The Essay
Series of programmes debating and exploring arts and cultural topics. Get in touch... [email protected] Call: 03700 100 300
The Essay - A Beep Heard Around the World
Four personal essays marking the 50th anniversary in 2007 of Sputnik's launch, in October 1957, which began the space race
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The Essay - A Cretan Spring
Adam Nicolson and Sarah Raven observe the arrival of spring as it travels across Crete, the largest of the Greek islands
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The Essay - A Five-Day Journey
Writer Robert Macfarlane walks along the South Downs, discovering its chalk paths and its ghosts
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The Essay - A Good Death
Series of personal and very powerful essays in which writers ponder the much-neglected art of dying. They ask whether a good death is about just having lived a good life
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The Essay - A Laureate's Life
Series exploring laureateship around the world, coinciding with Andrew Motion's retirement as the UK's Poet Laureate
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The Essay - A Letter to My Body
Series in which five thinkers, artists and writers ask themselves how they relate to their own bodies
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The Essay - A Passion for Opera
Series in which five people associated with the world of opera describe their relationship to it. With contributions from writers, critics and those involved in staging opera
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The Essay - A Robert Schumann Album
Series revealing different aspects of Robert Schumann's life and work, including his marriage, writing, children and his mental illness
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The Essay - A Sense of Ourselves
Four writers and immigrants to Britain give an outsider's perspective on Britishness today
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The Essay - A Tribute to Mr Purcell
Series on the life and music of composer and organist Henry Purcell
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The Essay - Antony Gormley's Seminal Sculpture
Artist Antony Gormley discusses key sculptures and art installations of the 20th century
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The Essay - Architecture: The Fourth R
Former president of the Royal Institute of British Architects Sunand Prasad discusses the importance of architecture. He goes on a journey from India, where he grew up, to buildings for the future
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The Essay - Before 'Silent Spring'
Writers, scientists and environmental campaigners reflect on the figures whose ideas preceded the influential 1962 book Silent Spring and laid the foundations of the contemporary green movement
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The Essay - Britain's Hidden Slave Trade
John Gilmore and Angelina Osborne visit four places connected with the British slave trade
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The Essay - British Cinema of the 40s
Simon Heffer re-interprets 1940s British films in terms of their social and political message. He traces cinema's move from galvanising the public during the war to later challenging the class system
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The Essay - Checkmate
Series exploring the history and importance of chess around the world, in countries including India and Russia
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The Essay - Chekhov Essays
Series exploring Anton Chekhov's influence in terms of craft and technique on today's theatre actors and writers
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The Essay - Chopin
To mark the 200th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's birth, pianist Piers Lane explores aspects of the composer's life and work
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The Essay - Conflict and Culture
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was a source of huge distress and hardship, but was also a powerful catalyst for artistic and cultural development. Professor Julian Jackson investigates
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The Essay - Couples
Oscar-winning writer Frederic Raphael explores the theme of couples throughout history, literature, classical civilisation, culture and politics
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The Essay - Darwin's Children
Series in which writers examine some of the various fields in which Darwin's theories have been used
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The Essay - Death and the Philosopher
Series of radio essays exploring the relationship between the notion of death and the philosopher
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The Essay - Doctoring Philosophy
Professor Jonathan Wolff marks the 60th anniversary of the NHS by exploring and questioning the philosophical beliefs which led to its foundation
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The Essay - Elgar's 150th Anniversary
Four commentators reflect on aspects of Elgar in the context of his time and after, exploring the contradictions and enigmas in his complex and paradoxical personality
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The Essay - Emotional Landscapes
Four writers give personal insights into different emotional states
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The Essay - Enlightenment Voices
Series introducing the great scientists, thinkers and activists of the European Enlightenment
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The Essay - Five Easy Pieces
Series in which Christopher Ricks explores short poems he considers are worth remembering
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The Essay - Free Thinking 2010
Series recorded in front of an audience at the Sage Gateshead for BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival 2010
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The Essay - From Pens to Ploughshares
Series on the Arts and Crafts Movement, which aimed to achieve a more balanced and democratic combination of creative work and leisure, making beautiful objects to supply basic human needs
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The Essay - Germany Dreaming
Series in which author and critic Michael Bracewell explores Germany after a dream in which he has a visitation from Brian Eno
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices
A series examining the literature that underpins Western civilisation
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Augustine)
A series examining the literature that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on Augustine, who came to maturity as the Roman Empire fell apart
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Cicero)
A series examining the culture that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on Cicero, the Roman politician, orator and author - of works such as On Rhetoric
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Euripides)
A series examining the literature that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on the work of the play Euripides
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Herodotus)
A series examining the culture that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on the Greek historian Herodotus, author of The Histories
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Horace)
Series about the literature which underpins Western civilisation, focusing on Horace
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Juvenal)
A series examining the culture that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on the Roman satirist Juvenal
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Plato)
Chris Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford, introduces the life, work and teaching method of the Greek Philosopher Plato
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Sappho)
An introduction to the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho, regarded as the greatest female poet of classical literature
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Tacitus)
A series examining the literature and culture that underpins Western civilisation, focusing on the Roman historian Tacitus
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Thucydides)
Series about the literature which underpins Western civilisation, focusing on Thucydides
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The Essay - Greek and Latin Voices (Virgil)
Series on the enduring influence on European literature and culture of the Roman poet Virgil
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The Essay - Half Shame, Half Glory - Postcards from the Acting Profession
Five actors give their thoughts on what it means to be a member of their profession
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The Essay - Haydn Essays
Series considering different aspects of Haydn's life, work and reputation
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The Essay - Head in the Clouds
Series of essays about the phenomenon of clouds and their shifting role in art, architecture and the cultural imagination
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The Essay - Home Rule for the Soul
Professor Sunil Khilnani explores what drove Gandhi to write Hind Swaraj, his first major work - an astonishing critique of modern civilisation which was banned by the British
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The Essay - In Search of Contentment
Four writers explore how to achieve contentment and chronicle the contented people they have met. With Chris Stewart, AL Kennedy, Tom Hodgkinson and Saira Shah
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The Essay - It's Big and It's Beautiful
Archaeologist Christine Finn looks at the significance of old and redundant technology in the modern age
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The Essay - John Milton, the Essayist
Series in which various writers and intellectuals respond to important essays by John Milton
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The Essay - Johnson Now
Five very different writers from across the world reflect on the linguistic heritage of Samuel Johnson as it plays out in their own world and their own lives
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The Essay - Karachi Postcards
London-based novelist Kamila Shamsie returns every winter to Karachi, her city of birth, and this time decides to explore it properly
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The Essay - Land and Sea and Sky
Artists living around the UK coast describe the personal, cultural and imaginitive importance of residing there
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The Essay - Life But Not As We Know It
A biologist, a writer and a philosopher each explore their fascination with the notion of extraterrestrial intelligence and what such a discovery could mean for the future of humanity
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The Essay - Lingua Franca
Michael Rosen embarks on the winding road through the roots of European language
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The Essay - Looking for Ghosts
Michael Goldfarb travels across Europe in search of forgotten figures who were a critical part of Jewish emancipation
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The Essay - Loving the Raven
To tie in with the bicentenary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe in 2009, a series in which enthusiasts explore the enduring legacy and cult status of the enigmatic and controversial American writer
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The Essay - Maths and Music
Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy explores the connections between the creative art of music and the steely logic of maths
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The Essay - Mentors
Series in which writers reflect on the transformative role played by inspirational mentor figures in their artistic development
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The Essay - Montaigne
Series of essays on the life and work of French philosopher and writer Michel de Montaigne, to accompany a new Radio 3 drama
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The Essay - My Son the Fiddler
Author Christopher Hope recalls watching his son Daniel become a renowned violinist, and how as a tone deaf father he helped and hindered his development
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The Essay - Naturalists: Animals and Human Nature
Biographies of contemporary animal lovers and the creatures and landscapes they championed
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The Essay - Nature in China
Series in which writer and climber Robert Macfarlane goes in search of what remains of wild China
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The Essay - New Archaeologies
Series of personal essays about the archaeology of the recent past
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The Essay - New Generation Thinkers
Series of essays playing host to bright young minds from Britain's top universities and think tanks
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The Essay - Night Walks
Five writers take a stroll after dark and reports back on what they see, feel and think about their travels. Focusing on walking as a source of recreation, escape, nostalgia and spiritual release
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The Essay - Nightwalks
Writers fond of walking explore how the activity is dramatically transformed at night time
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The Essay - No Particular Place to Go
Four acclaimed travel writers examine great works of British travel literature: books that changed the way we saw the world and the art of writing about it
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The Essay - North East Free Thinkers
Series exploring the achievements of influential figures and institutions from the North East of England
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The Essay - On Excess
Leading psychotherapist Adam Phillips considers what part various aspects of excess play in our lives and how we may recognise and define them
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The Essay - Paulin on Blake
Tom Paulin presents a series of four spoken essays exploring the life and works of the great English visionary, poet and artist
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The Essay - Pinter's Voices
Series of personal essays about the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, who died in December 2008
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The Essay - Postcards
Writer and critic Susannah Clapp looks through the postcards she has received from writers and artists through the years, asking why people still send a few words
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The Essay - Postcards from Istanbul
Celebrating Istanbul's year as European Capital of Culture in 2010, five writers and intellectuals give their views on Turkey's largest city
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The Essay - Raising My Voice
Artists from different fields consider the impact of mental health problems on creativity
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The Essay - Raising My Voice
Four artists working in a variety of fields consider the impact of mental health problems on their creativity
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The Essay - Reflections on Caravaggio
Art historian John Gash reflects on the innovative style and tempestuous life of the Milanese painter
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The Essay - Rewiring the Mind
Historian of broadcasting David Hendy examines the ways in which the electronic media have shaped the modern mind
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The Essay - Richard Cork's Great Encounters
Richard Cork, one of Britain's most respected art critics and broadcasters, describes his extraordinary encounters with some of the world's most influential artists
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The Essay - Robert Graves and the Poetic Myth
Graeme Fife on love and the use of ancient myth in the poetry of Robert Graves
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The Essay - Running the World
Geographer Hayden Lorimer discusses his obsession with running
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The Essay - Secret Places in the Four Quartets
Poet Craig Raine investigates the mystical dimension of TS Eliot's Four Quartets, taking him to some of the key locations of the poem. With readings by Ralph Fiennes
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The Essay - Strange Encounters - Series 2
Series in which scientists re-examine ground-breaking scientific experiments
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The Essay - Symmetry and the Monster
Series exploring the quest to understand one of most famous mathematical problems
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The Essay - Tennyson 200
Four contemporary British poets each choose a single poem or extract by Tennyson and give a personal account of why it means so much to them
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The Essay - The Cult of Childhood
Four essays exploring the theme of childhood in literary culture. With Deborah Bowman
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The Essay - The Elephant in the Poetry Reading
Series in which five Scottish poets describe how they view their own writing in relation to that of the great Robert Burns's
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The Essay - The Future's Not What it Used to Be
Richard Foster explores literary visions of utopia, asking where it all went wrong
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The Essay - The Great and Good Mr Handel
Series exploring different areas of Handel's life and work
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The Essay - The Great Essayists
Writer and philosopher AC Grayling explores four key figures from the rich tradition of English essay writing
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The Essay - The King Returned
Jonathan Sawday paints a picture of Restoration Britain, exploring the politics, the science, the culture and the philosophy which made this an extraordinary period in the country's history
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The Essay - The Lives of Others
Anthropologists discuss the status of their discipline, its ethics, responsibilities and practices, and how their long-term research seeks to illuminate our lives by looking at the lives of others
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The Essay - The Mews
Poet, writer and falconer Helen Macdonald gives a series of talks about rearing and training a female goshawk
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The Essay - The Monumental Imperative
Neo-classical sculptor Alexander Stoddart reveals the art and craftsmanship behind five works that inspire him as an artist. He gives an insight into the era in which they were created
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The Essay - The Path and the Poem
Poet and critic Andrew Motion considers the link between walking and writing in a series of talks about poems that follow paths. The poets are either American, Scottish or English
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The Essay - The Scientist and the Romantic
Nature writer Richard Mabey discusses on his lifelong relationship with science and the natural environment
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The Essay - The Stewarts
Series in which writers and historians discuss different aspects of the Stewart dynasty and their rule
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The Essay - The Utopian Dream - and its Disappointments
Dr Jane Shaw draws on her own experience and research to explore why human beings persist in trying to build utopias
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The Essay - The World Turned Upside Down
Essayists from former Warsaw Pact nations reflect on the changing use and meaning of a seemingly banal object - unlocking a story about how life in their country was altered by the 1989 revolutions
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The Essay - To Russia with Love
Writers examine some of the passions that led them to embark upon a life-long relationship with Russia
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The Essay - Tolstoy
Series in which people explain their passion for the works of Tolstoy and the Russia he evokes. Coming from different backgrounds, all have been touched - directly and indirectly - by Tolstoy's works
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The Essay - Tomorrow is Today
Series on the arts in Northern Ireland since the signing of 1998's Good Friday Agreement. With prominents artists discussing the important social changes in that period and how their work has changed
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The Essay - Under the Influence
Contemporary poets talk about poets whose work has influenced their own
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The Essay - Under the Influence
Series in which contemporary poets write about others whose work has influenced their own
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The Essay - Vaughan Williams in the BBC Archives
Series of archive radio talks for the BBC given by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his later years, revealing as much about the composer's personality as the subject being discussed.
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The Essay - Visions of Mary
Series in which five academics discuss the Virgin Mary within and outside of Christianity
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The Essay - When Writers Play
Three writers are invited to describe their alternative talents as musicians
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The Essay - When Writers Play (Series 2)
Five writers describe their passions and possibly their talents for playing a musical instrument
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The Essay - William Hazlitt - Philosopher
Series of talks by philosopher and historian Jonathan Ree arguing that William Hazlitt was a committed philosopher as well as a great essayist
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The Essay - Work-Life Balance
A chronological history of the so-called work-life balance, from the 18th Century to the present, shedding light on the conflicting priorities of British life today
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