logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2015
41m 44s

Cultural Lifespans

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode
On Start the Week Tom Sutcliffe picks through the remains of vanished buildings with the writer James Crawford. In his book, Fallen Glory, Crawford looks at the life and death of some of the world's most iconic structures. The conductor Semyon Bychkov explores why some music fades, and the enduring appeal of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Julia Sallabank studi ... Show More
Up next
Oct 6
Yanis Varoufakis on Greece’s civil war
The economist Yanis Varoufakis found himself in the eye of the storm as Greece’s Minister of Finance in 2015, at the height of the country’s debt crisis. Now he reflects on his political awakenings and the women who influenced him in Raise Your Soul. It’s a family story that star ... Show More
41m 56s
Sep 29
Steven Pinker on common knowledge
The experimental cognitive psychologist and popular science writer, Steven Pinker delves into the intricacies of human interactions in his latest book, ‘When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and Outrage’. From avoiding ... Show More
42m 15s
Sep 22
Contains Strong Language Festival, Bradford
At the Contains Strong Language Festival in Bradford, Tom Sutcliffe and guests explore the history and culture of the city, and nation, through its poetry and stories. From battlefields and royal courts, coalmines to curry houses Start the Week looks at the language and rhythms t ... Show More
42 m
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2024
Metamorphosis and Myth
This week, Ben Hutchinson on the making of Franz Kafka, a century after the writer's death; and an interview with Roz Dineen about her vision of climate catastrophe and societal collapse.'Kafka: Making of an icon', Weston Library, Bodleian, Oxford, until October 27Accompanying bo ... Show More
52m 8s
May 2023
The Lives of Stonehenge: Inigo Jones and John Wood
Rosemary Hill begins a new four-part series looking at what people have thought about Stonehenge over the past few hundred years, and why it’s come to matter so much in the story of Britain. In the first episode she talks to architectural historian Vaughan Hart about how Inigo Jo ... Show More
44m 45s
Nov 2019
74 | Stephen Greenblatt on Stories, History, and Cultural Poetics
An infinite number of things happen; we bring structure and meaning to the world by making art and telling stories about it. Every work of literature created by human beings comes out of an historical and cultural context, and drawing connections between art and its context can b ... Show More
1h 6m
Jun 2014
The Fault in Our Stars, The Silkworm, Making Stalin Laugh, Making Colour, The Human Factor
The Fault In Our Stars, starring Shailene Woodley, is the screen adaptation of John Green's best selling young adult novel of the same name about a pair of love struck teenagers both of whom are terminally ill with cancer. Brought together at a cancer support group the pair embar ... Show More
41m 50s
Apr 2024
Is culture the missing key to global progress?
Culture is fundamental to who we are as human beings. Yet it is missing from global efforts to resolve the most pressing human issues of our time. Discover why recognising the importance of culture can open the door to a more equitable, sustainable, and connected world – and hear ... Show More
37m 16s
Aug 2019
Mother Tongue
How do you preserve a language when your government is actively trying to erase it?Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist who was trying to stop the Chinese government from replacing Uyghur with Mandarin. He had been studying the language's history, teaching Uyghur to younger student ... Show More
35m 46s
Mar 2023
Cultural Appropriation
What do Gwen Stefani, Iggy Azalea, and Camille Monet have in common? They are all blonde women who are probably guilty of cultural appropriation. In episode 73 of Overthink, Ellie and David tackle cultural appropriation, starting with the kerfuffle over Claude Monet’s painting La ... Show More
59m 21s
Feb 2022
Mother Tongue
How do you preserve a language when your government is actively trying to erase it?Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist who was trying to stop the Chinese government from replacing Uyghur with Mandarin. He had been studying the language's history, teaching Uyghur to younger student ... Show More
35m 37s
Oct 2014
The 9/11 Museum
In 1954, the French critic and semiotician Roland Barthes began a series of essays in which he analysed the popular culture of his day. He called his essays "Mythologies." In this series of witty talks, the acclaimed writer and critic Peter Conrad delivers a series of 21st Centur ... Show More
11m 39s
Feb 2019
3. The Mayan Collapse - Ruins Among the Trees
In the tropical forests of Central America, vast stone pyramids slowly crumble beneath the trees. In this episode, we look at one of history's great romantic mysteries: the fall of the Classic Maya Civilization. Find out how this great civilization grew up among environmental con ... Show More
1h 9m