The City

The German sociologist Georg Simmel famously claimed that ‘one nowhere feels as lonely and lost as in the metropolitan crowd’. Hetta Howes and Charlie Williams take a walk through London to explore this classic idea of loneliness and the many ways of being alone in a city. They hear from Matthew Beaumont about the long tradition of ‘nightwalkers’, a mantle applied to vagrants, sex workers, migrants and bohemians, all searching for different opportunities in the city after dark. Hetta speaks to Leo Coleman about the development of the industrial city and the experiences of isolation that come with it, before being guided by Susheila Nasta through Sam Selvon’s classic novel of city newcomers, The Lonely Londoners. Contributors: Charlie Williams (Queen Mary University of London), Matthew Beaumont (University College London), Leo Coleman (Hunter College, City University of New York), Susheila Nasta (Queen Mary University of London) Presented by Hetta Howes Curated by Charlie Williams Produced by Natalie Steed Readings by Miles Richardson and Burt Caesar