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: A Taste of Summer in America

The Essay: A Taste of Summer in America: Episode 1: Corn on the Cob

Factual: Food & Drink

Corn on the Cob

Episode 1

Episode 1: Corn on the Cob

A Taste of Summer in America

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, A Taste of Summer in America, Corn on the CobClose menu

Author Susan Orlean celebrates corn on the cob, integral to an American summer.

In a series in which American authors describe the foods they associate with long, hot summers, writer and journalist Susan Orlean salutes corn on the cob.

Author and journalist Susan Orleans, learned in second grade how the Pilgrims would have starved had Native Americans not taught them how to grow corn. Since then, she developed a lifelong appreciation of a food staple but it is only in the summer that she craves it.

In this week marking the Fourth of July holiday, five American writers describe seminal summer eating experiences. Funny, emotional, poignant and informative, these five talks describe how no matter how much life changes, eating outdoors in summer and rediscovering a favourite food is what makes summer memories.

Later in the series, Nathan Englander discovers that Wisconsin cheeses are as varied and exquisite as anything he's eaten in France. TC Boyle charts his summers according to his memories of cookouts and each grilling adventure changes according to his stage of life but also his location, as he moves across America. Simon Van Booy compares two kinds of food in a bun, which he buys at two very different New York beaches. The humble Coney Island hotdog is perfect for an urban seaside with fairground attractions but in the sophisticated Hamptons, he prefers an elegant, and much more expensive, lobster roll. It is dessert that Audrey Niffenegger most associates with her summers and most of all, her love of rhubarb and ice cream.

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.

Series in which five US authors describe the foods they associate with long, hot summers

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

A Taste of Summer in America

Episode 1: Corn on the Cob

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3