Steve Jones: The Language of the Genes: 1991

In God's Image

Dr Steve Jones explores the power and consequences of natural selection.

• 30 mins

Steve Jones: The Language of the Genes: 1991

The Economics of Eden

Steve Jones examines the correlation between genetic change and economic development.

• 30 mins

Steve Jones: The Language of the Genes: 1991

Cousins Under the Skin

Steve Jones examines the ways in which science has been used to support prejudice.

• 30 mins

Steve Jones: The Language of the Genes: 1991

The Evolution of Utopia

Steve Jones argues that humans may be as near to biological utopia as we will ever get.

• 30 mins

Margery Perham: The Colonial Reckoning: 1961

African Nationalism

Margery Perham explores how anti-colonialism led to emancipation in Africa.

• 30 mins

Margery Perham: The Colonial Reckoning: 1961

The Problem of White Settlement

Margery Perham considers the problem of the European colonists.

• 30 mins

Peter Medawar: The Future of Man: 1959

Future of Man

Professor PM Medawar considers the future of human evolution.

• 30 mins

Bernard Lovell: The Individual and the Universe: 1958

The Origin of the Universe 1

Professor Bernard Lovell contemplates the implications of evolutionary theory.

• 30 mins

Bernard Lovell: The Individual and the Universe: 1958

The Origin of the Universe 2

Professor Bernard Lovell explores the continuous creation theory of the universe.

• 30 mins

Cyril Radcliffe: Power and the State: 1951

British Rule In India

Lord Radcliffe examines the early period of British administration in India.

• 30 mins

Oliver Franks: Britain and the Tide of World Affairs: 1954

The Atlantic Bridge

Sir Oliver Franks analyses the political relationship between Britain and the USA.

• 30 mins

Arnold Toynbee: The World and the West: 1952

The Psychology of Encounters

Professor Arnold Toynbee considers the psychological effects of culture.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

Social Cohesion and Human Nature

In the inaugural Reith lecture, Bertrand Russell examines the impulses in human nature.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

Social Cohesion and Government

Bertrand Russell examines the effects of increasing state control.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

The Role of Individuality

Bertrand Russell argues for the importance of individual initiative in a community.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

The Conflict of Technique and Human Nature

Bertrand Russell considers the role of human nature in the development of society.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

Control and Initiative: Their Respective Spheres

Bertrand Russell considers the roles of state control in a progressive society.

• 30 mins

Bertrand Russell: Authority and the Individual: 1948

Individual and Social Ethics

Bertrand Russell argues for personal morality over tribal customs to guide conduct.

• 30 mins

George Kennan: Russia, the Atom and the West: 1957

The Problem of Eastern and Central Europe

Professor George F Kennan considers the effect of Soviet Satellite States in Europe.

• 30 mins

George Kennan: Russia, the Atom and the West: 1957

The Military Problem

Professor George Kennan discusses the military tensions between the Russia and the West.

• 30 mins

Robert Oppenheimer: Science and the Common Understanding: 1953

The Sciences and Man's Community

Professor Robert Oppenheimer explains how human communities resemble atoms.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

The Power of Do-it-Yourself Economics

David Henderson examines the power of do-it-yourself economics.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

Soap Opera in High Places

David Henderson examines the leading elements of do-it-yourself economics.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

Needs, Centralism & Autarchy

David Henderson considers the contrasts between different economic processes.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

Orthodox Economists versus the People

David Henderson explores the role of international trade on economics.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

DIYE plus the Lobbies: Counting the Cost

David Henderson examines how influential economists really are.

• 30 mins

David Henderson: Innocence and Design: 1985

Markets, States & Economics

David Henderson considers the wider context of market states and economics.

• 30 mins

Edward Appleton: Science and the Nation: 1956

Industrial Science

Professor Edward Appleton analyses the functional sciences created for industry.

• 30 mins

Edward Appleton: Science and the Nation: 1956

Science and Education

Professor Edward Appleton considers how to teach science in order to inspire new talent.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

The Geography of Art

Nikolaus Pevsner explores the English national character as expressed in terms of art.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Hogarth and Observed Life

Nikolaus Pevsner considers the 'Englishness' of the artist William Hogarth.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Reynolds and Detachment

Nikolaus Pevsner examines the contradiction at the heart of Sir Joshua Reynolds' work.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Perpendicular England

Nikolaus Pevsner examines 'the most English creation in architecture'.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Blake and the Planing Line

Nikolaus Pevsner places the artist William Blake in the context of an English tradition.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Constable and the Pursuit of Nature

Nikolaus Pevsner examines the flowering of English landscape painting in the 18th century.

• 30 mins

Nikolaus Pevsner: The Englishness of English Art: 1955

Architecture and Planning: The Functional Approach

Nikolaus Pevsner explores how England's town centres have traditionally been planned.

• 30 mins

Edgar Wind: Art and Anarchy: 1960

The Fear of Knowledge

Edgar Wind explores how knowledge allows our aesthetic perception of art to be heightened.

• 30 mins

Edgar Wind: Art and Anarchy: 1960

The Mechanization of Art

Edgar Wind considers how machines have influenced the production and evaluation of art.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

A Great Power in Crisis

Professor Geoffrey Hosking analyses how a 'glasnost' affects the Soviet economy.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

The Return Of The Repressed

Professor Geoffrey Hosking investigates the communal amnesia found in Soviet society.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

A Civil Society In Embryo

Professor Geoffrey Hosking investigates the embryonic state of a civil Soviet society.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

The Flawed Melting Pot

Professor Geoffrey Hosking discusses the national aspirations of the Soviet peoples.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

Religion and the Atheist State

Professor Geoffrey Hosking analyses the détente between the Soviet state and the Church.

• 30 mins

Geoffrey Hosking: The Rediscovery of Politics: 1988

The Paradox of Gorbachev's Reforms

Professor Geoffrey Hosking analyses how democracy can evolve after a totalitarian regime.

• 30 mins

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

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

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Terror

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

• 45 mins

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Security

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

• 43 mins

Securing Freedom: 2011

Eliza Manningham-Buller: Freedom

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

• 43 mins

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

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

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

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

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Democracy has bad taste

The artist Grayson Perry on how to judge quality in contemporary art

• 42 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Beating the Bounds

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

• 42 mins

Grayson Perry: Playing to the Gallery: 2013

Nice Rebellion, Welcome In!

The artist Grayson Perry discusses art and revolution.

• 42 mins

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Creed

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

• 60 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Country

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

• 60 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Colour

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

• 43 mins

Kwame Anthony Appiah: Mistaken Identities

Culture

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

• 58 mins

Hilary Mantel

The Day Is for the Living

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

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

The Iron Maiden

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

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Silence Grips the Town

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

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Can These Bones Live?

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

• 42 mins

Hilary Mantel

Adaptation

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

• 43 mins

Michael Sandel on Bertrand Russell

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

• 21 mins

Anand Menon on Robert Birley

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

• 15 mins

Brian Cox on Robert Oppenheimer

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

• 28 mins

Grayson Perry on Nikolaus Pevsner

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

• 15 mins

Angela Stent on George Kennan

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

• 14 mins

Margaret MacMillan

War and Humanity

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

• 45 mins

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

Margaret MacMillan

Civilians and War

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

• 60 mins

Margaret MacMillan

Managing the Unmanageable

Margaret MacMillan assesses attempts to constrain and justify conflict.

• 60 mins

Margaret MacMillan

War's Fatal Attraction

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

• 28 mins

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

2019: Jonathan Sumption

2/5. In Praise of Politics

Jonathan Sumption explains how democracy can accommodate opposing opinions and interests

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

3/5. Human Rights and Wrongs

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

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

4/5. Rights and the Ideal Constitution

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

• 42 mins

2019: Jonathan Sumption

5/5. Shifting the Foundations

Jonathan Sumption argues against Britain adopting a written constitution

• 42 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Moral to Market Sentiments

Why have financial values come to be considered more important than human ones?

• 42 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Credit Crisis to Resilience

Mark Carney assesses what lessons have been learnt from the 2008 financial crash.

• 57 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Covid Crisis to Renaissance

Mark Carney looks at the tensions between economic and human values during the pandemic.

• 57 mins

2020: Mark Carney - How We Get What We Value

From Climate Crisis to Real Prosperity

Mark Carney argues that the market can be redirected to alleviating climate change.

• 57 mins