1998

War in the 20th Century 15 Oct

In the first programme of a new series examining ideas and events which have shaped thinking in philosophy, religion, science and the arts, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss warfare and human rights in the 20th century.
320 Political science
Politics in the 20th Century 22 Oct

Melvyn Bragg talks to Gore Vidal and Alan Clarke about the future of the nation-state; is the concept dead and buried? And what is the relationship between politics and morality - have salaciousness and self-righteousness taken over where seriousness of intent and a strong nerve left off, or was it ever thus? With Gore Vidal, American writer, commentator and author of The Smithsonian Institution; Alan Clarke, historian, politician and author of The Tories: Conservatives and the Nation State, 1922-97.
320 Political science
Science’s Revelations 29 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss whether the mass of scientific understanding and knowledge we have accumulated has destroyed our sense of poetic wonder at the world.
500 Science

Science in the 20th century 5 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how perceptions of science and the power of science have changed in the 20th century.
500 Science
The City in the 20th Century 12 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the artistic, cultural and innovative developments of the city in the 20th century and is joined by two practitioners of the geographer’s art; Professor Doreen Massey, who was awarded the Vautrin Lud International Geography prize - the geographer’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize, and Sir Peter Hall, whose books include The World Cities and Cities Tomorrow.
300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
The Brain and Consciousness 19 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how our increased knowledge of the functioning of the brain and the mechanisms of memory in the 20th century has changed our feelings about our own natures, and our approach to the behaviour and treatment of others.
150 Psychology
Work in the 20th Century 26 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the changing nature of work practices and the work ethic as it pertains at the end of the 20th century.
330 Economics

History’s relevance in the 20th century 3 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the study of history this century.
900 History
Cultural Rights in the 20th Century 10 Dec

On the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations in New York, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the current status of that original declaration.
320 Political science
The American Century 17 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how legitimate it is to call the 20th century the American century.
320 Political science
Neuroscience in the 20th century 24 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests marvel at our brains and discuss how at the end of a century of research we still understand so little about how they work.
610 Medicine and health
The British Empire’s Legacy 31 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Britain’s colonial legacy.
940 History of Europe