Toby the Tenor

A quick one for this entry because the blog entry I was going to post is taking longer to write than expected. 

Today’s post is an observation and a question. In Our Time, BBC Radio 4’s long-running flagship discussion programme, chaired by Lord Bragg, passed a significant milestone last year. On 21st September, 2023 the series reached its thousandth episode. On BBC Sounds, the caption for the programme says “Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world”. 

I listen to In Our Time whenever I can. Melvyn Bragg’s willingness to engage with any subject, drawing out informative discussion and sometimes thorny debate is a wonder of broadcasting. 

Since the beginning of 2020 there have been twenty-two episodes on topics relating to literature in the modern age. Why then have there only been three editions in all the episodes since the first edition on 15th October, 1998 about music? One on Beethoven, one on Wagner and one titled Mathematics and Music.