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What does it mean to see the light? Learn that and more with Georgie.

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After 27 years, Melvyn Bragg has decided to step down from the In Our Time presenter’s chair. With over a thousand episodes to choose from, he has selected just six that capture the huge range and depth of the subjects he and his experts have tackled. In this second of his choices, we hear Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss one of his favourite poets.

Their topic is Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) and his commitment to poetry, which he prized far above his novels. In the 1890s, once he had earned enough from his fiction, Hardy stopped writing novels altogether and returned to the poetry he had largely put aside since his twenties. He hoped that he might be ranked one day alongside Shelley and Byron, worthy of inclusion in a collection such as Palgrave's Golden Treasury which had inspired him. Hardy kept writing poems for the rest of his life, in different styles and metres, and he explored genres from nature, to war, to epic. Among his best known are what he called his Poems of 1912 to 13, responding to his grief at the death of his first wife, Emma (1840 -1912), who he credited as the one who had made it possible for him to leave his work as an architect's clerk and to write the novels that made him famous.

With

Mark Ford

Poet, and Professor of English and American Literature, University College London.

Jane Thomas

Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Hull and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds

And

Tim Armstrong

Professor of Modern English and American Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

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 Melvyn Bragg and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world

President Donald Trump said the country has "never been in better shape" as he signed a funding bill re-opening the government. Democrats had said they would not support the bill unless Republicans restored healthcare subsidies for lower-income Americans. But this week a handful of Democrat lawmakers crossed the aisle, voting to end the shutdown. Also: the White House accuses Democrats of creating a "fake narrative" after parts of the Epstein files are leaked. The documents include emails in which the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein says President Trump "knew about the girls". We look at the lucrative business of building drones in Ukraine. And we find out why the Northern and Southern Lights are easier to see this week.

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]

We examine pledges to ease the tariff burden on some US grocery staples. How will a reduction in levies on coffee and bananas help the consumer?

We also find out why food prices are going down in India and hear from Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz on what's driving increased global inequality.

Photo by JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock.

Coffee selection at a Safeway grocery store in Oakland, California, USA, 14 August 2024.

Anonymous briefings that Keir Starmer would fight a leadership challenge have fuelled speculation about discontent with the prime minister among the parliamentary party. We hear that Labour MPs are increasingly openly contemptuous of the PM in their briefings to journalists. 

Also on the programme: the Democrats release emails suggesting Donald Trump was aware of sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein; and the knitters of the Shetland Islands tell us they’ve been stitched up by a TV portrayal of their craft.

Emails released by US lawmakers say Donald Trump "spent hours" with a victim of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The White House has accused Democrats of selectively leaking the emails to push a fake narrative against the President.

Also in the programme: after dozens of Israeli settlers launched arson attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank, we'll hear about growing frustration within Israel's military; and the solar storms bringing spectacular light shows to skies around the globe. (Photo: Donald Trump poses alongside Jeffrey Epstein in 1997. Credit: Getty)

George tries to make peace, and Joy has a brilliant idea.

Democrats in the US Congress release three emails by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein mentioning Donald Trump. One of the emails says the president spent several hours with a woman described as a victim of Epstein's sex trafficking. The Democrats say the communications raise serious questions about what the president knew at the time about Epstein's behaviour. The White House says the emails represent a "false narrative" and their release is an attempt to smear the president. Also: another corruption scandal shakes the Ukrainian government, with the justice minister being suspended; and how the Royal Shakespeare Company is trying to sell Britain's most famous playwright to young people.

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 Democrat governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has criticised deadly US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean. The US has now struck at least nineteen vessels, killing around eighty people. On Tuesday, an American warship (the USS Gerald R Ford) also arrived in the region. There's growing speculation that the US might attack Venezuela, where President Maduro has announced a nationwide military deployment.

Also in the programme: The Israeli military says its troops were attacked when they detained four Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank for taking part in a large scale arson attack on Palestinian villages; out of the latest atrocities in Sudan, we will bring you the survivors' stories; and bagpipe world record broken in Australia.

(Photo: Dozens of aircraft on the USS Gerald R Ford add significant combat power to US forces near Latin America. Credit: Getty Images)

In Brazil, Indigenous protesters have stormed the COP30 venue in Belém over broken land rights promises. Inside, climate talks continue with shipping under scrutiny. Leanna Byrne chats with the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation, who’s pushing for a global carbon levy despite US and Saudi opposition.

Also, a Chinese tycoon accused of running a vast scam compound in Myanmar is extradited to Beijing.

And Greek farmers protest soaring costs, delayed subsidies and livestock diseases.