In Our Time Podcast
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
A world-class seminar, every week.
In Our Time explores the ideas, people and discoveries that have shaped our world, spanning history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, art and culture.
On Thursdays, hear brand-new episodes hosted by Misha Glenny and leading academics. On Mondays, discover Misha's Archive Picks: classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, originally presented by Melvyn Bragg.
Recent episodes have featured topics as wide-ranging as the Roman Arena, Handel's Messiah, John Keats, On Liberty and the Mariana Trench, bringing expert insight to pivotal events, influential thinkers and remarkable discoveries.
Throughout the archive, you can hear discussions on historical figures such as Marie Antoinette, Nefertiti, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein; explore great works of literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the poetry of John Donne; uncover the stories behind cultural masterpieces including Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; or journey from Jupiter and the death of stars, to the theories of Plato and Aristotle.
In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.
Episodes to download
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Aldous Huxley's Brave New World
Thu 9 Apr 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aldous Huxley's dystopian 1932 novel Brave New World.
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Baconian Science
Thu 2 Apr 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Jacobean thinker Francis Bacon and Baconian Science.
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The School of Athens
Thu 26 Mar 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Raphael's depiction of Plato and Aristotle.
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The Boxer Rebellion
Thu 19 Mar 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Boxer Rebellion in the summer of 1900.
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The Library of Alexandria
Thu 12 Mar 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Library of Alexandria.
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The Measurement Problem in Physics
Thu 5 Mar 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the measurement problem in physics.
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The Waste Land and Modernity
Thu 26 Feb 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss TS Eliot's seminal poem The Waste Land.
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The Observatory at Jaipur
Thu 19 Feb 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the observatory at Jaipur.
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The Brothers Grimm
Thu 5 Feb 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm.
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Swift's A Modest Proposal
Thu 29 Jan 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Jonathan Swift's satirical 1729 pamphlet A Modest Proposal
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History of History
Thu 22 Jan 2009
Melvyn Bragg examines how the writing of history has changed over the years.
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Thoreau and the American Idyll
Thu 15 Jan 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau.
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Darwin: Life After Origins—Darwin: In Our Time
Thu 8 Jan 2009
Melvyn visits Darwin's home at Down House in Kent.
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Darwin: On the Origin of Species—Darwin: In Our Time
Wed 7 Jan 2009
How Darwin was eventually persuaded to publish On the Origin of Species in November 1859.
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Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle—Darwin: In Our Time
Tue 6 Jan 2009
How Darwin's work during the Beagle expedition influenced his theories.
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Darwin: On the Origins of Charles Darwin—Darwin: In Our Time
Mon 5 Jan 2009
Darwin's early life in Shropshire and his three years at Cambridge.
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The Consolations of Philosophy
New Year's Day 2009
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the consolation of Philosophy.
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The Fire of London
Thu 11 Dec 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Great Fire of London and the rebuilding of the city.
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Neuroscience
Thu 13 Nov 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines neuroscience, the relationship between the mind and the brain.
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Bolivar
Thu 30 Oct 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America.
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Dante's Inferno
Thu 23 Oct 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines Dante’s ‘Inferno’, a medieval journey through Hell’s nine circles
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Vitalism
Thu 16 Oct 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 18th and 19th century quest for the spark of life.
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Godel's Incompleteness Theorems
Thu 9 Oct 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the mathematician Kurt Godel and his work.
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The Translation Movement
Thu 2 Oct 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss classical Greek ideas in the Arabic and the Islamic world.

