A Point of View

"However different our days are, we are all waiting," writes Rebecca Stott. Via Samuel Beckett, a walk in Norfolk and a discussion of the three stages of twilight, Rebecca reflects on the waiting of lockdown. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"Others may thrill to the serendipity of bacon-and-eggs," writes Will Self, "but it's the determinism of dustpan-and-brush that I exalt". Dusting, wiping, vacuuming and sweeping in lockdown, Will ponders the Great British Wipe-Up. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"She'd been waiting for the catastrophe to end catastrophes all her life and now it was here she seemed not to give a fig about it". Howard Jacobson reflects on his mother's life - and death. Producer: Adele Armstrong

AL Kennedy ponders why we're bad at assessing risks. "We prioritize them according to emotion and information," she says, "but our emotions cloud our judgement and our information may be patchy, absent or misleading." She argues that one risk though is incontrovertible - the risk to the planet - and we need to find a way to ensure its survival. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"I can't have been alone among those quarantined these past few weeks," writes Will Self, "in seeking out the greatest imaginative spaces with which to counterpoint my confinement." Courtesy of Google Earth, Will sets out to simulate a trip he was planning to make to central Australia and ponders what lessons Aboriginal culture might have for the days of pandemic. Producer: Adele Armstrong

Zia Haider Rahman describes the "profound moral questions" facing society as it starts to discuss how the COVID-19 lockdown might, eventually, be ended. We have to face up to the fact, he says, that our choices will have huge impacts for which we must take responsibility. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"I’ve been thinking about projects left unfinished," writes Rebecca Stott. " I’ve got the pages of two unfinished novels on my hard-drive, and a pile of sewing projects, seams pinned, pins rusting, in my sewing basket." With the help of Leonardo da Vinci, "a notorious non-finisher," Rebecca ponders the meaning of our imperfect and incomplete projects. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"I can see her on my phone, I can even hear her on my phone, but I can't feel her weight in my arms and her wiggling warmth," writes Tom Shakespeare about his new-born granddaughter. With everyone in lock-down, Tom talks about his longing to meet his first grand-daughter. And he knows it's a sadness he shares with many other grandparents. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"Having been alone in the apartment now for almost three weeks," writes Adam Gopnik in New York, "I have become aware of the countless fine shades of solitude". Adam describes the daily roller coaster ride of anxiety and normalcy - from the solitude of morning coffee with the dog to the solitude of the Manhattan street late at night. With each day that passes, he finds that "the hues and shades of...

"As our physical reality is reduced down to a few rooms or a view from a window," writes Sarah Dunant, "our ability to conjure up things we're not able to experience is going to be vital to feed our imaginations." Sarah argues that - given social distancing - imagination is going to be an exceedingly powerful inner muscle when it comes to our mental survival. She offers us a few of her stand out i...

"I have come to think of the virus as that monster from the ancient Norse legend of Beowulf, Grendel," writes Michael Morpurgo. "He's out there now, threatening my home, my village, my family and friends". Michael talks about what it feels like to be hunkered down in his little cottage in Devon - waiting for coronavirus to pass. Recorded by Hamish Marshall from Radio Devon. Produced by Adele Armst...

"There is nothing some of us enjoy more," writes Adam Gopnik, "than finding analogies to our own paltry and predictable lives in scenes from famous gangster movies." As his children move away from home and he becomes an "empty nester", Adam finds himself, too, doing just that. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"There are some things that one just has to put up with," writes Tom Shakespeare. "Sometimes over-thinking is the worst response." Tom reflects on how we can best respond to difficult situations. Producer: Adele Armstrong

To recline....or not to recline your aeroplane seat? Adam Gopnik ponders the question of “recline-gate” in the aftermath of the recent American Airlines incident that went viral. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"I am holding history in my hands," writes Sarah Dunant. "The date on the letter is February 1490...the place, the city of Mantua in Italy". As she delves through the Mantuan State Archive, Sarah reflects on the task of understanding and writing history. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"We have been here before, many times" writes Sarah Dunant as she charts some key moments in history when the world has been gripped by fear over the spread of disease. From Columbus and the outbreak of syphilis in 1495, to cholera at Mecca in the 1860s ....and Wuhan today. She ponders what insights this present crisis might bring. Producer: Adele Armstrong

From the “pernicious fife-footlers polluting the sooty Victorian cities” to the “fiendish electronic cacophony” of today, Will Self bemoans the ever-increasing difficulty of finding a bit of peace and quiet. He wonders why we tolerate this growing noise pollution, even though we know that high levels of ambient noise cause stress, insomnia and even, if persistent, poor mental health. Producer: Ade...

"Of all the men I never wanted to grow old into", writes Howard Jacobson, "this is the man I wanted to grow into least: the prepared-for-all-eventualities shopper". Howard describes his hours of neatly folding plastic bags on his hands and knees on his living room floor...in order to let him shop responsibly. Gone is his old profligacy. "The wild", he says, "have become the watchful". Producer: Ad...

"All racism is a species not only of unreason... but of unreason enthusiastically embraced", writes Howard Jacobson. Howard discusses why anti-Semitism should trouble us all, regardless of our background. Producer: Adele Armstrong

Following the death of the philosopher, author and self-professed Wagner fan, Sir Roger Scruton, this is one of our favourite talks he did for the series. As Wagner’s Ring – that huge and controversial cycle of operas - went on tour around the UK, Roger talked about why The Ring is absolutely a story for our time. "I have loved The Ring and learned from it for over 50 years and for me, it is quite...

Will Self explores what he sees as a growing sense of collective hypocrisy. He looks at why we're often so reluctant to use the word "hypocrisy" and argues that we accept hypocrisy in part because "civilisation as currently constituted would be quite impossible without a whole panoply of carefully evolved rituals designed to elide incompatible acts and beliefs". Producer: Adele Armstrong

"After months of hearing about the climate emergency", writes Rebecca Stott, "I thought it would be a good thing to spend some time around a species that was doing really well". She decided to become a seal warden...but the job is rather different from what she was expecting. "This wild, old, slithery, stinking world of the sand dunes really isn't cute" she says. "But there are some things in natu...

"I've long been fascinated with taxidermy", writes Rebecca Stott, "but it disturbs me". She explains why - after many years - she's made her peace with taxidermy. "After all, can we really be all high-horse-ish about the way our ancestors shot, classified and stuffed everything in their path, given how much damage we've done to species and their habitats in the last fifty years alone?" Producer: A...

“Whatever humans do, the world is not going to end”, writes John Gray. “Humankind cannot destroy the planet any more than it can save it”. John Gray ponders why the belief that the human world can be completely and suddenly transformed, never really goes away. Producer: Adele Armstrong

"I can no longer force myself", writes Will Self, "to make choices that appear quite meaningless to me". He outlines why he decided - for the first time in his life - not to cast a vote in the election. Producer: Adele Armstrong