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{{Short description|Series of annual radio lectures broadcast by the BBC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Lord_reith.jpg|thumb|right|The Reith Lectures are named in honour of [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith]], the BBC's first director-general]]
The '''Reith Lectures''' is a series of annual [[BBC]] [[radio]] [[lecture]]s given by leading figures of the day. They are commissioned by the [[BBC]] and broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] and the [[BBC World Service|World Service]]. The lectures were inaugurated in 1948 to mark the historic contribution made to public service broadcasting by [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|Lord Reith]], the corporation's first director-general.

Reith maintained that broadcasting should be a public service that aimed to enrich the intellectual and cultural life of the nation. It is in this spirit that the BBC each year invites a leading figure to deliver the lectures. The aim is to advance public understanding and debate about issues of contemporary interest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/the-reith-lectures/about/ |title=Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures - About Reith |publisher=BBC |date=1970-01-01 |access-date=2013-11-02}}</ref>

The first Reith lecturer was the philosopher and later [[Nobel laureate]], [[Bertrand Russell]]. The first female lecturer was [[Margery Perham|Dame Margery Perham]] in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lb4|title=Margery Perham: The Colonial Reckoning: 1961, The Reith Lectures - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC}}</ref> The youngest Reith lecturer was [[Colin Blakemore]], who was 32 in 1976 when he broadcast over six episodes on the brain and consciousness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmw6w|title=Colin Blakemore: Mechanics of the Mind: 1976, The Reith Lectures - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC}}</ref>

==The Reith Lectures archive==

{{Listen|filename=Martin Rees BBC Radio4 The Reith Lectures 22 June 2010 b00srktg.flac|title={{center|Excerpt from a lecture}}|type=speech|description={{center|Part of a lecture by [[Martin Rees]], [[:File:Martin Rees BBC Radio4 The Reith Lectures 22 June 2010 b00srktg.flac|recorded June 2010]]}}}}

In June 2011 BBC Radio 4 published its Reith Lectures archive.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13891740 | work=BBC News | title=BBC Radio 4 unveils 60 years of Reith Lectures archive | date=2011-06-26}}</ref> This included two podcasts featuring over 240 lectures from 1948 to the present day as well as streamed online audio, and the complete written transcripts of the entire Reith Lectures archive:

* Podcast 1: Archive 1948–1975<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02p8ttc/episodes/downloads|title=Archive 1948-1975 - The Reith Lectures - Downloads - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC}}</ref>
* Podcast 2: Archive 1976–2012<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02p8xh7/episodes/downloads|title=Archive 1976-2012 - The Reith Lectures - Downloads - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC}}</ref>
* Transcripts 1948–2010<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/the-reith-lectures/transcripts/|title=BBC - Radio 4 - The Reith Lectures Transcripts 2011}}</ref>
* In pictures<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-13647943|title=In Pictures: The Reith Lectures| work=BBC News |date=2 December 2014}}</ref>

The BBC found that some of the audio archive of the Reith Lectures was missing from its library and appealed to the public for copies of the missing lectures.<ref name="bbc"/>

== The Reith Lectures 1948–2024 ==
=== 1940s ===
* 1948 [[Bertrand Russell]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lz3 Authority and the Individual]"
* 1949 [[Robert Birley]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lyg Britain in Europe]"

=== 1950s ===
* 1950 [[John Zachary Young]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lxm Doubt and Certainty in Science]"
* 1951 [[Cyril Radcliffe, 1st Viscount Radcliffe|Lord Radcliffe]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lwd Power and the State]"
* 1952 [[Arnold J. Toynbee]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lpw The World and the West]"
* 1953 [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lm8 Science and the Common Understanding]"
* 1954 [[Oliver Franks, Baron Franks|Oliver Franks]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lm3 Britain and the Tide of World Affairs]"
* 1955 [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9llv The Englishness of English Art]"
* 1956 [[Edward Victor Appleton]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lkv Science and the Nation]"
* 1957 [[George F. Kennan]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lk5 Russia, the Atom and the West]"
* 1958 [[Bernard Lovell]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9ld8 The Individual and the Universe]"
* 1959 [[Peter Medawar]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lc9 The Future of Man]"

=== 1960s ===
* 1960 [[Edgar Wind]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lbs Art and Anarchy]"
* 1961 [[Margery Perham]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9lb4 The Colonial Reckoning]"
* 1962 [[Morris Carstairs|George Carstairs]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9l9f This Island Now]"
* 1963 [[Albert Sloman]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9l8z A University in the Making]"
* 1964 [[Leon Bagrit]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h9l82 The Age of Automation]"
* 1965 [[Robert K. A. Gardiner|Robert Gardiner]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3yc4 World of Peoples]"
* 1966 [[John Kenneth Galbraith|John K. Galbraith]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3y23 The New Industrial State]"
* 1967 [[Edmund Leach]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3xy8 A Runaway World]"
* 1968 [[Lester B. Pearson]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3xs2 In the Family of Man]"
* 1969 [[Frank Fraser Darling]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3xk5 Wilderness and Plenty]"

=== 1970s ===
* 1970 [[Donald Schön]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3xfh Change and Industrial Society]"
* 1971 [[Richard Hoggart]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3xbc Only Connect]"
* 1972 [[Andrew Shonfield]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3x7f Europe: Journey to an Unknown Destination]"
* 1973 [[Alastair Francis Buchan|Alastair Buchan]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3x5m Change Without War]"
* 1974 [[Ralf Dahrendorf]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3x3t The New Liberty]"
* 1975 [[Daniel J. Boorstin]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3wyv America and the World Experience]"
* 1976 [[Colin Blakemore]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmw6w Mechanics of the Mind]"
* 1977 [[A. H. Halsey]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq29j Change in British Society]"
* 1978 [[Edward Norman (historian)|Edward Norman]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq28g Christianity and the World]"
* 1979 [[Ali Mazrui]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1wn The African Condition]"

=== 1980s ===
* 1980 [[Ian Kennedy (legal scholar)|Professor Sir Ian Kennedy]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1z0 Unmasking Medicine]"
* 1981 [[Laurence Martin]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1zd The Two Edged Sword]"
* 1982 [[Denis Donoghue (academic)|Denis Donoghue]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1s3 The Arts Without Mystery]"
* 1983 [[Douglas Wass]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1jd Government and the Governed]"
* 1984 [[John Searle]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1fk Minds, Brains and Science]"
* 1985 [[David Henderson (economist)|David Henderson]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq1cr Innocence and Design]"
* 1986 [[John McCluskey, Baron McCluskey|Lord McCluskey]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq13t Law, Justice and Democracy]"
* 1987 [[Alexander Goehr]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq0sz The Survival of the Symphony]"
* 1988 [[Geoffrey Hosking]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq0p8 The Rediscovery of Politics]"
* 1989 [[Jacques Darras]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq0l0 Beyond the Tunnel of History]"

=== 1990s ===
* 1990 [[Jonathan Sacks, Baron Sacks|Jonathan Sacks]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq0dl The Persistence of Faith]"
* 1991 [[Steve Jones (biologist)|Steve Jones]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gq073 The Language of Genes]"
* There was no lecture in 1992 because "the BBC simply couldn't find anyone to do them"<ref>BBC (2011) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/06_june/26/reith.shtml "Radio 4 opens The Reith Lectures archive to public"], 26 June.</ref>
* 1993 [[Edward Said]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmx4c Representation of the Intellectual]"
* 1994 [[Marina Warner]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmw3z Managing Monsters]"
* 1995 [[Richard Rogers]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmvz4 Sustainable City]"
* 1996 [[Jean Aitchison]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gmvwx The Language Web]"
* 1997 [[Patricia J. Williams]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvkl The Genealogy of Race]"
* 1998 [[John Keegan]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvjz War in Our World]"
* 1999 [[Anthony Giddens]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvgj The Runaway World]"

=== 2000s ===
* 2000 [[Chris Patten]], [[John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley|Sir John Browne]], [[Thomas Lovejoy]], [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]], [[Vandana Shiva]], [[Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvff Respect for the Earth]" 	
* 2001 [[Tom Kirkwood]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvdn The End of Age]"
* 2002 [[Onora O'Neill]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvd8 A Question of Trust?]"
* 2003 [[V. S. Ramachandran]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvck The Emerging Mind]"
* 2004 [[Wole Soyinka]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghvb7 Climate of Fear]"
* 2005 [[Alec Broers, Baron Broers|Lord Broers]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghv8z The Triumph of Technology]"
* 2006 [[Daniel Barenboim]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00ghv8s In the Beginning was Sound]"
* 2007 [[Jeffrey Sachs]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729fw Bursting at the Seams]"
* 2008 [[Jonathan D. Spence|Professor Jonathan Spence]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bx24h Chinese Vistas]"
* 2009 [[Michael Sandel]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kt7rg A New Citizenship]"

=== 2010s ===
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* 2010 [[Martin Rees]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sk5nc Scientific Horizons]"
* 2011 [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] and [[Eliza Manningham-Buller|Baroness Manningham-Buller]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0126d29 Securing Freedom]"
* 2012 [[Niall Ferguson]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jms03 The Rule of Law and Its Enemies]"
* 2013 [[Grayson Perry]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03969vt Playing to the Gallery]"
* 2014 [[Atul Gawande]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgqn The Future of Medicine]"
* 2016 (March) [[Stephen Hawking]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06pttqf Do Black Holes Have No Hair?]" {{ref|a}} <ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/nov/10/stephen-hawkings-bbc-reith-lectures-postponed-through-illness | title=Stephen Hawking's BBC Reith Lectures postponed through illness | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=10 November 2015 }}</ref>
*2016 (October) [[Kwame Anthony Appiah]], "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43ds Mistaken Identities]"
* 2017 [[Hilary Mantel]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08vkm52 Resurrection: The Art and Craft]"
* 2018 [[Margaret MacMillan]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b8d340 The Mark of Cain]"
*2019 [[Jonathan Sumption, Lord Sumption|Jonathan Sumption]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00057m9 Law and the Decline of Politics]"

=== 2020s ===
* 2020 [[Mark Carney]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000py8t How We Get What We Value—from Moral to Market Sentiments]"
* 2021 [[Stuart J. Russell]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00729d9 Living with Artificial Intelligence]"
* 2022 [[Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]], "Freedom of Speech"; [[Rowan Williams]], "Freedom of Worship"; [[Loki (rapper)|Darren McGarvey]], "Freedom from Want"; [[Fiona Hill (presidential advisor)|Fiona Hill]], "Freedom from Fear" (theme: "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fmv6 The Four Freedoms]")
* 2023 [[Ben Ansell]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001sty4 Our Democratic Future]"
* 2024 [[Gwen Adshead]], "[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025cmg Four Questions About Violence]"

== See also ==
* [[Boyer Lectures]]
* [[Massey Lectures]]

==Notes==
:1.{{note|a}}Stephen Hawking's lecture was postponed because of illness.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Reith Lectures}}
* {{BBC programme | title=The Reith Lectures}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith/reith_history.shtml History]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/the-reith-lectures/archive/ Listen to archived lectures]

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{{BBC World Service}}
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[[Category:Recurring events established in 1948]]
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