The Essay

Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Dr. Amira Bennison examines the creation of two great cities of learning - Baghdad and Cairo. The medieval Middle East is the stuff of fantasy...

Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age (c. 750 - 1258 CE) continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Professor Charles Burnett from the Warburg Institute sheds light on the ideas of the philospher, Ibn Rushd - also widely kn...

Radio 3's twenty-part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five-hundred-year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Professor Mona Siddiqui turns her attention to Al-Ghazali. He had a major influence on both Muslim and European philosophers. Producer: Sarah...

Radio 3's twenty part essay series on the Islamic Golden Age continues its exploration through this five hundred year period of empire, innovation, religious turmoil, scientific discovery and major advances in philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, we hear about the controversial Egyptian imam-caliph, Al Hakim and his sister Sitt al-Mulk. At worst, al Hakim has a reputation as the "mad" c...

Radio 3 continues its series of portraits of some of the more remarkable figures and events from the Islamic Golden Age - an era which saw huge changes in empires, medicine, architectural achievements and philosophical thought. In this evening's essay, Professor James Montgomery sheds light on the scholar al-Biruni. An exceptionally gifted mathematician, he devoted much of his life to astronomy an...

This major essay series continues as leading thinkers and practitioners share their knowledge and passion for the Golden Age of Islam. Dr. Sussan Babaie from the Courtauld Institute is an expert in Islamic architecture. She turns the spotlight on two significant monuments of the early medieval period in the Islamic world: the 10th century royal mausoleaum of the Samanid dynasty in Bukhara, present...

In a major series for Radio 3, we continue our journey through the Islamic Golden Age. The period ranges from 750 to 1258 CE and we'll hear about architecture, religious scholarship, medicine, innovation and philosophy. In this evening's essay, Dr Tony Street assesses the great philosopher and highly influential physician Avicenna. Born in Bukahara in 980, Avicenna was an Arabic-speaking Persian w...

Novelist Andrew Martin considers attitudes that no longer seem so vital in the modern world. And he concludes his series with something we often did on Sundays - 'church-going'. Producer Duncan Minshull First broadcast in January 2014.

Novelist Andrew Martin considers attitudes that no longer seem so vital in the modern world. And he continues with a celebration of 'manual work' - which fewer embrace these days. Producer Duncan Minshull First broadcast in January 2014.

Novelist Andrew Martin considers attitudes that no longer seem so vital in the modern world. And this time he thinks about the loss of old rules. The ones to do with 'gentility'. Producer Duncan Minshull First broadcast in January 2014.

Novelist Andrew Martin considers attitudes that no longer seem so vital in the modern world. And he continues his series with lamenting the loss of 'not eating too much'.. Producer Duncan Minshull First broadcast in January 2014.

Novelist Andrew Martin considers attitudes that no longer seem so vital in the modern world. And he begins his series with a lament for a loss of modesty, or 'not boasting'. Producer Duncan Minshull First broadcast in January 2014.

Taking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write a personal letter to a young poet. Today, award-winning Scottish poet and editor, Don Paterson. The original Letters to a Young Poet is a compilation of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke, written between 1902 and 1908 to a 19-year-old officer cadet called Franz Kappus. Kappus was trying to choose between a literary career a...

Taking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write a personal letter to a young poet. Today, Pakistan-born Moniza Alvi. The original Letters to a Young Poet is a compilation of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke, written between 1902 and 1908 to a 19-year-old officer cadet called Franz Kappus. Kappus was trying to choose between a literary career and entering the Austro-Hung...

Taking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write a personal letter to a young poet. Today, eminent Belfast poet, Michael Longley. The original Letters to a Young Poet is a compilation of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke, written between 1902 and 1908 to a 19-year-old officer cadet called Franz Kappus. Kappus was trying to choose between a literary career and entering the...

Taking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write a personal letter to a young protégé. Today, to coincide with the announcement of the T S Eliot Prize, one of the prize's judges, Vicki Feaver, writes a letter to a young woman poet. The original Letters to a Young Poet is a compilation of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke, written between 1902 and 1908 to a 19-year-old off...

Taking Rilke's classic correspondence as inspiration, five leading poets write a personal letter to a young poet. Today, to coincide with the announcement of the T S Eliot Prize, shortlisted poet Michael Symmons Roberts writes a letter about poetry that dares the depths. The original Letters to a Young Poet is a compilation of letters by Rainer Maria Rilke, written between 1902 and 1908 to a 19-ye...

Stepping back in time, BBC News correspondents present a personal perspective on principal cities of the major European powers that fought the First World War. In this Essay, Emma Jane Kirby considers the capital of the largest contemporary modern maritime empire: London. To today's listeners some of Londoners' concerns a century ago will seem extraordinarily familiar. Complaints about the Tube we...

Stepping back in time, BBC News correspondents present their personal perspectives on the capital cities of major European powers that fought the Great War. The series continues with the remarkable city which would - uniquely - soon be renamed amidst bloody regicide and revolution: St Petersburg. The BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, finds a revealing connection, however, between the St...

Stepping back in time, three BBC News correspondents present their personal perspectives on the capital cities of the major European powers that fought the Great War. The first programme explores the epicentre of turmoil as the conflagration took hold: Berlin, the capital of Kaiser Wilhelm II's empire. Stephen Evans reminds us that the German capital on the eve of war was the world's most innovati...

Stepping back in time exactly a century, five BBC News correspondents present their personal perspectives on the principal cities of the major European powers that, later in 1914, would fight the Great War. The programmes continue with Hugh Schofield reimagining the chic French capital of Maurice Ravel, the Ballets Russes and Henri Matisse - but which politically suffered continuing angst over its...

As part of the Music on the Brink season, each programme in this series of "The Essay" considers the special character of Vienna, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg and London. Stepping back exactly a hundred years, five BBC News correspondents present personal perspectives on the capital cities of the major European powers that, later in 1914, would face each other in the Great War. We start in the ca...

There's never been a better time to go blind. The digital world transforms the way information can be appreciated, doing great things for the the sighted as well as the blind - breaking down barriers to absorbing, manipulating, and transmitting culture. But access can be denied by considerations of politics and trade, rooted in the history of copyright. Visually impaired people sometimes end up as...

Disability isn't limited to the physical fact of what it does to mind and body - the isolation it brings has compounded its cruelty throughout history. As a technology journalist who started off building computers, Rupert Goodwins decided to find out if he could use some of the tools of his trade to change that situation, and make our hyper-connected modern environment solve some very old problems...

The experience of being a patient in modern medicine is little discussed by doctors and often badly handled by the media. Through months of investigation as the medics tried to find the why behind the what, Rupert Goodwins finds much has changed in what it means to be a patient, and old assumptions are not a good guide for what will happen next.