Free Thinking

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

The ideas shaping our lives today - with artists and thinkers in debates and interviews.

The ideas shaping our lives today - with leading artists and thinkers in extended interview and debate.

Free Thinking: Ships and History

Ships and History

BBC Radio 4 - Free Thinking, Ships and History

Artist Hew Locke plus historians Sarah Caputo, Jake Subryan Richards and Tom Nancollas.

Hew Locke's Armada 2019 - 45 votive boats suspended from the ceiling - has gone on show at Tate Liverpool. Plus insights from Sara Caputo, Jake Subryan Richards and Tom Nancollas.

What nationalities served in the British navy of the 18th century and what difference did peacetime and wartime conditions have on the make-up of crews?  How does visiting a landlocked village that was once a thriving Gloucestershire port change our view of history? What did enslaved people think about their rescue by anti-slavery rescue ships? These are the questions Rana Mitter will be asking three writers and historians: Sara Caputo, Tom Nancollas and New Generation Thinker Jake Subryan Richards. Plus the artist Hew Locke describes his new commission for the entrance hall of Tate Britain and the artwork now on show at Tate Liverpool which is built from 45 votive boats suspended from the ceiling. 


Tate Britain Commission 2022: Hew Locke is on show until 22 Jan 2023.  His work Armanda 2019 is on show at Tate Liverpool 
The Ship Asunder: A maritime history in eleven vessels by Tom Nancollas is out now
Seafaring - an exhibition of fifty works from 1820 to the present day runs at Hastings Contemporary from Saturday 30 April – Sunday 25 September 2022 and includes works by Eric Ravilious, Elisabeth Frink, James Tissot, Edward Burne-Jones, Richard Eurich, Alfred Wallis, Edward Wadsworth, Frank Brangwyn and Maggi Hambling 
Dr Sara Caputo from the University of Cambridge researches maritime history 
Dr Jake Subryan Richards is an Assistant Professor at LSE and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. He researches law, empire, and the African diaspora in the Atlantic world.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

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