In Our Time: Religion

222
History #221

Discussion of religious movements and the theories and individuals behind them.

Recent Episodes
  • Kali
    Mar 27, 2025 – 57:41
  • Pope Joan
    Feb 27, 2025 – 46:37
  • Karma
    Jul 18, 2024 – 50:55
  • Julian the Apostate
    Apr 18, 2024 – 50:14
  • Karl Barth
    Jan 4, 2024 – 55:22
  • Julian of Norwich
    Nov 16, 2023 – 50:01
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls
    Jun 1, 2023 – 48:07
  • The Ramayana
    Apr 6, 2023 – 49:35
  • John Donne
    Feb 9, 2023 – 51:47
  • Angkor Wat
    Jul 21, 2022 – 49:18
  • Comenius
    Jun 16, 2022 – 56:32
  • Early Christian Martyrdom
    May 26, 2022 – 53:03
  • The Sistine Chapel
    Apr 28, 2022 – 55:50
  • In Our Time is now first on BBC Sounds
    Mar 4, 2022 – 01:00
  • Arianism
    Apr 15, 2021 – 50:06
  • Medieval Pilgrimage
    Feb 18, 2021 – 50:43
  • Saint Cuthbert
    Jan 28, 2021 – 56:05
  • John Wesley and Methodism
    Dec 10, 2020 – 51:32
  • Deism
    Oct 8, 2020 – 48:17
  • The Covenanters
    Mar 12, 2020 – 53:49
  • The Rapture
    Sep 26, 2019 – 51:14
  • Sir Thomas Browne
    Jun 6, 2019 – 52:44
  • Judith beheading Holofernes
    Feb 14, 2019 – 49:30
  • Papal Infallibility
    Jan 10, 2019 – 51:38
  • The Thirty Years War
    Dec 6, 2018 – 50:35
  • Hope
    Nov 22, 2018 – 53:01
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Sep 27, 2018 – 49:48
  • Augustine's Confessions
    Mar 15, 2018 – 47:55
  • The Siege of Malta, 1565
    Jan 11, 2018 – 49:52
  • Thomas Becket
    Dec 14, 2017 – 52:52
  • Constantine the Great
    Oct 5, 2017 – 48:24
  • al-Biruni
    Aug 31, 2017 – 41:52
  • Purgatory
    May 25, 2017 – 48:38
  • Baltic Crusades
    Nov 24, 2016 – 46:51
  • Lakshmi
    Oct 6, 2016 – 47:09
  • Margery Kempe and English Mysticism
    Jun 2, 2016 – 44:45
  • Titus Oates and his 'Popish Plot'
    May 12, 2016 – 49:05
  • The Sikh Empire
    Apr 7, 2016 – 44:57
  • Mary Magdalene
    Feb 25, 2016 – 44:34
  • The Salem Witch Trials
    Nov 26, 2015 – 45:28
  • Prester John
    Jun 4, 2015 – 44:41
  • Josephus
    May 21, 2015 – 45:36
  • Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty
    Apr 16, 2015 – 45:24
  • Al-Ghazali
    Mar 19, 2015 – 44:12
  • Zen
    Dec 4, 2014 – 45:08
  • Hildegard of Bingen
    Jun 26, 2014 – 44:33
  • The Talmud
    May 29, 2014 – 47:48
  • Bishop Berkeley
    Mar 20, 2014 – 47:29
  • The Trinity
    Mar 13, 2014 – 42:11
  • Hindu Ideas of Creation
    Dec 5, 2013 – 41:57
Recent Reviews
  • S_Hermes_G
    Why Melvyn Bragg?
    Melvyn Bragg is extremely condescending toward many of his expert guests (the Lakshmi episode was too painful to listen to in full). He cuts them off and poses non-sequitur questions with a strange unnerving aggression. To give this person the entire series makes no sense to me. He grills each expert and has no curiosity about what they then say in response to his questions. His interest seems to be solely directed back toward his own musings. The guests are great, yet the program is often painful.
  • absy19
    Host will not stop speaking over podcast guests.
    I was very excited to learn about Lakshmi but in that episode I only made it about 15 minutes through because I was already totally lost thanks to the host. It was very difficult to stay with the story of Lakshmi and understand what the guests were trying to teach because the host just kept interrupting them literally over and over again. What’s the point of having guests on if you think you know better than them and you won’t let them finish their thought?
  • Arkian26
    One of the most informative podcast in existence
    As an American but one who loves learning, I am so happy the BBC allows the superb Melvin and his guests to provide me with the opportunity to learn.
  • Jadaltonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
    Please get a new host
    I’m not picky when it comes to host but with all due respect I’ve never heard a host interrupt the guest mid sentence more than this one, and when he does he always changes topics and never lets them finish their thought. Love the pod just hate the host
  • mshaw26
    Great topics, frustrating host
    Very interesting podcast with great guests, but host Melvyn Bragg interrupts guests way too often, it can be frustrating to listen to.
  • IzzyMuse50
    BBC Religion Radio Show is Great!
    Melvin Bragg is an intelligent and witty host. I have listened to this show for years and I have enjoyed learning about ancient and modern religions. Melvin is good at getting to the point and challenging oversimplified assumptions about Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and various faiths. He has very knowledgeable guests each show which add unique perspectives on many ideas and topics. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • omegaxx19
    A podcast for thinking people
    Melvin Bragg is a host from a different era: knighted for his public radio work, a writer himself, he prepares extensively for each program and holds the guests to a much higher standard than do hosts in almost all other podcasts around these days. Yes he is direct and sometimes rude, probably more so to female guests than male guests (although it’s obvious that some of his favorites are women, eg Angie Hobbes), but at least some instances are actually maneuvers whereby he keeps the guests on topic and in check. The intelligence and articulateness of some of his repeating guests are stunning: I can spend all day listening to Marcus du Sautoy and Ian Stewart on math, Edith Hall on Ancient Greece, or Anthony Grayling on philosophy, and he brings on sometimes independent researchers with extremely unconventional and yet interesting ideas. I take notes on each program as they are so dense in contents. Dislikers can go listen to politically correct hosts politely interview a carefully curated list of racially and ethnically diverse guests (I say this as a colored woman academic), but I take In Our Time with its actual focus on intelligent inquiry and genuine curiosity any day.
  • sfitzsi
    Sean Fitzsimmons
    Genuine experts on interesting subjects. Melvin keeps the discussions brisk and entertaining. I learn so much listening to this show!
  • Gary.McDonald
    Infrequent
    I enjoy the podcast, but how infrequently it releases makes it not worth subscribing. I understand this is a subset of the whole In Our Time podcast, but I don’t care about the other stuff they produce.
  • SolidThingWorks
    Must listen to Podcasts
    Wonderful!
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