2026年2月11日星期三

Sir John Reith, Reith Lectures. here are the BBC Reith Lectures from the last 12 years (2014–2025/2026), featuring prominent thinkers discussing topics ranging from medicine and technology to history and moral philosophy. Key Trends In recent years, the lectures have shifted toward being delivered in front of a live audience with Q&A sessions hosted by Anita Anand. They are frequently broadcast in late autumn/early December on BBC Radio 4

Based on the most recent available information, here are the BBC Reith Lectures from the last 12 years (2014–2025/2026), featuring prominent thinkers discussing topics ranging from medicine and technology to history and moral philosophy.

Recent Reith Lectures (2014–2025)

2025: Rutger Bregman – "Moral Revolution"
- Topic: Dutch historian Bregman explores moral decay in modern elites, calling for a "moral revolution" and examining the existential risks of AI and technology, focusing on how committed groups can drive change.
2024: Dr. Gwen Adshead – "The Devil You Know" (Tentative Title)
- Topic: A forensic psychiatrist exploring the concept of "evil," the psychology of criminals, and the nature of empathy.
2023: Ben Okri – "The Magic of the Future"
- Topic: Author Ben Okri explored the role of storytelling, art, and African perspectives in shaping a better future.
2022: Fiona Hill – "The Equality Machine"
- Topic: Expert in Russian and European affairs, focusing on inequality, foreign policy, and the lessons from her working-class background.
2021: Stuart Russell – "Living with Artificial Intelligence"
- Topic: Computer scientist Stuart Russell on the risks and benefits of AI, and how to ensure AI remains beneficial to humanity.
2020: Mark Carney – "How We Get What We Value"
- Topic: Former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, discussed turning values into action, addressing climate change, and reforming financial systems.
2019: Jonathan Sumption – "Law and the Decline of Politics"
- Topic: Former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption argued that law has expanded too far into areas previously handled by politics.
2018: Margaret MacMillan – "The Mark of Cain"
- Topic: Historian Margaret MacMillan on the history of war and its impact on humanity.
2017: Hilary Mantel – "Resurrection: The Art and Craft"
- Topic: Author Hilary Mantel explored the relationship between history, memory, and fiction.
2016: Kwame Anthony Appiah – "Mistaken Identities" (Second series in 2016)
- Topic: Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah examined the nuances of creed, country, color, and culture.
2016: Stephen Hawking – "Do Black Holes Have No Hair?" (First series in 2016)
- Topic: Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking on the nature of black holes.
2015: Kwame Anthony Appiah - Mistaken Identities (Series was in 2016, but 2015 often listed, 2016 is generally accurate for the specific series above)
2014: Atul Gawande – "The Future of Medicine"
- Topic: Surgeon and author Atul Gawande on the challenges and improvements in modern healthcare.

Key Trends
In recent years, the lectures have shifted toward being delivered in front of a live audience with Q&A sessions hosted by Anita Anand. They are frequently broadcast in late autumn/early December on BBC Radio 4.

Reith Lectures

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Reith Lectures is a series of annual radio lectures given by leading figures of the day, commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. The lectures were inaugurated in 1948 by the BBC to mark the historic contribution made to public service broadcasting by Sir John Reith, the corporation's first director-general.

Lord Reith maintained that broadcasting should be a public service which enriches the intellectual and cultural life of the nation. It is in this spirit that the BBC each year invites a leading figure to deliver a series of lectures on radio. The aim is to advance public understanding and debate about significant issues of contemporary interest.^[1]

The first Reith lecturer was the philosopher and Nobel laureate, Bertrand Russell. The first female lecturer was Dame Margery Perham in 1961, who spoke on the impact of colonialism in her series of talks entitled The Colonial Reckoning.^[2] The youngest Reith Lecturer was Colin Blakemore, who was 30 years old in 1976 when he broadcast six lectures on the brain and consciousness, titledMechanics of the Mind.^[3]

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The Reith Lectures Archive[edit]

	Excerpt from a lecture MENU 0:00 Part of a lecture by Martin Rees, recorded June 2010
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In June 2011 BBC Radio 4 published its Reith Lectures archive.^[4] This included two podcasts featuring over 240 lectures from 1948 to the present day as well as streamed online audio, and the complete written transcripts of the entire Reith Lectures archive:

Podcast 1: Archive 1948–1975^[5]
Podcast 2: Archive 1976–2012^[6]
Transcripts 1948–2010 ^[7]
In pictures^[8]

The BBC found that some of the audio archive of the Reith Lectures was missing from its library and appealed to the public for copies of the missing lectures.^[4]