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Why Do We Need Diaries?

They keep our secrets safe and preserve our memories, but many have been hidden or destroyed. Why do we write diaries?

We trust them with our deepest secrets, and use them to preserve our memories. They’ve been hidden, destroyed, and read without permission. Mike Williams talks to people who write diaries, and the historians on a mission to "rescue" the diaries of normal people.

Produced by Hannah Moore

(Photo: A handwritten page from a diary. Credit: Mike Williams)

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12 minutes

Last on

Tue 10 Nov 201512:04GMT
BBC Radio 4

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 14 Aug 201518:32GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Fri 14 Aug 201519:32GMT
    BBC World Service West and Central Africa & East and Southern Africa only
  • Fri 14 Aug 201523:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Sun 16 Aug 201521:32GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Mon 17 Aug 201502:32GMT
    BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East & Australasia only
  • Mon 17 Aug 201504:32GMT
    BBC World Service Online, South Asia, Americas and the Caribbean & UK DAB/Freeview only
  • Mon 17 Aug 201505:32GMT
    BBC World Service East Asia
  • Mon 17 Aug 201506:32GMT
    BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East
  • Mon 17 Aug 201512:32GMT
    BBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & Australasia
  • Mon 17 Aug 201513:32GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia
  • Tue 10 Nov 201512:04GMT
    BBC Radio 4

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    The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions