The second NEW HISTORY LAB annual lecture will be given tomorrow by Melvyn Bragg, it can now be revealed. Lord Bragg is a veteran broadcaster, whose programming is of the highest intellectual standard, and draws huge audiences. The South Bank Show is perhaps the nation's best-loved cultural programme, and In Our Time is listened to by one in thirty of the UK's adult population.
Melvyn is also an accomplished historian, who has worked extensively on the history of the English, with The Routes of English and Adventures of English. And if all that weren't enough, he is also a respected novelist, with previous works including The Maid of Buttermere, Autumn Manoeuvres, and most recently Remember Me.
As you'd expect from the Lab, the format is both familiar and a departure from the norm at the same time. Melvyn has interviewed a host of people: from prominent academics to Coldplay and other popular entertainers. To turn this on its head, he will be subjected to extensive grilling and discussion with Rob, before the whole thing is opened up to the floor. So get your questions historical in order for this extraordinary and exceptional opportunity. We are planning to record the session as a Labcast, so if you ask a question or contribute to the discussion, your voice will be included in this.
I always say it: but I think this really may be the best lab yet!
IMPORTANT NOTE: This session will run a little earlier to accommodate Melvyn's other commitments. We will start tea and cake at 15:45, and the talk will begin at 16:45. We will be in the pub roughly one hour after this, unless we get carried away.
Note: Admission is strictly by ticket only. All are presently allocated, but you may email Lucy Byrne (lb77@le.ac.uk) to be placed on a waiting list. If you have one, and can't come, please return your ticket to Lucy so that it can be reissued.
