In Anatomy of Touch Claudia Hammond asks whether people have enough touch in their lives and what has been the impact of Covid-19. Covid-19 and social distancing have changed how most people feel about touch but even before Covid-19 there was a concern about the decrease of touch in society. Michael Bannissy of Goldsmiths University of London discusses the results of the BBC Touch test and leading researchers reveal their findings about the lack of touch.
Claudia meets John, who, growing up during the Second World War, endured a lack of touch in his childhood and discovers how in adult life he overcame this absence of touch and why touch remains so important to him. And we discover solutions to touch hunger and simple ways to compensate for the lack of touch.