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BBC Radio 4

NEW in Understand - An American Journey

James Naughtie examines the ideas tying America's founding to the modern United States.

Understand from BBC Radio 4 - unravelling the complexities of the biggest stories and subjects that really matter right now.

Understand

James Naughtie continues his look at the ideas tying America's founding to the modern United States, as he looks at what it means to be an American.

In Chicago, he joins the Columbus Day parade - an exuberant celebration of Italian-American identity - and hears about the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to northern cities like Chicago. In Wisconsin, he visits the birthplace of the Republican Party, and in Ohio the Governor shows him the spot where Abraham Lincoln heard he had been formally confirmed as President-Elect. James considers how the social movements of the 1960s moved the centre of gravity of American politics from economic to social issues, with all that meant for political polarisation.

Producer: Giles Edwards

An American Journey: 2. A More Perfect Union

James Naughtie examines the ideas tying America's founding to the modern United States.

In this major new series marking America's 250th anniversary, James travels through time and across the landscape to discover how the Declaration of Independence embedded the idea of a country founded on what its authors described as 'self-evident' truths – that everyone’s inalienable rights included ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ 

In this first episode James begins with the 'pursuit of happiness' – the American search for opportunity. He begins on the site of the original gold rush in northern California, before journeying to farms and factories; small towns and big cities across the American Midwest. As he does, he reveals how from Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, to President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, Americans have always seen the connection between economic and democratic freedom - the ability to choose their own fates, and the fate of the country. 

Producer: Giles Edwards.

An American Journey: 1. The Pursuit of Happiness

Justin Webb looks back at the five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe Doctrine to Donald Trump. Over five episodes he and his guests look at how America’s approach to the world has constantly changed over time. This may help answer a really big question - how radical is the way Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power?

In this episode Justin discusses the Bush Doctrine with Melvyn Leffler, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Virginia and Bronwen Maddox, Director of the London based think-tank, Chatham House.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Credit: Bush’s Graduation Speech at West Point courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: 5. The Bush Doctrine

Justin Webb looks back at the five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe Doctrine to Donald Trump. Over five episodes he and his guests look at how America’s approach to the world has constantly changed over time. This may help answer a really big question - how radical is the way Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power?

In this episode Justin discusses the Reagan Doctrine with Kathleen Burk, Emeritus Professor in Modern and Contemporary History at University College London and Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Credit: Reagan’s State of the Union Address courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: 4. The Reagan Doctrine

Justin Webb looks back at the five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe Doctrine to Donald Trump. Over five episodes he and his guests look at how America’s approach to the world has constantly changed over time. This may help answer a really big question - how radical is the way Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power?

In this episode Justin discusses the Nixon Doctrine with Professor Douglas Brinkley, who's the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University in Texas.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Dave O'Neill

Credit: Nixon’s Silent Majority Speech/Richard Nixon Foundation

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: 3. The Nixon Doctrine

Justin Webb looks back at the five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe Doctrine to Donald Trump. Over five episodes he and his guests look at how America’s approach to the world has constantly changed over time. This may help answer a really big question - how radical is the way Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power?

In this episode Justin discusses The Truman Doctrine with Jay Sexton, Professor of History and Director of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri and Barbara Perry, Professor in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Credit: Truman's address courtesy of the Harry S Truman Library and Columbia Broadcasting System.

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: 2. The Truman Doctrine

Justin Webb looks back at the five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe Doctrine to Donald Trump. Over five episodes he and his guests look at how America’s approach to the world has constantly changed over time. This may help answer a really big question - how radical is the way Donald Trump deals with the world? Is he really an outlier in US history? Or do his actions reflect the changing patterns of American power? 

In this episode Justin discusses The Monroe Doctrine with Jay Sexton, Professor of History and Director of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri.

Presenter: Justin Webb
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Researcher: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Jon Bithrey
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: 1. The Monroe Doctrine

Justin Webb looks at five big US foreign policy shifts, from Monroe to Trump.

US Foreign Policy in Five Doctrines: Trailer

During the early weeks of the pandemic, Tim Hayward spent 14 days in a coma. He remembers this time vividly – his days and nights filled with strange, incandescent visions and hallucinations. That experience is something he would never choose to revisit but, around the world, large numbers of people are deliberately seeking out powerfully altered states.

In this ten-part series, Tim sets out to better understand a group of substances that induce altered states: psychedelics.

There’s been a surge of interest in their therapeutic potential for various mental health conditions - as well as a range of other clinical possibilities. As research around the world ramps up after years of taboo and prohibition he tries to get to grips with - or at least get a clearer sense of - how science, culture, politics and business might all interact in this changing psychedelic landscape, and what it all might mean.

He also explores what might be happening in the brain during a trip and whether, by studying psychedelics, we might uncover more about consciousness, imagination and even the mysteries of reality itself.

In this episode, we hear from members of the psychedelic community who fear the consequences of plants and fungi that are sacred to some indigenous communities being exploited for commercial gain. This would not be the first time, they say - just look at what happened with tobacco.

Contributors:
Osiris García Cerqueda, historian and sociologist, Program Coordinator, Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative (IRI)
Ariel Clark, lawyer and founding member of the Psychedelic Bar Association
Mike Jay, author and cultural historian

Presenter: Tim Hayward
Series Producer: Richard Ward
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Written by Tim Hayward and Richard Ward
Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Ward
Researcher: Grace Revill
Production Executive: Lisa Lipman
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

Audio footage from Psychedelic Science 2023 and 2025 used with permission from the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

The Trip: 9. Sacred plants for sale

During the early weeks of the pandemic, Tim Hayward spent 14 days in a coma. He remembers this time vividly – his days and nights filled with strange, incandescent visions and hallucinations. That experience is something he would never choose to revisit but, around the world, large numbers of people are deliberately seeking out powerfully altered states.

In this ten-part series, Tim sets out to better understand a group of substances that induce altered states: psychedelics.

There’s been a surge of interest in their therapeutic potential for various mental health conditions - as well as a range of other clinical possibilities. As research around the world ramps up after years of taboo and prohibition he tries to get to grips with - or at least get a clearer sense of - how science, culture, politics and business might all interact in this changing psychedelic landscape, and what it all might mean.

He also explores what might be happening in the brain during a trip and whether, by studying psychedelics, we might uncover more about consciousness, imagination and even the mysteries of reality itself.

In this final episode, Tim explores how much there is still to understand about the therapeutic possibilities of psychedelics and, furthermore, what other insights research might lead us towards. Will curious minds be given the space to roam free? 
 
Contributors:
Lucie Berkovitch, psychiatrist and neuroscientist, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences
Osiris García Cerqueda, historian and sociologist, Program Coordinator, Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative (IRI)
Gül Dölen, neuroscientist, University of California, Berkeley
David Luke, psychologist and psychedelic researcher, University of Greenwich
Andrew Penn, psychiatric nurse practitioner and psychedelics researcher, University of California San Francisco School of Nursing
Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, philosopher of mind and metaphysics, University of Exeter

Presenter: Tim Hayward
Series Producer: Richard Ward
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Written by Tim Hayward and Richard Ward
Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Ward
Researcher: Grace Revill
Production Executive: Lisa Lipman
Commissioning Editor: Daniel Clarke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

An American Journey: 2. A More Perfect Union

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