Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories with Dan Richards

There is something special about the night. For many, just the idea of it conjures thoughts of starlit skies, romance, refuge, of being tucked up in bed. For some, the night means fear, vulnerability, danger, sleeplessness. In Overnight, Dan Richards takes a series of personal journeys where he explores what the night means to an array of people. From night terrors and insomnia, parenthood during the early hours of the morning and the men and woman of emergency services to the endurance car race at 24 Heures du Mans and dawn on the summer solstice, Dan endeavours to explain the uniqueness of nighttime.

Dan challenges the way we all think about the hours after dark. Visiting bats and looking at the stars, we are taken on a journey, travelling by ship, train, racing car and foot. Celebrating all things nocturnal, those who labour while the rest of us sleep: the bakers, health workers, sailors, couriers, broadcasters, drivers, fishers as well as nocturnal animals, even learning what the Moomintroll has to teach us about insomnia – Overnight is a hymn to life after dark.

Dan Richards is the co-author of Holloway (with Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood), and the author of The Beechwood Airship Interviews, Climbing Days, Outpost and Overnight. Only After Dark, a BBC Radio 4 series about the nocturnal world, was broadcast to acclaim in 2022. Dan has written for the Guardian, Economist, Esquire and Monocle. He is based in Edinburgh. @Dan_Zep https://www.instagram.com/dan_zep/?hl=en