In Our Time

Melvyn Bragg and guests chart the development of Christian thought, looking at 25 fundamental concepts that emerged throughout history

'In Our Time is a digital Library of Alexandria, a rich seam of commute-enhancing, dinner-party-reviving wisdom' The Economist

Launched into the Thursday morning 'death slot' in 1988, In Our Time defied expectations to become one of Radio 4's best-loved and most popular programmes. In the 25 years it has been on air, it has built up an audience of over 2 million listeners and covered over 1,000 topics, from the Berlin Conference to bird migration.

This specially curated collection sees Melvyn Bragg and his panel of experts considering some of the central tenets of the Christian faith. Its wide-ranging scope incorporates key concepts including Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, angels and devils, prayers and miracles, the Fall of Man, the Apocalypse, the Trinity and the Nicene Creed. Also discussed are the most significant historical developments that shaped and influenced Christianity today, among them Gnosticism, Deism, Calvinism and Fundamentalism, the ontological argument, The Book of Common Prayer, papal infallibility and the Rapture.

Full of fascinating ideas and lively, accessible discussions, this comprehensive compendium will delight religious scholars, theologians and autodidacts alike.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Julia Johnson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Key Concepts
The Trinity 13 March 2014
With Janet Soskice, Martin Palmer and Graham Ward

Heaven 22 December 2005
With Valery Rees, Martin Palmer and John Carey

Angels 24 March 2005
With Martin Palmer, Valery Rees and John Haldane

The Devil 11 December 2003
With Martin Palmer, Alison Rowlands and David Wootton

Hell 21 December 2006
With Martin Palmer, Margaret Kean and Neil MacGregor

The Fall 8 April 2004
With Martin Palmer, Griselda Pollock and John Carey

Prayer 23 December 1999
With Russell Stannard and Andrew Samuels

Miracles 25 September 2008
With Martin Palmer, Janet Soskice and Justin Champion

Redemption 13 March 2003
With Richard Harries, Janet Soskice and Stephen Mulhall

Duty 13 November 2003
With Angie Hobbs, Annabel Brett and Anthony Grayling

The Apocalypse 17 July 2003
With Martin Palmer, Marina Benjamin and Justin Champion

The Nicene Creed 27 December 2007
With Martin Palmer, Caroline Humfress and Andrew Louth

Purgatory 25 May 2017
With Laura Ashe, Matthew Treherne and Helen Foxhall Forbes

Part II: Historical Developments

Gnosticism 2 May 2013
With Martin Palmer, Caroline Humfress and Alastair Logan

The Ontological Argument 27 September 2012
With John Haldane, Peter Millican and Clare Carlisle

Medieval Pilgrimage 18 February 2021
With Miri Rubin, Kathryn Rudy and Anthony Bale

The Book of Common Prayer 17 October 2013
With Diarmaid MacCulloch, Alexandra Walsham and Martin Palmer

Deism 8 October 2020
With Richard Serjeantson, Katie East and Thomas Ahnert

Calvinism 25 February 2010
With Justin Champion, Susan Hardman Moore and Diarmaid MacCulloch

Papal Infallibility 10 January 2019
With Tom O'Loughlin, Rebecca Rist and Miles Pattenden

The Rapture 26 September 2019
With Elizabeth Phillips, Crawford Gribben and Nicholas Guyatt

The Oxford Movement 13 April 2006
With Sheridan Gilley, Frances Knight and Simon Skinner

The Age of Doubt 9 March 2000
With A N Wilson and Victoria Glendinning

Science and Religion 25 January 2001
With Stephen Jay Gould, John Haldane and Hilary Rose

Fundamentalism 22 April 1999
With Karen Armstrong and Tariq Ali

© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of physics through its most important ideas and hypotheses

'In Our Time is in a class of its own' New York Times

Eclectic, erudite and entertaining, In Our Time is one of Radio 4's most successful programmes, regularly attracting an audience of over 2 million for its discussions on every subject under the sun: from oceanography to Ovid.

In this special themed collection, Melvyn Bragg is joined by guest experts including Simon Schaffer, John Gribbin, Jim Al-Khalili and Sir Martin Rees to discuss 25 of the key laws, principles and problems of physics. Here are examinations of major concepts including plasma, radiation, matter and antimatter and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, as well as discourses on historical theories such as Zeno's paradoxes, the speed of light and relativity. Also featured are analyses of modern developments in physics, including the discovery and growing understanding of the proton, neutron and electron, the controversial breakthrough of nuclear technology, and the search for the holy grail of 20th century physics: the Grand Unified Theory.

Physicists, students of science and knowledge seekers will savour these wide-ranging, comprehensive and accessible discussions, which serve as a springboard to dive deeper into the fascinating fundamental principles that govern our universe.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Thomas Morris and Simon Tillotson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Major Concepts
States of Matter 3 April 2014
Heat 4 December 2008
Absolute Zero 7 March 2013
The Second Law of Thermodynamics 16 December 2004
Plasma 13 October 2016
Magnetism 29 September 2005
Radiation 12 November 2009
The Physics of Time 18 December 2008
Quantum Gravity 22 February 2001
Antimatter 4 October 2007
The Graviton 24 November 2005
Optics 1 March 2007
With Simon Schaffer, Jim Bennett and Emily Winterburn

Part II: Historical Theories
Zeno's Paradoxes 22 September 2016
The Speed of Light 30 November 2006
The Laws of Motion 3 April 2008
Kinetic Theory 23 May 2019
Relativity 6 June 2013
The Physics of Reality 2 May 2002

Part III: Modern physics
Grand Unified Theory 24 February 2000
The Electron 29 September 2022
Nuclear Physics 10 January 2002
Cosmic Rays 16 May 2013
The Proton 26 April 2018
The Neutron 14 April 2016
The Neutrino 14 April 2011

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests chart 1,500 years of Christianity through its most influential movements, events and historical figures

In Our Time has been the cornerstone of broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 since its launch in 1998. Presented by one of Britain's greatest champions of the arts, Melvyn Bragg, the show explores ideas across history, religion, philosophy, science and culture. With a vast array of contributors from the world of academia, such as Mary Beard, Angie Hobbs and Diarmaid MacCulloch, it is one of Radio 4's most successful programmes.

Collected in this thematic anthology are 25 episodes focusing on notable events and individuals in Christian history, from the third century AD to the founding of Methodism, that have transformed the history of the world. Included are saints such as St Paul, Mary Magdalene, St Augustine, St Hilda, St Cuthbert, the Venerable Bede and St Thomas Aquinas, and other notable Christian figures, such as John Wyclif, William Cecil, John Foxe, Titus Oates and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Also featured are programmes on key religious movements, among them Catharism, the Jesuits, Greyfriars and Blackfriars, as well as major historical events including the Schism, the Spanish Inquisition, the Diet of Worms and the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Packed with thought-provoking facts and informed debate, this fascinating collection of specially collated programmes will captivate In Our Time fans, students of religion and anyone with an interest in theology and the Christian church.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Victoria Brignell, Julia Johnson, Thomas Morris and Simon Tillotson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Saints
St Paul 28 May 2009
Mary Magdalene 25 February 2016
Augustine's Confessions 15 March 2018
St Hilda 5 April 2007
Saint Cuthbert 28 January 2021
The Venerable Bede 25 November 2004
St Thomas Aquinas 17 September 2009

Part II: Other Christian Figures
Wyclif and the Lollards 16 June 2011
William Cecil 7 March 2019
Foxe's Book of Martyrs 18 November 2010
Robert Boyle 12 June 2014
Titus Oates and his 'Popish Plot' 12 May 2016
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 27 September 2018

Part III: Religious Movements
Arianism 15 April 2021
Catharism 17 January 2022
Greyfriars and Blackfriars 10 November 2005
Covenanters 12 March 2020
The Jesuits 18 January 2007
John Wesley and Methodism 10 December 2020

Part IV: Historical Events
Early Christian Martyrdom 28 April 2022
The Pelagian Controversy 21 April 2011
The Schism 16 October 2003
The Spanish Inquisition 22 June 2006
The Diet of Worms 12 October 2006
The Dissolution of the Monasteries 27 March 2008

© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests analyse 25 key poets and literary works, tracing the evolution of poetry over 550 years

'The best programme coming out of the entire corporation these days' Sunday Telegraph

Since its debut in 1998, In Our Time has amassed a dedicated following of more than 2 million listeners. Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, with a panel of guest experts, each show features a plethora of fascinating facts and inspirational discourse on topics ranging from democracy to dark matter.

This specially curated collection celebrates the rich diversity of poetry in English, focussing on 25 major works and writers from the mediaeval era to the 20th Century. Opening with a programme on Geoffrey Chaucer, often called the father of English literature, it encompasses some of the greatest poets of all time, including John Donne, Pope, Milton, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, W B Yeats and Wilfred Owen.

Among the influential poems discussed are Shakespeare's sonnets, Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Wordsworth's 'The Prelude' and the epic that made Byron famous, 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage'. Also featured is a bonus episode, 'The Sonnet', exploring the most enduring form in the poet's armoury and how its fourteen lines have exercised poetic minds.

Packed with stimulating ideas and spellbinding rhetoric, this absorbing anthology is guaranteed to bring unfettered enjoyment to all lovers of the written word.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Simon Tillotson, Thomas Morris and Natalia Fernandez

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Chaucer 9 February 2006
Piers Plowman 29 October 2020
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 13 December 2018
Shakespeare's Sonnets 24 June 2021
John Donne 12 January 2023
Milton 7 March 2002
Pope 9 November 2006
Songs of Innocence and of Experience 23 June 2016
Lyrical Ballads 8 March 2012
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 4 March 2021
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage 6 January 2011
The Prelude 22 November 2007
John Clare 9 February 2017
Emily Dickinson 11 May 2017
Christina Rossetti 1 December 2011
The Charge of the Light Brigade 10 January 2008
Tennyson's In Memoriam 30 June 2011
Aurora Leigh 24 March 2016
William Morris 5 July 2018
Gerard Manley Hopkins 21 March 2019
Walt Whitman 27 April 2023
Thomas Hardy's Poetry 13 January 2022
Yeats and Mysticism 31 January 2002
Yeats and Irish Politics 17 April 2008
Wilfred Owen 27 October 2022
The Sonnet 21 June 2001

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss 25 explorations of the visual arts, including artistic and architectural styles, historic movements, notable artworks and visual artists

Radio 4's In Our Time has established itself at the pinnacle of essential conversation on a wide range of subjects from science, history, philosophy and the arts. The programme, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023, is presented by Melvyn Bragg with contributors from the diverse worlds of academia.

Opening with four contextual episodes - The Artist, Imagination, The Muses, and Architecture and Power - this thematic anthology contains 25 programmes on the history of visual art. Included are artistic styles and movements, from Avant Garde to Bohemianism, and great cultural figures such as Hans Holbein the Younger, Katsushika Hokusai, Frida Kahlo, Michelangelo and William Morris. Also featured are episodes on Baroque, Bauhaus and Surrealism, as well as such iconic artworks as Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, Turner's The Fighting Temeraire, Munch's The Scream and Picasso's Guernica.

How did the artist become a special kind of human being? Why is architecture such a powerful form of expression? These, and many other topics, are discussed in this release. Whether you're an arts student or simply want to broaden your horizons, this enlightening and entertaining compilation will provoke thoughts and debate long after you have finished listening to it.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Natalia Fernandez, John Goudie, Thomas Morris, Luke Mulhall and Simon Tillotson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Context
The Artist 28 March 2002
Imagination 28 November 2002
The Muses 19 May 2016
Architecture and Power 31 October 2002

Part II: Styles and Movements
Cave Art 24 September 2020
Vitruvius and De Architectura 15 March 2012
The Baroque Movement 20 November 2008
Bohemianism 9 October 2003
The Decadent Movement 18 November 2021
Bauhaus 10 November 2022
Surrealism 15 November 2001
The Avant Garde's Decline and Fall in the 20th Century 25 February 1999

Part III: Visual Artists
Albrecht Dürer 12 November 2020
Holbein at the Tudor Court 15 October 2015
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists 27 May 2010
Hokusai 30 March 2017
Berthe Morisot 13 October 2022
Frida Kahlo 9 July 2015
William Morris 5 July 2018

Part IV: Art and Architecture
The Lindisfarne Gospels 20 February 2003
Judith beheading Holofernes 14 February 2019
Angkor Wat 23 June 2022
The Sistene Chapel 31 March 2022
The School of Athens 26 March 2009
Bruegel's The Fight Between Carnival and Lent 15 January 2015
Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People 20 October 2011
The Fighting Temeraire 10 November 2016
Munch and The Scream 18 March 2010
Picasso's Guernica 2 November 2017

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of the Islamic world through its religion, thinkers, poetry, empire and rulers

'An ever-growing library of wisdom' The Economist

Since 1998, In Our Time has been the go-to radio programme for knowledge seekers and inquiring minds. Tackling big topics with a light touch, it has introduced weekly audiences of over 2 million to subjects ranging from Romulus and Remus to the Renaissance.

This special themed collection provides a focussed, wide-ranging introduction to 25 of the ideas and events that shaped the Islamic world, highlighting the numerous connections between Islamdom and the West throughout history. We learn the origins of Sharia law, and how prophets became important to Islam, Judaism and Christianity alike; discover how the Translation Movement introduced the Arabic world to Greek philosophy, medicine, engineering and maths; and find out how settlers and invaders from both East and West transformed and refashioned the civilisations they touched, from the Arab Conquest, Muslim Spain and the Volga Vikings to the Third Crusade and the Siege of Vienna.

Here, too, are key scholars and writers, among them al-Kindi, the first significant thinker to reconcile philosophy and Islam; Averroes, who worked to integrate Islamic theology with the rationality of Aristotle; Maimonides, a titan of Jewish intellectual history who was much influenced by the Islamic world; and Rumi, the Persian poet and Sufi mystic whose work transcends borders of time, faith, language and geography.

Hosted by Melvyn Bragg with a panel of experts including Mona Siddiqui, Jim Al-Khalili, Tariq Ali and Amira Bennison, these enlightening, accessible discussions will illuminate, inspire and surprise.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Victoria Brignell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Religion
Islamic Law and its Origins 5 May 2011
Sunni and Shia Islam 25 June 2009
Prophecy 13 June 2013

Part II: History of Ideas
Maths in the Early Islamic World 16 February 2017
The Translation Movement 2 October 2008
Al-Kindi 28 June 2012
al-Biruni 10 June 2010
Avicenna 8 November 2007
Al-Ghazali 19 March 2015
Averroes 5 October 2006
Maimonides 17 February 2011
Ibn Khaldun 4 February 2010

Part III: Literature
Antarah ibn Shaddad 28 February 2019
Rumi's Poetry 11 February 2016

Part IV: Empire
The Sassanid Empire 13 December 2007
The Arab Conquests 26 June 2008
Muslim Spain 21 November 2002
The Battle of Tours 16 January 2014
The Volga Vikings 11 November 2010
The Almoravid Empire 3 May 2018
Third Crusade 29 November 2001
The Siege of Vienna 14 May 2009

Part V: Rulers
The Abbasid Caliphs 2 February 2006
The Mamluks 26 September 2013
The Safavid Dynasty 12 January 2012

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss 25 scientific pioneers who have shaped the development of science over 500 years

'Exemplifies what Radio 4 is all about, and what makes it world class' The Guardian

One of the bedrocks of Radio 4, In Our Time has entertained and fascinated millions of listeners since it was first broadcast in 1998. Each week, Melvyn Bragg and a panel of leading academics discuss the big ideas that form the intellectual agenda of our age, traversing an eclectic spectrum of topics from the alphabet to Absolute Zero.

This specially curated collection introduces us to 25 of the best minds who have shaped the fields of science over the past five centuries. Beginning with an introductory episode, 'The Scientist', it encompasses pioneers such as mathematicians Blaise Pascal, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Ada Lovelace and Emmy Noether; astronomers Johannes Kepler and William and Caroline Herschel; chemists Rosalind Franklin and Dorothy Hodgkin; and physicists Ernest Rutherford and Paul Dirac. Among the other famous names featured are Michael Faraday, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, Alan Turing and the Curies, as well as the great naturalist Charles Darwin, who is the subject of a 4-part special devoted to his life and work.

Science students, In Our Time fans and lovers of learning will relish these captivating, wide-ranging discussions, giving us unparalleled insight into the remarkable individuals whose ideas and inventions have transformed our world.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Victoria Brignell, Thomas Morris, John Goudie and Simon Tillotson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

The Scientist 24 October 2002
Johannes Kepler 29 December 2016
Pascal 19 September 2013
Robert Boyle 12 June 2014
Emilie du Châtelet 4 February 2021
Lamarck and Natural Selection 26 December 2003
William and Caroline Herschel 11 November 2021
Pierre-Simon Laplace 8 April 2021
John Dalton 27 October 2016
Humboldt 28 September 2006
Carl Friedrich Gauss 30 November 2017
George and Robert Stephenson 12 April 2018
Michael Faraday 24 December 2015
Ada Lovelace 6 March 2008
Maxwell 2 October 2003
Darwin: On the Origins of Charles Darwin 5 January 2009
Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle 6 January 2009
Darwin: On the Origin of Species 7 January 2009
Darwin: Life After Origins 8 January 2009
Louis Pasteur 18 May 2017
Pitt-Rivers 28 February 2013
Thomas Edison 9 December 2010
Rutherford 19 February 2004
Emmy Noether 24 January 2019
The Curies 26 March 2015
Alan Turing 15 October 2020
Rosalind Franklin 22 February 2018
Paul Dirac 5 March 2020
Dorothy Hodgkin 3 October 2019

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests tell the story of the novel over 400 years, via key literary works and movements

'One of Radio 4's quiet jewels in its crown' The Guardian

In 1998, a brand new culture show was launched on Radio 4, featuring Melvyn Bragg and a panel of leading academics discussing the ideas, individuals and events that have shaped our world. In Our Time rapidly became one of radio's most well-loved programmes, regularly attracting over 2 million listeners eager to learn more about the topic of the week - which could be asteroids, Zoroastrianism or anything in between.

This specially curated collection charts the evolution of the novel as a literary form throughout the past four centuries, analysing 25 works ranging from Cervantes' 17th century epic Don Quixote to George Orwell's 1945 political fable Animal Farm. Some of the best books of all time are examined and elucidated here, including Robinson Crusoe, Tristram Shandy, Emma, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Crime and Punishment, Ulysses and Mrs Dalloway. Three additional programmes, on 'The Novel', 'Victorian Realism' and 'Literary Modernism', set these masterpieces in their historical context.

Devotees of fiction, In Our Time fans and the intellectually curious will love these dynamic, stimulating discussions, which open the door to a whole world of classic literature and invite us to venture in.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Olivia Seligman, Natalia Fernandez, Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Julia Johnson, Luke Mulhall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: The Early Novel

The Novel 11 November 1999
With D J Taylor and Gillian Beer

Don Quixote 16 March 2006
With Barry Ife, Edwin Williamson and Jane Whetnall

Robinson Crusoe 22 December 2011
With Karen O'Brien, Judith Hawley and Bob Owens

Voltaire's Candide 3 May 2012
With David Wootton, Nicholas Cronk and Caroline Warman

Tristram Shandy 24 April 2014
With Judith Hawley, John Mullan and Mary Newbould

Emma 19 November 2015
With Janet Todd, John Mullan and Emma Clery

Frankenstein 16 May 2019
With Karen O'Brien, Michael Rossington and Jane Thomas

Eugene Onegin 22 June 2017
With Andrew Kahn, Emily Finer and Simon Dixon

Part II: The Victorian Novel

Victorian Realism 14 November 2002
With Philip Davis, AN Wilson and Dinah Birch

A Christmas Carol 16 December 2021
With Juliet John, Jon Mee and Dinah Birch

Jane Eyre 18 June 2015
With Dinah Birch, Karen O'Brien and Sara Lyons

Wuthering Heights 28 September 2017
With Karen O'Brien, John Bowen and Alexandra Lewis

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall 30 September 2021
With Alexandra Lewis, Marianne Thormählen and John Bowen

Moby Dick 7 December 2017
With Bridget Bennett, Katie McGettigan and Graham Thompson

North and South 9 March 2017
With Sally Shuttleworth, Jenny Uglow and Dinah Birch

Aurora Leigh 24 March 2016
With Margaret Reynolds, Daniel Karlin and Karen O'Brien

Crime and Punishment 14 November 2019
With Sarah Hudspith, Oliver Ready and Sarah Young

Middlemarch 19 April 2018
With Rosemary Ashton, Kathryn Hughes and John Bowen

Tess of the d'Urbervilles 5 May 2016
With Dinah Birch, Francis O'Gorman and Jane Thomas

The Time Machine 17 October 2019
With Simon Schaffer, Amanda Rees and Simon James

Part III: The Modernist Novel

Literary Modernism 26 April 2001
With John Carey, Laura Marcus and Valentine Cunningham

Heart of Darkness 15 February 2007
With Susan Jones, Robert Hampson and Laurence Davies

James Joyce's Ulysses 14 June 2012
With Steven Connor, Jeri Johnson and Richard Brown

The Great Gatsby 14 January 2021
With Sarah Churchwell, Philip McGowan and William Blazek

Mrs Dalloway 3 July 2014
With Hermione Lee, Jane Goldman and Kathryn Simpson

Kafka's The Trial 27 November 2014
With Elizabeth Boa, Steve Connor and Ritchie Robertson

Decline and Fall 21 February 2013
With David Bradshaw, John Bowen and Ann Pasternak Slater

Animal Farm 29 September 2016
With Steven Connor, Mary Vincent and Robert Colls

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios
Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss 25 major leaders, thinkers and writers of the classical world

'The best thing on Radio 4, possibly the best thing on the radio full stop'
The Spectator

In Our Time is one of BBC Radio's most successful and best-loved programmes, with a weekly listenership of over two million. Since 1998, it has 'transformed the landscape for serious ideas at peak listening time' (The Times), introducing its audience to an astonishing array of intriguing topics, from the epic of Gilgamesh to the gin craze.

This special thematic collection focusses on some of the most important rulers, philosophers and writers of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. Across 25 episodes, presenter Melvyn Bragg and a panel of top-class academics engage in lively and eloquent conversation as they explore the lives, reputations and impact of these pivotal figures. Their subjects include emperors, statesmen, military leaders, authors, poets, playwrights, fabulists and theorists - among them Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, Socrates, Pythagoras, Ovid, Aesop and Sappho.

Whether you're a long-standing In Our Time fan or a new listener, a student of ancient history or simply keen to expand your knowledge; this thoughtfully curated compilation of illuminating, accessible discussions is sure to enlighten and entertain.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Victoria Brignell, Natalia Fernandez and Luke Mulhall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Leaders of Ancient Rome

Julius Caesar 2 October 2014
With Christopher Pelling, Catherine Steel and Maria Wyke

Cleopatra 2 December 2010
With Catharine Edwards, Maria Wyke and Susan Walker

Cicero 25 January 2018
With Melissa Lane, Catherine Steel and Valentina Arena

Agrippina the Younger 31 March 2016
With Catharine Edwards, Alice König and Matthew Nicholls

Nero 25 April 2019
With Maria Wyke, Matthew Nicholls and Shushma Malik

Constantine the Great 5 October 2017
With Christopher Kelly, Lucy Grig and Greg Woolf

Marcus Aurelius 25 February 2021
With Simon Goldhill, Angie Hobbs and Catharine Edwards

Pliny the Younger 12 December 2013
With Catharine Edwards, Roy Gibson and Alice König

Queen Zenobia 30 May 2013
With Edith Hall, Kate Cooper and Richard Stoneman

Part II: Leaders of Ancient Greece

Pericles 17 September 2020
With Edith Hall, Paul Cartledge and Peter Liddel

Alexander the Great 1 October 2015
With Paul Cartledge, Diana Spencer and Rachel Mairs

Part III: Thinkers of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece

Galen 10 October 2013
With Vivian Nutton, Helen King and Caroline Petit

Thucydides 29 January 2015
With Paul Cartledge, Katherine Harloe and Neville Morley

Xenophon 26 May 2011
With Paul Cartledge, Edith Hall and Simon Goldhill

Heraclites 8 December 2011
With Angie Hobbs, Peter Adamson and James Warren

Socrates 27 September 2007
With Angie Hobbs, David Sedley and Paul Millett

Archimedes 25 January 2007
With Jackie Stedall, Serafina Cuomo and George Phillips

Pythagoras 10 December 2009
With Serafina Cuomo, John O'Connor and Ian Stewart

Part IV: Writers of Ancient Rome

Seneca the Younger 23 February 2017
With Catharine Edwards, Mary Beard and Alessandro Schiesaro

Josephus 21 May 2015
With Tessa Rajak, Philip Alexander and Martin Goodman

Ovid 29 April 2021
With Maria Wyke, Gail Trimble and Dunstan Lowe

Horace 15 November 2018
With Emily Gowers, William Fitzgerald and Ellen O'Gorman

Part V: Writers of Ancient Greece

Aesop 20 November 2014
With Pavlos Avlamis, Simon Goldhill and Lucy Grig

Herodotus 23 September 2021
With Tom Harrison, Esther Eidinow and Paul Cartledge

Sappho 9 April 2015
With Edith Hall, Margaret Reynolds and Dirk Obbink

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of the Islamic world through its religion, thinkers, poetry, empire and rulers

'An ever-growing library of wisdom' The Economist

Since 1998, In Our Time has been the go-to radio programme for knowledge seekers and inquiring minds. Tackling big topics with a light touch, it has introduced weekly audiences of over 2 million to subjects ranging from Romulus and Remus to the Renaissance.

This special themed collection provides a focussed, wide-ranging introduction to 25 of the ideas and events that shaped the Islamic world, highlighting the numerous connections between Islamdom and the West throughout history. We learn the origins of Sharia law, and how prophets became important to Islam, Judaism and Christianity alike; discover how the Translation Movement introduced the Arabic world to Greek philosophy, medicine, engineering and maths; and find out how settlers and invaders from both East and West transformed and refashioned the civilisations they touched, from the Arab Conquest, Muslim Spain and the Volga Vikings to the Third Crusade and the Siege of Vienna.

Here, too, are key scholars and writers, among them al-Kindi, the first significant thinker to reconcile philosophy and Islam; Averroes, who worked to integrate Islamic theology with the rationality of Aristotle; Maimonides, a titan of Jewish intellectual history who was much influenced by the Islamic world; and Rumi, the Persian poet and Sufi mystic whose work transcends borders of time, faith, language and geography.

Hosted by Melvyn Bragg with a panel of experts including Mona Siddiqui, Jim Al-Khalili, Tariq Ali and Amira Bennison, these enlightening, accessible discussions will illuminate, inspire and surprise.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson, Victoria Brignell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Religion
Islamic Law and its Origins 5 May 2011
Sunni and Shia Islam 25 June 2009
Prophecy 13 June 2013

Part II: History of Ideas
Maths in the Early Islamic World 16 February 2017
The Translation Movement 2 October 2008
Al-Kindi 28 June 2012
al-Biruni 10 June 2010
Avicenna 8 November 2007
Al-Ghazali 19 March 2015
Averroes 5 October 2006
Maimonides 17 February 2011
Ibn Khaldun 4 February 2010

Part III: Literature
Antarah ibn Shaddad 28 February 2019
Rumi's Poetry 11 February 2016

Part IV: Empire
The Sassanid Empire 13 December 2007
The Arab Conquests 26 June 2008
Muslim Spain 21 November 2002
The Battle of Tours 16 January 2014
The Volga Vikings 11 November 2010
The Almoravid Empire 3 May 2018
Third Crusade 29 November 2001
The Siege of Vienna 14 May 2009

Part V: Rulers
The Abbasid Caliphs 2 February 2006
The Mamluks 26 September 2013
The Safavid Dynasty 12 January 2012

© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Melvyn Bragg and guests chart 500 years of Western philosophy through its most influential ideas and theorists

'Listen to this and you'll never regret it' The Independent

First aired in 1998, In Our Time has become one of Radio 4's most beloved and enduring shows, regularly attracting an audience of over 2 million. Each week, Melvyn Bragg and his panel of guest experts take part in an erudite, stimulating discussion on subjects ranging from the Peasants' Revolt to plate tectonics, taking the listener on a fascinating tour through a wonderland of ideas.

Collected in this special thematic anthology are 25 episodes showcasing notable individuals from Renaissance times to the present day who have transformed the way we think about the world. Included are philosophers such as Descartes, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein and Karl Marx, authors Albert Camus, Iris Murdoch, Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone de Beauvoir, psychoanalyst Carl Jung and many other celebrated thinkers. Also featured are programmes on key philosophical themes, traditions and theories, among them existentialism, empiricism and feminism.

Both an essential resource for philosophy students and a treasure trove for knowledge-seekers, this wonderfully curated collection of thought-provoking programmes will captivate longtime fans of the flagship BBC show, and surprise and delight those who are coming to it for the first time.

Production credits
Presented by Melvyn Bragg
Produced by Natalia Fernandez, Thomas Morris, Simon Tillotson and Victoria Brignell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

Part I: Modern Philosophical Traditions

The Continental-Analytic Split 10 November 2011

Part II: Rationalism and Empiricism

Consciousness 25 November 1999
Empiricism 10 June 2004
Cogito Ergo Sum 28 April 2011
Spinoza 3 May 2007
Bishop Berkeley 20 March 2014
David Hume 6 October 2011

Part III: Existentialism

Existentialism 28 June 2001
Schopenhauer 29 October 2009
Kierkegaard 20 March 2008
Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality 12 January 2017
Camus 3 January 2008

Part IV: Logic, Language and Science

Ordinary Language Philosophy 7 November 2013
Jung 2 December 2004
Bertrand Russell 6 December 2012
Wittgenstein 4 December 2003
Bergson and Time 9 May 2019
Popper 8 February 2007

Part V: Moral Philosophy

Virtue 28 February 2002
Kant's Categorical Imperative 21 September 2017
Mill 18 May 2006
Simone Weil 15 November 2012
Iris Murdoch 21 October 2021

Part VI: Political Philosophy

The Social Contract 7 February 2008
Machiavelli and the Italian City States 9 December 2004
Hobbes 1 December 2005
Rousseau on Education 10 October 2019
Marx 14 July 2005
Hannah Arendt 2 February 2017

Part VII: Feminist Philosophy

Feminism 7 January 1999
Mary Astell 5 November 2020
Mary Wollstonecraft 31 December 2009
Simone de Beauvoir 22 October 2015

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