2013

Le Morte d’Arthur 10 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte Darthur”, the epic tale of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.
800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism
Comets 17 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss comets, the ‘dirty snowballs’ of the Solar System.
520 Astronomy
Romulus and Remus 24 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Romulus and Remus, the central figures of the foundation myth of Rome.
930 History of the Ancient World
The War of 1812 31 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the War of 1812, the conflict between America and the British Empire sometimes referred to as the second American War of Independence.
970 History of North America

Epicureanism 7 Feb

Angie Hobbs, David Sedley and James Warren join Melvyn Bragg to discuss Epicureanism, the system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus and founded in Athens in the fourth century BC.
180 Ancient, medieval, and Eastern philosophy
Ice Ages 14 Feb

Jane Francis, Richard Corfield and Carrie Lear join Melvyn Bragg to discuss ice ages, periods when a reduction in the surface temperature of the Earth has resulted in ice sheets at the Poles.
550 Earth sciences and geology
Decline and Fall 21 Feb

David Bradshaw, John Bowen and Ann Pasternak Slater join Melvyn Bragg to discuss Evelyn Waugh’s comic novel Decline and Fall.
820 English and Old English literatures
Pitt-Rivers 28 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the Victorian anthropologist and archaeologist Augustus Pitt-Rivers.
930 History of the Ancient World

Absolute Zero 7 Mar

In a programme first broadcast in 2013, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss absolute zero, the lowest conceivable temperature.
530 Physics
Chekhov 14 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Anton Chekhov.
890 Other literatures
Alfred Russel Wallace 21 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of Alfred Russel Wallace, a pioneer of evolutionary theory.
570 Biology
Water 28 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss one of the simplest and most remarkable of all molecules: water.
540 Chemistry

Japan’s Sakoku Period 4 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Japan’s Sakoku period, two centuries when the country deliberately isolated itself from the Western world.
950 History of Asia
The Amazons 11 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Amazons, a tribe of formidable female warriors first described in Greek literature.
930 History of the Ancient World
The Putney Debates 18 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Putney Debates.
320 Political science
Montaigne 25 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Essays of Michel de Montaigne.
800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism

Gnosticism 2 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Gnosticism, a sect associated with early Christianity.
270 History of Christianity
Icelandic Sagas 9 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Icelandic Sagas.
830 German and related literatures
Cosmic Rays 16 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss cosmic rays.
530 Physics
Lévi-Strauss 23 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss.
300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
Queen Zenobia 30 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Queen Zenobia, a famous military leader of the ancient world.
930 History of the Ancient World

Relativity 6 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Einstein’s theories of relativity.
530 Physics
Prophecy 13 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the meaning and significance of prophecy in the Abrahamic religions.
200 Religion
The Physiocrats 20 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Physiocrats, an important group of economic thinkers in eighteenth-century France.
330 Economics
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 27 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, widely regarded as one of the greatest works of Chinese literature.
950 History of Asia

The Invention of Radio 4 Jul

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the invention of radio.
620 Engineering

Pascal 19 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and his guests begin a new series of the programme with a discussion of the French polymath Blaise Pascal.
510 Mathematics
The Mamluks 26 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt and Syria from about 1250 to 1517.
950 History of Asia

Exoplanets 3 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss exoplanets.
520 Astronomy
Galen 10 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Roman physician and medical theorist Galen.
610 Medicine and health
The Book of Common Prayer 17 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Book of Common Prayer.
200 Religion
The Corn Laws 24 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Corn Laws.
330 Economics
The Berlin Conference 31 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Berlin Conference of 1884.
960 History of Africa

Ordinary Language Philosophy 7 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Ordinary Language Philosophy, a school of thought which emerged in Oxford in the years following World War II.
100 Philosophy
The Tempest 14 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
820 English and Old English literatures
Pocahontas 21 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Pocahontas, the Native American woman who to English eyes became a symbol of the New World.
970 History of North America
The Microscope 28 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the development of the microscope, an instrument which has revolutionised our knowledge of the world and the organisms that inhabit it.
500 Science

Hindu Ideas of Creation 5 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hindu ideas about Creation.
290 Other religions
Pliny the Younger 12 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Pliny the Younger, famous for his letters.
870 Latin and Italic literatures
Complexity 19 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss complexity and how it can help us understand the world around us.
500 Science
The Medici 26 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Medici family, who dominated Florence’s political and cultural life for three centuries.
940 History of Europe