The 10 Best In Our Time Podcast Episodes
1) Free Will (Summer Repeat)
In the 500th edition of the programme, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the philosophical idea of free will. Free will - the extent to which we are free to choose our own actions - is one of the m...Show More
mm recommended:
This was such a fascinating conversation on free will vs. determinism. Do we make our own decisions or are we just following a predetermined...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.2) Rousseau on Education
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) on the education of children, as set out in his novel or treatise Emile, published in 1762. He held that children are bo...Show More
3) Jane Eyre
The story of Jane Eyre is one of the best-known in English fiction. Jane is the orphan who survives a miserable early life, first with her aunt at Gateshead Hall and then at Lowood School. She leaves ...Show More
4) The American Populists
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what, in C19th America's Gilded Age, was one of the most significant protest movements since the Civil War with repercussions well into C20th. Farmers in the South and ...Show More
5) Coffee
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history and social impact of coffee. From its origins in Ethiopia, coffea arabica spread through the Ottoman Empire before reaching Western Europe where, in the 1...Show More
6) Venus (Summer Repeat)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet Venus which is both the morning star and the evening star, rotates backwards at walking speed and has a day which is longer than its year. It has long been c...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.7) Lorca
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), author of Blood Wedding, Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba, who mixed the traditions of Andalusia ...Show More
8) Voltaire's Candide
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Voltaire's novel Candide. First published in 1759, the novel follows the adventures of a young man, Candide, and his mentor, the philosopher Pangloss. Candide was w...Show More
mm recommended:
Finally read this classic and been binging on analysis pods. This one was great. Love the woman in this episode because she always grounds t...Show More
AUDIO REMOVED: The podcast creator has removed the audio for this episode.9) Germaine de Stael
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and impact of Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) who Byron praised as Europe's greatest living writer, and was at the heart of intellectual and literary life in the...Show More
10) Mary, Queen of Scots
In a programme first broadcast in 2017, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had potential to be one of the most powerful rulers in Europe, yet she was also one of ...Show More