The Forum

Stoicism is a school of thought over two thousand years old that asked how to live "a good life" in an unpredictable world, and how to make the best of what is in our power, while accepting the rest as it happens naturally. It trumpeted the value of reason as man's most valuable Virtue, and offered a practical guide to remaining steadfast, strong and in control.This ancient Graeco-Roman philosophy had a broad influence that reached across time and disciplines: its Virtues inspired some of the same from Christianity in the Middle Ages, its belief in Reason spoke to the works of 18th Century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, and the relationship it drew between judgement and emotion went on to inspire the modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Movement. Bridget Kendall discusses this philosophy's key ideas and evolution, and explores what it is to live like a Stoic in the modern world with guests Massimo Pigliucci, Nancy Sherman and Donald Robertson.Photo: Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, 161-180, a practitioner of Stoicism. (Credit: Getty Images)

Around the twelfth and thirteenth century CE Angkor was thought to be one of the world's biggest cities. Its massive temple complex at Angkor Wat covered hundreds of acres adorned with majestic towers, terraces and waterways: symbols of the might of the Khmer kings who ruled the region. Angkor Wat attracts millions of tourists every year and has pride of place on the Cambodian national flag but there's much more to Angkor and the Khmer civilisation than its temples. Bridget Kendall talks about Khmer history with David Chandler, Emeritus Professor of history at Monash University in Melbourne; architectural historian Dr. Swati Chemburkar from the Jnanapravaha Arts Centre in Mumbai; anthropologist Dr. Kyle Latinis from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore and former Dean of the University of Cambodia; and art historian Dr. Peter Sharrock from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.Photo: Angkor Wat temple complex. (SERENA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

The myths that have grown up around Cleopatra since her eventful reign in the first century BCE are so vivid and alluring that they seem to have taken on a life of their own. The Egyptian queen has been portrayed in art and literature as a wily temptress whose devastating beauty seduced two of Rome’s most powerful men, or as a ruthless killer who murdered her own relatives to get ahead, or as a tragic lover who took her own life using the bite from a poisonous snake. But how much of this is actually based on historical fact? There is evidence that Queen Cleopatra was in fact a clever stateswoman and scholar, who spoke multiple languages and successfully governed Egypt for over 20 years, becoming one of the most powerful female rulers in the ancient world.Bridget Kendall unpicks fact from fiction with Joyce Tyldesley, reader in Egyptology at the University of Manchester; Maria Wyke, professor of Latin at University College, London; and Christian Greco, director of the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin, Italy.Image: Cleopatra on papyrus (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

The Austrian satirical writer Karl Kraus used his forensic pen to expose the Hapsburg Empire and 20th century Vienna for its dishonesty and decay. He was the master of the punchy one liner, as well as being extremely prolific: his magazine Die Fackel ran to 922 editions, that's some 22 thousand pages, and Kraus wrote most of them. He was also full of contradictions: he could be both progressive and reactionary, sometimes profound and sometimes petty, and while he was born into affluence he remained concerned by other people's poverty. Many of his contradictions could be equally applied to the cultural world of Vienna itself in this period of turmoil and transition. And this makes Kraus - the journalist, poet, playwright, actor, lecturer and acerbic aphorist - a uniquely scathing and illuminating guide to this important historical epoch and the city at its heart. Rajan Datar talks about Kraus with Dr. Katharina Prager from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for History and Society, Dr. Simon Ganahl from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, both in Vienna, and Germanist Dr. Ari Linden from the University of Kansas.Photo: Karl Kraus (Imagno/Getty Images)

We probably know ‘cool’ when we see it, but what lies behind it and where did it originate? Most scholars agree that cool is a mode of being, an attitude or aesthetic. Some argue it arose out of a West African mode of performance, and was later developed in jazz circles by African-American musicians. Cool served to hide one’s emotions and survive confrontation with any hostile external forces – namely racism. In post-World War Two America, cool took on a new meaning, especially when its ideas were translated to white popular culture. It symbolised an individual’s rebellion, and new icons of cool emerged (especially on the silver screen) onto which people projected their deepest desires and fears. Today cool is a commodity, taken up by global brands and in some ways divorced from its rebellious roots. Bridget Kendall is joined by three cultural historians to explore the multiple meanings and emergence of cool, including Joel Dinerstein from Tulane University in New Orleans, US, Claudia Springer from Framingham State University in Massachusetts, and Carol Tulloch from Chelsea College of Arts in London.(Photo: American jazz musician Miles Davis. Credit: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

Frida Kahlo, the iconic and flamboyant Mexican painter, is one of the most famous female artists of our age. Her rebellious and subversive works are instantly recognisable. Many are self-portraits depicting an arresting dark and heavy-browed woman, often in bright traditional Mexican dress with flowers woven into her hair, staring straight out of the canvas.In her life time, she was better known as the wife of her celebrated artist husband, Diego Rivera. Now, she is arguably more famous than him, and her paintings sell for millions of dollars. Having lived and documented a life filled with physical and emotional pain, her blisteringly personal and political accounts now speak to populations young and old the world over. Bridget Kendall discusses her life, work and posthumous success with Kahlo experts Circe Henestrosa, Gannit Ankori, and Oriana Baddeley.(Photo: Frida Kahlo. Credit: Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Quentin Cooper and guests follow the twists and turns of jet engine development: from its 1930s origins and the often highly dangerous early fighters in World War 2, through Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War, to the much more reliable modern incarnations which now take us all over the world. Just three decades after the first airplane took off, the emerging aero industry was already stalling. There were limits to how big propeller-driven aircraft could get. How fast they could go. And how far. For the air age to truly take off it needed a new kind of propulsion: the jet engine. With Professor of the History of Industry and Technology at Rutgers University Philip Scranton; historian Hermione Giffard, author of Making Jet Engines in World War II; and former head of the Aircraft Collection at the Deutsches Museum in Munich Walter Rathjen.Photo: close-up of a jet engine. (Getty Images/Dushlik)

Edgar Allan Poe is a 19th century American writer whose spine-chilling gothic tales have inspired generations of horror and mystery fiction writers. His poem ‘The Raven’, and short stories such as ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and ‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ brought him international fame, and he is also thought to have invented the detective fiction genre with ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’. But his tumultuous life was beset by personal tragedy, poverty and artistic struggle which seemed to echo many of the dark themes in his work.Bridget Kendall explores Poe’s life and extraordinary work with J. Gerald Kennedy, Boyd Professor of English at Louisiana State University; Diane Roberts, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Florida State University; and Paul Collins, Professor of English at Portland State University.Photo: Edgar Allan Poe (Corbis/Getty Images)

In the mid-19th century Japan transformed itself from feudal state to economic powerhouse at breakneck speed. Taking their cue from Western imperial powers, the rebel samurai who seized power in 1868 implemented an astonishing programme of reform.By removing an entire ruling elite, introducing national conscription and compulsory education, the Meiji rulers set about building a brand new society. Even the measurement of time was changed, which led to considerable confusion between generations.Rajan Datar and guests will unpack the origins of this dynamic transformation, and examine how it led Japan to a period of drastic imperial expansion and the subsequent atrocities of World War II.Joining Rajan will be historians Naoko Shimazu from Yale NUS College in Singapore, Mark Ravina from Emory University in Atlanta, USA, and Barak Kushner from the University of Cambridge in the UK.Photo: Meiji Shrine In Tokyo, Japan. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Born in 1924, the prolific writer and thinker James Baldwin is a landmark figure in twentieth century American culture. The author of popular novels such as Go Tell It on the Mountain and bold essay collections such as The Fire Next Time, his works explored themes including race, sexuality, identity, democracy and love. An African-American man born in Harlem who spent much of his life in France, he became an important literary voice during his country’s civil rights movement. A critic and analyst of his country’s racial divide, he saw division as destructive and urged his fellow citizens to achieve a better future together.Rajan Datar and guests reflect on some of the key moments in James Baldwin’s life and work. With expert scholars Rich Blint, Ernest L. Gibson III and Magdalena Zaborowska.Photo: James Baldwin in 1964 (Jean-Regis Rouston/Roger Viollet/Getty Images)