Sociologist A H Halsey, Professor of Social and Administrative studies at the University of Oxford, explores the characteristics of the British culture in his first Reith lecture from the series entitled 'Change in British Society'. In this lecture entitled 'To Know Ourselves' Professor Halsey explains that to know ourselves we must explore the sources of consensus and conflict. How are differences between classes, sexes, generations and ethnic groups to be depicted? How have they been changing?...
Jan 11, 1978•29 min
Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge Colin Blakemore considers mental illness and morality in his sixth and final Reith lecture from his series 'Mechanics of the Mind'. He questions why society attempts to regulate the behaviour of its members and tries to order them into normal and abnormal. In this lecture entitled 'Madness and Morality', Professor Colin Blakemore expands on the many ways cerebral irregularities have been treated throughout history; invasive...
Dec 15, 1976•30 min
Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge Colin Blakemore explores speech as the vehicle of our language in the fifth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind'. He investigates how we evolved to speak and questions whether human brains are mentally better equipped to interpret the syntax of language. In this lecture entitled 'A Burning Fire', Professor Blakemore moves between scientific experiments with chimpanzees using sign language to the le...
Dec 08, 1976•30 min
Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge Colin Blakemore explores the human memory in his fourth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind'. In this lecture entitled 'A Child of the Moment', Professor Blakemore discusses how we create and store the memories which create our identity. He explains how scientists believe that memories consist of synthesized chemical molecules in the brain and reveals examples of how cerebral cortex damage can halt...
Dec 01, 1976•30 min
Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge explores human sight in his third Reith Lecture from his series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind'. We build up a miraculous understanding of the world around us by interpreting the light that enters our eyes. Professor Blakemore explains how the brain interprets these lights to create sight. In this lecture entitled 'An Image of Truth', Professor Blakemore argues that our perception provides us with a representation of our w...
Nov 24, 1976•30 min
Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge Colin Blakemore explores the human need for sleep in his second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind'. In this lecture entitled 'Chang Tzu and the Butterfly', Professor Colin Blakemore examines the human need for sleep. The study of human sleep remains the most direct experimental approach to the question of consciousness. Our nightly appointment with death is the most profound loss of awareness tha...
Nov 17, 1976•30 min
This year's lecturer is Neurobiologist Colin Blakemore. A Professor of Physiology at the University of Cambridge and Director of Medical Studies at Downing College, he is the youngest person to give the Reith lectures. He explores the concepts of the brain in his Reith series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind' and evaluates how our brains have shaped our behaviour and our society. In this lecture entitled 'The Divinest Part of Us', Professor Colin Blakemore discusses how the theory of the mind mir...
Nov 10, 1976•29 min
This year's Reith lecturer is distinguished Professor of American history, Dr Daniel J Boorstin, the twelfth Librarian of Congress. In his Reith lectures, entitled 'America and the World Experience', he explores how the USA developed into the superpower it is today. In this first lecture entitled 'The Birth of Exploration', Dr Boorstin explains why the desire to journey to new and undiscovered lands was important in the development of the United States of America. He considers the difference bet...
Nov 12, 1975•29 min
Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his fourth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'. In this lecture entitled 'On Difference', Professor Ralf Dahrendorf discusses the concept of diversity and averages. Evaluating the socialist philosophies of different countries, he dissects the averages that are found in society and contemplates what will happen when developing countries try to reassess their status as developed countri...
Dec 04, 1974•29 min
Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his third Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'. In this lecture entitled 'Justice Without Bondage', Professor Dahrendorf evaluates how liberty has been misinterpreted as equality and justice. He claims that advanced demographic societies are bound by a fear of political correctness. In this age, which he describes as 'the alienation of the enlightened progress', he argues that we have ...
Nov 27, 1974•30 min
Professor of Sociology and Director of the London School of Economics Ralf Dahrendorf gives his second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The New Liberty'. In this lecture entitled 'The Liberal Option', Professor Dahrendorf explores the liberal options available to society. He questions why recognised problems in society, which also have visible solutions, do not make any great progress. Who is it that prevents this potential from being realised? To answer these questions he explores how so...
Nov 20, 1974•29 min
This year's Reith lecturer is the eminent German-British sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf. Previously a Professor of Sociology at the Universities of Hamburg, Tübingen and Konstanz, he has been a leading figure for liberal politics and an authority on class divisions in modern society. In 1970 he became the European Commissioner in Brussels before taking over as Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1974. In his Reith series entitled 'The New Liberty', he questions the d...
Nov 13, 1974•29 min
Alastair Francis Buchan, the Montague Burton Professor of International Relations for Oxford University, explores the concept of 'transnationalism' in his sixth Reith lecture. Speaking from his series entitled 'Change without War', he concludes his lectures on international relations. In this lecture entitled 'The Search for a New Order', Professor Alastair Buchan speculates whether we might be able to control and adapt the dynamic process of change in order to reduce the eruptions of conflict a...
Dec 19, 1973•29 min
Alastair Francis Buchan, the Montague Burton Professor of International Relations for Oxford University, reflects on the global power of the United States of America in his third Reith lecture. Speaking from his series entitled 'Change without War', he reflects on new international relations. In this lecture entitled 'The Troubled Giant', Professor Alastair Buchan explores why the United States of America is still the largest and strongest world power. He analyses how its decisions continue to a...
Nov 28, 1973•29 min
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield gives the sixth of his Reith lectures from his series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination'. In this lecture entitled 'Wanted: An Instrument for Crisis Management', Sir Shonfield considers the long-term future of the European Community. Analysing the effect of Britain's entry, he also anticipates an adaptation of the role of the European Commission into the next level of European ...
Dec 12, 1972•28 min
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield gives the fifth of his Reith lectures from his series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination'. In this lecture entitled 'From Technocracy to Democracy?', Sir Shonfield considers how the inclusion of the British into the European Community could lead to a more politically democratic form of governance. Taking this into consideration, Sir Shonfield questions whether the European Commu...
Dec 05, 1972•29 min
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield gives the fourth of his Reith lectures from his series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination'. In this lecture entitled 'A European Foreign Policy towards Asia and the Soviet Bloc', Sir Shonfield explores the policy problems of the enlarged European Community in relation to the rest of the world. Shonfield explores how external economic relations and different foreign policies must...
Nov 28, 1972•29 min
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield gives the third of his Reith lectures from his series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination'. In this lecture entitled 'The American Connection: a Grumbling Alliance', Sir Shonfield explores the European Community's relations with the rest of the world and in particular, The United States. He explores how currency, business and trade all affect the working relationship between the ...
Nov 21, 1972•28 min
Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield gives the second of his Reith lectures from his series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination'. In this lecture entitled 'The French Spirit and the British Intruder', Sir Andrew Shonfield identifies the problems in creating a European Federation. He explores how political identity is mixed up with national identity, and explains why certain countries find it harder to join the Europ...
Nov 14, 1972•29 min
This year's Reith lecturer is political economist Sir Andrew Shonfield. Currently the Director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), he has previously worked as economic editor and foreign editor for The Observer (1958–61) and the Financial Times (1947–57). After fifteen years in journalism, he became the Director of Studies at the RIIA before a brief stint as Chairman of the Social Science Research Council from1969–70. In his Reith series entitled 'Europe: Journey to an Unknow...
Nov 07, 1972•28 min
The British academic and Assistant Director General of UNESCO Richard Hoggart explores the concepts of communication in his Reith lecture series entitled 'Only connect'. In this lecture entitled 'Common Ground', Richard Hoggart evaluates the role of passing information to each other via a system of communication. He asks, now that we have developed at an almost unbelievable speed, what happens next? Are we really more in touch now than previously? How will new technologies bring us closer? Centr...
Dec 21, 1971•29 min
This year's Reith lecturer is the influential thinker Donald Schon. Previously a Professor of philosophy at the University of California, he was the director of the Institute for Applied Technology in the National Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce. He is currently the co-founder and director of the Organization for Social and Technological Innovation (OSTI), a non-profit social research and development firm in Boston. He delivers his Reith lecture on industrial technology and social ch...
Nov 15, 1970•43 min
The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his final lecture entitled 'Where Does Responsibility Lie?', Sir Fraser Darling argues that population is almost certain to increase but pollution does not necessarily need to. He argues that technology should use its own inventiveness to decontaminate t...
Dec 14, 1969•29 min
The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his fifth lecture entitled 'The Forward Look in Conservation', Sir Fraser Darling reflects on the art of conservation. He considers how technology and preservation of the world could work together in unison and highlights different countries' conservatio...
Dec 07, 1969•29 min
The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his fourth lecture entitled 'Global Changes - Actual and Possible', Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the problem of overpopulation and its likely effect on the natural world. He considers the population problem in relation to other environmental factors...
Nov 30, 1969•28 min
The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his third lecture entitled 'The Technological Exponential', Sir Frank Fraser Darling examines the ecological consequences of technology since the industrial evolution. He reflects on the way the rapid guzzle of oil, coal and nuclear materials has affecte...
Nov 23, 1969•29 min
The Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and renowned ecologist Sir Frank Fraser Darling explores the concept of Man's responsibility for his natural environment in his Reith series entitled 'Wilderness and Plenty'. In his second lecture entitled 'Impact of Man on His Environment', Sir Fraser Darling explores the continuous affect of man on his natural habitat. Taking examples from prehistoric man, the industrial revolution and modern day technology, he considers wheth...
Nov 16, 1969•29 min
This year's Reith lecturer is English ecologist, conservationist and author Sir Frank Fraser Darling. He is the current Vice-President of the Conservation Foundation in Washington, DC and his ornithological ideas have marked him as a specialist on the topic of the natural environment. He also worked as a Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation at the University of Edinburgh (1953-58) and was Chief Officer at the Imperial Bureau of Animal Genetics (1930–34). He is strongly associated with the...
Nov 09, 1969•29 min
Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson contemplates the political world order in his Reith series entitled 'Peace in the Family of Man'. In this lecture entitled 'The United States of the World', Lester Pearson contemplates the concept of nationalism. What is a national identity? How can we dispel the emotions and prejudices which are wrapped up in it? And how does internationalism change our perspectives? He explores why we create nations and explores how the...
Dec 01, 1968•30 min
This year's Reith lecturer is the British social anthropologist Professor Edmund Leach. He is the current Provost of King's College, Cambridge and throughout his academic career he has challenged received notions about cultural change. He explores the notion of 'relational structures' in his Reith series entitled 'A Runaway World?' In this lecture entitled 'Only Connect', Professor Leach concludes his series by explaining the interconnectedness of humans with the natural world. He warns that wit...
Dec 17, 1967•30 min
