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Podcasts - Talks, Discussions and Interviews

The Meanings of Music in Brazilian Culture

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The American Presidential Election: Model Of Democracy Or Flawed System?

Conference Address by Baroness Williams of Crosby

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The St Cuthbert Gospel: the Story of a Book

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17th Annual Douglas W. Bryant Lecture

Rorschach President: How Barack Obama Personifies the Anxieties and Aspirations of America

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Backstage

The British Library and De Montfort University Theatre Archive Project present an evening of interviews and discussion with those who work behind the curtain

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Adapt or Die:
The Future of News and Newspapers in the Digital Revolution

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Tales of Heroism, Tales of Terror: The British in the American Civil War

Amanda Foreman gives a fresh account of the Civil War through the stories of Britons who went to America.

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16th Annual Douglas W. Bryant Lecture

Why men hate to talk about relationships: the US, the UK, and the Atlantic Alliance.

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Writers on Writing

Deborah Moggach chairs a discussion with authors Philip Hensher, Hilary Spurling and Michael Frayn

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Out of this World: Why science fiction speaks to us all

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Who owns the Story of the Future?

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American Intelligence and the Iraq War in Perspective

American Intelligence and the Iraq War in Perspective

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The Writing Life: Authors Speak

Where do writers find their inspiration? Is there a right way to go about writing? What are the challenges of interviewing writers?

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Cruel Deeds and Dreadful Calamities

Linda Stratmann discusses murder, mayhem and escaped elephants in the Illustrated Police News.

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Cuddywifters, cack-handers and coochies

A discussion that explores the ever-changing regional contrasts of the English Language.

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Beautiful Bird Songs of Britain

Wildlife Sounds Curator Cheryl Tipp discusses why we are so fascinated by birdsong.

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Shakespeare's Sonnets

A packed auditorium joined poet Don Paterson, Ben Crystal, Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen for an evening of appreciation and exploration of Shakespeare's Sonnets

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English Language Question Time

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The Other English: some African reflections

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David Crystal - Begat

is it true that no book has had greater influence on the English language than the King James Bible?

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English - the World's Language?

Can the world's pre-eminent language for communication, business, science and popular culture expect a more diverse and multilingual future?

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Steven Pinker

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David Crystal - Evolving English

Evolving English shows very clearly that there is no single story of the English language.

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Is the physical library a redundant resource?

A lively discussion on the future of university and research libraries.

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A Celebration of Variety

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The New Mapping Revolution

The internet is fuelling dramatic and dynamic changes in the way we map our world.

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The Map in the Palace

David Starkey and  Peter Barber discuss the importance of maps in medieval and early modern palaces.

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The Story of Graphic Design

Patrick Cramsie discusses the most significant moments and greatest achievements in the history of graphic design.

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Anti-Americanism in the 21st Century

Has the Obama administration seen a reverse of the anti-Americanism of the Bush years?

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Book Makers: British Publishing in the Twentieth Century

Iain Stevenson discusses scandal, censorship and the net book agreement in the context of his new book.

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A Night with the Impresarios

Producers John and Lisel Gale are interviewed by Rebecca Novell, and Iain Mackintosh, who founded Oxford's Prospect Theatre Company, talks with Dr Alec Patton.

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Ken Livingstone interview

How the political landscape has changed in the last 20 years - and how it hasn’t.

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Geoff Dyer on John Berger

Geoff Dyer, author of Ways of Telling: the Work of John Berger, talks about John’s work and archive.

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Henry VIII: Myths and Reality

We ask people in the street to tell us what they think they know about England's most talked-about king.

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Graham Swift - Interview

Graham Swift talks about his thoughts on seeing his archive transferred to the Library.

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The Human Rights Act 1998

The landmark 1998 act, far from being an 'imposition of Europe', owes its origins to the efforts of Britain 50 years earlier.

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Shami Chakrabarti with Joan Bakewell

Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti gives a fascinating interview with Joan Bakewell.

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Saving St Catherine's Monastery Library

The library of Saint Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai has the world's most extraordinary collection of early Christian texts.

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Holy Lands, unholy wars

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Tracy Chevalier on William Blake

Tracy Chevalier reads from her novel Burning Bright and discusses William Blake's Notebook.

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The Plimsoll Sensation

Nicolette Jones discusses her award-winning book about Samuel Plimsoll, the Victorian social reformer and 'sailor's friend'.

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Magna Carta

Nicholas Vincent talks about the great icon of liberty and punctures a few myths.

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The Golden Generation - introduction

About our exhibition The Golden Generation, which features audio, video, manuscripts and more from the vibrant postwar age of British theatre 1945-1968.

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Neil Gaiman talks about the Ramayana

Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman stories and many others, talks about his film treatment of Ramayana.

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