Episodes

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01Lines of Work: Teacher Francis Gilbert on Rousseau20160523

Prominent people in a particular line of work read and reflect on the writings of an illustrious forebear of the same trade. The essays are partly about ideas and how they change, but also about the practice and the human experience of being a certain kind of thing; be it a teacher, a soldier a critic or a journalist.

Francis Gilbert was a secondary school teacher for a number of years and is now Lecturer in Education at the University of London. He reads Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile and reflects on whether this template for a perfect education has a place and an influence on today's curriculum. Rousseau was an 18th-century Swiss philosopher and Emile - which charted the imagined education of the books titular young man - can be through of as the educational textbook of the Romantic movement. Rousseau's ideas have influenced Steiner Schools and the Montessori movement but are they desirable (or even feasible) in the age of mass state education.

Producer: James Cook.

Lecturer Francis Gilbert reflects on Rousseau's template for a perfect education Emile.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

02Lines of Work: Theatre Critic Susannah Clapp on Oscar Wilde20160524

Prominent people in a particular line of work read and reflect on the writings of an illustrious forebear of the same trade. The essays are partly about ideas and how they change, but also about the practice and the human experience of being a certain kind of thing; be it a teacher, a soldier a critic or a journalist.

Theatre critic Susannah Clapp has a passionate exchange of views with Oscar Wilde through his essays on criticism. Many of Wilde's pungent epithets and observations  " his 'silken arrows' as Susannah describes them - still have the power to thrill, inform and entertain. But Susannah finds Wilde was on the wrong side of anonymity arguments and struggles to make sense of the internet age. Susannah ends telling her illustrious forebear of her fears for Wildean criticism in the age of mere opinion.

Producer: James Cook.

Theatre critic Susannah Clapp exchanges views with Oscar Wilde and his essays on criticism

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

03Lines of Work: Soldier Harry Parker on Ulysses S Grant20160525

Prominent people in a particular line of work read and reflect on the writings of an illustrious forebear of the same trade. The essays are partly about ideas and how they change, but also about the practice and the human experience of being a certain kind of thing; be it a teacher, a soldier a critic or a journalist.

Soldier and author Harry Parker, relives The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, through the lens of his own experiences in Helmand province. Grant fought in the US Mexican War and then commanded the Union armies in the American Civil War. Reading Grant's spare prose Harry reflects on the changes in the way war is experienced, consumed and portrayed.

Producer: James Cook.

Soldier Harry Parker reflects on the personal memoirs of Ulysses S Grant.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

04Lines of Work: Journalist Helen Lewis on John Milton20160526

In Lines of Work prominent people in a particular job read and reflect on the writings of an illustrious forebear of the same trade. The essays are partly about ideas and how they change, but also about the practice and experience of being a certain kind of thing; be it a teacher, a journalist, a soldier or a critic.

Journalist Helen Lewis reads the poet John Milton's defence of a Free Press, Aeropagitica. The question of freedom of the press rarely goes away but it feels particularly of the moment. Helen, deputy editor of the New Statesman, reads Milton for the first time to see whether his 17th century concerns can help us think through the post-Leveson age.

Producer: James Cook.

Journalist Helen Lewis reads poet John Milton's defence of a free press, Areopagitica.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

05Lines of Work: Gardener Jackie Bennett on Francis Bacon20160527Gardener Jackie Bennett responds to Elizabethan thinker Francis Bacon's essay Of Gardens.

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.