Cliches and Commonplaces - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

Adam Gopnik sets out to determine the difference between cliche and universal truth.

Via Homer, Shakespeare and the Beatles, Adam observes that "the deepest statements in literature are very near relations to the dumbest statements in life".How can Homer get away with writing twenty lines about laundry?! And end up with an epic poem of great beauty.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Further episodes of A Point of View

Further podcasts by BBC Radio 4

Website of BBC Radio 4