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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Gary Walkow—The Existential Me
Thu 14 Nov 2013
4/5 Film-maker Gary Walkow reflects on how existential thinking has influenced his work.
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Michele Roberts—The Existential Me
Wed 13 Nov 2013
3/5 Michele Roberts on existentialist women writers and how these have influenced her own work
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Paul Hart—The Existential Me
Tue 12 Nov 2013
2/5 Theatre director Paul Hart considers the power and veracity of existentialist ideas.
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Naomi Alderman—The Existential Me
Mon 11 Nov 2013
1/5 Naomi Alderman on how existentialism affects the novels and computer games she creates.
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Glenn Patterson—If Walls Could Talk
Fri 18 Oct 2013
5/5 Novelist Glenn Patterson with a uniquely Belfast view of Derry, UK City of Culture 2013.
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Nuala Hayes—If Walls Could Talk
Thu 17 Oct 2013
4/5 Actress Nuala Hayes explores shirt-making and storytelling in Derry, UK City of Culture.
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Brian McGilloway—If Walls Could Talk
Wed 16 Oct 2013
3/5 Crime novelist Brian McGilloway explores how a city can shape a writer.
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Neil Cowley—If Walls Could Talk
Tue 15 Oct 2013
2/5 Composer Neil Cowley revisits his year as musician-in-residence for Derry-Londonderry.
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Susan McKay—If Walls Could Talk
Mon 14 Oct 2013
1/5 Journalist Susan McKay returns to her native Derry to ask what is a 'City of Culture'?
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Matthew Sweet—Sound of Cinema: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet
Fri 4 Oct 2013
5/5 Matthew Sweet explores silence in film and the effect on sound of digital technology.
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David Thomson—Sound of Cinema: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet
Thu 3 Oct 2013
4/5 Writer and film critic David Thomson explores how film composers create mood.
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Camille Paglia—Sound of Cinema: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet
Wed 2 Oct 2013
3/5 Writer Camille Paglia discusses the film music which has inspired her since childhood.
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Miklos Rozsa—Sound of Cinema: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet
Tue 1 Oct 2013
2/5 Novelist Jonathan Coe explores how composer Miklos Rozsa came to write for film.
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The Sounds of Early Cinema—Sound of Cinema: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet
Mon 30 Sep 2013
1/5 Matthew Sweet discusses the sounds of cinema's beginnings.
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I Know Where I'm Going—Praising Powell and Pressburger
Fri 27 Sep 2013
5/5 AL Kennedy discusses the 1945 Powell and Pressburger film I Know Where I'm Going.
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Black Narcissus—Praising Powell and Pressburger
Thu 26 Sep 2013
4/5 Film critic Peter Bradshaw on Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's film Black Narcissus
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A Matter of Life and Death—Praising Powell and Pressburger
Wed 25 Sep 2013
3/5 Richard Coles on the classic Powell and Pressburger film A Matter of Life and Death.
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The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp—Praising Powell and Pressburger
Tue 24 Sep 2013
2/5 Ian Christie on The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, dubbed the 'British Citizen Kane'.
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The Red Shoes—Praising Powell and Pressburger
Mon 23 Sep 2013
1/5 Deborah Bull on Powell and Pressburger's classic 1948 film The Red Shoes.
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Yield to the Night—Heffer on British Film
Fri 20 Sep 2013
5/5 For the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Sound of Cinema season, Simon Heffer discusses the film Yield to the Night.
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Mandy—Heffer on British Film
Thu 19 Sep 2013
4/5 As part of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Sound of Cinema season, Simon Heffer discusses the 1953 film Mandy.
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The Long Memory—Heffer on British Film
Wed 18 Sep 2013
3/5 Simon Heffer on how the film The Long Memory shows Britan as depressed and worn out by war
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The Browning Version—Heffer on British Film
Tue 17 Sep 2013
2/5 Simon Heffer discusses the 1951 film The Browning Version.
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It Always Rains on Sunday—Heffer on British Film
Mon 16 Sep 2013
1/5 Simon Heffer discusses the gritty world of the 1947 film It Always Rains on Sunday.
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Alchemy and Magic—Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah
Fri 31 May 2013
5/5 Gabriele Ferrario unlocks a world of alchemy and magic in the heart of medieval Cairo.
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Three Lives—Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah
Thu 30 May 2013
4/5 Daniel Davies describes the private papers of three very different medieval Egyptians.
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Women—Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah
Wed 29 May 2013
3/5 Melonie Schmierer-Lee discovers the varying fortunes of women in medieval Cairo.
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Letters—Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah
Tue 28 May 2013
2/5 Ben Outhwaite reveals an intercultural trade network across the medieval Mediterrean.
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The Discovery—Life in Fragments: Stories from the Cairo Genizah
Mon 27 May 2013
1/5 Esther-Miriam Wagner on discovering the Genizah, medieval manuscripts in a Cairo synagogue
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Wagner and Adorno—Wagner's Philosophers
Fri 24 May 2013
5/5 Professor John Deathridge explores the posthumous reputation of Wagner in the 20th 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.
