Sweet Reason

When Michael Gove said "the people of this country have had enough of experts..." did he have a point? In this episode we'll do two main things: ask how the public should choose between experts, competing experts and charlatans. And we'll ask whether experts - particularly social scientists - really are neutral commentators, or whether they come with their own baggage? Studio guests: Sir David Spiegelhalter - a statistician, and professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge. Claire Fox - Director of the Academy of Ideas. Lord Willetts - Conservative peer and former Minister of State for Universities.

Nimbyism... How would you feel if an 18-acre electricity substation was built in your back yard? In this episode, Evan Davis travels to Necton to meet a community divided over plans for development in their area and asks whether protecting your patch is selfish or the right thing to do? Studio guests: Lord Adonis - former Transport Secretary Loyd Grossman - heritage campaigner, broadcaster and gastronome Sarah Stein Lubrano - Head of Content at the School of Life.

Politicians have had success recently, attacking "the elite". But who are the elite? Is there only one? In this programme Evan travels to one of the most deprived areas in the UK, Jaywick, and asks residents whether they feel an "elite" have let them down, Studio guests: Lord Darling - Former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Nancy Fielder - editor of the Sheffield Telegraph.

Have we become a nation of snowflakes? All too easily offended and keen to jump on the bandwagon of victimhood, or are people being far more offensive than they used to be? In this episode Evan Davis talks to a group of millennials about how they feel about the snowflake label. Studio Guests: Jordan Peterson is an academic psychologist in Toronto, he's the author of a recent big-seller, 12 Rules for Life. Dr Clare Chambers is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Shaista Aziz is a journalist, writer, stand-up comedian, Labour Party politician, and an Oxford City councillor.

Is it acceptable to rail against gypsies or travellers? Negative stereotyping of those communities has become a popular (and populist) pastime this year. In this programme, we examine these and other stereotypes: why we use them; whether they tend to be true, and if they are, whether we should still shut up about them. Evan Davis takes a trip to the Appleby Horse Fair and asks some young members of the Gypsy and Traveller Community whether they feel unfairly stereotyped. Studio Guests: The economist, Sam Bowman and journalist Kate Bevan.

For some, the word "patriarchy" usefully describes our social and economic system with its manifest gender imbalances in wealth and power. For others, it is trendy, pretentious nonsense. In this programme we ask whether patriarchy helps or hinders our understanding of relations between men and women in the modern world. Evan Davis asks the founders of the women only AllBright Club why men aren't allowed to be members. And we take a trip Twycross zoo in search of a matriarchal society. Studio Guests: Catherine Colebrook is the Chief Economist at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Charlotte Riley is a lecturer in twentieth century British history at the University of Southampton.

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