Humania Podcast Humania Podcast

By the age of 25, Frank Swain had lost most of his hearing - forcing him to wear electronic aids to listen to the world around him.

Instead of allowing his isolating condition to get him down, he decided to turn his "disability into a superability"

This is his story.

Music:

Evenings - '[I] Softly, We Go..'
Evenings - 'Friend [Lover]'

BBC Radio 4's daily Shipping Forecast has become somewhat of a British Institution since it was first issued via Telegraph in 1861. But what can the historical meteorological broadcast tell us about our own modern-day society?

Regular reader Zeb Soanes attempts to decipher.

Music:
Spring 0 - Max Richter
Forces of Attraction - Jóhann Jóhannsson

Often overshadowed by its fellow senses, Dr Alex Rhys-Taylor explains the role smell has played in the foundation and history of London.

What can the London Riots of 2011 tell us about Human Behaviour?

Dr. Hannah Fry used mathematics to find out.



Music:

Oasis - Fucking in the Bushes

Peter Preston was editor on the Guardian Newspaper in 1977 when, on April 1st, they printed a story on San Seriffe - a fictitious island nation.

Professor Chris French has spent a large chunk of his academic life looking at the Psychology of Paranormal Phenomena - but what can these beliefs teach us about ourselves?