BBC

Also, potholes, a vandalised statue and Nolan speaks with a man in Doha

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 legitimate ruler and why, and how anyone can rightly succeed to the throne. This was an especially pressing question for his Tudor audience as Elizabeth I had named no successor. Playwrights, banned from openly discussing the jeopardy her subjects faced, turned to these themes of power, legitimacy and succession in distant and recent history. When Shakespeare combined this relevance with the vivid characters of Falstaff, Hotspur and Hal and with the tensions between noble fathers and sons, he had a play that fascinated well into the Jacobean era and has been revived throughout the centuries.

With

Emma Smith

Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford

Lucy Munro

Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London

And

Laurence Publicover

Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Bristol

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Hailey Bachrach, Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare’s English History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Warren Chernaik, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare’s History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2007)

Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power (Bodley Head, 2018)

Graham Holderness, Shakespeare: The Histories (Red Globe Press, 1999)

Jean Howard and Phyllis Rackin, Engendering a Nation: A Feminist Account of Shakespeare's English Histories (Routledge, 1997)

William Shakespeare (eds. Indira Ghose, Anna Pruitt and Emma Smith), Henry IV Part I: The New Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford University Press, 2024)

William Shakespeare (ed. Gordon McMullan), 1 Henry IV: A Norton Critical Edition, 3rd edition (Norton, 2003)

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.

Eyewitnesses from a city in Iran describe how armed forces loyal to the Islamic regime killed countless protesters in a lethal crackdown on demonstrations earlier this year. Seen through the eyes of people who were in Isfahan, this programme pieces together a snapshot of events from the 8th and 9th of January. That’s when huge numbers of people took to the streets to protest decades of oppression and call for an end to the Islamic Republic. Thousands of people across the country were killed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's armed forces. The regime blamed the bloodshed on what it called rioters and street terrorists backed by the countries enemies. The UN has called for an independent investigation. However, any prospect of clarity about what happened is at risk of being overshadowed by the current conflict engulfing the country. The first waves of US and Israeli military strikes on Iran killed Ali Khamenei. There are reports of hundreds of civilian casualties too on a population that’s already paid a heavy human price for standing up to the regime.

(Photo: A protester flashes a victory sign in front of a fire during a demonstration in Shahin Shahr, Isfahan, Iran, on 9 January , 2026. Credit: Nika/Middle East Images/AFP)

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said an American submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

Washington says it's the first time since the Second World War it's used a torpedo to sink an enemy vessel.

Also on the programme: we gauge the scale of the attacks inside Iran by speaking to a resident in Tehran and verifying video footage; and a look at a new AI model, trained on the DNA of over 100,000 species, that is capable of designing new genomes.

(Photo: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on 2 March. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

As the US and Israeli war against Iran enters its sixth day, a bipartisan resolution in the US Senate aimed at limiting President Trump’s war powers has failed. Senators voted 47 to 53 to prevent the measure from advancing, dealing a blow to Democrats’ efforts to stymie the conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, US and Israeli strikes across Iran continue, with the capital, Tehran, bearing the brunt of the offensive. Also: Israel launches fresh attacks on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, warning residents to evacuate their homes; a suicide case in the US highlights the risks of AI chatbots interacting with people dealing with mental health issues; clergy from a conservative group of the Anglican Church seek to elect a rival to the first female Archbishop of Canterbury; how businesses are responding to the popularity of weight-loss drugs; and why chimpanzees are fascinated with crystals.

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.

Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.

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The US-Israel war with Iran brought the crisis in global shipping. We hear how it's affecting seafarers and speak to the Head of the International Maritime Organisation.

Also, all provinces in Iraq have experienced a power blackout, which the government has attributed to a technical fault. We get the latest from Baghdad.

And how a bag of money on a runway caused havoc in Bolivia.

Fresh strikes by the US and Israel have begun in Iran tonight. Earlier in the day US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also confirmed an American submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile the US Senate failes in a bid to pass curbs on President Trump's war powers.

We hear how the war is unfolding on the ground in Iran, and how the country's remaining leadership is responding. We also speak to a MAGA supporter who says Trump has abandoned his non-interventionist stance, and a US Republican Congressman who defends the military action.

Also on the programme: how pregnancy changes a woman's brain, and the dog breeds that some owners fear could be phased out under new guidelines.

There’s an upset at Bridge Farm, and Amber is anxious.

The Pentagon has released footage of a US submarine firing on an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and sinking it. Earlier, the Sri Lankan Navy picked up a distress call from the IRIS Dena. Sri Lankan police and defence officials say 87 bodies have been recovered from the water, and 67 sailors are still missing. Also: Iran carries out missile and drone attacks on several countries as Israel and the US continue to strike targets in Iran; we report from eastern Turkey where some Iranians have been crossing the border; and could Kurdish forces lead an insurgency to help topple the government in Tehran?

The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight.

Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment.

Get in touch: [email protected]

The Sri Lankan navy says it has rescued 32 people after a distress call from the Iranian IRIS Dena, with around 140 people on board currently missing. We also hear from Iraq's Kurdistan region where reports suggest the US could back the Kurdish armed groups to cross over into Iran in a ground operation.

Also on the programme: the latest from the onflict in the Middle East, with a lineup of who is in the running to take over from Iran's Supreme Leader; the controversial 'Moonies' church that has contravened the law in Japan, and proof that a woman's brain does change during pregnancy.

(Photo: Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal during International Fleet Review held at Visakhapatnam in India on 18 February, 2026. Credit: Associated Press)