The Spark

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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

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