The Big Ideas

The Guardian

Every month, a group of academics, columnists and philosophers dissect a phrase that's become an intellectual cliché in order to analyse its true meaning

  • 12 minutes 41 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Rousseau's 'Man is born free'
    On the tricentenary of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Benjamen Walker and guests explore the legacy of the Swiss-born French philosopher
    10 July 2012, 4:00 pm
  • 9 minutes 49 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Plato's 'just society'
    Benjamen Walker and guests explore the legacy of Plato's Republic
    9 May 2012, 2:30 pm
  • 13 minutes 18 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Guy Debord's 'society of the spectacle'
    Benjamen Walker explores situationism and the legacy of French philosopher Guy Debord's famous phrase
    28 March 2012, 9:00 am
  • 14 minutes 4 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Friedrich Nietzsche's 'God is dead'
    What did Nietzsche mean by the death of God? Benjamen Walker and guests explore the legacy of the German philosopher's statement
    4 February 2012, 1:30 pm
  • 13 minutes 16 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Friedrich Kittler's computer wars
    Philosopher Avital Ronell and novelist Tom McCarthy are among those joining Benjamen Walker to discuss the legacy of 'the Derrida of the digital age'
    27 December 2011, 2:00 pm
  • 12 minutes 3 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: EF Schumacher's 'small is beautiful'
    Economist Andrew Simms and Guardian columnist Madeleine Bunting are among those joining Benjamen Walker to discuss the legacy of Schumacher's 'Buddhist economics'
    9 November 2011, 4:00 pm
  • 12 minutes 14 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' - audio
    Philosopher John Gray and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee are among those joining Benjamen Walker to consider the legacy of Smith's much-abused phrase
    6 October 2011, 12:23 pm
  • 20 minutes 13 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: the banality of evil
    In the second of a series of philosophy podcasts, Benjamen Walker and guests consider the impact and legacy of Hannah Arendt's famous phrase
    17 August 2011, 2:06 pm
  • 10 minutes 35 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: The medium is the message
    In the first of a series of philosophy podcasts, Benjamen Walker and guests discuss the communication theorist Marshall McLuhan and his most famous line
    20 July 2011, 6:00 pm
  • 37 seconds
    The Big Ideas podcast: coming soon
    Every month, a group of academics, columnists and philosophers dissect a phrase that's become an intellectual cliche in order to analyse its true meaning. The Big Ideas podcast starts on 21 July 2011
    15 July 2011, 6:58 am
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