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.
Download The Essay
Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.
