List of In Our Time programmes
In Our Time is a radio discussion programme exploring a wide variety of historical topics, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom since 1998 and hosted by Melvyn Bragg. Since 2011, all episodes have been available to download as individual podcasts.
Programmes
1998-1999
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| War in the 20th Century | Michael Ignatieff, writer, broadcaster and biographer of Isaiah Berlin Michael Howard, formerly Regius Professor of History, Oxford University and joint editor of the new Oxford History of the Twentieth Century | |
| Politics in the 20th Century | Gore Vidal, American writer, commentator and author of The Smithsonian Institution Alan Clark, historian, politician and author of The Tories: Conservatives and the Nation State, 1922–97 | |
| Science's Revelations | Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, reader in Zoology and Fellow of New College, Oxford Charles Simonyi Chair of Public Understanding of Science, Oxford University and author of Unweaving The Rainbow: Science, Delusion and The Appetite For Wonder Ian McEwan, novelist, and author of the Booker Prize-winning novel Amsterdam | |
| Science in the 20th century | John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy, University of Sussex and consultant to New Scientist Mary Midgley, moral philosopher and former Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Newcastle | |
| The City in the 20th Century | Peter Hall, Professor of Planning at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College, London, Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the Academia Europaea Doreen Massey, Professor of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University and recipient of the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize and the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society | |
| The Brain and Consciousness | Steven Rose, Professor of Biology and Director of the Brain and Behaviour Research Group, Open University Dan Robinson, Distinguished Research Professor, Georgetown University and visiting lecturer in Philosophy and Senior Member of Linacre College, Oxford | |
| Work in the 20th Century | Richard Sennett, visiting professor, London School of Economics and author of The Corrosion of Character – the Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism Theodore Zeldin, historian and Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford Melanie Phillips, columnist on The Sunday Times and currently working on a book about The Sex Change State | |
| History's relevance in the 20th century | Simon Schama, Old Dominion Professor of Humanities, Columbia University in New York and currently filming a 16-part series for BBC Television on the history of Britain Lady Antonia Fraser, historian, writer and author of biographies of Mary Queen of Scots, Cromwell and Charles II | |
| Cultural rights in the 20th Century | Homi Bhabha, Professor in English Literature and Art, Chicago University, and Visiting Professor of the Humanities, University College London John N. Gray, Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics | |
| The American Century | Harry Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times and author of The American Century John Lloyd, associate editor of the New Statesman and former Times correspondent in Moscow and East European Editor of the Financial Times | |
| Neuroscience in the 20th Century | Susan Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution, Professor of Pharmacology, Oxford University and Professor of Physics at Gresham College Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, Director of the Brain Perception Laboratory, University of California, San Diego and Professor at the Salk Institute | |
| The British Empire's Legacy | Catherine Hall, Professor Modern British Social and Cultural History, University College, London Linda Colley, currently holder of the Leverhulme Research Professorship at the London School of Economics and former Professor of History, Yale University | |
| Feminism | Helena Cronin, Co-director of the Centre for the Philosophy of the Natural and Social Sciences, London School of Economics Germaine Greer, Professor of English and Comparative Studies, Warwick University | |
| Genetic Engineering | Grahame Bulfield, geneticist, honorary professor, Edinburgh University and Director of the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh Bryan Appleyard, features writer for The Sunday Times and author of Brave New Worlds: Genetics and the Human Experience | |
| Modern Culture | Will Self, writer and novelist Roger Scruton, novelist, philosopher and former Professor at Birkbeck College, London | |
| Ageing | Alan Walker, social gerontologist, advisor to the UN's programme on Ageing and has chaired the European Commission's observatory on Ageing and Older People Tom Kirkwood, Britain's first professor of Biological Gerontology, University of Manchester and President of the British Society for Research into Ageing | |
| Psychoanalysis and its Legacy | Juliet Mitchell, psychoanalyst, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, Department of Political and Social Sciences Adam Phillips, psychoanalyst and author of The Beast in the Nursery | |
| Language and the Mind | Jonathan Miller, medical doctor, performer, broadcaster, author and film and opera director Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Space in Religion and Science | John Polkinghorne, Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge and Canon Theologian of Liverpool Margaret Wertheim, science writer and author of The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet | |
| The Avant Garde's Decline and Fall in the 20th Century | Eric Hobsbawm, eminent historian and author of Behind The Times: The Decline and Fall of the Twentieth Century Avant-Gardes Frances Morris, specialist in contemporary art and Art Programme Curator for the Tate Gallery of Modern Art | |
| Shakespeare and Literary Criticism | Harold Bloom, literary critic, Professor of Humanities, Yale University and Berg Professor of English, New York University Jacqueline Rose, literary critic and Professor of English, University of London | |
| History as Science | Jared Diamond, ecologist and physiologist at the Los Angeles Medical School, University of California, and author of Guns, Germs and Steel Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History, Cambridge University | |
| Animal Experiments and Rights | Colin Blakemore, Professor of Physiology, Oxford University, President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow of the Royal Society and targeted in the 1980s by animal welfare activists protesting at his research methods Lynda Birkebiologist, teacher at Lancaster and Warwick Universities, and previously worked for 7 years in animal behaviour at the Open University | |
| Architecture in the 20th Century | Daniel Libeskind, architect of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the Spiral Extension to London's Victoria and Albert Museum Richard Weston, architect and lecturer at De Montfort University | |
| Good and Evil | Leszek Kołakowski, author and Professor of Philosophy, Oxford University Galen Strawson, author and Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Jesus College, Oxford | |
| Writing and Political Oppression | Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Prize-winning South African novelist Ariel Dorfman, Chilean journalist, scholar and author of Death and the Maiden | |
| Evolution | John Maynard Smith, evolutionary biological theorist and Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Sussex Colin Tudge, writer, journalist and research fellow at the Centre for Philosophy | |
| Fundamentalism | Karen Armstrong, writer on the history of religious ideas and author of A History of God: From Abraham to the Present Tariq Ali, film-maker, writer and author of The Book of Saladin | |
| Artificial Intelligence | Igor Aleksander, professor, Imperial College London and inventor of Magnus – a neural computer which he says is an artificially conscious machine John Searle, Professor of Philosophy, University of California and one of only two people in the world to invent an argument, the Chinese Room Argument, which destroys the plausibility of the idea of conscious machines | |
| Mathematics | Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics and Gresham Professor of Geometry, University of Warwick Brian Butterworth, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, London | |
| Multiculturalism | Stuart Hall, former Professor of Sociology, Open University and currently on a Commission set up by the Runnymede Trust looking at the future of multi-ethnic Britain Avtar Brah, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Birkbeck College, London University | |
| The Universe's Origins | Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Royal Society Research Professor in Astronomy and Physics, Cambridge University Paul Davies, theoretical physicist and Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London | |
| Memory and Culture | Malcolm Bowie, Marshall Foch Professor of French Literature at Oxford University and Director of Oxford's European Humanities Research Centre Nancy Wood, Chair of Media Studies, University of Sussex and author of Vectors of Memory | |
| Just War | John Keane, Professor of Politics, University of Westminster and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy Niall Ferguson, Fellow and Tutor in Modern History, Jesus College, Oxford and author of The Pity of War | |
| The Monarchy | David Cannadine, Director of the Institute of Historical Research, London and former Lecturer in History and Fellow, Christ's College, Cambridge Bea Campbell, sociologist, journalist and author of Diana, Princess of Wales | |
| The Great Disruption | Francis Fukuyama, Hirst Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University, Washington, D.C., and author of The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order Amos Oz, author and Professor of Hebrew Literature, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva | |
| Capitalism | Anatole Kaletsky, economics commentator and Associate Editor of The Times, and author of The Costs of Default and In the Shadow of Debt Edward Luttwak, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C. and author of Turbo Capitalism: Winners and Losers in the Global Economy | |
| Intelligence | Ken Richardson, educational psychologist, former Senior Lecturer, Open University and author of The Making of Intelligence Michael Ruse, Philosopher of Biology, University of guelph, Ontario and author of Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? | |
| Africa | Henry Louis Gates Jr, Chair of the Afro-American Studies Department, Harvard University and presenter of the BBC 2 series Into Africa Anthony Sampson, writer, journalist and author of | |
| Truth, Lies and fiction | Elena Lappin, novelist and author of an investigative essay published in Granta called "Truth and Lies", where she questions the veracity of the account of the Holocaust in the book Fragments by Binjamin Wilkomirski Nick Groom, lecturer in English, University of Exeter | |
| Pain | Patrick Wall, Professor of Physiology at St Thomas' Hospital, London and author of Pain: The Science of Suffering Semir Zeki, Professor of Neurobiology at University College, London |
1999-2000
From 6 April 2000, and the discussion on “The Natural Order” the programme moved from 30 minutes to a 45-minute format.| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Genetic Determinism | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics, University College London and author of Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated Matt Ridley, science journalist, chairman of the International Centre for Life and author of Genome: The autobiography of a species in 23 chapters | |
| Maths and Storytelling | John Allen Paulos, Presidential Scholar of Mathematics, Temple University, Philadelphia and author of Once Upon a Number – The hidden mathematical logic of stories Marina Warner, novelist, historian, critic, former Reith Lecturer and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck College, London | |
| Utopia | A. C. Grayling, human rights campaigner, lecturer in philosophy at Birkbeck College, London and Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford John Carey, distinguished critic, journalist, broadcaster, Merton Professor of English, Oxford University and editor of the Faber Book of Utopias | |
| The Nation State | Norman Davies, Emeritus Professor, London University and author of The Isles: A History Andrew Marr, former editor of The Independent and author of Ruling Britannia: the Failure and Future of British Democracy | |
| The Individual | Richard Wollheim, Professor of Philosophy, University of California in Berkeley Jonathan Dollimore, Professor of English, York University | |
| Atrocity in the 20th Century | Jonathan Glover, philosopher and Director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics, King's College, London Gwen Adshead, consultant psychiatrist, Broadmoor Special Hospital | |
| Education | Mary Warnock, philosopher and educationalist Ted Wragg, Professor of Education, University of Exeter | |
| The Novel | D. J. Taylor, novelist, critic, biographer of Thackeray and author of After the War Gillian Beer, King Edward VII Professor of English Literature, Cambridge University and Chairman of the Booker Prize judges 1997 | |
| Progress | Anthony O'Hear, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bradford Adam Phillips, psychoanalyst and author of Darwin's Worms | |
| Consciousness | Ted Honderich, philosopher and former Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London Roger Penrose, physicist, mathematician and author of The Large, The Small, and the Human Mind | |
| Tragedy | George Steiner, critic, Extraordinary Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge and author of The Death of Tragedy Catherine Belsey, Chair of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory, University of Cardiff and author of The Subject of Tragedy | |
| Childhood | Christina Hardyment, social historian and author of The Future of the Family Theodore Zeldin, Senior Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford and author of An Intimate History of Humanity | |
| Medical Ethics | Barry Jackson, consultant surgeon and President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Sheila McLean, Director of the Institute of Law and Ethics in Medicine, Glasgow University | |
| Prayer | Russell Stannard, physicist, religious writer and author of The God Experiment Andrew Samuels, Jungian analyst and Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex | |
| Time | Neil Johnson, theoretical physicist at the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University and Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 1999 on the subject of Time Lee Smolin, cosmologist and Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University | |
| Climate Change | John Houghton, Co-Chair of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change – the United Nations' global warming science committee George Monbiot, environmentalist, journalist and Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy, Bristol University | |
| Information Technology | Charles Leadbeater, Demos Research Associate and author of Living on Thin Air: The New Economy Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems, London School of Economics and author of The New Barbarian Manifesto: How to Survive the Information Age | |
| Masculinity in Literature | Martin Amis, author of Money, Success and The Information Cora Kaplan, feminist cultural critic and Professor of English, Southampton University | |
| Economic Rights | Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Science Will Hutton, former Editor of The Observer, Director of The Industrial Society and author of The State We're In | |
| Republicanism | Sarah Barber, lecturer in the Department of History, Lancaster University and author of Regicide and Republicanism: Politics and Ethics in the English Revolution 1646–1659 Andrew Roberts, historian, journalist, conservative thinker and author of Salisbury: Victorian Titan | |
| Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment | Nicholas Boyle, Reader in German Literary and Intellectual History, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and biographer of Goethe Simon Schaffer, Reader in the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University and Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge | |
| Reading | Kevin Sharpe, Professor of History, University of Southampton Jacqueline Pearson, Professor of English Literature, Manchester University | |
| Grand unified theory | Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Columbia University and Cornell University Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Royal Society Research Professor in Astronomy and Physics at Cambridge University | |
| Metamorphosis | A. S. Byatt, novelist and one of the contributors to Ovid Metamorphosed Catherine Bates, critic and research fellow, University of Warwick | |
| The Age of Doubt | A. N. Wilson, novelist, biographer, journalist and author of God's Funeral Victoria Glendinning, author, journalist and biographer of Anthony Trollope and Jonathan Swift | |
| Lenin | Robert Service, lecturer in Russian History and Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford and biographer of Lenin Vitali Vitaliev, author, columnist, broadcaster former Soviet Journalist of the Year | |
| Materialism and the Consumer | Rachel Bowlby, Professor of English, University of York and author of Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping William Gibson, science fiction writer and author of Neuromancer and All Tomorrow's Parties | |
| History and Understanding the Past | Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge Eric Hobsbawm, historian and author of The New Century | |
| The Natural Order | Colin Tudge, writer, scientist and author of The Variety of Life: A Survey and a Celebration of all the Creatures that Have Ever Lived Sandy Knapp, Research Botanist, Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, London Henry Gee, Senior Editor of Nature and author of Deep Time: Cladistics, the Revolution in Evolution | |
| New Wars | Michael Howard, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, Oxford University Mary Kaldor, Director of the Programme on Global Civil Society, London School of Economics Michael Rose, General. former Commander of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and author of Fighting for Peace: Lessons from Bosnia | |
| Englishness | Paul Langford, Professor of Modern History, University of Oxford Peter Mandler, Professor of Modern History at London Guildhall University Lola Young, Director of the National Museum and Archives of Black History and Culture. | |
| Human Origins | Leslie Aiello, Professor of Biological Anthropology, University College London Robert Foley, evolutionary ecologist, writer and lecturer in biological anthropology at Cambridge University Mark Roberts, Field Archaeologist, Project Leader of Boxgrove excavation and the discoverer of Boxgrove Man | |
| Death | Jonathan Dollimore, Professor of English, York University Thomas Lynch, poet, essayist, funeral director and author of The Undertaking – Life Studies from the Dismal Trade Marilyn Butler, Professor of English Literature and Rector of Exeter College, Oxford | |
| Shakespeare's Work | Frank Kermode, literary critic and author of Shakespeare's Language Michael Bogdanov, theatre, television, opera and film director and a founder member of the English Shakespeare Company Germaine Greer, Professor of English and Comparative Studies, Warwick University | |
| The Wars of the Roses | Helen Castor, Fellow and Director of Studies in History, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Colin Richmond, Emeritus Professor of History, Keele University Steven Gunn, Tudor historian and Fellow and Tutor in Modern History, Merton College, Oxford | |
| Chemical elements | Paul Strathern, former lecturer in philosophy and science, Kingston University and author of Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements Mary Archer, Visiting Professor of Chemistry at Imperial College, London John Murrell, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Sussex | |
| The American Ideal | Christopher Hitchens, writer, journalist and author of No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton John Keane, Professor of Politics, University of Westminster and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy Susan Sontag, cultural critics and essayists, and author of the novel In America | |
| The Renaissance | Francis Ames-Lewis, Professor of History of Art, Birkbeck College Peter Burke, Professor of Cultural History and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Evelyn Welch, Reader in the History of Art, University of Sussex | |
| Inspiration and Genius | Arthur I. Miller, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Department of Science & Technology, University College London Michael Howe, Professor of Psychology, Exeter University Juliet Mitchell, psychoanalyst and lecturer at Cambridge University | |
| Biography | Richard Holmes, writer, biographer and the author of Sidetracks: Explorations of a Romantic Biographer Nigel Hamilton, biographer, Director of the British Institute of Biography and Professor of Biography, De Montfort University Amanda Foreman, biographer of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. | |
| Imagination and Consciousness | Gerald Edelman, Director of the Neurosciences Institute in California and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1972 Igor Aleksander, Professor of Neural Engineering Systems, Imperial College, London Margaret Boden, Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, University of Sussex |
2000-2001
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| London | Peter Ackroyd, author of London: The Biography Claire Tomalin, author and biographer of Samuel Pepys Iain Sinclair poet, novelist and author of Liquid City and Lights Out for the Territory. | |
| Hitler in History | Ian Kershaw, historian and biographer of Hitler Niall Ferguson, fellow and tutor in Modern History at Jesus College Oxford Mary Fulbrook, Professor of German History at University College London. | |
| The Romantics | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English, University of Liverpool Rosemary Ashton, Professor of English, University College London Nicholas Roe, Professor of English, University of St Andrews | |
| Laws of Nature | Mark Buchanan, physicist and author of Ubiquity Frank Close, theoretical physicist and author of Lucifer's Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry Nancy Cartwright, Professor of Philosophy, LSE | |
| The Tudor State | John Guy, Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews Christopher Haigh, Tutor of Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford Christine Carpenter, Fellow in History at New Hall, Cambridge | |
| Evolutionary Psychology | Janet Radcliffe Richards, Reader in Bioethics, University College, London Nicholas Humphrey, Professor of Psychology, New School For Social Research, New York Steven Rose, Professor of Physic, Open University | |
| Psychoanalysis and Literature | Adam Phillips, author of Promises Promises: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Literature Malcolm Bowie, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature, Oxford University Lisa Appignanesi, novelist and co-author of Freud's Women. | |
| Nihilism | Rob Hopkins, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Birmingham Raymond Tallis, doctor and philosopher Catherine Belsey University of Cardiff | |
| Gothic | Chris Baldick, Professor of English at Goldsmiths College, London and author of In Frankenstein's Shadow A. N. Wilson, novelist, biographer, journalist and author of God's Funeral Emma Clery, senior lecturer in the English Department at Sheffield Hallam University and author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction | |
| Mathematics and Platonism | Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics and Gresham Professor of Geometry, University of Warwick Margaret Wertheim, science writer, journalist and author of Pythagoras' Trousers John D. Barrow, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge. | |
| The Enlightenment in Britain | Roy Porter, Professor in the Social History of Medicine, Wellcome Trust Centre of University College London Linda Colley, Leverhulme Research Professor and School Professor of History, London School of Economics Jeremy Black, Professor of History at Exeter University. | |
| Science and Religion | Stephen Jay Gould, Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology, Harvard University John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy, University of St Andrews and Stanton Lecturer in Divinity, Cambridge University Hilary Rose, sociologist and Visiting Professor of Social Policy, Bradford University. | |
| Imperial Science | Richard Ayton, Professor of History at the University of Virginia and author of Nature's Government: Science, Imperial Britain and the ‘Improvement' of the World Maria Misra, Lecturer in Modern History and fellow of Keble College Oxford Ziauddin Sardar, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, Middlesex University. | |
| Humanism | Tony Davies, Professor and Head of the Department of English, University of Birmingham and author of Humanism Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Queen Mary College, University of London and Honorary Fellow of King's College Cambridge Simon Goldhill, Reader in Greek Literature and Culture at King's College Cambridge. | |
| The Restoration | Mark Goldie, lecturer in History, Churchill College, University of Cambridge Richard Ollard, author of The Image of the King: Charles I and Charles II Clare Jackson, lecturer and Director of Studies in History, Trinity Hall, Cambridge | |
| Quantum Gravity | John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy, University of Sussex Lee Smolin, Professor of Physics, Centre for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, Pennsylvania State University and Visiting Professor of Physics at Imperial College, London Janna Levin, Advanced Fellow, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University | |
| Money | Niall Ferguson, Professor of Political and Financial History at the University of Oxford Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge Jane Humphries, reader in Economic History at Oxford University | |
| Shakespeare's Life | Katherine Duncan-Jones, Professor of English at Somerville College, Oxford John Sutherland, Professor of Modern English at University College, London and textual scholar Grace Ioppolo, lecturer in English at the University of Reading | |
| Fossils | Richard Corfield, Research Associate in the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University Dianne Edwards, Distinguished Research Professor in Palaeobotany at Cardiff University Richard Fortey, Senior Research Palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum | |
| The Philosophy of Love | Roger Scruton, author of many books including Sexual Desire Angie Hobbs, lecturer in philosophy at Warwick University Thomas Docherty, Professor of English at the University of Kent | |
| The Roman Empire's Collapse in the 5th century | Charlotte Roueché, historian of late antiquity at King's College London David Womersley, Fellow and Tutor at Jesus College, Oxford and editor of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Richard Alston, Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Black Holes | Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal – 2001, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Cambridge University Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Professor of Physics at The Open University Martin Ward, director of the X-Ray Astronomy Group at the University of Leicester | |
| The Glorious Revolution | John Spurr, Reader in History at the University of Wales, Swansea Rosemary Sweet, Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester Scott Mandelbrote, Fellow and Director of Studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge | |
| Literary Modernism | John Carey, Merton Professor of English Literature at Oxford University Laura Marcus, Reader in English at the University of Sussex Valentine Cunningham, Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford | |
| Evil | Jones Erwin, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Limerick Stephen Mulhall, Tutor in Philosophy at New College, Oxford University Margaret Atkins, Lecturer in Theology at Trinity and All Saints College, University of Leeds | |
| The French Revolution's Legacy | Stefan Collini, Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature at Cambridge University Anne Janowitz, Professor of Romantic Poetry at Queen Mary College, London Andrew Roberts, nineteenth century historian | |
| The Sonnet | Frank Kermode, author of many books including Shakespeare's Language Phillis Levin, Poet in Residence and Professor of English at Hofstra University Jonathan Bate, King Alfred Professor of English at the University of Liverpool | |
| Existentialism | A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Christina Howells, Professor of French at the University of Oxford, fellow of Wadham College Simon Critchley, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex and author of A Companion to Continental Philosophy. | |
| The Earth's Origins | Simon Winchester, author of The Map That Changed the World: the Tale of William Smith and the Birth of A Science Cherry Lewis, geologist and author of The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the Earth John Cosgrove, Structural Geologist from the Royal School of Mines at Imperial College, London | |
| Dickens | Rosemary Ashton, Professor of English at University College London Michael Slater, Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College, University of London and editor of The Dent Uniform Edition of Dickens' Journalism John Bowen, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Keele. | |
| Byzantium | Charlotte Roueché, Reader in Classical and Byzantine Greek, King's College London John Julius Norwich, author of a three-part history of Byzantium: The Early Centuries, The Apogee and Decline and Fall Liz James, Senior Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Sussex. |
2001-2002
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Democracy | Melissa Lane, University Lecturer in the History of Political Thought David Wootton, Professor of Intellectual History at Queen Mary College, London Tim Winter, Assistant Muslim Chaplain at Cambridge University where he is lecturer in Islamic Studies | |
| Napoleon and Wellington | Andrew Roberts, military historian Mike Broers, University of Aberdeen Belinda Beaton, from the Department of History of Art, at Oxford University | |
| Confucius | Frances Wood, Curator of the Chinese section of the British Library Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at SOAS, the School of African and Oriental Studies at London University Tao Tao Liu, Tutorial Fellow in Oriental Studies at Wadham College, Cambridge University | |
| The British Empire | Maria Misra, Lecturer in Modern History and Fellow of Keble College Oxford Peter Cain, Research Professor in History at Sheffield Hallam University Catherine Hall, Professor of Modern Social and Cultural History at University College London | |
| Surrealism | Dawn Adiss, Professor of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex Malcolm Bowie, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at Oxford University and a fellow of All Souls College Darian Leader, the psychoanalyst | |
| Oceanography | Margaret Deacon, visiting research fellow at Southampton Oceanography Centre and author of Scientists and the Sea Tony Rice, biological oceanographer and author of Deep Ocean Simon Schaffer, Reader in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Darwin College. | |
| Third Crusade | Jonathan Riley-Smith, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University and author of many books on the Crusades Carole Hillenbrand, Professor of Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh Tariq Ali, novelist, playwright and author of The Book of Saladin | |
| Oscar Wilde | Valentine Cunningham, Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University Regenia Gagnier, Professor of English at the University of Exeter Neil Sammells, Dean of Humanities at Bath Spa University and author of Wilde Style | |
| Genetics | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics and Head of the Galton Laboratory at University College London Richard Dawkins, genetic scientist, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University Linda Partridge, Natural Environment Research Council Research Professor at the Galton Laboratory, University College London | |
| Rome and European Civilization | Mary Beard, Reader in Classics at Cambridge University Catharine Edwards, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck College, London University Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at St Andrews University. | |
| History of food in Modern Europe | Rebecca Spang, Lecturer in Modern History at University College London Ivan Day, food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Professor of Modern History at Oxford University | |
| Sensibility | Claire Tomalin, literary biographer and author of Jane Austen: A Life and The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft John Mullan, Senior Lecturer in English at University College London Hermione Lee, Goldsmiths Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford | |
| Nuclear Physics | Jim Al-Khalili, Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Surrey Christine Sutton, Particle Physicist and Lecturer in Physics at St Catherine's College Oxford John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex | |
| Catharism | Malcolm Barber, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Reading Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval History at Queen Mary, University of London Euan Cameron, Professor of Modern History at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne | |
| Happiness | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London | |
| W. B. Yeats and Mysticism | Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at Oxford University Warwick Gould, Director of the Institute of English Studies, University of London Brenda Maddox, author of George's Ghosts: A New Life of W B Yeats | |
| The Universe's Shape | Martin Rees, Royal Society Research Professor in Astronomy and Physics, Cambridge University Julian Barbour, Independent Theoretical Physicist Janna Levin, Advanced Fellow in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge | |
| Anatomy – 2000 years of anatomical study | Harold Ellis, Clinical Anatomist, School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College, London Ruth Richardson, historian, and author of Death, Dissection and the Destitute, Phoenix Press Andrew Cunningham, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in the History of Medicine, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University | |
| The Celts – what were the Celts in Britain really like? | Barry Cunliffe, Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University Alistair Moffat, Historian and author of The Sea Kingdoms – The Story of Celtic Britain and Ireland Miranda Aldhouse Green, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Wales | |
| Virtue – is it derived from reason? | Galen Strawson, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading Miranda Fricker, Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Roger Crisp, Uehiro Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford. | |
| John Milton – poet or politician? | John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Oxford University Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary College, University of London and Honorary Fellow of King's College Cambridge Blair Worden, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Sussex | |
| The Buddha – why has it captured the spirit of our age? | Peter Harvey, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland Kate Crosby, Lecturer in Buddhist Studies, SOAS Mahinda Deagallee, Lecturer in the Study of Religions, Bath Spa University College and a Buddhist Monk from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka | |
| Marriage – its various forms and the role of the State | Janet Soskice, Reader in Modern Theology and Philosophical Theology, Cambridge University Frederik Pedersen, Lecturer in History, Aberdeen University Christina Hardyment, Social historian and journalist | |
| The Artist – a special kind of human being? | Emma Barker, Lecturer in Art History, The Open University Thomas Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck University of London Tim Blanning, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge | |
| Extraterrestrial life – new life within our solar system | Simon Goodwin, Researcher in Astronomy, Cardiff University Heather Couper, Space expert Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics, Warwick University | |
| Bohemia – what did it mean to be Bohemian? | Norman Davies, Professor Emeritus, University of London Karin Friedrich, Lecturer in History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London Robert Pynsent, Professor of Czech and Slovak Literature, University College London | |
| Tolstoy – the influence of the Russian Novel | A. N. Wilson, novelist, journalist and biographer of Tolstoy Catriona Kelly, Reader in Russian, Oxford University Sarah Hudspith, Lecturer in Russian, University of Leeds | |
| Physics of Reality – Quantum Mechanics | Roger Penrose, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics, Oxford University Fay Dowker, Lecturer in Theoretical Physics, Queen Mary, University of London Tony Sudbery, Professor of Mathematics, University of York | |
| The Examined Life – is an unexamined life worth living? | A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London Janet Radcliffe Richards, Philosopher of Science and Reader in Bioethics, University College, London Julian Baggini, editor, The Philosopher's Magazine and co-editor of New British Philosophy: The Interviews | |
| Chaos Theory – was the universe chaotic or orderly? | Susan Greenfield, senior research fellow, Lincoln College, Oxford David Papineau, Professor of the Philosophy of Science, King's College London Neil Johnson, University Lecturer in Physics at Oxford University | |
| History of Drugs – their role in medicine and the arts | Richard Davenport-Hines, historian and author of The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics Sadie Plant, author of Writing on Drugs Mike Jay, historian and author of Emperors of Dreams: Drugs in the Nineteenth Century | |
| The Grand Tour – what drove this desire for travel? | Chloe Chard, Literary historian Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter Edward Chaney, Professor of Fine and Decorative Arts, Southampton Institute | |
| The Soul – the key to our individuality as humans? | Richard Sorabji, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College Ruth Padel, poet and author Martin Palmer, Theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture | |
| The American West – was it an "experiment of liberty"? | Frank McLynn, Visiting Professor in the Department of Literature, University of Strathclyde Jenni Calder, author of There Must Be a Lone Ranger: The myth and reality of the American Wild West Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art | |
| Richard Wagner – his influence on the German spirit. | John Deathridge, King Edward the Seventh Professor of Music, King's College London Lucy Beckett, author of Richard Wagner: Parsifal Michael Tanner, philosopher and author of Wagner and Nietzsche | |
| Cultural Imperialism – should we try to prevent it? | Linda Colley, School Professor of History, London School of Economics Phillip Dodd, director, Institute of Contemporary Arts Mary Beard, Reader in Classics, Cambridge University | |
| Freedom – a principle worth fighting and dying for? | John Keane, Professor of Politics, University of Westminster Bernard Williams, Professor of Philosophy, University of California Annabel Brett, Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge | |
| Psychoanalysis – do people crave dictatorship? | Adam Phillips, general editor of the new Penguin translations of Freud Sally Alexander, Professor of History, Goldsmiths College, University of London Malcolm Bowie, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature and Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford | |
| History of Heritage | David Cannadine, Director of the University of London's Institute of Historical Research Miri Rubin, Professor of European History at Queen Mary, University of London Peter Mandler, Fellow in History, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge |
2002-2003
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Slavery and Empire – were Britons also captives? | Linda Colley, School Professor of History, LSE Catherine Hall, Professor of Modern British Social and Cultural History, University College London Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Professorial Research Fellow, Queen Mary College London | |
| The Scientist in History – missionary or monster? | John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy, University of Sussex Patricia Fara, Lecturer on the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University Hugh Pennington, Head of the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Aberdeen | |
| Architecture and Power – imagery of imperialism | Adrian Tinniswood, Architectural historian Gavin Stamp, Senior Lecturer, Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art Gillian Darley, Architectural historian and biographer of John Soane | |
| Human nature – innate or nurtured? | Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre of Cognitive Neuroscience, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Janet Radcliffe Richards, philosopher, Reader in Bioethics, University College London John Gray, Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics | |
| Victorian Realism – how real? | Philip Davis, Reader in English Literature at the University of Liverpool and author of "The Victorians", a volume of the New Oxford English Literary History A. N. Wilson, novelist, biographer and author of The Victorians Dinah Birch, Fellow and tutor in English at Trinity College, Oxford | |
| Muslim Spain – a culture of tolerance? | Tim Winter, a convert to Islam and lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University Martin Palmer, Anglican lay preacher and theologian and author of The Sacred History of Britain Mehri Niknam, executive director of the Maimonides Foundation, a joint Jewish-Muslim Interfaith Foundation in London | |
| Imagination – just what is it? | Susan Stuart, Lecturer in Philosophy of Mind at the University of Glasgow Steven Mithen, Professor of Early Prehistory at the University of Reading Semir Zeki, Professor of Neurobiology at the University of London and author of Inner Vision: An Exploration of Art and the Brain | |
| The Scottish Enlightenment – how enlightened? | Tom Devine, Professor and Director of the Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen Karen O'Brien, Reader in English and American Literature at the University of Warwick Alexander Broadie, Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at the University of Glasgow | |
| Man and Disease – the fight against diseases and plagues | Anne Hardy, Reader in the History of Medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre at University College London David Bradley, Professor of Tropical Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Chris Dye, epidemiologist with the World Health Organisation | |
| The Calendar – a history of the Calendar | Robert Poole, Reader in History at St Martin's College Lancaster and author of Time's Alteration, Calendar Reform in Early Modern England Kristen Lippincott, Deputy Director of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich Peter Watson, Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge University and author of A Terrible Beauty – A History of the People and Ideas that Shaped the Modern Mind | |
| The Epic – from Homer to Joyce | John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Oxford University Karen Edwards, Lecturer in English at Exeter University Oliver Taplin, Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford | |
| Chance and Design in Evolution – Design in Nature | Simon Conway Morris, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at Cambridge University and author of The Crucible of Creation – the Burgess Shale and the Rise of Animals Sandy Knapp, botanist at the Natural History Museum John Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University | |
| The Lindisfarne Gospels – unifying Christianity in Britain | Richard Gameson, Reader in Medieval History at Kent University and editor of St Augustine and the Conversion of England Clare Lees, Professor of Medieval Literature at King's College London and author of Tradition and Belief: Religious Writing in Late Anglo-Saxon England Michelle Brown, Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library and author of A Guide to Western Historical Scripts | |
| The Aztecs – looking behind the myths | Alan Knight, Professor of the History of Latin America at Oxford University and author of Mexico: From the Beginning to the Spanish Conquest Adrian Locke, co-curator of the Aztecs exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts Elizabeth Graham, Senior Lecturer in Mesoamerican Archaeology at University College London | |
| Meteorology – why does it still fascinate us? | Vladimir Janković, Wellcome Research Lecturer at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at Manchester University Richard Hamblyn, writer Liba Taub, Director of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science at Cambridge University | |
| Redemption – the concept of salvation | Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford Janet Soskice, Reader in Modern Theology and Philosophical Theology at Cambridge University Stephen Mulhall, Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Oxford University | |
| Originality – is it just a romantic notion? | John Deathridge, King Edward Professor of Music at King's College London Jonathan Rée, philosopher and author of Philosophical Tales Catherine Belsey, Professor and Chair of the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory at Cardiff University | |
| Supernovas – the life cycle of stars | Paul Murdin, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge Janna Levin, Advanced Fellow in Theoretical Physics in the Department of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge Phil Charles, Professor of Astronomy at Southampton University | |
| The Spanish Civil War – causes and legacy | Paul Preston, Principe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish History at the London School of Economics Helen Graham, Professor of Spanish History at Royal Holloway, University of London Mary Vincent, Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at Sheffield University | |
| Proust – his life and work | Jacqueline Rose, Professor of English Literature at Queen Mary, University of London and author of Albertine Malcolm Bowie, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge and author of Proust among the Stars Robert Fraser, senior research fellow in the Literature Department at the Open University and author of Proust and the Victorians | |
| Youth – from Adonis to James Dean | Tim Whitmarsh, Lecturer in Hellenistic Literature at Exeter University Thomas Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, London Deborah Thom, Lecturer in History at Robinson College, Cambridge | |
| Roman Britain – the effects of 400 years of occupation | Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at St Andrews University Mary Beard, Reader in Classics at Cambridge University Catharine Edwards, Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck College, London University | |
| The Jacobite Rebellion – could it have succeeded? | Murray Pittock, Professor of English Literature at the University of Strathclyde Stana Nenadic, Senior Lecturer in Social History at Edinburgh University Allan Macinnes, Burnett-Fletcher Professor of History at Aberdeen University. | |
| The Holy Grail – just a medieval myth? | Carolyne Larrington, Tutor in Medieval English at St John's College, Oxford Jonathan Riley-Smith, Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Welsh at the University College of Wales in Cardiff | |
| Blood – its religious, medical and moral significance | Miri Rubin, Professor of European History at Queen Mary, University of London Anne Hardy, Reader in the History of Medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde | |
| Memory – and the brain | Martin Conway, Professor of Psychology at Durham University Mike Kopelman, Professor of Neuropsychiatry at King's College London and St Thomas' Hospital Kim Graham, Senior Scientist at the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit | |
| The Lunar Society – scientific ferment 200 years ago. | Simon Schaffer, Reader in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jenny Uglow, Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Warwick and author of The Lunar Men: The Friends who Made the Future Peter Jones, Professor of French History at the University of Birmingham | |
| The Art of War – maintaining the objective? | Michael Howard, Emeritus Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter | |
| The Aristocracy – how the ruling class survives | David Cannadine, Director of the University of London's Institute of Historical Research and author of The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy Rosemary Sweet, Lecturer in History at the University of Leicester Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Professorial Research Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The East India Company – a corporate route to Empire. | Huw Bowen, Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester Linda Colley, School Professor of History at the London School of Economics Maria Misra, Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Keble College, Oxford | |
| Vulcanology – significance of volcanoes. | Hilary Downes, Professor of Geochemistry at Birkbeck, University of London Steve Self, Professor of Vulcanology at the Open University Bill McGuire, Benfield Professor of Geophysical Hazards at University College London. | |
| Nature – from Homer to Darwin | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick Roger Scruton, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham Karen Edwards, Lecturer in English at the University of Exeter | |
| The Apocalypse – was it a revelation? | Martin Palmer, theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Marina Benjamin, journalist and author of Living at the End of the World Justin Champion, Reader in the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway College, University of London |
2003-2004
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| James Clerk Maxwell – great 19th century physicist | Simon Schaffer, Reader in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Peter Harman, Professor of the History of Science at Lancaster University and editor of The Scientific Letters and Papers of James Clerk Maxwell Joanna Haigh, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London | |
| Bohemianism – a life of art, freedom and poverty | Hermione Lee, Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and biographer of Virginia Woolf Virginia Nicholson, author of Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900–1939 Graham Robb, writer and biographer of Balzac, Victor Hugo and Rimbaud | |
| The Schism – between East and West in Christianity. | Henrietta Leyser, medieval historian and Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford Norman Housley, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leicester Jonathan Shepard, editor of the Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire | |
| Infinity – a brief history. | Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Robert D. Kaplan, co-founder of The Math Circle at Harvard University and author of The Art of the Infinite: Our Lost Language of Numbers Sarah Rees, Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of Newcastle | |
| Robin Hood – the greatest of English myths. | Stephen Knight, Professor of English Literature at Cardiff University and author of Robin Hood: A Mythic Biography Thomas Hahn, Professor of English Literature at the University of Rochester, New York Juliette Wood, Secretary of the Folklore Society | |
| Sensation – the best sellers of the 19th century. | John Mullan, Senior Lecturer in English at University College London Lyn Pykett, Professor of English and Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth Dinah Birch, Professor of English at the University of Liverpool | |
| Duty – concepts of obligation. | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Annabel Brett, Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| Ageing the Earth – a journey in geological time. | Richard Corfield, Research Associate in the Department of Earth Sciences at Oxford University Hazel Rymer, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Open University Henry Gee, Senior Editor at Nature | |
| St Bartholomew's Day Massacre – slaughter in Paris. | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University and author of a new book: Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700 Mark Greengrass, Professor of History at the University of Sheffield Penny Roberts, Lecturer in History at the University of Warwick | |
| Wittgenstein – a philosophy of linguistics | Ray Monk, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton and author of Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius Barry Smith, Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Marie McGinn, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York | |
| The Devil – a brief biography | Martin Palmer, theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Alison Rowlands, Senior Lecturer in European History at the University of Essex David Wootton, Professor of Intellectual History at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The Alphabet – its creation and development | Eleanor Robson, historian of Ancient Iraq and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford Alan Millard, Rankin Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages at the University of Liverpool Rosalind Thomas, Professor of Greek History at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Lamarck and Natural Selection – the Lamarckian Heresy | Sandy Knapp, Senior Botanist at the Natural History Museum Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics in the Galton Laboratory at University College London and author of Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated Simon Conway Morris, Professor of Evolutionary Paleobiology at Cambridge University | |
| Cryptography – secret history of ciphers and codes | Simon Singh, science writer and author of The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-Breaking Fred Piper, Professor and Director of the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway, University of London and co-author of Cryptography: A Very Short Introduction Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London and author of Ingenious Pursuits | |
| The Battle of Thermopylae – battle that defined East and West | Tom Holland, historian and author of Persian Fire Simon Goldhill, Professor in Greek Literature and Culture at King's College, Cambridge Edith Hall, Leverhulme Professor of Greek Cultural History at the University of Durham and author of Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy | |
| The Sublime – defining the state of awe | Janet Todd, Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow Annie Janowitz, Professor of Romantic Poetry at Queen Mary, University of London Peter de Bolla, Lecturer in English at the University of Cambridge | |
| Rutherford – the father of nuclear physics | Simon Schaffer, Professor in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jim Al-Khalili, Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Surrey Patricia Fara, Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge | |
| The Mughal Empire – the glory of India | Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Professor of Indian History and Culture at the University of Oxford Susan Stronge, Curator in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Chandrika Kaul, Lecturer in Imperial History at the University of St Andrews | |
| Dreams – is there a science of dreams? | VS Ramachandran, Professor and Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego Mark Solms, Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town Martin Conway, Professor of Psychology at the University of Durham | |
| The Norse Gods – the great myths of pagan Europe | Carolyne Larrington, Tutor in Medieval English at St John's College, Oxford Heather O'Donoghue, Vigfusson Rausing Reader in Ancient Icelandic Literature in the Department of English at Oxford University John Hines, Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University | |
| Theories of Everything – still the holy grail of physics? | Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University and author of The Fabric of the Cosmos John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and author of The Constants of Nature Val Gibson, particle physicist from the Cavendish Laboratory and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge | |
| China: The Warring States period – the fiery beginnings of Chinese civilisation | Chris Cullen, Director of the Needham Research Institute at Cambridge University Vivienne Lo, Lecturer at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine Carol Michaelson, Assistant Keeper of Chinese Art in the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum | |
| The Fall – how Adam and Eve affect us all | Martin Palmer, theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Griselda Pollock, Professor of Art History at the University of Leeds John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Oxford University | |
| The Later Romantics – the world of Byron, Keats and Shelley | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick Robert Woof, Director of the Wordsworth Trust Jennifer Wallace, Director of Studies in English at Peterhouse, Cambridge | |
| Hysteria – the normal state of human beings? | Juliet Mitchell, Professor of Psychoanalysis and Gender Studies at the University of Cambridge and author of Mad Men and Medusas: Reclaiming Hysteria and the Effects of Sibling Relations on the Human Condition Rachel Bowlby, Professor of English at the University of York who has written the introduction to the latest Penguin translation of Sigmund Freud and Joseph Breuer's Studies in Hysteria Brett Kahr, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London | |
| Tea – an empire in a teacup | Huw Bowen, Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History at the University of Leicester James Walvin, Professor of History at the University of York Amanda Vickery, Reader in History at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Heroism – do we live in an heroic age? | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick and author of Plato and the Hero: Courage, Manliness and the Impersonal Good A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at the University of Cambridge | |
| Zero – everything about nothing | Robert D. Kaplan, co-founder of the Maths Circle at Harvard University and author of The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| Toleration – from medieval intolerance to religious freedom | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London David Wootton, Professor of Intellectual History at Queen Mary, University of London Sarah Barber, Senior Lecturer in History at Lancaster University | |
| Planets – the astronomy of the 21st century | Paul Murdin, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge Hugh Jones, planet hunter and Reader in Astrophysics at Liverpool John Moores University Carolin Crawford, Royal Society Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge | |
| Babylon – the great forgotten civilisation | Eleanor Robson, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University Irving Finkel, Curator in the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum Andrew George, Professor of Babylonian at the School of Oriental and African Studies | |
| Empiricism – the English philosophy? | Judith Hawley, Senior Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, University of London Murray Pittock, Professor of Scottish and Romantic Literature at the University of Manchester Jonathan Rée, philosopher and author of Philosophy and its Past | |
| Renaissance Magic – the great passion of the age | Peter Forshaw, Lecturer in Renaissance Philosophies at Birkbeck, University of London Valery Rees, Renaissance historian and a translator of Ficino's letters Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde | |
| George Washington and the American Revolution – the most significant event in history | Carol Berkin, Professor of History at The City University of New York Simon Middleton, Lecturer in American History at the University of East Anglia Colin Bonwick, Professor Emeritus in American History at Keele University |
2004-2005
In 2005 listeners were invited to vote in a poll for the greatest philosopher in history. The winner was the subject of the final programme before the summer break. The vote was won by Karl Marx with 27.9% of the votes. Other shortlisted figures were David Hume, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, Aristotle and Karl Popper.| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Pi – the number that doesn't add up | Robert D. Kaplan, co-founder of the Maths Circle at Harvard University Eleanor Robson, Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick | |
| The Odyssey – Homer's epic tale of Odysseus' return home | Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek at King's College, Cambridge Edith Hall, Leverhulme Professor of Greek Cultural History at Durham University Oliver Taplin, Classics Scholar and Translator at Oxford University | |
| Agincourt – the real facts behind the battle. | Anne Curry, Professor of Medieval History at Southampton University Michael Jones, medieval historian and write John Watts, Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford | |
| The Origins of Life – how it all began | Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University Richard Corfield, Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research at the Open University Linda Partridge, Biology and Biotechnology Research Council Professor at University College London | |
| Politeness – the great 18th century craze | Amanda Vickery, Reader in History at Royal Holloway, University of London David Wootton, Professor of History at the University of York John Mullan, Senior Lecturer in English at University College London | |
| Jean-Paul Sartre – a man condemned to be free | Jonathan Rée, philosopher and historia Benedict O'Donohoe, Principal Lecturer in French at the University of the West of England and Secretary of the ;UK Society for Sartrean Studies Christina Howells, Professor of French at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wadham College | |
| The Han Synthesis – creating the Chinese cosmos | Christopher Cullen, Director of the Needham Research Institute Carol Michaelson, Assistant Keeper of Chinese Art in the Department of Asia at the British Museum Roel Sterckx, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| Witchcraft – Reformation Europe turned upon itself | Alison Rowlands, Senior Lecturer in European History at the University of Essex Lyndal Roper, Fellow and Tutor in History at Balliol College, University of Oxford Malcolm Gaskill, Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Churchill College, Cambridge | |
| Rhetoric – from the original sophists to latter-day demagogues | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Thomas Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London Ceri Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Wales, Bangor | |
| Electrickery – the origins of electricity | Simon Schaffer, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Darwin College Patricia Fara, historian of science and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge Iwan Morus, Lecturer in the History of Science at Queen's University Belfast | |
| Zoroastrianism – was the religion of the Persian Empire the first monotheism? | Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Ancient Iranian Coins in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum Farrokh Vajifdar, Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society Alan Williams, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester | |
| Higgs Boson – the search for the God particle | Jim Al-Khalili, Senior Lecturer in Physics at the University of Surrey David Wark, Professor of Experimental Physics at Imperial College London and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Roger Cashmore, Professor and former Research Director at CERN and now Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford | |
| The Venerable Bede – the father of English history | Richard Gameson, Reader in Medieval History at the University of Kent at Canterbury Sarah Foot, Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Sheffield Michelle Brown, manuscript specialist from the British Library | |
| Carl Gustav Jung – Discovering the Self | Brett Kahr, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London and a practising Freudian Ronald Hayman, writer and biographer of Jung Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology at the University of Essex and a Jungian analyst in clinical practice | |
| Machiavelli and the Italian City States – high politics and low cunning in the Italian Renaissance | Quentin Skinner, Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London Lisa Jardine, Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The Second Law of Thermodynamics – the most important thing you will ever know | John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex Peter Atkins, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University Monica Grady, Head of Petrology and Meteoritics at the Natural History Museum | |
| Faust – the original pact with the Devil | Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Welsh at the University College of Wales in Cardiff and Secretary of the Folklore Society Osman Durrani, Professor of German at the University of Kent at Canterbury Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London | |
| The Roman Republic – what were Rome's republican ideals? | Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at St Andrews University Catherine Steel, Lecturer in Classics at the University of Glasgow Tom Holland, historian and author of Rubicon: the Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic | |
| The Assassination of Tsar Alexander II – did his killing cause the Russian Revolution? | Orlando Figes, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London Dominic Lieven, Professor of Russian Government, London School of Economics Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, Oxford University | |
| The Mind/Body Problem – does the mind rule the body or the body rule the mind? | A. C. Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosophers' Magazine Sue James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| The Cambrian Explosion – the big bang of evolutionary history | Simon Conway Morris, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology, Cambridge University Richard Corfield, Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research, Open University Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology, University of Leeds | |
| Alchemy – seeking the perfection of all things | Peter Forshaw, Lecturer in Renaissance Philosophies at Birkbeck, University of London Lauren Kassell, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster | |
| Stoicism – the search for inner calm | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Warwick Jonathan Rée, philosopher and historian David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge | |
| Modernist Utopias – the original 21st century | John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, Oxford University and editor of The Faber Book of Utopias Steve Connor, Professor of Modern Literature at Birkbeck, University of London Laura Marcus, Professor of English, University of Sussex | |
| Dark Energy – the unknown force breaking the universe apart | Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, Cambridge University Carolin Crawford, Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge Roger Penrose, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Maths at Oxford University | |
| Angels – how they got their wings | Martin Palmer, theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Valery Rees, Renaissance Scholar at the School of Economic Science John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy, University of St Andrews | |
| John Ruskin – a different kind of Victorian | Dinah Birch, Professor of English, Liverpool University Keith Hanley, Professor of English Literature and Director of the Ruskin Programme, Lancaster University Stefan Collini, Professor of Intellectual History and English Literature, University of Cambridge | |
| Alfred and the Battle of Edington – without Alfred, no England? | Richard Gameson, Reader in Medieval History, University of Kent at Canterbury Sarah Foot, Professor of Early Medieval History, University of Sheffield John Hines, Professor in the School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University | |
| Archaeology and Imperialism – conquest of the past | Tim Champion, Professor of Archaeology, University of Southampton Richard Parkinson, Assistant Keeper in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum Eleanor Robson, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford | |
| The Aeneid – the Roman history of the world | Edith Hall, Leverhulme Professor of Greek Cultural History, Durham University Philip Hardie, Corpus Christi Professor of Latin at the University of Oxford Catharine Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History, Birkbeck College University of London | |
| Perception and the Senses – how do we see what we see? | Richard Gregory, senior research fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology, Bristol University David Moore, Director of the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research, University of Nottingham Gemma Calvert, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Bath | |
| Abelard and Heloise – love, sex and theology in 12th century Paris | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Henrietta Leyser, Medieval Historian and Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford Michael Clanchy, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the Institute of Historical Research | |
| Beauty – the philosophy of beauty | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Susan James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Julian Baggini, Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine | |
| The Terror – when Madame Guillotine ruled France | Mike Broers, Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall Rebecca Spang, Lecturer in Modern History at University College London Tim Blanning, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge | |
| Renaissance Maths – the birth of modern mathematics? | Robert D. Kaplan, co-founder of the Maths Circle at Harvard University Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of Science and Fellow of Linacre College, University of Oxford Jackie Stedall, research fellow in the History of Mathematics, The Queen's College, Oxford | |
| The Scriblerus Club – the satirists-in-chief of the 18th century | John Mullan, Senior Lecturer in English, University College London Judith Hawley, Senior Lecturer in English, Royal Holloway, University of London Marcus Walsh, Kenneth Allott Professor of English Literature, University of Liverpool | |
| Paganism in the Renaissance – how the classical gods returned to the Christian cities | Tom Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London Charles Hope, Director of the Warburg Institute and Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition, University of London Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The K–T boundary – did the dinosaurs burn out or fade away? | Simon Kelley, Head of Department in the Department of Earth Sciences, Open University Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology, University of Leeds Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol | |
| Merlin – the original Welsh wizard | Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Welsh at Cardiff University Stephen Knight, Distinguished Research Professor in English Literature at Cardiff University Peter Forshaw, Lecturer in Renaissance Philosophies at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| Christopher Marlowe – poet, spy, atheist, murder victim? | Katherine Duncan-Jones, senior research fellow in the English Faculty of Oxford University Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature, University of Warwick Emma J. Smith, Lecturer in English, Oxford University | |
| Karl Marx – In Our Time's Greatest Philosopher | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Francis Wheen, journalist and author of a biography of Karl Marx Gareth Stedman Jones, Professor of Political Science at Cambridge University |
2005-2006
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Magnetism – an attractive history | Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster John Heilbron, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| Field of the Cloth of Gold – a Renaissance entente cordiale | Steven Gunn, Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University John Guy, Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge Penny Roberts, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Warwick | |
| The Rise of the Mammals – life in a cold climate | Richard Corfield, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the Open University Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds | |
| Cynicism – bold and populist, the history of a shocking philosophy | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Warwick Miriam Griffin, Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford John Moles, Professor of Latin, University of Newcastle | |
| Samuel Johnson and His Circle – life with the professional man of letters | John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Jim McLaverty, Professor of English at Keele University Judith Hawley, Senior Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Asteroids – celestial bodies from the beginning of time | Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, Open University Carolin Crawford, Royal Society Research Fellow, University of Cambridge John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science, Open University | |
| Greyfriars and Blackfriars – philosophy, evangelism and fund-raising in the 13th century Church | Henrietta Leyser, medieval historian and Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford Alexander Murray, medieval historian and emeritus fellow of University College, Oxford Anthony Kenny, philosopher and former Master of Balliol College, Oxford | |
| Pragmatism – a practical philosophy fit for 20th century America | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Applied Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London and a Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford Julian Baggini, editor of The Philosophers' Magazine Miranda Fricker, Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London | |
| The Graviton – the quest for the theoretical gravity particle | Roger Cashmore, Former Research Director at CERN and Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey Sheila Rowan, Reader in Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow | |
| Thomas Hobbes and the political philosophy of Leviathan | Quentin Skinner, Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge David Wootton, Professor of History at the University of York Annabel Brett, Senior Lecturer in Political Thought and Intellectual History at Cambridge University | |
| Artificial Intelligence – the quest for a machine that can think | Jon Agar, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge Alison Adam, Professor of Information Systems, Salford University Igor Aleksander, Professor of Neural Systems Engineering at Imperial College, University of London | |
| The Peterloo massacre – democratic protest and brutal repression | Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter Sarah Richardson, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Warwick Clive Emsley, Professor of History at the Open University | |
| Heaven – a journey through the afterlife | Valery Rees, Renaissance scholar and senior member of the Language Department at the School of Economic Science Martin Palmer, Theologian and Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture John Carey, Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Oxford University | |
| Aeschylus' Oresteia – the birth of tragedy | Edith Hall, Professor of Greek Cultural History at Durham University Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge Tom Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London | |
| The Oath – guaranteeing law, government and the army in the Classical world | Alan Sommerstein, Professor of Greek at the University of Nottingham Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at the University of Cambridge Mary Beard, Professor in Classics at the University of Cambridge | |
| Prime Numbers – the building blocks of mathematics | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford Robin Wilson, Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University and Gresham Professor of Geometry Jackie Stedall, Junior Research Fellow in the History of Mathematics at Queen's College, Oxford | |
| Relativism – the battle against transcendent knowledge | Barry Smith, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Jonathan Rée, freelance philosopher who holds visiting professorships at the Royal College of Art and Roehampton University Kathleen Lennon, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Hull | |
| Seventeenth Century Print Culture – piety, populism and political protest | Kevin Sharpe, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Keele Joad Raymond, Professor of English Literature at the University of East Anglia | |
| The Abbasid Caliphs – when Baghdad ruled the Muslim world. | Hugh Kennedy, Professor of History at the University of St Andrews Robert Irwin, Senior Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| Geoffrey Chaucer – the first Great English Poet | Carolyne Larrington, Tutor in Medieval English at St John's College, Oxford Helen Cooper, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge Ardis Butterfield, Reader in English at University College London | |
| Human Evolution – from early hominids to Homo sapiens | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics in the Galton Laboratory at University College London Fred Spoor, Professor of Evolutionary Anatomy at University College London Margaret Clegg, Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Biological Anthropology at University College London | |
| Catherine the Great – the Enlightened Despot of Eighteenth Century Russia | Janet Hartley, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics Simon Dixon, Professor of Modern History at the University of Leeds Tony Lentin, Professor of History at the Open University | |
| Friendship – thinking philosophically about our close companions | Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Mark Vernon, Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at Syracuse University and London Metropolitan University John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London | |
| Negative numbers – how they spread across civilizations | Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews Raymond Flood, Lecturer in Computing Studies and Mathematics at Kellogg College, Oxford | |
| Don Quixote – Spanish romance and the first novel | Barry Ife, Cervantes Professor Emeritus at King's College London Edwin Williamson, Professor of Spanish Studies at the University of Oxford Jane Whetnall, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The Royal Society – the first club for experimental science | Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster Lisa Jardine, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| The Carolingian Renaissance – the revival of early medieval Western Europe | Matthew Innes, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London Julia Smith, Edwards Professor of Medieval History at Glasgow University Mary Garrison, Lecturer in History at the University of York | |
| Goethe – formation of a German cultural icon | Tim Blanning, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge Sarah Colvin, Professor of German at the University of Edinburgh W. Daniel Wilson, Professor of German at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| The Oxford Movement – Anglicans and Catholics in the 19th century | Sheridan Gilley, Emeritus Reader in Theology at the University of Durham Frances Knight, Senior Lecturer in Church History at the University of Wales, Lampeter Simon Skinner, Fellow and Tutor in History at Balliol College, Oxford | |
| The Search for Immunisation – and the battle against smallpox | Nadja Durbach, associate professor of History at the University of Utah Chris Dye, Co-ordinator of the World Health Organisation's work on tuberculosis epidemiology Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Lecturer in the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL | |
| The Great Exhibition – a wonder of the Victorian world | Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter Hermione Hobhouse, Architectural Historian and writer Clive Emsley, Professor of History at the Open University | |
| Astronomy and Empire – the link between colonial expansion and scientific discovery | Simon Schaffer, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Kristen Lippincott, former Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Allan Chapman, Historian of Science at the History Faculty at Oxford University | |
| Fairies – supernatural creatures that are neither gods nor humans | Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Welsh at Cardiff University and Secretary of the Folklore Society Diane Purkiss, Fellow and Tutor of English at Keble College, Oxford Nicola Bown, Lecturer in Victorian Studies at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| John Stuart Mill – one of the most influential philosophers of the 19th Century | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Janet Radcliffe Richards, Reader in Bioethics at University College London Alan Ryan, Professor of Politics at Oxford University | |
| Mathematics and Music – the science behind sound and composition | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford Robin Wilson, Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University Ruth Tatlow, Lecturer in Music Theory at the University of Stockholm | |
| The Heart – its anatomical and cultural history | David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York Fay Bound Alberti, research fellow at the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine at the University of Manchester Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde | |
| Uncle Tom's Cabin – the novel that started the American Civil War | Celeste-Marie Bernier, Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Nottingham Sarah Meer, Lecturer and Director of Studies in English at Selwyn College, Cambridge Clive Webb, Reader in American History at the University of Sussex | |
| Carbon – the basis of life | Harry Kroto, Professor of Chemistry at Florida State University Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University Ken Teo, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at Cambridge University | |
| The Spanish Inquisition – one of the most barbaric episodes in European history | John Edwards, research fellow in Spanish at the University of Oxford Alexander Murray, emeritus fellow in History at University College, Oxford Michael Alpert, Emeritus Professor in Modern and Contemporary History of Spain at the University of Westminster | |
| Galaxies – extra-galactic nebulae, black holes, stars and dark matter | John Gribbin, Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex Carolin Crawford, Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge Robert Kennicutt, Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge | |
| Pastoral Literature – the romantic idealisation of the countryside | Helen Cooper, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge Laurence Lerner, former Professor of English at the University of Sussex Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and ama at the University of Nottingham | |
| Greek Comedy – sing as you revel and rout | Paul Cartledge, Professor of Greek History at the University of Cambridge Edith Hall, Professor of ama and Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London Nick Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London |
2006-2007
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Alexander von Humboldt – the remarkable career of the Prussian naturalist | Jason Wilson, Professor of Latin American Literature at University College London Patricia Fara, Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jim Secord, Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project | |
| Averroes – the battle between faith and reason | Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge Peter Adamson, Reader in Philosophy at King's College London Anthony Kenny, philosopher and former Master of Balliol College, Oxford | |
| The Diet of Worms – Luther's stand against the Church | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University David Bagchi, Lecturer in the History of Christian Thought at the University of Hull Charlotte Methuen, Lecturer in Reformation History at the University of Oxford | |
| The Needham Question – did China lay the foundations of modern science? | Chris Cullen, Director of the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at SOAS Frances Wood, Head of Chinese Collections at the British Library | |
| The Encyclopédie – the great project of the Enlightenment | Judith Hawley, Senior Lecturer in English at Royal Holloway, University of London Caroline Warman, Fellow and Tutor in French at Jesus College, Oxford David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York | |
| The Poincaré conjecture – how a 19th-century mathematician changed how we think about the shape of the universe | June Barrow-Green, Lecturer in the History of Mathematics at the Open University Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford | |
| Alexander Pope – "short is my date, but deathless my renown" | John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Jim McLaverty, Professor of English at Keele University Valerie Rumbold, Reader in English Literature at Birmingham University. | |
| The Peasants' Revolt – a lasting legacy for popular uprising? | Miri Rubin, Professor of Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London Caroline Barron, Professorial Research Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London Alastair Dunn, author of The Peasants' Revolt – England's Failed Revolution of 1381 | |
| Altruism – how can evolutionary biology explain it? | Miranda Fricker, Senior Lecturer in the School of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University John Dupré, Professor of Philosophy of Science at Exeter University and director of Egenis, the ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society | |
| The Speed of Light – a cosmic speed limit? | John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Gresham Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge University Iwan Morus, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University. | |
| Anarchism – a question of authority? | John Keane, Professor of Politics at University of Westminster Ruth Kinna, Senior Lecturer in Politics at Loughborough University Peter Marshall, philosopher and historian | |
| Indian Maths – laying the foundations for modern numerals and zero as a number | George Gheverghese Joseph, Honorary Reader in Mathematics Education at Manchester University Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews Dennis Almeida, Lecturer in Mathematics Education at Exeter University and the Open University | |
| Hell – its representation through the ages | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Margaret Kean, Tutor and Fellow in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum | |
| The Siege of Constantinople – the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire | Roger Crowley, author and historian Judith Herrin, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London Colin Imber, formerly Reader in Turkish at Manchester University | |
| Jorge Luis Borges – the life and work of Argentina's best loved short story writer | Edwin Williamson, Professor of Spanish Studies at Oxford University Efraín Kristal, Professor of Comparative Literature at University of California, Los Angeles Evelyn Fishburn, Professor Emeritus at London Metropolitan University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London | |
| Mars – the search for life on the Red Planet | John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Science at the Open University and a team leader on the ExoMars mission Colin Pillinger, Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Open University and leader of the Beagle 2 expedition to Mars Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University and an expert on Martian meteorites | |
| The Jesuits – the school masters of Europe | Nigel Aston, Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Leicester Simon Ditchfield, Reader in History at the University of York Dame Olwen Hufton, emeritus fellow of Merton College, Oxford | |
| Archimedes – the Greek mathematician and his Eureka moments | Jackie Stedall, Junior Research Fellow in the History of Mathematics at Queen's College, Oxford Serafina Cuomo, Reader in the History of Science at Imperial College London George Phillips, Honorary Reader in Mathematics at St Andrews University | |
| Genghis Khan – founder of one of the world's largest ever land-based empires | Peter Jackson, Professor of Medieval History at Keele University Naomi Standen, Lecturer in Chinese History at Newcastle University George Lane, Lecturer in History at the School of Oriental and African Studies | |
| Karl Popper – his ideas challenged our approach to the philosophy of science | John Worrall, Professor of Philosophy of Science at the London School of Economics Anthony O'Hear, Weston Professor of Philosophy at Buckingham University Nancy Cartwright, Professor of Philosophy at the LSE and the University of California | |
| Heart of Darkness – one of the most influential novels of the 20th century | Susan Jones, Fellow and Tutor in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford Robert Hampson, Professor of Modern Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London Laurence Davies, Honorary Senior Research Fellow in English at Glasgow University and Visiting Professor of Comparative Literature at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire | |
| William Wilberforce – the man and his legacy | This broadcast was a documentary rather than a discussion | |
| The History of Optics – from telescopes to microscopes, a new way of seeing the world | Simon Schaffer, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science and Fellow of Linacre College at the University of Oxford Emily Winterburn, Curator of Astronomy at the National Maritime Museum | |
| Microbiology – the story of the invisible masters of the universe | John Dupré, Professor of Philosophy of Science at Exeter University Anne Glover, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at Aberdeen University Andrew Mendelsohn, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and Medicine at Imperial College, University of London | |
| Epistolary Literature – great novels of fictional letters | John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Karen O'Brien, Professor in English at the University of Warwick Brean Hammond, Professor of Modern English Literature at the University of Nottingham | |
| Bismarck – The Iron Chancellor | Richard J Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge Christopher Clark, Reader in Modern European History at the University of Cambridge Katharine Lerman, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at London Metropolitan University | |
| Anaesthetics – from ether frolics to pain free surgery | David Wilkinson, Consultant Anaesthetist at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and President of the History of Anaesthesia Society Stephanie Snow, Research Associate at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology & Medicine at the University of Manchester Anne Hardy, Professor in the History of Modern Medicine at University College London | |
| St Hilda – the life and times of the Abbess of Whitby | John Blair, Fellow in History at The Queen's College, Oxford Rosemary Cramp, Emeritus Professor in Archaeology at Durham University Sarah Foot, Professor of Early Medieval History at Sheffield University | |
| The Opium Wars – a conflict that was to affect British-Chinese relations for generations | Yangwen Zheng, Lecturer in Modern Chinese History at the University of Manchester Lars Laamann, research fellow in Chinese History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Xun Zhou, research fellow in History at SOAS, University of London | |
| Symmetry – the pattern at the heart of our physical world | Fay Dowker, Reader in Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick | |
| Greek and Roman Love Poetry – the pursuit of the Beloved from Sappho to Catullus | Nick Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London Edith Hall, Professor of Classics and ama at Royal Holloway, University of London Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College London | |
| Spinoza – believed that God and Nature were the same thing | Jonathan Rée, historian and philosopher and Visiting Professor at Roehampton University Sarah Hutton, Professor of English at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth John Cottingham, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading | |
| Victorian Pessimism – fear and loathing in the late 19th century | Dinah Birch, Professor of English at the University of Liverpool Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London Peter Mandler, University Lecturer and Fellow in History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | |
| Gravitational Waves – a new window on the universe | Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey Carolin Crawford, Royal Society Research Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridgee Sheila Rowan, Professor in Experimental Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow | |
| The Siege of Orleans – did Joan of Arc really rescue France? | Anne Curry, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Southampton Malcolm Vale, Fellow and Tutor in History at St John's College, Oxford Matthew Bennett, Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst | |
| Occam's Razor – cutting medieval philosophy down to size | Anthony Kenny, philosopher and former Master of Balliol College, Oxford Marilyn Adams, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University Richard Alan Cross, Professor of Medieval Theology at Oriel College, Oxford | |
| Siegfried Sassoon – the poet who survived | Jean Moorcroft Wilson, Lecturer in English at Birkbeck, University of London and a biographer of Sassoon Fran Brearton, Reader in English and Assistant Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at the University of Belfast Max Egremont, a biographer of Siegfried Sassoon | |
| Renaissance Astrology – "we are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and bandied which way please them" | Peter Forshaw, Lecturer in Renaissance Philosophies at Birkbeck, University of London Lauren Kassell, Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde | |
| common sense Philosophy – "there is no statement so absurd that no philosopher will make it" | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Melissa Lane, Senior University Lecturer in History at Cambridge University Alexander Broadie, Professor of Logic and Rhetoric at the University of Glasgow | |
| Permian-Triassic Boundary – when 95% of life was killed off | Richard Corfield, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the Open University Mike Benton, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds | |
| The Pilgrim Fathers – the original American dream | Kathleen Burk, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Harry Bennett, Reader in History and Head of Humanities at the University of Plymouth Tim Lockley, associate professor of History at the University of Warwick | |
| Madame Bovary – the literary sensation caused by Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary | Andy Martin, Lecturer in French at the University of Cambridge Mary Orr, Professor of French at the University of Southampton Robert Gildea, Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford |
2007-2008
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Socrates – the man and the myth | Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy at Warwick University David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge University Paul Millett, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge | |
| Antimatter – where has it all gone? | Val Gibson, Reader in High Energy Physics at the University of Cambridge Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Exeter College, University of Oxford Ruth Gregory, Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Durham | |
| Divine Right of Kings – "there's such divinity doth hedge a king" | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London Thomas Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London Clare Jackson, Lecturer and Director of Studies in History at Trinity Hall, Cambridge | |
| The Arabian Nights – The art of story-telling | Robert Graham Irwin, Senior Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Marina Warner, Professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex Gerard van Gelder, Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford | |
| Taste – the good, the bad and the ugly in 18th century | Amanda Vickery, Reader in History at Royal Holloway, University of London John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter | |
| Guilt – what is it good for? | Stephen Mulhall, Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at New College, Oxford Miranda Fricker, Oliver Davies, Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College London. Oliver Davies, Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College London | |
| Avicenna – wine, women and philosophy | Peter Adamson, Reader in Philosophy at King's College London Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge Nader El-Bizri, Affiliated Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Discovery of Oxygen – feuds and revolutions at the birth of modern chemistry | Simon Schaffer, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Jenny Uglow, Hasok Chang, Reader in Philosophy of Science at University College London | |
| The Prelude – the greatest poem in the English language? | Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London Stephen Gill, University Professor of English Literature and Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford Emma Mason, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Warwick | |
| The Fibonacci Sequence – – the numbers in nature | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford Jackie Stedall, Junior Research Fellow in History of Mathematics at Queen's College, Oxford Ron Knott, Visiting Fellow in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Surrey | |
| Genetic Mutation – the error-strewn secrets of life | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics in the Galton Laboratory, University College London Adrian Woolfson, lectures in Medicine at Cambridge University Linda Partridge, Weldon Professor of Biometry at University College London | |
| The Sassanian Empire – – in the shadow of Ancient Persia | Hugh N. Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the School of Oriental and African Studies Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Iranian and Islamic Coins in the British Museum James Howard-Johnston, University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies at the University of Oxford | |
| The Four Humours – yellow bile, blood, choler and phlegm in the original theory of everything | David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York Vivian Nutton, Professor of the History of Medicine at University College London Noga Arikha, Visiting Fellow at the Institut Jean-Nicod in Paris | |
| The Nicene Creed – when Christ became God | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Caroline Humfress, Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London Andrew Louth, Professor of Patristic and Byzantine Studies at the University of Durham | |
| Albert Camus – Rebel with a Cause | Peter Dunwoodie, Professor of French Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London David Walker, Professor of French at the University of Sheffield Christina Howells, Professor of French at Wadham College, University of Oxford | |
| The Charge of the Light Brigade – "All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred" | Mike Broers, Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall Trudi Tate, Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge Saul David, Visiting Professor of Military History at the University of Hull | |
| The Fisher King – the wound that does not heal | Carolyne Larrington, Tutor in Medieval English at St John's College, Oxford Stephen Knight, Distinguished Research Professor in English Literature at Cardiff University Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Welsh, Cardiff University and Director of the Folklore Society | |
| Plate Tectonics – the day the Earth moved | Richard Corfield, Visiting Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the Open University Joe Cann, Senior Fellow in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds Lynne Frostick, Director of the Hull Environment Research Institute and Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Hull | |
| The Court of Rudolf II – the lost powerhouse of Renaissance ideas | Peter Forshaw, Postdoctoral Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter Howard Hotson, Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Oxford Adam Mosley, Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Wales, Swansea | |
| The Social Contract – Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and the Origins of Society | Melissa Lane, Senior University Lecturer in History at Cambridge University Susan James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Karen O'Brien, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick | |
| The Statue of Liberty – From France with love... | Robert Gildea, Professor of Modern History at Oxford University Kathleen Burk, Professor of Modern Contemporary History at University College London John Keane, Professor of Politics at the University of Westminster | |
| The Multiverse – the universe is not enough | Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge Fay Dowker, Reader in Theoretical Physics at Imperial College Bernard Carr, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| King Lear – Shakespeare's finest fairy tale | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick Katherine Duncan-Jones, Tutorial Fellow in English at Somerville College, Oxford Catherine Belsey, Research Professor in English at the University of Wales, Swansea | |
| Ada Lovelace – prophet of the computer age | Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge Doron Swade, Visiting Professor in the History of Computing at Portsmouth University John Fuegi, Visiting Professor in Biography at Kingston University | |
| The Greek Myths – soap opera of the gods | Nick Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London Richard Buxton, Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the University of Bristol Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge University | |
| Søren Kierkegaard – fear and trembling in Copenhagen | Jonathan Rée, Visiting Professor at Roehampton University and the Royal College of Art Clare Carlisle, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool John Lippitt, Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion at the University of Hertfordshire | |
| The Dissolution of the Monasteries – religion in ruins | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at Oxford University Diane Purkiss, Fellow and Tutor at Keble College, Oxford George Bernard, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton | |
| Newton's Laws of Motion – they put a man on the Moon | Simon Schaffer, Professor in History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College Raymond Flood, University Lecturer in Computing Studies and Mathematics and Senior Tutor at Kellogg College, Oxford Rob Iliffe, Professor of Intellectual History and History of Science at the University of Sussex | |
| The Norman Yoke – 1067 and all that | Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford Richard Gameson, Professor in the Department of History at Durham University Matthew Strickland, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow | |
| Yeats and Irish Politics – "a terrible beauty is born" | Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at Oxford University and Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford Fran Brearton, Reader in English at Queen's University, Belfast and Assistant Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Warwick Gould, Director of the Institute of English Studies in the School of Advanced Study, University of London | |
| Materialism – are we living in a material world? | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Caroline Warman, Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford Anthony O'Hear, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham | |
| The Enclosures – dividing the country | Rosemary Sweet, Director of the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester Murray Pittock, Bradley Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow Mark Overton, Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter | |
| The Brain: A History – history of ideas about the human brain | Vivian Nutton, Professor of the History of Medicine at University College London Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde Marina Wallace, Professor at the University of the Arts, London, Central St Martin's College of Art and Design | |
| The Library at Nineveh – | Eleanor Robson, Senior Lecturer at Cambridge University and Vice-Chair of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq Karen Radner, Lecturer in the Ancient Near Eastern History at University College London Andrew R. George, Professor of Babylonian at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London | |
| The Black Death – a plague on all our houses | Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London Samuel Cohn, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow Paul Binski, Professor of the History of Medieval Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | |
| Probability – heads or tails? | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick | |
| Lysenkoism – political campaign against genetics and science-based agriculture in the Soviet Union | Robert Service, Professor of Russian History at the University of Oxford Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London Catherine Merridale, Professor of Contemporary History at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The Riddle of the Sands – how Britain learned to fear the Germans | Richard J. Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London T. C. W. Blanning, Professor of Modern European History at Cambridge University | |
| The Music of the Spheres – a dose of heavenly harmonies | Peter Forshaw, Postdoctoral Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford Angela Voss, Director of the Cultural Study of Cosmology and Divination at the University of Kent, Canterbury | |
| The Arab Conquests – the 7th century new world order | Hugh N. Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge Robert Hoyland, Professor in Arabic and Middle East Studies at the University of St Andrews | |
| The Metaphysical Poets – sex and death in the 17th century | Thomas Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and ama at the University of Nottingham Tom Cain, Professor of Early Modern Literature at the University of Newcastle | |
| Tacitus – The Decadence of Rome | Catharine Edwards, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London Ellen O'Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Bristol Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College London |
2008-2009
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Miracles – will they never cease? Religion | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Janet Soskice, Reader in Philosophical Theology at Cambridge University Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| The Translation Movement – movement in Baghdad which translated Aristotle and Greek classics into Arabic | Peter Adamson, Reader in Philosophy at King's College London Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge Peter Pormann, Wellcome Trust Assistant Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick | |
| Gödel's incompleteness theorems – the dirty secret of maths science | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Wadham College, University of Oxford John D. Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Geometry Philip Welch, Professor of Mathematical Logic at the University of Bristol | |
| Vitalism – the spark of life | Patricia Fara, Fellow of Clare College and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University Andrew Mendelsohn, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and Medicine at Imperial College, University of London Pietro Corsi, Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oxford | |
| Dante's Inferno – to Hell and back | Margaret Kean, University Lecturer in English and College Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford John Took, Professor of Dante Studies at University College London Claire Honess, Senior Lecturer in Italian at the University of Leeds and Co-Director of the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies | |
| Simón Bolívar – the liberator of Spanish America | Anthony McFarlane, Professor of Comparative American Studies at the University of Warwick John Fisher, Professor of Latin American History at the University of Liverpool Catherine Davies, Professor in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at the University of Nottingham | |
| Aristotle's Politics – a perfect society? | Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge Annabel Brett, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge | |
| Neuroscience – does the brain rule the mind? | Martin Conway, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, Gemma Calvert, Professor of Applied Neuroimaging at WMG, University of Warwick David Papineau, Professor of Philosophy of Science at King's College London | |
| The Baroque – – the misshapen pearl of Europe | T. C. W. Blanning, Professor of Modern European History and Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Nigel Aston, Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Leicester Helen Hills, Professor of Art History at the University of York | |
| The Great Reform Act: reform – but was it great? | Dinah Birch, Professor of English at Liverpool University Michael Bentley, Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews Catherine Hall, Professor of Modern British Social and Cultural History at University College London | |
| Heat: A History -from fire to thermodynamics | Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College Hasok Chang, Professor of Philosophy of Science at University College London Joanna Haigh, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Imperial College London | |
| The Great Fire of London – London's burning, fetch the engines... | Lisa Jardine, Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London Vanessa Harding, Reader in London History at Birkbeck, University of London Jonathan Sawday, Professor of English Studies at the University of Strathclyde | |
| The Physics of Time – does time even exist? | Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick | |
| The Consolation of Philosophy – a new year's message from Boethius | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Melissa Lane, Senior University Lecturer in History at the University of Cambridge Roger Scruton, Research Professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences | |
| Darwin: On the Origins of Charles Darwin | Jim Moore, Professor of the History of Science at The Open University Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London David Norman, Director of The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences and Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge Colin Higgins, Assistant Librarian at Christ's College, Cambridge | |
| Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle | Jim Moore, Professor of the History of Science at The Open University Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London David Norman, Director of The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences and Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge Jenny Clack, Curator at The Cambridge University Museum of Zoology and Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the University of Cambridge | |
| Darwin: On the Origin of Species | Jim Moore, Steve Jones, geneticist at University College London Jim Secord, the Darwin Correspondence Project Johannes Vogel, Sandy Knapp and Judith Magee, all of the National History Museum | |
| Darwin: Life After Origins | Jim Moore, geneticist at University College London Steve Jones, Darwin expert Alison Pearn, the Darwin Correspondence Project Nick Biddle, former garden curator at Down House | |
| Thoreau and the American Idyll – America in the Wilderness | Kathleen Burk, Professor of American History at University College London Tim Morris, Lecturer in American Literature at the University of Dundee Stephen Fender, Honorary Professor in English Literature at University College London | |
| A History of History – how the writing of history has evolved | Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge John Burrow, emeritus fellow of Balliol College, Oxford Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift – 18th century satire gets close to the bone | John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Judith Hawley, Professor of 18th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London Ian McBride, Senior Lecturer in the History Department at King's College London | |
| The Brothers Grimm: fairy tales, Grimm – but not as we know them | Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in Folklore at Cardiff University Marina Warner, Professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex Tony Phelan, Professor in German at Keble College, Oxford | |
| The Destruction of Carthage – "Delenda Carthago!" | Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge Jo Quinn, Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford Ellen O'Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Bristol | |
| The Observatory at Jaipur – Indian astronomy on the cusp of colonialism | Chandrika Kaul, Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St Andrews David Arnold, Professor of Asian and Global History at the University of Warwick Chris Minkowski, Professor in Sanskrit at the University of Oxford | |
| The Waste Land and Modernity – "I will show you fear in a handful of dust" | Steve Connor, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck College, University of London Fran Brearton, Reader in English at Queen's University, Belfast Lawrence Rainey, Professor of English and American Literature at the University of York | |
| The Measurement problem in Physics – Man is not the measure of all things | Basil Hiley, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Birkbeck, University of London Simon Saunders, Reader in Philosophy of Physics and University Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at the University of Oxford Roger Penrose, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford | |
| The Library of Alexandria – of all the books in all the world... | Simon Goldhill, Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge Matthew Nicholls, Lecturer in Classics at the University of Reading Serafina Cuomo, Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck College, University of London | |
| The Boxer Rebellion – "Kill all Foreigners!" | Frances Wood, Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford R. G. Tiedemann, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in China | |
| The School of Athens – picturing Greece in Renaissance minds | Angie Hobbs, associate professor in Philosophy at the University of Warwick Valery Rees, Renaissance scholar and senior member of the Language Department at the School of Economic Science Jill Kraye, Professor of the History of Renaissance Philosophy and Librarian at the Warburg Institute at the University of London | |
| Baconian Science – Francis Bacon and the birth of modern science | Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Lancaster Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge Rhodri Lewis, University Lecturer in English at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Hugh's | |
| Brave New World – would Soma, free love and the feelies be so bad? | David Bradshaw, Reader and Tutor in English Literature at Worcester College, Oxford Daniel Pick, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London Michèle Barrett, Professor of Modern Literary and Cultural Theory at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| Suffragism – the long march towards votes for women | Krista Cowman, Professor of History at the University of Lincoln June Purvis, Professor of Women's & Gender History at the University of Portsmouth Julia Bush, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Northampton | |
| The Building of St Petersburg – "a window through which Russia looks on Europe" | Simon Dixon, Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London Janet Hartley, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics Anthony Cross, Emeritus Professor of Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Vacuum of Space – a programme about nothing? | Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Exeter College, Oxford Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Visiting Professor in Astrophysics at Oxford University Ruth Gregory, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Durham University | |
| Magna Carta – foundation of law or rich man's charter? | Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King's College London Michael Clanchy, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the Institute of Historical Research | |
| The Siege of Vienna – a clash of civilisations? | Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter Andrew Wheatcroft, Professor of International Publishing at Stirling University Claire Norton, Lecturer in History at St Mary's University, London | |
| The Whale: A History | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London Eleanor Weston, a mammalian palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London Bill Amos, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at Cambridge University | |
| Saint Paul – the first Christian | John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews John Barclay, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University Helen Bond, Senior Lecturer in the New Testament at the University of Edinburgh | |
| The Trial of Charles I – the original courtroom drama | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London Diane Purkiss, Fellow and Tutor at Keble College, Oxford David Wootton, Professor of History at the University of York | |
| The Augustan Age – art and propaganda at the birth of the Roman Empire | Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge University Catharine Edwards, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck College, University of Londo Duncan Kennedy, Professor of Latin Literature at the University of Bristol | |
| Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy – theatre of blood | Jonathan Bate, Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and ama at the University of Nottingham Janet Clare, Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of Hull | |
| The Sunni-Shia Split: after Muhammad | Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge Robert Gleave, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Exeter Hugh N. Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London | |
| Logical Positivism – or is it? | Barry Smith, Professor of Philosophy at the University of London Nancy Cartwright, Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics Thomas Uebel, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Manchester | |
| Ediacara biota – the first animal? | Richard Corfield, Senior Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the Open University Martin Brasier, Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Oxford Rachel Wood, Lecturer in Carbonate Geoscience at the University of Edinburgh |
2009-2010
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| St Thomas Aquinas – his profound influence on Western faith and philosophy | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews Annabel Brett, Lecturer in History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | |
| Leibniz vs Newton – who first calculated the calculus? | Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge Jackie Stedall, Departmental Lecturer in History of Mathematics at the University of Oxford | |
| Akhenaten – history's first individual | Richard Parkinson, Egyptologist at the British Museum Elizabeth Frood, Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Oxford Kate Spence, Lecturer in the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Dreyfus Affair – the scandal that tore France apart | Robert Gildea, Professor of Modern History at Oxford University Robert Tombs, Professor of French History at Cambridge University Ruth Harris, Lecturer in Modern History at Oxford University | |
| The Death of Elizabeth I – plots, plague and politics | John Guy, Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge Clare Jackson, Lecturer and Director of Studies in History at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge Helen Hackett, Reader in English at University College London | |
| The Geological Formation of Britain – our long journey north | Richard Corfield, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University Jane Francis, Professor of Palaeoclimatology, University of Leeds Sanjeev Gupta, Royal Society-Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow at Imperial College London | |
| Schopenhauer – the tyranny of the Will | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Beatrice Han-Pile, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex Christopher Janaway, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton | |
| The Siege of Münster – Apocalypse 1535 | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford Charlotte Methuen, University Research Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford and Lecturer in Church History and Liturgy at Ripon College Cuddesdon Lucy Wooding, Lecturer in Early Modern History at King's College, London | |
| The Discovery of Radiation – from radio waves to gamma rays | Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Exeter College, University of Oxford Frank James, Professor of the History of Science at the Royal Institution | |
| Sparta – the anti-Athens | Paul Cartledge, A G Leventis Professor of Greek Culture and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge Edith Hall, Professor of Classics and ama at Royal Holloway, University of London Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick | |
| A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce's early masterpiece | Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History and Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford Katherine Mullin, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Leeds Jeri Johnson, Senior Fellow in English at Exeter College, Oxford | |
| The Silk Road – from Dunhuang to Samarkand | Frances Wood, Head of the Chinese Section at the British Library Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at the School of Oriental and African Studies Naomi Standen, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Newcastle University | |
| Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans – maths and mysticism | Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Serafina Cuomo, Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck College, University of London John O'Connor, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of St Andrews | |
| The Samurai – from civil warriors to civil servants | Angus Lockyer, Lecturer in Japanese History and Chair of the Japan Research Centre at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Nicola Liscutin, Programme Director of Japanese Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London Gregory Irvine, Senior Curator Japan at the Victoria and Albert Museum | |
| Mary Wollstonecraft – the Vindicator of the Rights of Woman | Karen O'Brien, Professor of English at the University of Warwick John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London Barbara Taylor, Professor of Modern History in the School of Humanities | |
| The History of the Royal Society | Four daily programmes in documentary format | |
| The Frankfurt School – why no Revolution? | Jonathan Rée, a freelance historian and philosopher, currently Visiting Professor at Roehampton University and at the Royal College of Art Esther Leslie, Professor in Political Aesthetics at Birkbeck College, University of London Raymond Geuss, Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Glencoe Massacre – "Murder Under Trust" | Murray Pittock, Bradley Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow Karin Bowie, Lecturer in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow Daniel Szechi, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Manchester | |
| Silas Marner – George Eliot's 1861 novel | Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College, London Dinah Birch, Professor of English at Liverpool University Valentine Cunningham, Professor of English Language and Literature at Corpus Christi, University of Oxford. | |
| Ibn Khaldun | Robert Hoyland, Professor of Islamic History at the University of Oxford Robert Graham Irwin, Senior Research Associate of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London Hugh N. Kennedy, is Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. | |
| The Unintended Consequences of Mathematics | John D. Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews Marcus du Sautoy, Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. | |
| The Indian Rebellion | Chandrika Kaul, Lecturer in Imperial and Indian History at the University of St Andrews Faisal Devji, University Reader in Indian History at St Antony's College, University of Oxford Shruti Kapila, University Lecturer in History and Fellow and Director of Studies at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. | |
| Calvinism | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London Susan Hardman Moore, Senior Lecturer in Divinity at the University of Edinburgh Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford. | |
| The Infant Brain | Usha Goswami, Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge and Director of its Centre for Neuroscience in Education Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Professorial Research Fellow at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at the Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London Denis Mareschal, Professor of Psychology at the Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development at Birkbeck College, University of London | |
| Boudica | Juliette Wood, Associate Lecturer in Folklore at Cardiff University Richard Hingley, Professor of Roman Archaeology at Durham University Miranda Aldhouse-Green, Professor of Archaeology in the School of History and Archaeology at Cardiff University. | |
| The Scream and Edvard Munch | David Jackson, Professor of Russian and Scandinavian Art Histories at the University of Leeds Dorothy Rowe, Senior Lecturer in the History of Art at the University of Bristol Alastair Wright, University Lecturer in the History of Art at St John's College, University of Oxford. | |
| The History of the City | Peter Hall, Professor of Planning and Regeneration at The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London Julia Merritt, associate professor of History at the University of Nottingham Greg Woolfis, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews | |
| The History of the City | Peter Hall, Professor of Planning and Regeneration at The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London Tristram Hunt, lecturer in History at Queen Mary College at the University of London Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics | |
| William Hazlitt | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London Uttara Natarajan, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of London | |
| The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation | Saul David, Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham Saul Dubow, Professor of History at the University of Sussex Shula Marks, Emeritus Professor of History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London | |
| Roman Satire | Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge University Denis Feeney, Professor of Classics and Giger Professor of Latin at Princeton University Duncan Kennedy, Professor of Latin Literature and the Theory of Criticism at the University of Bristol | |
| The Great Wall of China | Julia Lovell, Lecturer in Chinese History at Birkbeck College, University of London Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford Frances Wood, Head of the Chinese Section at the British Library | |
| The Cool Universe | Carolin Crawford, Member of the Institute of Astronomy, and Fellow of Emmanuel College, at the University of Cambridge Paul Murdin, Visiting Professor of Astronomy at Liverpool John Moores University's Astronomy Research Institute Michael Rowan-Robinson, Professor of Astrophysics at Imperial College, London | |
| The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James | Jonathan Rée, Freelance philosopher John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews Gwen Griffith-Dickson, Emeritus Professor of Divinity at Gresham College and Director of the Lokahi Foundation | |
| The Cavendish Family | Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor of Clare College, University of Cambridge Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge | |
| Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists | Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean for Arts at Queen Mary, University of London David Ekserdjian, Professor of History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester Martin Kemp, Emeritus Professor in the History of Art at the University of Oxford | |
| Edmund Burke | Karen O'Brien, Professor of English at the University of Warwick Richard Bourke, Senior Lecturer in History at Queen Mary, University of London John Keane, Professor of Politics at the University of Sydney | |
| Al-Biruni | James Montgomery, Professor of Classical Arabic at the University of Cambridge Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Neanderthals | Simon Conway Morris, Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology at the University of Cambridge Chris Stringer, Research Leader in Human Origins at the Natural History Museum and Visiting Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London Danielle Schreve, Reader in Physical Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Antarctica | Jane Francis, Professor of Paleoclimatology at the University of Leeds Julian Dowdeswell, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Cambridge David Walton, Emeritus Professor at the British Antarctic Survey and Visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool | |
| Athelstan | Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford John Hines, Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University Richard Gameson, Professor of the History of the Book at Durham University | |
| Pliny's Natural History | Serafina Cuomo, Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck, University of London Aude Doody, Lecturer in Classics at University College, Dublin Liba Taub, Reader in the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University |
2010-2011
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| Imaginary numbers | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Caroline Series, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick | |
| The Delphic Oracle | Paul Cartledge, A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London Nick Lowe, Reader in Classical Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| The Spanish Armada | Diane Purkiss, Fellow and Tutor at Keble College, Oxford Maria Jose Rodriguez-Salgado, , Professor in International History at the London School of Economics Nicholas Rodger, senior research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford | |
| Sturm und Drang | T. C. W. Blanning, Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at Cambridge University Susanne Kord, Professor of German at University College, London Maike Oergel, associate professor of German at the University of Nottingham | |
| History of logic | A. C. Grayling, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London Peter Millican, Gilbert Ryle Fellow in Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford Rosanna Keefe, , Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield | |
| The Unicorn | Juliette Wood, , Associate Lecturer in Folklore at Cardiff University Lauren Kassell, , Lecturer in the History and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge David Ekserdjian, , Professor of the History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester | |
| Women and Enlightenment Science | Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge Karen O'Brien, , Professor of English at the University of Warwick Judith Hawley, , Professor of 18th Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| The Volga Vikings | James Montgomery, professor of Classical Arabic at the University of Cambridge Neil Price, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, , Lecturer in Scandinavian History of the Viking Age at Clare Hall, Cambridge | |
| Foxe's Book of Martyrs | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of Church history at the University of Oxford Elizabeth Evenden, Lecturer in Book History at Brunel University | |
| The History of Metaphor | Steven Connor, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck, University of London Tom Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Sussex Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature at the University of Nottingham | |
| Cleopatra | Catharine Edwards, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College London Susan Walker, Keeper of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford | |
| Thomas Edison | Simon Schaffer, Professor of the History of Science, University of Cambridge Kathleen Burk, Professor of History, University College London Iwan Morus, Reader in History, University of Aberystwyth | |
| Daoism | Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture Hilde de Weerdt, Fellow and Tutor in Chinese History at Pembroke College, University of Oxford | |
| The Industrial Revolution | Jeremy Black, Professor of History at the University of Exeter Pat Hudson, Professor Emerita of History at Cardiff University William Ashworth, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Liverpool | |
| Consequences of the Industrial Revolution | Jane Humphries, Professor of Economic History and Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford Emma Griffin, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of East Anglia Lawrence Goldman, Fellow and Tutor in History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford | |
| Childe Harold's Pilgrimage | Jonathan Bate, Professor of English Literature at the University of Warwick Jane Stabler, Reader in Romanticism at the University of St Andrews Emily Bernhard Jackson, Assistant Professor in Nineteenth-Century English Literature at the University of Arkansas | |
| Random and Pseudorandom | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford Colva Roney-Dougal, Senior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews Timothy Gowers, Royal Society Research Professor in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge | |
| The Mexican Revolution | Alan Knight, Professor of the History of Latin America at the University of Oxford Paul Garner, Cowdray Professor of Spanish at the University of Leeds Patience Schell, Senior Lecturer in Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester | |
| Aristotle's Poetics | Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick Nick Lowe, Reader in Classical Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London Stephen Halliwell, Professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews | |
| The Battle of Bannockburn | Matthew Strickland, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow Fiona Watson, Honorary Research Fellow in History at the University of Dundee Michael Brown, Reader in History at the University of St Andrews | |
| The Nervous System | Colin Blakemore, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Oxford Vivian Nutton, Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine at University College, London Tilli Tansey, Professor of the History of Modern Medical Sciences at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| Maimonides | John Joseph Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews Sarah Stroumsa, Professor of Arabic Studies and currently Rector at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Peter Adamson, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London | |
| The Taiping Rebellion | Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford Frances Wood, Head of the Chinese Section at the British Library Julia Lovell, Lecturer in Chinese History at Birkbeck, University of London | |
| The Age of the Universe | Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge Carolin Crawford, Member of the Institute of Astronomy and Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge Carlos Frenk, Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at the University of Durham | |
| Free Will | Simon Blackburn, Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge Helen Beebee, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham Galen Strawson, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading | |
| The Medieval University | Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London Ian Wei, Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History at the University of Bristol Peter Denley, Reader in History at Queen Mary, University of London | |
| The Dawn of the Iron Age | Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford Sue Hamilton, Professor of Prehistory at University College London Timothy Champion, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton | |
| The Bhagavad Gita | Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University Julius J. Lipner, Professor of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion and Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge Jessica Frazier, research fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and Lecturer in Religious Studies at Regent's College, London | |
| Octavia Hill | Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University Lawrence Goldman, Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, Oxford Gillian Darley, Historian and biographer of Octavia Hill | |
| The Neutrino | Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Exeter College at the University of Oxford Susan Cartwright, Senior Lecturer in Particle Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Sheffield David Wark, Professor of Particle Physics at Imperial College, London, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory | |
| The Pelagian Controversy | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture Caroline Humfress, Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London John Milbank, Professor in Religion, Politics and Ethics and the Director of the Centre for Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham | |
| Cogito Ergo Sum | Susan James, Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London John Cottingham, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, University of London Stephen Mulhall, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford | |
| Islamic Law and its Origins | Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London Robert Gleave, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Exeter Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Glasgow | |
| The Anatomy of Melancholy | Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and ama at the University of Nottingham Mary Ann Lund, Lecturer in English at the University of Leicester Erin Sullivan, Lecturer and Fellow at the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham | |
| Custer's Last Stand | Kathleen Burk, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Adam Smith, Senior Lecturer in American History at University College London Saul David, Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham | |
| Xenophon | Paul Cartledge, A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University Edith Hall, Professor of Classics and ama at Royal Holloway, University of London Simon Goldhill, Professor in Greek Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge and Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at King's College London | |
| Battle of Stamford Bridge | John Hines, Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, Lecturer in Scandinavian History of the Viking Age at Clare Hall, Cambridge Stephen Baxter, Reader in Medieval History at King's College London | |
| The Origins of Infectious Disease | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London Roy Anderson, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London Mark Pallen, Professor of Microbial Genomics at the University of Birmingham | |
| John Wycliff and the Lollards | Anthony Kenny, Philosopher and former Master of Balliol College, Oxford Anne Hudson, Emeritus Professor of Medieval English at the University of Oxford Rob Lutton, Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Nottingham | |
| Malthusianism | Karen O'Brien, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Birmingham Mark Philp, Lecturer in Politics at the University of Oxford Emma Griffin, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of East Anglia | |
| Tennyson's In Memoriam | Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University, Seamus Perry, Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, University of Oxford, Jane Wright, Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol | |
| The Minoan Civilisation | John Bennet, Professor of Aegean Archaeology at Sheffield University Ellen Adams, Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology at King's College London Yannis Hamilakis, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Southampton |
2011-2012
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| The Hippocratic Oath | Vivian Nutton, Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine at University College London Helen King, Professor of Classical Studies at the Open University Peter Pormann, Wellcome Trust Associate Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick | |
| Shinto | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture Richard Bowring, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge Lucia Dolce, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Religion and Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London | |
| The Etruscan Civilisation | Phil Perkins, Professor of Archaeology at the Open University David Ridgway, senior research fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies at the University of London Corinna Riva, Lecturer in Mediterranean Archaeology at University College London | |
| David Hume | Peter Millican, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford Helen Beebee, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham James Harris, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews | |
| The Ming Voyages | Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford Julia Lovell, Lecturer in Chinese History at Birkbeck College, University of London Craig Clunas, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford | |
| Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People | Tim Blanning, Former Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge Tamar Garb, Durning Lawrence Professor in the History of Art at University College London Simon Lee, Senior Lecturer on the history of art at Reading University | |
| The Siege of Tenochtitlan | Alan Knight, Professor of the History of Latin America at the University of Oxford Elizabeth Graham, Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at University College, London Caroline Dodds Pennock, Lecturer in International History at the University of Sheffield | |
| The Moon | Paul Murdin, Visiting Professor of Astronomy at Liverpool John Moores University Carolin Crawford, Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College and Fellow and College Lecturer at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge Ian Crawford, Reader in Planetary Science and Astrobiology at Birkbeck College, London | |
| The Continental-Analytic Split | Stephen Mulhall, Professor of Philosophy at New College, Oxford Beatrice Han-Pile, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex Hans Johann-Glock, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Zurich | |
| Ptolemy and Ancient Astronomy | Liba Taub, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford Charles Burnett, Professor of the History of Islamic Influences on Europe at the Warburg Institute, University of London | |
| Judas Maccabeus | Helen Bond, Senior Lecturer in the New Testament at University of Edinburgh Tessa Rajak, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Reading Philip Alexander, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester | |
| Christina Rossetti | Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University Rhian Williams, Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century English Literature at the University of Glasgow Nicholas Shrimpton, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford | |
| Heraclitus | Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick Peter Adamson, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London James Warren, Senior Lecturer in Classics and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge | |
| The Concordat of Worms | Henrietta Leyser, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford Kate Cushing, Reader in Medieval History at Keele University John Gillingham, Emeritus Professor of History at the London School of Economics and Political Science | |
| Robinson Crusoe | Karen O'Brien, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education at the University of Birmingham Judith Hawley, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London Bob Owens, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of English Literature at the Open University | |
| Macromolecules | Tony Ryan, Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Robinson College Charlotte Williams, Reader in Polymer Chemistry and Catalysis at Imperial College, London | |
| The Written World | Documentary series
| |
| The Safavid Dynasty | Robert Gleave, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Exeter Emma Loosley, Senior Lecturer at the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures at the University of Manchester Andrew Newman, Reader in Islamic Studies and Persian at the University of Edinburgh. | |
| 1848: Year of Revolution | Tim Blanning, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Cambridge Lucy Riall, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London Mike Rapport, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Stirling | |
| The Scientific method | Simon Schaffer, Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge John Worrall, Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science Michela Massimi, Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Science at University College London | |
| The Kama Sutra | Julius Lipner, Professor of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion at the University of Cambridge Jessica Frazier, Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Kent and research fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies David Smith, Reader in South Asian Religions at the University of Lancaster | |
| Erasmus | Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge Jill Kraye, Professor of the History of Renaissance Philosophy and Librarian at the Warburg Institute, University of London | |
| The An Lushan Rebellion | Frances Wood, Lead Curator of Chinese at the British Library Naomi Standen, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Birmingham Hilde de Weerdt, Fellow and Lecturer in Chinese History at Pembroke College, Oxford | |
| Conductors and Semiconductors | Frank Close, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford Jenny Nelson, Professor of Physics at Imperial College London Lesley Cohen, Professor of Solid State Physics at Imperial College London | |
| Benjamin Franklin | Simon Middleton, Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of Sheffield Simon Newman, Sir Denis Brogan Professor of American History at the University of Glasgow Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor at Clare College, Cambridge | |
| Lyrical Ballads | Judith Hawley, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London Jonathan Bate, Provost of Worcester College, Oxford Peter Swaab, Reader in English Literature at University College London | |
| Vitruvius and De Architectura | Serafina Cuomo, Reader in Roman History at Birkbeck, University of London Robert Tavernor, Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the London School of Economics Alice Koenig, Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews | |
| Moses Mendelssohn | Christopher Clark, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge Abigail Green, Tutor and Fellow in History at the University of Oxford Adam Sutcliffe, Senior Lecturer in European History at King's College, London | |
| The Measurement of Time | Kristen Lippincott, Former Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford Jonathan Betts, Senior Curator of Horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich | |
| George Fox and the Quakers | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London John Coffey, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leicester Kate Peters, Fellow in History at Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge | |
| Early Geology | Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at Lancaster University Andrew Scott, Professor of Applied Palaeobotany at Royal Holloway, University of London Leucha Veneer, Research Associate at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester | |
| Neoplatonism | Angie Hobbs, associate professor of Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick Peter Adamson, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London Anne Sheppard, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Battle of Bosworth Field | Anne Curry, Professor of Medieval History and Dean of Humanities at the University of Southampton Steven Gunn, Tutor and Fellow in Modern History at Merton College, Oxford David Grummitt, Lecturer in British History at the University of Kent | |
| Voltaire's Candide | David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York Nicholas Cronk, Professor of French Literature and Director of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford Caroline Warman, Lecturer in French and Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford | |
| Game Theory | Ian Stewart, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick Andrew Colman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Leicester Richard Bradley, Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science | |
| Clausewitz and On War | Saul David, Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford Beatrice Heuser, Professor of International Relations at the University of Reading | |
| Marco Polo | Frances Wood, Lead Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library Joan Pau Rubies, Reader in International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science Debra Higgs Strickland, Senior Lecturer in the History of Art at the University of Glasgow | |
| The Trojan War | Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King's College London Ellen Adams, Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology at King's College London Susan Sherratt, Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Sheffield | |
| King Solomon | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture Philip Alexander, Emeritus Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester Katharine Dell, Senior Lecturer in Old Testament Studies at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge | |
| James Joyce's Ulysses | Steven Connor, Professor of Modern Literature and Theory at Birkbeck, University of London Jeri Johnson, Senior Fellow in English at Exeter College, Oxford Richard Brown, Reader in Modern English Literature at the University of Leeds | |
| Annie Besant | Lawrence Goldman, Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, Oxford David Stack, Reader in History at the University of Reading Yasmin Khan, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| Al-Kindi | Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at SOAS, University of London James Montgomery, Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic Elect at the University of Cambridge Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| Scepticism | Peter Millican, Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford Melissa Lane, Professor of Politics at Princeton University Jill Kraye, Professor of the History of Renaissance Philosophy and Librarian at the Warburg Institute, University of London | |
| Hadrian's Wall | Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews David Breeze, Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham Lindsay Allason-Jones, Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle |
2012-2013
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors |
| The Cell | Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at University College London Cathie Martin, MBE, Group Leader at the John Innes Centre and Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia Nick Lane, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London | |
| The Druids | Barry Cunliffe, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Oxford Miranda Aldhouse-Green, Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London | |
| The Ontological Argument | John Haldane, Professor of Philosophy at the University of St Andrews Peter Millican, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford Clare Carlisle, Lecturer in Philosophy of religion at King's College London | |
| Gerald of Wales | Henrietta Leyser, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford Michelle Brown, Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London Huw Pryce, Professor of Welsh History at Bangor University | |
| Hannibal | Ellen O'Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Bristol Mark Woolmer, Senior Tutor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham Louis Rawlings, Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Cardiff University | |
| Caxton and the Printing Press | Richard Gameson, Professor of the History of the Book at the University of Durham Julia Boffey, Professor of Medieval Studies in the English Department at Queen Mary, University of London David Rundle, Member of the History Faculty at the University of Oxford | |
| Fermat's Last Theorem | Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics & Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford Vicky Neale, Fellow and Director of Studies in Mathematics at Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge Samir Siksek, Professor at the Mathematics Institute at the University of Warwick | |
| The Anarchy | John Gillingham, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of History at the London School of Economics and Political Science Louise Wilkinson, Reader in Medieval History at Canterbury Christ Church University David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King's College London | |
| The Upanishads | Jessica Frazier, Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Kent and a research fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies at the University of Oxford Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University Simon Brodbeck, Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Cardiff | |
| Simone Weil | Beatrice Han-Pile, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex Stephen Plant, Runcie Fellow and Dean of Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge David Levy, Teaching Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh | |
| The Borgias | Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London Catherine Fletcher, Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield Christine Shaw, Honorary Research Fellow at Swansea University | |
| Crystallography | Judith Howard, Director of the Biophysical Sciences Institute and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Durham Chris Hammond, Life Fellow in Material Science at the University of Leeds Mike Glazer, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and Visiting Professor of Physics at the University of Warwick | |
| Bertrand Russell | A. C. Grayling, Master of the New College of the Humanities and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford Mike Beaney, Professor of Philosophy at the University of York Hilary Greaves, Lecturer in Philosophy and Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford | |
| Shahnameh of Ferdowsi | Narguess Farzad, Senior Fellow in Persian at SOAS, University of London Charles Melville, Professor of Persian History at Pembroke College, Cambridge Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum | |
| The South Sea Bubble | Anne Murphy, Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Hertfordshire Helen Paul, Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton Roey Sweet, Head of the School of History at the University of Leicester | |
| The Cult of Mithras | Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews Almut Hintze, Zartoshty Professor of Zoroastrianism at SOAS, University of London John North, Acting Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London | |
| Le Morte d'Arthur | Helen Cooper, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge Helen Fulton, Professor of Medieval Literature and Head of Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York Laura Ashe, CUF Lecturer and Tutorial Fellow at Worcester College at the University of Oxford | |
| Comets | Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University Paul Murdin, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge Don Pollacco, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Warwick | |
| Romulus and Remus | Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge Peter Wiseman, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter Tim Cornell, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester | |
| The War of 1812 | Kathleen Burk, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Lawrence Goldman, Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, Oxford Frank Cogliano, Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh | |
| Epicureanism | Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge James Warren, Reader in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge | |
| Ice ages | Jane Francis, Professor of Paleoclimatology at the University of Leeds Richard Corfield, research fellow in Geology at the University of Oxford Carrie Lear, Senior Lecturer in Palaeoceanography at Cardiff University | |
| Decline and Fall | David Bradshaw, Professor of English Literature at Worcester College, Oxford John Bowen, Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at the University of York Ann Pasternak Slater, senior research fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford | |
| Pitt Rivers | Adam Kuper, Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Boston University Richard Bradley, Professor in Archaeology at the University of Reading Dan Hicks, University Lecturer & Curator of Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford | |
| Absolute Zero | Simon Schaffer, Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge Stephen Blundell, Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford Nicola Wilkin, Lecturer in Theoretical Physics at the University of Birmingham | |
| Chekhov | Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford Cynthia Marsh, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Russian ama and Literature at the University of Nottingham Rosamund Bartlett, Founding Director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation and former Reader in Russian at the University of Durham | |
| Alfred Russel Wallace | Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College London George Beccaloni, Curator of Cockroaches and Related Insects and Director of the Wallace Correspondence Project at the Natural History Museum Ted Benton, Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex | |
| Water | Hasok Chang, Hans Rausing Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London Patricia Hunt, research fellow of Queens' College and Research Associate at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge | |
| Japan's Sakoku Period | Richard Bowring, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge Andrew Cobbing, associate professor of History at the University of Nottingham Rebekah Clements, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Imperial College London | |
| Amazons | Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University Chiara Franceschini, Teaching Fellow at University College London and an Academic Assistant at the Warburg Institute Caroline Vout, University Senior Lecturer in Classics and Fellow and Director of Studies at Christ's College, Cambridge | |
| Putney Debates | Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History at Keele University Kate Peters, Fellow in History at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge | |
| Montaigne | David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at York University Terence Cave, Emeritus Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford Felicity Green, Chancellor's Fellow in History at the University of Edinburgh | |
| Gnosticism | Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture Caroline Humfress, Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London Alastair Logan, Honorary University Fellow of the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter | |
| Icelandic Sagas | Carolyne Larrington, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval English Literature at St John's College, Oxford Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, Lecturer in Scandinavian History at the University of Cambridge Emily Lethbridge, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík | |
| Cosmic rays | Carolin Crawford, Gresham Professor of Astronomy and a member of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge Alan Watson, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds Tim Greenshaw, Professor of Physics at the University of Liverpool | |
| Lévi-Strauss | Adam Kuper, Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Boston University Christina Howells, Professor of French at Oxford University Vincent Debaene, associate professor of French Literature at Columbia University | |
| Queen Zenobia | Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King's College London Kate Cooper, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester Richard Stoneman, Honorary Visiting Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter | |
| Relativity | Ruth Gregory, Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Durham University Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge Roger Penrose, :wikt:Emeritus|Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford | |
| Prophecy | Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh Justin Meggitt, University Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion and the Origins of Christianity at the University of Cambridge Jonathan Stökl, Post-Doctoral Researcher at Leiden University | |
| The Physiocrats | Richard Whatmore, Professor of Intellectual History & the History of political thought at the University of Sussex Joel Felix, Professor of History at the University of Reading Helen Paul, Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton | |
| Romance of the Three Kingdoms | Frances Wood, Former Lead Curator of Chinese Collections at the British Library Craig Clunas, Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford Margaret Hillenbrand, University Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Wadham College | |
| The Invention of Radio | Simon Schaffer, Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge Elizabeth Bruton, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Leeds John Liffen, Curator of Communications at the Science Museum, London |