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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Unravelling plainness—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Fri 29 Mar 2024
Isabella Rosner explains why needlework challenges our idea of Quaker simplicity.
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Unravelling plainness
Fri 29 Mar 2024
Isabella Rosner explains why needlework challenges our idea of Quaker simplicity
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What does feminist art mean?—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Thu 28 Mar 2024
Ana Baeza Ruiz shares reflections from artists in the 70s women's liberation movement.
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Rock, Paper, Saints and Sinners—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Wed 27 Mar 2024
Gemma Tidman describes a board game created by a Jesuit seeking Mohawk converts.
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Arteries of tomorrow—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Tue 26 Mar 2024
Dan Taylor considers the way communities along the A13 are looking to the future.
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The legacy of the laundries—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Mon 25 Mar 2024
Louise Brangan reflects on the legacies of Ireland's Magdalene laundries.
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Gas, oil and the Essex blues—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Fri 22 Mar 2024
Sam Johnson-Schlee draws links between Dr Feelgood, Canvey Island and energy policies
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Gas, oil and the Essex blues
Fri 22 Mar 2024
Sam Johnson-Schlee draws links between Dr Feelgood, Canvey Island and energy policies
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From algorithms to oceans—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Thu 21 Mar 2024
Kerry McInerney explores the promises of the 鈥榮ustainable AI鈥� movement and how AI develops
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From algorithms to oceans
Thu 21 Mar 2024
Kerry McInerney on the promises of the 鈥榮ustainable AI鈥� movement and how AI may develop
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Weird Viking Bodies—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Wed 20 Mar 2024
Marianne Hem Eriksen on the meaning of a skull bone carved with 'pain' thrown onto a tip.
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Germany鈥檚 Mary Wollstonecraft—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Tue 19 Mar 2024
Andrew Cooper on the school teacher who tried to ignite a feminist revolution in Germany.
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Call Me Mother—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Mon 18 Mar 2024
How the shape of words for mother helps babies eat their food. Rebecca Woods explains.
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Call Me Mother
Mon 18 Mar 2024
How the shape of words for mother helps babies eat their food. Rebecca Woods explains
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How Did They Do That? Magic and Mesmerism—That's Entertainment...? Variety and Me
Fri 12 Jan 2024
Traditional Variety through the lens of a writer鈥檚 childhood fascination.
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Girls! Girls! Girls! Women in Variety—That's Entertainment...? Variety and Me
Thu 11 Jan 2024
Traditional Variety through the lens of a writer鈥檚 childhood fascination.
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It's The Animal In Me: Animal Acts in Variety Theatre—That's Entertainment...? Variety and Me
Wed 10 Jan 2024
Traditional Variety through the lens of a writer鈥檚 childhood fascination.
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Gokkle o鈥� Geer: Ventriloquists and their Dummies—That's Entertainment...? Variety and Me
Tue 9 Jan 2024
Traditional Variety through the lens of a writer鈥檚 childhood fascination.
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Singing, Dancing and Having a Laugh: The Backbone of Variety—That's Entertainment...? Variety and Me
Mon 8 Jan 2024
Traditional Variety through the lens of a writer鈥檚 childhood fascination.
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Christmas Pudding—The Story of Puddings
Fri 22 Dec 2023
Essays about our favourite puddings. Christmas pudding, the essence of a British yuletide.
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Pavlova—The Story of Puddings
Thu 21 Dec 2023
Essays about our favourite puddings. A disputed antipodean Christmas classic: pavlova.
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Cr猫me Br没l茅e—The Story of Puddings
Wed 20 Dec 2023
Essays about our favourite puddings. A rich French classic with surprises: Cr猫me br没l茅e.
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Summer Pudding—The Story of Puddings
Tue 19 Dec 2023
Essays about our favourite puddings. The spectacular summer pudding has many surprises.
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Tapioca—The Story of Puddings
Mon 18 Dec 2023
A series of essays about our favourite puddings, starting with the loved and hated tapioca
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Khadijah Ibrahiim—Looking at Leeds
Fri 15 Dec 2023
Khadijah Ibrahiim looks at what changes to Leeds's environment tell us about its identity.
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Ian Duhig—Looking at Leeds
Thu 14 Dec 2023
Ian Duhig takes us on a virtual poetic journey along Blind Jack Metcalf's road.
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Michelle Scally Clarke—Looking at Leeds
Wed 13 Dec 2023
Michelle Scally Clarke talks about William Kenneth Armitage's statue Both Arms.
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Jeremy Dyson—Looking at Leeds
Tue 12 Dec 2023
Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of Leeds.
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Malika Booker—Looking at Leeds
Mon 11 Dec 2023
The city of Leeds seen through its public art past, present and future.
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5. Return—To Odesa
Fri 24 Nov 2023
Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky (author of Deaf Republic) on the city of his birth.
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.
