Shared histories

Available for over a year

Fi Glover presents friends, relatives and strangers in conversation. This week: childhood friends Iain and David share their experiences of losing their wives to cancer, six months apart; former footballers Leah and Dana discuss how the experience for female players has changed in the last 50 years; and solo mum Liv speaks to Carl, whose daughter has two mums and two dads. The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moments of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject David and Iain's conversation was produced with help from Maggie’s Centre. Both Ana and Catriona used Maggie’s when then they were ill, and the service has provided counselling for David and Iain following their wives' deaths. Producer: Ellie Bury