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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Flint—Cornerstones
Mon 8 Jan 2018
1/5 Alan Garner sparks with flint, the stone that has enabled human civilisation.
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Watershed—Brick, Stone, Steel, Glass
Fri 5 Jan 2018
Nikesh Shukla on Watershed in Bristol and how it helped him fall in love with the city.
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Hafod Eryri—Brick, Stone, Steel, Glass
Thu 4 Jan 2018
Travel writer Phoebe Smith on Hafod Eryri and the chutzpah of building on mountains.
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Chingle Hall—Brick, Stone, Steel, Glass
Wed 3 Jan 2018
Andrew Hurley on the haunting qualities of a 17th-century manor house near Preston.
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Gladstone's Library—Brick, Stone, Steel, Glass
Tue 2 Jan 2018
Novelist Melissa Harrison on the joy of 'sleeping with books' at Gladstone's Library.
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Wigmore Hall—Brick, Stone, Steel, Glass
New Year's Day 2018
Pianist Stephen Hough on Wigmore Hall and how its 'shoebox' design catches the ear.
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Dear William...—More Letters to Writers
Fri 1 Dec 2017
Ian Sansom writes to William Trevor to ask if every silver lining must have a cloud.
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Dear Marianne ...—More Letters to Writers
Thu 30 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to poet Marianne Moore to finally ask her about that tricorn hat
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Dear Oscar...—More Letters to Writers
Wed 29 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom is in the gutter looking at the stars again as he writes to Oscar Wilde.
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Dear Mary...—More Letters to Writers
Tue 28 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley, to ask her how on earth she coped?
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Dear Mary Shelley
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to Frankenstein author, Mary Shelley, to ask her how on earth she coped
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Dear Oscar Wilde
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom is in the gutter looking at the stars as he writes to Oscar Wilde
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Dear William Trevor
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to Irish novelist and playwright, William Trevor
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Dear Marianne Moore
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to poet Marianne Moore and asks her about that tricorn hat
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10 Eisenstein—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Fri 17 Nov 2017
10/10 Silent movie accompanist Neil Brand reappraises Eisenstein's influential film October.
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9 Moisei Ginzburg—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Thu 16 Nov 2017
9/10 Political historian Tariq Ali recalls a tour of Constructivist Moscow in the 1980s.
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8 The State Porcelain Factory—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Wed 15 Nov 2017
8/10 Ceramicist Claire Curneen tells the strange story of the State Porcelain Factory.
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7 Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Tue 14 Nov 2017
7/10 Writer Elaine Feinstein compares the impact of the Revolution on two great Russian poets.
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6 Mosolov—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Mon 13 Nov 2017
6/10 Musicologist Tamsin Alexander considers the industrially inspired music of Mosolov.
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5 Tatlin—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Fri 10 Nov 2017
5/10 Art historian Christina Lodder describes the influence of sculptor Vladimir Tatlin.
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4 Meyerhold—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Thu 9 Nov 2017
4/10 Richard Eyre appraises the Revolution's impact on theatre director Meyerhold.
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3 Nijinsky—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Wed 8 Nov 2017
3/10 Former ballerina Deborah Bull on Nijinsky and the impact of his ballet The Rite of Spring.
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2 John Reed, Eye-Witness—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Tue 7 Nov 2017
2/10 Historian Helen Rappaport reappraises American eyewitness to the Revolution, John Reed.
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1 Choices—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Mon 6 Nov 2017
1/10 Writer Martin Sixsmith considers how the Russian Revolution affected choices for artists.
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The Fallibility of Memory—The Strangeness of Memory
Fri 13 Oct 2017
3/5 Forensic psychologist Fiona Gabbert explores the strength and weaknesses of human memory.
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Memory and the landscape—The Strangeness of Memory
Wed 11 Oct 2017
5/5 Catherine Loveday explores the relationship between memory loss and landscape.
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False Memories—The Strangeness of Memory
Tue 10 Oct 2017
2/5 Psycologist Chris French looks at childhood memories and asks how reliable they are.
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Touching the Void—The Strangeness of Memory
Mon 9 Oct 2017
1/5 Adam Zeman on the void of amnesia and how it impacts identity and consciousness.
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.
