In Our Time, If You’ve Got the Time

I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite podcasts is the B.B.C. Radio 4 discussion show In Our Time. In each episode, novelist and television host Melvyn Bragg discusses a particular topic with three experts drawn from Britain’s universities.

For the podcast, the forty-five minutes of discussion recorded live is augmented with the few extra minutes of “what did we miss?” chat.

Here are some episodes over the past year that have improved my understanding of the British Empire of the 1700s:

• Fanny Burney
• Frederick the Great
• Emma
• Salem Witch Trials
• Voyages of James Cook
• Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• Titus Oates and the “Popish Plot”
• Songs of Innocence and Experience
• The Gin Craze

As I recall, the Emma discussion eventually came down to the academics reading out their favorite bits. And who can blame them?

A Brief Glimpse of Jane Austen at the Bod, 1 March

On Thursday, and for that day only, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University will display two items related to author Jane Austen.

One is the portrait made public last year, said to show Austen as an adult. Its authenticity is under debate. For many decades the only Austen portrait accepted as authentic was a watercolor made by her sister when they were both teenagers.

The second item is a needlework sampler dated 1787, when Austen was eleven. (The Guardian reports the stitches are so worn it looks like it’s dated 1797.)

Both the sampler and the portrait are in private hands, so folks don’t get to see them often. They’re on display Thursday because that’s World Book Day.