If he didn't interrupt, In Our Time would degenerate into an academic squabble with subject matter experts going on about abstruse and irrelevant minutia listeners aren't interested in.

Bragg's role is to ensure that the guests don't go down rabbit holes and that the program delivers an overview of a topic. He's the everyman, the listener stand-in. Plus, he is alert for academics who grind political axes or perform for their colleagues, not the general public. Many academics are profound experts on their topic, but terrible at communicating.

I agree with both of you. Bragg's job is necessary, but I think it could be done more skillfully and with a better tone. Bragg is often unnecessarily pompous, which I believe is a trait he picked up to disguise his humble origins.

He was elevated to The House Of Lords. I doubt that enhanced his humility.

I don't know anything about his humble origins, and I don't care about people's origins. He has a (rather weird, to my ear) northern accent, but being from the North doesn't make your origins 'humble'.

[Edit to add:] There's a word "chippy" that's used in England primarily to refer to Yorkshiremen. It suggests that Yorkshiremen all have a chip on their shoulder.

That's not my experience. Firstly, Northerners are much more accepted now than they were in my childhood; perhaps back then more Yorkshiremen were "chippy". Secondly, I've lived in Yorkshire, and I have never come across a sterotypical "chippy" Yorkshireman, except in TV dramas and comedies.

Chippy has nothing to do with people from Yorkshire. It refers to people who are overly defensive due to a sense of inferiority about their status or an imagined grievance. There are such people in Yorkshire, but there are such people everywhere.

I agree entirely. But the sterotype undoubtedly exists (or at least existed).

I think more than their own BBC researchers, Bragg uses the notes made by the guests themselves to guide the discussion, sort of like a circusmaster. The role necessarily comes with a bit of ego, actual or incidental.

I get what you mean though - I do IOT in phases, catching up on a few months worth before Bragg gets my back up a wee bit and I let the show lie fallow for a while.