Time: Did you mean...?

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The Anarchy, the civil war that took place in mid-twelfth century England. The war began as a succession dispute between the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and her...

A talk about how time works in Norse mythology, whether it is linear or cyclical and some problems about relative chronology.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the epic poem the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, the 'Book of Kings', which has been at the heart of Persian culture for the past thousand years. The poem recounts a legendary history...

Dig into the history of the Papal Schism, which caused a split in the Catholic Church while 3 popes vied for supremacy. For almost two millennia, the Pope has been a figure of supreme...

A beautiful reminder to us that everything we do is absolutely sacred and wondrous. I was inspired to create this to remind us of the divine spark that is within all of us. Can you remember? Poem...

Examines the rise of civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates valley in the Middle East. These early civilizations formed around major rivers - the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia and the Nile...

For some reason, Oct. 12th is still Columbus Day in a lot of the United States. Fortunately, more and more cities and states are adopting that day as Indigenous Peoples Day – a nice rebuke to a day...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the English mystic Margery Kempe (1373 - 1438 CE) whose extraordinary life is recorded in a book she dictated, The Book of Margery Kempe. She went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Roman Satire. Much of Roman culture was a development of their rich inheritance from the Greeks. But satire was a form the Romans could claim to have invented. The grandfather of Roman satire...

In which Mike teaches you about the creation of the universe, with sex. This week we're talking about creations stories from Egypt, West Africa, Greece, China, and Persia that have...