In Our Time
BBC Radio 4
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC 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.
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
Mentioned books
11 snips
Mar 16, 2000 • 28min
Lenin
Robert Service, a lecturer in Russian history and biographer of Lenin, teams up with Vitali Vitaliev, a former Soviet journalist and author, to dissect Lenin's complex legacy. They discuss Lenin's role in shaping the Soviet state and the one-party regime, contrasting his mythic persona with his real character. Insights into Lenin's early life reveal the intricacies behind his revolutionary image. As Russia contemplates his burial, they explore how his ideologies continue to resonate in contemporary society, despite the removal of his statues across Eastern Europe.
11 snips
Mar 9, 2000 • 28min
The Age of Doubt
Exploring the spread of religious doubt over the centuries, from Nietzsche to Lenin. Discussing the impact of science on challenging religious beliefs. Questioning the existence of God and the purpose of life. Delving into the influence of philosophers and writers on shaping societal views on faith.
8 snips
Mar 2, 2000 • 28min
Metamorphosis
Exploring Ovid's stories of metamorphosis from Narcissus to Kafka's bug, connecting ancient myths to Chaucer and Shakespeare. The discussion covers themes of change, passion, and the timeless relevance of shape-shifting tales. Delving into mythological transformations, the chapter highlights moral judgments, tragedy, and pursuit of truth. Touching on Greek myths, Freud's interpretation, and nature's mutability, the podcast reflects on the interconnectedness of life forms and evolution of moral values.
6 snips
Feb 24, 2000 • 28min
Grand Unified Theory
Exploring the clash between general relativity and quantum mechanics and the quest for a Grand Unified Theory. Discussing hidden dimensions and string theory, the significance of seven dimensions, and experimental evidence. Delving into a potential groundbreaking discovery in physics and the limits of understanding complex phenomena through string theory.
Feb 17, 2000 • 28min
Reading
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the politics and practice of reading. Gustave Flaubert’s sage advice to us was: “Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.”Advice on reading - good and bad - litters the ages, from the Catholic Church refusing to translate the Bible into modern languages, to 18th century women being warned that injudicious reading could turn them to prostitution or worse. It seems that as soon as the written word was invented it came with a health warning. But thankfully, throughout the history of reading from the invention of the printing press onwards, much of that advice has been completely ignored. From the prayer wheel of medieval England to the electronic book, how has the process of reading has changed over time? How will tomorrow’s readers compare to those of the past, and is what we read today - and how we read it - essential or peripheral to the people we become?With Kevin Sharpe, Professor of History, University of Southampton; Jacqueline Pearson, Professor of English Literature, Manchester University.
Feb 10, 2000 • 28min
Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great poet and dramatist, famous for Faust, for The Sorrows of Young Werther, for Storm und Drang and for being a colossus in German literature. Born in the middle of the eighteenth century he lived through the first third of the nineteenth. He wrote lyric and epic verse, literary criticism, prose fiction, translations from 28 languages, he was a politician as well and was hailed by Napoleon as the boundless measure of man; but for much of his time, often to the exclusion of everything else, Goethe was a scientist. That was also part of this late flowering Renaissance man. Some say he paved the way for Darwin, some say he pre-dated the chaos theory, that he foreshadowed Gaia. In an age of romantic giants he was certainly a titan. He gave us the term morphology and sometimes he is even credited with inventing biology itself. How important were Goethe’s discoveries, and where does he really stand in the history of science? With Nicholas Boyle, Reader in German Literary and Intellectual History, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and biographer of Goethe; Simon Schaffer, Reader in the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University and Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge.
Feb 3, 2000 • 28min
Republicanism
Exploring the evolution of English republicanism from Cromwell to present day, the podcast discusses the 1649 execution of King Charles Stuart, the emergence of republicanism in the absence of a monarch, and the clash between conservatism and republicanism influenced by events like the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
Jan 27, 2000 • 28min
Economic Rights
Melvyn Bragg and guests delve into the relationship between democracy and capitalism, questioning if economic rights are at odds with democratic institutions. They explore the possibility of getting rich without a liberal constitution and discuss the impact of globalised capital on human rights.
Jan 20, 2000 • 28min
Masculinity in Literature
Melvyn Bragg investigates masculinity in literature. Ernest Hemingway wrote in The Old Man and the Sea, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”. In a time when traditional male roles have been systematically challenged it is a sentiment that seems to come from a strangely distant past, and the men that inhabit fiction today can seem a world away from Hemingway’s brave heroes - although we must remember James Bond and Hannibal Lecter. But has there been a change in the last century in literary fiction or does that one strand not stand for more than a small part of the equation? One of the successful liberating movements of the twentieth century was the increasing enfranchisement of women. Accompanying, perhaps consequent on this, in some fiction at any rate, were signs of the de-testosteroning of man. Are the ideals of masculinity that underlie the portrayal of men by today’s authors so very different from the images of men from earlier in the twentieth century? And is there a British literary ideal of man that is at odds with its American counterpart?With Martin Amis, author of Money, Success and The Information; Cora Kaplan, feminist cultural critic and Professor of English, Southampton University.
Jan 13, 2000 • 28min
Information Technology
Melvyn Bragg discusses the social and economic consequences of the information revolution. There are now more than 200 million people connected to the internet world-wide. The world’s biggest ever merger has just seen Time Warner united with the internet service provider America Online, and in the United States alone it is predicted that transactions conducted in cyberspace will account for 327 billion dollars worth of business by 2002. Should we be pleased? Is it the ‘third wave’ as Dr Toffler predicted in 1980 - after the first wave, the agricultural revolution about 8000 BC and then the second, the Industrial Revolution three centuries ago.Is this change going to alter our society radically, empowering the individual and offering greater choice, or will information technology lead us into a dark age for society that destroys democracy, the work-place and family life? With Charles Leadbeater, Demos Research Associate and author of Living On Thin Air: The New Economy; Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems, London School of Economics and author of The New Barbarian Manifesto: How to Survive the Information Age.
