Daybreak: The People in the Small Back Rooms
Some of the most consequential work in the world happens in rooms nobody notices.
On today’s Daybreak, we cross the Atlantic to Nigel Balchin’s wartime world of scientists, engineers, administrators, and technical specialists in The Small Back Room—and to a classic BBC Saturday Night Theatre adaptation. At its center is Sammy Rice, a gifted but deeply human expert confronting the uncomfortable moment when technical knowledge is no longer enough and someone must decide what ought to be done.
Along the way, we consider Pope Leo XIV’s recent reflections on reason, questioning, critical thinking…
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