This week, Lauren Elkin on a Nobel Prize-winner's obsession with images; and Judith Flanders assesses bold claims about the origins of contemporary English.

'The Use of Photography', by Annie Ernaux and Marc Marie, translated by Alison L. Strayer

'La Langue Anglaise N'existe Pas: C’est du français mal prononcé', by Bernard Cerquiglini

Produced by Charlotte Pardy

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Today’s bad idea is about how ideas get adopted, argued over and rejected: David talks to political philosopher Alan Finlayson about what’s wrong with seeing this as a competitive marketplace. From St. Paul to Citizens United, from John Stuart Mill to Jordan Peterson, what happens when ideas get turned into commodities? Who wins and who loses? And what is an ‘ideological entrepreneur’?

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Next Bad Idea: Modernisation!

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