In Our Time

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BBC
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A world-class seminar, every week. In Our Time explores the ideas, people and discoveries that have shaped our world, spanning history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, art and culture. On Thursdays, hear brand-new episodes hosted by Misha Glenny and leading academics. On Mondays, discover Misha's Archive Picks: classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, originally presented by Melvyn Bragg. Recent episodes have featured topics as wide-ranging as the Roman Arena, Handel's Messiah, John Keats, On Liberty and the Mariana Trench, bringing expert insight to pivotal events, influential thinkers and remarkable discoveries. Throughout the archive, you can hear discussions on historical figures such as Marie Antoinette, Nefertiti, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein; explore great works of literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the poetry of John Donne; uncover the stories behind cultural masterpieces including Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; or journey from Jupiter and the death of stars, to the theories of Plato and Aristotle. In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.

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  1. Nov 19 • Subscriber Early Access

    Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sex and war

    The Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar was transgressive and multifaceted – potentially to the point of paradox. As the goddess of love and sex, she was responsible for the fertility of life on earth. As the goddess of war, she was also incredibly bloodthirsty, vengeful, and violent. Known in Sumerian language as Inanna and Ishtar in Akkadian, this goddess was worshipped throughout Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) and beyond for over 3500 years. Ishtar's lovers were sometimes said to have met unfortunate ends, and she has dramatic cameos in some of the most famous literature of the period. Misha Glenny and his guests discuss how Ishtar was depicted in ancient texts, and the role of religion in Mesopotamian society. This In Our Time episode looks at why Ishtar’s seemingly contradictory portfolio as a goddess made her so powerful, and so fascinating thousands of years later. The discussion explores Ishtar’s central role in Mesopotamian pantheon, her importance for kings throughout period, and how Ishtar relates to other deities of the ancient world like Aphrodite. With Martin Worthington Leader of the European Research Council Project MesOr at the University of Pisa Christopher Metcalf Professor of Ancient Literature and Religion and Fellow in Classics at Queen’s College, University of Oxford And Selena Wisnom Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester Producer: Martha Owen Reading List: Was Dust Their Food and Clay Their Bread? Grave Goods, the Mesopotamian Afterlife, and the Liminal Role of Inana/Ishtar in Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions Volume 7, Issue 1 (Caitlín E. Barrett, 2007) Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Stephanie Dalley, 2008) The Epic of Gilgamesh: A New Translation (Andrew George, 1999) Enheduanna (Sophus Helle, 2023) 'Egyptian Herakles and Syrian Aphrodite?: Phoenician Art and Cultural Exchange in the Ancient Mediterranean', in R. G. Edmonds III, C. López-Ruiz, S. Torallas Tovar, Magic and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world: studies in honor of Christopher A. Faraone (Carolina López-Ruiz, 2023) Three Myths of Kingship in Early Greece and the Ancient Near East: The Servant, the Lover, and the Fool (Christopher Metcalf 2025) Ishtar (Louise Pryke, 2017) The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (Selena Wisnom, 2025) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  2. Nov 12 • Subscriber Early Access

    The Battle of Antietam

    Misha Glenny and guests discuss The Battle of Antietam, the single deadliest day of the American Civil War. The battle took place on 17th September 1862, less than 100 miles from Washington D.C. The conflict had been going on for over a year, and there had been a string of successes by the rebel Confederate Army against Union forces. The Confederates were a group of Southern States that had seceded from the United States of America over their right to continue the institution of slavery. This secession was rejected by US President Abraham Lincoln, who was committed to maintaining the Union. Despite heavy Union casualties, Antietam has been called the ‘crossroads of freedom’ by historians. It played a crucial role in the release of the Emancipation Proclamation against slavery, which was described by Lincoln as ‘the great event of the 19th Century’. With Karen Salt , Professor of   Culture, Place and Communities at Manchester Metropolitan University Susan-Mary Grant, Professor Emerita of American History at Newcastle University Robert Cook, Emeritus Professor of American History at the University of Sussex. Producer: Sam Peach Reading List: Alfred J. Bollet, Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs (Tuscon, Arizona: Galen Press, 2002) David W. Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018) Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2006) Gary W. Gallagher (ed.), The Antietam Campaign (2008) D. Scott Hartwig, I Dread the Thought of the Place: The Battle of Antietam and the End of the Maryland Campaign (2023) Susan-Mary Grant, The War for a Nation: The American Civil War (2006) Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America (2004) Howard Jones, Blue and Gray Diplomacy: A History of Union and Confederate Foreign Relations (2010) James M. McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam: The Battle that Changed the Civil War (2003) Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Clara Barton: Professional Angel (1987) Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler, A Field Guide to Antietam (2016) Stephen W. Sears, Landscape Turned Red: The Battle of Antietam (2003) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  3. Nov 5 • Subscriber Early Access

    Megalosaurus

    The first dinosaur to ever be scientifically named, almost 20 years before we even had the word ‘dinosaur’. In 1824, the geologist and priest William Buckland (1784-1856) stood before the Geological Society of London and announced something that would kickstart two centuries of dinosaur science. He’d been studying large, fossilised bones which didn’t resemble those of any living animal - and, as he told his rapt audience at that meeting, he had a new name for this mysterious and unusual creature: Megalosaurus. Misha Glenny and his guests discuss why the 19th century was such profound period of theological and scientific change, and how our understanding of mid Jurassic dinosaurs has changed since. This In Our Time episode examines the story of a dinosaur that led to palaeontology as we know it today. The discussion explores the influential roles of William and Mary Buckland, how we learn about animals from over 160 million years ago, and why you’d never have seen a Megalosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex together. With Emily Rayfield Professor of Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol Emma Nicholls Vertebrate Palaeontologist and Collections Manager at Oxford University Museum of Natural History And Steve Brusatte Professor of Palaeontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh Producer: Martha Owen Reading list: Deborah Cadbury, Terrible Lizard: The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science (Owl Books, 2002) Michael Taylor, Impossible Monsters: How the Discovery of Dinosaurs Changed the World (Bodley Head, 2024) Roger B. J. Benson, ‘A description of Megalosaurus bucklandii (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bathonian of the UK and the relationships of Middle Jurassic theropods’ (Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 158, 2010) William Buckland, ‘XXI.—Notice on the Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield’ (Transactions of the Geological Society of London, 2:1, 1824) P. Wilson et al, ‘Utilizing X-ray computed tomography for heritage conservation: The case of Megalosaurus bucklandii’ (2017 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference 12MTC, Torino, 2017) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  4. Oct 29 • Subscriber Early Access

    Casablanca

    Recorded at the Crossed Wires Festival in Sheffield, Misha Glenny and guests discuss Casablanca, one of the greatest films from Hollywood’s Golden Era. The film stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and features the unforgettable song As Time Goes By. Casablanca opened in November 1942 when Europe had been at war for three years and the USA for one. It was among Hollywood’s first major films to explain to US audiences why the war was worth fighting, and alongside this became a huge box office hit. It was created by a cast and crew full of emigres and refugees from lands under Nazi control. They produced a movie that has authenticity as well as astonishing emotional power that continues to this day. With Ian Christie Emeritus Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck University of London Pamela Hutchinson Film historian and critic Sheldon Hall Emeritus Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University. Producers: Simon Tillotson & Sam Peach Reading List: Rudy Behlmer, Inside Warner Bros. (1935-1951) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1986) Thomas Doherty, Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939 (Columbia University Press, 2013) David Gerstner and Janet Staiger (eds.), Authorship and Film (Routledge, 2003), especially 'The Auteur theory: Michael Curtiz and Casablanca' by Peter Wollen Aljean Harmetz, The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II (Hyperion, 2002) Noah Isenberg, We’ll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood`s Most Beloved Movie (Faber & Faber, 2020) Colin McArthur, The Casablanca File (Half Brick Images, 1992) Thomas Schatz, The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era (Pantheon Books, 1988) David Thomson, Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio (Yale University Press, 2017) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  5. 15h ago

    Archive: Dark Matter, the mysterious substance in space

    Dark Matter is a proposed form of matter that does not absorb, reflect or emit light. It is known to make up 27% of our universe, while the matter that makes up stars and galaxies accounts for only 5%. In this archive episode, first released in March 2015, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss dark matter, the mysterious and invisible substance existing throughout the Universe. In 1932 the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort noticed that the speed at which galaxies moved was at odds with the amount of material they appeared to contain. He hypothesized that much of this 'missing' matter was simply invisible to telescopes. Today astronomers and particle physicists are still fascinated by the search for dark matter and the question of what it is. One leading theory is that Dark Matter is made up of WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) that are big, heavy and move slowly, interacting with gravity but not other particles. Scientists have developed multiple theories about the make up of this substance, and they are able to test them through remarkable computer modelling that simulates the construction of the universe. With Carolin Crawford Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Carlos Frenk Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics and Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University Anne Green Reader in Physics at the University of Nottingham Producer: Thomas Morris In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

    Archive: Dark Matter, the mysterious substance in space

  6. 4d ago

    Particle Accelerators

    Misha Glenny and guests discuss the machines that are described as the world’s largest experiments: Particle Accelerators. A famous example of a Particle Accelerator is the Large Hadron Collider, a device which stretches for nearly 30km, deep beneath the ground in a tunnel between France and Switzerland. This enormous scale enables the particles within to be propelled to incredible speeds, reaching almost the speed of light before they smash together. The resulting debris offers insights into the fundamental building blocks of our universe, such as the Higgs Boson Particle. These Colliders are international scientific projects costing billions of pounds, but thousands of other particle accelerators exist around the world. The process has remarkable applications in medicine, archaeology and technology. With Harry Cliff, Particle Physicist at the University of Cambridge Victoria Martin Professor of Collider Physics at the University of Edinburgh Joseph Martin Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Durham University. Producer: Sam Peach Reading list: Jon Butterworth, A Map of the Invisible: Journeys into Particle Physics (William Heinemann Ltd, 2017) Jon Butterworth, Smashing Physics: Inside the World’s Biggest Experiment (John Murray, 2014) Brian Cathcart, The Fly in the Cathedral: How a Small Group of Cambridge Scientists Won the Race to Split the Atom (Viking, 2004) Panagiotis Charitos, Theodore Arabatzis, Harry Cliff, Günther Dissertori, Juliette Forneris, and Jason Li-Ying (eds.), Big Science in the 21st Century: Economic and Societal Impacts (IOP Publishing, 2023) Harry Cliff, Space Oddities: The Mysterious Anomalies Challenging Our Understanding of the Universe (Picador, 2024) Harry Cliff, How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch: In Search of the Recipe for Our Universe (Picador, 2021) Frank Close, Elusive: How Peter Higgs Solved the Mystery of Mass (Allen Lane, 2022) Allan Franklin, Shifting Standards: Experiments in Particle Physics in the Twentieth Century (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013) John L. Heilbron, Ernest Rutherford and the Explosion of Atoms (Oxford University Press, 2003) John L. Heilbron and Robert W. Seidel, Lawrence and His Laboratory: A History of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (University of California Press, 2023) Lillian Hoddeson, Adrienne W. Kolb, and Catherine Westfall, Fermilab: Physics, the Frontier, and Megascience (University of Chicago Press, 2011) Joseph D. Martin, Solid State Insurrection: How the Science of Substance Made American Physics Matter (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019) Michael Riordan, The Hunting of the Quark: A True Story of Modern Physics (Touchstone Books, 1987) Michael Riordan, Lillian Hoddeson, and Adrienne W. Kolb, Tunnel Visions: The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider (University of Chicago Press, 2018) Suzie Sheehy, The Matter of Everything: A History of Discovery (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023) Sharon Traweek, Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists (Harvard University Press, 1992) A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world. In Our Time is a BBC Studios production

    Particle Accelerators

  7. Oct 19

    Archive: Erasmus

    One of the most celebrated thinkers of the Renaissance, Erasmus (c1466-1536) is best known for his works of classical and religious scholarship, and for his infamous theological dispute with Martin Luther (1483-1546) over free will and the Church. In this archive episode, first released in February 2012, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Dutch humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus. Erasmus was widely seen as the greatest classical scholar of his age, having translated and edited numerous Latin and Greek texts. Above all though, he was a religious scholar who published important editions of the Bible which expunged many corruptions to the texts of the Scriptures. He was an outspoken critic of the Church, whose biting satire on its excesses, In Praise of Folly, was famed throughout Europe. When the Reformation began in 1517, however, Erasmus chose to remain a member of the Catholic Church rather than side with Martin Luther and the reformers, and a few years later he engaged in a celebrated debate with Luther on the subject of free will. Through his writings on the Church, on education and the wide gamut of humanist scholarship, Erasmus is remembered today as one of the greatest thinkers of the northern Renaissance. With Diarmaid MacCulloch Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford Eamon Duffy Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge Jill Kraye Professor of the History of Renaissance Philosophy and Librarian at the Warburg Institute, University of London Producer: Thomas Morris In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

    Archive: Erasmus

  8. Oct 15

    Thomas More's Utopia

    In 1516, the publication of one small book would coin a new word and give rise to centuries of literature, theory, and thought. In his most influential work, the lawyer and Tudor politician Thomas More (1478-1535) described a seemingly perfect – but entirely fictional – island called Utopia. In 1535, less than two decades after writing the book, More was executed for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as supreme head of the church of England. Misha Glenny and his guests discuss why More’s exploration of service and the ideal state has been read as a blueprint for society, a scathing satire, and as a timeless warning. This In Our Time episode examines the 16th-century origin and legacy of one of most influential works of political philosophy. The discussion explores Utopia’s roots in Renaissance Humanism, what the book has to say about tyranny and governance, and why utopias can so often seem dystopian. With Laura Ashe Professor of English Literature at Worcester College, University of Oxford Cathy Shrank Professor of Tudor and Renaissance Literature at the University of Sheffield And Joanne Paul Honorary Associate Professor in Intellectual History at the University of Sussex Producer: Martha Owen Reading list: Terence Cave (ed.), Thomas More’s ‘Utopia’ in Early Modern Europe: Paratexts and Contexts (Manchester University Press, 2008) J. H. Hexter, More’s Utopia: The Biography of an Idea (Princeton University Press, 1952) Richard Marius, Thomas More: A Biography (Harvard University Press, 1999) Thomas More (ed. Joanne Paul), Utopia (Oxford University Press, 2025) Thomas More (ed. George M. Logan), Utopia (Cambridge University Press, 2016) Thomas More (ed. Gerard B. Wegemer and Stephen W. Smith), The Essential Works of Thomas More (Yale University Press, 2020) Joanne Paul, Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England (Michael Joseph, 2025) Joanne Paul, Thomas More: Classic Thinkers (Polity, 2016) Howard P. Segal, Utopias: A Brief History from Ancient Writings to Virtual Communities (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) Cathy Shrank and Phil Withington (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Thomas More's Utopia (Oxford University Press, 2023) Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, vol. 1: The Renaissance (Cambridge University Press, 1979) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production A world-class seminar every week. Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

    Thomas More's Utopia
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About

A world-class seminar, every week. In Our Time explores the ideas, people and discoveries that have shaped our world, spanning history, philosophy, religion, science, literature, art and culture. On Thursdays, hear brand-new episodes hosted by Misha Glenny and leading academics. On Mondays, discover Misha's Archive Picks: classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, originally presented by Melvyn Bragg. Recent episodes have featured topics as wide-ranging as the Roman Arena, Handel's Messiah, John Keats, On Liberty and the Mariana Trench, bringing expert insight to pivotal events, influential thinkers and remarkable discoveries. Throughout the archive, you can hear discussions on historical figures such as Marie Antoinette, Nefertiti, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx and Albert Einstein; explore great works of literature such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the poetry of John Donne; uncover the stories behind cultural masterpieces including Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; or journey from Jupiter and the death of stars, to the theories of Plato and Aristotle. In Our Time celebrates the pursuit of knowledge and the enduring power of ideas.

Information

  • Channel
    BBC
  • Creator
    BBC Radio 4
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.2K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    In Our Time
  • Provider
    BBC Studios Distribution Limited

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