Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2025-12-12

Books mentioned on 656. How Handel Got His Mojo Back

1 book · With Charles King, Chris Scobie, Ellen Harris, Mark Risinger, Philip Rushforth, Proinnsías Ó Duinn · Listen · Watch on YouTube

When he wrote Messiah (in 24 days), Handel was past his prime and nearly broke. One night in Dublin changed all that.

Stephen Dubner discussed Every Valley by Charles King.

Books mentioned, in the order they came up

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  1. Every Valley

    Charles King · at 9:32 · mentioned 2 times

    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
    “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.”
    Where to get it