Start the Week

Lenny Henry


Listen Later

Lenny Henry was 16 when he first appeared on television making people laugh in the 1970s. He tells Kirsty Wark about coming of age in the spotlight at a time of casual chauvinism and blatant racism, all while under his Jamaican mother’s strict instruction to integrate.

The novelist Tessa McWatt knows only too well the complexity of fitting in. Born in Guyana, raised in Canada and working in Britain, McWatt explores themes of the outsider in society and conflicting ideas of belonging.

The writer and former sportsman Matthew Syed encourages breaking free of the echo chambers that surround us, to develop an ‘outsider mindset’. Cognitive diversity, he argues in his latest book, is the answer to many of the world’s most challenging problems.

And the social psychologist Keon West explains the research being done to reduce bias between different groups of people. He argues that mandatory unconscious bias training is not only pointless - but possibly detrimental.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Picture credit: © ITV / Rex / Shutterstock

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

Start the WeekBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

154 ratings


More shows like Start the Week

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,747 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

301 Listeners

The Archers by BBC Radio 4

The Archers

1,097 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

377 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

889 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,065 Listeners

The Reith Lectures by BBC Radio 4

The Reith Lectures

214 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,471 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,821 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

302 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,789 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,047 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,077 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

479 Listeners

Profile by BBC Radio 4

Profile

108 Listeners

Moral Maze by BBC Radio 4

Moral Maze

68 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

126 Listeners

Daily Politics from the New Statesman by The New Statesman

Daily Politics from the New Statesman

139 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

44 Listeners

The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4

The Briefing Room

74 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,221 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,041 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

103 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,072 Listeners