The Culture Café - 01/02/2011

Christmas cards and the occasional sticky note...how much else do you write by hand? As we spend more time typing, texting and tablet-tapping, our handwriting's getting worse. We'll hear about the importance of handwriting, what it says about us, and from the teacher who insists his primary school pupils write with proper fountain pens... Scottish Opera and Glasgow's Citizens Theatre have joined forces to stage two family-friendly operas. The performances include complete novices alongside the usual professionals. So what's it like tackling opera for the very first time...especially if you're only seven years old? We'll hear about 'The Clipperton Project' - an expedition for seven artists and seven scientists to a deserted island in the Pacific. What is expected to come out of a trip where two completely different disciplines are forced to work so closely together? And, "Keep Calm and Carry On" - why do we love wartime posters, red phone boxes and those old pictures of Hollywood icons? Are we nostalgic by nature, or are these simply great designs that stand the test of time? Plus the controversial project to restore a 100-year old landmark of Scotland's industrial past. Produced by Rich Preston.