A moment of pure panic - losing a child in a park - begins India Rakusen’s exploration of anxiety: what it is, how it begins, and how it shapes both children and parents.

Through science, history and culture, she learns how early sensory experiences, food battles, and modern parenting pressures feed our fears. And she explores how play, freedom, and the simple act of letting go might be our best cure.

A story about holding on, and learning to release, in a world that asks us to protect what we cannot contain.

Presented by India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive Producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Executive: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Mix and Mastering by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen explores the awe-inspiring world of awe. Discover how narratives and storytelling, as well as the awesome natural world, have the power to inspire the feeling in all of us - and find out what happens when we let it into our lives.

From an increased sense of optimism and connection to prosocial tendencies and reduced anxiety and depression, join India as she reveals what we can learn from the little people in our lives who reach for awe instinctively. And let her take you on a journey that features a Maori storyteller, an expert on childhood amnesia, and a doctor trying to get the youngest in society out in nature.

Presented by: India Rakusen Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Series Producer: Ellie Sans Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen examines why humans cry, what tears mean and why we might want to question our ability to read the mind in the face.

Taking a look at the science and psychology behind crying, from infancy through adulthood, and how tears connect to empathy and emotional development, experts explain how crying signals helplessness, invites support, and shapes social bonds.

The programme also explores how culture, gender, and upbringing influence how we express and understand emotions.

Presented by India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen reaches the wild storm of toddler anger - once feared as fairy mischief, now often misunderstood by science and society alike.

We move from ancient changeling tales to modern myths of the “lizard brain”, unravelling how culture, gender, and language shape the way we see emotion. Could anger, so often cast as dangerous or shameful, also be a vital force - something to be named, held, and guided, not silenced. A tender look at the fire in every small soul.

Presented by India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen explores the emotion of surprise — from classic knock-knock jokes to the complex, messy business of toddler toilet training. Along the way, we hear how surprise isn’t just a fleeting reaction, but a powerful engine for learning, adaptation, and belief change.

We dive into how surprise shapes our understanding of the world, and even how diversity in early years education can offer rich, surprising moments that foster deeper learning.

This episode unpacks how moments of unpredictability - big and small - help children build resilience, challenge social assumptions, and ultimately grow. Welcome to the surprising world of… Surprise.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

Fear shows up early in childhood - taught through cautionary tales and parental reactions. In this episode, we explore how fear shapes young minds, how it was used historically to control and protect, and what some scientists now say about where fear really lives in the brain, and what that could tell us about all emotions.

From ancient parenting advice to cutting-edge neuroscience. A story told with scissors. Snip, snip.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

Child is a Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen dives into the emotional lives of toddlers, starting with the complex and often misunderstood emotion of happiness. Through giggling games of peekaboo, insights from neuroscientists, historians, and global perspectives on parenting, the episode unpacks how toddlers experience joy and how early emotional development shapes who we become. Experts reveal the science behind brain plasticity, the importance of caregiver connection, and the myths we hold about emotions. India also explores how society pressures parents to “keep kids happy” and how that links to broader cultural ideas—like the pursuit of happiness in politics and history and challenges us to rethink what happiness really is, for our children and for ourselves.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans Assistant Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

Child is a Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4

India Rakusen returns with the second series of Child for the next chapter of the story of us all. The series will capture the joy and the pain of toddlerhood, the history of infancy and innocence, and, of course, the minefield of parenting a toddler. Because toddlers are on a life ride like no other, deep in the trenches of figuring out how to be a person in our world. In this deep dive into the mind of a toddler we explore what we really know about emotional and brain development in infancy, how it influences the whole of our lives, and how beliefs and understandings of emotions have shaped our world.

Presented by: India Rakusen Series Producer: Ellie Sans Producer: Charlotte Evans-Young Executive producer: Alex Hollands Commissioning Exec: Paula McDonnell Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon and Eska Mtungwazi Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

A Goldhawk Production for Radio 4

We get inside the mind of a one year old with Professor of psychology and baby expert Alison Gopnik. What can babies teach us, and how are they influencing their future. We also take a moment think about the village we need to survive that first year and beyond. It’s a cliche, but we know it’s true. The community around a child is one of the most fundamental factors for its development.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producer: Ellie Sans. Series producer: Ellie Sans. Executive producer: Suzy Grant. Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon. Mix and Mastering by Olga Reed.

A Listen Production for BBC Radio 4.

Whenever an infant heads to nursery, it can feel like an enormous step. Things are changing for everyone. There are all sorts of feelings flying around - relief, sadness, doubt, fear. But what’s going on behind the doors of nurseries and childcare settings in England? India speaks to Joeli Brearley from Pregnant Then Screwed about the current childcare crisis, child development psychotherapist Graham Music about how childcare impacts children, as well as economist Emily Oster on our choices around childcare. India then meets artists Conway and Young who have found a way to make the invisible labour of childcare pay.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producer: Georgia Arundell. Series producer: Ellie Sans. Executive producer: Suzy Grant. Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon. Mix and Mastering by Charlie Brandon-King.

A Listen Production for Radio 4.

Lullabies. Simple, soothing… nonsense. Right? Wrong. Here we’re getting behind the importance of music and singing in a baby's development. India speaks to Dr Nina Polytimou about her research into how music can help with speech and communication and also be a powerful tool for bonding. India then visits a Singing Mamas group to hear how coming together as mothers to sing is a powerful, important, and missing slice of community. Kate Valentine, the founder, describes the impact it has on maternal mental health.

Presented by: India Rakusen. Producers: India Rakusen And Georgia Arundell Series producer: Ellie Sans. Executive producer: Suzy Grant. Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts Original music composed and performed by The Big Moon. Mix and Mastering by Charlie Brandon-King.

A Listen Production for Radio 4.