| Show Name: | Free Thinking |
| Other Names: | Night Waves (1992–2014) |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Start Time: | 21:00 |
| End Time: | 22:00 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Home Station: | BBC Radio 4 |
| Presenter: | Various |
| First Aired: | [1] |
| Last Aired: | present |
| Audio Format: | Stereophonic sound |
Free Thinking is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 weekly from Friday 5 April 2024.
It was previously broadcast on Radio 3 as part of its "After Dark" late night programming. The programme is a rebranded version of Night Waves, "Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme".[2] Night Waves was broadcast every Monday to Thursday evening, except during the Proms season. Radio 3 rebranded Night Waves as Free Thinking from 7 January 2014, and reduced the number of first-time broadcasts per week from four to three (plus one repeat). It had a 45 minute running time on Radio 3.
Programmes usually included a mix of interviews, reviews, previews, discussions, commissioned writing and reports. Some episodes included a single interview with a prominent figure in the worlds of arts or ideas. The programme's presenters include Matthew Sweet, Philip Dodd, Rana Mitter, Shahidha Bari and Anne McElvoy.
The Guardian said in May 2010: "...the king of radio arts programmes is undoubtedly Night Waves, a programme so clever that it regularly makes me stand still and listen, usually halfway to the dishwasher with a plate in my hand...It's the desire to untangle arguments, to lift up their corners and see what lurks there. There's a gleeful range of references too...and a relish for intelligent debate."[3]