Paddy Scannell

Love and Communication is an intriguing philosophical and religious inquiry into the meaning of "talk" – and ultimately the meaning of "being human." Taking a historical approach, Paddy Scannell argues that the fundamental media of communication are (and always have been) talk and writing. Far from being made redundant by twentieth-century new media (radio and television), these old media laid...

In Why Do People Sing?, Paddy Scannell explores some of the mysteries at the heart of vocal communication. What explains the communicative musicality of the voices between parent and child as a baby learns to talk? Can readers of fiction hear the voices of authors and characters within soundless written texts? How has radio affected voice, talk, music, and singing,...