Something Understood - Place of Safety

Mark Tully contemplates the secure environments we construct for our own protection, and the places of safety we yearn for within ourselves. He is joined by Caspar Walsh, whose autobiography 'Criminal' and novel 'Blood Road', draw on his early life of crime and drug abuse. Amidst his dangerous environment Caspar occasionally found a sense of safety with his chaotic father. He talks of his father's violence, but also of their love for each other which created a sanctuary. Caspar, now free of his addictions, describes his current work with prisoners and his attempts to provide them with an environment in which they can feel safe to express their fears and come to terms with dangerous emotions. The programme features lullabies, fairy stories, poetry and literature which both comfort and disturb, to evoke our need to immunise ourselves from danger. In the end, Mark Tully conjectures that true safety lies not in outward barriers, but inner peace. Producer: Adam Fowler An Unique production for BBC Radio 4.