The Essay Podcast
Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.
Episodes to download
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Jen McDerra on Gladys Lindo—Caribbean Voices
Thu 1 Jul 2021
4/5 The Jamaican woman of letters behind Henry Swanzy discovered hidden in the archives
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Kei Miller on Louise Bennett—Caribbean Voices
Wed 30 Jun 2021
3/5 A moving recollection of 'Miss Lou', maternal love and Jamaican dialect
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Paul Mendez on Andrew Salkey—Caribbean Voices
Tue 29 Jun 2021
2/5 Reimagining the man at the centre of the black literary scene in the mid-20th century
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Sara Collins on Una Marson—Caribbean Voices
Mon 28 Jun 2021
1/5 A personal search for the poetry and 'voice' of a trailblazing Jamaican broadcaster
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King Zog - And Time to Leave—In Albania
Fri 4 Jun 2021
5/5 Joanna Robertson is living in Albania and meets the king. But can she stay?
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Scoop—In Albania
Thu 3 Jun 2021
4/5 It's the mid-90s in Albania, all hell breaks loose and Joanna Robertson gets her scoop.
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North and South—In Albania
Wed 2 Jun 2021
3/5 It's the mid-90s and Joanna Robertson explores Albania's rural north and riotous south.
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Tirana—In Albania
Tue 1 Jun 2021
2/5 It鈥檚 the mid-90s, and Joanna Robertson explores life in Albania鈥檚 capital Tirana.
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Setting Off—In Albania
Mon 31 May 2021
1/5 It's the mid-1990s and Albania is in turmoil, so Joanna Robertson sets off to live there.
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Vera Hall—In Their Voices
Fri 14 May 2021
5/5 Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Vera Hall and why it is so special.
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Robert McFerrin—In Their Voices
Thu 13 May 2021
4/5 Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Robert McFerrin and why it is so special.
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Eric Bentley—In Their Voices
Wed 12 May 2021
3/5 Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Eric Bentley, and why it is so special.
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Leontyne Price—In Their Voices
Tue 11 May 2021
2/5 Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Leontyne Price and why it is so special.
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Marian Anderson—In Their Voices
Mon 10 May 2021
1/5 Peter Brathwaite shares his love of the voice of Marian Anderson and why it is so special.
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In Praise of Flatness—New Generation Thinkers
Fri 30 Apr 2021
Noreen Masud finds inspiration in fenlands, polished tables and Kazuo Ishiguro's novels.
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A Norwegian Morality Tale—New Generation Thinkers
Thu 29 Apr 2021
Lucy Weir learns dark lessons from newspaper coverage of Black Metal and satanic rituals.
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Beyond the Betting Shop—New Generation Thinkers
Wed 28 Apr 2021
Darragh McGee on the history of gambling, from 18th-century card games to phone apps.
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Colonial Papers—New Generation Thinkers
Tue 27 Apr 2021
Alexandra Reza's Essay considers the Gilets Noirs, Ousmane Semb猫ne and Nathalie Quintane.
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Battlefield Finds—New Generation Thinkers
Mon 26 Apr 2021
Seren Griffiths tells the story of the soldier turned archaeologist Francis Buckley.
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Hoarding or Collecting?—New Generation Thinkers
Fri 23 Apr 2021
Diarmuid Hester sorts through stuff saved by Francis Bacon, Vivian Maier and his own dad.
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The Inscrutable Writing of Sui Sin Far—New Generation Thinkers
Thu 22 Apr 2021
Xine Yao suggests that a poker Chinese face can be a good way of fighting back
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A Social History of Soup—New Generation Thinkers
Wed 21 Apr 2021
Tom Scott-Smith uses four recipes to track social reforms and changes in what we value.
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New Generation Thinkers Jean Rhys's Dress
Tue 20 Apr 2021
Sophie Oliver on motherhood, a dress and rereading Wide Sargasso Sea
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New Generation Thinkers: The Feurtado's Fire
Mon 19 Apr 2021
Christienna Fryar looks at Caribbean earthquakes and fires and lessons for rebuilding now
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Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf: There's No Story There
Fri 19 Mar 2021
Lisa Mullen looks at depictions of war-time factory workers in the novel by Inez Holden
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Books to Make Space For On The Bookshelf: Closer
Thu 18 Mar 2021
4/5 New Generation Thinker Diarmuid Hester on the transgressive writing of Dennis Cooper
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Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf: Sindhubala
Wed 17 Mar 2021
Preti Taneja on the writing and politics of Bengali author and activist Mahasweta Devi
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John Halifax, Gentleman
Tue 16 Mar 2021
2/5 Clare Walker Gore explores how Dinah Mulock Craik subverted Victorian expectations
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The Black Lizard—Books to Make Space For on the Bookshelf
Mon 15 Mar 2021
1/5 New Generation Thinker Christopher Harding reads the Japanese equivalent of Conan Doyle.
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England and the Touch of Rain—Rainsong in Five Senses
Fri 5 Mar 2021
5/5 Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on differing sensory responses to rain.
Death in Trieste
A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.
Watch: My Deaf World
Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
