Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the emperor who aimed to return Christian Rome to paganism
Published on Thursday, 18th April 2024.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential Swiss protestant theologian.
Published on Thursday, 4th January 2024.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval anchoress and her Revelations of Divine Love.
Published on Thursday, 16th November 2023.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Biblical texts and documents found in the late 1940s.
Published on Thursday, 1st June 2023.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Sanskrit epic.
Published on Thursday, 6th April 2023.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the priest who was one of England's finest love poets.
Published on Thursday, 9th February 2023.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great Cambodian temple complex, begun 900 years ago.
Published on Thursday, 21st July 2022.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 17th-century Czech educator committed to toleration.
Published on Thursday, 16th June 2022.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Eusebius of Caesarea and his stories of Christian martyrs.
Published on Thursday, 26th May 2022.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Michelangelo's iconic frescoes in Renaissance Rome.
Published on Thursday, 28th April 2022.
New episodes will now be available first on Sounds for 28 days before other podcast apps.
Published on Friday, 4th March 2022.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an orthodox form of Christianity that became a heresy.
Published on Thursday, 15th April 2021.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Christian pilgrimage in Europe in the Middle Ages.
Published on Thursday, 18th February 2021.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of one of England's most revered saints.
Published on Thursday, 28th January 2021.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Wesley's role in the rise of Methodism in the 18th Century
Published on Thursday, 10th December 2020.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most disruptive ideas of the Enlightenment.
Published on Thursday, 8th October 2020.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Presbyterian solidarity in C17th Scotland and its impact.
Published on Thursday, 12th March 2020.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea that believers will vanish from the world.
Published on Thursday, 26th September 2019.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the physician with a curious mind in dangerous times
Published on Thursday, 6th June 2019.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how this Bible story has inspired artists for centuries.
Published on Thursday, 14th February 2019.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea that Popes cannot err in exercise of their office
Published on Thursday, 10th January 2019.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the devastating war across the Holy Roman Empire 1618-1648
Published on Thursday, 6th December 2018.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosophy of hope - a weakness or a strength?
Published on Thursday, 22nd November 2018.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the German theologian, killed for plotting against Hitler
Published on Thursday, 27th September 2018.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Augustine's account of his conversion to Christianity.
Published on Thursday, 15th March 2018.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Ottoman attack on the Knights Hospitaller in Malta.
Published on Thursday, 11th January 2018.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, murder and impact of Thomas Becket (c 1118-1170)
Published on Thursday, 14th December 2017.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman emperor Constantine the Great.
Published on Thursday, 5th October 2017.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Central Asian scientist and historian al-Biruni.
Published on Thursday, 31st August 2017.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of the idea of Purgatory.
Published on Thursday, 25th May 2017.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss crusades against Baltic pagans from 12th Century onwards.
Published on Thursday, 24th November 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the goddess Lakshmi.
Published on Thursday, 6th October 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Margery Kempe, the medieval English mystic.
Published on Thursday, 2nd June 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Titus Oates and his fictitious Popish Plot.
Published on Thursday, 12th May 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Empire.
Published on Thursday, 7th April 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Magdalene, one of the best-known figures in the Bible
Published on Thursday, 25th February 2016.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Salem witch trials.
Published on Thursday, 26th November 2015.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the legend of Prester John.
Published on Thursday, 4th June 2015.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Flavius Josephus, author of The Jewish War.
Published on Thursday, 21st May 2015.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Matteo Ricci's 16th-century travels in Ming China.
Published on Thursday, 16th April 2015.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval Islamic thinker Al-Ghazali.
Published on Thursday, 19th March 2015.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Zen, a distinctively East Asian form of Buddhism.
Published on Thursday, 4th December 2014.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval writer and mystic Hildegard of Bingen.
Published on Thursday, 26th June 2014.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Talmud, a major text of rabbinical Judaism.
Published on Thursday, 29th May 2014.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the 18th-century philosopher George Berkeley.
Published on Thursday, 20th March 2014.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Trinity, a central doctrine of Christianity.
Published on Thursday, 13th March 2014.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hindu ideas about the creation of the universe.
Published on Thursday, 5th December 2013.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Book of Common Prayer.
Published on Thursday, 17th October 2013.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss prophecy in the Abrahamic religions.
Published on Thursday, 13th June 2013.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Gnosticism, a sect associated with early Christianity.
Published on Thursday, 2nd May 2013.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the cult of Mithras, the Roman mystery religion.
Published on Thursday, 27th December 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Upanishads, the sacred texts of Hinduism.
Published on Thursday, 8th November 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Ontological Argument for the existence of God.
Published on Thursday, 27th September 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the biblical king Solomon.
Published on Thursday, 7th June 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins of Quakerism.
Published on Thursday, 5th April 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus.
Published on Thursday, 9th February 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Safavid Dynasty of early modern Iran.
Published on Thursday, 12th January 2012.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Concordat of Worms of 1122.
Published on Thursday, 15th December 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the revolutionary Jewish leader Judas Maccabeus.
Published on Thursday, 24th November 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Japanese belief system of Shinto.
Published on Thursday, 22nd September 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss John Wyclif and the Lollards.
Published on Thursday, 16th June 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins of Islamic law.
Published on Thursday, 5th May 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the church's most significant doctrinal disputes.
Published on Thursday, 21st April 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Bhagavad Gita, a key text of Hinduism.
Published on Thursday, 31st March 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides.
Published on Tuesday, 15th February 2011.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Daoism, the ancient Chinese philosophy and religion.
Published on Wednesday, 15th December 2010.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Published on Thursday, 18th November 2010.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Delphic Oracle.
Published on Thursday, 30th September 2010.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.
Published on Thursday, 13th May 2010.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of John Calvin and their impact.
Published on Thursday, 25th February 2010.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Siege of Munster in 1534-35.
Published on Thursday, 5th November 2009.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss St Thomas Aquinas.
Published on Thursday, 17th September 2009.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins of the split between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims
Published on Thursday, 25th June 2009.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influence of St Paul on the early Christian church.
Published on Thursday, 28th May 2009.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1683 siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Army.
Published on Thursday, 14th May 2009.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the culture of the Baroque.
Published on Thursday, 23rd October 2008.
Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of miracles.
Published on Thursday, 25th September 2008.
Melvyn Bragg examines Dante’s ‘Inferno’, a medieval journey through Hell’s nine circles
Published on Thursday, 3rd July 2008.
Melvyn Bragg examines the Arab conquests which helped communicate Islam to the world.
Published on Thursday, 26th June 2008.
Melvyn Bragg examines the Metaphysical poets, including John Donne and Andrew Marvell.
Published on Thursday, 19th June 2008.
Melvyn Bragg examines Henry VIII's policy of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Published on Thursday, 27th March 2008.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Greek myths from Achilles to Zeus.
Published on Thursday, 13th March 2008.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enigmatic myth of the Fisher King.
Published on Thursday, 17th January 2008.
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Nicene Creed which established the Divinity of Christ.
Published on Thursday, 27th December 2007.
Melvyn Bragg discusses what the Pilgrim Fathers and the Mayflower mean to Americans.
Published on Thursday, 5th July 2007.
Melvyn Bragg discusses the ideas of William Ockham including Ockham's Razor.
Published on Thursday, 31st May 2007.
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Dutch, Jewish and Christian Philosopher, Baruch Spinoza.
Published on Thursday, 3rd May 2007.
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 7th century abbess, St Hilda.
Published on Thursday, 5th April 2007.
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Jesuits, “the school masters of Europe”.
Published on Thursday, 18th January 2007.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of Hell and its representation in the arts.
Published on Thursday, 21st December 2006.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the events that helped trigger the European Reformation.
Published on Thursday, 12th October 2006.
Melvyn Bragg examines the Spanish Inquisition, defenders of medieval orthodoxy.
Published on Thursday, 22nd June 2006.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 5000 year cultural history of fairies.
Published on Thursday, 11th May 2006.
Melvyn Bragg examines the 19th century Catholic movement within the Church of England.
Published on Thursday, 13th April 2006.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas of heaven and the afterlife.
Published on Thursday, 22nd December 2005.
Melvyn Bragg looks at the religious orders of the Dominicans and the Franciscans.
Published on Thursday, 10th November 2005.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the return of classical pagan thought in the Renaissance.
Published on Thursday, 16th June 2005.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval tale of Abelard and Heloise.
Published on Thursday, 5th May 2005.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the heavenly host of Angels.
Published on Thursday, 24th March 2005.
The life and work of the Venerable Bede who revolutionised Christian scholarship.
Published on Thursday, 25th November 2004.
The history of Zoroastrianism, claimed to be the first monotheistic religion.
Published on Thursday, 11th November 2004.
The history of witchcraft in Reformation Europe.
Published on Thursday, 21st October 2004.
Melvyn Bragg looks at the politics behind the rise of religious freedom in England.
Published on Thursday, 20th May 2004.
Melvyn Bragg examines the concept of original sin and its influence in Christian Europe.
Published on Thursday, 8th April 2004.
Melvyn Bragg examines the myths and theology that inspired the Vikings.
Published on Thursday, 11th March 2004.
Melvyn Bragg examines how the Devil became an established figure in Christianity.
Published on Thursday, 11th December 2003.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the infamous St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572.
Published on Thursday, 27th November 2003.
Melvyn Bragg examines events surrounding the medieval division of the Christian Church.
Published on Thursday, 16th October 2003.
Melvyn Bragg examines how a powerful narrative of judgement and retribution evolved.
Published on Thursday, 17th July 2003.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss blood, from medical progress to the link to the divine.
Published on Thursday, 22nd May 2003.
Melvyn Bragg examines why the Holy Grail legend has fascinated writers for centuries.
Published on Thursday, 15th May 2003.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss redemption, crucial for Judeo-Christian thought.
Published on Thursday, 13th March 2003.
Melvyn Bragg examines the manuscripts that united Celtic and Roman cultures in England.
Published on Thursday, 20th February 2003.
Melvyn Bragg examines Muslim Spain, from Cordoba’s golden age to the fall of Granada.
Published on Thursday, 21st November 2002.
The history of thought on immortality, the self and the afterlife.
Published on Thursday, 6th June 2002.
The history of marriage from ancient Greek and Babylonian times to today.
Published on Thursday, 21st March 2002.
The life of Siddhartha Gautama and the legacy of his teachings.
Published on Thursday, 14th March 2002.
Melvyn Bragg explores the strange and mystical world of the Irish poet W B Yeats.
Published on Thursday, 31st January 2002.
Melvyn Bragg examines the Cathars, a medieval European Christian sect accused of heresy.
Published on Thursday, 17th January 2002.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the highs and lows of the Third Crusade.
Published on Thursday, 29th November 2001.
The history and legacy of classical Humanism, invented by Cicero.
Published on Thursday, 8th February 2001.
Melvyn Bragg explores the areas of conflict and agreement between science and religion.
Published on Thursday, 25th January 2001.
Melvyn Bragg examines the spread of religious doubt over the last three centuries.
Published on Thursday, 9th March 2000.
Melvyn Bragg examines the purpose and effects of prayer.
Published on Thursday, 23rd December 1999.
Melvyn Bragg examines the roots and the consequences of religious fundamentalism.
Published on Thursday, 22nd April 1999.
Melvyn Bragg examines how we judge good and evil in modern western civilisation.
Published on Thursday, 1st April 1999.
Melvyn Bragg looks at how cyberspace has introduced a new concept of space in our world.
Published on Thursday, 18th February 1999.
