In Our Time is back
September 28th, 2006
Truth to tell, I don’t miss London very much, even though I was a passionate Londoner for the 25-odd years I lived there. But there are some details I miss (as well as friends). Melvyn Bragg’s radio program In Our Time is one of those.
Sometimes In Our Time tries even my tolerance for pedantry, but more often than not its wide-ranging coverage of history, science and philosophy (it’s about the history of ideas, but it’s really whatever strikes Bragg’s fancy) makes me want to buy another half dozen books from Cody’s.
In Our Time has returned for a new season, and thanks to the miracle of podcasting, I can keep up. This week, Alexander von Humboldt: “Darwin described him as ‘the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived’. Goethe declared that one learned more from an hour in his company than eight days of studying books and even Napoleon was reputed to be envious of his celebrity.”