Live from Hay Literary Festival 2025

As a prelude to a new season of Human Intelligence on Radio 4 Naomi Alderman took the brand on the road. It was a road that lead to the upper Wye valley where Naomi and her guests Professor Rosalind Crone and Dr Sian Williams were met with the warmth and enthusiasm of a Hay Literary Festival audience.

The ambition was to add three more names to the Human Intelligence roster, all of them connected by their varyingly difficult childhoods.

Ros Crone told the story of the prison reformer John Field who at a time of crisis in the running and governance of prisons in the 19th century advocated for teaching prisoners to read and write rather than continuing with traditional punishments, in the hope of rehabilitating prisoners. His most impressive work was done at Reading Gaol. All this came after a childhood blighted by Asthma, which saw him bedridden for long periods. During one of these episodes he picked up and became absorbed in a book by the penal reformer John Howard.

Dr Sian Williams chose Anna Freud. The youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Bertha Bernays, Anna became a pioneer in the development of child psychoanalysis as distinct from adult therapy as well as setting up the famous Hampstead nurseries during the 2nd world war. Anna's early life was troubled by a difficult relationship with her mother. Just as she was starting to establish herself as a figure independent from her father, the Anschluss of Austria lead to her being arrested briefly by the Gestapo. It was enough to persuade the family to flee Vienna and settle in London.

Naomi chose Epictetus, the Greek philosopher most associated with stoicism. Of all our thinkers, his was the toughest upbringing, being born into slavery at Hierapolis.

As well as championing their Human Intelligence choices, this was also a chance Naomi and her panel to hear from the Hay audience. They were asked to respond to a simple question, where did they do their best and most creative thinking. It turns out that the processes leading to cleanliness are especially conducive to mental activity. As Michael Flanders once sang; 'I can see the one salvation of the poor old human race.... in the Bath.' It turns out the Hay audience were in agreement, although the shower was also popular.