The Reith Lectures

This year's Reith Lecturer is Jean Aitchison, a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.In her fifth and final lecture, Professor Jean Aitchison looks at the possibilities and the pitfalls of the way we use language, and how it can shape as well as distort our view of the world. She examines how the huge choice of words and sentences available to us also sets up possible snares and how humans may be subconsciously trapped by their language.

This year's Reith Lecturer is Jean Aitchison, a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.In her fourth lecture, Professor Jean Aitchison examines words themselves. An educated native speaker of English knows at least 50,000 words and word-learning ability is inbuilt in humans. Professor Aitchison explains how we manage to recall these words at speed when we need them, and how meaning and sound are interwoven.

This year's Reith Lecturer is Jean Aitchison, a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.In her third lecture, Professor Aitchison examines the predictable way in which the language web develops. Language has a biologically organised schedule with children everywhere following a similar pattern. Children learn to talk so readily because they instinctively know in advance what languages are like; the outline is pre-programmed and the network is built up in a pre-ordained sequence. Professor Aitchinson looks at how adults can help and sometimes slow down a child's progress.

This year's Reith Lecturer is Jean Aitchison, a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.In her second lecture, Professor Aitchison examines the origin of language in the human species, and explores how a fresh look at the role of language has led to new ideas about how it started. By looking at behaviour which we share with our ape relatives, the original role of language can be uncovered. How did the use of sounds arise? And more importantly, how did particular sounds come to be used as symbols, with firm meanings?

This year's Reith Lecturer is Jean Aitchison, a Professor of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.In her first lecture, Professor Aitchison asks: Is our language sick? She explores what troubles us most about the way in which our language is changing, who is responsible, and what rules are being discarded. She considers why many of these rules were artificially constructed in the first place and argues that we need to understand language, not try to control it. Informal speech is not intrinsically worse than formal speech, she says, but different, and that the ever-shifting nature of language, is what keeps it flexible.

This year's Reith lecturer is Richard Rogers, one of the most influential British architects of our time. He has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today's architecture industry through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyds of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Millennium Dome in London. His series of lectures is entitled 'Sustainable City' and each lecture focuses on architecture's social role and the sustainable urban development of towns and cities through social and environmental responsibility. In his fifth and final Reith lecture, Richard Rogers compares some of the world's most sustainable cities with those of Britain and argues that we have still not grasped the economic importance of a thriving urban culture. He considers what practical steps governments, citizens, architects and planners could take in order to achieve change, and argues that equitable cities that are beautiful, safe and exciting are quite within our grasp.

This year's Reith lecturer is Richard Rogers, one of the most influential British architects of our time. He has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today's architecture industry through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyds of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Millennium Dome in London. His series of lectures is entitled 'Sustainable City' and each lecture focuses on architecture's social role and the sustainable urban development of towns and cities through social and environmental responsibility. In his fourth Reith lecture, Richard Rogers turns his attention to London and examines some of the economic, social and ecological problems it currently faces. He argues that London offers every opportunity to create a cultured, balanced, and sustainable city but it urgently needs to adopt a new and sustainable approach that encourages its public life, discourages urban sprawl, and protects the environment for the future rather than being abandoned to the mercy of market forces. This, he believes, can only be realised by an overall authority for the capital.

This year's Reith lecturer is Richard Rogers, one of the most influential British architects of our time. He has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today's architecture industry through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyds of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Millennium Dome in London. His series of lectures is entitled 'Sustainable City' and each lecture focuses on architecture's social role and the sustainable urban development of towns and cities through social and environmental responsibility. In his third Reith lecture, Richard Rogers examines the ways in which buildings can enhance the public sphere and argues that our sometimes over-zealous preservation of buildings allows our architectural heritage to choke our future. Only by tailoring buildings to the changing needs of people and the environment, he says, can we sustain the public life of our cities.

Richard Rogers, an influential British architect, discusses the socially divisive and environmentally hazardous nature of cities. He emphasizes the need to reinvent urban spaces to nurture the environment and promote social cohesion. The podcast explores pollution, sustainable city creation, compact cities with convenient work access, and sustainable urban planning and development.

This year's Reith lecturer is Richard Rogers, one of the most influential British architects of our time. He has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today's architecture industry through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyds of London, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Millennium Dome in London. His series of lectures is entitled 'Sustainable City' and each lecture focuses on architecture's social role and the sustainable urban development of towns and cities through social and environmental responsibility. In his first lecture, Richard Rogers explores the fundamental dichotomy of the city; that it has the potential to both civilise and brutalise. He argues that the decaying fabric of urban life must be transformed into a sustainable, civilising environment, through the greater emphasis on citizens' participation in city design and planning, if we are to avert catastrophe. By putting communal objectives centre-stage, he says, we can transform the fabric and environment of our cities through greater, genuine, public participation and committed government initiative.