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 about ideas are: The former soldier and politician Tobias Ellwood The sculptor Hew Locke, whose artworks exploring colonial power have featured weaponry The Renaissance historian Catherine Fletcher, whose latest book is The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires The historian and broadcaster Mark Urban, whose books include Tank and Rifles and Hailey Austin, Lecturer in Visual Media and Culture at Abertay University who researches comics and videogames. Producer: Eliane Glaser

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Weapons, real and symbolic is an episode from Arts and Ideas by BBC.

This episode is 56:28 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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