2015

Bruegel’s The Fight Between Carnival and Lent 15 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting of 1559, ‘The Fight Between Carnival And Lent’.
750 Painting
Phenomenology 22 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss phenomenology, a style of philosophy developed by the German thinker Edmund Husserl in the first decades of the 20th century.
190 Modern Western Philosophy
Thucydides 29 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek historian Thucydides.
930 History of the Ancient World

Ashoka the Great 5 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Indian Emperor Ashoka.
950 History of Asia
The Photon 12 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the photon, one of the most enigmatic objects in the Universe.
530 Physics
The Wealth of Nations 19 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Adam Smith’s celebrated economic treatise The Wealth of Nations.
330 Economics
The Eunuch 26 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history and significance of eunuchs, castrated men who were a common feature of many civilisations for at least three thousand years.
300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology

Beowulf 5 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the epic poem Beowulf, one of the masterpieces of Anglo-Saxon literature.
820 English and Old English literatures
Dark Matter 12 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance which is believed to make up most of the Universe.
520 Astronomy
Al-Ghazali 19 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Al-Ghazali, a major philosopher and theologian of the late 11th century.
210 Philosophy and theory of religion
The Curies 26 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the scientific achievements of the Curie family.
540 Chemistry

The California Gold Rush 2 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the California Gold Rush.
970 History of North America
Sappho 9 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Greek poet Sappho.
880 Classical and modern Greek literatures
Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty 16 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest who in the 16th century led a Christian mission to China.
950 History of Asia
Fanny Burney 23 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the 18th-century novelist, playwright and diarist Fanny Burney, also known as Madame D’Arblay and Frances Burney.
820 English and Old English literatures
The Earth’s Core 30 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Earth’s Core.
550 Earth sciences and geology

Tagore 7 May

Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
920 Biography and genealogy
The Lancashire Cotton Famine 14 May

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Cotton Famine in Lancashire from 1861-65.
970 History of North America
Josephus 21 May

It is said that, in Britain from the 18th Century, copies of Josephus’ works were as widespread and as well read as The Bible.
220 The Bible
The Science of Glass 28 May

While glass items have been made for at least 5,000 years, scientists are yet to explain, conclusively, what happens when the substance it’s made from moves from a molten state to its hard, transparent phase.
620 Engineering

Prester John 4 Jun

In the Middle Ages, Prester John was seen as the great hope for Crusaders struggling to hold on to, then regain, Jerusalem.
940 History of Europe
Utilitarianism 11 Jun

A moral theory that emphasises ends over means, Utilitarianism holds that a good act is one that increases pleasure in the world and decreases pain.
100 Philosophy
Jane Eyre 18 Jun

The story of Jane Eyre is one of the best-known in English fiction.
820 English and Old English literatures
Extremophiles 25 Jun

In 1977, scientists in the submersible “Alvin” were exploring the deep ocean bed off the Galapagos Islands.
570 Biology

Frederick the Great 2 Jul

Frederick the Great ruled Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786.
940 History of Europe
Frida Kahlo 9 Jul

Born near Mexico City in 1907, Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists.
750 Painting

Perpetual Motion 24 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise of the idea of perpetual motion and its decline, in the 19th Century, with the Laws of Thermodynamics.
530 Physics

Alexander the Great 1 Oct

Alexander the Great is one of the most celebrated military commanders in history.
930 History of the Ancient World
Holbein at the Tudor Court 15 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) during his two extended stays in England, when he worked at the Tudor Court and became the King’s painter.
750 Painting
Simone de Beauvoir 22 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simone de Beauvoir.
300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
The Empire of Mali 29 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Empire of Mali which flourished from 1200 to 1600 and was famous in the wider world for the wealth of rulers such as Mansa Musa.
960 History of Africa

P v NP 5 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the problem of P versus NP, which has a bearing on online security.
510 Mathematics
The Battle of Lepanto 12 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, the last great sea battle between galleys, in which the Catholic fleet of the Holy League of principally Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Malta, Genoa, and Savoy defeated the Ottoman forces of Selim II.
940 History of Europe
Emma 19 Nov

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
820 English and Old English literatures
The Salem Witch Trials 26 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the outbreak of witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692-3, centred on Salem, which led to the execution of twenty people, with more dying in prison before or after trial.
970 History of North America

Voyages of James Cook 3 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the scientific advances made in the three voyages of Captain James Cook, from 1768 to 1779.
900 History
Chinese Legalism 10 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins and rise of Legalism in China, from the start of the Warring States Period (c475 - 221 BC) to the time of The First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (pictured), down to Chairman Mao and the present day.
950 History of Asia
Circadian Rhythms 17 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the evolution and role of Circadian Rhythms, the so-called body clock that influences an organism’s daily cycle of physical, behavioural and mental changes.
570 Biology
Michael Faraday 24 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the eminent 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday.
530 Physics
Tristan and Iseult 31 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Tristan and Iseult, one of the most popular stories of the Middle Ages.
800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism