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The Power of Chat

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

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 17 May 2020 13:30

Broadcast

  • Sun 17 May 2020 13:30

Animated conversations

Listening project conversations brought to life by talented young animators.

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey roam the fields of broadcasting talking to interesting people.

Find a conversation

Broadcast across Radio 4 and on local radio stations across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Podcast