The Meeting Of Minds

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

The Berlin Conference, 1884

20041114

Meetings of Minds is a series looking at the dynamics of deliberation at three moments in history.

Frances Stonor Saunders explores meetings which had huge significance beyond their four walls - beginning with the Berlin Conference of 1884, during which the European Powers formalised the Scramble for Africa and the interior was partitioned.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for these colonial times not a single African was among the 14 delegations from across Europe, Russia and America.

Frances examines how this diplomatic meeting was to have a consequence for the continent that can be traced to today and asks how straightforward is it when diplomacy dictates discussion.

How do such meetings of minds work?

The Philadelphia Convention, 1787

20041121

The Philadelphia convention of 1787 was a landmark in American and world history.

Both its handiwork- the American constitution- and its example of the people's representation to govern themselves had a profound influence on subsequent experiment in government.

The revolutionary era was both exhilarating and disturbing - a time of progress for some, dislocation for others.

Meetings of Minds discovers what happened at this gathering of what one historian called 'the well-bred, well fed, well wed, and well read' and how its legacy is one we live with today.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
01	The Berlin Conference, 1884	20041114	Meetings of Minds is a series looking at the dynamics of deliberation at three moments in history. Frances Stonor Saunders explores meetings which had huge significance beyond their four walls - beginning with the Berlin Conference of 1884, during which the European Powers formalised the Scramble for Africa and the interior was partitioned. Perhaps unsurprisingly for these colonial times not a single African was among the 14 delegations from across Europe, Russia and America. Frances examines how this diplomatic meeting was to have a consequence for the continent that can be traced to today and asks how straightforward is it when diplomacy dictates discussion. How do such meetings of minds work? 1.
02	The Philadelphia Convention, 1787	20041121	The Philadelphia convention of 1787 was a landmark in American and world history. Both its handiwork- the American constitution- and its example of the people's representation to govern themselves had a profound influence on subsequent experiment in government. The revolutionary era was both exhilarating and disturbing - a time of progress for some, dislocation for others. Meetings of Minds discovers what happened at this gathering of what one historian called 'the well-bred, well fed, well wed, and well read' and how its legacy is one we live with today. 2.