Four Thought

Andrew Hankinson tells the story of a boy who died, and his parents, who wanted him alive. Recorded at the Shambala Festival in 2019, this is also an extraordinary story about Andrew's quest to understand the family's story, his feelings of discomfort, and his reasons for wanting to tell it in the first place. Producer: Giles Edwards

Anna Della Subin takes a journey with a man once worshipped as a living god. Anna Della has been writing a book about people inadvertently turned into gods, and in this bewitching talk she describes a journey across Morocco with one of them. She discusses what prompts people to regard others as gods, and what it might tell us about our society. Producer: Giles Edwards

Sarah Gristwood is worried that the vogue for tidying will make history harder to uncover. Sarah is an historian herself, and in writing her books has relied heavily on documents which might easily have been discarded. But that's not all: she wonders, too, how her successors will access our digital clutter in 500 years' time. Producer: Giles Edwards

Ashley Hickson-Lovence says his powerful mother and his love of reading kept him out of gangs while growing up on an estate in East London. As a former English teacher and now a debut novelist, he believes black boys, in particular, need books to read that engage them by reflecting their own lives. "Not everyone can have a mother like mine, but everyone deserves the key to the world of books which could change their lives." Recorded at Primadonna literary and arts festival. Presenter: Farrah Jarral Producer: Sheila Cook

Monisha Rajesh says the romance of train travel is not dead. After exploring the railways of India, she travelled across continents to research her book "Around the World in 80 Trains", discovering that the romance, " Wasn't dead, just reincarnated, living on in the passengers who would always tell their story to strangers, offer advice, share their food, and give up their seats." Recorded at Primadonna literature and arts festival. Presenter: Farrah Jarral Producer: Sheila Cook