end of talks, debate, conversation, music and performance...

A free weekend of talks, debate,

conversation, music and

performance with…

Jacqueline Wilson, Kevin McCloud,

Fiona Shaw, Pat Barker, Frank Cottrell Boyce,

Terry Deary, Kathryn Tickell, Sarah Dunant,

Ian McMillan, Roy Williams, Katrina Porteous

Friday 5 - Sunday 7 November 2010

bbc.co.uk/freethinking

TICKETS FREE

Welcometo… Free Thinking, BBC Radio 3’s unique festival of ideas.

Visitors described Free Thinking 2009 as ‘magnificent’

and a ‘great cultural experience’, but this year we

think the mix of events and speakers is even more

exciting.

Free Thinking is a chance to come face-to-face with

some of today’s leading thinkers, artists and public

figures. You can join them for interviews, drama,

conversation and debates on a wide range of topics,

and throughout the weekend there are lots of ways to

express your views as well.

This year’s central theme is ‘the pursuit of happiness’,

surely a topic with special resonance in hard times,

but you’ll also find events on the future of marriage,

comedy and tragedy, and Stephenson’s Rocket as

well as a Free Thinking Story Salon for adults and

children.

We’re also delighted to welcome Frank Cottrell

Boyce as our first ever Thinker-in-Residence. Frank is

the acclaimed screenwriter of 24 Hour Party People

and Hilary and Jackie and the author of Carnegie

Medal-winning children’s novel Millions. He’s put

his personal stamp on several events during the

weekend’s schedule.

Tickets for all events are FREE. To book, please call

The Sage Gateshead Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661

or visit www.thesagegateshead.org.

Enjoy the festival!

Philip DoddIan McMillan

Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3

Hosted by ...

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Free Thinking is recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and forms part of Radio 3’s daily output of programmes exploring culture and ideas.

On weekday evenings (Monday – Thursday) you can hear Night Waves, Radio 3’s arts and ideas magazine programme – featuring discussion, interviews with leading artists, philosophers, writers, filmmakers and architects, and reviews of the latest openings and releases. Ian McMillan’s cabaret of new writing, The Verb, takes to the airwaves on Friday nights. Every weeknight at 11pm there’s a different cultural talk in The Essay. On Sundays Radio 3 broadcasts plays, from the classic to the cutting-edge, in Drama on 3, and Words and Music mixes music and poetry readings around a single theme.

Free Thinking BroadcastsThe Free Thinking LectureFriday 5 November, 9.00pm

Music Matters at Free ThinkingSaturday 6 November, 12.15pm

The BBC Radio 3 & BBC Radio 5live Late Night DebateSaturday 6 November, 9.15pm

An evening of Free ThinkingSunday 7 November, 8.00pm-11.30pmHighlights from the festival, including Drama on 3 and Words and Music recorded during the weekend.

The Northern Sinfonia at The Sage GatesheadMonday 8 November, Performance on 3, 7.00pm

Free Thinking on Night Waves and The VerbMonday to Friday from 8 November onwards, 9.15pmThe best of the interviews, lectures, performances, debates and audience discussion recorded at the festival.

BBC Newcastle will be showcasing Free Thinking in the weeks leading up to the festival with news and interviews – for the latest information visit bbc.co.uk/newcastle.

Free Thinking, BBC Radio 3’s unique festival of ideas.

Visitors described Free Thinking 2009 as ‘magnificent’

and a ‘great cultural experience’, but this year we

think the mix of events and speakers is even more

exciting.

Free Thinking is a chance to come face-to-face with

some of today’s leading thinkers, artists and public

figures. You can join them for interviews, drama,

conversation and debates on a wide range of topics,

and throughout the weekend there are lots of ways to

express your views as well.

This year’s central theme is ‘the pursuit of happiness’,

surely a topic with special resonance in hard times,

but you’ll also find events on the future of marriage,

comedy and tragedy, and Stephenson’s Rocket as

well as a Free Thinking Story Salon for adults and

children.

We’re also delighted to welcome Frank Cottrell

Boyce as our first ever Thinker-in-Residence. Frank is

the acclaimed screenwriter of 24 Hour Party People

and Hilary and Jackie and the author of Carnegie

Medal-winning children’s novel Millions. He’s put

his personal stamp on several events during the

weekend’s schedule.



or visit www.thesagegateshead.org.

Enjoy the festival!

Philip Dodd Rana MitterAnne McElvoy Matthew Sweet

Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3

bbc.co.uk/freethinking #R3freethinking

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Friday 5 November

“Reading is the key to everything else”DameJacqueline Wilson

The concert performed

by the Northern Sinfonia

in Hall One on Friday

5 November is also being

recorded for broadcast

on Radio 3 on Monday 8

November at 7.00pm.

Free Tickets: 0191 443 4661

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“Reading is the key to everything else”

Zita Frith

Tony Neilson

Kathryn Tickell

The concert performed

by the Northern Sinfonia

in Hall One on Friday

5 November is also being

recorded for broadcast

on Radio 3 on Monday 8

November at 7.00pm.

The Free Thinking Lecture: Dame Jacqueline Wilson Beyond the Fairytale: Happiness in the Real World 6.30pm – 7.45pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Dame Jacqueline Wilson, creator of the ground-breaking Tracy Beaker novels, is one of Britain’s most successful children’s writers. She is a former children’s laureate, and has sold over 30 million books in the UK.

Famous for challenging the traditional subjects of children’s fiction, Jacqueline launches Free Thinking by exploring her own background and the way success has changed her view of happiness. She draws on years of correspondence with her young readers and their families to understand the changing nature of happiness, and how we can find it today.

Broadcast on Radio 3 on Friday 5 November at 9.00pm.

BBC Radio 3’s Words and Music Celebration! 8.30pm – 10.00pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

International folk superstar Kathryn Tickell and North East actors Tony Neilson and Zita Frith lead an atmospheric evening bringing together poetry, prose and music on the theme of celebration with a Northumbrian flavour. They perform works by Bede, George Stephenson, Grace Darling, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Shakespeare which celebrate God, cats, love and much else. Music comes from one of the UK’s most exciting young ensembles, the Elias String Quartet plus percussionist Brendan Murphy, folk singer Bob Fox and singers from The Sage Gateshead, directed by Edward Milner.

This event will be broadcast in Radio 3’s Words and Music on Sunday 7 November at 10.15pm.

Come and see the Humanaquarium on show at Free Thinking on the evening of Friday 5 November

Free Tickets: 0191 443 46616

Saturday 6 November

Photo by Glenn Dearing

“I love complexity and

I love context”

KevinMcCloudsee page 8 for details

Free Ranters 10.15am – 11.15am The Sage Gateshead, Northern Rock Foundation Hall In association with The Sage Gateshead and Juice

Passionate public speaking from the young people of the North East and members of The Sage Gateshead’s Silver Programme. Come and listen to personal and surprising views of the world from youth and experience as our Ranters are each given two minutes to tell the nation what it ought to be thinking about. BBC Radio 3’s Ian McMillan and BBC Newcastle’s Alfie Joey will be keeping time.

This event will be recorded for future broadcast on Radio 3’s Night Waves.

Books at Breakfast: Pat Barker In association with New Writing North

10.30am – 11.30am The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Pat Barker is the author of the acclaimed Regeneration Trilogy about the trauma of the First World War which established her as one of Britain’s finest contemporary novelists. Ghost Road won the Man Booker Prize in 1995. Join her as she meets members of New Writing North’s book clubs and our Free Thinking audience in an informal conversation about her most recent novel, Life Class, in which she returns to the backdrop of the First World War to explore ideas of class, sex, society and art.

For more details visit www.newwritingnorth.com


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“I love complexity and

I love context”

NewcastleGateshead’s festival for children and young people

Pat Barker

Photo by Ellen Warner

Ian McMillan and Alfie Joey

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Free Tickets: 0191 443 46618

Free Thinker: Kevin McCloud Ben Franklin and Shopping 12 noon – 1.00pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Kevin McCloud is the celebrated presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs, an inspiration to home builders across the country and according to Building Design newspaper, ‘the most influential figure in British architecture’. He studied history of art, worked as a theatre designer, and is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Kevin comes to Free Thinking to urge us to rediscover the unfashionable value of craftsmanship – it is the only way we will match creativity and excellent design with sustainable materials.


BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters: What is Music For? 12.05pm – 1.00pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

Join the audience for Radio 3’s flagship music discussion programme as it comes live from Free Thinking for the first time. Presenter Tom Service and a panel of experts tackle an elusive cultural mystery: what is music for? Since the dawn of mankind music has been able to move us deeply. But does its power lie in a primeval ability to arouse and represent emotions – and nothing more cerebral than that? General Director of The Sage Gateshead Anthony Sargent, composer Robert Saxton and conductor Christopher Page debate why man has ‘music in his soul’.

This event will be broadcast live on Radio 3.

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Saturday 6 November

TomService

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BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: New Histories of the North East Old Religion, New ideas 1.00pm – 1.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

Writer Sara Maitland, author of The Book of Silence, devotes much of her life to solitude and prayer. She comes to Free Thinking to look back at the history of religious life in the North East. Unlike Southern England, the region was Christianised from Celtic tradition of Iona, not continental Europe. This heritage has deeply informed both the landscape and the history of the area – from Lindisfarne to the Prince Bishops. Sara Maitland asks: are there lessons we can take from that life to help us to navigate the modern world? No tickets necessary, just come along.

Broadcast in Radio 3’s The Essay on Monday 8th November at 11.00pm.

Free Thinker: Angie Hobbs No Need for Heroes? 1.30pm – 2.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Courage, ambition, vainglory, sacrifice … what does it mean to be a hero now? From Achilles in Homer’s Iliad to the funeral cortèges of Wooton Bassett, heroism is a constant in human life. But it’s a word more easily used than understood. Dr Angie Hobbs, Britain’s first ever Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at Warwick University, explores the idea of heroism in war, social justice, the arts and sport. Does this ancient idea still have a role in our age of instant celebrity and can it rise above its financial and political exploitation?


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AngieHobbs

Lindisfarne Abbey

Free Tickets: 0191 443 466110

Landmark: The North Sea 1.45pm – 2.45pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

The North Sea is the bloodline and boundary of North East England. From fishing to shipbuilding to wind farms, it has been crucial to the region’s economy. But how has this dark, turbulent mass of water influenced the people on its shores? Should we look to Holland and Scandinavia for insights into the culture of the coastal North East, its Geordie dialect and its songs? Sounding the depths of the North Sea to find the soul of the North East are painter Len Tabner, historian Bill Lancaster of Northumbria University, sailor and broadcaster Tom Cuncliffe and Pam Graves, archaeologist at Durham University.


BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: New Histories of the North East Earl Grey and the Promise of Reform 2.30pm – 3.00pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar When does one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the world feel ready to reform itself? Following the recent expenses scandal, and with electoral reform on the coalition’s agenda, writer and sociologist Tom Shakespeare looks back at Charles Grey and the Great Reform Act of 1832. Grey, the man whose monument stands high above the centre of Newcastle, became Whig Prime Minister in November 1830, got rid of the rotten boroughs, and took a major step towards modern parliamentary democracy. No tickets necessary, just come along.

Broadcast in Radio 3’s The Essay on Tuesday 9 November at 11.00pm.

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Saturday 6 November

Charles Grey Monument

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Free Thinkers: Matt Ridley and Matthew Taylor Can The Government Make You Happy? 3.00pm – 4.00pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Can happiness be created by anyone other than ourselves? Across the globe, policy-makers and economists are trying to make high levels of happiness a job for government, as if it were low inflation or strong growth. But can they calculate how much happiness is around and is it anybody else’s business but our own? Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA and a former advisor to Tony Blair, and the science writer Matt Ridley, whose books include The Rational Optimist, discuss whether the boom in happiness studies could lead to a genuine increase in the nation’s wellbeing.


Free Thinking Debate: Marriage in Peril! Should We Try to Save It? 3.15pm – 4.15pm The Sage Gateshead, Northern Rock Foundation Hall

The number of people getting married has slumped to its lowest level since records began in 1862. Should we be panicking? Is this an irreversible social fact because so many of the reasons for getting married have vanished – or do we need to act to restore a pillar of society dangerously close to crumbling altogether? Join our Thinker-in-Residence Frank Cottrell Boyce (married with seven children), who has chosen the topic for this debate, and Guy Opperman, Conservative MP for Hexham, the journalist Shiv Malik, Janet Walker, Professor of Family Policy at Newcastle University, and Hannah Eyres, Chief Executive of the youth organisation Keyfund.


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Matthew Taylor

Matt Ridley

Free Tickets: 0191 443 466112

Theory Slam! 3.30pm – 4.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar In association with Café Culture North East

Café Culture bring their unique ‘Theory Slam’ to Free Thinking. Members of this Newcastle-based debating and discussion group stand at the microphone and deliver their pithy solutions to the problems of our world. It’s fast-paced and energetic. Come and join host Ian McMillan to listen and comment on their theories of philosophy, politics, science and culture all delivered with wit and style.

For further details visit www.cafeculturenortheast.org.uk


Free Thinker: Hugh Pennington Food for Thought 4.30pm – 5.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two Hugh Pennington, Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at Aberdeen University, is one of Britain’s foremost experts on the science of food. Pennington’s influence is felt everywhere from school kitchens to hospital wards. He led the government enquiries into outbreaks of E. coli in Scotland and Wales, and has been an advisor to the World Food Programme. Professor Pennington spells out the scientific and political fact behind the food fashions of our own time and looks ahead to the ethical, lifestyle and business challenges we must overcome if we are to feed the world.


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Saturday 6 November

Hugh Pennington

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Free Thinking Debate: To Buy or Not to Buy - Do Possessions Make Us Happy? 4.45pm – 5.45pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

Owning things makes millions of people happy, whether it’s shoes, cars or new houses. So why do some say that worldly goods are just a recipe for envy and disappointment? To argue over the merits of materialism are Sarah Dunant, international best-selling author of Renaissance thrillers; plastic surgeon Paul Baguley who carries out cosmetic surgery across the North East; psychotherapist Jan McGregor Hepburn, a specialist in guilt; and religious writer Sara Maitland.


Café Culture: Havi Carel The Philosophy of Illness 5.15pm – 6.15pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar In association with Café Culture North East

Soon after the publication of her first book Life and Death in Freud and Heidegger, the philosopher Havi Carel was diagnosed with a serious illness. Since that discovery her research has turned to exploring how philosophy can help us understand illness, wellbeing and happiness. She joins the Newcastle discussion group Café Culture to bring her unique personal perspective on illness and the suprising positive elements of ill health. Dr Carel teaches at the Bristol Medical School and is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of England.

For further details visit www.cafeculturenortheast.org.uk


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SarahDunant

Havi Carel

Photo by Chris Bertram

Free Tickets: 0191 443 466114

Free Thinking Interview: Mary Midgley 6.30pm – 7.30pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

At 91, Mary Midgley remains one of the most combative and forthright minds in Britain today. A resident of Newcastle, Midgley did not publish her first book until she was in her mid- 50s, yet has gone on to become a prominent moral philosopher. She has been a strong critic of science’s claim to answer all the most important questions, famously taking issue with Richard Dawkins. In this wide-ranging interview she talks about science, religion, the Gaia theory, maturity, happiness and why philosophers are like plumbers. A chance to engage with a real Free Thinker.


BBC Radio 3’s Drama on 3: Vultures by Roy Williams 7.30pm – 8.30pm BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Level One

May contain strong language and not suitable for children

No one cares about the Bishops and Sean is no different. A white working class man. Sean is angry at the world. He hates the fact that people assume he is just another working class waster. Everyone knows if your surname is Bishop, you are nothing but a bully. Now he aims to prove everyone right. Sean for the first time in his life, feels like a somebody.

BAFTA Award-winning Roy Williams is one of Britain’s finest contemporary playwrights, often putting on stage in gritty and eloquent dialogue stories set on the fringes and amongst the underclass of our society. Vultures is a new work specially written for Free Thinking.

Broadcast in Radio 3’s Drama on 3 on Sunday 7 November at 8.30pm.

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Saturday 6 November

Roy Williams

MaryMidgley

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BBC Radio 3’s The Verb 7.30pm – 8.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan is one of the UK’s best-loved wordsmiths. He brings an exciting and eclectic line-up for The Verb, Radio 3’s unique cabaret of the word. There’ll be haunting music from legendary Northumbrian folk musicians The Unthanks; brand-new fiction from award-winning poet and novelist John Burnside; poetry from Katrina Porteous and intriguing language games from comedian and writer Alex Horne. It’s an unmissable Saturday night show and we just know you want to join us!

This event will be broadcast in Radio 3’s The Verb on Friday 12 November at 9.15pm.

The BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 5live Late Night Debate: What Does Britain Do Best: Sport or the Arts? 9.00pm – 10.00pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

A historic first: BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 5live join together for a live debate broadcast simultaneously on both stations. Come and take sides as a team of 5live sports-fans battle with a panel of Radio 3 arts-lovers. After a summer of sporting failures at the World Cup and Wimbledon, is it time for true patriots to transfer their affection to the Tate, the Edinburgh Festival and the Royal Shakespeare Company? Who really is the best of British: Gormley or Beckham, WG Grace or Charles Dickens? Holding things together are Radio 3 presenter Rana Mitter and 5live’s Eleanor Oldroyd.

Broadcast live on Saturday 6 November.

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KatrinaPorteousPhoto by Derek Adams

Ian McMillan

Alex Horne

Free Tickets: 0191 443 466116

Sunday 7 November

Free Thinking Interview: Terry Deary 10.30am – 11.30am The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Terry Deary’s Horrible Histories have put Vile Victorians and Groovy Greeks in millions of children’s bedrooms – and inspired a generation of students to love history. He’s a writer, actor and presenter of quirky documentaries who has sold more than 25 million books. Terry was born in Sunderland in 1946 and in this wide-ranging interview he talks about his passionate opinions on the future of education (‘I’d rather cut off my left arm and eat it with Marmite than go into a school’); and TV academic historians (‘they just lecture you’). Grown-ups and children welcome.


Free Thinker: Lord Blair of Boughton Violence - A New Perspective 12 noon – 1.00pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Lord Blair of Boughton was Britain’s most senior police officer as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, a tenure that included the London Bombings of 2005. Having dealt with crime and policing up to the very highest level for over 35 years, he comes to Free Thinking to reflect on the part that violence plays in human behaviour: its origins, effects and how we as a society should deal with it.


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Terry Deary

Lord Blairof Boughton

Free Thinking Debate: Comedy v Tragedy: Which is the Best Guide to Living? 12.15pm – 1.15pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

A battle to decide which approach to life and art is more illuminating: comedy or tragedy. It’s an argument older than the Stoics and Epicureans or the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, and has raged from Athens to Eastenders. In a debate which promises both laughter and tears, the tragedians are Professor of English Carol Rutter and comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes. They face passionate comedian Janey Godley (once named ‘Scotland’s funniest woman’) and comic novelist Julian Gough.


BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Hidden Histories of the North East Hadrian’s Wall: Across the Divide 1.00pm – 1.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

How has Hadrian’s Wall affected the long-term relationship between Scotland and England? Poet Bill Herbert was born in Dundee and is now Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing at Newcastle University. As devolution continues to shift the relationship between the two countries, he explores how the most important Roman site in Britain is a constant reminder of the division between the north of England and the ‘wild lands’ beyond. No tickets necessary, just come along.

Broadcast on Radio 3’s The Essay on 10 November at 11.00pm.

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Carol Rutter

JaneyGodley

Free Tickets: 0191 443 466118

Free Thinker: Fiona Shaw What Acting Can Teach You About Life 1.30pm – 2.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

In association with Newcastle University’s Insights Public Lecture Series.

Award-winning actress Fiona Shaw is famous for creating some of the most challenging and emotionally demanding roles in the theatre, including Jean Brodie, Hedda Gabler and Medea. But what’s it like to spend weeks getting inside such characters, and then to walk back into the dramas of ordinary life? She comes to Free Thinking to explore the interface between the stage and the street, and to reveal how the characters she plays have influenced the person she is.


BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Thinkers: Academics and the Media: Friends or Foes? 1.45pm – 2.45pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) are joining forces to find the next generation of public intellectuals. Free Thinking marks the launch of New Generation Thinkers, a talent scheme for emerging academics with a passion for communicating the excitement of modern scholarship to a wider audience. To get the New Generation Thinkers search underway, Professor Rick Rylance, head of the AHRC, and Rana Mitter, Radio 3 presenter and Professor of the History of Modern China, gather wisdom from a panel that straddles the two worlds of academia and the media. Are academics and the media friends or foes?

To find out more about the New Generation Thinkers scheme visit www.ahrc.ac.uk


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Sunday 7 November

FionaShaw

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BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Hidden Histories of the North East Inheritance Tracks 2.15pm – 2.45pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

TV writer Michael Chaplin, creator of Monarch of the Glen and Grafters, was born in a County Durham house backed onto a railway line that served as his playground, dumping ground and soundtrack. Michael looks back at the glorious part that trains have played in the life of the North East - from George and Robert Stephenson and the great railway engineers to the present day. And he asks: could greater understanding of the lyricism and character of railways allow us to better use this amazing invention today? No tickets necessary, just come along.

This event will be broadcast in Radio 3’s The Essay on Thursday 11th November at 11pm.

Speed Dating with a Thinker 2.45pm – 3.45pm The Sage Gateshead, Concourse

Join Ian McMillan to date ten thinkers in 30 minutes. Your chance for a series of one-to-one encounters with experts including our Thinker-in-Residence Frank Cottrell Boyce, waiting to seduce you with the most exciting idea for the future. Everyone gets a chance to vote for the most attractive one – idea that is! This annual blockbuster proves that, even in the 21st century, the brain is the sexiest organ.


Free Thinker: Soweto Kinch Freedom: A Guide to Listening 3.00pm – 4.00pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Twice winner of a MOBO award and nominated for the Mercury Music prize, saxophonist, composer and rapper Soweto Kinch is a British jazz star: ‘He’s number one in a field that he’s made his own’ says The Guardian. His compositions have drawn on the lives of residents in a Birmingham tower block, set 1950s novel Absolute Beginners to music, and remixed the voice of newsreader Moira Stewart. Soweto Kinch, who’ll be performing at The Sage Gateshead in the Gateshead International Jazz Festival in March 2011, lays down his saxophone for Free Thinking and delivers a lecture on the relationship between music and emancipation.


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SowetoKinch

Robert Stephenson

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Free Thinking Debate: Has God Gone Global? 3.15pm – 4.15pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

Reports of its death have been vastly exaggerated: in the 21st century religion is set to be the engine of world affairs in almost every corner of the globe. Secular Europeans may not celebrate this religious revival but faith mobilises millions in a way that political movements once did. Can it be ignored? Join the vicar of Jesmond Church, Rev David Holloway, political editor of the New Statesman Mehdi Hasan and human rights activist Maryam Namazie as they take sides over ancient beliefs and globalised doctrines.


BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Hidden Histories of the North East A Landscape for Everyman 3.45pm – 4.15pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

Before the industrial revolution, artists such as Walter Scott and JMW Turner came to the North East and found its landscape fulfilled their vision of natural beauty as a unifying force for ‘Everyman’. 200 years later, much of the heavy industry has returned to grass. Writer Rebecca Jenkins, resident of Teesdale, argues that it’s time for the North East to reclaim the glory of its rural culture and extinguish the whippets and flat caps clichés that never fully represented the region. No tickets necessary, just come along.

Broadcast in Radio 3’s The Essay on Friday 12 November.

Free Thinker: Frank Cottrell Boyce The Joys of Failure 4.30pm – 5.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

Fail again, fail better, said Samuel Beckett. Thinker-in-Residence Frank Cottrell Boyce makes a passionate plea for some of the traditional enemies of happiness – error, disappointment and failure. Bad ideas have often led to great truths, he claims, and human knowledge is dependent on our ability to continue making mistakes. Frank Cottrell Boyce is the acclaimed screenwriter of 24 Hour Party People and Hilary and Jackie and the author of Carnegie Medal-winning children’s novel Millions.


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Sunday 7 November

Maryam Namazie

Rebecca Jenkins

Frank Cottrell Boyce

On the Concourse

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The Free Thinking Story Salon In association with New Writing North The Sage Gateshead, The Squires Lounge

The Free Thinking Story Salon is perfect for the literary layabout. Come and relax in a child-friendly environment. During the weekend there will be a series of drop-in sessions to hear readings, some for children, some for grown-ups, including one from our Thinker-in-Residence Frank Cottrell Boyce. Just come in, grab a good book and relax.

No tickets needed. Children who attend must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Take Me to the Bridge by Sean O’BrienA haunting new audio drama from poet Sean O’Brien, designed to be listened to on a short walk from The Sage Gateshead to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Follow the tale of a man and a woman who find themselves on either side of the bridge, drawn together by currents of memory and desire.

How to download the drama

You can download Take Me To The Bridge from October 29 from www.bbc.co.uk/freethinking or from www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/radio3/takemetothebridge or, if you have mobile internet access, text the word BRIDGE to 83111.

For more details please visit the Free Thinking information desk.

Texts are charged at standard network rate (10 to 12p). These are not covered by free text message bundles.

Broadcast in BBC Radio 3’s The Verb on Friday 29 October at 9.15pm.

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Photo by David Tiernan 22

The Concourse at The Sage Gateshead Free Thinking flows out of the halls and into the open spaces of this magnificent building. Drop in or take time out to explore the range of the Free Thinking fringe.

BBC Radio 3, Newcastle Gateshead Initiative and The Sage Gateshead have commissioned a special installation on our theme for the festival, the pursuit of happiness.

Visit our ideas wall to make your thoughts known - and feed them back to our speakers on the platforms. Join our twitter group to comment on the big screens, take part in Newcastle University’s Student Union Radio broadcasting from the festival weekend, and see the results of the BBC School Report happiness project.

BBC Research and Development are at the festival this year to offer a chance to sample some of the audio technology of the future. Experience what it’s like to be a conductor with Ambisonics, and visit the Tune Table on the concourse to find out what it’s like to be a Music Producer – in real time.

Don’t forget to drop in on Speed-Dating and the Theory Slam and join in our twitter debates. And if you’d like to ask anything about Free Thinking or BBC Radio 3 do please come and meet us at our Information desk.

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Other Partners

The Sage Gateshead has a café, a brasserie and four bars with spectacular river views all of which offer you the opportunity to have a snack, a drink or a meal before or between your chosen Free Thinking sessions.

Tickets for all events are FREE. To book, please call The Sage Gateshead Ticket Office on 0191 443 4661 or visit www.thesagegateshead.org

To guarantee you must be in your seat 10 minutes before the event begins. We will re-allocate any spare seats to a standby queue just before the start of the event, so please get there on time!

Free Thinking continues online, where you’ll be able to download the pick of the festival, and listen to any of the events wherever and whenever you like. You can add your voice to the debates and keep up to date with the festival on twitter, as well as get recommendations for further listening on Radio 3 and how to further explore the festival topics that interest you.

bbc.co.uk/freethinking #R3freethinking

Venues

St Mary’s Square Gateshead Quays Gateshead, NE8 2JR thesagegateshead.org

Centre for Contemporary ArtGateshead Quays Gateshead, NE8 3BAbalticmill.com

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FreeTickets



or visit www.thesagegateshead.org

At A Glance

Friday 5 November01. The Free Thinking Lecture: Jaqueline Wilson6.30pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

02. Radio 3’s Words and Music: Celebration!8.30pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

Saturday 6 November 03. Free Ranters10.15am, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

04. Books at Breakfast: Pat Barker10.30am, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

05. Free Thinker: Kevin McCloud12 noon, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

06. Music Matters: What is Music For? 12.05pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

07. BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Sara Maitland1.00pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

08. Free Thinker: Angie Hobbs1.30pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

09. Landmark: The North Sea1.45pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

10. BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Tom Shakespeare2.30pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

11. Free Thinkers: Matt Ridley and Matthew Taylor3.00pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

12. Free Thinking Debate: Marriage in Peril! Should we try to save it?3.15pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

13. Theory Slam!3.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

14. Free Thinker: Hugh Pennington4.30pm The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

15. Free Thinking Debate: To Buy or Not To Buy4.45pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

16. Café Culture: Havi Carel5.15pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

17. The Free Thinking Interview: Mary Midgley6.30pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

18. Drama on 3: Vultures 7.30pm, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Level One.

19. The Verb 7.30pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

20. BBC Radio 3/5live Debate9.00pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

Sunday 7 November 21. Free Thinking Interview: Terry Deary 10.30am, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

22. Free Thinker: Lord Blair of Boughton12.00 noon, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

23. Free Thinking Debate: Comedy v Tragedy12.15pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

24. BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Bill Herbert1.00pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

25. Free Thinker: Fiona Shaw1.30pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

26. New Generation Thinkers1.45pm, The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

27. BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Inheritance Tracks2.15pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

28. Speed Dating with a Thinker2.45pm, The Sage Gateshead, Concourse

29. Free Thinker: Soweto Kinch3.00pm, The Sage Gateshead, Hall Two

30. Free Thinking Debate: Has God Gone Global?3.15pm The Sage Gateshead Northern Rock Foundation Hall

31. BBC Radio 3’s The Essay: Rebecca Jenkins3.45pm, The Sage Gateshead, Level 3 bar

32. Free Thinking Closing Lecture: Frank Cottrell Boyce4.30pm, The Sage Gateshead: Hall Two

end of talks, debate, conversation, music and performance...

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