The Essay Episodes Available now
Sonny's Blues
How James Baldwin's short story helped break down divisions of class, age and race.
The Wings of the Dove
Finding a model for the physician in the pages of Henry James.
Never Let Me Go
What does it mean to be human, and how can physicians respond to life's mysteries?
To The Lighthouse
Dr Rita Charon traces literary parallels in the responses of New Yorkers to 9/11.
The Underground Railroad
How a novel about American slavery is used to train medical students.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Women's Rights—New Generation Thinkers
5/5 Joanna Cohen looks back at the manifesto which remodelled the Declaration of Independence.
John Gower, the Forgotten Medieval Poet—New Generation Thinkers
4/5 Curing lovesickness or learning alchemy's secrets. Seb Falk on Chaucer's friend John Gower
Sarah Scott and the Dream of a Female Utopia—New Generation Thinkers
3/5 Lucy Powell tells the story of a radical community of women set up in 1760s rural England.
The Forgotten German Princess—New Generation Thinkers
2/5 The tale of Mary Moders, a C17 bigamist and media sensation, is retold by John Gallagher.
Rehabilitating the Reverend John Trusler—New Generation Thinkers
1/5 Sophie Coulombeau challenges the way we look at failure in the story of a C18 entrepreneur
