Start the Week - 01/02/2010

Stewart Brand, a pioneer of the 1960s environmental movement, tells Tom Sutcliffe that the green agenda is becoming outdated and sentimental, arguing that science and technology are the answer to a world lit by nuclear energy and fed by GM crops. The investigative journalist Felicity Lawrence warns that food science is prone to political and financial interference, and Dr Andrea Sella attempts to make chemistry exciting and entertaining. Throughout, Matthieu Ricard, dubbed by neuroscientists 'the happiest man in the world', spreads a little meditative calm.