Episode summary: Bayes’ Rule has been used in AI, genetic studies, translating foreign languages and even cracking the Enigma Code in the Second World War. We find out about Thomas Bayes - the 18th century English statistician and clergyman whose work was largely forgotten until the 20th century.

Episode summary: Today begins a pretty massive project for Sticky Notes - a complete Beethoven cycle over the next few weeks! We start of course with Beethoven’s 1st symphony. Some people tend to think of Beethoven’s 1st as a cautious foray into the symphonic world, but I couldn’t disagree more. It...

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Episode summary: Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (43BC-17/18AD) who, as he described it, was destroyed by ‘carmen et error’, a poem and a mistake. His works have been preserved in greater number than any of the poets of his age, even Virgil, and have been among th...

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Episode summary: The Reply All team takes a look at the Test Kitchen, and what those mistakes mean for the future of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode summary: We talk to Hans Kundnani about the prospects for German politics in the run-up to September’s federal elections, now that the cast list of possible successors to Merkel is known. Can Laschet escape from her shadow and does he want to? Would a Green led government be radically differ...

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Episode summary: The Rural Idyll? Last year the National Trust produced a controversial report which revealed that 93 of its properties have direct links to colonialism and slavery. In this programme, Laurie Taylor talks to Corinne Fowler, Professor of Post Colonial Literature at the University of L...

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Episode summary: Welcome to a new audio documentary, Fate of Fact, a presentation of Shining City Audio, a C13Originals and Jon Meacham studio. Throughout the course of five episodes in season one, Pulitzer-Prize winning and best-selling historian, Jon Meacham and esteemed guests, will explore the q...

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Episode summary: If you live in an American city and you don’t personally use a wheelchair, it’s easy to overlook the small ramp at most intersections, between the sidewalk and the street. Today, these curb cuts are everywhere.

Episode summary: Season 5 of Revisionist History included four episodes on the rise of air power during the Second World War. Listeners met Air Force generals Haywood Hansell and Curtis LeMay and heard about the birth of napalm and the firebombing of Tokyo. Malcolm couldn’t get that story out of his...

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Episode summary: In 2020 there were 1.8 million reported Covid deaths. So far this year, we’ve had 1.2 million. We’re currently seeing around 12,000 deaths a day across the world. But while some areas are seeing falls in numbers, others such as India are seeing a surge. This week Tim Harford tries t...

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