PODCAST · society
The Reith Lectures
by BBC Radio 4
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
Episodes
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The Military Problem
This year's Reith Lecturer is American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and historian George Frost Kennan. He is best known as "the father" of the USA Containment Policy and is a leading authority on the Cold War. In his series 'Russia, the Atom, and the West', he considers the…
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The Problem of Eastern and Central Europe
This year's Reith Lecturer is American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and historian George Frost Kennan. He is best known as "the father" of the USA Containment Policy and is a leading authority on the Cold War. In his series 'Russia, the Atom, and the West', he considers the…
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Science and Education
This year's Reith Lecturer is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh Sir Edward Appleton. From 1939 to 1949 he was Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the...
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Industrial Science
This year's Reith Lecturer is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh Sir Edward Appleton. From 1939 to 1949 he was Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the...
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Architecture and Planning: The Functional Approach
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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Constable and the Pursuit of Nature
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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Blake and the Planing Line
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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Perpendicular England
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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Reynolds and Detachment
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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Hogarth and Observed Life
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Dr Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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The Geography of Art
This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Dr Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as...
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The Atlantic Bridge
This year's Reith Lecturer is the Chairman of Lloyds Bank, Sir Oliver Franks. He is the former Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and the former Professor of Moral Philosophy at University of Glasgow. He was the British Ambassador in Washington, DC, between 1948 and 1952, and has been described…
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The Sciences and Man's Community
This year's Reith Lecturer is American theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Professor of Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, he has been described as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project while Director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory...
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The Psychology of Encounters
This year's Reith Lecturer is British historian Arnold J Toynbee. The former Director of Studies at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, he is currently the Koraes Professor of History at London University. He considers how Europe interacts with other countries in his Reith Lecture…
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British Rule In India
This year's Reith Lecturer is British lawyer Lord Radcliffe. He was Director-General of the Ministry of Information during the Second World War, and is most famous for his role in Partition, the division of the British Indian Empire, His work led directly to the creation of Pakistan and India as...
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Individual and Social Ethics
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, he is the author of Principia Mathematica, and the bestselling History of Western Philosophy, written in 1946. His Reith lecture...
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Control and Initiative: Their Respective Spheres
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, he is the author of Principia Mathematica, and the bestselling History of Western Philosophy, written in 1946. His Reith lecture...
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The Conflict of Technique and Human Nature
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, he is the author of Principia Mathematica, and the bestselling History of Western Philosophy, written in 1946. His Reith lecture...
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The Role of Individuality
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, he is the author of Principia Mathematica, and the bestselling History of Western Philosophy, written in 1946. His Reith lecture...
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Social Cohesion and Government
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, he is the author of Principia Mathematica, and the bestselling History of Western Philosophy, written in 1946. His Reith lecture...
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Social Cohesion and Human Nature
The inaugural Reith Lecturer is the philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer Bertrand Russell. One of the founders of analytic philosophy and a Nobel Laureate, Russell's pupils included Wittgenstein, and his most influential work, Principia Mathematica, set out to show how mathematics was...
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Towards the Light
French poet Jacques Darras delivers his final Reith Lecture from his series entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. In his fifth and final Reith Lecture entitled 'Towards the Light', Jacques Darras finds a clue to our shared European future in an early cross-Channel cultural interaction: the...
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Remembering the Somme
French poet Jacques Darras delivers the fourth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He explores the question: 'Have the enormities of the Second World War, like the Holocaust and the dropping the atomic bomb, caused us to ignore the lessons of the First?' In his fourth...
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Highways of Freedom
French poet Jacques Darras delivers the third of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He argues that with the opening of the Channel tunnel a new age of mobility is within everyone's grasp. Many can now follow in the footsteps of the wealthy and literary by going on their...
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The Golden Fleece
French poet Jacques Darras delivers the second of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He explores the concept of multicultural cities and draws from examples. He highlights the city of Bruges during the Burgundian era as a beacon of advancement in European unification. In...
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The Time Traveller
French poet Jacques Darras delivers the first of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. Taking inspiration from the formation of the Channel Tunnel, Durras looks back through the shared history of France and Britain and suggests that their respective national pasts will need…
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The Paradox of Gorbachev's Reforms
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, debates the role of pluralist politics in the sixth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'The Paradox of Gorbachev's Reforms', Professor Hosking explores the role that...
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Religion and the Atheist State
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores Soviet religion in the fifth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'Religion and the Atheist State', Professor Hosking analyses what part religion has to play in...
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The Flawed Melting Pot
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores national aspirations in the fourth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'The Flawed Melting Pot', Professor Hosking discusses the national desires and ambitions…
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A Civil Society In Embryo
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores changes in Soviet behaviour his third Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'A Civil Society in Embryo', Professor Hosking examines a trend which could…
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The Return Of The Repressed
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores the issues of a collective memory in his second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'The Return Of The Repressed', Professor Hosking describes how…
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A Great Power in Crisis
Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, discusses the changes in Soviet society in his first Reith lecture from the series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'A Great Power in Crisis', Professor Hosking discusses the relationship...
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Stand Up and Be Misunderstood
English composer Alexander Goehr gives his sixth Reith Lecture from the series entitled 'The Survival of the Symphony'. In this lecture entitled 'Stand Up and Be Misunderstood', he concludes his series by stressing why musicians and the public alike should fight to renew the symphony. Extolling…
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Let the People Sing
English composer Alexander Goehr gives his fifth Reith Lecture from the series entitled 'The Survival of the Symphony'. In this lecture entitled 'Let the People Sing', Professor Goehr looks at modern composers who aim to break down the barriers between the audience, the performer and the…
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A Licence for Licence
Once an iconoclastic force, the avant-garde is now comfortably absorbed into modem society. These are the sentiments of English composer Professor Alexander Goehr in his fourth Reith Lecture entitled 'A Licence for Licence'. Speaking in his series 'The Survival of the Symphony', Professor…
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Past and Present
Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge and English composer Alexander Goehr gives his third Reith Lecture from his series 'The Survival of the Symphony'. He diagnoses the stifling and possibly fatal pressures of contemporary music-making. In this lecture entitled 'Past and Present',...
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An Orchid In the Field of Technology
Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge and English composer Alexander Goehr gives his second Reith Lecture from the series 'The Survival of the Symphony'. He examines the effect of recorded sound on our perception of music. In this lecture entitled 'An Orchid in the Land of…
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The Old Warhorse
This year's lecturer is Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge Alexander Goehr. An English composer, his compositions, such as Psalm IV and The Deluge, have established him as an inspirational music creator. In his Reith Lecture series entitled 'The Survival of the Symphony', he…
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Lions Under the Throne
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his sixth Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In his sixth and final Reith Lecture entitled 'Lions under the Throne', Lord McCluskey concludes his argument for separating law and justice. He argues that the functions of making…
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An Enormous Power
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his fifth Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In this lecture entitled 'An Enormous Power', Lord McCluskey debates the essential constitutional difference between the British and American higher judicial systems. Debating the...
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Trusting the Judges
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his fourth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In this lecture, Lord McCluskey counters Lord Denning's exhortation of 'trust the judges' and argues instead for a simplification of the law. He argues that there should be…
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Hard Cases and Bad Law
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his third Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In this lecture entitled 'Hard Cases and Bad Law', Lord McCluskey argues that Parliament, not the judiciary, must have ultimate responsibility for legislation. He argues that they…
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The Clanking of Medieval Chains
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his second Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In this lecture entitled 'The Clanking of Medieval Chains', Lord McCluskey examines how judges think. He asks how with precisely the same starting materials in terms of fact and…
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The Chill and Distant Heights
Serving Judge Lord McCluskey gives his first Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Law, Justice and Democracy'. In his lecture entitled 'The Chill and Distant Heights', Lord McCluskey discusses whether it is right for judges to have sole responsibility for sentencing criminals. He argues that…
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Markets, States & Economics
David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the sixth and final lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled...
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DIYE plus the Lobbies: Counting the Cost
David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the fifth lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled 'DIYE plus...
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Orthodox Economists versus the People
David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the fourth lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled 'Orthodox...
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Needs, Centralism & Autarchy
David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the third lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled 'Needs,...
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Soap Opera in High Places
David Henderson, head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the second lecture in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled 'Soap…
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The Power of Do-it-Yourself Economics
David Henderson, Head of the Economics and Statistics Department at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), examines the influence of economic ideas on policy. He gives the first of five lectures in his series entitled 'Innocence and Design'. In this lecture entitled…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Reith Lectures have?
The Reith Lectures currently has 310 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Reith Lectures about?
Significant international thinkers deliver the BBC's flagship annual lecture series
How often does The Reith Lectures release new episodes?
The Reith Lectures publishes regularly with 310 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Reith Lectures?
You can listen to The Reith Lectures on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Reith Lectures?
The Reith Lectures is created and hosted by BBC Radio 4.
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