WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2009

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b00l33qc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b00l9pns)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b00l33sl)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b00l33z5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b00l33vv)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b00l342f)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b00l344j)
Daily prayer and reflection with Rev Dr Kevin Franz.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b00l3475)
News and issues in rural Britain with Anna Hill.


WED 06:00 Today (b00l348q)
Presented by Sarah Montague and Evan Davis.

Keith Vaz MP says that a one million pound Home Office project to help failed asylum seekers return home has been a waste of money.

France is to set up a commission to study the extent of burkha-wearing in the country, after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the veils reduced dignity. Lawyer Stephen Suffern discusses whether or not it could be banned.

Alan Stilwell, who has been leading an inquiry for the Institution of Civil Engineers, discusses how utility networks in the UK can be improved.

Correspondent Nick Bryant compares anti-immigration politics in Australia in the 1900s with modern-day Britain.

Reporter Sanchia Berg spends a fortnight in different Family Courts following various cases.

What does it take to make a good inventor? Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield and Tanya Ewing, British Female Inventor of the Year, discuss how inventive people can be identified.

Thought for the Day with Vishvapani, a member of the Western Buddhist Order.

Primary school headteacher Tim Benson and Miriam Rosen, Ofsted's director of education, discuss what needs to be done to improve young children's behaviour.

Ian Pannell reports on allegations of abuse from former inmates of Bagram military base in Afghanistan.

Economist Jon Moulton and the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman Vince Cable discuss whether the city has changed its ways.

Team manager Michael McGregor and team captain Daniel Christian discuss a tour by a squad of aboriginal cricketers to England.

Correspondent Jeremy Bowen considers whether, as US President Barack Obama has said, the violence used against protesters in Iran was 'unjust'. Columnist Con Coughlin discusses Britain's relationship with Iran.

David Willey reports on the unveiling of the written petition to allow King Henry VIII to get divorced.

Bob Collins, chief commissioner for the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland, discusses whether a spate of recent attacks on Romanians is a symptom of a wider problem.

Author Michael Steinberger and French cultural commentator Agnes Poirier discuss the standard of French cuisine.

Political commentator Anthony Howard considers the extent to which the role of Speaker of the House of Commons has become political, despite it being an impartial role.


WED 09:00 Midweek (b00l5hcc)
Sgt Dawn Bailey is a chef in the RAF. She has led a team of military chefs at RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to recreate recipes given by over 100 celebrities for the Help for Heroes Cookbook. The book is the brainchild of Squadron Leader Jon Pullen and a team of servicemen and women who served together in Northern Ireland, to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity for wounded service personnel. Help for Heroes Cookbook is published by Accent Press.

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire was born the Honorable Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford in 1920, the youngest of the Mitford sisters. She married Lord Andrew Cavendish, who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire and, on the death of his father, inherited the family seat at Chatsworth. In her latest book, Home to Roost and Other Peckings, she tells of events including the inauguration and funeral of John F Kennedy and her feelings about book signings. Home to Roost is published by John Murray.

Oren Yakobovich is a former Israeli army officer who now works for the Israeli human rights charity B'Tselem. He came up with the idea of the Camera Distribution Project, which provides video cameras to Palestinian families in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem to help them record human rights violations they may experience from settlers and Israeli soldiers in the Occupied Territories. They are the 2009 winners of the Special Award at the One World Media Awards.

Mike Pannett served for nearly 20 years in the Police. After starring in the BBC series Country Cops he was inspired to write about his adventures in the North Yorkshire force. In his latest book, You're Coming With Me Lad, he tells of his life in rural policing, a far cry from his old job, hunting down drug gangs and tackling knife crime in London. You're Coming With Me Lad is published by Hodder.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b00l9pnj)
The Junior Officer's Reading Club

Tower, Windsor, Buck and Jimmys

Patrick Hennessey reads his soldier's tale for the 21st century; an account of his experiences at Sandhurst and then on deployment in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

Hennessey is commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and is straining at the leash to get to the Middle East. But the British army has other plans for him - parading and primary school teaching.

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b00l34jq)
Legal highs; Food labelling and wastage

Maryon Stewart, the mother fighting to ban legal 'party drugs'. Plus confusion over food labelling; and the life and legacy of actress and writer Elizabeth Inchbald.


WED 11:00 Who's My Half-Brother? Where's My Half-Sister? (b00jv9n2)
Kati Whitaker talks to people in the UK and the USA about the ways in which children conceived through a sperm donor can make contact, and forge a familial bond, with their potential half-brothers and sisters.

She hears about the difficult choices that both parents and children have to make, and how for some there is the reward of discovery of a half-sibling, but for others the search proves to be a journey into the unknown.

A Ladbroke Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 11:30 Spread a Little Happiness (b00l5hcf)
Series 1

Episode 5

Comedy by John Godber and Jane Thornton, set in a Yorkshire sandwich bar.

The word is spreading like meat paste and business is booming, but there is a teenage fly in the soup de jour.

Hope ...... Suranne Jones
Jodie ...... Susan Cookson
Dave ...... Neil Dudgeon
Gavin ...... Ralph Brown
Eve ...... Joanne Froggatt
Carrie ...... Elizabeth Godber
Mrs Cummings ...... Sherry Baines
Woman ...... Jane Purcell

Directed by Chris Wallis.


WED 12:00 You and Yours (b00l36gq)
Consumer news and issues with Winifred Robinson.


WED 12:57 Weather (b00l36j8)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b00l36k1)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.


WED 13:30 The Media Show (b00l5hch)
BBC Director General Mark Thompson has been in his job for five years, and its been a time of unprecedented turmoil in the media world. In an exclusive interview, he gives his first public reaction to the government's Digital Britain proposals to break the BBC's historic monopoly on the television licence fee. He also responds to questions about the position of Sir Alan Sugar as a government advisor and presenter of The Apprentice, executive pay and expenses, and much else besides. He also gives a first reaction the BBC's new proposals on taste and decency following the Radio 2 Ross/Brand affair.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b00l36yy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b00l5hck)
The Chosen One

By Edson Burton. A conservative black family are shocked to discover that younger sibling Aaron has joined a Muslim prayer group. His sister Maya discovers that the roots of Aaron's conversion lie in his fractious relationship with his father and a terrible family secret.

Aaron Skinner ...... Alex Lanipekun
Maya Skinner ...... Nadia Williams
Gregory Skinner ...... Burt Caesar
Sylvia Williams ...... Lorna Easy
Jamal ...... Saikat Ahamed
Jay Andrews ...... Osi Okerafor
Shantelle ...... Alex Tregear

Directed by Mary Ward-Lowery.


WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b00l5hdx)
Paul Lewis takes your questions about ethical investment.

Paul is joined by a panel of experts - Mark Hoskin, partner at Holden and Partners; Robin Keyte, director of Towers of Taunton; and Mark Robertson, communications and development manager at the Ethical Investment Research Service.


WED 15:30 Afternoon Reading (b00l59zt)
Excused Games

At the Crease

Series of short stories by leading writers, performed by star readers, in which sports and games have some surprising effects on both children and adults.

By Robert Shearman. An adult remembers how his obsessive father was determined he should become an England cricketer. But the games being played don't make it easy for either of them. Read by Adam Godley.

A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 15:45 America, Empire of Liberty (b00l37j4)
The 'Silent Majority' Finds Its Voice

Series charting the history of America, written and presented by David Reynolds.

Conservative reaction to the civil rights and women's liberation movements galvanises America's political system.


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b00l5hdz)
Geopolitics and Empire - Romani Culture

'Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-island. Who rules the World Island commands the World'. So decreed Halford Mackinder, one of the pioneers of geography and of the nascent science of geopolitics. He had a huge influence on the strategy of the British Empire and a great impact on the foreign policy of Hitler.

Gerry Kearns, author of Geopolitics and Empire: The Legacy of Halford Mackinder tells Laurie Taylor that, with dwindling resources of gas and oil and the quest for sphere of influence, Mackinder is very much back in vogue.

Also, Laurie speaks to Roma academics Delia Grigore and Ian Hancock about ambivalent feelings towards traditional gypsy or Romani culture and the threats and advantages of assimilation.


WED 16:30 All in the Mind (b00l5gm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 17:00 PM (b00l37l0)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news with Eddie Mair. Plus Weather.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b00l37w3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by Weather.


WED 18:30 I Was... (b00fzblz)
Series 1

Douglas Adams' Flatmate

Andrew McGibbon presents a series of interviews analysing great artists from the perspective of someone who knew them.

Jon Canter shared a flat with his friend Douglas Adams while the latter struggled for success and then coped with the fame he found following the success of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Jon reveals the business of sharing a flat with his fiercely loyal, manically obsessive, loveable giant of a friend, who is still greatly missed after his sudden death ten years ago. Featuring contributions from other flatmates and Douglas' friend Professor Richard Dawkins.

A Curtains for Radio production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b00l36z6)
Clarrie's at the shop, telling Susan that Jazzer's mate Daz says he sold the bowl to "a dude with a posh bird on his arm". Susan doesn't think this helps!

Mike is upset that Brenda's unhappy about his engagement. Clarrie's helped him understand. Vicky will never replace Betty. Brenda tells him it's not that. Vicky's just not right for him. Mike protests that Vicky is so kind. Maybe it's going to take time to get used to.

Later, Mike and Vicky look at wedding invitations. Mike says he'll ask Neil to be a witness. Vicky says she'll pick up some holiday brochures for their honeymoon. Vicky's disappointed that Mike can only take a few days off, but he promises her something special later in the year.

Ruth and David work in the grain store. An ornithologist will come to ring the owl chicks next week.

At cricket practice, Alistair gets everyone stretching. David and Alistair are keen to chat but Adam tells them to get moving. Practices should mean something.

Brenda calls in at the shop. Susan says she's heard she and Mike are having a double wedding. Brenda puts her straight. She'd rather get married over a vat of sulphuric acid!

Episode written by Adrian Flynn.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b00l39kf)
Roger McGough, now an international ambassador for poetry, discusses his first new collection of poems in five years. 'At that awkward age now between birth and death', he addresses Alzheimer's and wrestles with mortality.

Film critic Jason Solomons reviews Rudo y Cursi, a story of two Mexican half mbrothers who are raised out of poverty when a football talent scout recruits them for rival teams. But their change in luck doesn't necessarily bring them happiness.

John Wilson charts Blur's journey from break-up to comeback. Headlining at Glastonbury, Blur has played out its drama on Front Row in a series of interviews, from Graham Coxon's departure in 2002 to Damon Albarn's announcement in 2008 the band were reforming. In their own words, they discuss their solo projects and why they have decided to get back together.

Art critic Mark Irving and contemporary Iranian artist Arash Hanaei discuss the role of contemporary artists living and working in Iran.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b00l8l7m)
The Art of Deception

Episode 3

Detective drama by Philip Palmer.

Art critic and journalist Jessica Brown finds herself in the firing line as her book on forgery starts to ruffle feathers.

Daniel Ballantyne ...... David Schofield
Jessica Brown ...... Indira Varma
Ben ...... Matt Addis
Andrew Jarrold ...... Jonathan Keeble
Claire de Vere ...... Belinda Lang
DI Grimwood/Art Dealer ...... John Biggins
Stavros Persakis ...... Malcolm Tierney
Museum Curator ...... Philip Fox
DS Ruckley/Taxi Driver ...... Benjamin Askew

Directed by Toby Swift.


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b00l5hhy)
Should a film that depicts scenes of explicit sex, torture and genital mutilation be shown in British cinemas? The film Antichrist was said to have caused some of the audience to faint when it was shown at Cannes. But it seems the British Board of Film Censors believes audiences here have stronger constitutions, and that Antichrist should be shown in all its uncut glory, albeit with an 18 certificate. But in an age when we can choose to view such material very easily on the internet, does censorship still have a place in our society? And, if so, how do we make judgments on what people should and should not see?

The distributors of Antichrist say it is a work of art by a talented director, and why should the fact that a few strange individuals may get a sexual thrill out of this film deny the majority the chance to see a work of art? Would the liberal critics still be as keen to argue against censorship if these scenes had been in a film made by a talented director of pornography?

The issue of content versus intent becomes even more complicated when images of children are involved. A number of art galleries in Britain have been raided by police after complaints about photographs featuring naked children which had been taken by recognised artists. The images themselves were nothing more than polished versions of photos that any parent might have. But what if the intent of the photographer had been to titillate, even if the images themselves were seemingly innocuous? And where does all this leave paintings, cartoons or animation?

Witnesses:

Dr Edward Skidelsky, lecturer in Philosophy at Exeter University

Miranda Suit, co-founder of Media March

Fred Man, gallery director

Nigel Floyd, film critic.


WED 20:45 Learning to Love the Microphone (b00l5hj0)
Episode 2

Anne Perkins explores how politicians at the dawn of mass democracy utilised the new media of radio and newsreel.

As mass democracy and new mass media were born in the 1920s, the first spin doctors were on hand to help politicians use them. Anne Perkins asks what today's politicians could learn about using new media.


WED 21:00 The Greening of the Deserts (b00l5j3j)
Episode 1

Ayisha Yahya explores predictions from some scientists and meteorologists that some deserts, including the Sahara, could get greener in the future and experience more rainfall.

This runs contrary to more usual predictions about the future of global warming in Africa that envisage more drought, floods, land degradation, epidemics and resource wars. Ayisha travels to Mali and Egypt to explore the arguments.


WED 21:30 Midweek (b00l5hcc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 21:58 Weather (b00l55z3)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b00l560j)
National and international news and analysis with Robin Lustig.

The FSA and the Bank of England tussle for control over financial regulation.

Drone attacks in Pakistan signal a new cooperative policy between Islamabad and Washington over Al Qaeda.

What Westminister should learn from Holyrood.


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b00l57dy)
Georgina Harding - The Spy Game

Episode 3

Diana Quick reads the novel by Georgina Harding, set in 1960s England.

As Peter's obsession with spy rings deepens, he encourages Anna to use code to allow them to communicate secretly. In their search for clues into the disappearance of their mother, they begin to make lists of her possessions and acquaintances - they are beginning to think like spies.

Abridged by Lauris Morgan Griffiths.


WED 23:00 Self-Storage (b0082dxc)
Series 1

Leaving

Could the time have come at long last for Dave to leave behind his peculiar abode?

Stars Reece Shearsmith and Mark Heap.

Sitcom written by Tom Collinson and Barnaby Power.

Dave …. Reece Shearsmith
Geoff …. Mark Heap
Ron …. Tom Goodman-Hill
Judy ...... Rosie Cavaliero

With Susan Earl.

Producer: Ed Morrish

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2007.


WED 23:15 Strangers on Trains (b00db0x3)
Episode 3

Nat Segnit is on a quest to venture inside travellers' minds with tales of doomed dates. With Stewart Wright. From September 2008.


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b00l57k5)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament with David Wilby.