In Our Time Podcast
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from 成人快手 Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.
History fans can learn about pivotal wars and societal upheavals, such as the rise and fall of Napoleon, the Sack of Rome in 1527, and the political intrigue of the Russian Revolution. Those fascinated by the lives of kings and queens can journey to Versailles to meet Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV the Sun King, or to Ancient Egypt to meet Cleopatra and Nerfertiti. Or perhaps you鈥檙e looking to explore the history of religion, from Buddhism鈥檚 early teachings to the Protestant Reformation.
If you鈥檙e interested in the stories behind iconic works of art, music and literature, dive in to discussions on the artistic genius of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Van Gogh鈥檚 famous Sunflowers. From Gothic architecture to the works of Shakespeare, each episode of In Our Time offers new insight into humanity鈥檚 cultural achievements.
Those looking to enrich their scientific knowledge can hear episodes on black holes, the Periodic Table, and classical theories of gravity, motion, evolution and relativity. Learn how the discovery of penicillin revolutionised medicine, and how the death of stars can lead to the formation of new planets.
Lovers of philosophy will find episodes on the big issues that define existence, from free will and ethics, to liberty and justice. In what ways did celebrated philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Karl Marx push forward radical new ideas? How has the concept of karma evolved from the ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism to today? What was Plato鈥檚 concept of an ideal republic, and how did he explore this through the legend of the lost city of Atlantis?
In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.
Episodes to download
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Barbour's 'Brus'
Thu 19 Jun 2025
How the earliest poem in Older Scots framed the legend of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.
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The Evolution of Lungs
Thu 12 Jun 2025
From the mechanics of the first breaths on Earth to the reason we hiccup.
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Paul von Hindenburg
Thu 22 May 2025
How the cult of personality around this German WWI figurehead helped usher in Hitler.
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Lise Meitner
Thu 8 May 2025
The Austrian-Jewish physicist who, in 1938, solved the question of nuclear fission.
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The Korean Empire
Thu 1 May 2025
How Korea embraced modernisation at the end of the 19th Century in a bid for independence.
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惭辞濒颈猫谤别
Thu 24 Apr 2025
The great French playwright and comic actor who flourished at the court of Louis XIV.
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The Battle of Clontarf
Thu 10 Apr 2025
Brian Boru's celebrated defeat of Hiberno-Norse forces and allies outside Dublin in 1014.
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The Gracchi
Thu 3 Apr 2025
Why two brothers became linked to the fall of the Roman Republic and rise of the emperors.
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Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Thu 27 Mar 2025
Insights into the relationship between the body and the mind, habits, language and thought
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Thomas Middleton
Thu 20 Mar 2025
The prolific and versatile Jacobean playwright tasked with 'improving' some of Shakespeare
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Pollination
Thu 6 Mar 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the interplay between plants and pollinators.
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Kali
Thu 27 Feb 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss this Hindu goddess in her many remarkable forms
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Oliver Goldsmith
Thu 20 Feb 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss this influential and prolific 18th-century Irish writer.
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Catherine of Aragon
Thu 13 Feb 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman so important that two Tudor royals married her.
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Sir John Soane
Thu 6 Feb 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential English architect John Soane.
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Socrates in Prison
Thu 23 Jan 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the inspiring last days of the great Athenian philosopher.
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The Battle of Valmy
Thu 16 Jan 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the day in 1792 when the French Revolution risked defeat.
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Vase-mania
Boxing Day 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the eighteenth century mania for classical vases.
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Plutarch's Parallel Lives
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential Greek biographer and his main work
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The Habitability of Planets
Thu 12 Dec 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas about where life may begin in the universe and how.
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Nizami Ganjavi
Thu 5 Dec 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great 12th-century Persian epic romantic poet.
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The Hanoverian Succession
Thu 28 Nov 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the politics that led to the coronation of George I.
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Italo Calvino
Thu 21 Nov 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential 20th-century Italian novelist and essayist
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
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Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.