Free Thinking Folgen

Crime writer and former newspaper editor Volker Kutscher's Babylon Berlin is being made into a TV series by Tom Tykwer. Neil MacGregor has now left the British Museum to work with the Humboldt Forum to create a new German cultural centre in Berlin. Simon Stephens has written a new translation of Brecht's Threepenny Opera for the National Theatre. The production will star Haydn Gwynne. Philippe Sands has written about the Nuremberg Trials - as has A.T. Williams. They join Anne McElvoy for a programme exploring diverse aspects of German culture. Neil MacGregor's book Germany: Memories of a Nation is now out in paperback. Threepenny Opera runs at the National Theatre from May 19th in rep through to September. Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher translated by Niall Sellar is out in English now. Philippe Sands is professor of law at University College London. His book East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity is out now. He has also made a documentary film My Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did A.T. Williams' book A Passing Fury: the story of the Nuremberg Trials is also out now Producer: Ruth Watts

Rana Mitter is joined by the historians Frank Dikötter, Patricia Thornton and Kerry Brown, and by the writers Xinran and Xiaolu Guo, to revisit the Cultural Revolution 50 years on. On 16th May 1966, Mao Zedong initiated a mass movement aimed at purging all "capitalist" and "traditional elements" from the Chinese Communist Party, and from Chinese society as a whole. This initiated the 10 years of social and political turmoil known as the Cultural Revolution. There are no plans to publicly mark the anniversary of these events in China, but elsewhere this troubled period of Chinese history is being re-examined. Frank Dikötter is the author of The Cultural Revolution: A People's History, 1962-1976, the final instalment in the People's Trilogy Producer: Luke Mulhall

Journalist Paul Mason and graphic novelists Mary and Bryan Talbot discuss Louise Michel, the revolutionary feminist anarchist dubbed 'The Red Virgin of Montmartre', who fought on the barricades defending the Paris Commune in 1871. UC Berkeley psychologist Dr Dacher Keltner explores what he calls the power paradox.The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia by Bryan and Mary Talbot is out now. The Power Paradox by Dacher Keltner is out now. Producer: Jacqueline Smith