Melvyn Bragg on Depression and the Power of Reading

Melvyn Bragg talks candidly to Paula Byrne about his experience of depression and the role that great literature, such as the poems of William Wordsworth, has played in helping him to deal with it.

[@johnmcclellan9020]

I admire Melvyn for admitting that he suffered from depression and in do so can help others.

[@reaganwiles_art]

I listen to BBC 4 In Our Time while I cook here in the halfway house in Western NC. I have been an avid reader since I was a small boy, since, in fact, given Danny and the Dinosaur by my paternal grandma for my fourth or fifth birthday. The first things I remember reading, apart from Danny, are nursery rhymes, Bible stories, and Lewis Carroll. Half my lifetime ago I took a degree in English. I write, something that I must do. I listen to BBC 4 for Melvyn's pertinacity and humble charm.

[@mikenorgrove2795]

Those last few moments...as with Frank Skinner recently...such poweful emotion

[@christianstef9292]

Lord Melvyn Bragg you are a Legend Sir!

[@villll]

I've binged about 50 episodes of in our time philosophy this month, don't retire melvyn

[@athenassigil5820]

This was an excellent conversation, the only thing I wish, was that it had been longer.

[@patrickmccormack4318]

Hello from Alaska. J.G. Ballard sent me here. Many thanks for posting good medicine.

[@TosinAnimashaun]

12:54 A very important point about reading aloud there.

[@user-wz3ir3dg7h]

I went to the Nelson Thomlinson School Wigton at the same time as Melvin. X

[@ghostecrack]

personally when i see someone else who has gone through really similar things that i have, fictional or real, i noticed i form this sort of attachment to them. it can be really hard to help other people understand that attachment, because really only you can feel it. only you and that other person would only be truly able to understand each other.

[@skippy7208]

Absolutely true, I do the same ❤️

[@elvansavkli3806]

I love reading.Thanks.

[@ashyanaharricharran3458]

I love reading aloud. I get to read with expression.

[@Joanna-gg4qx]

I’ve read a scientific study that actually states that reading aloud opens up neural pathways in your brain in a similar way to playing the piano, it’s supposed to be much more progressive for brain links than just reading in your head. Makes you wonder anyway :)

[@bertaga41]

Very therapeutic to do it alone. I also find my understanding and memory of what I've read is enhanced. As I get older I find it very easy to let my mind drift. If I read aloud it helps maintain my focus. And to crown it all reading becomes a physical experience.

[@brucejackson4219]

A very good interview: Two books I started, BUT put aside after some thirty pages each, were "A burnt out case" [Graham Greene] and "Nausea" [Sartre]. I saw a bit too much in them of my own personality I was uncomfortable with. Perhaps I'll return to them. Take care of yourself Melvyn.

[@seanmoran6510]

Spot on Melvin

[@a_1081p]

She's perfect

[@sudhindrakopalle7071]

For an 81 year old, he has the world's best hair. That's my comment for this video.

[@eyedownload]

You swim in a shallow pool.

[@wallacecleaver4485]

That's alright, it's obvious you aren't much brighter than a 5 Watt bulb !

[@jormamaattanen3048]

@@wallacecleaver4485 Do you mean a 5 Watt energy-efficiet light bulb or an old fashioned incandescent bulb? The former ones, as you may know, give a lot of light with only 5 Watts. (And by the way, her legs are just STUNNING, don't you agree?)

[@piccupaul]

Good comment.

[@jestermoon]

Take A Moment Melvin is a genius 🎉 Thank you for your work. Stay Safe and Stay Free 2:06 🌐 😂

[@holistic7980]

I found the Qur'an is life changing to read and recite and listen. Even if I didn't know all the words in Arabic there is something very uplifting listening to it.

[@wallacecleaver4485]

Too bad the sound quality is so bad, because of these high tech microphones !

[@RasMajnouni]

B"H Xmas is past.We thought, we sought ,we planned, we wished and we BOUGHT but still we didn't get what we wanted. We now HOPE for new Year's Eve and hope for the New Year to find a "better life" We all know what we need but who knows what we are needed for We are ALL Equal in that we have the same soul We are all different in tht no one shares the same kind of human body we have All Created beings NEED hope or we can't go on The Grass is greener On The Other Side, its what we HOPE will give us what we want When we get to the other Side we find that we didn't get all that we wanted Once KINGS and Emperoros ruled us as slaves NOW we are all slaves to our desires, we have hope that the next thing we are enslaved to buy and purchase will make us "happy" The new World Order is again King over us, were we ever free of kings? We all know what we NEED but do we know what we are NEEDED for? IF you ask yourself WHAT you are needed for as an Eternal Soul enclothed in a Human Physical Body, you will find the answer. As souls we are all one.

[@buzzhawk]

Don't go storming any government buildings to bring down the NWO.

[@RasMajnouni]

@@buzzhawk No chance. I live in Israel!

[@buzzhawk]

@@RasMajnouni Very nice, you already live in the apartheid state.

[@RasMajnouni]

@@buzzhawk You want to see ugly? Listen to the words and apply it to yourself: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGLVqJ6deKaJqcU

[@starwonder8324]

Blessings everyone GREAT WATCH HERE FOR EVERYONE "FROM EVOLUTIONIST TO CREATIONIST" BY PROFESSOR WALTER VEITH POWERFUL BEAUTIFUL TRUE AMAZING STORY FROM SOUTH AFRICA YOU TUBE ENJOY BEAUTIFUL WATCH 😃🙏🏿❤️

[@buzzhawk]

Disgusting cult. Keep your nonsense to yourself.

[@geoffreynhill2833]

Naaah! The Eagle was best. And Wordsworth's "Immortality Ode".

[@acajudi100]

Readers are leaders. So many books, yet so little time. Keep written , audio and video journals, and help non beggars help themselves.

[@starwonder8324]

"THE GREAT RESET"? BY PROFESSOR WALTER VEITH AND MARTIN SMITH YOU TUBE POWERFUL POWERFUL WATCH FROM SOUTH AFRICA ENJOY 😃🙏🏿❤️

[@djturbine7565]

She wants the Bragg.

[@Ad-Infinitum]

Or rather, she's told by the misogynistic producers to show some skin.

[@simonbutler9526]

Why do the BBC still employ him when he supports fox hunting. Pure evil.

[@willw.1466]

shuuuut the fck up. he's contributed more to this world than you and your entire family have and ever will

[@simonbutler9526]

This man is evil.

[@buzzhawk]

You're a loon.

[@simonbutler9526]

@@buzzhawk Better that than an evil hypocrite which he is.

[@damian-g4lht]

“This man is evil” do you have a scale as in Hitler was evil, Stalin was evil, where on there does Bragg sit. Many words come to mind about Bragg but evil certainly isn’t one of them.

[@simonbutler9526]

@@damian-g4lht Anyone who enjoys watching an animal being ripped to shreds, seriously need to question their mental health.