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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Late Style: Paul Bailey
Tue 25 Apr 2017
The novelist Paul Bailey discusses writing in his ninth decade.
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Vicki Feaver—Late Style
Mon 24 Apr 2017
1/5 Poet Vicki Feaver gives her thoughts on writing as one becomes older.
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Sex Shops—Hanging On
Fri 21 Apr 2017
Author Andrew Martin discusses sex shops, especially those in London's Soho.
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The Telephone—Hanging On
Wed 19 Apr 2017
Author Andrew Martin explains his liking for traditional telephones.
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The Ventriloquist Doll—Hanging On
Tue 18 Apr 2017
Andrew Martin on ventriloquists' dolls, one of the social phenomena managing to survive.
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The Boating Pond—Hanging On
Mon 17 Apr 2017
Andrew Martin celebrates the pastime of sailing model boats on ponds.
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Killing Time in Imperial Japan—Free Thinking 2017
Fri 31 Mar 2017
10/10 Christopher Harding discusses Tokyo in the early 20th century.
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Creating Modern India—Free Thinking 2017
Thu 30 Mar 2017
9/10 Preti Taneja on the architectural links between Letchworth Garden City and New Delhi.
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England's First European—Free Thinking 2017
Wed 29 Mar 2017
8/10 Exploring Fynes Moryson's An Itinerary, a European travel book from the early 17th century
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The Magic Years—Free Thinking 2017
Tue 28 Mar 2017
7/10 Medical historian Matthew Smith explores 1970s US psychiatry: a time of hope and promise.
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Faith, Fire and the Family—Free Thinking 2017
Mon 27 Mar 2017
6/10 Catherine Fletcher on the story of her grandfather, a missionary in India.
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Russia's Sacred Ruins—Free Thinking 2017
Fri 24 Mar 2017
5/10 Victoria Donovan explores the dilemmas of post-war reconstruction in Soviet Russia.
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The British Writer and the Refugee—Free Thinking 2017
Thu 23 Mar 2017
4/10 Katherine Cooper on the work by British writers to save colleagues in Europe during WWII.
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In the Shadows of Biafra—Free Thinking 2017
Wed 22 Mar 2017
3/10 New Generation Thinker Louisa Egbunike explores the legacy of the Biafran war.
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Alexander the Great's Lost City—Free Thinking 2017
Tue 21 Mar 2017
2/10 The story of Alexander the Great's lost city, buried beneath Bagram air base, Afghanistan.
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Monks, Models and Medieval Time—Free Thinking 2017
Mon 20 Mar 2017
1/10 Seb Falk discusses the 14th-century monks who studied astronomy.
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Bette Davis—Five Screen Goddesses
Fri 10 Mar 2017
Author and broadcaster Sarah Churchwell discusses the work of actress Bette Davis.
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Joan Crawford—Five Screen Goddesses
Thu 9 Mar 2017
Sarah Churchwell discusses her affection for the work of Hollywood actress Joan Crawford.
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Jean Harlow—Five Screen Goddesses
Wed 8 Mar 2017
Sarah Churchwell discusses the original 'blonde bombshell', actress Jean Harlow.
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Barbara Stanwyck—Five Screen Goddesses
Tue 7 Mar 2017
Sarah Churchwell discusses the work of actress Barbara Stanwyck.
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Katharine Hepburn—Five Screen Goddesses
Mon 6 Mar 2017
Author Sarah Churchwell explains how actress Katharine Hepburn inspired her.
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Naomi Alderman—Strange Beds
Fri 10 Feb 2017
5/5 Naomi Alderman describes a trip to the Arctic, where she spent much time confined to bed.
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John Walsh—Strange Beds
Thu 9 Feb 2017
4/5 Writer John Walsh describes sleeping in a hammock in the jungle in Guyana.
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Philip Hoare—Strange Beds
Wed 8 Feb 2017
3/5 Philip Hoare on spending a night in a hospital observation ward after falling off his bike
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Rachel Cooke—Strange Beds
Tue 7 Feb 2017
2/5 Journalist Rachel Cooke on spending a night in accommodation in the wilds of Scotland.
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Colin Thubron—Strange Beds
Mon 6 Feb 2017
1/5 Colin Thubron recalls booking into a room that once belonged to a merciless Chinese leader
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Skin—Black and White
Fri 3 Feb 2017
5/5 Poet and writer Salena Godden explains her relationship with her skin.
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Billy Liar—Heffer on Film - Kitchen Sink Cinema
Fri 20 Jan 2017
5/5 Simon Heffer explores Billy Liar, the 1963 British New Wave film starring Tom Courtenay.
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.
