Sideways

It’s December 2013 and Toni Osborne is struggling, emotionally and financially. She’s five pence short of keeping her electricity on over Christmas.

As she heads out into the night to ask her local shopkeeper for help, a homeless man appears and asks for some change. This is Jack Richardson, and when she bursts into tears, it prompts him to give Toni his last five pence. This simple act of giving would alter both their lives in profound ways.

In this episode, Matthew Syed explores how the effects of a seemingly small moment of generosity can ripple outwards, with significant consequences. He considers where this impulse to give to other people comes from and why we go out of our way to help others, sometimes at a cost to ourselves.

With Felix Warneken, Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan; Dr Michael Rees, kidney transplant surgeon and founder of the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation; and psychologist Scott Kaufman.

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Eliza Lomas Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Theme music by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

It’s a little girl’s eighth birthday. She wakes to a sight that looks like the end of the world. A radioactive mushroom cloud rises 130,000 feet in the air. And the world wakes up to the devastating fallout of nuclear weapons.

In this new mini series from Sideways, writer and Times columnist Matthew Syed is calling for a nuclear awakening. Since the end of the Cold War, when relations between two of the world’s nuclear superpowers - the former USSR and the USA - seemed more rosy, Matthew argues that many of us have slipped into a kind of comfortable amnesia about the presence of these destroyers of worlds.

The wake up call came when President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February accompanied by veiled nuclear threats. It was a reminder of the mind bending fact that there are weapons in existence that are capable of eradicating our species.

Over four episodes, Matthew explores the intellectual and strategic frameworks birthed by the bomb and the tensions of the Cold War, which sought to contain the ultimate destructive force. From deterrence to disarmament and non-proliferation, these ideas all aim at one goal - protection from catastrophic nuclear use. Understanding their origins and complexities is urgently needed, Matthew argues.

Ultimately, Matthew will be asking if the actions of Putin in Ukraine call for a new intellectual framework to help make our world safe.

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Sound Designer: Rob Speight Special thanks to Jessica A Schwartz for her recordings of Lijon Eknilang which form part of the material for her book Radiation Sounds. Also to Ali Raj and Susanne Rust, whose reporting for the LA Times informed this episode.

Contributors: Evelyn Ralpho Jeadrik, daughter of Lijon Eknilang, Marshallese singer, composer and anti-nuclear activist. Ariana Tibon, Commissioner, Royal Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission Alex Wellerstein, historian of science and nuclear weapons and a professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. David Holloway, Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History and author of Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In 2113, a riddle will be solved under the Eiffel Tower. Matthew Syed tells the story of a riddle hidden in the video game Trials Evolution (Ubisoft Redlynx) that became a worldwide treasure hunt that’s yet to be solved, as he considers the role of legacy.

Matthew asks how thinking beyond our lifetimes could make life in the present more impactful and might also challenge us to consider how we meet the problems of the future.

With Antti Ilvessuo, creator of the riddle, co-Founder and ex-creative director of RedLynx; Brad Kirby, Trials Evolution super fan and expert aka Professor FatShady; Dr Philip Cozzolino, University of Essex; and Kimberly Wade-Benzoni, Professor of Management and Organizations and Center of Leadership and Ethics Scholar at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Executive Producer: Max O'Brien Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight Sideways music theme by Ioana Selaru A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

In 2014 Angela Maxwell was feeling stuck. She wanted something fresh, something exciting. After a chance encounter she landed upon her goal - she was going to set off on one of the largest adventures imaginable: a walk around the world. She didn't know exactly how the journey would play out, but that was part of the appeal - the whole planet was waiting for her to just take the first step.

In this episode, Matthew Syed hears from Angela about her 6 year walk around the world, from the misery of freezing cold nights, to finding beauty in solitary nights sleeping under the stars. And Angela explores her ideas about courage - after she was raped during her expedition, she chose to continue her journey around the world. Over the six years she walked, she would find deep connection to herself and to others, making lifelong friends and sinking into the places, slowly, just placing one foot in front of the other.

We hear from Susan Houge Mackenzie, a professor of psychology at the University of Otago, about the benefits of adventure to our mindset, even 'micro adventures' which take place much nearer to home, and from naturalist and conservationist Nadia Shaikh, who is a land justice activist working with the Right to Roam campaign, who makes a case that we need far greater access to nature to be able to undertake micro adventures in our local area.

Matthew considers how adventures big and small can clarify our goals for our lives, and asks us to consider whether we ought to all be heading out on adventures a little more often.

If you have been affected by sexual abuse or violence, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Nadia Mehdi Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound design and mix: Rob Speight Theme tune by Ioana Selaru. A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Matthew Syed follows the story of Bernice Bennett, a woman driven to uncover the truth behind a treasured family portrait.

When Bernice was growing up, she was always told how much she looked like her grandmother, Mattie Kemp Alexander. Looking at her grandmother’s portrait, she saw her own eyes looking back. This woman’s face was familiar, and yet Bernice knew so little about her. Feeling the call to know more, Bernice set out on a journey to uncover the stories of her family tree.

Through the course of her investigations, Bernice uncovers the traumas etched into her family’s past and is drawn into America's legacy of slavery. Her discoveries are painful, but they also lead to some surprisingly joyous new relationships and renewed understanding of her own identity.

So why do we search for the secrets of the past, when we know how much the truth may hurt?

Genetic Counsellor Brianne Kirkpatrick talks about how people might prepare themselves for what they could find in their family histories, and genealogist Nicka Sewell-Smith explores how the traumas experienced by our ancestors can ripple through to the present day.

Contributors: Brianne Kirkpatrick - Genetic Counsellor Nicka Sewell-Smith - Genealogist Bernice Alexander Bennett - Genealogist

Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sandra Labady Executive Producer: Claire Crofton Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Music, Sound Design and Mix: Nicholas Alexander Theme Music: Seventy Times Seven by Ioana Selaru

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4