Forget h-indexes, PhD completions or research grant income. For most UK academics, there is only one metric that truly matters: have you ever appeared on Radio 4’s In Our Time? And, if so, how many times?

There is now, however, a greater accolade on offer with the news that host  that he has presented since 1998. After more than 1,000 episodes, the BBC’s best-loved and most popular podcast is looking for a new presenter, with some arguing that an academic should fill Bragg’s shoes ahead of much-fancied BBC names.

Speculation about who might replace Bragg has mainly centred on which journalist might step up. Former BBC Radio 4 Today host Mishal Husain is rumoured to have already turned down the job, while former BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall – who was master of Peterhouse College, Cambridge from 2016 to 2023 – has many admirers.

Historian Dominic Sandbrook – co-host of hugely popular The Rest is History podcast – has also been mentioned, while Radio 3’s Free Thinking presenter Matthew Sweet – who holds a University of Oxford PhD in history – is also highly regarded.

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But others argue that the show – described as “sort of an academic seminar on the airwaves” – could be most effectively run by one of the growing band of academic broadcasters who were a rarity when Bragg took over in the 1990s.

Indeed, the skill set of a seasoned academic could fit perfectly to a show that has covered topics as diverse as “space in religion and science”, “Kant’s categorical imperative”, “the Zong massacre” and the “fish tetrapod transition”, some claim.

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“Knowing how to run a university seminar could provide helpful training for this job – you need to understand the materials but also ask the right questions, bring different people into the conversation and know how to move the debate forward,” explained one frequent contributor, a humanities professor at a Russell Group university.

“Having someone who is rigorous and probing in their questions is important but it shouldn’t feel like a journalistic grilling for anyone – you need to give people the chance to shine but also seek clarification on what they’re saying,” they said, adding that whoever took over – journalist or scholar – would need “real intellectual clout” to “get on top of the brief in a very short space of time”.

Writer and broadcaster Islam Issa, professor of public humanities at Birmingham City University, tipped by some as an outside bet to replace to Bragg, agreed that an academic could succeed in the role.

“The show is defined by a kind of intellectual curiosity that is very similar to a university seminar setting. In fact, its arc reminds me of the seminars in which I’d tell students to look for the visible meanings in say, a Shakespeare text, before the hidden meanings,” he explained.

“That way, you’re going through the process of unpacking the topic, which is where this show excels, and why its episodes consistently make it into student course packs.”

“With the rise of social media, over-simplification is rife and nuance is becoming a rare currency. In the humanities at universities, nuance is vital. That, to me, is where an academic can shine, because they are more likely to welcome ambiguity and nuance than a hard-nosed broadcaster,” he said.

Others suggest, however, that an academic replacement might not be the best choice. , who curates the unofficial In Our Time���������󾱱����� used by fans and university students to locate episodes, felt Bragg’s most important skill was balancing the detail provided by scholars while keeping the show’s pace.

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“Bragg is a broadcaster able to gently – or not so gently – keep academics on the facts and out of the weeds, and tell a story with their voices. The In Our Time research team must be extraordinary to help him do that every week,” said Webb, a self-described “superfan” who helped set up the In Our Time podcast (the BBC’s first) while he was working at the corporation 20 years ago.

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Echoing the view of Times�����DZ��ܳ��Ծ������� on why Bragg had succeeded in the role, Webb added: “The only way that Bragg can tell that story, week in and week out, is that he is interested."

“Bragg is a fan, he has an innate understanding of the journey of learning and the joy along the way, and he wants sincerely to share that,” said Webb.

“So, you could find a broadcaster with gravitas and knowledge, or an academic who can tell a story on the fly, but In Our Time wouldn’t work without Bragg’s fannish fascination shining through”

“Who should be next? Assuming we can’t wave a magic wand and put me in the seat, the BBC should see if YouTuber  would be game – just look at his back catalogue and ability to connect.”

Academics in the picture

Mary Beard

Emerita professor of Classics at Cambridge, Beard has showed no signs of slowing down since her retirement from academia at the end of 2022. A well-known public intellectual, Beard has fronted multiple BBC TV series including Ultimate Rome (2016) and Shock of the Nude (2020) and the reboot of BBC2 review show Front Row Late for seven series.

Shahiha Bari

Professor of fashion cultures and histories at University of the Arts London Bari, formerly of Queen Mary University of London, has a strong research background in literature, philosophy and culture. A regular presenter of Free Thinking (Radio 4, formerly Radio 3), Bari is frequently on Front Row and other BBC Two shows.

Eleanor Barraclough

Historian of the Viking and medieval world,  Barraclough is a senior lecturer in environmental history at Bath Spa University. She has significant broadcasting experience with radio credits including Free Thinking, Sunday Feature, the Time Travellers podcast, and BBC Four’s Beyond the Walls.

Islam Issa

Another winner of a BBC3-AHRC New Generation Thinker award (alongside Bari and Barraclough), Issa is an author, historian and broadcaster whose book on Alexandria won the 2024 Runciman Award. A regular on Radio 4 shows and TV documentaries, the Egyptian-British broadcaster has presented BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking and fronted the 2022 Channel Four documentary Cleopatra and Me: In Search of a Lost Queen.

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jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com