Dr James Poskett explains the grisly details behind the theft of Joseph Haydn’s skull for Classic FM’s new true crime podcast, Case Notes.

Melvyn Bragg and guests Catherine Clinton (Denman Chair of American History at the University of Texas and International Professor at Queen's University, Belfast), Susan-Mary Grant (Professor of American History at Newcastle University), and Tim Lockley (Professor of American History at the University of Warwick) discuss Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, ten sentences long, delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg after the Union forces had won an important battle with the Confederates. Opening with " Four score and seven years ago," it became one of the most influential statements of national purpose, asserting that America was "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" and "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Among those inspired were Martin Luther King Jr whose "I have a dream" speech, delivered at the Lincoln Memorial 100 years later, echoed Lincoln's opening words.
 

Melvyn Bragg and guests Mark Knights (Professor of History, University of Warwick) and Clare Jackson (Senior Tutor and Director of Studies in History at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge) discuss Titus Oates who, with Israel Tonge, spread rumours of a Catholic plot to assassinate Charles II. From 1678, they went to great lengths to support their scheme, forging evidence and identifying the supposed conspirators. Fearing a second Gunpowder Plot, Oates' supposed revelations caused uproar in London and across the British Isles, with many Catholics, particularly Jesuit priests, wrongly implicated by Oates and then executed. Anyone who doubted him had to keep quiet, to avoid being suspected a sympathiser and thrown in prison. Oates was eventually exposed, put on trial under James II and sentenced by Judge Jeffreys to public whipping through the streets of London, but the question remained: why was this rogue, who had faced perjury charges before, ever believed?
 

Professor Hilary Marland was a guest on BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' programme on the topic of Bedlam on Thursday 17th March 2016, and is scheduled to give the Roy Porter Lecture, "Hearing the Convict Cry, Hearing the Patient’s Voice", at the Wellcome Collection on Tuesday 22nd March 2016.
 

Professor David Anderson is one of the guests on the Radiolab podcast, Mau Mau.

 
This is the story of a few documents that tumbled out of the secret archives of the biggest empire the world has ever known, offering a glimpse of histories waiting to be rewritten.

Just down the road from a pub in rural Hanslope Park, England is a massive building — the secret archives of the biggest empire the world has ever known. This is the story of a few documents that tumbled out and offered a glimpse of histories waiting to be rewritten.

When professor Caroline Elkins came across a stray document left by the British colonial government in Nairobi, Kenya, she opened the door to a new reckoning with the history of one of Britain's colonial crown jewels, and the fearsome group of rebels known as the Mau Mau. We talk to historians, archivists, journalists and send our producer Jamie York to visit the Mau Mau. As the new history of Kenya is concealed and revealed, document by document, we wonder what else lies in wait among the miles of records hidden away in Hanslope Park.

Produced by Matt Kielty with reporting from Jamie York, with guests David Anderson, Martyn Day, Caroline Elkins, Katie Engelhart, and Gitu wa Kahengeri.

Dr Anne Gerritsen of the Warwick University History Department will appear on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time at 9am on Thursday 16th April 2015 to discuss Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty:

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest who in the 16th century led a Christian mission to China. An accomplished scholar, Ricci travelled extensively and came into contact with senior officials of the Ming Dynasty administration. His story is one of the most important encounters between Renaissance Europe and a China which was still virtually closed to outsiders. With Mary Laven (Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridge), Craig Clunas (Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford), and Anne Gerritsen (Reader in History at the University of Warwick).

Dr Roberta Bivins, Director of the Centre for the History of Medicine, featured on the BBC World Service programme World Update with Dan Damon on 23rd January 2014 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p007dhp8). The feature was in conjunction with a talk given by Dr Bivins at the Wellcome Collection for its 'The Parts and the Whole' event (http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/events/the-parts-and-the-whole-1.aspx).

In the Academic Minute for Thursday 18th July 2013, Dr Anne Gerritsen traces globalization to its sixteenth-century roots.

Professor Mark Knights appears on season 9 episode 8 of "Who Do You Think You Are?", focussing on actress Celia Imrie.

Dr Laura Schwartz appears on episode 2 of "Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs", focussing on class war.