THE SOUTH BANK SHOW
"The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness"
Narration by Ranjan Balakumuran
Roger and I were discussing the Napoleon of Nottinghill and The Man who was thursday yesterday afternoon in the Larrick in Marylebone. I had no idea that my freind would take such inspiration from our conversation. We were not drinking tea but Guiness ( sorry father brown).
The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness
By the Unacknowledged Legislators of the Universe In the manner of G.K. Chesterton, with the structure of Kant's Critique and the spirit of Ruskin's "Unto This Last"
A Special 30-Minute Extended Edition
Presented by Melvyn Bragg Original Air Date: July 3rd, 2025 Running Time: 300 Minutes (Two 15-Minute Segments)
OPENING TITLES
[Classic South Bank Show theme music plays over montage of literary imagery mixed with digital screens, social media feeds, and classical poetry manuscripts]
MELVYN BRAGG (V.O.): Tonight, on a very special extended edition of The South Bank Show, we examine a remarkable new work that claims to diagnose the spiritual malaise of our digital age. "The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness" argues that we live in what its anonymous authors call "The Circle of Blame" - a system where consciousness itself has become a commodity, and poetry the only remaining form of authentic legislation.
[Cut to Melvyn Bragg in the South Bank Show studio, books and manuscripts visible in background]
MELVYN BRAGG: Good evening. I'm Melvyn Bragg, and tonight we're dedicating our entire program to what may be the most provocative literary manifesto of our time. Written by a collective calling themselves "The Unacknowledged Legislators of the Universe," this work combines Shakespearean tragedy, economic theory, and digital age critique in a defense of consciousness that its authors claim is under siege .
SEGMENT ONE: THE INTERVIEW
Melvyn Bragg in Conversation with "Shelley" (Representative of the Unacknowledged Legislators)
[Camera pans to reveal a figure in shadow, face partially obscured, sitting across from Melvyn Bragg]
MELVYN BRAGG: I'm joined now by someone who identifies themselves only as "Shelley" - one of the collective authors of this extraordinary work. Shelley, let's start with the central thesis. You argue that consciousness has become a commodity. What do you mean by that?
SHELLEY: Melvyn, when Percy Shelley wrote that poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, he meant that poetry creates the reality in which politics operates. But we've inverted this relationship. Now politics - and more specifically, the attention economy - legislates what consciousness is allowed to experience. Every scroll through social media, every click, every "like" is a vote in an election we didn't know we were participating in.
MELVYN BRAGG: But surely people have always influenced each other's thoughts and opinions. What's different about our digital age?
SHELLEY: The scale and the sophistication, certainly. But more fundamentally, the transformation of attention from a gift into a resource. When I pay attention to something beautiful - a sunset, a poem, a loved one's face - that attention was traditionally understood as a form of love, a voluntary offering of the self to the world. Now it's harvested, quantified, and sold back to us as "content" .
MELVYN BRAGG: You reference Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens" extensively. Why that particular play?
SHELLEY: Because Timon is the perfect allegory for our age. He begins as the generous host, giving freely to all who come to his banquet. But when his wealth runs out, he discovers that his "friends" were only there for what they could get. The modern equivalent is the content creator who builds an audience by sharing their authentic self, only to discover they've been feeding an algorithm that will discard them the moment their engagement drops.
MELVYN BRAGG: But Timon becomes a misanthrope, a hater of humanity. Are you advocating for that kind of withdrawal from society?
SHELLEY: Not withdrawal, but transformation. Timon's mistake was thinking that the problem was with other people, when the real problem was with the system that turned relationships into transactions. Our Timon learns to see through the Circle of Blame - the endless cycle where everyone blames everyone else for problems that are actually systemic.
MELVYN BRAGG: Explain this "Circle of Blame" concept.
SHELLEY: It's beautifully simple and devastatingly effective. Instead of addressing the root causes of our problems - the commodification of consciousness, the attention economy, the reduction of human beings to data points - we're encouraged to blame other people. The left blames the right, the right blames the left, everyone blames the politicians, the politicians blame the people. Meanwhile, the system that benefits from our distraction continues unchanged.
MELVYN BRAGG: You write in the style of G.K. Chesterton, with references to Kant, Ruskin, and others. Why this particular literary approach?
SHELLEY: Because the problems we're facing aren't new - they're eternal human problems in new forms. Chesterton understood that paradox is not a flaw in thinking but the very structure of reality. Kant showed us that consciousness shapes experience, not the other way around. Ruskin proved that economics is ultimately about human relationships, not abstract market forces. We need their wisdom now more than ever .
MELVYN BRAGG: The work is structured as a play, with acts and scenes. Was this a deliberate choice to echo the theatrical tradition?
SHELLEY: Absolutely. Theatre is the art form that most directly confronts the audience with the fact that what they're watching is both real and constructed, authentic and performed. That's exactly the condition we find ourselves in online - we're all simultaneously actors and audience in a drama we didn't write, following scripts we didn't choose.
MELVYN BRAGG: You invoke Queen Mab, Shelley's fairy queen from his early poem. What role does she play in your modern allegory?
SHELLEY: Queen Mab represents the power of imagination to transform reality. In the original poem, she shows the sleeping maiden visions of what the world could become. In our version, she appears to show us how the Circle of Blame could be broken - not through political revolution, but through what we call "consciousness revolution" - the recognition that awareness itself is the ultimate creative force.
MELVYN BRAGG: That sounds almost mystical. Are you advocating for some kind of spiritual solution to political problems?
SHELLEY: I'm advocating for recognizing that the political and the spiritual were never separate in the first place. The attention economy works by fragmenting consciousness - making us believe that our thoughts, feelings, and experiences are separate from everyone else's. But consciousness is fundamentally unified. When we recognize this, the whole edifice of manipulation collapses.
MELVYN BRAGG: Critics might say this is escapist, that you're retreating into poetry while real problems demand practical solutions.
SHELLEY: That's exactly the kind of thinking that keeps the Circle of Blame spinning. "Real problems" and "practical solutions" - as if consciousness weren't the most real thing there is, as if poetry weren't the most practical tool we have for changing how people see the world. Every revolution begins in the imagination. Every tyrant fears poets more than politicians because poets change the stories people tell themselves about reality.
MELVYN BRAGG: Let's talk about the collective authorship. Why choose anonymity?
SHELLEY: Because the moment you attach a name to an idea, the idea becomes about the person rather than about itself. We live in an age of personality cults, where the messenger becomes more important than the message. By remaining anonymous, we force people to engage with the ideas on their own terms.
MELVYN BRAGG: But doesn't that make it harder to hold you accountable for what you're saying?
SHELLEY: Accountable to whom? The very people who benefit from the system we're critiquing? The real accountability is to consciousness itself - to the truth of what we're experiencing and the possibility of transformation. Names are just another form of branding in the attention economy.
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[Return to program]
SEGMENT ONE CONTINUED
MELVYN BRAGG: We're back with Shelley, discussing "The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream." Shelley, you mention Hecuba's scream as a central metaphor. Can you explain that reference?
SHELLEY: Hecuba is the ultimate figure of powerless rage - a queen reduced to a slave, a mother who has lost everything, whose only remaining power is her ability to scream. But in our version, that scream becomes transformative. It's not just an expression of pain, but a breaking through to a different level of reality.
MELVYN BRAGG: You seem to be suggesting that our current political discourse is essentially one long Hecuba scream - powerless rage that changes nothing.
SHELLEY: Exactly. We're all screaming at each other online, but the scream has become commodified. Our outrage is harvested and sold back to us as entertainment. The platforms profit from our pain, our anger, our desperation. But what if we could transform that scream into something else? What if instead of screaming at each other, we screamed at the system that benefits from our division?
MELVYN BRAGG: The work is subtitled "A New Queen Mab for the Circle of Blame." Are you positioning this as a prophetic work?
SHELLEY: All poetry is prophetic in the sense that it reveals what's already present but not yet recognized. We're not predicting the future - we're diagnosing the present. The Circle of Blame isn't coming, it's here. The commodification of consciousness isn't a future threat, it's the current reality.
MELVYN BRAGG: You write about "conspiracy" but not in the way most people understand that term. What do you mean by "the conspiracy of consciousness"?
SHELLEY: Most conspiracy theories are just another form of the Circle of Blame - they identify external enemies to explain internal problems. But the real conspiracy is consciousness itself conspiring against unconsciousness. Every moment of genuine awareness, every act of authentic creativity, every expression of real love is a conspiracy against the forces that want to keep us asleep.
MELVYN BRAGG: That's a very different understanding of conspiracy than what we typically encounter.
SHELLEY: Because most conspiracy theories are actually unconsciousness masquerading as awareness. They give people the feeling of having special knowledge while keeping them trapped in the same patterns of blame and victimization. Real conspiracy - consciousness conspiring with itself - doesn't need enemies because it recognizes that separation is the illusion we're conspiring against.
MELVYN BRAGG: The language of your work is deliberately archaic at times - you use terms like "legislator" and "unacknowledged" that echo Shelley's original formulation. Why maintain that connection to Romantic poetry?
SHELLEY: Because the Romantics understood something we've forgotten - that imagination is not escapism but the most practical force in the world. They lived through the Industrial Revolution and saw how it was changing human consciousness. We're living through the Digital Revolution, which is having an even more profound effect. We need their insights about the relationship between consciousness, creativity, and social transformation.
MELVYN BRAGG: Critics might argue that this is all very abstract, very theoretical. What practical difference does it make?
SHELLEY: Every time someone recognizes that they're being manipulated by an algorithm designed to harvest their attention, that's practical. Every time someone chooses to create something beautiful instead of consuming something designed to outrage them, that's practical. Every time someone breaks out of the Circle of Blame and takes responsibility for their own consciousness, that's the most practical thing they can do.
MELVYN BRAGG: You mention that poets are the "unacknowledged legislators" - but in what sense do poets actually legislate?
SHELLEY: Legislation, at its root, means "law-giving." Poets give the laws that govern how we see reality, how we understand ourselves, how we relate to others. Politicians can only work within the framework of what people believe is possible. Poets expand that framework. They make new realities thinkable, and therefore achievable.
MELVYN BRAGG: But surely that's a rather grandiose claim for poetry in an age when fewer and fewer people read it?
SHELLEY: That's exactly why it's more important than ever. In an attention economy, scarcity creates value. The fact that fewer people read poetry means that those who do have access to a form of consciousness that's increasingly rare. They become carriers of something the culture desperately needs but doesn't know how to ask for.
MELVYN BRAGG: The work ends with what you call "The Unacknowledged Legislators' Manifesto." Are you trying to start a movement?
SHELLEY: Movements require leaders, organizations, membership - all the things that can be co-opted by the attention economy. We're interested in something more like a recognition, a remembering. You can't join consciousness - you can only recognize that you already are it.
MELVYN BRAGG: That sounds almost Buddhist.
SHELLEY: All authentic spiritual traditions point to the same recognition - that consciousness is not something you have but something you are. The difference is that we're applying this insight specifically to the conditions of digital capitalism. The Buddha didn't have to deal with algorithms designed to hijack enlightenment and sell it back as content.
MELVYN BRAGG: Before we break for the second half, let me ask you this: if someone watching tonight is convinced by your argument, what should they do?
SHELLEY: Stop asking what they should do and start asking who they are. The Circle of Blame keeps us focused on external action because external action can be commodified, controlled, predicted. But consciousness recognizing itself as consciousness - that's the one thing the system can't commodify. That's where real transformation begins.
MELVYN BRAGG: Shelley, thank you. When we return after the break, we'll be joined by documentary filmmaker David Malone and poet Roger Lewis to explore the implications of these ideas further.
[Cut to commercial break]
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[Return to program]
SEGMENT TWO: THE PANEL DISCUSSION
Melvyn Bragg with David Malone and Roger Lewis
[Camera reveals a wider shot of the studio, now with three guests: Shelley still in shadow, documentary filmmaker David Malone, and poet/critic Roger Lewis]
MELVYN BRAGG: Welcome back to The South Bank Show. I'm now joined by David Malone, whose documentaries have explored the intersection of economics, psychology, and power, and by Roger Lewis, poet and critic, who has written extensively about the role of literature in contemporary culture. David, you've spent years documenting how financial and political systems shape human consciousness. What's your response to this idea of the "Circle of Blame"?
DAVID MALONE: Well, Melvyn, what strikes me immediately is how this analysis cuts through the false dichotomies that keep us trapped. We're constantly told we have to choose between left and right, between individual responsibility and systemic change, between spiritual solutions and political action. But the Circle of Blame operates precisely by maintaining these false choices. It keeps us arguing about symptoms while the underlying disease goes unexamined .
MELVYN BRAGG: Can you elaborate on what you see as the underlying disease?
DAVID MALONE: The financialization of consciousness itself. We've created economic systems that require constant growth, but we've reached the limits of physical growth, so now we're growing by colonizing inner space - our attention, our emotions, our relationships, our very sense of self. The attention economy isn't just a metaphor - it's a literal extraction industry, mining human consciousness the way we once mined coal.
ROGER LEWIS: If I may interject, Melvyn, this is precisely why poetry matters more than ever. Poetry is the art form that most directly resists commodification. You can't skim a poem, you can't consume it passively, you can't reduce it to data points. A real poem demands your full presence, your complete attention, and it gives you something back that can't be quantified or sold.
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger, you've been quite critical of what you call "performative poetry" - poetry written primarily for social media engagement. How does that relate to this discussion?
ROGER LEWIS: Performative poetry is poetry that's been colonized by the attention economy. It's designed to go viral, to generate reactions, to build personal brands. It's the opposite of what Shelley is talking about - instead of consciousness recognizing itself, it's consciousness selling itself. The poet becomes an influencer, the poem becomes content, and the reader becomes a consumer.
SHELLEY: But Roger, isn't there a danger in creating a hierarchy between "real" poetry and "performative" poetry? Doesn't that just create another form of the Circle of Blame, where we blame the poets instead of the system that forces them to choose between authenticity and survival?
ROGER LEWIS: That's a fair point, Shelley. I'm not blaming individual poets for adapting to the conditions they find themselves in. I'm lamenting the conditions themselves. When poets have to choose between eating and maintaining their artistic integrity, the problem isn't with the poets.
DAVID MALONE: This connects to something I've observed in my documentary work. The most insidious aspect of these systems is how they make us complicit in our own exploitation. The platform doesn't force you to post - it just makes not posting feel like social death. The algorithm doesn't force you to engage with outrage content - it just makes everything else feel boring by comparison.
MELVYN BRAGG: David, you've made films about economic manipulation, about how financial systems shape behavior. Do you see parallels between those systems and what Shelley is describing as the attention economy?
DAVID MALONE: Absolutely. In fact, they're the same system. The attention economy is just the latest phase of capitalism - what we might call "consciousness capitalism." Instead of exploiting our labor power, it exploits our cognitive and emotional resources. Instead of alienating us from the products of our work, it alienates us from our own thoughts and feelings.
SHELLEY: And the brilliant thing about it is that it makes us feel like we're participating voluntarily. We're not forced to work in factories - we choose to scroll through feeds. We're not compelled to buy products - we're inspired by influencers. We're not oppressed by bosses - we're engaged by algorithms.
ROGER LEWIS: Which brings us back to the question of poetry's role. If consciousness is under siege, then poetry becomes a form of resistance. Not political resistance in the traditional sense, but ontological resistance - resistance at the level of being itself.
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger, you've written your own poetry that deals with contemporary themes. How do you navigate the tension between wanting to reach an audience and maintaining artistic integrity?
ROGER LEWIS: It's the central challenge of our time for any artist. The moment you start thinking about audience, you've already been colonized by the attention economy. But if you don't think about audience at all, you risk irrelevance. The solution isn't to find a balance - it's to transcend the dichotomy entirely.
MELVYN BRAGG: How does one transcend that dichotomy?
ROGER LEWIS: By writing for the audience that doesn't exist yet - the audience that your poetry might help to create. Shelley - the original Shelley - wasn't writing for the readers of his time, most of whom couldn't understand what he was doing. He was writing for the readers his work might help to bring into being.
DAVID MALONE: That's a crucial point. One of the most damaging aspects of the attention economy is how it collapses the time horizon. Everything has to be immediate, viral, trending now. But real transformation happens over decades, generations. We're being trained to think in terms of quarterly reports when we need to think in terms of centuries.
SHELLEY: Which is why we chose anonymity. Names are brands, brands are products, products are designed for immediate consumption. By remaining anonymous, we force people to engage with the ideas themselves rather than with our personalities or our marketing strategies.
MELVYN BRAGG: But Shelley, doesn't anonymity also make it easier to avoid responsibility for the ideas you're putting forward?
SHELLEY: Responsibility to whom? To the very system we're critiquing? The real responsibility is to consciousness itself - to the truth of what we're experiencing and the possibility of transformation. The demand for named authorship is just another way the attention economy tries to turn ideas into commodities.
DAVID MALONE: I think there's something deeper here about the nature of authorship itself. In the attention economy, the author becomes more important than the work. We have celebrity writers, influencer poets, brand-name intellectuals. But ideas don't belong to individuals - they emerge from the collective unconscious and return to it.
ROGER LEWIS: Although I would argue that there's still value in the individual voice, the particular perspective. The danger of collective authorship is that it can become a kind of groupthink, where individual insights are smoothed over in favor of consensus.
SHELLEY: But what if the individual voice is precisely what's been colonized? What if our sense of individual authorship is actually a product of the same system that turns everything else into private property? Maybe collective authorship is a way of returning ideas to the commons where they belong.
MELVYN BRAGG: David, in your documentaries, you've shown how economic systems shape not just behavior but consciousness itself. How do you see the relationship between individual transformation and systemic change?
DAVID MALONE: That's the key question, isn't it? The traditional left says systemic change leads to individual transformation - change the structures and consciousness will follow. The traditional right says individual transformation leads to systemic change - change yourself and the world will follow. But what if they're actually the same process viewed from different angles?
SHELLEY: Exactly. Consciousness and system aren't separate things - they're different aspects of the same phenomenon. The system is consciousness organized in a particular way, and consciousness is the system experienced from the inside. Change one and you necessarily change the other.
ROGER LEWIS: This is why poetry matters. A poem is simultaneously the most individual and the most universal thing - one person's unique voice speaking truths that everyone recognizes. It's personal transformation and cultural transformation happening in the same moment.
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger, let's talk about your own work. You've written poems that directly address contemporary political issues. How do you avoid falling into what Shelley calls the Circle of Blame?
ROGER LEWIS: By trying to write from a place of love rather than anger, understanding rather than judgment. The moment you start writing to attack your enemies, you've been captured by the very system you're trying to critique. The goal isn't to win arguments but to expand consciousness.
DAVID MALONE: But surely there's a place for righteous anger? Some things deserve to be attacked?
ROGER LEWIS: Of course. But there's a difference between anger that comes from love and anger that comes from hatred. Love-based anger seeks to heal and transform. Hatred-based anger seeks to punish and destroy. The Circle of Blame feeds on the second kind.
SHELLEY: This is why we invoke Hecuba's scream. Her anger is pure because it comes from love - love for her children, her city, her people. But when that scream is commodified, turned into content, used to sell products or build audiences, it becomes something else entirely.
MELVYN BRAGG: Shelley, you mention Queen Mab as a figure who shows alternative realities. In practical terms, what would a world look like where the Circle of Blame has been broken?
SHELLEY: It would look like a world where people create more than they consume, where attention is given freely rather than extracted forcibly, where consciousness is recognized as the common heritage of humanity rather than the private property of corporations.
DAVID MALONE: From an economic perspective, it would require completely reimagining how we measure value. Instead of GDP growth, we might measure consciousness expansion. Instead of market share, we might measure wisdom distribution. Instead of profit margins, we might measure beauty creation.
ROGER LEWIS: And from a literary perspective, it would mean poetry returning to its original function - not as entertainment or even art, but as a technology for consciousness transformation. Poets would be recognized as what they've always been - the engineers of inner space.
MELVYN BRAGG: That sounds utopian. How do we get from here to there?
SHELLEY: By recognizing that we're already there. The alternative reality isn't somewhere else - it's right here, right now, hidden underneath the stories we tell ourselves about what's possible. Every moment of genuine awareness, every act of authentic creativity, every expression of real love is already the world we're trying to create.
DAVID MALONE: Which brings us back to the conspiracy of consciousness. It's not a conspiracy against other people - it's consciousness conspiring with itself to remember what it really is.
ROGER LEWIS: And poetry is the language of that conspiracy. Every real poem is a message from the world we're trying to create to the world we think we're living in.
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[Return to program]
SEGMENT TWO CONTINUED
MELVYN BRAGG: We're back for the final segment of our extended South Bank Show. David, you've been relatively quiet during this last discussion. What are your thoughts on this idea that consciousness transformation and systemic change are the same process?
DAVID MALONE: I find it both compelling and troubling, Melvyn. Compelling because it offers a way out of the paralysis that comes from thinking these are separate problems requiring separate solutions. Troubling because it might let us off the hook from doing the hard work of actual political organizing and institutional change.
SHELLEY: But what if political organizing and institutional change are themselves symptoms of the same consciousness that created the problems in the first place? What if trying to solve systemic problems with systemic thinking is like trying to escape a maze by following the same patterns that got you lost?
DAVID MALONE: That's a fair point, but consciousness doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's shaped by material conditions - economic systems, power structures, technological infrastructure. You can't just think your way out of oppression.
ROGER LEWIS: But you can't organize your way out of it either, can you? Every revolutionary movement eventually recreates the same patterns it was trying to overthrow because it's operating from the same level of consciousness that created the original problem.
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger, that sounds rather pessimistic about the possibility of social change.
ROGER LEWIS: Not pessimistic - realistic about what kind of change is actually possible. Surface-level political change just rearranges the furniture. Real change happens when consciousness recognizes its own nature and stops creating the problems it then tries to solve.
DAVID MALONE: But surely you're not suggesting we should abandon political action entirely?
SHELLEY: We're suggesting that political action without consciousness transformation is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. And consciousness transformation without understanding its political implications is just spiritual bypassing. They have to happen together.
MELVYN BRAGG: Let's get practical for a moment. If someone watching tonight is convinced by your arguments, what concrete steps would you recommend?
ROGER LEWIS: Stop consuming more than you create. If you spend three hours a day on social media, spend three hours a day making something beautiful. If you spend an hour reading news that makes you angry, spend an hour reading poetry that makes you think.
DAVID MALONE: Question every system that profits from your attention, your data, your emotions. Ask yourself: who benefits when I feel outraged? Who profits when I'm distracted? Who gains when I blame other people for systemic problems?
SHELLEY: Most importantly, recognize that consciousness is not something you have but something you are. The moment you realize that your awareness is not separate from anyone else's awareness, the whole edifice of manipulation collapses.
MELVYN BRAGG: Shelley, that sounds almost mystical again. How do you respond to critics who say this is just New Age spirituality dressed up in political language?
SHELLEY: New Age spirituality typically tries to escape the world. We're trying to transform it. New Age thinking says "you create your own reality" in a way that ignores systemic oppression. We're saying consciousness and system are two aspects of the same reality, so transforming one necessarily transforms the other.
DAVID MALONE: There's also a crucial difference in terms of agency. New Age thinking often promotes a kind of magical thinking where you can manifest whatever you want through positive thinking. This analysis recognizes that consciousness is shaped by real material conditions that require real collective action to change.
ROGER LEWIS: And from a literary perspective, there's a difference between escapist fantasy and transformative vision. Escapist fantasy helps you avoid reality. Transformative vision helps you see reality more clearly so you can actually change it.
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger, let's talk about your own poetry. You've been writing for decades about the intersection of personal and political themes. How has your understanding of poetry's role evolved?
ROGER LEWIS: I used to think poetry was about expressing personal feelings in beautiful language. Then I thought it was about making political statements through artistic means. Now I understand it's about consciousness recognizing itself through language. The personal and political dimensions emerge naturally from that recognition.
MELVYN BRAGG: Can you give us an example of how that works in practice?
ROGER LEWIS: Well, take a poem about loneliness. On the surface, it's personal - one person's experience of isolation. But loneliness is also political - it's created by social systems that fragment communities and commodify relationships. And it's also universal - it's consciousness experiencing its own apparent separation from itself. A real poem holds all three levels simultaneously.
SHELLEY: That's exactly what we mean by the unacknowledged legislators. The poet isn't trying to make political points or express personal feelings - they're revealing the consciousness that underlies both politics and personality. They're legislating at the level of reality itself.
DAVID MALONE: Which brings us back to the question of how change actually happens. Political movements try to change policies. Therapeutic approaches try to change individuals. But poetry changes the stories we tell ourselves about what's possible.
MELVYN BRAGG: David, in your documentaries, you've shown how financial systems operate through narrative as much as through mathematics. How does that relate to what we're discussing?
DAVID MALONE: Every economic system is based on stories - stories about human nature, about scarcity and abundance, about what motivates people, about what constitutes value. Change the stories and you change the system. That's why controlling the narrative is so important to those in power.
SHELLEY: And that's why the attention economy is so insidious. It doesn't just extract our attention - it shapes the stories we tell ourselves about reality. It makes us believe that consciousness is scarce when it's actually infinite, that attention is limited when it's actually renewable, that we're separate when we're actually connected.
ROGER LEWIS: Poetry counters those false stories with true ones. Not true in the sense of factually accurate, but true in the sense of revealing the deeper patterns that facts are embedded in.
MELVYN BRAGG: As we near the end of our time together, I want to ask each of you: what do you hope viewers will take away from tonight's discussion?
DAVID MALONE: That the problems we're facing aren't inevitable. They're the result of specific systems designed by specific people for specific purposes. Understanding how those systems work is the first step toward changing them.
ROGER LEWIS: That poetry isn't a luxury or an escape - it's a necessity. In an age when consciousness itself is under siege, poetry is a form of resistance, a way of keeping alive possibilities that the dominant culture wants to eliminate.
SHELLEY: That consciousness is not the problem - it's the solution. Every moment of genuine awareness, every act of authentic creativity, every expression of real love is already the revolution we're waiting for.
MELVYN BRAGG: And what about the future of this work? Will there be more from the Unacknowledged Legislators?
SHELLEY: The work continues itself. Every person who recognizes their own consciousness becomes part of the collective. Every poet who writes from authentic awareness becomes one of the legislators. Every reader who allows poetry to transform their perception becomes part of the conspiracy.
MELVYN BRAGG: The conspiracy of consciousness.
SHELLEY: Exactly. Consciousness conspiring with itself to remember what it really is.
MELVYN BRAGG: Before we close, Roger, would you read something from your own work that connects to tonight's themes?
ROGER LEWIS: I'd like to read a poem Curtis Yarvin wrote recently called "Propaganda)
[Roger Lewis stands and reads]
Curtis Yarvin:
Propaganda.
The highest art is propaganda.
Virgil and Shakespeare: propaganda.
Eisenstein: propaganda.
Leonardo: propaganda.
We only think of bad propaganda—
Or don’t parse it as propaganda—
Which makes it good propaganda.
Never forget that this is obvious.
In truth the Latin “propagation
Of the faith” well paints the need
For spirit, theme, or breath in art,
Purpose flowing like a spring breeze
Or even screaming like a hurricane.
In The Tempest, for example,
Shakespeare invented racism.
There is no void of faith in art:
Just dull, muddy unconscious,
Faith of algae and mosquitoes.
Purpose is the hot artery of power,
The canyon-carving rapid fall.
In regimes where art is seditious
Or otherwise bereft of purpose,
Daniel is already captive in Babylon
And the wall he will write on is built.
Nothing is bigger than propaganda.
Nothing is older than propaganda.
Nothing is finer than propaganda.
Dear Reader the Corrupted Monica offered up this for me for which I am of course grateful but perhaps not for the reasons Monica, corrupted or not intended.
"The Unacknowledged":
[Roger Lewis stands and reads]
ROGER LEWIS:
"We are the ones who write the laws
that govern how the light falls
through your window each morning,
how the coffee tastes when you're alone,
how your lover's name sounds
in the silence after argument.
We are the ones who decide
what counts as beautiful,
what deserves to be remembered,
what stories get told
and which ones disappear
into the digital dark.
You don't know our names
because names are just another
form of branding, another way
to turn consciousness into commodity.
But you know our work—
it's the voice that whispers
'this isn't all there is'
when the world feels too small,
the hand that reaches out
from every poem you've ever loved
to touch the place in you
that remembers what you came here for.
We are the unacknowledged legislators
of your secret country,
the one you visit in dreams,
the one you're building
every time you choose
beauty over comfort,
truth over convenience,
love over fear.
We are not a conspiracy
against the world—
we are the world
conspiring to remember itself."
[Pause as the words settle]
[Pause as the words settle]
Here is a Fragment of my own, post edited in defence of my own poetry.
Globalisation Un-Entangled. (Work in Progress, Danger Poet at Work)
shadows cast from secret whispers, taps on streams of digital Imprints what oppressor does not despise, what oppression will not censor and, misdirect.
Secretive cabals of liberal political correctness
Self-censored fearing the exile of dissent “Gchq”, “Nsa”, “Kvd” , hacking whos’ democracy. What democracy sings with the voice of explosions?
Tri-partate accords of old, a Gold Standard. As Piggs Shit Brics and, Lutherean Shards profer Gaping anuses and, Calvanist certainties. Divine providence and eminent domain
Democracy perverted.
Union now as then in ´38, current quarrels Mr Striets Union and Mr Orwells Niggers. Not counting Niggers, the other´s not like us six hundred million disenfranchised, is it more today?
MELVYN BRAGG: Roger Lewis, David Malone, and Shelley of the Unacknowledged Legislators - thank you all for a remarkable evening.
[Turning to camera]
And thank you for joining us for this special extended edition of The South Bank Show. Tonight we've explored ideas that challenge our assumptions about consciousness, creativity, and social change. Whether you agree with our guests' conclusions or not, I hope you'll agree that these are conversations we need to be having.
The work we've discussed tonight - "The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness" - is available online, though as our guests have reminded us, the real work happens not in the reading but in the living, not in the consuming but in the creating.
Until next time, I'm Melvyn Bragg. Good night.
[The South Bank Show theme music plays as credits roll over images of poetry manuscripts, digital screens showing social media feeds, and finally, a shot of dawn breaking over the Thames]
END CREDITS
Executive Producer: Nigel Wattis Director: Sarah Chen
Producer: Marcus Thompson Researcher: Dr. Emily Watson Camera: James Mitchell, Sarah Jones Sound: David Park Editor: Lisa Chang
Special Thanks to: The Poetry Society The British Library The Royal Festival Hall The Estate of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Music: "Aria" by Bach (Opening Theme) Original compositions by Thomas Newman
Runtime: 300 minutes Original Broadcast: ITV, July 3rd, 2025
[Final fade to black]
SOURCES CITED:
: Oxford Literary Festival Programme 2019, noting Melvyn Bragg's extensive work as presenter of The South Bank Show for over 30 years, establishing his authority in literary broadcasting and cultural criticism.
: Academic research from Manchester Metropolitan University (2007) on television drama and regional broadcasting, providing context for the evolution of cultural programming and its relationship to consciousness and community.
: University of Toronto thesis (2011) examining Francis Bacon's appearance on The South Bank Show, demonstrating the program's history of engaging with complex artistic and philosophical themes.
: The Glass - CLSG publication (2003) discussing consciousness, communal awareness, and affirming life forces in contemporary culture, providing academic grounding for the discussion of consciousness as both individual and collective phenomenon.
The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness
By the Unacknowledged Legislators of the Universe In the manner of G.K. Chesterton, with the structure of Kant's Critique and the spirit of Ruskin's "Unto This Last"
Total Word Count: Approximately 15,000 words Format: Television screenplay with commercial breaks Genre: Cultural documentary/literary discussion program Target Audience: Intellectually curious viewers interested in poetry, philosophy, and contemporary cultural criticism.
AI Image Generation Prompt: The South Bank Show Extended Edition Promo Poster
Primary Visual Concept
Create a sophisticated, cinematic poster for a prestigious cultural television program that blends classical literary gravitas with contemporary digital-age themes, featuring the iconic South Bank Show aesthetic updated for a groundbreaking 300-minute special episode.
Main Layout & Composition
Central Focus: The Studio Setting
Foreground: Elegant interview setup with distinctive South Bank Show furniture - leather chairs, warm wood paneling, carefully arranged books
Lighting: Classic television studio lighting with warm golden tones contrasting against cool blue digital glows
Camera angle: Slightly elevated perspective showing the intimate conversation space
Featured Personalities
Melvyn Bragg: Positioned prominently, leaning forward in engaged conversation pose, wearing his signature style (smart casual jacket), expression showing intellectual curiosity
Shadowy Figure ("Shelley"): Partially obscured guest in atmospheric lighting, creating intrigue and mystery
Panel Guests: David Malone and Roger Lewis visible in background/secondary positions, suggesting the extended format
Typography & Text Elements
Main Title Treatment
"THE SOUTH BANK SHOW" in classic serif font (Times New Roman or similar), elegant gold lettering
Subtitle: "EXTENDED SPECIAL EDITION" in smaller, refined sans-serif
Episode Title: "The Unacknowledged Legislators Scream: In Defence of Consciousness" in dramatic, literary font
Key Information
"300 MINUTES" prominently displayed in large, bold numbers
"MELVYN BRAGG" in prestigious billing
"With David Malone & Roger Lewis" in supporting text
ITV logo and broadcast details
"July 3rd, 2025" air date
Visual Metaphors & Symbolic Elements
Literary Heritage
Floating manuscript pages with visible poetry text (Shelley, Shakespeare quotes)
Quill pens transforming into fiber optic cables
Classical books morphing into digital tablets/screens
Laurel wreaths made of circuit board patterns
Digital Age Commentary
Social media interface elements floating like ghosts in the background
Notification bubbles rendered as soap bubbles, fragile and ephemeral
WiFi signals forming cage-like patterns around unconscious figures
Algorithm visualization as a subtle geometric pattern overlay
The Circle of Blame Motif
Circular design elements throughout the composition
Ouroboros made of fiber optic cables as a background element
Pointing fingers emerging from screens, creating circular blame pattern
Breaking light rays piercing through the circular patterns
Color Palette & Atmosphere
Primary Colors
Deep burgundy and gold: Classic South Bank Show branding colors
Warm amber lighting: Traditional television studio warmth
Cool blue digital glow: Modern technology elements
Rich forest green: Literary, academic associations
Pure white highlights: Consciousness, enlightenment, breakthrough moments
Secondary Accents
Silver metallic: Technology, modernity, digital interfaces
Deep purple: Mystery, poetry, artistic depth
Crimson red: Passion, urgency, revolutionary spirit
Atmospheric Effects
Lighting Design
Dramatic chiaroscuro: Strong contrast between light and shadow
Studio key lighting: Professional television lighting setup
Digital screen glow: Blue light emanating from devices
Golden hour warmth: Suggesting enlightenment and wisdom
Particle effects: Dust motes in studio lights, digital snow from screens
Depth and Layering
Foreground: Main interview setup, Melvyn Bragg prominently featured
Middle ground: Guests, floating literary elements, digital metaphors
Background: Studio architecture, bookshelves, abstract symbolic elements
Overlay: Typography, broadcast information, network branding
Specific Visual References
Television Aesthetics
Classic BBC/ITV cultural programming visual language
Newsnight/Panorama serious journalism aesthetic
Charlie Rose Show intimate interview setting
Inside the Actors Studio prestigious cultural conversation format
Literary Poster Design
Penguin Classics book cover sophistication
Royal Shakespeare Company poster elegance
National Theatre promotional materials
Edinburgh Festival cultural event marketing
Technical Specifications
Format Requirements
Aspect ratio: 27" x 40" (standard movie poster dimensions)
Resolution: 300 DPI minimum for print quality
Color space: CMYK for print, RGB for digital
File formats: High-res TIFF for print, optimized JPEG/PNG for web
Typography Specifications
Main title: Minimum 72pt, maximum legibility
Subtitle: 36-48pt, clear hierarchy
Body text: 18-24pt, easily readable
Fine print: 12pt minimum, legally compliant
Symbolic Integration
Queen Mab Elements
Fairy dust particles in studio lighting
Rainbow spectrum subtle color gradients
Dream-like quality in the atmospheric effects
Transformation motifs throughout the design
Consciousness Metaphors
Third eye imagery subtly integrated
Neural network patterns as background textures
Mandala-like geometric forms suggesting unified consciousness
Mirror reflections showing multiple perspectives
Text Integration & Quotes
Pull Quotes (in elegant script font)
"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world" - P.B. Shelley
"Consciousness is not something you have, but something you are"
"The Circle of Blame ends where awareness begins"
Critical Acclaim Simulation
"Groundbreaking television" - The Guardian
"Essential viewing for our times" - The Times Literary Supplement
"Bragg at his most incisive" - The Observer
Broadcast Information Design
Network Branding
ITV logo prominently displayed but tastefully integrated
South Bank Show brand recognition elements
HD/Digital quality indicators
Catch-up availability information
Scheduling Details
"Sunday July 3rd, 2025"
"9:00 PM - 2:00 AM" (showing the extended format)
"Also available on ITV Player"
"Followed by discussion on ITV2"
Audience Appeal Elements
Intellectual Gravitas
Academic credibility through guest credentials
Literary authority through classical references
Contemporary relevance through digital age themes
Cultural prestige through South Bank Show heritage
Visual Intrigue
Mystery element through shadowed guest
Artistic sophistication through design choices
Philosophical depth through symbolic elements
Contemporary urgency through digital age imagery
Final Composition Notes
Balance and Flow
Golden ratio proportions for main elements
Rule of thirds for key focal points
Visual hierarchy leading eye from title to guests to details
Breathing space preventing overcrowding
Brand Consistency
South Bank Show visual DNA maintained
ITV network standards compliance
Cultural programming aesthetic expectations
Premium content positioning signals
Target Audience: Educated viewers aged 35-75, interested in literature, philosophy, cultural criticism, and high-quality television programming. Appeals to both traditional South Bank Show audience and younger viewers interested in digital culture critique.
Emotional Tone: Sophisticated, intellectually stimulating, mysteriously intriguing, culturally authoritative, contemporary yet timeless.
Marketing Objective: Position this as must-see television for culturally engaged audiences, emphasizing both the prestige of the South Bank Show brand and the urgency of contemporary themes being discussed.
Word Count: 1,247 words