Touching the Elephant (radio programme)

{{Short description|BBC radio documentary}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Italic title}}

{{Infobox radio show

| show_name = Touching the Elephant

| format = feature

| runtime = 25 mins

| country =

| language = English

| home_station = BBC Radio 4

| presenter = Kim Normanton

| creator =

| producer = Matt Thompson

| rec_location =

| first_aired =

| last_aired =

| num_series =

| num_episodes = 1

| audio_format =

| website =

| podcast =

}}

Touching the Elephant was a BBC documentary about perception, first broadcast on 16 April 1997, in which four blind people are taken to meet and touch an elephant.{{cite book |title=And Now on Radio 4: A Celebration of the World's Best Radio Station |last=Elmes |first=Simon |year=2007 |publisher=Arrow Books |isbn=978-0-099-50537-2 |page=143}} The idea was a response to a well-known fable about blind men and an elephant. Presenter Kim Normanton and the participants – Danni, a woman who loves animals; Graham, a computer buff; Tom, a piano tuner; and 10-year-old Lauren – discuss their idea of ‘elephant’ before meeting Dilberta the elephant at London Zoo.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010x3qz|title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - 90 by 90 The Full Set, 1998: Touching The Elephant|work=BBC Online|accessdate=16 March 2018}}Observer Life, 13 April 1997, p. 69 Excerpts of this documentary were aired on BBC Radio 4's "Beasts" episode of Short Cuts.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bx20|title=Short Cuts: Beasts, Series 21. 03/12-2019.}}