Sideways

Stolen Notes

It’s a cold morning in Euston Station in London and professional violinist Min Kym is about to get on a train to Manchester to play a concert. With her is her 300 year old, £1.2 million Stradivarius, one of the most valuable and precious types of violin in the world. More than that, this is Min’s Strad - it fits just right for her, it’s her constant companion across the world, it’s a relationship, a love. Until… it disappears.Matthew Syed considers what we value and why.With musician and composer Min Kym; Kathryn Graddy, the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor in Economics at Brandeis University; Claudia Fritz, researcher at La Sorbonne University, Paris; and Bruce Hood, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Bristol. 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 4

Good Vibes Only

At some point in our lives, all of us will face difficult news. That was the case for Canadian academic Kate Bowler. She was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, at just 35. When the news hits, the support she receives is overwhelmingly positive. But as well intentioned as those responses are, Kate becomes trapped in a role she doesn’t want to play. Matthew Syed asks why we reach for positivity so quickly in the face of suffering and where that instinct comes from. With contributions from Kate Bowler; Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, Professor of Sociology at City St George's, University of London and social psychologist Pr Batja Mesquita, from Leuven University.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 4

Brainless

Matthew Syed follows the extraordinary journey of a French scientist who found signs of learning, problem-solving and remembering - in a blob of slime. Not the Ghostbusters kind, but in a slime mould. It's a single celled, brainless organism that has become a bit of a star in France for its unexpected capabilities. In this episode, Matthew considers the intelligence that lies in unexpected places, beyond the confines of a brain.With contributions from Audrey Dussutour (Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS), Dr. Pamela Lyon (Independent Researcher and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide), and Dr. Michael Levin (Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University and faculty member at the Wyss Institute at Harvard.)Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Vishva Samani Editor: Katherine Godfrey Production Manager: Joe Savage Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson Theme tune by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

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