20th century
159 episodes
A Room of One's Own
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Virginia Woolf's highly influential essay about women and literature: "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."
30 March 2023
Featuring: Hermione Lee, Michèle Barrett, Alexandra Harris
Alan Turing
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of the founder of computer science - whose work helped crack enemy codes in WW2 - and his exploration of artificial intelligence.
15 October 2020
Featuring: Leslie Ann Goldberg, Simon Schaffer, Andrew Hodges
SciencePeople convicted for homosexuality in the United Kingdom, People who have received posthumous pardonsEnglish inventorsLGBTQ mathematicians, LGBTQ philosophersComputer designersTheoretical biologists20th-century English philosophersGay scientistsSuicides by cyanide poisoning20th-century atheistsEnglish people of Scottish descentCastrated peopleGay academicsEnglish people of Irish descentEnglish logicians20th-century English LGBTQ people20th-century English mathematiciansFellows of the Royal SocietyEnglish atheists20th centuryComputationMathematicsAlbert Einstein
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Einstein's impact on the world of physics after his 'miraculous year' in 1905 and why he went on to become so very famous after World War One.
14 September 2023
Featuring: Richard Staley, Diana Kormos Buchwald, John Heilbron
ScienceJewish German physicists, Jewish scientistsAmerican humanistsAmerican male non-fiction writersGerman male non-fiction writersEuropean democratic socialistsNaturalised citizens of AustriaAlbert EinsteinGerman agnosticsAcademic staff of ETH ZurichMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesGerman Ashkenazi JewsRecipients of Franklin MedalStateless peopleNobel laureates in Physics20th-century American male writersJewish socialistsWinners of the Max Planck MedalJewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United StatesPhilosophers of mathematicsNaturalized citizens of the United StatesAmerican Ashkenazi Jews, American Zionists, American agnostics, German ZionistsPhilosophers of science20th-century American inventors, Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences20th-century American engineersJewish agnosticsMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyPhilosophy of sciencePantheistsAnti-nationalists20th centuryGermanyMathematicsAldous Huxley's Brave New World
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Aldous Huxley's dystopian 1932 novel Brave New World and its vision of a future of test tube babies, free love and round-the-clock surveillance.
9 April 2009
Featuring: David Bradshaw, Daniel Pick, Michèle Barrett
CultureEnglish agnosticsEnglish male novelistsEnglish emigrants to the United StatesAlumni of Balliol College, OxfordBritish philosophers of culture, English pacifistsEnglish science fiction writersEnglish essayists20th-century British essayists20th-century mysticsPeople educated at Eton CollegeEnglish male poetsEnglish short story writersJames Tait Black Memorial Prize recipientsAnti-consumeristsPhilosophers of technologyEnglish male short story writersMale essayistsNew Age predecessorsBritish philosophers of mindLost Generation writersEnglish satiristsDuke University faculty20th-century English novelists20th-century English philosophersEnglish travel writersPhilosophers of literature20th centuryAlfred Russel Wallace
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian pioneer of evolutionary theory Alfred Russel Wallace.
21 March 2013
Featuring: Steve Jones, George Beccaloni, Ted Benton
HistoryRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish botanical illustrators19th-century English scientists20th-century British biologists19th-century British biologists, 19th-century English naturalists, British evolutionary biologists, Fellows of the Linnean Society of London, Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, Fellows of the Zoological Society of LondonGeorgistsEnglish activistsMembers of the Order of MeritEnglish people of Scottish descentEnglish socialists20th-century English non-fiction writersPeople from MonmouthshireRoyal Medal winnersVictorian writersFellows of the Royal Society19th-century British writersBritish deistsCharles Darwin19th century20th centuryAnimalsAnarchism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Anarchism and why its political ideas became synonymous with chaos and disorder.
7 December 2006
Featuring: John Keane, Ruth Kinna, Peter Marshall
Anna Akhmatova
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poetry of Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) whose work was banned under Stalin and who lived under constant threat of the gulags.
18 January 2018
Featuring: Katharine Hodgson, Alexandra Harrington, Michael Basker
Archaea
Misha Glenny and guests discuss how, after the first cells on earth branched into bacteria and archaea, some of those microorganisms recombined to make our complex cells.
12 March 2026
Featuring: Christa Schleper, Thorsten Allers, Buzz Baum
Architecture in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the rise in so-called spectacular architecture at the end of the 20th century and examines the new challenges faced by architecture in the 21st century.
25 March 1999
Featuring: Daniel Libeskind, Richard Weston
Atrocity in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the conditions that allow man’s inhumanity to man on the scale seen in the 20th century, and explores whether a scientific study of the mind can ever uncover the roots of evil.
28 October 1999
Featuring: Jonathan Glover, Gwen Adshead
Auden
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss WH Auden's life and poetry from Europe before WWII, reflecting on his travels to Spain, China and Germany and the rise of totalitarianism.
19 December 2019
Featuring: Mark Ford, Janet Montefiore, Jeremy Noel-Tod
CultureEnglish literary criticsAmerican literary critics, American male dramatists and playwrightsEnglish emigrants to the United StatesAmerican male essayists, American male poets20th-century English non-fiction writersAmerican lecturersMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersOxford Professors of Poetry20th-century English male writersAmerican male non-fiction writersBritish male essayistsEnglish essayistsAlumni of Christ Church, OxfordFormalist poetsEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsEnglish male poetsEnglish LGBTQ poets20th-century American essayistsGay dramatists and playwrights, Gay poets20th-century American male writersAnglican poetsModernist theatreLGBTQ AnglicansAmerican LGBTQ poetsGay academicsNaturalized citizens of the United States20th-century English poetsEnglish male non-fiction writers20th centuryBacteriophages
Melvyn Bragg and guests how the growing understanding of the viruses that kill bacteria is helping with the tracing of diseases and their potential cure.
4 July 2024
Featuring: Martha Clokie, James Ebdon, Claas Kirchhelle
Bauhaus
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the short-lived German combined art and crafts school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 which became highly influential around the world.
10 November 2022
Featuring: Robin Schuldenfrei, Alan Powers, Michael White
Behavioural ecology
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss behavioural ecology, the scientific study of animal behaviour in light of Darwin's theory of evolution.
11 December 2014
Featuring: Steve Jones, Rebecca Kilner, John Krebs
Bergson and Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Henri Bergson on how our experience of time as a duration differs from the scientific measurement of time, and why that matters.
9 May 2019
Featuring: Keith Ansell-Pearson, Emily Thomas, Mark Sinclair
PhilosophyWriters from ParisFrench Nobel laureatesAcademic staff of the Collège de FrancePhilosophers of languageLycée Condorcet alumniMetaphysicians19th-century French writers19th-century French philosophersPhilosophers of mindÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni20th-century French philosophersPhenomenologistsNobel laureates in LiteratureFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench epistemologistsJewish philosophers19th century20th centuryFranceLanguageMedicineBertrand Russell
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the influential 20th-century British thinker Bertrand Russell, widely regarded as one of the founders of Analytical philosophy.
6 December 2012
Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Mike Beaney, Hilary Greaves
PhilosophyBritish free speech activistsBritish historians of philosophyEnglish logiciansUniversal basic income writersEuropean democratic socialistsMetaphysics writersMembers of the Order of MeritEnglish anti-fascists19th-century atheistsBritish philosophers of educationEmpiricistsEnglish humanistsFree love advocatesGeorgistsBritish critics of religionsEnglish Nobel laureatesNobel laureates in LiteratureTheorists on Western civilizationBritish political philosophersPhilosophers of social scienceEnglish people of Scottish descentEnglish socialistsEnglish male non-fiction writersConsequentialistsFellows of the Royal SocietyLinguistic turnPhilosophers of sexualityRhetoric theoristsMetaphilosophersPhilosophers of loveEnglish political philosophersCritics of work and the work ethicEnglish people of Welsh descent20th-century atheists20th-century English mathematiciansPresidents of the Aristotelian SocietyUtilitariansBritish atheism activistsWriters about communismLogicians19th-century English essayistsSecular humanistsPhilosophers of economicsIntellectual historians, University of Chicago facultyOntologistsEnglish scepticsFreethought writersCritics of the Catholic Church19th-century English philosophersBritish critics of ChristianityPeople from MonmouthshireAristotelian philosophersJerusalem Prize recipientsPhilosophers of lawEnglish prisoners and detaineesBritish philosophers of languageSet theoristsPhilosophers of technologyBritish consciousness researchers and theoristsPhilosophers of mathematicsBritish philosophers of mind20th-century English philosophers19th-century English mathematiciansAnti-nationalistsPhilosophers of literatureEnglish agnosticsBritish philosophers of culture, English pacifistsWriters about globalizationWriters about religion and scienceFellows of Trinity College, CambridgeEnglish essayistsAnalytic philosophersAcademics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of scienceWriters about activism and social changeAlumni of Trinity College, CambridgePhilosophers of historyBritish philosophers of religionBritish ethicistsAtheist philosophersUniversity of California, Los Angeles facultyBritish philosophers of logicEnglish political writers19th century20th centuryEconomicsLanguageMathematicsBohemianism
Melvyn Bragg discusses how a 19th century Parisian artistic philosophy re-emerged in the 20th century in the drawing rooms of Bloomsbury and Chelsea, as a lifestyle choice for a middle-class clique.
9 October 2003
Featuring: Hermione Lee, Virginia Nicholson, Graham Robb
Camus
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Nobel Prize winning Algerian-French writer and existentialist philosopher Albert Camus.
3 January 2008
Featuring: Peter Dunwoodie, David Walker, Christina Howells
Culture20th-century French dramatists and playwrightsFrench socialistsPhilosophers of pessimismFrench male essayistsLegion of Honour refusals20th-century atheistsFrench anarchists, French anti-capitalists, French anti-fascists20th-century French philosophersAnti-Stalinist leftModernist writers20th-century French male writers20th-century French novelistsAbsurdist writersFrench humanistsNobel laureates in LiteratureFrench Nobel laureatesAtheist philosophersLibertarian socialistsPhilosophers of death20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writersExistentialistsFrench atheists20th centuryFranceChekhov
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov.
14 March 2013
Featuring: Catriona Kelly, Cynthia Marsh, Rosamund Bartlett
CulturePositivistsModernist theatre19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian Empire20th-century deaths from tuberculosisRussian atheists19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire, 19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire, 20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Russian short story writers, Novelists from the Russian Empire, Philanthropists from the Russian Empire, Russian male dramatists and playwrights, Russian male novelists, Russian opinion journalists, Russian-language writersBurials at Novodevichy Cemetery19th century20th centuryLanguageRussiaChildhood
Melvyn Bragg examines how perceptions of childhood have changed during the 20th century and discusses whether a clear distinction can always be made between childhood and adulthood.
9 December 1999
Featuring: Christina Hardyment, Theodore Zeldin
Citizen Kane
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Orson Welles' 1941 film, long celebrated as one of the greatest ever made, which went on to influence generations of film-makers
15 December 2022
Featuring: Stella Bruzzi, Ian Christie, John David Rhodes
Colette
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the novels and life of one of the most remarkable writers of the last century, whose Claudine series was first published under her husband's name.
27 January 2022
Featuring: Diana Holmes, Michèle Roberts, Belinda Jack
CultureFrench bisexual women, French bisexual writersBisexual memoirists19th-century French women writersGrand Officers of the Legion of HonourBisexual journalistsFrench women novelistsBurials at Père Lachaise Cemetery19th-century French LGBTQ people, 20th-century French LGBTQ people20th-century French novelists20th-century French women writersBisexual novelists19th-century French novelistsBisexual women writersFrench LGBTQ novelists19th century20th centuryFranceCrystallography
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history and achievements of crystallography, a scientific discipline that has revolutionised our understanding of the world.
29 November 2012
Featuring: Judith Howard, Chris Hammond, Mike Glazer
Cultural rights in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg examines the impact of globalisation on human rights. How possible is it to place one set of societal traditions within another and what does that do to the identity of both groups?
10 December 1998
Featuring: Homi Bhabha, John N. Gray
Dadaism
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the spirit of the art phenomenon that began in Zurich in 1916 inspired by what the Dadas saw as the absurdity of the war then consuming the world.
19 March 2026
Featuring: Dawn Ades, Ruth Hemus, Stephen Forcer
Death in Venice
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mann's infamous novella of 1912, exploring the link between creativity and self-destruction.
15 June 2023
Featuring: Karolina Watroba, Erica Wickerson, Sean Williams
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Bonhoeffer's ideas about Christian ethics, the role of the Church in a secular world, and his attempts to overthrow Hitler.
27 September 2018
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Eleanor McLaughlin, Tom Greggs
ReligionChristian humanistsAnglican saintsProtestants in the German Resistance20th-century German philosophersPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarChristian ethicistsHumboldt University of Berlin alumniChristian poetsExecuted philosophersChristian radicalsLutheran saints20th centuryGermanyDorothy Hodgkin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work, ideas and life of the woman who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin.
3 October 2019
Featuring: Georgina Ferry, Judith Howard, Patricia Fara
ScienceWomen Nobel laureatesRoyal Medal winnersMembers of the Order of MeritAlumni of Somerville College, OxfordForeign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences20th-century British biologists20th-century British chemists, British biophysicists, British crystallographersRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtRecipients of the Dalton MedalEnglish Nobel laureatesFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesBritish scientists with disabilitiesRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish Nobel laureatesForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesFellows of Somerville College, OxfordAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeFellows of the Royal SocietyBritish biochemistsNobel laureates in Chemistry20th centuryDylan Thomas
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the works and ideas of this celebrated Welsh poet, from his teenage success to his tours of America via Under Milk Wood.
16 June 2022
Featuring: Nerys Williams, John Goodby, Leo Mellor
Ediacara Biota
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ediacara Biota: the Precambrian beings that some consider the first complex multicellular life forms.
9 July 2009
Featuring: Richard Corfield, Martin Brasier, Rachel Wood
Edith Wharton
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Wharton's novels, which explore the world of the privileged in America's Gilded Age, in which she lived, written in hindsight and with little mercy.
4 October 2018
Featuring: Hermione Lee, Bridget Bennett, Laura Rattray
Culture19th-century American poets20th-century American women writersGerman–English translatorsGilded Age19th-century American women writers, American women poetsKnights of the Legion of Honour19th-century American novelists, Novelists from New York (state)19th-century American short story writers, Ghost story writersMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersAmerican autobiographers19th century20th centuryAmericaElizabeth Anscombe
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential thinker who rejuvenated moral philosophy in the postwar period.
22 June 2023
Featuring: Rachael Wiseman, Constantine Sandis, Roger Teichmann
PhilosophyVirtue ethicistsConverts to Roman CatholicismAnalytic philosophersBertrand Russell Professors of PhilosophyDeaths from kidney failure in the United KingdomChristian ethicistsPresidents of the Aristotelian SocietyBritish philosophers of languageFellows of the British AcademyBritish philosophers of mind20th-century British philosophersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRoman Catholic writersBritish women philosophersFellows of Somerville College, OxfordWittgensteinian philosophersAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeAction theoristsCatholic philosophersCambridge University Moral Sciences Club20th centuryLanguageEmmy Noether
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and achievements of one of the great 20th-century mathematicians.
24 January 2019
Featuring: Colva Roney-Dougal, David Berman, Elizabeth Mansfield
Feminism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the rise of Feminism and the subsequent empowerment of women. What have been the most lasting changes for women in the last century and what is there still left to achieve?
7 January 1999
Featuring: Helena Cronin, Germaine Greer
Fernando Pessoa
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the works and life of one of Portugal's greatest poets, who wrote in his own name and in those of several rounded characters he created.
3 December 2020
Featuring: Cláudia Pazos-Alonso, Juliet Perkins, Paulo de Medeiros
Frankenstein
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Shelley's story of Victor Frankenstein and the creature he makes from cadavers and then rejects - only for the monster to take his revenge
16 May 2019
Featuring: Karen O'Brien, Michael Rossington, Jane Thomas
CultureEpistolary novelsCensored booksBritish novels adapted into playsFrame stories1818 British novelsDisability in the artsWorks published anonymouslyNovels adapted into balletsNovels set in GermanyNovels adapted into comicsNovels adapted into video gamesBritish science fiction novelsNovels adapted into radio programsBritish Gothic novelsBritish novels adapted into filmsNovels set in the 18th centuryNovels about revengeVegetarianism in fictionBritish novels adapted into television shows18th century20th centuryBookFrida Kahlo
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work, life and times of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
9 July 2015
Featuring: Patience Schell, Valerie Fraser, Alan Knight
Fritz Lang
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Fritz Lang, the director behind films such as Metropolis, Mabuse the Gambler and M in Weimar Germany and Fury and The Big Heat in Hollywood.
30 December 2021
Featuring: Stella Bruzzi, Joe McElhaney, Iris Luppa
Culture20th-century American male writersCommanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of GermanyAustrian people of Jewish descentAustrian atheistsEyepatch wearersNaturalized citizens of the United StatesAustro-Hungarian military personnel of World War IAustrian emigrants to Germany20th centuryWarFundamentalism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the roots, consequences and the 20th century rise of religious fundamentalism, and examines whether it could ever develop into being politically tolerant.
22 April 1999
Featuring: Karen Armstrong, Tariq Ali
Genetics
Melvyn Bragg discusses the development of the science of genetics, from the early work of Gregor Mendel to modern research on genes and heredity.
13 December 2001
Featuring: Steve Jones, Richard Dawkins, Linda Partridge
Good and Evil
Melvyn Bragg examines what the discoveries of Darwin and our knowledge of the true physiological nature and history of man has done for us in terms understanding our concepts of good and evil.
1 April 1999
Featuring: Leszek Kołakowski, Galen Strawson
Grand Unified Theory
Melvyn Bragg examines 20th century’s physics’ search for one theory that can explain the behaviour of the smallest particle as well as the movements of the largest planets in the Universe.
24 February 2000
Featuring: Brian Greene, Martin Rees
Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the mathematician Kurt Godel and his work at the very limits of maths.
9 October 2008
Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, John D. Barrow, Philip Welch
Hannah Arendt
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Hannah Arendt who examined totalitarianism and politics and, when covering the Eichmann trial, explored 'the banality of evil'.
2 February 2017
Featuring: Lyndsey Stonebridge, Frisbee Sheffield, Robert Eaglestone
PhilosophyScholars of antisemitismAmerican philosophers of educationThe New School facultyPhilosophers of cultureExilliteratur writersMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersPrinceton University facultyGerman women philosophersGerman agnostics20th-century German women writers20th-century German non-fiction writersJewish existentialistsGerman Ashkenazi JewsAmerican political philosophersPhilosophy writers20th-century American essayistsGerman political philosophersPhilosophers of lawPolitical philosophersJewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United StatesPhilosophers of technologyGerman ethicists, German philosophers of educationAmerican Ashkenazi Jews, American Zionists, American agnostics, German ZionistsFellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences20th-century German philosophersPhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of history20th-century American women writersHeidelberg University alumni20th-century American philosophersJewish agnosticsUniversity of Marburg alumniSocial philosophersWomen religious writersIntellectual historians, University of Chicago facultyExistentialists20th centuryAmericaGermanyHayek's The Road to Serfdom
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hayek's 1944 book warning that the centralised planning of the wartime economy, if extended into peacetime, could lead to tyranny.
17 October 2024
Featuring: Bruce Caldwell, Melissa Lane, Ben Jackson
Hell
Melvyn Bragg discusses the idea of Hell and its changing appearance in literature and the visual arts from Ancient Egypt to today.
21 December 2006
Featuring: Martin Palmer, Margaret Kean, Neil MacGregor
History's relevance in the 20th century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the relevance of the study of history in the 20th century and examines the place of imagination in the writing of it. What place does myth have in shaping our history?
3 December 1998
Featuring: Simon Schama, Lady Antonia Fraser
Hitler in History
Melvyn Bragg examines the debate between various historiographical theories. How do Intentionalist, Structralist and Marxist views of history explain events in Nazi Germany?
5 October 2000
Featuring: Ian Kershaw, Niall Ferguson, Mary Fulbrook
HistoryGerman critics of ChristianityPeople with Parkinson's diseaseGerman eugenicistsFormer Roman Catholics20th-century German non-fiction writersAustrian emigrants to Germany20th-century presidents of Germany, German anti-communists, Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st classHeads of state who died by suicideArtists who died by suicideGerman revolutionaries20th-century German male writers20th centuryMedicineIris Murdoch
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the growing prominence of the philosophy of one of the most celebrated novelists of the 20th century, who developed her ideas in response to WWII.
21 October 2021
Featuring: Anil Gomes, Anne Rowe, Miles Leeson
CulturePhilosophers of cultureBritish historians of philosophyVirtue ethicistsAnalytic philosophersPlatonistsBritish atheists20th-century atheists20th-century British non-fiction writersBritish socialistsAlumni of Somerville College, OxfordPhilosophy writersJames Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients20th-century British philosophersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophers of historyBritish ethicistsAtheist philosophersBritish women philosophersAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeBritish parodistsBritish people of Irish descentPhilosophers of literature20th centuryItalo Calvino
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of Invisible Cities, Cosmicomics and If on a Winter's Night a Traveller and collector and translator of Italian fables.
21 November 2024
Featuring: Guido Bonsaver, Jennifer Burns, Beatrice Sica
Jorge Luis Borges
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the Argentinian master of the short story, Jorge Luis Borges.
4 January 2007
Featuring: Edwin Williamson, Efraín Kristal, Evelyn Fishburn
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of GermanyPostmodern writers, Recipients of the Legion of HonourPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of timeSpanish-language poetsPhilosophers of mindSurrealist writersBlind poetsLiteracy and society theoristsPhilosophers of pessimismMetaphysics writers20th-century mysticsMetaphor theoristsSonneteersPhilosophers of artJerusalem Prize recipientsMagic realism writersTrope theoristsBlind writersPhilosophers of identityLecturersPhilosophers of mathematics20th-century translatorsHaiku poetsLiterary theoristsAnthologistsAphorists20th-century essayistsPhilosophers of literature20th centuryLanguageMathematicsJoseph Roth
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the life and works of the author of Radetzky March who wrote of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after WW1 and the rise of nationalism.
7 May 2026
Featuring: Helen Chambers, Deborah Holmes, Jon Hughes
Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce's groundbreaking 1916 novel about growing up in Catholic Ireland.
26 November 2009
Featuring: Roy Foster, Katherine Mullin, Jeri Johnson
CultureIrish satirists20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsModernist writersTrope theoristsHumor researchersIrish expatriates in FranceIrish male dramatists and playwrightsMetaphor theoristsDeaths from ulcersIrish male novelistsSurrealist writersEyepatch wearersModernism20th-century letter writersIrony theorists20th-century Irish novelists, 20th-century Irish short story writers, Irish male short story writersIrish male poetsLiterary theorists20th centuryIrelandJung
Melvyn Bragg discusses the mind and theories of the psychiatrist Carl Jung who wrote about the concepts of 'introverted' and 'extroverted', and the significance of the collective history of Mankind.
2 December 2004
Featuring: Brett Kahr, Ronald Hayman, Andrew Samuels
Kafka's The Trial
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Franz Kafka's novel The Trial.
27 November 2014
Featuring: Elizabeth Boa, Steve Connor, Ritchie Robertson
CultureMagic realism writersModernist writersJewish socialistsJewish atheistsJewish existentialistsAustrian atheistsAbsurdist writers20th-century deaths from tuberculosisAphoristsFabulists20th-century Austrian male writers, Jewish novelists, Jews from Austria-Hungary, Writers from Austria-HungaryCharles University alumni20th centuryLawKarl Barth
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Swiss theologian who aimed to put God and Christ at the heart of Christianity when he saw others making humanity and self-revelation its focus.
7 December 2023
Featuring: Stephen Plant, Christiane Tietz, Tom Greggs
ReligionDuke University facultyAcademic staff of the University of GöttingenProtestants in the German ResistanceFilioqueChristian ethicistsPeople associated with the University of BaselExistentialist theologians20th-century Swiss writersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesSystematic theologians20th centuryTheologyLanguage and the Mind
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether the formation of language is innate or cultural and examines how ideas about language are being radically challenged and altered in the 20th century.
11 February 1999
Featuring: Jonathan Miller, Steven Pinker
Lawrence of Arabia
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Lawrence of Arabia, the legend and its context, an idea drawn from over 1200 suggested by listeners this autumn
5 December 2019
Featuring: Hussein Omar, Catriona Pennell, Neil Faulkner
Lenin
Melvyn Bragg investigates what drove the Soviet leader Lenin, and enabled him to develop a model to export communism and build an original political system that remained intact for over seventy years.
16 March 2000
Featuring: Robert Service, Vitali Vitaliev
Philosophy19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire, 20th-century Russian philosophers, Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Switzerland, Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom, Russian communists, Russian revolutionariesSocialist feministsRussian male journalistsAnti-monarchistsMarxist theorists20th-century atheists19th-century pseudonymous writersVladimir Lenin19th-century atheistsLeaders who took power by coupAnti-nationalistsCritics of religionsPolitical philosophersAnti-imperialistsRussian atheistsEmigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany, Political party foundersAtheist philosophersNobility from the Russian Empire20th-century pseudonymous writers19th century20th centuryRussiaLi Shizhen
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work of the Chinese doctor who investigated natural remedies, under the Ming, and compiled the greatest collection of treatments of his time
28 November 2019
Featuring: Craig Clunas, Anne Gerritsen, Roel Sterckx
Lise Meitner
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the only woman to have an atomic element named solely after her (Meitnerium), in recognition of her role in solving the question of nuclear fission.
8 May 2025
Featuring: Jess Wade, Frank Close, Steven Bramwell
ScienceMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesJewish women scientistsWinners of the Max Planck MedalRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtAustrian LutheransDiscoverers of chemical elementsForeign members of the Royal SocietyConverts to Lutheranism from JudaismRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesWomen nuclear physicists20th centuryLiterary Modernism
Melvyn Bragg discusses literary modernism. The literary movement that embraced Joyce, DH Lawrence, TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf in the early decades of the twentieth century.
26 April 2001
Featuring: John Carey, Laura Marcus, Valentine Cunningham
Logical Positivism
Melvyn Bragg and guests including Barry Smith discuss Logical Positivism, the radical philosophy of the Vienna Circle.
2 July 2009
Featuring: Barry Smith, Nancy Cartwright, Thomas Uebel
Lévi-Strauss
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss.
23 May 2013
Featuring: Adam Kuper, Christina Howells, Vincent Debaene
CultureAcademic staff of the Collège de FranceFrench sociologistsLycée Condorcet alumniFrench philosophers of educationThe New School facultyJewish atheistsPhilosophers of mindWriters about globalizationWriters about religion and scienceFrench essayistsMetaphilosophersPhilosophers of religionLiteracy and society theoristsUniversity of Paris alumniCorresponding fellows of the British AcademyPhilosophers of languageFrench male non-fiction writersMetaphysics writersGrand Cross of the Legion of HonourPhilosophers of linguisticsFrench philosophers of scienceMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesWriters about activism and social change20th-century atheists20th-century French philosophersIntellectual historyMembers of the Académie FrançaiseJewish historiansCritical theoristsMetaphysicians20th-century French male writersFrench philosophers of historyWriters about communismTheorists on Western civilizationJewish philosophersWriters from ParisFrench epistemologistsAtheist philosophersPhilosophers of social scienceForeign associates of the National Academy of Sciences20th-century French memoiristsMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyPhenomenologistsLinguists from France20th-century essayistsFrench atheistsOntologistsFrench philosophers of culture20th centuryFranceLanguageMedicineMachado de Assis
Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the foundational figures of Brazilian literature, a descendant of slaves, and his stories of Bras Cubas and Virgilia, Dom Casmurro and Capitu.
11 June 2026
Featuring: Ana Cláudia Suriani da Silva, Claire Williams, Viviane Carvalho da Annunciação
Marsilius of Padua
Melvyn Bragg & guests discuss one of the first to argue that political power came from the people, not from God or hereditary monarchy, and they could elect or remove their rulers.
30 May 2024
Featuring: Annabel Brett, George Garnett, Serena Ferente
Mary Magdalene
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Magdalene, one of the best-known figures in the Bible.
25 February 2016
Featuring: Joanne Anderson, Eamon Duffy, Joan Taylor
Masculinity in Literature
Melvyn Bragg discusses the changing archetypes of masculinity in 20th century literature, from Hemingway to Hornby, and examines whether the British ideal is at odds with its American counterpart.
20 January 2000
Featuring: Martin Amis, Cora Kaplan
Mathematics
Melvyn Bragg examines the way perceptions of the importance of mathematics have fluctuated in the 20th century and what mathematics can reveal about how life began, and how it might continue.
6 May 1999
Featuring: Ian Stewart, Brian Butterworth
Mathematics and Music
Melvyn Bragg discusses the mathematical structures that lie within the heart of music. From mathematical formulations used to create early music to the music of the 20th century.
25 May 2006
Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Robin Wilson, Ruth Tatlow
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the insights of this French philosopher into the relationship between mind and body, the role of language in thought and the value of habits
27 March 2025
Featuring: Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, Thomas Baldwin, Timothy Mooney
PhilosophyAcademic staff of the Collège de FranceFrench magazine foundersFrench philosophers of educationFrench socialistsUniversity of Paris alumniFrench male non-fiction writersFrench philosophers of scienceFormer Roman CatholicsMarxist theoristsÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni20th-century French philosophersFrench political philosophersPhilosophers of psychologyAcademic staff of the University of ParisBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryFrench philosophers of artFrench humanistsLycée Louis-le-Grand alumniEnactive cognitionOntologistsAction theoristsPhenomenologistsExistentialistsFrench epistemologistsFrench philosophers of culture20th centuryFrancePsychologyMercury
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the smallest planet in our solar system, what the Mariner 10 and Messenger missions have revealed and the hopes for the new BepiColombo mission.
2 May 2024
Featuring: Emma Bunce, David Rothery, Carolin Crawford
Modern Culture
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether contemporary culture is evidence of a moral and aesthetic decline in our civilisation in the 20th century or if it shows a society richer and more diverse than ever.
21 January 1999
Featuring: Will Self, Roger Scruton
Modernist Utopias
Melvyn Bragg discusses the mad, bad world of modern utopias where babies are hatched from test tubes, where women live without men, where machines have taken over, and where the poor are exterminated.
10 March 2005
Featuring: John Carey, Steven Connor, Laura Marcus
Monet in England
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why the French impressionist Claude Monet painted the foggy Thames in central London more often than water lilies, haystacks or Rouen Cathedral.
27 June 2024
Featuring: Karen Serres, Frances Fowle, Jackie Wullschläger
Mrs Dalloway
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway, published in 1925.
3 July 2014
Featuring: Hermione Lee, Jane Goldman, Kathryn Simpson
Multiculturalism
Melvyn Bragg examines whether it is possible to define how attitudes to race and identity have changed in the 20th century, given its vast shifts of population, cultures and peoples.
13 May 1999
Featuring: Stuart Hall, Avtar Brah
Munch and The Scream
Melvyn Bragg and guests David Jackson, Dorothy Rowe and Alastair Wright discuss the work of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, focusing on his painting The Scream.
18 March 2010
Featuring: David Jackson, Dorothy Rowe, Alastair Wright
Nefertiti
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the discovery of the bust of Nefertiti in 1912 has shaped ideas about her and about life in ancient Egypt and the royal city of Amarna.
18 January 2024
Featuring: Aidan Dodson, Joyce Tyldesley, Kate Spence
Neuroscience in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of neuroscience, how far scientists have got with understanding the brain and what their research can tell us about ourselves and the world we live in.
24 December 1998
Featuring: Susan Greenfield, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Nikola Tesla
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the inventor who helped the advance of electrification in America at the end of the 19th century and cultivated his reputation as a visionary genius
4 April 2024
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Jill Jonnes, Iwan Morus
SciencePeople associated with electricityRadio pioneers20th-century American engineersAmerican electrical engineers, People from ManhattanMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyNaturalized citizens of the United StatesMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsMental calculatorsAmerican humanistsDeaths from coronary thrombosis19th century20th centuryNuclear Physics
Melvyn Bragg discusses the controversial 20th century scientific breakthrough and development of nuclear physics, which harnesses the enigmatic qualities of the atom’s core to create nuclear power.
10 January 2002
Featuring: Jim Al-Khalili, Christine Sutton, John Gribbin
Ordinary language philosophy
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Ordinary Language Philosophy, one of the most important British contributions to 20th-century thought.
7 November 2013
Featuring: Stephen Mulhall, Ray Monk, Julia Tanney
Paul Dirac
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Bristolian theoretical physicist, ranked alongside Einstein by his peers, who won a Nobel for his work on quantum mechanics.
5 March 2020
Featuring: Graham Farmelo, Valerie Gibson, David Berman
ScienceEnglish agnosticsAcademic staff of the University of Göttingen20th-century British physicists, Members of the Pontifical Academy of SciencesEnglish emigrants to the United StatesAlumni of the University of BristolRoyal Medal winnersMembers of the Order of MeritNobel laureates in Physics20th-century English mathematiciansForeign members of the USSR Academy of SciencesBritish theoretical physicists, Mathematical physicistsWinners of the Max Planck MedalEnglish Nobel laureatesAlumni of St John's College, CambridgeRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish Nobel laureatesForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesInstitute for Advanced Study visiting scholarsMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyFellows of the Royal Society20th centuryMathematicsPaul Erdős
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the highly prolific, itinerant 20th century Hungarian mathematician, who enjoyed an unrivalled reputation for problem-solving.
23 February 2023
Featuring: Colva Roney-Dougal, Timothy Gowers, Andrew Treglown
ScienceForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesSet theoristsJewish atheistsInstitute for Advanced Study visiting scholarsForeign members of the Royal SocietyMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesJewish agnosticsAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterMental calculatorsPrinceton University faculty20th centuryPaul von Hindenburg
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise of a retired German officer recalled to duty who became an idealised, heroic figure and, as president, appointed Hitler as chancellor.
22 May 2025
Featuring: Anna von der Goltz, Christopher Clark, Colin Storer
HistoryIndependent politicians in Germany, Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 2nd class, Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)German untitled nobility20th-century presidents of Germany, German anti-communists, Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st classGerman LutheransGrand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary, Knights of the Golden Fleece of SpainGerman military personnel of the Franco-Prussian WarGerman monarchistsRecipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class20th centuryWarPenicillin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928, the development of effective antibiotic drugs and the evolution of resistant bacteria.
9 June 2016
Featuring: Laura Piddock, Christoph Tang, Steve Jones
Peter Kropotkin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of the Russian prince who became an anarchist and who argued that mutual aid was the key to evolution not survival of the fittest
24 February 2022
Featuring: Ruth Kinna, Lee Dugatkin, Simon Dixon
History19th-century essayistsHistorians of the French RevolutionAnti-consumeristsMembers of the International Workingmen's AssociationHuman geographers19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian EmpireRussian anarchists20th-century atheistsSocial philosophers19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire, 20th-century Russian philosophers, Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Switzerland, Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom, Russian communists, Russian revolutionaries20th-century essayists19th-century atheistsPhilosophy writersRussian atheistsBurials at Novodevichy CemeteryAnarchist writers19th century20th centuryFranceRussiaPhenomenology
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophical movement phenomenology.
22 January 2015
Featuring: Simon Glendinning, Joanna Hodge, Stephen Mulhall
Philippa Foot
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most notable philosophers of the 20th century, who explored why it mattered to be moral and why humans needed virtues to flourish.
16 May 2024
Featuring: Anil Gomes, Sophie Grace Chappell, Rachael Wiseman
PhilosophyAnalytic philosophersMoral realistsAtheist philosophersUniversity of California, Los Angeles facultyFellows of Somerville College, OxfordVirtue ethicists20th-century English philosophersWittgensteinian philosophersFellows of the British AcademyBritish atheistsEnglish women philosophersAlumni of Somerville College, OxfordAristotelian philosophersPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of loveEnglish atheists20th centuryPicasso's Guernica
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Pablo Picasso's Guernica, which he painted in 1937 soon after the bombing of that Basque town in the Spanish Civil War, and its wider context.
2 November 2017
Featuring: Mary Vincent, Gijs van Hensbergen, Dacia Viejo Rose
Plate Tectonics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the geological theory of plate tectonics revolutionised our understanding of the planet on which we live
24 January 2008
Featuring: Richard Corfield, Joe Cann, Lynne Frostick
Politics in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg talks to Gore Vidal and Alan Clark about political morality and the future of the nation state, and examines the impact of the individual on the story of the 20th century.
22 October 1998
Featuring: Gore Vidal, Alan Clark
Popper
Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Karl Popper, author of The Open Society and a seminal thinker about science.
8 February 2007
Featuring: John Worrall, Anthony O'Hear, Nancy Cartwright
PhilosophyUniversity of Vienna alumniPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of mindWriters about globalizationJewish ethicistsWriters about religion and scienceBritish historians of philosophyPhilosophers of religionBritish male non-fiction writersBritish male essayistsPhilosophers of logicKnights BachelorAcademics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of scienceMetaphysics writers20th-century British essayists20th-century Austrian philosophers, Austrian agnostics, Austrian essayists, Austrian logicians, British agnostics, British logicians, British people of Austrian-Jewish descent, Naturalised citizens of the United KingdomWriters about activism and social changeAristotelian philosophersEpistemologistsBritish philosophers of educationPresidents of the Aristotelian SocietyCritics of religionsMetaphysiciansPolitical philosophersRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtWriters from ViennaPhilosophers of technologyFellows of the British AcademyBritish consciousness researchers and theoristsPhilosophers of mathematics20th-century British philosophersTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of historyJewish philosophersRationalistsBritish social liberalsBritish ethicistsLogiciansBritish political philosophersForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesPhilosophers of economicsJewish agnosticsMembers of the Order of the Companions of HonourSocial philosophersCritics of MarxismCambridge University Moral Sciences ClubRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Ontologists20th centuryEconomicsMathematicsMedicinePragmatism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the American philosophy of pragmatism which purported that knowledge is only meaningful when coupled with action.
17 November 2005
Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Julian Baggini, Miranda Fricker
Proust
Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and achievements of the 19th century French novelist Marcel Proust whose 3000 page work À La Recherche du Temps Perdu has been called the definitive modern novel.
17 April 2003
Featuring: Jacqueline Rose, Malcolm Bowie, Robert Fraser
Lycée Condorcet alumniDeaths from pneumonia in France, Prix Goncourt winnersFrench literary criticsConversationalistsFrench essayistsFrench male non-fiction writersFormer Roman Catholics20th-century mystics20th-century atheistsFrench short story writers20th-century French philosophers19th-century atheistsPeople with hypochondriasisModernist writersBurials at Père Lachaise Cemetery19th-century French philosophersFrench philosophers of art20th-century French novelistsFrench Roman Catholic writersFrench LGBTQ novelistsWriters from Paris19th-century French LGBTQ people, 20th-century French LGBTQ people20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writersLGBTQ Roman CatholicsAphorists19th-century mysticsFrench atheistsPhilosophers of literature19th century20th centuryFrancePsychoanalysis and democracy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the impact of politics on psychoanalysis and how psychoanalysis itself attempts to resolve the conflicting ideas and voices within our minds.
11 July 2002
Featuring: Adam Phillips, Sally Alexander, Malcolm Bowie
Psychoanalysis and its Legacy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the relevance of psychoanalysis at the end of the 20th century. Has it failed to develop and adapt to an age increasingly dominated by science?
4 February 1999
Featuring: Juliet Mitchell, Adam Phillips
Quantum Gravity
Melvyn Bragg discusses the attempts to understand the Quantum world, which deals with the smallest invisible particles, and to which classical theories of gravity, motion and relativity do not apply.
22 February 2001
Featuring: John Gribbin, Lee Smolin, Janna Levin
Radiation
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the discovery of radiation, from the idea that light consisted of waves, through electromagnetism to the naming of gamma rays.
12 November 2009
Featuring: Jim Al-Khalili, Frank Close, Frank James
Rawls' Theory of Justice
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Theory of Justice by John Rawls, first published in 1971, a work that's been called the most influential book in 20th-century political philosophy.
19 January 2023
Featuring: Fabienne Peter, Martin O'Neill, Jonathan Wolff
Robert Graves
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and works of the author of I, Claudius, especially his love and war poems and his ideas on the source of all creativity.
10 October 2024
Featuring: Paul O'Prey, Fran Brearton, Bob Davis
CultureBisexual poetsEnglish literary criticsEnglish male novelists20th-century English non-fiction writersEnglish World War I poetsBisexual novelists20th-century English memoiristsOxford Professors of Poetry20th-century English male writersPeople with post-traumatic stress disorderBisexual memoirists20th-century atheistsEnglish male poetsEnglish people of Irish descentEnglish LGBTQ poetsEnglish short story writersJames Tait Black Memorial Prize recipientsEnglish bisexual men, English bisexual writers, Royal Welch Fusiliers officersEnglish male short story writersEnglish writers with disabilitiesEnglish atheists20th-century translatorsBisexual male writers20th-century English novelistsEnglish historical novelistsPrix Italia winnersBritish Army personnel of World War I20th-century English poetsPeople educated at Charterhouse SchoolEnglish male non-fiction writers20th-century English LGBTQ people20th centuryRosa Luxemburg
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Rosa Luxemburg, 'Red Rosa', a leading revolutionary and agitator in Poland and Germany until her arrest and murder in the Spartacus Revolt 1919.
13 April 2017
Featuring: Jacqueline Rose, Mark Jones, Nadine Rossol
HistoryGerman women philosophersEuropean democratic socialistsGerman revolutionaries19th-century German journalistsJewish socialists20th-century German women writers19th-century German writersGerman Marxist writersMarxist theoristsGerman Ashkenazi JewsGerman anti-capitalists, German socialist feminists, Jewish communistsCommunist women writers19th-century German philosophers20th-century German philosophersJewish philosophersEmigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany, Political party founders19th century20th centuryGermanyRussiaRosalind Franklin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the achievements of the pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin.
22 February 2018
Featuring: Patricia Fara, Jim Naismith, Judith Howard
ScienceJewish British scientistsJewish women scientistsEnglish agnostics20th-century British biologists20th-century British chemists, British biophysicists, British crystallographersAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeJewish agnosticsDeaths from cancer in EnglandAcademics of King's College London20th centuryRudyard Kipling
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Rudyard Kipling, a writer sometimes described as the poet of empire.
16 October 2014
Featuring: Howard Booth, Daniel Karlin, Jan Montefiore
CultureFellows of the Royal Society of LiteraturePeople of the Victorian eraEnglish male novelistsDeaths from ulcersMythopoeic writersEnglish science fiction writersFreemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England20th-century English memoirists20th-century English male writersEnglish hymnwriters19th-century English poets19th-century English novelistsEnglish anti-fascistsVictorian novelistsMaritime writersEnglish-language poets from IndiaEnglish male short story writers19th-century English short story writersEnglish Nobel laureatesNobel laureates in LiteratureRectors of the University of St AndrewsEnglish children's writers19th-century English non-fiction writersBritish Nobel laureates20th-century English novelistsEnglish people of Scottish descent20th-century English poetsBurials at Westminster Abbey19th century20th centuryLanguageRutherford
Melvyn Bragg discusses Ernest Rutherford. He is seen as the father of nuclear science, a great charismatic figure who mapped the landscape of the sub-atomic world.
19 February 2004
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Jim Al-Khalili, Patricia Fara
ScienceRadio pioneers20th-century British physicists, Members of the Pontifical Academy of SciencesPersons of National Historic Significance (Canada)Fellows of Trinity College, CambridgeKnights BachelorDiscoverers of chemical elementsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalHonorary Fellows of the Royal Society of EdinburghRecipients of Franklin MedalCorresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)Experimental physicistsCavendish Professors of PhysicsRecipients of the Dalton MedalEnglish Nobel laureatesAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish Nobel laureates20th-century British scientistsForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyNobel laureates in Chemistry19th-century British physicistsBurials at Westminster Abbey19th century20th centurySamuel Beckett
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the author of Waiting for Godot, who lived in Paris and wrote in French as he found that more difficult than writing in English
17 January 2019
Featuring: Steven Connor, Laura Salisbury, Mark Nixon
CultureIrish male dramatists and playwrightsIrish Nobel laureates, Irish modernist poetsFormer Anglicans20th-century Irish novelists, 20th-century Irish short story writers, Irish male short story writersPeople with Parkinson's diseasePhilosophers of pessimismIrish writers in French, People educated at Portora Royal SchoolAlumni of Trinity College DublinIrish male novelistsIrish essayistsScholars of Trinity College DublinModernist writersBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryIrish expatriates in FranceAcademics of Trinity College DublinAnti-natalistsAbsurdist writersFrench Resistance membersNobel laureates in LiteratureFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesWriters from Dublin (city)20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsPrix Italia winners20th-century essayistsExistentialists20th centuryIrelandMedicineSartre
Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and works of French novelist, playwright and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
7 October 2004
Featuring: Jonathan Rée, Benedict O'Donohoe, Christina Howells
PhilosophyScholars of antisemitismFrench sociologists20th-century French dramatists and playwrightsFrench magazine foundersFrench philosophers of educationFrench literary criticsFrench socialistsFrench biographers, French ethicistsPhilosophers of mindPhilosophers of sexualityLegion of Honour refusalsFrench philosophers of scienceLycée Henri-IV alumni20th-century atheistsÉcole Normale Supérieure alumniFrench anarchists, French anti-capitalists, French anti-fascists20th-century French philosophersPhilosophy writersFrench political philosophersCritical theoristsMetaphysiciansBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryFrench communistsBlind writersFree love advocatesFrench philosophers of art20th-century French novelistsFrench philosophers of historyFrench Resistance membersContinental philosophersNobel laureates in LiteratureFrench humanistsFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench Nobel laureatesFrench scientists with disabilitiesTheorists on Western civilizationFrench Marxists, French anti-war activistsLycée Louis-le-Grand alumniWriters from ParisPhilosophers of nihilismFrench epistemologistsAtheist philosophersPhilosophers of social scienceLibertarian socialistsPhilosophers of deathOntologistsPhenomenologistsAphoristsExistentialistsPhilosophers of literatureFrench philosophers of cultureFrench atheists20th centuryFranceMedicineScience in the 20th century
Melvyn Bragg discusses how perceptions of science have changed in the 20th century and examines whether it is coming any closer to integrating with philosophy or the social sciences.
5 November 1998
Featuring: John Gribbin, Mary Midgley
Siegfried Sassoon
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the war poet Siegfried Sassoon; a homosexual war hero who became a bitter opponent of the First World War and a devout Catholic.
7 June 2007
Featuring: Jean Moorcroft Wilson, Fran Brearton, Max Egremont
Bisexual poetsRecipients of the Military CrossEnglish Catholic poetsEnglish World War I poets20th-century English memoirists20th-century English male writersPeople with post-traumatic stress disorderEnglish LGBTQ poetsJames Tait Black Memorial Prize recipientsEnglish bisexual men, English bisexual writers, Royal Welch Fusiliers officersEnglish Roman CatholicsPeople educated at Marlborough CollegeWar writersRoman Catholic writersBisexual military personnelDeaths from stomach cancer in EnglandBisexual male writers20th-century English novelistsBritish Army personnel of World War I20th-century English poetsLGBTQ Roman Catholics20th-century English LGBTQ people20th centuryWarSimone Weil
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the French philosopher and social activist Simone Weil. Admired by Albert Camus and Iris Murdoch, she achieved a great deal in her short life.
15 November 2012
Featuring: Beatrice Han-Pile, Stephen Plant, David Levy
PhilosophyChristian humanistsTuberculosis deaths in EnglandFrench socialistsConverts to Christianity from JudaismPhilosophers of religionCritics of work and the work ethicFrench feministsFrench philosophers of scienceDominican mysticsPlatonistsLycée Henri-IV alumniMarxist theoristsÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni20th-century deaths from tuberculosisFrench anarchists, French anti-capitalists, French anti-fascists20th-century French philosophers20th-century French women writersChristian radicalsFrench political philosophersAnti-Stalinist leftFrench communistsFrench Resistance membersJewish philosophersWriters from ParisChristian anarchists, Nonviolence advocatesFrench women philosophersWomen mysticsCritics of Marxism20th centuryFranceSimone de Beauvoir
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simone de Beauvoir - her work on existentialist ethics, philosophy and literature and her influence on feminism.
22 October 2015
Featuring: Christina Howells, Margaret Atack, Ursula Tidd
PhilosophyDeaths from pneumonia in France, Prix Goncourt winnersFrench philosophers of educationFrench literary criticsFrench women memoiristsPhilosophers of sexualityFeminist studies scholarsBisexual novelistsCommunist women writersSocialist feministsUniversity of Paris alumniBisexual memoiristsFrench feministsScholars of feminist philosophyFormer Roman Catholics20th-century French philosophers20th-century French women writersFrench political philosophersBisexual women writersJerusalem Prize recipientsFrench bisexual women, French bisexual writersBurials at Montparnasse CemeteryFrench communistsFrench philosophers of art20th-century French novelistsFrench Marxists, French anti-war activistsFeminist theoristsFrench LGBTQ novelistsWriters from ParisAtheist philosophersFrench women novelists20th-century French memoiristsFrench women philosophersExistentialistsFrench atheists20th centuryFranceSpace in Religion and Science
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of thought about space, and examines whether cyberspace has introduced a new concept of space in our world or if its roots are in Einsteinian physics.
18 February 1999
Featuring: John Polkinghorne, Margaret Wertheim
Stevie Smith
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the writer best known for her poem Not Waving But Drowning, whose success has arguably overshadowed her wider work as a poet and novelist.
16 February 2023
Featuring: Jeremy Noel-Tod, Noreen Masud, Will May
Stoicism
Melvyn Bragg discusses Stoicism, the third great philosophy of the Ancient World, which had a great influence on the Roman Empire.
3 March 2005
Featuring: Angie Hobbs, Jonathan Rée, David Sedley
Suffragism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss suffragism, the movement for women's voting rights. Who championed it, who opposed it and how was universal female suffrage really achieved?
16 April 2009
Featuring: Krista Cowman, June Purvis, Julia Bush
Tagore
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature.
7 May 2015
Featuring: Chandrika Kaul, Bashabi Fraser, John Stevens
English-language poets from IndiaNational anthem writersKnights Bachelor19th-century Bengali poets, 19th-century Indian composers, 19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century Indian educational theorists, 19th-century Indian essayists, 19th-century Indian male artists, 19th-century Indian musicians, 19th-century Indian painters, 19th-century Indian philosophers, 19th-century Indian poets, 19th-century classical musicians, 19th-century male musicians, 20th-century Bengali poets, 20th-century Indian composers, 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Indian educational theorists, 20th-century Indian essayists, 20th-century Indian novelists, 20th-century Indian painters, 20th-century Indian philosophers, 20th-century Indian poets, Alumni of University College London, Bengali Hindus, Bengali male poets, Bengali musicians, Bengali nationalists, Bengali philosophers, Bengali zamindars, Bengali-language poets, Brahmos, Dramatists and playwrights from British India, Hindu poets, Indian Hindus, Indian Nobel laureates, Indian classical composers, Indian male dramatists and playwrights, Indian male essayists, Indian male painters, Indian male poets, Indian male songwriters, Indian portrait painters, Indian social reformers, Indian songwriters, Musicians from Kolkata, Oriental Seminary alumni, Painters from West Bengal, People associated with Santiniketan, People associated with Shillong, People from the Bengal Presidency, Poets from British India, Poets from West Bengal, Presidency University, Kolkata alumni, Rabindranath Tagore, Tagore family, Vangiya Sahitya Parishad, Writers from KolkataNobel laureates in LiteratureArtist authorsFounders of Indian schools and collegesHaiku poets19th century20th centuryLanguageMusicPaintingThe American Century
Melvyn Bragg examines whether ideals of democracy and freedom have been forged in the world as a result of American influence, or if American oppression has made a bigger impact in the 20th century.
17 December 1998
Featuring: Harry Evans, John Lloyd
The Avant Garde's Decline and Fall in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg examines the social and aesthetic impact of the Avant Garde and discusses whether it has failed in making painting relevant in the 20th century.
25 February 1999
Featuring: Eric Hobsbawm, Frances Morris
The Brain and Consciousness
Melvyn Bragg discusses how our increased knowledge of the functioning of the brain has changed our feelings about our own natures, and our approach to the behaviour and treatment of others.
19 November 1998
Featuring: Steven Rose, Dan Robinson
The City in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the artistic, cultural and innovative developments of the city in the 20th century. How cities changed since 1900, and what have is their future?
12 November 1998
Featuring: Peter Hall, Doreen Massey
The Cultural Revolution
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the decade of upheaval in China under Mao's revolt within his own party, led at first by the Red Guards, from 1966 until his death in 1976
17 December 2020
Featuring: Rana Mitter, Peidong Sun, Julia Lovell
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the revelatory collection of Biblical texts and other documents dating from around 250 BC to AD 68, which were first rediscovered in a cave in 1946
4 May 2023
Featuring: Sarah Pearce, Charlotte Hempel, George Brooke
The Graviton
Melvyn Bragg discusses the search for the Graviton, a hypothetical elementary particle that offers a unifying theory of gravitational force.
24 November 2005
Featuring: Roger Cashmore, Jim Al-Khalili, Sheila Rowan
The Great Disruption
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 20th century shift from industrial to information society. What has been the cause of this shift and how will we recover the social cohesion that preceded it?
17 June 1999
Featuring: Francis Fukuyama, Amos Oz
The Great Gatsby
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great American novels of the 20th Century, where inexplicably rich Jay Gatsby aims to win Daisy Buchanan from her millionaire husband.
14 January 2021
Featuring: Sarah Churchwell, Philip McGowan, William Blazek
CultureAmerican novels adapted into films, American novels adapted into plays, American novels adapted into television showsNovels adapted into radio programsNovels adapted into balletsMurder–suicide in fictionMetafictional novelsModernist novelsNovels adapted into operasNovels about adulteryNovels adapted into comics20th centuryBookThe Individual
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the concept of the individual, from its place in Renaissance thought, its redefinition by Marx and Freud and its apparent demise in the 20th century.
21 October 1999
Featuring: Richard Wollheim, Jonathan Dollimore
The Long March
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history and symbolism of the Chinese Red Army's escape from the Kuomintang in 1934/5 and Mao Zedong's emergence from it as the future leader
29 November 2018
Featuring: Rana Mitter, Sun Shuyun, Julia Lovell
The May Fourth Movement
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the upheaval in China in 1919 after humiliation in the Versailles Treaty and the sharing of ideas that led to the foundation of the Communist Party.
9 December 2021
Featuring: Rana Mitter, Elisabeth Forster, Song-Chuan Chen
The Measurement problem in Physics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the the measurement problem, one of the deepest problems in contemporary physics.
5 March 2009
Featuring: Basil Hiley, Simon Saunders, Roger Penrose
The Mexican Revolution
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the popular uprising which lasted ten years and resulted in the overthrow of President Porfino Diaz.
20 January 2011
Featuring: Alan Knight, Paul Garner, Patience Schell
The Monarchy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the changing face of the British monarchy through the 20th century. How has it survived since the execution of Charles I and what relevance does it have in Britain today?
10 June 1999
Featuring: David Cannadine, Bea Campbell
The Nation State
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of English national identity and examines how the concept of the Nation State can defend itself against the forces of globalisation.
14 October 1999
Featuring: Norman Davies, Andrew Marr
The Needham Question
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Needham Question, which asks why China’s medieval technological advancement was overtaken by that of a relative backwater called Europe.
19 October 2006
Featuring: Chris Cullen, Tim Barrett, Frances Wood
The Neutron
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the neutron in the atomic nucleus, in the laboratory and in the densest stars.
14 April 2016
Featuring: Val Gibson, Andrew Harrison, Frank Close
The Physics of Reality
Melvyn Bragg discusses the attempt to reconcile Quantum Theory, which deals with the smallest, invisible particles or waves, and the larger scale classical physics of Newton and Einstein.
2 May 2002
Featuring: Roger Penrose, Fay Dowker, Tony Sudbery
The Poincaré conjecture
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Poincaré Conjecture, a puzzle that may explain the shape of the universe.
2 November 2006
Featuring: June Barrow-Green, Ian Stewart, Marcus du Sautoy
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise and fall of the largest republic in Europe, which for centuries elected its kings to rule alongside parliament and avoided religious wars.
14 October 2021
Featuring: Robert I. Frost, Katarzyna Kosior, Norman Davies
The Royal Society and British Science: Episode 4
The more discreet role played by the Society in the 20th century, such as co-ordinating international scientific missions during the Cold War.
7 January 2010
Featuring
Royal Society1660 establishments in EnglandSocial history of the United KingdomLearned societies of the United Kingdom, Members of the International Council for Science, Members of the International Science Council, National academies of sciences, Non-profit organisations based in London, Organisations based in London with royal patronage, Organizations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Professional associations based in the United Kingdom, Scientific organizations established in 166020th centuryThe Russo-Japanese War
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Japan's unexpected victory over Russia in 1904-5 which gave Japan a new status in the world and pushed Russia into revolution.
1 April 2021
Featuring: Simon Dixon, Naoko Shimazu, Oleg Benesch
The Samurai
Melvyn Bragg and guests Gregory Irvine, Nicola Liscutin and Angus Lockyer discuss the history of the Samurai and the role of their myth in Japanese national identity.
24 December 2009
Featuring: Angus Lockyer, Nicola Liscutin, Gregory Irvine
The Seventh Seal (1000th program)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Ingmar Bergman's influential film from 1957 in which a knight plays chess with Death in the hope of living long enough to do something meaningful
21 September 2023
Featuring: Jan Holmberg [sv], Laura Hubner, Claire Thomson
The Universe's Origins
Melvyn Bragg examines the way thinking about the origins of the universe changed in the 20th century. Are we any closer to knowing whether other worlds exist and how our planet came into being?
20 May 1999
Featuring: Martin Rees, Paul Davies
Thomas Edison
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of Thomas Edison, one of the great inventors and cultural figures of modern America.
9 December 2010
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Kathleen Burk, Iwan Morus
ScienceHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesPeople associated with electricityAmerican people of Dutch descentAmerican electrical engineers, People from ManhattanAmerican people of English descentAmerican deistsCongressional Gold Medal recipientsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci Medal19th-century American businesspeopleMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyRecipients of Franklin Medal20th-century American inventors, Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences19th century20th centuryThomas Hardy's Poetry
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hardy's poems, which he prized far above the novels which made him famous and rich, and his ambition to be ranked alongside Shelley and Byron.
13 January 2022
Featuring: Mark Ford, Jane Thomas, Tim Armstrong
CultureFellows of the Royal Society of LiteratureBritish male poetsEnglish short story writersAlumni of King's College London20th-century English male writers19th-century English poets19th-century English novelistsEnglish male novelistsEnglish male short story writersMembers of the Order of MeritPantheistsVictorian novelists19th-century British short story writersBurials at Westminster AbbeyVictorian poets19th century20th centuryPoetryTolstoy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and times of the 19th century Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, whose novels such as War and Peace gave expression to the compelling moral and social questions of their day.
25 April 2002
Featuring: A. N. Wilson, Catriona Kelly, Sarah Hudspith
Philosophers of cultureRussian anarchistsPhilosophers of mindPhilosophers of religion19th-century dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire, 19th-century short story writers from the Russian Empire, 20th-century Russian dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Russian short story writers, Novelists from the Russian Empire, Philanthropists from the Russian Empire, Russian male dramatists and playwrights, Russian male novelists, Russian opinion journalists, Russian-language writersAnarchist writersRussian male journalistsChristian vegetariansWriters about activism and social changeCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesEpistemologistsPhilosophers of education19th-century essayistsMetaphysiciansPolitical philosophersHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesGeorgistsPhilosophers of history19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian EmpireOntologistsSocial philosophersChristian anarchists, Nonviolence advocates20th-century letter writers20th-century essayistsMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsPhilosophers of literature19th century20th centuryLanguageMedicineRussiaTutankhamun
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the the work of Howard Carter's team in 1922, and the extraordinary contents of Tutankhamun's tomb and what it revealed of Egyptian history
26 December 2019
Featuring: Elizabeth Frood, Christina Riggs, John Taylor
Victorian Realism
Melvyn Bragg discusses Victorian realism and its focus on the ordinariness of life which contained a complexity and depth previously unseen.
14 November 2002
Featuring: Philip Davis, A. N. Wilson, Dinah Birch
Walter Benjamin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the remarkable philosopher and critic whose ideas, developed in the 1930s, became highly influential after his death while escaping the Holocaust.
10 February 2022
Featuring: Esther Leslie, Kevin McLaughlin, Carolin Duttlinger
PhilosophyWriters from BerlinFrankfurter Zeitung peopleJewish socialistsGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureGerman literary criticsGerman philosophers of languageGerman Marxist writersGerman male essayistsHumboldt University of Berlin alumniExilliteratur writers20th-century German male writersGerman philosophers of technology20th-century German philosophersPhilosophers of literatureGerman philosophers of historyGerman male non-fiction writersJewish philosophers20th centuryGermanyLanguageWar in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg talks to Michael Ignatieff about the life of the philosopher Isaiah Berlin and the modern universal human rights culture and to Sir Michael Howard about warfare of the 20th century.
15 October 1998
Featuring: Michael Ignatieff, Michael Howard
Weber's The Protestant Ethic
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Max Weber's book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
27 March 2014
Featuring: Peter Ghosh, Sam Whimster, Linda Woodhead
HistoryUniversity of Göttingen alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesGerman nationalistsGerman philosophers of historyEconomic sociologistsEconomic historians, German sociologistsCritics of work and the work ethicWriters about activism and social changeAcademic staff of the Humboldt University of BerlinGerman political philosophersPeople from the Province of SaxonyGerman philosophers of culture19th-century German writersHumboldt University of Berlin alumniGerman philosophers of science19th-century German philosophersGerman philosophers of technologyContinental philosophers20th-century German philosophersUniversity of Strasbourg alumniDeaths from pneumonia in GermanyHeidelberg University alumni19th-century German male writersPhilosophers of economicsMax Weber19th century20th centuryEconomicsGermanyWilfred Owen
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of Britain's greatest war poets, who published only 5 poems in his short life yet whose works became seen as a warning of the futility of wars.
27 October 2022
Featuring: Jane Potter, Fran Brearton, Guy Cuthbertson
CultureEnglish people of Welsh descentRecipients of the Military CrossPeople with post-traumatic stress disorderArtists' Rifles soldiersBritish Army personnel of World War I20th-century English poetsEnglish World War I poetsLost Generation writersEnglish male poetsEnglish LGBTQ poetsWar writersEnglish writers with disabilities20th-century English LGBTQ people20th-century English male writers20th centuryWilliam James's The Varieties of Religious Experience
Melvyn Bragg and guests Jonathan Ree, John Haldane and Gwen Griffith-Dickson discuss The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.
13 May 2010
Featuring: Jonathan Rée, John Haldane, Gwen Griffith-Dickson
Philosophy19th-century American philosophersCorresponding fellows of the British AcademyAnalytic philosophersMembers of the American Academy of Arts and LettersWilliam JamesPsychologists of religionAmerican philosophers of religion20th-century American philosophersPhilosophers of deathAmerican philosophers of mind, American philosophers of sciencePhilosophers of war19th-century American writersExistentialistsOntologistsPhilosophers of history19th century20th centuryAmericaPsychologyWilliam Morris
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss some of the many aspects of William Morris: his activism, poetry and prose and his ideas on arts, crafts and work in an industrial world.
5 July 2018
Featuring: Ingrid Hanson, Marcus Waithe, Jane Thomas
CultureEnglish fantasy writersEnglish male novelistsSocial Democratic Federation membersMythopoeic writersEnglish libertariansVictorian poetsBritish male poetsEpic poetsArtists' Rifles soldiers19th-century English poetsEnglish printers, Translators of VirgilBritish socialistsVictorian novelists19th-century British short story writersBritish botanical illustratorsEnglish short story writersTranslators of HomerEnglish male short story writers19th-century English architectsPeople educated at Marlborough CollegeEnglish atheistsLibertarian socialistsArts and Crafts movement artistsEnglish socialistsArtist authors19th century20th centuryWittgenstein
Melvyn Bragg discusses how Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the greatest philosophers of the modern age has influenced contemporary culture with his ideas on language.
4 December 2003
Featuring: Ray Monk, Barry Smith, Marie McGinn
PhilosophyPhilosophers of cultureOrdinary language philosophyPhilosophers of mindMetaphilosophersFellows of Trinity College, CambridgeBritish male essayistsPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of languageAnalytic philosophersPeople with post-traumatic stress disorder20th-century British essayists20th-century Austrian philosophers, Austrian agnostics, Austrian essayists, Austrian logicians, British agnostics, British logicians, British people of Austrian-Jewish descent, Naturalised citizens of the United KingdomBertrand Russell Professors of PhilosophyAlumni of Trinity College, Cambridge20th-century British non-fiction writersEpistemologistsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of artMetaphysiciansWriters from ViennaPhilosophers of mathematicsAustro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I20th-century British philosophersTheorists on Western civilizationJewish philosophersBisexual military personnelBisexual male writersAustrian people of Jewish descentLGBTQ mathematicians, LGBTQ philosophersPhilosophers of social scienceWittgensteinian philosophersJewish agnosticsSocial philosophersCambridge University Moral Sciences ClubOntologistsLinguistic turn20th centuryLanguageMathematicsMedicineWarWork in the 20th Century
Melvyn Bragg discusses the way attitudes to work and the work ethic itself have changed over the century. Has our understanding of the nature and function of work changed as radically as we imagine?
26 November 1998
Featuring: Richard Sennett, Theodore Zeldin, Melanie Phillips
Writing and Political Oppression
Melvyn Bragg discusses how two writers’ work has been shaped by political oppression and examines whether writers have a political role in modern society.
8 April 1999
Featuring: Nadine Gordimer, Ariel Dorfman
Yeats and Irish Politics
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poet W.B. Yeats and Irish politics from the suspension of home rule to the division of Ireland.
17 April 2008
Featuring: Roy Foster, Fran Brearton, Warwick Gould
CultureFellows of the Royal Society of Literature19th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century Irish poets, Symbolist dramatists and playwrightsAnglican poetsAnthologists20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsModernist theatreIrish AnglicansFormalist poetsIrish expatriates in FranceIrish male dramatists and playwrightsIrish Nobel laureates, Irish modernist poetsAnglo-Irish artists, Irish fantasy writersSonneteersNobel laureates in LiteratureVictorian writersIrish male poetsAbbey Theatre, Alumni of the National College of Art and Design, Burials in the Republic of Ireland, Butler Yeats family, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Independent members of Seanad Éireann, Irish Dominion League, Irish folklorists, Irish occult writers, Irish occultists, Members of the 1922 Seanad, Members of the 1925 Seanad, Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, People educated at The High School, Dublin, People from Sandymount, People from West Kensington, Protestant Irish nationalists, Symbolist poets, W. B. Yeats, William Blake scholars19th century20th centuryIrelandYeats and Mysticism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and beliefs of the Irish Poet W B Yeats and explores how a passion for magic and mysticism served and stood alongside his poetry.
31 January 2002
Featuring: Roy Foster, Warwick Gould, Brenda Maddox
ReligionFellows of the Royal Society of Literature19th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century Irish poets, Symbolist dramatists and playwrightsAnglican poetsAnthologists20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights, 20th-century Irish male writers, 20th-century Irish poetsModernist theatreIrish AnglicansFormalist poetsIrish expatriates in FranceIrish male dramatists and playwrightsIrish Nobel laureates, Irish modernist poetsAnglo-Irish artists, Irish fantasy writersSonneteersNobel laureates in LiteratureVictorian writersIrish male poetsAbbey Theatre, Alumni of the National College of Art and Design, Burials in the Republic of Ireland, Butler Yeats family, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Independent members of Seanad Éireann, Irish Dominion League, Irish folklorists, Irish occult writers, Irish occultists, Members of the 1922 Seanad, Members of the 1925 Seanad, Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, People educated at The High School, Dublin, People from Sandymount, People from West Kensington, Protestant Irish nationalists, Symbolist poets, W. B. Yeats, William Blake scholars19th century20th centuryIreland
