Thomas Healy
Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London
6 episodes
Covers topics in categories such as:
The Metaphysical Poets
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Metaphysical poets John Donne, Andrew Marvell and George Herbert, examining their rich and strange metaphors of sex, death and love.
3 July 2008
Also featuring: Julie Sanders, Tom Cain
The Divine Right of Kings
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Divine Right of Kings. The idea that kingly authority derives from God alone bit deep into the culture of 17th century Britain.
11 October 2007
Also featuring: Justin Champion, Clare Jackson
Paganism in the Renaissance
Melvyn Bragg discusses paganism in the Renaissance and the return of classical pagan thought to Italy and then to the rest of Europe in the 15th century.
16 June 2005
Also featuring: Charles Hope, Evelyn Welch
Rhetoric
Melvyn Bragg discusses Rhetoric, the art of speaking which is an expression of inner virtue and also fundamental to ideas about democracy.
28 October 2004
Also featuring: Angie Hobbs, Ceri Sullivan
Youth
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of concepts and ideas on youth including the ancient Greeks, who sought to control it, the Renaissance celebration of its ideals, and today’s youth culture.
24 April 2003
Also featuring: Tim Whitmarsh, Deborah Thom
The Artist
Melvyn Bragg discusses the rise of the idea of the artist and the claims made for it, and examines the role that aristocratic patronage of the arts has played in changing the status of the artist.
28 March 2002
Also featuring: Emma Barker, Tim Blanning