The wonderful world of BBC Sounds

BBC Sounds is such a treasure trove.

It introduced me to You’re Dead to Me, a very funny history podcast by Greg Jenner. My favourite episodes so far are probably the ones on Mansa Musa and Harriet Tubman.

Around Halloween I came across Haunted Women, a one-off program exploring how women have used the ghost story form. Reminds me, I am way overdue reading some Shirley Jackson. I’ll probably start with the bookends, The Road Through the Wall and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Will definitely have to read The Haunting of Hill House as well, The Haunting is one of my favourite horror films. The film was released in 1963 under the Hays Code, so I’ll be interested to see how much more of Theodora’s character is revealed in the book.

Other BBC Sounds programms that I’m planning to listen to include:

• Judith Adams’ adaptation of The Left Hand of Darkness
• Fear in the Furrows, on pastoral horror
• When the Levee Breaks, about guitarist Memphis Minnie and the development of the Blues
• How Folk Songs Should Be Sung, recalling and assessing Ewan MacColl’s attempt to professionalise folk singing
• Digital Future: The New Underclass, Dr Josie Barnard investigates the social divides created by the digital world
• The Truth About Children Who Lie, psychotherapist Philippa Perry explores when and why children lie. Related reading: see The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read
• Orpheus Underground, Neil Gaiman explores the intricacies of the Orpheus myth
• Tim Key and Gogol’s Overcoat, Tim Key delves in to Gogol’s simple, surreal tale
• Copyright or Wrong, lawyer and author Richard Taylor asks whether copyright is an analogue law in the digital age