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History & The Arts
What do literary agents do?
Johnny Gellar explains what it is that literary agents do to earn their money - and help their authors earn theirs!
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History & The Arts
The Lords against the gunboats: When the House of Lords took on Lord Palmerston
In 1850, The House of Lords gathered to condemn the British Government's use of a blockade to force reparations from Greece. Their intervention wasn't warmly received, as this extract from the Portsmouth Telegraph shows.
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History & The Arts
The People on the Notes: Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry, sometimes known as 'the angel of prisons', was depicted on the £5 note for over a decade - only recently being replaced a couple of years ago by Winston Churchill. Here's what we know about her:
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History & The Arts
A quiet man, hounded: One person's experience of the UK's anti-homosexuality laws
Trevor Thomas built a reputation in Leicester - before British attitudes to his sexuality nearly destroyed his life.
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History & The Arts
If a pig gives you a new liver, do you give the pig rights?
Science is pushing ahead developing human-animal chimera creatures. Ethicists need to keep up to be ready for them, says Joshua Shepherd.
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History & The Arts
Should Trump's tweets be a matter of record?
When the President deletes a tweet, he's wiping out material of value to historians. Potentially. Shontavia Johnson explains what's at risk.
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History & The Arts
Humphry Davy, laughing gas and the era of self-experimentation
When Humphry Davy wanted to explore the properties of nitrous oxide, he decided the best way would be to experiment upon himself.
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History & The Arts
Arendt
Jonathan Rée introduces the philosophy of Hannah Arendt.
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History & The Arts
Desert Island Discs at 75: An OpenLearn listening list
This weekend, BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs celebrates its 75th anniversary. Join us for a rummage in the archives.
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History & The Arts
Dutch painting of the Golden Age
Seventeenth-century Dutch painting stands out from other art of the same period and even more so from that of previous centuries on account of its apparently ‘everyday’ character. Works by artists such as Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and Jacob van Ruisdael seem to offer a faithful picture of life in the Netherlands at the time. In studying ...
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Money & Business
It's 1892, and the future's bright for gas lighting
The new electric lighting will never be more than a luxury product, stockholders in the Gas Light & Coke Company are reassured at the company's 1892 meeting.
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History & The Arts
Milton Keynes rallies in support of the Corn Laws
On January 23rd, Milton Keynes celebrates 50 years as a new town. But the history of the villages which came together to form the heart of modern Milton Keynes reaches back far further - as this report of a meeting against the Anti Corn Law League in 1844 shows.