Sideways

Historian and leather and kink activist Vi Johnson likes to be called Mama Vi. At 75, within her community, she’s become a fiercely protective figure, looking after not only the people who make it what it is, but also its culture and history. As a leader of a community that has long existed at the margins, she has witnessed many attempts to erase its history; some obvious, others far more insidious. Driven by ignorance, by hate, or even by the impulse to hide parts of themselves.

For our 100th episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed asks how a community survives when the evidence of its existence is threatened? From book burnings to records quietly discarded, the past is shaped not only by what we choose to remember, but by what we allow to disappear.

With activist Vi Johnson; Richard Ovenden, Director of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford and author of Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack. And sexologist Toni Solenne.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Daniel Kempson
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Everything fell apart for 17-year-old Ben West on the night his brother took his own life. In the years since, Ben has become a remarkable mental health campaigner. From fleeting online encounters to acts of unexpected kindness, he credits strangers with helping him navigate grief and driving forward a campaign that has gone on to influence national policy. In this episode, Matthew Syed considers the power in all of us to help people we have never met.
If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support are available at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline.
With contributions from Ben West, mental health campaigner and founder of reasonstostay.org; Dr Gillian Sandstrom, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Sussex and author of Once Upon a Stranger: The Science of How Small Talk Can Add Up to a Big Life; and Professor Adam Joinson, Director of the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour at the University of Bath.
Featuring archive from the 10 Downing Street social media video, ‘PM meets Ben West on World Mental Health Day’, 10 October 2019.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Vishva Samani
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Daniel Kempson
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

It’s a cold morning in Euston Station in London and professional violinist Min Kym is about to get on a train to Manchester to play a concert. With her is her 300 year old, £1.2 million Stradivarius, one of the most valuable and precious types of violin in the world. More than that, this is Min’s Strad - it fits just right for her, it’s her constant companion across the world, it’s a relationship, a love. Until… it disappears.
Matthew Syed considers what we value and why.
With musician and composer Min Kym; Kathryn Graddy, the Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor in Economics at Brandeis University; Claudia Fritz, researcher at La Sorbonne University, Paris; and Bruce Hood, Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Bristol.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

At some point in our lives, all of us will face difficult news. That was the case for Canadian academic Kate Bowler. She was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, at just 35. When the news hits, the support she receives is overwhelmingly positive. But as well intentioned as those responses are, Kate becomes trapped in a role she doesn’t want to play.
Matthew Syed asks why we reach for positivity so quickly in the face of suffering and where that instinct comes from.
With contributions from Kate Bowler; Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, Professor of Sociology at City St George's, University of London and social psychologist Pr Batja Mesquita, from Leuven University.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Julien Manuguerra-Patten
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4

Matthew Syed follows the extraordinary journey of a French scientist who found signs of learning, problem-solving and remembering - in a blob of slime. Not the Ghostbusters kind, but in a slime mould. It's a single celled, brainless organism that has become a bit of a star in France for its unexpected capabilities.
In this episode, Matthew considers the intelligence that lies in unexpected places, beyond the confines of a brain.
With contributions from Audrey Dussutour (Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS), Dr. Pamela Lyon (Independent Researcher and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide), and Dr. Michael Levin (Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University and faculty member at the Wyss Institute at Harvard.)
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Vishva Samani
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Production Manager: Joe Savage
Sound Design and Engineering: Nicholas Alexander and Daniel Kempson
Theme tune by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4