In Our Time Podcast
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
History fans can learn about pivotal wars and societal upheavals, such as the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Sack of Rome in 1527, and the political intrigue of the Russian Revolution. Those fascinated by the lives of kings and queens can journey to Versailles to meet Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV the Sun King, or to Ancient Egypt to meet Cleopatra and Nerfertiti. Or perhaps you’re looking to explore the history of religion, from Buddhism’s early teachings to the Protestant Reformation.
If you’re interested in the stories behind iconic works of art, music and literature, dive in to discussions on the artistic genius of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers. From Gothic architecture to the works of Shakespeare, each episode of In Our Time offers new insight into humanity’s cultural achievements.
Those looking to enrich their scientific knowledge can hear episodes on black holes, the Periodic Table, and classical theories of gravity, motion, evolution and relativity. Learn how the discovery of penicillin revolutionised medicine, and how the death of stars can lead to the formation of new planets.
Lovers of philosophy will find episodes on the big issues that define existence, from free will and ethics, to liberty and justice. In what ways did celebrated philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Karl Marx push forward radical new ideas? How has the concept of karma evolved from the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism to today? What was Plato’s concept of an ideal republic, and how did he explore this through the legend of the lost city of Atlantis?
In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.
Episodes to download
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A Room of One's Own
Thu 30 Mar 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Virginia Woolf's essay on women and literature.
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Solon the Lawgiver
Thu 23 Mar 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the statesman who transformed Athens in the 6th century BC
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Mercantilism
Thu 16 Mar 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea which dominated European economies for 300 years.
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Megaliths
Thu 2 Mar 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what we know about ancient stones placed in the landscape.
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Paul Erdős
Thu 23 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the prolific Hungarian mathematician.
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Stevie Smith
Thu 16 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the writer best known for her poem Not Waving But Drowning
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Chartism
Thu 9 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th-century campaign for greater democracy.
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Tycho Brahe
Thu 2 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 16th-century astronomer, renowned for his accuracy.
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Superconductivity
Thu 26 Jan 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why some materials lose all electrical resistance.
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Rawls' Theory of Justice
Thu 19 Jan 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss John Rawls' influential ideas on liberty and equality.
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John Donne
Thu 12 Jan 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the priest who was one of England's finest love poets.
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The Great Stink
Thu 29 Dec 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1858 crisis from the flow of sewage into the Thames.
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Persuasion
Thu 22 Dec 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Austen's last complete novel, published after her death.
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Citizen Kane
Thu 15 Dec 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Orson Welles' celebrated and influential film from 1941.
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The Irish Rebellion of 1798
Thu 8 Dec 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the causes and early consequences of the 1798 rebellion.
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The Nibelungenlied
Thu 1 Dec 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval German epic The Song of the Nibelungs.
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The Challenger Expedition 1872-1876
Thu 24 Nov 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great global Victorian voyage of scientific discovery.
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Demosthenes' Philippics
Thu 17 Nov 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the speeches that set the standard for political attacks.
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Bauhaus
Thu 10 Nov 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential German school founded by Walter Gropius.
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The Morant Bay Rebellion
Thu 3 Nov 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the events in Jamaica in 1865 and their consequences.
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Wilfred Owen
Thu 27 Oct 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the outstanding poets of the First World War.
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The Fish-Tetrapod Transition
Thu 20 Oct 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great stages in the evolution of life on Earth.
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Berthe Morisot
Thu 13 Oct 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the innovative artist at the heart of French impressionism
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The Knights Templar
Thu 6 Oct 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise and abrupt fall of the famous military order.
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The Electron
Thu 29 Sep 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the atomic particle that's proved a gateway to modernity.
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Plato's Atlantis
Thu 22 Sep 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Plato's story of the great, lost island of Atlantis.
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Thu 15 Sep 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Orwell's novel on totalitarianism, truth and surveillance.
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John Bull
Thu 30 Jun 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins and evolution of the satirical everyman figure
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Angkor Wat
Thu 23 Jun 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great Cambodian temple complex, begun 900 years ago.
In Our Time podcasts
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The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
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