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
-
-
Tacitus and the Decadence of Rome
Thu 10 Jul 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the life and chronicles of the the Roman historian Tacitus.
-
The Metaphysical Poets
Thu 3 Jul 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the Metaphysical poets, including John Donne and Andrew Marvell.
-
The Arab Conquests
Thu 26 Jun 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the Arab conquests which helped communicate Islam to the world.
-
The Music of the Spheres
Thu 19 Jun 2008
Melvyn Bragg explores the ancient astrological idea of the music of the spheres.
-
The Riddle of the Sands
Thu 12 Jun 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the prescient thriller about Anglo-German relations.
-
Lysenkoism
Thu 5 Jun 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the destructive career of the Soviet geneticist Trofim Lysenko.
-
-
The Black Death
Thu 22 May 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests examine the Black Death and its effect on medieval society.
-
The Library at Nineveh
Thu 15 May 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a treasure house of Assyrian ideas.
-
The Brain
Thu 8 May 2008
The history of cultural, medical, artistic and philosophical ideas about the human brain.
-
The Enclosures of the 18th Century
Thu 1 May 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the enclosure movement that fenced in the British countryside.
-
-
Yeats and Irish Politics
Thu 17 Apr 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the effect of Irish politics on the work of the poet W.B. Yeats.
-
-
-
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
Thu 27 Mar 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines Henry VIII's policy of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
-
Kierkegaard
Thu 20 Mar 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines the rich and radical ideas of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.
-
The Greek Myths
Thu 13 Mar 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek myths from Achilles to Zeus.
-
Ada Lovelace
Thu 6 Mar 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Ada Lovelace - the Victorian ‘enchantress of numbers’.
-
-
-
-
The Social Contract
Thu 7 Feb 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Social Contract; a key idea in political philosophy.
-
Rudolph II
Thu 31 Jan 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Rudolph II and his Renaissance Court in Prague.
-
Plate Tectonics
Thu 24 Jan 2008
Melvyn Bragg examines plate tectonics, a theory that transformed our idea of the earth.
-
The Fisher King
Thu 17 Jan 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enigmatic myth of the Fisher King.
-
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Thu 10 Jan 2008
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Charge of the Light Brigade.
-
-
The Nicene Creed
Thu 27 Dec 2007
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Nicene Creed which established the Divinity of Christ.

