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Arts and Ideas

BBC

The best of BBC Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme Free Thinking - featuring in-depth interviews and debates with artists, scientists and public figures.

Arts and Ideas Podcast Guide

Listen to Arts and Ideas, a Arts podcast by BBC. Stream 2,007 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.

Show Topic

Browse this show under Arts podcasts.

Episodes

20 episodes are loaded now from a catalog of 2,007. More episodes can be opened from this page.

Episodes

20 of 2,007 episodes

Wealth

Anne McElvoy and guests discuss the concentration, distribution and morality of wealth now and look back at An Inquiry into the Nature and C...

56:51Jun 5, 2026

Thinking with Food

The links between food and philosophy, ideas about experimentation, taste and how food and traditions become part of our identity are explor...

56:52May 22, 2026

Technologies of the Self

‘Technologies of the self’ is a phrase from the French philosopher Michel Foucault to describe things people might do to shape the people th...

57:02May 15, 2026

The Middle

From taking the middle ground to the mid-life crisis, Middle England to middle managers, to being a middle child - is occupying a position i...

57:00May 8, 2026

Weapons, real and symbolic

How do weapons exert real and symbolic power, both now and in history? Joining Matthew Sweet in Radio 4's round table discussion programme a...

56:28May 1, 2026

Weapons, real and symbolic

How do weapons exert real and symbolic power, both now and in history? Joining Matthew Sweet are: The former soldier and politician Tobias E...

56:28May 1, 2026

Purity

From spiritual cleanliness to purity spirals: Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including David Aaronovitch; Catherine Coldstream, author of...

56:31Apr 24, 2026

Humility

From Spinoza's thinking and the approach of different religions to the Dickens' character Uriah Heep and the "humble brag" - in Radio 4's la...

56:56Mar 27, 2026

Oral tradition and oracy

Oracy - the ability to express oneself fluently - has been included in plans to modernise the national curriculum, with a new focus on equip...

56:44Mar 20, 2026

Taste

'It's all in the best possible taste'. But what does it mean to have good taste? And does pursuing good taste lead to favouring style over s...

56:48Mar 16, 2026

Women, language & experience

In a special programme looking ahead to International Women’s Day on March 8th, Shahidha Bari looks at how women express themselves in langu...

56:59Mar 6, 2026

Authority

Is authority a justly unfashionable quality that we should consign to the past? Or does it still have a place in political and business lead...

57:15Feb 27, 2026

Crime and punishment medieval to modern

How have attitudes to punishment changed over time, and what ideas about the rationale for punishment are circulating today? In Radio 4's ro...

56:31Feb 20, 2026

Working Class Creativity

From an impoverished neighbourhood in South London, Charlie Chaplin became one of the most significant figures in the development of cinema....

56:50Feb 13, 2026

Is Might Right?

'The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must'. So claimed the powerful Athenians, according to the Ancient Greek historian...

56:49Feb 6, 2026

Labour, work and productivity

What do we mean when we talk about productivity? Anne McElvoy and guests discuss labour in the context of both work and motherhood: what the...

57:08Jan 30, 2026

Double Lives

From undercover field operatives to online anonymity, via lives led in the closet and large scale infidelity, Matthew Sweet discusses the wh...

56:33Jan 23, 2026

Victorian Values

What does the phrase 'Victorian values' conjure today? Matthew Sweet and guests explore what we have inherited from that formative era in re...

56:34Jan 16, 2026

Innovation

Are we addicted to novelty? What are the cultural settings that allow innovation to flourish? And are novelty and innovation things we've al...

56:38Jan 9, 2026

Questions About Arts and Ideas

Where can I listen to Arts and Ideas episodes?

You can listen to Arts and Ideas episodes online on Radio and Podcast. Open an episode and the site player will stream the available audio.

What is Arts and Ideas about?

Arts and Ideas is listed as a Arts show. The show language is listed as English.

How many Arts and Ideas episodes are listed?

This page lists 2,007 episodes for Arts and Ideas. More episodes are available from the View more button when the list continues.

Quick Answers About Arts and Ideas

Where can I listen to Arts and Ideas?

You can listen to Arts and Ideas episodes on this page by opening an episode and using the site player.

What type of podcast is Arts and Ideas?

Arts and Ideas is listed as a Arts show by BBC.

How many episodes are available?

This page lists 2,007 episodes for Arts and Ideas where feed data is available.