America
17 episodes
Benjamin Franklin
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the scientist, writer, printer, diplomat and American founding father Benjamin Franklin.
1 March 2012
Featuring: Simon Middleton, Simon Newman, Patricia Fara
CultureHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesPeople associated with electricityAmerican philosophers of educationHumor researchersActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican philosophers of cultureCreators of writing systemsWriters about religion and scienceAmerican slave ownersRhetoric theoristsRecreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston, Writers from PhiladelphiaAmerican male non-fiction writersIndependent scientistsIndependent scholarsAmerican people of English descentAmerican deistsWriters about activism and social changeSimple living advocatesAmerican political philosophers18th-century American politicians, American Freemasons, Signers of the United States ConstitutionPhilosophy writersAmerican autobiographersAmerican philosophers of religionHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesPhilosophers of technologyMasonic grand mastersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of historyRecipients of the Copley MedalPolitical activists from PennsylvaniaPhilosophers from Massachusetts18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American EnlightenmentAmerican male journalistsSocial philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical Society18th-century pseudonymous writersAphoristsAge of EnlightenmentPhilosophers of literatureFellows of the Royal Society18th centuryAmericaEdgar Allan Poe
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the writer of The Raven and Gothic horror stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher.
30 November 2023
Featuring: Bridget Bennett, Erin Forbes, Tom Wright
CultureHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesUnited States Military Academy alumniAmerican literary critics, American male dramatists and playwrightsAmerican male essayists, American male poetsSurrealist writersRecreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston, Writers from PhiladelphiaAmerican male non-fiction writersEpic poetsAmerican people of English descent19th-century pseudonymous writersRomantic poets19th-century American short story writers, Ghost story writers19th-century American poets19th-century American non-fiction writers19th-century American novelists, Novelists from New York (state)Writers from Baltimore19th-century American male writers19th-century American essayistsAmerican male novelistsWriters of Gothic fiction19th centuryAmericaEdith 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 centuryAmericaEmily Dickinson
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Emily Dickinson, the now-celebrated poet of Amherst, who was prolific yet chose to publish few of her poems.
11 May 2017
Featuring: Fiona Green, Linda Freedman, Paraic Finnerty
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 centuryAmericaGermanyThe 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 American Ideal
Melvyn Bragg examines what underwrites the idealism of America that has driven its enormous cultural, economic and diplomatic influence across the globe. Was it ever ideal and is it ideal any longer?
1 June 2000
Featuring: Christopher Hitchens, John Keane, Susan Sontag
The American Populists
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the C19th MidWest and Southern farmers' struggle for a better deal, claiming they suffered while industry and railroads thrived at their expense.
15 June 2017
Featuring: Lawrence Goldman, Mara Keire, Christopher Phelps
The American West
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 19th century American pioneers and examines whether our ideas about the frontier owe more to the mythology of John Wayne movies than to the history of the real trailblazers.
13 June 2002
Featuring: Frank McLynn, Jenni Calder, Christopher Frayling
The Mexican-American War
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1846-48 American war against Mexico, in which America won over a million square kilometres of Mexican territory, including California.
28 June 2018
Featuring: Frank Cogliano, Jacqueline Fear-Segal, Thomas Rath
HistoryHistory of the foreign relations of the United States1848 in California, Pre-statehood history of CaliforniaConflicts in 1848Wars fought in Arizona, Wars fought in TexasUnited States Marine Corps in the 18th and 19th centuriesWars involving the United StatesMilitary history of the United States, United States involvement in regime changeHistory of United States expansionism19th centuryAmericaThe Spanish-American War 1898
Misha Glenny and guests discuss the imperial war in which the US took the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico from Spain and gained greater influence over newly-independent Cuba.
2 April 2026
Featuring: Frank Cogliano, Mary Vincent, Stephen Wilkinson
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, which was published in 1776 and bolstered support for American independence.
21 January 2016
Featuring: Kathleen Burk, Nicholas Guyatt, Peter Thompson
HistoryHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesAmerican philosophers of educationRadicalsAmerican philosophers of culture19th-century male writersUniversal basic income writersEnglish libertariansAmerican male non-fiction writersAmerican deistsAnti-monarchists18th-century philosophersWriters about activism and social changeAmerican political philosophersNaturalized citizens of France19th-century American writers18th-century English male writers19th-century American philosophersEnglish inventorsAmerican philosophers of religionClassical liberalismDeist philosophers18th-century American male writers, American foreign policy writers18th-century English peopleTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of history18th-century English writersCritics of JudaismPolitical activists from PennsylvaniaAmerican nationalists, American religious skeptics18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American Enlightenment19th-century English writersEnlightenment philosophersSocial philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyDeputies to the French National ConventionEnglish republicansBritish deists18th century19th centuryAmericaThoreau and the American Idyll
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the American 19th century writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau
15 January 2009
Featuring: Kathleen Burk, Tim Morris, Stephen Fender
PhilosophyHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesAmerican philosophers of cultureAmerican male essayists, American male poetsAmerican lecturersUnderground Railroad peoplePhilosophers of loveAnarchist writersAmerican male non-fiction writersCritics of work and the work ethicAmerican spiritual writersSimple living advocatesAmerican political philosophers19th-century American poets19th-century American philosophersAnti-consumerists19th-century American non-fiction writersAmerican philosophers of mind, American philosophers of sciencePhilosophers of historyPhilosophers from Massachusetts19th-century deaths from tuberculosis19th-century American essayistsPantheists19th centuryAmericaTocqueville: Democracy in America
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville and his study of the American democratic system, written as an example to France of how democracy might develop there.
22 March 2018
Featuring: Robert Gildea, Susan-Mary Grant, Jeremy Jennings
HistoryWriters from ParisFrench Roman CatholicsMembers of the Académie FrançaiseFrench sociologistsFrench male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of lawHistorians of the French Revolution19th-century French male writersKnights of the Legion of Honour19th-century French philosophersEconomic sociologistsNatural law ethicistsFrench philosophers of historyFrench political writersFrench political scientistsFrench political philosophersFrench philosophers of cultureUniversity of Paris alumni19th centuryAmericaFranceWalt Whitman
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the innovative 19th-century poet, who broke away from European literary traditions to become a key figure in the development of American culture.
27 April 2023
Featuring: Sarah Churchwell, Peter Riley, Mark Ford
CultureHall of Fame for Great Americans inductees19th-century American poets19th-century American male writersAmerican spiritual writersAmerican people of Dutch descentAmerican nationalists, American religious skepticsAmerican people of English descent19th-century American essayistsAmerican male journalistsAmerican male essayists, American male poets19th-century pseudonymous writersAmerican LGBTQ poetsAmerican male novelists19th-century American novelists, Novelists from New York (state)Pantheists19th-century mysticsWar writersAmerican humanists19th centuryAmericaWashington and the American Revolution
Melvyn Bragg discusses the first President of the United States, George Washington, and the people and ideas that saw the American Revolution overthrow British rule in 1775.
24 June 2004
Featuring: Carol Berkin, Simon Middleton, Colin Bonwick
CultureHall of Fame for Great Americans inductees18th-century American male writers, American foreign policy writers18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American EnlightenmentAmerican people of English descentCongressional Gold Medal recipientsCommanding Generals of the United States Army, Presidents of the United StatesMembers of the American Philosophical Society18th-century American politicians, American Freemasons, Signers of the United States ConstitutionAmerican slave ownersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican male non-fiction writers18th centuryAmericaWilliam 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 centuryAmericaPsychology
