History Today

In this episode meet Socrates and Aspasia: the philosopher who changed the way we think about the world and the woman who changed him.

‘I’d be disappointed if I didn’t meet Emperor Claudius in the afterlife.’

In this episode, writer and Gardeners' Question Time panellist Matthew Biggs travels to 1905 to watch the plant hunter George Forrest begin an ill-omened expedition into the mountains of Yunnan.

Four historians consider one of the most contentious questions facing the West’s museums and galleries.

‘Humans change very little over time. We love, worry and hope today in much the same way as we did 5,000 years ago.’

The Taoist Immortal.

In this episode Simon Schaffer, Professor of History of Science at the University of Cambridge, visits three events pivotal to the genesis of Isaac Newton's paradigm-shattering book the Principia Mathematica.

Four historians consider how their discipline can best reach a mass audience. 

Journey with Travels Through Time to 10 December 1776. Kate Fullagar recounts the day as lived by the Cherokee diplomat and warrior, Ostenaco; the Raiatean Voyager, Mai and the artist who painted them, Joshua Reynolds. 

‘The most common misconception about my field is that classicists study a past that no longer impacts on our world today.’