Half-Life: Trailer

Drawn to a family legend about his German-Jewish family’s dramatic escape from Nazi Germany in 1936, the writer Joe Dunthorne accidentally discovers a far more unsettling history.

A confession hidden on page 1692 of his great-grandfather Siegfried’s unpublished memoir leads Joe into a story of radioactive toothpaste, unexploded bombs and erased histories, exploring the many ways the past continues to haunt the present - even when we try to ignore it.

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4