Always the Last to Be Picked
Mark Tully considers the enduring effects that being chosen last can have on us and asks whether the negative aspects of competition might out-way the positive.
Mark Tully considers the enduring effects that being chosen last can have on us and asks whether the negative aspects of competition might out-way the positive.
We often think of those who get picked first as the winners, or the best. But Mark Tully chooses to focus instead on those who are left until the end, whose self-confidence is jeopardised in the name of sport, and in many other areas of our lives.
He also questions the underlying notion that our very existence depends on 'survival of the fittest', a phrase that is often used to justify ruthless competition and the rejection of 'losers'. He discovers that the term originally referred to the survival of species that can best fit their environment, often by cooperation rather than aggression.
So is society better for being competitive, or would life improve for everyone if the pressure to be the best was abandoned? And will the last ever be the first?
The readers are Emily Raymond, David Holt, Adam Fowler and Frank Stirling.
Producer: Adam Fowler
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Music Played
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Robert Wells / Jack Segal
Here's to the Losers
Performer: Frank Sinatra
- Softly As I Leave You.
- Frank Sinatra Enterprises.
- B006V7XVM0.
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Arvo P盲rt
The Beatitudes
Performer: Choir of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury
- Sanctuary.
- Virgin Classics.
- VC5453382 [1].
-
Willy Welch
Right Field
Performer: Peter Paul and Mary
- Weave Me The Sunshine.
- Hallmark.
- B000A1OF4G.
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Alessandro Scarlatti
Davidis Pugna Et Victoria
Performer: Roberta Invernizzi; Robin Johannsen; Martin Oro; Fredrik Akselberg; Antonio Abete
- Academia Montis Regalis / Alessandro De Marchi.
- Hyperion.
- CDA67714 [1].
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Yusuf Islam
If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
Performer: Cat Stevens
- The Very Best Of ....
- Universal-Island Records Ltd.
- B001KEZ4GU.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major
Performer: Anne-Sophie Mutter; Berliner Philharmoniker; Herbert von Karajan
- Beethoven: Violin Concerto.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 4777165 [1].
Broadcasts
- Sun 8 Apr 2012 06:05大象传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 8 Apr 2012 23:30大象传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 10 Oct 2021 06:05大象传媒 Radio 4
- Sun 10 Oct 2021 23:30大象传媒 Radio 4