Reading Our Times Podcast
1) Does the universe have a purpose? In conversation with Philip Goff
Human beings need a sense of purpose but differ strongly on whether that purpose is discovered or created, on whether the universe itself has a purpose or whether purpose is just the result of a hyper...Show More
2) What is the ultimate nature of reality? In conversation with Graham Harman
What is the ultimate nature of reality? And how best to describe it? Is it fundamentally smooth and continuous, flowing seamlessly from one state to another? Or is it discrete, composed of distinct, s...Show More
3) What is consciousness? In conversation with Baroness Susan Greenfield
Consciousness is famously called the “hard problem” and it elicits a very wide range of (sometimes very strongly held) opinions. These range from the idea that it is little more than a trick played on...Show More
4) What does Quantum Theory mean? In conversation with Paul Davies
Everyone has heard of quantum physics. Many of us can parrot its key ideas – uncertainty, entanglement, collapsing the wave function, something to do with a cat…But when it comes to really understandi...Show More
5) Can music redeem time? In conversation with Michael Symmons Roberts
The performance of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time in a freezing WW2 prison camp is one of the most famous moments of 20th century music.The piece and performance spoke to audiences mov...Show More
6) What can a life tell us about transcendence?
The idea of transcendence is common, perhaps even universal, among human beings. But what it means (if anything) is much more debatable. There are different ways of understanding transcendence, some o...Show More
7) Is God nothing? In conversation with Gilbert Markus
Many of the New Atheist arrows fired in the religion wars of 2000s and 2010s hit their target well and hard. The question is, was it the right target?Believers often claim that atheists don't believe ...Show More
8) How does life work? In conversation with Philip Ball
Recent decades have seen the gene as supreme in all discussions of what life is and how it works. Whether selfish, co-operative or eternal, it's genes that matter.But that picture is changing, in favo...Show More
9) Trailer: Series 11 of Reading Our Times
Reading our Times is back – and this series we’re getting metaphysical. We going to be talking about the building blocks of life, the universe and reality, with scientists, philosophers, theologians ...Show More
10) What are children for? In conversation with Anastasia Berg
Western societies have fallen out of love with (having) children, and all too often this is treated as a policy problem. But in reality, it's a much deeper personal and philosophical one. What has cha...Show More