Rethink

BBC Sounds
  • 4.8 (9)
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  • Updated Biweekly

Professor Ben Ansell asks some of the world's sharpest minds about the latest thinking, and what it might mean for policy and society.

  1. 6d ago

    Rethink... city streets

    Should we rethink who our city streets are for? It can often feel like there is a hierarchy on the roads, with cars needing to get from A to B as fast as they can, taking priority over people cycling or walking. But what if we flipped it on its head and put pedestrians at the top? Or, what if we saw our streets in a totally new light and instead decided they were places for meeting friends, playing or resting under a tree? Ben Ansell finds the people designing new streets, and he hears one radical idea that requires an entirely new language. Ben visits a new kind of street where pedestrians have priority, not cars. It has been designed by traffic engineer Keith Firth at NRP. Campaigner Martin Cassini argues we could get rid of traffic lights to encourage drivers to pay better attention to pedestrians and to help ease traffic jams. But would all road users feel confident crossing without a dedicated beep or time to cross? Sohanna Srinivasan, head of Urban Planning Design at North Hertfordshire council, sets out her plan for how streets can have space built-in for people to fully enjoy their neighbourhoods while Dutch author Marco te Brömmelstroet says we need to rethink the language we use about cities. Change the language, change the mind set. Is it that simple? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Phoebe Keane Editor: Damon Rose

    27 min

  2. Jun 11

    Rethink... how we age

    Have you ever wondered why some people age better than others? We all know someone who looks great for their age, and is also in robust health. And yet someone else who is exactly the same age might look older, and may be living with an age-related illness. Chronological age is not always be a good indicator of how well someone is maturing. So, if our skin - which is our largest organ - suggests how well, or badly, we're aging, then the state of our other organs and the systems that keep them running may also indicate how old we are. This measure is called your biological age. And there are many ways of measuring biological age, from the simple - the strength of your hand grip, to the detailed - looking at the changes in chemical markers attached to your DNA, called epigenetic markers. They lie "on top of" the DNA, without changing it - much like an instruction written on a post-it note attached to a piece of sheet music. The instruction means the music can be expressed differently, without changing the tune. Epigenetics explains why the DNA in every one of our cells is the same, and yet the cells can look very different from one another. They can be heart cells, blood cells, hair cells and so on, because the markers cause different genes on the same DNA to be expressed. Epigenetics has allowed scientists to create clocks to tell you your biological age: the latest one can even tell you how fast you're aging. Advances in epigenetics have led to the new science of cellular regeneration. And the world's first clinical trials are underway in the USA for a treatment that transforms old, dysfunctional and damaged cells into young healthy ones - treating aging itself. Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Damon Rose Contributors: Andrew Steele PhD, author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old. and director of the Longevity Initative Dr Nessa Carey, molecular biologist, visiting Professor at Imperial College London and author of The Epigenetics Revolution Dr Daniel Belsky, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, and developer of the algorithm for the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock Dr Sharon Rosenzweig-Lipson, Chief Scientific Officer at cellular rejuvenation company Life Biosciences

    28 min

  3. Jun 4

    Rethink... modern monarchy

    Of the 195 widely-recognized sovereign countries in the world, only a quarter are monarchies. And of those 43 monarchies, 15 of those have the same King. That’s Charles III, who’s head of state for Commonwealth territories as large as Australia and Canada, and as far apart as the UK and Tuvalu in the South Pacific. In the other 28, the ruling monarchs can be called Kings, Emirs, Sultans, and there’s an Emperor on the Chrysanthemum throne in Japan. Of course, there are also Queens - but some modern monarchies such as Japan and Lichtenstein still don’t allow female succession. In others, eldest daughters are passed over for their younger brothers - and this still happens in Spain and Monaco. If this all seems a bit medieval, that's because it is! Monarchy is a system of governance that developed hundreds - or in the case of Japan - more than 1000 years ago, so it can look outdated through a 21st century lens. But it's enduring, and opinion polls suggest it can be popular. So what does monarchy mean in the modern age? Which royal families are not only surviving, but are expanding their spheres of power and influence, and why the newest "monarchies" in the USA, Russia and China are not even royal at all. Presenter: Professor Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Damon Rose Contributors: Dr Craig Prescott, specialist in UK Constitutional Law, Royal Holloway, University of London Adam Hanieh, MBI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies and Professor in the Development Studies Department at SOAS, University of London. Stacie Goddard, Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor of Political Science and Associate Provost, Wellesley College, Massachusetts. Abe Newman, Professor and John Powers Chair in International Business Diplomacy, Director, BMW Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington DC

    28 min

  4. Feb 5

    Rethink... authenticity

    As generative AI and Deepfake technology has progressed over the last decade, you could be forgiven for thinking that it's never been more difficult to try to work out what is authentic and what is fake. The search for authenticity is not new. It's a task that's challenged humanity for hundreds of years. Forgers have always tried to pass off copies as great artworks, but it's not always clear when an artist was responsible for an entire painting or farmed out parts of the job to apprentices. A few well-known modern artists outsource all of the construction and manufacture of some of their works to skilled craftsmen and women. Although the idea is theirs, does that make the final product somehow less than the genuine article? Idiosyncrasies, perceived flaws or personal flourishes are often key indicators that show an image is authentic. We use those same tell-tale signs to judge the authenticity of another type of image: the one that politicians want to portray. How important is it to be a politician who is seen as authentic by voters? How can we measure political authenticity? If someone is carefully crafting their image on social media, how real is it? And even if it is fake, do voters care, if they have been seduced by the illusion? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editors: Lisa Baxter and Nick Holland Contributors: Estelle Lovatt, FRSA. Art Critic, Writer and Lecturer. Lone Sorensen, Associate Professor of Political Communication, University of Leeds Nick Clarke, Professor of Political Geography, University of Southampton Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology, at the City University of New York. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  5. Jan 29

    Rethink... the promise of AI

    In 2023, ChatGPT took Artificial Intelligence into the mainstream. Now there's a bewildering choice of human-like chatbots to choose from. Generative AIs can produce pictures and video from a text prompt, and many websites and apps are now labelled "Powered by AI". This new technology can do lots of things and tech companies have raised vast amounts of money from investors based on its potential. But what is AI actually for? Certain specialised AIs have a clear purpose. AlphaFold2 can predict how proteins fold-up and won its creators the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and Google Translate is an AI with a purpose that’s clear from its name. But so far there is no must-have or "killer" application for the Large Language Models and Generative AIs. The future of AI is equally hazy. Will AI somehow lead to all-purpose "Artificial General Intelligence", autonomous robots or even machine consciousness? Or is this all just the stuff of fantasy and nightmares? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Mike Wooldridge, the Ashall Professor of the Foundations of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford. Rosalind Picard, Grover M. Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. Ethan Mollick, Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and AI researcher. Pip Finkemeyer, author of "One Story" and software designer and researcher. Tracy Dennis Tiwary, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, Clinical Psychology and Developmental Psychology at the City University of New York. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  6. Jan 22

    Rethink... regeneration

    The government has launched the Pride in Place scheme but is it possible to regenerate urban areas without leaving local people out? Most buildings have a certain shelf life before they need renovating. Social norms change and the ways people interact develop as society transforms with time. And local economies can change dramatically with once prosperous industrial areas falling silent, or tourist hot spots left behind by low-cost air travel. But is it possible to do this without being accused of gentrification? Swanky new buildings are introduced attracting people with money, house prices go up, expensive shops and cafes open up and before you know it, local people are priced out of the area. So are there ways to improve urban areas without leaving local residents behind? How much should any regeneration project acknowledge and honour local history? Isn’t attracting new people, with new ideas and new businesses a vital part of any regeneration project? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Dr Eilis Lawlor, Director of the research institute Just Economics. Patrick Murray, Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs, the Northern Housing Consortium. Wayne Hemingway, designer. Martha Grekos, Barrister who specialises in planning and environmental law. Paul Chatterton, Professor of Urban Futures in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  7. Jan 21

    Rethink...middle age

    People are living longer and delaying life's milestone moments. How does this affect our middle years and should we be paying more attention to people in this phase of their lives? For some, middle age can be a very challenging period in their lives. Today, people are postponing the milestones in life that traditionally signified a change in priorities. People are having children later in life meaning parents in their 40s or even 50s are looking after small children. Jobs for life no longer exist and housing is so expensive that many have no choice but to pay costly rents. All of these phenomena have given rise to the so called “sandwich Generation” – simultaneously looking after children but also elderly parents. Many experience multiple roles- worker, parent, carer, spouse and friend – and juggling the demands of all of those roles can lead to burnout. Academic literature on happiness has until recently suggested that our satisfaction with life as we age is hump shaped. When we're young, we're happy — and then that declines, bottoming out in middle age. As we pass middle age and get older, we get happier again. But is that still the case? Is mid-life a uniquely unhappy place to be? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Ben Akers - Co-founder and co-CEO of Talk Club David Blanchflower - Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire Jane Green - Professor of Political Science and British Politics at the University of Oxford Andrew G Marshall - Marital therapist, communications trainer and author Les Mayhew - Professor of statistics at Bayes Business School, City University, London Kate Muir - Journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker Rethink is a BBC co-production with the Open University.

    28 min

  8. 10/02/2025

    Rethink... nightlife

    The Night Times Industries Association says one in four venues have shut down since 2020, and the sector will face an irreversible decline unless the government provides urgent support. The industry was one of the worst hit during the pandemic, and it's asking for cuts to National Insurance, a permanent cut in VAT and a reform of business rates to help it keep afloat. The NTIA claims the night time economy contributes more than £153 billion to the UK economy and supports over 2 million jobs. Culturally, the sector punches above its weight. The nightclub boom in the last 50 years gave us disco, acid house, drum and bass and grime, as well as many other sub-genres of music. But nightclubs are expensive and consumers are finding their thrills elsewhere; drink is cheaper from supermarkets, and why search for someone you fancy on the dancefloor when you can use a dating app? And as nightclubs struggle, so do small music venues, where artists like Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys Blur and Oasis started out, as well as many others. People are willing to pay hundreds of pounds to see those same artists in giant venues like Co-op Live in Manchester or at Wembley Stadium, so what can be done to make sure the next wave of new artists have somewhere to play? Should the government intervene? Should big venues subsidise smaller ones, or is it up to fans to throw them a lifeline? Or has nightlife in its current form - much like variety music halls - taken its last curtain call? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Editor: Lisa Baxter Contributors: Michael Kill - CEO, Night Time Industries Association Fat Tony - DJ Steve Lamacq - BBC 6 Music DJ and Patron of the Music Venues Trust Richard Simm - Co-owner, The Forum Tunbridge Wells Jane Darougar - Psychotherapist and counselor at the Central St Martins University, London

    28 min
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4.8
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About

Professor Ben Ansell asks some of the world's sharpest minds about the latest thinking, and what it might mean for policy and society.

Information

  • Creator
    BBC Sounds
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    112
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    Rethink

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