The Queer Shakespeare: John Lyly

This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, violence and child abuse. Listener discretion is advised. How did the mob lynching of a notorious astrologer and occultist in June 1628 act as a grim prelude to the demise of King Charles I? Why did John Lambe - accused of witc ...  Show more

A king with unyielding faith. A nation on the brink. A crown lost to revolution.King James II is often dismissed as the unfortunate monarch swept aside by William and Mary. But behind the Glorious Revolution lies a story of ambition, devotion, and downfall more dramatic than lege ...  Show more

The Bard’s work featured many references to sex and sexuality - some more obvious than others. But what does the work reveal about the sexuality of Shakespeare himself? 

Despite being married with three kids to Anne Hathaway in the sleepy suburbs of Stratford-up ...

To celebrate Melvyn Bragg’s 27 years presenting In Our Time, some well-known fans of the programme have chosen their favourite episodes. Historian and broadcaster Simon Schama has selected the episode on Shakespeare’s Sonnets and recorded an introduction to it. (This introduction ...  Show more

To celebrate Melvyn Bragg’s 27 years presenting In Our Time, some well-known fans of the programme have chosen their favourite episodes. Historian and broadcaster Simon Schama has selected the episode on Shakespeare’s Sonnets and recorded an introduction to it. (This introduction ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's best known, most quoted and longest play, written c1599 - 1602 and rewritten throughout his lifetime. It is the story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, encouraged by his father's ghost to take revenge on his uncle who murdered him, and is ...  Show more