Mary Roach
Wednesday 4 July 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Philip Dodd talks to American writer Mary Roach who has tried to meet the professionals dedicated to exploring the mystery of the human soul, scientists, engineers and mediums among them. Also, paparazzi intrusion or photojournalist genius? Philip assesses a new exhibition which charts 80 years of Fleet Street photography.
Alfred Hitchcock with news of another necktie strangling, London
Evening Standard, July 1971
© Getty Images
From Daily Encounters: Photographs from Fleet Street at the National Portrait Gallery
Playlist
Mary Roach and the afterlife
Night Waves tonight tackles the eternal mystery of the human soul.
After we die, is there some essence of us all, some part of us that somehow continues to live on?
It's a question that has pre-occupied philosophers and theologians for centuries - but now an American writer, Mary Roach, has tried to meet all the professionals dedicated to discovering its existence - scientists, engineers and mediums among them.
How and why did people try and weigh the human soul?
Where does the soul reside?
Why have we stopped taking this subject seriously?
Six Feet Over: Adventures in the Afterlife by Mary Roach is published by Canongate.
Fleet Street
Philip assesses a new exhibition which charts over 80 years of Fleet Street photography - paparazzi intrusion or photojournalist genius?
The first photographs of public figures appeared in 1903 and soon the lives of royalty, politicians and performers soon became central to the paper's appeal.
But who were these Fleet Street photographers and how serious is their work?
The photographer Eamon McCabe and the newspaper editor Anne McElvoy discuss this new show at the National Portrait Gallery.
Daily Encounters: Photographs from Fleet Street runs at the National Portrait Gallery in London until 21 October 2007. For futher information visit the National Portrait Gallery website:
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/wodailyencounters.asp
Eric Hobsbawm
Tonight's Night Waves interview is with one of Britain's most respected historians, Eric Hobsbawm.
His latest book brings together several of the most provocative themes of our time - the effects of globalisation, the plight of democracy and the threat of terrorism.
Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism by Eric Hobsbawm is published by Little, Brown
