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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

#111

Post by adammarples »

secondcoming wrote: post #78
calpaterson wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the amazing resources of BBC radio (that precede all modern internet podcasts and the best of which still wipe the floor with most of them) are often forgotten I don't know, there are some definite bright spots like IOT but the typical output of Radio 4 is definitely not massively in advance of the big podcasts. The Rest Is History/Politics are clearly hugely popular inside the UK and basically constitute "the comp…

I was a massive fan of TRIP at the start but these days I find it tedious to listen to sometimes.

TRIP was formed in the turbulence of the crashing conservative governerment and it was a breath of fresh air to have people close to the inside who were commenting on unfolding events nearly daily while also saying all the things that traditional media didn't. I looked forward to TRIP every time Boris blundered so that I could hear the guys disect it with a few personal anecdotes thrown in from their time in power. Now, there's nothing much new about hearing Alasdair talk about Tony Blair again and I don't think the centrist dad approach has anything much to say about Kier Starmer's government.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#112

Post by adammarples »

stevage wrote: post #72
mellosouls wrote: post #35

Its odd that when places like HN or Reddit ask for favourite podcasts the amazing resources of BBC radio (that precede all modern internet podcasts and the best of which still wipe the floor with most of them) are often forgotten. In Our Time represents the best of the form, and the BBC, and that's significantly down to the excellence of Bragg. The archive (you may need a VPN outside the UK): https://www.bbc.co.uk/pr…

> Its odd that ...the amazing resources of BBC radio ... are often forgotten. > you may need a VPN outside the UK Not that odd, really.

You may need a VPN inside the UK nowadays...

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#113

Post by mcepl »

avian wrote: post #16

In 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 annoy…

I feel strangely offended that here in Czechia there are actually no ads on BBC podcasts …

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#114

Post by sanitycheck »

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.

That's the only way they managed to cover such big subjects in relative depth in such a short slot! All the guests are used to waffling for a full uninterrupted hour to captive audiences about tiny segments of each topic; without that pressure the show couldn't exist.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#115

Post by walthamstow »

AlecSchueler wrote: post #91
sherr wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Today program is a shadow of its former self I think, as is a lot of BBC News today.

Laura Keunsburg completely neutered the BBC.

Robbie Gibb is the name you're looking for. He ran BBC Politics on TV for over a decade including before and after the referendum, then went to work for Teresa May in No10.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#116

Post by masfuerte »

zeristor wrote: post #48

Is it just me? At the end of each podcast there's the outro when they ask if Melvyn and his guests would like tea of coffee. This keeps throwing me back to the bit at the end of episodes of Bod, when the Frog conductor is asked which flavour milk shake he'd like. Once having itemised all of the contents of Thunderbird 4's pods over time, I have had an inkling to use some Machine learning system to gather the drinks o…

That was the best part of Bod.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#117

Post by sanitycheck »

benrutter wrote: post #12

I 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. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r1t5

I can't pick a favourite, but "Consciousness" (1999) definitely sticks in my mind as one of the most amusing due to the prickly debate.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#118

Post by MagicMoonlight »

flir wrote: post #79
mellosouls wrote: post #35

Its odd that when places like HN or Reddit ask for favourite podcasts the amazing resources of BBC radio (that precede all modern internet podcasts and the best of which still wipe the floor with most of them) are often forgotten. In Our Time represents the best of the form, and the BBC, and that's significantly down to the excellence of Bragg. The archive (you may need a VPN outside the UK): https://www.bbc.co.uk/pr…

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…

Yeah he always cuts them off in order to make sure each person gets their rationed time, preventing any real points being made

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#119

Post by penguin_booze »

avian wrote: post #16

In 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 annoy…

> how well moderated a discussion among experts can be

I've been listening to the podcast for years. I don't think the format counts as a 'discussion among experts'. It's more like Melvin asks prepared questions individually to each expert--a hub and spoke model. The experts rarely talk to or debate each other, although they often agree which each other. Melvin largely controls the narrative and direction, which I think works better. Guests do get to free-wheel at the end of the podcast, however.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#120

Post by ooloncoloophid »

benrutter wrote: post #12

I 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. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r1t5

The one about Victorian sewers is fantastic.
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