Something Understood

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

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Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

BBC Radio 4 LW

Something Understood: Taking Up the Thread

Taking Up the Thread

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Taking Up the Thread

Samira Ahmed reflects on the different ways 'threads' can lead us and connect us.

Samira Ahmed reflects on some of the ways 'threads' lead us and connect us in our lives: from Ariadne's thread in the labyrinth, to the sacred threads of many faiths

Samira Ahmed takes up the thread to reflect on some of the ways 'threads' can lead us and connect us in our lives. A thread is something we can follow, lose and pick up again. We might find ourselves hanging by a thread, or tying some loose ones together. They can bind us and we can break them. They are woven into our lives literally, metaphorically and linguistically.


The idea of following a thread to guide us is age-old, found for example in the Greek myth of Ariadne's thread leading Theseus out of the labyrinth, after he'd slain the Minotaur. Who doesn't need the thread of understanding to lead them through life's maze sometimes? Sacred threads play a significant role in the ceremonies of many faiths and cultures, not least in the life of the Guru Nanak and the founding of the Sikh faith. And when they are woven or knitted together, threads can play a potent role in art and domestic life.


Featuring music by Monteverdi, Bjork and Judy Collins, and writing by Robert Graves, Simon Armitage and Kate Summerscale.


Produced by Caroline Hughes
Presented by Samira Ahmed
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

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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