91Èȱ¬

I am finding the radio programmes extremely evocative and have rekindled my curiosity for objects and choreography of their use. I still have detailed memories of my real first instance when I realised that objects had meaning, power and beauty. It was when I was a art student and I visited the travelling exhibition of Paolozzi’s Lost Magic Kingdoms where I realised that objects had a terrible beauty and like the walking stick left by Mortimer at 221b had hidden meanings that needed to be teased out.

The one museum that that I believe should or could also most be one object in the 100 years project is the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, which I used to visit as both a student and a lecturer religiously every two to three months. The object I always remember is in the spells and magic section, where there is a small silver bottle that contains a captured witch. I look forward to more interesting programmes

Could the podcasts be made with the phot of the object as part of the podcasts, either as logo (to replace the current logo), or as an enhanced podcast, so that we do not have to be at a computer at all times, and can enjoy all what is to be seen.

Kind regards,
Pete

A massively hyped programme - Radio 4 seem to have raised it to the status of a flagship programme for 2010 what with all the tv advance promos etc - but, in spite of all the money that must have been spent on it and all the hard work and research effort that has gone into making it, it is made almost unlistenable to as a result of the dire repetition of the incredibly tedious 'theme' music that is overlaid across large chunks of both the beginning and the end of each 15 minute episode. It's only 15 minutes! Just let the wonderful material speak for itself!

But no. Presumably it was thought that thematic 'mood' music of this sort was de rigueur for a flagship programme of this sort. Presumably it was considered that some kind of musical 'theme' would add value to the programme through its stirring evocation of the vastness of time through which the series will journey! Well, for me it does nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it detracts hugely, it is so incredibly irritating! Who on earth came up with this theme and didn't think it would start to grate when repeated on a daily basis over 100 episodes? Not to mention how faintly ridiculous it will start to sound as the series progresses towards more modern times. I'd love to hear Neil M discussing, say, the influence of the Moog synthesizer on early electronic music, juxtaposed with the mystical woman and those dire pan-pipes or whatever they are. Or will the series music at some point take an evolutionary leap forward along with the objects being discussed? For what might have been a great series, this dire misjudgement on the music front represents a massive case of shooting oneself in the foot on the part of the production team.

I enjoyed listening to the programme for the first week or two, but I've had to give up as I could no longer take the cliched, hackneyed, just generally awful musical intrusion. I've read suggestions elsewhere that the programme style might have had in mind the programme's use for teaching in schools. The style of introduction of the object for each episode - which combines with the music to produce a massive doubly whammy of irritation - could certainly give credence to that suggestion. Having said that, the programme content has struck me as generally being aimed at an adult audience. Given that sex was a theme of one of the episodes within the very first week, if this series was partly aimed at schools then there must have been classrooms full either of somewhat befuddled or shocked ten year olds or of sniggering or embarrassed teenagers up and down the country. If it's not intended for schools, then, for an adult audience, the manner of introducing each episode's object is highly irritating and condescending. If it's trying to cater to both adults and schools, then it is clearly trying to target too wide a target audience/demographic, and failing as a result. (Indeed, a good many school pupils would more than likely find the music and the style of object introduction equally irritating and condescending themselves).

A criticism levelled by some has been that radio is not the medium for a programme about objects. To me this is utter nonsense - much of the content of the episodes I did listen to has been fascinating, and there was no need to have a visual image of the object in front of you for this to be the case. But the whole has been made unbearable by the awful style diminishing the often fascinating content. Such a shame!

I would like to congratulate the makers of this series for a truly inspiring series that has enthralled both my 10 year old daughter and me. We live in Hong Kong with friends and colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds, which has been an education in itself, but these programmes enlighten, inform and delight us every day and make us far more aware of the cultural heritage of so many different people and the history of ideas that are still relevant to understanding the world we live in today. The superlative erudition of the authors and contributors to the series provides a sharp and pithy overview of an historical event or era that is thought-provoking and challenging to our established world picture. I have recommended the series to my daughter's school as well as to a number of parents here who homeschool. It is also brave and inspiring to broadcast these programmes on the radio. There is relatively little on 91Èȱ¬ radio 4 that can captivate an audience of younger (and future) listeners and I hope that this series opens up a new avenue for learning for the younger generation. I sympathise with the listener who finds the opening to each episode condescending (and perhaps it was a shame not to use that airtime for one or two extra pieces of information about each object) but one has to balance this minor criticism against the extraordinarily valuable contribution that this series makes to general knowledge and understanding.

Thank heavens for the magic of podcasts.I have enjoyed every one so far, even if not always agreeing with the concepts put forward about the evolution of man, and his attitudes to religion. The sense of the spiritual is lacking, and in its place is academic observation. Nevertheless, the information has been fascinating, and the inclusion of modern life and pundits has been illuminating. I look forward to the next series, and can't believe we have had 30 already!

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