The Essay: New Generation Thinkers

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The Essay: New Generation Thinkers: John Gower, the Forgotten Medieval Poet

John Gower, the Forgotten Medieval Poet

New Generation Thinkers

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Curing lovesickness or learning alchemy's secrets. Seb Falk on Chaucer's friend John Gower

New Generation Thinker Seb Falk explores, with an audience at the York Festival of Ideas, the trilingual lawyer poet whose response to political upheaval has lessons for our times.

The lawyer turned poet whose response to political upheaval has lessons for our time - explored by New Generation Thinker Seb Falk with an audience at the York Festival of Ideas 

The 14th century's most eloquent pessimist, John Gower has forever been overshadowed by his funnier friend Chaucer. Yet his trilingual poetry is truly encyclopedic, mixing social commentary, romance and even science. Writing 'somewhat of lust, somewhat of lore', Gower's response to political upheaval was to 'shoot my arrows at the world'. Whether you want to be cured of lovesickness or learn the secrets of alchemy, John Gower has something to tell you.

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to select ten academics each year who can turn their research into radio. 

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

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.

New Generation Thinkers discuss the lessons we can learn today from figures of the past.

Five-part series recorded at the York Festival of Ideas in which New Generation Thinkers discuss with an audience the lessons we can learn today from forgotten figures of the past.

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