Podcasts From The Forum Theforum

Most would agree that we have a right to leave our country of origin. But since this usually means arriving in another, do we also have a right to immigrate? Chris Bertram, Emily Dugan, Matthew Gibney, and Madeleine Sumption discuss these and related questions.

In this episode, John Burnside, Barbara Taylor, and James Warren explore the idea of loneliness and solitude, in philosophy, art and politics, as well as in our own lives.

What is the future for feminism? How does feminism interact with concerns about other forms of oppression, such as those based on race and class?

What makes a life good? Is the good life a happy life? We address the meaning and significance of the ‘good life’ today.

Marina Benjamin, Russell Foster and Simon Morgan discuss the science, literature and philosophy of sleep.

Sacha Golob/ Robert Montgomery/ Stephanie Schwartz   Listen to the recording here or on YouTube   What is protest art? What are its limits and what are its possibilities? Might there be a unique role for art in protest or does the political statement diminish the art? And once a piece of art becomes popular … Continued

Louise Ellison, Gloria Origgi, and Stephen Vullo discuss whether the principle of innocent until proven guilty can be reconciled with believing the victims of sexual offences

Eimear McBride and Kaye Mitchell discuss what literature and philosophy can tell us about the self

In this episode, we probe the philosophical underpinnings of grammar and how it functions in communication, understanding and humour.

Political discussion often turns ugly. John Crace, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, William Outhwaite, and Jo Phillips explore whether spin and negative campaigning are an unavoidable, even essential, feature of political life.

In this episode, Emma Byrne, John Gallagher and Rebecca Roache navigate the deeper issues around swearing, slurring, and slander.

Fay Dowker, Eleanor Knox, and Simon Saunders discuss the strange consequences of the ‘many-worlds interpretation’ of quantum mechanics and why it's so controversial.

Eleanor Knox, Bryan Roberts, and Mairi Sakellariadou discuss why is it that abstract pieces of mathematics, like imaginary numbers, often later turn out to be surprisingly effective in describing the natural world

How seriously should we take philosophical worries about mathematics? And should mathematical results ever force our philosophical hands? Nicholas Bingham, Tim Button, Mary Leng, and Adam Ostaszewski on the trouble with numbers.

Paul Glendinning and Charlotte Werndl discuss the insights gained from chaos research about unpredictability, as well as the evolution of mathematical ideas.

Adam Roberts, Bryan Roberts, and Emily Thomas discuss time travel, and how thinking and writing about it has changed science and philosophy.

Stephen Baxter, Amelie Saintonge, and Karim Thébault discuss the science, philosophy, and science fiction of black holes

How did we end up thinking that reason could ever do without emotion?

are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in our history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? If it is avoidable, how can this be achieved? We put these questions to Marco Cinnirella, Katharine Jenkins, Joe Mulhall, and Amir Saeed.

Ulrika Carlsson, Stephen Grosz, and Erin Plunkett explore responses to unrequited love in philosophy, psychoanalysis and art. Should we mourn or celebrate it? What can it teach us about ourselves?