Podcasts about producer paul kobrak

Ten years on from the ground-breaking Radio 4 series, "A History of The World in 100 Objects", former director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor looks back at the impact of the series, on how storytelling in museums has changed over a turbulent decade and asks which object from 2020 would best encapsulate our modern age. Producer: Paul Kobrak

In a special edition of Mastertapes, guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer, Richard Hawley welcomes John Wilson to the Crucible in his home town of Sheffield. Throughout his 33 (and a third?) year career as a musician (he first recorded a John Peel session at the age of 19, with his band, Treebound Story), Sheffield has always played an influential part in Richard Hawley's song-writing. His 2001 album, Late Night Final, was named after the cry of vendors selling the Sheffield Star evening newspaper on the streets, and all his solo albums since, from Lowedges and Coles Corner to Truelove’s Gutter and Hollow Meadows, immortalized Sheffield landmarks. At the end of a busy year , in which he worked on four film soundtracks, recorded a new album and debuted his first stage musical - "Standing at the Sky’s Edge" at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre (featuring a mix of his old and new songs), Richard Hawley looks and plays his way back over a 33 (and a third?) year career as a musician (he first recorded a John Peel session at the age of 19, with his band, Treebound Story). Performances include what was the world premier of 'My Little Treasures' from Richard's new album, as well as a version of 'Open Up Your Door' from the stage musical "Standing At The Sky's Edge" sung by Maimuna Memon and accompanied by Will Stewart. Playing with Richard Hawley are Shez Sheridan on guitars, Jon Trier on piano and Clive Mellor on harmonica. Producer: Paul Kobrak

John Wilson concludes the seventh series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading artists about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, the audience asks the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Cult singer-songwriter and artist Benjamin Clementine talks to John Wilson about his 2015 Mercury Prize-winning album At Least for Now. Self-taught, and inspired by a range of music from Antony & the Johnsons to Erik Satie, Benjamin emigrated from London to Paris in 2009 at the age of 19. His career was launched after being discovered while busking in the Paris metro, singing covers of James Brown and Bob Marley. At Least for Now is a dramatic album of poetic ballads that prompted comparisons to Nina Simone and gained critical acclaim for its swooping melodies and the arresting lyricism of singles such as "London" and "Cornerstone". Producer: Paul Kobrak

With six Grammys, three Emmys and two Oscars (from 20 Academy Award nominations) - to say nothing of his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and membership of both the Songwriters and the Rock & Roll Halls of Fame - means that Randy Newman has one of the most crowded mantelpieces in the world of popular entertainment. In this special edition of MASTERTAPES the legendary singer-songwriter and composer talks to John Wilson about 'Sail Away' – the album that Rolling Stone magazine described as “a work of genius” when it was released forty-five years ago. Already with a good dozen years under his belt as a professional song writer (he was only 28 years old when this album was released), with 'Sail Away' we see an artist able to combine biting wit, novelistic complexity and a deep understanding of the contradictions of the American psyche with sumptuous melodies and restrained arrangements. Nowhere more so than with 'Lonely At The Top’ (originally written with Frank Sinatra in mind), ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ (later recorded by Tom Jones for The Full Monty), ‘God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)’ and the austere title track that kicks off the album. MASTERTAPES is recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two parts, with John Wilson initially quizzing the artist about their career defining album, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts some of the questions. Both feature exclusive live performances. Producer: Paul Kobrak

Steve Punt continues his investigations as Radio 4's very own private detective. In 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, the reclusive actress Ada Constance Kent disappeared from the village of Fingringhoe in rural Essex. Despite her cottage being searched on several occasions in the intervening years, her skeleton was only discovered in the bedroom in 1949. Was it her... where had she been in the intervening years... and was she really the person everyone thought she was? Steve Punt interrogates the witnesses and assesses the evidence. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

On the eve of the sixth series of Mastertapes (which features the likes of Laura Marling, Graham Nash and Shirley Collins) there is another chance to hear the Mastertapes special, in which Paul McCartney joins John Wilson. Recorded in the iconic BBC Maida Vale studios, they discuss songwriting, Paul's solo career in the years immediately after The Beatles, his recent collaborations with Kanye West, and working with the likes of George Martin, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and - obviously - John Lennon. He also takes questions from an audience that includes Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Brad Pitt. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Kate Mossman tells the story of the long-overlooked female pop and rock writers of the 1960s. As a music journalist herself, when Kate entered the profession she found herself surrounded by men - men who had very definite ideas about how it should be done... writing for monthly magazines that were aimed at men and covering artist who were mainly men. The whole industry of writing about 'serious' popular music seemed to have been established in the late 1960s and the mid-1970s with the writer-characters of Rolling Stone and our own New Musical Express. But there was a time before all this - a time when the newly invented teenagers were finding their feet... and a new kind of journalism was emerging to chronicle the rapidly changing time. A journalism spearheaded by women. There was Nancy Lewis, who wrote for Fabulous and the NME; June Harris, who wrote for Disc, then went to New York and contributed to Rave (as well as marring legendary rock agent and promoter Frank Barsalona); Maureen O'Grady who began her career as a music journalist at Boyfriend and progressed onto Rave, where she also joined Dawn James. And the doyennes of them all was the Evening Standard's Maureen Cleave, to whom John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Kate Mossman meets them and celebrates the tone of their writing that was so fascinatingly different from rock journalism as we came to know it, and yet captured all the confusion, excitement and social changes of the time. Producer: Paul Kobrak

John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 10 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Hedonism' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 18th January and available online), Bellowhead respond to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live acoustic versions of some to the key tracks from the album. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 9. 'Hedonism' by Bellowhead, released in 2010 and still the best selling independent folk album of all time. The idea for Bellowhead came to John Spiers and Jon Boden when they were caught in a traffic jam on tour. The longer they were stuck in the car, the more names of friends they came up with of whom to invite - initially settling on a 'modest' line-up of 10 which then grew to an even sillier 11-piece after the recording of their first EP. In June 2015, they announced that the band would be calling it a day on May 1st 2016, and exactly two weeks after the twelfth anniversary of their first ever gig in Oxford Town Hall they will finish their farewell tour with an intimate final show in the very same venue. The tickets for this gig sold out in two minutes. Their most commercially successful album, Hedonism was recorded in Abbey Road Studios and released in October 2010. Produced by John Leckie, it served up a further mix of shanties, folk songs and dance tunes, arranged in an eclectic mix of musical styles and influences. The album includes rousing versions of 'Cold Blow The Wind', 'New York Girls' and the Jacques Brel song 'Amsterdam' The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 19th January 2016 at 3.30pm. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his fifth series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 6 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Handsworth Revolution' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 4th January and available online), David Hind and Selwyn Brown respond to questions from the audience and perform exclusive live acoustic versions of some of the key tracks from the album. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with the fifth series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 5. Steel Pulse's 'Handsworth Revolution' with David Hinds and Selwyn Brown. Originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School in 1975, Steel Pulse were initially refused live dates in Birmingham's Caribbean venues because of their Rastafarian ideals. Instead they aligned themselves With Rock Against Racism and appeared alongside the likes of the Clash, XTC, the Stranglers, Tom Robinson and X-Ray Specs. It was Burning Spear who brought the group to the attention of Island Records who in February 1978 first released Ku Klux Klan as a single - a full five months before the album itself, which also included Prodigal Son, Prediction and the title track, Handsworth Revolution. Here David Hinds and Selwyn Brown talk about the album that is widely regarded a milestone in the development of British Reggae, but also perform exclusive acoustic versions of some of the key tracks. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 29th December at 3.30pm. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with the fifth series of Mastertapes, the programme in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 4 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'East Side Story' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 28th December and available online), Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook respond to questions from the audience and perform exclusive live versions of some of the tracks from the album. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 3. Squeeze's 'East Side Story' with Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford. Originally intended as a four-sided double LP with each side using a different producer (Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello), East Side Story was released in 1981 as a single LP with 14 songs. With it Squeeze moved away from their traditional 'new wave' sound to a more varied mix of genres that took in rockabilly, R&B, blue-eyed soul, Merseybeat, and psychedelia. With tracks like Tempted, Is That Love, Messed Around and Labelled with Love (which was only on the album because eventual producer Elvis Costello persuaded Glenn Tilbrook it should be included) the album is packed with keen, precise, funny and sad lyrics about lovers, drunks, deadbeats and lonely working girls - or as Chris Difford describes them: 'suburban short stories'. Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (as well as some that weren't) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 29th December at 3.30pm. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Future programmes in the series include Donovan discussing 'Sunshine Superman', Steel Pulse returning to 'Handsworth Revolution' and Squeeze talking about 'East Side Story' Programme 2 (B-side): Having discussed the making of 'Rhythm & Blues at the Flamingo' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 21st December and available online), Georgie Fame responds to questions from the audience and performs exclusive live versions of some of the tracks from the album (accompanied by his sons James and Tristan Powell, as well as a few of the original Blue Flames). Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading artists about the album that made them or changed them. Future programmes in the series include Donovan discussing 'Sunshine Superman', Steel Pulse returning to 'Handsworth Revolution' and Squeeze talking about 'East Side Story' Series 5, Programme 1, A-side. 'Rhythm & Blues At The Flamingo' with Georgie Fame At the age of 16, former apprentice cotton weaver, Clive Powell, successfully auditioned for pop impresario Larry Parnes who then forced him to change his name to Georgie Fame. After touring alongside Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, Georgie played the piano in Billy Fury's backing band, the Blue Flames. By March 1962 it was Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames who began a three year residency at the Flamingo Club in London's Soho. Including tracks like 'Night Train', 'Work Song', 'Baby, Please Don't Go' and 'Do The Dog', 'Rhythm And Blues at the Flamingo' captured the vibrancy and excitement of the famous and notorious club which played a significant part in the breakdown of racial prejudice in post-war British society. Here Georgie Fame talks candidly with John Wilson about the album that started it all and, together with some of the original Blue Flames (including guitarist Colin Green, saxophonist Mick Eve and trumpeter Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton) as well as his two sons Tristan and James Powell, play exclusive versions of some of the key tracks. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard on Tuesday 22nd December at 3.30pm. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Alan Dein travels to Nottingham to meet with the 4th & 5th generations of a family firm of Funeral Directors (with a 6th generation already on the horizon). When furniture maker and dealer Arthur William Lymn started 'undertaking' funerals with his son Harold Percy in 1907, their first premises were on Goosegate - next door to a man selling potions and lotions. Although Arthur and Harold could not match the subsequent success of their next-door-neighbours, the Boots Pure Drug Company Ltd, AW Lymn did have to move to larger premises in 1915. And in the hundred years since they have continued to grow, now operating out of 25 offices, employing 110 staff and conducting 3,500 funeral every year. Last year a brain tumour forced Harold's grandson, Nigel Lymn Rose to hand over the reins of the company to his son Matthew while he underwent brain surgery and recuperated. This summer, fully recovered and back at work, this temporary arrangement was made permanent. As Matthew and Nigel work out the parameters of their new roles within the company (alongside Matthew's aunt, Jackie, and sister Chloe - all also involved in the family firm), Alan Dein goes behind the scenes with them to discover what goes on beyond the formal funeral attire of top hats and tails and Roll Royce hearses. With them he visits the hospital morgue to pick up recently deceased 'patients', enters the world of the firm's embalmers and observes them in the chapels of rest - to find out what it's like to deal with death on a daily basis. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Alan Dein meets the modern residents of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. While the recorded history of of the place can be traced back to the 6th century and includes the followers of St. Aiden and St Cuthbert, the current residents try to maintain a way of life that has existed for hundreds of years. Where the monks of Lindisfarne had contend with the Vikings and the Reformation, today's residents face an annual invasion of half a million tourists. With the help of residents - both young and old - Alan Dein explores their options... whether they should stay on island and keep the old industries going, or leave and discover what the wider world has to offer. Fishermen Andrew and Stuart Johnson, farmer Alison Brigham and retiree Brian Paterson have always lived on the island... recent school-leavers Molly Luke and Joel Rain are planning to leave in the autumn... and island shop keeper Gary Watson left only to come back. But what is the draw of the place? When the tide is out coachloads of tourists and pilgrims flood onto the island. But when the tide comes in and the island is cut off from the mainland, the visitors disappear and silence descends. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 10, the B-side. Having discussed the making of 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds', his first studio album since leaving Oasis (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 8th December and available online), Noel Gallagher responds to questions from the audience, performs acoustic live versions of some of the tracks from the album and looks forward to his next musical project "Chasing Yesterday" due out in 2015. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with the latest series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 9, A-side. 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' with Noel Gallagher In 2009 Noel Gallagher left Oasis - one of the seminal bands of the Britpop era with seven multi-platinum albums including: 'Definitely Maybe', '(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' and 'Be Here Now' - which became the fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two years later Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds also went to Number 1 in the UK with tracks like "Everybody's On the Run", "AKA... What A Life!" and "The Death of You and Me". Praised for its psychedelic tinges and eternal themes of love, loss and hope, it's been described as the best collection of songs "since his Morning Glory days". With tracks inspired by New Orleans ragtime rhythms and Ennio Morricone-like strings, it put paid to rumours that its creator entered into a state of inertia after the end of Oasis. Noel Gallagher said of the album: "I won't criticize anything about Oasis because I loved being in that band and I was in charge of it, but there was always the feeling: how will this go down in Wembley, with 70,000 people braying for good times? This time I didn't have to think about that. I've got a guy playing wine glasses on one song, a saw on another. This is not Oasis." Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 8, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "A Tonic For The Troops", their 1978 hit album (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 1st December and available online), Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats respond to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some of the tracks from the album which brought them their first Number 1 single with 'Rat Trap'. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with the series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 7, A-side. 'A Tonic For The Troops' Named after a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiography, The Boomtown Rats had a series of hits between 1977 and 1985. Signed by Mercury records the same year that punk rock exploded in Britain, it was their second album 'A Tonic for the Troops', with tracks like "She's So Modern", "Like Clockwork" and "Me and Howard Hughes", that brought them their first Number 1 hit with "Rat Trap". It's an album that treats dark themes like suicide and euthanasia in an often upbeat, pop-punk style - one critic described the track "Eva Braun" as "the happiest, cheeriest, best upbeat song about Hitler ever written." And another said "Vintage superstars who look like eyesores and sound like dinosaurs should carefully study this album." The band broke-up in 1986, but reformed in 2013 to tour the UK. This will be a unique opportunity not only to hear them talk about their album but also to see them perform exclusive versions of key tracks. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 3. Manic Street Preachers' 'THe Holy Bible' with Sean Moore, James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire. Released a mere five months before the disappearance of main lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards, The Holy Bible reflects his fragile mental state. On its release, Q said "even a cursory glance at the titles will confirm that this is not the new Gloria Estefan album". And with tracks like "Yes", "Of Walking Abortion", "Mausoleum" and "4st 7lb", the lyrics deal with everything from prostitution and serial killers to the Holocaust and self-starvation. With Manic Street Preachers about to take this career defining album back on Tour in December, when they played some of the songs from it for this special edition of Mastertapes, it was the first time in two decades that Nicky, James and Sean played some of them in front of an audience. Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (as well as some that weren't) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor began his journey through 600 years of German history at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and ends it at the Reichstag, seat of the German Parliament. These two extraordinary buildings, only a few hundred yards apart, carry in their very stones the political history of the country. Neil talks to architect Norman Foster, who in 1992 won the commission to restore the Reichstag, when Germany's Parliament returned to Berlin in the wake of re-unification. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on Ernst Barlach's sculpture Hovering Angel, a unique war memorial, commissioned in 1926 to hang in the cathedral in Güstrow. Producer Paul Kobrak.

After concentration camps like Buchenwald and extermination camps like Auschwitz, it seemed that the story of Jews in Germany must come to a full stop at the end of the war. Why would any Jew in 1945, or in 1965 for that matter, see any part of their future in Germany? But remarkably Germany today has the fastest-growing Jewish population in Western Europe. Neil MacGregor visits a synagogue in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, which was inaugurated in 1956 and has been greatly enlarged in the years since then. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor talks to a Trümmerfrau, a woman who cleared rubble from the streets of Berlin in 1945, and focuses on a sculpture by Max Lachnit, a portrait of a Trümmerfrau made from hundreds of pieces of rubble. Neil also examines the role the launch of the Deutsch Mark played in the re-building of Germany. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on a small hand-cart to tell the story of the forced movement of more than 12 million Germans, who fled or were forced out of Central and Eastern Europe after 1945. For many, the only way of transporting their possessions was a hand-cart, as they walked to parts of Germany they had never seen before. And Neil also reflects on the 1949 Berlin staging of Brecht's play Mother Courage, examining a model of the production's set. Fiona Shaw, who has played the title role, discusses how the image of Mother Courage pulling her cart, amidst the devastation of war, became one of the most memorable stage pictures of the 20th century. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor visits Buchenwald, one of the earliest and largest concentration camps. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor examines how the Nazis attacked art they viewed as 'entartet' - degenerate. He charts how Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, led a process designed to purify all German culture, including books, music, paintings and pottery. The programme focuses on a vase created by Grete Marks, with an evident debt to Chinese ceramics, and a loose brush-splashed glaze suggestive of modernist painting. Goebbels condemned this vase in his newspaper Der Angriff - The Attack. Grete Marks, who was Jewish and had trained at the Bauhaus, left Germany for England. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor examines the emergency money - Notgeld - created during World War One and its aftermath. Small denomination coins began to disappear because their metal was worth more than their face value. People hoarded them or melted them down. Paper notes replaced coins, but as cities produced their own money, there was also currency made from porcelain, linen, silk, leather, wood, coal, cotton and playing cards. He also focuses on the crisis of hyperinflation in the early 1920s. At its peak, prices doubled every three and a half days, and in 1923 a 500 million mark note might buy a loaf of bread. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the art of Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945), who expresses the loss and suffering of war, especially after the death of her younger son Peter at the front in 1914. Neil MacGregor argues that she is one of the greatest German artists. Like no other artist of the time, Kollwitz gave voice to the overwhelming sense of personal loss felt by ordinary Germans - the loss of a whole generation, the loss of political stability and of individual dignity. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor charts the career of Otto von Bismarck (1815-98), known as the Iron Chancellor: he argued that the great questions of the day should be decided by 'iron and blood'. Bismarck was disliked and feared by foreigners, and reviled by liberals at home for his authoritarianism, but among many sections of the German population, he was a hero. At his death, monuments were erected across the whole country by public subscription, but Bismarck could also be brought into your own home. Small statues of Bismarck came in many guises, but few are more striking than the little bronze and plaster figure belonging to the German Historical Museum in Berlin, showing Bismarck the Blacksmith. Bald-headed, sleeves rolled up, wearing a leather apron and wielding his hammer, the middle-aged Bismarck is at his forge, the trusty village blacksmith. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the Bauhaus school of art and design, founded in Weimar in 1919. Our cities and houses today, our furniture and typography, are unthinkable without the functional elegance pioneered by the Bauhaus. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the long tradition of German metalwork, from finely-engineered clocks to the Volkswagen Beetle. German gold and silversmiths were established as the best in the world, but it was for the making of scientific instruments that Germany's workers of the other metals were especially renowned. They worked across a whole range of disciplines at the highest level, combining academic, scientific and practical skills with mathematics and creative artistry. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on how 18th century German chemists discovered the secrets of Chinese porcelain, known then as 'white gold' - translucent, fine-glazed, and much-coveted. Porcelain became a lucrative source of income, and was used for prestigious diplomatic gifts. The Meissen porcelain factory remained one of the most prestigious parts of German manufacturing right up until 1945. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the work of Dürer (1471-1528), arguing that he is the defining artist of Germany, his image - and his self-image - known to all Germans. He was a new kind of artist, clearly fascinated by himself, and the first great artist in Europe to paint so many self-portraits. He embodies the Renaissance idea of the artist as a hero and a star, the artist of a new world and a new technology. Dürer was also the first artist to sell his work widely throughout Europe. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor examines the life and legacy of Johannes Gutenberg, who invented moveable type and pioneered the printing press. For many, it is the moment at which the modern world began, as the book as we know it was born. It is without doubt the point at which access to knowledge stopped being the privilege of the few. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor reflects on the events of 1848, when black, red and gold became the colours of the flag for a united Germany, and Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor charts the role of iron in 19th century Prussia, an everyday metal whose uses included patriotic jewellery and the Iron Cross, a military decoration to honour all ranks. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor charts the rise and fall of the Hansa, or Hanseatic League, a great trading alliance of 90 cities, including Lübeck, Hamburg, Danzig, Riga and London. He also focuses on the role of the artist Hans Holbein the Younger, who painted portraits of Hansa merchants. 'If I had to choose one image to sum up the Hansa in its heyday,' says Neil MacGregor, 'It would be Holbein's 1532 portrait of Georg Gisze, a Danzig merchant trading in London.' The painting shows an expensively-dressed 33 year old man, his wealth and status indicated by a vase made of the finest, the thinnest Venetian glass, a small circular brass clock, certainly made in Southern Germany, and a Turkey carpet imported from the Levant. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the religious sculptures of Riemenschneider (c1460- 1531), whose reputation as an artist has steadily risen. He is seen as a supreme sculptor, working in a peculiarly German medium, limewood, but articulating the sensibilities of a continent. And Neil MacGregor reveals why, as the war came to an end in 1945, the Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann identified Riemenschneider as a moral and political hero. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor focuses on two great emblems of Germany's national diet: beer and sausages. He visits Munich to find out how regional specialities represent centuries of regional history and diversity. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor visits the Walhalla, one of the most idiosyncratic expressions of national identity in 19th century Europe - a temple to German-ness, modelled on the Parthenon, built high above the Danube in Bavaria. It honours almost 200 people, from early rulers and kings to composers, poets and scientists. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Continuing his focus on the things which bind Germans together, Neil MacGregor examines the life and work of Goethe, the greatest of all German poets: "There is a case for arguing that if Americans are one nation under God, the Germans are one nation under Goethe. And there is no doubt that it was Goethe, more than anyone else, who made German a language read - and spoken - by educated Europe." Producer Paul Kobrak.

Continuing a week of programmes with a focus on the things which bind Germans together, Neil MacGregor reveals how the fairy tales collected by the Grimms and the landscape art of Caspar David Friedrich played a vital role in re-establishing an identity for German-speaking people who had been defeated by Napoleon. While the Grimms were studying the German language and the inner German-ness present in the folk-tales they collected, Friedrich used landscape as the external vision of being German. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor continues his series with a week of programmes with a focus on the things which bind Germans together - ranging from the importance of the great German writer Goethe, and the significance of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales, to the long-standing history of German beer and sausages. He begins with the story of how Martin Luther created the modern German language, through his translation of the Bible. Luther is often, in German history, seen as the Great Divider. His attacks on his opponents were pitiless, not least his writings against the Jews. But he is also, unquestionably, a great Uniter - almost single-handedly he created the modern German language which, in the centuries that followed, proved a unifying force during times of destruction and disintegration. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor discovers how coins reveal the range and diversity of the Holy Roman Empire, with around 200 different currencies struck in the different territories of Germany. It's an extraordinarily immediate and physical way of grasping the complexity and the confusion of the Holy Roman Empire, because every coin represents a kind of sovereignty. To be able to strike a coin you needed to be the ruler in your territory - and every coin speaks of a particular state, with its particular laws and a whole set of traditions. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor visits Strasbourg, now in France, but also a city with a key place in German history, culture and precision engineering, as revealed by a model of the cathedral clock, now in the British Museum. When the writer Goethe stood in front of Strasbourg's Cathedral, he discovered two things: the transporting, transforming force of Gothic architecture and one aspect of what it meant to him to be German. Producer Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor examines the story of the two Germanys, East and West, created in 1949, through objects including a wet suit used in an escape attempt from the East in 1987, which was later used as a training device by the Stasi, the East German secret police. Neil also focuses on another Stasi training device, a model of Friedrichstrasse Station, a border crossing point in the divided Berlin, and reflects on the life and work of the East German writer Christa Wolf. Her novel Der Geteilte Himmel - The Divided Heaven, or The Divided Sky - was published in 1963, two years after the Berlin Wall went up. It made Christa Wolf's reputation, and has been seen as the definitive account of the divergence of the two Germanys, as seen from the East. Yet Wolf's own position within the East German state was not simple, and she later questioned whether her own memories were reliable. Producer Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 2 (B-side). Having discussed the making of "Tigerlily", her debut solo album made after leaving 10,000 Maniacs (in the A-side of the programme, and available online), Natalie Merchant responds to questions from the audience and performs live versions of some to the tracks from the album. Complete versions of the songs performed in this programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 1, A-side. "Tigerlily" with Natalie Merchant Completely self-funded (to ensure creative control),"Tigerlily" went on the sell over 5 million copies and continues to be Natalie Merchant's most successful album to date. Its bold and stripped down sound gave more emphasis to her powerful and often personal lyrics, including "Beloved Wife" (inspired by her grandfather's grief in the wake of her grandmother's passing) and "River" (written in response to the sudden and untimely death of her friend River Phoenix). The album also included the top-40 singles "Wonder" and "Jealousy", as well as her first top-ten hit as a solo artist, "Carnival". Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 2, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "If I Could Only Remember My Name", his 1971 album (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 18th November and available online), David Crosby responds to questions from the audience and performs live versions of some the tracks from that debut solo album and from his as yet unreleased solo album, "Croz" Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 2, A-side. "If I Could Only Remeber My Name" with David Crosby Double inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, David Crosby talkes John Wilson back to the making of his debut solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name. Released in 1971, it was one of four high-profile solo albums released more or less simultaneously by each member of the legendary super-group, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. David's If I Could Only Remember My Name boasted a stellar line-up that not only included Neil Young and Graham Nash, but also featured Joni Mitchell and the leading members of both Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. Initially met with mixed reviews, the album has never been out of print and features some of his most impressive vocal and songwriting work - including the haunting Laughing, the mantra-like Music Is Love and the extended, impressionistic Cowboy Movie. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 1, A-side. "Life Thru A Lens" with Robbie Williams Today, Robbie Williams is the UK's best-selling solo artist of all time. But when he released his debut solo album, "Life Thru A Lens", after leaving the all-conquering boyband, Take That, it was initially met with negative reviews and was slow to take off. However, with songs like Ego A Go Go, Lazy Days, Let Me Entertain You and, of course, Angels, the album not only went on to spend more than 4 years in the charts and become the 58th best-selling album of all time, it also laid down the solid foundations for all that was to follow: nine further solo albums, seven number one singles and more BRIT awards than any other artist. Here Robbie Williams talks candidly with John Wilson about the album that started it all and they are joined in the studio by the album's co-writer and producer, Guy Chambers as well as guitarist Gary Nuttall and a string quartet. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm. Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 3, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "Rumor And Sigh", not just his most commercially successful album, but also a high point of his career (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 10th June and available online), Richard Thompson responds to questions from the audience. He also performs live versions of some to the tracks from the album as well as classic tracks from his days with Fairport Convention. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with the second series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 3, A-side. "Rumor And Sigh" - Richard Thompson Named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the Top 20 Guitarists of all time, Richard looks back at the making of what is not just his most commercially successful album, but also one of the high points of his career. It was album that earned him a Grammy Nomination for the Best Alternative Music Album (he lost out R.E.M.) and it captures Thompson's obsession with romantic despair and the more miserable quirks of fate. And yet, like all good tragedy, it does not sound depressing - it is instead life affirming. Richard has said that the albums he considered "successful" were those where his initial concept most closely matched the finished product. By this yardstick, 'Rumor And Sigh' was one of his most successful albums, containing such tracks as "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", "God Loves A Drunk" and "Why Must I Plead". Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 2, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "Fisherman's Blues", the career changing forth album from The Waterboys (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 3rd June and available online), Mike Scott & Steve Wickham respond to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some to the tracks from the album which was released twenty five years ago. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 1, the B-side. Having discussed the making of "Down By The Jetty", the debut album from Dr. Feelgood (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Monday 27th May and available online), Wilko Johnson responds to questions from the audience and performs live versions of some of the songs discussed. Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where all the programmes of this and previous series can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson returns with the second series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 1, A-side. "Down By The Jetty" with Wilko Johnson. At the beginning of 2013 Wilko Johnson announced a series of farewell UK concerts in March. The guitarist and founding member of Dr. Feelgood has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and he has chosen not to undergo chemotherapy. But before these final live appearances and before going into the studio to complete a new album, he came to the BBC Maida Vale studios to discuss the making of his very first one: Dr. Feelgood's debut album, "Down By The Jetty". Released in January 1975 and including 'Roxette', 'She Does It Right' and 'All Through the City', the album has been cited as a major influence by the likes of Paul Weller, the Clash, Blondie and the Ramones. The B-side of the programme, where it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions, can be heard tomorrow at 3.30pm Other programmes in the series include Mike Scott talking about the Waterboys' album "Fisherman's Blues" and Richard Thompson revisiting his best selling solo album, "Rumor & Sigh". Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson concludes his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 7, the B-side. Having discussed the making of the Zombies' seminal 1968 album, "Odessey & Oracle" (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Tuesday 11th December and available online), Rod Argent, Chris White and Colin Blunstone responds to questions from the audience and perform live versions of some of the songs from the album, still held in such high regard. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson concludes his series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 7. Forty five years after it was recorded, Rod Argent, Chris White and Colin Blunstone recall the making of the Zombies album 'Odessey And Oracle'. When it was released in 1968, after the band had split up, it was indifferently received. But since it has been described as: "one of the great undiscovered works of the psychedelic era" - Pitchfork; "an album that should grace any record collection... essential" - BBC; and "combining the adventure of Sgt. Pepper with the concision of British Invasion Pop" - Rolling Stone. Those who have cited the Zombies as influences include everyone from Courtney Love to the Magic Numbers and from the Arctic Monkeys to Paul Weller. 'Odessey And Oracle' (the title was mis-spelt by the designer of the cover) contained only one stereotypically summer-of-love hit ('Time Of The Season') - the darker tones and dramatic third-person feel of much of the album (including the likes of 'Care of Cell 44', 'The Butcher's Tale' and 'A Rose For Emily') makes it sound ahead of its time. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 6, the B-side. Having discussed the making of her second album, "The Sea" (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Tuesday 4th December and available online), Corinne Bailey Rae responds to questions from the audience and, together with pianist Steve Brown, performs acoustic live versions of some of the songs discussed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 5, the B-side. Having discussed the making of two classic Kinks albums, 'Lola Versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part One' and 'Muswell Hillbillies' (in the A-side of the programme, broadcast on Tuesday 27th November and available online), Ray Davies responds to questions from the audience and performs acoustic live versions of some to the tracks from the albums, both of which were released more than forty years ago. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson continues with his new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances. Programme 5, A-side. 'Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One' & 'Muswell Hillbillies' - Ray Davies goes back to the early 1970s and the making of two classic Kinks albums. Marking a period of transition for the group (as they left one British record label for an American one), both were concept albums, tackling such broad themes as corruption within the music industry and the destruction of old communities via urban regeneration. In a revealing interview, Ray Davies considers the power of the lyric and the importance of place in his song-writing. He also performs exclusive live versions of songs from the two albums. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson launches a major new series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 1, Side B. 'Talking With The Taxman About Poetry' - Having discussed the making of his self-proclaimed 'difficult' third album (in the A-side of the programme), Billy Bragg responds to questions from the audience. He considers the state of protest songs today, reveals what music he is writing at the moment and explains what poetry he would discuss with today's taxman. And he plays excerpts from the album live in front of the audience. Future Programmes will include Paul Weller talking about the Jam's last album, 'The Gift'; Suzanne Vega recalls the making of 'Solitude Standing', the album that made her a worldwide superstar; and Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone takes us back to the seminal Zombies' record 'Odessey and Oracle' Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

John Wilson's series in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Programme 1, A-side. 'Talking With The Taxman About Poetry' - Billy Bragg reveals how the self-proclaimed 'difficult' third album was written and created with a guitar he bought when he was out shopping for swimming trunks (he claims he still swims naked as a result)... he explains how a film about the James Brothers helped him write "There's Power In A Union'... and describes how Andy Kershaw's inability to shut up led him to writing 'Levi Stubbs' Tears'. And he plays excerpts from the album live in front of the audience. In the B-side of the programme, it's the turn of the audience to ask the questions and Billy considers the state of protest songs today, reveals what music he is writing at the moment and explains what poetry he would discuss with today's taxman. Other programmes include Paul Weller talking about The Jam's final album, 'The Gift'; Suzanne Vega recalls the making of 'Solitude Standing', the album that made her a worldwide superstar; and Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone takes us back to the seminal Zombies' record 'Oracle And Odessey' Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, brings to an end his object-based history. During the past four weeks he has taken artefacts from William Shakespeare's time and explored how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asked what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. Carefully selected objects shed light on the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and revealed much about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. In this, the final programme of the series, Neil considers how William Shakespeare made the transition from successful playwright to possibly the greatest dramatist the world has known Programme 20 SHAKESPEARE GOES GLOBAL - The publication of the First Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays in 1623 began the process of turning an early modern playwright into a global phenomenon. An annotated copy of the Collected Works of Shakespeare reveals the extent to which Shakespeare has inspired and influenced audiences across the globe and through the ages. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 19. THE THEATRES OF CRUELTY - A human eyeball in a silver setting provides a striking insight to the theatre of cruelty in Elizabethan and Jacobean Britain. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 18. LONDON BECOMES ROME - A set of designs for the Coronation Procession of James I reveals the extent of classical knowledge amongst Shakespeare's audience. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 17. PLAGUE & THE PLAYHOUSE - May 1603 saw not only a new king but the worst plague outbreak since the Black Death. Its impact and reach is told through a series of early seventeenth century proclamations. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, enters the final week of his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 16 A TIME OF CHANGE, A CHANGE OF TIME - A rare domestic clock with an equally rare minute hand and quarter-hour chimes reveals the changing relationship Shakespeare's audiences had to time. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 15. THE FLAG THAT FAILED - The problems in uniting Scotland and England and in creating a Great Britain are encapsulated in a set of designs for a common flag. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 14. DISGUISE & DECEPTION - Deception and religion, cross-dressing and travelling salesmen are all unpacked via a pedlar's trunk. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 13. FROM LONDON TO MARRAKECH - Sunken gold from West Africa sheds light on the complex relationship Elizabethan England had with the Moors of the Mediterranean. This programme was originally broadcast in 2012. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 12. SEX & THE CITY - A delicate glass goblet reveals the twin seductions of Venice: its sought after luxuries and its equally sought after lecherous women. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 11. TREASON & PLOTS - A tabloid history of Shakespeare's England, told through a collection of contemporary accounts of plots to murder Elizabeth I and James I. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 10. TOIL AND TROUBLE - The differences between Scottish and English witches are revealed by a model ship, made to be hung in a church. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 9. NEW SCIENCE, OLD MAGIC - Dr Dee's Mirror was actually a highly polished disk of black obsidian from Mexico but it reflects the Elizabethan fascination with the new sciences of cosmology and astrology. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 8. CITY LIFE, URBAN STRIFE - The life of London's apprentices and Shakespeare's groundlings told through a rare woollen cap. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 7. IRELAND: FAILURES IN THE PRESENT - A rare woodcut offers a equally rare visual impression of the troubles and tragedies of Elizabethan Ireland. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 6. EUROPE: TRIUMPHS OF THE PAST - As a tourist attraction in Westminster Abbey, Henry V's instruments of battle reflect the view of English history as depicted on the Elizabeth stage. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 5. SWORDPLAY AND SWAGGER - The essential accoutrements of any self-respecting gentleman illustrate the extent of violence in Elizabethan London - both onstage and off. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 4. LIFE WITHOUT ELIZABETH - Painted in 1571 to justify and celebrate Elizabeth I's position in the Tudor succession, by the 1590s, with no direct Tudor heir, this image had very different implications. Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, returns to Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 3. SNACKING THROUGH SHAKESPEARE - A luxury fork discovered on the site of the Rose theatre helps explain what people were nibbling on when they first heard: "Is this a dagger I see before me?" Producer: Paul Kobrak.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, returns to Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England. Programme 1. ENGLAND GOES GLOBAL - How Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe changed the way Shakespeare's audiences viewed the world and their country's place on it. For the first time, England was engaging with the whole world. Producer: Paul Kobrak.