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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Episode 19—The Islamic Golden Age
Fri 14 Feb 2014
19/20 Narguess Farzad celebrates the much loved 13th-century Persian poet Al-Rumi.
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Salah al-Din—The Islamic Golden Age
Thu 13 Feb 2014
18/20 Historian Jonathan Phillips reassesses the influence of 12th-century hero Saladin.
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Cities of Learning—The Islamic Golden Age
Wed 12 Feb 2014
17/20 Dr Amira Bennison considers the intellectual powerhouses of Baghdad and Cairo.
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Ibn Rushd—The Islamic Golden Age
Tue 11 Feb 2014
16/20 Professor Charles Burnett considers the philosopher Ibn Rushd.
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Al-Ghazali—The Islamic Golden Age
Mon 10 Feb 2014
15/20 Professor Mona Siddiqui discusses religious thinker and mystic Al-Ghazali.
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Al Hakim—The Islamic Golden Age
Thu 6 Feb 2014
14/20 Dr Simonetta Calderini discusses Al Hakim, the controversial Egyptian imam-caliph.
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Al-Biruni—The Islamic Golden Age
Wed 5 Feb 2014
13/20 Professor James Montgomery discusses the Islamic scholar Al-Biruni.
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Islamic Architecture—The Islamic Golden Age
Tue 4 Feb 2014
12/20 Dr Sussan Babaie discusses the architectural glories of the Islamic world.
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Avicenna—The Islamic Golden Age
Mon 3 Feb 2014
11/20 Dr Tony Street assesses the great philosopher and physician Avicenna.
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On Sunday Church-Going—England Ejects
Fri 31 Jan 2014
5/5 Novelist Andrew discusses the decline of Sunday church-going.
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On the Joys of Manual Work—England Ejects
Thu 30 Jan 2014
4/5 Novelist Andrew Martin celebrates 'manual work', which he says fewer embrace today.
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On the Old Rules, or Gentility—England Ejects
Wed 29 Jan 2014
3/5 Novelist Andrew Martin considers the loss of the 'old rules' and 'gentility'.
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On Not Eating Too Much—England Ejects
Tue 28 Jan 2014
2/5 Novelist Andrew Martin laments the loss of 'not eating too much'.
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On Not Boasting—England Ejects
Mon 27 Jan 2014
1/5 Novelist Andrew Martin laments why 'not boasting' is fading from our lives.
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Luke Johnson on The Magic of Thinking Big—The Book that Changed Me
Fri 24 Jan 2014
5/5 Entrepreneur Luke Johnson celebrates the classic self-help book The Magic of Thinking Big.
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Malorie Blackman on The Color Purple—The Book that Changed Me
Thu 23 Jan 2014
4/5 Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman on Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple.
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Simon McBurney on And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos—The Book that Changed Me
Wed 22 Jan 2014
3/5 Actor Simon McBurney on John Berger's And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos.
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Tracey Thorn on The Female Eunuch—The Book that Changed Me
Tue 21 Jan 2014
2/5 Singer Tracey Thorn on how Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch spoke to her as a teenager.
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Alan Johnson on David Copperfield—The Book that Changed Me
Mon 20 Jan 2014
1/5 Politician Alan Johnson on how Dickens's David Copperfield affected the course of his life
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Don Paterson—Letters to a Young Poet
Fri 17 Jan 2014
5/5 Inspired by Rilke's classic text, Don Paterson writes a letter to a young poet of today.
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Moniza Alvi—Letters to a Young Poet
Thu 16 Jan 2014
4/5 A letter by TS Eliot Prize-shortlisted poet Moniza Alvi.
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Michael Longley—Letters to a Young Poet
Wed 15 Jan 2014
3/5 A letter to a young poet from Belfast writer Michael Longley.
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Vicki Feaver—Letters to a Young Poet
Tue 14 Jan 2014
2/5 A letter to a young woman poet by 2014 TS Eliot Prize judge Vicki Feaver.
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Michael Symmons Roberts—Letters to a Young Poet
Mon 13 Jan 2014
1/5 Inspired by Rilke's classic text, Michael Symmons Roberts writes to a young poet of today.
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London—Cities on the Brink
Fri 10 Jan 2014
5/5 大象传媒 news correspondent Emma Jane Kirby discusses London in 1914.
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St Petersburg—Cities on the Brink
Thu 9 Jan 2014
4/5 Steve Rosenberg revisits 1914 St Petersburg and an event that would define modern Russia.
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Berlin—Cities on the Brink
Wed 8 Jan 2014
3/5 Stephen Evans focuses on life in Berlin in 1914, seen as the Silicon Valley of its time.
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Paris—Cities on the Brink
Tue 7 Jan 2014
2/5 Hugh Schofield on the storm in Paris over the murder of pacifist Jean Jaures before WWI.
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Vienna—Cities on the Brink
Mon 6 Jan 2014
1/5 Bethany Bell evokes the elegance and dark tensions of 1914 Vienna - and their echoes now.
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Seeing the Future—Let There Be Dark
Fri 20 Dec 2013
5/5 Rupert Goodwins on the potential of the internet to improve the future for blind people.
Death in Trieste
Watch: My Deaf World
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.