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In Our Time: Utopia

Utopia

07/10/1999

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Utopia

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why we are as enthralled as ever by the idea of a Utopia.

Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the concept of Utopia, examines real and fictional examples, and explores why we are as enthralled as ever by the idea of it.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the concept of Utopia. Both the idea of, and the longing for a perfect society have been in our imagination for centuries, even millennia. Utopian dreams have driven fantasy, Fascism and fine feeling.Utopias, by definition, do not exist.  The literal meaning of the Greek is “nowhere”.  And yet, we are still enthralled by its allure.  Why do some of us still believe in it - after the devastation wreaked this century by the utopian ideals that gave rise to Fascism and Communism?  And what do utopias in fiction tell about the present - and even future?With Dr Anthony Grayling, human rights campaigner, lecturer in philosophy at Birkbeck College, London and Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford; John Carey, distinguished critic, journalist, broadcaster, Merton Professor of English, Oxford University and editor of, The Faber Book of Utopias.

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