Episoder
-
What did George Orwell, the spartan, no-nonsense socialist, make of the world's most famous (and most egomaniacal) surrealist? Can we really separate the art from the artist? Does morality have anything to do with art? What does this eighty-year-old essay tell us about the modern culture of celebrity and social media? Listen to find out!
-
Join us as we dust the dead bluebottle flies off the merchandise and throw open the doors of Booklover's Corner, the shop where George Orwell worked part-time for about two years. We chat about weird customers, money and books and literary pretentions. We apologise for the quality of the sound; blame the G&T.
-
Mangler du episoder?
-
Join us as we discuss the 1943 essay in which Orwell brings together politics, pleasure, utopias and talking horses. You heard.
-
Join us as we discuss the essay that cemented George Orwell's reputation as the godfather of cultural studies. Were these simple tales of japes and horseplay at boarding schools a form of innocent nostalgic escapism, or something more sinister? Listen and judge for yourself.
-
Join us as we discuss one of George Orwell's earliest and most famous essays. Is it really about capital punishment? Which view of colonialism is correct, the socialist or the nationalist? Did any of this really happen? Does that even matter? Listen to find out.
-
Join us as we discuss the morality of bombing civilians during wartime. Was Orwell right in his opinion, or was he just making excuses in order to justify the dirty work that the Allies needed to do to defeat fascism? We also talk about Orwell's view of advertising and the way it affects society. Are we all becoming walking adverts?
-
George Orwell was a doom-saying socialist who loved toyshops and Christmas. Join us as we get merry and discuss the essays "Bare Christmas for the Children" and "As I Please 66", otherwise known as "Christmas is a Debauch". Just how easy was it for Edwardian children to buy deadly weapons and explosives?
-
George Orwell was a socialist atheist who saw a ghost and took part in a black magic ritual at Eton. Listen to find out more! Orwellian wishes our listener(s) a merry All-Saints Eve.
-
Join us as we discuss the 1946 essay "Pleasure Spots". Orwell is often regarded as rather dour and Spartan, but one of his main concerns was how the masses could enjoy themselves. What is an Orwellian Pleasure? How is it different from a "synthetic pleasure"? What bearing does this essay have on our currently all-too limited lives? Listen to find out!
-
Join us as we discuss Orwell's most clickbaitily (?) titled essay. We touch on Orwell's ideas of pleasure and luxury and the best ways of enjoying yourself in troubled times. This essay was originally read out on the BBC Indian Service - was it just propaganda, or is there more to it? Have a listen and decide for yourself!
-
Join us as we discuss the 1946 essay "A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray". George Orwell loved the natural world, but did he invent carbon-offsetting? Was he a closet Buddhist? Does this essay tell us anything about "Cancel Culture"? Listen and make up your own mind.
-
Join us as we discuss the Orwellian theory of humour. Is each joke really a tiny revolution? Does humour have the power to change society and lay low the mighty? Should we be punching up, or in all directions? Listen in to find out.
-
Join us as we take a look at an extraordinary essay in which the greatest anti-totalitarian of all time analyses the writing of the worst totalitarian of all time. Along the way we consider the origins of the Second World War, the nature of dictatorship, the state of affairs when the essay was published (21st March 1940) and George Orwell's uncanny prescience. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
-
Join us as we discuss the world's most famous Anglo-Indian writer's opinion of the world's other most famous Anglo-Indian writer. Can anti-imperialists appreciate literature produced by arch-imperialists? Does Kipling speak only for the powerful? What is "good bad" writing? Listen in to find out!
-
Join us for something completely different. In imitation of Orwell's deeply personal As I Please column for the Tribune, we talk about whatever we like. It's not just a ramble, though - expect commentary on Orwell's vices and his possible Me Too moment. We also hear of how your hosts came to Orwell's writing in the first place, public (that is to say, private) schools, class and more.
-
Your hosts talk junk - what's new? We discuss Orwell's love of second hand shops and there's a surprising amount of controversy. Is this essay nothing but a middle-class intellectual taking pleasure in slumming it? Are junk shops the humane face of capitalism? Where did all of these ostrich eggs come from?!
-
Come with us (courtesy of George Orwell) to the Marrakech of 1939! Hear of his encounters with the Islamic and Jewish communities, of his view of European imperialism and what he saw (presciently) as its inevitable end. Plus we talk a bit about travel writing, travel TV and White Savior Complex.
-
Listen in as we shake things up and look at one of the short essays from Orwell's regular column in the Tribune. This one's all about that iconic symbol of imperialism, the pith helmet. Was Orwell a pre-post-colonialist? We're not taking the pith!
-
Listen in as we discuss our earliest Orwellian essay to date - so early that George Orwell didn't even exist when it was published! Hear about some of the experiences that inspired Orwell's book "Down and Out in Paris and London". You might also pick up on how one of your hosts has a chip on his shoulder because of his state-school education - can you guess which one?
-
We discuss Orwell's famous essay 'Some Thoughts on the Common Toad'. What can this humble creature teach us about living through times of crisis? Listen to find out!
- Se mer
