Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2025-12-05
Books mentioned on 655. “The Greatest Piece of Participatory Art Ever Created”
Why does an 18th-century Christian oratorio lend such comfort to our own turbulent times? Stephen Dubner sets out for Dublin to tell the story of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah.
Stephen Dubner discussed Every Valley by Charles King.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
Every Valley
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.
Discussed“Charles King, a political scientist at Georgetown, recently published a book about Messiah called Every Valley.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing Gulliver's Travels
“The dean of nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral was Jonathan Swift, the extremely well- reggarded author of Guliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal.”
Passing A Modest Proposal
“The dean of nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral was Jonathan Swift, the extremely well- reggarded author of Guliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal.”