Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
Radio 4,·312 episodes
Cannibal Tales: The Hunger for Conquest
In her penultimate lecture Marina Warner asks: who are the real cannibals?
23 Feb 1994,·30 mins
Home: our Famous Island Race
Marina Warner looks at myths of national identity and asks: what is home ground?
02 Mar 1994,·30 mins
Representations of the Intellectual
Edward Said examines the definition and role of intellectuals in the modern world.
23 Jun 1993,·30 mins
Holding Nations And Traditions At Bay
Edward Said explores the role of intellectuals from different cultures and backgrounds.
30 Jun 1993,·30 mins
Intellectual Exiles
Edward Said considers intellectuals as people on the margins of their own society.
07 Jul 1993,·30 mins
Professionals and Amateurs
Edward Said examines amateur intellectuals and their influence on society.
14 Jul 1993,·30 mins
Speaking Truth To Power
Edward Said asks the basic question for the intellectual: how does one speak the truth?
21 Jul 1993,·30 mins
Gods That Always Fail
Edward Said considers how far an intellectual should participate in the public sphere.
28 Jul 1993,·30 mins
A Message From Our Ancestors
Dr Steve Jones explores what genetics can tell us about what it means to be human.
13 Nov 1991,·30 mins
Change or Decay
Dr Steve Jones explores the importance of mutation in species and individual development.
20 Nov 1991,·30 mins
In God's Image
Dr Steve Jones explores the power and consequences of natural selection.
27 Nov 1991,·30 mins
The Economics of Eden
Steve Jones examines the correlation between genetic change and economic development.
04 Dec 1991,·30 mins
Cousins Under the Skin
Steve Jones examines the ways in which science has been used to support prejudice.
11 Dec 1991,·30 mins
The Evolution of Utopia
Steve Jones argues that humans may be as near to biological utopia as we will ever get.
18 Dec 1991,·30 mins
The Environment of Faith
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argues that religion is the best moral framework for society.
14 Nov 1990,·30 mins
The Demoralisation of Discourse
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores how objective standards influence our ethics.
21 Nov 1990,·30 mins
The Family
Dr. Jonathan Sacks explores the religious institution of marriage in society.
28 Nov 1990,·30 mins
Paradoxes & Pluralism
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the language of religion and community.
05 Dec 1990,·30 mins
Fundamentalism
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks assesses the explosive mix of religious revival and nationalism
12 Dec 1990,·30 mins
A Community of Communities
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains why faith survives.
19 Dec 1990,·30 mins
The Time Traveller
Jacques Darras explores the embodiment of democracy within the civic squares of Europe.
22 Nov 1989,·30 mins
The Golden Fleece
Jacques Darras explains how multiculturalism is not a modern concept.
29 Nov 1989,·30 mins
Highways of Freedom
Jacques Darras suggests a new age of mobility and a revival of the 'Grand Tour' of Europe.
06 Dec 1989,·30 mins
Remembering the Somme
Jacques Darras explores the memories of the Somme and the lessons learnt from WW1.
13 Dec 1989,·30 mins
Towards the Light
Jacques Darras explores how Medieval Irish monks hold the key to a United Europe.
20 Dec 1989,·30 mins
A Great Power in Crisis
Professor Geoffrey Hosking analyses how a 'glasnost' affects the Soviet economy.
08 Nov 1988,·30 mins
The Return Of The Repressed
Professor Geoffrey Hosking investigates the communal amnesia found in Soviet society.
15 Nov 1988,·30 mins
A Civil Society In Embryo
Professor Geoffrey Hosking investigates the embryonic state of a civil Soviet society.
22 Nov 1988,·30 mins
The Flawed Melting Pot
Professor Geoffrey Hosking discusses the national aspirations of the Soviet peoples.
29 Nov 1988,·30 mins
Religion and the Atheist State
Professor Geoffrey Hosking analyses the détente between the Soviet state and the Church.
06 Dec 1988,·30 mins
