What a voice Plath had – stern yet somehow musical, long-vowelled, bear-like: Radio 4’s My Sylvia Plath reviewed
Can you ever truly know a poet? The question arises every time one publishes a collection that looks vaguely confessional.…
Butchered to make a Roman holiday: cruelty to animals in and out of the Colosseum
Brutality might be expected of a people who fed each other to lions – but it extended even to the elephants the Romans regarded as soulmates
Is Matthew Parris the modern Plutarch? Radio 4’s Great Lives reviewed
Whenever I listen to Great Lives on Radio 4, which is often, I am reminded of the gulf between fame…
An author speaks out against social censorship: The Reith Lectures reviewed
‘The Age of Anxiety’, W. H. Auden’s book-length poem, has always been described as strange, and difficult. It is an…
Manet’s Mona Lisa: Radio 4’s Moving Pictures reviewed
Elizabeth the First is a ten-part American podcast series that isn’t about Elizabeth I at all. The assumption of its…
The genius of More or Less
In a week of slim audio pickings, I spent time reacquainting myself with some of the BBC classics and can…
When Lee Miller met Picasso
During the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the photographer Lee Miller made her way to Picasso’s studio on rue…
The curse of Medusa: Stone Blind, by Natalie Haynes, reviewed
Natalie Haynes has been compared with Mary Renault, the historical novelist who scandalised readers in the 1950s with her unflinching…
Emily Maitlis tries too hard not to be teachery on her new podcast
The competition between news-led podcasts is nearing boiling point. If you tuned in to The Media Show on Radio 4…
Rivals Wagatha Christie for its lowbrow twists: FT's Hot Money – Who Rules Porn? reviewed
It was recently reported that almost 8 per cent of global internet traffic is to pornographic websites. The rise of…
Hearing Percy Bysshe Shelley read aloud was a revelation
Last week I heard the actor Julian Sands give a virtuoso performance of work by Percy Bysshe Shelley to mark…
From Leonardo to Hepworth: the art of surgery
Daisy Dunn on the art of surgery
Just Stop Oil's protest is doomed to fail
The eco-mob is at it again. Members of the protest group Just Stop Oil have progressed from blocking fuel terminals…
How interesting an art is fashion?
One of the New York Met Gala stylists is sharing tips for wearing a corset to an evening do. ‘Breathe…
Boldly and brilliantly unoriginal: Kermode and Mayo’s Take reviewed
Last April Fools’ Day, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo wound up their award-winning film review show on BBC Radio 5…
A wonderfully unguarded podcast about the last bohemians
Ordinarily, if a podcast purports to be revelatory, you can assume it is anything but. There’s a glut of programmes…
Why we drink
‘I like to have a martini,/ Two at the very most./ After three I’m under the table,/ After four I’m…
If you like First Dates, you'll love This is Dating
The tagline of This is Dating, a new podcast from across the pond, is ‘Come for the cringe, stay for…
The art of the high street
Daisy Dunn on the painters who celebrate shop fronts
Disappointingly conventional and linear: BBC radio's modernism season reviewed
This week marks the beginning of modernism season on BBC Radio 3 and 4, which means it’s time for some…
Radio 4's Moominland Midwinter restores Moomintroll's innocence
Moomins do not like winter. In one of Tove Jansson’s stories, Moomin’s Winter Follies, young Moomintroll bumps his head when…
The art and science of Fabergé
From quartz to quince: Daisy Dunn on the art and science of Fabergé
The astonishing stories behind today’s culture wars: Radio 4’s Things Fell Apart reviewed
Martin McNamara, the writer of Mosley Must Fall, a play on Radio 4 this week, must have had a jolt…
The best podcasts to help you become a better painter
There’s a great documentary film on Netflix at the moment about the late artist Bob Ross, he of the happy…
Made me buzz like an electron: Science – Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda reviewed
Given my affection for M*A*S*H, I can’t think why I haven’t listened to Alan Alda’s podcasts before now, besides the…
