The Essay

Writer and scholar Lauren Elkin describes the very particular grey of a rainy Paris in the time of year that the French revolutionary government called Pluviôse, the month of rain. She talks about the way a particular quality of grey sheen was captured by the French Impressionists, and with it a sense of melancholy. It's a vision that recurs in art and film, from Gustave Caillebotte's 1877 Paris S...

In the third of her curated series of essays about the way rain is experienced across the globe, Nandini Das introduces the Australian poet and environmentalist Mark O'Connor. Mark explores the uniquely Australian experiences of rain, which include the vivid smell of it. The word petrichor was coined by Australian scientists to try and capture the odour of rain on arid lands, but there's more than...

When the rains of the fifth month, samidare, arrive in Japan it seems they'll never stop. In the second of Nandini Das's curated series of essays on rain and the way it's experienced across the globe, she invites art historian Timon Screech to introduce us to the rains of Japan where he now lives. The rains that flood country and city alike are also known as the plum rains, plumping up the fruit i...

Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Oxford, brings us stories and personal experiences of rain and the way it informs and combines with different cultures across the globe. Each of the five essays takes a particular sense and location as focus, beginning with Nandini's native India and the sound of rainfall. She recalls the deafening, thundering rains of the monsoon se...

Legendary broadcaster James Burke reveals unexpected connections between his twin passions of science and classical music. In this final essay he leads us, via steam engines, precision instruments, waterworks and iron coffins, to the modern orchestra.

Legendary broadcaster James Burke reveals unexpected connections between his twin passions of science and classical music. Today's essay ranges from Carolina pine trees, chintz, bowler hats and skyscrapers - and ends on the ivories.

Legendary broadcaster James Burke reveals unexpected connections between his twin passions of science and classical music. Today’s essay includes Italian electricity, a German baron and his séances, French carpet-making and your fridge. All on the way to the compositions of Claude Debussy.

Legendary broadcaster James Burke reveals unexpected connections between his twin passions of science and classical music. In this essay he links planetary orbits, new kinds of arithmetic, the teeny-weeny, and of course fake Scottish literature arriving naturally enough at the Romantic movement.

Legendary broadcaster James Burke reveals unexpected connections between his twin passions of science and classical music. In this first exploration he brings together such arcane stuff as organisms that might not exist, Newton and colour, French encyclopedias and a freemason’s opera.

Geoffrey Colman invites us to join him on a walk through a day as an acting coach. Geoffrey is an acting coach, educator, broadcaster and former professor of acting at the Royal Central School of Speech of Drama, and in this series of Essays he takes listeners inside the rehearsal rooms and onto the stages of his professional life to address key questions about acting. In this final Essay, Geoffre...

Geoffrey Colman describes the ways in which reality TV has changed acting. Geoffrey is an acting coach, educator, broadcaster and former professor of acting at the Royal Central School of Speech of Drama, and in this series of Essays he takes listeners inside the rehearsal rooms and onto the stages of his professional life to address key questions about acting. In this Essay, Geoffrey describes th...

Geoffrey Colman explores the differences between acting on stage and on screen. Geoffrey is an acting coach, educator, broadcaster and former professor of acting at the Royal Central School of Speech of Drama, and in this series of Essays he takes listeners inside the rehearsal rooms and onto the stages of his professional life to address key questions about acting. In this third Essay, Geoffrey d...

Geoffrey Colman asks what students learn in drama schools, as he continues his series of Essays on acting. Geoffrey is an acting coach, educator, broadcaster and former professor of acting at the Royal Central School of Speech of Drama, and in this series of Essays he takes listeners inside the rehearsal rooms and onto the stages of his professional life to address key questions about acting. In t...

Geoffrey Colman considers the art of acting, and in this first of a new set of Essays asks: what makes a great actor? Geoffrey is an acting coach, educator, broadcaster and former professor of acting at the Royal Central School of Speech of Drama, and in this series of Essays he takes listeners inside the rehearsal rooms and onto the stages of his professional life to address key questions about a...

In the last programme in a series celebrating the joys of Essex, surely the most maligned of counties, writer Gillian Darley explores the unsung delights of mid-Essex, with a trip along the Essex Way. Known recently for the pneumonic blondes and diamond geezers of television's The Only Way Is Essex, as well as the peroxided 'Essex Girls' of the 80s, Essex seems to have an image problem. John Betje...

In the next in a series celebrating the joys of Essex, surely the most maligned of counties, writer and social historian Ken Worpole explores Essex as a place of retreat and refuge. Known recently for the pneumonic blondes and diamond geezers of television's The Only Way Is Essex, as well as the peroxided 'Essex Girls' of the 80s, Essex seems to have an image problem. John Betjeman called it 'a st...

In the next in a series exploring the joys of Essex, surely the most maligned and misunderstood of counties, writer and poet Lavinia Greenlaw takes us back to the formative landscape of her childhood - a place that she rejected for so long... Known recently for the pneumonic blondes and diamond geezers of television's The Only Way Is Essex, as well as the peroxided 'Essex Girls' of the 80s, Essex...

In the next in a series exploring the joys of Essex, surely the most overlooked and misunderstood of counties, AL Kennedy takes on a watery journey through the rivers, mudflats and reed beds of the county she now calls home. Known recently for the pneumonic blondes and diamond geezers of television's The Only Way Is Essex, as well as the peroxided 'Essex Girls' of the 80s, Essex seems to have an i...

Kicking off the series exploring the joys of Essex, surely the most maligned and misunderstood of counties, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg reflects on the borderland between London and Essex that fuelled his childhood imagination John Betjeman called Essex 'a stronger contrast of beauty and ugliness than any other southern English county'. But, known recently for the pneumonic blondes and diamond g...

Radio 3 presenter Jess Gillam celebrates the composer whose music unexpectedly helped her though lockdown, Johann Sebastian Bach,

Radio 3 presenter Jumoké Fashola celebrates the singer-songwriter whose music and life story helped her to find her own voice, the American Nina Simone

Radio 3 presenter Ian Skelly celebrates the composer who helped him see humanity as integrated with nature, the Frenchman Jean Mouton

Radio 3 presenter Elizabeth Alker celebrates the first "unclassified" composer, the Russian Sofia Gubaidulina

Radio 3 presenter Hannah French celebrates the composer who liberates her from "imposter syndrome", the Venetian Barbara Strozzi

In April this year, the death was announced of the veteran Radio 3 jazz presenter Geoffrey Smith – who hosted Jazz Record Requests for over twenty years. To mark Geoffrey’s death, this week there’s another chance to hear a series of Essays from 2020 in which Geoff, as an American, explored his observations of the British relationship with Jazz. This episode also serves as a tribute to its subject,...