2010

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130 : Textbook Diplomacy (1)
first broadcast: Wed Jan 27 2010	10.00 am World Service	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
In Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia historians are struggling to produce school textbooks that will help overcome deep-seated misunderstandings and hatreds between neighbouring states. This week - South Africa

131 : Textbook Diplomacy (2)
first broadcast: Wed Feb 3 2010	10.00 am World Service	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
In Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia historians are struggling to produce school textbooks that will help overcome deep-seated misunderstandings and hatreds between neighbouring states. This week -- Europe

132 : Geo-engineering the Climate
first broadcast: Wed Mar 10 2010	9.00 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mike Hally
Following December's climate conference in Copenhagen the world is now committed to holding global warming to a maximum of 2 degrees centigrade -- in theory. But without a binding treaty to curb carbon emissions, there's growing interest in "geoengineering" as a kind of insurance policy against the possibility that the worst predictions of some climate scientists come true. Mark Whitaker reports on research in key centres in Britain and the USA into ways of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth -- and on the massive technical, financial and political hurdles they face.

133 : The Death-Ray in Your Pocket - 50 Years of Lasers
first broadcast: Wed Jun 2 2010	9.00 pm Radio 4	presenter: Hermione Cockburn	producer: Mike Hally
It's often claimed you're never more than 10 feet from a rat, and you could probably say the same about lasers. In the home and at the shops, throughout medicine, the military, and almost everywhere else the laser has become one of the most ubiquitous pieces of modern technology. And that's in just 50 years, not bad for a device that, after its first successful test on 16th May 1960 was immediately dubbed “a solution looking for a problem”.

134 : Britain on the Bottle (1)
first broadcast: Mon Jul 19 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
King James 1: Drunkenness “is not one sin, but all sins”, said a preacher in 1624. Mark Whitaker begins his history series on the politics of alcohol with King James I’s campaign against it.

135 : Britain on the Bottle (2)
first broadcast: Tue Jul 20 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The Gin Act, 1736 Continuing his narrative history series Mark Whitaker explores the eighteenth century Gin Craze, the response to it of Defoe and Fielding, and what the authorities did.

136 : Britain on the Bottle (3)
first broadcast: Wed Jul 21 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The Beer Act, 1830 Continuing his series on the politics of alcohol, Mark Whitaker explains why in 1830 the British government thought easier access to beer would solve the problem of drunkenness.

137 : Britain on the Bottle (4)
first broadcast: Thu Jul 22 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The 1872 Licensing Act and the Challenge of Temperance At the General Election of 1872 one of the most divisive issues between the parties was drink. Mark Whitaker shows how the temperance movement had got a grip on political life.

138 : Britain on the Bottle (5)
first broadcast: Fri Jul 23 2010	6.10 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
Political Thinkers and the Drink Question Continuing his history series on the politics of alcohol Mark Whitaker shows how for John Stuart Mill and T.H. Green the ‘Drink Question’ raised the central dilemmas of liberalism.

139 : Britain on the Bottle (6)
first broadcast: Mon Jul 26 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
‘Habitual Drunkards’ and the Asylum: As part of his history series on the politics of alcohol Mark Whitaker looks at the late C19th panic over ‘habitual drunkards’, when special asylums were built for them.

140 : Britain on the Bottle (7)
first broadcast: Tue Jul 27 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The Central Control Board: Continuing his series on the politics of the ‘Drink Question’ Mark Whitaker looks at the Central Control Board, set up in 1915 to run some of the liquor trade for the state.

141 : Britain on the Bottle (8)
first broadcast: Wed Jul 28 2010	6.12 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The Improved Pub: Mark Whitaker’s series on the politics of alcohol reaches the 1920s. With consumption falling, and nationalisation threatened, the industry invested heavily in ‘improved pubs’.

142 : Britain on the Bottle (9)
first broadcast: Thu Jul 29 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The Doctors Take Over: Continuing his series on the politics of alcohol in Britain Mark Whitaker looks at how and why the NHS, in the 1960s, embarked on the hospital treatment of alcoholics.

143 : Britain on the Bottle (10)
first broadcast: Fri Jul 30 2010	3.45 pm Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
The ‘Drink Question’; Past and Present To round off his history series on the politics of alcohol Mark Whitaker talks to Britain’s leading historians on the subject, asking them how the past can inform present policy.

144 : William Quilliam
first broadcast: Wed Oct 20 2010	11.00 am Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
1. The programmes explores the life of one of the most extraordinary and controversial Victorians – William Quilliam, who established the first community of English Muslims in Liverpool in the 1890s.

145 : The New MBAs (1)
first broadcast: Mon Nov 15 2010	11.00 am Radio	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mike Hally
A critical look at how UK business schools are responding to the Crash of 2008 by teaching more about ethics, sustainability and corporate responsibility (part 2 will look at the US)

146 : The New MBAs (2)
first broadcast: Mon Nov 22 2010	11.00 am Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mike Hally
Following last week’s look at the UK, this programme examines how American business schools are responding to the Crash of 2008 by placing more emphasis on ethical issues.

147 : A Brave Medical Life
first broadcast: Fri Dec 10 2010	11.00 am Radio 4	presenter: Mark Whitaker	producer: Mark Whitaker
200 years ago Samuel Hahnemann published the founding text of homeopathy. This programme looks at his controversial life and ideas in the context of early 19th medicine.