When we oldies were young, the BBC abounded in interesting discussionprogrammes in which party politics was never mentioned.
There was, instead, the sense that the radio – later the telly – were like intelligent dinner tables or tutorials. There was still a Reithian sense that the public broadcaster could provide, in accessible form, what the Athenians had sought in Plato’s Academy.
There was the Brains Trust, in which figures such as C.E.M. Joad or Bertrand Russell attempted to answer questions sent in by the listeners.
In its glory
