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The Bed: Laurie Taylor explores the social history of the bed and considers the chequered fortunes of the twin versus double bed.

THE BED: Laurie Taylor talks to Nadia Durrani, writer on archaeology and co-author of a study which explores 'what we did in bed', offering a social history of an often taken-for-granted object. In a story spanning millennia, she illuminates the role of the bed through time, reminding us that it was not always simply a private space for sleep, sex and relaxation; it's also been a place for sharing with strangers, issueing decrees, even taking us to the afterlife.

Also, the rise and fall of twin beds for couples. Hilary Hinds, Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University , charts shifting attitudes towards separate sleeping. Whereas it was once seen as the sign of a modern, hygiene conscious and forward thinking relationship, it came to be regarded as the enemy of intimacy. Why did so many couples abandon a sleeping arrangement which used to be regarded as one of the keys to re-imagining domestic relations, promoting equality between the sexes and personal autonomy?

This is the last of our current series, as Thinking Allowed heads for a long 'lie in' until April 2021.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Mon 4 Jan 2021 00:15

READING LIST

Nadia Durrani,聽 What We Did in Bed: A Horizontal History (2019, Yale University Press)

Hilary Hinds, A Cultural History of Twin Beds (2019 Bloomsbury)

Broadcasts

  • Wed 30 Dec 2020 16:00
  • Mon 4 Jan 2021 00:15

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大象传媒 Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with The Open University

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