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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Dear Marianne Moore
Mon 27 Nov 2017
Ian Sansom writes to poet Marianne Moore and asks her about that tricorn hat
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10 Eisenstein—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Fri 17 Nov 2017
10/10 Silent movie accompanist Neil Brand reappraises Eisenstein's influential film October.
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9 Moisei Ginzburg—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Thu 16 Nov 2017
9/10 Political historian Tariq Ali recalls a tour of Constructivist Moscow in the 1980s.
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8 The State Porcelain Factory—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Wed 15 Nov 2017
8/10 Ceramicist Claire Curneen tells the strange story of the State Porcelain Factory.
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7 Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Tue 14 Nov 2017
7/10 Writer Elaine Feinstein compares the impact of the Revolution on two great Russian poets.
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6 Mosolov—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Mon 13 Nov 2017
6/10 Musicologist Tamsin Alexander considers the industrially inspired music of Mosolov.
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5 Tatlin—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Fri 10 Nov 2017
5/10 Art historian Christina Lodder describes the influence of sculptor Vladimir Tatlin.
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4 Meyerhold—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Thu 9 Nov 2017
4/10 Richard Eyre appraises the Revolution's impact on theatre director Meyerhold.
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3 Nijinsky—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Wed 8 Nov 2017
3/10 Former ballerina Deborah Bull on Nijinsky and the impact of his ballet The Rite of Spring.
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2 John Reed, Eye-Witness—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Tue 7 Nov 2017
2/10 Historian Helen Rappaport reappraises American eyewitness to the Revolution, John Reed.
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1 Choices—Ten Artists that Shook the World
Mon 6 Nov 2017
1/10 Writer Martin Sixsmith considers how the Russian Revolution affected choices for artists.
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The Fallibility of Memory—The Strangeness of Memory
Fri 13 Oct 2017
3/5 Forensic psychologist Fiona Gabbert explores the strength and weaknesses of human memory.
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Memory and the landscape—The Strangeness of Memory
Wed 11 Oct 2017
5/5 Catherine Loveday explores the relationship between memory loss and landscape.
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False Memories—The Strangeness of Memory
Tue 10 Oct 2017
2/5 Psycologist Chris French looks at childhood memories and asks how reliable they are.
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Touching the Void—The Strangeness of Memory
Mon 9 Oct 2017
1/5 Adam Zeman on the void of amnesia and how it impacts identity and consciousness.
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My Mother's House—Stuff Happens
Fri 6 Oct 2017
How do you deal with the stuff from your late mother's house while in the depths of grief?
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The Tricks of Memory—The Strangeness of Memory
Thu 5 Oct 2017
4/5 How do we remember facts or details? Professor David Shanks tells us the secret techniques
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Books and Letters—Stuff Happens
Thu 5 Oct 2017
Getting rid of stuff is hard at the best of times, but books and personal letters?
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Decluttering—Stuff Happens
Wed 4 Oct 2017
Decluttering is all the rage - so how do the stylish Parisians go about it? Or do they?
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Tidy Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, Tidy Mind—Stuff Happens
Tue 3 Oct 2017
Joanna Robertson aims for a 'tidy home, tidy mind'.
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Moving House—Stuff Happens
Mon 2 Oct 2017
Why does stuff have such an emotional hold on us? Joanna Robertson on moving house.
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Robert Frost's 'Design'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Fri 29 Sep 2017
5/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Robert Frost's 'Design'.
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Sylvia Plath's 'Cut'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Thu 28 Sep 2017
4/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Sylvia Plath's poem 'Cut'.
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Michael Donaghy's 'The Hunter's Purse'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Wed 27 Sep 2017
3/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Michael Donaghy's 'The Hunter's Purse'.
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Elizabeth Bishop's 'Large Bad Picture'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Tue 26 Sep 2017
2/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Elizabeth Bishop's 'Large Bad Picture'.
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Seamus Heaney's 'The Underground'—Five Poems I Wish I Had Written
Mon 25 Sep 2017
1/5 Poet Don Paterson reflects on Seamus Heaney's 'The Underground'.
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John Siddique—The Culture of Partition
Mon 14 Aug 2017
1/5 John Siddique reflects on the 70-year legacy of Partition as reflected in Indian culture.
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There Was No Them There (An Autobiography of Stella F Duffy)—The Love that Wrote Its Name
Tue 11 Jul 2017
Writer Stella Duffy on growing up as a lesbian in New Zealand in the 1960s and 70s.
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Dining with the Nightmare—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Fri 7 Jul 2017
5/5 Daisy Hay on the role in the history of English Romanticism of publisher Joseph Johnson.
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A Tale of Restoration Murder, Barbarous and Inhumane—New Generation Thinkers 2017
Thu 6 Jul 2017
4/5 Tom Charlton explores press reporting, scandal and politics in the 17th century.
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.
