The Essay Episodes Episode guide
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The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 2.Inua Ellams
Leading writers share the secrets of places of internal refuge in times of crisis
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The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 10.Aida Edemariam
leading writers share their secrets of places of inner sanctuary 10.Aida Edemariam
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The Essay - Gun Culture -The Howth Mauser
Heather Jones explores the deadly symbolism of the Howth Mauser
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The Essay - Gun Culture - Sniper
Nicholas Rankin explores the emergence of the deadly 'force reducer' that is the sniper
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The Beowulf Bard
The late Seamus Heaney's exploration of the great bard of the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf.
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The Auld Alliance - Episode 4
Stuart Kelly discusses Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka and German artist Joseph Beuys
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The Auld Alliance - Episode 3
Stuart Kelly on the career of Willa Muir, who translated Kafka and other German writers.
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Taking Aim - Renaissance-style
Catherine Fletcher unveils handguns' explosive Renaissance origin
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Sword to Pen. Redcoat and the rise of the military memoir
Emma Butcher on the publishing phenomenon that was the traumatised Napoleonic Redcoat
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Sonny's Blues
How James Baldwin's short story helped break down divisions of class, age and race.
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Sibelius's Fifth Symphony
Financial Times journalist Stephen Bush on the third movement of Sibelius's Symphony No 5.
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Shostakovich: Symphony No 5
Stephen Johnson considers how Shostakovich's Symphony No 5 surprised it's first audience
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Shakespeare 400. Joan Fitzpatrick on Wolf All? Shakespeare and food
Joan explores the symbolism of food and eating in Shakespeare's plays
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Shakespeare 400. James Loxley on Undiscovered Countries: Shakespeare and the Nation
James explores the light Shakespeare throws on national identity, then and now
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Secret Admirers: Tom McKinney on Olivier Messiaen
Celebrating the birdsong-inspired music of the 20th-century French composer, Messiaen.
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Secret Admirers: Penny Gore on Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek
Celebrating a composer whose music is shot through with the uncertainties of life.
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Secret Admirers: Kathryn Tickell on Percy Grainger
Folk musician Kathryn Tickell celebrates the Australian-American folksong fanatic.
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Secret Admirers: Kate Molleson on Eliane Radigue
Celebrating the French composer and her inspirational long-form sense of perspective.
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Secret Admirers: Andrew McGregor on Thomas Tallis
Reflections on the powerful Lamentations of English composer Thomas Tallis.
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Poet Kenneth Steven reflects on Scottish island life
Kenneth Steven writes on the Hebridean island of Iona.
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Poet Kenneth Steven reflects on Scottish island life
Poet Kenneth Steven writes on Raasay, an island close to Skye.
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Poet Kenneth Steven reflects on Scottish island life
Kenneth Steven looks at Rum, a wild and windswept Hebridean island.
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Poet Kenneth Steven on the Scottish islands
Poet Kenneth Steven writes on the remote islands of St Kilda.
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Poet Kenneth Steven on Scottish island life
Poet Kenneth Steven writes on Hoy in the archipelago of the Orkney islands
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Philip Melanchthon
5/5 Luther's Reformation Gang
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Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 5. Joe Hill
Marybeth Hamilton on the ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates.
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Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 4. Zog Nit Keynmol
Paul Robeson's life and struggle through songs .Tayo Aluko on Robeson's Zog Nit Keynmol.
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Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 3. The Canoe Song
Paul Robeson's life and struggle told through music. Matthew Sweet on the Canoe Song.
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Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 2. Ol' Man River
The life of Paul Robeson in songs. Granddaughter Susan Robeson on Ol' Man River.
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Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 1. No More Auction Block
Paul Robeson's life and struggle through song. Shana Redmond on No More Auction Block.
