Once considered separate and independent, it is now clear that the there is an intimate, two-way connection between the two most complex body systems: the immune system and the brain. So our behaviour can affect inflammation in the body, and immune cells can alter our behaviour. Reverend Alasdair Coles, Professor of Neuroimmunology examines the implications. Chaired by Daniel Davis.

The Everything But The Girl musician’s beautiful and funny memoir is a personal journey and a portrait of his parents, Romany and Tom. It is a vivid story of the post-war years, of ambition and stardom, family roots and secrets, of life in clubs and in care homes.

In 2009, as in 1933, a charismatic president succeeded a discredited one at a time of economic crisis. Obama and his advisers explicitly looked to FDR for policy models. Despite his re-election in 2012, Obama has lost control of the House, where Republicans stymie attempts to avoid the fiscal cliff. Economic recovery is partial and largely jobless. The prospects for his second term look unpromising in a highly polarised politics. Did Obama learn the right lessons from the New Deal? Chaired by Stephanie Flanders.

One of Britain’s best-loved BBC radio presenters returns with his second children’s book Itch Rocks. With elements as his gadgets, Itch has to use all his wits to escape unscrupulous enemies.

10+ years

Do women need equality at home to be equal in the workplace? Scott talks to Gaby Hinsliff.

The global children’s charity introduces the world’s biggest campaign for girls’ rights. The founder of the Everyday Sexism project shares her story and talks about barriers facing girls today in the UK and around the world: from online trolling to period poverty and gender stereotypes. Join the conversation and explore what it means to be a girl today.

Time-travelling adventures and evil plots abound with Damian Dibben’s The History Keepers – a secret society that travels through the centuries to prevent history being changed.

9+ years

The award-winning novelist discusses her reworking of the Mabinogion story ‘How Culhwch Won Olwen’ with Corisande Albert, great-great-grand-daughter of Lady Charlotte Guest, the first English translator of the ancient tales of the Mabinogion.

The author of A History Of Christianity examines prayer, mystical contemplation, shame, evasion, and careless and purposeful forgetting. He describes the early Church’s attitude to the competing claims of silence and noise, shows how monasticism came to dominate Christian worship, and looks at the sudden eruption of noise in the Protestant reformation.

There are many conflicts around the world at present that claim to be in the name of God – in Iraq, in Syria, in Gaza, and elsewhere. Rabbi Sacks argues forcefully that a true understanding of religion will enable and inspire the world to bring peace, not war; that far from leaving religion on the sidelines, it should be put at the heart of peacemaking efforts. Chaired by James Harding, head of BBC News.

The maverick and veteran MP, Father of the House, scourge of the Front Benches and opponent of wars considers his parliamentary career, spanning 43 years and 8 administrations.