This week, the columnist and writer James Marriott argues that reading is essential to the rise and fall of liberal democracy. He proposes that reading helps the spread of information, encourages critical thinking, and forces people to structure their ideas logically.

But he’s concerned the shift from deep reading to digital skim-reading - driven largely by screens - is weakening our ability to think in complex, reflective ways. He suggests the decline has political consequences - that a less literate, more screen-dependent public may be more vulnerable to misinformation and less capable of meaningful democratic participation.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday. Your Radical Questions is released every Monday. Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and he’s the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and the editor of The Independent newspaper.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers and Rufus Gray with Anna Budd, Cordelia Hemming and Oscar Pearson. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Johnny Hall. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Yale political theorist and author of Politics Without Politicians, Professor Hélène Landemore, answers your questions about her radical vision for replacing electoral politics with citizen‑led democracy. She answers questions on app‑based referendum systems, how to persuade politicians to embrace open democracy, and why ‘de‑bundling’ policies could lead to decisions that better reflect the public.

They also explore how the architecture of parliamentary buildings shapes, and sometimes limits, effective governance.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday.

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers, Anna Budd and Rufus Gray. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham.

In this week’s episode, Amol sits down with Yale political theorist and author of ‘Politics Without Politicians’, Professor Hélène Landemore, to discuss her argument to revive citizen‑led governance. She explains why she believes our current electoral systems fall short of representing the full diversity of the population and lays out a practical roadmap for what she calls an “open democracy.”

Hélène also addresses the most common critiques of her approach and highlights real-world examples of citizen assemblies – how would they work at scale? Who would (and wouldn’t) be allowed on them? And what if people simply aren’t interested?

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and Monday. Previous episodes are available on BBC iPlayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers, Anna Budd and Rufus Gray. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Mike Regaard. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan, neurologist and author of The Age of Diagnosis, answers your questions about her book, what it means for women who are under-diagnosed and how she deals with criticism of her work.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Monday and Thursday.

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Jonny Hall. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan thinks that we are getting diagnosis wrong.

In this episode the neurologist and author of The Age of Diagnosis explains how advances in screening have led to certain diseases being over-detected and why she thinks giving a condition a label can sometimes do more harm than good.

And Amol asks about some of the criticism she’s faced since her book was published last year.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Jonny Hall. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Simukai Chigudu, author of ‘Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire’ and associate professor of African politics at Oxford University, answers your questions about statues, reparations for slavery and decolonising the curriculum.

GET IN TOUCH

* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected]

Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan

Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd and Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Philip Bull. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Is removing statues and decolonising the curriculum the answer?

A member of the first generation born after the end of colonial rule in Zimbabwe, Simukai Chigudu came to the UK as a teenager and later became one of the founding members of a campaign to try to get the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes moved from Oriel College in Oxford.

Now an associate professor of African politics at the University of Oxford, he’s written a memoir called Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire.

In this episode he discusses the legacy of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign and whether countries like Britain should pay reparations for slavery.

TIMECODES:

(00:03:00) The history of colonialism in Zimbabwe

(00:05:10) Cecil Rhodes’ role in Zimbabwe and the ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign

(00:09:35) Attitudes to England

(00:16:37) Decolonising the curriculum

(00:18:47) Statues

(00:34:53) Experiencing racism

(00:44:40) The case for reparations

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd and Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Philip Bull. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Leading pollster James Kanagasooriam answers your questions about how his idea of agency could advance social mobility, how it might be used by politicians and whether there are any reasons to be cheerful at a time of global instability.

He also explains how voters might be influenced by the reporting of opinion polls.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Dave O'Neill. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

On this week’s episode, leading pollster James Kanagasooriam explains how a sense of powerlessness amongst voters is shaping politics.

His research suggests that people who feel like they have control over their lives are more likely to vote for traditional parties whereas those who don’t tend to vote for populists promising to change the status quo.

So what can we learn from this and how could the idea of ‘agency’ help solve some of Britain’s problems?

TIMECODES

(00:04:12) Why James thinks agency is the next big idea in politics

(00:11:34) What does agency say about politics today?

(00:16:30) Degradation of civic institutions and cultural loss

(00:29:29) Cultural pessimism

(00:34:41) The attention economy

(00:40:17) Trade-offs

(00:45:19) The impact of Covid

(00:48:29) James’ radical solutions

(00:52:06) Amol’s reflections

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis and Jem Westgate. Technical production was by Dave O'Neill. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Ed Davies, research director at the right-leaning anti-poverty think tank Centre for Social Justice, answers your questions about modern family life and relationships.

He also discusses why young men are falling behind in work and education, how economic pressures are reshaping marriage rates, and why he argues that we need to re-prioritise social connection and community.

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Tom Smithard, Anna Budd and Lewis Vickers. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.

Marriage rates in the UK have fallen to historic lows, but what are the consequences?

Ed Davies, research director at right‑leaning anti‑poverty think tank the Centre for Social Justice, explains what has led to this shift and argues that it has caused a decline in family stability with profound consequences for society.

To deal with it he says we need to modernise marriage and adopt a range of policies that promote family life.

TIMECODES

(00:04:29) The decline of marriage in the UK

(00:06:33) Why is the marriage decline happening?

(00:19:10) Delayed adulthood and rise in autonomy

(00:21:52) Are there benefits to the decline in marriage?

(00:24:49) The consequences of the decline in marriage and family stability

(00:32:37) Can marriage be modernised?

(00:34:57) Feminism and motherhood

(00:47:04) How this affects the UK’s welfare bill

(00:53:37) The impact of Andrew Tate on young boys

(00:58:57) Ed’s radical ideas

(01:03:57) Amol’s Reflections

GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.

Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Tom Smithard, Anna Budd and Lewis Vickers. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davies. Technical production was by Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.