In Our Time

In Our Time
Show name	In Our Time
Format	Discussion
Runtime	45 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Presenter	Melvyn Bragg
First aired	1998

In Our Time is a BBC Radio 4 discussion programme that explores topics from across the humanities, sciences, and social thought through expert conversation. Founded in the late 20th century, the series examines subjects ranging from ancient Homer and Thucydides to modern figures like Charles Darwin and events such as the French Revolution and the Cold War. Episodes routinely assemble scholars from institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Princeton University, and King's College London to debate texts, theories, and historical episodes.

Overview

The programme frames episodes as interdisciplinary dialogues among specialists in fields including classics, theology, philosophy, history, and science, engaging with primary sources like The Iliad, The Odyssey, Bible, Quran and canonical works such as Plato's dialogues, Aristotle's treatises, and Newton's writings. Regular topics include antiquity—Sparta, Athens, Alexander the Great—medieval subjects—Charlemagne, Thomas Aquinas, The Crusades—early modernity—Martin Luther, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton—and modernity—Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill. Episodes also address scientific landmarks such as Evolution, Relativity, Quantum mechanics, and technological revolutions tied to Industrial Revolution and Information Age developments.

History and Format

Created at BBC in 1998, the series was developed within the editorial environment of BBC Radio 4 and aired amid contemporaneous cultural programming like Desert Island Discs and The Archers. The format typically features a presenter convening three academics to discuss a single topic for around 45 minutes, often recorded before a live audience at venues such as British Museum, Royal Institution, Wellcome Collection or university lecture theatres including Oxford Union and Cambridge Union. The series has covered milestones including retrospectives on events like the Battle of Hastings and treaties such as the Treaty of Versailles, and intellectual histories of movements like Enlightenment, Romanticism, Reformation and Renaissance.

Notable Episodes and Themes

Notable episodes have included sustained treatments of figures such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte and cultural creators like Homer, Virgil, Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T. S. Eliot. Scientific episodes have focused on Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Marie Curie, Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Rosalind Franklin and subjects like Evolutionary theory, Genetics, Astronomy, Solar System, Cosmology and Climate change. The series has also explored political and legal history—Magna Carta, American Revolution, Glorious Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, World War I, World War II, Cold War—and philosophical themes tied to Plato, Immanuel Kant, David Hume, John Locke, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Simone de Beauvoir.

Presenters and Contributors

The principal presenter has been Melvyn Bragg, connected to institutions such as Somerset and the House of Lords, often joined by recurring guests drawn from universities like University College London, Yale University, Stanford University, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh, King's College London, University of Manchester and research bodies including the British Academy, Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust. Contributors have included named scholars from fields linked to Classics, Medieval studies, Modern history, Philosophy, Theology, Physics, Biology and Mathematics—for example, experts on Socrates, Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Marxist theory and intellectual historians of Renaissance humanism.

Production and Broadcast Details

Produced by teams within BBC Studios for transmission on BBC Radio 4 and podcast platforms, episodes are often archived on the broadcaster's programme pages and syndicated via audio services associated with public radio networks and academic outlets. Recording venues have included British cultural institutions such as the British Library, Royal Society, Royal Geographical Society and university campuses including University of Oxford colleges and University of Cambridge faculties. The show’s editorial choices interact with licensing and editorial guidelines of BBC and its relations with cultural partners including museums like the V&A Museum, Natural History Museum, and galleries such as the Tate Modern.

Reception and Impact

The series has been referenced in scholarship and media discourse alongside programmes like Start the Week and The Thinking Allowed and has influenced public engagement with topics associated with Western civilisation, global histories of China, India, Japan, Islamic Golden Age, Ottoman Empire, Mesoamerica and Pre-Columbian civilizations. It has drawn commentary from cultural critics, academics affiliated with Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and public intellectuals linked to debates around curriculum, heritage, and public broadcasting policy in forums such as the House of Commons and cultural reviews in outlets tied to institutions like the Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman. The programme’s archival value informs university teaching, media studies, and continuing education in associations like the Open University and learned societies including the Royal Historical Society.

Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes