In Our Time

Other

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Discussion & Talk

Podcasts

Factual: History

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.

BBC Radio 4 LW

In Our Time: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Walt Whitman

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the innovative and highly influential American poet.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the innovative 19th-century poet, who broke away from European literary traditions to become a key figure in the development of American culture.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the highly influential American poet Walt Whitman. 

In 1855 Whitman was working as a printer, journalist and property developer when he published his first collection of poetry. It began:

I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 

The book was called Leaves of Grass. In it, Whitman set out to break away from European literary forms and traditions. Using long lines written in free verse, he developed a poetry meant to express a distinctively American outlook. 

Leaves of Grass is full of verse that celebrates both the sovereign individual, and the deep fellowship between individuals. Its optimism about the American experience was challenged by the Civil War and its aftermath, but Whitman emerged as a celebrity and a key figure in the development of American culture.  

With 

Sarah Churchwell
Professor of American Literature and the Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of London

Peter Riley 
Lecturer in 19th Century American Literature at the University of Exeter
 
and 

Mark Ford
Professor of English and American Literature at University College London

Producer  Luke Mulhall

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

In Our Time

Walt Whitman

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4