Thinking Allowed

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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Thinking Allowed: Cool

Cool

BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, Cool

'Cool' - Laurie Taylor explores its origins and meaning.

'Cool' - Laurie Taylor traces the  trajectory of the notion of ‘cool’ with Joel Dinerstein, Professor of English and American Studies at Tulane University, and author of a study which suggests it originated in American jazz clubs as a stylish defence against racism and cross fertilised with French existentialism and film noir. 

 Also, ‘cool shades’: Vanessa Brown,  Senior Lecturer in the School of Art and Design  at Nottingham Trent University, explores the enduring appeal of sunglasses as the ultimate signifiers of ‘cool’ in mass culture. 

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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