The Peterloo Massacre

Melvyn Bragg examines the 1819 Peterloo Massacre and the brutality of the British state.

• 45 mins

Heaven

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas of heaven and the afterlife.

• 45 mins

The Oresteia

Melvyn Bragg examines the ‘Oresteia’, the seminal trilogy of tragedies by Aeschylus.

• 45 mins

The Oath

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the importance of the oath in the Classical World.

• 45 mins

Prime Numbers

Melvyn Bragg examines prime numbers and their mysterious role in the universe of numbers.

• 45 mins

Relativism

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss relativism; a philosophy with no absolute truths.

• 45 mins

Seventeenth Century Print Culture

Melvyn Bragg examines the controversy and scandal of 17th century print culture.

• 45 mins

The Abbasid Caliphs

Melvyn Bragg examines the Abbasid Caliphs, rulers of the Islamic world for 200 years.

• 45 mins

Chaucer

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English literature.

• 60 mins

Human Evolution

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the six million year old story of human evolution.

• 45 mins

Catherine the Great

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Empress who transformed and modernized Russia.

• 45 mins

Friendship

Melvyn Bragg explores the concept of friendship; ‘a single soul dwelling in two bodies’.

• 45 mins

Negative Numbers

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss negative numbers, a history of mystery and suspicion.

• 45 mins

Don Quixote

Melvyn Bragg considers the importance of the 17th century Spanish novel Don Quixote.

• 45 mins

The Royal Society

The history of the formation of the Royal Society, the oldest scientific academy.

• 45 mins

The Carolingian Renaissance

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Emperor Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance.

• 45 mins

Goethe

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great German polymath, Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

• 45 mins

Jorge Luis Borges

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Jorge Luis Borges.

• 45 mins

The Oxford Movement

Melvyn Bragg examines the 19th century Catholic movement within the Church of England.

• 45 mins

Immunisation

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the search for immunisation and its impact on society.

• 45 mins

The Great Exhibition of 1851

Melvyn Bragg examines the exhibition that showcased Victorian Britain's industrial might.

• 45 mins

Astronomy and Empire

Melvyn Bragg examines the relationship between astronomy and British Imperial expansion.

• 45 mins

Fairies

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 5000 year cultural history of fairies.

• 45 mins

Mill

The life and ideas of the 19th century political philosopher John Stuart Mill.

• 45 mins

Mathematics and Music

Melvyn Bragg examines the mathematical structures that lie within the heart of music.

• 45 mins

The Heart

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas about the heart.

• 45 mins

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century anti-slavery novel, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.

• 45 mins

Carbon

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss carbon, which forms the basis of all organic life.

• 45 mins

The Spanish Inquisition

Melvyn Bragg examines the Spanish Inquisition, defenders of medieval orthodoxy.

• 45 mins

Galaxies

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the creation and destruction of galaxies.

• 45 mins