Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history Greg Jenner, historical consultant to Horrible Histories, explores the gradual and often unexpected evolution of our daily routines.

A searing modern polemic on race in the UK, from the MOBO award-winning poet, musician and outspoken political commentator, founder of The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company. In his memoir Natives he speaks directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain’s racialised empire. Chaired by Claire Armitstead.

Steven Hawking famously declared philosophy dead because it had not kept up with developments in modern physics. While acknowledging the spectacular achievements of contemporary science, the author of Reflections Of A Metaphysical Flaneur will argue that physics and the human race need philosophy more than ever.

Beyond The Script

Psychologist and writer Dr Terri Apter will address common myths about women and how to overcome them, with author Zoe Strimpel. They discuss why women’s lives are analysed in such detail, why their choices are so subject to scrutiny, and how they can resist and play with the stereotypes that define them.

What is causing the logjam between central economic policy-makers and the energy of local economic activists? Stormy with a sunny local banking outlook – the economic forecast with the New Weather Institute. New Economic Foundation fellows and authors Andrew Simms and David Boyle discuss with Green MP Caroline Lucas.

The great novelist, author of Dirt Music and Cloudstreet, is publishing two non-fiction books. Charged with love for the huge, besieging force of Australia’s wild spaces, Island Home: A Landscape Memoir is a passionate call for their conservation. His deeply personal The Boy Behind the Curtain: Notes from an Australian Life shows how moments from his childhood and life growing up have shaped his views on class, faith, fundamentalism, the environment, and literature.

Contributors to a ground-breaking new book, Roald Dahl: Wales of the Unexpected, discuss the vital presence of Wales in the work of ‘the world’s number one storyteller’. This is Dahl wonderfully defamiliarised in his centenary year through the lens of the country of his birth and early life.

Presented by The Welsh Academy 

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