ArtsSociety & Culture

The Essay

BBC Radio 3

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

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20 episodes
Avg 13 min
English

Episodes 20

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Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
Digging for Words
Jade Cuttle explores new words in nature writing
Mar 31, 2025 · 11 min
Workplace performance
Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal looks at “service with a smile”
Mar 31, 2025 · 12 min
The crime of creation
Jack Symes considers how we value life and face death
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
Mothers on trial
Shona Minson explores the pardoxical thinking around sending mothers to prison
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
Land Cinema
Becca Voelcker describes experiments in filmmaking in China, Japan and the Philippines
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
The intimacy of radio
Jacob Downs considers what it means to listen closely to the radio.
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
Birth Stories
From 'lying in' to bedside cots: Emily Baughan traces childbirth changes.
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
Losing Yourself in Books
Janine Bradbury questions our motivation when choosing what to read.
Mar 31, 2025 · 13 min
A Philosophical Forgery?
Jonathan Egid tells the story of a mysterious Ethiopian thinker named Zera Yacob.
Mar 31, 2025 · 12 min
Technicolor Wars
Kirsty Sinclair Dootson on the dark side of colour film.
Feb 13, 2025 · 13 min
Poems of Love and Ageing
In a 2024 interview, Michael Longley talks about his love poems and 60 years of poetry.
Feb 13, 2025 · 13 min
Poems of Mayo
In a 2024 interview, the late poet Michael Longley talks about his nature poems.
Feb 13, 2025 · 13 min
Poems of the Troubles
Belfast poet Michael Longley speaking in 2024 on writing about the Troubles.
Feb 13, 2025 · 13 min
Poems of World War 1
In a 2024 interview, the late poet Michael Longley talks about his World War 1 poetry.
Feb 13, 2025 · 13 min
The Early Years
In a 2024 interview, the late poet Michael Longley talks about Belfast and the classics.
Nov 30, 2024 · 13 min
Indonesia's Tin Pan Alley - Tihingan in Bali
Ade Mardiyati visits the master gamelan makers of Tihingan village in Bali.
Nov 30, 2024 · 13 min
Spain's Tin Pan Alley - Centro, Madrid
Guy Hedgecoe visits the luthiers of Madrid.
Nov 30, 2024 · 13 min
Japan's Tin Pan Alley - Ochanomizu in Tokyo
Phoebe Amoroso reports from Ochanomizu in Tokyo, famous for shops selling electric guitars
Nov 30, 2024 · 13 min
Türkiye's Tin Pan Alley - Galip Dede Street in Istanbul
BBC Türkçe journalist Esra Yalcinalp visits Galip Dede Street, Istanbul's Tin Pan Alley.
Nov 30, 2024 · 13 min
China's Tin Pan Alley - Xinjiekou Street in Beijing
BBC Beijing Correspondent Stephen McDonell visits the music shops of Xinjiekou Street.

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes