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 Refusal of Place—Odes to Essex
Wed 27 Jan 2021
3/5 Writer Lavinia Greenlaw takes us back to the formative landscape of her childhood.
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Washed Up in Essex—Odes to Essex
Tue 26 Jan 2021
2/5 Writer AL Kennedy takes us on a watery journey through the county she now calls home.
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Metropolitan Essex—Odes to Essex
Mon 25 Jan 2021
1/5 Billy Bragg explores the London-Essex borderland that fuelled his childhood imagination.
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Brightening from the East—Odes to Essex
Jan 2021
4/5 Writer and social historian Ken Worpole introduces us to Essex's radical past.
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Jess Gillam on Bach—Secret Admirers
Fri 11 Dec 2020
5/5 Radio 3 presenter Jess Gillam celebrates German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
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JumokΓ© Fashola on Nina Simone—Secret Admirers
Thu 10 Dec 2020
Radio 3 presenter JumokΓ© Fashola celebrates the American singer-songwriter Nina Simone
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Ian Skelly on Jean Mouton—Secret Admirers
Wed 9 Dec 2020
Radio 3 presenter Ian Skelly celebrates the French composer Jean Mouton
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Elizabeth Alker on Sofia Gubaidulina—Secret Admirers
Tue 8 Dec 2020
Radio 3 presenter Elizabeth Alker celebrates the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina
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Hannah French on Barbara Strozzi—Secret Admirers
Mon 7 Dec 2020
Radio 3 presenter Hannah French celebrates the Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi
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Sonny Rollins—Jazz Among the British
Fri 20 Nov 2020
Geoffrey Smith on the connection Sonny Rollins forged with his British audience.
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Stan Tracey—Jazz Among the British
Thu 19 Nov 2020
4/5 Geoffrey Smith on the work of Stan Tracey, paragon of British jazz and of jazz in Britain.
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Americans in Britain—Jazz Among the British
Wed 18 Nov 2020
Geoffrey Smith on how Britain influenced the work of two celebrated American jazz artists.
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The British Audience—Jazz Among the British
Tue 17 Nov 2020
Geoffrey Smith looks at the how the audience for jazz in Britain has evolved over time.
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On Not Being a Jazzer—Jazz Among the British
Mon 16 Nov 2020
Geoffrey Smith reflects on perceptions of jazz in Britain and questions the term 'jazzer'.
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Cape Town—Africa in the City
Fri 23 Oct 2020
Lindsay Johns ends a series of essays on cities changed by African migration in Cape Town.
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Fort-de-France—Africa in the City
Thu 22 Oct 2020
Lindsay Johns's tour of cities influenced by Africa continues in Fort-de-France.
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Kingston—Africa in the City
Wed 21 Oct 2020
In Kingston, Jamaica, Lindsay Johns explores another city influenced by African migration.
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Philadelphia—Africa in the City
Tue 20 Oct 2020
Lindsay Johns continues exploring cities influenced by African migration, in Philadelphia.
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Marseille—Africa in the City
Mon 19 Oct 2020
Lindsay Johns discusses how Marseille has been influenced by African migration.
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The woman with the spoon—Discovering Black Portraiture
Fri 16 Oct 2020
5/5 Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project.
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The man with the pipe—Discovering Black Portraiture
Thu 15 Oct 2020
4/5 Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project
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The man with the French horn—Discovering Black Portraiture
Wed 14 Oct 2020
3/5 Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project
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The boy with the monkey on his back—Discovering Black Portraiture
Tue 13 Oct 2020
2/5 Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project
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The man with the ship on his head—Discovering Black Portraiture
Mon 12 Oct 2020
1/5 Peter Brathwaite takes us into the world of his Rediscovering #BlackPortraiture project
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Metacom—Mayflower Portraits
Fri 18 Sep 2020
5/5 David J Silverman explores the motivations of resistance leader Metacom
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Susanna White-Winslow—Mayflower Portraits
Thu 17 Sep 2020
4/5 Rebecca Fraser’s portrait of Susanna White-Whitlow, Mayflower passenger
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John Alden—Mayflower Portraits
Wed 16 Sep 2020
3/5 Michael Goldfarb on crew member turned colonist John Alden.
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Squanto—Mayflower Portraits
Tue 15 Sep 2020
2/5 Margaret Verble considers the role of Squanto in the Mayflower myth.
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400 years on—Mayflower Portraits
Mon 14 Sep 2020
1/5 Nick Bryant reflectis on what the Mayflower 400th anniversary means to Americans in 2020.
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Prison Break—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Fri 10 Jul 2020
10/10 New Generation Thinker Jeffrey Howard asks if it is ever ok to escape from prison.
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.
