Great Thinkers

'Purity and Danger', a book exploring the concepts of pollution and taboo in societies around the world, made its author Mary Douglas one of Britain’s most celebrated anthropologists. In this episode, Fellows of the British Academy Richard Fardon and Henrietta Moore discuss the book’s lasting impact and Douglas’s equally fascinating later work.

For three decades, David Butler FBA was the BBC’s go-to psephologist, covering every election from 1950 to 1979. Today, that role is filled by his former pupil, John Curtice FBA. In this episode, the two colleagues discuss how Butler came to make his career studying and analysing elections.

In 1931, the British Academy elected its first female fellow, Beatrice Webb. A sociologist, economist and social reformer, she was one of the four founders of the London School of Economics. In this episode, Professor Jose Harris FBA and Dr Ben Jackson take a closer look at Webb’s extraordinary life and legacy.

G.L.S. Shackle FBA spent his career advocating the importance of understanding uncertainty in economics, but his ideas fell out of fashion towards the end of the 20th century. In this episode, economist John Kay FBA and the former head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King FBA, explain why they’ve come around to Shackle’s way of thinking.

John Golding FBA’s extensive career included writing the definitive book on Cubism and staging landmark exhibitions of Matisse and Picasso, as well as several solo shows of his own work. In this episode, Professor Dawn Adès FBA meets with two of Golding’s former pupils and colleagues, Professor Christopher Green FBA and Professor Elizabeth Cowling. They discuss his paintings, some of which now hang in the British Academy, look back over his life and assess his enduring impact on modern art.

What would A.V. Dicey FBA, the leading advocate of the ‘rule of law’ who died in 1922, think about Britain’s current constitutional tangles? In this episode, Vernon Bogdanor FBA and Conor Gearty FBA try to answer that question, with a look back at the jurist’s life and work.

‘Captain Professor’ Michael Howard FBA is a British Army veteran who was awarded the Military Cross for his service in WWII before he turned to academia, becoming one of the country’s most celebrated military historians. In this episode, Hew Strachan FBA and Sir Lawrence Freedman FBA trace Howard’s unusual journey from active participant in conflict to the leading expert on its study.

Elizabeth Anscombe FBA was one of the most important moral philosophers of the 20th century. In this episode, Jane Heal FBA and Dr Rachael Wiseman discuss highlights of her exceptional life, including working with Wittgenstein, pioneering ‘action theory’, and taking a stand against a US President.

Famous for writing some of Edwardian Britain’s most terrifying ghost stories, M.R. James FBA was also a respected paleographer and medievalist scholar. Psychologist Uta Frith FBA recounts fond memories of growing up with his tales and talks to Dr Christopher de Hamel about why we love to be scared.

The publication of his 12-volume 'A Study of History' made Arnold Toynbee one of the most celebrated scholars of the 20th century – he was even featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1947. In this episode, his granddaughter Polly Toynbee joins historian Rana Mitter FBA for an exploration of the man, the books and their enduring legacy.