Reith Lectures

The lectures were inaugurated in 1948 to mark the historic contribution made to public service broadcasting by 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.

[2] The youngest Reith lecturer was Colin Blakemore, who was 32 in 1976 when he broadcast over six episodes on the brain and consciousness.