Book · 2025 · Biography & Autobiography
Every Valley
The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah
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And that is Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown and author of the book Every Valley. We heard from him in part one of the series as well.
Stephen Dubner · Freakonomics Radio · Dec 2025 Listen at 9:32 Why people recommend it
Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah by Charles King is a historical study of the social and personal circumstances surrounding the creation of George Frideric Handel's famous choral masterpiece. On Freakonomics Radio, host Stephen Dubner referenced the publication across multiple episodes while exploring the origins of the music. Dubner introduced Charles King, a political scientist based at Georgetown University, noting that he recently published the text to shed light on the difficulties and triumphs of the era. The host utilized direct passages from the book to illustrate how the general public reacted with immense astonishment and wonder upon first experiencing the Messiah. By weaving the author's narrative into the broader podcast series, Dubner provided listeners with a vivid contextual backdrop of the desperate lives and troubled times that ultimately gave birth to one of history's most celebrated pieces of participatory art. The book received prominent attention as an authoritative source on the historical and cultural roots of Handel's enduring composition.
Every mention
Stephen Dubner And that is Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown and author of the book Every Valley. We heard… 4
“And that is Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown and author of the book Every Valley. We heard from him in part one of the series as well.”
“Here's how Charles King puts it in his book, Every Valley. The public reaction to Messiah was astonishment and wonder.”
“Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown, recently published a book about Messiah called Every Valley.”
“In 2024, he published a book called Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handles Messiah.”