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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The Rise and Fall of the Hairdresser—New Generation Thinkers
Fri 30 Sep 2016
5/5 New Generation Thinker Se谩n Williams on the depiction of hairdressers in prints and prose
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Marina Lewycka - Up the Eiffel Tower—The Birthday Treat
Fri 30 Sep 2016
5/5 Marina Lewycka takes a trip up the Eiffel Tower to reflect on a lifetime of visiting Paris
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Strindberg and 'the Woman Question'—New Generation Thinkers
Thu 29 Sep 2016
4/5 Leah Broad considers 'the woman question' in 19th-century Scandinavian countries.
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Edwina Currie: A Ferry Across the Mersey—The Birthday Treat
Thu 29 Sep 2016
4/5 Edwina Currie returns to the Mersey, where she once took part in a schoolgirl ritual.
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Telephone Terrors—New Generation Thinkers
Wed 28 Sep 2016
3/5 Poet Sarah Jackson explores the phone and its voices in philosophy and fiction.
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Gervase Phinn: On the Camino de Santiago—The Birthday Treat
Wed 28 Sep 2016
4/5 Gervase Phinn joins the pilgrims on a visit to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
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Partitioned Memories—New Generation Thinkers
Tue 27 Sep 2016
2/5 Anindya Raychaudhuri considers people's memories of India and Pakistan in 1947.
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Michael Rosen: On the Trail of DH Lawrence—The Birthday Treat
Tue 27 Sep 2016
2/5 Michael Rosen visits Eastwood and the childhood home of DH Lawrence, who inspired him.
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Lisa Appignanesi: A Visit to the Savoy Hotel—The Birthday Treat
Mon 26 Sep 2016
1/5 Lisa Appignanesi visits the Savoy Hotel, where she reflects on the glamorous Belle Epoque.
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Donald Sturrock on the events that made the man and writer—Roald Dahl at 100
Fri 15 Jul 2016
5/5 Dahl's biographer Donald Sturrock recalls meeting the storyteller in his writing hut.
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Michael Rosen on the exuberance of Dahl's poetry—Roald Dahl at 100
Thu 14 Jul 2016
4/5 Michael Rosen celebrates the dazzling language and clever observation of Dahl's poetry.
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Laura Dockrill on Dahl's heroine Matilda—Roald Dahl at 100
Wed 13 Jul 2016
3/5 Performance poet Laura Dockrill remembers growing up with Dahl's heroine Matilda.
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Jeremy Dyson on the delicious lure of Dahl's adult fiction—Roald Dahl at 100
Tue 12 Jul 2016
2/5 Jeremy Dyson remembers his 10-year-old self's discovery of Dahl's short stories for adults
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Frank Cottrell Boyce on flying and myth-making—Roald Dahl at 100
Mon 11 Jul 2016
1/5 Frank Cottrell Boyce on the myth Dahl built around his plane crash during World War II.
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Daljit Nagra - On your 'A 1940 Memory'—The Somme
Fri 8 Jul 2016
5/5 Daljit Nagra with his poem On your 'A 1940 Memory', in response to the Battle of the Somme
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Jackie Kay - Private Joseph Kay—The Somme
Thu 7 Jul 2016
4/5 Jackie Kay reads her poem Private Joseph Kay, in response to the Battle of the Somme.
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Bill Manhire - Known unto God—The Somme
Wed 6 Jul 2016
3/5 Bill Manhire reads his poem Known unto God, written in response to the Battle of the Somme
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Yrsa Daley-Ward - When your mother calls you, come—The Somme
Tue 5 Jul 2016
2/5 Yrsa Daley-Ward reads her new poem When your mother calls you, come.
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Paul Muldoon - July 1st 1916, with the Ulster Division—The Somme
Mon 4 Jul 2016
1/5 Paul Muldoon reads his new poem July 1st 1916, with the Ulster Division.
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The Shopping News: Paris—The Shopping News
Fri 17 Jun 2016
5/5 How buying food in Paris is not just for the tastebuds, but also a serious part of culture
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Tirana—The Shopping News
Thu 16 Jun 2016
4/5 Joanna Robertson on buying dreams of wealth in Tirana in the aftermath of communism.
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Berlin—The Shopping News
Wed 15 Jun 2016
3/5 How shopping for toys in Berlin reveals an attitude to childhood that is unique to Germany
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New York—The Shopping News
Tue 14 Jun 2016
2/5 Joanna Robertson on how book-shopping in New York can be about intellectual validation.
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Rome—The Shopping News
Mon 13 Jun 2016
1/5 Joanna Robertson argues that when Romans go shopping they buy into a local identity.
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Get Playing: Alexander McCall Smith on the saxophone and the Really Terrible Orchestra—Get Playing
Fri 10 Jun 2016
5/5 Writer Alexander McCall Smith on playing saxophone and the Really Terrible Orchestra.
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Get Playing: Peter Bradshaw's electric guitar—Get Playing
Thu 9 Jun 2016
4/5 Film critic Peter Bradshaw describes how he was reunited with his electric guitar.
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Get Playing: Poet Fiona Sampson on playing the violin—Get Playing
Wed 8 Jun 2016
3/5 Poet Fiona Sampson discusses her early life as a violinist.
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.
