Free Thinking Folgen

Do men and women have different attitudes to rule breaking? With changing ideas about gender, can we say that our minds are wired differently? Helen Fraser, head of the Girls' Day School Trust said recently that 'being the compliant girl is never going to get you anywhere'. What are the rules today for relationships and getting on in society? Is it time to throw out received ideas and challenge the advice given to young people?Free Thinking presenter Rana Mitter chairs a debate with a panel featuring :Sheila Hancock - actress and author of three non-fiction books and a novel Miss Carter's WarJournalist Bim Adewunmi - culture editor at Buzz Feed UK, who writes often about popular culture and how it intersects with gender and raceNeil Bartlett, theatre director and author whose most recent novel is The Disappearance BoyJonny Mitchell, the headmaster in Channel 4's Educating Yorkshire and now the Head of the Co-operative Academy of Leeds.Recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.Producer: Zahid Warley.

Every day we read lurid headlines about alcohol abuse and the consequences of binge drinking for the young at home and abroad. But a deeper look reveals a complicated picture of alcohol use in Britain. Champagne is still linked with celebration, while pubs are closing up and down the country. University freshers' weeks are adjusting to reflect the increasing number of students who are teetotal - but doctors are reporting a rise in patients with liver damage. How should society accommodate people who drink to excess and those who don't want to drink at all?Dr Sally Marlow from King's College, London is an expert in addiction. In a specially commissioned Free Thinking talk she explores the hypocrisy in society around alcohol.Joining the debate chaired by Free Thinking presenter Philip Dodd are:Professor Barry Smith - philosopher from the University of London's School of Advanced Study and wine columnist for Prospect magazine.David Yelland – former editor of the Sun and a Trustee of Action on Addiction and Patron of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, author of Love in a Headscarf and Muslim women's activist, who blogs at Spirit 21 and who is a lifelong teetotaller.Recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.Producer: Torquil MacLeod.

"By 2029 computers will have emotional intelligence and be as convincing as people". Ray Kurzweil, Google's Director of Engineering, predicts this scenario – also explored in Channel 4's recent hit drama, Humans. So what are the skills needed for the 21st century workplace and do humans have them?According to Paul Mason, TV journalist and author of PostCapitalism, we face seismic change in part due to the revolution in information technology.Paul Mason joins Lucy Armstrong, Chief Executive of The Alchemists - who help companies grow, and Richard and Daniel Susskind, authors of The Future of the Professions, who argue we will no longer need doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers and others to work as they did in the 20th century.Chaired by Free Thinking presenter Rana Mitter in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.Producer: Luke Mulhall