Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history of ideas as it applies to culture - from literature and the visual arts to artistic movements and their origins.
Episodes available:
Indefinitely 
Wed, 29 Jun 11
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn and guests discuss one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's greatest poem's, 'In Memoriam A.H.H.'. Written as a tribute to his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly and tragically at the age of 22, the poem offers an insight into Tennyson's deepest feelings of grief and loss. As well as being a heart-rending elegy, the poem also considers the new geological ideas that were coming to light at the time and the questions this knowledge raised about the history of the Earth as outlined in the Bible. Melvyn is joined by Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University; Seamus Perry, Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, University of Oxford; and Jane Wright, Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.
Thu, 12 May 11
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy.
Thu, 17 Mar 11
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval universities. In the 11th and 12th centuries a new type of institution started to appear in the major cities of Europe. The first universities were those of Bologna and Paris; within a hundred years similar educational organisations were springing up all over the continent. The universities provided training for those intending to embark on careers in the Church, the law and education. They provided a new focus for intellectual life in Europe, and exerted a significant influence on society around them. And the university model proved so robust that many of these institutions and their medieval innovations still exist today. With Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London; Ian Wei, Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History at the University of Bristol; and Peter Denley, Reader in History at Queen Mary, University of London.
Thu, 6 Jan 11
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider the poem which allegedly made the Romantic English poet, Lord Byron, famous. 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' was a thinly veiled autobiographical poem recounting Byron's travels through the Mediterranean, the tales of the first and archetypal 'Byronic Hero'. Melvyn is joined by Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick; Jane Stabler, Reader in Romanticism at the University of St Andrews; and Emily Bernhard Jackson, Assistant Professor in Nineteenth-Century English Literature at the University of Arkansas.
Thu, 25 Nov 10
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests explore metaphor; the literary device that pervades our language, literature and lives. From medieval literature to Shakespeare, the Metaphysical poets and Virginia Woolf, this programme considers the role of metaphor in their work and more. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and Drama at the University of Nottingham; Steve Connor, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck, University of London; and Tom Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Sussex.
Thu, 28 Oct 10
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider the origins and symbolism of that most legendary of mythical beasts, the unicorn. From ancient texts to medieval tapestries the unicorn has inspired writers, musicians and artists for centuries. Melvyn is joined by Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in Folklore at Cardiff University; Lauren Kassell, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge; and David Ekserdjian, Professor of the History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester.
Thu, 14 Oct 10
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 18th century 'Angry Young Men' movement in Germany, 'Sturm und Drang'. Translated into English as 'Storm and Stress', this short-lived movement was characterised by raw emotion, drama and rebellion. Melvyn is joined by Tim Blanning, Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at Cambridge University; Susanne Kord, Professor of German at University College, London; and Maike Oergel, Associate Professor of German at the University of Nottingham.
Thu, 10 Jun 10
Duration:
45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Central Asian polymath al-Biruni and his eleventh-century book the India. With Amira Bennison, Hugh Kennedy and James Montgomery.
Thu, 27 May 10
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists. With David Ekserdjian, Martin Kemp and Evelyn Welch.
Thu, 22 Apr 10
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Roman satire. Guests include Mary Beard, Duncan Kennedy and Denis Feeney.
Thu, 18 Mar 10
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Edvard Munch and his most famous painting, The Scream. Guests include David Jackson, Dorothy Rowe and Alastair Wright.
Thu, 28 Jan 10
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss George Eliot's 1861 novel Silas Marner. With Rosemary Ashton, Dinah Birch and Valentine Cunningham.
Thu, 26 Nov 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. With Roy Foster, Katherine Mullin and Jeri Johnson.
Thu, 18 Jun 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses why revenge tragedy was so popular with Elizabethan theatre goers. With guests Jonathan Bate, Janet Clare and Julie Sanders.
Thu, 21 May 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolutionary history of the whale. Guests include Steve Jones, Bill Amos and Eleanor Weston.
Thu, 9 Apr 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aldous Huxley's dystopian 1932 novel Brave New World. With David Bradshaw, Daniel Pick and Michele Barrett.
Thu, 26 Feb 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss TS Eliot's seminal poem The Wasteland. With Steve Connor, Fran Brearton and Lawrence Rainey.
Thu, 5 Feb 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. With Juliette Wood, Marina Warner and Tony Phelan.
Thu, 29 Jan 09
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Jonathan Swift's satirical 1729 pamphlet A Modest Proposal. With John Mullan, Judith Hawley and Ian McBride.
Thu, 23 Oct 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the culture of the Baroque. With Tim Blanning, Nigel Aston and Helen Hills.
Thu, 3 Jul 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines Dante’s ‘Inferno’, a medieval journey through Hell’s nine circles. With guests Claire Honess, Margaret Kean and John Took.
Thu, 19 Jun 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the ancient astrological idea of the music of the spheres. With Peter Forshaw, Angela Voss and Jim Bennett.
Thu, 19 Jun 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the Metaphysical poets, including John Donne and Andrew Marvell. With Tom Healy, Tom Cain and Julie Sanders.
Thu, 12 Jun 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the prescient thriller about Anglo-German relations. Guests include Rosemary Ashton, Richard Evans and Tim Blanning.
Thu, 15 May 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a treasure house of Assyrian ideas. With Eleanor Robson, Andrew George and Karen Radner.
Thu, 17 Apr 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the effect of Irish politics on the work of the poet W.B. Yeats. With Roy Foster, Fran Brearton and Warwick Gould.
Thu, 13 Mar 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek myths from Achilles to Zeus. Guests include Nick Lowe, Mary Beard and Richard Buxton.
Thu, 28 Feb 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests examine Shakespeare’s bloodthirsty tragedy, King Lear. With Catherine Belsey, Jonathan Bate and Katherine Duncan-Jones.
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enigmatic myth of the Fisher King. Guests include Juliette Wood, Carolyne Larrington and Stephen Knight.
Thu, 3 Jan 08
Duration:
43 mins
The life and work of the Algerian-French writer and philosopher, Albert Camus. Discussed with guests Peter Dunwoodie, Christina Howells and David Walker.
Thu, 22 Nov 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss William Wordsworth’s poem The Predule. Guests include Emma Mason, Stephen Gill and Rosemary Ashton.
Thu, 25 Oct 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 18th century obsession with taste. Guests include Amanda Vickery, John Mullan and Jeremy Black.
Thu, 18 Oct 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses the myths, tales and legends of the Arabian Nights. With guests Robert Irwin, Geert van Gelder and Marina Warner.
Thu, 12 Jul 07
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 1857 trial of Gustave Flaubert's novel, Madame Bovary. With guests Andy Martin, Mary Orr and Robert Gildea.
Thu, 7 Jun 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Guests include Jean Moorcroft Wilson, Fran Brearton and Max Egremont.
Thu, 10 May 07
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses the high pessimism of Victorian culture. Guests include Dinah Birch, Rosemary Ashton and Peter Mandler.
Thu, 26 Apr 07
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Greek and Roman love poetry. Guests include Nick Lowe, Edith Hall and Maria Wyke.
Thu, 15 Mar 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses epistolary literature from Aphra Benn to Les Liaisons Dangereuses. With John Mullan, Brean Hammond and Karen O’Brien.
Thu, 15 Feb 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg discusses Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. With Laurence Davies, Robert Hampson and Susan Jones.
Thu, 4 Jan 07
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Jorge Luis Borges. Guests include Edwin Williamson, Efrain Kristal and Evelyn Fishburn.
Thu, 9 Nov 06
Duration:
42 mins
The life and work of the brilliant, acerbic and unpopular poet Alexander Pope. With John Mullan, Jim McLaverty and Valerie Rumbold.
Thu, 26 Oct 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great achievements of the Enlightenment. Guests include David Wootton, Caroline Warman and Judith Hawley.
Thu, 13 Jul 06
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores comedy in Ancient Greek theatre including Aristophanes and Menander. With Edith Hall, Nick Lowe and Paul Cartledge.
Thu, 6 Jul 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss pastoral literature from Virgil to Dylan Thomas. With Helen Cooper, Julie Sanders and Laurence Lerner.
Thu, 8 Jun 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century anti-slavery novel, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. With Clive Webb, Celeste-Marie Bernier and Sarah Meer.
Thu, 25 May 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the mathematical structures that lie within the heart of music. With Marcus du Sautoy, Robin Wilson and Ruth Tatlow.
Thu, 11 May 06
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 5000 year cultural history of fairies. With guests Juliette Wood, Diane Purkiss and Nicola Bown.
Thu, 6 Apr 06
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great German polymath, Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Guests include Tim Blanning, Dan Wilson and Sarah Colvin.
Thu, 16 Mar 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg considers the importance of the 17th century Spanish novel Don Quixote. With Edwin Williamson, Barry Ife and Jane Whetnall.
Thu, 9 Feb 06
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English literature. Guests include Carolyne Larrington, Helen Cooper and Ardis Butterfield.
Thu, 26 Jan 06
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the controversy and scandal of 17th century print culture. With Kevin Sharpe, Joad Raymond and Ann Hughes.
Thu, 29 Dec 05
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the ‘Oresteia’, the seminal trilogy of tragedies by Aeschylus. With Edith Hall, Simon Goldhill and Tom Healy.
Thu, 27 Oct 05
Duration:
29 mins
The life and work of Samuel Johnson, a giant of 18th century literature. With guests John Mullan, Judith Hawley and Jim McLaverty.
Thu, 7 Jul 05
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the life of glittering Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe. With guests Jonathan Bate, Emma Smith and Katherine Duncan-Jones.
Thu, 30 Jun 05
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines Merlin, prophet, magician, king maker and the mad man of the woods. With Juliette Wood, Stephen Knight and Peter Forshaw.
Thu, 9 Jun 05
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the satirical 18th century Scriblerus Club. Guests include John Mullan, Judith Hawley and Marcus Walsh.
Thu, 5 May 05
Duration:
39 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval tale of Abelard and Heloise. Guests include Michael Clanchy, AC Grayling and Henrietta Leyser.
Thu, 21 Apr 05
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ‘The Aeneid’, Virgil's great epic poem about Rome. Guests include Catherine Edwards, Edith Hall and Philip Hardie.
Thu, 31 Mar 05
Duration:
43 mins
The life and work of one of the most influential figures of the Victorian era. With guests Dinah Birch, Stephan Collini and Keith Hanley.
Fri, 11 Mar 05
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the mad, bad world of modern utopias. Guests include Laura Marcus, Steve Connor and John Carey.
Thu, 23 Dec 04
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myth of Faustus and temptation by evil. Guests include Osman Durrani, Juliette Wood and Rosemary Ashton.
Thu, 7 Oct 04
Duration:
43 mins
The life and work of French novelist, playwright and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. With guests Jonathan Ree, Benedict O’Donohue and Christina Howells.
Thu, 30 Sep 04
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the cultural effect of the eighteenth century idea of Politeness. With Amanda Vickery, John Mullan and David Wootton.
Thu, 9 Sep 04
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the monster filled epic, Homer’s Odyssey. Guests include Oliver Taplin, Edith Hall and Simon Goldhill.
Thu, 15 Apr 04
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the poetry, tragedy and idealism of Byron, Shelley and Keats. With guests Robert Woof, Jonathan Bate and Jennifer Wallace.
Thu, 11 Mar 04
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the myths and theology that inspired the Vikings. With guests Carrolyn Larrington, Heather O’Donohue and John Hines.
Thu, 12 Feb 04
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores a transcendental idea that took hold on the Age of Enlightenment. With Annie Janowitz, Peter De Bolla and Janet Todd.
Thu, 6 Nov 03
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the novels of sensation, a Victorian literary phenomenon. Guests include John Mullen, Dinah Birch and Lyn Pykett.
Thu, 30 Oct 03
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the centuries old myth of the most romantic noble outlaw. Guests include Stephen Knight, Juliette Wood and Thomas Kahn.
Thu, 9 Oct 03
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the 19th century Parisian philosophy of life lived for art. With guests Hermione Lee, Virginia Nicholson and Graham Robb.
Thu, 17 Apr 03
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the history of concepts and ideas on youth from antiquity to today. With guests Deborah Thom, Tim Whitmarsh and Tom Healy.
Thu, 10 Apr 03
Duration:
42 mins
The life and work of 19th century French novelist Marcel Proust. With Malcolm Bowie, Jacqueline Rose and Robert Fraser.
Thu, 20 Mar 03
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the creative force of originality. Guests include John Deathridge, Catherine Belsey and Jonathan Ree.
Thu, 6 Feb 03
Duration:
29 mins
The history of the epic, from Homer's Odyssey to Joyce’s Ulysses. With John Carey, Karen Edwards and Oliver Taplin.
Thu, 14 Nov 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores Victorian realism and its focus on the ordinariness of life. Including guests Phil Davis, Dinah Birch and Andrew Wilson.
Thu, 27 Jun 02
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines how a dominant power can exert a cultural influence on its empire. With guests Linda Colley, Mary Beard and Philip Dodd.
Thu, 20 Jun 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the position of Richard Wagner and his music in German culture. With John Deathridge, Michael Tanner and Lucy Beckett.
Thu, 30 May 02
Duration:
29 mins
The origins and cultural impact of 18th century tourism. With Chloe Chard, Edward Chaney and Jeremy Black.
Thu, 25 Apr 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the life and work of the 19th century Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. With guests A.N. Wilson, Catriona Kelly and Sarah Hudspith.
Thu, 28 Mar 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the history and changing the status of the artist. Including guests Tom Healy, Emma Barker and Tim Blanning.
Thu, 21 Mar 02
Duration:
42 mins
The history of marriage from ancient Greek and Babylonian times to today. With guests Christina Hardyment, Frederick Pederson and Janet Soskice.
Thu, 7 Mar 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines both the literary and political careers of the poet John Milton. Including guests John Carey, Lisa Jardine and Blair Worden.
Thu, 31 Jan 02
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the strange and mystical world of the Irish poet W B Yeats. Including guests Roy Foster, Brenda Maddox and Warwick Gould.
Thu, 3 Jan 02
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the ideas behind the 18th century literary cult of sensibility. With Hermione Lee, John Mullan and Claire Tomalin.
Thu, 27 Dec 01
Duration:
43 mins
The cultural history of food in Modern Europe since the Renaissance. With guests Felipe Fernandez Armesto, Rebecca Spang and Ivan Day.
Thu, 6 Dec 01
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Oscar Wilde, his literary legacy and the Aesthetes. With Neil Sammels, Reginia Garnier and Valentine Cunningham.
Thu, 15 Nov 01
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss surrealism, the art of the unconscious. Guests include Darian Leader, Malcolm Bowie and Dawn Ades.
Thu, 12 Jul 01
Duration:
29 mins
The achievements and legacy of the 19th century literary giant Charles Dickens. With guests Michael Slater, Rosemary Ashton and John Bowen.
Thu, 28 Jun 01
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests examine the 20th century philosophy of existentialism. Guests include AC Grayling, Christina Howells and Simon Critchley.
Thu, 21 Jun 01
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Sonnet, the most enduring form in the poet’s armoury. With guests Frank Kermode, Jonathan Bate and Phyllis Levin.
Thu, 26 Apr 01
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the movement that embraced Joyce, DH Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. With John Carey, Valentine Cunningham and Laura Marcus.
Thu, 15 Mar 01
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider the enigma of the life of William Shakespeare. Including guests Katherine Duncan-Jones, John Sutherland and Grace Iopollo.
Thu, 4 Jan 01
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the origins and significance of the 18th century Gothic movement. With Chris Baldick, Andrew Wilson and Emma Clery.
Thu, 9 Nov 00
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg assesses the role of Freudian analysis in understanding literature. With guests Malcolm Bowie, Adam Philips and Lisa Appignanesi.
Thu, 12 Oct 00
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideals, exponents and legacy of Romanticism. Including guests Jonathan Bate, Rosemary Ashton and Nicholas Roe.
Thu, 28 Sep 00
Duration:
42 mins
The history of London from its Neolithic origin to the digitalised capital city of today. With Peter Ackroyd, Claire Tomalin and Iain Sinclair.
Thu, 22 Jun 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines why the public is fascinated with the private lives of individuals. Including guests Richard Holmes, Amanda Foreman and Nigel Hamilton.
Thu, 15 Jun 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the true meaning of genius and whether it is born or made. With Arthur I. Miller, Juliet Mitchell and Michael Howe.
Thu, 8 Jun 00
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the veracity of modern claims about the culture of the Renaissance. With guests Evelyn Welch, Peter Burke and Francis Ames-Lewis.
Thu, 1 Jun 00
Duration:
43 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests examine the ideals that underwrite the idealism of America. With Susan Sontag, Christopher Hitchens and John Keane.
Thu, 11 May 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines what it is about Shakespeare’s work that makes it universal. With Frank Kermode, Michael Bogdanov and Germaine Greer.
Thu, 4 May 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the development of Western rituals and attitudes to death. With guests Thomas Lynch, Jonathan Dollimore and Marilyn Butler.
Thu, 20 Apr 00
Duration:
42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the characteristics of the English identity. Including guests Paul Langford, Lola Young and Peter Mandler.
Thu, 23 Mar 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the development and future of material culture. With William Gibson and Rachel Bowlby.
Thu, 2 Mar 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg explores the enduring appeal of the Roman poet Ovid’s work Metamorphoses. With A.S. Byatt and A. Catherine Bates.
Thu, 17 Feb 00
Duration:
29 mins
The history of the politics, practice and process of reading. With guests Kevin Sharpe and Jacqueline Pearson.
Thu, 20 Jan 00
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg investigates the changing ideals of masculinity in 20th century literature. With guests Martin Amis and Cora Kaplan.
Thu, 2 Dec 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines whether the ancient genre of tragedy has a place in our own time. With George Steiner and Catherine Belsey.
Thu, 11 Nov 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider the development and the future of the novel. With D.J. Taylor, Gillian Beer
Thu, 30 Sep 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines whether it is possible to apply mathematical logic to literature. With Marina Warner and John Allen Paulos.
Thu, 15 Jul 99
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss whether it matters if memoirs aren’t entirely truthful. With Elena Lappin and Nick Groom.
Thu, 24 Jun 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of capitalism from Marx to the collapse of Communism. With Anatole Kaletsky and Edward Luttwak.
Thu, 10 Jun 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the enduring strengths and the current role of the British monarchy. With Bea Campbell and David Cannadine.
Thu, 27 May 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines how our collective and individual ways of remembering have changed. With Malcolm Bowie and Nancy Wood.
Thu, 13 May 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 20th century’s vast population and cultural shifts. With Avtar Brah and Stuart Hall.
Thu, 8 Apr 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines whether writers have a political role in modern society. With writers Nadine Gordimer and Ariel Dorfman.
Thu, 25 Mar 99
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests consider what the architecture of the 20th century says about the age. With Daniel Libeskind and Richard Weston.
Thu, 4 Mar 99
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enduring popular and academic appeal of Shakespeare. With Harold Bloom and Jacqueline Rose.
Thu, 25 Feb 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the history and legacy of 20th Century Avant Garde painting. With Frances Morris and Eric Hobsbawm.
Thu, 11 Feb 99
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss whether the formation of language is innate or cultural. With Steven Pinker and Jonathan Miller.
Thu, 28 Jan 99
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the definition and state of modern culture in the 20th century. With Roger Scruton and Will Self.
Thu, 7 Jan 99
Duration:
29 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests examine the development of the empowerment of women in the 20th century. With Germaine Greer and Helena Cronin.
Thu, 17 Dec 98
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines how legitimate it is to call the 20th century the American century. With Harry Evans and John Lloyd.
Thu, 26 Nov 98
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg examines the changing ideas about the function of work in the 20th century. With Theodore Zeldin, Melanie Philips and Richard Sennett.
Thu, 12 Nov 98
Duration:
28 mins
Melvyn Bragg looks at the innovative developments of the city in the 20th century. With Doreen Massey and Peter Hall.
The BBC Podcasts are for your personal non-commercial use only.
All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the BBC Podcasts shall remain the property of the BBC or third parties. You may not edit, alter, adapt or add to the BBC Podcast in any way. The BBC Podcasts are made available by the BBC on an "as is" and "as available" basis and the BBC gives no warranty of any kind in relation to the BBC Podcast. To the maximum extent permitted by law the BBC will not be liable for any loss or damage which you may suffer as a result of, or connected to, the download or use of the BBC Podcasts.
You need Javascript enabled and Flash version 10 installed to access this audio. Please view our BBC Webwise guide.
The forgotten history of Britain before the First World War, with Michael Portillo.
4 hours ago
18 minutes
Drawing on new research, Peter White presents a history of disability in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Fri, 7 Jun 13
13 minutes
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
