The Narrative Trap

Philosopher Julian Baggini asks a deceptively simple question - what happens when the stories we live by start leading us astray?

Drawing on newly recorded conversations with writers and philosophers including Ella Saltmarshe, Rebecca Solnit, Reid Hoffman, James Rodgers and Galen Strawson - as well as a rich seam of archive - he examines the hidden power of narrative and asks why, in a world shaped by competing stories, that power has never been more critical to understand.

We hear how narratives can illuminate injustice and spark profound social change, from shifting cultural attitudes around equality to the hard-won battles over who gets to speak and be believed.

But Julian also explores their darker side - how deep, often unconscious, stories uphold harmful norms, how political leaders weaponise narrative to consolidate power, and how polarised debates fracture into incompatible versions of reality.

The archive reveals how such patterns recur across eras, the hero myths we cling to, the comforting endings we crave, and the seductive simplicity of stories that tell us exactly who is right and who is wrong. From personal identity to global geopolitics, The Narrative Trap uncovers how much of modern life is structured by storytelling, for better and for worse.

The programme also asks what can be done. Drawing on insights from Ella Saltmarshe’s work on “narrative intelligence”, Reid Hoffman’s reflections on self-authored identity, James Rodgers’ reporting from conflict zones, Rebecca Solnit’s studies of power and storytelling, and Galen Strawson’s challenge to our obsession with narrative coherence, Julian explores how we might learn to recognise the stories shaping us, question them, and choose those that help rather than harm.

Writer and Presenter: Julian Baggini
Producer: Jo Meek
Executive Producer: Anna Scott-Brown

An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4