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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Should Salman Rushdie Live and Let Die ?—New Generation Thinkers 2019
Wed 10 Apr 2019
What the BBFC archives tell us about censorship debates & a film depicting Salman Rushdie.
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Who Wrote Animal Farm?—New Generation Thinkers 2019
Tue 9 Apr 2019
Lisa Mullen looks at the contribution of Orwell's wife Eileen to his writing.
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Shopping Around the Baby Market
Thu 4 Apr 2019
Gulzaar Barn asks questions about commercial surrogacy and the way we view our bodies.
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Why Trespassing Is the Right Way To Go
Wed 3 Apr 2019
Ben Anderson looks at fights over land rights, access to nature & care of the environment
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Cooking and Eating God in Medieval Drama
Tue 2 Apr 2019
Daisy Black conjures up images of breaking bread and cannibalism in mystery plays
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A City is not a Park
Mon 1 Apr 2019
Des Fitzgerald is a sociologist at Cardiff Uni. researching health, illness & cities
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Woman on the Edge of Time—Forgotten Feminist Futures
Fri 8 Mar 2019
5/5 Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures.
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The Female Man—Forgotten Feminist Futures
Thu 7 Mar 2019
4/5 Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures.
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Herland—Forgotten Feminist Futures
Wed 6 Mar 2019
Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures.
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Mizora: A Prophecy—Forgotten Feminist Futures
Tue 5 Mar 2019
2/5 Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures.
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Three Hundred Years Hence—Forgotten Feminist Futures
Mon 4 Mar 2019
1/5 Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures.
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Cary Grant—Five Screen Gods
Fri 15 Feb 2019
5/5 Sarah Churchwell celebrates various stars of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s.
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Joel McCrea—Five Screen Gods
Thu 14 Feb 2019
4/5 Sarah Churchwell celebrates various stars of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s.
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Charles Boyer—Five Screen Gods
Wed 13 Feb 2019
3/5 Sarah Churchwell celebrates various stars of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s.
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Frederic March—Five Screen Gods
Tue 12 Feb 2019
2/5 Sarah Churchwell celebrates various stars of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s.
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Clark Gable—Five Screen Gods
Mon 11 Feb 2019
1/5 Sarah Churchwell celebrates various stars of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s.
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Make Some Noise—Voices On, Voices Off
Fri 8 Feb 2019
5/5 Writer AL Kennedy concludes her exploration of voice.
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Your Master's Voice—Voices On, Voices Off
Thu 7 Feb 2019
4/5 Writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy explores voice.
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Words, Words, Words—Voices On, Voices Off
Wed 6 Feb 2019
3/5 Writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy continues her exploration of voice.
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Not Killing Conversation—Voices On, Voices Off
Tue 5 Feb 2019
2/5 Writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy on voice and the importance of being heard.
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Voices, Voices, Everywhere—Voices On, Voices Off
Mon 4 Feb 2019
1/5 AL Kennedy on the power of voice.
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25/01/2019—Yorkshire
Fri 25 Jan 2019
5/5 Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing.
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24/01/2019—Yorkshire
Thu 24 Jan 2019
4/5 Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing.
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23/01/2019—Yorkshire
Wed 23 Jan 2019
3/5 Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing.
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22/01/2019—Yorkshire
Tue 22 Jan 2019
2/5 Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing.
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21/01/2019—Yorkshire
Mon 21 Jan 2019
1/5 Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing.
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Paul Batchelor on Ode to Psyche—An Ode to John Keats
Fri 11 Jan 2019
5/5 Paul Batchelor explores possibly the least familiar of the great Keats odes of 1819.
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Sasha Dugdale on Ode to a Nightingale—An Ode to John Keats
Thu 10 Jan 2019
4/5 John Keats's stunningly fertile year - 1819 - celebrated by five contemporary poets
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Frances Leviston on Ode to Autumn—An Ode to John Keats
Wed 9 Jan 2019
3/5 Frances Leviston celebrates perhaps Keats's Ode to Autumn.
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Sean O'Brien on Ode on Melancholy—An Ode to John Keats
Tue 8 Jan 2019
2/5 Sean O'Brien explores the depth and meaning of Keats's Ode on Melancholy,
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.
Download The Essay
Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.
