Paul Sinha looks at how music came to be where it is, pondering Dolly Parton’s popularity along the way. From 2014.
Paul Sinha looks through all of human history and examines how we came to be where we are.
In this edition, he takes as his starting point Dolly Parton's standout performance at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival.
How did 120,000 people in a Somerset field, plus many millions more at home, come to be watching a 68-year-old woman from Tennessee on a Sunday afternoon?
The story inevitably takes in a Haitian rebellion, Slovenian hunting, Scottish whisky, Italian electronics and the American son of a Russian farmer who didn't like music.
Because nothing and no-one exists in a vacuum.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha.
Producer: Ed Morrish
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.
