BBC Radio Podcasts from Human Intelligence
Conversationalists: Homer
Naomi Alderman explores Homer’s mind and the oral thinking behind his epics.
Conversationalists: Fatema Mernissi
Inside the mind of the revolutionary feminist thinker, sociologist and intellectual.
Conversationalists: Isabella D'este
Isabella d’Este’s Renaissance mind of art, power, and strategic cultural influence.
Conversationalists: Desmond Tutu
Inside the mind of Desmond Tutu and his vision for truth and reconciliation.
Conversationalists: Voltaire
Voltaire’s sharp mind, letters, and fearless challenge to authority and superstition.
Provocateurs: Elinor Ostrom
Elinor Ostrom challenged economics and reimagined shared human cooperation.
Provocateurs: Eugène-Francois Vidocq
The mind that invented modern detective work and transformed criminal investigation.
Provocateurs: Sigmund Freud
Inside the mind of the man who pioneered the discipline of psychoanalysis.
Provocateurs: Salvador Dalí
Provocative and surreal, Salvador Dalí blurred art, ego, and illusion to shock minds.
Provocateurs: Cicero
Inside the mind of the statesman who is credited with advancing Roman genius.
Recluses: Nikola Tesla
Is the mind of Nikola Tesla worthy of such an extensive legacy?
Recluses: Li Qingzhao
Inside the mind of China’s greatest female poet: Li Qingzhao.
Recluses: Michel de Montaigne
What can we learn from the mind of Montaigne who invented the concept of the essay?
Recluses: Ibn Khaldun
How did philosopher Ibn Khaldun invent a theory to explain the rise and fall of dynasties?
Recluses: Emily Brontë
How did the writing of accomplished author Emily Brontë benefit from her reclusive nature?
Perfectionists: Martha Graham
Martha Graham was to modern dance what Picasso was to painting.
Perfectionists: Leonardo Da Vinci
The quintessential Renaissance man, artist Leonardo da Vinci was curious about everything.
Perfectionists: Al-Khwarizmi
Al-Khwarizmi laid the groundwork for the modern world in setting down the rules of algebra
Perfectionists: Simone Weil
Simone Weil was a perfectionist of ethics, calling on us to attend to others’ suffering.
Perfectionists: Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel wanted all his work to be the best, but it came at a cost.
Exiles: Ishi
The mind of Ishi: how one man worked to preserve the knowledge of an entire community.
Exiles: Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz
How did exile enable a self-taught intellectual and proto-feminist to do her best work?
Exiles: Ovid
Ovid was Rome’s funniest, wittiest poet. How was his mind shaped by exile?
Exiles: Marie Curie
Marie Curie had to go into exile to do her work, but she never forgot where she came from.
Exiles: Karl Marx
Exploring the mind of Karl Marx, a revolutionary political thinker and philosopher.
Live from Hay Literary Festival 2025
Naomi Alderman and guests celebrate Human Intelligence at the Hay Literary Festival.
Travellers: Aristotle
The very first scientist, who thought every part of the world could be a place of learning
Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer
A 19th century solo female traveller who opened up the idea of travel for everyone.
Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson
'Mosquito Manson' found a travelling parasite and unravelled a medical mystery.
Travellers: Jean Rhys
A novelist whose sequel to Jane Eyre turned storytelling on its head.
Travellers: The Buddha
A young prince who journeyed towards enlightenment.
Manhattan Project: Albert Einstein
How a world famous pacifist jump-started the Manhattan Project and revolutionised science.
Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner
The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.
Manhattan Project: John von Neumann
The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.
Manhattan Project: Niels Bohr
A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world.
Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer
The father of the atom bomb who longed to be an all-American hero.
Collectors: Charles Darwin
A life-long collector of curiosities, Darwin saw massive significance in tiny changes.
Collectors: Samuel Johnson
Working in chaos at a desk strewn with papers, 'Dictionary Johnson' left a great legacy.
Collectors: Pamphila
A prolific historian from ancient Greece – female, freelance and working from home.
Collectors: Denis Diderot
The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.
Collectors: Sei Shōnagon
The author of a Japanese masterpiece who saw the beauty and absurdity in everyday life.
Teachers: Diogenes
The irascible Greek thinker who lived in a barrel and argued for a simpler happier life.
Teachers: Peter Ramus
A radical teacher who believed passionately in knowledge and education for all.
Teachers: Mary Somerville
A remarkable 19th century polymath inspired by the natural world and the universe beyond.
Teachers: Maimonides
The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.
Teachers: Michael Faraday
An obsessive, meticulous intellect that gave us ideas behind world-changing technology.
Disruptors: Malcolm X
Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Malcolm X and his role in black nationalism in the US.
Disruptors: Martin Luther
Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Martin Luther, who inspired the Protestant Reformation
Disruptors: Mary Wollstonecraft
Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the brilliant feminist pioneer, Mary Wollstonecraft.
Disruptors: George Washington
Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the first US president, George Washington.
Disruptors: Socrates
Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Socrates, the original disruptor.
What is Human Intelligence?
Naomi Alderman looks at brilliant minds from the past.