BBC Radio Podcasts from Living with the Gods

Living with Each Other

Neil MacGregor concludes his series on shared beliefs with a look to the future and hope.

The Search for a State

Neil MacGregor focuses on the faiths that have sought to establish a state of their own.

Turning the Screw

Neil MacGregor on attempts by some societies to outlaw beliefs seen as a threat.

Living with No Gods

Neil MacGregor on societies who banished religion, from revolutionary France to the USSR.

Ruling with the Gods

Neil MacGregor on ruling with a mandate from the gods - from the UK to Benin to China.

Gods Living Together

Neil MacGregor focuses on how faiths co-exist in India.

Global Gods, Local Needs

Neil MacGregor on how gods reach new communities, and how they are adapted and changed.

The Other Side of the Leaf

Neil MacGregor on communities who believe they are not the sole inhabitants of a landscape

Living with One God

Neil MacGregor's series continues with a focus on societies and faiths with a single god.

Living with Many Gods

Neil MacGregor focuses on societies with many gods, including the Romans in Britain.

Rejecting the Image

Neil MacGregor reflects on faiths which focus on the word rather than the image.

Change Your Life

Neil MacGregor focuses on images with a purpose - to change the viewer's behaviour.

The Making of Meaning

Neil MacGregor examines how we come to understand images, with a focus on San rock art.

Replicating the Divine

Neil MacGregor focuses on Russian Orthodox icons and the Hindu goddess Durga.

The Protectoresses

Neil MacGregor focuses on Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, and Artemis of Ephesus.

Festivals

Neil MacGregor focuses on special gatherings and how they shape a communal identity.

To Be a Pilgrim

Neil MacGregor focuses on the role of pilgrimage in Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.

Holy Killing

Neil MacGregor focuses on Aztec human sacrifices, and animal sacrifice in ancient Greece.

Gifts to the Gods

Neil MacGregor focuses on offerings, including gold consigned to a Colombian lake.

The House of God

Neil MacGregor on sacred spaces, from a 4,000-year-old temple to a brand new cathedral.

The Power of Song

Neil MacGregor on the role of distinctive dress and communal song in weekly gatherings.

Lines of Communication

Neil MacGregor focuses on prayer, an individual activity that is also profoundly communal.

Becoming an Adult

Neil MacGregor focuses on rites of passage, including a hair-binding ritual from Vanuatu.

Mother and Child

Neil MacGregor focuses on the protection of the newly-born and their mothers.

Living with the Dead

Neil MacGregor's series continues with a focus on our relationship with the dead.

Dependence or Dominion?

Neil MacGregor focuses on our relationship with the natural world and seasonal changes.

Here Comes the Sun

Neil MacGregor experiences the winter solstice in the passage tomb at Newgrange, Ireland.

Water of Life and Death

Neil MacGregor on water's purifying powers, and the significance of the Ganges for Hindus.

Fire and State

Neil MacGregor on the fire of Vesta in Ancient Rome, and the Parsi fire temple in Gujarat.

The Beginnings of Belief

Neil MacGregor's series on the role and expression of beliefs begins with the Lion Man.