10. Did You Hear That?
Kirsty Logan explores the modern quest to capture a ghost in a machine, and how we went from wanting to catch the spirit of the dead, to creating ghosts of ourselves.
Illustration by Seonaid Mackay
'You set up a tape recorder and leave it running, recording silence. You ask your questions into the silence, leaving a sufficient pause for a response. Later, you listen back to the recording. Through the mush and static, if you listen very carefully, you may be able to just about make out people speaking.'
Kirsty Logan explores the modern quest to capture a ghost in a machine, from Tesla and Edison feuding over a spirit phone, to the apparent capture of voices in white noise and on tape. And she discovers that somewhere in the 21st century our wish to contact the dead has changed, we went from wanting to catch the spirit of the dead, to creating ghosts of ourselves.
Last on
Clips
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Kirsty Logan - The Ghost Seal
Duration: 02:21
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Digital Urns
Duration: 02:18
Kirsty Logan - The only time I think of you is all the time
Photo Credit: Simone-Falk
Our Extra Content today is Kirsty Logan, writer of novels and short stories. My books are Things We Say In The Dark, The Gloaming, The Gracekeepers, A Portable Shelter, and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales.
After 10 episodes exploring the evolution of ghost stories, our presenter Kirsty shares an original ghost story, one that shows the terror and destructiveness of obsessive love.
Broadcasts
- Fri 30 Oct 2020 13:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Fri 12 Nov 2021 14:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4