Main content

'Build That Wall': Barriers and Crossings

Cultural discussion programme. Kirsty Wark discusses borders with Ed Vulliamy, Dorit Rabinyan, Garrett Carr and Tom Holland.

On Start the Week Kirsty Wark explores what it means to live either side of a wall, and whether barriers are built to repel or protect. Supporters of the US President urge him to 'build a great wall' along the Mexican border but the journalist Ed Vulliamy points out that there is already a wall and border guards, supported and funded by US Presidents for decades. And yet still drugs, guns, money and people continue to move north and south. Israel has been building its own separation barrier since the turn of the century, but Dorit Rabinyan is more interested in psychological barriers that drive Palestinians and Israelis apart. The map-maker Garrett Carr travels Ireland's border to explore the smugglers, kings, peacemakers and terrorists who've criss-crossed this frontier, and asks what it will become when the United Kingdom leaves the EU. The historian Tom Holland looks back at the successes and failures of wall-building from Offa's Dyke to Hadrian's Wall and asks whether they work more as statements of power than as insurmountable barriers between people.
Producer: Katy Hickman.

Available now

43 minutes

Last on

Mon 27 Feb 2017 21:30

Dorit Rabinyan

is an author.Ìý

All The Rivers is published byÌýSerpent's Tail,Ìýtranslated into English by Jessica Cohen and is available from 2nd March 2017.

Garrett Carr

is an author.Ìý

The Rule of the Land Ìýis published by Faber & Faber.

Ed Vulliamy

is an author and journalist.Ìý

Amexica: War Along the Borderline is published by Vintage.

Tom Holland

is a historian andÌýTV presenter.Ìý

He also presents on ±«Óãtv Radio 4.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Wark
Interviewed Guest Ed Vulliamy
Interviewed Guest Dorit Rabinyan
Interviewed Guest Garrett Carr
Interviewed Guest Tom Holland
Producer Katy Hickman

Broadcasts

  • Mon 27 Feb 2017 09:00
  • Mon 27 Feb 2017 21:30

Podcast