In Our Time

By BBC Radio 4History

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In Our Time episodes

November 26, 2015 The Salem Witch Trials
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the outbreak of witch trials in Massachusetts in 1692-3, centred on Salem, which led to the execution of twenty people, with more dying in prison before or after trial. Some were men, including Giles Corey who died after being pressed with heavy rocks, but the majority were women. At its peak, around 150 people were suspected of witchcraft, including the wife of the governor who had established the trials. Many of the claims of witchcraft arose from personal rivalries in an area known for unrest, but were examined and upheld by the courts at a time of mass hysteria, belief in the devil, fear of attack by Native Americans and religious divisions.
With
Susan Castillo-Street
Harriet Beecher Stowe Professor Emerita of American Studies at King's College London
Simon Middleton
Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of Sheffield
And
Marion Gibson
Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at Exeter University, Penryn Campus.
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
46 min
November 19, 2015 Emma
"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." So begins Emma by Jane Austen, describing her leading character who, she said, was "a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like." Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss this, 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.
48 min
November 12, 2015 The Battle of Lepanto
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, the last great sea battle between galleys, in which the Catholic fleet of the Holy League of principally Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Malta, Genoa, and Savoy defeated the Ottoman forces of Selim II. When much of Europe was divided over the Reformation, this was the first major victory of a Christian force over a Turkish fleet. The battle followed the Ottoman invasion of Venetian Cyprus and decades in which the Venetians had been trying to stop the broader westward expansion of the Ottomans into the Mediterranean. The outcome had a great impact on morale in Europe and Pope Pius V established a feast day of Our Lady of Victory. Some historians call it the most significant sea battle since Actium (31 BC). However, the Ottomans viewed the loss as less significant than their victory in Cyprus and, within two years, the Holy League had broken up.
With
Diarmaid MacCulloch
Professor of the History of the Church at the University of Oxford
Kate Fleet
Director of the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies and Fellow of Newnham College, University of Cambridge
And
Noel Malcolm
A Senior Research Fellow in History at All Soul's College, University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
49 min
November 05, 2015 P v NP
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the problem of P versus NP, which has a bearing on online security. There is a $1,000,000 prize on offer from the Clay Mathematical Institute for the first person to come up with a complete solution. At its heart is the question "are there problems for which the answers can be checked by computers, but not found in a reasonable time?" If the answer to that is yes, then P does not equal NP. However, if all answers can be found easily as well as checked, if only we knew how, then P equals NP. The area has intrigued mathematicians and computer scientists since Alan Turing, in 1936, found that it's impossible to decide in general whether an algorithm will run forever on some problems. Resting on P versus NP is the security of all online transactions which are currently encrypted: if it transpires that P=NP, if answers could be found as easily as checked, computers could crack passwords in moments.
With
Colva Roney-Dougal
Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews
Timothy Gowers
Royal Society Research Professor in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge
And
Leslie Ann Goldberg
Professor of Computer Science and Fellow of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
46 min
October 29, 2015 The Empire of Mali
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Empire of Mali which flourished from 1200 to 1600 and was famous in the wider world for the wealth of rulers such as Mansa Musa. Mali was the largest empire in west Africa and for almost 400 years controlled the flow of gold from mines in the south up to the Mediterranean coast and across to the Middle East. These gold mines were the richest known deposits in the 14th Century and produced around half of the world's gold. When Mansa Musa journeyed to Cairo in 1324 as part of his Hajj, he distributed so much gold that its value depreciated by over 10%. Some of the mosques he built on his return survive, albeit rebuilt, such as the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Great Mosque of Djenne.
With
Amira Bennison
Reader in the History and Culture of the Maghrib at the University of Cambridge
Marie Rodet
Senior Lecturer in the History of Africa at SOAS
And
Kevin MacDonald
Professor of African Archaeology
Chair of the African Studies Programme at University College, London
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
48 min
October 22, 2015 Simone de Beauvoir
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Simone de Beauvoir. "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," she wrote in her best known and most influential work, The Second Sex, her exploration of what it means to be a woman in a world defined by men. Published in 1949, it was an immediate success with the thousands of women who bought it. Many male critics felt men came out of it rather badly. Beauvoir was born in 1908 to a high bourgeois family and it was perhaps her good fortune that her father lost his money when she was a girl. With no dowry, she pursued her education in Paris to get work and in a key exam to allow her to teach philosophy, came second only to Jean Paul Sartre. He was retaking. They became lovers and, for the rest of their lives together, intellectual sparring partners. Sartre concentrated on existentialist philosophy; Beauvoir explored that, and existentialist ethics, plus the novel and, increasingly in the decades up to her death in 1986, the situation of women in the world.
With
Christina Howells
Professor of French and Fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford
Margaret Atack
Professor of French at the University of Leeds
And
Ursula Tidd
Professor of Modern French Literature and Thought at the University of Manchester
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
46 min
October 15, 2015 Holbein at the Tudor Court
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) during his two extended stays in England, when he worked at the Tudor Court and became the King's painter. Holbein created some of the most significant portraits of his age, including an image of Henry VIII, looking straight at the viewer, hands on hips, that has dominated perceptions of him since. The original at Whitehall Palace was said to make visitors tremble at its majesty. Holbein was later sent to Europe to paint the women who might be Henry's fourth wife; his depiction of Anne of Cleves was enough to encourage Henry to marry her, a decision Henry quickly regretted and for which Thomas Cromwell, her supporter, was executed. His paintings still shape the way we see those in and around the Tudor Court, including Cromwell, Thomas More, the infant Prince Edward (of which there is a detail, above), The Ambassadors and, of course, Henry the Eighth himself.
With
Susan Foister
Curator of Early Netherlandish, German and British Painting at the National Gallery
John Guy
A fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge
And
Maria Hayward
Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
47 min
October 01, 2015 Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great is one of the most celebrated military commanders in history. Born into the Macedonian royal family in 356 BC, he gained control of Greece and went on to conquer the Persian Empire, defeating its powerful king, Darius III. At its peak, Alexander's empire covered modern Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and part of India. As a result, Greek culture and language was spread into regions it had not penetrated before, and he is also remembered for founding a number of cities. Over the last 2,000 years, the legend of Alexander has grown and he has influenced numerous generals and politicians.
With:
Paul Cartledge
Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture and AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge
Diana Spencer
Professor of Classics at the University of Birmingham
Rachel Mairs
Lecturer in Classics at the University of Reading
Producer: Victoria Brignell.
48 min
September 24, 2015 Perpetual Motion
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the rise of the idea of perpetual motion and its decline, in the 19th Century, with the Laws of Thermodynamics. For hundreds of years, some of the greatest names in science thought there might be machines that could power themselves endlessly. Leonardo Da Vinci tested the idea of a constantly-spinning wheel and Robert Boyle tried to recirculate water from a draining flask. Gottfried Leibniz supported a friend, Orffyreus, who claimed he had built an ever-rotating wheel. An increasing number of scientists voiced their doubts about perpetual motion, from the time of Galileo, but none could prove it was impossible. For scientists, the designs were a way of exploring the laws of nature. Others claimed their inventions actually worked, and promised a limitless supply of energy. It was not until the 19th Century that the picture became clearer, with the experiments of James Joule and Robert Mayer on the links between heat and work, and the establishment of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.
With
Ruth Gregory
Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Durham University
Frank Close
Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Oxford
and
Steven Bramwell
Professor of Physics and former Professor of Chemistry at University College London
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
46 min
July 09, 2015 Frida Kahlo
Born near Mexico City in 1907, Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico's greatest artists. She took up painting after a bus accident left her severely injured, was a Communist, married Diego Rivera, a celebrated muralist, became friends with Trotsky and developed an iconic series of self-portraits. Her work brings together elements such as surrealism, pop culture, Aztec and Indian mythology and commentary on Mexican culture. In 1938, artist and poet Andre Breton organised an exhibition of her work in New York, writing in the catalogue, "The Art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb." She was not as widely appreciated during her lifetime as she has since become, but is now one of the most recognised artists of the 20th century.
With
Patience Schell
Chair in Hispanic Studies at the University of Aberdeen
Valerie Fraser
Emeritus Professor of Latin American Art at the University of Essex
And
Alan Knight
Emeritus Professor of the History of Latin America at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
46 min