Dr Debbie Maxwell, from the University of York’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television (TFTV) discusses folktales about bees to investigate the power of storytelling in helping communities today, and particularly young people, in conserving this crucial insect and its environment for future generations.

In the final episode in the series archaeologist, Dr Penny Spikins and philosopher, Dr Dorothea Debus, explore a children’s book and the personal inscription inside its pages to understand whether certain objects make human beings feel unique. This book was published in 1991 and was submitted as a cherished object through our online survey. If we were to copy all of its unique characteristics and produce a perfect replica of the book, would the owner be tempted to give up the original for the replica? In this episode we explore why it is difficult to let go of certain objects and whether the characteristics of the item gives us a sense of personal uniqueness as its owner.

Series two of ‘The Story of Things’ will be back with a new line-up of research projects in October 2017.

Dr Penny Spikins and Dr Dorothea Debus inspect a 1950s brooch, which contains a special photograph. They ask is it the stories behind an object that makes them meaningful to us? Is it the emotion that comes with a story the real value of ‘things’?

In episode one, Dr Penny Spikins and Dr Dorothea Debus, from the University of York, discuss an ancient hand axe, on loan to us from the Yorkshire Museum. It looks like it could be a weapon but in actual fact it is a tool used for cutting meat approximately 70,000 years ago. Aside from its practical application, it was made in a way that was also aesthetically pleasing. So why would this ancient community care about what a basic cutting tool looked like? One theory is that its pleasing aesthetic demonstrated skill, patience, and knowledge on the part of its maker. In this podcast episode the researchers discuss what this tells us about our human attachments to everyday objects and how it helps us interpret the world we live in today. A video of the hand axe is available on the York Festival of Ideas website.

Listen to a teaser trailer of the upcoming podcast series, The Story of Things. The three-part series will explore the meaning of everyday objects from the past and present that help us explain the world we live in. Presenters, Dr Penny Spikins and Dr Dorothea Debus from the University of York, give a taster here of what to expect from the series.