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Stewart Brand is one of the great visionaries of our time. His latest book, 'Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto', argues that ‘Being Green’ is no longer enough. Three profound transformations are underway on Earth: climate change, urbanisation and biotechnology. Unless environmentalists keep up with new science, and embrace tools and disciplines that they have traditionally distrusted - such as science and engineering - in order to forestall the cataclysmic deterioration of the earth’s resources, they will become part of the problem.

Brand shatters a number of environmental myths and argues that cities are greener than the countryside, nuclear power is the future of energy, and genetic engineering is the key to crop and land management. Through scientific rigor and blazing advocacy, Brand offers a bold and creative set of policies and solutions for producing a more sustainable society.

He is in discussion with Brian Eno, musician and composer, cultural critic and writer who has a long-standing interest and involvement in new thinking about politics and the future.

The 'New York Times' calls Barbara Ehrenreich “our premier reporter of the underside of Capitalism”. Recent books have seen her go undercover to find a job in America’s corporate sector and work in low-wage America, busting the myth of the American dream. She now looks at positive thinking – formerly a marginal 19th century healing technique, which is now seen as the key to success and prosperity.

Ehrenreich exposes the downside of the science of happiness which leads to self-blame, a morbid preoccupation with stamping out ‘negative’ thoughts and, on a national level, created an era of irrational optimism. Ehrenreich attacks conventional wisdom and faux science, and calls for clarity and courage.

This podcast is 27 minutes long (50MB). If you would like to hear more lectures from the 2010 Festival, please visit our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.

George Miller interviews Margaret Atwood for the Bristol Festival of Ideas just before her event at St George's Bristol on 9 September 2009 to mark the launch of her new book 'The Year of the Flood'. The event, attended by nearly 600 people, featured an exciting performance with actors and a choir, followed by an on-stage interview with Margaret herself.

This podcast is 12 minutes long (11MB). If you would like to hear more interviews with selected speakers from this year's festival, please visit our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.

Presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas (www.ideasfestival.co.uk), in association with St George's Bristol. (www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk). Interview by George Miller (http://podularity.com).

In this final podcast from summer 2009, presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas, George Miller looks back at some of the highlights of the 2009 May Festival.

Award-winning writer, Times columnist and broadcaster David Aaronovitch discusses conspiracy theories in connection with his new book: 'Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History'; Helen Bamber talks about her long experience of human rights campaigning; and leading novelist and playwright Michael Frayn ponders our ideas and the world around us.

This podcast is 30 minutes long (27MB), and is the final recording in our summer podcast series for 2009. If you would like to hear more interviews with selected speakers from this year's festival, please visit our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.

Presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas (www.ideasfestival.co.uk), in association with The Philosopher's Magazine (www.philosophersnet.com). Interviews by George Miller (http://podularity.com).

In this second podcast from summer 2009, presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas, George Miller looks back at some of the highlights of the 2009 May Festival.

Internationally renowned philosopher and author, Peter Singer, discusses the moral implications of greed and poverty in connection with his new book: The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty'; historian Richard Holmes talks about 'The Age of Wonder' and romantic science; and scientist Freeman Dyson looks at the challenges and opportunities of the time in which we live.

This podcast is 30 minutes long (27MB), and is the second recording in our summer podcast series for 2009. If you would like to hear more interviews with selected speakers from this year's festival, please visit our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.

Presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas (www.ideasfestival.co.uk). Interviews by George Miller (http://podularity.com).

In this first podcast from summer 2009, presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas, George Miller looks back at some of the highlights of the 2009 May Festival.

One of Britain's leading philosophers, writers and broadcasters, Alain de Botton, discusses the pleasures and sorrows of work; Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford and one of the foremost voices of reformist Islam in the West, talks about the challenges facing Islam today; and Susie Orbach, author of the best-selling book 'Fat is a Feminist Issue' looks at our changing relationship with our bodies.

This podcast is 31 minutes long (30MB), and is the first recording in our summer podcast series for 2009. If you would like to hear more interviews with selected speakers from this year's festival, please visit our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.

Presented by Bristol Festival of Ideas (www.ideasfestival.co.uk). Interviews by George Miller (http://podularity.com).