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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

#141

Post by LeoPanthera »

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…

For what it's worth, the BBC has a premium podcasts subscription for the US and Canada, with no ads.

https://www.bbcselect.com/select-more/bbc-podcasts/

I believe it's currently Apple-exclusive, but if you enjoy BBC content, it's worth it.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#142

Post by atombender »

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…

If you pay for Spotify and listens there, this removes the ads.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#143

Post by atombender »

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

One of my favorites was the one on the evolution of crocodiles [1].

Aside from being surprisingly fascinating, I thought the guests were excellent. IOT's academics can sometimes be bone dry (sometimes not a problem if the subject matter is good, but sometimes it can sink the episode), and in this episode all three guests were both energetic and articulate, and there was some good banter.

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zmhf

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#144

Post by zapzupnz »

physicsguy wrote: post #135
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'm British and live in the UK so BBC is a big part of my radio listening anyway, but I agree, the quality both in terms of content and recording quality is largely miles ahead of most podcasts. Excluding things like political things which wouldn't land the same to international listeners, my favourites are: The Kitchen Cabinet You're Dead To Me Crowdscience Inside Science Just a Minute The Unbelievable Truth Nature…

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Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#145

Post by muhammedbash »

writebetterc wrote: post #29
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'll do the opposite: The P vs NP episode is aboslutely horrid. Probably the first and last time that they had any informatics people on the show. One major issue is that the experts didn't explain what we mean by "hard". Melvyn thought, as normal people do, that 'hard problem' means you've gotta be real clever to solve it, not that it takes a lot of steps to solve (and how the number of steps increases as the proble…

That was the first episode i listened to and got hooked after that.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#146

Post by curious_cat_163 »

That makes me sad. I will miss his voice. I loved how he interrupted his guests and kept them honest and on point. I loved the casual offer for tea/coffee at the end. I would love how it had this encore bit at the end, sometimes!

This podcast chose its listeners and kept it real. Thanks to everyone who makes it possible. Hope they get a fitting replacement for Melvyn and keep it going!

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#147

Post by iainmerrick »

penguin_booze wrote: post #119
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 th…

He’s really, really good. Whenever I listen to the show I’m amazed at how precise his questions are - he’s perfect in the role of the intelligent non-expert, often asking about the exact thing that was confusing to me in the expert’s previous reply.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#148

Post by muhammedbash »

navaed01 wrote: post #52

This has been my go to podcast for bedtime or when I can’t sleep… the broad topics, depth of discussion and tone are all fantastic… the ONLY thing that bugs me is the volume of guests microphones not being equalized, so you get some guests on the same episode being so much quieter than others

I hate to say this out loud but I keep going back to some particular episodes to help me nod off when insomnia grips. I'm not sure I know how the episode on the gold standard ends and I must have listened to it more than 10 timss.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#149

Post by robotresearcher »

Can the new host stop the 'as it were' thing?

The show has long and consistently had this weird tic where they must announce every analogy, or even non-analogy with 'as it were'.

"He was over the moon, as it were".

"He was very excited, as it were".

We know what analogies are! No disclaimer needed! And when it isn't one, even bloody more so!

Forgive my affectionate grumble. I've enjoyed the show for many years. Bragg is a unique talent, and will be hard to follow.

Re: Melvyn Bragg steps down from presenting In Our Time

#150

Post by rafram »

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 can listen to In Our Time on every podcast app from anywhere in the world, just like any other podcast.
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