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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The Song of Roland
Thu 4 Nov 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a masterpiece of French epic poetry from the 12th century.
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Corals
Thu 28 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the simple animals which form the now-threatened reefs.
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Iris Murdoch
Thu 21 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of the celebrated author of The Bell.
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The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Thu 14 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Europe's largest republic, before its partition in 1772.
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The Manhattan Project
Thu 7 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the race to build an atom bomb before anyone else in WW2
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Thu 30 Sep 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Anne Bronte's novel of a woman's fight for independence.
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Herodotus
Thu 23 Sep 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek writer known as the father of history.
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The Evolution of Crocodiles
Thu 16 Sep 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the land animals of the Triassic that dominated dinosaurs.
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Shakespeare's Sonnets
Thu 24 Jun 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss some of the greatest and most challenging poems in English
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Edward Gibbon
Thu 17 Jun 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
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Booth's Life and Labour Survey
Thu 10 Jun 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Charles Booth's landmark survey of London's poor and rich.
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Kant's Copernican Revolution
Thu 3 Jun 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Kant's insight into how we relate to the world around us.
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The Interregnum
Thu 27 May 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the upheavals of 1649-60 in the British Isles
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Journey to the West
Thu 20 May 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great novel from the Ming Era, with its heroic Monkey.
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Longitude
Thu 13 May 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea of longitude and the race to calculate it at sea.
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The Second Barons' War
Thu 6 May 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simon de Montfort's fatal struggle with Henry III's forces
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Ovid
Thu 29 Apr 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most influential poets of Rome's Augustan Age.
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The Franco-American Alliance 1778
Thu 22 Apr 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French fight against Britain in America and its impact
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Arianism
Thu 15 Apr 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an orthodox form of Christianity that became a heresy.
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Pierre-Simon Laplace
Thu 8 Apr 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great French mathematician behind metrication.
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The Russo-Japanese War
Thu 1 Apr 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1904-5 clash of Japanese and Russian empires.
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David Ricardo
Thu 25 Mar 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Ricardo's argument on free trade after the Napoleonic wars
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The Bacchae
Thu 18 Mar 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the revenge of Dionysus on Thebes in Euripides' tragedy.
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The Late Devonian Extinction
Thu 11 Mar 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the five major extinction events on Earth so far.
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Thu 4 Mar 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Coleridge's famous poem of a sailor who shot an albatross.
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Marcus Aurelius
Thu 25 Feb 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and meditations of 'the last good Roman emperor'.
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Medieval Pilgrimage
Thu 18 Feb 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Christian pilgrimage in Europe in the Middle Ages.
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The Rosetta Stone
Thu 11 Feb 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the deciphering of hieroglyphs, secret for 1,500 years.
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Emilie du Châtelet
Thu 4 Feb 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an astonishing mathematician of the French Enlightenment.
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Saint Cuthbert
Thu 28 Jan 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of one of England's most revered saints.
In Our Time podcasts
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The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
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