English male non-fiction writers
12 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
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 centuryBertrand 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 centuryEconomicsLanguageMathematicsBooth's Life and Labour Survey
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Charles Booth's ambitious project to discover how many people in late Victorian London were living in poverty, and understand why
10 June 2021
Featuring: Emma Griffin, Sarah Wise, Lawrence Goldman
Dickens
Melvyn Bragg discusses the achievements of Charles Dickens What is his political and literary legacy to our age?
12 July 2001
Featuring: Rosemary Ashton, Michael Slater, John Bowen
Critics of the Catholic ChurchEnglish male novelists19th-century travel writers19th-century English dramatists and playwrightsLiteracy and society theoristsPeople from Somers Town, LondonBritish male essayistsEnglish reformers19th-century English historians19th-century English poetsEnglish Anglicans19th-century English novelistsEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsWriters about activism and social change19th-century pseudonymous writersEnglish male poetsVictorian novelists19th-century British short story writersWriters from the London Borough of CamdenEnglish male journalistsEnglish prisoners and detaineesTrope theoristsEnglish philanthropistsBritish social reformersEnglish male short story writersLecturersBritish critics of religionsAnglican writers19th-century British journalistsEnglish satirists19th-century English non-fiction writers19th-century English essayistsEnglish historical novelistsEnglish male non-fiction writersEnglish travel writers19th-century British philanthropistsWriters of Gothic fictionBurials at Westminster Abbey19th centuryEdward Gibbon
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of the writer of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, one of the most celebrated works of its kind.
17 June 2021
Featuring: David Womersley, Charlotte Roberts, Karen O'Brien
Culture18th-century English male writersBritish male essayistsEnglish essayists18th-century English non-fiction writers18th-century English historiansBritish MPs 1780–1784, Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituenciesBritish MPs 1774–1780Alumni of Magdalen College, OxfordFreemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of EnglandEnglish male non-fiction writersBritish critics of religionsEnglish rhetoriciansRhetoric theoristsIrony theoristsPeople educated at Westminster School, LondonFellows of the Royal SocietyEnglish ProtestantsTheorists on Western civilization18th centuryJohn Donne
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the extraordinary life and work of one of England's finest love poets and, as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, most remarkable preachers.
12 January 2023
Featuring: Mary Ann Lund, Sue Wiseman, Hugh Adlington
CultureCritics of the Catholic ChurchAlumni of Hart Hall, OxfordPhilosophers of religionLiteracy and society theoristsEpigrammatistsEnglish people of Welsh descentIndependent scholars17th-century English poets16th-century English male writersMetaphor theoristsWriters about activism and social changeChristian poetsSonneteersEnglish male poets17th-century Anglican theologiansLutheran saintsAnglican poetsAnglican saints16th-century English poetsPeople celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendarWriters from LondonPeople from the City of London17th-century English male writersLiterary theoristsMetaphysical poetsEnglish satiristsPoet priestsEnglish male non-fiction writersPamphleteers17th-century English Anglican priests16th century17th centuryTheologyMill
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 19th century political philosopher John Stuart Mill and his treatise On Liberty which is one of the sacred texts of liberalism.
18 May 2006
Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Janet Radcliffe Richards, Alan Ryan
PhilosophyEnglish agnosticsBritish free speech activistsPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of sexualityEnglish logiciansUK MPs 1865–1868Voting theoristsEnglish libertariansEnglish political philosophersBritish male essayistsEnglish essayistsEuropean democratic socialists19th-century English philosophersScholars of feminist philosophyInfectious disease deaths in FranceHonorary Fellows of the Royal Society of EdinburghBritish socialistsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of psychologyEnglish feminist writers, English feministsAnglo-ScotsEmpiricistsBritish philosophers of languageUtilitariansEnglish autobiographersBritish philosophers of mindRectors of the University of St AndrewsFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of scienceEnglish non-fiction writersPhilosophers of historyBritish social liberals19th-century English non-fiction writersLogiciansBritish ethicistsBritish political philosophers19th-century English writers19th-century English essayistsBritish philosophers of logicPhilosophers of economicsEnglish political writersEnglish people of Scottish descentEnglish socialistsEnglish male non-fiction writersBritish classical liberal economistsEnglish suffragistsEnglish republicansConsequentialists19th centuryEconomicsLanguageMedicinePsychologyPolidori's The Vampyre
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the myths that gave rise to this novella from 1819 by Byron's physician, John Polidori, and the works such as Bram Stoker's Dracula it inspired.
7 April 2022
Featuring: Nick Groom, Samantha George, Martyn Rady
Culture19th-century English non-fiction writersBritish people of Italian descent, English people of Italian descent, Polidori-Rossetti familySuicides by cyanide poisoningAlumni of the University of EdinburghBurials at St Pancras Old ChurchEnglish male non-fiction writersWriters of Gothic fiction19th-century male writers19th-century British short story writers18th century19th centuryPope
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the satirist Alexander Pope. One of the greatest poets of the English language, his brilliant satires have made him popular in our age but not in his own.
9 November 2006
Featuring: John Mullan, Jim McLaverty, Valerie Rumbold
18th-century English male writersBritish male essayistsEnglish essayists18th-century English non-fiction writersTranslators of HomerTuberculosis deaths in England18th-century English poetsEnglish Catholic poetsNeoclassical writersTory poetsFreemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of EnglandEnglish Roman CatholicsEnglish male non-fiction writersPeople from the City of LondonEnglish male poets18th-century British essayistsRoman Catholic writers18th centuryRobert 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 centurySir Thomas Browne
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, ideas and language of Browne (1605-82), a doctor sharing his personal views on science, history and religion at a time of great change
6 June 2019
Featuring: Claire Preston, Jessica Wolfe, Kevin Killeen
Wilberforce
In an unusual edition of In Our Time, marking the 1807 Abolition of the Slave Trade, Melvyn Bragg leaves the studio to examine the life of William Wilberforce.
22 February 2007
Featuring
ReligionBritish MPs 1784–1790, British MPs 1790–1796Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts18th-century evangelicalsEnglish AnglicansChristian radicalsEnglish religious writersUK MPs 1818–1820, UK MPs 1820–1826Anglican saintsEnglish philanthropistsEnglish abolitionists19th-century Anglicans19th-century English male writersAnglican writersAlumni of St John's College, CambridgeBritish MPs 1780–1784, Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies19th-century English non-fiction writers19th-century English politiciansBritish reformersEnglish male non-fiction writersBurials at Westminster Abbey18th century19th century