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Is there too much bad news? As a journalist, Mark Tully worries that his profession sometimes exacerbates a growing sense of world weariness.

At times, the sheer volume of awful stories in the news can be utterly overwhelming – that there's a temptation to despair completely, is hardly surprising. How should we overcome world weariness, improve our lot and maintain a zest for life?

In many faiths despair is a sin, and it is commonly seen as a social ill. Yet in the nineteenth century, the Romantic movement coined the word 'Weltschmerz', which was seen as a spur to achievement and the natural ally of idealism. So is weariness with the world something we can harness and use to improve life?

Mark talks to the journalist and writer on ethics and international development, Paul Vallely, and presents readings by the poet Paul Birtill and the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.

There is music from Mahalia Jackson, Tracy Chapman and John Corrigliano.

The readers are David Holt and Francis Cadder

Produced by Frank Stirling
A Unique production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4