Crossing the Line
Campaigner Louise Lancaster has gone from law-abiding teacher to law-breaking eco-activist, and been jailed for her actions. Is she a concerned campaigner or a reckless fanatic?
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How do you tell the story of your life when you have no memory of the events that shaped you?
At 15, Stephen McAll was a promising musician with a head full of songs. He was booked into a studio to record an album. Then, one night walking home from his girlfriend’s house in East Kilbride, he was attacked and beaten. The assault left him with serious head injuries and diagnoses of psychosis, excruciating cluster headaches, and PTSD.
It also erased almost all of his memories. He says he could recognise faces and names of loved ones, but had lost every experience, event, or occasion in his life up to that point. He couldn't lay down new memories or hold onto information. He could read words on a page, but could not retain their meaning.
Now in his early 40s, Stephen McAll is a successful music artist, and founder of critically-acclaimed folk band Constant Follower. This episode of Illuminated charts Stephen's decades-long journey from devastating injury and memory loss, back to hope and happiness.
Producers: Katie Revell and Dave Howard
Sound design: Jonathan Webb
Executive producer: Dave Howard
Music: Stephen McAll
Excerpt of 'The Root of It' by Norman MacCaig, taken from album The Way I Say It, copyright Claddagh Records
Excerpt of 'Tourist and Landlord' by Norman MacCaig, from a film made for the Scottish Poetry Library called 'Norman MacCaig reads 2 Poems'
Thanks to Shaun Milne
A Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
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A free, state-of-the-art children’s hospital is transforming paediatric care in Uganda. But is one hospital enough to reset the future for Uganda's children?
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In 1983, Maini Schildt competed in the first Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. Maini was a teenager when, as part of the Finnish women's national team, she reached the final against the USA.
Ultimate Frisbee was developed in the late 1960s in the United States before spreading to Canada and beyond. Maini Schildt tells Maddy Savage how it felt to compete at the tournament, the first of its kind in the history of the sport.
Produced by Carys Wall
Presented by Maddy Savage
Exec Produced by Dave Howard.
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(Photo: The Finnish and American Ultimate Frisbee teams after the 1983 Ultimate Frisbee World Championship. Credit: Maini Schildt)
Sound designer Jonathan Webb listens out for audio evidence of fairies, fauns and nature spirits at the Findhorn settlement on the north east coast of Scotland.
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