Reading Our Times

• What is the ultimate nature of reality? In conversation with Graham Harman

  What is the ultimate nature of reality? And how best to describe it? Is it fundamentally smooth and continuous, flowing seamlessly from one state to another? Or is it discrete, composed of distinct, separate units that interact across unbridgeable gaps?This ancient philosophical puzzle, which dates back at least as far back as Zeno and his famous paradoxes 2,500 years ago, remains surprisingly urgent and relevant today, shaping debates across physics, evolutionary biology, history, and even our understanding of consciousness itself.In this episode, host Nick Spencer speaks with American philosopher Graham Harman about his provocative new book Waves and Stones: On the Ultimate Nature of Reality. Harman argues that both the continuous and the discrete are irreducible aspects of our world - a position he calls "primal dualism" that challenges the modern impulse to reduce everything to a single, unified explanation.You can buy a copy of his book here.

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• What is consciousness? In conversation with Baroness Susan Greenfield

  Consciousness is famously called the “hard problem” and it elicits a very wide range of (sometimes very strongly held) opinions. These range from the idea that it is little more than a trick played on us by our brain, to the idea that it is built into the very fabric of matter at the most fundamental level.How does consciousness differ from mindedness? It is all or nothing, or are there grades of consciousness? And how does it map on our ordinary, everyday lives?This week, Nick Spencer speaks to Baroness Susan Greenfield about her new book: A Day in the Life of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Consciousness from Dawn Till Dusk.You can buy a copy of her book here.

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• What does Quantum Theory mean? In conversation with Paul Davies

  Everyone has heard of quantum physics. Many of us can parrot its key ideas – uncertainty, entanglement, collapsing the wave function, something to do with a cat…But when it comes to really understanding it, well that’s a different matter altogether. “Anyone who is not shocked by quantum mechanics hasn’t understood it”, wrote the eminent physicist Niels Bohr.So, what is quantum physics? How did it come about? What does it say about ultimate reality? And how might it transform our lives?This week on Reading Our Times, Nick Spencer delves into the quantum realm with scientist Paul Davies to discuss his latest book, Quantum 2.0: The Past, Present, and Future of Quantum Physics. You can buy a copy of Paul's book here.

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• Can music redeem time? In conversation with Michael Symmons Roberts

  The performance of Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time in a freezing WW2 prison camp is one of the most famous moments of 20th century music.The piece and performance spoke to audiences movingly, both then and now, of peace, God, time, and the power of music.Such questions remain powerful today. How imprisoned by time are we? In what sense does music and art enable us to transcend the constraints of our existence? What does the end of time mean?This week on Reading Our Times, Nick speaks to poet Michael Symmons Roberts about his latest book Quartet for the End of Time: On Music, Grief and Birdsong. You can buy a copy of Michael's book here.

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• What can a life tell us about transcendence? In conversation with Clare Carlisle

  The idea of transcendence is common, perhaps even universal, among human beings. But what it means (if anything) is much more debatable. There are different ways of understanding transcendence, some orthodoxly religious; others more heterodox and surprising.How should we understand transcendence? If you can be spiritual but not religious, can you experience transcendence without religion? What does it mean to live a transcendent life?This week, Nick speaks to Clare Carlisle, Professor of Philosophy at Kings College London, about her latest book 'Transcendence for Beginners'.Purchase a copy of Clare's book here.

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