The Essay

Des Fitzgerald tracks the relationship between the modern city and its green environs. Drawing together psychological research with urban history and literature it asks: what would change, psychologically, socially, emotionally, if we covered the concrete and brickwork of our towns and cities with vines, plants and vertical gardens? A city is not a park but should it be? Des Fitzgerald is a sociol...

Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures; from the book that predicted the internet, to the world where men have been wiped out in a plague. Episode 5/5: Woman on the Edge of Time, by Marge Piercy; a 1970s counter-culture agrarian utopia with a clear message; utopia does not have to be in the future, it can be now.

Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures. Episode 4/5: The Female Man, by Joanna Russ, which tells four versions of the same woman, a complex narrative which prefigures many of the sci-fi tropes of 1970s and 1980s cinema.

Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures; from the book that predicted the internet to the world where men have been wiped out in a gender-specific plague. Episode 3/5: Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story of three gentleman explorers, who get purposefully lost on an expedition in the hope of stumbling across an all-women tribe.

Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures. Episode 2/5: Mizora: A Prophecy, the 19th-century narrative written by author Mary E Bradley, who didn’t want her husband to find out that she was writing about a world without men.

Comedian and author Viv Groskop explores five forgotten feminist futures; from the book that predicted the internet, to the world where men have been wiped out in a gender-specific plague. Episode 1/5: Three Hundred Years Hence, by Mary Griffith, often described as the first utopian novel written by a woman, fifty years before the first female suffrage amendment.

Sarah Churchwell celebrates various leading men of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s. She says, "the truth is, I would have done five essays on Cary Grant, but my producer wouldn't let me... Grant embodied the unimaginable." He was also excellent at romantic comedy and drama, and this is now examined. Cherished even. Producer: Duncan Minshull

Sarah Churchwell celebrates various leading men of the silver screen, from the 1930s and 1940s. Joel McCrea starred in westerns and crime capers and refused some movies if the characters did not possess moral fibre. So he turned down The Postman Always Rings Twice with Lana Turner. He said he wanted to be the regular guy who 'rode off into the sunset'. But was this his real appeal? Producer: Dunca...

Sarah Churchwell celebrates various leading men of the silver screen, from the 1930s and 1940s. Charles Boyer played killers and gigolos, conmen and psychopaths. He was good at romantic comedy and his Frenchness made him debonair and suave. But it was the voice that was the giveaway - 'deep and purring, with a heavy French accent'. It encouraged this writer's early penchant for escapism. Producer:...

Sarah Churchwell celebrates various leading men of the silver screen from the 1930s and 1940s. Frederic March had an amazing range, playing a lot of different types, and he should be admired for this. Off set, however, he comes under a different sort of scrutiny - "everything was harder in real life than on the effortless silver screen." Reader: Duncan Minshull

Sarah Churchwell celebrates various leading men of the silver screen, from the 1930s and 1940s: First off is Clark Gable and Gone with the Wind of course. And countless other films where this classic star could exercise his physical presence. And, according to the writer, his appeal lay as an 'object fought over by women'. Is this his only talent? Producer: Duncan Minshull

Writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy concludes her exploration of voice. Today, make some noise before it's too late. Written and read by AL Kennedy. Producer: Justine Willett

Writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy continues her exploration of voice. Today, she compares the soothing radio voices of her childhood with the angry voices of today's media. Written and read by AL Kennedy. Producer: Justine Willett

Acclaimed writer AL Kennedy continues her exploration of voice. Today, she looks at the voice on the page - and the importance of telling our stories. Written and read by AL Kennedy. Producer: Justine Willett

Acclaimed writer and broadcaster AL Kennedy continues her exploration of voice. Today, she looks at the importance of conversation and of being heard. Written and read by AL Kennedy. Producer: Justine Willett

Using her own voice recordings, writer AL Kennedy explores the power of voice and what it can say about us. Written and read by AL Kennedy. Producer: Justine Willett

Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing: Sitting on a bench in Scarborough station, he recalls the Yorkshire coast of his youth. This takes in Whitby and Bram Stoker. Robin Hood Bay and the roofs of its houses. Filey and its rock-pools. And Hull. Producer: Duncan Minshull

Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing. He thinks he's best able to evoke a Yorkshire steeped in the past, but what about the future. Yorkshire independence? Its young people? The world of retail? There is much to consider. Producer: Duncan Minshull

Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing: This time, he ponders questions of class in God's Own County. "My dad was one of the men who went to work in suits, being a clerk on British Rail. He got on with the men in overalls, but he tried to stop me speaking like them." The author has enjoyed class mobility, and after recollections of his upbringing, he gets t...

Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing: This time, Andrew ponders the age-old question to do with Yorkshire and Lancashire rivalries - who comes out on top? Time to delve deep into each region's culture to come up with an explanation. But surely this author is biased? Producer: Duncan Minshull

Andrew Martin's five essays that muse on the county of his birth and upbringing: To begin, he is getting up there by train from London, thinking about his 'Tyke' identity. Also, who are the exemplars of God's Own County? - it's time to name some names. Then, before long, he arrives in York... Producer: Duncan Minshull

1819 was a stunningly fertile year for John Keats, when he wrote five of the greatest odes in the English language and actually introduced words and phrases never heard before - "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.....", "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty....." . "O for a beaker full of the warm South....." Five leading contemporary poets each celebrate a single ode. 5. Paul Batchelor on Ode to P...

1819 was a stunningly fertile year for John Keats, when he wrote five of the greatest odes in the English language and actually introduced words and phrases never heard before - "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.....", "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty....." "O for a beaker full of the warm South....." Five leading contemporary poets each celebrate a single ode. 4. Sasha Dugdale on Ode to a Ni...

In 1819, John Keats wrote five of the greatest odes in the English language. Five leading contemporary poets each celebrate a single ode. 2. Sean O'Brien on Ode on Melancholy 1819 was a stunningly fertile year for John Keats, when he wrote five of the greatest odes in the English language and actually introduced words and phrases never heard before - "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.....",...

1819 was a stunningly fertile year for John Keats, when he wrote five of the greatest and most frequently anthologised odes in the English language, fresh-minting phrases now in common use , such as "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.....","Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty....." and "O, for a beaker full of the warm South....." All this week, leading contemporary poets each celebrate a single o...