The Power of the Crowd
Being part of a large gathering of people can be a powerful experience. Samira Ahmed explores the relationship between the individual and the crowd
There are many different ways people come together: as an audience, a mob, or a congregation. Being an individual member of a large gathering can be an empowering and celebratory experience. It can also be an isolating one.
As she watches the group of people she's so often part of - the travelling throng at Waterloo station - Samira Ahmed explores the relationship between the individual and the crowd.
She considers the beauty of city hordes on their mass manoeuvres; the pleasure she takes in people watching; and the ways individuals can find a profound sense of camaraderie in a large group. And she looks at the riotous mobs as encountered by John Wesley in the eighteenth century and in 1940s Harlem, as witnessed by James Baldwin.
She speaks to Stephen Reicher of the University of St Andrews about the psychology of individuals when they gather together - from train commuters to the Kumbh Mela in India. And we hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer David Lang about Crowd Out, his new piece for a community of one thousand voices.
Featuring music by Edith Piaf, Brownie McGhee and Thomas Tallis and with the words of George Szirtes, James Baldwin, Vesna Goldsworthy and Arnold Bennett.
Produced by Caroline Hughes.
A Whistledown Production for 蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
Last on
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Samira Ahmed on the dynamics and power of a crowd on her blog.
Music Played
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In a Station of the Metro (from 聭Selected Poems聮) by Ezra Pound
A haiku-like evocation of the city聮s crowds
He Stands So Thin and Waits (from 聭The Angel of Salonika聮) by Vesna Goldsworthy
A tentative meeting of two people in bustling railway station
The Journals of Arnold Bennett Vol 1 1896-1910 by Arnold Bennett
Observations on the joys of people-watching in Paris
The Journal of John Wesley 1743 by John Wesley
Wesley聮s confrontation with a riotous mob in Wednesbury
The Prelude (Book VII) by William Wordsworth
The Romantic poet聮s impressions of cosmopolitan life
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
A vivid account of the Harlem Riot of 1943
Preston North End (from 聭New and Collected Poems聮) by George Szirtes
A poem about belonging in a crowd, and to a nation. By permission of The Poetry Archive
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Brownie McGhee
Face in the Crowd
- Brownie McGhee Sings the Blues.
- Folkways Records.
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脡dith Piaf
La Foule
- The Best of Edith Piaf.
- EMI.
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Charles Wesley
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Performer: Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band.- Sing Lustily and With Good Courage.
- Saydisc.
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Pontarddulais Male Choir
Diolch I聮r Ior
- Favourite Welsh Choirs.
- EMI.
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Parker
Meandering
Performer: Charlie Parker.- The Essential Charlie Parker.
- Metro Doubles.
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Thomas Tallis
Spem in alium
Performer: Peter Phillips & The Tallis Scholars.- The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis.
- Gimell Records.
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Patrick Watson
Quiet Crowd
- Adventures In Your Own Backyard.
- Domino.
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Dobie Gray
The "In" Crowd
- Best of Dobie Gray.
- Curb.
Broadcasts
- Sun 11 May 2014 06:05蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 11 May 2014 23:30蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 5 Mar 2023 06:05蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 5 Mar 2023 23:30蜜芽传媒 Radio 4
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