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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Field of Dreams—The Little Secrets of Great Works
Thu 28 Sep 2023
Writer Sarfraz Manzoor discusses one moment in the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams.
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The Tiger Who Came to Tea—The Little Secrets of Great Works
Wed 27 Sep 2023
Sam Leith on his fascination with a background figure in Judith Kerr's classic book.
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Joan Williams—Controversies: American Writing of the 1960s
Fri 30 Jun 2023
Novelist Joan Williams, after a promising start, just disappeared. Why?
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Philip Roth—Controversies: American Writing of the 1960s
Thu 29 Jun 2023
How Philip Roth's writing alienated him from the Jewish community in America.
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Norman Mailer—Controversies: American Writing of the 1960s
Wed 28 Jun 2023
Michael Goldfarb looks at how Norman Mailer's misogyny eventually caught up with him.
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Amiri Baraka—Controversies: American Writing of the 1960s
Tue 27 Jun 2023
How poet and playwright Amiri Baraka cancelled himself in a single public appearance.
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William Styron—Controversies: American Writing of the 1960s
Mon 26 Jun 2023
Should a white man write about a black revolutionary?
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Roy McFarlane on Bilston—Black Country Secrets
Fri 16 Jun 2023
Writers choose a Black Country scene to reveal something of this strangely hidden region.
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R.M. Francis on Wren鈥檚 Nest, Dudley—Black Country Secrets
Thu 15 Jun 2023
Writers choose a Black Country scene to reveal something of this strangely hidden region.
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Brendan Hawthorne on Toll End Road, Tipton—Black Country Secrets
Wed 14 Jun 2023
Writers choose a Black Country scene to reveal something of this strangely hidden region.
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Emma Purshouse on St Bart鈥檚 Church, Wednesbury.—Black Country Secrets
Tue 13 Jun 2023
Writers choose a Black Country scene to reveal something of this strangely hidden region.
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Liz Berry on Gorge Road, Sedgley—Black Country Secrets
Mon 12 Jun 2023
Writers choose a Black Country scene to reveal something of this strangely hidden region.
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Geoff Dyer on DH Lawrence—Journeys to the Grave
Fri 9 Jun 2023
Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
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Brandon Taylor on Langston Hughes—Journeys to the Grave
Thu 8 Jun 2023
Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
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Helen Mort on Sylvia Plath—Journeys to the Grave
Wed 7 Jun 2023
Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
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Tracy Chevalier on Thomas Hardy—Journeys to the Grave
Tue 6 Jun 2023
Series 2. Five writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
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Naomi Alderman on Mary Wollstonecraft—Journeys to the Grave
Mon 5 Jun 2023
Five more writers go in search of the final resting places of their literary heroes.
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Emilia Lanyer—We Other Tudors
Fri 5 May 2023
10/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Mohammed al-Annuri—We Other Tudors
Thu 4 May 2023
9/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Roderigo Lopez—We Other Tudors
Wed 3 May 2023
8/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England
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Mary Fillis—We Other Tudors
Tue 2 May 2023
7/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Chinano 'the Turk'—We Other Tudors
Mon 1 May 2023
6/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Manteo—We Other Tudors
Fri 28 Apr 2023
5/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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Aura Soltana—We Other Tudors
Thu 27 Apr 2023
4/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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John Cabot—We Other Tudors
Wed 26 Apr 2023
3/10 Jerry Brotton looks at those from around the world who made their homes in Tudor England.
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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.
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.
