The Essay Episodes Available now
Daffodils—The Meaning of Flowers - Series 2
Fiona Stafford reveals that daffodils are awash with literary surprises, and are not Welsh
Orchids—The Meaning of Flowers - Series 2
Fiona Stafford studies orchids, the largest flowering plant family, and a UK favourite.
Bluebells—The Meaning of Flowers - Series 2
Bluebells are a British icon, voted our favourite flower but now a besieged Brexit symbol.
Garth Greenwell—Stories That Sing
The journey of an awkward teenager in Kentucky towards opera and literature.
Rachel Cooke—Stories That Sing
Rachel Cooke examines the trappings that surround opera-going.
David Threlfall—Stories That Sing
Actor David Threlfall ponders his ambivalent responses to opera.
Patricia Duncker: How I Fell in Love with Opera—Stories That Sing
Patricia Duncker on the dangerous and seductive ways opera can overwhelm the senses.
Julian Barnes: Opera - Coming to it Late—Stories That Sing
Opera used to baffle Julian Barnes, then something happened and everything changed.
The Fallibility of Memory—The Strangeness of Memory
3/5 Forensic psychologist Fiona Gabbert explores the strength and weaknesses of human memory.
Memory and the landscape—The Strangeness of Memory
5/5 Catherine Loveday explores the relationship between memory loss and landscape.
