In Our Time

BBC
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 5 • Subscriber Early Access

    Megalosaurus: the first dinosaur to ever be scientifically named

    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.

  2. 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.

  3. Oct 22 • Subscriber Early Access

    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

  4. Oct 15 • Subscriber Early Access

    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.

  5. 2h ago

    Archive: The Measurement of Time

    Misha Glenny chooses the first of his archive picks - bringing back classic conversations from the In Our Time archive, every Monday. Humans have tried to calculate, regulate, and measure time for thousands of years: from systems based on tracking sunrise and sunset, to the invention of increasingly precise mechanical alarm clocks and astrolabes. In this archive episode, first released in March 2012, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the methods used to measure time throughout human history. Early civilisations used the movements of heavenly bodies to tell the time, but in the ancient world there were also sophisticated timekeeping devices such as water clocks. The development of mechanical clocks in Europe emerged in the medieval period, when monks used such devices to sound an alarm to signal it was the hour to pray, although these clocks did not tell them the time. For hundreds of years clocks were inaccurate and it proved hard to remedy the problems, let alone settle on a standard time that a whole country should follow. It was the advent of the railways that meant time finally became standardised in Britain during the mid-19th century, and in 1884 Greenwich became the prime meridian of the world. Atomic clocks now mark the passing of the days, hours, and minutes and they are capable of keeping time to a second in 15 million years. With Kristen Lippincott Former Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Jim Bennett Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford Jonathan Betts Senior Curator of Horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Producer: Natalia Fernandez 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. 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.

    Archive: The Measurement of Time

  6. 4d ago

    Archive: Trinity

    Misha Glenny delves in to the In Our Time archive to select ten episodes for listeners to revisit. His final choice is the Trinity, an episode first released in March 2014. The idea that God is a single entity, but one known in three distinct forms - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - has been a central belief for most Christians since the earliest years of the religion. The doctrine was often controversial in the early years of the Church, until clarified by the Council of Nicaea in the late 4th century. Later thinkers including St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas recognised that this religious mystery posed profound theological questions, such as whether the three persons of the Trinity always acted together, and whether they were of equal status. The Trinity's influence on Christian thought and practice is considerable, although it is interpreted in different ways by different Christian traditions. With: Janet Soskice Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College Martin Palmer Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture The Reverend Graham Ward Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and a Canon of Christ Church. Producer: Thomas Morris Reading list: Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David G. Hunter (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies (Oxford University Press, 2010), especially chapter ‘The Doctrine of God’ Lewis Ayres and Andrew Radde-Gallwitz Lewis Ayres, Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology (Oxford University Press, 2006) John Behre, The Way to Nicaea: Formation of Christian Theology Vol 1 (St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001) Gilles Emery and Matthew Levering (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity (Oxford University Press, 2011) Susan Frank Parsons (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Feminist Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2002), especially chapter ‘Trinity and Feminism’ by Janet Soskice George Herbert, The Complete English Poems (Penguin Classics, 2004) Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (Penguin Classics, 1998) Ben Quash and Michael Ward (eds.), Heresies and How to Avoid Them: Why It Matters What Christians Believe (SPCK, 2007), especially essay on ‘Biblical Trinitarianism’ by Janet Soskice Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hymn of the Universe (HarperPerennial, 1976) Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1998) Graham Ward, Christ and Culture (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  7. Oct 1

    Archive: Emma

    Misha Glenny delves in to the In Our Time archive to select ten episodes for listeners to revisit. His ninth choice is the episode on Jane Austen’s novel Emma, first released in November 2015. Austen described her leading character as "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." Emma is one of Austen’s most popular novels and arguably her masterpiece, a brilliantly sparkling comedy of manners published in December 1815 by John Murray, the last to be published in Austen's lifetime. This followed Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Mansfield Park (1814), with her brother Henry handling publication of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (1817). With Janet Todd Professor Emerita of Literature, University of Aberdeen and Honorary Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge John Mullan Professor of English at University College, London And Emma Clery Professor of English at the University of Southampton. Producer: Simon Tillotson Reading list: Marilyn Butler, Jane Austen and the War of Ideas (first published 1975; Oxford University Press, 1988) Edward Copeland and Juliet McMaster (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, 2010) Richard Jenkyns, A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen (Oxford University Press, 2004) Claudia Johnson, Jane Austen: Women, Politics and the Novel (University of Chicago Press, 1988) Peter Knox-Shaw, Jane Austen and the Enlightenment (Cambridge University Press, 2004) David Monaghan (ed.), Emma (New Casebook Series, Palgrave Macmillan, 1992) Anthony Mandal, Jane Austen and the Popular Novel (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) John Mullan, What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved (Bloomsbury, 2012) Bharat Tandon, Jane Austen and the Morality of Conversation (Anthem, 2003) Tony Tanner, Jane Austen (first published 1986; Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) Janet Todd, The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, 2015) John Wiltshire, The Hidden Jane Austen (Cambridge University Press, 2014) John Wiltshire, Jane Austen and the Body (Cambridge University Press, 1992) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

  8. Sep 24

    Archive: The War of 1812

    Misha Glenny delves in to the In Our Time archive to select ten episodes for listeners to revisit. His eighth choice is The War of 1812, which was first released in January 2013. Melvyn Bragg and his guests discussed the conflict between America and the British Empire sometimes referred to as the second American War of Independence. In June 1812, President James Madison declared war on Britain, angered by the restrictions Britain had imposed on American trade, the Royal Navy's capture of American sailors and British support for Native Americans. After three years of largely inconclusive fighting, the conflict finally came to an end with the Treaty of Ghent which, among other things, helped to hasten the abolition of the global slave trade. Although the War of 1812 is often overlooked, historians say it had a profound effect on the USA and Canada's sense of national identity, confirming the USA as an independent country. America's national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner began life as a poem written after its author, Francis Scott Key, witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. The war also led to Native Americans losing hundreds of thousands of acres of land in a programme of forced removal. With: Kathleen Burk Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Lawrence Goldman Fellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford Frank Cogliano Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh Producer: Victoria Brignell Reading list: Carl Benn, The War of 1812 (Osprey, 2002) George Robert Gleig, A Narrative of the Campaigns of the British Army: at Washington, Baltimore, and New Orleans by an officer (John Murray, 1821) Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict (University of Illinois Press, 1989) Reginald Horsman, The Causes of the War of 1812 (Various publishers, 1962) Reginald Horsman, The Diplomacy of the New Republic, 1776-1815 (Harlan Davidson, 1985) Lawrence Kaplan, Entangling Alliances with None: American Foreign Policy in the Age of Jefferson (Kent State University Press, 1987) Andrew Lambert, The Challenge: Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 (Faber and Faber, 2012) Jon Latimer, 1812: War with America (Harvard University Press, 2007) Bradford Perkins, The Creation of a Republican Empire, 1776-1865 (Cambridge University Press, 1993) Leonard Sadosky, Revolutionary Negotiations: Indians, Empires, and Diplomats in the Founding of America (University of Virginia Press, 2009) J. C. A. Stagg, The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent (Cambridge University Press, 2012) Alan Taylor, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels and Indian Allies (Knopf, 2010) In Our Time is a BBC Studios production Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.

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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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