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Words and Music Episodes

  1. Obsession

    Olivia Colman and Toby Stephens with words and music on the theme of obsession.

  2. So Emotional

    Iain Glen and Brid Brennan journey through the seven universal emotions.

  3. Head to Toe

    Harriet Walter and Tim McInnerny journey downwards with writers from Sappho to Larkin.

  4. Peace and Protest

    Poetry and music on peace marking the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  5. Everything Must Change

    A meditation on 'the way of time' and life as constant transformation.

  6. I Contain Multitudes

    On the fluidity of gender and sexuality.

  7. Commuters

    The journey to and from work, where we sit and consider our place in the world.

  8. Night Owls

    Bird and human life and creatures of the mind alive between dusk and dawn as we go owling.

  9. The Pre-Raphaelites

    A sonic painting inspired by the late 19th-century artistic revolutionaries.

  10. Fame

    Poetry and music on the theme of fame, read by Imogen Stubbs and Michael Maloney.

  11. Creatures of Habit

    An exploration of habitual behaviour, good or bad, logical or absurd, healthy or otherwise

  12. Rebel, Rebel

    Rebellion and rule breaking in music and readings by Samuel West and Natalie Simpson.

  13. Feast!

    A smorgasbord of literary and musical feasts from Jonathan Swift to Nora Ephron.

  14. The Gift

    Exploring the excitement, and occasional disappointment, of giving and receiving presents.

  15. Beginnings and Endings

    Poems, prose and music with themes spanning origin myths to the apocalypse.

  16. Women Writing War

    With poetry and prose by the mothers of soldiers and music by Messiaen and PJ Harvey.

  17. Windrush: Some Kind of Homecoming

    Lenny Henry and Josette Simon explore the experience of the Windrush generation.

  18. Deception

    Can you trust your ears? Can you trust your eyes? How often do you tell lies?

  19. In Flux

    Owen Teale and Thalissa Teixeira with a programme exploring the idea of change.

  20. The Plastic Tide

    Poetry and music inspired by the environment. With Fiona Shaw and Robert Glenister.

  21. Out of the mouths of babes

    Music and words that explore the mysterious link between wisdom and innocence

  22. Pictures of the Floating World

    A Japanese-inspired episode with readings by Peter Marinker and Alice St Clair.

  23. Sunday

    Enjoy your day of rest with a literary and musical celebration of Sunday.

  24. Under the Microscope

    With Rachael Stirling and Paul Bentall.

  25. Beautiful World, Where Are You?

    A reflection on upheaval inspired by Schiller, Schubert and the Liverpool Biennial.

  26. The News

    Poetry, prose and music about the news media, with readers Miles Jupp and Kathy Clugston.

  27. Hey, Little Hen

    Sophie Thompson and Alex Waldmann enter the curious world of man's old friend the chicken.

  28. Boredom, Restlessness, Killing Time

    An exploration of boredom. A spur to action or an opportunity for contemplation?

  29. The Mighty Oak

    Readings by Sian Phillips and Joseph Mydell. Music by Verdi, Smetana and Britten.

  30. The Chessboard

    Readings from Adjoa Andoh and Henry Goodman. Music from Shostakovich to The Rolling Stones

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