Writing Technology - Experiments in Living

What kind of writing keeps us thinking about technology and social media platforms, and their place in our lives - especially when they're seamlessly woven into our days? Ian McMillan is joined by comedian and actress Isy Suttie, political analyst Nanjala Nyabola, the poet Jack Underwood, and communications lecturer Dr Paul Taylor.

Isy Suttie writes and performs a brand new song for The Verb about disappearing into the wormhole of the smartphone, and considers throwing her devices into the sea. But will that just encourage sharks to tweet, she wonders? Isy won a Sony Award for her radio series 'Pearl and Dave'; her novel 'Jane is Trying' is published later this year.

Political Analyst and essayist Nanjala Nyabola tells us about the satisfaction of finding Kiswahili words for technological terms conceived in English, and how important the right language is for shaping our political futures. Nanjala shares her love of the work of Botswanan writer Bessie Head and discusses her collection of essays 'Travelling While Black'.

Poet Jack Underwood's new book is a lyric essay, combining poetry and prose; it's called 'Not Even This: Poetry, parenthood and living' and is a tender exploration of time, uncertainty and fatherhood. Jack argues for poetry as a respite from the risks of generalisation and certainty that much of today's technology seems to encourage.

Dr Paul Taylor is a senior lecturer in communications theory at the University of Leeds, and he avoids social media completely. Paul explains why he looks for insights into how technology may be influencing not just how we use our time - but what we think we are here for - in the work of Italian novelist Italo Calvino and in the novels of French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre.