Highly recommended. "In our time" is incredibly informative, and we're so lucky to live in an era where we can enjoy the endless recordings of this show!
Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
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Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#12I looked, and there's more than 1000 available episodes of IOT on the BBC, they're all (at least every one I've heard) brilliant.
I'm curious if anyone here has any particular favourites?
I remember really enjoying the Plankton episode because it took me the classic IOT route of "That doesn't sound interesting, but I'll give it a listen" to looking up all the reading list.
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#13British working-class hero, though he'd probably prefer I say English.
I'm still working through the back catalogue, been at it for years, I've listened to every episode from the start until about mid 2012. I'll finish it eventually!
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#14May be of interest: https://www.braggoscope.com/directory (a categorised catalogue of episodes)
Clicked on "listen on bbc" for the Ada Lovelace episode, 404. Sad.
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#15I like his very slightly impatient, very slightly interrupty manner with his guests.
Maybe it's just me but that always grated with me a bit. It felt sometimes a bit like a Today programme interview where "presenter style" was the product.
Not to take anything away from the content though. It's the sort of programme the licence fee was made for.
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#16In Our Time has been my favorite podcast to listen. It made me appreciate how well moderated a discussion among experts can be and how poorly most moderators on other radio programs or conference panels do their jobs.
My complaint with In Our Time is that BBC started inserting the "this program is supported by ads outside of the U.K." ads in the middle of the discussions. The ads start and end with an extremely annoying loud chime that just blows out the speakers if I have the volume turned up to understand a guest that's speaking in a more soft voice.
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#17It won't be easy to find somebody with his breadth of knowledge to replace him.
I don’t think you need a particular depth of knowledge. You need someone willing to do the pre-work -clearly there are notes from and conversations with the contributors beforehand, someone with curiosity to learn about things outside their areas of expertise. A good journalist would be fine
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#18one of the greats, his interview and moderation style was exceptional - being able to challenge experts with respect, encouraging them to say more.
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#19I like his very slightly impatient, very slightly interrupty manner with his guests.
Adds a bit of seasoning
Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time
#20I like his very slightly impatient, very slightly interrupty manner with his guests.
Maybe it's just me but that always grated with me a bit. It felt sometimes a bit like a Today programme interview where "presenter style" was the product. Not to take anything away from the content though. It's the sort of programme the licence fee was made for.
It has to do with him driving the conversation to a specific point in the narrative; academics tend to meander and go off on tangents, but he invited three of them and the next topic is the point of expertise of the following person. You can sometimes hear him reward the guests "yes, that's what I was getting it" or "that's a great way to put it".
In other words; he did some prep! Unlike many podcasters.