Sideways

Stick to the Script

Rob Broderick aka ‘Abandoman’ grew up surrounded by classic comedies like Laurel and Hardy, and with a teacher mother who inspired his fascination with wordplay. When Rob discovers freestyle rap as a teenager, all these influences coalesce to inspire him to step into the world of stand up comedy. Only Rob doesn’t want to hone a rigid ‘tight ten’ of material. In fact, Rob doesn’t want to prepare anything at all - he steps out on stage and improvises everything - no script whatsoever. Matthew Syed uncovers the remarkable neurological processes that take place when we improvise and allow our inner critic to take a back seat.With contributions from hip-hop musical comedian Rob Broderick (Abandoman); Professor Charles Limb, Chief of Otology, Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco; Professor Keith Sawyer, creativity researcher based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and George Lewis, composer, technologist, musicologist and professor of music at Columbia University.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Vishva Samani Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Joe Savage Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander Theme tune by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4Featuring archive from Abandoman performing on The Al Porter Show, produced by Kite Entertainment for RTÉ2 and broadcast on 24 December 2015; Abandoman performing on The Deirdre O'Kane Show, produced by Kite Entertainment for Sky One and broadcast in November 2022; and Professor Charles Limb’s personal recording of his 2008 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study on jazz improvisation.

Small Giants

David McGurk had a childhood love of action figures. Something that he and Matthew Syed, and probably most of us, share. But David and his brother went a step further - they started making their own makeshift figures from soap and cheap glue. But it wasn’t until family tragedy struck as an adult that the memory of his brother’s creativity returned and inspired David to become a professional miniature figure-maker, with a quirky eye for his subject matter.From miniature busts of emperors, to the mystery of tiny canoes in the British Museum, Matthew Syed uncovers the big messages and emotions that can be distilled in the tiniest of objects. With contributions from artist David McGurk; Jack Davy, anthropologist and a curator at the Natural History Museum in London; and Lambros Malafouris, Professor of Cognitive and Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Joe Savage Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander Theme tune by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4Featuring archive from: Mattel’s He-Man, Skeletor, and Castle Grayskull 1984 TV advert

Returning Soon

Matthew Syed introduces the new series of Sideways through the story of an incredible being that has no brain but exhibits intelligent qualities that challenge centuries of dominant thinking about what a 'mind' actually is. This is one of eight new episodes in a series of extraordinary stories about seeing the world differently, stories which help us understand the ideas that shape our lives. From why we reach for positivity in the face of adversity and how a 'good vibes only' mantra might actually be getting us down, to the idea that the smallest objects can be vessels for the largest meaning.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producers: Julien Manuguerra-Patten and Vishva Samani Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson Theme music by: Ioana Selaru Produced by: Novel for BBC Radio 4

The Talent Trap

From a very young age, Holly Mathieson showed remarkable ability at the piano. With the support of her concert pianist grandmother, she nurtured a rare talent for music, and later explored ballet and choral singing as well. A path toward excellence in classical music opened before her and, for nearly 20 years, she followed it diligently as an internationally renowned conductor.But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, she realised it was time to reclaim a life that had been defined by her abilities rather than by her choices.Matthew Syed, himself a national table tennis champion at just age 10, explores our relationship with talent and the pressures - both internal and external - to fulfil it. Through Holly Mathieson’s story, he asks whether we own our talents or whether they own us. He considers why it is that gifted people are seldom allowed to walk away from their abilities without the accusation and condemnation that they are wasting their lives, remaining trapped by the idea that they owe it to the world to fulfil their potential.With Holly Mathieson, psychologist and author Pippa Grange and Elizabeth Anderson, philosopher at the University of Michigan. Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Mark Pittam Production Coordinator: Joe Savage Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

The Hands of Forgiveness

Almost twenty years ago, an armed man stormed a small Amish school in Pennsylvania. It was a horrific attack in which he shot at ten girls. He then turned the gun on himself. The attack claimed the lives of five young girls and severely injured five others, including one who remained profoundly disabled for the rest of her life, and died at the age of just 23. Within hours, the affected Amish community took the most extraordinary steps to extend compassion to the family of the gunman. And it set off a life-altering process for Marie, his wife. Matthew Syed follows Marie’s inconceivable journey navigating the complexities of forgiveness. He delves into Amish theology to understand how forgiving is a frequently misunderstood discipline, embedded in the collective identity of the Amish community, and considers how their approach to forgiveness challenges conventional wisdom. Matthew also hears from one of the foundational figures in forgiveness science on the tangled journey of forgiving oneself. This is something Marie found herself grappling with after going through a process of forgiving her husband for things she would never fully understand. It prompts Matthew to reflect on the quiet and rippling power inherent in the many acts of forgiveness that emerged from a day of unimaginable tragedy.Featuring Marie Monville, speaker and author of the memoir One Light Still Shines: My Life Beyond the Shadow of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting; Steven Nolt, Professor of History and Anabaptist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, and co-author of Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy; and Everett Worthington, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a leading researcher in the psychology of forgiveness.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Vishva Samani Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Designer: Mark Pittam Production Coordinator: Joe Savage Theme by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4Featuring archive from: CBS News Special Report, October 2, 2006 Meyer, Jack, Amish neighbour speaking to Associated Press, “Amish urge forgiveness after school shootings,” Associated Press, October 3, 2006; copyrighted by Associated Press (AP)