The Listening Project

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Capturing the nation in conversation, in partnership with the British Library.

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The Listening Project: The Power of Chat

The Power of Chat

BBC Radio 4 - The Listening Project, The Power of Chat

New and extended edition with voices old and new on the shared experience of lockdown.

In this week's programme, Fi Glover presents four pairs of strangers talking to each other and exchanging stories about their experience of life lockdown.

Fi Glover presents four conversations between strangers talking  to each other and exchanging stories about their experience of life in  lockdown -  primary school head teachers from opposite ends of the country exchange notes and discuss their hopes and fears for school re-openings;  a young Polish mother and an experienced local teacher talk about their contrasting lives as well as the things they have in common; an out-of-work lorry driver and the man who works for a charity which delivers food parcels to those in need like him, discuss their past lives and present; and two young students exchange positive notes on living in lockdown with cancer and HIV respectively. 

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moments of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Mohini Patel

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