Grieving when estranged, musical hallucinations and the benefits of snoozing your alarm

Losing a parent is extremely difficult, but for adult children who are estranged, this loss can create a mixture of grief, sadness, guilt or relief. Claudia Hammond talks to broadcaster and author, Professor Alice Roberts, about her experience of losing her mother after being estranged for 5 years. A group of estranged adult children were interviewed to learn more about these feelings and how they’ve dealt with them. Claudia discusses the findings with Professor Karl Pillemer, sociologist at Cornell University and author of ‘Fault Lines: Fractured Families and How to Mend Them’.

Hearing music when nothing is playing is more common than you might think. For people with hearing loss, many ‘hear’ music as if it real. From choral versions of ‘Ferry across the Mersey’ to random notes on an organ, listeners Peter and Elizabeth share what it is like living with a constant juke box in their heads. Claudia chats about this phenomenon with Professor of cognitive neurology at Newcastle University, Tim Griffiths, and learns what might be happening in the brain to cause it.

Peter Olusoga, senior lecturer in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, joins Claudia in the studio to discuss how zoom backgrounds influence first impressions, the benefits of micro-breaks and when snoozing your alarm might be good for you...

Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Julia Ravey Studio Manager: Tim Heffer Production Coordinator: Siobhan Maguire Editor: Holly Squire