Archive on 4

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

Radio 4,700 episodes

Episodes

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I Think I’ve Been Here Before
Repetition is everywhere. Repetition is persuasive. Has Ross Sutherland been here before?
01 Feb 2020,57 mins
The Science of Evil
How the Holocaust created a new field of science - social psychology
25 Jan 2020,57 mins
Call Jane at 643-3844
A look back at Chicago's underground feminist abortion service.
18 Jan 2020,57 mins
Questioning the Political Interview
How can the political interview adapt to a changing political and media landscape?
11 Jan 2020,57 mins
Virtues of Vulnerability with Ed Balls
Ed Balls and guests reflect on the impact of showing one’s vulnerable side.
04 Jan 2020,57 mins
Mad Monks
James Naughtie probes the chequered history and impact of prime ministers' top advisers.
03 Jan 2020,57 mins
Sontag's Radical Will
Novelist Deborah Levy assesses the life and work of American writer Susan Sontag.
28 Dec 2019,57 mins
Divided Nation
Timandra Harkness asks if the nation is more divided now than it has been for fifty years
21 Dec 2019,57 mins
The Problem of Leisure
The history of a phantom fear -that automation will end work and leave us nothing to do.
14 Dec 2019,57 mins
Peak Hype
Murray Lachlan Young traces the rise of hyperbole and asks: Have we reached Peak Hype?
07 Dec 2019,57 mins
Joe v Max
The story of the fight that gripped the world in 1938 between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling.
06 Dec 2019,57 mins
Altamont: The Death of the Hippie Dream
Mick Jagger's personal assistant returns to the scene of the Rolling Stones' 1969 concert.
30 Nov 2019,57 mins
High Crimes and Misdemeanours: US Presidential Impeachment
Michael Goldfarb looks back at how impeachment became a tool of US partisan politics.
23 Nov 2019,57 mins,
Pandora's Ballot Box
Philip Cowley explores how technology influenced elections long before the digital age.
16 Nov 2019,57 mins
Build the Wall!
30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, Katy Long examines the history of border walls.
09 Nov 2019,57 mins
Desert Island Myths: Three Centuries Of Robinson Crusoe
Christopher Frayling explores the creation and legacy of Defoe's controversial novel.
02 Nov 2019,57 mins
Backwards Brexit
This week's Archive on 4 goes backwards in time to find the roots and routes of Brexit.
26 Oct 2019,57 mins
Here's Looking at You, Parents!
Parenting comedy couple Josie Long and Jonny Donahoe share their parenting archive clips.
26 Oct 2019,57 mins
Akenfield Now
How has English rural life changed since Ronald Blythe wrote his bestseller Akenfield?
19 Oct 2019,57 mins
Our Anniversary Obsession
From book publishers to Radio 4 commissioners, why are we so interested in anniversaries?
12 Oct 2019,57 mins
Judy Garland: The Final Rainbow
The spectacular story of Judy Garland's last concerts in London.
05 Oct 2019,57 mins
Please Leave a Message after the Tone
Are we hanging up on the voicemail? Olly Mann charts its rise, fall and strange afterlife.
28 Sep 2019,57 mins
Panorama Broke My School
How a 1977 TV documentary about one London school helped change education policy.
21 Sep 2019,57 mins,
Going to the Gay Bar
Travis Alabanza investigates the impact of the closure of LGBTQ+ venues in the UK.
14 Sep 2019,57 mins
The First Political Youthquake
How did radical changes 50 years ago recast young people's engagement with UK politics?
07 Sep 2019,57 mins,
Beating Hitler with Humour
Timur Vermes on how the BBC used humour battling with Hitler during the Second World War.
31 Aug 2019,57 mins
Losing My Voice
Jan Ravens explores the fate of impressionists when their signature character retires.
24 Aug 2019,57 mins
Beckett's Last Tapes
Robert McCrum explores Samuel Beckett’s literary career through rare recordings.
10 Aug 2019,57 mins
The British Black Panthers
The untold story of when Black Power came to Britain and forever left its mark.
03 Aug 2019,57 mins
The Upside of Anxiety
Andrew Hussey examines the damage done by anxiety and also the benefits it might offer.
27 Jul 2019,57 mins