A Point of View

Will Self deplores the arms trade and Britain's role in it, including the sale of weapons to authoritarian regimes which abuse human rights. He takes aim at the euphemisms that surround the sector. "The elision of business-speak with the foggy verbiage of warfare is perhaps the most deranging aspect of the contemporary arms trade," he says. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Will Self reflects that racism is rarely a sole cause of social injustice but alongside other problems such as poverty it can limit people's social mobility. "All too often pundits and policymakers seek a single cause for social stratification when they should accept that in a nation where inequality in real, monetary terms is increasing....the reasons for being at the bottom of the heap are manif...

Will Self praises the beauty of wind turbines and says protests against them spring from a misconceived idyllic view of our already man-made landscape. "It would seem to me that most of those who energetically campaign against the planting of wind farms in their bosky vale do so not out of a profound appreciation of the dew-jewelled web of life, but merely as spectators who wish the show that they...

Will Self sees an urgent need to reform the prison system and deplores what he sees as a lack of political will to tackle its present failings. "Not only does prison, for the vast majority of those who endure it not work - either as punishment or as rehabilitation - but there is no escaping the conclusion that it functions as a stimulant to crime, rather than its bromide". Producer: Sheila Cook.

Will Self attacks the people who join political parties as "donkeys led by donkeys". He criticises the spectacle of the party conferences, a parade of "endlessly biddable Dobbins" displaying "a mental passivity that makes the average X-factor audience look like the participants in one of Plato's symposia." He argues that members repeatedly see their principles betrayed by the actions of the leader...

"For a couple of days in May 1940, the fate of the world turned on the fall of a leaf" says John Gray. He outlines the strange conjunction of events - and the work of chance - that led to Churchill becoming Prime Minister. He muses on how Churchill was found by one of his advisers around one o'clock on the morning of May 9th "brooding alone in one of his clubs". He was given a crucial bit of advic...

John Gray argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided. Extreme atheists do not realise that for most people across the globe, religion is not generally about personal belief. Instead, "Practice - ritual, meditation, a way of life - is what counts." Central to religion is the power of myth, which still speaks to the contemporary mind. "The idea that science can enable...

John Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself. He tells the story of an eminent philosopher who once told him that he'd persuaded his cat to become a vegan! An effort, it seems, to get the cat to share his values. But Gray argues that there's no evolutionary hierarchy with humans at the top. "What birds and animals offer us", he says, "is not confirmation...

The author and philosopher John Gray presents a hard-hitting talk about capitalism. He argues that one side-effect of the financial crisis is an increasing number of people who believe that Karl Marx was right. He outlines why Marx's belief that capitalism would lead to revolution - and end bourgeois life - has come true. But not in the way Marx imagined. For increasing numbers of people, he says,...

As recently discovered letters from Kim Philby are published, John Gray argues that the spy's life illustrates why we are so poor at predicting the future. Where Philby saw a bright future in Soviet Communism - one that led him to betray friends and colleagues - many in the West hoped for a different utopia in Russia as Communism collapsed. Neither saw their dreams realised. As John Gray observes,...

The celebrated thinker John Gray gives his reflection on the meaning of folly. Taking the myth of the Trojan horse as his starting point, he explores what he sees as the modern day folly unfolding in Europe. He calls on European leaders to reconsider the single European currency - a project he says was always doomed to fail. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton on why pessimism is the key to happiness. He argues that the incompatibility between the grandeur of our aspirations and the reality of life is bound to disappoint - unless we learn to be a bit more gloomy! Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton takes a witty look at modern parenting. He explains why today's parent simply can't avoid baking biscuits and helping to paint Tyrannosaurus Rex's scales! Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton reflects on social climbing - and argues that the activity should be seen - at times - as evidence of a natural curiosity about the modern world. And he says in the current environment, it's often not idle pleasure-seeking, but an attempt to keep yourself in a job. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton on our high expectations for modern marriage. He argues that expecting one person to be a good partner, lover and parent is - almost - asking the impossible. And he shows how different it all was before the mid eighteenth century... Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton on why preparing conversation is as important as preparing a good salad for our summer picnic. He questions why we put so much effort into our social encounters, but leave our conversation to chance. With examples from history and literature, he argues that it's when there are rules to our conversation that our spirit can best be set free. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Following the birth of a baby moose in Whipsnade zoo - a rare event - Alain de Botton muses on the value of exotic animals in helping to give us perspective on our own lives. He explains why he's rediscovered wild animals and suggests a zoo trip as a perfect summer outing! Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton muses on why a bookish life is a poor preparation for marriage! He says Western literature's obsession with unrequited love means the average love story is of help only to the lovelorn. And he argues that the blandness of the word marriage hides a "welter of intensity and depth that put to shame the most passionate works of literature". Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton asks why the idea of a nanny state is so unappealing. He says complete freedom - left totally to our own devices - is rarely what we want. He says there's a lot to be said for the odd paternalistic nudge in the right direction. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton explores the notion that museums are our new churches. But museums - he says - have a lot to learn from churches about getting their message across. He appeals for a complete revamp of some of our favourite museums. Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Alain de Botton gives a philosopher's take on our ecological dilemmas. He argues that fear of environmental destruction has changed for ever our relationship with nature. Far from being a threat, it is now something to be pitied and protected. There are also changes in the way we view ourselves. As we take a trip to Florence to see some Titians or run water to brush our teeth, we're being asked to...

Alain de Botton argues that in our mad desire to keep up with what's new, we have lost our ability to concentrate. We are made to feel, he says, that "at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties". How was it, he wonders, that for Christians, there has been no news of "world-altering significance to their faith" since 30 AD? He suggests that a period of f...

Alain de Botton with his topical reflections. In the first of a new series, Alain argues that teachers of humanities in universities have only themselves to blame for many of the swingeing cuts they're facing. He says they've failed to explain to the government - and the public at large - why what they do really matters. And he says humanities teaching must find a new relevance in today's cash-str...

Joan Bakewell celebrates the art of diary writing by public figures and private individuals whose accounts of everyday life help shape our view of the past. Producer: Sheila Cook.

Joan Bakewell contrasts our empathy for fictional characters on the stage and on screen with a reported growing lack of sympathy for real people in need. When the prevailing culture is one of self-regard and narcissism the quiet work of charities deserves all the more applause. Producer: Sheila Cook.