Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Art

In 2010, the BBC and the British Museum embarked on an ambitious project: to tell the story of 2,000,000 years of human history using 100 objects selected from the museum's vast and renowned collection. Presented by the British Museum's then director Neil MacGregor, each episode focuses on a single object - from a Stone Age tool to a solar-powered lamp - and explains its significance in human history.

Power struggles have a constant presence in Martin Sixsmith's story of Russia. Collected here in 50 episodes, he chronicles the Mongol hordes invading in the 13th century, through the iron autocratic fists of successive tsars, to the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia's re-emergence as a superpower. Sixsmith brings his first-hand experience of reporting from Russia in the 1980s and 90s to his narrative, witnessing the critical moment when the Soviet Union lost its grip on power.

Peter is a devoted husband and man of faith who is called to the mission of a lifetime - one that takes him galaxies away from his wife, Beatrice. Hired as a preacher by an enigmatic corporation called USIC, he must leave behind everything he loves to travel to the far distant planet of Oasis, where the company has its base.

Ready with his black bag, Dr Finlay sets out to remedy all manner of ailments suffered by his patients in the Scottish Highland town of Levenford. In this complete BBC Radio collection, we meet the surprising Dr Finlay as he is welcomed to the practise with a black eye. Over the course of these series the early years of Dr Finlay are explored, as he gets to grips with the locals in the Scottish Highland town of Levenford.

Japan is a land of complexity, contrast and contradictions. The world's third-largest economy, it is a powerhouse of innovation and a pioneer in technology, fashion and pop culture. But it also has a rich, ancient heritage and a deep reverence for custom, ritual and tradition. This illuminating two-part radio collection traverses the different aspects of this fascinating country, from its famous historical figures to its diverse cultural landscape.

For the past 140 years, Germany has been the central power in continental Europe. Thirty years ago, a new German state came into being. How much do we really understand this new Germany, and how do its people now understand themselves? Neil MacGregor argues that uniquely for any European country, no coherent, over-arching narrative of Germany's history can be constructed, for in Germany, both geography and history have always been unstable. 

Brian Cox and Robin Ince present a witty, irreverent look at the world according to science. The Infinite Monkey Cage has become one of BBC Radio 4’s most popular science-based programmes. In each episode physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince delve into a particular field of science, with the help of guests from the worlds of science, academia, and entertainment.

Radio 4's In Our Time has established itself at the pinnacle of essential conversation on a wide range of subjects from science, history, philosophy and the arts. The programme, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023, is presented by Melvyn Bragg with contributors from the diverse worlds of academia. Opening with four contextual episodes - The Artist, Imagination, The Muses, and Architecture and Power - this thematic anthology contains 25 programmes on the history of visual art. Included are artistic styles and movements.

Julian Rhind-Tutt takes on the role of Rumpole in this fifth collection of cracking court cases. Starring Julian Rhind-Tutt as Rumpole, Jasmine Hyde as Hilda and Nigel Anthony as Claude Erskine-Brown. A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.

It's the hardy perennial of panel games that's constantly in bloom, a brimful of the funniest punnings and wittiest one-liners around.

Wealthy heiress Anna Delvey was one of the international jetset. Her Instagram account was a window on a glamorous world, filled with art launches, champagne brunches, VIP parties and stays in high-end hotels. Due to come into a $67m trust fund on her 26th birthday, she planned to establish the Anna Delvey Foundation, a multi-million dollar visual-arts centre in the heart of New York and wined and dined the city’s wealthy elite to secure investment for her project.

Six men have reached a certain age, their 40-something years, and each has a very different – and sometimes surprising – story to tell, from the brother who receives an unexpected letter to a compulsive philanderer, and a news photographer sent on an unusual assignment. All are funny, touching, and as beautifully observed as would be expected from the author of the phenomenal best sellers Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Talk to the Hand.

The Now Show: Series 39: Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by guests including John Finnemore, Mitch Benn and Laura Shavin to present a comedic breakdown of the news.

Mary, Queen of Shops star and style doyenne Mary Portas explores what style means to us and the way we live today. Looking at the worlds of fashion, design, architecture and interiors, she discovers how they reveal the desires, passions and beliefs, not just of individuals but of society. A fabulous celebration of all things sartorial and aesthetic, this smart, sassy series will enlighten and delight—and make you think about your own relationship with style.

Art and science are often considered to be in conflict, with art dealing in creativity and science in cold, hard facts. But the two disciplines have always been interconnected, taking inspiration from each other and shaping each other's worlds. In this fascinating 20-part series, Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, and Dr Tilly Blyth, the Science Museum's Head of Collections, reveal how science's ingenuity has been incorporated into artistic expression - and how art's creativity has stimulated scientific progress and technological change.

Coralie is a 19-year-old student. It's the morning of the 30th April and she has just taken a Mifepristone pill, the first stage of a medical abortion. She has ordered the drugs online - illegally. She, and anyone she might confide in, could face prosecution and jail if her actions are discovered. As she waits the 24 hours until she is due to take the second set of pills which will complete the procedure, she reflects on the events that brought her to this moment.

California 1936. Florence Owens Thompson and her family have joined the thousands of migrant workers flocking across America in search of work. Homeless, desperately hungry and faced with the threat of mob violence, her hopeful resolution is quickly fading. Photographer Dorothea is following the migrants to their make-shift refugee camps, desperate to find the image which will capture the extent of their hardship, to bring about a change in American policy and hearts.

Three stories that explore the most evocative experience of summer - outdoor swimming. 'To Brixton Beach': A mysterious swimmer spends all day in the pool at Brockwell Lido. Written by Stella Duffy. Read by Adjoa Andoh. 'Lido Lover': An Englishwoman finds a kind of fulfilment on the Venetian Lido. Written by Michele Roberts. Read by Joanna Tope. 'The Horizon Pool': An unexpected swimming companion in the UK's northernmost outdoor pool - the Trinkie in Wick - may hold the key to recovery for a teenage boy. Written by Linda Cracknell. Read by Finn den Hertog.

Bath-based BBC Audiobooks hosted a sell-out event for the Bath Literature Festival. Reading Between the Lines: From Page to Production featured Rula Lenska, Lynne Truss, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Lorelei King in an entertaining and lively discussion about the art of the audiobook. They were joined by Sunday Times audio critic Karen Robinson, BBC Audiobooks' Publishing Director Jan Paterson, and Senior Producer Kate Thomas.

A family cleaner sees and hears everything, from the pill packet that signals that her employers are no longer trying for another child, to that unfamiliar earring in the marital bed that signals something altogether more worrying. In this five-part drama, two successful people, prosperous and happily married, pay little attention to their Polish domestic. Perhaps they should....