(I listened to the lectures on the BBC Sounds app)

Appiah's reflections of identity are molded by his experience as a mixed-race, gay immigrant. This gives him a useful detachment and perspective on his four topics (Creed, Country, Colour, and Culture).

Some of what he says is a little complex at times (though it may just have been me not focusing enough, as I was reeling from the effects of my first anti-covid vaccine) but he makes a convincing argument for what he calls cosmopolitan patriotism. He refuses to completely reject the various categories people use to define who they are but invites us to be less fundamentally wedded to them and be more flexible in how we identify with them.

He is optimistic it is possible and will eventually happen. I am not sure i agree with him: the task of changing such easily acquired outlooks seems too complex and currently confronted by powerful forces working against that change. I hope to be wrong.