Rainsong In Five Senses

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

India And The Sound Of Rain

20210301

20231002 (R3)

Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Oxford, brings us stories and personal experiences of rain and the way it informs and combines with different cultures across the globe. Each of the five essays takes a particular sense and location as focus, beginning with Nandini's native India and the sound of rainfall. She recalls the deafening, thundering rains of the monsoon season in Kolkata, and the language that captured its power. She recalls how the inherited myths and stories of India have always been informed by the uneasy balance of the country's rain and searing heat. And she recounts the musical dramas in which raags are used to call the rains and Bengali nursery rhymes carry its sound, 'brishti porey tupur tapur' (pitter-patter falls the rain).

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain.

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

Japan And The Taste Of Rain

20210302

20231003 (R3)

When the rains of the fifth month, samidare, arrive in Japan it seems they'll never stop. In the second of Nandini Das's curated series of essays on rain and the way it's experienced across the globe, she invites art historian Timon Screech to introduce us to the rains of Japan where he now lives.

The rains that flood country and city alike are also known as the plum rains, plumping up the fruit in time for the later ripening and harvest. He talks about rain depicted in Japanese literature, particularly the Haiku, in which the sound of rain is experienced in terms of taste - the bitterness of the plum rains. And we discover the significance and symbolism of the umbrella in Japanese culture and art, including their place in nightmare imagery.

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain.

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

Australia And The Smell Of Rain

20210303

20231004 (R3)

In the third of her curated series of essays about the way rain is experienced across the globe, Nandini Das introduces the Australian poet and environmentalist Mark O'Connor. Mark explores the uniquely Australian experiences of rain, which include the vivid smell of it. The word petrichor was coined by Australian scientists to try and capture the odour of rain on arid lands, but there's more than just petrichor in the air, and there's also great variety in the ways in which different parts of Australia experience rain, from the flash downpours and run-offs in the so-called 'Top End', to the agonising expectation of the farms in the south and the exultant rain chorus of Queensland frogs.

Nandini Das curates global essays on five different sensory experiences of rain.

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

Paris And The Look Of Rain

20210304

20231005 (R3)

Writer and scholar Lauren Elkin describes the very particular grey of a rainy Paris in the time of year that the French revolutionary government called Pluvi䀀se, the month of rain. She talks about the way a particular quality of grey sheen was captured by the French Impressionists, and with it a sense of melancholy. It's a vision that recurs in art and film, from Gustave Caillebotte's 1877 Paris Street, Rainy Day, to the recent Christophe Honore film, Les Chansons d'Amour. Elkin describes the latter as appearing to have been shot through a very realistic grey-green 'Paris in the rain' filter, which gives it a power and mood rooted in its setting.

Nandini Das introduces another essay about the global differences in our response to rain.

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

England And The Touch Of Rain

20210305

20231006 (R3)

If there's a subject in which England has every right to claim knowledge through experience, it is the subject of rain. Poets, politicians, or labourers, we've lived a literally and metaphorically sheltered life if we haven't felt the chill of rain on our face. In her Rainsong Essay Dr Tess Somervell pulls together the many ways in which rain has been gathered and responded to in her native land, from the bedraggled and almost inevitably soon to be betrothed costume-drama heroine, to the high romance of the romantic poets and the ancient wisdom of an unknown medieval bard. While smell and taste and sound and sight might all play a part in our collective response to rain, we also feel it, not just on our skin but in our bones.

Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on differing sensory responses to rain.

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

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	India And The Sound Of Rain	20210301	20231002 (R3)	Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Oxford, brings us stories and personal experiences of rain and the way it informs and combines with different cultures across the globe. Each of the five essays takes a particular sense and location as focus, beginning with Nandini's native India and the sound of rainfall. She recalls the deafening, thundering rains of the monsoon season in Kolkata, and the language that captured its power. She recalls how the inherited myths and stories of India have always been informed by the uneasy balance of the country's rain and searing heat. And she recounts the musical dramas in which raags are used to call the rains and Bengali nursery rhymes carry its sound, 'brishti porey tupur tapur' (pitter-patter falls the rain). Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
02	Japan And The Taste Of Rain	20210302	20231003 (R3)	When the rains of the fifth month, samidare, arrive in Japan it seems they'll never stop. In the second of Nandini Das's curated series of essays on rain and the way it's experienced across the globe, she invites art historian Timon Screech to introduce us to the rains of Japan where he now lives. The rains that flood country and city alike are also known as the plum rains, plumping up the fruit in time for the later ripening and harvest. He talks about rain depicted in Japanese literature, particularly the Haiku, in which the sound of rain is experienced in terms of taste - the bitterness of the plum rains. And we discover the significance and symbolism of the umbrella in Japanese culture and art, including their place in nightmare imagery. Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on five different experiences of rain. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
03	Australia And The Smell Of Rain	20210303	20231004 (R3)	In the third of her curated series of essays about the way rain is experienced across the globe, Nandini Das introduces the Australian poet and environmentalist Mark O'Connor. Mark explores the uniquely Australian experiences of rain, which include the vivid smell of it. The word petrichor was coined by Australian scientists to try and capture the odour of rain on arid lands, but there's more than just petrichor in the air, and there's also great variety in the ways in which different parts of Australia experience rain, from the flash downpours and run-offs in the so-called 'Top End', to the agonising expectation of the farms in the south and the exultant rain chorus of Queensland frogs. Nandini Das curates global essays on five different sensory experiences of rain. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
04	Paris And The Look Of Rain	20210304	20231005 (R3)	Writer and scholar Lauren Elkin describes the very particular grey of a rainy Paris in the time of year that the French revolutionary government called Pluvi䀀se, the month of rain. She talks about the way a particular quality of grey sheen was captured by the French Impressionists, and with it a sense of melancholy. It's a vision that recurs in art and film, from Gustave Caillebotte's 1877 Paris Street, Rainy Day, to the recent Christophe Honore film, Les Chansons d'Amour. Elkin describes the latter as appearing to have been shot through a very realistic grey-green 'Paris in the rain' filter, which gives it a power and mood rooted in its setting. Nandini Das introduces another essay about the global differences in our response to rain. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.
05	England And The Touch Of Rain	20210305	20231006 (R3)	If there's a subject in which England has every right to claim knowledge through experience, it is the subject of rain. Poets, politicians, or labourers, we've lived a literally and metaphorically sheltered life if we haven't felt the chill of rain on our face. In her Rainsong Essay Dr Tess Somervell pulls together the many ways in which rain has been gathered and responded to in her native land, from the bedraggled and almost inevitably soon to be betrothed costume-drama heroine, to the high romance of the romantic poets and the ancient wisdom of an unknown medieval bard. While smell and taste and sound and sight might all play a part in our collective response to rain, we also feel it, not just on our skin but in our bones. Nandini Das curates essays from across the globe on differing sensory responses to rain. Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.