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: Art in a Cold Climate

The Essay: Art in a Cold Climate: Episode 4: Art in a Cold Climate: Ray Hudson on Touching Fire by Carolyn Reed

Art in a Cold Climate: Ray Hudson on Touching Fire by Carolyn Reed

Episode 4

Episode 4: Art in a Cold Climate: Ray Hudson on Touching Fire by Carolyn Reed

Art in a Cold Climate

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Art in a Cold Climate, Art in a Cold Climate: Ray Hudson on Touching Fire by Carolyn ReedClose menu

Ray Hudson on Carolyn Reed's Touching Fire and the US state of Alaska.

Ray Hudson on how Carolyn Reed's Touching Fire shows Alaskans caught between the fire and the sea, between the state's beauty and the race to exploit its material wealth.

Writer and historian Ray Hudson considers how one drawing shows Alaskans caught between the fire and the sea: between the state's turbulent natural beauty and the race to exploit its wealth in raw materials. 

In Carolyn Reed's "Touching Fire", two women stand on the shores of a great sea, their faces lit by a pile of blazing logs. "This fire for me suggests the commercial exploitation that has historically consumed much of the region," says Hudson, who witnessed a massive expansion in commercial fishing during nearly three decades living in Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands. Yet he takes heart from the dignity and determination of the women caught between fire and water. "I know that despite its violent dominance the fire will go out and the women will turn to face the sea," he says. 

This edition of The Essay is one of a series in which five writers each consider the significance of a work of art to their homelands, as part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season.

Producer: Andy Denwood.

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.

Five writers each consider the significance of a work of art to their nation

As part of Radio 3's Northern Lights season, five writers each consider the significance of a work of art to their nation

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

Art in a Cold Climate

Episode 4: Art in a Cold Climate: Ray Hudson on Touching Fire by Carolyn Reed

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3