Forum Internum

BBC Radio 4

A three-part series defending the right to freedom of thought in the digital age and protecting the forum internum - our private mental space - from the incursions of new technology, new forms of surveillance, political manipulation and the arrival of neuroscience in both politics and law.

Helena Kennedy QC makes the case for freedom of thought and asks whether the law can protect the forum internum from the speed and scale of new technologies and their misuse by corporations, political campaigns and the state. Are we entering a digital dark age for freedom of thought or will we create new spaces for it to flourish?

Meanwhile philosopher James Garvey explores the rise of neuroscience and its influence across the culture, from sport and mental health to neuroarchitecture, neurolaw, and concerns about the growing practice of neuropolitics and the manipulation of whole populations.

Series contributors include: authors Shoshana Zuboff and Peter Pomerantsev; psychoanalyst Adam Phillips; neuro-philosopher Patricia Churchland; human rights lawyers Susie Alegre and Philippe Sands; Tali Sharot, director of the Affective Brain Lab; Darren Schreiber, advisor on neuro-politics; the journalist Carole Cadwalladr and B.Traven, activist with the network CrimethInc.