In Our Time

BBC Radio 4

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Sep 21, 2017 • 49min

Kant's Categorical Imperative

Delve into Kant's rational approach to morality, emphasizing universal laws and the intrinsic value of humanity. Explore his influence on human rights and the concept of duty over personal happiness. Contrast Kant's moral theory with utilitarianism, highlighting the importance of individual treatment. Examine Kant's unwavering commitment to truth-telling and moral integrity in all situations.
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Aug 31, 2017 • 42min

al-Biruni

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Central Asian polymath al-Biruni and his eleventh-century book the India.Born in around 973 in the central Asian region of Chorasmia, al-Biruni became an itinerant scholar of immense learning, a master of mathematics, medicine, astronomy and many languages. He corresponded with the age's greatest scientist, Avicenna, and made significant contributions to many fields of knowledge.In 1017 al-Biruni became a member of the court of the ruler Mahmud of Ghazna. Over the course of the next thirteen years he wrote the India, a comprehensive account of Hindu culture which was the first book about India by a Muslim scholar. It contains detailed information about Hindu religion, science and everyday life which have caused some to call it the first work of anthropology.With:James MontgomeryProfessor of Classical Arabic at the University of CambridgeHugh KennedyProfessor of Arabic in the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of LondonAmira BennisonSenior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of CambridgeProducer: Thomas Morris.
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Jul 6, 2017 • 51min

Bird Migration

After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter’s chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and depth of the subjects he and his experts have tackled. In this fourth of his choices, we hear Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss bird migration. Their topic includes why some birds migrate and others do not, how they select their destinations and how they navigate the great distances, often over oceans. For millennia, humans set their calendars to birds' annual arrivals, and speculated about what happened when they departed, perhaps moving deep under water, or turning into fish or shellfish, or hibernating while clinging to trees upside down. Ideas about migration developed in C19th when, in Germany, a stork was noticed with an African spear in its neck, indicating where it had been over the winter and how far it had flown. Today there are many ideas about how birds use their senses of sight and smell, and magnetic fields, to find their way, and about why and how birds choose their destinations and many questions. Why do some scatter and some flock together, how much is instinctive and how much is learned, and how far do the benefits the migrating birds gain outweigh the risks they face?With Barbara Helm Reader at the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of GlasgowTim Guilford Professor of Animal Behaviour and Tutorial Fellow of Zoology at Merton College, Oxfordand Richard Holland Senior Lecturer in Animal Cognition at Bangor UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson In Our Time is a BBC Studios ProductionSpanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world
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Jun 29, 2017 • 49min

Plato's Republic

Is it always better to be just than unjust? That is the central question of Plato's Republic, discussed here by Melvyn Bragg and guests. Writing in c380BC, Plato applied this question both to the individual and the city-state, considering earlier and current forms of government in Athens and potential forms, in which the ideal city might be ruled by philosophers. The Republic is arguably Plato's best known and greatest work, a dialogue between Socrates and his companions, featuring the allegory of the cave and ideas about immortality of the soul, the value of poetry to society, and democracy's vulnerability to a clever demagogue seeking tyranny.With Angie Hobbs Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of SheffieldMM McCabe Professor of Ancient Philosophy Emerita at King's College LondonandJames Warren Fellow of Corpus Christi College and a Reader in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge Producer: Simon Tillotson.
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Jun 22, 2017 • 49min

Eugene Onegin

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexander Pushkin's verse novel, the story of Eugene Onegin, widely regarded as his masterpiece. Pushkin (pictured above) began this in 1823 and worked on it over the next ten years, while moving around Russia, developing the central character of a figure all too typical of his age, the so-called superfluous man. Onegin is cynical, disillusioned and detached, his best friend Lensky is a romantic poet and Tatyana, whose love for Onegin is not returned until too late, is described as a poetic ideal of a Russian woman, and they are shown in the context of the Russian landscape and society that has shaped them. Onegin draws all three into tragic situations which, if he had been willing and able to act, he could have prevented, and so becomes the one responsible for the misery of himself and others as well as the death of his friend.With Andrew Kahn Professor of Russian Literature at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Edmund HallEmily Finer Lecturer in Russian and Comparative Literature at the University of St Andrewsand Simon Dixon The Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College LondonProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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25 snips
Jun 15, 2017 • 50min

The American Populists

Lawrence Goldman, a historian at the University of London, along with Mara Keire from Oxford and Christopher Phelps from Nottingham, dive deep into the significance of the American Populist movement during the Gilded Age. They discuss the challenges faced by struggling farmers and their formation of the People's Party as a political response. The conversation highlights how themes of race and class intertwined with economic issues, and they even explore how 'The Wizard of Oz' symbolizes these populist ideals, revealing the enduring impact of this movement on American society.
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Jun 8, 2017 • 50min

Christine de Pizan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and works of Christine de Pizan, who wrote at the French Court in the late Middle Ages and was celebrated by Simone de Beauvoir as the first woman to 'take up her pen in defence of her sex.' She wrote across a broad range, and was particularly noted for challenging the depiction of women by famous writers such as Jean de Meun, author of the Romance of the Rose. She has been characterised as an early feminist who argued that women could play a much more important role in society than the one they were allotted, reflected in arguably her most important work, The Book of the City of Ladies, a response to the seemingly endless denigration of women in popular texts of the time.The image above, of Christine de Pizan lecturing, is (c)The British Library Board. Harley 4431, f.259v.With Helen Swift Associate Professor of Medieval French at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Hilda's CollegeMiranda Griffin Lecturer in French and Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridgeand Marilynn Desmond Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Binghamton UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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Jun 1, 2017 • 49min

Enzymes

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss enzymes, the proteins that control the speed of chemical reactions in living organisms. Without enzymes, these reactions would take place too slowly to keep organisms alive: with their actions as catalysts, changes which might otherwise take millions of years can happen hundreds of times a second. Some enzymes break down large molecules into smaller ones, like the ones in human intestines, while others use small molecules to build up larger, complex ones, such as those that make DNA. Enzymes also help keep cell growth under control, by regulating the time for cells to live and their time to die, and provide a way for cells to communicate with each other. With Nigel Richards Professor of Biological Chemistry at Cardiff UniversitySarah Barry Lecturer in Chemical Biology at King's College LondonAnd Jim Naismith Director of the Research Complex at Harwell Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of St Andrews Professor of Structural Biology at the University of OxfordProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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May 25, 2017 • 49min

Purgatory

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the flourishing of the idea of Purgatory from C12th, when it was imagined as a place alongside Hell and Heaven in which the souls of sinners would be purged of those sins by fire. In the West, there were new systems put in place to pray for the souls of the dead, on a greater scale, with opportunities to buy pardons to shorten time in Purgatory. The idea was enriched with visions, some religious and some literary; Dante imagined Purgatory as a mountain in the southern hemisphere, others such as Marie de France told of The Legend of the Purgatory of Saint Patrick, in which the entrance was on Station Island in County Donegal. This idea of purification by fire had appalled the Eastern Orthodox Church and was one of the factors in the split from Rome in 1054, but flourished in the West up to the reformations of C16th when it was again particularly divisive.WithLaura Ashe Associate Professor of English and fellow of Worcester College at the University of OxfordMatthew Treherne Professor of Italian Literature at the University of LeedsandHelen Foxhall Forbes Associate Professor of Early Medieval History at Durham UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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May 18, 2017 • 51min

Louis Pasteur

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) and his extraordinary contribution to medicine and science. It is said few people have saved more lives than Pasteur. A chemist, he showed that otherwise identical molecules could exist as 'left' and 'right-handed' versions and that molecules produced by living things were always left-handed. He proposed a germ theory to replace the idea of spontaneous generation. He discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease. He began the process named after him, pasteurisation, heating liquids to 50-60 C to kill microbes. He saved the beer and wine industries in France when they were struggling with microbial contamination. He saved the French silk industry when he found a way of protecting healthy silkworm eggs from disease. He developed vaccines against anthrax and rabies and helped establish immunology. Many of his ideas were developed further after his lifetime, but one of his legacies was a charitable body, the Pasteur Institute, to continue research into infectious disease.With Andrew Mendelsohn Reader in the School of History at Queen Mary, University of LondonAnne Hardy Honorary Professor at the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicineand Michael Worboys Emeritus Professor in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester Producer: Simon Tillotson.

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