Testing the alarms

Fear (© Flickr/Olivier Degabriele)

Since 9/11, many people have come to view the world through a filter of anxiety. Daily media reports of terror attacks or threats keep us all on heightened alert. But what is the source of that fear?

Sassan Saghar Yaghmai is an Iranian choreographer who lives with his Dutch wife and baby daughter in the city of Amsterdam. Though his work he is trying to make people aware of the dangers of being cowed by fear. Fiona Stewart lives in London with her husband and two baby daughters. Last July 7th, she arrived at King’s Cross underground station ten minutes before the explosions that rocked the city. But an encounter on the underground a few years earlier offered a chilling premonition of what was to come.

The programme also include Joanna Bourke, author of “Fear: A cultural history”.

Producer: Michele Ernsting

Broadcast: November 15, 2005