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Clicked on "listen on bbc" for the Ada Lovelace episode, 404. Sad.
Here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ada-lovelace/id7333089... or here https://open.spotify.com/episode/5YjqWk1rqxANmNifyUW92B or here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0092j0x (to download the mp3 file) BBC Sounds not available outside of the UK anymore
I love this programme and have listened to it since its inception. My goodness though is it guilty of reinforcing two quite negative parts of British media culture to which I am quite sensitive: let’s call them boffinphobia and basicism . Boffinphobia is where an otherwise interesting scientific topic gets downplayed by a programme or news presenter as being too difficult for them to understand, and in particular sai…
Which is fine, of course, everyone has preferences; but the contrast with the much more rote science episodes did make me a little sad.
I like his very slightly impatient, very slightly interrupty manner with his guests.
While he doesn't throw blackboard dusters at them, he prods and harumphs when the egos and waffle of dons has them momentarily forget they aren't doing this in class but broadcasting to the nation...
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/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player
Some curated lists:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2Dw1c7rxs6DmyK0pMR...
Ach, very sad. Like Paxman on University Challenge, he was clearly finding it harder and harder towards the end. I hope he's alright, it'd be a tough one to let go of, I can't imagine a better show to present. Brilliant series, can't recommend highly enough to anyone who's not encountered it.
Very reminiscent of Sir Patrick Moore presenting his final episodes of The Sky at Night. (Sadly missed).
He's one of the great ones! People might also enjoy "This Cultural Life" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0010fl4 More than 100 episodes already with some of the world's leading artists and creatives.
Looking through the archives, this one with Melvyn Bragg might be interesting as a way to start: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001q0kd
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…
It 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