Original version

BBC World Service Online

The Forum

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

The Forum: Why Do We Tell Stories?

Discussion & Talk

A storyteller reading to an audience in the market place in Tangier, Morocco, 1937

25/05/2013 GMT

Why Do We Tell Stories?

BBC World Service - The Forum, Why Do We Tell Stories?

Why do stories have similar narratives over and over again?

Why do stories have similar narratives over and over again? Drama producer John Yorke, neuroscientist Emile Bruneau and Afghan writer Qais Akbar Omar on the nature of storytelling.

If storytelling is as natural to humans as breathing, why can’t we avoid telling the same story over and over again? Helping Bridget Kendall tell this tale are award-winning drama producer John Yorke, who explains why a nine-year-old could storyline a Hollywood film;  neuroscientist Emile Bruneau, whose cutting edge research on how narratives can trigger empathy and Afghan writer Qais Akbar Omar, who says that when you have nothing else left, stories can sustain you. 

(Image: A storyteller reads from a book, surrounded by listeners. Credit: Brown/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Forum

Why Do We Tell Stories?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service