2025

Slime Moulds 2 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss slime mould, a basic organism that grows on logs, cowpats and compost heaps.
570 Biology
The Battle of Valmy 16 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most consequential battles of recent centuries.
940 History of Europe
Socrates in Prison 23 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Plato’s Crito and Phaedo, his accounts of the last days of Socrates in prison in 399 BC as he waited to be executed by drinking hemlock.
180 Ancient, medieval, and Eastern philosophy
Pope Joan 30 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a story that circulated widely in the middle ages about a highly learned woman who lived in the ninth century, dressed as a man, travelled to Rome, and was elected Pope.
940 History of Europe

Sir John Soane 6 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the architect Sir John Soane (1753 -1837), the son of a bricklayer.
720 Architecture
Catherine of Aragon 13 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the youngest child of the newly dominant Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella.
940 History of Europe
Oliver Goldsmith 20 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the renowned and versatile Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728 - 1774).
820 English and Old English literatures