443. Lord Byron: Death of a Vampire (Part 4)

How did America respond after the American Embassy in Tehran was seized, and American citizens taken hostage? Would the hostages survive? And, what became of the Iranian Revolution, and Ayatollah Khomeini? Join Dominic and Tom, as they unfold the climactic conclusion to the Irani ...  Show more

Why and how was the American Embassy stormed in 1979, at the height of the Iranian Revolution? Did America respond when large numbers of American civil servants were taken hostage? And, would a science fiction film called Argo save the only 6 Americans able to escape…? Join Domin ...  Show more

How debaucherous do you have to be to be remembered as the original bad boy? How mad, bad and dangerous to know was Lord Byron? And how much of it did he get from his family?

For this episode, Kate is joined by Emily Brand, the author of ‘The Fall of the Hou ...

Byron’s early poems – his so-called ’dark tales’ – have been dismissed by critics as the tawdry, slapdash products of an uninteresting mind, and readers ever since have found it difficult not to see them in light of the poet’s dramatic and public later life. In a recent piece for ...  Show more

The poet Lord Byron is well known as a passionate revolutionary and a brooding hero who harbors dark secrets. But what about his playful sense of humor? In this episode, Jacke talks to Byron biographer David Ellis (Byron) about the Romantic poet's flamboyant life and work. PLUS A ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Xenophon.Xenophon, an aristocratic Athenian, was one of the most celebrated writers of the ancient world. Born in around 430 BC, he was a friend and pupil of the great philosopher Socrates. In his twenties he took part in a ...  Show more