Takes On the Dark Side

Are you convinced you can tell when someone is lying?  Best-selling author and thinker Malcolm Gladwell advises us never to trust our intuitions.  Drawing on the work of psychologist Tim Levine, he explores why we’ve evolved to be bad at spotting deception and why believing that everyone is telling the truth is in our own best interests.

Norwegian novelist and literary sensation Karl Ove Knausgaard considers himself an optimist. And yet he has to reconcile himself to the fact that, in his writing, he fails every day. Describing a daily ritual of sharing writing drafts with his editor, he explores the nature of creativity and the perennial dissatisfaction that comes with being an artist.

How do you measure out the time between now and when you die?  Best-selling author Lionel Shriver counts her days in cheese wrappers. She reflects on the death of her brother and the struggle to fully comprehend the death of those we love.  Having assumed she would never want to put up with the indignities of old age, she realizes she is more fiercely attached to life than she ever imagined.

Can artists do anything to prevent war? Concerned about the dangers posed by superpowers China and the USA, world famous Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei worries about the risky times we live in.

Who do you hate? A murderous warlord who kills women and children? A politician who sits idly by as the poor get poorer? Louis Theroux explores the fact that, in all probability, you're more likely to hate someone who gets in your way. Drawing on his own experience of being sent to the back of the line, the iconic documentarian muses on how we often find ourselves blindsided by powerful emotions.

Is there a global cabal of pedophiles and Satanists currently trading in children in a mass human trafficking operation?  New York Times journalist Jamelle Bouie asks why on earth people believe the ludicrous QAnon conspiracy theory.  Is there something uniquely American about the appeal of conspiracy theories?

Would you happily give up your democratic rights and personal freedoms overnight? Best-selling author Lionel Shriver is astonished at the way people have responded to government rules aimed at controlling the pandemic. She considers the implications for liberal democracy and the future of a post-pandemic world.