The interesting guests would be more engaging if Torquemada wasn't conducting the interview.

The questions asked and topics chosen are brilliant, the guests are wonderful. The only problem is the host won’t let them answer a question. Just when the guest begins a fascinating answer, he interrupts with another question. Very frustrating! This would be one of my favorite podcasts were it not for that.

I always enjoy this ram. The range of topics and the incisive interview questions are two important reasons. Sometimes the questioning is a bit brusque, but the topics are thoroughly explored and well explained.,

Very informative with excellent guest contributors. However couldn't get through one whole episode because the host is so arrogant and rude. He interrupts constantly and refuses to distribute anything valuable himself. When one of the guests tried to hear his thoughts on something because he knew the host had relevant experience in the topic, he rudely refused to contribute to the conversation and changed the topic. Unfortunate because the podcast seems rather informative

Incredibly intelligent guests and wonderful information, but borderline unlistenable due to the host’s rude interruptions which throw these smart people off their thoughts and audibly confuses them. Not to mention the host mumbles horribly and is extremely hard to understand when he inevitably inserts himself.

There are great guests on the show, very knowledgeable and content is top quality. However, I took a star away because the moderator Bragg’s manner comes across as rather brusque at times. I realise his role is to guide and probe the speakers, to come to the point in the shortest time, but he lacks a softer touch, zero humour, and seems a little too intense.

I much appreciate the probing questions Mr Bragg is able to ask of his guests. They no doubt need to be well studied up

Lots of letters got returned by the humor- free postal service.

This is THE podcast for history lovers. The selection and depth of the topics means that you can find pretty much any thing you want to learn about and get a solid understanding in under an hour. I know that some commentators have mentioned Melvin Brag’s at time seemingly brash interruptions, but I rationalize that as just being a man of his time and perhaps a British sensibility? Overall, really great.

It’s hard to absorb information when the host interrupts the guests so often! He asks questions in a snarky way, then talks over the guests as they attempt an answer. I had to turn it off. Too bad. It seems like the guests had a lot of info to offer if the host would get out of the way.

The host herds his knowledgeable scholars through fascinating histories of people and events. A must!

Outstanding program

It could have been a very interesting conversation about the Siege of Malta except Melvyn Bragg kept interrupting his guests while they were talking. I understand that he may have had questions even though I’m pretty sure he talked his guests before the episode. Let the guests talk and then ask questions when they pause.

Experts are excellent; very knowledgeable and generally well-spoken. The host interrupts a LOT and is at times quite rude. He often explains things for the experts rather than letting them talk (which would be fine for time-management if he wasn’t interrupting them to do it), and he sometimes becomes combative about smaller issues…which would be fine if he wasn’t rude and if he let his guests defend their word choice. It’s a great idea but it needs a different moderator.

Love the programs but the host Mr Bragg needs to quit interrupting his guests. They are the experts so let them do their stuff and quit making the program all about the host.

These are the best historical monographs I’ve found anywhere.

Such a great show in every way. I have been making my way thru all the episodes and absolutely love every one of them.

For any new or motivated history teacher wanting to sharpen their knowledge before teaching students, this is a great show for that. Shows like the Forgotten Wars Podcast that spend a whole season on South Africa’s Boer Wars have their place, but often-times we teachers need to know about one person enough to help bring them and their era alive to our students.

Never a modern interpretation on our history. Just the facts. Love this series of podcasts, guaranteed to find a subject you’ll be interested in listening to.

However the editing needs some work. Listening to heavy breathing whilst someone else is talking is a distraction. Especially with headphones on. Otherwise Good work.

I always learn something from these podcasts even if I am familiar with the topic. I cannot wait until everyone can be together for tea again. I want more frequent episodes if possible

I love the wide range of topics. The host is excellent and the historians are top notch. The “few minutes at the end” is my favorite part. I have a list of books I need to get to after listening. The only negative-every episode adds to the list!

I like the program in general….. it is informative. Melvyn Bragg can be annoying, frequently and rudely interrupting the guests, I stop listening midway because I find myself getting angrier with each interruption.

I love to go back and listen to the many great shows from the archives. Recently, however, it seems they’ve taken out the “few minutes of bonus material from Melvin and his guests.” Please bring it back! And thank you for this incredible show!

Mr. Bragg’s voice is half the reason that I tune in to this podcast. Absolutely brilliant, calm and cool.

Guests talk to hear their own voice. The host cannot enunciate and sounds like his water just broke. Too much information and not enough structure. Pretentious. Historians need to focus on history and not on their egos. Dump this and go to Wikipedia. On the plus side, this has helped me fall asleep.

It is good.

Each podcast ends abruptly, with a segue into an “off-the-record conversation” about the podcast (that the panel supposedly just concluded), with the moderator asking the panel if they left anything out...and would they like to elaborate. Why not just have the podcast go longer in length, and forget this farce?? In addition, the audience is always “treated” to some man-servant asking the panel at the conclusion if they prefer coffee or tea. The late Alistair Cook would never do anything as tacky as that!

The concept for this program is excellent. Unfortunately, the host frequently speaks over women historians invited as experts to the show. It’s so disappointing that he can’t facilitate the conversation without speaking over women guests. This isn’t to say that you won’t learn from listening to this program, but you may find it frustrating that valuable information is cut off or silenced because the host insists on interjecting when some guests are speaking. He does not talk when his male guests share their perspective. The Boudica episode is a particularly good example of the host’s behaviors.

These are superb. My only critique is that Mr. Bragg’s voice is so quiet and often sounds like he is mumbling, and so it’s a strain the hear what’s he’s saying. 🙂

I look forward to long car rides because they are an opportunity to listen and engage in the topics from BBC In Our Time. The topics are thrilling and give wisdom and knowledge. The dialogue is always lively. Through the episodes I am lucky to learn and hear from the best minds from the UK universities.

While I have been interested in history for a long time, I find the eclectic podcasts enjoyable for two primary reasons. First, there are so many topics that I have had so little experience and knowledge which has opened up new horizons of interest. Secondly, I continue to be impressed with the expertise and opinions of the guests and more importantly Dan Snow’s ability to burrow into the topics at hand.

I enjoy this wonderful podcast - the interesting, under explored topics and great guests, and Bragg as a thoughtful and genial host. He’s very self aware in terms of being respectful of his guests. So refreshing!

I like this show, I really do. The content and topics are awesome. One major complaint though: the host interrupts people WAY too much - especially the women. Please be conscious of this - it’s really off putting. I’m listening to the Inca episode right now for example and he interrupts the expert who is a woman so much it is infuriating. Someone please sit this man down and make him conscious of his rude interview habits. Otherwise the show is fantastic. Thank you!

There are so many interesting topics from such a wide range of history and I always know I can find one that will be engaging even if I know nothing about the topic or previously had no interest in it. As for all the comments about Bragg interrupting and speeding on the show, it’s important to remember that they do have to be quick and he likely has a list of questions he wants to hit to make sure the podcast touches on all topics. It does get annoying but of course history is such a broad topic they could go on for hours if he let them. Overall the best history podcast I’ve found, and goes the most into detail and making connections to other ideas.

Love these episodes! A vast, vast array of topics...absolute junk food for History buffs. You can work off the indulgence by having to get past the rude, condescending and sexist host! He interrupts his guests even after he invites them to talk, as if he anticipates what they will say , doesn’t want them to say THAT, so proceeds to tell everyone what they should be saying. Annoying especially since he seems to feel more comfortable talking down to the female guests who he dismissively sidelines. Since he has very clear political views ...on topics he’s not interested in he emanates a clear lack of interest and desire to speed through the show. As irritating as the host is, these podcasts definitely get my blood going which I thouroughly enjoy!!!!.Each episode is a must for any history aficionado. I would give it 5 stars but reduced the rating due to the host.

I love this podcast. Super informative, insightful, relaxing, and fantastic to hear everybody’s points of view.

Glad this podcast is back, but I miss the coffee or tea offer at the end!

This podcast is pretty good but it does have a substantial liberal viewpoint.

7 minutes into my first episode I noticed what others have noticed.... the host is unbelievably rude to his female guest and polite to his male guest. The information from this podcast is lovely but I can’t stand this extremely poor etiquette. I had hoped the episode I was listening to was an exception but upon reading everyone else’s reviews I can see it was clearly not. Very disappointing.

I love this podcast and have yet to find another like it. I’m a woman listener, and I will listen with more attention to how the host treats guests based on the other reviews going forward, but I have actually noted the opposite- how he always apologizes when he interrupts, how he always makes sure to ask for women historians’ opinions and how there is ALWAYS a woman historian at the table! More than can be said for many podcasts. I’ve learned about so many things I had never even heard of by listening to In Our Time, and I’m grateful for the intellectual discussion, as opposed to a barrage of dramatic storytelling and sound bites.

Can’t stand the annoying interrupting host

Melvin Bragg is a host from a different era: knighted for his public radio work, a writer himself, he prepares extensively for each program and holds the guests to a much higher standard than do hosts in almost all other podcasts around these days. Yes he is direct and sometimes rude, probably more so to female guests than male guests (although it’s obvious that some of his favorites are women, eg Angie Hobbes), but at least some instances are actually maneuvers whereby he keeps the guests on topic and in check. The intelligence and articulateness of some of his repeating guests are stunning: I can spend all day listening to Marcus du Sautoy and Ian Stewart on math, Edith Hall on Ancient Greece, or Anthony Grayling on philosophy, and he brings on sometimes independent researchers with extremely unconventional and yet interesting ideas. I take notes on each program as they are so dense in contents. Dislikers can go listen to politically correct hosts politely interview a carefully curated list of racially and ethnically diverse guests (I say this as a colored woman academic), but I take In Our Time with its actual focus on intelligent inquiry and genuine curiosity any day.

I’m disgusted that when he has a male and a female guest, he inevitably tells the woman to speak “please, in as few words possible,” or “keep it as short as you possibly can.” It’s disgusting — I’m sure the interesting content eclipses this for some and encourages them to wave off his behavior as “generational,” but no. It’s horrendous. I always learn from this information ally rich content, but it is such a bitter pill to look past the host’s embarrassing and misogynistic boorishness.

Simply wonderful. Not overly theatric like American cultural podcasts, particularly historical explorations. Love the model and approach. I even like Bragg’s occasional snark.

I DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE DONT LIKE ABOUT THIS. IN MY OPINON MELVIN IS NOT THAT RUDE I THINK THE PEOPLE THAT THINK THAT HE IS RUDE ARE WRONG. IM I MIDDLE SCHOOLER AND I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THIS PODCAST I WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD DO THIS. I HAVE A REQUEST TO MAKE PLEASE MAKE ONE ABOUT THE 7 ECUMINCAL COUNCELS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. HATERS OF THIS PODCAST PLEASE STOP RATING BECASE YOU DONT KOWN WHAT A GOOD PODCAST IS.

I stumbled on to this and I’m glad I did! This Ohio USA old lady loves it. It’s like getting a masters degree by Podcast! I love the diversity of programs, especially the literature. Hope to hear many more!

Yes it’s got a huge range of discussions about many topics I’ve never heard of. And many that I am very interested to hear about. However Bragg’s constant interruptions when a guest is talking is really irritating. He’s SO rude. His interruptions are usually spot on but I wish he would be a little more polite. And his constant throat clearing need to go too. His people really know their stuff.

I have recommended this amazing resource to numerous colleagues and family members - there is nothing else like it and I hope the BBC continues to broadcast this very valuable programme for many years to come.

So good! love it!