Free Thinking - Wellcome Book Prize, Civil Wars: Susan Buck-Morss and A.C. Grayling, Louisa Egbunike and Akachi Ezeigbo.
Arts & Ideas
BBC
4.2 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2017
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A novel by Maylis de Kerangal which traces a heart transplant is the winner of this year's Wellcome Book Prize and the inspiration for a film out in the UK this week. Also, Anne McElvoy discusses nation states and war with US Professor of Political Philosophy Susan Buck-Morss and Professor AC Grayling. The 50th anniversary of the Biafran war and fictional representations of it are explored with New Generation Thinker Louisa Egbunike - organiser of the Igbo Conference at SOAS - and Professor Akachi Ezeigbo.
Maylis de Kerangal is the author of 'Mend The Living'. The film is called 'Heal the Living' and is in UK cinemas from Friday 28 April. 'War: An Enquiry' by AC Grayling is out now. Susan Buck Morss's talk at the London School of Economics is available to listen to as a download from their website. Professor Akachi Ezeigbo is the author the Biafran War novel 'Roses and Bullets'. Further information about the Igbo Conference at SOAS is available from the conference website.
Producer: Karl Bos Editor: Robyn Read
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.0 | Thank you for downloading this program from the free thinking team at the BBC. |
| 0:36.2 | I'm Anne McHelvoy. |
| 0:38.0 | Hello, tonight on free thinking, ideas of war, revolution and two thinkers |
| 0:43.6 | tangling with the nature of modern civil wars and what might define revolutions in a post-Marx |
| 0:49.5 | era. The Biafra War redefined TV coverage of conflicts and the suffering that follows. |
| 0:56.0 | We'll explore a new conference dealing with its legacies. |
| 0:59.4 | But first an extreme medical emergency becomes an exploration of life, death and the opening of the new film, Heal the Living. |
| 1:20.4 | It sees a young man, Simon Lambre, full of life and surfing the coast of northern France, |
| 1:25.8 | and then later the same day in the operating |
| 1:28.6 | theatre, an organ donor. The film's released in the UK this week, directed by Catelle |
| 1:34.1 | Kiliverre from a script based on the novel Mende the Living by the French author |
| 1:39.2 | Melis de Kerengal, and that novel's just been awarded this year's Welcome Prize. |
| 1:44.2 | The Welcome is a prize that celebrates both fiction and non-fiction world. to Kerrengar, and that novel's just been awarded this year's Welcome Prize. |
| 1:48.7 | The Welcome is a prize that celebrates both fiction and non-fiction works that encourage debate around medicine and health. |
| 1:52.4 | So was the story prompted by a desire to raise awareness of the process |
| 1:57.1 | and the implications of organ donation? |
| 1:59.5 | I'm joined now by Merlista Keringa. |
| 2:02.2 | Maylis, what was your starting point in choosing this particular medical journey? |
| 2:08.4 | I wanted to build a strong trajectory which could make converge many characters and action. |
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