In this episode, the 125th anniversary of the birth of Brendan Bracken, the Irish born adventurer who became Winston Churchill's greatest supporter, with biographer Charles Lysaght; the 400 year fight to end slavery in the Americas, with historian Carrie Gibson; and treasure and ghosts in the London clay, with author Victoria Shepherd.

We're looking at the life and legacy of one of the American Revolution's greatest villains, Benedict Arnold, and we'll find out how his name became synonymous with treachery and betrayal. Featuring: Dr Eliga Gould, Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford; Dr Tom Sebrell, history lecturer at University College London; Dr Charlene Boyer-Lewis, professor of history and director of American Studies at Kalamazoo College, Michigan, and author of the upcoming ‘Traitor, Wife: Peggy Shippen Arnold and Revolutionary America’; and Emma Parry, author of the upcoming novel ‘Mrs Benedict Arnold’.

In this episode, we find out about the first staging of Seán O'Casey's play The Plough and The Stars 100 years ago and why it provoked such furious debate and even riots. Our panel features: Dr Ciara Murphy, Lecturer in Drama at TU Dublin and Vice President of the Irish Society of Theatre Research; Mairéad Delaney, Archivist at the Abbey Theatre Archive; Dr Bess Rowen, assistant professor of theatre and a theatre theorist and historian at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, and an expert on Seán O’Casey’s work and the 1926 riot; and Prof Nicholas Grene, Fellow Emeritus in English Literature at Trinity College Dublin.

In this episode, we're finding out about the making of Ancient Egypt - the makers, materials, and remarkable innovations of one of the most iconic civilisations in human history. Featuring Helen Strudwick, Lead Curator of the Made In Ancient Egypt exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Prof Joyce Tyldesley, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester; and Salima Ikram, Distinguished University Professor in Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.

10 years on from David Bowie's death, we reflect on the life and music of one of the most influential cultural figures of our age, and assess his remarkable legacy. Our panel is Prof Eoin Devereux, Co-Director for the Centre for The Study of Popular Music and Popular Culture at the University of Limerick, Dr Leah Kardos, Senior Lecturer in Music at Kingston University London, and Harriet Reed, Assistant Curator in the Theatre and Performance Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and part of the curatorial team behind The David Bowie Centre at the V&A East Storehouse, a permanent home for Bowie's archive.

In this episode, we're going back to 1066 as we debate the Norman Conquest and what it meant for England and indeed Ireland.

Featuring: · Prof Judith Green, Professor Emeritus at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh; Prof Clare Downham, Professor of Medieval History at the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool and author of ‘Medieval Ireland AD400-1500’; Professor Tom Licence, Professor of Medieval History and Literature, University of East Anglia; Prof Seán Duffy, Professor of Medieval Irish and Insular History at Trinity College Dublin; and Prof David Bates, Emeritus Professor in Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, and author of ‘The Normans and Empire’ and ‘William the Conqueror’.

In this episode: The History of the DPP with UCD's Niamh Howlin; Siege in Ireland, 1641-53, by Pádraig Lenihan; and Irish Food History: A Companion, with Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Dorothy Cashman.

Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, we'll discuss her life and legacy. Featuring: Lizzie Dunford, director of the Jane Austen House museum, John Mullan, author of the book What Matters in Jane Austen?, and Janet Todd of the University of Cambridge.