Misha Glenny and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
Radio 4,·1104 episodes
Literature
How the written word, originally used for accountancy, gave rise to human literature.
05 Jan 2012,·30 mins
Episode 3
How the invention of writing influenced the spread of religion.
04 Jan 2012,·28 mins
Episode 2
Melvyn considers the impact of the invention of the book.
03 Jan 2012,·30 mins
Episode 1
How making signs on clay, wood or parchment enabled the development of human culture.
02 Jan 2012,·30 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Safavid Dynasty of early modern Iran.
12 Jan 2012,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the giant molecules that underpin all life.
29 Dec 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Daniel Defoe's seminal novel Robinson Crusoe.
22 Dec 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Concordat of Worms of 1122.
15 Dec 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus.
08 Dec 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian poet Christina Rossetti.
01 Dec 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the revolutionary Jewish leader Judas Maccabeus.
24 Nov 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Ptolemy and ancient astronomy.
17 Nov 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Continental and Analytic philosophical traditions.
10 Nov 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins, science and mythology of the moon.
03 Nov 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Siege of Tenochtitlan and fall of the Aztec Empire
27 Oct 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Delacroix's painting Liberty Leading the People.
20 Oct 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Ming Voyages of discovery.
13 Oct 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of the Scottish philosopher David Hume.
06 Oct 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Etruscan civilisation.
29 Sep 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Japanese belief system of Shinto.
22 Sep 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Hippocratic Oath.
15 Sep 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Minoan Civilisation of Bronze Age Crete.
07 Jul 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam.
30 Jun 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Malthusianism.
23 Jun 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss John Wyclif and the Lollards.
16 Jun 2011,·42 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins of infectious disease.
09 Jun 2011,·41 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
02 Jun 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the ancient Greek historian and soldier Xenophon.
26 May 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer's Last Stand.
19 May 2011,·45 mins
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Robert Burton's book The Anatomy of Melancholy.
12 May 2011,·45 mins
