Reith Lectures Archive: 1948-1975

Director of the Oxford Institute of Colonial Studies Margery Perham considers the problem of the European colonists and race relations in the fourth lecture in her Reith Lectures series 'The Colonial Reckoning'.

Director of the Oxford Institute of Colonial Studies Margery Perham explores how anti-colonialism led to emancipation in Africa in the second lecture in her Reith Lectures series 'The Colonial Reckoning'. She analyses some of the converging events and influences which forced the rapid growth of African nationalism.

Art historian Edgar Wind considers how machines have influenced the production and evaluation of art in the fifth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'Art and Anarchy'. He considers how machines have influenced art and how mechanics have influenced the production and evaluation of art now that works can be reproduced and multiplied.

Art historian Edgar Wind challenges the idea that intellect hurts the artistic imagination in the fourth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'Art and Anarchy'. He argues that art and intellect should not be separated into one or the other, because together they have created some of the greatest works of art.

Biologist and Nobel prize winner Professor Peter Medawar considers the future of human evolution in the final lecture in his Reith Lectures series ‘The Future of Man’. He discusses the possibility of a new, non-genetic, system of inheritance and predicts that certain properties and activities of the brain will affect our evolution in the future.

Astronomer, physicist and the first director of the Jodrell Bank Experimental Observatory Professor Bernard Lovell explores the continuous creation theory of the universe in the final lecture of his Reith Lectures series 'The Individual and the Universe'.

Astronomer, physicist and the first director of the Jodrell Bank Experimental Observatory Professor Bernard Lovell contemplates the implications of evolutionary theory in the fifth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'The Individual and the Universe'.

US diplomat and historian Professor George F Kennan discusses the military tensions between Russia and the West in the fourth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'Russia, the Atom and the West'. He considers how atomic weapons have changed the relationship between East and West, and confronts the problem of the 'mutually assured destruction' doctrine.

US diplomat and historian Professor George F Kennan considers the effect of Soviet satellite states in Europe in the third lecture in his Reith Lectures series ‘Russia, the Atom, and the West. He explores the difficulties which have already arisen in Central and Eastern Europe over territorial conflict, and considers in detail the problems between Germany and the satellite states under Soviet rule.

Physicist and Nobel prize winner Professor Edward Appleton analyses the functions of teaching institutions, and explores how universities teach both applied and pure science in the final lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'Science and the Nation'.

Physicist and Nobel prize winner Professor Edward Appleton analyses the functional sciences created for industry in the fifth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'Science and the Nation'. He explores the scientific research work carried out by industries in order to produce better products, and analyses how automation is expanding this kind of science.

Art and architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner explores how the geographical, historical, social and aesthetical aspects of England’s town centres have influenced the planning process in the final lecture of his Reith Lectures series 'The Englishness of English Art'.

The art and architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner examines the sudden flowering of English landscape painting in the late 18th century in the sixth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'The Englishness of English Art'. He argues that this concentration was a direct result of the temperate English climate.

The art and architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner explores the ‘Decorated Style’ which seems in every respect to be the opposite of the Perpendicular style which he examined in his previous lecture. Through illustrations ranging from English church architecture from 1290-1350 to the gentle curves of painters such as Gainsborough and Reynolds, Dr Pevsner places the artist William Blake (1757-1827) in the context of a very English tradition.

Art and architecture historian Nikolaus Pevsner examines the Perpendicular style formed in England in about 1330 in the fourth lecture in his Reith Lectures series 'The Englishness of English Art'. It represented a complete break with what had gone before, but once it had been established universally in the country by the 1380s, it remained virtually unchanged for 150 years - so much so that even specialists struggle to determine accurate dates for this style of work.