How to Browse or Search the In Our Time Archive on Braggoscope

Updated

Braggoscope is an unofficial companion site for the BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time, which has aired since 1998 (hosted by Melvyn Bragg until 2025, then Misha Glenny from 2026). Its stated purpose is not to host audio but to help you decide what to listen to next: the site lists over a thousand episodes (1105 excluding repeats), all of which are available to listen to on the BBC website. You can browse by topic, browse by year, or search with descriptive phrases.

Ways to browse the archive

Braggoscope offers two main browsing paths from its homepage:

  • Directory — browse episodes by library topic. This groups episodes under subject classifications rather than by broadcast date, so it suits you if you know the general field you're interested in.
  • Archive — browse by year. This suits you if you want to move chronologically through the programme's history or find episodes from a particular period.

Both are listed as the primary entry points on the site, alongside the search option.

Searching for episodes

A search link sits at the top of the page. The site notes that you can be fairly descriptive with your query — for example, "novels by women" or "prehistoric earth" are given as searches that return good results. In other words, you don't need to guess an exact episode title; a topic phrase works.

Moving between episodes

From any individual episode page you can:

  • Explore related episodes suggested on that page.
  • Tap on a guest to see other episodes in which that person has appeared. There is also a full All guests index.
  • View the reading list, when available, with links to Google Books.

What the episode listings show

Recent episodes on the site are displayed with a title, broadcast date, a numeric classification code, and a subject label. Examples from the listing include:

Episode Date Code Topic
Particle Accelerators 24 Sep, 2026 530 Physics
Thomas More's Utopia 17 Sep, 2026 320 Political science
Seashells 2 Jul, 2026 590 Animals (Zoology)
Vigée Le Brun 25 Jun, 2026 750 Painting
The Delian League 18 Jun, 2026 930 History of the Ancient World
Machado de Assis 11 Jun, 2026 860 Spanish, Portuguese, Galician literatures
The Evolution of Trees 4 Jun, 2026 580 Plants
The Welsh Marches 28 May, 2026 940 History of Europe
The Levellers 21 May, 2026 940 History of Europe
The Garamantes 14 May, 2026 930 History of the Ancient World

The numeric codes correspond to the library topic classifications used in the Directory, which is why browsing by topic and reading the code on an episode listing lead to the same grouping.

A practical starting sequence

  1. If you have a subject in mind, use the search box with a descriptive phrase.
  2. If you'd rather wander, open Directory and pick a topic, or Archive and pick a year.
  3. Once you land on an episode, use the related-episode links or a guest's name to branch out.
  4. Check the reading list if you want the books behind the discussion.
  5. Follow through to the BBC website to actually listen — Braggoscope itself is for finding, not playing.