Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others.

My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland.

It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here,

but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world.

And because the team is such a diverse range of skills and strengths,

we have trained journalists, people who love digging through archives,

we've got drama and even comedy experts.

We really can do those stories justice.

So if you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds

where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK.

You're listening to a download of soul music from BBC Radio 4.

For New Year's Eve, I love to go to Times Square in New York City because it feels like the center of the universe on that night.

There are thousands of people there that come from all over the country.

At one end of Times Square, there's a ball, which is the focal point of the evening.

And it's kind of a lattice of white light bulbs. There's all different types of sound.

There are people cheering and laughing and talking. There are people screaming at each other,

yelling happy New Year's. There are no real barriers between people. And because of that,

it just makes the place feel incredibly alive. The last minute of the old year, they start the countdown clock, and the last 10 seconds,

it just kind of reaches this incredible pitch, and people are cheering and counting in unison.

Three three, two, one.

Thank you. And New York, New York is played inside Times Square.

Music I'm Andrew Collins, and I'm a film critic, writer and broadcaster.

...