Each episode of Human Intelligence tells a story of how a brilliant mind came up with a brilliant idea…
Naomi Alderman is interested in how people think. In her new landmark series for BBC Radio 4, Human Intelligence, from Diderot to Darwin, Socrates to Shōnagon, Wollstonecraft to Washington, she’s looking at some of the most innovative thinkers in history.
Naomi Alderman:
“I’m utterly delighted to be working on this programme – it’s a huge joy to delve into these exceptional minds, to understand what their big ideas were and to learn about how they did their greatest work. We’re not aiming to come up with a perfect canon of thinkers; that’s always a divisive question! But finding out about how brilliant people did their best work I think we can understand more about our own lives, and our own minds.
“These are some of the thinkers who shaped not only the world we live in but the brains we live inside too, the ideas that shape who we are. And in a world that’s obsessed with artificial intelligence, I think it’s more important than ever to understand and learn from superb human intelligence. “
Launching in January 2025, Naomi – the bestselling author of novels including The Power – is on a quest to explore remarkable individuals throughout history in an exploration of the myriad different ways that new ideas and thinking emerges.
Each episode of Human Intelligence tells a story of how a brilliant mind came up with a brilliant idea – and how that idea continues to shape the world today. That might be Marie Curie discovering Radium, Immanuel Kant chiselling out the Categorical Imperative, or Nikola Tesla inventing the AC induction motor. Across 25 initial episodes, the series will show us how great minds don’t all think alike – and interrogate how intelligence is shaped by character, opportunity and circumstance, and fuelled by ego, mania, tenacity and eccentricity.
At core of series lie fundamental questions: how did these individuals achieve their intellectual aspirations? What type of mind was at work? How were their ideas influenced by their identities and the historical context in which they lived? The series presents an intellectual “how done it?” with Naomi assuming the role of Sherlock Holmes, investigating how individuals attained their intellectualown. Were they avid readers, perpetual debaters, or enthusiasts of solitary walks? Did they possess a vivid visual imagination or a talent for flawless logic? Were they synthes of existing works, flawed originalists, obsessive specialists?
In collaboration with the OU, Naomi will, in inaugural run of the series, 25 historical figures whose ideas continue to resonate contemporary society. Each set of five episodes, aired weekly, will revolve around a theme associated with a particular style or type thinking, with the first three weeks focusing on renowned Disruptors,, and Collectors.
