Professor Katherine Schofield explains how Khanum Jan’s North Indian music and dance shaped cultural links with Englishwoman Sophia Plowden, whose detailed notes and artwork captured Lucknow’s rich courtesan world in the 1700s and its revival two centuries later.
A talk about the growing list of planets found beyond our Solar System, why none match Earth yet, and what that might mean for finding worlds like ours.
Speakers trace a lavish Ottoman dagger’s path from Istanbul’s imperial workshops to Horace Walpole’s collection, showing how its meaning changed over time.
Professor Stafford-Smith shares his experiences in Afghanistan, questioning Western views and showing what the country can teach about law and shared values.
Professor Philipp Kukura explains how weighing tiny objects works, showing why mass and weight differ and how new tools reveal the hidden world of biomolecules.
The talk looks at George Orwell’s secret 1949 list of suspected Communists and why archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe was on it, tracing their political ties and the clashes that marked their lives through the war years and the Cold War.
Antony Penrose speaks about his mother Lee Miller’s wartime photographs, how she faced the horrors she saw, and why her images still echo so powerfully today.
Professor Mitchell looks at how artists from past and present wars, from Paul Nash to today’s conflict zones, turn pain into images that can support healing and fresh hope.
Claire Allen-Johnstone looks at how early feminists used fashion, from bold cycling suits to suffragist style, showing how clothing shaped literary culture and ideas about women’s freedom across the 20th century.
Professor Broodbank and Dr Lucarini share how recent digs at Oued Beht in Morocco uncovered a lively farming community from 3400–2900 BC, reshaping ideas about early Mediterranean life.
Historian Huw Bennett looks at how the British Army worked with the RUC and local groups during the Troubles, using new records to explain why the conflict kept growing.
Guests hear Jane Peyton explain how gin changed from a feared drink to Britain’s favourite spirit, taste three types, and learn its links to sailors and empire.
Professor Raghavendra Rau explains how climate extremes and politics can hit markets all at once, why old ways of sharing risk fail, and what fixes might work.
Mark Smith shares moving stories of his father’s RAF days, shows wartime medals up close and chats with curator Nigel Steel about the tales behind them.
Historian Steven Brindle shares fascinating stories and photos of grand homes from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, showing their lost beauty and style.
Dr Ruadhan Scrivener-Anderson looks at who led Scotland’s soldiers in The Black Watch before and during the First World War, linking class, duty and identity.
A group of historians and writers discuss how the end of the Second World War led to independence struggles in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus, shaping Britain’s place in today’s world.
Author Ben Paites talks about objects that reveal hidden LGBTQ+ stories, from a rapier sword found by the Thames to finds that show how people challenged norms.
Learn how a gruelling 1911 Antarctic trek for penguin eggs led to one of the most famous tales of endurance, linked to Captain Scott’s tragic expedition.
Julie Montagu shares stories from family letters and diaries about Alberta Sturges, an American heiress whose love of art, Hinduism and fashion shaped her remarkable life.
Author Deborah Cadbury talks about Queen Victoria’s efforts to unite Europe through her grandchildren’s royal marriages and how those hopes collapsed in the First World War.
A speaker traces how hatred may have evolved, explaining its role in human survival, its link to love, and whether it could ever be reduced or ’treated'.
The talk looks at moments when small ruling groups tried to seize control in ancient Athens and Rome, and how ordinary people pushed back against them.
Historian Martin Howard talks about how armies coped with wounds and disease during Britain’s war with its American colonies, from poor hygiene to smallpox prevention.
Guests will hear historians and film experts talk about how movies from the First World War to today have shaped how people remember and think about war.
The talk compares human freedom and creativity with a future shaped by AI, asking if machines that remove our effort might also reduce our sense of self.
Five women from very different walks of life join forces in 1914, using the turmoil of war to fight for reform and reshape how women are treated in society.
Michael Pollan and Anil Seth talk about what consciousness really is, how it shapes our sense of self, and whether animals and plants might share it too.
Harry Richards explains how rumours of enemy spies in 1914 led nervous local soldiers to guard key sites, shaping wartime life with fear and suspicion.
