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Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#101

Post by zenoprax »

walthamstow wrote: post #71
haunter wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even need VPN, you can just straight download the mp3 file of each episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/downloads Only the streaming options (iPlayer and Sounds) are geolocked

Very nice! I'd also want to run a script to remove the BBC Sounds ident at the start The audio is so much better when it begins with " Hello, 400 years ago in the Sahel region of Africa..."

Those introductions are iconic! There is no delay and no doubt about what is about to happen. I have the full back catalogue downloaded but never considered that I'd need to start trimming.

Audacity? Are there automations possible?

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#102

Post by samastur »

Fluorescence wrote: post #96
flir wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do feel that IOT would benefit from being longer - it often feels rushed. Podcasts excel at "deep dives" in a way that radio is barred from doing: a podcaster can say "I think I'm gonna do 30 hours on George Jones this year" (real example), and nobody can stop them. IOT's format has a lot of statements, but not many questions. Bragg doesn't often say "hold on, what are the consequences of that?" (unless it's a prep…

The time pressure is probably more important than you realise. The guests are often pretty eminent academics, feted in their field and used to being indulged. There have been some I know that very much enjoy the sound of their own voice as they tediously ramble for hours, bending any topic to their own pet themes, with colleagues and students obediently hanging on their words. Melvyn has the stature to get testy "Eno…

I generally agree with you and the "short" format is what makes it successful, but Melvyn said himself that they choose teaching professors because they would know how to explain subject clearly and after almost two decades of listening I'd say it has mostly worked.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#103

Post by timdiggerm »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #100
shadowvoxing wrote: post #98

Melvyn Bragg would always rush the experts, pressuring them to get to the point asap. I found him a bit off-putting and even rude at times, but it was what made made the show unique and never stagnant.

I found it so off-putting, I couldn't really listen to the show. On some episodes he would basically lead them through his notes, as if he were the expert and was having to suffer these people explaining things badly to him. Bragg has been a strong force in intellectual culture in the UK for many decades. I remember my Mum and Sister being upset by a trailer for The South Bank Show back in the early 1980s, and he was…

His notes, of course, were assembled by his producers, based on the notes & writing of those academics (and others, I'm sure, thus the weekly reading list). He sometimes made reference to this, saying things like "Well you said it in your notes; what did you mean?"

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#104

Post by Angostura »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #100
shadowvoxing wrote: post #98

Melvyn Bragg would always rush the experts, pressuring them to get to the point asap. I found him a bit off-putting and even rude at times, but it was what made made the show unique and never stagnant.

I found it so off-putting, I couldn't really listen to the show. On some episodes he would basically lead them through his notes, as if he were the expert and was having to suffer these people explaining things badly to him. Bragg has been a strong force in intellectual culture in the UK for many decades. I remember my Mum and Sister being upset by a trailer for The South Bank Show back in the early 1980s, and he was…

You do realise that those notes, are notes provided to him by the experts he is talking to, right?

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#105

Post by Angostura »

arethuza wrote: post #89
frereubu wrote: post #86

Sad news - I hope it continues and they manage to get someone who keeps the quality high. As others have pointed out, the thing that makes In Our Time great is it assumes the people listening are interested in learning something without pointless fluff. I was watching the first episode of the new-ish BBC TV series Human last night and, although there was some interesting information in there, it was unbearably slow a…

I think the finest BBC documentary series was The Ascent of Man - probably because my father made me watch it when I was about 8: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ascent_of_Man

There are quite a few in that vein - Jonathan Millers’ The Body in Question; Attenborough ‘s original Life On Earth

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#106

Post by Angostura »

gadders wrote: post #51
GJim wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he was clearly finding it harder and harder towards the end Very reminiscent of Sir Patrick Moore presenting his final episodes of The Sky at Night. (Sadly missed).

Same as Letter from America with Alastair Cooke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_America

“Hello again”

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#108

Post by wigster »

genmon wrote: post #107

Here's a t-SNE map of all 1,000+ episodes: https://www.braggoscope.com/explore (Outside the UK, the "Listen" link doesn't work except for the most recent ~350 episodes. You'll need to get the program page link instead which is in the footer.)

are there any science episodes on there? i don't see 'em

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#109

Post by boringg »

shadowvoxing wrote: post #98

Melvyn Bragg would always rush the experts, pressuring them to get to the point asap. I found him a bit off-putting and even rude at times, but it was what made made the show unique and never stagnant.

I mean his whole job was to make sure that the conversation didn't get too wildly off topic. I have to say I appreciated his nudging based on his notes.

In this day and age it seems like people get a soap box and get to say whatever they want without interruption. Someone needs to keep things in order and he did a fantastic job curating the show.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#110

Post by boringg »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #100
shadowvoxing wrote: post #98

Melvyn Bragg would always rush the experts, pressuring them to get to the point asap. I found him a bit off-putting and even rude at times, but it was what made made the show unique and never stagnant.

I found it so off-putting, I couldn't really listen to the show. On some episodes he would basically lead them through his notes, as if he were the expert and was having to suffer these people explaining things badly to him. Bragg has been a strong force in intellectual culture in the UK for many decades. I remember my Mum and Sister being upset by a trailer for The South Bank Show back in the early 1980s, and he was…

Without his personality driving the show I suspect it will have a tough time finding it's footing.
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