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Capturing the nation in conversation. Fi Glover presents stories from Oxford, Liverpool, London and Stoke-on-Trent.

Fi Glover presents an Omnibus edition of Radio 4's series capturing the nation in conversation: today Mike talks to his adoptive son about how he rescued him as a baby from South Vietnam; Jayne talks to her mother Sally in Liverpool about their life together and the father she never knew; from London, Jamaican-born Monica discusses with her gay son Rikki how coming out as gay was difficult for her too; and in Stoke on Trent Marc discusses with his foster dad Colin about how he's managed to turn his life round after a very difficult beginning.

The Listening Project is a new initiative for Radio 4 that aims to offer a sort of snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not Â鶹ÊÓƵAV interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Many of the long conversations are being archived by the British Library which they will use to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer Simon Elmes

(Repeat).

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Wed 8 Aug 2012 09:30

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Apr 2012 14:45
  • Wed 8 Aug 2012 09:30

Animated conversations

Listening project conversations brought to life by talented young animators.

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey

Fi Glover and Jane Garvey roam the fields of broadcasting talking to interesting people.

Find a conversation

Broadcast across Radio 4 and on local radio stations across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Podcast