History Podcast
Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.
Episodes to download
-
![]()
The Long March
Thu 29 Nov 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Red Army's retreat across China, from October 1934
-
![]()
Horace
Thu 15 Nov 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman poet Horace, who flourished under Augustus.
-
![]()
Marie Antoinette
Thu 8 Nov 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Austrian princess, guillotined as Queen of France.
-
![]()
The Fable of the Bees
Thu 25 Oct 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mandeville's work on the public benefit of private vices.
-
![]()
Is Shakespeare History? The Romans
Thu 18 Oct 2018
Melvyn Bragg discusses the impact of Shakespeare's approach to history (programme 2 of 2).
-
![]()
Is Shakespeare History? The Plantagenets
Thu 11 Oct 2018
Melvyn Bragg discusses the impact of Shakespeare's approach to history (programme 1 of 2)
-
![]()
The Mexican-American War
Thu 28 Jun 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1846-48 war that cost Mexico half its territory.
-
![]()
Montesquieu
Thu 14 Jun 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss republicanism, despotism and the separation of powers.
-
![]()
Persepolis
Thu 7 Jun 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Achaemenid Empire's great ceremonial capital.
-
![]()
Margaret of Anjou
Thu 24 May 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Queen of England at the start of the Wars of the Roses
-
![]()
The Emancipation of the Serfs
Thu 17 May 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the freeing of a third of Russians from serfdom in 1861.
-
![]()
The Almoravid Empire
Thu 3 May 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great empires of the Islamic west.
-
![]()
Roman Slavery
Thu 5 Apr 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the relationship between slavery and the power of Rome.
-
![]()
Tocqueville: Democracy in America
Thu 22 Mar 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alexis de Tocqueville's analysis of American democracy.
-
![]()
The Highland Clearances
Thu 8 Mar 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss evictions and migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries.
-
![]()
Sun Tzu and The Art of War
Thu 1 Mar 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential ancient Chinese work on military strategy.
-
![]()
Frederick Douglass
Thu 8 Feb 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of Frederick Douglass, born to slavery.
-
![]()
The Siege of Malta, 1565
Thu 11 Jan 2018
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ottoman attack on the Knights Hospitaller in Malta.
-
![]()
Thomas Becket
Thu 14 Dec 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, murder and impact of Thomas Becket (c 1118-1170)
-
![]()
Thebes
Thu 23 Nov 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek city of Thebes in myth, drama and history.
-
![]()
-
![]()
Picasso's Guernica
Thu 2 Nov 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the events behind and impact of Picasso's iconic work.
-
![]()
The Congress of Vienna
Thu 19 Oct 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Congress of Vienna, 1814-15.
-
![]()
Constantine the Great
Thu 5 Oct 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
-
![]()
The American Populists
Thu 15 Jun 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rural protest movement in America's Gilded Age.
-
![]()
The Battle of Lincoln 1217
Thu 4 May 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the fight for the English crown at the Battle of Lincoln.
-
![]()
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Thu 27 Apr 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Egyptian funerary text, The Book of the Dead.
-
![]()
-
![]()
Rosa Luxemburg
Thu 13 Apr 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and times of Rosa Luxemburg, revolutionary.
-
![]()
The Battle of Salamis
Thu 23 Mar 2017
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the significance of The Battle of Salamis, 480BC.
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
If you’re new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.
Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.
