with a family member. It has made her think carefully about the ethics of writing other people's lives, an issue she now teaches the issue at Goldsmith's, University of London. It's a good time to be thinking about this subject, she argues, since so many of us are telling stories - our own and other people's. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Dave Pickering makes the case for a men's liberation movement. Sharing experiences from his own life, he argues that it is not just women who need liberation from 'the patriarchy', but men themselves. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Sally Bayley traces the art of diary writing from Samuel Pepys to today's culture of blogging. "In an age of practically universal web access, the diary represents an old fashioned sense of self scrutiny and surveillance, a period of personal introspection." Four Thought was recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Producer: Sheila Cook Photo Credit: Sarah Caroline Photography.

Nick Ivins explains how the pull of the land turned him from a city dweller into a homesteader. "We discovered that great pleasure that is putting food, by one's own hand, on to the family table. It is an act of love wrought by an equal share of creativity and sweated laboour that rewards the head, heart and belly in equal measure." Four Thought was recorded at the End of the Road music festival Producer: Sheila Cook.

Former political adviser and stand up comedian Ayesha Hazarika explains why she thinks humour is such an important part of our political discourse. "It can be a weapon to attack, or a cloak to shield. But most importantly, it pinpoints the truth about how the world sees you, it shows self-awareness and helps you try to cling on to good faith in bleak times." Four Thought was recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Presenter: Mike Williams Producer: Sheila Cook.

Travis Elborough explores the role of public parks in British life and urges us to cherish them as institutions for the people. "The best public parks, as artfully contrived areas of greenery in the midst of brick and concrete, offer the delights of nature with fewer of its downsides." Four Thought was recorded at the End of the Road Music Festival. Presenter: Mike Williams Peoducer: Sheila Cook (Photo by David X Green).

Brian Bilston, who accidentally became a poet through Twitter, explains the power of social media for poetry. "Poetry on social media is more than a never-ending stream of haiku concerning the changing light of the moon on water, or the beauty of cherry blossom. It's far more interesting and relevant than that. It's an opportunity for poetry to present itself in situations when people most need it." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Melissa Raphael argues that if people are shocked by contemporary pornography it's not because they are prudes but because, on the contrary, they actually enjoy sex. Pornography, she says, gets its thrill not from sex itself, which it finds monotonous, even disgusting, but from its own acts of transgression. Ironically, she argues, "while pornography has intensified its onslaught against sex, religious attitudes to sex have got ever more celebratory". Producer: Sheila Cook.

Laurence Anholt describes how his dying father revealed the traumatic experiences of his early life, explaining his failure to be a loving parent to his son. "I recalled the nightmares and mood swings he had suffered when I was young, and I began to realise that for most of his life, my father had suffered from acute untreated trauma." Producer: Sheila Cook.

After the coup attempt in Turkey writer Elif Shafak describes how being Turkish means worrying about your country all the time "as though she were an eccentric relative one could neither fully trust on her own, nor stop loving." Four Thought was recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Presenter: Mike Williams Producer: Sheila Cook Image credit: Muammer Yanmaz.

Tom Fletcher, former British Ambassador to Lebanon and known as the 'naked diplomat' for his direct, unvarnished approach, argues that the future of diplomacy will be citizen-led. Speaking at the Hay Festival, the 'ex-Excellency' explains how in the digital age most people doing diplomacy - what he describes as a basic human reflex to find common ground - will never have crossed the threshold of a Foreign Ministry. Instead, they will be working for NGOs, the media, in business, elsewhere in government or in communities. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Adnan Sarwar, who spent ten years as a soldier, describes how the Army respected his identity as a Muslim, even though he is not religious. "I was a Pakistani kid in the Army recruitment office in Burnley swearing an oath to the Queen. The Sergeant told me to wait while he went to find a Koran. I said the Bible would do, but he told me that they did things properly in the British Army. People had warned me before I joined that the Army was racist. People still say that to me. People who have never worn that uniform. They can't see that when we did wear that uniform, that it made us all the same." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Simon Zagorski-Thomas thinks we fail to treat the study of popular music with the seriousness it deserves because we overvalue classical music studies. "It seems to be up to the younger universities to take the lead in analysing musical forms that live outside of the world of the classical score and to create a musicology that is more relevant to our experience of music now." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Stuart J. Cole, a writer and drugs counsellor - with past personal experience of addiction and prison - warns of a crisis in our prisons caused by "spice", a synthetic cannabis. He advocates a controversial way to tackle the problem. "Lower the punishment for cannabis," he says, "until a means of detection can be put in place along with punishment." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Rachel Kelly draws on her experience of depression, and the healing power of poetry, to explain why she believes we need a more nuanced approach to treating mental illness. The first in a new series of thought-provoking talks linked to personal experience recorded in front of a live audience. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Alex Beaumont questions the meaning of 'The North'. Growing up in the North of England, in his youth Alex wanted nothing more than to leave for the South. Now he lives in one part of the North, and works in another, but he questions whether 'The North' is a meaningful concept at all. How does it relate to the North of Scotland, or Ireland, and what might the UK government's plan for a 'Northern Powerhouse' mean in practice? Producer: Katie Langton.

Another chance to hear three of the best recent episodes of Four Thought, each addressing hinge moments in the history of war and terror, and re-assessing the response of the West. Hashi Mohamed re-interprets a recent British response to an act of terror on our own streets, arguing that the episode tells us a great deal about our nation that we take for granted. Benedict Wilkinson challenges how we think about terrorism more generally, asking us to seriously reconsider how we confront terrorists on a global scale. And drawing on his personal experience of advising Poland and Russia at the end of the Cold War, world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs urges us to remember lessons of the past when taking action in the present. Producer: Katie Langton.

Charlie Howard argues that public services should find their users, not wait to be found. Charlie started the charity MAC-UK to provide specialist mental health services to gang members and other at-risk young people. As she began to work with them, she found more and more people who would never have accessed traditional services, but were in desperate need of them. She makes the case that this is also a better, more efficient way to help service users, and argues that other public service providers - from teachers to job advisers - should consider how they can adopt the same approach. Producer: Katie Langton.

Lucy Allen argues that the way in which medieval society is often presented - as indifferent to sexual violence against women - is wrong. Lucy is an academic at Cambridge University, and she recounts a disagreement with a colleague about the realism of violence depicted in the TV show Game of Thrones. In fact, she says, medieval monarchs were passing laws against sexual violence in wartime, and some medieval literature reflects a nuanced understanding of trauma caused by rape. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Charles Leadbeater argues that we are living in a whirlpool economy, where we are moving faster but seem to be standing still. And he suggests some changes we could make to break out of it. Producer: Katie Langton.

David Russell asks whether backing big charities is the best way of improving the world. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Robert Rowland Smith argues that we are coming to the end of the Age of Ideas. He examines how different 'ages' - of superstition, religion, reason and ideas - have emerged and gradually been eclipsed. And he hints at the age we may be about to enter. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Katy Long argues that we should think differently about citizenship. She compares how citizenship and passports are bought and sold, and explores the ethical implications. Producer: Katie Langton.

Alex Marshall, fresh from writing a book about national anthems, discusses nationalism and patriotism. Alex tells stories of meeting self-described patriots and nationalists from Japan to Paraguay via France and Kazakhstan, and explores how our thinking about nationalism and patriotism is highly dependent on place and time. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

John Osborne tells a story of waiting for a bill in a cafe, and explores how a proliferation of new ways of communicating can mean we end up feeling ignored. Producer: Katie Langton.

Rachel Roberts argues that education needs a democratic revolution. Rachel describes her own experiences in democratic schools - as a student, teacher, and now educational consultant. And she argues that even if every school won't make the transition to the full kind of radical democracy she enjoyed, every school - and every student - can benefit from the democratic ethos. Producer: Katie Langton.

Adam Kelly discusses the sometimes surprising relationship between literature and economics, and argues that economics needs to get back in touch with its literary side. Exploring the literary inclinations of John Maynard Keynes, Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Adam explores how a shift in the order in which students study the subject can explain a lot about modern economics. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Michelle Madsen makes the case for the life of a continuous cruiser on Britain's rivers and canals. Michelle is a poet and journalist who has spent the last two years living aboard a boat, and discusses how it has affected her poetry, her prose, her friendships and her life. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Ann York discusses diagnoses - and how receiving one of her own has made her think differently about giving them to others. Ann is a world-renowned child and adolescent psychiatrist, whose expertise is sought far and wide. In this intimate and fascinating talk she discusses the difficulties of giving a diagnosis, describing the benefits and the disadvantages, and how the young people in her care, and their parents, respond when diagnosed. And in front of an audience at Somerset House she describes how her own experiences with an unexpected diagnosis have affected how she thinks about her own work. Producer: Katie Langton.

Benedict Wilkinson challenges how we think about terrorism and uses stories of two very different terrorists to make the case for a different approach. Benedict is a senior research fellow at the Policy Institute at King's College, London, and researches the strategies of different terrorist groups. He argues that terrorists' embrace of violence always comes from a position of weakness, and that it frequently fails to achieve their own political objectives. As a result, he argues that the way in which we confront terrorists needs serious reconsideration. Producer: Katie Langton.

Muna Baig argues that forced displacement should be taken seriously as a war crime. Muna is a lawyer who has spent time working with refugees and with international lawyers. She calls forced displacement the 'cinderella war crime' and argues that despite it being considered a war crime since at least the Second World War, there is little political will to enforce the law. She maintains that only by talking about forced displacement will that change. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Alpa Shah argues that tribal people need a better development model. Alpa is an anthropologist who has spent years with tribal Adivasi people, in Jharkhand, in eastern India. In recent years their lands have been identified as some of the most mineral-rich on earth and are being eagerly eyed by mining companies. There are many potential benefits, but Alpa asks whether the world has learned lessons in how to ensure that everyone can share in them. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.

Paul Hyland is a writer and a magician - but, as he explains in this entertaining essay, he is not a trickster. At least, not a dishonest one. "Did the painter trick you when his reclining nude turned out to be no more than a layer of pigments, textures, lines of perspective, light and shade on a flat canvas?" Recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Producer: Richard Knight.

Another chance to hear three great talks combining personal stories and new ideas. Adjoa Andoh talks movingly about raising a transgender child, and about what really defines who we are or who we might become. "In too many places today," she says, "and in too many ways, we suffocate our true potential selves at birth." Matt Haig describes how words helped him live with depression. "You have to believe there is a point of there being words, and that they can offer real meaning. Normally this belief is taken for granted, but that is because normally we are taking the world itself for granted. But when your mind crumbles to dust everything you thought you knew suddenly becomes something to question. You have to build reality up again. And the bricks we use to shape our realities are called words." Tim Meek explains why he and his family have left their old life behind them for a year of adventure on the road. "We believe that the real measure of modern success is nothing to do with your bank balance or the size of your house, but instead, the amount of free time you have at your disposal." Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook Editor: Richard Knight.

In this thoughtful essay Adharanand Finn provides a subtle answer to a simple question: why do we run? After all, he says, "running is hard. It requires effort. And after all the pain you usually end up right back where you started, having run in a big, pointless circle". With reference to childhood, hunter-gatherers and even the monks of mount Hiei, who run the equivalent of 1,000 marathons in 1,000 days, Adharanand arrives at an answer: running brings us joy. Recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Producer: Richard Knight.

Sarah Bennetto is now an established comedian but, not so long ago, she was a lonely Australian trying - against the odds - to make a new life for herself in London. It wasn't easy. "Heroes find themselves in some pretty sticky situations at the start of a quest," she says. "What a shame that 'sticky' was, in my hostel's case, literal." In this witty and wise essay, Sarah shares her tips for starting a new life in a strange land. Recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Producer: Richard Knight.

Jim Smallman examines the attitude of society to our pasts and argues that men and women are treated very differently. "I am not proud of my past," he says, "I'm massively ashamed of huge swathes of it." But Jim's misdeeds are, he argues, "easily forgivable" because he was "just being a bit of a lad". In contrast, Jim's wife - a former pornographic actress - is not given the same latitude. Too many people, he says, would "use her past to hold her back from the future that she deserves". Recorded at the End of the Road music festival. Producer: Richard Knight.

Barbara Weiss says we need to act fast to save London's skyline from the indiscriminate building of ugly tower blocks. "Many of them are being built in highly inappropriate and sensitive locations, dwarfing the city's historic landmarks and blighting low-rise surroundings for miles, introducing a toxic mix of commercialism and bling that is already greatly compromising the reserved and unique beauty of our capital." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Ian McDowell experiences misery working in a cold calling centre to raise money for charities and questions this method of fund-raising. "How much of this do the charities, who spend millions of pounds every year on these dubious methods, really know, or want to know, about this sometimes sordid business? And why on earth should their supporters put up with it?" Producer: Sheila Cook.

Shane McCorristine thinks we are losing out by no longer talking about our dreams, in contrast to our ancestors. "This collapse in the democratic dream-archive may well have implications for the historians of the future, who will have little access to the most amazing stories of our innermost fears and desires." Producer: Sheila Cook.

The playwright Bola Agbaje on why black women are still under-represented on British TV. "If people don't see people like me, how will they understand me?" she says. "I quit drama school to pursue writing because I wanted to write myself into a script." Producer: Sheila Cook.

In this powerful edition of Four Thought, recorded at the Hay Festival, the writer Matt Haig describes how words helped him live with depression. "You have to believe there is a point of there being words, and that they can offer real meaning. Normally this belief is taken for granted, but that is because normally we are taking the world itself for granted. But when your mind crumbles to dust everything you thought you knew suddenly becomes something to question. You have to build reality up again. And the bricks we use to shape our realities are called words." Recorded at the Hay Festival. Producer: Lucy Proctor Editor: Richard Knight.

In the third of four editions from this year's Hay Festival a pregnant Amanda Palmer talks about the prospect of reconciling art and motherhood. "And right now, at 24 weeks pregnant, all I can do is look at the female heroes who've preceded me and not descended into crappy boringness, and pray to the holy trinity: Patti Smith. Ani Difranco. Bjork. Hear my prayer: may I not get baby brain." Producer: Lucy Proctor. Image courtesy of Shervin Lainez.

In the second of four editions recorded at the Hay Festival, Caroline Ingraham explains why we should give animals choices. She is the founder of a new approach to animal welfare which gives domestic and captive animals the chance to "self-medicate" as, she says, research shows they would in the wild. "Maybe it's time to re-evaluate our relationship with animals, and start perceiving them as active, rather than passive, beings." Producer: Lucy Proctor.

In the first of four editions from this year's Hay Festival, Tim Meek explains why he and his family have left their old life behind them for a year of adventure on the road. "We believe that the real measure of modern success is nothing to do with your bank balance or the size of your house, but instead, the amount of free time you have at your disposal." Producer: Lucy Proctor.

Brian Lobel who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 20 says surviving cancer does not mean you have to be heroic. "I thought there must be something for the other 50% or 20% or 90% who would rather watch a box set than run a marathon." Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sheila Cook.

Huda Jawad describes reconciling her deeply-held Islamic faith with her feminism, arguing that the Qur'an does not sanction the oppression of women. "I was enraged to hear that Islam was used in the most perverse ways," she says, "to maintain women's vulnerability and persecution and enable the perpetrators, who are usually men, to coerce and control them." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Baraa Shiban - stranded in London by the conflict in Yemen - describes how the revolution driven by young people in his country changed the course of his life and why he believes a revolution is just the beginning. "Whenever a revolution forces a dictator out of power, a counter revolution will always be next. Revolutions should always have post revolution plans. The actual work should start after removing the dictator. It's a long struggle and it's our duty to keep it alive and never give up." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Comedian John Williams finds unexpected joy in his autistic son's view of life, despite the inevitable struggles. "I have learnt far far more about the human condition, and what it truly means to be alive from just being with those with learning diabilities than I have from any eminent teacher or book." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Agata Pyzik, Polish cultural critic and author of "Poor But Sexy", reflects on divisions between Eastern Europe and the West and the prejudice she sees against Eastern European migrants. "I don't want to feel I have to conceal my history in order to pass for somebody worthwhile in English conversation, or to be ashamed that my country was historically poorer or was a part of the Eastern bloc," she says. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Peter Bleksley, a former undercover policeman fighting drugs crime and an ex-drug addict, argues that the only answer in the so-called "war on drugs" is to legalise and license them. "It's about time we had a radical rethink and came up with a plan that would wrestle the control and the enormous profits of this global industry, which is worth hundreds of billions of pounds per year, away from the hands of the bad guys and into the coffers of responsible governments." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Jamie Bartlett finds out that internet trolls can be surprisingly human. The author of "The Dark Net", he says that demonising people behind shocking and hidden online subcultures may not be the best way to deal with them. Greater understanding of the complexity of their motivation could lead us to a more effective response. Without condoning their disturbing and unacceptable behaviour, he tells the stories of his surprising encounters with them. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Amy Golden, who is seriously disabled - she can move only her right arm and cannot speak - shares what life is like through her eyes. In an essay read by actor Rhiannon Neads, she reveals her frustrations, her battle with depression and also the pleasures of being able to watch what other people are up to without being noticed. "I think perhaps they sometimes allow me to pick up on things because they don't realise that there's a thinking, feeling person inside this body," she says. Her talk is a passionate plea to be heard and noticed. "If you want to know what I want to say you have to focus on me," Amy insists. "You can't ignore me, or pretend I'm not here." Producer: Sheila Cook Editor: Richard Knight.

Darren Harris, a double paralympic athlete and mathematics graduate, draws similarities between people and prime numbers: each is indivisible and unique. In the age of big data, he makes the case for a more person-centred approach in public services. And he finds it in an unexpected place, somewhere more usually associated with a 'win at all costs' mentality: elite sport. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Paola Antonelli explores the politics in art and design. The curator of design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Paola uses examples from a recent exhibition to show how curatorial decisions can be extremely political, and to examine the role of museums and curators in stimulating political debate and discussion. The programme is presented by Amanda Stern, from McNally Jackson Books in New York City. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Jeffrey Sachs argues that many of today's global problems are hangovers from bad, ungenerous decisions at the end of previous conflicts. Professor Sachs is one of the world's leading economists, and amongst the many governments he has advised over 30 years were Poland and Russia at the end of the Cold War. In this very personal talk, recorded at McNally Jackson books in New York City, Professor Sachs describes how a stunned Russian Prime Minister, facing economic calamity and desperate for western support, was told instead by western governments that there would be no help forthcoming. And he argues that decisions like this - similar to those taken by the Entente powers at the end of the First World War which sowed the seeds of today's conflicts in the Middle East - are a large part of the explanation of Russian attitudes today, including in Ukraine. The presenter is Amanda Stern. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Professor Christina Greer asks what it means to be black in America today. Speaking at McNally Jackson Books in New York City, Professor Greer describes herself as a 'JB' - 'just black' - a black American without a hyphenation. She argues that many new black immigrants into the United States are increasingly keen to avoid that designation, choosing instead to retain their accents, their citizenship or their separate identity. She argues that this is caused by the poor status of black people in the United States, and asks whether it presages an historic change in what American immigration has meant: a nation where new immigrants do all they can to integrate, not to remain separate. The presenter is Amanda Stern. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of the seminal memoir book Prozac Nation, revisits the process of writing the book. And on the twentieth anniversary of its publication, she explores the relationship between writing and the need to pay the bills. Speaking in front of an audience at McNally Jackson Books in New York City, Elizabeth argues that people have lost their minds trying to write great literature. Instead, she says, "If your whole thing is 'I can't starve', you'd be stunned with what you come up with. You'll be thinking of what you need, not what you want. You'll definitely come up with the next right thing." The host is Amanda Stern. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Is it time to radically re-think pet ownership? In this highly challenging and thought provoking Four Thought the writer Esther Woolfson argues that a lifetime spent sharing her home with a variety of birds and animals - rook, magpie, crow, starling, canaries, parrots, rats and rabbits - has led her to understand just how little we really know about the capacities and feelings of other beings. Pushing us to consider why we own pets in the first place Esther's talk promises to have you looking at Rover, Ginger, Fluffy or Socks in a whole new light.

Author, poet and translator, Kenneth Steven, draws on the magical experience of a long dreamed for trip to Greenland to consider the dangers of cruise ship tourism. While Kenneth understands the desire of tourists to experience the extraordinary landscape and culture of the Arctic, after all he has a long held personal passion for northern places and people himself, he worries the arrival of the cruise ships does more damage than good to the fragile Inuit communities. Might there not be a better way to experience these vulnerable indigenous communities, sustaining their history, traditions and culture than through mass tourism which might change it beyond all recognition?

Andy Kirkpatrick - acclaimed mountaineer, author and stand-up - challenges us to let our children be exposed to greater risk. He argues that we shouldn't be wrapping up children in cotton wool, that children will naturally seek out risky, challenging, scary experiences and that by over protecting them we might just be encouraging them to seek out much more dangerous situations. Using a terrifying mountain climb he did with his young daughter as an example, Andy argues that if we're brave enough to allow our children to experienced managed risk they'll enter adulthood better prepared for life's challenges.

Acclaimed disabled dancer and choreographer, Claire Cunningham, offers up a starkly honest and intriguing challenge to anyone who's ever just assumed that someone with a disability would want to be 'cured' if they could be. For Claire being disabled makes her unique and gives her a fresh insight into life. In this compelling edition of Four Thought she considers why on earth she'd opt to be just the same as everyone else when she can be different, utterly individual, unlike anyone else.

Jon Alexander argues that consumer power has become an idea which from parenting to politics is damaging society. He argues that the age of the internet offers an alternative path, but that it is one we as a society must choose proactively. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Entrepreneur Robyn Scott tells the remarkable story of her transformative work with murderers and other violent criminals in one of South Africa's most notorious jails, and she argues that accepting more risk will improve public services. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Wyn James tells the story of the Welsh settlements in Patagonia. On their 150th anniversary, he asks what lessons they might offer about migration and integration. Wyn blends stories from his own visits to Welsh Patagonia and the history of the settlements themselves. The original idea was to retain a distinct Welsh identity and to remain separate. Over time that has changed, to a distinct Welsh identity within wider Argentine society, and Wyn asks what lessons this might offer our own and other societies today for how to deal with separation and difference. Producer: Giles Edwards.

We are trying to revive our high streets the wrong way, argues Clare Richmond. Clare has many years' experience in helping to revive the fortunes of high street shops. But she has grown disenchanted with the current expectation that councils, town managers and government hit squads can improve things. Her own experience has taught her that real and lasting change for the better can only happen when businesses get fully involved and believe they hold their futures in their own hands. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Sunil Shaunak argues that pharmaceuticals could, and should, build social capital. Arguing that the twin risks of rampant infectious disease and resistance to antibiotics represent a grave threat to our future, Sunil makes the case for ethical pharmaceuticals. Sunil's own background bridges the gap between academia and the pharmaceutical industry, and from this vantage point he has grown concerned that while the public sector puts up the initial financial capital, the return is often in purely financial terms, diminishing our shared social capital. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Daniel Hahn argues that as a society we would benefit from having more children's books translated into English. A translator himself, and author of a major book about children's literature, Daniel is concerned that few books are being translated today to sit alongside Tintin, Asterix and the Moomins. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Tiffany Jenkins argues that we need more judgement about quality in art, culture and life. Tiffany's field of expertise is the arts. She says that judgement about quality is unfashionable in today's art world, and this is a problem. She believes that only by being clear about how judgements are reached, and discussing them openly, can we hope to reach a consensus on a common culture. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Anna Beer asks why we don't hear more music composed by women. She argues that many creative women still live, as they have for centuries, in the shadow of the courtesan. Using the stories of female composers from Medici-era Florence to twentieth-century Britain, she shows how excellent music composed by women has been ignored or overlooked, and explains why. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Carrie Gibson argues that we need to re-think what we mean by paradise. Carrie has recently completed a major history of the Caribbean, and in this talk she explores the complicated interwoven history of the Caribbean and of how it has been understood in the wealthy west. And she argues that we may need to re-evaluate our understanding of the meaning of paradise. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Philosopher Amia Srinivasan makes the case for anger, arguing that it can be a huge source of strength and power, particularly for the apparently weak and powerless. Using the personal experiences and political beliefs of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to advance her case, Amia argues that we should seriously question why people in power criticise or dismiss those who are angry. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Comedian Rosie Wilby proposes the end of monogamy. She first discussed the idea in a show at last year's Edinburgh festival, since when it has taken an unexpectedly serious turn. That show prompted many people to get in touch with Rosie to share their stories, and it has even had knock-on effects in her own life. Now she shares her thinking on how it might affect ours, too. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Mara Oliva argues that we need to think differently about ordinary Americans' views and the making of their nation's foreign policy. Mara has spent countless hours in US presidential archives examining how public opinion was assessed and understood in several administrations. In this talk she compares her research into the series of crises in East and South-East Asia from the 1940s to the 1970s - Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China - to the Middle East today. She argues that the American public then and now took a more nuanced and cautious approach towards foreign policy than political leaders. Producer: Giles Edwards.

When Revd Philip North was tending the spiritual needs of people on an estate in Hartlepool he saw at close range the way a poor community could become self-sufficient. But in the years since, he argues, the working class has been systematically de-skilled by middle class professionals. In this provocative talk he argues that top-down meddling has replaced grassroots community-building, and that society is worse off for it. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society in front of a live audience. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producer: Mike Wendling.

Actor Adjoa Andoh's son sensed from a very young age that although he inhabits the body of a girl, he was born a boy. "In the imperfect language we have to describe people," she says, "we call him transgender." Adjoa talks movingly about raising a transgender child, and about what really defines who we are or who we might become. "In too many places today," she says, "and in too many ways, we suffocate our true potential selves at birth." Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society in front of a live audience. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producers: Mike Wendling and Smita Patel.

Technology writer Rupert Goodwins was an early user of internet message boards which he idealistically thought would bring the world closer together. The truth hit him when he waded into a forum debating creationism and ended up being attacked by both sides. He argues that the fundamental problem of incivility on the internet has never gone away - in fact it has got much, much worse. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society in front of a live audience. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producers: Mike Wendling and Smita Patel.

When economist Noreena Hertz became very ill she confronted a difficult question: who should she trust? The answer was much more complicated than it first appeared and her quest to find out more about her treatment led her to a deep scepticism about expertise. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society in front of a live audience. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producer: Mike Wendling.

Jasper Fforde explains why he is concerned that humans have reached the limits of intellectual creative thought. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Kamin Mohammadi Producer: Estelle Doyle.

Serena Kutchinsky explains the impact an obsession with the Faberge egg had on her family and why she now believes such priceless objects should belong to all. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Kamin Mohammadi Producer: Estelle Doyle.

Karl Sharro argues that the only way to overcome the housing crisis is to get rid of all planning regulations and let people build whatever they want. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Kamin Mohammadi Producer: Estelle Doyle.

The American author Sandra Newman explains why, while most of us would like to be cool, it is best not to try too hard. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Kamin Mohammadi Producer: Estelle Doyle.

Jono Vernon-Powell wonders why hitchhiking has fallen out of favour, arguing its revival would be good for travellers and good for society. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter:Rohan Silva Producer:Sheila Cook.

Jonathan Rée explains why he's never been happy with the idea of morality and warns against the current fashion for confusing it with politics. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Rohan Silva Producer: Sheila Cook.

Rachel Armstrong proposes we should harness the computing power of the natural world to create new sustainable ways of living. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Rohan Silva Producer: Sheila Cook.

Children's author SF Said believes the power of fiction can help to bridge the divide when people identify themselves as "Us" and reject everyone else as "Them". Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Rohan Silva Producer: Sheila Cook.

Thought-provoking talks with a personal dimension.

Rebecca Mott says we should come to see prostitution exactly as we now see slavery - as an abuse of human rights - and therefore only total abolition is acceptable. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producer: Sheila Cook.

Philippa Perry explains why story telling is so powerful and how the stories we tell to and about ourselves affect our mental wellbeing. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: Ben Hammersley Producer: Sheila Cook.

Benet Brandreth argues that our current political discourse is bankrupt, so he proposes a novel solution: a legislature by lot. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter:Ben Hammersley Producer: Sheila Cook.

Becky Manson discusses the meaning of home as homeowning becomes less common. Becky has moved home numerous times over the last decade, and has used art to explore the relationship between the idea of 'home' and the architectural reality of the houses or flats where we live. As houses become increasingly expensive and the average age of homeowning rises, she suggests a different way of thinking about our home. Introduced by Kamin Mohammadi. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Sharon Kinsella explores the Japanese 'cult of girls'. Ranging from the surprising role of schoolgirls in Japanese culture to an unusual encounter with an intriguing figure in the Japanese men's movement, Sharon undermines the idea of a playful Japanese popular culture. Having studied Japan for 15 years, she describes how the almost warlike state of male-female relations instead plays out in unexpected ways. Introduced by Kamin Mohammadi. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Byron Vincent discusses nature versus nurture, and society's obligations to its weakest. In a powerful, personal talk, Byron tells the story of his own childhood on a troubled housing estate, of how his surroundings shaped him, and of the choices he felt forced to make. Faced with similar circumstances he asks who can say they would make different choices. Byron explores the moral consequences of this for the rest of our society. Introduced by Kamin Mohammadi. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Anne-Marie Imafidon argues that we need to think differently about role models. She believes we need to stop looking at them as superhuman and instead embrace their mistakes as well as their successes, their personal foibles as well as their strengths. Once we do that, we can understand that everyone has something to contribute, we can all be members of what she calls the 'role model club'. Presented by David Baddiel. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Heaven Crawley, Professor of International Migration at Swansea University, argues for compassion and curiosity in place of hostility in our attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which the speakers tell personal stories that give rise to their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: David Baddiel Producer: Sheila Cook.

Matthew Engel makes a secular case for reclaiming the peace and quiet of the Sabbath, arguing that a proper day of rest will make us healthier, happier and more productive. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which the speakers tell personal stories that give rise to their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: David Baddiel Producer: Sheila Cook.

Former soldier Emile Simpson draws on his experience in Afghanistan to argue that we need to rethink the way we fight wars now the boundary with politics has been blurred. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which the speakers tell personal stories that give rise to their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Presenter: David Baddiel Producer: Sheila Cook.

Curtis Blanc, a former prisoner turned award-winning sound and music entrepreneur, says prison works, but only if you want it to. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which the speakers tell personal stories that give rise to their thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Agnes Woolley examines what is missing from the stories told by, and about, refugees. She laments what she calls the 'hard authenticity of testimony' - the way in which refugees to the UK are forced to tell their own stories, and never to change them, despite any number of changes in perspective. And she asks why the stories told about those seeking refuge - by politicians and newspapers - are equally unchanging. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Brian Lavery tells the remarkable story of Mrs Lillian Bilocca, and how a fishwife from Hull changed the country's most dangerous industry. He examines how the fame and misfortune she suffered as a result might have played out in our current social media age and asks how much life has really changed. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Mark Lorch asks why we are all so afraid of chemicals. Biology has plants, animals and David Attenborough. Physics has lasers, stars and Brian Cox. Meanwhile chemistry, by reputation, has chemical weapons, pollution and Walter White from Breaking Bad. Mark, himself a chemistry lecturer at Hull University, explores why we have the wrong end of the stick, and what can be done about it. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Mark O'Connell argues that in an age of strong opinions, we should embrace ambivalence. As a child, Mark's constitutional ambiguity meant his mother considered printing the phrase 'I might and I mightn't' on a t-shirt. Today, Mark's job as a writer for Slate magazine is to take strong positions. In this fascinating look at the role of ambiguity in our society, he attempts to square the circle - or should that be circle the square - in his determination to have the courage of his own ambivalence. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Jane Burston argues that by placing too much emphasis on profit, companies behave in an unethical way, and it is time for social purpose to take centre stage. Jane describes what she sees as a systematic problem in big companies and argues that only by viewing profit as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, can we create an ethical business sector. And she believes that shareholders will embrace her plan, even if it means business leaders taking on the mantle of moral leaders and sometimes compromising profit for social good. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Sam Edwards argues that we should think again about how and what we memorialise - including wars and other major events in our national history. Sam is a lecturer in American History at Manchester Metropolitan University, and has long been fascinated with memorials. He tells the story of how, as a young man, he would journey around the Suffolk countryside visiting the many memorials to the US 8th Air Force, and the effect it had on him. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Molly Naylor has spent years thinking how much she could teach her teenage self. But in this talk, Molly turns her thinking on its head. What if her teenage self has something to teach her? Producer: Giles Edwards.

Matt Locke traces the stories of three 'empires of attention' to examine how our attention, and the way it was measured, has shaped our culture. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Farrah Jarral puts the case for more cheekiness, arguing that it is a core British value and a creative, playful way of checking power and subverting the status quo. Farrah, a GP by day, tells the story of how one patient smashed the usual doctor-patient power gradient. She sets out to discover whether any other language has a concept quite like cheekiness, and she explains why she is convinced that there is far greater depth to it than first meets the eye. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Paul Dimeo argues that drugs made modern sport what it is today, and that we ought to take a more sympathetic view of those athletes whose will to win takes them outside the rules of the game. Paul believes the entire Olympic movement was saved by the drug-fuelled rivalry between the United States, Soviet Union and East Germany, and makes the case that drugs dramatically enliven sport as a spectacle and as a talking point. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Author and broadcaster Lindsay Johns argues that language is power, and makes the case for speaking English properly. Lindsay, who has mentored young people in Peckham, south London, for years, believes that street slang and what he calls 'ghetto grammar' disempower and limit the life chances of those who speak it. And he says that those who make excuses for this language, or argue that it is good for young people, are really just encouraging them to ostracize themselves even further from mainstream society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

As the first Muslim chair in Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Mona Siddiqui regularly engages on inter-faith issues. Reflecting on her own life, Mona says that far from being a private matter, friendship is more of a societal good that is achieving ever greater significance in the globalized world. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Recorded during the Edinburgh festival, speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Caitlin Smith.

The United Nations recently predicted that the world's population will grow to nine billion by 2050 and ten billion by the end of the century. Whilst news of population growth is often greeted with panic and dismay Danny Doring, a human geographer at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment, argues that, in fact, there's nothing to fear in the future, because the population bomb has already diffused. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Recorded during the Edinburgh festival, speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Caitlin Smith.

We might think the web is something different, another world somewhere out there - or indeed in our devices - but as Emily Bell argues, the web is actually mapped onto our physical world: the real and the virtual are the same thing. Emily spent almost twenty years working at the Observer and then the Guardian, setting up Media Guardian website in 2000. Three years ago she and her family moved to New York and Emily became the Director of the Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. Living her life over two continents has caused her to consider the affect of cyberspace on actual space. Are we, as so many promised in the 90s, witnessing the death of distance? Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Recorded during the Edinburgh festival, speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience.

In the 1990s, author Alan Bissett was a lad and women were 'birds'. In a frank and personal account, Alan talks about why he turned to the work of the late American radical feminist Andrea Dworkin after becoming concerned over his use of internet pornography. He dissects elements of what he describes as our "sex saturated culture" and argues that men need to start engaging with feminism for the good of all. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Recorded during the Edinburgh festival, speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Caitlin Smith.

Greg Votolato confesses his addiction to cars while arguing for more sustainable designs to meet our desire for status and private space. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Yasmin Hai says it's not Western foreign policy that is radicalising British Muslims but more pedestrian psychological factors closer to home. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Jad Adams thinks we're dealing with homelessness less well than in the 1930s. Speaking from his experience helping homeless people, he argues that current policy - which he says ties the homeless to hostels funded by their benefits - is not the answer. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience.

Andrew Graystone speaks from personal experience to argue that we're using the wrong language to talk about cancer. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience.

Advertising guru Kevin Allen tells a tale of missing cutlery on passenger jets to show where business leaders go wrong. Success, he says, belongs to the "buoyant" leader, riding high on the esteem of the workforce, rather than ruling by fear. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks combining personal stories with ideas of contemporary relevance. Speakers air their thinking in front of a live audience, hosted by David Baddiel.

Social anthropologist Jamie Tehrani sees our obsession with celebrity culture as a result of our maladapted brains. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks which combine personal stories with ideas of contemporary relevance. Speakers air their thinking in front of a live audience, hosted by David Baddiel.

Economist Judith Shapiro argues that the next steps towards equality for women will be far harder than those which went before. Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks which combine personal stories with ideas of contemporary relevance. Speakers air their thinking in front of a live audience, hosted by David Baddiel. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Dick Moore calls for urgent action to tackle the problems of adolescent mental health. Driven by personal experience, he sees a growing need for society to provide young people with more emotional support. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience.

Steven Poole argues that we should resist the modern message, from pop science and brain scans, that humans are irrational creatures, driven by instant judgement and primordial urges. Instead, he says we should stand up together and say we can think, and that's what makes us human. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. It is recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Anna Woodhouse explores what looking through glass and glasses means for us. When she was a call centre worker Anna could see the towers of Leeds University through the window of her high rise block on a Leeds council estate. For her, this symbolised both possibility and disconnection from the object of her desire. When she eventually left the estate, she completed a study on the place of glass in our culture. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Henry Stewart argues that bad management blights the working lives of millions of people, and that the solution is to let everyone choose their own bosses. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House. Producer: Giles Edwards.

The science writer Emma Byrne argues that, far from tuning out, we should listen carefully when people swear, because they often do so for good reasons. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Stewart Henderson argues that a lack of poetry in politics is fuelling disengagement. He draws on past and current speeches from Winston Churchill to Aneurin Bevan and David Cameron to Ed Miliband to make the case for putting poetry back in political rhetoric. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. It is recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Producer: Laura Francis.

Daniela Papi explores the dark side of volunteering overseas, and asks how local people and wealthy 'voluntourists' alike can ensure a positive experience. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Historian Mat Paskins argues that history can be made real when we bring back to life the excitement which previous generations felt at new developments: to make us, who live in our ancestors' future, feel their wonder when first confronted with future possibility. And he tells the story of two experiments - an ambitious attempt in the eighteenth century to use black sand to make steel, and his own youthful efforts to see if he could eat everything. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. It is recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Emma Woolf explores how people suffering from eating disorders might now have a proper explanation for the condition. Emma has suffered from anorexia and written and talked about it extensively. A proper explanation for her illness has remained elusive - until now. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. It is recorded in front of a live audience at Somerset House in London. Producer: Giles Edwards.

William Dalrymple introduces the Oscar-winning documentary-maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, in Four Thought at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Obaid Chinoy, whose films include Saving Face, argues that although her work is reportage, she cannot be - and should not be - impartial. There is a difference, she says, "between story-telling and journalism".

William Dalrymple introduces Ranjini Obeyesekere in Four Thought at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Obeyesekere - the Sri Lankan writer, translator and academic - argues that "translations are often considered a second-class activity, done by hacks" but that, however imperfect the result, making a work written in one language available in another, is a profoundly important art. But there are difficult questions. Is a bad translation better than no translation? Is true translation, in fact, the art of the impossible?

Anwar Akhtar, Director of The Samosa, argues that Pakistan should think of itself as an Asian nation, not as an Arab one. And after years of working between Britain and Pakistan, he says British Pakistanis are uniquely placed to help Pakistan embrace its multicultural history - and to create a prosperous and peaceful future with India. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Adventurer Sally Kettle argues that hope is not helpful, and suggests some alternative strategies. Sally has twice rowed the Atlantic Ocean, and worries that hope can lead to a passive state of mind. There is nothing, she believes, like taking concrete steps to make things happen. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Designer and technologist Tom Armitage argues that learning to write computer code means learning to think in a modern way, and that it should spur creativity: the possibility of doing entirely new things. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Georgie Fienberg believes that endless fundraising by overseas aid charities is not sustainable, and she argues that charities should want to close. Georgie is Founder of Afrikids, a charity which supports poor children in Ghana. When she started the organisation she set a deadline for closing its UK fundraising arm, so that the organisation in Ghana would be sustainable and self-sufficient. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Nancy Lublin, CEO of DoSomething.Org, discusses how the next generation are doing social activism. She describes the impact of the web on social activism, making it faster, cheaper and easier to do than ever before, and argues that this has big implications for societies around the world. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine thought provoking ideas and engaging storytelling. Recorded live in front of an audience, speakers air their latest thinking on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect our culture and society. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Amber Dermont explains the benefits of an unhappy childhood. "Though my parents were caring people, I could not escape my own sense of despair," she says. She discusses the influence of sadness on the imagination, and describes how this upbringing took her on a journey that gradually helped her imagine a life for herself as a fiction writer. Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Model and activist Sara Ziff discusses the problems with fashion and modelling. Sara maintains that fashion modelling, far from being a glamorous profession, has a dark side. She argues that what links this dark side within the industry to its sometimes ugly public face is an unhealthy obsession with very young models. Producer: Giles Edwards.

Maria Popova, Editor of Brainpickings, discusses how, with the world's knowledge more readily available to us than ever before, the fragmentation of our interests is driving us to seek out more and more of what we're already interested in. How, she asks, can we master the architecture of human knowledge in a way that takes advantage of the "Information Age", yet broadens rather than contracts our intellectual and creative horizons, both as individual consumers and as publishers of information? Producer: Giles Edwards.

Ismail Einashe, who came to Britain as a child refugee from Somalia, reflects on the link between childhood war trauma suffered by young Somali men and the way some are drawn to violent gang culture. Four Thought is a series of talks offering a personal viewpoint recorded in front of an audience at the RSA in London. Producer: Sheila Cook.