The Why Factor

Why Do We Love Landscapes?


Listen Later

What is it about a beautiful landscape that people like so much? Caz Graham explores the appeal of landscapes, starting with a visit to the English Lake District and the site of William Wordsworth’s poem, Daffodils.

Caz meet local poet Harriet Fraser and her husband, photographer, Rob Fraser, to hear what it is about the lakes and mountains where they work that so inspires them and other artists. She meets high altitude mountaineer Alan Hinkes to find out why he is drawn to wild and potentially dangerous mountains. And she meets day-trippers who are drawn back again and again to take in the classic Lake District vistas.
Professor Catherine Ward-Thompson, an expert in landscape architecture at Edinburgh University in Scotland explains the connection we feel with landscape and the theories that seek to explain it, including the potential therapeutic value of being part of the landscape. Hitesh Mehta, a landscape architect who specialises in eco-tourism, explains how different cultures feel a connection to their landscape.
The black and white photographs of Ansell Adams of the mountains of Yosemite and the deserts of New Mexico in the USA are classic images of these landscapes - his biographer Mary Alinder tells Caz why these places meant to much to Adams.

(Photo: A green valley and hills in the horizon)

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

The Why FactorBy BBC World Service

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

182 ratings


More shows like The Why Factor

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,447 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,802 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,626 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,747 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,083 Listeners

Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

77,745 Listeners

La competència - Programa sencer by RAC1

La competència - Programa sencer

50 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

1,982 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,092 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,039 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

21,927 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

755 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,471 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

474 Listeners

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel by Esther Perel Global Media

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

14,933 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,197 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,984 Listeners