The Essay Episodes Available now
Michael Symmons Roberts—Letters to a Young Poet
1/5 Inspired by Rilke's classic text, Michael Symmons Roberts writes to a young poet of today.
London—Cities on the Brink
5/5 BBC news correspondent Emma Jane Kirby discusses London in 1914.
St Petersburg—Cities on the Brink
4/5 Steve Rosenberg revisits 1914 St Petersburg and an event that would define modern Russia.
Berlin—Cities on the Brink
3/5 Stephen Evans focuses on life in Berlin in 1914, seen as the Silicon Valley of its time.
Paris—Cities on the Brink
2/5 Hugh Schofield on the storm in Paris over the murder of pacifist Jean Jaures before WWI.
Vienna—Cities on the Brink
1/5 Bethany Bell evokes the elegance and dark tensions of 1914 Vienna - and their echoes now.
Seeing the Future—Let There Be Dark
5/5 Rupert Goodwins on the potential of the internet to improve the future for blind people.
Long, Slow Journey through the Night—Let There Be Dark
4/5 Rupert Goodwins tries to find if technology can limit his isolation from blindness.
Doctoring the Evidence—Let There Be Dark
3/5 Rupert Goodwins reflects on the medical experience of losing his sight.
Behind the Eyes—Let There Be Dark
2/5 Writer Rupert Goodwins describes unexpected insights he gained as he lost his sight.
