A Point of View

"Only when I wander, usually by accident, into my spam box", writes Adam Gopnik, "do I find anything resembling actual affection - prose that captures the spark of human sympathy, the language of exquisite deference, that the Enlightenment philosophers insisted was the necessary mucilage of human societies". The excessive courtesy of spam letters is, of course, designed to entrap the reader but why, Adam wonders, have the decencies of human correspondence disappeared from virtually all other forms of communication these days. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"Finding, promoting and revaluing women artists through the ages", writes Sarah Dunant, "has been one of the great – albeit still ongoing – cultural success stories of our time". Sarah discusses the undervalued women of art who are being rediscovered in large numbers - and the very modern stories they tell. Producer: Adele Armstrong

For many, three or four years away from home at a residential university is "a kind of rite of passage into adulthood", says David Goodhart. But - given most other countries seem to do fine without it - is it time to think again about this very British tradition? Producer: Adele Armstrong

"It is the most extraordinary thing about humans", writes Sarah Dunant, "that along with our - albeit limited - ability to prepare for an unknown future, we find it very hard to accept the unassailable fact of our own end". Sarah describes her experience talking with a group of strangers one evening at a Death Cafe. Producer: Adele Armstrong

David Goodhart discusses the rise of new "tribes" in British political life. "The old tribes were scarcely visible because they had become so familiar", he writes. "The new ones seem noisy and jarring and all too visible". He calls this new anti-left/right package the "hidden majority" package. Producer: Adele Armstrong