Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors including historian Lisa Jardine, novelist Sarah Dunant and writer Alain de Botton.
Episodes available:
Indefinitely 
Fri, 14 Jun 13
Duration:
10 mins
"When I was a child, one of my favourite books was Bear, Mouse and Water Beetle," says Tom Shakespeare. "Today, I want to tell you a contemporary story, which you could call Fly, Fish, Mouse and Worm." These 'model animals' help scientists to understand the basic processes common to all living creatures. But while model animals epitomize the success of the scientific strategy of reductionism, they may also illustrate the downside.
Fri, 7 Jun 13
Duration:
11 mins
Tom Shakespeare presents the first of his four essays. There have been several recent scandals in the health service, with appalling cases of abuse and neglect coming to light. Not surprisingly, this has led to calls for people in the medical profession to be taught compassion. But Tom is sceptical. This week he asks whether compassion can and should be taught.
Fri, 31 May 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray finds new resonance for our own age in the story of "the Great Gatsby". "Just as in the Roaring Twenties, we've lived through a boom that was mostly based on make-believe - easy money, inflated assets and financial skulduggery." "We want nothing more than to revive the fake prosperity that preceded the crash. Just like Gatsby, we want to return to a world that was conjured into being from dreams."
Fri, 24 May 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray argues for another way of perceiving the world inspired by the fantasy fiction writer Arthur Machen. Instead of believing that meaning in life can only be found by changing things around us, "Some of the most valuable human experiences, Machen observed, come about when we simply look around us without any intention of acting on what we see." "It wasn't so much the supernatural as the mysterious qualities inherent in what we think of as our everyday environment that fascinated Machen". "He thought of the world as a kind of text in invisible writing, a cipher pointing to another order of things"
Fri, 17 May 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray finds useful material for pondering the question of evil in the thriller writer Patricia Highsmith’s character Tom Ripley.
Fri, 10 May 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray draws on the novels of Mervyn Peake to argue it's a mistake to imagine that modernity marks a fundamental change in human experience. "The modern world is founded on the belief that it's possible for human beings to shape a future that's better than anything in the past. If the Gormenghast novels have any continuing theme, it's that this modern belief is an illusion." Producer: Sheila Cook
Fri, 3 May 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray draws on a story by Walter de la Mare to argue that the prevailing creed of scientific materialism is a "simple minded philosophy" too limited for an unknowable world.
Fri, 26 Apr 13
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray wonders what the rise of the cyber currency Bitcoin tells us about our human need for freedom and protection, "The dream of finding some kind of talisman, a benevolent tyrant or a magical new technology, that can shelter us from power and crime and protect us from each other." Producer: Sheila Cook
Fri, 19 Apr 13
Duration:
10 mins
Adam Gopnik on the terrible day when children leave home.
Fri, 12 Apr 13
Duration:
10 mins
What is the difference between magic and science? What is the difference between Galileo and his contemporary, the famous Elizabethan astrologer and alchemist John Dee? According to Adam Gopnik it's the experimental method - the looking and seeing and testing that goes with true science. But when he wrote about this recently he found that fervent members of the John Dee fan club disagreed.
Fri, 5 Apr 13
Duration:
10 mins
Every nation has a core irrationality - a belief about itself which no amount of contrary evidence can shift - says Adam Gopnik.
Fri, 29 Mar 13
Duration:
10 mins
Adam Gopnik presents his formula for a happy marriage - lust, laughter and loyalty.
Fri, 22 Mar 13
Duration:
10 mins
As the world's top chess players battle it out in London, Adam Gopnik reflects on why we overrate masters and underrate mastery.
Fri, 15 Mar 13
Duration:
11 mins
Lisa Jardine reflects on comets and the lessons to be learnt from early astronomers.
Fri, 8 Mar 13
Duration:
10 mins
Lisa Jardine celebrates the achievements of the mathematician Dame Mary Cartwright, whose work helped war-time radar engineers and became the foundation of chaos theory.
Fri, 1 Mar 13
Duration:
11 mins
Lisa Jardine celebrates the influence of art connoisseur Sir Denis Mahon and reflects on the impact of wealthy art collectors on public taste and government policy.
Fri, 22 Feb 13
Duration:
11 mins
Lisa Jardine celebrates Elizabeth of Bohemia, the "Winter Queen", and sees her relegation to the margins of history as typical of our failure to recognise powerful women.
Fri, 15 Feb 13
Duration:
11 mins
David Cannadine defends his home city of Birmingham against a slur in "Pride and Prejudice" by celebrating its past and its current cultural renaissance.
Fri, 8 Feb 13
Duration:
11 mins
David Cannadine celebrates the saving of New York's now century old Grand Central Terminal and regrets the destruction of the city's other great beaux-arts station.
Fri, 1 Feb 13
Duration:
10 mins
David Cannadine reflects on the enduring appeal of the teddy bear in contemporary culture since they were first named after Theodore Roosevelt over a hundred years ago.
Fri, 25 Jan 13
Duration:
10 mins
David Cannadine reflects on the history of presidential inaugurations and how American presidents since Abraham Lincoln have crafted their speeches when it's second time around.
Fri, 18 Jan 13
Duration:
11 mins
Will Self laments what he sees as an absence of rational urban planning in our big cities and a fashion for dramatic sky scrapers driven by short term commercial values.
Fri, 11 Jan 13
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self says he would rather commit suicide than die a slow, painful death and would like society to find his choice more acceptable than at present.
Sun, 6 Jan 13
Duration:
11 mins
Will self reflects on Britain's confused relationship with the U.S. Taking the Tom Stoppard plays his American mother took him to see in the 70s as his starting point, he says that our relationship with our friends across the pond changed little in the last 40 years.
Fri, 28 Dec 12
Duration:
10 mins
"Are you full yet? Stuffed? Fit to burst?" asks Will Self. Will takes a historic foodie tour and explores how we've gone from being a culinary backwater to being "the most food-obsessed nation in Europe - if not the world".
Fri, 21 Dec 12
Duration:
11 mins
Will Self warns against the false prophets of the new priesthood of economics.
Fri, 14 Dec 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self reflects on the effect of technology throughout his six decades and how it has affected his perception of the passage of time.
Fri, 7 Dec 12
Duration:
11 mins
Onora O'Neill reflects anew on the theme of trust, which was the subject of her Reith lectures.
Fri, 30 Nov 12
Duration:
10 mins
Mary Beard on why "customer satisfaction" surveys have no place in universities and pines for the days when students were able to tell their professor their lectures were rubbish.
Fri, 23 Nov 12
Duration:
10 mins
Mary Beard ponders questions of privacy, archaeology and restoration as she wanders through the rooms of a new exhibition about Pompeii, the "City of the Dead".
Fri, 16 Nov 12
Duration:
10 mins
Mary Beard reflects on the age of consent and argues that accidents of history often determine how we choose to criminalize or regulate.
Fri, 9 Nov 12
Duration:
11 mins
Mary Beard on the long history of the rich looking down their noses - sometimes with a hearty Roman snort - at the poor.
Fri, 2 Nov 12
Duration:
11 mins
Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In his final talk, he asks how the undemocratic Chinese state can enjoy legitimacy and authority in the eyes of its population.
Fri, 26 Oct 12
Duration:
11 mins
Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In this third talk, he explores the nature of race in China.
Fri, 19 Oct 12
Duration:
11 mins
Martin Jacques presents his personal view on how best to understand contemporary China, its development and its possible future.
Fri, 12 Oct 12
Duration:
11 mins
Martin Jacques presents a personal view on how best to understand the unique characteristics and apparent mysteries of contemporary China, its development and its possible future. In a new series of talks he sets out the building blocks for making sense of China today.
Fri, 5 Oct 12
Duration:
11 mins
Sarah Dunant reflects on the role of history in society - and how it changes over time. She also asks what history can learn from historical fiction.
Fri, 28 Sep 12
Duration:
10 mins
Why is America so obsessed with dental perfection? While American comedians often mock the British for their bad teeth, Sarah reveals how Japanese fashionistas are paying to have their teeth made more crooked.
Fri, 21 Sep 12
Duration:
10 mins
As Sarah Dunant rummages for bargains in her local charity shop, she reflects on the history of charity shops and their growing importance in times of austerity.
Fri, 14 Sep 12
Duration:
10 mins
As the Man Booker shortlist is published, author Sarah Dunant examines the merits of literary prizes and explores how new writers and readers find each other.
Fri, 7 Sep 12
Duration:
11 mins
Sarah Dunant looks at attitudes to sexual behaviour in the aftermath of recent remarks on rape from an American would-be senator. She argues men must be involved in the debate.
Fri, 31 Aug 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray explores the role of memory in giving meaning to our lives. He reflects on how we struggle to preserve our past but at the same time sometimes long to leave it behind.
Fri, 24 Aug 12
Duration:
9 mins
John Gray looks at the relationship between freedom and democracy. He argues that whenever tyranny is overthrown, the result is not necessary greater liberty throughout society.
Fri, 17 Aug 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray reflects on the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes at a time when we've lost confidence in the power of reason alone to solve problems.
Fri, 10 Aug 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray reflects on the climate needed for culture to thrive, identifying totalitarian regimes as the worst enemies of creativity.
Fri, 3 Aug 12
Duration:
10 mins
The philosopher John Gray wonders what bulk buying of stamps ahead of the price rise tells us about economic gloom.
Fri, 27 Jul 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray reflects on the paradox of immortality as captured by the writer Theodore Powys, "The longest life may fade and perish but one moment can live and become immortal."
Fri, 20 Jul 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray takes a fresh look at the thinking of John Maynard Keynes and wonders what he would have really thought about the current economic crises and how to solve them.
Fri, 13 Jul 12
Duration:
10 mins
John Gray reflects on the nature of violence which he sees as an inevitable part of the human condition, doubting the ability of reason to tame our warring impulses.
Fri, 6 Jul 12
Duration:
10 mins
Adam Gopnik muses on what it means in life if - like him - you've been lumbered with a funny name.
Fri, 29 Jun 12
Duration:
11 mins
Adam Gopnik reflects on our continuing obsession with the Nazis.
Fri, 22 Jun 12
Duration:
10 mins
Adam Gopnik ruminates on how to handle a bad review. An amusing guide on how to get your own back on your critics.
Fri, 15 Jun 12
Duration:
10 mins
As the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first concert approaches, Adam Gopnik ponders what it is that makes the fab four's music endure.
Fri, 8 Jun 12
Duration:
11 mins
Adam Gopnik reflects on a universal truth of parenting: why, at exactly age 13, your child will discover that you are the most embarrassing, ridiculous and annoying person on the planet.
Fri, 1 Jun 12
Duration:
10 mins
Adam Gopnik muses on why Shakespeare didn't seem to know that the top bee is a girl bee! He takes us - via a bunch of bee experts - on a journey of "long and buzzing thoughts".
Fri, 25 May 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self reflects on the historical tradition of the Loyal Toast. A week before the Jubilee celebrations get underway, he muses on where deference is properly due.
Fri, 18 May 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self ponders the future of Europe as he stands by Berlin's Brandenburg gate and asks whether we should consider an end to the European Union "in its current banjaxed form".
Fri, 11 May 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self calls for a return of National Service in the UK and asks why political leaders are so fond aligning themselves with the military to enhance their tough-guy credentials.
Fri, 4 May 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self savages the continuing role of hereditary peers in parliament and denounces the narrowing of the range of political choice in Britain.
Fri, 27 Apr 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self asks whether "human rights" really exist - when they can so easily be taken away?
Fri, 20 Apr 12
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self says we should embrace the intellectual challenge of 'difficult' books and art, and value works which are more taxing than our increasingly low-brow popular culture.
Fri, 13 Apr 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine looks ahead to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, reflecting on the history of royal jubilees worldwide and, in particular, the celebrations for Queen Victoria.
Fri, 6 Apr 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects at Easter time on the architectural glories of cathedrals and the part these buildings have played in our national history and culture.
Fri, 30 Mar 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects on the changing images of the typical British Bobby, in light of a recent report that over half of the members of the Metropolitan Police are overweight.
Fri, 23 Mar 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine recalls the heyday of cinema and television Westerns and wonders if a forthcoming adaptation of the Lone Ranger will find a new audience.
Fri, 16 Mar 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects on the power of the press, past and present, recalling how early twentieth century press barons attempted to influence British politics.
Fri, 9 Mar 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects on the enduring resonance of the important speeches which Winston Churchilll delivered in colleges and universities in the United States.
Fri, 2 Mar 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian David Cannadine compares the traditions of tie wearing on both sides of the Atlantic. He reflects on the social significance of this element of male dress and observes a recent phenomenon - that politicians seem to campaign in open neck shirts but govern wearing ties.
Fri, 24 Feb 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects on the legacy of monetary unions and what causes success or failure. Ancient Greece was a pioneer, whereas modern Greece has hit problems before.
Fri, 17 Feb 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian David Cannadine reflects on current and historic attitudes towards bankers in America. He sees today's criticism as mild by comparison with the attitude of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Fri, 10 Feb 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian David Cannadine surveys the current crop of anniversaries and finds a cornucopia of dates to prompt reflection. Awareness of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens may be widespread but fewer may know 2012 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the death of the only British prime minister to be assassinated.
Fri, 3 Feb 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the perils of over-hasty emails compared with the time allowed for reflection by old fashioned letter writing.
Fri, 27 Jan 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady, and considers the complexities of portraying the lives of both public and private figures.
Thu, 19 Jan 12
Duration:
10 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine reflects on her aversion to today's new sources of noise and traces the history of some attempts at noise abatement.
Fri, 13 Jan 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine recalls the seventeenth century Lord Chancellor, and keen gardener, Sir Francis Bacon as she reflects on the art of gardening, as both pure human pleasure and a means of self advancement.
Fri, 6 Jan 12
Duration:
11 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine proposes that information overload is not a new problem, explaining that by the seventeenth century there was widespread anxiety that the sheer volume of available knowledge was getting out of hand.
Fri, 30 Dec 11
Duration:
11 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine remembers 2011 for the spectacle of the Royal Wedding, reflecting on the historic power of regal glamour in times of austerity. Queen Elizabeth I, she says, used ostentation and opulence in her dress as a political tool to increase national confidence in the solvency of her regime.
Thu, 29 Dec 11
Duration:
15 mins
Historian Simon Schama reflects on how the world, ten years on, remembered the events of 9/11 and ponders why it is vital to remember: Ten years is an aeon in tweet-time, he writes, but 9/11 bleeds, in every sense, into today's front pages.
Wed, 28 Dec 11
Duration:
15 mins
Will Self reflects on the depth of the malpractices revealed by the Leveson inquiry into the media. He says it has drawn the attention of people outside the Westminster and Fleet Street villages to the existence of a systematically corrupt and corrupting dimension to public life in the UK.
Tue, 27 Dec 11
Duration:
14 mins
Author Sarah Dunant looks back on 2011 and reflects on the meaning of the word 'debt'. While deploring what she calls the 'catastrophe' of the debt ridden economy, she views a debt also owed to the protest movements both in the Arab world and camped outside St Paul's Cathedral.
Mon, 26 Dec 11
Duration:
14 mins
Political philosopher Prof John Gray reflects on the merits of living for the present. He argues that looking to the future to give meaning to our lives fails to cherish the here and now.
Fri, 23 Dec 11
Duration:
10 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine reflects on the power of music to move, especially at Christmas, when the singing of carols unites singers and listeners alike, in an outpouring of community spirit.
Fri, 16 Dec 11
Duration:
11 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine thinks selective hearing skews the debate over climate change and urges climate scientists to fully engage in a conversation with their sceptical critics.
Fri, 9 Dec 11
Duration:
11 mins
Historian Lisa Jardine recalls the English physicist and novelist C.P. Snow, who served in several important positions in the British civil service, for lessons on the danger of government-by-experts. She says democracy depends on our being able to sustain informed debate about science and economics.
Fri, 2 Dec 11
Duration:
10 mins
The historian Lisa Jardine finds herself converted to the value of family history after the discovery of a tape recording, which shed light on a puzzling family photograph taken in 1906.
Fri, 25 Nov 11
Duration:
10 mins
Cambridge university classicist Prof Mary Beard reflects on the purpose of the much-maligned Oxbridge interview and defends the 'would you rather be an apple or a banana?' school of questioning.
Fri, 18 Nov 11
Duration:
10 mins
With the euro in turmoil, classicist Prof Mary Beard reflects on the very first monetary union, two and a half thousand years ago - ironically masterminded by the Greeks in ancient Athens.
Fri, 11 Nov 11
Duration:
10 mins
Classicist Prof Mary Beard takes a peek at Miss World 2011 and ponders why - unlike her days as a radical feminist teenager - the whole occasion doesn't fill her with fury.
Fri, 4 Nov 11
Duration:
10 mins
From the ingeniously ghastly ways they killed their opponents to their weird forms of dress, classicist Prof Mary Beard reflects on the uncanny similarities between Colonel Gaddafi and the tyrants of ancient Rome. She argues that the similarities were present in life - and in death.
Fri, 28 Oct 11
Duration:
11 mins
Will Self deplores the arms trade and Britain's role in it, including the sale of weapons to authoritarian regimes which abuse human rights. He takes aim at the euphemisms that surround the sector, arguing: the elision of business-speak with the foggy verbiage of warfare is perhaps the most deranging aspect of the contemporary arms trade.
Fri, 21 Oct 11
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self reflects that racism is rarely a sole cause of social injustice but alongside other problems, such as poverty, it can limit people's social mobility. He says: it's not a case of class or family or education or money or race, it's a matter of of class, family, education, money AND race."
Fri, 14 Oct 11
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self praises the beauty of wind turbines and says protests against them spring from a misconceived idyllic view of our already man-made landscape.
Fri, 7 Oct 11
Duration:
11 mins
Will Self sees an urgent need to reform the prison system and deplores what he sees as a lack of political will to tackle its present failings. He says: not only does prison, for the vast majority of those who endure it not work - either as punishment or as rehabilitation - but there is no escaping the conclusion that it functions as a stimulant to crime, rather than its bromide.
Fri, 30 Sep 11
Duration:
10 mins
Will Self attacks the people who join political parties as "donkeys led by donkeys". He criticises the spectacle of party conferences - "a parade of endlessly biddable Dobbins" - and argues that members repeatedly see their principles betrayed by the actions of leaders who are continually fighting over the same patch of turf.
Fri, 23 Sep 11
Duration:
11 mins
Political philosopher Prof John Gray argues that Winston Churchill's appointment as wartime Prime Minister came about through a strange conjunction of events and chance encounters in a couple of days in May 1940. He also ponders whether it was it Churchill's recurring melancholy which made for his greatness.
Fri, 16 Sep 11
Duration:
10 mins
Political philosopher John Gray argues that the scientific and rationalist attack on religion is misguided. Atheist critics do not realise that religion is not generally about personal belief.
Fri, 9 Sep 11
Duration:
10 mins
Political philosopher John Gray considers why the human animal needs contact with something other than itself - and tells the tale of an eminent philosopher who persuaded his cat to become a vegan.
Fri, 2 Sep 11
Duration:
11 mins
Political philosopher John Gray argues that one side-effect of the financial crisis is an increasing number of people who believe that Karl Marx was right. He outlines why Marx's belief that capitalism would lead to revolution - and end bourgeois life - has come true, but not in the way Marx imagined.
Fri, 26 Aug 11
Duration:
10 mins
As recently discovered letters from Kim Philby are published, political philosopher Prof John Gray argues that the spy's life illustrates why we are so poor at predicting the future. Where Philby saw a bright future in Soviet Communism - one that led him to betray friends and colleagues - many in the West hoped for a different utopia in Russia as Communism collapsed. Neither saw their dreams realised.
Fri, 19 Aug 11
Duration:
10 mins
Political philosopher Prof John Gray reflects on the meaning of folly. Taking the myth of the Trojan horse as his starting point, he explores what he sees as the modern day folly unfolding in Europe. He calls on European leaders to reconsider the single European currency - a project he says was always doomed to fail.
Fri, 12 Aug 11
Duration:
11 mins
Alain de Botton reflects on why pessimism is the key to happiness. He argues that the best way to find contentment is to learn to be a bit more gloomy.
Fri, 5 Aug 11
Duration:
11 mins
Alain de Botton takes a witty look at modern parenting. He explains why today's parent simply can't avoid baking biscuits and helping to paint Tyrannosaurus Rex's scales.
Fri, 29 Jul 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton reflects on social climbing and argues that the activity should be seen, at times, as evidence of a natural curiosity about the modern world. He says in the current environment, it is often not idle pleasure-seeking but an attempt to keep oneself in a job.
Fri, 22 Jul 11
Duration:
11 mins
Alain de Botton reflects on our high expectations for modern marriage. He argues that expecting one person to be a good partner, lover and parent is, almost, asking the impossible. He shows how different it all was before the mid eighteenth century.
Fri, 15 Jul 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton on why preparing conversation is as important as preparing a good salad for a summer picnic. He questions why we put so much effort into our social encounters, but leave our conversation to chance. With examples from history and literature, he argues that it is when there are rules to our conversation that our spirit can best be set free.
Fri, 8 Jul 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton muses on the value of exotic animals in helping to give us perspective on our own lives. He explains why he has rediscovered wild animals and suggests a zoo trip as a perfect summer outing.
Fri, 11 Feb 11
Duration:
11 mins
Alain de Botton muses on why a bookish life is a poor preparation for marriage. He says Western literature's obsession with unrequited love means the average love story is of help only to the lovelorn.
Fri, 4 Feb 11
Duration:
11 mins
Alain de Botton asks why the idea of a nanny state is so unappealing. He says complete freedom - left totally to our own devices - is rarely what we want and there is a lot to be said for a paternalistic nudge in the right direction.
Fri, 28 Jan 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton explores the notion that museums are our new churches. But museums - he says - have a lot to learn from churches about getting their message across and appeals for a complete revamp of some of our favourite museums.
Fri, 21 Jan 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton gives a philosopher's take on our ecological dilemmas. He argues that fear of environmental destruction has forever changed our relationship with nature. Far from being a threat, it is now something to be pitied and protected.
Fri, 14 Jan 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton argues that in our mad desire to keep up with what's new, we have lost our ability to concentrate. We are made to feel, he says, that at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties. He suggests that a period of fasting from our obsession with 'news' may be what's needed.
Fri, 7 Jan 11
Duration:
10 mins
Alain de Botton argues that teachers of humanities in universities have only themselves to blame for many of the swingeing cuts they are facing. He says they have failed to explain to the government - and the public at large - why what they do really matters.
Fri, 31 Dec 10
Duration:
10 mins
Joan Bakewell celebrates the art of diary writing by public figures and private individuals whose accounts of everyday life help shape our view of the past.
Fri, 17 Dec 10
Duration:
10 mins
Joan Bakewell contrasts our empathy for fictional characters on stage and screen with a reported increased lack of sympathy for real people in need.
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.
All rural life is here: daily news of food, farming, the countryside and the environment with analysis and context from the BBC's experts in the field. Presented by Anna Hill and Charlotte Smith,…
18 hours ago
15 minutes
The best bits of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2, with star guests, audience interactivity, intelligent conversation and much more.
Thu, 13 Jun 13
42 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.
