False Memories
Mark Tully considers the consequences of mis-remembering the past. Why do people have different memories of the same event, and how can we remember things that never happened?
Mark Tully considers the consequences of mis-remembering the past. Why do people have different memories of the same event, and how can we remember things that never happened?
The programme includes ideas from American psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who suggests that memory works a little bit like a Wikipedia page which you can change, but others can change too. She has warned against the dangers of certain therapies that lead to âfalse memoryâ and unreliable accusations against innocent people.
In poetry, Ravi Shankar describes memories as the âwobbly beamsâ on which we build our self-respect, and Carol Ann Duffy explores the dark side of a childhood misremembered.
Perhaps Jane Austenâs heroine in Mansfield Park puts it best, when Fanny Price proclaims, âThe memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control!â.
A Unique Broadcasting Company Production for ±«Óătv Radio 4
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Music Played
-
James Horner & London Symphony Orchestra
Sons of Scotland
- Braveheart Soundtrack.
- Decca Music Group.
-
Ned Rorem
To A Young Girl
Performer: Susan Graham.- Songs of Ned Rorem.
- Erato.
-
Robert Ward
These Girls Never Saw A Spirit
Performer: New York City Opera.- The Crucible.
- Albany.
-
Maurice Chevalier & Hermione Gingold
I Remember It Well
- Greatest Musicals Double Feature.
- Roslin Records.
-
Robert Jones
Confabulation
Performer: Jeff Funderburk.- Dialogs for Tuba and Piano.
- Mark Records.
Readings
Author: Primo Levi Â
Publisher: Michael JosephÂ
Title: Clip from SerialÂ
Author: Sarah Koenig  Â
Publisher: serialpodcast.org
Title: We Remember Your Childhood Well
Author: Carol Ann DuffyÂ
Publisher: Rogers, Coleridge & White in New Selected PoemsÂ
Title: Mansfield ParkÂ
Author: Jane Austen Â
Publisher:Â Penguin Classics
Title: °äŽÇČÔłÙ°ùČ賊łÙŸ±ŽÇČÔÌę
Author: Ravi ShankarÂ
Publisher: Wordtech CommunicationsÂ
Broadcasts
- Sun 7 Jun 2015 06:05±«Óătv Radio 4
- Sun 7 Jun 2015 23:30±«Óătv Radio 4
- Sun 25 Jun 2023 06:05±«Óătv Radio 4