The Reith Lectures Podcast
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
Episodes to download
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From Climate Crisis to Real Prosperity—2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value
Wed 23 Dec 2020
4/4 Mark Carney argues that the market can be redirected to alleviating climate change.
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From Covid Crisis to Renaissance—2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value
Wed 16 Dec 2020
3/4 Mark Carney looks at the tensions between economic and human values during the pandemic.
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From Credit Crisis to Resilience—2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value
Wed 9 Dec 2020
2/4 Mark Carney assesses what lessons have been learnt from the 2008 financial crash.
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From Moral to Market Sentiments—2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value
Wed 2 Dec 2020
1/4 Why have financial values come to be considered more important than human ones?
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5/5. Shifting the Foundations—2019: Jonathan Sumption
Tue 18 Jun 2019
Jonathan Sumption argues against Britain adopting a written constitution
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4/5. Rights and the Ideal Constitution—2019: Jonathan Sumption
Tue 11 Jun 2019
Jonathan Sumption assess the pros and cons of written and unwritten constitutions
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3/5. Human Rights and Wrongs—2019: Jonathan Sumption
Tue 4 Jun 2019
Jonathan Sumption argues that courts have usurped power via human rights law
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2/5. In Praise of Politics—2019: Jonathan Sumption
Tue 28 May 2019
Jonathan Sumption explains how democracy can accommodate opposing opinions and interests
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1/5. Law's Expanding Empire—2019: Jonathan Sumption
Tue 21 May 2019
Jonathan Sumption argues that the law is taking over the space once occupied by politics
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War's Fatal Attraction—Margaret MacMillan
Tue 24 Jul 2018
Margaret MacMillan examines how we remember and represent war in art.
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Managing the Unmanageable—Margaret MacMillan
Tue 17 Jul 2018
Margaret MacMillan assesses attempts to constrain and justify conflict.
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Civilians and War—Margaret MacMillan
Tue 10 Jul 2018
Margaret MacMillan examines the role of civilians as supporters and victims of conflict.
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Fearing and Loving: Making Sense of the Warrior—Margaret MacMillan
Tue 3 Jul 2018
Margaret MacMillan explores our complex relationship with the people who go to war.
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War and Humanity—Margaret MacMillan
Tue 26 Jun 2018
Margaret MacMillan asks if war is an essential part of being human.
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Angela Stent on George Kennan
Fri 29 Sep 2017
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
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Grayson Perry on Nikolaus Pevsner
Thu 28 Sep 2017
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
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Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer
Wed 27 Sep 2017
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
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Anand Menon on Robert Birley
Wed 27 Sep 2017
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
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Michael Sandel on Bertrand Russell
Wed 27 Sep 2017
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
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Adaptation—Hilary Mantel
Tue 11 Jul 2017
Hilary Mantel on how fiction changes when adapted for stage or screen.
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Can These Bones Live?—Hilary Mantel
Tue 4 Jul 2017
Hilary Mantel on how historical fiction can make the past come to life.
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Silence Grips the Town—Hilary Mantel
Tue 27 Jun 2017
The story of how historical obsession killed a Polish writer, told by Hilary Mantel.
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The Iron Maiden—Hilary Mantel
Tue 20 Jun 2017
How do we construct our pictures of the past asks Hilary Mantel.
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The Day Is for the Living—Hilary Mantel
Tue 13 Jun 2017
Art can bring the dead back to life argues novelist Hilary Mantel.
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Culture—Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities
Tue 8 Nov 2016
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah asks us to give up the idea of western civilisation.
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Colour—Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities
Tue 1 Nov 2016
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations.
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Country—Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities
Tue 25 Oct 2016
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues against a mythical and romantic view of nationhood
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Creed—Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities
Tue 18 Oct 2016
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah says we overestimate scripture in our view of faith.
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Black holes ain't as black as they are painted—Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes
Tue 1 Dec 2015
Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the second of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.
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Do black holes have no hair?—Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes
Tue 24 Nov 2015
Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the first of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.
Reith Lectures 2020
Find out about this year’s lectures by Mark Carney.
New to the Reith Lectures? Here’s where to start
Four lectures recommended by the series producer.
