Rana Mitter is joined by Edith Hall, Nandini Das and Beatrice Groves to explore the books which inspired Shakespeare from the Bible and classical stories to his contemporaries. Show more

In east Asia, the Second World War remains a controversial issue. Historian Rana Mitter visits Tokyo to explore how Japan remembers the conflict - through its movies.

Rana Mitter hears new research on how to build a happy city. Historian Ramachandra Guha on how Gandhi's time in South Africa influenced his thinking. Chapman Brothers art reviewed. Show more

Rana Mitter talks to Vali Nasr about his book 'The Dispensable Nation - American Foreign Policy in Retreat' plus Jim Endersby, Sandy Knapp and Peter Raby on Alfred Russel Wallace. Show more

Rana Mitter and critic Alex Clark assess the shortlist for this year's Booker prize. And talking to Jhumpa Lahiri whose novel, The Lowland, is one of the front runners. Show more

Presented by Rana Mitter. With architect Zaha Hadid on her new Serpentine Gallery structure, discussing French film music and a debate on cynicism and why it may be good for us. Show more

Former Formula 1 racing driver Damon Hill, paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson and retired Col Lincoln Jopp discuss adrenaline's connection to handling crises with Rana Mitter. Show more

Before an audience at Sage Gateshead, Rana Mitter explores east and west, and calm in a fast-paced world with author Haemin Sunim and New Generation Thinker Christopher Harding. Show more

From Sage Gateshead, Rana Mitter introduces a discussion in which Carlos Frenk. Eugenia Cheng, Jim Al-Khalili and Louisa Preston consider the connections between time and space. Show more

Rana Mitter chairs a debate from the 2013 York Festival of Ideas on the legacy of the War of the Roses, with historians Mark Ormrod and Sandy Grant and author Helen Castor. Show more

Zhang Weiwei, one of China's foremost public intellectuals, talks to Rana Mitter about why his country should not become a democracy. Show more

From London's Southbank Centre, South African novelist Damon Galgut joins presenter Rana Mitter with guests Tariq Ali and Alex Clark to explore the work of EM Forster. Show more

A special programme exploring Walter Scott's novel Waverley, as Rana Mitter reflects on the writer and the books which helped the British like the idea of Britain. Show more

Rana Mitter with Sarah Peverley, Charles Forsdick, Alasdair Cochrane, Eveline de Wolf, Michael Szollosy and an audience at Fact in Liverpool debate robots, humans and animals. Show more

Rana Mitter and guests discuss the idea of the weird, science and art on show in an exhibition at Liverpool's Fact and the new Japanese animated film Your Name. Show more

Rana Mitter presents. With Norman Ohler talking about Hitler's drug addiction, Nikesh Shukla and Kamila Shamsie on migration and a discussion about the metamorphosis of gaming. Show more

Rana Mitter discusses a drama asking the audience to play the jury in a trial following the hijacking of a plane. He is joined by peer Sayeeda Warsi and historian Richard English. Show more

Presented by Rana Mitter. With an exhibition about the art of the black power movement and a discussion with Ibram X Kendi on the history of racist ideas in America. Show more

Alec Ryrie, Tom Charlton, Elizabeth Goodwin and Tara Hamling join Rana Mitter to discuss research into the way the Reformation changed lives in homes, parishes and monasteries. Show more

Rana Mitter is joined by the six authors shortlisted for the 2017 Wolfson History Prize and an audience at the British Academy for a discussion about the past into the present. Show more