In Memoriam
Melvyn and guests discuss one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's greatest poem's, 'In Memoriam A.H.H.'. Written as a tribute to his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly and tragically at the age of 22, the poem offers an insight into Tennyson's deepest feelings of grief and loss. As well as being a heart-rending elegy, the poem also considers the new geological ideas that were coming to light at the time and the questions this knowledge raised about the history of the Earth as outlined in the Bible. Melvyn is joined by Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University; Seamus Perry, Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, University of Oxford; and Jane Wright, Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.
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Dan Carlin's Hardcore HistoryDeath Throes of the Republic VI
In a massive finish to the "Dan Carlin version" of the fall of the Roman Republic, conspiracies, civil wars, beatniks of antiquity and a guy named Caesar figure prominently. Virtually everyone dies.
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Mahabharata Podcast
Kurukshetra, Day 2
Episode 63 - The second day of battle comes and goes. If the first day went to the Kauravas, the 2nd day certainly belonged to the Pandavas. The day ends with Bhimasena and Arjun dominating the field, and the Kaurava soldiers crapping their pants. The cream of Kalinga manhood has been exterminated on the field, and even their enemies are forced to admire the way the two brothers cleared the field of all comers.
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Forgotten Classics
Genesis, chapter 30
In which Leah and Rachel begin an unusual competition and Jacob asks Laban for some pay.
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Reith Lectures 2011Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty 28 Jun 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi discusses what freedom means in the first of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Liberty. The Burmese pro-democracy leader reflects on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, exploring the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.
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The Economist
China's presence in Europe
China's economic expansion into Europe is gathering pace
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TED Talks
A Rosetta Stone for the Indus script - Rajesh Rao
Rajesh Rao is fascinated by "the mother of all crossword puzzles": How to decipher the 4000 year old Indus script. At TED 2011 he tells how he is enlisting modern computational techniques to read the Indus language, the key piece to understanding this ancient civilization.
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