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In Our Time — History
In Our Time

A world-class seminar, every week.

In Our Time explores the ideas, people and discoveries that have shaped our world, spanning history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, art and culture.

On Thursdays, hear brand-new episodes hosted by Misha Glenny and leading academics. On Mondays, discover Misha’s Archive Picks: classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, originally presented by Melvyn Bragg.

Recent episodes have featured topics as wide-ranging as the Roman Arena, Handel’s Messiah, John Keats, On Liberty and the Mariana Trench, bringing expert insight to pivotal events, influential thinkers and remarkable discoveries.

Throughout the archive, you can hear discussions on historical figures such as Marie Antoinette, Nefertiti, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein; explore great works of literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the poetry of John Donne; uncover the stories behind cultural masterpieces including Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel; or journey from Jupiter and the death of stars, to the theories of Plato and Aristotle.

In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.

Copyright: © (C) BBC 2025

Latest Episodes:

Hildegard of Bingen Jun 26, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss one of the most remarkable figures of the Middle Ages, Hildegard of Bingen. The abbess of a Benedictine convent, Hildegard experienced a series of mystical visions which she documented in her writings. She was an influential person in the religious world and much of her extensive correspondence with popes, monarchs and other important figures survives. Hildegard was also celebrated for her wide-ranging scholarship, which as well as theology covered the natural world, science and medicine. Officially recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church in 2012, Hildegard is also one of the earliest known composers. Since their rediscovery in recent decades her compositions have been widely recorded and performed.

With:

Miri Rubin Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History and Head of the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London

William Flynn Lecturer in Medieval Latin at the Institute for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds

Almut Suerbaum Professor of Medieval German and Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford.

Producer: Thomas Morris.

The Philosophy of Solitude Jun 19, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophy of solitude. The state of being alone can arise for many different reasons: imprisonment, exile or personal choice. It can be prompted by religious belief, personal necessity or a philosophical need for solitary contemplation. Many thinkers have dealt with the subject, from Plato and Aristotle to Hannah Arendt. It's a philosophical tradition that takes in medieval religious mystics, the work of Montaigne and Adam Smith, and the great American poets of solitude Thoreau and Emerson.

With:

Melissa Lane Professor of Politics at Princeton University

Simon Blackburn Professor of Philosophy at the New College of the Humanities and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

John Haldane Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Robert Boyle Jun 12, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Robert Boyle, a pioneering scientist and a founder member of the Royal Society. Born in Ireland in 1627, Boyle was one of the first natural philosophers to conduct rigorous experiments, laid the foundations of modern chemistry and derived Boyle's Law, describing the physical properties of gases. In addition to his experimental work he left a substantial body of writings about philosophy and religion; his piety was one of the most important factors in his intellectual activities, prompting a celebrated dispute with his contemporary Thomas Hobbes.

With:

Simon Schaffer Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge

Michael Hunter Emeritus Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London

Anna Marie Roos Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Lincoln

Producer: Thomas Morris.

The Bluestockings Jun 05, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Bluestockings. Around the middle of the eighteenth century a small group of intellectual women began to meet regularly to discuss literature and other matters, inviting some of the leading thinkers of the day to take part in informal salons. In an age when women were not expected to be highly educated, the Bluestockings were sometimes regarded with suspicion or even hostility. But prominent members such as Elizabeth Montagu - known as 'the Queen of the Bluestockings', and author of an influential essay about Shakespeare - and the classicist Elizabeth Carter were highly regarded for their scholarship. Their accomplishments led to far greater acceptance of women as the intellectual equal of men, and furthered the cause of female education.

With:

Karen O'Brien Vice-Principal and Professor of English at King's College London

Elizabeth Eger Reader in English Literature at King's College London

Nicole Pohl Reader in English Literature at Oxford Brookes University

Producer: Thomas Morris.

The Talmud May 29, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history and contents of the Talmud, one of the most important texts of Judaism. The Talmud was probably written down over a period of several hundred years, beginning in the 2nd century. It contains the authoritative text of the traditional Jewish oral law, and also an account of early Rabbinic discussion of, and commentary on, these laws. In later centuries scholars wrote important commentaries on these texts, which remain central to most strands of modern Judaism.

With:

Philip Alexander Emeritus Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester

Rabbi Norman Solomon Former Lecturer at the Oxford Centre for Jewish and Hebrew Studies

Laliv Clenman Lecturer in Rabbinic Literature at Leo Baeck College and a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London

Producer: Thomas Morris.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam May 22, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. In 1859 the poet Edward FitzGerald published a long poem based on the verses of the 11th-century Persian scholar Omar Khayyam. Not a single copy was sold in the first few months after the work's publication, but after it came to the notice of members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood it became enormously influential. Although only loosely based on the original, the Rubaiyat made Khayyam the best-known Eastern poet in the English-speaking world. FitzGerald's version is itself one of the most admired works of Victorian literature, praised and imitated by many later writers.

With:

Charles Melville Professor of Persian History at the University of Cambridge

Daniel Karlin Winterstoke Professor of English Literature at the University of Bristol

Kirstie Blair Professor of English Studies at the University of Stirling

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Photosynthesis May 15, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss photosynthesis, the process by which green plants and many other organisms use sunlight to synthesise organic molecules. Photosynthesis arose very early in evolutionary history and has been a crucial driver of life on Earth. In addition to providing most of the food consumed by organisms on the planet, it is also responsible for maintaining atmospheric oxygen levels, and is thus almost certainly the most important chemical process ever discovered.

With:

Nick Lane Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London

Sandra Knapp Botanist at the Natural History Museum

John Allen Professor of Biochemistry at Queen Mary, University of London.

Producer: Thomas Morris

The Sino-Japanese War May 08, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45. After several years of rising tension, and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, full-scale war between Japan and China broke out in the summer of 1937. The Japanese captured many major Chinese ports and cities, but met with fierce resistance, despite internal political divisions on the Chinese side. When the Americans entered the war following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese found themselves fighting on several fronts simultaneously, and finally capitulated in August 1945. This notoriously brutal conflict left millions dead and had far-reaching consequences for international relations in Asia.

With:

Rana Mitter Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford

Barak Kushner Senior Lecturer in Japanese History at the University of Cambridge

Tehyun Ma Lecturer in Chinese History at the University of Exeter

Producer: Thomas Morris.

The Tale of Sinuhe May 01, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The Tale of Sinuhe, one of the most celebrated works of ancient Egyptian literature. Written around four thousand years ago, the poem narrates the story of an Egyptian official who is exiled to Syria before returning to his homeland some years later. The number of versions of the poem, which is known from several surviving papyri and inscriptions, suggests that it was seen as an important literary work; although the story is set against a backdrop of real historical events, most scholars believe that the poem is a work of fiction.

With:

Richard Parkinson Professor of Egyptology and Fellow of Queen's College at the University of Oxford

Roland Enmarch Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool.

Aidan Dodson Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol

Producer: Thomas Morris.

Tristram Shandy Apr 24, 2014

Show notes

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy. Sterne's comic masterpiece is an extravagantly inventive work which was hugely popular when first published in 1759. Its often bawdy humour, and numerous digressions, are combined with bold literary experiment, such as a page printed entirely black to mark the death of one of the novel's characters. Dr Johnson wrote that "Nothing odd will do long. Tristram Shandy did not last" - but two hundred and fifty years after the book's publication, Tristram Shandy remains one of the most influential and widely admired books of the eighteenth century.

With:

Judith Hawley Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London

John Mullan Professor of English at University College London

Mary Newbould Bowman Supervisor in English at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

Producer: Thomas Morris.

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