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with Cathy Macdonald

Sharing our emotions online, setting out good intentions for 2022, improving our friendships and relationships and what Ricky Gervais's After Life can teach us about grief.

January is often described as the most depressing month of the year, but where to turn to when we’re struggling emotionally? Blogger Mandy Jones explains why she turned to social media to get her through a period of instability in her life, and Cathy is joined by Chris Hand, Senior Lecturer Psychology at Glasgow University, to look at the support available and the risks of being emotionally vulnerable online.

Are you approaching the new year with particular intentions? Cathy finds out the difference between resolutions and intentions and how the latter might set just the right tone for a new beginning, with Chris Hand and Sheikh Hassan Rabbani, Muslim Chaplain and relationship counsellor.

Relationships have been tested during the pandemic, with many looking to loved ones to help with the tough times we’re living through - but how easy is that when everyone’s having to dig deep? Chris Hand and Hassan Rabbani are joined by writer and community arts facilitator Jan Carson to look at how recent challenges have forced us to re-evaluate our relationships.

Jan Carson speaks about her latest book, The Raptures, which takes us to a Protestant village in Northern Ireland, 1993, where a mysterious illness has taken hold. In it she explores faith, belonging, loss and grief.

Still deep in winter, writer Anna Magnusson takes us on a night-time walk in nature, reflecting on darkness and light.

With the return of a new series of Ricky Gervais’s After Life, a dark comedy about a man struggling with the death of his wife, Jan Carson and film-maker Sue Bourne discuss the nature of grief and what it brings out in us, including emotions and actions which are not always palatable.

1 hour, 54 minutes

Last on

Sun 9 Jan 2022 08:00

Music Played

  • Nina Simone

    Ain't Got No, I Got Life

    • (CD Single).
    • Sony BMG.
  • First Aid Kit

    MUSIC King of the World - First Aid Kit

    • The Lion’s Roar.
    • Wichita Recordings.
    • 010.
  • The Tams

    MUSIC Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy - The Tams

    • Feelgood Songs.
    • EMI / Virgin.
    • 15.
  • Regina Specktor

    MUSIC Samson - Regina Spektor

    • Single.
    • Sire.
    • 1.
  • Amythyst Kiah, Moby & Gregory Porter

    MUSIC Natural Blues - Amythyst Kiah, Moby & Gregory Porter

  • Stealers Wheel

    MUSIC Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel

    • (Single).
    • A&M.
  • Love and Money

    MUSIC Winter - Love and Money

    • Winter.
    • Fontana.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Sun 9 Jan 2022 08:00