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Review: BBC In Our Time Podcasts

5 April 2017

By Lauren E. White

Anyone with an interest in the world and its unusual functions as well as current affairs and how they came to be will find something they love in BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time podcasts.

Melvyn Bragg (who may actually have the best job in the world) hosts the programmes where experts (usually academics from some of the top universities. Once, though, there was a ‘freelance philosopher’…) discuss philosophy, religion, culture, history and science and do it in a way that ordinary people can understand. That’s the reason I’ve kept listening to the podcasts since September last year – the podcasts aren’t filled with a load of terminology you can’t understand but are actually much more accessible than you’d expect.

If you’re studying A Level RE then you’ll find the philosophy and possibly the religion section helpful as there are some golden nuggets related to the course content (utilitarianism, Bertrand Russell and Hume). It’s also great if you’re thinking of studying one of the topics at university too as you’ll be able to have some background knowledge and something to put in your UCAS personal statement.

The podcasts are available on iPhones and online.

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