Radio History

Christopher Lee's highly-acclaimed and award-winning BBC Radio 4 history of the British Empire. Britain had the biggest empire the world has ever known. At one time a quarter of the global land mass was British. Over a third of the world was insured at Lloyds. At his coronation, more than 400...

The chilling first novel by filmmaker, composer, and graphic novelist Leopoldo Gout, performed by actor Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us; Narcos; Game of Thrones) “Ghost Radio reminded me of early Stephen King. The story sticks with you long after you’ve finished the final page.” —James...

Brought to you by Penguin. Britain was once a craft land. For generations what we made with our hands shaped our identities, built our communities and defined our regions. Craftland chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions that used to govern every aspect of life on these shores. From the...

Two mismatched brothers must save their late mother's failing board game company using an unconventional marketing framework, or risk losing their family legacy forever. When their mother unexpectedly passes away, Joe and Pete inherit her once-thriving board game company. But with the stock price plummeting and their own incompetence threatening to sink the business, these polar opposite brothers – Joe, an overconfident jock, and Pete, a sensitive poet – must put aside their differences and work together to save their family's legacy.

When Lilly was first chief engineer at The Commonwealth, nearly 50 years ago, the Central Archive wasn't yet the greatest repository of knowledge in the known world, protected by scribes copying every piece of found material - books, maps, even scraps of paper - and disseminating them by Archive Runners to hidden off-site locations for safe keeping. Back then, there was no Order of Silence to create and maintain secret routes deep into the sand-covered towers of the Gone World or into the northern forests beyond Sea Glass Lake.

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the history of the Islamic world through its religion, thinkers, poetry, empire and rulers 'An ever-growing library of wisdom' The Economist Since 1998, In Our Time has been the go-to radio programme for knowledge seekers and inquiring minds. Tackling big topics...

Sometimes the key is letting go… It seems like everyone is breaking up. Everyone, that is, except Melody. She’s already decided love just isn't for her. Then all the lovers’ padlocks are removed from a beautiful Dublin bridge, and people start splitting up. Melody is intrigued enough to...

'Natalie Haynes is both a witty and an erudite guide. She wears her extensive learning lightly and deftly drags the Classics into the modern world' - Kate Atkinson From snaky Echidna – mother of monsters – to the fearsome Minotaur, the strange and terrible creatures of Greek Myths have been...

An unparalleled collection of Full-Cast BBC Drama adaptations of Sean O’Casey’s powerful, poignant works One of Ireland’s foremost playwrights, Sean O’Casey is renowned for his groundbreaking plays depicting the lives of poor, working-class Dubliners struggling with social and political...

A full-cast dramatisation of the bestselling Biblical adventure story by Lloyd C. Douglas Weary of governing, the half-crazed Emperor Tiberius retreats to Capri, leaving his loathsome stepson, Prince Gaius, in charge of an increasingly corrupt Rome. Few dare speak out against him – so when...

David Reynolds’ major BBC Radio 4 series explores the origins of contemporary USA from its beginnings to the present day This epic narrative tells America’s story through the voices of those who lived it - presidents and farmers, mothers and children, settlers and soldiers, slaves and...

Brought to you by Penguin. Explore how music has changed our world through 50 pieces across classical, folk and world traditions with BBC presenter Tom Service, in this official Radio 3 compendium. Music transports us and defines us. As a form of expression, it has been passed down through oral...

A celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, including documentaries and readings as heard on BBC Radio 4. 2011 marked the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, a seminal text that remains the most widely published and influential book in the English language.Once...

Based on a true story, a gripping historical novel about a German immigrant who becomes embroiled in a Nazi spy ring operating in New York City in the early days of World War II. At the end of the 1930s, Europe is engulfed in war. Though America is far from the fighting, the streets of New York...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER David Byrne’s incisive and enthusiastic look at the musical art form, from its very inceptions to the influences that shape it, whether acoustical, economic, social, or technological—now updated with a new chapter on digital curation. “How Music Works is a...

The series weaves together more than 50 first-person interviews with an unprecedented collection of archival sound: a rare recording of the 1964 trial that resulted in Mandela's life sentence; a visit between Mandela and his family secretly taped by a prison guard; marching songs of guerilla soldiers; government propaganda films; and pirate radio broadcasts from the African National Congress (ANC).

A one-of-a kind survey of rap and hip hop history from 1973 to today by Chuck D, arguably the most influential rapper in the world. In the more than 40 years since the days of DJ Kool Herc and "Rapper's Delight," hip hop and rap have become a billion-dollar worldwide phenomenon. Yet there is no...

Ian Hislop takes a hilarious look at some of Britain's oldest jokes The British are rather proud of their sense of humour - but where has that pride come from and what makes it unique? With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down...

The Radio Right tells the story of the 1960s far right, who were frustrated by what they perceived to be liberal bias in the national media, particularly the media's sycophantic relationship with the John F. Kennedy administration. By the early 1960s, millions of Americans listened each week to conservative broadcasters, the most prominent of which were clergy or lay broadcasters from across the religious spectrum, including Carl McIntire, Billy James Hargis, and Clarence Manion.  

Freedom of speech. It is our most cherished privilege as Americans, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution since 1791. But our current presidential administration threatens to sharply curtail or silence altogether the freedom of expression that distinguishes America from the...