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Episode details

Radio 3,01 Nov 2013,15 mins

Series2013 Festival

In Search of Ecstasy

Free Thinking

Available for over a year

The audience at a rock concert adoring the star; a Pentecostalist congregation praising God; an athlete reaching the pitch of performance known as "the zone" - these can all be described as feelings of "ecstasy". Jules Evans, from Queen Mary, University of London, examines rationalist arguments about elation being a form of madness and asks whether it is beneficial or dangerous to feel ecstatic. Producer: Zahid Warley First broadcast in November 2013.

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