The Essay Episodes Available now
Caedmon, the Oldest Surviving English Poet—Anglo-Saxon Portraits
13/30 Writer David Almond discusses Caedmon, the earliest English poet whose name is known.
Bede, the Father of English History—Anglo-Saxon Portraits
12/30 Scholar of the Anglo-Saxons Lilian Groves explores the life and times of St Bede.
The Beowulf Bard—Anglo-Saxon Portraits
11/30 Nobel Prize-winner the late Seamus Heaney's portrait of the great Anglo-Saxon Beowulf bard
Albert Einstein—Five Portraits of Science
5/5 Writer Richard Hamblyn considers the cultural afterlife of Albert Einstein.
Marie Curie—Five Portraits of Science
4/5 Sunetra Gupta considers Marie Curie's reputation as self-sacrificing scientific saint.
Isaac Newton—Five Portraits of Science
3/5 Historian Patricia Fara on how Isaac Newton became the quintessential English genius.
Galileo—Five Portraits of Science
2/5 Writer Andrew Brown unpicks the narrative of Galileo's battle with the Roman Inquisition.
John Dee—Five Portraits of Science
1/5 Jonathan Sawday explores the cultural legacy of alchemist, astrologer and magus John Dee.
Cubism—Paris 1913
5/5 Adam Gopnik discusses Cubism in 1913 Paris, considering it as a form of poetic realism.
Le Grand Meaulnes—Paris 1913
4/5 Writer Michele Roberts assesses the impact of Alain-Fournier's Le Grand Meaulnes.
