Above: Jack Carey in 1957. Photo copyright © Neil Hornick Jack Carey was an English teacher and poet. His poetry was first published in 1958, in The London Magazine. Further poems were published in a range of journals and anthologies over the years, and his collection Words and Mirrors (1976)…

This week the sad news of Michael Parkinson’s death was announced. Known as the ‘king of the chat show’, Parkinson had a rich television and radio career. Which included most famously presenting his own show Parkinson, and, from 1986 to 1988, Desert Island Discs. Whilst cataloguing audio for the Unlocking…

Experience a new sound installation, ‘Breathe in, Breathe out’, in the Sir John Ritblat Treasures Gallery at the British Library. The project looks at the positive effects of sound on well-being and relaxation. It is the first in a series of new initiatives in the Treasures Gallery, exploring innovative ways…

Photo by Elias Maurer on Unsplash. Three years ago the UK was emerging from the first of its three national lockdowns, imposed by the government in an effort to curtail the spread of Covid-19. In March 2020, BBC Radio 4’s PM programme launched Covid Chronicles, inviting listeners to submit accounts…

Photo by Keswick Sportive, used under CC 2.0 licence. The BBC made their final recordings for The Listening Project last year, and we are currently in the process of adding these to the British Library collections. With over 2,000 conversations recorded over 10 years, the archive is a real treasure…