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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My Mother's House—Stuff Happens
Fri 6 Oct 2017
How do you deal with the stuff from your late mother's house while in the depths of grief?
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The Tricks of Memory—The Strangeness of Memory
Thu 5 Oct 2017
4/5 How do we remember facts or details? Professor David Shanks tells us the secret techniques
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Books and Letters—Stuff Happens
Thu 5 Oct 2017
Getting rid of stuff is hard at the best of times, but books and personal letters?
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Decluttering—Stuff Happens
Wed 4 Oct 2017
Decluttering is all the rage - so how do the stylish Parisians go about it? Or do they?
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Tidy 蜜芽传媒, Tidy Mind—Stuff Happens
Tue 3 Oct 2017
Joanna Robertson aims for a 'tidy home, tidy mind'.
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Moving House—Stuff Happens
Mon 2 Oct 2017
Why does stuff have such an emotional hold on us? Joanna Robertson on moving house.
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Robert Frost's 'Design'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Fri 29 Sep 2017
5/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Robert Frost's 'Design'.
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Sylvia Plath's 'Cut'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Thu 28 Sep 2017
4/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Sylvia Plath's poem 'Cut'.
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Michael Donaghy's 'The Hunter's Purse'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Wed 27 Sep 2017
3/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Michael Donaghy's 'The Hunter's Purse'.
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Elizabeth Bishop's 'Large Bad Picture'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Tue 26 Sep 2017
2/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Elizabeth Bishop's 'Large Bad Picture'.
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Seamus Heaney's 'The Underground'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Mon 25 Sep 2017
1/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Seamus Heaney's 'The Underground'.
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John Siddique—The Culture of Partition
Mon 14 Aug 2017
1/5 John Siddique reflects on the 70-year legacy of Partition as reflected in Indian culture.
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There Was No Them There (An Autobiography of Stella F Duffy)—The Love that Wrote Its Name
Tue 11 Jul 2017
Writer Stella Duffy on growing up as a lesbian in New Zealand in the 1960s and 70s.
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Dining with the Nightmare—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Fri 7 Jul 2017
5/5 Daisy Hay on the role in the history of English Romanticism of publisher Joseph Johnson.
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A Tale of Restoration Murder, Barbarous and Inhumane—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Thu 6 Jul 2017
4/5 Tom Charlton explores press reporting, scandal and politics in the 17th century.
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Resisting Tyranny—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Wed 5 Jul 2017
3/5 Jonathan Healey on changing ways of resistance to state control and prevailing ideology.
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A Focus on Fasting—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Tue 4 Jul 2017
2/5 Christopher Kissane from the London School of Economics explores the history of fasting.
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A Romanticist Reflects on Breastfeeding—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Mon 3 Jul 2017
1/5 Corin Throsby explores attitudes towards breastfeeding.
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Isaac Rosenberg's Dead Man's Dump—Minds at War: Series 4
Fri 23 Jun 2017
5/5 Santanu Das explores the poetic world of Bristol-born Isaac Rosenberg.
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Mata Hari's Final Performance—Minds at War: Series 4
Thu 22 Jun 2017
4/5 Elif Shafak on the elaborate and provocative performances and photo shoots of Mata Hari.
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Siegfried Sassoon's Letter to The Times—Minds at War: Series 4
Wed 21 Jun 2017
3/5 Joanna Bourke on Siegfried Sassoon and his celebrated protest against the conflict.
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Gertrude Bell—Minds at War: Series 4
Tue 20 Jun 2017
2/5 Tarek Osman considers the writing of Gertrude Bell.
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Marcel Duchamp—Minds at War: Series 4
Mon 19 Jun 2017
1/5 Heather Jones on the war connections and controversy around Marcel Duchamp's work Fountain
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Philip Melanchthon—Luther's Reformation Gang
Fri 5 May 2017
5/5 Brian Cummings tells the story of Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther's right-hand man.
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Johann Walther—Luther's Reformation Gang
Thu 4 May 2017
4/5 Dr Stephen Rose discusses Johann Walther, the man behind Luther's musical Reformation.
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Katharina von Bora—Luther's Reformation Gang
Wed 3 May 2017
3/5 Charlotte Woodford on the contribution of Katharina Von Bora to Luther's Reformation.
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Thomas Muntzer—Luther's Reformation Gang
Tue 2 May 2017
2/5 Andy Drummond profiles Thomas Muntzer, the failed revolutionary of the Reformation.
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Martin Luther—Luther's Reformation Gang
Mon 1 May 2017
1/5 Lyndal Roper profiles the father of the Reformation, Martin Luther.
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Late Style: Penelope Lively
Fri 28 Apr 2017
Thoughts on writing fiction as you get older from the novelist Penelope Lively.
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Late Style: Douglas Dunn
Thu 27 Apr 2017
Writing back the years: thoughts on poetry after retirement by Douglas Dunn.
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.
