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

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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: Islands: Episode 1: Iona

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Iona

Episode 1

Episode 1: Iona

Islands

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Poet Kenneth Steven reflects on Scottish island life.

Kenneth Steven writes a poem on the Hebridean island of Iona, forming part of his reflection on its tranquil beauty. 

Poet Kenneth Steven has a special relationship with the small Hebridean island of Iona, set in the Atlantic off the west coast of Scotland. It was the place of learning and worship in the 6th century, when St Columba brought Christianity from Ireland and set up a monastery, and today it still has a spiritual quality for many of its visitors. Kenneth has visited since he was a child and collected stones polished by the sea along its beaches. Today he reflects on Iona's place as a 'meeting of the sea roads, which has had such a profound impact on so many, and has done for longer than we can ever know'. 


'..That is why 
I keep returning, thirsty, to this place
That is older than my understanding,
Younger than my broken spirit.'.

The Essay: Islands

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.

Poet Kenneth Steven explores Scottish island life, responding to the landscapes in poetry.

Poet Kenneth Steven explores Scottish island life, responding to the landscapes in poetry

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