Four Thought

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

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.