Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sean O'brien | 20170911 | Milton's Paradise Lost was first published 350 years ago. It remains the most important long poem in the English language. It came out of a time of revolutionary upheaval in Britain and is a political poem as much as a theological one. Poet Sean O'Brien discusses Milton's adventurousness. Producers: Tim Dee and Siobhan Maguire. Sean O'Brien on how bold Milton's Paradise Lost was, 350 years on from being published. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 02 | Adam Nicolson | 20170912 | Milton's epic was first published 350 years ago. He was blind as he composed it yet wrote the most extraordinary visually realised poem in English. Adam Nicolson (author of books on Homer, English Arcadias, and the King James Bible) explores the remarkably 3-D invention. Producers: Tim Dee and Siobhan Maguire. Adam Nicolson on Milton's 3-D epic poem first published 350 years ago. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 03 | Alice Goodman | 20170913 | Poet and priest Alice Goodman explores Milton's epic 350 years after it was published. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 04 | Colin Burrow | 20170914 | Colin Burrow, a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, discusses why 350 years after its publication in 1667 John Milton's epic Paradise Lost is still the best poem in English. An exploration of the poem's scope, beauty, intelligence, and timeliness. Producers: Tim Dee and Siobhan Maguire. Colin Burrow on why Paradise Lost, 350 years old, is still the best poem in English. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |
| 05 | Patrick Mcguinness | 20170915 | Poet and critic Patrick McGuinness marks the 350th birthday of Milton's epic poem. Paradise Lost came out of an era of revolutionary turmoil when politics and religion were reinvented in Britain. What does the poem say to us today? Patrick McGuinness sees Satan as half existential hero, half primal teenager. Producers: Tim Dee and Siobhan Maguire. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond. |