Wole Soyinka: Climate of Fear: 2004Wole Soyinka: Climate of Fear: 2004

The Reith Lectures

Alec Broers: The Triumph of Technology: 2005

Technology will Determine the Future of the Human Race

Lord Broers sets out his belief that technology will hold the key to the future.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Alec Broers: The Triumph of Technology: 2005

Collaboration

In his second Reith Lecture, Lord Broers explores the origins of modern technologies.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Alec Broers: The Triumph of Technology: 2005

Innovation and Management

Does modern innovation demand new approaches to product development?

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Alec Broers: The Triumph of Technology: 2005

Nanotechnology and Nanoscience

Lord Broers explores the origins and impact of nanotechnology.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Alec Broers: The Triumph of Technology: 2005

Risk and Responsibility

In his final lecture, Lord Broers explores the responsibilities of the technologist.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning Was Sound

Conductor Daniel Barenboim points a way forward for everyone through music.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning was Sound: 2006

In the Beginning was Sound

Musician and conductor Daniel Barenboim examines the physical phenomenon of sound.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning was Sound: 2006

The Neglected Sense

Daniel Barenboim examines what he calls 'the neglected sense'; the ear.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning was Sound: 2006

The Magic of Music

Daniel Barenboim argues that classical music can and should be accessible to all.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning was Sound: 2006

Meeting in Music

Daniel Barenboim examines how music has the power to bring people together.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Daniel Barenboim: In the Beginning was Sound: 2006

The Power of Music

Daniel Barenboim considers the difference between power and strength in music and in life.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jeffrey Sachs: Bursting at the Seams: 2007

Bursting at the Seams

Jeffrey Sachs delivers the first of five lectures, recorded at The Royal Society in London

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jeffrey Sachs: Bursting at the Seams: 2007

Survival in the Anthropocene

Sachs discusses China's emergence as an economic superpower and the effect on climate.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jeffrey Sachs: Bursting at the Seams: 2007

The Great Convergence

Jeffrey Sachs talks about the need for international cooperation to achieve peace.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jeffrey Sachs: Bursting at the Seams: 2007

Economic Solidarity for a Crowded Planet

Jeffrey Sachs delivers the fourth of five lectures. He considers the challenges of poverty

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jeffrey Sachs: Bursting at the Seams: 2007

Global Politics in a Complex Age

Jeffrey Sachs calls for a new Enlightenment to help make globalisation work for all.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jonathan Spence: Chinese Vistas: 2008

Confucian Ways

Spence reflects on China's most enduring thinker, Confucius.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jonathan Spence: Chinese Vistas: 2008

English Lessons

Spence examines China's relations with the United Kingdom through three centuries.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jonathan Spence: Chinese Vistas: 2008

American Dreams

Spence explores the relationship between China and the US over two centuries.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Jonathan Spence: Chinese Vistas: 2008

The Body Beautiful

Spence discusses how Chinese ideas of sport and athleticism have slowly evolved.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Michael Sandel: A New Citizenship: 2009

Markets and Morals

Prof Michael Sandel considers the expansion and moral limits of markets.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Michael Sandel: A New Citizenship: 2009

Morality in Politics

Michael Sandel asks what role, if any, there is for moral argument in politics.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Michael Sandel: A New Citizenship: 2009

Genetics and Morality

Professor Sandel considers how we should use our ever-increasing scientific knowledge.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Michael Sandel: A New Citizenship: 2009

A New Politics of the Common Good

Professor Sandel makes the case for a moral and civic renewal in democratic politics.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Martin Rees: Scientific Horizons: 2010

The Scientific Citizen

Prof Martin Rees asks who we should trust to explain the risks we face.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Martin Rees: Scientific Horizons: 2010

Surviving the Century

Does science have the answers to help us save our planet?

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Martin Rees: Scientific Horizons: 2010

What We'll Never Know

Professor Martin Rees explains where the limits of our scientific knowledge lie.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Martin Rees: Scientific Horizons: 2010

The Runaway World

Prof Rees calls for the UK to stay at the forefront of scientific research and discovery.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Securing Freedom: 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty

Aung San Suu Kyi explores what freedom means in the first of the 2011 Reith Lectures.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Securing Freedom: 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi: Dissent

Aung San Suu Kyi examines what drives people to dissent in the second Reith Lecture 2011.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Terror

Eliza Manningham-Buller reflects on 9/11 in the first of her Reith Lectures 2011.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Security

Assessing the role of security and intelligence services in a democracy.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Freedom

Ex M15 boss Eliza Manningham-Buller discusses foreign policy in her third Reith Lecture.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Human Hive

Niall Ferguson argues that institutions determine the success or failure of nations.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Darwinian Economy

Niall Ferguson reflects on the causes and lessons of the global financial crisis.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

The Landscape of the Law

Niall Ferguson asks if different systems of law are key to economic success.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Niall Ferguson: The Rule of Law and Its Enemies: 2012

Civil and Uncivil Societies

Niall Ferguson asks what constitutes a vibrant and independent civil society.

58 mins

The Reith Lectures

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Democracy Has Bad Taste

Grayson Perry analyses the complex process of judging quality in contemporary art.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Beating the Bounds

Grayson Perry questions the often-heard assertion that anything can be art.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!

Grayson Perry asks if revolution is a defining idea in art, or has it met its end?

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

I Found Myself in the Art World

Grayson Perry discusses the painful yet rewarding process of becoming an artist.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

Why Do Doctors Fail?

Surgeon and writer Dr Atul Gawande explores the nature of fallibility in medicine.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Century of the System

Atul Gawande calls for a radical rethink of medical systems to transform healthcare.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Problem of Hubris

Atul Gawande calls for a new approach to the 'great unfixables' - ageing and death.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Dr Atul Gawande: The Future of Medicine

The Idea of Wellbeing

Atul Gawande calls for a new focus on systems to ensure doctors work more effectively.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes

Do black holes have no hair?

Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the first of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.

28 mins

The Reith Lectures

Professor Stephen Hawking: Black Holes

Black holes ain't as black as they are painted

Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the second of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.

28 mins

The Reith Lectures

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Creed

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah says we overestimate scripture in our view of faith.

60 mins

The Reith Lectures

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Country

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues against a mythical and romantic view of nationhood

60 mins

The Reith Lectures

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Colour

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah argues for a world free of racial fixations.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Culture

Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah asks us to give up the idea of western civilisation.

58 mins

The Reith Lectures

Hilary Mantel

The Day Is for the Living

Art can bring the dead back to life argues novelist Hilary Mantel.

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

Hilary Mantel

The Iron Maiden

How do we construct our pictures of the past asks Hilary Mantel.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Hilary Mantel

Silence Grips the Town

The story of how historical obsession killed a Polish writer, told by Hilary Mantel.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Hilary Mantel

Can These Bones Live?

Hilary Mantel on how historical fiction can make the past come to life.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Hilary Mantel

Adaptation

Hilary Mantel on how fiction changes when adapted for stage or screen.

43 mins

The Reith Lectures

Michael Sandel on Bertrand Russell

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

21 mins

The Reith Lectures

Anand Menon on Robert Birley

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

15 mins

The Reith Lectures

Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

28 mins

The Reith Lectures

Grayson Perry on Nikolaus Pevsner

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

15 mins

The Reith Lectures

Angela Stent on George Kennan

Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series

14 mins

The Reith Lectures

Margaret MacMillan

War and Humanity

Margaret MacMillan asks if war is an essential part of being human.

45 mins

The Reith Lectures

Margaret MacMillan

Fearing and Loving: Making Sense of the Warrior

Margaret MacMillan explores our complex relationship with the people who go to war.

44 mins

The Reith Lectures

Margaret MacMillan

Civilians and War

Margaret MacMillan examines the role of civilians as supporters and victims of conflict.

60 mins

The Reith Lectures

Margaret MacMillan

Managing the Unmanageable

Margaret MacMillan assesses attempts to constrain and justify conflict.

60 mins

The Reith Lectures

Margaret MacMillan

War's Fatal Attraction

Margaret MacMillan examines how we remember and represent war in art.

28 mins

The Reith Lectures

2019: Jonathan Sumption

1/5. Law's Expanding Empire

Jonathan Sumption argues that the law is taking over the space once occupied by politics

57 mins

The Reith Lectures

2019: Jonathan Sumption

2/5. In Praise of Politics

Jonathan Sumption explains how democracy can accommodate opposing opinions and interests

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

2019: Jonathan Sumption

3/5. Human Rights and Wrongs

Jonathan Sumption argues that courts have usurped power via human rights law

42 mins

The Reith Lectures

2019: Jonathan Sumption

4/5. Rights and the Ideal Constitution

Jonathan Sumption assess the pros and cons of written and unwritten constitutions

42 mins

New Weird Britain

Radical Rural

John Doran seeks out radical music being made in the valleys and plains of Britain.

28 mins

The Afternoon Show

Annie Lennox in conversation with Janice Forsyth discussing feminism, music, touring, her Ted x Glasgow talk and more.

Annie Lennox in conversation with Janice Forsyth discussing feminism, touring and more.

15 mins

A Good Read

Stella Rimington and Terence Blacker

Stella Rimington, Terence Blacker and Kate Mosse discuss their favourite reads.

30 mins

Front Row

Joseph O'Connor, Paula Rego retrospective, The role of the film critic

Joseph O’Connor on his latest novel Shadowplay, about the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker

28 mins

The Arty Show

17/06/2019

A down-to-earth look at all that's arty in Cumbria.

180 mins