Former Roman Catholics
Former Catholics or ex-Catholics are people who used to be Catholic for some time, but no longer identify as such. This includes both individuals who were at least nominally raised in the Roman Catholic faith, and individuals who converted to it in later life, both of whom later rejected and left it, or converted to other faiths (including the related non-Roman Catholic faiths).
6 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Garibaldi and the Risorgimento
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Giuseppe Garibaldi and his role in unifying Italy which, with his Red Shirts, he achieved substantially in 1861 and entirely in 1870.
1 December 2016
Featuring: Lucy Riall, Eugenio Biagini, David Laven
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
History20th-century German non-fiction writersArtists who died by suicideAustrian emigrants to Germany20th-century German male writersGerman revolutionariesGerman critics of ChristianityHeads of state who died by suicide20th-century presidents of Germany, German anti-communists, Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st classGerman eugenicistsFormer Roman CatholicsPeople with Parkinson's diseaseMaurice 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
PhilosophyAction theoristsFrench philosophers of artExistentialistsFrench philosophers of scienceÉcole Normale Supérieure alumniMarxist theoristsPhenomenologistsBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryFrench magazine foundersFormer Roman CatholicsFrench humanistsFrench epistemologistsFrench philosophers of educationFrench political philosophersLycée Louis-le-Grand alumniAcademic staff of the University of ParisPhilosophers of psychologyAcademic staff of the Collège de FranceFrench male non-fiction writersEnactive cognitionFrench philosophers of cultureOntologists20th-century French philosophersUniversity of Paris alumniFrench socialistsProust
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
Conversationalists20th-century atheistsFrench philosophers of art19th-century French philosophersLGBTQ Roman Catholics19th-century French LGBTQ people, 20th-century French LGBTQ people19th-century mysticsPhilosophers of literatureFrench Roman Catholic writersFrench atheistsBurials at Père Lachaise Cemetery20th-century French novelistsFormer Roman CatholicsAphoristsDeaths from pneumonia in France, Prix Goncourt winnersFrench male non-fiction writersFrench literary criticsPeople with hypochondriasisFrench essayists19th-century atheists20th-century mystics20th-century French philosophersLycée Condorcet alumniFrench short story writersFrench LGBTQ novelistsWriters from ParisModernist writers20th-century French essayists, 20th-century French short story writersSimone 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
PhilosophySocialist feministsFrench communistsFrench philosophers of artFeminist theoristsExistentialistsFrench feministsBisexual women writersPhilosophers of sexuality20th-century French memoiristsFrench bisexual women, French bisexual writersFrench atheistsBurials at Montparnasse Cemetery20th-century French novelistsFormer Roman CatholicsFeminist studies scholarsJerusalem Prize recipientsFrench philosophers of educationFrench political philosophersCommunist women writersBisexual memoiristsDeaths from pneumonia in France, Prix Goncourt winnersFrench women philosophersFrench Marxists, French anti-war activistsFrench literary criticsAtheist philosophersBisexual novelistsFrench women novelists20th-century French philosophers20th-century French women writersFrench LGBTQ novelistsWriters from ParisUniversity of Paris alumniScholars of feminist philosophyThe Curies
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the scientific achievements of the Curie family, Marie and Pierre and their daughter Irene Joliot-Curie, all three of whom won Nobel Prizes.
26 March 2015
Featuring: Patricia Fara, Robert Fox, Steven T Bramwell
HistoryFrench atheistsNobel laureates in PhysicsFrench Nobel laureatesFormer Roman CatholicsLegion of Honour refusalsBurials at the Panthéon, ParisExperimental physicistsCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesNaturalized citizens of FranceNobel laureates in ChemistryFrench women physicistsWomen Nobel laureatesAcademic staff of the University of ParisCorresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)Honorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalDiscoverers of chemical elementsFrench agnostics19th-century French chemistsUniversity of Paris alumniWomen inventorsWomen nuclear physicists