The Essay

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Former ballerina Deborah Bull looks at the impact of Nijinsky's revolutionary ballet, The Rite of Spring, which in dance terms, pre-empted the events of October 1917 by several years.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. 100 years to the day since American journalist John Reed witnessed first-hand the momentous events in revolutionary Petrograd, writer and historian Helen Rappaport reappraises his classic account, Ten Days That Shook the World. Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Ten contemporary cultural specialists look back at the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on artists of the time - in film, theatre, poetry, dance and beyond. Journalist and writer Martin Sixsmith opens the series with a consideration of the choices, good and bad, open to artists during and after the Revolution.Part of Breaking Free: A Century of Russian CultureProducer Alison Hindell BBC Cymru Wales.

Claire woke up one morning to discover that overnight she had lost her memory as a result of a viral infection. Dr Catherine Loveday, a neuropsycholgist at the University of Westminster, has worked with Claire for many years and shares what life is like when you can only live in the present.Programme image courtesy of Sarah Grice, Wellcome Collection.

Professor David Shanks is an expert in memory and learning at UCL and investigates how the brain makes memories. This has implications for exams and for how people can learn a language, in this essay David looks at how we can influence our memories and tells us about the more unusual ways to remember.Programme image courtesy of Sarah Grice, Wellcome Collection.

Eyewitness accounts are crucial in court cases but how reliable are people's memories? Forensic psychologist Professor Fiona Gabbert researches the reliability, suggestibility and fallibility of memory to discover how errors are made. And while most people think their memories are their own, social influences can cause "memory conformity" when people discuss their shared experiences together. Fiona's research leads to tips on how to cue up the brain to improve how memories are made.Programme image courtesy of Sarah Grice, Wellcome Collection.

We all remember where we were as a child when a particular world event took place; depending on your age it could be the killing of J.F. Kennedy, the bombing of the twin towers in New York or the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Chris French is Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths and is interested in the nature of early childhood memories. Some memories when we interrogate them are clearly not believable and others can be implanted, so how reliable are our memories?Programme image courtesy of Sarah Grice, Wellcome Collection.

Neuroscientist Adam Zeman on how amnesia leads to a loss of self and how the lives of two men, Peter and Marcus, have been affected by their lack of a past. As Professor of Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology at the University of Exeter, Adam works with people with epilepsy who experience loss of memory. His work leads him to examine how memories are formed and ask whether autobiographical details are the only part of our sense of self that matters. Part of Why Music? The Key to Memory at Wellcome Collection which launches on Friday with In Tune. Programme image courtesy of Sarah Grice, Wellcome Collection.

How do you deal with a house worth of "stuff" when the family home needs to be cleared after the death of your mother? And when you're living in a small flat that has little room for heirlooms? While in the depths of grief, and faced with difficult decisions about what to do with everything, Joanna Robertson ponders the true meaning of things once their beloved owner has gone. Apart from their obvious sentimental value, do these objects provide us with a deeper connection to our history and identity? Or are they just "stuff" to get rid of?

Many people feel they're drowning in stuff, and try to declutter. Joanna Robertson is one of them. And in the fourth part of her series on "stuff", she finds that trying to get rid of books and personal letters is a whole other story. What to do with books brought home from faraway places, and with once-treasured love letters? Producer: Arlene Gregorius.