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
-
![]()
Egyptian Satire—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Thu 9 Jul 2020
9/10 Dina Rezk explores the power of humour in protest.
-
![]()
Pogroms and Prejudice—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Wed 8 Jul 2020
8/10 Brendan McGeever looks at anti-Semitism, from Russian attacks to the present day.
-
![]()
Facing Facts—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Tue 7 Jul 2020
7/10 From duelling injuries to eye patches - Emily Cock asks how we respond to people's faces.
-
![]()
Facing Facts—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Mon 6 Jul 2020
6/10 From duelling injuries to eye patches - Emily Cock asks how we respond to peoples' faces.
-
![]()
Not Quite Jean Muir—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Fri 3 Jul 2020
5/10 How does sewing a dress add to Jade Halbert's understanding of disappearing skills.
-
![]()
Tudor Virtual Reality—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Thu 2 Jul 2020
4/10 The link between VR dinosaurs and a Tudor wall painting of the Judgement of Solomon.
-
![]()
Coming out Crip and Acts of Care—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Wed 1 Jul 2020
3/10 Ella Parry-Davies draws on experiences of migrant domestic workers in the UK and Lebanon.
-
![]()
Digging Deep—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Tue 30 Jun 2020
2/10 Susan Greaney asks whether Neolithic attitudes to the earth could shape our thinking.
-
![]()
Berlin, Detroit, Race and Techno Music—New Generation Thinkers 2020
Mon 29 Jun 2020
1/10 Tom Smith on the early pioneers of Berlin's music scene and arguments about whiteness.
-
![]()
The Holy Island—Islands
Fri 5 Jun 2020
5/5 Kenneth Steven visits another island and responds to its landscape in poetry and prose.
-
![]()
Barra—Islands
Thu 4 Jun 2020
4/5 Kenneth Steven visits another island and responds to its landscape in poetry and prose.
-
![]()
Staffa—Islands
Wed 3 Jun 2020
3/5 Kenneth Steven visits another island and responds to its landscape in poetry and prose.
-
![]()
Jura—Islands
Tue 2 Jun 2020
2/5 Kenneth Steven visits another island and responds to its landscape in poetry and prose.
-
![]()
Mingulay—Islands
Mon 1 Jun 2020
1/5 Kenneth Steven visits another island and responds to its landscape in poetry and prose.
-
![]()
Ian Sansom: Mince on Toast with Christopher Isherwood—The Diarists
Fri 29 May 2020
5/5 Ian Sansom reflects on the supreme sociability of Christopher Isherwood.
-
![]()
Ian Sansom: Cheese Dreams with Graham Greene—The Diarists
Thu 28 May 2020
4/5 Ian Sansom explores his own and Graham Greene’s active dream life.
-
![]()
Helen Mort: More Than Enough—The Diarists
Wed 27 May 2020
3/5 Helen Mort's daily walks echo the explorations of Dorothy Wordsworth in the Lake District.
-
![]()
AL Kennedy: Hope On, Hope Ever—The Diarists
Tue 26 May 2020
2/5 AL Kennedy on the fortitude and humanity of Edward Wilson's Antarctic diaries.
-
![]()
AL Kennedy: The Towers We Founded and the Lamps We Lit—The Diarists
Mon 25 May 2020
1/5 AL Kennedy pursues the ever-restless wanderings of Robert Louis Stevenson.
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 10.Aida Edemariam
Fri 22 May 2020
leading writers share their secrets of places of inner sanctuary 10.Aida Edemariam
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 8.Michael Morpurgo
Thu 21 May 2020
leading writers on places of inner sanctuary in times of crisis 8.michael morpurgo
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 9.David Constatine
Thu 21 May 2020
Leading writers share the secrets of places of inner sanctuary 9.David Constantine
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 7. Evie Wyld
Tue 19 May 2020
leading writers on a place of inner refuge in times of crisis 7.evie wyld
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 6.David Almond
Mon 18 May 2020
leading writers share the secrets of their internal places of refuge in times of crisis
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 5. Alice Oswald
Fri 8 May 2020
Leading writers share secrets of their place of internal refuge 5.Alice Oswald
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 4.Tessa Hadley
Thu 7 May 2020
leading writers share the secrets of places of internal refuge in crisis 4.Tessa Hadley
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 3. Tahmima Anam
Wed 6 May 2020
leading writers evoke places of internal refuges which they visit in times of crisis
-
![]()
The Essay - Let Me Take You There - 2.Inua Ellams
Tue 5 May 2020
Leading writers share the secrets of places of internal refuge in times of crisis
-
![]()
They Essay - Let Me Take You There 1
Mon 4 May 2020
Writers on personal places of refuge in times of crisis 1.Alan Hollinghurst
-
![]()
Paul Robeson in Five Songs: 5. Joe Hill
Wed 15 Apr 2020
Marybeth Hamilton on the ghosts of Joe Hill and Paul Robeson and their linked fates.
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.
