Dialogic (Free subscription) | yesterday
Greek Myths In Our Time w/ Melvyn Bragg (BBC) Are you a touch narcissistic? Do you have the body of an Adonis? Are you willing to undertake Herculean tasks or Promethean ventures? Perhaps you have an Oedipus complex? If you answer to any or perhaps all of these you owe something to the Greek myths, a collection of weird and wonderful stories that, like Penelope’s shroud or the needlework...
BBC (Free subscription) | 05/29/2008
Melvyn Bragg explores the mathematical concept of probability with his three guests: Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford; Colva Roney-Dougal, Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews; and Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick.
BBC (Free subscription) | 07/03/2008
Melvyn Bragg discusses the intriguing group of 17th century writers, the metaphysical poets, with a particular focus on John Donne. Melvyn is joined by Tom Healy, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London; Julie Sanders, Professor of English Literature and Drama at the University of Nottingham; and Tom Cain, Professor of Early Modern Literature...
Daily Express (Free subscription) | 07/03/2008
AS Mamma Mia the movie hits the big screen next Friday, Melvyn Bragg takes us behind the scenes of the major motion picture and the hit stage production from which it took its inspiration.
The Blackheath Bugle (Free subscription) | 06/27/2008
Now look here… I realise that First Choice Travel was no cultural mecca. Melvyn Bragg and Mark Lawson were not hot-footing down Tranquil Vale to come and admire it or anything. But really, Go Travel isn’t doing a lot for taste and subtle design in Blackheath is it? The photo doesn’t even show it in all [...]
BBC (Free subscription) | 06/26/2008
Melvyn Bragg discusses the mighty Arab conquests of the 7th century with his guests Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; Amira Bennison, Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge; and Robert Hoyland, Professor in Arabic and Middle East Studies at the University of St Andrews.
The Independent (Free subscription) | 06/26/2008
... The Independent's managing director, recited one of Miles's most celebrated pieces, a ballad about Melvyn Bragg, and reflected on the fact that, throughout his stint on the paper, Miles never once visited the office. "I can honestly say that Miles is one of the few writers who has been no more trouble in death than he ever was in life," Mr Kelner said.Terry Jones read a passage from...
BBC (Free subscription) | 06/19/2008
Melvyn Bragg considers the celestial harmonies of the planets, a Pythagorean concept which fascinated astrologists, artists and mathematicians for centuries. He is joined by Peter Forshaw, Postdoctoral Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford; and Angela Voss, Director of the Cultural Study of Cosmology...
Dialogic (Free subscription) | 06/18/2008
Ada Lovelace Host: Melvyn Bragg In Our Time Deep in the heart of the Pentagon is a network of computers. They control the US military, the most powerful army on the planet, and are in turn controlled by a programming language called Ada. It’s named after Ada Lovelace, the allegedly hard drinking 19th century mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron. In her work with Charles Babbage on...
Dialogic (Free subscription) | 06/18/2008
The Multiverse Host: Melvyn Bragg In Our Time (BBC Radio) If you look up the word ‘universe’ in the Oxford English Dictionary you will find the following definition: “The whole of created or existing things regarded collectively; all things (including the earth, the heavens, and all the phenomena of space) considered as constituting a systematic whole.” That sounds fairly comprehensive...
The Speechwriter (Free subscription) | 06/19/2008
I was speaking to a group yesterday about how one becomes a speechwriter. It requires an unusual set of skills and interests. From an early age I loved listening to the spoken word. When I was at university I saw a documentary by Melvyn Bragg about the actor Richard Burton. In it they showed him performing Hamle t. I got a copy of the recording and I've listened to it dozens of times...
BBC (Free subscription) | 06/12/2008
Melvyn Bragg discusses the complexities of Anglo-German relations through the 19th century and in the build up to the First World War. He is joined by Richard Evans, Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge; Rosemary Ashton, Quain Professor of English Language and Literature at University College London; and Tim Blanning, Professor of Modern European History at Cambridge...
NYtheatre.com (Free subscription) | 06/12/2008
In 1969, Melvyn Bragg wrote a novel, The Hired Man . It told the story of a young couple, John and Emily Tallentire, trying to make a life for themselves at the turn of the century in rural Cumbria. From illicit affairs to World War I, mine pit disasters, and the founding of a labor union, The Hired Man spans more than 20 years. It's an unlikely source for a musical—the history of working...
Times Online (Free subscription) | 06/14/2008
... face, has since been extended to humans. “Street language has always raced ahead of written,” said Melvyn Bragg, the broadcaster, whose radio series The Routes of English examined the origins of the language. “English has always been dynamic and very unlike French, which has been very much controlled.” Several families have submitted terms for the television remote controller. They...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 06/13/2008
... with an emphasis on material that reflects the audience’s own experience.Based on a 1969 novel by Melvyn Bragg, the musical features a book by Mr. Bragg — Anglophiles might know him from ITV’s “South Bank Show,” the arts program that was a staple on Bravo in the long-gone pre-“reality” television days — and a score by Howard Goodall, whose résumé includes a lot of film work...
