The Listening Project

Fi Glover presents three conversations between strangers and a TLP 10th Anniversary catch-up chat with mother and daughters.

This week: Karen and Diane share their enthusiasm for volunteering for the Commonwealth Games; Nicola and Katie make a powerful connection reflecting on whether to have children or not; ardent Newcastle United fans Samantha and Steve go over the pros and cons of the Saudi Arabian consortium takeover of their club; and Fi catches up with mother and daughter Victoria and Rosie, recorded for the Project in 2016, discussing Rosie’s sister, Martha, who had severe eczema as a baby.

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