The Documentary Podcast

Braille and me


Listen Later

Built around a game of braille Scrabble, Emma Tracey presents a celebration of braille, 200 years after it was invented. Emma, who’s been blind since birth, talks to others who love the six tiny dots: Geerat Vermeij, one of the world’s leading experts in molluscs; Yetnebersh Nigussie, an Ethiopian lawyer, who describes her blindness as "a lottery I won at the age of five"; Sheri Wells-Jensen, a linguistics professor who’s been a linguistic consultant on Star Trek and is on the US advisory board for messaging extra-terrestrial intelligence; Japanese concert pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii, who learnt to play using braille music; and Emma's friend and Scrabble partner, Ellie. And there’s a chance encounter with the most famous braille user of them all, Stevie Wonder.

But can braille survive with the ever-increasing supply of tech that allows blind people to listen to, rather than feel, information?

Presenter: Emma Tracey

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound design: Steve Brooke
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Documentary PodcastBy BBC World Service

  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3
  • 4.3

4.3

1,604 ratings


More shows like The Documentary Podcast

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,583 Listeners

The Archers by BBC Radio 4

The Archers

1,080 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

378 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

522 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,057 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

296 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,463 Listeners

Witness History by BBC World Service

Witness History

964 Listeners

The History Hour by BBC World Service

The History Hour

589 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,747 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,042 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,085 Listeners

The Interview by BBC World Service

The Interview

359 Listeners

Lives Less Ordinary by BBC World Service

Lives Less Ordinary

592 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

973 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

403 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

745 Listeners

The Audio Long Read by The Guardian

The Audio Long Read

848 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,187 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,032 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

331 Listeners

The Explanation by BBC World Service

The Explanation

25 Listeners