In this episode of All in the Mind, we’re at the 2024 Northern Ireland Science Festival where we’re discussing the psychology of hope.

With a live audience in Belfast’s Metropolitan Arts Centre, Claudia Hammond is joined by a panel of experts well-versed in the topic of hope: Dr Karen Kirby, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Ulster; Dr Kevin Mitchell, associate professor of genetics and neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin; and author Sinéad Moriarty.

We take a look at the role of hope in medical scenarios, if we can learn to be hopeful, and how we can hold onto hope in the modern world. And we take questions from our audience – including whether or not we should all just lower our expectations.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond

Producers: Lucy Taylor and Sophie Ormiston

Audio supervisors: Andrew Saunderson and Bill Maul

Production coordinator: Siobhan Maguire

Editor: Holly Squire

Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör BBC Radio 4. Innehållet i podden är skapat av BBC Radio 4 och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.