"A word in edgeways" and "Stop the week" remembered

BBC radio 4 served to expand my intellectual horizon over the period from October 1974 to July 1977. Of particular impact on me were two programs on Saturday evenings, "A word in edgeways" with Brian Redhead, and "Stop the week" (1974-1992) with Robert Robinson.

This nostalgic post is intended as a repository of online information pertaining to these two programs that had been my tutors over the airwaves, with as much influence on me as any flesh and blood ones.

According to this, "A word in edgeways" is the precursor of  "In our time" with Melvyn Bragg, a unique online treasure trove of intellectual discussions (see list of programs), ranging over every major domain of knowledge.

"A word in edgeways":

*In "Life on Air: a history of Radio 4"


"Stop the week":

*Essay by Nigel Stapley

Richard Feynman's excellent way of seeing nature

From the BBC archive comes a fascinating film in which Richard Feynman describes his way of seeing nature. As shown by Feynman, understanding heat, fire, electrical current, etc, in terms of elementary particles is unifying, and therefore satisfying.

In my experience (not at all current), such an approach was never taught to students.  A full understanding of physics should unify mechanics (including continuum mechanics), electromagnetism, thermodynamics, optics, and acoustics, using insights from particle physics.

Malcolm Muggeridge and Somerset Maugham (Panorama 1954)

I have just stumbled across the BBC Archive, where I found this exchange between Malcolm Muggeridge, a prominent intellectual and a Christian convert (as was C.S. Lewis), and Somerset Maugham broadcast in Nov 1954. I am off to explore the archive now.