You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.

I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.

I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,

relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.

So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,

and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.

So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.

Today we look at the power of stories, both to change the world and to help us understand our place in it.

We hear how quote unquote badass librarians are fighting back against book bans

and a Swiss Italian novelist spins a tale of existential loneliness. But first, a book which defies

easy categorisation. About a son is the story of a family dealing with the aftermath of a brutal crime.

In October 2015, 20-year-old Morgan Hare was walking home with friends when he was

viciously attacked by a group of strangers. Morgan was stabbed in the heart and later died in hospital.

His father, Colin, started keeping a diary of his grief.

That diary has now been turned into about a son,

a powerful piece of creative nonfiction by the novelist David Whitehouse.

David's first novel, BED, won the Betty Trask Award,

and was followed by two more, Mobile Library

and The Long Forgotten. But this is a story rooted in devastating reality. So why did he

decide to turn his novelist's eye to Colin's story? Well, David Whitehouse joins me now to

tell us more. So, David, welcome. Thank you for having me.

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