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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Get Playing: Joanne Harris on playing the flute and bass guitar—Get Playing
Tue 7 Jun 2016
2/5 Writer Joanne Harris discusses her love of playing the flute and bass guitar.
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Alistair McGowan on playing the Piano—Get Playing
Mon 6 Jun 2016
1/5 Impressionist and actor Alistair McGowan describes his attempts to relearn the piano.
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The Art of Storytelling: Emma Smith—The Art of Storytelling
Fri 3 Jun 2016
5/5 Professor Emma Smith considers William Shakespeare's skills as a storyteller.
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The Art of Storytelling: David Crystal—The Art of Storytelling
Thu 2 Jun 2016
4/5 Professor David Crystal asks how we can preserve for the future the story of language.
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The Art of Storytelling: Clemency Burton Hill—The Art of Storytelling
Wed 1 Jun 2016
3/5 Broadcaster Clemency Burton-Hill considers the relationship between storytelling and music
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The Art of Storytelling: Jon Gower—The Art of Storytelling
Tue 31 May 2016
2/5 Writer Jon Gower recalls lessons learned from a master storyteller: his grandfather.
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The Art of Storytelling: Edmund de Waal—The Art of Storytelling
Mon 30 May 2016
1/5 Artist and writer Edmund de Waal considers the idea of storytelling through objects.
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Lines of Work: Gardener Jackie Bennett on Francis Bacon—Lines of Work
Fri 27 May 2016
5/5 Gardener Jackie Bennett responds to Elizabethan thinker Francis Bacon's essay Of Gardens.
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Lines of Work: Journalist Helen Lewis on John Milton—Lines of Work
Thu 26 May 2016
4/5 Journalist Helen Lewis reads poet John Milton's defence of a free press, Areopagitica.
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Lines of Work: Soldier Harry Parker on Ulysses S Grant—Lines of Work
Wed 25 May 2016
3/5 Soldier Harry Parker reflects on the personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant.
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Lines of Work: Theatre Critic Susannah Clapp on Oscar Wilde—Lines of Work
Tue 24 May 2016
2/5 Theatre critic Susannah Clapp exchanges views with Oscar Wilde and his essays on criticism
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Lines of Work: Teacher Francis Gilbert on Rousseau—Lines of Work
Mon 23 May 2016
1/5 Lecturer Francis Gilbert reflects on Rousseau's template for a perfect education Emile.
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Shakespeare 400: Shakespeare Beyond London—Shakespeare 400
Fri 29 Apr 2016
5/5 Siobhan Keenan on the importance of touring to Shakespeare and the actors in his plays.
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Shakespeare 400: Freedom of Speech or 'Nothing' - King Lear and Contemporary India—Shakespeare 400
Thu 28 Apr 2016
4/5 Preti Taneja considers Shakespeare's King Lear as a lens through which to view India today
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Shakespeare 400: Wolf All? - Shakespeare and Food in Renaissance England—Shakespeare 400
Wed 27 Apr 2016
3/5 Joan Fitzpatrick explains her new research on what people ate in Shakepeare's England.
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Shakespeare 400: Undiscovered Countries - Shakespeare and the Nation—Shakespeare 400
Tue 26 Apr 2016
2/5 James Loxley explores what Shakespeare's plays say about questions of national identity.
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Shakespeare 400: Shakespeare and the Suffragettes—Shakespeare 400
Mon 25 Apr 2016
1/5 How Shakespeare's heroines helped transform Victorian schoolgirls into Edwardian activists
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Lucy Hughes Hallett—Dawnwalks
Fri 1 Apr 2016
5/5 The attractions of daybreak... when five writers set off on foot - and report back.
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Ian Sansom—Dawnwalks
Thu 31 Mar 2016
4/5 The attractions of daybreak... when five writers set off on foot - and report back.
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Kamila Shamsie—Dawnwalks
Wed 30 Mar 2016
3/5 The attractions of daybreak... when five writers set off on foot - and report back.
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Nicola Barker—Dawnwalks
Tue 29 Mar 2016
2/5 The attractions of daybreak... when five writers set off on foot - and report back.
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Nicholas Shakespeare—Dawnwalks
Mon 28 Mar 2016
1/5 The attractions of daybreak... when five writers set off on foot - and report back.
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Inspiring Women in Music: Zoe Martlew—Inspiring Women in Music
Fri 11 Mar 2016
5/5 Cellist, performer, composer, blogger and educator Zoe Martlew discusses her life in music
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Inspiring Women in Music: Alice Farnham—Inspiring Women in Music
Thu 10 Mar 2016
4/5 Alice Farnham, one of Britain's leading female conductors, discusses her life in music.
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Inspiring Women in Music: Kathryn McAdam—Inspiring Women in Music
Wed 9 Mar 2016
3/5 Soprano Kathryn McAdam discusses her life in music as well as what and who inspires her.
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Inspiring Women in Music: Nicola LeFanu—Inspiring Women in Music
Tue 8 Mar 2016
2/5 Composer Nicola LeFanu discusses her musical career, spanning over half a century.
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Inspiring Women in Music: Sarah Connolly—Inspiring Women in Music
Mon 7 Mar 2016
1/5 Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly on her career, her family and characters she has played.
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Rachel Joyce on Bronte as a Literary Star—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
Fri 26 Feb 2016
5/5 Novelist Rachel Joyce on how Charlotte Bronte reacted to becoming a literary sensation.
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Jane Shilling on I Shall Soon Be Thirty—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
Thu 25 Feb 2016
4/5 Jane Shilling explores a letter Charlotte Bronte wrote shortly before beginning Jane Eyre.
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I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte: Lyndall Gordon on Charlotte Bronte and Robert Southey—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
Wed 24 Feb 2016
3/5 Lyndall Gordon examines Charlotte Bronte's response to advice from poet Robert Southey.
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.
