Discover 11,122,490 listings and 293,466 playable programmes from the BBC
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Aleks Krotoski tells the story of Fortran, the language that helped the scientists of the 1950s and 60s to put men on the moon and harness the atom. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Inefficient, verbose and ugly, yet by the 1990s, 80 per cent of the world's business software was written in Cobol. Aleks Krotoski explores why.
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Basic is the little language that could. As language of choice for home computing in the 1980s, it became iconic.
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
German writer Julia Franck reflects on her move from East Germany to West Berlin as a child and her initial experience as a refugee, which has informed how she views Europe now. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra, now living in France, reflects on personal identity, in the light of the challenges currently facing Europe. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Writer Zafer Senocak, born in Turkey but long resident in Germany, offers a personal perspective on the challenges facing Europe. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
French novelist Lydie Salvayre, winner of the 2014 Prix Goncourt, reflects on the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Swedish novelist Henning Mankell, author of the Kurt Wallander crime novels, reflects from his home in the south of France on the state of Europe after the Paris terror attacks. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
The acclaimed Moroccan-Dutch writer Abdelkader Benali, who moved to the Netherlands at the age of four, reflects on his first experiences of Europe, and the challenges it faces. Show more
15 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW
Available for over a year
Today's digital world is a reverse tower of Babel. It takes all sorts of different languages to build it. It is this phenomenon that Aleks Krotoski explores in this final edition.
From 'Mad Men' to 'Math Men'. As so-called Big Data transforms the marketing world, Rory Sutherland looks at the intensely competitive ad campaigns of insurance comparison sites. Show more
Advertising guru Rory Sutherland explores the psychology underlying the greatest ad campaigns in history, with first-hand accounts from the creative minds that conceived them. Show more
Rory Sutherland explores if marketing can move beyond mere 'copy' and be considered genuine art. Featuring an interview with novelist and former advertising copywriter Fay Weldon. Show more
30 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 Extra
Available for over a year
Writer Michael Dobbs chooses the journalist, diplomat and spy, Guy Burgess. With Matthew Parris and Stewart Purvis. From 2015. Show more
30 minutes
First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 Extra
Available for over a year
Musician Brian Eno, chooses social reformer and 1945 Labour manifesto writer Michael Young. With Matthew Parris. From 2014. Show more
