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Words and Music Episodes

  1. The Body

    From tattoos to massage, pregnancy to posture devices, excavations to emotional outbursts.

  2. Razor Sharp

    From clam shells to barbers, sharp words to sharp notes.

  3. Crip Creativity

    Music from Beethoven to Evelyn Glennie. Readings of Milton, Alice Walker and Sue Townsend.

  4. Magic Numbers

    Sule Rimi and Alibe Parsons find beauty and wisdom in digits, numerals, and counting.

  5. This Haunted Land

    Readings from Donne, MR James, Mary Karr. Music includes The Wicker Man, Britten & Bartok.

  6. Latin America: Spears, Jaguars and Eagles

    The Spanish colonisation of the Americas depicted by indigenous peoples and the invaders.

  7. Wordsworth's World

    Noma Dumezweni reads from Dorothy's journals - Roger Ringrose reads her brother's poems.

  8. Getting Together

    Poets and novelists reflect on time spent in groups. Read by Souad Faress and Raj Ghatak.

  9. Everyday Heroism

    Doctors, nurses, teachers, parents.

  10. Animal Kingdom

    Actors Emily Bruni and Nicholas Farrell read poems on lambs, cats, pigs and a donkey

  11. The Black Sun

    Inspired by Robert Oppenheimer's work on the first atomic bomb and the fall-out from that.

  12. The Power of Music

    Readings by Clarke Peters and Maggie Service in the run up to 100 years of the 成人快手 Singers

  13. Looking Back on Childhood

    Poets and writers reflect on their childhoods. Read by Rebecca Lacey and Abraham Popoola.

  14. Rest and Respite

    Poems of pause and peace, read by David Ajao and Florence Roberts.

  15. Crossed Wires

    Tales of telephones and miscommunication, read by Jonathan Keeble and Briony Rawle.

  16. Flights of Fancy

    Barbara Flynn and Hugo Speer with readings and music on imaginative and physical flight.

  17. Dickens's World

    Sam West reads the letters of Charles Dickens, marking the 150th anniversary of his death

  18. Only Connect

    Inspired by the words of EM Forster, we look at some ways in which we connect.

  19. Derek Jarman's Garden

    Tilda Swinton and Samuel Barnett with readings from and inspired by Derek Jarman's work.

  20. Gratitude

    Florence Nightingale to VE day, Clive James on critics to Audrey Hepburn's note of thanks.

  21. Easter

    From Easter flowers to Passover meals and midnight church services.

  22. Goddesses and Monsters

    An exploration of women, sacred and profane, from Medusa and Circe to the Madonna.

  23. Nordic Noir

    Lars Mikkelsen and Vera Vitali read from a dark seam of Nordic literature.

  24. Less Is More

    Jane Lapotaire and John Heffernan enter the world of the simple, the small and the lost.

  25. In Therapy

    Buffy Davis and Simon Tcherniak explore the therapeutic relationship in poetry and prose.

  26. Welcome To Heartbreak

    Zubin Varla and Katie West guide you through the operatic emotions of a broken heart.

  27. Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz

    With readers Henry Goodman and Maria Friedman

  28. In Pursuit

    Is the chase sometimes better than the catch? Readings by Heather Craney and Clive Hayward

  29. Boredom, Restlessness, Killing Time

    An exploration of boredom, as spur to action or opportunity for contemplation.

  30. Drink and No Drink

    Taking inspiration from toasts, parties, hangovers and prohibition.

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