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Living with the Gods

Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world. Produced in partnership with the British Museum.

Radio 4,30 episodes

Episodes

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Living with Each Other
Neil MacGregor concludes his series on shared beliefs with a look to the future and hope.
01 Dec 2017,14 mins
The Search for a State
Neil MacGregor focuses on the faiths that have sought to establish a state of their own.
30 Nov 2017,14 mins
Turning the Screw
Neil MacGregor on attempts by some societies to outlaw beliefs seen as a threat.
29 Nov 2017,14 mins
Living with No Gods
Neil MacGregor on societies who banished religion, from revolutionary France to the USSR.
28 Nov 2017,14 mins
Ruling with the Gods
Neil MacGregor on ruling with a mandate from the gods - from the UK to Benin to China.
27 Nov 2017,14 mins
Gods Living Together
Neil MacGregor focuses on how faiths co-exist in India.
24 Nov 2017,14 mins
Global Gods, Local Needs
Neil MacGregor on how gods reach new communities, and how they are adapted and changed.
23 Nov 2017,14 mins
The Other Side of the Leaf
Neil MacGregor on communities who believe they are not the sole inhabitants of a landscape
22 Nov 2017,14 mins
Living with One God
Neil MacGregor's series continues with a focus on societies and faiths with a single god.
21 Nov 2017,14 mins
Living with Many Gods
Neil MacGregor focuses on societies with many gods, including the Romans in Britain.
20 Nov 2017,14 mins
Rejecting the Image
Neil MacGregor reflects on faiths which focus on the word rather than the image.
17 Nov 2017,14 mins
Change Your Life
Neil MacGregor focuses on images with a purpose - to change the viewer's behaviour.
16 Nov 2017,14 mins
The Making of Meaning
Neil MacGregor examines how we come to understand images, with a focus on San rock art.
15 Nov 2017,14 mins
Replicating the Divine
Neil MacGregor focuses on Russian Orthodox icons and the Hindu goddess Durga.
14 Nov 2017,14 mins
The Protectoresses
Neil MacGregor focuses on Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, and Artemis of Ephesus.
13 Nov 2017,14 mins
Festivals
Neil MacGregor focuses on special gatherings and how they shape a communal identity.
10 Nov 2017,14 mins
To Be a Pilgrim
Neil MacGregor focuses on the role of pilgrimage in Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.
09 Nov 2017,14 mins
Holy Killing
Neil MacGregor focuses on Aztec human sacrifices, and animal sacrifice in ancient Greece.
08 Nov 2017,14 mins
Gifts to the Gods
Neil MacGregor focuses on offerings, including gold consigned to a Colombian lake.
07 Nov 2017,14 mins
The House of God
Neil MacGregor on sacred spaces, from a 4,000-year-old temple to a brand new cathedral.
06 Nov 2017,14 mins
The Power of Song
Neil MacGregor on the role of distinctive dress and communal song in weekly gatherings.
03 Nov 2017,14 mins
Lines of Communication
Neil MacGregor focuses on prayer, an individual activity that is also profoundly communal.
02 Nov 2017,14 mins
Becoming an Adult
Neil MacGregor focuses on rites of passage, including a hair-binding ritual from Vanuatu.
01 Nov 2017,14 mins
Mother and Child
Neil MacGregor focuses on the protection of the newly-born and their mothers.
31 Oct 2017,14 mins
Living with the Dead
Neil MacGregor's series continues with a focus on our relationship with the dead.
30 Oct 2017,14 mins
Dependence or Dominion?
Neil MacGregor focuses on our relationship with the natural world and seasonal changes.
27 Oct 2017,14 mins
Here Comes the Sun
Neil MacGregor experiences the winter solstice in the passage tomb at Newgrange, Ireland.
26 Oct 2017,14 mins
Water of Life and Death
Neil MacGregor on water's purifying powers, and the significance of the Ganges for Hindus.
25 Oct 2017,14 mins
Fire and State
Neil MacGregor on the fire of Vesta in Ancient Rome, and the Parsi fire temple in Gujarat.
24 Oct 2017,14 mins
The Beginnings of Belief
Neil MacGregor's series on the role and expression of beliefs begins with the Lion Man.
23 Oct 2017,14 mins