John Woolf and Kate Holmes share their research into circus performers from the 1830s and 1920s, and Naomi Paxton compares researching panto with performing in one. Show more

Are lists ever complete? This one is: Lisa Mullen, Henry Eliot, Florence Hazrat, Liam Young and Joanna Nolan are all in this programme. Show more

Shahidha Bari investigates the human invention of animals, from Medieval bestiaries to modern zoology. Show more

How the Victorian author’s physical pain and drug dependency fed into his sensational novels. Matthew Sweet is joined by Clare Walker Gore, Tom Shakespeare and Tanvir Bush. Show more

Chris Power, Carole Sweeney, Victoria Walker and Sally Marlow, Radio 3's researcher in residence, join Matthew Sweet to discuss the troubled life and powerful work of Anna Kavan. Show more

To the University of Cambridge in New England and A Farewell to America are among the poems published in 1773 by Phillis Wheatley, born in Africa, enslaved and brought to Boston. Show more

What do we lose when a language stops being spoken? John Gallagher is joined by researchers working to reclaim endangered languages around the world. Show more

A new history flips the story of discovery from Columbus in the New World to Aztecs at the court of Charles V and Inuit harpooning ducks on the River Avon. John Gallagher hosts. Show more

Matthew Sweet reads a novel about a Portuguese Jewish family, hears about the drawings of French Jewish children, looks at German Jewish writers and research on a Roma shrine. Show more

Chris Harding and guests discuss the history of alpine sports, women runners and climbers, and the neuroscience that shows us the health benefits of running and walking. Show more

Mufaro Makubika, Jocelyn Alexander and Tinashe Mushakavanhu join Rana Mitter to discuss archives and the writing of authors including NoViolet Bulawayo and Dambudzo Marechera. Show more

After a £6 million redevelopment, the Manchester Jewish Museum has re-opened. Linda Grant's new novel draws on her family history from Latvia to the Jewish community of Liverpool. Show more

An opera film and a new composition with poetry reflect on hopes for the future, whilst novelist Louise Kennedy and an exhibition at IWM London look back at 1970s Belfast. Show more

Matthew Sweet is joined by guests including the BFI season programmer Geoff Andrew and film critic Phuong Le to discuss the varied roles played by French actor Michel Piccoli. Show more

Rana Mitter and guests look at different ideas about health from the 17th-century author of The Religion of a Physician to John Berger's 1967 depiction of a country doctor. Show more

New Generation Thinkers Elsa Richardson, Brendan McGeever and editor of the Skeptic, Michael Marshall, join Matthew Sweet for a conversation about how we judge actions and truth. Show more

From football to online worlds, the power of music or the military - how are young men finding their tribes? Jeffrey Boakye, Lisa Sugiura and Luke Turner join Chris Harding. Show more

Rudy Loewe, Melanie Manchot and Charmaine Watkiss discuss making films, drawings and wall paintings that draw on the history of Liverpool for the city's art biennial. Show more

Anne McElvoy talks to Young V&A director Dr Helen Charman, linguistics expert Rebecca Woods, and Yinka Olusoga and Joe Moshenska about play and toys in the past. Show more

Histories of African/Caribbean Britain, the Black Death, two Chinese translators, vagabonds in 19th-century London, the resistance in World War II Europe and a history of readers. Show more