Start the Week

Our sense of smell is vital to appreciating food and drink, it can warn us of danger, and enhance enjoyment of our environment, and yet it is one of our least explored sensory systems. In The Forgotten Sense, olfaction specialist Dr Jonas Olofsson explains the science behind our sense of smell.Dr Ally Louks caused a stink on social media when she mentioned the subject of her PhD thesis, Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose. But she shows just how much readers can learn from paying attention to the aroma of a writer's work.While imagining the stench of a Dickensian city street can enhance a reader's experience, what about actually smelling burning rubber as you play a video racing game? Professor Alan Chalmers explains the groundbreaking research currently ongoing to make gaming a more immersive experience, with smell at its centre.Producer: Katy Hickman

In his new book, Robert Macfarlane takes the reader on a river journey, through history and geography, to posit the idea that rivers are not merely for human use, but living beings. In Is A River Alive? he argues that human fate is interwoven with the natural world, and that it's time we treated nature not as a resource, but a fellow being. But does the natural world have legal rights? In A Barrister for the Earth the lawyer Monica Feria-Tinta explains how she's sought justice for environmental wrongs. Her case against the destruction of cloud forests was the world's first Rights of Nature case. In Britain many environmental campaigners argue for the Right to Roam and greater access to private land. But in Uncommon Ground, Patrick Galbraith presents a counterargument on the benefits of restricting access to the countryside, advocating for wildlife's right to tranquillity.Producer: Katy Hickman

As congregations age and dwindle, what are we to make of the decline of Christianity in England? Bijan Omrani argues that Christianity has had a profound and ongoing impact on English society, laws and culture. In his new book, God is an Englishman, he makes the case for the things we stand to lose as a nation as Christianity loses its hold on our hearts and minds. In Don't Forget We're Here Forever, Lamorna Ash talks to those bucking the trend: the young people discovering Christianity. She considers various encounters with faith from evangelical festivals to monastic retreats and Quaker meetings. Through interviews she explores what it means to embrace Christianity today. Dr Helen-Ann Hartley is the Bishop of Newcastle who has led calls for reform, as the Church of England has been mired in safeguarding scandals. She believes that the Anglican church still has a vital role to play supporting communities, offering a lifeline to the lonely, the homeless, those living with mental illness, and welcoming those of all faiths and none. In order to play its full role in the modern world, she wants to see the church modernised and its governance overhauled. Producer: Ruth Watts

The lawyer Philippe Sands weaves together a story of historical crimes, impunity and the law in his latest book, 38 Londres Street. He uncovers the links between a Nazi hiding in plain sight in Patagonia and the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, and the failed attempts to bring either to justice. Kenneth Roth has led Human Rights Watch for the last three decades, overseeing investigations into violence and oppression in countries all over the world. In Righting Wrongs he tells the stories of the wins and the losses, and the ongoing fight to uncover, and prosecute, abuses.The BBC's former Syria correspondent Lina Sinjab was forced into exile more than a decade ago after threats from President Bashar al-Assad's government. She could only watch as death and destruction ripped through her country, and those in power appeared to act with impunity. She looks at how Syria is faring since the fall of al-Assad's brutal regime.Producer: Katy Hickman

In 1967 a group of writers in the US pulled off an ingenious hoax – the publication of a so-called top secret document detailing how global peace would destroy American society. Even when the deception was revealed, many groups on the left and right argued it was true, or that it revealed truths about the ‘deep state'. Phil Tinline takes up the story in Ghosts of Iron Mountain, showing how what started as satire gained currency, as trust in government and institutions collapsed. During the Covid-19 lockdown the comedian Rosie Holt began a series of satirical videos in which she spliced together actual footage from news interviews with her play-acting the role of a politician. Many of her parodies caused outrage as viewers thought she was a real MP. The statistician and epidemiologist Professor Adam Kucharski is interested in how people establish fact from fiction. In Proof: The Uncertain Science Of Certainty he explores how truth emerges, but warns against building a society that distrusts and doubts everything.Producer: Katy Hickman

The celebrated artist, Sir Grayson Perry, has a new exhibition of work, Delusions of Grandeur, made in direct response to the masterpieces at the Wallace Collection in London (until 26th October). He candidly admits he initially found the Collection's opulence difficult to work with, until he created an alter-ego artist, Shirley, who was inspired by the aesthetic.In recent years museums and art galleries have become a regular battleground in the culture wars. One of today's anti-woke warriors is the writer Lionel Shriver. Her latest satirical novel, Mania, imagines a world where intellectual meritocracy is heresy; the words 'stupid' and 'smart' are no longer acceptable, and novels like The Idiot and My Brilliant Friend are banned.In Shriver's imaginative world language and thought is heavily policed, speech is free only if it doesn't offend. The academic Fara Dabhoiwala has written about the emergence of this contested idea, in What Is Free Speech? He shows in the shifting story of the last three hundred years that freedom of speech is not an absolute from which different societies have drifted or dissented, but a much more mercurial, complicated matter.Producer: Katy Hickman

Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021 ‘for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism.' In his latest novel, Theft, he returns to the streets of his childhood home in Zanzibar, to trace the intertwined lives of three young people in a story of love, betrayal and kindness. The Possibility of Tenderness is a memoir by the prize-winning poet Jason Allen-Paisant as he moves from his family home in the rural Jamaican hills, to Oxford's gleaming spires, to the woodlands of Leeds. It's a story about the transformative power of plants and the legacy of dreams. Language, music and food are at the heart of Samantha Ellis's new book, Chopping Onions On My Heart: On Losing and Preserving Culture. The daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, she grew up surrounded by the noisy, colourful sounds of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, a language in danger of being lost forever. Producer: Katy Hickman

Five years ago, in response to the Covid pandemic, the government mandated a series of lockdowns, with the closure of schools and businesses and social distancing. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by guests to discuss how such a monumental event could have had affected brain cognition, and whether there have been lasting effects on young people. But he also hears tales of resilience among neurodiverse communities.The neuroscientist Daniel Yon looks at the cognitive impact of unprecedented events in his forthcoming book, A Trick of the Mind - How the Brain Invents Your Reality (published, June 2025). He explains how times of instability and uncertainty upset the brain's ability to understand the world, and make people more susceptible to conspiracy theories. The Covid-19 Social Study was the largest study exploring the psychological and social effects of the pandemic on the UK population. Dr Daisy Fancourt, Associate Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London explains what they learnt about the impact of social isolation. The developmental psychologist at Cambridge University, Professor Claire Hughes, has looked more closely at families with young children, across six different countries, with very different lockdown policies. Although there was a link between family stress related to the pandemic and child problem behaviours, more recent work questions whether the lockdown has had longer term effects. The artist and zinemaker Dr Lea Cooper has co-curated a new exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, Zines Forever! DIY Publications and Disability Justice (until 14th September). Zines are self-published works, and Dr Cooper says several on display were created during lockdown, and showcase personal stories of resistance and self-expression.Producer: Katy HickmanPart of BBC Radio 4's series of programmes exploring Lockdown's Legacy

In The Ideological Brain Leor Zmigrod studies the impact of political ideology on the makeup and shape of the brain. She found that those on the political extremes, as well as those with the most dogmatic beliefs, display more cognitive rigidity. The historian John Rees focuses on the small group of firebrand parliamentarians at the heart of the English Civil Wars. The Fiery Spirits describes how the radical republicans influenced more moderate MPs and led to the defeat, and execution, of Charles I.2025 is the centenary of the birth of Margaret Thatcher and fifty years since she became the first woman to lead a major political party in the UK. The political commentator and broadcaster Iain Dale publishes a biography of her later this year, and questions the role of ideology within Thatcherism. Producer: Katy Hickman

The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife is the subject of Tim Birkhead's new book. This goose-sized seabird became the favoured food of hungry sailors and hunters, and the last two were killed in 1844. But then the bird became an obsession for collectors who vied for the last skins, eggs and skeletons. Victorian hunters, explorers and collectors feature strongly in the story of the Great Auk. The writer Kaliane Bradley places the 19th century polar explorer Commander Graham Gore at the heart of her time-travelling novel, The Ministry of Time. The book is being made into a television series on BBC1 – to be aired later in the Spring. Human activity has had, and continues to have, a big impact on bird populations. While several species have gone extinct, more are classified as threatened. But a joint conservation project between farmers and wildlife organisations is looking at restoring ‘zombie' ponds, in an effort to increase pockets of wildlife. The RSPB's Mark Nowers helps to organise the Lost Ponds Project and is involved in the protection of turtle doves, whose numbers are vulnerable.Producer: Katy Hickman

The story of Liverpool's once thriving port is one of spectacular rise, and spectacular fall. In Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain, the historian Sam Wetherell looks at the city post-WWII, as the decline in the port led to the poverty and neglect of its population, the deportation of Chinese sailors, and the discrimination against the city's Black population. It's a history as prophecy for what the future might hold for the communities caught in the same trap of obsolescence.As manufacturing has declined in the UK it has grown exponentially in China, which is now known as ‘the world's factory'. Dr Yu Jie is a senior research fellow at Chatham House and an expert in China's economic diplomacy. She considers what the mega-cities that have emerged out of China's rise, and the communities living in them, can learn from the history of Liverpool. Corby in the Midlands was once at the heart of British steelmaking, with one of the largest operations in Western Europe. But once the plant was closed in the 1980s, the ‘clean-up' became known as one of the worst environmental scandals, causing serious birth defects in the town. The four-part series, Toxic Town, written by Jack Thorne (on Netflix from 27th February) tells the story of the families as they fight for justice.Producer: Katy Hickman

History was written down for the very first time in the ancient region of Mesopotamia. In Between Two Rivers, Moudhy Al-Rashid tells the story of the civilisations that rose and fell, through the details left on cuneiform tablets from 4000 years ago – from diplomatic letters to receipts for beer. And the drive that led ancient scribes to record the events and legends of the past.Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was probably born in AD69, and although little is known about his own life, his biography of the twelve Caesars vividly captured what it was like to be at the centre of power in the Roman Empire. The historian Tom Holland pays homage to his fellow history-writer, Suetonius, in a new translation of The Lives of the Caesars.Archaeologists at the ancient Sumerian city-state of Ur believe they found evidence of a museum in the ruins, which suggests that the desire to display and preserve artefacts, and tell stories from the past, is nothing new. Gus Casely-Hayford is the curator of the V&A East which opens in the Spring, and is expected to offer a new way of viewing the past, and a chance to see behind the scenes of a museum.Producer: Katy Hickman

From the early 1970s feminist activists from across the globe campaigned under a single demand – Wages for Housework. The historian Emily Callaci traces the lives and ideas of its key creators in her new book, Wages for Housework: The Story of a Movement, an Idea, a Promise. The campaign highlighted the need to change the way work, and especially what has been traditionally deemed women's work, is valued. Although men are still paid more than women, and women still play a greater role in the home, recent polling reveals that nearly half of Britons say women's equality has gone far enough. And that figure has been rising significantly in the last decade. Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics at King's College London also points out that a growing number of young men believe it will be harder to be a man than a woman in 20 years' time.So is it time for women to stop campaigning and #JustBeKind? Definitely not, according to the writer Victoria Smith. In her new book, UnKind, she unpicks the kindness trend that emerged in the 2020s, and argues that women and girls have again been coerced into a passive role.Producer: Katy Hickman

We might live surrounded by manufactured goods but the business of making is far removed and often hidden from our lives, according to the Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge, Tim Minshall. In Your Life Is Manufactured he takes readers on a tour of mega-factories to artisanal craft shops, seaports to supermarkets to reveal the systems and decisions behind manufacturing. The former Chief Scientist of BP, Bernie Bulkin is interested in how cutting edge developments in manufacturing have helped both companies and countries remain financially competitive in the global market. In The Material Advantage he looks at the latest innovative materials and new opportunities. But at the heart of the discussion around manufacturing in the 21st century is sustainability. Fiona Dear is Co-Director of the Restart Project, a social enterprise that runs repair events in the community, but also campaigns for broader Right 2 Repair legislation to force companies to make it easier and cheaper for people to mend products, rather than simply buying new.Producer: Katy Hickman

Every year world leaders gather at the United Nation's COP (the Conference of Parties) to discuss how to work together on solutions to tackle climate change. And every year the wrangling lasts into the night as it becomes clear how difficult it is to achieve consensus. In Kyoto the playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson have recreated the drama, intrigue and power plays that resulted in one of COP's greatest successes, the Kyoto Protocol from 1997. Kyoto is on at the Soho Place Theatre until May 2025.Professor Mike Berners-Lee is an expert on the impact and footprint of carbon and has watched as countries see-saw on commitments to reduce the use of fossil fuels. In his latest book, A Climate of Truth he argues that we already have the technology to combat many of the problems, but what we're lacking is the honesty – in our politics, our media, and our businesses – to make a real difference.But how to save the planet is not necessarily straightforward. In The Shetland Way: Community and Climate Crisis on my Father's Islands, Marianne Brown returns home after the death of her father. She finds the islanders at loggerheads over the construction of a huge windfarm: while some celebrate the production of sustainable energy, others argue the costs are too high for the environment and local wildlife.Producer: Katy Hickman

Music as Medicine is the latest work by the neuroscientist and best-selling author Daniel Levitin. In it he explores the healing power of music, and the cutting edge research which examines how sound affects the brain. The dance critic Sara Veale is interested in movement. In Wild Grace she tells the untold history of the extraordinary women who were the pioneers of modern dance. While Nwando Ebizie is a practitioner of both music and movement, and is interested in using the latest neurological studies in her art. She will perform the works, Solve et Coagula (arr. Mark Knoop) and All the Calm of a Distant Sea at the Southbank Centre, London (23rd January) as part of the BBC Radio 3 Unclassified concert.Producer: Katy Hickman

In the first programme of the New Year Adam Rutherford follows two possible guides to a more fulfilled life – Socrates and optimism – but asks whether either has any answers to dealing with racism. The philosopher Agnes Callard proposes the questioning Socratic method in Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life. She shows that this ancient method offers a new ethics to live by, from answering questions about identity and inequality, to helping us love and die well. But to truly flourish we also need a huge dose of optimism, according to the science writer Sumit Paul-Choudhury. In The Bright Side he argues that being optimistic is not only central to the human psyche, but plays a crucial role in overcoming the challenges of the twenty-first century.The social psychologist Keon West is more sceptical. In his new book The Science of Racism, he challenges those – a reputed half of the population – who think that racism doesn't exist. He goes back to the data and research to reveal the extent and prevalence of racist behaviour, and the repeated inadequacy of attempts to address it.Producer: Katy Hickman

Tom Sutcliffe and guests discuss how we solve problems and imagine the future. While many people now point to the potential of AI, the prize winning writer Naomi Alderman is interested in the messy magic of human thinking. In the forthcoming BBC Radio 4 series, Human Intelligence she tells the stories of the people – with all their ingenuity and foibles – who built the modern world.Across history human cultures have devised a wide range of practices to understand, and discover, the mysteries of the past, present and future. The exhibition Oracles, Omens and Answers (at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, until April 2025), co-curated by Dr Michelle Aroney showcases the art of divination. From the use of cards, beads and spiders, to studying the stars, weather and palm lines people have sought ways to clarify and predict the world around them. Human imagination is not just the tool of fiction writers, but something that's vital to navigate the world; to reminisce, anticipate and plan for the future. But how does it work? The neurologist Adam Zeman explores the very latest scientific studies in the world of the imagination, in his new book, The Shape of Things Unseen.Producer: Katy Hickman

The poet laureate Simon Armitage challenges himself to write a new poem to capture the spirit of an animal and to see if he can bring it closer to the human world. For a new 10-part series, My Poetry and Other Animals (on BBC Radio 4 at 1.45, from December 23rd), he is guided by his fellow poets as he experiences a series of close encounters – looking into the eye of a tiger, tracking a fox and standing amongst a room full of spiders. Elizabeth Bishop and Feargal Sharkey are Simon Armitage's guides to the world of fish. But the science writer Amorina Kingdom wants everyone to listen more closely to what's happening underwater. In her book, Sing Like Fish, she traces how sounds travel with currents; the songs, clicks and drumming that help sea creatures to survive, and how this musical landscape is being affected by human noise.If humans could finally grasp what animals were communicating to each other, could it enable us to join in the conversation with animals? The behavioural ecologist, Professor Christian Rutz, from the University of St Andrews, is a specialist in the different behaviours of crows. He believes that with recent breakthroughs in AI and data collection, talking with animals might be closer than ever.Producer: Katy Hickman

Tom Sutcliffe explores the importance of acoustics and the evolution of building design in the enjoyment of music. The academic Fiona Smyth tells the story of the groundbreaking work undertaken by scientists, architects and musicians, who revolutionised this new science in the 20th century, in her new book Pistols in St Paul's. Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford, updates the story, revealing the very latest scientific breakthroughs and why certain music venues capture the purity of sound. And the saxophonist Jess Gillam gives a personal view on what playing with different acoustics entails. Gillam is playing in two Christmas concerts, 19th + 20th December, with the CBSO at Symphony Hall, Birmingham – one of the best-designed music venues in the country. Producer: Kay Hickman

Sir Alex Younger is the former head of MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service. He assesses the evolving security risks facing Britain in the 21st century, and how the country continues to build strategic partnerships and intelligence agreements in a fracturing world. Younger ran MI6 during President Trump's first administration and reflects on prospects for ‘the special relationship' in the second.With tensions between the US and China, increased economic protectionism and the war in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, the Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House, Armida van Rij, believes European security and economic prospects appear fragile. And this comes at a time of political polarisation throughout the continent.After Britain finally left the EU in 2020 following the Brexit vote it was feared that it would be Britain that was isolated and vulnerable. Not so, claims the journalist Ross Clark, in his forthcoming polemic, Far From Eutopia: Why Europe is failing - and how Britain could do better (published 23rd January 2025). Clark pinpoints the absence of economic growth and huge disillusionment about high migration throughout Europe, and how Britain is surpassing many of its former continental partners. But questions still remain about how Britain will fare – on its own – on the global stage.Producer: Katy Hickman

While the great Italian renaissance painters and the Dutch masters are world famous, why are there so few British artists from this period leading the way? It's one of the questions the art historian Bendor Grosvenor examines in his new history, The Invention of British Art. From prehistoric bone carvings to the landscapes of John Constable, Grosvenor reassesses the contribution British artists have made at home and abroad.The writer and former curator at the V&A Susan Owens wants to turn our attention to drawing. It is a simpler, more democratic form of art-making, she argues in The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art. And one that is a fundamental part of the creative process. She reveals what can be learnt by looking again at the sketches made by Gainsborough, William Blake and Tacita Dean. The artist Lucinda Rogers specialises in urban landscapes. She immerses herself in her environment and records straight from eye to paper. Her intimate street views explore the changing nature of cities, from London to New York. During the US Presidential election she travelled to different locations as a reportage illustrator. A reproduction of her first sketchbook, New York Winter 1988, has just been re-released. Producer: Katy Hickman

The UK high street has appeared to be in a near perpetual state of distress since the birth of self-service shopping in the 1950s. Since then, local authorities approving out-of-town developments in the 1970s, the rise of the supermarket, the internet and the recent Covid lockdowns, have all taken their toll on town centres. Adam Rutherford talks to three guests about the changing nature of the high street.Annie Gray explores the long and varied history of shopping districts in The Bookshop, the Draper, the Candlestick Maker, from medieval marketplaces to the purpose-built concrete precincts still standing today. The urban designer and strategic planner Vicky Payne believes the high street is far more resilient than people think. Her research has looked at the innovative work being done across the country, from Bournemouth to Barnsley, to revitalise town centres. And the food writer Angela Hui shines a light on the central role that migrants have played – from running corner shops to restaurants. Her Chinese takeaway installation, inspired by her experiences growing up behind the counter of her parents' business in Wales, forms part of the All Our Stories exhibition at the Migration Museum, Lewisham Shopping Centre, until December 2025.Producer: Katy Hickman

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (on BBC iPlayer) adapted from the final book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy, and directed by the BAFTA award winner Peter Kosminsky, traces the final four years of Thomas Cromwell's life. After the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's fixer and royal secretary, Cromwell, continues his climb to power and wealth, becoming the most feared and influential figure of his time. But as the King becomes more irascible and Cromwell's enemies circle, it's only a matter of time before he's brought down.George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was King James I's favourite and then Charles I's confidante and first minister. But he too fell spectacularly from grace, amid political and sexual intrigue. In her biography, Scapegoat, Lucy Hughes-Hallett dramatizes the Duke's transformation from a young man who traded on his beauty to one with immense wealth and political power. The late novelist Hilary Mantel compared Cromwell with Boris Johnson's political advisor Dominic Cummings, another outsider whose political influence spread far and wide. The columnist and Associate Editor at the Financial Times, Stephen Bush, considers the role of today's fixers and ‘special advisors'; how much power they can wield; and as the political cycle turns, whether their downfall is inevitable.Producer: Katy Hickman

Sex has become one of the most controversial topics in the history of the Church. But the historian Diarmaid MacCulloch shows in his book, Lower Than the Angels, that in the last 2,500 years Christianity has encompassed a much greater diversity of beliefs, including on homosexuality and the role of women. He argues that far from there being a single Christian theology of sex, there have always been a wide range of readings and attitudes.In one of the foundational stories of the Bible, in Genesis, Eve is created as an afterthought, from one of Adam's ribs, to be his companion. The classicist Helen King puts the female body at the centre of her book, Immaculate Forms, and examines the ways in which religion, and medicine, have played a gatekeeping role over women's bodies.The prize-winning poet, Ruth Padel, re-imagines the Christian story of the Virgin Mary – a girl in a Primark t-shirt facing a life shaped by divine will. Her new collection, Girl, unravels the myths and icons surrounding girlhood, and also paints a portrait of the Cretan ‘snake goddess' as she's unearthed and reshaped at the hands of a male archaeologist.Presenter: Amanda Vickery is Professor in Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of LondonProducer: Katy Hickman

The farmer James Rebanks recounts a season he spent on a remote Norwegian island learning the ancient trade of caring for wild Eider ducks and gathering their down. In The Place of Tides he tells the story of Anna, a ‘duck woman' who helped revive this centuries-old tradition. As he traces the rough pattern of her work and her relationship with the wild, Rebanks reassess his own relationship with his Lake District farm, his family and home. Alice Robinson is a designer who has never shied away from the inescapable link between agriculture and luxury fashion. In Field Fork Fashion she looks back at the origins of her chosen material, leather, and traces the full life of Bullock 374 from farm to abattoir, tannery to cutting table. And in retelling this story she asks whether it's possible to create a more transparent, traceable and sustainable system. There are many crafts classified as ‘endangered' in Britain, but one that has had a renaissance in the last 50 years is the ancient tradition of thatching. Protections put in place by Historic England in the 1970s not only kickstarted a thatching revival, but also helped save heritage crop varieties. Andrew Raffle from the National Thatching Association says the relationship with local farmers is vital for the tradition, and there are an estimated 600-900 thatchers working today.Producer: Katy Hickman

Does ambition have to be seen as corrupting, or like a kind of illness'? These are the questions the business writer Stefan Stern asks in his book, Fair or Foul: the Lady Macbeth Guide to Ambition. He argues that far from the cliché of a scheming wife, Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth demonstrates a more sophisticated understanding of human nature, that could help us navigate the pitfalls of ambition today.The playwright Zinnie Harris made Lady Macbeth the hero of her adaptation of the classic play last year. But now she's focused on the figure of The Duchess of Malfi, in a contemporary retelling. Played by the actor Jodie Whittaker, the Duchess defies her family's wishes and control, and asserts her own desires, with devastating results. The Duchess is on at the Trafalgar Theatre, London until 20th December.Mary Queen of Scots spent nearly two decades imprisoned under the orders of Elizabeth I. From her chambers she wrote countless letters, many of them in code. Now 400 years after her death a new cache of encrypted letters has been uncovered. Jade Scott, a historian and expert on Mary's correspondence, brings her captivity to life in Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots. Producer: Katy Hickman

Adam Rutherford gets to grips with the crisis in adult social care and asks, whose responsibility is it to fix it? David Goodhart, from the Policy Exchange think tank, writes about the huge changes that have been wrought on family life over the past 60 years and how they have impacted the way in which we live and care for each other. In his new book, The Care Dilemma, he argues that we are in desperate need of a new policy settlement that not only supports gender equality, but also recognises the importance of strong family and community bonds, and the traditional role women have played as carers. Bringing us her own personal story from the frontline of adult social care is Kathryn Faulke. She worked for years in a senior role at the NHS and then became a home care worker. In Every Kind of People she tells the stories of individuals who are part of the system, the cared-for and the carers, and shows how these issues affect us all. This is a story about real lives and real people, revealing the challenges, and the benefits, of working with some of the most vulnerable members of society. Every Kind of People will be Radio 4's Book of the Week, starting on Monday 28th October.So how can we improve the lives of those who require care and also support the carers themselves? Anna Coote is Principal Fellow at the New Economics Foundation and has written extensively on public health policy, public involvement and gender and equality. She believes in taking practical action to change the way we work and value time and believes in our ability to build a fairer and more sustainable social security system – both for ourselves and for future generations.Producer: Natalia Fernandez

Yuval Noah Harari's best-selling Sapiens explored human's extraordinary progress alongside the capacity to spin stories. In Nexus he focuses on how those stories have been shared and manipulated, and how the flow of information has made, and unmade, our world. With examples from the ancient world, to contemporary democracies and authoritarian regimes, he pits the pursuit of truth against the desire to control the narrative. And warns against the dangers of allowing AI to dominate information networks, leading to the possible end of human history.The classicist, Professor Edith Hall, looks at how information flowed in Ancient Greece, and how the great libraries of Alexandria and Pergamon were precursors to the World Wide Web. Homer wrote about intelligent machines in his epic poetry, which suggests that the human desire for AI goes back a long way, along with the hubris about being in control. By understanding and appreciating the past, Professor Hall argues we can look more clearly at our current condition. Madhumita Murgia is the first Artificial Intelligence Editor of the Financial Times and the author of Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI. She investigates the impact AI can have on individual lives and how we interact with each other. And while there are fears that companies have unleashed exploitative technologies with little public oversight, cutting edge software has unprecedented capacity to speed up scientific discoveries. Producer: Katy Hickman

The prize-winning writer Richard Powers moves from the forests and outer space in his last two novels The Overstory and Bewilderment, to dive into the vast and mysterious ocean in his latest work, Playground. Through the lives of four main characters he explores the ubiquity of play in the natural world, and the role technology is playing in the game of evolution. The scuba diving philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith concludes his three part exploration of the origins of intelligence, with Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World. As he looks back at the origins of life and its divergence, he places humans within this 3.8 billion year history, and their shared sentience with other life forms, and weighs their current responsibilities on an evolving planet. The marine biologist Professor Heather Koldewey takes her responsibilities very seriously, acting to protect the oceans from over-fishing and plastic pollution. One of the world's leading authorities on seahorses, Koldewey has looked at forming partnerships with others to solve problems, from working with a manufacturer to turn discarded fishing nets into high-end carpets, to creating conservation areas alongside local fishing communities in projects across the Indian Ocean.Producer: Katy Hickman

The best-selling historian William Dalrymple presents India as the great superpower of ancient times in The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World. He argues that for more than a millennium India art, religions, technology, astronomy, music and mathematics spread far and wide from the Red Sea to the Pacific, and its influence was unprecedented, but now largely forgotten.China's significance has long been celebrated and understood, with reference to the ancient trading routes linking the east and west. The historian Susan Whitfield is an expert on the Silk Roads. She talks to Adam Rutherford about the extraordinary discovery of manuscripts in a cave in Dunhuang, in Northern China, which provide a detailed picture of the vibrant religious and cultural life of the town. An exhibition of the manuscripts, A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang, runs at the British Library until 23rd February 2025.But what of India's cultural and artistic influence and expression in modern times? Shanay Jhaveri is the new Head of Visual Arts at the Barbican and curator of their new exhibition, The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998 (October 2024 until January 2025). This landmark group show explores the way artists have responded to a period of significant political and social change in India in the 20th century.Producer: Katy Hickman

‘Professor Risk' David Spiegelhalter delves into the data and statistics to explore the forces of chance, ignorance and luck in The Art of Uncertainty. Whereas life is uncertain, he shows how far the circumstances of how, when and where you were born have an overriding influence on your future. But he warns against confusing the improbable with the impossible. The novelist Roddy Doyle returns to the fortunes of one of his iconic characters, Paula Spencer, in his new book, The Woman Behind The Door. Mother, grandmother, widow, addict and survivor Paula Spencer is finally laying the ghosts of the past to rest, but how much is passed on to the next generation?The historian Eliza Filby is interested in inheritance of a different kind – money and housing. In Inheritocracy: It's Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad, she explores the nature of privilege through her own family's experience. Filby's grandfather had the lucky fortune of winning a house in a card game and the family went on to become ‘working class accidental millionaires' who could pass on their fortune to later generations.Producer: Katy Hickman

The historian Timothy Snyder is famous for his work on the horrors of the 20th century and his call to arms to fight against tyranny in the 21st. Now, in ‘On Freedom' he explores what liberty really means. He challenges the idea that this is freedom ‘from' state or other obligations, and explores how across the US, Russia and Ukraine, true liberty is the freedom ‘to' thrive and take risks. The Ukrainian poet, Oskana Maksymchuk also considers the question of freedom in her collection, Still City, a book that started as a poetic journal on the eve of the Russian invasion in 2021. The fragmentary poems detail the everyday moments amid the violence and fear and precarity of a country at war. The Russian Orthodox Church has managed to survive the turbulent history of the country, from tsarist demagoguery to Soviet atheism, and is now free to flourish under Vladimir Putin. But in her new book, The Baton and the Cross, the journalist Lucy Ash reveals how the religion has formed an unholy alliance with politics, state security and big money.Producer: Katy Hickman

The author and poet Kathleen Jamie celebrates a new form of writing – weaving personal notes, prose poems and acts of witness – in her latest book, Cairn. The new collection is a meditation on the preciousness and precariousness of both memory and the natural world. The broadcaster Jennifer Lucy Allan has taken a closer look at the relationship between humans and the earth in her book Clay. From the first clay tablets to the throwing of pots on a wheel, the history of this everyday material is bound up with our own and the act of creation.The artist Mark Hearld has a passion for making, from collage to printmaking, sculpture and ceramics. Like Kathleen Jamie he takes inspiration from the flora and fauna of the British countryside. In July he will be working in collaboration with the weavers at Dovecot in Edinburgh to turn his paper collages into a tapestry. Visitors to Dovecot will be able to see Mark and the weavers in action (Mark Hearld: At Home in Scotland, until July 18th). The Dovecot Tapestry studio was first established in Scotland in 1912 and today's master weaver Naomi Robertson looks back at its history. She explains how over the last century expert craftsmen and woman have worked together using the colour and texture of the threads to transform artworks, from one medium – paper or canvas – to another.Producer: Katy HickmanStart the Week will be off air until Monday 16th September but you can find hundreds of episodes available on BBC Sounds and through the programme website.

How do animals detect natural disasters before they happen? Martin Wikelski, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour at the University of Konstanz argues they have a ‘sixth sense' that humans are only just beginning to understand. In his book, The Internet of Animals, he reveals the extraordinary network of information gathered by tagging and tracking thousands of animals across the world.At the University of Glasgow researchers have been looking at how technology can be used to help animals communicate with each other. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas explored the potential of video-calling to reduce loneliness in parrots and found that the sociable birds preferred the live interaction to pre-recorded videos. The traditional rhythms of a pastoral life are at the heart of Kapka Kassabova's new book, Anima. In the mountainous region of Bulgaria, she follows the ‘pastiri' people, the shepherds struggling to hold onto an ancient way of life, and their relationship with the oldest surviving breeds of sheep and goats, and their legendary breed of dog, the Karakachan.Producer: Katy Hickman

British social etiquette might be famed for its liberal use of please and thank you, but civility is very much a European import, according to John Gallagher, professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leeds. As courtiers visited the French and Italian courts in the 16th century they not only learnt new languages but new rules of behaviour too. As the century progressed civility began to be weaponised as travellers sought to distinguish themselves from the ‘barbarous' foreigners.The lexicographer and Countdown regular Susie Dent explains the etymology of terms like civilised, polite and barbarous. And she explores changing tastes in what is deemed impolite: in the Middle Ages the biggest taboo was any profanity that used the Lord's name in vain, whilst the words we consider the most offensive today were commonplace.For years Professor Louise Mullany has been studying the prevalence and power of politeness in our everyday speech and actions. In her book, Polite: The Art of Communication at Home, at Work and in Public she uncovers the unwritten rules of behaviour, exploring the gender and generational differences, the art of the political apology, and whether politeness standards really are declining.The comedian and impressionist Matt Forde unpicks the argument that satirical shows like Spitting Image have contributed to the perceived lack of civility in politics. For his latest podcast, The Political Party, he is aiming to behave impeccably as he interviews a candidate from all 650 constituencies before the general election. Producer: Katy Hickman

Why are there areas of severe deprivation in prosperous countries, and how can prosperity be shared more equally? Those are the questions the world-renowned development economist Paul Collier explores in his book, Left Behind: A New Economics for Neglected Places. He looks at areas that were once thriving – from the mining towns of South Yorkshire to the bustling city ports in Colombia – to explore widening inequality, but also to offer ideas of economic renewal.Matthew Xia directs the UK premier of Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morriseau at the Donmar Warehouse (from 28th June to 24th August 2024). Set in Detroit in 2008, the play follows a tight-knit group of workers in one of the city's last surviving car factories as they struggle to come to terms with its inevitable closure. This is a story about the human cost of a global financial crisis and of enduring hope, against the odds.Joanna Kusiak calls herself a scholar-activist as she recounts the movement she was involved in that put people and community before speculative finance and profit. Her book, Radically Legal, is the story of how a group of ordinary Berliners used a forgotten clause in the German constitution to take back more than 240,000 apartments from corporate landlords. The book is based on Kusiak's winning entry to the Nine Dots Prize, which supports the development of book proposals, and was in response to the question set by the prize: ‘why has the rule of law become so fragile?' Producer: Katy Hickman

In front of an audience at the Hay Literary Festival Adam Rutherford talks to the botanist and Native American Robin Wall Kimmerer. In her book, Braiding Sweetgrass she shows the importance of bringing together indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge, to increase understanding of the languages and worlds of plants and animals. Hugh Warwick is an expert on hedgehogs but in his latest book, Cull of the Wild, he focuses on animals less native, and beloved. From grey squirrels in Anglesey to cane toads in Australia he explores the complex history of species control, and the ethics of killing in the name of conservation.The writer Olivia Laing turns her attention to the efforts to create paradise on earth. In The Garden Against Time she retells her own attempts to restore a walled garden in Suffolk while investigating the long history of gardens – real and imagined, follies and pleasure grounds.Producer: Katy Hickman

The American author Marilynne Robinson is celebrated as a writer of fiction and non-fiction that raises philosophical questions about how to live an ethical life. In her latest book, Reading Genesis, she explores the stories in the Bible and God's promise of enduring covenant with humanity.The writer Naomi Alderman grew up with stories from the Old Testament, and although no longer a believer, attests to the power and strangeness of these ancient stories. She wishes they were as popular as the Greek myths.The poet Malika Booker grew up in Guyana where she says the King James Bible was ubiquitous. Its language has influenced her own work, and in recent years she has set herself the task of creolising the Bible, infusing its stories with the cadences of home.Producer: Katy Hickman

The National Gallery in London is displaying Caravaggio's last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (until 21 July 2024), an extraordinary work depicting the violence and intense naturalism of the scene, and the painter's revolutionary use of dramatic lighting. The curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper says Caravaggio changed the art world in the 17th century. But the painter was as famous for his personal life as his art: he left murder and mayhem in his wake as he attempted to evade the law.For most of its existence The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula languished in private collections and was sold for just £3,500 in the 1970s, with few believing it was by Caravaggio. Now it's been identified as an original it's worth millions. The fortunes to be made and lost in the art market, the risks, the greed and the deals are the subject of Orlando Whitfield's book All That Glitters. He details his friendship with the contemporary art dealer Inigo Philbrick, a young man whose spectacular rise is matched only by his dramatic fall, convicted and imprisoned for fraud owing $86.7 million.The art market is often shrouded in secrecy and is one of the very few unregulated markets left in the global economy. Angelina Giovani-Agha is an art historian who has specialised in provenance research. She understands that each painting has a story to tell and a unique record of acquisition. Her work involves investigating ownership history and highlighting any murky inconsistencies, as well as specialising in looted artworks.Producer: Katy Hickman

As a new exhibition opens in Liverpool exploring the survival of bees Start the Week takes stock of the life and times of this extraordinary insect. The artist Wolfgang Buttress uses a fusion of art, science and technology to create a sensory experience of the sights and sounds of bees. Bees: A Story of Survival is on at the World Museum, Liverpool until May 2025.They've been around for over 120 million years and Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology at Queen Mary University of London, says the thousands of different bee species have evolved a huge diversity of lifestyles and are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. They not only use a symbolic language, can count, use tools and learn by observation, but are now believed to have an emotional hinterland.For millennia, bees have held a special significance in human culture. Claire Preston, Professor of Renaissance Literature at QMUL, traces the symbolism of bees through historical and literary records, from ancient political analogies to today's discussions about hive minds.While there are increasing fears about the future of bees as they battle exposure to pesticides, diseases and habitat destruction, Alison Benjamin is one of a growing number of people trying to raise awareness. She is the co-founder of Urban Bees and wants to shift the focus away from farmed hives of honey bees which are growing in popularity in cities, to the protection and survival of wild and solitary bees.Producer: Katy Hickman

May Day is the title of Jackie Kay's new collection. The former Makar of Scotland explores a history of political protest, and the cultural influencers of the past, from Rabbie Burns to the poet Audre Lorde and Paul Robeson. She also celebrates the lives and activism of her parents, and grieves for their loss. The Green MP Caroline Lucas wants to reclaim and rewrite England's national story in her book, Another England. By exploring its radical tradition through its literary heritage she seeks to foreground the diverse writers and poets who spoke of a shared sense of identity and purpose, and a deep-rooted commitment to the natural world. The journalist and writer Simon Heffer looks back a century to the interwar period, a time of radical transformation of British society post the Great War, as many of the old attitudes started to be swept away. In his history, Sing As We Go, he shows how the culture of the time both shaped and reflected these changes.Producer: Katy Hickman