Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.
Latest episodes
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Digging for Words
In 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American to publish a collection of poems. Jade Cuttle looks at the way her poems were described and asks what do we categorise a…
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11 min ↗
Workplace performance
What connects actors with baristas? In 1983, the American sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild published a book called The Managed Heart which studied the working world of airline…
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13 min ↗
The crime of creation
The Japanese philosopher Yujin Nagasawa says the majority of people are what he calls ‘existential optimists’. What does this mean for ideas about evil and the creation of life? Ja…
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Mothers on trial
Having worked as a criminal and family barrister, Shona Minson has seen the effect on women and their children when a mother is sentenced to prison for committing a crime. Her essa…
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Land Cinema
If cinema is often associated with Hollywood or the European New Wave, since the 1970s activist-filmmakers around the world have been involving local people in telling their own st…
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The intimacy of radio
The would-be composer and philosopher Theodor Adorno played classical piano and came up with influential studies of authoritarianism, antisemitism and propaganda. He also wrote abo…
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Birth Stories
How have the first hours and days after childbirth changed in the NHS? Before the NHS, a 1932 publication describing mothers resting after labour, referred to lying-in as ranging f…
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Losing Yourself in Books
What do we get from a good book? With a greater diversity of stories on offer from publishers and as exam set texts, Janine Bradbury looks at the arguments which are made in favour…
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A Philosophical Forgery?
In 1852, a book of philosophical enquiry was discovered in Ethiopia. But what if the Hatata Zera Yacob is a forgery? Does it matter, if the message is inspirational? Debates over i…
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Technicolor Wars
From The Wizard of Oz to Madame Mao, Kirsty Sinclair Dootson’s essay explores the politics of making films in colour - specifically Technicolor - a process synonymous with American…
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Poems of Love and Ageing
Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a life…
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13 min ↗
Poems of Mayo
The Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a…
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13 min ↗
Poems of the Troubles
The Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a…
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14 min ↗
Poems of World War 1
The Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a…
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13 min ↗
The Early Years
The poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025 at the age of 85, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He…
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13 min ↗
Indonesia's Tin Pan Alley - Tihingan in Bali
'Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears...'There is…
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Japan's Tin Pan Alley - Ochanomizu in Tokyo
Ochanomizu means 'tea water' because of its proximity to the Kanda River, which in the Edo period provided water for the Shogun's tea. Now it is a university area - Meiji Universit…
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Spain's Tin Pan Alley - Centro, Madrid
The journalist Guy Hedgecoe, who covers Spain for the BBC, visits Felipe Conde's shop and workshop in Centro, Madrid. Conde is the fourth generation of his family to make classical…
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Türkiye's Tin Pan Alley - Galip Dede Street in Istanbul
Galip Dede Street in Istanbul used to be famous for its antique, philatelic and book shops. But over the past 30 years more and more music shops have opened and now the street has…
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China's Tin Pan Alley - Xinjiekou Street in Beijing
The original Tin Pan Alley was in Fifth and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, where music publishers set up shop in the late 19th century, attracting songwriters and coming to d…