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Episode 2
Michael Goldfarb explains how Buddhism and Confucianism became religions. Read more
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Faith Without God
Michael Goldfarb explains how Buddhism and Confucianism became religions.
I Have Been Here Before
How a 1927 essay by a former soldier influenced JB Priestley and other writers for decades
Who Was Richard Strauss?
Tom Service travels to Switzerland in search of the real Richard Strauss.
Enter the Dragon: Chinese Theatre in the 21st Century
Rana Mitter travels to Beijing to explore the recent flourishing of theatre in China.
The Gospel According to Joan
A portrait of the life and legacy of theatre director Joan Littlewood.
God and the Great War
Frank Cottrell Boyce explores the impact of WWI on religion at home and at the front.
New Generation Thinkers
Fern Riddell discusses suffragette Kitty Marion. Plus Gregory Tate on science and poetry.
Christopher Harding, John Gallagher
Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers on Freud in Asia and the foreign language phrase book.
In the Shadow of the Tower (Exhibition Exposed)
Andrew Hussey visits Paris to understand how the Eiffel Tower has shaped French culture.
A Cultural History of the Plague
Laura Ashe explores how the plague has changed our social and cultural landscape.
The Fundamentalist Queen
Samira Ahmed delves into the mysterious life of Oliver Cromwell's wife, Elizabeth.
Music and the Jews
I've Heard There Was a Secret Chord
Norman Lebrecht explores the role music has played at some key points in Jewish history.
There's a Place for Us
Norman Lebrecht traces the history of female Jewish singers.
It Ain't Necessarily So
Norman Lebrecht on the idea of a 'Jewish thumbprint' in Mendelssohn's and others' music.
The Supernatural North
Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough journeys to northern Norway in search of the supernatural.
Matthew Sweet's Palace of Great War Varieties
Matthew Sweet explores WWI popular culture with the help of historians and performers.
Thom Gunn: Appropriate Measures
Author Colm Toibin profiles Anglo-American poet Thom Gunn, who died in 2004.
Zola in Norwood
Michael Rosen traces novelist Emile Zola's exile in Britain as he fled a prison sentence.
Beautiful Death
Stephen Johnson connects Mahler's beliefs about death to Viennese funeral customs.
Palace of Shame
Chris Bowlby uncovers the fate of the imperial summer palace in Beijing.
Eric Ravilious: Chalk and Ice
Alexandra Harris explores the life and work of the elusive artist Eric Ravilious.
Cuba Clasica
Andrew McGregor visits Havana to investigate Cuba's classical music scene today.
The Day of the Locust
Adam Smith unearths the roots of Nathanael West's Hollywood novel The Day of the Locust.
From Convent to Concert Hall
Kate Kennedy reviews four female string players who were pioneering in their own lifetimes
Mission Harpsichord
Mahan Esfahani discovers why the harpsichord is an often misunderstood instrument.
Caucasian Roots
Episode 1
Historian Bettany Hughes follows the trail of the Caucasus in antiquity.
Exploring the idea that the Caucasus was the home of the race known as 'Caucasians'.
Memoirs of the Spacewomen
Matthew Sweet explores the science fiction futures of three neglected female writers.
Doing Goya Justice: The Curator's Story
Feature following the work of Xavier Bray as curates an exhibition of Goya's paintings.
A Secret Life: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness
Patrick Wright investigates why German writer Uwe Johnson chose to live in Sheerness.
In Their Own Write: Notes from the Congress of Vienna
Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the Congress of Vienna and how it still affects us.
