A BBC Radio 4 Series

Woke: The Journey of a Word

Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke&rsquo; 
 
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum, and it has become synonymous with our era of angry debate. As the word has spread, what people mean by it has become less clear than ever. Award-winning journalist and author Matthew Syed is on a mission to uncover the roots of this social phenomenon and, in this series, he follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories. 
 
Beginning with the first ever use of 'woke', which appeared on a 1938 recording by the musician Lead Belly, Syed uncovers what the singer meant when he instructed people to &lsquo;stay woke, keep their eyes open&rsquo;. Matthew then explores one of the earliest uses of 'woke' in print, by young Black author William Melvin Kelley in 1962. He goes on to look at #StayWoke and how the use of 'woke' online exploded in 2014, following the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. 
 
Next, Matthew considers how the adoption of 'woke' at the 2017 Women's March aided the term's movement away from Black communities and into the mainstream. In the final episode, he examines the actions of Governor Ron DeSantis, tipped by some to be the next President of the United States. The politician has labelled his state of Florida as 'Where Woke Goes to Die', and introduced a 'Stop W.O.K.E.' bill aimed at reducing the spread of identity politics. 
 
Has the word become too politically charged? What relationship &ndash; if any &ndash; does the word &lsquo;woke&rsquo; have to its original sense? Syed considers its multiple meanings in this fascinating series that sheds new light on a word that is often used &ndash; and often misunderstood. 
 
Cast and credits 
Presented by Matthew Syed 
Produced by Sam Peach 
 
Episode 1 
Featuring Peggy Parks Miller and Kip Lornell 
 
Episode 2 
Featuring Jesi Kelley 
Readings by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
Excerpts from &lsquo;If You're Woke You Dig It&rsquo; (New York Times, 1962) and &lsquo;Dunfords Travels Everywheres&rsquo; by William Melvin Kelley 
 
Episode 3 
Featuring Johnetta Elzie and Nicole Holliday 
 
Episode 4 
Featuring Prisca Kim and Aja Romano 
 
Episode 5 
Featuring Nicole Holliday, James O'Malley and Prof Matthew Goodwin 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20-24 February 2023 
 
Copyright &copy; 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Matthew Syed

Matthew Syed examines our collective addiction to entertainment, asking if we’ve been oppressed by mindless content and how we might break freeForty years ago, Neil Postman’s landmark book Amusing Ourselves to Death compared two dystopian visions – those of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley – and concluded that the latter had proved most prescient. Rather than oppression by Big Brother, humanity was in danger of being overcome by our ‘appetite for distractions’: technologies that tap into our basest instincts, taking away our ability to think and destroying our critical faculties.Postman’s bestseller keyed into society’s fears in the age of cable TV – so how much worse have things got in the age of streaming, Twitter, TikTok and the Metaverse? In this series, broadcaster and award-winning author Matthew Syed explores how we’re now overwhelmed by content and information, and wonders if it is making us less educated and more stupid.Finding the earliest examples of a fear of distraction in ancient texts, historic treatises and archive sound, Matthew compares today’s predicament with solutions from the past, questioning whether our current era really does represent the culmination of Postman and Huxley’s prophecy. If ‘the medium is the message’, is the smartphone the most lethal medium we’ve had? He analyses how consumers, content creators and tech giants contribute to our information overload, and considers why it is in their interest to keep the tap turned on to full. Syed also looks at why our brains reach for escapist content and what’s happening to our bodies when we do so – and asks if it’s possible for us to consume less, but better.Blending provocative analysis with philosophy, storytelling and rigorous journalism, this fascinating series swaps doom-mongering for thoughtful solutions, contemplating the benefits and drawbacks of our technological enhancements and pointing towards a wiser future. 
 
Produced by Sam Peach 
 
©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Matthew Syed

Books by Matthew Syed

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter