Tag Archives: Something Understood
The men are weeping in the Oval Office…
Lucy Dichmont and I have made a Something Understood for Radio 4 about Weeping. I knew I wanted to talk about the Wailing Women in the Bible and especially that I wanted to talk again to award-winning poet Andrew McMillan … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Children, Culture, History, Politics, Radio, Religion
Tagged Alice In Wonderland, Andrew McMillan, Something Understood, The men are weeping, weeping
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Ice, ash and fury: A meditation on eruptions from Mt St Helens to the Temple of St Paul’s Cathedral
Since I made The White North Has Thy Bones a year ago about our obsession with the Arctic and the North West Passage I’ve realised January has become a favourite time of the year. For this Something Understood the starting … Continue reading
Leaving home: The 60s and getting out
The roots of this Sunday’s Something Understood for Radio 4 are in one song – The Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home and one time: the 1960s. Over the course of the decade young people found greater opportunity through a huge growth … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, Film, Music, Radio
Tagged 60s, David Bowie, London, Lord Kitchener, Lynn Redgrave, Philip Larkin, Rita Tushingham, Smashing Time, Something Understood, The L Shaped Room
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Plankton of the midsummer air
This week’s Something Understood takes its title Inebriate of the Air, from an Emily Dickinson poem about the insect heavy honeyed thickness of midsummer light and air. And insect and bird sounds (swifts) dominate this programme. Entomologist Ross Piper helps us … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Radio, Science
Tagged bjork, emily dickinson, john agard, midsummer, ross piper, Something Understood, summer solstice
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Desert worlds: JG Ballard, Lawrence of Arabia, Dune & the story of Ishmael
My latest Something Understood for Radio 4 on Sunday April 19th was conceived as a sequel to The White North Has Thy Bones, about our fascination with the Arctic and the North West Passage. Together with producer Natalie Steed we … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Film, Music, Radio, Religion, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Uncategorized
Tagged Deserts, Dune, Hagar and Ishmael, Lawrence of Arabia, Something Understood
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The Bronte heroine who hated bouquets
For this week’s Something Understood producer Lucy Dichmont was keen to explore the elaborate Victorian coded language of floral bouquets. Unexpectedly I found myself pulling out memories and stories that I’ve been carrying around for decades. I’ve also created a … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening, Music, Radio, Uncategorized
Tagged ben e king, charlotte bronte, flowers, passion flower, rhododendron, roses, Something Understood, spanish harlem, villette
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Get hold of a skull, nutmeg: Leonardo Da Vinci, Bruce Lee and the art of the List
This week’s Something Understood for Radio 4 focusses on the human passion for lists. My elder brother, an obsessive list maker, started me off on my first — a film diary with each film dated and rated kept since I … Continue reading
Posted in Radio, Uncategorized
Tagged bruce lee, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nora Ephron, Sei Shonagon, Something Understood, The Pillow Book
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Page 3 and pushy feminists
The weird argument being wheeled out over how feminist campaigners somehow made The Sun keep Page 3 just to spite them reminded me of this Radio 4 programme I made about Procrastination and what Martin Luther King had to say … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, journalism, Media
Tagged Martin Luther King, page 3, procrast, Something Understood, The Sun, The Times
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The White North Has Thy Bones: Ice stations, submarines & the woman who swam the North West Passage
Here’s a programme to listen to huddled by the fire, like Jane Eyre with her book of polar wildlife as the wind howls outside. Producer Kevin Dawson came up with the idea of our latest Something Understood programme about the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Environment, History, Music, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged arctic, david arnold, Frankenstein, from russia with love, ice station zebra, inuit, James Taylor, jane eyre, jude law, Kursk submarine, lynne cox, north west passage, sir john franklin, Something Understood, submarines
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Crossing the black line: the secret history of Durham Cathedral
BEYOND THE GREY TOWERS: THE MYSTERY OF DURHAM CATHEDRAL from Samira Ahmed on Vimeo. When you walk into Durham Cathedral take a moment to look down at your feet in the nave. You might notice a big black line of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Design, History, Radio, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged anchoresses, anchorites, anglo saxon, durham cathedral, Something Understood, st cuthbert, venerable bede
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