The Spark

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Factual

Leading thinkers posit solutions to the structural problems of our age.

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Spark: Paul Vallely and Philanthropy

Paul Vallely and Philanthropy

BBC Radio 4 - The Spark, Paul Vallely and Philanthropy

Helen Lewis meets people offering radical solutions to the big problems of our times.

Helen Lewis interviews people offering solutions for our times. In this edition, journalist Paul Vallely argues philanthropy must rediscover its lost tradition of mutual respect.

Helen Lewis returns with a new series of interviews with people offering radical solutions to the big problems we face, and explores how their personal experiences drive their work and thinking.

In his book Philanthropy from Aristotle to Zuckerberg, journalist Paul Vallely draws on centuries of history, as well as his own experience as a reporter on the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s and later working with Bob Geldof, to argue for a radical rethink of philanthropy. 

Today's super-donors, Vallely says, are often focused on data-driven 'effective altruism'. Helen asks him why he calls for them to combine that with a rediscovery of philanthropy's traditions of reciprocity and mutual respect.

Producer: Phil Tinline

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Spark

Paul Vallely and Philanthropy

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4