麻豆约拍

John McCarthy investigates the weird and wonderful world of sleep.

Every day, for several hours, the mind dissolves and enters a radically different realm where terrifying apparitions might appear. If it were described to us as a disease then the idea of sleep might be quite frightening! But sleep is also a wonderful place of rest and fantasy that we all frequently yearn for.

Given we spend about a third of our lives asleep, you might think that we would know a little more about it. Unless we are having trouble with sleep, as millions around the world do on a regular basis, it's a daily fact of life that we rarely consider.

John McCarthy explores the attractions and pitfalls of sleep and the ways in which writers and poets - from John Donne to Schopenhauer - have presented their ideas on sleep and dreams. Why does the reality of sleep make so many of them think about death? He talks to the physician and philosopher Raymond Tallis about sleep and what it suggests about human consciousness.

John introduces sleep related music from Chopin, The Smiths and The Incredible String Band, as well as an extract from Max Richter's epic 8-hour lullaby on Sleep.

A Whistledown production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4.