Established in 2005, the Bristol Festival of Ideas aims to stimulate minds and passions with an inspiring programme of discussion and debate throughout the year. The festival welcomes to Bristol, among others, scientists, artists, politicians, journalists, historians, musicians, novelists and commentators on all subjects. Each year, we audio record interviews and lectures with selected speakers from our annual programme. Highlights of our programme are featured here as a series of audio recordings. More interviews and lectures can be found on our website at: www.ideasfestival.co.uk.