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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John Blanke—We Other Tudors
Tue 25 Apr 2023
2/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Lucy Baynham—We Other Tudors
Mon 24 Apr 2023
1/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Professor Dame Marina Warner on Othello—Reading the First Folio
Fri 21 Apr 2023
Author and historian Marina Warner chooses a speech from early in Othello: Act 1, Scene 3.
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Sir David Hare on Macbeth—Reading the First Folio
Thu 20 Apr 2023
Playwright David Hare chooses Macbeth's imagining of old age from Act 5, Scene 3.
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Professor Islam Issa on Julius Caesar—Reading the First Folio
Wed 19 Apr 2023
Professor Islam Issa chooses a passage spoken by Julius Caesar in Act 2, Scene 2.
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Michelle Terry on As You Like It—Reading the First Folio
Tue 18 Apr 2023
Actor Michelle Terry chooses a speech by 'love doctor' Rosalind from Act 3, Scene 2.
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Sir Richard Eyre on King Lear—Reading the First Folio
Mon 17 Apr 2023
Director Richard Eyre chooses a speech by Lear to his daughter Cordelia - Act 5, Scene 3.
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Fighting the colour bar—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Fri 14 Apr 2023
Shirin Hirsch explores the way boxer Len Johnson fought a Manchester pub ban.
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Stupid Victorians—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Wed 12 Apr 2023
Louise Creechan looks at the impact of 19th-century ideas about intelligence.
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Children of the Waters—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Tue 11 Apr 2023
Sabina Dosani on the ritual of Mizuko Kuyo and modern ceremonies marking miscarriage.
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Children of the Waters
Tue 11 Apr 2023
Sabina Dosani looks at the ritual of Mizuko Kuyo and modern ceremonies marking miscarriage
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The discordant tale of Thomas Weelkes—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Mon 10 Apr 2023
Ellie Chan looks at the life and music of the Tudor composer who died 400 years ago.
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Revolutionary free speech—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Fri 7 Apr 2023
Clare Siviter looks at attempts to liberate and then censor expression in 1790s France.
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Fugitive slaves, Victorian justice—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Thu 6 Apr 2023
Oskar Jensen tells the tall tale of a court case inspired by a best-selling novel.
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Fugitive slaves, Victorian justice
Thu 6 Apr 2023
Oskar Jensen tells the tall tale of a court case inspired by a best-selling novel
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A family of witches—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Wed 5 Apr 2023
Emma Whipday explores the demonisation of single mothers in English witch trials.
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A family of witches
Wed 5 Apr 2023
Emma Whipday explores the demonisation of single mothers in English witch trials.
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Charles Babbage and broadcasting the sea—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Tue 4 Apr 2023
The father of modern computing thought the sea could communicate. Joan Passey tells us why
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The South African Bloomsberries—New Generation Thinkers 2022
Mon 3 Apr 2023
Jade Munslow Ong reads 20s writing by Solomon T Plaatje, Roy Campbell and William Plomer.
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Reasons to Cycle—Re: Cycling
Fri 31 Mar 2023
There鈥檚 never been a better time to get on our bikes insists cycling devotee Andrew Martin
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A Bike Ride—Re: Cycling
Thu 30 Mar 2023
Andrew Martin and his bike catch a train to Derby to enjoy a long leisurely country cycle.
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Cycling Apparel—Re: Cycling
Wed 29 Mar 2023
Andrew Martin examines the intriguingly flamboyant history of cycling attire.
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The Cyclist as Overdog and Underdog—Re: Cycling
Tue 28 Mar 2023
Andrew Martin considers the changing politics of cycling over the ages.
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My Life on a Bike—Re: Cycling
Mon 27 Mar 2023
Writer Andrew Martin casts an affectionate eye over his long and colourful cycling career.
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Ben Cottam—Walking the Causeways
Fri 24 Feb 2023
Five writers take us along the routes of tidal causeways. Today, Sunderland Point.
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WN Herbert—Walking the Causeways
Thu 23 Feb 2023
Five writers walk the beguiling routes of tidal causeways. Today, Lindisfarne.
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Claire McGowan—Walking the Causeways
Wed 22 Feb 2023
Five writers walk us along the beguiling routes of tidal causeways. Today, Burgh Island.
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Evie Wyld—Walking the Causeways
Tue 21 Feb 2023
Five writers walk the beguiling routes of tidal causeways. Today, the Isle of Wight.
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Patrick Gale—Walking the Causeways
Mon 20 Feb 2023
Five writers walk the beguiling routes of tidal causeways. Today, St Michael鈥檚 Mount.
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1000 Coils of Fear—Stories to Keep Space for on the Bookshelves
Fri 10 Feb 2023
Tom Smith reads Olivia Wenzel鈥檚 novel, which was longlisted for 2020's German Book Prize.
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.
