Recording of the week: 40 Days and 40 Nights

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…

Recording of the week: Cycling

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…

Recording of the Week: Flamenco runs in the blood

Dr Alejandro Martínez was a London-based GP with a passion for flamenco. An amateur guitarist himself, he was well connected within the professional scene and counted among his friends some of the greatest singers (cantaores), guitarists (tocaores) and dancers (bailaores) of the 1950s and 1960s. Many of these flamenco stars…

Recording of the week: ‘Who goes down Euston Road?’ 50 years of British Library memories

Aerial view of the British Library, St Pancras. Photo by Sam Lane Photography. This month, the British Library celebrates its 50th anniversary. Brought into being by the British Library Act 1972, the Library was established on the 1 July 1973. Ten years later, the British Institute of Recorded Sound was…

Recording of the week: Don McCullin on war photography

I chose this interview with the war photographer Don McCullin to gain a deeper understanding of photography as a profession and, more specifically, photojournalism. From Finsbury Park, London, Don McCullin has collaborated with many national and international newspapers covering major world conflicts. He has won several awards including the prestigious…