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        <title>In Our Time</title>
        <itunes:title>In Our Time</itunes:title>
        <description><![CDATA[Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

**Important Update: The BBC will be implementing major changes to Sounds on July 21st, making it available only to listeners within the UK. As this is an unofficial podcast feed hosted outside the UK, these changes are expected to have an impact, though the extent remains uncertain. Every effort will be made to keep the service running. [4-Jul-25]]]></description>
        <itunes:summary><![CDATA[Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

**Important Update: The BBC will be implementing major changes to Sounds on July 21st, making it available only to listeners within the UK. As this is an unofficial podcast feed hosted outside the UK, these changes are expected to have an impact, though the extent remains uncertain. Every effort will be made to keep the service running. [4-Jul-25]]]></itunes:summary>
        <itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author>
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        <lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 13:18:06 GMT</lastBuildDate>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
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        <item><title>Margaret Beaufort</title><itunes:title>Margaret Beaufort</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002s3dq</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the woman who, as a child bride, became mother to the boy who would eventually become the first king in the Tudor dynasty. Lady Margaret Beaufort (c1443-1509) was twelve when she married Edmund Tudor, half his age, and gave birth to their son Henry when she was thirteen and Edmund was already dead from the plague.  Margaret Beaufort made it her life's work to protect Henry during the Wars of the Roses, which had begun soon before his birth and, as many more obvious successors to the crown died or were killed in the wars, she pivoted to supporting Henry when he became the strongest contender against Richard III.  She was to survive Richard III declaring her a traitor and went on to see Henry become Henry VII, the first Tudor king, and herself become the King's Mother. Outliving her son by a few months, she was then to help her grandson Henry VIII succeed and the Tudor dynasty continue.<br><br>With<br><br>Joanna Laynesmith<br>Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading<br><br>Katherine Lewis<br>Honorary Professor of Medieval History at the University of Lincoln and Research Associate at the University of York<br><br>And<br><br>David Grummitt<br>Staff Tutor in History at the Open University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Nathen Amin, The House of Beaufort (Amberley Publishing, 2017)<br><br>Rachel Delman, 'The Vowesses, the anchoresses, and the aldermen's wives: Lady Margaret Beaufort and the Devout Society of Late Medieval Stamford' (Urban History 49, 2022) <br><br>David Grummitt, A Short History of the Wars of the Roses (revised edition, Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)<br><br>Michael Hicks, The Wars of the Roses (Yale University Press, 2010)<br><br>Lauren Johnson, Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025)<br><br>Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge University Press, 1991)<br><br>Rebecca Krug, Reading Families: Women's Literate Practice in Late Medieval England (Cornell University Press, 2008), especially the chapter 'Margaret Beaufort's Literate Practice: Service and Self-Inscription'<br><br>J.L. Laynesmith, Cecily Duchess of York (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017)<br><br>Susan Powell, The Household Accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort, 1443-1509 (Liverpool University Press, 2022)<br><br>Nicola Tallis, Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch (Michael O'Mara, 2019) <br><br>Micheline White (ed.), English Women, Religion, and Textual Production, 1500-1625 (Ashgate, 2016), especially 'Lady Margaret Beaufort's Translations as Mirrors of Practical Piety' by Brenda M. Hosington<br> <br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production<br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the woman who, as a child bride, became mother to the boy who would eventually become the first king in the Tudor dynasty. Lady Margaret Beaufort (c1443-1509) was twelve when she married Edmund Tudor, half his age, and gave birth to their son Henry when she was thirteen and Edmund was already dead from the plague.  Margaret Beaufort made it her life's work to protect Henry during the Wars of the Roses, which had begun soon before his birth and, as many more obvious successors to the crown died or were killed in the wars, she pivoted to supporting Henry when he became the strongest contender against Richard III.  She was to survive Richard III declaring her a traitor and went on to see Henry become Henry VII, the first Tudor king, and herself become the King's Mother. Outliving her son by a few months, she was then to help her grandson Henry VIII succeed and the Tudor dynasty continue.<br><br>With<br><br>Joanna Laynesmith<br>Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Reading<br><br>Katherine Lewis<br>Honorary Professor of Medieval History at the University of Lincoln and Research Associate at the University of York<br><br>And<br><br>David Grummitt<br>Staff Tutor in History at the Open University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Nathen Amin, The House of Beaufort (Amberley Publishing, 2017)<br><br>Rachel Delman, 'The Vowesses, the anchoresses, and the aldermen's wives: Lady Margaret Beaufort and the Devout Society of Late Medieval Stamford' (Urban History 49, 2022) <br><br>David Grummitt, A Short History of the Wars of the Roses (revised edition, Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)<br><br>Michael Hicks, The Wars of the Roses (Yale University Press, 2010)<br><br>Lauren Johnson, Margaret Beaufort: Survivor, Rebel, Kingmaker (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025)<br><br>Michael K. Jones and Malcolm G. Underwood, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (Cambridge University Press, 1991)<br><br>Rebecca Krug, Reading Families: Women's Literate Practice in Late Medieval England (Cornell University Press, 2008), especially the chapter 'Margaret Beaufort's Literate Practice: Service and Self-Inscription'<br><br>J.L. Laynesmith, Cecily Duchess of York (Bloomsbury Academic, 2017)<br><br>Susan Powell, The Household Accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort, 1443-1509 (Liverpool University Press, 2022)<br><br>Nicola Tallis, Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort, Tudor Matriarch (Michael O'Mara, 2019) <br><br>Micheline White (ed.), English Women, Religion, and Textual Production, 1500-1625 (Ashgate, 2016), especially 'Lady Margaret Beaufort's Translations as Mirrors of Practical Piety' by Brenda M. Hosington<br> <br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production<br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:54:06</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002s3dq</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260305-m002s3dq.m4a" length="39627691" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>John Keats</title><itunes:title>John Keats</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002rgh3</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the short life and lasting works of Keats (1795-1821), who in one year wrote some of the most loved poems in English. Among these are Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode on Melancholy. That most productive year began in autumn 1818, when Keats had been stung by some reviews labelling him an uncouth Cockney who should go back to his former work as an apothecary, work he had left for poetry only two years before with the encouragement of enthusiastic friends. Just over two years later, Keats was dead in Rome from tuberculosis, before his work found fame, though some who knew him, including Shelley, believed his true killer was the critics.<br><br>With<br><br>Fiona Stafford<br>Professor of English Language and Literature and Tutorial Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford<br><br>Nicholas Roe<br>Wardlaw Professor of English Literature at the University of St Andrews<br><br>And<br><br>Meiko O'Halloran,<br>Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at Newcastle University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>John Barnard, John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 1987)<br><br>Katie Garner and Nicholas Roe (eds), John Keats and Romantic Scotland (Oxford University Press, 2022)<br><br>Ian Jack, Keats and the Mirror of Art (Oxford University Press, 1967)  <br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Selected Writings (Oxford University Press, 2020)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Oxford 21st-Century Authors (University Press, 2017)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), Selected Poems (Penguin, 2007)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), The Complete Poems (Penguin, 2nd edition, 1977)<br><br>John Keats (ed. Jeffrey N. Cox), Keats's Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008)<br><br>Carol Kyros Walker, Walking North with Keats (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)<br><br>Richard Marggraf Turley (ed.), Keats's Places (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)<br><br>Lucasta Miller, Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph (Jonathan Cape, 2021) <br><br>Michael O'Neill (ed.), John Keats in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2017)<br><br>Christopher Ricks, Keats and Embarrassment (Oxford University Press, 1974)        <br><br>Nicholas Roe, John Keats: A New Life (Yale University Press, 2012)<br> <br>Helen Vendler, The Odes of Keats (Belknap Press, 2004)<br><br>Susan J. Wolfson, Reading John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2015)<br><br>Susan J. Wolfson (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2001)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the short life and lasting works of Keats (1795-1821), who in one year wrote some of the most loved poems in English. Among these are Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode on Melancholy. That most productive year began in autumn 1818, when Keats had been stung by some reviews labelling him an uncouth Cockney who should go back to his former work as an apothecary, work he had left for poetry only two years before with the encouragement of enthusiastic friends. Just over two years later, Keats was dead in Rome from tuberculosis, before his work found fame, though some who knew him, including Shelley, believed his true killer was the critics.<br><br>With<br><br>Fiona Stafford<br>Professor of English Language and Literature and Tutorial Fellow at Somerville College, University of Oxford<br><br>Nicholas Roe<br>Wardlaw Professor of English Literature at the University of St Andrews<br><br>And<br><br>Meiko O'Halloran,<br>Senior Lecturer in Romantic Literature at Newcastle University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>John Barnard, John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 1987)<br><br>Katie Garner and Nicholas Roe (eds), John Keats and Romantic Scotland (Oxford University Press, 2022)<br><br>Ian Jack, Keats and the Mirror of Art (Oxford University Press, 1967)  <br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Selected Writings (Oxford University Press, 2020)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), John Keats: Oxford 21st-Century Authors (University Press, 2017)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), Selected Poems (Penguin, 2007)<br><br>John Keats (ed. John Barnard), The Complete Poems (Penguin, 2nd edition, 1977)<br><br>John Keats (ed. Jeffrey N. Cox), Keats's Poetry and Prose: A Norton Critical Edition (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008)<br><br>Carol Kyros Walker, Walking North with Keats (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)<br><br>Richard Marggraf Turley (ed.), Keats's Places (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)<br><br>Lucasta Miller, Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph (Jonathan Cape, 2021) <br><br>Michael O'Neill (ed.), John Keats in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2017)<br><br>Christopher Ricks, Keats and Embarrassment (Oxford University Press, 1974)        <br><br>Nicholas Roe, John Keats: A New Life (Yale University Press, 2012)<br> <br>Helen Vendler, The Odes of Keats (Belknap Press, 2004)<br><br>Susan J. Wolfson, Reading John Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2015)<br><br>Susan J. Wolfson (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Keats (Cambridge University Press, 2001)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:48:07</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002rgh3</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260219-m002rgh3.m4a" length="35283018" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>The Code of Hammurabi</title><itunes:title>The Code of Hammurabi</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002r4v1</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the laws that Hammurabi (c1810 - c1750 BC), King of Babylon, had carved into a black basalt pillar in present day Iraq and which, since its rediscovery in 1901 in present day Iran, has affirmed Hammurabi's reputation as one of the first great lawmakers. Visitors to the Louvre in Paris can see it on display with almost 300 rules in cuneiform, covering anything from 'an eye for an eye' to how to handle murder, divorce, witchcraft, false accusations and more. The Code of Hammurabi, as it became known, made such an impression in Mesopotamia that it was copied and shared for a millennium after his death and, since its reemergence, Hammurabi and his Code have been commemorated in the US Capitol and the International Court of Justice.<br><br>With<br><br>Martin Worthington<br>Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College Dublin<br><br>Frances Reynolds<br>Shillito Fellow and Associate Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at The Queen's College<br><br>And <br><br>Selena Wisnom<br>Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Zainab Bahrani, Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture (Thames and Hudson, 2017)<br><br>Dominique Charpin, Hammurabi of Babylon (I.B. Tauris, 2021)<br><br>Prudence O. Harper, Joan Aruz and Françoise Tallon, The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures from the Louvre (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992)<br><br>J. Nicholas Postgate (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern (British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), especially 'Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian' by Andrew R. George <br><br>Martha T. Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (2nd edition, Scholars Press, 1997)<br><br>Marc Van De Mieroop, King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography (Wiley, 2005) <br><br>Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC (4th edition (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006)<br><br>Selena Wisnom, The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (Allen Lane, 2025)<br><br>Martin Worthington, Complete Babylonian: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Babylonian with Original Texts (Teach Yourself Library, 2012)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the laws that Hammurabi (c1810 - c1750 BC), King of Babylon, had carved into a black basalt pillar in present day Iraq and which, since its rediscovery in 1901 in present day Iran, has affirmed Hammurabi's reputation as one of the first great lawmakers. Visitors to the Louvre in Paris can see it on display with almost 300 rules in cuneiform, covering anything from 'an eye for an eye' to how to handle murder, divorce, witchcraft, false accusations and more. The Code of Hammurabi, as it became known, made such an impression in Mesopotamia that it was copied and shared for a millennium after his death and, since its reemergence, Hammurabi and his Code have been commemorated in the US Capitol and the International Court of Justice.<br><br>With<br><br>Martin Worthington<br>Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College Dublin<br><br>Frances Reynolds<br>Shillito Fellow and Associate Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford and Senior Research Fellow at The Queen's College<br><br>And <br><br>Selena Wisnom<br>Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East at the University of Leicester<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Zainab Bahrani, Mesopotamia: Ancient Art and Architecture (Thames and Hudson, 2017)<br><br>Dominique Charpin, Hammurabi of Babylon (I.B. Tauris, 2021)<br><br>Prudence O. Harper, Joan Aruz and Françoise Tallon, The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures from the Louvre (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992)<br><br>J. Nicholas Postgate (ed.), Languages of Iraq, Ancient and Modern (British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007), especially 'Babylonian and Assyrian: A History of Akkadian' by Andrew R. George <br><br>Martha T. Roth, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (2nd edition, Scholars Press, 1997)<br><br>Marc Van De Mieroop, King Hammurabi of Babylon: A Biography (Wiley, 2005) <br><br>Marc Van De Mieroop, A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000–323 BC (4th edition (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006)<br><br>Selena Wisnom, The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of History (Allen Lane, 2025)<br><br>Martin Worthington, Complete Babylonian: A Comprehensive Guide to Reading and Understanding Babylonian with Original Texts (Teach Yourself Library, 2012)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:49:49</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002r4v1</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260212-m002r4v1.m4a" length="36516813" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>Henry IV Part 1</title><itunes:title>Henry IV Part 1</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qth3</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the most successful of Shakespeare's plays in his own time. Written with no Part 2 in mind as 'Henry the Fourth', the play explores ideas about who can be a legitimate ruler and why, and how  anyone can rightly succeed to the throne. This was an especially pressing question for his Tudor audience as Elizabeth I had named no successor. Playwrights,  banned from openly discussing the jeopardy her subjects faced, turned to these themes of power, legitimacy and succession in distant and recent history. When Shakespeare combined this relevance with the vivid characters of Falstaff, Hotspur and Hal and with the tensions between noble fathers and sons, he had a play that fascinated well into the Jacobean era and has been revived throughout the centuries.<br><br>With<br><br>Emma Smith<br>Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford<br><br>Lucy Munro<br>Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London<br><br>And<br><br>Laurence Publicover<br>Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Bristol<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Hailey Bachrach, Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare's English History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2023)<br><br>Warren Chernaik, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2007) <br><br>Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power (Bodley Head, 2018) <br><br>Graham Holderness, Shakespeare: The Histories (Red Globe Press, 1999)<br><br>Jean Howard and Phyllis Rackin, Engendering a Nation: A Feminist Account of Shakespeare's English Histories (Routledge, 1997)<br><br>William Shakespeare (eds. Indira Ghose, Anna Pruitt and Emma Smith), Henry IV Part I: The New Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford University Press, 2024) <br><br>William Shakespeare (ed. Gordon McMullan), 1 Henry IV: A Norton Critical Edition, 3rd edition (Norton, 2003) <br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the most successful of Shakespeare's plays in his own time. Written with no Part 2 in mind as 'Henry the Fourth', the play explores ideas about who can be a legitimate ruler and why, and how  anyone can rightly succeed to the throne. This was an especially pressing question for his Tudor audience as Elizabeth I had named no successor. Playwrights,  banned from openly discussing the jeopardy her subjects faced, turned to these themes of power, legitimacy and succession in distant and recent history. When Shakespeare combined this relevance with the vivid characters of Falstaff, Hotspur and Hal and with the tensions between noble fathers and sons, he had a play that fascinated well into the Jacobean era and has been revived throughout the centuries.<br><br>With<br><br>Emma Smith<br>Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford<br><br>Lucy Munro<br>Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London<br><br>And<br><br>Laurence Publicover<br>Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Bristol<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Hailey Bachrach, Staging Female Characters in Shakespeare's English History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2023)<br><br>Warren Chernaik, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare's History Plays (Cambridge University Press, 2007) <br><br>Stephen Greenblatt, Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power (Bodley Head, 2018) <br><br>Graham Holderness, Shakespeare: The Histories (Red Globe Press, 1999)<br><br>Jean Howard and Phyllis Rackin, Engendering a Nation: A Feminist Account of Shakespeare's English Histories (Routledge, 1997)<br><br>William Shakespeare (eds. Indira Ghose, Anna Pruitt and Emma Smith), Henry IV Part I: The New Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford University Press, 2024) <br><br>William Shakespeare (ed. Gordon McMullan), 1 Henry IV: A Norton Critical Edition, 3rd edition (Norton, 2003) <br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production<br><br><br>Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:51:06</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qth3</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260205-m002qth3.m4a" length="37443487" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>The Roman Arena</title><itunes:title>The Roman Arena</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qj85</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the countless venues across the Roman Empire which for over five hundred years drew the biggest crowds both in the Republic and under the Emperors. The shows there delighted the masses who knew, no matter how low their place in society,  they were much better off than the gladiators about to fight or the beasts to be slaughtered.  Some of the Roman elites were disgusted, seeing this popular entertainment as morally corrupting and un-Roman. Moral degradation was a less immediate concern though than the overspill of violence. There was a constant threat of gladiators being used as a private army and while those of the elite wealthy enough to stage the shows hoped to win great prestige, they risked disappointing a crowd which could quickly become a mob and turn on them.<br><br>With <br><br>Kathleen Coleman<br>James Loeb Professor of the Classics at Harvard University<br><br>John Pearce<br>Reader in Archaeology at King's College London<br><br>And<br><br>Matthew Nicholls<br>Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John's College, Oxford<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>C. A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton University Press, 1993)<br><br>Roger Dunkle, Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome (Pearson, 2008)<br><br>Garrett G. Fagan, The Lure of the Arena: Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games (Cambridge University Press, 2011)<br><br>A. Futrell, Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (University of Texas Press, 1997)<br><br>A. Futrell, The Roman Games: A Sourcebook (Blackwell Publishing, 2006)<br><br>Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, The Colosseum (Profile, 2005)<br><br>Luciana Jacobelli, Gladiators at Pompeii (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003)<br><br>Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben (eds.), Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome (University of California Press, 2000)<br><br>Donald Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (Routledge, 1998)<br><br>F. Meijer, The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport (Souvenir, 2004)<br><br>Jerry Toner, The Day Commodus killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014)<br><br>K. Welch, The Roman Amphitheatre from its Origins to the Colosseum (Cambridge University Press, 2007)<br><br>T. Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators (Routledge, 1992)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss the countless venues across the Roman Empire which for over five hundred years drew the biggest crowds both in the Republic and under the Emperors. The shows there delighted the masses who knew, no matter how low their place in society,  they were much better off than the gladiators about to fight or the beasts to be slaughtered.  Some of the Roman elites were disgusted, seeing this popular entertainment as morally corrupting and un-Roman. Moral degradation was a less immediate concern though than the overspill of violence. There was a constant threat of gladiators being used as a private army and while those of the elite wealthy enough to stage the shows hoped to win great prestige, they risked disappointing a crowd which could quickly become a mob and turn on them.<br><br>With <br><br>Kathleen Coleman<br>James Loeb Professor of the Classics at Harvard University<br><br>John Pearce<br>Reader in Archaeology at King's College London<br><br>And<br><br>Matthew Nicholls<br>Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John's College, Oxford<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>C. A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton University Press, 1993)<br><br>Roger Dunkle, Gladiators: Violence and Spectacle in Ancient Rome (Pearson, 2008)<br><br>Garrett G. Fagan, The Lure of the Arena: Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games (Cambridge University Press, 2011)<br><br>A. Futrell, Blood in the Arena: The Spectacle of Roman Power (University of Texas Press, 1997)<br><br>A. Futrell, The Roman Games: A Sourcebook (Blackwell Publishing, 2006)<br><br>Keith Hopkins and Mary Beard, The Colosseum (Profile, 2005)<br><br>Luciana Jacobelli, Gladiators at Pompeii (The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003)<br><br>Eckart Köhne and Cornelia Ewigleben (eds.), Gladiators and Caesars: The Power of Spectacle in Ancient Rome (University of California Press, 2000)<br><br>Donald Kyle, Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome (Routledge, 1998)<br><br>F. Meijer, The Gladiators: History's Most Deadly Sport (Souvenir, 2004)<br><br>Jerry Toner, The Day Commodus killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014)<br><br>K. Welch, The Roman Amphitheatre from its Origins to the Colosseum (Cambridge University Press, 2007)<br><br>T. Wiedemann, Emperors and Gladiators (Routledge, 1992)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:50:03</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002qj85</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260129-m002qj85.m4a" length="36688023" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>The Mariana Trench</title><itunes:title>The Mariana Trench</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002q38k</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the wonders of the natural world.  In 1875 in the western Pacific, the crew of HMS Challenger discovered the Mariana Trench which turned out to be deeper than Everest is high, by two kilometres. Trenches like Mariana form when one tectonic plate slips under another and heads down and there are around fifty of them globally.  While at one time some thought it was too dark and deep for life there and others wildly imagined monsters, the truth has turned out to be much more surprising. <br><br>With <br><br>Heather Stewart,<br>Director of Kelpie Geoscience and Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia<br><br>Jon Copley<br>Professor of Ocean Exploration and Science Communication at the University of Southampton<br><br>And <br><br>Alan Jamieson<br>Director of the Deep Sea Research Centre at the University of Western Australia<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Susan Casey, The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean (Doubleday, 2023) <br><br>Jon Copley, Deep Sea: 10 Things You Should Know (Orion Books, 2023)<br><br>Hali Felt, Soundings: The Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (Henry Holt & Co, 2012)<br><br>M.E. Gerringer, 'Pseudoliparis swirei: A newly-discovered hadal liparid (Scorpaeniformes: Liparidae) from the Mariana Trench' (Zootaxa 4358 (1), 161-177, 2017)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson, The Hadal Zone: Life in the Deepest Oceans (Cambridge University Press, 2015)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'A global assessment of fishes at lower abyssal and upper hadal depths (5000 to 8000 m)' (Deep-Sea Research Part 1. 178: 103642, 2021)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Fear and loathing of the deep ocean: Why don't people care about the deep sea?' (ICES Journal of Marine Science. 78: 797-809, 2020)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Microplastic and synthetic fibers ingested by deep-sea amphipods in six of the deepest marine environments on Earth' (Royal Society Open Science, 6, 180667, 2019)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna' (Nature Ecology and Evolution. 1, 0051, 2017)<br><br>V.L. Vescovo et al., 'Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles' (Marine Policy. 128, 104463, 2021)<br><br>J.N.J. Weston et al., 'New species of Eurythenes from hadal depths of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean (Crustacea: Amphipoda)' (Zootaxa. 4748(1): 163-181, 2020)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the wonders of the natural world.  In 1875 in the western Pacific, the crew of HMS Challenger discovered the Mariana Trench which turned out to be deeper than Everest is high, by two kilometres. Trenches like Mariana form when one tectonic plate slips under another and heads down and there are around fifty of them globally.  While at one time some thought it was too dark and deep for life there and others wildly imagined monsters, the truth has turned out to be much more surprising. <br><br>With <br><br>Heather Stewart,<br>Director of Kelpie Geoscience and Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia<br><br>Jon Copley<br>Professor of Ocean Exploration and Science Communication at the University of Southampton<br><br>And <br><br>Alan Jamieson<br>Director of the Deep Sea Research Centre at the University of Western Australia<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>Reading list:<br><br>Susan Casey, The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean (Doubleday, 2023) <br><br>Jon Copley, Deep Sea: 10 Things You Should Know (Orion Books, 2023)<br><br>Hali Felt, Soundings: The Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (Henry Holt & Co, 2012)<br><br>M.E. Gerringer, 'Pseudoliparis swirei: A newly-discovered hadal liparid (Scorpaeniformes: Liparidae) from the Mariana Trench' (Zootaxa 4358 (1), 161-177, 2017)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson, The Hadal Zone: Life in the Deepest Oceans (Cambridge University Press, 2015)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'A global assessment of fishes at lower abyssal and upper hadal depths (5000 to 8000 m)' (Deep-Sea Research Part 1. 178: 103642, 2021)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Fear and loathing of the deep ocean: Why don't people care about the deep sea?' (ICES Journal of Marine Science. 78: 797-809, 2020)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Microplastic and synthetic fibers ingested by deep-sea amphipods in six of the deepest marine environments on Earth' (Royal Society Open Science, 6, 180667, 2019)<br><br>A.J. Jamieson et al., 'Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna' (Nature Ecology and Evolution. 1, 0051, 2017)<br><br>V.L. Vescovo et al., 'Safety and conservation at the deepest place on Earth: A call for prohibiting the deliberate discarding of nondegradable umbilicals from deep-sea exploration vehicles' (Marine Policy. 128, 104463, 2021)<br><br>J.N.J. Weston et al., 'New species of Eurythenes from hadal depths of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean (Crustacea: Amphipoda)' (Zootaxa. 4748(1): 163-181, 2020)<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:58:04</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002q38k</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260122-m002q38k.m4a" length="42510627" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>On Liberty</title><itunes:title>On Liberty</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pqnc</link><description><![CDATA[Journalist, author and historian Misha Glenny presents his first edition of In Our Time, succeeding Melvyn Bragg who retired from this role last summer. Misha and his guests discuss the landmark work On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, published in 1859 and the increasing recognition for his wife Harriet Taylor Mill's contribution.  The subject matter of the essay is 'civil or social liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual' and it argues that the sole end for which mankind may interfere with the liberty of action of anyone is self-protection and even then only to prevent harm to others.  This essay became enormously popular and a foundational text for liberalism.<br><br>With<br><br>Helen McCabe<br>Professor of Political Theory at the University of Nottingham<br><br>Mark Philp<br>Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at the University of Warwick<br><br>And<br><br>Piers Norris Turner<br>Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Journalist, author and historian Misha Glenny presents his first edition of In Our Time, succeeding Melvyn Bragg who retired from this role last summer. Misha and his guests discuss the landmark work On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, published in 1859 and the increasing recognition for his wife Harriet Taylor Mill's contribution.  The subject matter of the essay is 'civil or social liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual' and it argues that the sole end for which mankind may interfere with the liberty of action of anyone is self-protection and even then only to prevent harm to others.  This essay became enormously popular and a foundational text for liberalism.<br><br>With<br><br>Helen McCabe<br>Professor of Political Theory at the University of Nottingham<br><br>Mark Philp<br>Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at the University of Warwick<br><br>And<br><br>Piers Norris Turner<br>Associate Professor of Philosophy at The Ohio State University<br><br>Producer: Simon Tillotson<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:49:24</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pqnc</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260115-m002pqnc.m4a" length="36215311" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>Welcoming Misha Glenny to the In Our Time studio</title><itunes:title>Welcoming Misha Glenny to the In Our Time studio</itunes:title><link>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0mskkbw</link><description><![CDATA[Misha Glenny introduces himself to you ahead of his first episode on 15th January, answering some questions from producer Simon Tillotson and sharing what's coming up in the first few weeks<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Misha Glenny introduces himself to you ahead of his first episode on 15th January, answering some questions from producer Simon Tillotson and sharing what's coming up in the first few weeks<br><br>In Our Time is a BBC Studios production]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:06:05</itunes:duration><guid>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0mskkbw</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20260108-p0mskkbw.m4a" length="4780811" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2026 09:45:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1024x1024/p0m1q0kc.jpg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
        <item><title>Important Update – See Description</title><itunes:title>Important Update – See Description</itunes:title><link>https://bbcsoundsrss.media</link><description><![CDATA[<b>Important Update About This Podcast</b><br><br>Hello, peeps.<br><br>This is an unoffical podcast that relies on BBC Sounds and is hosted outside the UK. The BBC has announced major changes to Sounds, primarily restricting access to listeners within the UK. More details can be found here:<br><br><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/listening-outside-the-uk/outside-uk-changes">BBC Help: Changes for Listeners Outside the UK</a><br><br>I'm looking at a few options to keep this service running as smoothly as possible even after the changes. However, I won’t know how feasible that is until they take effect. There’s no official timeline, so it may happen suddenly—<b>one day, the podcast could simply stop updating</b>.<br><br>I'll only put updates like this one in this podcast feed if they are critical. For more frequent updates on the status of the service, visit <a href="https://bbcsoundsrss.media">bbcsoundsrss.media.</a><br><br>If you have any questions or are interested in running the software yourself, feel free to email me at bbcsoundsrss@gmail.com, and I can point you in the right direction!<br><br>It's not necessarily goodbye—I just wanted to share this update so you're aware of the situation.<br><br><em>Note: The audio file for this episode is just a placeholder. It's silent.</em>]]></description><itunes:summary><![CDATA[<b>Important Update About This Podcast</b><br><br>Hello, peeps.<br><br>This is an unoffical podcast that relies on BBC Sounds and is hosted outside the UK. The BBC has announced major changes to Sounds, primarily restricting access to listeners within the UK. More details can be found here:<br><br><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/listening-outside-the-uk/outside-uk-changes">BBC Help: Changes for Listeners Outside the UK</a><br><br>I'm looking at a few options to keep this service running as smoothly as possible even after the changes. However, I won’t know how feasible that is until they take effect. There’s no official timeline, so it may happen suddenly—<b>one day, the podcast could simply stop updating</b>.<br><br>I'll only put updates like this one in this podcast feed if they are critical. For more frequent updates on the status of the service, visit <a href="https://bbcsoundsrss.media">bbcsoundsrss.media.</a><br><br>If you have any questions or are interested in running the software yourself, feel free to email me at bbcsoundsrss@gmail.com, and I can point you in the right direction!<br><br>It's not necessarily goodbye—I just wanted to share this update so you're aware of the situation.<br><br><em>Note: The audio file for this episode is just a placeholder. It's silent.</em>]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>00:00:03</itunes:duration><guid>https://bbcsoundsrss.media</guid><enclosure url="https://feeds.bbcsoundsrss.media/InOurTime/media/InOurTime-20250307-m0028jty.m4a" length="100091" type="audio/mpeg"></enclosure><category>Podcasts</category><pubDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2025 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate><itunes:author>BBC Radio 4</itunes:author><media:content url="https://i.imgur.com/0gqjI4I.jpeg" type="image/jpg" medium="image"></media:content></item>
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