SATURDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m002838q)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Under a Metal Sky by Philip Marsden (m0028379)
Gold

Philip Marsden’s passion for rocks dates back to his boyhood, when he first discovered the excitement of searching for crystals and fossils. In Under a Metal Sky, he takes us on a captivating journey across Europe through the story of metals, revealing how they became an engine of culture, trade and technology that changed our relationship with the natural world.

In the final episode, Philip travels to Georgia, home of the legend of the Golden Fleece. The quest for the fleece is the origin story of countless heroic tales, down to Star Wars and Harry Potter. The search for gold itself represents the ultimate reward - a symbol of status and value.

In Svaneti, a region known for its gold, he finds two locals who take him panning for gold in the river. As he catches a few grains, the excitement of his childhood explorations searching for rocks returns, a fascination that has shaped his journey across Europe to follow the story of metals.

Read by Adrian Lukis
Produced and Abridged by Jo Glanville
Editor: Jo Rowntree
Studio Engineer: Jon Calver

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002838s)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002838v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m002838x)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m002838z)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0028393)
Being the Rope of Mercy

Good morning.

I was visiting my mother, and after 9 hours of travel, I arrived late in the evening, ate some food and crashed into bed, the feeling of a temperature rising in my body. When I woke up the combination of jetlag and fever left me discombobulated. I thought I had woken up in my own bed at home, but the surroundings were alien. From the other room, I heard my mother’s footsteps, the unmistakable pattern of her movements. I remembered a moment pre-dawn when she covered me in an extra blanket. I was home, because I was where she was.

Proust says that memory comes like a rope let down from heaven to draw one out of the abyss of unbeing, but what happens if you have no memory? The curious case of Clive Waring who suffered one of the worst cases of amnesia ever, records him as not being able to recall short nor long-term memory. As soon as something happened, he immediately forgot. And yet, despite this, he would remember his wife, Deborah. He didn’t recall the details, but he knew he loved her, and she loved him, and that was the rope let down from heaven for him to hold onto.

How often have we forgotten the exact words a person may have said to us, or the precise actions that they did, but we remember always how they made us feel? In the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad is told, “By the Mercy of Allah, you were gentle with them. Had you been rude or harsh, they would have scattered from around you.” Elsewhere, God reminds him, “We did not send you, except as a Mercy to the world.”

I pray we move through the world leaving in our wake people, whether familiar or strangers, feeling loved, seen, and cherished. Ameen.


SAT 05:45 Why Do We Do That? (m002837p)
Series 2

5. Why do we laugh?

Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do we laugh?

Some people might not have a sense of humour, you might even know someone who never laughs… but there isn’t a culture out there, say a tribe, where people just never laugh. It does appear to be universal but how universal and how primal?

Many mammals and the great apes ( chimpanzees, gorillas and bononbos) laugh. Orangutans diverged from the other great apes including us about 12 million years ago and because we all laugh that suggests our shared common ancestor laughed. So what is the purpose of laughing? Ella talks to Professor Sophie Scott from University College London and stand-up comic Ria Lina.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m002897x)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m00282rr)
Adjoa Andoh

Adjoa Andoh has played lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and is a familiar face to fans of Casualty and Doctor Who. She is probably best known as Lady Danbury in Bridgerton, the hit Netflix series. Her roots, though, are firmly in the countryside. She grew up in the village of Wickwar, just north of Bristol, where she and her brother were the only black children in the area. In this programme she tells Martha Kearney about her rural childhood and the lasting love of the natural world it instilled in her. She takes Martha on one of her favourite walks on the South Downs. Together they spot birds, stop to admire sweeping views of the sea, where Adjoa swims year-round, and talk about landscape, religion and the restorative power of nature.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m002897z)
22/02/25 - Farming Today This Week: Peat and climate change, bottom trawling, inheritance tax

The majority of the UK's peatlands could be at risk of drying out in the next 40-50 years because of climate change - according to a new study from scientists at the Universities of Exeter, Manchester and Derby. Healthy, wet peatlands are seen as part of the solution to climate change because they soak up planet-heating carbon dioxide - UK peatlands currently store an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon. But where they dry out, they become a problem because they can then release that stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

MPs have been debating calls to ban bottom trawling in some parts of the sea. Bottom trawling is a method of fishing where weighted nets are dragged along the seabed to gather things like scallops, sole and plaice. According to The Marine Conservation Society, bottom trawling is currently forbidden across 5% of the UK's MPAs, and a wider ban in ALL protected areas is something conservation charities have been calling for, for some time. But is it the right move?

And farming leaders have said they left a much-anticipated meeting with the Treasury this week with their blood "boiling", claiming the Government has "shut the door" on any rethink of planned changes to inheritance tax on farms. Representatives from agricultural organisations met the Exchequer Secretary, James Murray, and Farming Minister, Daniel Zeichner, on Tuesday. It follows months of protests over plans for inherited agricultural assets worth more than a million pounds to be taxed at 20% from April next year.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0028981)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0028983)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0028985)
Steven Frayne (aka Dynamo), Pepsi Demarcque-Crocket, Harriet Dyer, Steph McGovern

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m0028987)
Cuneiform: the world’s first writing system

Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Mesopotamia by Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid and comedian Phil Wang to learn about the history of cuneiform, the oldest writing system in the world. In the nineteenth century, European scholars began to translate inscriptions found on ruins and clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia – an area of the world between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that encompasses modern Iraq, as well as parts of Syria, Iran, Turkey and Kuwait. The script they deciphered became known as cuneiform, and this distinctive wedge-shaped writing system is perhaps the oldest in the world. The earliest cuneiform tablet is in fact over 5,000 years old. These clay tablets reveal much about the daily life of people in this part of the ancient world, recording everything from the amounts of beer sold by brewers and the best way to ask the gods for advice, to squabbles between husbands and wives and even the lullabies used to get babies to sleep. The first recorded epic poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, is also preserved thanks to cuneiform. This episode traces the history of cuneiform, exploring how this script worked, who used it and what they used it for, what it tells us about the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia, and how it was finally deciphered.

If you’re a fan of historical puzzles, amazing archaeological finds and the intimate details of everyday life in the ancient world, you’ll love our episode on cuneiform.

If you want more from Dr Moudhy Al-Rashid, check out our episode on Ancient Babylon. And for more ancient history with Phil Wang, listen to our episodes on the history of Kung Fu and the Terracotta Warriors.

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Hannah Cusworth and Matt Ryan
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0028989)
Series 47

Newark

Jay Rayner and a panel of chefs and food writers kick off a new series in Newark. They answer a range of questions on coffee infused dishes and the best way to cook lamb. Joining Jay are food historian Dr Annie Gray, and chefs, cooks and food writers Lerato Umah Shaylor, Melissa Thompson, and Rob Owen Brown.

The panellists also come up with ideas for cooking cauliflower, as well as some suggestions for using beetroot.

Alongside the Q and A, Jay chats to Mat Short from Stray's at The Ossington about the do's and don't of using coffee in food and drinks.

Producer: Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Ollie Wilson
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Strange Death of Cultural Originality? (m002697q)
These days, when you turn on the TV or visit the cinema do you ever think, hang on, I'm sure I've seen this before? Maybe you've bought the latest crime thriller after seeing it in the bestseller lists and, 50 pages in, you're overcome with a weird feeling of deja vu? And when you put the radio on in the car, does all the music sound, well, the same? 

If so, don't worry. It's not just you. Something strange seems to be happening.

Statistics show that the number of top 20 highest grossing Hollywood films each year which are either sequels or spin-offs has risen from 25% to 50% in the past two decades.

In the 1960s, most TV shows were original formats. Today, a third are spinoffs or multiple broadcasts.

In music, the number of artists on the Billboard Hot 100 has been falling for some time, meaning the big established acts are getting more and more exposure while new acts struggle to break through.

Existing best-selling authors are becoming increasingly dominant in publishing sales.

So is it fair to say that cultural originality is in rather poor health?

Might it even be dead?

Ben Chu spends spends a lot of time thinking about economics, numbers and why the world works in the way it does. In this programme he's going to ask - if cultural originality is dead, who or what killed it?

A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002898d)
Disappeared in Ukraine

Kate Adie presents stories from Ukraine, the United States, The Gambia and Uzbekistan.

Its three years since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, during which time hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or injured - though others have simply disappeared without trace. Sarah Rainsford travelled to Ukraine, where she met one woman trying to find out what happened to her parents after they were detained during Russia's occupation of her home town.

US President Donald Trump has pledged to curb government waste by cutting spending. Under review are the billions of dollars set aside for research grants, intended for universities and scientific institutions. At the annual gathering of one of the country’s oldest scientific societies, which took place in Boston last week, Sandra Kanthal found a decidedly dampened mood.

Each year thousands of people leave sub-Saharan Africa in hope of reaching Europe and forging a better life. It's a dangerous and potentially deadly journey - and for some the challenge is just too much. So what happens after they return home? Alex Last went to The Gambia to find out.

The city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan is located on the route of the legendary Silk Road, and in the Middle Ages it became a major intellectual hub of the Islamic world. It's also home to a centuries-old Jewish community, which over generations blended culture with the Muslim community. Post-Soviet emigration means it's now much smaller than it used to be, but Monica Whitlock met one man who is still happy to call Bukhara home.

Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m002898g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m002898j)
Ofgem Back Billing and Pensions and IHT

The energy regulator Ofgem says suppliers must take urgent action to find out how widespread a problem back billing is. It's when suppliers send out new bills for electricity and gas from longer than 12 months ago, a practice that was banned in 2018. The development follows Money Box's investigation which discovered thousands of people have wrongly been receiving back bills. Paul Lewis interviews Tim Jarvis, Director General of Markets at Ofgem.

And unspent pension pots will be subject to inheritance tax from 2027. This change, announced by Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget, means most unused pension funds will be included within the value of a person’s estate for Inheritance Tax purposes from 6th April 2027. Money Box has been getting lots of emails from listeners who're now reconsidering their financial planning and are worried and upset about the new rules. The Treasury told us it continues to incentivise pensions savings for their intended purpose of funding retirement instead of them being openly used as a vehicle to transfer wealth. But how will the new rules work?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Sarah Rogers
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 22nd February 2025)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0028384)
Series 116

7. Lying and Reassurance

Andy Zaltzman is joined by Zoe Lyons, Ian Smith, Laura Lexx and Hugo Rifkind as they unpack Trump and Putin in talks in Saudi Arabia, the solutions to prison overcrowding, and the Welsh solution for parliamentary empty promises.

Written by Andy Zaltzman.

With additional material by: Simon Alcock, David Duncan, Laura Major, Christina Riggs and Peter Tellouche.
Producer: Rajiv Karia
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m002898l)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m002898n)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002838b)
Gerard Baker, James Cartlidge MP, Carla Denyer MP, Luke Pollard MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Sutton Scotney in Hampshire with the Wall Street Journal's editor-at-large Gerard Baker; shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge MP; Carla Denyer MP, the co-leader of the Green Party; and defence minister Luke Pollard MP.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Tim Allen


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m002898q)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m0028386)
WRITER: Keri Davies
DIRECTORS: Jessica Bunch & Dave Payne
EDITOR: Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Alistair Lloyd…. Michael Lumsden
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Celia Sparrow…. Toni Midlane


SAT 15:00 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (m000gd7p)
Part One

Set in a small mill town in the 1930s in the middle of the Deep South of America, Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is the story of Mick Kelly, a tomboyish girl who loves music and dreams of buying a piano. John Singer, is a lonely deaf-mute who comes to stay as a lodger in Mick's house. No-one knows where he's from. A disparate group of people who live in the town are drawn towards Singer's kind, sympathetic nature. The owner of the café where Singer eats every day, an angry socialist drunkard, a frustrated black doctor: each pours their heart out to Singer, their silent confidant. He in turn changes their disenchanted lives in ways the could never imagine.

Often cited as one of the great novels of twentieth-century American fiction, Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter explores loneliness, the human need for understanding and the search for love.

Part One. Cast

MICK KELLY ..... Coco Green
BUBBER ..... Aaron Gelkoff
JOHN SINGER ..... David Bower
BIFF BRANNON ..... Michael S. Siegel
JAKE BLOUNT ..... Andonis Anthony
ALICE BRANNON ..... Laurel Lefkow
PORTIA JONES ..... Anna Jobarteh
DR BENEDICT COPELAND ..... Delroy Brown
ETTA KELLY ..... Lily Green
WILLIE COPELAND ..... Tachia Newall
HARRY MINOWITZ ..... Eric Sirakian

Dramatised by Amanda Dalton
Directed by Susan Roberts
A BBC Drama North Production


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m002898s)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Raising the ‘Sen-betweeners’, Signs of teenage exploitation, Formula One, Nussaibah Younis, Egg-freezing

'Sen-betweeners' is the term Lisa Lloyd, a mum of two autistic children, uses to describe her children. She says their neurodivergence is too severe to fit easily into mainstream school, but not severe enough for a special school, so they fall between the gaps. Lisa has written a guide for other parents on ‘Raising the Sen-betweeners,’ in which she, whilst recognising that all children are different and there can be no rules, offers tips and advice for how to handle behaviours. Lisa joined Anita to share what she has learnt.

The Children’s Society are training staff at the fast food chain Chicken Cottage to spot signs of exploitation amongst their teenage customers. Nuala discussed the initiative and issues with the charity’s Head of National Programmes, Lisa Witherden, and Chicken Cottage franchise manager Georgian Balog.

Formula 1 has just turned 75, but how much headway are women racing drivers making? Nuala was joined by Jamie Chadwick, one of the leading British women in this sport, and BBC reporter Charlotte Simpson, who has spent months talking to a wide range of people trying to support more young women to become involved in the sport.

Nussaibah Younis’s debut novel Fundamentally is based on her own experiences working as a peacekeeping consultant in Baghdad. The book follows Nadia, a British Asian woman working for the UN, and her relationship with fellow Brit Sara, a nineteen-year-old three-times widowed member of the Islamic State Group. Nussaibah joined Anita to discuss finding the comedy in a desperate situation.

Harvest, a new documentary, shows the realities of the egg freezing process. Director and writer Sophia Seymour decided to film her journey of elective egg freezing. With the number of women choosing this form of fertility planning rising, Nuala was joined by Sophia to discuss why she decided to do, and film it, and also by Dr Ippokratis Sarris, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Director of King’s Fertility.

Nao is a Grammy and Mercury nominated singer songwriter. She's described her unique brand of music as “wonky funk”. She joined Nuala McGovern to talk about fame, motherhood and her new album Jupiter. She performed live in the studio.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells


SAT 17:00 PM (m002898v)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m002898x)
The Heidi Alexander One

The Transport Secretary on Corbyn, Ukraine and growing up in Swindon

Producer: Lauren Tavriger


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m002898z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0028991)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028993)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m00274rb)
Stewart Lee, Barb Jungr, Philippa Dunne, Biig Piig, Aysha Kala

Stuart Maconie is joined by the 41st best stand up ever to talk about his new tour 'Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf', and by Philippa Dunne who plays Anne in the school gates sitcom 'Motherland'. Anne is back in the spinoff series 'Amandaland', focusing on Anne's glamorous best friend Amanda. Aysha Kala tells us how she nailed the accent to play Saima in the new Bradford set crime thriller Virdee.

Music from song intrepeter Barb Jungr whose new album 'Hallelujah on Desolation Row' sees her back in the company of two songwriters whose music she has spent a lifetime alongside, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as well as Irish singer and rapper Biig Piig who has just released her debut album '11:11'.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Jessica Treen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0028995)
Mark Rutte

His 14 year-stint at the top of European politics has earned him a distinguished record of domestic and international achievements.

Mark Rutte, born in The Hague in 1967, embarked on a career in business after leaving university and held several positions at Unilever.

His career in Dutch politics started in 2002, and four years later – as leader of the VVD party – he became prime minister.

During his tenure, he steered the Netherlands through times of significant national and global upheaval. From economic crisis, to the coronavirus pandemic.

And now, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 14th Secretary General, he faces his next challenge – leading Europe’s response to recent Russia-US talks over Ukraine.

Mark Coles takes a closer look at Mark Rutte.

Production Team

Producers: Sally Abrahams, Mantej Deol, Chloe Scannapieco
Editor: Ben Mundy
Sound: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m00282q3)
Series 32

Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Phil Wang, Ana Ferreira and Chris Jackson

Brian Cox and Robin Ince slice deep into the lesser-explored world beneath us. To join them on the journey from the crust to the core they are joined by seismologist Ana Ferreira, geologist Chris Jackson and comedian Phil Wang.

School children learn about the make-up of the Earth with an image depicting the Earth's core, mantle and crust layered neatly on top of each other, but is this an oversimplification? Our experts reveal that the Earth's innards are less uniform than we might think and mysteries still abound, including the make-up of some continental-sized blobs deep inside the Earth. We learn about the incredible heat and pressure as we descend and why that has limited how far humans have been able to explore these deep realms first-hand. We explore the chemistry of the interactions between the Earth layers and how they influence the formation of continental plates and volcanoes. Phil has an existential crisis about falling inside gaps between the plates but is reassured his worries are unfounded as Ana explains the latest techniques being used to understand the world deep beneath us.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Researcher: Olivia Jani


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0028997)
Trouble Staying Still: ADHD's Identity Crisis

ADHD has been drawn into the media spotlight many times over the past 75 years since it was first described as Hyperkinetic Impulse Disorder. Treatment with the amphetamine Ritalin has added to the controversy with confusion that it, counterintuitively, 'calms kids down'. The condition has taken on many identities over its lifetime, having been renamed several times, each new term reflecting something different about how the disorder was then understood by science.

The argument over whether ADHD even exists remains as strong today as it was 75 years ago, with the condition sometimes being associated with 'wokeness'. Yet the waiting list for an assessment is at an all time high, with girls, adults and older people waiting, often years, along with ‘naughty’ boys who were originally thought to be the only ones who suffered from the condition.

In Trouble Staying Still, Professor Sally Marlow, explores the archive to reveal the changing faces of ADHD, and asks why it still grabs the headlines and why there are so many contradictions surrounding it.

And what impact has the media and, more recently, social media had? Sally looks at the rise of podcasts and celebrity diagnoses. She also tracks the developments in neuroscience which does reveal differences in the brains of people with ADHD.

Sally is also curious about whether she could have the condition and considers getting tested.

Presenter: Professor Sally Marlow
Producers: Beth Eastwood and Geraldine Fitzgerald
Production Co-Ordinator: Elisabeth Tuohy
Sound Engineer: Richard Courtice
Executive Producer; Rami Tzabar
A TellTale production for BBC Radio 4

Details of organisations offering information and support with ADHD are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline


SAT 21:00 AntiSocial (m002837f)
Nudity - the great cover up?

How comfortable are we with nudity and why does the naked body still have the power to shock?

This month we’ve seen Bianca Censori break the internet after her red carpet appearance in a transparent dress and artists in north London upset about their life drawing class being moved. What actually happened and why were people so censorious about Bianca? Also, what is the history of nudism in the UK?

To discuss the power of the naked body Adam is joined by Dr Victoria Bateman – an economist and author of Naked Feminism: Breaking the cult of female modesty and Stephanie Murray , a freelance journalist and contributing writer for The Atlantic.

Presented by Adam Fleming
Produced by Emma Close, Beth Ashmead and Clare Williamson
Studio manager: Annie Gardiner
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor: Penny Murphy


SAT 21:45 Naturebang (m0021hcg)
Dr Orangutan and the Evolution of Medicine

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight explore the ancient origins of medicine. What makes us sick? What makes us well again? And do animals medicate like we do?

Deep in the rainforest of Sumatra, one clever orangutan called Rakus has pretty much got it figured out. Astonished researchers spotted him making and then applying a plant-based medicinal paste to a painful wound. It was anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and it numbed his pain, helping him to heal in record time. This might be one of the more sophisticated examples out there, but Rakus is far from the only one; lots of animals are incredibly skilled at using the plants and minerals around them to heal wounds, treat infection, or stave off nasty bugs. It's called, wait for it... zoopharmacognosy.

In the human world, we've honed our own medicinal skills into something slick, sterile and very high-tech, but so many of the medicines we use today have natural origins. The age-old skills of the shamans and herbalists of the past are still extremely relevant, and we have yet to fully unlock all the healing secrets of the plants around us.

Featuring Dr Isabelle Laumer, cognitive biologist and primatologist at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour, and Sarah Edwards, Plant Records Officer from Oxford Botanic Gardens and an ethnobotanist from the University of Oxford. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


SAT 22:00 News (m002899b)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0028377)
Regenerative farming and food. What does it mean?

It's a term used by the smallest farmers and the world's biggest food businesses. But what does 'regenerative agriculture' mean?

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SAT 23:00 What? Seriously?? (m002899d)
8. Spies, Lies and a Political Prize

In this episode, Dara and Isy are joined by the star of Slow Horses Chris Chung, to learn about the magic of Monopoly - with some diverting conversations about secret smuggling, what it takes to join MI5, and what exactly do MI1, 2, 3 and 4 do?

What? Seriously?? is a new podcast which combines comedy with quirky history, hosted by Dara and Isy who unravel an extraordinary real-life tale each week with the help of a celebrity guest.

The stories are definitely true, but also kind of unbelievable at the same time - the sort of stories that make you go ‘What? Seriously??’ when you hear them, but you resolve to tell them in the pub the first chance you get.

Across the series, Dara and Isy will be joined by I’m A Celeb winner Georgia Toffolo, the Aussie comedian Rhys Nicholson, the broadcaster Stuart Maconie, Master Chef star Louisa Ellis, Miles from The Traitors, the comedian Richard Herring, the astronaut Helen Sharman, and Slow Horses star Chris Chung.

‘What? Seriously??’ with Dara Ó Briain and Isy Suttie and special guest Christopher Chung.
Format co-developed by Dan Page. Story compiled by Gareth Edwards and Dan Page.
Producer: Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m00282lj)
Series 38

Heat 8, 2025

(8/13)
Three more music-lovers take their place on the Counterpoint stage as Paul Gambaccini puts them through their paces on a wide variety of music, from the classical repertoire to show tunes, jazz, movie scores and sixty years of the pop charts. Today's winner will take another of the places in the 2025 semi-finals.

They'll not only have to demonstrate their musical general knowledge, but also pick a special musical topic on which to answer a round of individual questions. They have no warning of which subjects will come up, and no chance to prepare, so they'll have to choose carefully.

Today's competitors are:
Matt Isaacs, from Poynton in Cheshire
Mohan Mudigonda, from Wolverhampton
Joanna Munro, from Liverpool.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m002899g)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m00282lg)
Susan Barker

Presenter James Crawford speaks to the writer Susan Barker on Take Four Books this week about her new novel, Old Soul, and the three other works that have helped to shape its creation. Susan's new book, published by Penguin, is made up of seven testimonies that cross centuries and continents, but they have one thing in common - a beguiling woman, who is much older than she looks, and leaves a trail of death and disappearance in her wake. The books Susan chose for her episode were: Under The Skin by Michel Faber (2000); Ghostwritten by David Mitchell (1999); and Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (1988).

The supporting contributor was the writer and Strathclyde University Creative Writing lecturer, Rodge Glass.

During the episode, a short clip of the audiobook version of Under The Skin is played. The publisher is Canongate Books Ltd.

Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002899j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002899l)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m002899n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m002899q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m002899s)
The church of Saint Milburga in Stoke St Milborough, Shropshire

Bells on Sunday comes from the church of Saint Milburga in Stoke St Milborough, Shropshire. The village and church take their name from Saint Milburga, the early eight century Abbess of Wenlock Priory, whose feast day is the 23rd February. The church has thirteen bells in total including a recent ring of eight bells cast by the Allanconi foundry in Italy, which were tuned and installed by Matthew Higby and Company in 2020. The tenor bell weighs just over twelve hundredweight and is tuned to the note of G. We hear them ringing “Stoke St Milborough Surprise Major”.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002830l)
Myths and Assumptions about Blindness

Natalie Doig is fascinated by myths and legends. Indeed, such is her passion for that which is "weird, wonderful and a little off kilter" that she stepped back from her career working in the disability rights sector to make a podcast about it. Called "Weird in the Wade", a recent episode explored the tale of "Blind George of Anstey". Natalie joins us to discuss Blind George and the issues the story raises about how blindness is perceived.

Also joining the discussion are Dr Rod Michalko and Professor Tanya Titchkosky. Both have studied societal attitudes to blindness and have written extensively about it. They share their feelings about Blind George and their take on what blindness actually is versus common assumptions.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0028b5n)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m00282zz)
Underwear

Laurie Taylor talks to Nina Edwards, the author of a new study which unravels the intimate narratives woven into the fabric of our most personal garments. Is there a profound and surprising significance to the garments we wear beneath our outer clothing? Also, Shaun Cole, Associate Professor in Fashion at the University of Southampton, considers the enduring question aimed at men over the choice of boxers or briefs and explores the future direction of men’s undergarments.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0028b5q)
Climber, Contractor, Farmer: The Man Who Does Everything

Ioan Doyle never stops. He’s one of the best shearers, dry-stone wallers, and fencers – as well as being a world-class climber and mountaineer. He’s scaled the toughest peaks in the world and has twice attempted the so-far unclimbed South Ridge of K7 in the Himalayas.

Ioan and his wife Janie own and run a busy contracting business in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, alongside farming sheep, pigs and chickens and raising their two young children, Evan and Eidda.

Yet, for all his energy, self-belief and determination, Ioan feels torn between two worlds: farming and climbing. He opens up to Anna Jones about the conflict he feels trying to balance the “pride and tradition” of Welsh hill farming with the “hard graft” of contracting while pushing his body and mind to the limit on the world’s most inaccessible and dangerous rock faces.

Produced and presented by Anna Jones


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0028b5s)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0028b5v)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0028b5x)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0028b5z)
Trauma Treatment International

Actor Christopher Harper makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Trauma Treatment International. The charity has a pool of paid clinical psychologists who provide online treatment for clients from around the world who need help after a traumatic life event.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Trauma Treatment International’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Trauma Treatment International’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1175429. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://tt-intl.org
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0028b61)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0028b63)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0028b65)
St Clement Danes

A service from St Clement Danes, the Central Church of the RAF, marking the 25th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on LGBTQ+ personnel serving in HM Forces. The preacher is Rev (Group Captain) Ruth Hake, the Royal Air Force’s Deputy Chaplain in Chief, and the service is led by Rev (Squadron Leader) Mark Perry, Resident Chaplain at St Clement Danes. The Central Band of the Royal Air Force is directed by Flight Lieutenant Michael Parsons and the Choir of St Clement Danes is directed by Charlie Hubbard.

Readings: Galatians 3: 23-29; 1 Samuel 18:1-5

Producer: Andrew Earis


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m002838d)
Print the Legend

Tom Shakespeare explores the pitfalls of dramatised history and its influence on real life - but confesses to his own minor role in rewriting the past.

"We turn to stories when the reality we desire fails us," he writes, "but if the legend is not based in fact, then history is in deep trouble, and so are we all."

Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0028b67)
Trai Anfield on the Osprey

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories from some fresh voices who have been inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

One bird above all others has captivated wildlife photographer Trai Anfield since childhood, the osprey. Family holidays to Scotland involved endless searching the skies looking for these summer visitors above Abernethy or Loch Garten. Once seen the thrill of watching osprey dive for fish was only matched by their struggle to soar into the sky carrying prey which sometimes matched its own weight. This lion of the skies arrived phoenix like in the spring to enthral Trai and her family, even if their call is a little bit to be desired.

Producer : Andrew Dawes, BBC Audio, Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0028b69)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m00289vf)
Sir Jony Ive, designer

Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of the company’s seminal products which have transformed the way we live today including phones, music players and watches.

He was born in Chingford in east London and loved drawing and spending time in his father’s workshop where the two of them made the young Jony’s Christmas presents including a go-kart, a treehouse and a toboggan.

He studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic and moved to San Francisco to work for Apple in 1992. In 1997 Steve Jobs returned to the company, having been ousted several years earlier, and the two of them set about revolutionising the landscape for home computers with the creation of the iMac.
In 2019 Jony set up his own company LoveFrom with the industrial designer Marc Newson. In 2023 Jony and his team designed a foldable Red Nose for Comic Relief and in the same year the company launched a scholarship programme aimed at increasing representation in the design industry.

In 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0028b6c)
WRITER: Keri Davies
DIRECTOR: Jessica Bunch & Dave Payne
EDITOR: Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Alistair Lloyd…. Michael Lumsden
Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Celia Sparrow…. Toni Midlane


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0028995)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m00282hz)
Series 94

5. Does a Strawberry Have Dreams?

Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Laura Smyth, Julian Clary and Desiree Burch to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include London To Brighton, Hand-me-downs, and The Life of a Strawberry.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0028b6f)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0028b6h)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 Road Wars: Cycling in Paris (m0028j6n)
On 15th Oct 2024, a 27-year-old cyclist was killed in a bike lane in Paris. His name was Paul Varry. He was run over by a car after an argument with a driver. What happened to Paul was extreme, but it resonated with many Parisians. For Paris is undergoing a cycling revolution. The city has created a vast network of bike lanes, introduced new restrictions for cars. The number of cyclists has soared. But there have also been conflicts, as cars, bikes and pedestrians try to navigate the new balance of power. So is Paris’s plan working? Is this transformation the future for other major cities? Anna Holligan goes to Paris to find out.

Presenter: Anna Holligan
Producer: Alex Last
Paris producer/translator : Léontine Gallois
Sound mix: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002837r)
Walsall: Rainwater v Tap Water, Caffeinated Ants and Daffodil Diaries

How do we get rid of red ants? Rainwater or tap water? How can I stay motivated in the garden when it's wet and windy?

Kathy Clugston and her team of gardening gurus visit Walsall to solve some horticultural problems. Joining Kathy to answer the questions are garden designers Bunny Guinness, Marcus Chilton Jones and Matthew Wilson.

Later in the programme, Peter Gibbs visits RHS Wisley where  principal scientist Kálmán Könyves educates him on their Daffodil Diaries initiative. A strategy which logs where, what and when rare and endangered narcissi bloom.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0028b6k)
Spring Awakening - Episode 1

John Yorke examines the radical 1891 play Spring Awakening by German dramatist Frank Wedekind.

A cautionary, nightmarish portrait of teenage angst and rebellion against oppressive social structures and family pressures, the play’s explicit content was so shocking that it was not performed for 15 years after its publication. In the decades since, it has often been cut or censored. Wedekind’s original play became the inspiration for a 2006 hit Broadway musical of the same name.

In this first of two episodes, John looks at who Frank Wedekind was, and how he contributed to the expressionist movement that swept through Europe in the early 20th century - and how that collision created such an enduring work.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years and shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy, he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative - including many podcasts for R4.

Contributors:
Jonathan Franzen, author and essayist
Dr Karen Leeder, Professor of Modern German Literature, University of Oxford

Producer: Lucy Hough
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple

Audio: Spring Awakening (Fruhlings Erwachen), translated by Tom Osborn and adapted for BBC Radio 4 by John Tydeman and first broadcast 26th March 1973 on BBC Radio 4.

Actors:
Wendla: Helen Worth
Mrs Bergmann: Diana Olsson
Georg: Brian Hewlett
Melchior: Christopher Guard
Ernst: Michael Cochrane
Lammermeir: Andrew Rivers
Hans: Christopher Good
Moritz: John Moulder-Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0028b6m)
Spring Awakening

Part 1

A fresh take on Frank Wedekind’s shocking and provocative classic about teenagers discovering sex and identity in a repressive society. By Theo Toksvig-Stewart.

Teenagers Wendla, Melchoir, and Moritz are taking their first steps into adulthood. But in a world where everyone is haunted by the battle between shame and pleasure, openness feels impossible.

How can their parents offer help when conversations around sex, desire and relationships are so taboo? Lost, hungry for the truth, our teenagers have only each other for guidance. But knowledge can only take them so far. Their choices will have tragic repercussions.

In Part One, Moritz is disturbed by dreams, and worried about falling behind at school. Wendla is eager for her life to start, and burning with questions. She meets Melchior, who seems to offer some answers.

This drama includes strong sexual content.

CAST
MELCHIOR ..... Jake Kenny-Byrne
WENDLA ..... Shreya Lallu
MORITZ ..... David Angland
ILSE ..... Madeleine Gray
HANSCHEN ..... Patrick Dineen
ERNST ..... Aaron Gelkoff
FANNY ..... Lisa McGrillis
GABOR ..... Sam James
BERGMANN ..... Jasmine Hyde
GROUNDSKEEPER/KAHLBAUCH/KNOCHENBRUCH ..... John Bowler

Spring Awakening is a new version by Theo Toksvig-Stewart of a play by Frank Wedekind
Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Keith Graham and Mike Etherden
Production co-ordination by Gaelan Davis-Connolly

German playwright Frank Wedekind’s original play Spring Awakening was written in 1891. Critical of the sexually oppressive culture of the time, it offers an unflinching portrayal of topics including sexuality and suicide, and has frequently been the subject of censorship. Theo Toksvig-Stewart is an award-winning writer for stage, screen and audio. He is known for nuanced and humane narratives that tackle contemporary questions. His play Endless Second dealt with consent in the context of a relationship (described as “The best, most thought-provoking show at this year’s Fringe.”) His recent Radio 4 drama The Great Delay, about the toxic legacy of climate denial, starred Luke Treadaway, Olivia Williams and Rhashan Stone.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m0028b6q)
Laurent Binet

Presenter James Crawford speaks with multi-award-winning, Booker-longlisted French author Laurent Binet about his latest novel, Perspectives, and the three other works that influenced its creation.

Set in 16th-century Florence, the novel follows an investigation into the mysterious death of a renowned painter, found lying on a church floor with a fatal stab wound to the heart. Above him, the masterpieces he dedicated over a decade to completing. But who is responsible for his murder?

Laurent’s influences were: Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1782); The Story of my Escape from the Prisons of Venice by Giacomo Casanova (1788); and The Florentine Histories by Niccolo Machiavelli (1532).

The supporting contributor was poet, translator and lecturer in Creative Writing at Loughborough University, Dr Kerry Featherstone.

Producer: Rachael O’Neill
Editor: Gillian Wheelan
This was a BBC Audio Scotland production


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m0028b6s)
Series 38

Heat 9, 2025

(9/13)
Paul Gambaccini puts the questions to three more competitors in the last of the 2025 heats. Today's winner will take the one remaining place in the semi-finals. To get there they'll have to demonstrate the breadth of their musical knowledge, and will also have to choose a category on which to answer specialist questions, without the slightest inkling of what subjects are going to be offered.

The programme was recorded at the headquarters of the BBC Philharmonic, at Media City in Salford.

Taking part are:
Joe Andrew, from Stoke on Trent
Christine Harrison, from Bury in Lancashire
Sarah Trevarthen, from Manchester.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5ynh)
Charlie Hebdo attack

On 7 January 2015, 12 people were shot dead at the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris, the capital of France.

The two gunmen had targeted Charlie Hebdo because it had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Riss, a cartoonist who was shot in the shoulder.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: A mural of some of the victims of the attack, near the former office of Charlie Hebdo. Credit: Bertrand GUAY / AFP)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m0028b6x)
Rebecca Watts, Brian Bilston, Cristina Rivera Garza, Deryn Rees-Jones

Rebecca Watts has just published her third poetry collection - The Face In The Well. She discusses writing poems that engage with the work of an earlier generation of poets, turning a cherished childhood memory into poetry, and Emily Brontë's love of ironing.

Poet and writer Brian Bilston is as much a fan of the American writer, artist, and designer Edward Gorey as The Verb. He accepted our commission to create an updated version of one of Gorey's most celebrated poems - The Gashlycrumb Tinies. He premieres his approach to Gorey's alphabetical and flatly macabre list of children's final fates - The Garbledoom Tiddlers.

Cristina Rivera Garza is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Mexican writer, poet and professor. Her new book, Death Takes Me, fuses crime fiction, literary theory, and the poems of Argentinian poet Alejandra Pizarnik. She discusses the power of language to reflect, proscribe, and change society.

Deryn Rees-Jones is a poet, a professor, and editor at Pavilion Poetry. She talk to Ian about the art of creating a poetry collection and how deciding on the order of the poems in a new collection can be a surprisingly physical activity.

Presenter: Ian McMillan
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0028b6z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0028b71)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0028b73)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0028b75)
Pat Nevin

This week Pat Nevin brings you the tales of two very different billionaires, revels in some of the best, and most toe curling, comic moments, reveals the best musical moment in football history, and discovers a man who has shown the world truly limitless love.

Oh, we learn all about what happens when a bird collides with a plane… though maybe he shouldn’t have listened to that one while waiting in an airport.

All that and more of the best BBC audio this week!

Presenter: Pat Nevin
Producer: Elizabeth Ann Duffy
Production Coordinator: Jack Ferrie

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m00289hj)
Lynda has a controversial suggestion, and Natasha is forced to think outside the box.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m0028b77)
Thirty Eulogies

The story of how a heterosexual, Indian immigrant to England, ignorant of the gay scene, ended up delivering heartfelt eulogies to 30 homosexual men at the height of the AIDS crisis.

The experiences of Suresh Vaghela take us behind the headlines of the infected blood scandal and into a transformative relationship between a hemophiliac and the people who he came to regard as his new family.

(Including extracts from the BBC Sound Archive and from the 1975 World In Action documentary Blood Money, Granada TV)
Music by Jeremy Warmsley
Produced by Nicolo Majnoni
Executive Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001w86r)
Get an Early Night

Michael discovers his long-time penchant for an early night could have some real health benefits. If you are someone who could go to sleep earlier and simply put it off with an extra episode or phone scrolling, Michael recommends going to bed an hour earlier than normal because getting enough sleep deeply impacts your brain, protecting against depression and other neurological problems. Professor Esra Tasali at the University of Chicago's Sleep Centre, shares her research that sleeping an extra hour a night has been found to have an incredible effect on our appetite, reducing cravings often linked to weight gain. Our volunteer Dylan, who is very health and exercise conscious, is surprised to find a little more sleep every night could benefit his fitness routine.

Series Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Researcher: Sophie Richardson
Researcher: Will Hornbrook
Production Manager: Maria Simons
Editor: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m00282ry)
Old English, New English

Michael Rosen explores the evocative Old English words used in daily life a thousand years ago, many of which are still in use now. He's joined by the linguist author of The Wordhord, Hana Videen. Hana has been hoarding words from Old English (450 AD to 1150 AD) for a decade, when she began tweeting one a day. Now she has lots of people following her to find out more about the language, and a new book out called The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary.

https://oldenglishwordhord.com

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Beth O'Dea.
Subscribe to the Word of Mouth podcast and never miss an episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qtnz


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002837w)
Rick Buckler, Margaret Miles-Bramwell, Harry Stewart Jr, Maureen Halton

John Wilson on

Rick Buckley, the drummer in The Jam, one of the most popular and influential British bands of the 70s and 80s.

Margaret Miles-Bramwell who founded Slimming World in response to what she saw as humiliation tactics by weight loss groups.

World War Two fighter pilot Harry Stewart Jr, part of the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen who despite huge successes in aerial combat, faced discrimination and segregation on the ground.

Maureen Halton, the biology lecturer who introduced and popularised the Frisbee in the UK.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive:
Interview with WW2 Veteran Harry Stewart Jr” From: Friends of the National World War II Memorial, uploaded 21.02.2024; Red Tails (2012) HD Movie Trailer - Lucasfilm Official Trailer, Uploaded to Youtube by Rotten Tomatoes, 29.07.2011; Remembering the Tuskegee Airmen From: U.S. Department of the Interior; Slimming World podcast, Permission granted by Rebecca Robinson – Director of Comms at Slimming World; Rock On!, BBC Radio 1, 21.05.1977; THE JANICE FORSYTH SHOW: THE JANICE FORSYTH SHOW, BBC, 11.12.2017; Sounds of the 70s with Johnnie Walker : Rick Buckler, BBC Radio 2, 06.02.2018


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m002898j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0028b5z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m002898d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0028b79)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m00282pq)
Oliver Goldsmith

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the renowned and versatile Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728 - 1774). There is a memorial to him in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner written by Dr Johnson, celebrating Goldsmith's life as a poet, natural philosopher and historian. To this could be added ‘playwright’ and ‘novelist’ and ‘science writer’ and ‘pamphleteer’ and much besides, as Goldsmith explored so many different outlets for his talents. While he began on Grub Street in London, the centre for jobbing writers scrambling for paid work, he became a great populariser and compiler of new ideas and knowledge and achieved notable successes with poems such as The Deserted Village, his play She Stoops to Conquer and his short novel The Vicar of Wakefield.

With

David O’Shaughnessy
Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies at the University of Galway

Judith Hawley
Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London

And

Michael Griffin
Professor of English at the University of Limerick

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Norma Clarke, Brothers of the Quill: Oliver Goldsmith in Grub Street (Harvard University Press, 2016)

Leo Damrosch, The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age (Yale University Press, 2019)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. Aileen Douglas and Ian Campbell Ross), The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale, Supposed to Be Written by Himself (first published 1766; Cambridge University Press, 2024)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. Arthur Friedman), The Vicar of Wakefield (first published 1766; Oxford University Press, 2008)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. Arthur Friedman), The Collected Works of Oliver Goldsmith, 5 vols (Clarendon Press, 1966)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. Robert L. Mack), Oliver Goldsmith: Everyman’s Poetry, No. 30 (Phoenix, 1997)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. James Ogden), She Stoops to Conquer (first performed 1773; Methuen Drama, 2003)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. James Watt), The Citizen of the World (first published 1762; Cambridge University Press, 2024)

Oliver Goldsmith (ed. Nigel Wood), She Stoops to Conquer and Other Comedies (first performed 1773; Oxford University Press, 2007)

Michael Griffin and David O’Shaughnessy (eds.), Oliver Goldsmith in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

Michael Griffin and David O’Shaughnessy (eds.), The Letters of Oliver Goldsmith (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

Roger Lonsdale (ed.), The Poems of Gray, Collins and Goldsmith (Longmans, 1969)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m002837t)
Nothing Happened by David Szalay

Indira Varma reads an original short story for Radio 4 by the award-winning writer David Szalay.

In Abu Dhabi airport, in the middle of the night, two people are thrown together again for the first time in decades. Now both middle-aged, they ponder missed chances...

Writer: David Szalay is an acclaimed writer of novels and short stories. He was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and has won the Betty Trask Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. He lives in Budapest.
Reader Indira Varma
Producer: Justine Willett

MONDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0028b7c)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 The Battersea Poltergeist (p0955cfy)
Episode 3: Interview with a Ghost

Danny explores possible links between the Battersea case and the Enfield Poltergeist, a famous alleged haunting from 1977.

He meets two reporters who covered the case, one of whom claims to have been attacked by the poltergeist. We hear more from the real-life Shirley Hitchings as, back in 1956, teenage Shirley appears to communicate with Donald the Poltergeist, and her story becomes front page tabloid news, gripping the nation.

Written and presented by Danny Robins, starring Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Toby Jones (Detectorists), Burn Gorman (Torchwood) and Alice Lowe (Sightseers).

With original theme music by Mercury-nominated Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier, this gripping 8-part series interweaves a chilling supernatural thriller set in 50s London with a fascinating modern-day investigation into Britain’s strangest ever haunting – a mystery unsolved... until now.

Shirley Hitchings……..Dafne Keen
Harold Chibbett………Toby Jones
Wally Hitchings…… Burn Gorman
Kitty Hitchings……….Alice Lowe
Ethel Hitchings……….Sorcha Cusack
John Hitchings……..Calvin Demba
Ronald Maxwell……….Rufus Wright
Joyce Lewis………..Miranda Raison

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Ciaran O’Keeffe and Evelyn Hollow
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
Directed by Simon Barnard

Consultant: Alan Murdie

With thanks to James Clark, co-author of 'The Poltergeist Prince of London'

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2021.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m002899s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0028b7g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0028b7j)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0028b7l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0028b7n)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0028b7q)
Taking the biscuit

Good morning.

A woman is waiting in the departure lounge, rummaging through her bag to pull out her book and her packet of biscuits, a man sits down beside her and a few minutes later she picks up the biscuits nestled between them. The man smiles at her, then reaches into the packet and helps himself to a biscuit! “The cheek!” With every biscuit she takes, he takes one too until they reach the last biscuit. He smiles, picks up the packet, and tilts it towards her. Outraged, she snatches the packet ready to unleash, but an announcement interrupts, calling the next flight.

The man leaves quickly, she misses her chance and then her flight is announced. She gathers her bag, opens it to swap her book for her boarding pass, and freezes. Her own packet of biscuits is still at the bottom of her bag. The man had not been shamelessly pilfering from her packet but graciously sharing from his!

We are taught in the Muslim tradition to make 70 excuses for others and that even if we somehow do, to imagine they had an additional one we missed. In a world that has become hyper polarised, extending this sort of magnanimous thinking has become even more important. It’s not to say we agree on everything, but that we can say, I do not agree with what you are doing, but I can see where you’re coming from, and if I can’t, I’m going to try hard, because that’s how I hold on to your humanity and mine. That’s how I reject this unholy fracturing that is killing us.

I pray for a heart that assumes the best in others, that seeks to understand rather than condemn, and that remembers I am only as human as I allow others to be. Ameen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0028b7s)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


MON 05:57 Weather (m0028b7v)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m00289gv)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m00289gx)
Community and industrial decline

The story of Liverpool’s once thriving port is one of spectacular rise, and spectacular fall. In Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain, the historian Sam Wetherell looks at the city post-WWII, as the decline in the port led to the poverty and neglect of its population, the deportation of Chinese sailors, and the discrimination against the city’s Black population. It’s a history as prophecy for what the future might hold for the communities caught in the same trap of obsolescence.

As manufacturing has declined in the UK it has grown exponentially in China, which is now known as ‘the world’s factory’. Dr Yu Jie is a senior research fellow at Chatham House and an expert in China’s economic diplomacy. She considers what the mega-cities that have emerged out of China’s rise, and the communities living in them, can learn from the history of Liverpool.

Corby in the Midlands was once at the heart of British steelmaking, with one of the largest operations in Western Europe. But once the plant was closed in the 1980s, the ‘clean-up’ became known as one of the worst environmental scandals, causing serious birth defects in the town. The four-part series, Toxic Town, written by Jack Thorne (on Netflix from 27th February) tells the story of the families as they fight for justice.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Shadow World (m0025vhf)
The Willpower Detectives

2. A Trust Betrayed

Maisie was struggling to cope and thought giving someone control of her finances would help: she later regretted signing that Power of Attorney order and tells Sue Mitchell why.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - Concerned neighbours ask Sue Mitchell for help.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

It often involves people with little or no family to ask questions about where they are moved to, or to challenge the fees involved. It can be people who’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, whose assets are now helping to fund those who are taking decisions for them.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00289gz)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 Artworks (m00289h1)
Roleplay

Cleopatra

One big dramatic role. Actors from across the world tell us what the part means and what it means to them. This time: Cleopatra.

In the first episode of this new series, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Janet Suzman, Doña Croll and Nadia Nadarajah describe what it's like to play Cleopatra, taking us through the character's journey in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.

Cleopatra 7th of Egypt is one of the ancient world's most famous figures. But it was William Shakespeare who first made her an iconic dramatic role and shaped our ideas of this historical leader - in his play Antony and Cleopatra.

The play’s lines have stayed in the mind of Dame Judi Dench who initially doubted whether she could play the part. She tells stories of escaping snakes, secret suppers, and spectacular speeches. It's a part which has also fascinated Dame Janet Suzman, who has returned to the play and to the complex beguiling Cleopatra time and again over the last five decades.

The play travels from Egypt to Rome and back again - Doña Croll, thought to be the first black actor to play the role, talks about why Cleopatra is a part important to black actors, a role known for her power and her supposed beauty. Our image of the Egyptian ruler has perhaps been influenced more by one actor than any other: Elizabeth Taylor. Roger Lewis reveals the parallels between the lives of Taylor and Cleopatra.

Antony and Cleopatra's final act is known for its wonderful language and theatrical difficulty. Nadia Nadarajah, a Shakespearean actor who uses British Sign Language, explores Cleopatra’s famous final moments, surrounded by snakes.

Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio, Bristol
Edited by Emma Harding
Mixed by Ilse Lademann

Archive:

Antony and Cleopatra, National Theatre, 1987
Director - Sir Peter Hall
Cleopatra - Judi Dench
Alexas - Robert Arnold

Antony and Cleopatra, ATV (ITV), 1974
Director - Jon Scoffield
Cleopatra - Janet Suzman
Antony - Richard Johnson

Caesar and Cleopatra (Followed by Antony and Cleopatra), BBC Network Radio, 12th August 1951
Producer - Ayton Whitaker
Cleopatra - Vivien Leigh
Antony - Laurence Olivier

Antony and Cleopatra, BBC Radio 3, 28th December 2014
Director - Alison Hindell
Cleopatra - Alex Kingston
Antony - Kenneth Branagh
Agrippa - Simon Armstrong
Octavius Caesar - Geoffrey Streatfield

Make Death Love Me: Antony and Cleopatra Re-imagined, BBC Radio 3, 24th April 2022
Director - Neil Bartlett
Producer - Turan Ali
Cleopatra - Adjoa Andoh
Antony - Tim McInnerny

World Drama - Antony and Cleopatra - Part 1, BBC Radio 3, 30th Jan 1977
Director/Producer - John Tydeman
Cleopatra - Sian Phillips

Antony and Cleopatra, BBC Network Radio, 12th July 1965
Producer - R.D. Smith
Enobarbus - Rupert Davies

Additional archive:
Kaleidoscope, BBC Radio 4, 13th November 1981; Prefaces to Shakespeare, BBC Radio 4, 2nd May 1981; What's New?, BBC Television, 3rd April 1962; Radio Two Arts Programme: Burton and Taylor, BBC Radio 2, 13th March 1994 including clips from Cleopatra, film, 1963 directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Antony; Film 74 Special: Richard Burton, BBC TV, 6th September 1974 including clips from Cleopatra 1963 film.


MON 11:30 Naturebang (m0021j9t)
Burying Beetles and the Politics of Parenting

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight tackle a topic we love to fight about: parenting. How should we raise our kids? How much love is too much?

Good parenting begins at home. And 'home', in this case, is a decomposing mouse corpse, rolled into a ball and buried 5 inches beneath the soil of the forest floor. Naturally. This is the home of one of nature's most diligent little parents, the black and orange Gravedigger, or Burying Beetle. The two parents team up to feed, nurture and care for their grubs until they're old enough to make it alone. But is there such a thing as too much parenting? Could a little LESS motherly (and fatherly) love, actually help the grubs be a little more self-reliant?

In the human world, we can't seem to agree on the best way to raise our babies. Across time and across cultures, there have been parenting strategies that seem bonkers to us now, while our ways of doing things might raise alarm bells elsewhere. One factor here is that humans spend a lot of time parenting; we're one of the most heavily investing parents the natural world has ever produced. But our babies are needy for a reason: it takes an awfully long time to make a human.

Featuring Rebecca Kilner, Professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Brenna Hassett, biological anthropologist at University College London and the author of 'Growing up Human: The Evolution of Childhood'. Produced and presented by Emily Knight and Becky Ripley.


MON 11:45 The Many Lives of James Lovelock by Jonathan Watts (m00289h3)
Episode 1

James Lovelock is probably best known today for being the co-creator of the Gaia Theory - the idea that life on Earth is a self-sustaining system in which organisms interact with their environments to maintain a habitable ecosystem.

But this controversial and complicated man lived many lives over the course of the 102 years he spent on this planet.

He was born just after the end of the First World War to parents who had little interest in having a family and preferred to leave their new born child with his grandparents. His early years were often spent alone in nature and this helped to establish his lifelong affinity for the natural world. But he was also an autodidact – fascinated with science and in particular chemistry. Despite struggling at school he went on to become one of the great polymaths of the 20th century.

During the Second World War he worked at the National Medical Research Institute, where his life-long interest in chemical tracing began. In the 1960s he worked at NASA. He worked for MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War. He was a science advisor to the oil giant Shell, who he warned as early as 1966 that fossil fuels were causing serious harm to the environment. He invented the technology that found the hole in the Ozone layer. And all of this shaped Gaia Theory – a theory that could not have been developed without the collaboration of two important women in his life.

Based on over 80 hours of interviews with Lovelock and unprecedented access to his personal papers and scientific archive, Jonathan Watts has written a definitive and revelatory biography of a fascinating, sometimes contradictory man.

Jonathan Watts is a British journalist with an interest in the environment. He is also the author of When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save the World - or Destroy It.

Written by Jonathan Watts
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
Read by Richard Goulding
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m00289h6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m00289h8)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m00289hb)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m00289hd)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (m00289hg)
Episode 6: Telling Stories

After weeks, months, sometimes years of preparation, the case enters the courtroom. Here, two narratives will be told. Twelve people, selected at random, will be asked to decide.

Defence Barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind lifts the curtain on the real criminal justice system and the real people working within it - beneath the wigs, behind the uniforms and in the dock.

Presenter: Joanna Hardy-Susskind
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Danita McIntyre


MON 14:00 The Archers (m00289hj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001j47n)
Series 4

1. She Drives Me Crazy

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return with the fourth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy about a long-married couple in love with life and each other.

This week, Amy moves in. She has long, thin legs and lots of black hair, which is why their new rescue dog is called after Amy Winehouse. Joanna’s attempts at training are scuppered by Roger and Amy’s ‘lovefest’, prompting her to observe ‘There are three in this marriage.’

Conversations from a Long Marriage is written by Jan Etherington.
It’s produced and directed by Claire Jones.
And it is a BBC Studios Production.

Wilfredo Acosta - sound engineer
Jon Calver - sound designer
Katie Baum - production coordinator

Conversations from a Long Marriage won Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020.

‘Sitcom is what most marriages are really like – repetitive and ridiculous – and Jan’s words are some of the best ever written on the subject’ RICHARD CURTIS
‘This gives me hope that life and marriage might permanently include taking the absolute piss while simultaneously dancing in the kitchen’. EMMA FREUD
‘Can Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? Sublimely funny, touching… This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ SIMON O’HAGAN, RADIO TIMES
‘An endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN
‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. This series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES
‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY


MON 14:45 The Island (m00283zv)
Series 1

Episode 2: The threatening note

A threatening note threatens to threaten Stephen's new island lifestyle, and Sandi Toksvig speaks through a worm.

From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Skewer) and writers Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock, actor Stephen Mangan washes up on the actual island from Desert Island Discs, only to discover that he is not alone.

Living among the palms and rocky outcrops and thousands of copies of the Bible lying in the sand is every former guest of the show - and it’s all gone a bit Lord of the Flies.

Through Stephen’s audio diary, we learn that all TV chef Nadiya Hussain wants to do is hunt, that Richard Madeley’s gone feral, and that Sandi Toksvig has the Conch. But there’s something lurking in the forest, and when Stephen suspects foul play in the power struggle to be chief, he soon finds himself making a dangerous enemy.

Can he win over his fellow islanders before it’s too late? What lengths will he go to to survive? And what the hell is he going to do with this useless coffee machine he chose as his luxury item?

Written by Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock
Starring Stephen Mangan as himself

Sound Design: Tony Churnside
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
Producer: Bill Dare


An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m00289hl)
Julia Bradbury and Ramita Navai

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, chosen by Julia Bradbury
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, chosen by Ramita Navai
An Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, chosen by presenter Harriett Gilbert

TV presenter, author and walking enthusiast Julia Bradbury recommends a fiction book by Matt Haig, How to Stop Time, which brings to life the idea of living forever.

Award-winning British-Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author Ramita Navai shares the epic novel A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, his Dickensian masterpiece of modern India.

And Harriett's choice is An Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, capturing four ladies' unforgettable holiday on the Italian Riviera.

Produced by Beth O'Dea for BBC Audio Bristol
Follow us on instagram: agoodreadbbc

Photo credit David Venni


MON 15:30 History's Heroes (m00289hn)
History's Youngest Heroes

History's Youngest Heroes: 12. Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope

Can 21 year-old Terry Fox, a cancer survivor with a prosthetic leg, run the length of Canada?

Nicola Coughlan shines a light on extraordinary young people from across history. Join her for 12 stories of rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


MON 16:00 Road Wars: Cycling in Paris (m0028j6n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0028989)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m00289hq)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00289hs)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m00289hv)
Series 94

6. Limoncello and Portobello

Sue Perkins challenges Josie Lawrence, Ivo Graham, Sara Pascoe and Daliso Chaponda to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include Dollywood, When The Dust Has Settled, and My Get Pumped Playlist.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m00289hx)
Fallon faces a dilemma, and Vince makes an unexpected statement.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m00289hz)
How the performing arts have evolved since the start of the 21st century

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 Rethink (m00282s4)
Rethink... the global economy

You would be forgiven for thinking that inflation, interest rates, GDP and tariffs drive the global economy.

But there are a whole set of interconnected underlying systems that work quietly in the background to keep economies running smoothly. It's not just countries that rely on them, but individuals as well. These systems allow workers to get paid, banks to make transfers, and the free-flow of information on the internet.

These immaterial systems have a presence in the physical world, from fibre optic cables to the servers that host our data. Building and maintaining this infrastructure, and everything else that makes up modern civilisation requires a constant and reliable supply of raw materials.

But in this globalised world, both the underlying systems online and the supply chains in the material world have pinch points - places where if just one thing gets squeezed, then there are immediate and dramatic effects on the economy.

And whoever controls those pinch points wields a vast amount of power.

In this episode of Rethink, Ben Ansell explores those pinch points, how the USA and China are realising their power, and what this means for the UK.

Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham

Contributors:
Henry Farrell, SNF Agora Professor of International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and co-author of Underground Empire.
Abe Newman, professor in the School of Foreign Service and Government Departments at Georgetown University, and co-author of Underground Empire.
Ed Conway, economics and data editor of Sky News and author of Material World.


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m00282sb)
Biotech Risks and Asteroid Anxiety

Scientists gather this week to tackle emerging risks from cutting-edge biotech, echoing the landmark Asilomar conference that shaped genetic engineering safety 50 years ago. What new threats face us, and how can the scientific community stay ahead of them?

Also in the programme: are you feeling asteroid anxiety? We take a closer look at the chances that ‘2024 YR4’ will hit us... We get the latest calculations on this space rock's potential collision course with Earth in 2032.

And, as members of the Royal Society debate whether to expel Elon Musk from their ranks, we explore past fellows who rattled the establishment. Fellows meet next month to decide his fate.

If you want to find out more about the history of genetic engineering - from the Asilomar conference to the present day - search for Matthew Cobb's series 'Genetic Dreams, Genetic Nightmares' on BBC Sounds.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Ilan Goodman, Sophie Ormiston & Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m00289gx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 The Bottom Line (m002648w)
The Decisions That Made Me

Decisions That Made Me: Jordan Brompton (Myenergi, Co-founder)

When your background differs from the people working with and around you, it’s easy to feel judged by the assumptions people make about you from class to gender. Whatever your upbringing, it’s something we all deal with - our backgrounds are always with us, either to be embraced, accepted, or fled from. Jordan Brompton, entrepreneur and co-founder of the smart energy tech company Myenergi, shares her experience as a working class woman and her love of solar panels.

Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m00289j1)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier (m00289j3)
Episode 6

Apprentice Antonio has fled Murano with the secrets of the glassmakers after Orsola’s brother brokered his reluctant sister's engagement to Stefano. The young woman is reluctant to commit to her fiancé, waiting instead for the clandestine tokens of Antonio’s love that the post occasionally brings.

The spellbinding new novel from the acclaimed author of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is read by Emily Bruni.

Written by Tracy Chevalier
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Tracy Chevalier is the author of eleven novels, including ’A Single Thread’, ‘Remarkable Creatures’ and ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, an international bestseller that has sold over five million copies and been made into a film, a play and an opera.

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (p0dy5yr0)
The Incident at Ong's Hat

The Incident at Ong’s Hat - Episode 4: The Schematic

Secrets about both Charlie and Sarah are revealed as the investigation takes another turn.

Charlie travels to Sarah’s hometown in search of answers.

Cast:
Charlie - Corey Brill
Sarah - Avital Ash
Rodney Ascher - Himself
Det. Stecco - James Bacon
Casey - Hayley Taylor
Ringo - Benjamin Williams
Kit - Randall Keller
Denny Unger - Himself
Joseph Matheny - Himself

Newscasters: Elizabeth Saydah, Dean Wendt

Created and Produced by Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto
Inspired by Ong’s Hat: The Beginning by Joseph Matheny
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Jon Frechette, Chris Zabriskie, Anthéne, Alessandro Barbanera, Blanket Swimming, Macrogramma (under Creative Commons)
Editing and Sound Design - Jon Frechette
Additional Editing - Brandon Kotfila and Greg Myers
Special Thanks - Ben Fineman

Written and Directed by Jon Frechette
Executive Producer - John Scott Dryden

“Ong’s Hat Survivors Interview” courtesy of Joseph Matheny
Visit thegardenofforkedpaths.com & josephmatheny.com

A Goldhawk production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00289j5)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament

TUESDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m00289j7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Many Lives of James Lovelock by Jonathan Watts (m00289h3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00289j9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00289jc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00289jf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m00289jh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00289jk)
A Prayer on the Treadmill

Good morning.

Did you know it's Ramadan? Some people know it as the holy month of fasting for Muslims, and if you’re astute, you might remember being taught at school that Muslims fast the month to empathise with the poor. And whilst there may be some truth to that, there’s really so much more.

The Prophet Muhammad said, ‘Fasting is a shield, so when one of you fasts, they may not be obscene. If someone insults you or fights you then simply say I am fasting. I swear that the breath coming from the mouth of a fasting person is more pleasant to God than the scent of musk.

The tradition teaches us that fasting is about more than abstaining from food and water, we have to watch our manners and actions, we have to turn away from the ignorant and rude, and I’m always struck by the part of the tradition that tells us that the breath of a fasting person is more fragrant to God than perfume - because objectively speaking, it can get quite bad! But it's a reminder that to get what we want, we often have to suffer less enjoyable moments. Ramadan reminds us of what we really want to achieve and knowing that the path to it will often be testing, but the fruits will be well worth it.

I pray for the optimism and confidence to set myself worthy goals, and the wisdom to know nothing worth achieving comes easy. Ameen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m00289jm)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m00289nm)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m00289nr)
Tori Herridge on ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths

Elephants are the largest living land mammal and today our plant is home to three species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.

But a hundred thousand years ago, in the chilly depths of the Ice Age, multiple species of elephant roamed the earth: from dog-sized dwarf elephants to towering woolly mammoths.

These gentle giants' evolutionary story and its parallels with that of humankind has long fascinated Dr Tori Herridge, a senior lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of Sheffield, where - as a seasoned science broadcaster - she's also responsible for their Masters course in Science Communication.

Tori has spent much of her life studying fossil elephants and the sites where they were excavated; trying to establish facts behind relics that are far beyond the reach of Radio Carbon Dating. To date she's discovered dwarf mammoths on Mediterranean islands, retraced the groundbreaking Greek expedition of a female palaeontologist in the early 1900s, and even held an ancient woolly mammoth’s liver. (Verdict: stinky.)

But as she tells Profesor Jim Al-Khalili, this passion for fossil-hunting is not just about understanding the past: this information is what will help us protect present-day elephants and the world around them for future generations.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m00289nw)
Allergies: How to support young people as they grow up

When we hit our teens it's often a time when everything starts to change. We meet new friends through work or studies, we start going out more at night and we're often in new situations independent from our parents. For people with severe allergies it can be a risky time because they have all this change in their life, on top of what Priya Matharu calls the 'full time job' of managing your condition. Presenter James Gallagher talks to Priya about her experience of having severe allergies from a young age and how she has coped with reactions that mean just touching her face after chopping a carrot has put her in hospital. For Priya, when she reached adolescence and moved out of her family it was a scary time and she had to grow up quickly to take responsibility for her allergies.

In a recent debate in the House of Lords it was discussed that moving young people out of the paediatric allergy services they have grown up with the support of and into adult services, just as everything else in their life is changing too can be really difficult for patients, and potentially dangerous.

Dr Claudia Gore from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust shared her experience of working in a children's allergy clinic in London for that debate and she joins James along with Dr Paul Turner from Imperial College London to discuss how this transition from children's to adult services could be made safer and smoother for patients.

Also in the programme, James is joined again by Dr Vanessa Apea, Consultant in Genito-Urinary and HIV medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust to answer more of your questions on genital herpes, UTIs and urinary incontinence.

Presenter; James Gallagher
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Assistant Producer: Anna Charalambou
Editor: Colin Paterson


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00289p0)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m0028388)
Julian Joseph and Aoife Ní Bhriain open the new series

Irish violinist Aoife Ní Bhriain and jazz pianist and composer Julian Joseph are the first guests in the new series with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe. Together they add the first five tracks, taking us from the Mercury Prize-winning jazz group Ezra Collective to a celebrated pair of sisters at the piano, via a 1975 pop classic heavily influenced by Frédéric Chopin.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

God Gave Me Feet For Dancing by Ezra Collective
Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Barry Manilow
Kabir by John McLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan & Zakir Hussain
Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra: Mvt 1 by Philip Glass, performed by Katia & Marielle Labèque

Other music in this episode:

Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
Dollar Wine by Colin Lucas
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Prelude in C Minor, Op 28, No 20 by Frédéric Chopin
Could it be Magic by Donna Summer
Could it be Magic by Take That


TUE 11:45 The Many Lives of James Lovelock by Jonathan Watts (m00289p4)
Episode 2

James Lovelock is probably best known today for being the co-creator of the Gaia Theory - the idea that life on Earth is a self-sustaining system in which organisms interact with their environments to maintain a habitable ecosystem.

But this controversial and complicated man lived many lives over the course of the 102 years he spent on this planet.

He was born just after the end of the First World War to parents who had little interest in having a family and preferred to leave their new born child with his grandparents. His early years were often spent alone in nature and this helped to establish his lifelong affinity for the natural world. But he was also an autodidact – fascinated with science and in particular chemistry. Despite struggling at school he went on to become one of the great polymaths of the 20th century.

During the Second World War he worked at the National Medical Research Institute, where his life-long interest in chemical tracing began. In the 1960s he worked at NASA. He worked for MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War. He was a science advisor to the oil giant Shell, who he warned as early as 1966 that fossil fuels were causing serious harm to the environment. He invented the technology that found the hole in the Ozone layer. And all of this shaped Gaia Theory – a theory that could not have been developed without the collaboration of two important women in his life.

Based on over 80 hours of interviews with Lovelock and unprecedented access to his personal papers and scientific archive, Jonathan Watts has written a definitive and revelatory biography of a fascinating, sometimes contradictory man.

Jonathan Watts is a British journalist with an interest in the environment. He is also the author of When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save the World - or Destroy It.

Written by Jonathan Watts
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
Read by Richard Goulding
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m00289p9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m00289pf)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m00289pk)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m00289pm)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 You Do Not Have to Say Anything (m00289pp)
Episode 7: No Further Questions

When a witness is called to give evidence, twelve pairs of eyes from the jury fix on them as they take up their position in the witness box. What comes next can be difficult: cross-examination. The difficult questions need to be asked and answered.

Defence Barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind lifts the curtain on the real criminal justice system and the real people working within it - beneath the wigs, behind the uniforms and in the dock.

Presenter: Joanna Hardy-Susskind
Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Producer: Danita McIntyre


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m00289hx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Body Horror (m001qf2r)
Episode 1

The transplant industry is in full swing, but can a new body ever fulfil the life-changing expectations of lowly mortician Caroline McAleese?

Lucy Catherine's three-part dystopian thriller is set in London in 2050.

Caroline ..... Jill Halfpenny
Gloria ..... Shelley Conn
Rowan ..... Adam Courting
Anastasia ..... Samantha Dakin
Tom ..... Ian Conningham
Waiter ..... Greg Jones
Bar Guy ..... Ikky Elyas
Virtual James ..... Will Kirk
Government Computer ..... Neil McCaul
Work Computer ..... Sinead MacInnes
Lift Voice ..... Lucy Reynolds

Director: Toby Swift

Developed through the Wellcome Trust Experimental stories scheme

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2020.


TUE 15:00 The Gift (m00289pr)
Series 2

Bonus Episode: Searching

A family's race against time to find the baby they believe DNA testing proves was switched at birth.

It’s the perfect gift for the person who already has everything. It promises to tell you who you really are, and how you’re connected to the world. A present that will reveal your genetic past – but could also disrupt your future.

In the second series of The Gift, Jenny Kleeman looked deeper into the unintended consequences - the aftershocks - set in motion when people when people take at-home DNA tests like Ancestry and 23andMe.

This included "Switched"; the stories of two women who discovered they had been accidentally swapped at birth in a West Midlands hospital in 1967– all due to an Ancestry DNA test, received as a Christmas gift.

As soon as the episode aired, people began to contact Jenny with tales of other incidences of accidental baby swaps - and one in particular stood out.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Becca Bryers
Executive Producer: Joe Kent
Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

The Gift is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m00289pt)
Crowds

Laurie Taylor talks to the writer, Dan Hancox, about the part that crowds play in our lives and how they made the modern world.
From Notting Hill carnival-goers and football matches to M25 raves and violent riots, what do we know about the madness of the multitude? Also, Lisa Mueller, Associate Professor of Political Science at Macalaster College, Minnesota, asks why protests succeed or fail. Examining data from 97 protests, she finds that more cohesive crowds are key. Drilling down into two British protests, Occupy London and Take Back Parliament, protesters who united around a common goal won more concessions than ones with multiple aims.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m00289h1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Monday]


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m00289pw)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


TUE 17:00 PM (m00289py)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00289q0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Heresy (m00289q2)
Series 13

Episode 2

Victoria Coren Mitchell is joined by Sarah Kendall, David Mitchell and Chris McCausland to discuss life style programmes, dancing and AI.

Written and presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell with additional material from Dan Gaster and Charlie Skelton
Produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Daisy Knight
Series created by David Baddiel

Sound Design - David Thomas
Broadcast Assistant - Jenny Recaldin

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m00289q4)
Emma struggles to keep up, and Lilian struggles to let go of the past.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m00289q6)
New medical drama Berlin ER

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m00289q8)
Generation K: Kids on Ketamine

File on 4 Investigates goes to Burnley in Lancashire to meet the young people and their families as they grapple with a ketamine epidemic.
Used in human and veterinary medicine as an anaesthetic, experts say the drug is being used by increasing numbers of young people because it's cheap, easy to obtain and fashionable. But the health implications can be catastrophic - even fatal. It can cause mental health problems and irreversible bladder and kidney damage. Reporter Jane Deith hears from the Burnley vicar who has had to set up a support group for desperate parents; families whose children have experienced addiction, grooming, abuse and ill health and a young man who is being forced to undergo gruelling medical treatment for what’s known as “ketamine bladder”.

Reporter: Jane Deith
Producers: Jill Collins and Nicola Dowling
Technical producer: Richard Hannaford
Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m00289qb)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 World Of Secrets (m0026jxt)
The Bad Guru

The Bad Guru: 5. The Breakthrough

“I was admitting it was a sex cult,” says Miranda. She meets up with her mother Penny to tell her what she's really been up to. When she tells her story to students from the yoga school where her journey started, the guru Gregorian denounces her as a liar.

This episode contains sexual content.

Host: Cat McShane
Producers: Emma Weatherill and Cat McShane
Sound design: Melvin Rickarby
Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey
Unit Manager: Lucy Bannister
Executive Producer: Innes Bowen
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams


TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m00282qk)
London's Stock Exchange: why aren't companies listing in Britain anymore?

After a year in which a number of big companies decided to list in New York rather than the UK, Evan Davis asks what can be done to attract firms to the London Stock Exchange. With Julia Hoggett, CEO at the London Stock Exchange, Charles Hall, Head of Research at the investment bank Peel Hunt and Conor Lawlor, Managing Director, Global Banking Markets and International Affairs at UK finance.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m00289qd)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier (m00289qg)
Episode 7

The Rosso family struggle to recover from their ruinous brush with Casanova, not helped by recent political events bringing Venice to her knees.

The spellbinding new novel from the acclaimed author of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is read by Emily Bruni.

Written by Tracy Chevalier
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Tracy Chevalier is the author of eleven novels, including ’A Single Thread’, ‘Remarkable Creatures’ and ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, an international bestseller that has sold over five million copies and been made into a film, a play and an opera.

A BBC Audio Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story (m000xdxb)
2. Dimension X

Elon Musk wants to shape the future. How did science fiction shape him?

Jill Lepore continues untangling the strange sci-fi roots of Elon Musk and Silicon Valley's extreme capitalism, with its extravagant, existential and extra-terrestrial techno-libertarianism. Many of the origins of those seemingly futuristic ideas lie in science fiction, some of it a century old.

Musk is reinventing himself as a kingmaker for the United States and the world. He wants to shape the future. But in this episode, Lepore goes back to his past - to his childhood and family history. As a boy growing up in apartheid South Africa, Musk developed a fascination with science fiction - especially Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. One of Musk’s grandfathers was the leader of a strange sci-fi inspired movement known as Technocracy. Technocrats found democracy in adequate to modernity, and wanted engineers and scientists to run governments. Lepore argues Technocracy bears an uncanny resemblance to some things going on today in Silicon Valley and Washington today: from de-regulation of the economy to the rise of crypto-currency.

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek, Oliver Riskin-Kutz, Thomas Farmer
Editors: Richard Vadon, Hugh Levinson
Sound design and mix: James Beard, Graham Puddifoot
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00289qk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament