The Stream of Life

Dr Alexander Hall presents:

The Stream of Life: Evolution, Julian Huxley, and humanism on the BBC

Since the first half of the 20th century humanist and rationalist organisations have regularly petitioned the BBC to receive more dedicated airtime for their worldviews. Regularly snubbed by mainstream BBC bigwigs, humanist views nonetheless made it to air by being parachuted into science productions, by figures such as the biologist and science populariser Julian Huxley. In this talk, I will introduce these early connections between scientific shows discussing evolution and what Huxley called his “scientific humanist” worldview. Going beyond the post-war decades, I will explore the legacy of this connection between humanism and scientific programming at the BBC, asking the question whether any of its effects can still be felt in  the blockbuster documentaries produced by the Beeb today?

Alexander Hall is a historian based at the University of Birmingham whose primary area of interest is the intersection between scientific knowledge, the media, and the environment. Dr Hall’s current research  explores how the media have represented evolutionary theory and religion during the second half of the twentieth‐century. Previously, his research explored how scientists have gained positions of expertise in society and used the media to communicate complex theories to the public. He is President of the International Commission for the History of  Meteorology, and Recorder for the History of Science section at the British Science Association.

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About Vaughan Open Research Forum

Vaughan Open Research Forum is series of talks, workshops and interactive sessions which are open to anyone who is curious and wants to find out more.

Themes for sessions relate to our core teaching topics, arts, humanities, social sciences and counselling, and also discuss adult education and co-operative issues.  The Forums take place on the second Tuesday of the month.

The Venue for the Open Research Forum is the Satta Hashem Hall in the Leicester Adult Education College, 54 Belvoir Street. Tea and cake will be available from 5.45 pm with the session running 6.15- 7.30 pm.