Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

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

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Postcards from Istanbul

The Essay: Postcards from Istanbul: Episode 3: Jason Goodwin

Postcards from Istanbul

Episode 3

Episode 3: Jason Goodwin

Jason Goodwin

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Postcards from Istanbul, Jason GoodwinClose menu

Writer Jason Goodwin on 19th-century Istanbul as the inspiration for his own fiction.

Writer Jason Goodwin looks back at 19th-century Istanbul, a city in great upheaval after the Ottoman Conquest, and considers how it became the inspiration for his own novels.

Writer and historian Jason Goodwin looks back at 19th-century Istanbul, a city undergoing great upheaval after the Ottoman Conquest, and how it became the inspiration for his own novels. 

Focusing on the city's imperial instinct for order, expressed over the centuries in the functioning of its palace kitchens, architecture and great mosques, and the zoning of different faiths in the Ottoman tradition, Jason Goodwin reflects on how Istanbul survived huge upheaval and change to become a stronger, more distinct city. He compares the city then, with the one he knows today, a city that is again quietly reassuming its identity. 

Istanbul, historically also known as Byzantium and Constantinople, is the largest city in Turkey, and uniquely straddles both the continents of Europe and Asia. It was chosen this year as the joint European Capital of Culture. These essays paint five very different and very personal views of this extraordinary city.

Jason Goodwin fell under the spell of Istanbul while studying Byzantine history at Cambridge University. Fifteen years ago, he made a six-month pilgrimage across eastern Europe to reach the city for the first time, a journey recounted in On Foot to the Golden Horn, which won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize 1993. 
He has become best known as author of the mysteries The Janissary Tree and The Snake Stone, two novels which feature Turkish eunuch detective, Yashim, who lives and works in 19th century Istanbul. The Janissary Tree won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Documentaries

Factual: History

Factual: Travel

Five writers and intellectuals give their views on Istanbul, Turkey's largest city

Celebrating Istanbul's year as European Capital of Culture in 2010, five writers and intellectuals give their views on Turkey's largest city

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

Postcards from Istanbul

Episode 3: Jason Goodwin

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3