“We’re building the BBC of the future here – with a long-term commitment to radio at its heart.”
–  BBC Controller Mark Thompson

In his speech last week at the 2011 Radio festival (as reported here), BBC Controller Mark Thompson set out his vision for the Corporation’s commitment to access to its audio holdings, with over 20 hours of each week’s Radio 4 output already being added to the archive.

One of the latest expressions of this is Science Explorer, which brings together much of educational value that is related to science programming previously broadcast on the air. At present the site, which can be viewed in a more straightforward list mode or a more challenging \interactive’ version, includes broadcasts from the likes of cognitive psychologist Steve Pinker, theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, physicist and astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell while topics explored include the legacies of Hippocrates, Da Vinci, Darwin and Freud, the evolution of the human brain, mind-body duality and much more. The latest section is devoted to psychologist Geoff Benn. The thematic grouping bring together a broad range of sources and users can create their own playlists. Very much a work in progress, but a fascinating one. You can access it here.