John 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.

The very first Reith lecturer was the philosopher, Bertrand Russell who spoke on "Authority and the Individual". Among his successors were Arnold Toynbee (The World and the West, 1952), Robert Oppenheimer (Science and the Common Understanding, 1953) and J.K. Galbraith (The New Industrial State, 1966). More recently, the Reith lectures have been delivered by the Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks (The Persistence of Faith, 1990) and Dr Steve Jones (The Language of the Genes, 1991).

Other lecturers were Jean Aitchison (The Language Web, 1996), Patricia J. Williams (Race and Race Relations, 1997) John Keegan (War and Our World, 1998) Anthony Giddens (Runaway World, 1999). In 2000, five lecturers, Chris Patten, Tom Lovejoy, John Browne, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Vandana Shiva, spoke on Respect for the Earth, and then took part in a seminar hosted by the Prince of Wales. Tom Kirkwood examined The End Of Age in 2001 and Onora O'Neill lectured on A Question of Trust in 2002. Last Year, the neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran dealt with The Emerging Mind.

Chronological List of Reith Lecturers