Being Human on the radio
BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking debate
Recorded: Tuesday 1 November 2016 18.30 – 20.00 | Broadcast: Tuesday 15 November 22.00
French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss said ‘animals are good to think with’. BBC Radio 3’s flagship arts and ideas programme Free Thinking puts that claim to the test by asking the beastly question: what does our thinking about animals reveal about ourselves?
On Tuesday 15 November, a special BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking debate will focus on Being Human programming featuring upcoming events organised by the University of Liverpool as well as other academics who research the connection between humans and animals. FACT Liverpool will play host to the debate on Tuesday 1 November.
From a best friend to a tasty snack, or something we must carefully husband to a threat we must eradicate, we humans think about animals in lots of ways. But how’s our thinking about animals changed over time, and what does that tell us about our shifting attitudes towards the natural world and our place in it?
Hear the views of an archaeologist who studies how we’ve lived with animals throughout human history; a Medievalist who studies bestiaries and mermaids; a French scholar who explores the history of the ‘human zoo’; and a political theorist who argues we should extend human rights to animals.
Join the discussion with presenter Rana Mitter and his panel: Sarah Peverley, Charles Forsdick, Alasdair Cochrane and a special non-human guest.