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
-
![]()
Don't You Think We're Forever—Forever Songs
Fri 5 Jul 2024
Karine Polwart considers music's ritual power to connect, soothe, honour and remember.
-
![]()
Couldn't Love You More—Forever Songs
Thu 4 Jul 2024
Karine Polwart considers music's ritual power to connect, soothe, honour and remember.
-
![]()
Banks of Sicily—Forever Songs
Wed 3 Jul 2024
Karine Polwart considers music's ritual power to connect, soothe, honour and remember.
-
![]()
Time Has Told Me—Forever Songs
Tue 2 Jul 2024
Karine Polwart considers music's ritual power to connect, soothe, honour and remember.
-
![]()
How Happy I Am—Forever Songs
Mon 1 Jul 2024
Karine Polwart considers music's ritual power to connect, soothe, honour and remember.
-
![]()
Elizabeth Elliott—A Different Way to Listen
Fri 31 May 2024
Elizabeth Elliott, a talented musician who became deaf, shares her inspiring journey.
-
![]()
Paul Whittaker OBE—A Different Way to Listen
Thu 30 May 2024
Paul Whittaker is a deaf sign language performer for classical and musical performances
-
![]()
Chisato Minamimura—A Different Way to Listen
Wed 29 May 2024
Chisato Minamimura, a deaf artist with a fascination for sound gives us her take on music
-
![]()
Nigel Braithwaite—A Different Way to Listen
Tue 28 May 2024
Hard of hearing musician Nigel Braithwaite takes a wry look at his musical career.
-
![]()
Ruth Montgomery—A Different Way to Listen
Mon 27 May 2024
Ruth Montgomery reflects on growing up deaf but determined to be a professional flautist.
-
![]()
12/04/2024—Watching from the Wings
Fri 12 Apr 2024
Michael Goldfarb remembers his theatrical life as an actor.
-
![]()
11/04/2024—Watching from the Wings
Thu 11 Apr 2024
Michael Goldfarb remembers his theatrical life as an actor.
-
![]()
10/04/2024—Watching from the Wings
Wed 10 Apr 2024
Michael Goldfarb remembers his theatrical life as an actor.
-
![]()
09/04/2024—Watching from the Wings
Tue 9 Apr 2024
Michael Goldfarb remembers his theatrical life as an actor.
-
![]()
08/04/2024—Watching from the Wings
Mon 8 Apr 2024
Michael Goldfarb remembers his theatrical life as an actor.
-
![]()
Unravelling plainness—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Fri 29 Mar 2024
Isabella Rosner explains why needlework challenges our idea of Quaker simplicity.
-
![]()
Unravelling plainness
Fri 29 Mar 2024
Isabella Rosner explains why needlework challenges our idea of Quaker simplicity
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
The legacy of the laundries—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Mon 25 Mar 2024
Louise Brangan reflects on the legacies of Ireland's Magdalene laundries.
-
![]()
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
-
![]()
Gas, oil and the Essex blues
Fri 22 Mar 2024
Sam Johnson-Schlee draws links between Dr Feelgood, Canvey Island and energy policies
-
![]()
From algorithms to oceans—New Generation Thinkers 2023
Thu 21 Mar 2024
Kerry McInerney explores the promises of the ‘sustainable AI’ movement and how AI develops
-
![]()
From algorithms to oceans
Thu 21 Mar 2024
Kerry McInerney on the promises of the ‘sustainable AI’ movement and how AI may develop
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
Germany’s 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.
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
Call Me Mother
Mon 18 Mar 2024
How the shape of words for mother helps babies eat their food. Rebecca Woods explains
-
![]()
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’s childhood fascination.
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.
