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Objects of Desire

Objects of Desire: The Nest

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14/10/2016

The Nest

BBC Radio 4 - Objects of Desire, The Nest

Matthew Sweet explores the relationships we have with our childhood homes.

Matthew Sweet explores the relationships we have with our childhood homes and the ways in which we use our homes and possessions as a refuge.

This is the story of how the things we accumulate around us say more than we might imagine about who we are. 

"The fate of the object," said the French thinker Jean Baudrillard, "has been claimed by no-one." Unless, of course, the object in question is the Mona Lisa or the Alfred Jewel. In these programmes, Matthew Sweet will be looking at the other stuff. The cups. The spoons. The knick-knacks. The things we might keep, even if we don't quite have the room for them.

Through the prism of what people have in their homes, Objects of Desire explores the work of sociologists and anthropologists like Pierre Bourdieu and Mary Douglas, and philosopher Gaston Bachelard, in order to understand the curious mixture of display, memory, emotion and chance that informs the objects we surround ourselves with.

Episode Five: The Nest. In which Matthew explores the relationships we have with our childhood homes, and the ways in which we use our homes and possessions as a refuge. Mike has vivid and treasured memories of the pubs his parents ran across the North East, and now has a lounge with a bar in it. Meanwhile, in Cardiff, Ailsa reflects on how serious illness has changed her approach to her surroundings. Also in the programme, the writer and researcher Edwina Attlee discusses French philosopher Gaston Bachelard's ideas about home.

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Matthew Sweet explores how the things people accumulate reflect who they are.

Matthew Sweet explores how the things people accumulate say more than expected about who they are.

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