Summary
As lockdowns have forced us to forgo the delights of the outside world, have we developed a taste for simple pleasures? Many have reported enjoying cooking and eating more than usual, or appreciating simple treats such as a walk in nature. Has the grey monotony of this period caused music to sound more vibrant, and colours to appear more vivid? And what is the science, philosophy and psychology behind the enjoyment of simple pleasures? Matthew Sweet asks taste and wine expert Barry Smith; colour expert Kassia St Clair; Lisa Appignanesi an author of books exploring psychology and memory; and historian of luxury Seán Williams to share their ideas about pleasure.
Kassia St Clair is the author of The Secret Lives of Colour and The Golden Thread. Barry C Smith is a Professor of philosophy and Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London's School of Advanced Study. He researches the multisensory nature of perceptual experience, focusing on taste, smell and flavour and also writes on wine. Seán Williams is a New Generation Thinker who teaches on German culture and history at the University of Sheffield considering topics ranging from the Alps, Spas and ideas about luxury, to a history of hairdressing. Lisa Appignanesi's books include Everyday Madness, All About Love: Anatomy of an Unruly Emotion, Memory and Desire and many others.
You can find a whole playlist of programmes exploring different emotions from our Free Thinking Festival 2019 including 20 Words for Joy ... Feelings Around the World hearing from Thomas Dixon, Aatish Taseer and Veronica Strang; Does My Pet Love Me? Why We Need Weepies, and the Way we Used to Feel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p036y2hb
Producer: Eliane Glaser
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right? |
| 0:23.3 | It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream. |
| 0:28.8 | Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.2 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:36.9 | The Arts and Ideas podcast. Don't it make you feel good? |
| 0:40.4 | Well, we hope this one will, because it's about pleasure, the kind you're taking in lockdown, |
| 0:45.3 | the kind you may be hoping to embrace once it's over. |
| 0:48.3 | So join me, Matthew Sweet, and the pleasure experts after this message. |
| 0:52.7 | Hello, I'm Catherine Tickelkel and I'm here to tell you about |
| 0:55.5 | Music Planet, Radio 3's weekly show covering roots music from around the world. Now, I know that's |
| 1:01.6 | a pretty big category, but it gives us the opportunity to bring you an eclectic and varied range |
| 1:07.0 | of music, live sessions from some of the biggest international names, along with the |
| 1:11.6 | latest emerging talent. We've got classic artists and new releases, and of course our |
| 1:16.4 | road trip feature, sampling the music and culture of different locations from around the world, |
| 1:21.2 | from the deepest of traditional styles to the latest contemporary sounds, with local |
| 1:25.8 | experts on the ground as your guide. |
| 1:28.2 | Whether it's Marleyan blues, Indian classical or Colombian champetta, you'll hear it on Music Planet. |
| 1:34.4 | Find us on BBC Sounds or on Radio 3 Saturdays at 4. |
| 1:39.5 | Are you a pleasure seeker? Are you mad keen on the hedonic? Do you like musical comedies and |
| 1:46.6 | foreign travel and a well-mixed espresso martini? Well, these days, answering yes to such questions, |
| 1:53.5 | feels like declaring an abstruse theoretical position. Yes, I do like dinner and a show, |
| 1:58.8 | and yes, I do think that Rosa Luxembourg's ideas about capital accumulation |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.