Radical

David Runciman, podcaster and former politics Professor, answers Your Radical Questions. In the main episode, David argued that lowering the voting age to six is a true expression of universal suffrage and could help reinvigorate our stagnant democracy. Now, our listeners challenge him on whether kids would just vote how their parents tell them,  and whether there’s any evidence or precedent to support his radical proposal. 
Plus, should knowledge and competence be rewarded in our democratic system? Should some votes count more than others and should our politicians have to pass tests before they stand for office?
Next week, our Radical guest is Derek Gow, a conservationist, rewilder and outspoken advocate of large-scale species re-introductions. He argues that we should give much more of our land back to nature and away from conventional farming, using the innate behaviour of native species – in particular beavers – to restore natural ecosystems which could help protect against the devastating effects of climate change. 
We want your radical questions for him, so please get in touch. 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480   
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.  
Series Producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Nathan Gower, Ivana Davidovic
Digital Producer: Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical Producer: Philip Bull
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham

This week, guest presenter Sophia Smith Galer speaks to David Runciman, a podcaster and former politics academic, about his radical proposition to lower the voting age to six.
It’s a position that has been met with laughter, scorn, and even anger, but he believes it’s not just in accordance with our democratic principles - it could also help give our stale and fractious democracy a much-needed shot in the arm. David talks us through the history of the arguments about suffrage (some of which have echoes now in the debate around children), his work talking to children in schools about politics and voting, and how he thinks his radical proposal could shake-up democracy.
Next week, John Burn-Murdoch talks to the conservationist Derek Gow, one of the country’s leading Rewilders, who argues that we should be reintroducing indigenous but long-vanished species to the UK countryside.
We’ll be putting your radical questions to Derek for a Q&A episode, so please get in touch.
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480   
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.  
Series Producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Nathan Gower, Ivana Davidovic
Digital Producer: Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical Producer: Philip Bull
Senior News Editor: Sam Bonham

Writer Lamorna Ash, author of Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever, answers Your Radical Questions. In the main episode, Lamorna told James Marriott what she discovered while travelling around Britain and meeting young Christians across the religious and political spectrum. Now, you ask her why some people under 40 are finding faith in older and more ritualistic churches, and whether Christianity is beginning to feel countercultural.
Lamorna is also challenged on whether Christianity offers genuine help to people experiencing psychological distress, or if it allows them to surrender their agency. And have modern forms of spirituality, from tarot and astrology to manifestation and energy, made a return to traditional religion less likely?
GET IN TOUCH:
- WhatsApp: +44330 123 9480
- Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.
Series producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower
Technical producer: Robin Schroder
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

This week, James Marriott speaks to the writer Lamorna Ash about her journey through the changing world of British Christianity.
Raised with little religious belief, Lamorna spent a year visiting churches, festivals, monasteries and Christian communities across the country. What began as an investigation into why young people were rediscovering faith gradually became a much more personal search for meaning and belief.

James and Lamorna discuss the decline of organised religion, the loneliness and uncertainty of modern life, and Christianity’s surprising appeal to a new generation with diverse beliefs and politics. Is Britain witnessing a genuine religious revival? And could answers to very modern problems be found in our old, religious institutions?
Next week, Sophia Smith Galer speaks to David Runciman, an honorary Professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge, about his very radical proposal to lower the voting age to six years old.
GET IN TOUCH 
* WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 
* Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.
Series producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower
Digital producers: Gabriel Purcell-Davis
Technical producer: Robin Schroder
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham

Professor David Keith, one of the world’s leading researchers in geoengineering, answers Your Radical Questions. In the main episode, David told Gabriel Gatehouse why deliberately reflecting a small amount of sunlight away from Earth could slow global warming. Now, you ask him whether we could ever know the unintended consequences before trying it, and whether sunlight reflection could be stopped safely once it had begun.
David’s also challenged on whether carbon capture and carbon removal genuinely help tackle climate change, or if they offer oil companies an excuse to continue operating as usual. And is continued economic growth compatible with protecting the planet?
GET IN TOUCH:
- WhatsApp: +44330 123 9480
- Email: radical@bbc.co.uk
Episodes of Radical are released every Thursday and Monday.
Series producer: Rufus Gray
Producers: Oscar Pearson, Nathan Gower
Technical producer: Michael Regaard
Senior news editor: Sam Bonham