Skip to content
Artwork for In Our Time

In Our Time

BBC Radio 4

#23 in History this week

A world-class seminar, every week. In Our Time explores the ideas, people and discoveries that have shaped our world, spanning history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, art and culture. On Thursdays, hear brand-new episodes hosted by Misha Glenny and leading academics. On Mondays, discover Misha's Archive Picks: classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, originally presented by Melvyn Bragg. Recent episodes have featured topics as wide-ranging as the Roman Arena, Handel's Messiah, John Keats, On Liberty and the Mariana Trench, bringing expert insight to pivotal events, influential thinkers and remarkable discoveries. Throughout the archive, you can hear discussions on historical figures such as Marie Antoinette, Nefertiti, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein; explore great works of literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the poetry of John Donne; uncover the stories behind cultural masterpieces including Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; or journey from Jupiter and the death of stars, to the theories of Plato and Aristotle. In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.

Play
  • 40 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 49 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Yesterday · 56 min

    Megalosaurus

    The 'great lizard' that changed how we understood the history of life on our planet.

  • October 29 · 53 min

    Casablanca

    The classic 1942 movie that convinced Americans the Second World War was worth fighting.

  • October 22 · 52 min

    Particle Accelerators

    The enormous machines that seek to answer the fundamental questions about our universe.

  • October 19 · 42 min

    Archive: Erasmus

    Misha Glenny selects a classic episode from the archive on the humanist scholar Erasmus.

  • October 15 · 54 min

    Thomas More's Utopia

    How the description of a fictional island has fascinated readers for centuries.

  • October 8 · 44 min

    Archive: Trinity

    Misha Glenny picks a classic In Our Time episode: the Trinity, a key Christian doctrine.

  • October 1 · 50 min

    Archive: Emma

    Misha Glenny introduces a classic In Our Time episode: Emma, the novel by Jane Austen.

  • September 24 · 44 min

    Archive: The War of 1812

    Misha Glenny picks a classic In Our Time episode: the War of 1812 between USA and Britain

  • September 17 · 51 min

    Archive: Rosalind Franklin

    Misha Glenny picks a classic In Our Time episode: the eminent scientist Rosalind Franklin

  • September 10 · 50 min

    Archive: Plato's Republic

    Misha Glenny picks a classic In Our Time episode: one of the greatest works of philosophy

  • August 27 · 44 min

    Archive: Plate Tectonics

    Misha Glenny’s choice from In Our Time’s archive:the theory the Earth’s surface is moving

  • August 20 · 47 min

    Archive: Hatshepsut

    Misha Glenny picks an episode from In Our Time’s archive: the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.

  • August 13 · 56 min

    Archive: Coffee

    Misha Glenny picks a classic episode from the In Our Time archive: the history of coffee

  • August 6 · 52 min

    Archive: Aphra Behn

    Misha Glenny introduces a classic In Our Time episode: the playwright and spy Aphra Behn.

Showing 1–20 of 40 episodes