2023

John Donne 12 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Donne (1573-1631), known now as one of England’s finest poets of love and notable in his own time as an astonishing preacher.
820 English and Old English literatures
Rawls’ Theory of Justice 19 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Theory of Justice by John Rawls (1921 - 2002) which has been called the most influential book in twentieth century political philosophy.
320 Political science
Superconductivity 26 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the discovery made in 1911 by the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926).
530 Physics

Tycho Brahe 2 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pioneering Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601) whose charts offered an unprecedented level of accuracy.
520 Astronomy
Chartism 9 Feb

On 21 May 1838 an estimated 150,000 people assembled on Glasgow Green for a mass demonstration.
320 Political science
Stevie Smith 16 Feb

In 1957 Stevie Smith published a poetry collection called Not Waving But Drowning - and its title poem gave us a phrase which has entered the language.
820 English and Old English literatures
Paul Erdős 23 Feb

Paul Erdos (1913 - 1996) is one of the most celebrated mathematicians of the 20th century.
510 Mathematics

Megaliths 2 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss megaliths - huge stones placed in the landscape, often visually striking and highly prominent.
930 History of ancient world
The Ramayana 9 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ramayana, the ancient Hindu epic which is regarded as one of the greatest works of world literature.
290 Other religions
Mercantilism 16 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how, between the 16th and 18th centuries, Europe was dominated by an economic way of thinking called mercantilism.
330 Economics