Triptych – Quaerentia

The Masterpieces 1. Franz Schubert’s ERLKÖNIG (1815) We begin with a song, but one that is over 200 years old and in German. Franz Schubert (1787-1828, above right, painted by Wilhelm August Rieder in 1875) blazed bright but far too briefly. He died at only 31 and yet left an extraordinary body of work. This […]

The Masterpieces 1. Wendell Berry’s DO NOT BE ASHAMED (1967) We had to rerecord this episode for several reasons (without changing the masterpieces), but this gave it added poignancy. The great farmer-poet Wendell Berry died in the intervening weeks (31st Aug 2026) at the age of 92 and so it was all the more special […]

The Masterpieces 1. Midnight Mass (Mike Flannagan, 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llPOSaEstu8 Midnight Mass is a 7-part Netflix series that came out in 2021, created by horror aficionado Mike Flanagan. Which, for many of us is not exactly the greatest selling point. But bear with this, since there was method in Sophie’s madness for suggesting we watch this. […]

The Masterpieces 1. Leif Enger’s I CHEERFULLY REFUSE (2025) We start with a very up-to-date masterpiece this time: Leif Enger’s 2025 novel I Cheerfully Refuse. Enger is perhaps not so well known on this side of the Atlantic, but he deserves to be. His writing is lyrical and evocative, and the world he creates for this […]

The Masterpieces 1. Godzilla Minus One (2023) Godzilla Minus One is the latest in Japan’s long-running Godzilla franchise. But dispel all thought of dumb Hollywood monster-pics that revel in cheap thrills and facile redemptive arcs. This film, directed and co-written by Takashi Yamazaki,  is surprisingly arresting. It is characterised by scores of unforgettable images, genuine […]

The Masterpieces 1. “Assassins”, The Crown ep 1:9 (2016) Peter Morgan has made his name, despite his explicit republicanism, from dramatising the House of Windsor. First on stage, then in cinema, and more recently in Netflix’s blockbuster monolith, The Crown. The latter’s production values are spectacular, and certainly in the first two seasons (I confess […]

The Masterpieces 1. The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (2024) All of us slip into judging books by covers and people by appearances. It’s unfair and unhelpful, but it happens nevertheless, sometimes instinctively. So an encounter with Mats Steen, a Norwegian suffering from advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy, would have left most people struggling to know where […]

The Masterpieces 1. GODRIC by Frederick Buechner (1981) Frederick Buechner (1926-2022; pronounced ‘Beakner‘) was an American Presbyterian minister, theologian and, most notably for our purposes, writer. He was prolific in both fiction (15 novels), poetry and non-fiction. He was heralded in his lifetime for his brilliance and creativity, though inevitably, his books have perhaps not [&#...

What happens when a desperately ill new mother encounters Paul Simon's Rock, and ends up fully immersed in a remote Scottish fishing village.

When dystopian Soldiers in Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, come face to face with Love after Love, and environmental collapse in Making Do

What happens when WH Auden informs Vassily Kandinsky about a trip to a Belgian Art Museum and then meets Snarky Puppy... it all kicks off here!

When Eternal Sunshine's Joel and Clem meet Nick Cave's Ghosteen and found themselves chatting with Chinua Achebe's Okonkwo in an Igbo village

What ensues when a classic Jamaican group covers a Randy Newman song and then chats with Serbian artist Marina Abramović and an East German Stasi officer...

What sort of conversation would ensure if Tchaikovsky encounters a Jamaican photographer and Douglas Coupland's GenXers...

Triptych Ep 2 | Billie Eilish: What was I made for? Francisco de Zurbarán: St Luke at the Cross Star Wars' Andor: Series 1

The First Ever: Lionel Richie (and friends) MEETS Welsh poet R S Thomas MEETS American painter Edward Hopper