List of In Our Time programmes
In Our Time is a radio discussion programme exploring a wide variety of historical, scientific, cultural, religious and philosophical topics, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom since 1998. It was hosted by Melvyn Bragg from its start until 3 July 2025, and by Misha Glenny from January 2026 onwards. All episodes are available to download as individual podcasts.
Programmes
1998–1999
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors and positions held at time of broadcast |
| War in the 20th Century | ||
| Politics in the 20th Century | ||
| Science's Revelations | ||
| Science in the 20th century | ||
| The City in the 20th Century | ||
| The Brain and Consciousness | ||
| Work in the 20th Century | ||
| History's relevance in the 20th century | ||
| Cultural rights in the 20th Century | ||
| The American Century | ||
| Neuroscience in the 20th Century | ||
| The British Empire's Legacy | ||
| Feminism | ||
| Genetic Engineering | ||
| Modern Culture | ||
| Ageing | ||
| Psychoanalysis and its Legacy | ||
| Language and the Mind | ||
| Space in Religion and Science | ||
| The Avant Garde's Decline and Fall in the 20th Century | ||
| Shakespeare and Literary Criticism | ||
| History as Science | ||
| Animal Experiments and Rights | ||
| Architecture in the 20th Century | ||
| Good and Evil | ||
| Writing and Political Oppression | ||
| Evolution | ||
| Fundamentalism | ||
| Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Mathematics | ||
| Multiculturalism | ||
| The Universe's Origins | ||
| Memory and Culture | ||
| Just War | ||
| The Monarchy | ||
| The Great Disruption | ||
| Capitalism | ||
| Intelligence | ||
| Africa | ||
| Truth, Lies and fiction | ||
| Pain |
1999–2000
From 6 April 2000, with the discussion on "The Natural Order", the programme moved from 30 minutes to a 45-minute format.| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors and positions held at time of broadcast |
| Genetic Determinism | ||
| Maths and Storytelling | ||
| Utopia | ||
| The Nation State | ||
| The Individual | ||
| Atrocity in the 20th Century | ||
| Education | ||
| The Novel | ||
| Progress | ||
| Consciousness | ||
| Tragedy | ||
| Childhood | ||
| Medical Ethics | ||
| Prayer | ||
| Time | ||
| Climate change | ||
| Information Technology | ||
| Masculinity in Literature | ||
| Economic Rights | ||
| Republicanism | ||
| Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment | ||
| Reading | ||
| Grand Unified Theory | ||
| Metamorphosis | ||
| The Age of Doubt | ||
| Lenin | ||
| Materialism and the Consumer | ||
| History and Understanding the Past | ||
| The Natural Order | ||
| New Wars | ||
| Englishness | ||
| Human Origins | ||
| Death | ||
| Shakespeare's Work | ||
| The Wars of the Roses | ||
| Chemical elements | ||
| The American Ideal | ||
| The Renaissance | ||
| Inspiration and Genius | ||
| Biography | ||
| Imagination and Consciousness |
2000–2001
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors and positions held at time of broadcast |
| London | ||
| Hitler in History | ||
| The Romantics | ||
| Laws of Nature | ||
| The Tudor State | ||
| Evolutionary Psychology | ||
| Psychoanalysis and Literature | ||
| Nihilism | ||
| Gothic | ||
| Mathematics and Platonism | ||
| The Enlightenment in Britain | ||
| Science and Religion | ||
| Imperial Science | ||
| Humanism | ||
| The Restoration | ||
| Quantum Gravity | ||
| Money | ||
| Shakespeare's Life | ||
| Fossils | ||
| The Philosophy of Love | ||
| The Roman Empire's Collapse in the 5th century | ||
| Black Holes | ||
| The Glorious Revolution | ||
| Literary Modernism | ||
| Evil | ||
| The French Revolution's Legacy | ||
| The Sonnet | ||
| Existentialism | ||
| The Earth's Origins | ||
| Dickens | ||
| Byzantium |
2001–2002
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors and positions held at time of broadcast |
| Democracy | ||
| Napoleon and Wellington | ||
| Confucius | ||
| The British Empire | ||
| Surrealism | ||
| Oceanography | ||
| Third Crusade | ||
| Oscar Wilde | ||
| Genetics | ||
| Rome and European Civilization | ||
| Food | ||
| Sensibility | ||
| Nuclear Physics | ||
| Catharism | ||
| Happiness | ||
| Yeats and Mysticism | ||
| The Universe's Shape | ||
| Anatomy | ||
| The Celts | ||
| Virtue | ||
| Milton | ||
| The Buddha | ||
| Marriage | ||
| The Artist | ||
| Extra Terrestrials | ||
| Bohemia | ||
| Tolstoy | ||
| The Physics of Reality | ||
| The Examined Life | ||
| Chaos Theory | ||
| Drugs | ||
| The Grand Tour | ||
| The Soul | ||
| The American West | ||
| Wagner | ||
| Cultural Imperialism | ||
| Freedom | ||
| Psychoanalysis and democracy | ||
| Heritage |
2002–2003
| Broadcast date Listen again | Title | Contributors and positions held at time of broadcast |
| Slavery and Empire | ||
| The Scientist | ||
| Architecture and Power | ||
| Human Nature | ||
| Victorian Realism | ||
| Muslim Spain | ||
| Imagination | ||
| The Enlightenment in Scotland | ||
| Man and Disease | ||
| The Calendar | ||
| The Epic | ||
| Chance and Design | ||
| The Lindisfarne Gospels | ||
| The Aztecs | ||
| Meteorology | ||
| Redemption | ||
| Originality | ||
| The Life of Stars | ||
| The Spanish Civil War | ||
| Proust | ||
| Youth | ||
| Roman Britain | ||
| The Jacobite Rebellion | ||
| The Holy Grail | ||
| Blood | ||
| Memory | ||
| The Lunar Society | ||
| The Art of War | ||
| The Aristocracy | ||
| The East India Company | ||
| Vulcanology | ||
| Nature | ||
| The Apocalypse |