A Point of View

"We have been here before, many times" writes Sarah Dunant as she charts some key moments in history when the world has been gripped by fear over the spread of disease. From Columbus and the outbreak of syphilis in 1495, to cholera at Mecca in the 1860s ....and Wuhan today. She ponders what insights this present crisis might bring. Producer: Adele Armstrong

From the “pernicious fife-footlers polluting the sooty Victorian cities” to the “fiendish electronic cacophony” of today, Will Self bemoans the ever-increasing difficulty of finding a bit of peace and quiet. He wonders why we tolerate this growing noise pollution, even though we know that high levels of ambient noise cause stress, insomnia and even, if persistent, poor mental health. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"Of all the men I never wanted to grow old into", writes Howard Jacobson, "this is the man I wanted to grow into least: the prepared-for-all-eventualities shopper". Howard describes his hours of neatly folding plastic bags on his hands and knees on his living room floor...in order to let him shop responsibly. Gone is his old profligacy. "The wild", he says, "have become the watchful". Producer: Adele Armstrong

"All racism is a species not only of unreason... but of unreason enthusiastically embraced", writes Howard Jacobson. Howard discusses why anti-Semitism should trouble us all, regardless of our background. Producer: Adele Armstrong

Following the death of the philosopher, author and self-professed Wagner fan, Sir Roger Scruton, this is one of our favourite talks he did for the series. As Wagner’s Ring – that huge and controversial cycle of operas - went on tour around the UK, Roger talked about why The Ring is absolutely a story for our time. "I have loved The Ring and learned from it for over 50 years and for me, it is quite simply the truth about our world - but the truth expressed by means of music of unquestionable authority and supreme melodic and harmonic power". The talk was first broadcast in 2016. Producer: Adele Armstrong