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Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener. Read more
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John Tavener
Sir Nicholas Kenyon reflects on the life of composer Sir John Tavener.
The Death of the Spiv
Poet Paul Henry traces the evasive spiv as he slips and slides through the archives.
The First Generation X
Meet Generation X - the teenagers from the shocking, bestselling 1964 book, 50 years on.
The Interviewer Stole the Show
Lynn Barber, doyenne of the print interview, traces how the interviewer has taken charge.
Captive Media: The Story of Patty Hearst
How the kidnapping of a newspaper heiress captivated and transformed the American media.
Portraying Real Lives
Maxine Peake explores the challenges of playing factual characters.
Listen without Mother
Fi Glover peels the labels off motherhood, from sacred mother to slummy mummy.
Dark Horse: An Alec Guinness Archive
Alistair McGowan investigates the enigma of a private man who became a global star.
Atlantic Crossing
The connection between those who fly the Atlantic and those who guide us over it.
Pulped Fiction
What makes a literary reputation last? Who's 'in' and who's on the way 'out'?
Rebel Rebel
Jonathan Agnew looks back at the rebel cricket tours to South Africa between 1981-1990.
The Benjamin Broadcasts
Michael Rosen discovers Walter Benjamin's radio works for children. Read by Henry Goodman.
Sentimental Journey
Gyles Brandreth surveys the history of sentimentality, wondering whether to sneer or cheer
Imagining the Audience
In the days before audience research, who did the early BBC think it was talking to?
No Destination
Satish Kumar walked 8,000 miles for world peace. him as he relives this journey.
A History of the N-Word
Ellah Allfrey looks at the evolution of the N-word.
The Stranger in the Mirror
Does the history of our ideas about autism tell us more about ourselves than about autism?
How Britain Went to War
Peter Hennessy examines Britain's secret war planning and preparations before August 1914.
Wars, Lies and Audiotape
Historian DD Guttenplan explores what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 August 1964.
You Are Feeling Sleepy
The extraordinary history and science of the use of hypnosis in medicine.
Vietnam and the Presidents
David Taylor looks at the Vietnam War through the eyes of three presidents.
The Eccentric Entrepreneur
Dominic Sandbrook explores the life of 1930s radio station magnate Leonard Plugge.
No More Heroes
Angie Hobbs examines the changing nature of the hero, from the Iliad to the present day.
Media and the Middle East
Why does the Arab-Israeli conflict attract so much media attention? With John Lloyd.
Four Women Poets Today
Carol Ann Duffy, Liz Lochhead, Gillian Clarke and Eavan Boland on gender and poetry.
Joan Littlewood and the People's Theatre
Richard Eyre pays tribute to maverick left-wing theatre director Joan Littlewood.
From Inside: The Guildford Four
Martin McNamara presents Paul Hill's letters from jail, read by Jonjo O'Neill.
The Revolution That Nearly Wasn't
Elinor Goodman explores the general election that brought Harold Wilson to power in 1964.
Speaking as a Member of the Public
Danny Wallace's history of the vox pop. Are the opinions of random people of any value?
Cerys Goes Under Milk Wood
Cerys Matthews unlocks her uncle's rare recordings of Dylan Thomas's friends and family.
Tears of a Clown
Robin Ince looks at the enduring cliche of the sad clown.
