In Our Time: Culture

In Our Time: Culture

BBC Radio 4

Episodes 204
Avg. Duration 48m
Activity Active
Apple Rating 4.5 (597)
Since Jan 2008
Latest Episode May 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Monthly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
76%
Hosting
podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

Popular culture, poetry, music and visual arts and the roles they play in our society.

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

Handel's Messiah

May 07, 2026 54m

Misha Glenny and his guests discuss the most famous oratorio of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and his librettist Charles Jennens (1700-1773). For his libretto, Jennens drew from Old and New…

Dadaism

Apr 16, 2026 50m

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the provocative artistic phenomenon that first startled audiences in 1916 in Zurich. There, at the Cabaret Voltaire at the Holländische Meierei on the Spiegelgasse,…

John Keats

Mar 19, 2026 48m

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the short life and lasting works of Keats (1795-1821), who in one year wrote some of the most loved poems in English. Among these are Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a…

Henry IV Part 1

Mar 05, 2026 51m

Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the most successful of Shakespeare's plays in his own time. Written with no Part 2 in mind as 'Henry the Fourth', the play explores ideas about who can be a…

On Liberty

Feb 12, 2026 49m

Journalist, author and historian Misha Glenny presents his first edition of In Our Time, succeeding Melvyn Bragg who retired from this role last summer. Misha and his guests discuss the landmark work…

Barbour's 'Brus'

Jul 17, 2025 49m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss John Barbour's epic poem The Brus, or Bruce, which he wrote c1375. The Brus is the earliest surviving poem in Older Scots and the only source of many of the stories of…

The Vienna Secession

Jul 03, 2025 54m

In 1897, Gustav Klimt led a group of radical artists to break free from the cultural establishment of Vienna and found a movement that became known as the Vienna Secession. In the vibrant atmosphere…

Molière

May 22, 2025 51m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great figures in world literature. The French playwright Molière (1622-1673) began as an actor, aiming to be a tragedian, but he was stronger in comedy,…

Thomas Middleton

Apr 17, 2025 56m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most energetic, varied and innovative playwrights of his time. Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) worked across the London stages both alone and with others from…

Oliver Goldsmith

Mar 20, 2025 54m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the renowned and versatile Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728 - 1774). There is a memorial to him in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner written by Dr Johnson,…

Sir John Soane

Mar 06, 2025 53m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the architect Sir John Soane (1753 -1837), the son of a bricklayer. He rose up the ranks of his profession as an architect to see many of his designs realised to great…

Vase-mania

Jan 23, 2025 56m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss eighteenth century 'vase-mania'. In the second half of the century, inspired by archaeological discoveries, the Grand Tour and the founding of the British Museum,…

Plutarch's Parallel Lives

Jan 16, 2025 56m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek biographer Plutarch (c46 AD-c120 AD) and especially his work 'Parallel Lives' which has shaped the way successive generations see the Classical world.…

Nizami Ganjavi

Jan 02, 2025 52m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the greatest romantic poets in Persian literature. Nizami Ganjavi (c1141–1209) is was born in the city of Ganja in what is now Azerbaijan and his popularity…

Italo Calvino

Dec 19, 2024 48m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Italian author of Invisible Cities, If On A Winter's Night A Traveller, Cosmicomics and other celebrated novels, fables and short stories of the 20th Century.…

George Herbert

Dec 05, 2024 52m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poet George Herbert (1593-1633) who, according to the French philosopher Simone Weil, wrote ‘the most beautiful poem in the world’. Herbert gave his poems on his…

Little Women

Nov 21, 2024 48m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel, credited with starting the new genre of young adult fiction. When Alcott (1832-88) wrote Little Women, she only did so as her publisher…

Robert Graves

Nov 07, 2024 54m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of 'I, Claudius' who was also one of the finest poets of the twentieth century. Robert Graves (1895 -1985) placed his poetry far above his prose. He once…

Monet in England

Jul 25, 2024 50m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work of the great French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) in London, initially in 1870 and then from 1899. He spent his first visit in poverty, escaping from…

Fielding's Tom Jones

Jul 11, 2024 54m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling" (1749) by Henry Fielding (1707-1754), one of the most influential of the early English novels and a favourite of Dickens.…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does In Our Time: Culture have?

In Our Time: Culture has published 204 episodes since January 2008, covering topics in History.

Is In Our Time: Culture still active?

In Our Time: Culture is currently active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 48m.

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