The Essay Episodes Available now
China—Meanings of Mountains
2/5 Howard Zhang on the sacred mountains of China and what these mean to the Chinese today.
Japan—Meanings of Mountains
1/5 Stephen Gill explores the complex feelings that the Japanese have for Mount Ogura.
Alexandra Shulman—Listener, They Wore It
5/5 Alexandra Shulman on the Leonard Cohen song Suzanne and how it dressed young women.
Peter Bradshaw—Listener, They Wore It
4/5 Critic Peter Bradshaw on the two red coats worn in the film Don't Look Now.
Laura Cumming—Listener, They Wore It
3/5 Laura Cumming considers a famous black dress, memorably painted by John Singer Sargent.
Justin Cartwright—Listener, They Wore It
2/5 Justin Cartwright on corporate America and the novel The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit.
Tracy Chevalier—Listener, They Wore It
1/5 Tracy Chevalier on the fate of some sparkling stones in de Maupassant's The Necklace.
AC Grayling—Montaigne
5/5 Philosopher AC Grayling reads an essay on the life and work of Michel de Montaigne.
Sarah Bakewell—Montaigne
4/5 Montaigne biographer Sarah Bakewell on the writer's cat, scepticism and animal souls.
Jonathan Bate—Montaigne
3/5 Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate on the relationship between Montaigne and the Bard.
