A new three-part series for BBC Radio 4 exploring the surprising and emotional history of solitude across the centuries starts today. The series is presented by Professor Thomas Dixon of the Centre for the History of the Emotions and was made during the lockdown of Spring and Summer 2020. The series consultant was Professor Barbara Taylor, who leads the QMUL Pathologies of Solitude project. Other contributors include a wide range of artists and academics with particular interests in varieties of solitary life and experience, from medieval monks and anchorites, to walkers, anglers, and poets, and finally to those experiencing confinement against their will.

Tiffany Watt Smith worked as a consultant on the Covidoscope project. Created by the Turkish Yunus Emre Institute, it charts the emotional upheavals of the early months of the pandemic through popular artworks from more than 40 countries. It’s currently available in four different languages (English, Turkish, Arabic and Spanish) and will continue to be updated as an emotional archive for the future.

Find out more here