Proms Extra: Djinn
Elif Shafak and Shahidha Bari tell Ian McMillan why humans need the genie
Arts & Ideas · BBC Radio 4
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Show Notes
Ian McMillan and a pre-Proms audience at Imperial College London have the smoky essence of Djinn conjured for them by literary scholar and New Generation Thinker Shahidha Bari and novelist Elif Shafak whose books are full of djinn. Shafak reads from her novel The Bastard of Istanbul and reflects on her grandmothers' very different versions of personal genie while Shahidha explores the idea that djinn and their abilities to fly and build huge castles in one night are part of the human drive to technological advance.