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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Francesca Rhydderch on Orlando—Wisdom from fictional females
Thu 31 May 2018
4/5 Francesca Rhydderch on her favourite fictional female. Recorded at the Hay Festival 2018.
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Fiona Sampson on Mother Courage
Wed 30 May 2018
Fiona Sampson on her favourite fictional female. Recorded at the Hay Festival 2018.
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Bettany Hughes on Helen of Troy
Tue 29 May 2018
Bettany Hughes on her favourite fictional female. Recorded at the Hay Festival 2018.
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Afua Hirsch on Maggie Tulliver
Mon 28 May 2018
Afua Hirsch on her favourite fictional female. Recorded at the Hay Festival 2018.
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Japan Refusal—Dark Blossoms
Fri 27 Apr 2018
5/5 Does mental illness in Japan indicate a rejection of a narrow modernity?
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The Art of the Heist—Dark Blossoms
Thu 26 Apr 2018
4/5 How a famous crime is also a metaphor for 1960s Japan.
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Rebranding the Buddha—Dark Blossoms
Wed 25 Apr 2018
3/5 How Buddhism was reimagined in the service of Japanese militarism.
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Happy Families—Dark Blossoms
Tue 24 Apr 2018
2/5 Chris Harding explores contrasting models of 'family' in turn-of-the-century Japan.
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Deer Cry Hall—Dark Blossoms
Mon 23 Apr 2018
1/5 Japan's uneasy embrace of modernity, exemplified by a controversial 19th-century building.
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Kate Molleson on Eliane Radigue—Secret Admirers
Fri 20 Apr 2018
5/5 Radio 3 presenter Kate Molleson celebrates French composer Eliane Radigue.
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Secret Admirers: Kate Molleson on Eliane Radigue
Fri 20 Apr 2018
Celebrating the French composer and her inspirational long-form sense of perspective.
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Andrew McGregor on Thomas Tallis—Secret Admirers
Thu 19 Apr 2018
4/5 Radio 3 presenter Andrew McGregor celebrates Thomas Tallis's powerful Lamentations.
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Secret Admirers: Andrew McGregor on Thomas Tallis
Thu 19 Apr 2018
Reflections on the powerful Lamentations of English composer Thomas Tallis.
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Kathryn Tickell on Percy Grainger—Secret Admirers
Wed 18 Apr 2018
Radio 3 presenter Kathryn Tickell celebrates composer and folksong fanatic Percy Grainger.
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Secret Admirers: Kathryn Tickell on Percy Grainger
Wed 18 Apr 2018
Folk musician Kathryn Tickell celebrates the Australian-American folksong fanatic.
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Tom McKinney on Olivier Messiaen—Secret Admirers
Tue 17 Apr 2018
Radio 3 presenter Tom McKinney celebrates French composer Olivier Messiaen.
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Secret Admirers: Tom McKinney on Olivier Messiaen
Tue 17 Apr 2018
Celebrating the birdsong-inspired music of the 20th-century French composer, Messiaen.
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Penny Gore on Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek—Secret Admirers
Mon 16 Apr 2018
1/5 Radio 3 presenter Penny Gore celebrates the Czech composer Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek.
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Secret Admirers: Penny Gore on Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek
Mon 16 Apr 2018
Celebrating a composer whose music is shot through with the uncertainties of life.
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Episode 3—One Bar Electric Memoir
Wed 11 Apr 2018
Artist and writer Harland Miller reveals how an eventful past has fed into his work..
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Episode 2—One Bar Electric Memoir
Tue 10 Apr 2018
2/5 Artist and writer Harland Miller reveals how an eventful past has fed into his work.
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Episode 1—One Bar Electric Memoir
Mon 9 Apr 2018
1/5 Artist and writer Harland Miller reveals how an eventful past has fed into his work.
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Inua Ellams on Terry Pratchett—The Book that Changed Me
Fri 6 Apr 2018
5/5 The poet and playwright on the fantasy comedy 'Pyramids'.
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Alastair Campbell on 'Madame Bovary'—The Book that Changed Me
Thu 5 Apr 2018
4/5 Tony Blair's former spokesman on how Flaubert inspired his love of French culture.
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Zarah Hussain on The Arabian Nights—The Book that Changed Me
Wed 4 Apr 2018
3/5 The artist describes the inspiration of these legendary tales.
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Henry Marsh on 'War and Peace'—The Book that Changed Me
Tue 3 Apr 2018
2/5 Neurosurgeon and writer Henry Marsh on the influence of Tolstoy's epic novel.
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Afua Hirsch on 'Wide Sargasso Sea'—The Book that Changed Me
Mon 2 Apr 2018
1/5 How journalist and writer Hirsch changed her view of Jean Rhys's novel.
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Paul Morley—Is Music a Civilising Force?
Fri 30 Mar 2018
5/5 Paul Morley concludes the series of essays debating music as a civilising force.
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Jameela Siddiqi—Is Music a Civilising Force?
Thu 29 Mar 2018
4/5 Jameela Siddiqi explores the civilising force of music from an Indian perspective.
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Professor Kofi Agawu—Is Music a Civilising Force?
Wed 28 Mar 2018
3/5 Professor Kofi Agawu examines the civilising force of music from an African perspective.
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.
