A Brief History of Strangers

Available for over a year

The American writer Joe Queenan follows up his wild programmes on blame, shame, and lust with a dive into a new world. He begins with an account of a journey to Fargo, North Dakota. "I was the stranger in town." He didn't enjoy it much. But in this hour of strangers, wanderers, commuters, foreigners, migrants, outcasts, interlopers and aliens, Queenan grapples with what strangers have brought to our world. Includes archive of Decca Aitkenhead on the joys of hitching, Harry Allen the Media Assassin on why skin marks you out, and poet Elvis McGonagall with a bravado stand up performance on why he wants to be foreign. Plus new interviews with Catherine Carr (host of Where Are You Going?) and Emma Garland, who recounts flying to New York to see a man she'd only known online. It didn't go well. Plus Alexei Sayle (presenter of Strangers on a Train) and Professor Edith Hall on why the Greek word xeno can mean friend, alien and guest. This is Joe Queenan's twelfth brief history for Radio 4. He's an Emmy award winning broadcaster and writer whose books include Balsamic Dreams: A Short But Self-Important History of the baby Boomer Generation. The producer for BBC studios in Bristol is Miles Warde