"Words have power". True enough, but power to promote evil as well. In Bangladesh, we had a demagogue who used words to set one group against anothr, with consqunces to this present day. In addition, he was able to generate anger at imaginary grievances just to get votes. Once in office, he became a tyrant. Rationality is not valued very highly in my country: irrational, misdirected emotions, positive and negative, have rendered our society a dysfunctional hell.

"Walls have ears": Carmen Bugan seems to have lived in Bangladesh today. The power of intimidation through surveillance (spyware from Israel) and disappearnces (described by Orwell) are all too familiar to us here. In addition, the seduction of ideology and us-and-them-ing society even down to children in high school - and nobody thinking all this isn't terribly good - comes across as eerily current in Bangladesh in 2021. However, our prdicament is made worse by the active encouragement of western powers for a party that labels itself "secular" in a Muslim society. At least, Ms. Bugan has a sympathetic ear in her western audience.

We’re all familiar with the phrase “words have power”—but in a political and cultural climate where we become more aware of the power that money, influence, and privilege have every day—how do people wield the power of words?

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with philosopher Myisha Cherry and poet Carmen Bugan to talk about how they see their disciplines addressing the questions of language, oppression, and resistance, and exactly what tools the arts and humanities provide to address injustice.

Learn more about "The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle" by Myisha Cherry here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-case-for-rage-9780197557341
Learn more about "Poetry and the Language of Oppression: Essays on Politics and Poetics" by Carmen Bugan here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/poetry-and-the-language-of-oppression-9780198868323

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© Oxford University Press

The Power of Words - Episode 64 - The Oxford Comment

In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Brooke Gladstone, host and Managing Editor of WNYC’s On the Media about the US’ changing media landscape, the meaning of truth and facts in the age of Donald Trump, and how we can teach the next generation to be better media consumers.

This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan.

LSE: The Ballpark | The media, truth, and reality with Brooke Gladstone

Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence co-founder Dr. Robin Stern discusses the role of spirituality and religion in understanding and managing emotions, the danger of suppressing emotions like anger, and her groundbreaking work on gaslighting.

For more information and a transcript, please visit: https://divinity.yale.edu/news/emotional-intelligence-and-spirituality-dr-robin-stern

Emotional Intelligence and Spirituality with Dr. Robin Stern

Brought to you by Penguin.

An irresistible and achingly relatable debut novel for anyone who has ever had to let go of what they thought their life would look like and open themselves up to the dizzying possibilities of chance.

Elliot. Joe. Tommy. Nathanael. Wren. Oliver. Malik. Zach. Frank. Patrick. Noah. These are the men Margot has loved, liked, lusted over.

Since she was seventeen, she’s pictured them like stepping stones – each one bringing her closer to finding someone to share her life with and, eventually, father the children she’s always imagined in her future.

From her first sexual encounter, to her first love, from grown-up dilemmas to spontaneous thrills, she’s soaked up every experience available to her, discovering friendship, joy and despair. Through all of this she’s refined her search until she believes she’s arrived at ‘the ending’ to her story.

So how did she find herself here, single at thirty-four, and about to make the biggest decision of her life?

Tender, devastating and sharply funny, As Young as This is a beautiful depiction of the ways people shape us, the plans we make for our lives, and what it means to let go of them, from an incredible new talent.

©2024 Roxy Dunn (P)2024 Penguin Audio

As Young as This, written and read by Roxy Dunn

Brought to you by Penguin.

THREE LOST SOULS.
A LONG-BURIED SECRET.
THE TRUTH THAT COULD SET THEM FREE...

-----

London, 1915: Tarot reader Katerina is trying to hold her life together amid the wartime chaos. When she opens a bakery that offers divination alongside sweet treats, she is hailed as a beacon of hope. But Katerina is hiding a dark truth that could cost her everything.

Germany, 1918: A mute British soldier is taken to a prisoner of war camp where he meets Miriam, a researcher. She is drawn to his gentle manner and secretly vows to help him. But soon she will have to make an impossible choice: will she save the one she loves, or herself?

Cornwall, Present Day: Recently widowed Edie is astonished to discover a mysterious box hidden in the wall of her newly renovated cottage. As Edie starts to investigate, she uncovers a secret that has lain hidden for over a century...

The Story Collector tells the story of three people, divided by time and circumstance yet bound by a long-held secret.

-----

PRAISE FOR IRIS COSTELLO

'A rich and tender story of fortitude, family and friendship' Ruth Hogan, The Keeper of Lost Things

'The perfect winter read' Amanda Prowse, To Love and Be Loved

'Simply spellbinding, very addictive, and so beautifully written' Sophie Irwin, A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting

'Richly atmospheric, evocative and moving - a triumph of storytelling' Abbie Greaves, The Ends of the Earth

'Full of intrigue and loss, this beautifully written gothic tale makes for a spellbinding read' Rhiannon Ward, The Shadowing

'An intriguing story which skilfully entwines the past and present' Heidi Swain, A Christmas Celebration

'Absorbing, moving and multi-layered... A book to curl up with' Emma Curtis, Invite Me In

'Beautifully written with a story that draws you in' Jane Corry, We All Have Our Secrets

©2023 Iris Costello (P)2023 Penguin Audio

The Story Collector by Iris Costello, read by Kristin Atherton, Jane Slavin and Rosina Aichner

Brought to you by Penguin.

Rocks and mountains have withstood aeons of life on our planet - gradually eroding, dissolving, recycling, shifting, solidifying, and weathering. We might spend a little less time on earth, but humans are also weathering: evolving and changing as we're transformed by the shifting climates of our lives and experiences. So, what might these ancient natural forms have to teach us about resilience and change?

In a stunning exploration of our own connection to these enduring forms, outdoor psychotherapist and geologist Ruth Allen takes us on a journey through deep time and ancient landscapes, showing how geology - which has formed the bedrock of her own adult life and approach to therapy - can offer us a new way of thinking about our own grief, change and boundaries.

In a world shaken by physical, political, and medical disasters, Weathering argues for a deeper understanding of the ground beneath our feet to better serve ourselves and the world we live in.

©2024 Ruth Allen (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Weathering, written and read by Ruth Allen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A recipe for disaster.
When chef Paul Delamare agrees to help his old friend Christian by teaching at an exclusive residential cookery school in Belgravia, the only thing he expects his students to murder is his taste buds. But on the first night, the unthinkable happens: someone turns up dead...

The school rests on a knife-edge.
Could one of his students be the killer? Or Rose - the owner of the school, a woman with secrets and a murky past? The police are convinced Paul is the culprit. After all, he's good with a blade, was first on the scene - and everyone knows what chefs are really like.

It all boils down to murder.
The students are sharpening their knives and if Paul can't solve the mystery fast - as well as teach them how to make a perfect hollandaise sauce - he'll be next to get the chop.

©2023 Orlando Murrin (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin, read by Sebastian Humphreys

Brought to you by Penguin.

For fans of Poverty Safari and Skint Estate, That Peckham Boy is a real-life manifesto calling for positive change for those on the fringes of society.

'When you're writing the story of your life, make sure you're holding the pen. In this life you can be whoever you want to be.'

Two days after his eighteenth birthday, Kenny Imafidon was charged with the murder of a seventeen-year-old boy in south-east London. The middle child of a single mother with ambitions for her children, Kenny grew up near an estate in Peckham where deprivation and hopelessness were rife, and gang culture flourished in his community. Kenny faced a minimum of thirty years behind bars - longer than the life he had lived.

When the case against Kenny collapsed, he quickly realised that his name was still inextricably linked with a horrific crime he hadn't committed. He decided to rewrite his story. It began with The Kenny Report, which he delivered to the House of Commons and which detailed the experiences of marginalised young people who drift into gangs, and has led to extensive work with charities, communities and policy-makers that is helping to change the narratives of other young people just like Kenny.

A candid and unfiltered take on some of the most challenging topics that define our times, That Peckham Boy is a personal manifesto exploring what it means to be young, Black and poor in the city. It is shaped by Kenny's difficult childhood, his transformative time in prison, and the people and conversations that took him from being on trial for murder into the company of some of the most successful people in the world.

© Kenny Imafidon 2023 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

That Peckham Boy by Kenny Imafidon, read by Chuku Modu

Brought to you by Penguin.

Isobel and Jen have spent their entire lives following the rules - of their marriages, and their religion.

But when Isobel's husband leaves her, and Jen goes through unimaginable trauma, the religion turns its back.

Zelda has never done what's expected of her. Living on the outskirts of the community that she, Jen and Isobel were raised in, she's trying to find herself outside of the confines of the world she left behind.

As the lives of these women become entangled, they each face an uncertain future.

Will they find the courage to move forwards? Or will a lifetime of expectation prove too hard to escape...

Praise for Jodie Chapman:

'Beautifully written...I couldn't put it down' EMMA GANNON
'An astounding debut about sibling grief, religion and sliding doors love' PANDORA SYKES
'Deep, rich, thoughtful' Gillian McAllister
'This beautiful tale of love, loss and sacrifice will break your heart...With echoes of David Nicholls' One Day and Sally Rooney's novels, it perfectly captures the agony of falling in love and the razor-sharp reality of pain and loss' DAILY MAIL

©2023 Jodie Chapman (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Oh, Sister by Jodie Chapman, read by Susannah Fielding

Brought to you by Penguin.

What happened to Lara?

Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lára spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík.

In early August, the girl disappears without a trace.

The mystery becomes Iceland's greatest unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later in August, 1986, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lara's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lara's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .

©2023 Katrín Jakobsdottír & Ragnar Jónasson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reykjavík by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir, read by Bert Seymour and Tamaryn Payne

Beneath the streets of London there is another London. A subterranean labyrinth of sewers and abandoned tube stations. A somewhere that is Neverwhere... An act of kindness sees Richard Mayhew catapulted from his ordinary life into the strange world of London Below. There he meets the Earl of Earl's Court, faces a life-threatening ordeal at the hands of the Black Friars, comes face to face with the Great Beast of London, and encounters an Angel. Called Islington. Accompanied by the mysterious Door and her companions, the Marquis de Carabas and the bodyguard Hunter, Richard embarks on an extraordinary quest to escape from the fiendish assassins Croup and Vandemar and to discover who ordered them to murder her family - all the while trying to get back to his old life in London Above. Adapted for radio by the award-winning Dirk Maggs, this captivating dramatisation features a stellar cast including David Harewood, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Christopher Lee, Anthony Head and David Schofield. Contains over 25 minutes of additional unbroadcast material, including extended scenes, bloopers and outtakes.


©2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2013 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, starring James McAvoy and Natalie Dormer

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The Power of Words - Episode 64 - The Oxford Comment

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