Interview and sound walk Walking with Crickets with Lisa Hall featured on BBC Radio 4's Natural Histories series:

"When Brett Westwood is invited to stroll around the streets of London with a 'singing cricket' as a companion he is following a tradition which can be traced back over a thousand years ago to before the TangDynasty in China when people kept crickets in cages and enjoyed their songs. This custom began in the Royal Courts when the Emperor's concubines placed caged crickets near their pillows so they could enjoy the songs during the night. The practise was soon taken up by local people who carried crickets around in tiny cages and in London, Brett meets Lisa Hall, a sound artist who has brought the tradition right up to date with a tiny audio player fitted with a set of speakers that are small enough to be concealed in a pocket. As Lisa explains the effect is like wearing 'a perfume' of song which masks the ugly urban sounds. Could this audio trend catch on? Producer Sarah Blunt."

On air: Tue 1 Nov at 11am and repeated on Monday 8 Nov at 9pm

Available online after 8th Nov: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080t7df

Image credit-ivanwalsh.com