A Point of View

Finding himself on a restricted diet, Will Self reflects on the rise of food allergies and intolerances which used to fail to invoke his sympathy. "It's not so much that I doubt the physiological component of all this tummy rumbling and grumbling, it's more that the social and cultural aspects of the malaise have grown still louder in the past half decade.".

Adam Gopnik struggles to keep his New Year's resolutions to find a "monastic moment" in the day to meditate and listen to good music. "What gets in the way of our dream of practising detachment..is our daily practice of attachment, which may be the most human thing about us." Producer: Sheila Cook.

Adam Gopnik deplores the fashion for attacking so-called "cultural expropriation" as in the recent fuss over American students wearing sombreros at a Mexican theme party. "Cultural mixing - the hybridization of hats, if you like - is the rule of civilisation not some new intrusion within our own. Healthy civilisations have always been mongrelized, cosmopolitan, hybrid, corrupted and expropriated and mixed.".

Adam Gopnik thinks future generations will be as appalled by some practices that are accepted today as we are by aspects of the past."Even as we condemn our moral ancestors, we need to hold our ears to the wind, and listen for the faint sounds of our descendants telling their melancholy truths about us."Producer: Sheila Cook.

Adam Gopnik says the secret of happiness lies in unexpected pleasures, like finding yoghourt is vanilla when you expect it to be plain."Are the intrinsic qualities of something more powerful than the context in which we perceive it, or are what we call intrinsic properties really only the effect of expectations and surprise?" Producer: Sheila Cook.

Helen Macdonald has made her name writing about nature and birds of prey. So why has she become so fascinated with the recent Star Wars movie that she's been to see it six times? In her first "A Point of View" she tries to get to the bottom of her obsession and wonders whether it's all down to nostalgia or something else. Producer: Richard Vadon.

After hearing a former political prisoner in South Africa and a holocaust survivor tell their stories, Tom Shakespeare concludes that personal experience is the most powerful form of expertise."Hearing their testimonies affected me more deeply than any lecture, book or film. They were unforgettable authentic encounters."Producer: Sheila Cook.

Tom Shakespeare is concerned by the growth in cosmetic procedures and the pressure more and more women and girls, in particular, feel to conform to a face and body type. "My anxiety is about the society that first generates body dissatisfaction and then provides surgery as the solution to that cultural problem".Producer: Sheila Cook.

Tom Shakespeare argues that we need a new national anthem, one that celebrates what's great about the whole country, reflects the diversity of the population and the values of modern society. He suggests that existing anthem-like hymns such as Jerusalem, or the likes of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory won't do. Jerusalem, for example, talks of walking on England's mountains green, excluding the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish. A new anthem, written and composed for the purpose, would actually mean something and would make us proud of what's great about the United Kingdom. It would be in tune with our times. Producer: Arlene Gregorius.

Tom Shakespeare argues the House of Lords should be completely reformed and turned into a Senate of 300 members (down from over 800). He suggests they should consist of 100 politicians, selected in proportion to parties' showing in the previous general election, 100 cross-benchers, chosen for their expertise, and 100 members of the public, selected from the electoral roll like juries. Producer: Arlene Gregorius.