Being Bored: The Importance Of Doing Nothing

Is boredom under threat?

There are more TV channels than we can count, Smartphones keep us engaged around the clock, and the constant white noise of social media coerces us to always 'interact'. In fact, there is so much to stimulate our everyday lives in this digital age that we need never be bored ever again.

So do we still need to be bored? And what would we miss if we did eliminate boredom completely from our lives?

The happily bored Phill Jupitus takes a creative look at our attitude to this misunderstood emotion.

He's examining what boredom is, and how it has influenced our leisure time, our workplaces, our creativity and our evolution. Phill will examine its impact on comedy, art, music, and TV, taking us from punk to prison, from JRR Tolkien to Sherlock Holmes, from Danish sex clubs to London's 'Boring Conference'.

It's a lively look at the simple, very real and essential emotion of boredom, and a stout defence of the right to sometimes just sit down and do nothing.

Interviews include :

* Rev Richard Coles
* Writer, Natalie Haynes
* Artist, George Shaw
* Comedy writer & producer, Robert Popper
* Psychologist, Peter Toohey
* Punk musician, Gaye Black (formerly of The Adverts)
* Psychologist, Sandi Mann
* TV newsreader, Simon McCoy
* Dr Teresa Belton
* Social media entrepreneur, Jodie Cook

Producer: Luke Doran

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2016