The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
In July 1969, while the Rolling Stones played a free concert in Hyde Park, future Cabinet Minister Alan Johnson and his young family left West London to start a new life. The Britwell Estate in Slough, notorious among the locals, came as a blessed relief after the tensions of London's troubled Notting Hill, and the local community welcomed them with open arms.
Alan Johnson had become a postman the previous year and, in order to support his growing family, took on every bit of overtime he could, often working twelve-hour shifts six days a week. It was hard work, but not without its compensations – the crafty fag snatched in a country lane, the farmer's wife offering a hearty breakfast and even the mysterious lady on Glebe Road who appeared daily, topless, at her window as the postman passed by.
Please, Mister Postman paints a vivid picture of England in the 1970s, where no celebration was complete without a Party Seven of Watney's Red Barrel, smoking was the norm rather than the exception, and Sunday lunchtime was about beer and bingo. But as Alan Johnson's life appears to be settling down and his career in the Union of Postal Workers begins to take off, his close-knit family is struck once again by tragedy.
By 1982 Alan Johnson's union career is going from strength to strength with a position on the Executive beckoning. Work keeps him away from home and the Thatcher government at its height ensures life is tough for the union. But the biggest storm clouds transpire to be personal rather than political.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
'Those are dreams they had, I didn't agree with them, but it's not a bad thing to dream.' - iPM speaks to a listener and his colleague about the Scottish referendum. Presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey. Email iPM@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Clare Balding embarks on her first leg of The Dales Way, in the company of Sarah Howcroft. Sarah, an enthusiastic walker and climber for many years, along with her husband founded one of the foremost outdoor clothing companies. The Dales Way is an 82 mile route, starting at Ilkey in Yorkshire. Sarah and Clare walk along the River Wharfe to Bolton Abbey.
Gatcombe Horse Trials is now in its 19th year, hosted by HRH The Princess Royal on her farm in Gloucestershire and organised by her friend and riding companion Pattie Biden.
The Princess, an accomplished event rider herself and former European champion, introduces Charlotte Smith (a complete newcomer) to the world of dressage, showjumping and cross country.
The Princess also discusses the challenges of balancing a major equine event with the needs of a working farm. More than 800 competitors arrive over the three days, and that's an awful lot of hooves pounding Gatcombe's valuable pasture - not to mention the horse boxes. Charlotte asks farm manager Matthew Aspinall how he, and the sheep, cope with the equestrian activities.
And we look back at a week of reports looking at the challenges facing the equine world, with the Princess sharing her views on fly-grazing and selling unwanted or abandoned horses into the meat trade.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Thought for the Day and Weather.
Richard Coles and Suzy Klein and a live audience at the 2014 Abergavenny Food Festival, with doyenne of the wine world Jancis Robinson, Jay Rayner from Radio 4's Kitchen Cabinet, tree hunter Rob McBride and beekeeper Scott Davies who gave world leaders a taste of honey at the recent NATO summit in Newport. The Today programme's John Humphrys tucks into some Welsh treats with JP Devlin, BBC Introducing star Kizzy Crawford performs and musician and broadcaster Cerys Matthews shares her Inheritance Tracks.
Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson write 'The World Atlas of Wine'. The seventh edition is available now.
Tree hunter Rob McBride is hosting a talk & walk at Modbury in Devon as part of the HERCULES Cultural Landscape Project at
. She inherits Snooks Eaglin's 'I'm a Country Boy' and passes on Hozier's 'Take Me To Church'.
Jay Rayner and the panel team up with Saturday Live for a special programme from the Abergavenny Food Festival.
Answering questions from a local audience are food historian Annie Gray, Catalan inspired Scottish cook Rachel McCormack, Masterchef winner Tim Anderson, and DIY food expert Tim Hayward.
In this week's episode we discuss monastic culinary traditions and food in the church with the Reverend Richard Coles; we find out the difference between 'brewing' and 'making' alcoholic beverages; and the panel sample a mouthwatering British charcuterie recipe.
Fragile gas filled spheres, sparkling champagne globules that fill your nose with fizz, pipe dreams that pop when the illusion grows too big: Bridget Kendall explores the mysterious world of bubbles with physicist Helen Czerski, biomedical engineer Constantin Coussios and artist Bradley Hart who makes giant paintings using bubble wrap.
The kissing's had to stop in West Africa - a despatch from Mark Doyle about the Ebola crisis, which is now having a profound effect on people's lifestyles throughout the region. The United States Senate has approved President Obama's plan to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants - Jeremy Bowen, in Damascus, tells us this means a wide range of forces is lining up to combat the jihadists. Shabnam Mahmood's been to a society wedding in Pakistan - it was an opportunity to note some of the details of that country's social hierarchy. The controversial Mayor of Toronto is in hospital battling cancer - Lee Carter says this latest chapter in Rob Ford's colourful life has brought a rare show of unity to a city Mr Ford was accused of dividing. And Will Grant tells us a story from the Latin American capital where the streets are clogged with vehicles yet many of the drivers haven't taken a driving test!
Money Box has been told that as the law stands the freedom to take our pensions out from age 55 will be extended to trustees in bankruptcy who will be able to snaffle the lot to pay our creditors should we become insolvent after the age of 52. It will be subject to a few conditions such as making sure we can provide for our family. But whereas the present rules only put a quarter of the fund at risk, from April it could all be. And the Treasury says it will not change the law. Two experts debate the issue.
In the end the Scottish people voted against independence in the referendum. But even this No vote will now lead to more power for the Scottish parliament, not least in taxation. New powers could extend that to corporation tax, inheritance tax or even VAT. Money Box looks at the likely tax changes for the people of Scotland.
Money Box reported in May on a new Code of Practice which was supposed to help people who have made an online payment and the money ends up in someone else's account because they entered they wrong number. But as one listener found to his heavy cost, it does not stop those occasions from happening. Why didn't the bank's software trap his too long account number?
Four out of ten 'instant access' savings accounts come with rules or restrictions that mean it is hard to open them or expensive to take money out of them. Instead of being simple the banks seem determined to make them complex. That is the conclusion of a report by consumer group Which? in an investigation into 285 accounts. Money Box examines the detail.
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by special guests Elis James for a comic romp through the week's news. With Mitch Benn and Laura Shavin.
Written by the cast, with additional material from Andy Woolton, Nadia Kamil and Liam Beirne. Produced by Alexandra Smith.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh on the day after the Scottish Referendum with the historian Professor Sir Tom Devine, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop MSP, former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer Ken Clarke MP, and former Labour Home Secretary Charles Clarke who is now Visiting Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia.
The apartment of a suspect being staked out by Gunvald Larsson explodes, killing three people. Arson and murder isn't at first suspected - much to Larsson's fury - but when it becomes clear that the fire was started on purpose, the case hinges on the needle-in-a-haystack chance of finding a man who fits an impossibly vague description who was somewhere in the area around the time of the fire.
Janine H Jones uncovers the secret history of women's jazz - and the tragic story of how a burgeoning musical equality was deliberately snuffed out.
Ivy Benson, Gracie Cole and Kathy Stobart became household names in jazz and dancehall, only after battling throughout the 1940s and 50s to gain recognition and respect in a male-dominated industry; a struggle repeated by other women over many decades.
This programme transports us back to Britain after the First World War was over, when women experienced their first taste of emancipation. The UK was becoming a hotbed of music. Bars, clubs and bottle parties hosted bands every night and ladies were jazzing right alongside the men.
In their own words, lady musicians of the Jazz Age tell their stories. Rare archive recordings fill in the skipped beats of their history and Janine reveals how first their careers, and their rightful place in history, was quashed.
Researcher Jen Wilson, historian Val Wilmer and drummer Sheelagh Pearson break fresh ground in this under-researched area and expose the hidden truth about the role of the pioneering women in early jazz.
Chrissie Hynde: 35 years since forming The Pretenders, she tells us about her first solo album - and what she thinks of singers who flaunt their bodies to promote their work. Madeleine Holt tells us why she hopes her organisation Meet the Parents will stop decades old rumours scuppering school choices.
Kate Hudson on how her new film, Wish I Was Here, made her re-examine her own family relationships. Janet Fyle, midwife and advisor to the Royal College of Midwives and Professor Marian Knight from Oxford University on how maternity care can be improved to stop disadvantaged women missing out on the best care.
As the film, The Riot Club, hits the cinemas - how much do old boys and, more rarely, old girl networks help their members get on? Julia Hobsbawm from Editorial Intelligence and is visiting professor in networking in two business schools and Tanya Gold from The Times discuss. Chief Superintendent Mike Gallagher of the Metropolitan Police and Steph Morgan who has now retired from her position as Leicester's Assistant Chief Constable discuss the difficulties of being open about sexuality in the police force.
And a "climate of coercion" in some young heterosexual relationships...are some young women being forced into sexual acts they don't want to do? And is that partly because there are still some things we can't talk about?
Charles Spencer, Olivia Williams, Dave Gorman, Nikki Bedi, Robert Glenister, Jah Wobble
Clive gets hacked off with actor Robert Glenister who is appearing as foul-mouthed newspaper editor Wilson Tickell in 'Great Britain', Richard Bean's satire about the press, police and political establishment, now transferring to the West End.
Nikki Bedi bravely wades into the media onslaught with comedian and writer Dave Gorman to talk about his latest book 'Too Much Information'.
Journalist, author and gin-lover Olivia Williams sits down for a tipple with Clive. Her debut book 'Gin Glorious Gin' is a social history of London seen from the bottom of a gin glass. It charts how 'mother's ruin' became the spirit of the capital city.
Clive talks to historian and best-selling author Charles Spencer. His new book 'Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I' is a bloody tale of royal revenge.
Jah Wobble's acclaimed group Invaders of the Heart have reformed for the first time in 20 years. They perform 'Visions of You' and 'Liquidator' ahead of a one off concert at Under the Bridge, London on 10th October 2014.
How did Shane Smith - a hard-partying, tattooed former Ottawa punk rocker - turn a community magazine into an international multi-media empire?
Mark Coles looks at the life of one of the founders of Vice, a man whose motto is: "We like our stories to punch you in the face."
His company is the fast-growing enfant terrible of digital media. Renowned for its often controversial reports aimed at a young audience disillusioned with mainstream media, it seems that no subject is taboo.
Scoops include an interview with a former Liberian warlord and cannibal, as well as a trip to North Korea with former basketball player Dennis Rodman to meet Kim Jong-un.
Among Vice's often controversial documentaries from war zones was this summer's eye-opening report from inside the Islamic State.
Vice may have been accused of 'daredevil' journalism but that hasn't stopped the likes of Rupert Murdoch heralding Vice a "global success" and buying a 5% stake in the company. Could Vice become the next CNN, as Shane Smith hopes?
Tom Sutcliffe and guests Rosie Boycott, Simon Jenkins and Maria Delgado discuss the cultural highlights of the week, including The Riot Club based on Laura Wade's controversial stage play Posh and which fictionalised the riotous behaviour of Oxford's notorious Bullingdon Club, which David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson have all been members of.
Enda Walsh's new play Ballyturk at the National Theatre has been compared to Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot and stars Cillan Murphy, Mikel Murfi and Stephen Rea.
Mr Mac and Me is the 8th novel from Esther Freud, a blend of fact and fiction it recounts the time spent by the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in a small fishing village in Suffolk through the eyes of a 12 year old boy.
Constable, the Making of a Master, is a new exhibition at London's V&A, which presents his work for the first time alongside the Old Masters whose work he copied so fastidiously, and also features the two version of his most famous painting, The Haywain, side by side.
And The Driver, a new three part series on BBC One, starring David Morrissey and written by Danny Brocklehurst is the story of an ordinary man who - because of family mystery, frustration with his job and his life - makes a terrible decision.
In 1992, four relatively unknown poets spoke with Peggy Reynolds for BBC Radio 4 about the impact of gender and nationality on their poetry and on their sense of themselves as poets. Then, in 2014, they spoke with Peggy again.
In the intervening 21 years, Carol Ann Duffy had become the first-ever woman Poet Laureate, Gillian Clarke the National Poet of Wales, Liz Lochhead the Makar or National Poet of Scotland, and, until her recent death, Eavan Boland was a highly distinguished scholar-poet dividing her year between Stanford in the USA and Dublin.
In the light of these developments - not to mention the constitutional changes and wild economic fluctuations of the last 21 years and more - when Peggy spoke with each of them in 2014, she asked them both to listen back to their previous contributions and to reflect on their creative and professional journeys and on the state of women's poetry - and poetry in general, both here and across the globe.
To mark the death of Eavan Boland, this broadcast offers another opportunity to hear four great poets in a changed and fast-changing world.
After a lot of proposals made and turned down in Barchester, Miss Dunstable decides to hold a party. Lord Lufton - turned down by Lucy - finally comes back from his fishing trip, unaware that Lucy is now nursing the Vicar's wife in typhus-ridden Hogglestock.....
And we return to Anthony Trollope's Barchester in "The Small House at Allington", will be broadcast in December.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
To be human is to seek immortality, whether by freeing the soul or freezing your brain. It's the root of religion, the inspiration of philosophy and the driving force behind music, art and literature.
At the beginning of the 21st Century, immortality is a serious business. We've always wanted to live just a little longer, and through exercise, diet and medicine we're getting surprisingly good at it. Life expectancy is rising and rising - children born today in the West have a life expectancy of 100. And this has changed our future in ways we're yet to really understand.
Tom Shakespeare goes in search of that future - and in search of what we can do now to negotiate with that future. We'll need new foods, like insects. We'll need to rethink relationships, and family dynamics. Will we be more reckless, feeling that life just goes on and on? And will we grow old disgracefully, rather than seeing the maturity that used to come with years? The statistics don't tell the whole story of what our future will be.
But perhaps we need to think again, and work a little harder on our changing relationship with death rather than celebrating the length of life?
And then there are the layered meanings in a phrase of Spanish... just what is "the immortality of the crab"?
Featuring writer Bryan Appleyard, bio-chemist Guy Brown, philosopher Stephen Cave, priest and journalist Giles Fraser, painter Osi Rhys Osmond, designer Susana Soares, gerontologist Anthea Tinker CBE.
Quote ... Unquote, the popular quotations quiz, returns for its 50th series.
In almost forty years, Nigel Rees has been joined by writers, actors, musicians, scientists and various comedy types. Kenneth Williams, Judi Dench, PD James, Larry Adler, Ian KcKellen, Peter Cook, Kingsley Amis, Peter Ustinov... have all graced the Quote Unquote stage.
Join Nigel as he quizzes a host of celebrity guests on the origins of sayings and well-known quotes, and gets the famous panel to share their favourite anecdotes.
Presenter ... Nigel Rees
Reader ... Charlotte Green
Producer ... Carl Cooper.
Roger McGough with a selection of works by Poets Laureate past and present including Wordsworth, Tennyson, Betjeman, Ted Hughes and Carol Ann Duffy. There's also a Cecil Day Lewis poem read by his son Daniel Day-Lewis, recorded as part of the exhibition 'Poetry for the Palace: Poets Laureate from Dryden to Duffy' at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse. Readers Anton Lesser and Alice Arnold.
SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2014
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmftj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 The Time Being (b01shsv8)
Series 6
Marathon
The latest season of The Time Being brings another showcase for new voices, none of whom have been previously broadcast. Previous series have brought new talent to a wider audience and provided a stepping stone for writers who have since gone on to enjoy further success both on radio and in print, such as Tania Hershman, Heidi Amsinck, Sally Hinchcliffe and Joe Dunthorne.
Marathon by Claire Powell
An extra-marital affair - long-nourished by alcohol - starts going badly wrong when the man starts to get fit: training for a half-marathon with his son.
Claire Powell was born and brought up in south-east London. She graduated from UEA's Creative Writing (Prose) MA in 2012, where she received the year's highest mark for a dissertation, and was awarded the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Bursary and Malcolm Bradbury Continuation Grant. She has just signed up for her first half-marathon.
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hmftl)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hmftn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
5.20am.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmftq)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmfts)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b04hmh0j)
The bells of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Burford, Oxfordshire.
SUN 05:45 Profile (b04hmdks)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b04hmftv)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b04hmhtg)
The Machines and Us
Mark Tully considers our growing dependence upon technology and the practical implications of the human relationship with machines.
In conversation with AI expert Professor Noel Sharkey, who is Chairman of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, he investigates both historical and contemporary dependencies on technology and the pleasures and perils of technological progress.
In a programme which takes us from the Industrial Revolution to a duet for piano and iPad, there are readings from Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell and Patricia Hubbell - and music from Conrad Tao, Arthur Honneger and Jim Noir.
The readers are Emily Raymond, Francis Cadder and Jasper Britton.
Produced by Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b04hmhtl)
English Wine; Chapel Down Vineyard
Charlotte Smith visits Chapel Down winery in Kent to see the first grapes of harvest being gathered in their vineyard with head viticulturist Richard Lewis. He explains why the garden of England is now producing award winning wine. Josh Donaghay-Spire is the chief winemaker, he explains the relationship between conditions in the field and how it translates to the final bottle. Chief Executive Frazer Lewis reflects on how the English wine industry has been massively transformed over the past decade and looks forward to vast expansion in the future. Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced in Bristol by Ruth Sanderson.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b04hmftx)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b04hmftz)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b04hmj80)
Referendum, Hajj fraud, Vatican v Anglican cricket match
After Scotland voted 'no' in this week's independence referendum we discuss the role of the Churches in healing tensions within the country.
Does the release of a new video by Islamic State addressed directly to the Western public indicate a change in tactics by the militants? We get the view of a leading British Imam.
Bob Walker assesses the controversial legacy of Cardinal Sean Brady, who last week announced his resignation as the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland. William Crawley speaks to his successor, Archbishop Eamon Martin about how he wants to take the Church forward.
The pilgrimage to Mecca to celebrate Hajj is big business for tour operators but each year unscrupulous agents rip off scores of British Muslims by selling them scam packages. We discuss the difficulties in tackling the fraud and what pilgrims can do to ensure they have a successful trip.
Ahead of this week's UN Climate Summit in New York, a group of scientists is calling on religious leaders to help save the planet. We ask why science is turning to religion.
We take a glimpse at one of the world's earliest surviving Christian charms, dating back to the end of the 6th Century, which sheds new light on early Christian practices.
Plus, find out what happened when the Vatican's first-ever cricket team took on a Church of England XI in a one-off match near Canterbury Cathedral.
Producers:
Amanda Hancox
Peter Everett
Contributors:
Archbishop Eamon Martin
Archbishop Leo Cushley
Rev Dr Iain Whyte
Sir Partha Dasgupta
Dr Roberta Mazza
Sayed Razawi
Rashiid Mugradia.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b04hmj82)
Amref Health Africa
Jenny Agutter presents The Radio 4 Appeal for Amref Health Africa, who train 250,000 health workers including midwives in 35 countries in Africa every year, improving health and building livelihoods.
Registered Charity No 261488
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope ' Amref Health Africa'.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b04hmfv1)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b04hmfv3)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b04hml3g)
The Cost of Discipleship
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and leader of the Confessing Church that took a stand against Hitler in 1930s Germany. At three moments in his life he could have evaded danger and supported the anti-Nazi movement from afar. But on each occasion his faith led him to identify with those facing the terrifying cost of their commitment to the struggle.
Preacher: The Revd Dr Sam Wells
Led by: The Revd Katherine Hedderly
Director of Music: Andrew Earis
Producer: Clair Jaquiss.
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b04gyrk5)
Red Dress Sense
This season's fashion for red prompts Lisa Jardine to reflect on the past power of the colour.
"In Tudor England successive monarchs tried to define social status by dress. A strict code governed the wearing of 'costly apparel', and red was one of the colours most rigidly controlled."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dw7qv)
Black Stork
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the globally widespread but secretive black stork. High up in a forest canopy, the black stork is a large but fairly secretive and mostly silent bird. They are also strong migrants capable of sustained flight, flying up to 7,000 kilometres or more, often over open seas. Black storks are summer visitors to eastern Europe and breed from Germany across Russia to Japan. A small population is resident in Spain, but most birds migrate south in winter to Africa, India or China. Unlike their relative the more flamboyant and colonial nesting white stork, black storks are a solitary nester. It is at this time of the year adults can produce a few grunts or bill clapping sounds during courtship, the young however are far more vocal at the nest.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b04hml3p)
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b04hml3w)
Tony has got plans for Johnny, and Hayley speaks her mind.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b04hml41)
Steve McQueen
Kirsty Young's castaway is the artist and director Steve McQueen.
These days his talents are well recognized - his art has won The Turner Prize and his most recent movie, "12 Years A Slave" scooped an Academy Award, a Bafta and a Golden Globe. He wasn't always as lauded: at school in West London he was "shoved to one side" in the belief that the best he could hope for was to earn a living as a manual labourer. Instead he portrays the extremes of what human beings put themselves and others through. Expression is where his heart lies - he describes it as "dancing with ghosts".
Along with reaching the top of two professions he has also managed to please the diverging demands of his parents - his father wanted him to get a trade, his mother urged him to do what he wanted.
He says, "I want to make films that are essential. We're all going to die and we haven't got a lot of time on this planet. Life goes very quickly, so we might as well make films people will go to see because they need it or want it."
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
SUN 12:00 News Summary (b04hmfv5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (b04grchn)
Series 70
Episode 6
Just how hard can it be to talk for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation? Jonathan Ross, Liza Tarbuck, Alun Cochrane and Paul Merton find out. Nicholas Parsons keeps the score in his legendary style.
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b04hmnnf)
Food Is MAD
From a lesson in "guerrilla gardening" by LA's Ron Finley to Mastering the Art of Soviet cooking with food writer Anya Von Bremzen, Dan Saladino reports from an annual food symposium held in Copenhagen, called MAD (the word for food in Danish).
Now in its fourth year, the event was founded by the celebrated chef of the restaurant Noma, Rene Redzepi. In his own words, it's curated by a group of "chefs, waiters, a former banker and an anthropologist".
To some it's a festival of ideas, to others it's like listening to a "food mix tape", over two days an audience of 600 chefs, writers and food obsessives hear a series of presentations about cooking, restaurants, food history and activism.
Dan Saladino takes the Food Programme inside the circus tent where the symposium is hear a selection of the diverse stories being told. There's Ron Finley, a gardener from Los Angeles who was prosecuted for growing food in a patch of land in front of his him. He took on the authorities and changed the law. His story has inspired people all over the world.
It's also an important arena for the world's great chefs to tell stories of kitchens and cooking and to pass on their wisdom. Food writer Joe Warwick profiles three chefs who too part in MAD 4, Pierre Koffman, Olivier Roellinger and the enigmatic Fulvio Pierangeli.
It's an often eccentric mix of stories, and so as well as guerrilla gardening there's a guide to making tapioca in the Amazonian rainforest through to a first hand account of cooking in the USSR. Some stories will surprise, others will inform, but they all inspire.
Music in this is edition is provided by Efterklang and Tatu Ronkko. They're not only one of the most respected bands in Denmark, they've also composed music for a restaurant in collaboration with chefs.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b04hmfv7)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b04hmnnh)
Global news and analysis., presented by Edward Stourton.
SUN 13:30 Marginalia (b046j96g)
When someone takes a pen or pencil and adds a comment, an underlining or a question mark to the pages a book - is it cause for celebration or condemnation? And if the person with pencil in hand happens to be famous, should that colour our view?
These are the questions Simon Armitage - himself a lapsed margin scribbler - wrestles with as he sets off to tell the story of marginalia.
He begins with his own books, tracing his past through the comments he made as a much younger man first embarking on the world of poetry. He sees examples from some who've become regarded as masters of the art, such as William Blake and Samuel Coleridge, and hears how an Elizabethan torturer and a 20th century dictator had a great fondness for marginalia in common.
Simon also heads to an antiquarian book fair, where he stumbles across an early volume of Dylan Thomas poetry, containing the poet's own drunken scrawl which has put the volume's price up to a handsome £8,000. Chiefly though this is a personal meditation for Armitage, bringing him into contact with a younger version of himself and reminding him of the profound power of physical books and the markings placed in them across decades and sometimes centuries.
Producer: Geoff Bird
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2014.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04gyqnp)
Harrogate
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Harrogate.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4.
This week's questions and answers:
Q. Why are my Sweet Pea plants bushy with few flowers?
A. You should grow them from seed rather than buying the plants. Make sure to water them a lot and that they are in good soil and getting enough sun. If you do buy plants, ensure you separate them when you plant them out. Pick the flowers to stop the plants going to seed.
Q. How can we get rid of chafer grubs to stop the birds ripping up the lawn to find them?
A. You could try covering the lawn with a tarpaulin over night and taking it off in the morning. This brings up the grubs and then birds can eat the exposed ones rather than digging up the lawn. Keep the lawn short. Or, put a positive spin on the experience and think of the birds as scarifying your lawn.
Q. How can I make sure my Orchids flower again?
A. Make sure they are in a position where they have enough light but not too much harsh light. Make sure to water them a little bit every four or five days and give them a little bit of weak feed.
Q. If the panel wanted to encourage pollinating insects into their gardens, would they plant a border of wild flowers, or nectar-rich perennials?
A. Both. A mixture is best. Also remember that bees need a very shallow water source from which to drink. Plant things like Helxine (Mind Your Own Business) that will collect water that bees can drink.
Q. What should I do about the area in my garden made up of stones, pottery shards and some soil? Annuals do okay but most perennials don't.
A. You could import lots of green waste but there are hundreds of herbaceous perennials, such as geraniums, that will love that stony free-draining soil. You could also try growing Verbascum, Knautia Macedonica, Artemisia schmidtiana 'Nana' or Arborescens, Thymes, Alliums, Scholtzias and Penniseum Hameln.
Q. My Dahlias have been fantastic! Should I leave them in the ground or lift and store them?
A. Lift them and store them in a cardboard box in a frost-free location like a greenhouse.
Q. I'd like some suggestions for autumn replacements for my summer bedding plants in containers on the patio.
A. Winter-flowering Pansies, Bellus, small Euonymys, Ophiopogon, Arum italicum, Ivy, clipped Box, bulbs, Chervil, Parsely, Watercress and Mint, small Phormium and Cornus. Change the top half of the compost.
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b04hmnnk)
Sunday Omnibus
Fi Glover introduces conversations about living with blindness, with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and with Parkinson's, from Glasgow, London and Maryport, in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 15:00 Saturday Drama (b01p9f5p)
Carlo Collodi - Pinocchio
Carlo Collodi's classic tale of a wooden puppet who wants to be a boy dramatised by Linda Marshall Griffiths.
When Geppetto's wooden puppet miraculously comes to life, Geppetto names him Pinocchio and imagines a bright future together. Pinocchio must understand what it is to be a boy and the first step is school. But danger and folly lurk around every corner and it is hard for Pinocchio to find the right path. The world is full of temptation, contradiction and fear. Will Pinocchio find his way to becoming a real boy?
Original Music by Olly Fox
Sound Design by Steve Brooke
Directed by Nadia Molinari.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b04hmnnm)
Esther Freud on Mr Mac and Me
Novelist Esther Freud talks about her latest, Mr Mac and Me, inspired by the time architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh spent in Suffolk. Howard Jacobson talks about the book that he would never lend, not least because he can't find it at the moment and the changing face of book launches: how the crowded market has inspired publicists to think of new ways to draw attention to new books.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b04hmnnp)
Roger McGough presents a mixed bag of listeners poetry requests, from Emily Bronte to Philip Larkin. Topics covered include religion, a trip to the seaside and a really embarrassing dinner party. Women poets writing in the 19th and 20th centuries are highlighted, with work by Christina Rossetti, Mary Webb, Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Emily Dickinson.
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b04grs67)
Abused but Not Heard
Knowl View special school for boys has become infamous as the haunt of Cyril Smith. Prosecutors now say 'Mr Rochdale' should have been charged with abuse of boys while he was alive. But he was not the only one. In the first of a new series, former pupils in the 1970s, 80s and 90s tell File on 4 how a web of abusers, including local paedophiles and other pupils preyed on boys as young as eight while people supposed to protect them looked the other way. Previous police investigations came to nothing. A new probe is underway, focusing on who could be guilty of a criminal cover up. But what became of the innocent? Jane Deith hears from some of those who experienced life in Knowl View. Telling their stories for the first time, they describe childhoods twisted by sexual abuse. Now questions are being asked about whether the failure to end the abuse at Knowl View led to a culture in which the subsequent grooming of young girls in Rochdale was allowed to happen. Alan Collins, a specialist child abuse lawyer representing some of the men who're suing Rochdale Council over abuse at Know View, believes things would have been different had Cyril Smith been prosecuted and convicted: "That would have sent a clear message through Rochdale and much further afield that there was clearly a problem and that problem would not have been so easy to brush away. I think that had a very long tail and that that tail continued right up until recent times."
Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Sally Chesworth.
SUN 17:40 Profile (b04hmdks)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b04hmfvc)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b04hmfvf)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmfvh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b04hmrv7)
Now perhaps you should make sure you're sitting down before I tell you this; you might find it shocking, but in this week's Pick of the Week Caz Graham will be hearing why times-tables and spelling tests might have had their day. There's a lesson in traditional Mongolian wrestling, a history of the Soviet Union through the medium of food, Sandi Toksvig as a lovesick water boatman, and Quentin Letts gets covered in blood. Oh OK, it's only fake blood, but it looks real!
That's Pick of the Week with Caz Graham at
6.15 this Sunday evening.
Gossip from the Garden Pond (Radio 4, 14th September)
Journey of a Lifetime - Wrestling With the Future (Radio 4, 15th September)
Today (Radio 4, All-Week)
The Educators (Radio 4, 17 September)
Yesterday's Papers - The End of the Music Press (Radio 4, 15th September)
Making a Scene with Lauren Laverne (6Music, 21 September)
The Man Who Turned Into a Sofa (Radio 4, 17th September)
Witness - Lord of the Flies (World Service, 16 September)
Heaven and Earth - Le Ly Hayslip (Radio 4, 18th September)
What's the Point of British Board of Film Classification? (Radio 4, 16th September)
Lewis Macleod is Not Himself (Radio 4, 16th September)
Shared Planet - Ground Nesting Birds (Radio 4, 16th September)
Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation (Radio 4, 17th September)
The Food Programme (Radio 4, 21st September).
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b04hmrv9)
Roy and Hayley discuss his options now that Elizabeth has offered his job to Geraldine. Hayley's ready to quit her job as well. Roy worries that Vicky knows what's going on - but Hayley thinks Vicky's preoccupied with selling up and moving to Birmingham. Hayley says they need to put together a credible story about why Roy's leaving Lower Loxley. She's determined to make Elizabeth pay, one way or another. Perhaps he can claim unfair dismissal. To Roy's horror, Hayley decides to consult Usha for legal advice.
Emma has been a great help to Fallon, who has everything together at the Dower House to save Leonie's baby naming ceremony. Leonie coos over baby Mungo. Having dished out some business cards for Leonie's friends, Fallon plans to take Emma to a brocante in France next week - a sort of flea market. Leonie says having a baby is the most creative thing a person can do, as she awaits the arrival of Mungo's 'guide parents' - Gustav and Anastasia.
At the unusual ceremony, Robert says a few words and Lynda reads a poem: Riders by Robert Frost. Lilian says some heartfelt words about her regret at being a bad mother to James. She promises to be a fun grandma to make up for it. Leonie takes a group photo, with nervous Lilian holding the baby.
SUN 19:15 Gossip from the Garden Pond (b04hmrvc)
The Garden Spider and Great Pond Snail
The Garden Spider played by Amanda Root and the Great Pond Snail played by James Fleet, reveal the truth about life in a garden pond, in the last of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with sound recordings by Chris Watson and Tom Lawrence.
Hidden amongst the tall vegetation beside the pond the Garden Spider muses on her life. She suffers from arachnophobia. She note only dislikes, but fears the sight of herself; so much so that she only emerges under the cover of darkness to spin her web. She is not alone if finding her appearance quite hideous, she recalls a wasp who even as she wrapped him silk shuddered at the sight of her, rather than save his own life! Her musings are interrupted when she discovers another spider in her web; a visitor to the neighbourhood, a male, who instead of being frightened by her appearance finds her most attractive. Is her luck about to change?
The Great Pond Snail glides over the vegetation on his trail of slime, cleaning up as he goes. He's appalled when he sees evidence that another pond sail has not done the same. Great Pond Snails are excellent recyclers, even cleaning up their own waste matter. Our Snail takes great pleasure in this fact "But I'm not saying this makes us some sort of paragon. Just different". There's no getting away from it, he is self-righteous and judgmental but under the guise of political correctness. His only pleasure comes from slime. "My girlfriend used to say that my slime ropes were my best feature" he boasts. And on this subject, he has little time for the human race "All this modern talk of energy efficiency ... and you can't even be bothered to learn how to make slime". And don't get him started on sex and gender roles!
Producer Sarah Blunt.
SUN 19:45 Jessie Kesson Short Stories (b04hmrvf)
Until Such Times
The final story in our series of readings from the work of the acclaimed Scottish author Jessie Kesson. Best known for her novels "Another Time, Another Place" and "The White Bird Passes", Jessie Kesson's writing was often inspired by events from her own life and by the landscape of North East Scotland.
Tonight's story is a beautiful evocation of a child's struggle to make sense of the adult world around her. Her unmarried mother, whom she calls "Aunt" Ailsa, is unable to provide a home for her and she has been sent to the countryside to live with her grandparents. There is one instance of strong language.
Jessie Kesson (1916 - 1994) was a prolific writer of novels, poems, stories, newspaper features and radio plays. She came through a hard start in life (born in the Inverness workhouse, raised in an Elgin slum, removed from her neglectful but much-loved mother to an orphanage in Aberdeenshire) with a passionate determination to be a writer. She combined a successful writing career with a variety of jobs, from cleaner to artist's model, and was a social worker for nearly twenty years, settling finally in London with her husband.
Reader ..... Helen Mackay
Abridger ..... Kirsteen Cameron
Producer ..... Kirsteen Cameron.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (b04gyqtg)
Kidney donation: the chance of finding a match
The chance of a successful kidney match between two unrelated people has increased significantly in the past ten years - why? Tim Harford speaks to Professor Anthony Warrens, president of the British Transplantation Society.
Donations to the Manchester Dogs' Home have exceeded £1m in the wake of a fire, which killed more than 50 dogs. The large sum raised caused Today presenter Justin Webb to comment that it often seems easier to raise money for animals than humans who are in need. Is it true that we give more generously to animals? Ben Carter reports.
Is Britain poorer than every US state, except for Mississippi? Journalist Fraser Nelson calculates that's the case. Tim Harford speaks to economist Chris Dillow about why he's right.
An edition of BBC Four's Wonder of Animals states that there are 14,000 ants to every person on earth, and that were we to weigh all of these ants they would weigh the same as all the people. Can this be true? Tim Harford and Hannah Moore investigate with the help of Francis Ratnieks, professor of at the University of Sussex.
Friday, September 19 is Huntrodds' Day - a chance to celebrate coincidence and the extraordinary tale of Mr and Mrs Huntrodds. As Michael Blastland explains, they shared their birthday and day of death.
A complaint has been held up against a BBC programme for calling Eritrea 'tiny'. Can any country rightly be described this way?
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b04gyqtd)
James Nesbitt MBE, Andrew McLaglen, Emilio Botin, Simin Behbahani, Sir Philip Dowson, George Hamilton IV
Matthew Bannister on
Superintendent James Nesbitt who was in charge of the murder squad in Belfast at the height of the troubles. He had to tackle sectarian violence from gangs like the notorious Shankhill butchers.
The film director Andrew McLaglen, best known for Westerns like Shendoah and war films like the Wild Geese.
Emilio Botin who built the Spanish bank Santander into a global financial institution.
The Iranian poet Simin Behbahani who spoke out for women's rights and campaigned for democracy.
And Sir Philip Dowson, one of Britain's most important post war architects, known for his work on St John's College Oxford and the Snape Maltings concert hall.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b04hm99n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b04hmj82)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (b04gwm26)
Myanmar Awakening
Peter Day travels to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to find out how the country is trying to emerge from its undeveloped past into the modern interconnected world. After the lifting of sanctions a few years ago, foreign businesses flocked to take a look at one of the least developed markets in the world. But is the country really open for business? With poor infrastructure, political uncertainty and out-dated laws, can Myanmar make the leap into the 21st century?
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b04hmstt)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b04hmstw)
Anne McElvoy of The Economist analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b04gwlll)
Nick Cave; Jonathan Coe; The Riot Club
With Francine Stock.
Nick Cave discusses a documentary about his life and work called 20,000 Days On Earth, which mixes fact with fiction, as film-makers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard placed the singer in a series of staged encounters and let the cameras roll. Cave explains why he wasn't entirely happy with some of the things they asked him to do.
Novelist Jonathan Coe discusses the Claudette Colbert comedy Midnight, written by one of his film heroes, Billy Wilder
The Riot Club director Lone Scherfig reveals what she thinks of the British class system as depicted in her adaptation of Laura Wade's play Posh, which displays the drunken antics of a secret society at Oxford University, not unlike The Bullingdon Club which boasted David Cameron as one of its members.
Presenter.... Francine Stock.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b04hmhtg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2014
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmfwj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 The Educators (b04gvm7n)
Sugata Mitra
Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University, imagines a future where children teach themselves. Famous for his Hole-in-the-Wall experiment, he believes when young people are given the right tools and encouragement, their innate sense of wonder can allow them to learn almost anything from one another. He believes the days of traditional schooling where teachers stand at the front, and facts are taught and recalled, are numbered.
Professor Mitra's dreams are not going unheard either. Last year his TED wish to build a "School in the Cloud" won him the first $1m TED Prize. Since then, he and his team have gone on to open five learning in the cloud labs in schools in India and in the North East of England.
In this programme, Sarah Montague finds out how Professor Mitra's Hole-in-the-Wall experiment, whereby computers connected to the internet were placed in the walls of Indian slums, has evolved into a concept called a Self-Organised Learning Environment (SOLE). She hears how groups of children with minimal supervision can teach themselves, and how a team of retired teachers, or Grannies, use webcams to provide support and encouragement during the SOLE session.
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b04hmh0j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hmfwl)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hmfwn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmfwq)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmfws)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04htckf)
A short reflection and prayer with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b04htckh)
Scottish referendum
As the dust settles after the Scottish referendum, Charlotte Smith asks what greater devolved powers will mean for farmers, in both Scotland and the rest of the UK. She hears from a farmer whose land would have been divided in half had Scotland voted yes, and from an English MP who fears that a move towards city states with regional powers won't take account of the needs of rural communities.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
MON 05:56 Weather (b04hmfwv)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dyh49)
Sociable Weaver
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the sociable weaver of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. Travel through the dry margins of the Kalahari Desert and the telegraph poles stretching across the treeless plain could be wearing giant haystacks. These colossal communal homes are actually a home to the sociable weaver. These sparrow relatives build the largest nesting structure of any bird in the world. A hundred pairs may breed in a nest weighing nearly one tonne, built on isolated trees or any suitable man made structure such as pylons. Developed over generations these colonial nests provide a cooling structure during the searing heat of day and a warm refuge for night time roosts in this inhospitable landscape. Other animals find a use for these structures, from nesting vultures using it as a safe platform, to snakes; who if they enter the nest, can have free rein to this weaver larder.
MON 06:00 Today (b04htckk)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b04htdl2)
Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel takes a break from her award-winning series of novels charting the rise and fall of the Tudor fixer, Thomas Cromwell, to discuss her new collection of short stories. She talks to Tom Sutcliffe about why her latest work eschews the historical to focus on contemporary Britain. The Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor tells the story of Germany from its Roman past to the present day through objects that symbolise the dynamic changes in its culture and identity. 'English Magic' is the focus of the artist Jeremy Deller's touring exhibition which melds myth, folklore and politics to explore British society. And the Jamaican poet Kei Miller pits the scientific cartographer against the spiritual map builder to explore our understanding of place and territory.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b04htdl4)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Broadway Success and Childhood
Echoes of Tennessee Williams's troubled childhood find their way into Tennessee's first Broadway success, The Glass Menagerie.
Opening episode of the biography of America's great playwright by acclaimed theatre critic, John Lahr.
John Lahr's evocative biography of one of America's greatest playwrights vividly illustrates how Tennessee Williams drew on his personal experiences to create some of the most memorable characters of the American stage and screen such as Blanche, Stanley, Big Daddy, Brick, Amanda and Laura. Drawing on Tennessee Williams's poems, journals and private correspondence with friends and colleagues, Lahr creates a compelling portrait of William's turbulent personal life and his extraordinarily successful career.
John Lahr was the Senior Drama Critic at the New Yorker for 20 years. His other books include, Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton.
Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.
With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04htrnq)
Francesca Martinez; Women at the Labour Party Conference
Over the next three weeks we'll be hearing from women who are active members of a political party about why they do it and what difference they feel it makes. First interviews with women at the Labour Party Conference. Disability campaigner Francesca Martinez says she's never met a normal person and wonders if anyone else has. Jane talks to her about growing up with cerebral palsy, her crusade against normality, and being named as one of the Woman's Hour Power List 2014 Game Changers. Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella are both hugely successful writers of popular women's fiction. They talk about their craft, their work ethic and where their ideas come from. 'Lad culture' on UK university campuses is rife, according to new research carried out by the National Union of Students. So, at the time of year when freshers' week takes place NUS President Toni Pearce joins Jane to discuss the extent of the problem and how the NUS hope to combat it.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04htrnt)
Marcy Kahan - Lunch
Humiliation
by Marcy Kahan
Bill and Bella meet every month for lunch and swap news.
It's March 2014 and whilst Bella has been walking across the Sahara Bill has been busy humiliating himself.
Directed by Sally Avens.
MON 11:00 Same-Sex Parents (b04htrnw)
In Britain, since the civil partnership and gay marriage laws have changed, more same sex couples are choosing to have children. Mary Smeeth, herself a mother of 2 boys brought up in a same sex relationship, talks to a number of couples to find out the challenges of conceiving and raising these children.
No child born to a same sex couple is an accident. Because of the challenges of conception, each of these children is carefully thought through and wanted. Mary Smeeth discovers the different ways same sex couples are choosing to conceive, from donor sperm to adoption to co-parenting with a friend. She finds that the day to day challenges are fairly similar to any parent's. She also asks how society views the children of same sex couples. As the number of children born into these families is rising, so too is acceptance and a sensitivity around the children - at Father's Day for instance.
We talk to Professor Susan Golombok, Director for Family Research at Cambridge University who has been studying the children of same sex couples since the 1970s. We also meet Natalie Gamble, who has built her legal practice around advising families with same sex couples.
We visit an 'Out With The Family' event where same sex parents and their children can meet each other. We speak to actors Sophie Ward and Charlie Condou who are both parents in same sex relationships and we meet Cory and Ben who have just adopted a 5 year old and live in a small rural community.
Produced by Laura Parfitt
A White Pebble production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 The Pale Horse (b04htrny)
Episode 3
by Agatha Christie
dramatised by Joy Wilkinson
Mark Easterbrook has teamed up with Ginger in order to discover who is at the bottom of the spate of recent mysterious deaths. And they think they've found the perfect plan. Part Three.
Directed by Mary Peate.
MON 12:00 News Summary (b04hmfwx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 Home Front (b04htrp1)
22 September 1914 - Adam Wilson
After weeks of surveillance, Adam and Jessie confront the mysterious man at the German consulate.
Written by: Katie Hims & Sean Moffatt
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
MON 12:15 You and Yours (b04htrp4)
Flood Insurance; White Collar Boxing; In-Flight Movies
A plan called Flood Re is designed to cap the premiums of people who live in areas prone to flooding. But until it comes into effect there are no rules limiting how much insurers can charge. We'll speak to a woman whose found her premiums soaring ahead of the new deal.
And the Chancellor surprised the world of finance when he announced that the over 55s will soon be able to access the entirety of their pension funds. There were worries they'd be buying Lamborghinis - but the real concern is fraudsters using their confusion over the change to leave them penniless. And do you ever wonder how a store can sell a kitchen at 80% off? The answer is Yo Yo Pricing - Samantha Fenwick has been finding out why one big name says it's ready to change its ways.
And Bob Walker reports on the rise of White Collar Boxing. Also, the iPhones which are refurbished and given out by insurance companies - only to be utterly disowned by Apple. Speaking of which, why our love of gadgets could be spelling the end of the in-flight movie.
MON 12:57 Weather (b04hmfwz)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b04htrp6)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
MON 13:45 Last Day (b04htrp9)
Retirement
We follow Madeleine Broughton, a school administrator, on her last day before she retires. Madeleine has worked at the school for twenty years and in this moving programme we see what an important role she has played during that time. We hear her receiving gifts and tributes from headmasters, children and parents, learn about her reasons for retiring and why she vows she will never return to the school.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b04hmrv9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b04hv9xy)
Sebastian Baczkiewicz - Ghosts of Heathrow
Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport with 190,000 visitors each day. It is also the setting of a conspicuously large number of ghost stories. On Runway 1 there have been recurring sightings of a wandering man wearing a pin-striped suit and bowler hat, dating back to the 1948 DCS Dakota plane crash, Heathrow's first major air incident.
Based on original research interviews, Ghosts of Heathrow draws on this and other pieces of local folklore to create a psychic adventure set in and around the airport.
Martin is a senior marketing consultant based in San Diego attending a conference in Heathrow. The night before his presentation he receives an unwelcome visitor in his hotel room. Forced out into the wilds of Hounslow Heath he finds himself chasing down some ghosts of his own.
Writer Sebastian Baczkiewicz is the creator of the returning Radio 4 series Pilgrim, and one of the UK's leading radio dramatists.
Written by Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Produced / directed by Joby Waldman
Sound design by Eloise Whitmore
A Somethin Else production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 15:00 Counterpoint (b04hv9y0)
Series 28
Heat 1, 2014
(1/13)
The wide-ranging music quiz is back, with Russell Davies, one of Britain's most knowledgeable music broadcasters, taking the questionmaster's chair for the 2014 series. Another 27 music lovers from around the UK embark on the annual knockout competition to be named Radio 4's musical mastermind.
They'll have to answer questions on the broadest possible range of music, from the core classical repertoire through to stage musicals, jazz, film music, classic and current rock and pop. There'll be the usual generous helping of musical extracts, both familiar and surprising, for them to identify. They'll also have to choose a musical subject on which to answer specialist questions, from a diverse list of choices of which they've had no warning whatsoever.
The first set of competitors this week come from London, Guildford and Edinburgh.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
MON 15:30 BBC National Short Story Award (b04hv9y2)
BBC National Short Story Award 2014
Bad Dreams
Carey Mulligan reads Tessa Hadley's shortlisted story, the first in contention for this prestigious award. A child's dramatic reaction to a dream exposes unspoken tensions in the family home.
Abridged and produced by Gemma Jenkins.
MON 16:00 In Search of the Ideal Music Venue (b04hv9y4)
Join us in a search of the best venues for different types of music.
Trevor Cox - Professor of Acoustics from Salford University - is fascinated by the effect that the acoustics have on the enjoyment of different types of live music.
He visits various music venues and tries out their acoustics by playing his saxophone. He talks to musicians, sound engineers and experts in acoustics about the venues and the effect that their design has on the audience's enjoyment of music.
Trevor also asks whether the size and shape of venues has had an effect on the way music is composed. And he travels to Finland to meet Professor Tappio Lokki who can replicate the sound of famous concert halls in his laboratory.
Featuring acousticians Adrian James, Rob Harris and Niels Adelman-Larsen, sound engineer Derrick Zieba, and musicians Jessica Cottis and Trish Clowes.
Producer: Nick Holmes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b04hvrqv)
Religion and PR
Should religions have a public relations strategy? Every organisation needs good communicators and religious bodies are no exception. They were once very good at it. Messages that had their origins in fairly obscure corners of the globe changed the lives of hundreds of millions. So what has gone wrong? Nowadays events can quickly unfold into PR disasters for religions. Is religion just another brand that needs to be sold and packaged? To what extent can organisations who prioritise truth afford to engage in spin?
Joining Ernie Rea to discuss religion and PR are the Rev. George Pitcher, former Religious Editor at the Daily Telegraph and Public Affairs Secretary to Rowan Williams when he was Archbishop of Canterbury; Dr Yasmin Ibrahim, Reader in International Business and Communications at Queen Mary University; and Jack Valero, former Press Officer for Opus Dei and one of the founding fathers of Catholic Voices set up to provide a positive Catholic response to issues in the public arena.
Producer: Catherine Earlam.
MON 17:00 PM (b04hvrqx)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmfx1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b04hvrqz)
Series 70
Episode 7
Nicholas Parsons challenges Tony Hawks, Kerry Godliman, Stephen Mangan and Gyles Brandreth to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b04hvrr1)
Jill is keen to ignore her upcoming birthday. Ruth's up to Prudhoe later this week where Heather is having a home assessment. Pip's back at Uni next week and moving into a new flat in Felpersham. She'll be able to help out at Brookfield.
Shula is worried about Elizabeth. She sounded harassed on the phone a few days ago and hasn't called back since.
Jill is shocked that Helen's so keen on going hunting. But Helen's views have changed since it doesn't involve killing now. Shula lets Helen try out a few jumps in the arena and then gets her properly kitted out.
Kenton helps Carol Tregorran move her things into Glebe Cottage. Carol jokes with Jill about the huge family portrait that Jill had left up. She hoots with laughter at the name Mungo (Leonie's new born) - James was never her favourite godchild.
Over tea, Carol tells the story of a particular painting that was painted by her mother. By fluke, it turned up in John Tregorran's shop, which led to Carol finding out about her real parents - a couple of poor artists.
Harrison Burns is hurt that Fallon broke up with him by text. Squirming Fallon sees no point dragging things out. Harrison leaves. He had thought more of Fallon.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b04hvrr3)
Toby Jones; Maps to the Stars review; Rose Tremain; John Lahr on Tennessee Williams
British actor Toby Jones discusses his role in new TV drama Marvellous and Jason Solomons reviews David Cronenberg's latest film, the dark Hollywood satire Maps to the Stars. Also on the programme Rose Tremain explains the idea behind her shortlisted entry for this year's BBC National Short Story Award, and John Lahr on how he got inside the mind of Tennessee Williams for a new biography.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Ellie Bury.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04htrnt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 The Philosopher's Arms (b04hvrr5)
Series 4
Induction
Pints and Philosophical Problems with Matthew Sweet. This week, the problem of induction: are we justified in predicting the future on the basis of what's happened in the past? How do we know that the sun will rise tomorrow? In the snug with Matthew is philosopher Helen Beebee, discussing a conundrum which faces all of us in our daily life - and which raises profound questions about the nature of science.
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b04gwdgx)
Ivory Coast's School for Husbands
In one remote district in Ivory Coast, men are going back to school. Their studies are part of a UN-backed project dubbed 'the school for husbands' and designed to save the lives of women and children.
The idea is to teach decision makers - the men - about the importance of family planning, check-ups, and pre-natal care for their wives. The aim is to help women and also improve general welfare in farming villages where food is scarce and incomes are dependent on the weather and good fortune.
Lucy Ash hears stories from the schools for husbands and finds out why Ivory Coast's health system is struggling to recover from the post-election crisis three years ago, even as the country's economy roars ahead.
Producer: Mike Wendling.
MON 21:00 Shared Planet (b04grm6g)
Ground-Nesting Birds
Ground nesting birds such as terns are particularly vulnerable to being disturbed. People are increasingly accessing the countryside for all sorts of recreation from walking and mountain biking to bird watching and photography. Is disturbance really a problem for wildlife? And how can we limit the effect while still encouraging fun and healthy ways to spend our time.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b04htdl2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b04hmfx3)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b04hvrr7)
How will Labour respond to pressure on English devolution?
More than 100,000 refugees flood through Turkey's border with Syria.
What did Sierra Leone's ebola lockdown achieve?
With Ritula Shah.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04hvrr9)
The Bone Clocks
Episode 1
By David Mitchell. This ambitious, much-anticipated new novel from the author of Cloud Atlas is one to lose yourself in.
The Bone Clocks is an intricate feat of storytelling revealing one woman's life through those who encounter her. The journey has a global and historical sweep, it takes us from 1980s Kent via 19th Century Australia to a near future New York with a playfully genre-bending subplot.
Our Book at Bedtime will be read by a stellar cast of five actors over three weeks. We open with Hannah Arterton as Holly Sykes, 15 years old in 1980s Gravesend. Then Luke Treadaway is Cambridge student Hugo Lamb, likeable, good looking, and extremely dangerous. Joe Armstrong is Ed Brubeck, a foreign correspondent in the current decade, struggling to overcome the gaps between his life at home and the loss he experiences daily at work. Robert Glenister is Crispin Hershey, once the wild child of British letters, a novelist now past his best-selling peak. And Laurel Lefkow is Dr Marinus, a psychiatrist from the seventh century who meets Holly Sykes in a near-future America.
Today we encounter fifteen year old Holly Sykes for the first time. Read by Hannah Arterton.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
MON 23:00 The Human Zoo (b048l0rz)
Series 4
Episode 3
Our minds control our bodies, of course. If we're thirsty then we reach out to pick up a hot cup of tea or ice cold water. But what we think after we've picked up that drink can be influenced by what we're holding.
Experiments have shown that, under the right circumstances, we have nice warm thoughts about people when holding a hot drink, or chilly ones when grasping an icy one. You can hear this all the time in the language we use, we wind ourselves up or calm ourselves down. Politicians are on the left or the right, they're going forward or stepping back from the brink.
Psychologists call this embodiment, the idea that our thoughts are inseparable from our bodily circumstances. So, grab a nice hot cup of tea and come listen.
Presented by Michael Blastland
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 23:30 Journeys Down My Street (b01rqndq)
The Polish Community in Bradford
Amidst all the coverage of contemporary migration to Britain, it is easy to forget the older generations of immigrants from across the world who have settled here and made Britain their home.
In this series, Mike Berlin, an urban historian from Birkbeck College, University of London, visits individual streets at the heart of such communities, to hear the stories of earlier immigrants - their arrival, their early lives and their observations on Britain today.
In this opening episode - the story of the Polish political refugees who settled in Britain in the late 1940s has been largely forgotten.
It involves invasion by both Germany and Russia and deportation to Siberia, followed by a brave share of the armed combat of World War Two. In spite of this, Stalin's influence after the war meant they had no home to return to and were excluded from the victory parades.
They tell Mike Berlin about the lives they made in Bradford, the community they built around Edmund Street, and their thoughts on a younger generation of economic immigrants, who have the one thing they craved - the choice to return home, if they wished, to Poland.
Producer: Beaty Rubens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.
TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2014
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmfy6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b04htdl4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hmfyb)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hmfyd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmfyg)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmfyj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04hvx9s)
A short reflection and prayer with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b04hvx9v)
Angora rabbits, Sugar beet quotas, Brucellosis
After the death of a vet in Wales who had caught brucellosis from cattle, what more can farmers do to protect themselves from catching diseases from livestock? Farming Today talks to the President Elect of the British Veterinary Association about the dangers of animal diseases, particularly brucellosis.
Thousands of sugar beet growers have been told by British Sugar that they will have to reduce the amount they grow, because of over-supply. If they do grow more than their quota, they will only get a reduced price per tonne. Anna Hill joins a sugar beet grower in Norfolk, to see what effect that's having.
And all this week Farming Today is looking at how UK farmers are supplying the textiles market.
Britain used to have a thriving industry rearing Angora rabbits for the soft and very warm wool they produce, but today it tends to be the preserve of small-scale breeders. We one of the breeders still rearing Angora rabbits.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dwdm3)
Vogelkop Bowerbird
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Vogelkop bowerbird of west New Guinea. The forest floor resembles a market stall with neat piles of brightly-coloured fruits and leaves placed carefully on a mossy lawn in front of a cave of thatched twigs. This is the work of the Vogelkop bowerbird. Native to New Guinea and Australia, this drab olive brown male, uses aesthetic tastes to bring vibrancy of colour into his life: and to woo his mate. His brightly coloured exhibits are graded for size and colour and any withered or faded items are quickly replaced. Satisfied with his work, he whistles, and growls to entice her to a private view. After mating the female departs to rear her single chick unaided, while the male returns to the task of tending his creation.
TUE 06:00 Today (b04hvx9x)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b04hvx9z)
Brian Cox on quantum mechanics
Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University describes how he gave up appearing on Top of the Pops to study quarks, quasars and quantum mechanics.
Although he describes himself as a simple-minded Northern bloke, he has acquired an almost God-like status on our TV screens; while the 'Cox effect' is thought to explain the significant boost to university admissions to read physics. He talks to Jim Al-Khalili about learning to be famous, his passion for physics and how he sometimes has difficulty crossing the road.
In 2005 Brian was awarded a Royal Society Research Fellowship for his work on high energy particle collisions at CERN and elsewhere - an enviable academic achievement. In 2009, he was voted one of the sexiest men alive by People magazine. He has invented a new kind of celebrity - a scientist who's regularly snapped by the paparazzi.
Brian wants everyone to be as excited as he is about the laws that govern our universe: the beautiful, counter-intuitive and often weird world of quantum mechanics that explains what happens inside the nucleus of every atom, right down at the level of those exotically named elementary particles - quarks, neutrinos, gluons, muons.
Challenged by Jim to explain the rules of quantum mechanics in just a minute, Brian succeeds; while conceding that the idea that everything is inherently probabilistic, is challenging. Even Einstein found it difficult. Schrodinger's cat, or Brian Cox, for that matter, are simultaneously both dead and alive. That's a fact. What this is all means is another question. "Am I just an algorithm?" Brian asks. "Probably", says Jim.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b01m5gy0)
Paddy O'Connell meets Chantal
Paddy O'Connell explores a subject that reflects his own experience: the effect of great emotional upheaval on family life. When Paddy was 11 his father died which, of course, meant that his mother was widowed.
In the first of two programmes, Paddy meets Chantal who was widowed in 1995 and left to bring up three children alone. They discuss the initial reactions; the process of gradually moving on with your life; when - if ever - is it the right time to remove your wedding rings; and - if you do meet someone new - what role does the memory of your first partner play in your new relationship.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b04hvxb3)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Awakenings
Tennessee Williams embarks on a new play, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Marlon Brando attends an unconventional audition for the part of Stanley.
John Lahr's evocative biography of America's great playwright.
Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.
With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04hvxb5)
MP Gloria de Piero; the National Sperm Bank; Normcore
MP Gloria de Piero, Shadow Minister for Women & Equalities, live from the Labour Party Conference. The first National Sperm Bank - how will it address the UK sperm shortage? Laura Witjens, Chief Executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust explains. Plus, Japan has become the last industrialised country to ban possession of child pornography, but why are manga comics and animation exempt? Professor Sawa Omori of Tokyo's International Christian University, and Dr Sharon Kinsella of Manchester University discuss the law, Japan's attitude to children as sexual objects, and the cult of the "sexy schoolgirl". Plus 'normcore' - how dressing normally has become the height of fashion. Journalist Lauren Cochrane and Josephine Collins of the London College of Fashion dissect this latest fashion trend. And Scotland's first female MP - Katharine Murray, or the Red Duchess - elected to parliament in 1923.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Emma Wallace.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hvxb7)
Marcy Kahan - Lunch
The Wonderful Guy
by Marcy Kahan
Bill and Bella meet up once a month and swap news.
Bella has a new man but he happens to be half her age.
Directed by Sally Avens.
TUE 11:00 Shared Planet (b04hvxb9)
Are We Getting Used to Less Wildlife?
The diversity and abundance of wildlife is declining across the world. As people grow older they notice the changes but for each new generation the baseline is reset. Is each generation is getting used to living with less and less wildlife? With so many other distractions do young people today notice the wildlife around them? Monty Don explores whether shifting baselines are a problem for conservation or simply inevitable in a system already subject to natural fluctuations.
TUE 11:30 Goldie The Alchemist (b045z8wn)
Musician and artist Goldie passionately describes his challenging story, from the roots of a broken home to his commercial success and subsequent struggle to come to terms with personal issues and a painful past.
An exploration of the real character behind Goldie, who produced Timeless, one of the most iconic British albums of the 1990s.
Featuring contributions from Pete Tong, DJ Fabio, Marc Mac, Nihal Arthanayake and Dr Anamik Saha.
Producer: Paul Thomas
A Three Street Media production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2014.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b04hmfyl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Home Front (b04hvxbc)
23 September 1914 - Ottoline Lambert
In Folkestone, the search for a comfortable home for two Belgian refugees continues...
Written by: Katie Hims
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b04hvxbf)
Call You and Yours: Why are we shopping a little less at Tesco?
After years on the up, Tesco seems to be sliding. Following a fall in sales and now questions over its trading figures, we ask why are we shopping a little less at Tesco?
PRESENTER WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER PETE WILSON.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b04hmfyn)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b04hvxbh)
National and international news with Martha Kearney.
TUE 13:45 Last Day (b04hvxbk)
Shutting Down
Trampolining is the most important thing in Ollie Monroe's life. He was a national competitor, is now a coach, and has invested an incredible amount of time, money and energy into building up a successful trampoline club. Now, through no fault of his own, the club is due to shut. We join him for his emotional last day.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b04hvrr1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b042l782)
The Sensitive
Underground Man, pt 1
1 / 2. Glasgow's disused underground tunnels are the hunting ground for an injured ex-soldier who threatens to kill three men he holds responsible for cheating him out of an inheritance. When one of the men under threat goes missing, Glasgow psychic, Thomas Soutar, helps police in their search - but Thomas and his girlfriend, Kat, soon find there's danger much closer to home. By Alastair Jessiman. The concluding episode is tomorrow.
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (b04hm8jv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 BBC National Short Story Award (b04hvxbm)
BBC National Short Story Award 2014
The American Lover
Rebecca Hall reads one of the five contenders for this major award for the short story.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Now in its ninth year, the BBC National Short Story Award continues to be one of the most prestigious and established awards for a single short story. The 2014 short list crowns a year which has seen short story writers scoop many of the major literary awards including the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Man Booker International Prize.
The shortlist for this year's BBC National Short Story Award in partnership with Booktrust comprises five beguiling and compelling stories from a mix of terrifically acclaimed writers in the genre and exciting up-and-coming writers, all vying for the top award of £15,000. Pivoting on transformative moments in people's lives, the stories are intimate explorations and reflections of coming of age, the attritions of time, love and betrayal. They take listeners across the globe from Wales and Kenya to London and New York.
The readers of this year's shortlist include Carey Mulligan and Rebecca Hall. Listeners can enjoy each story at
3.30pm from Monday 22nd September, following an interview with the author on the previous evening's Front Row (beginning on Friday 19th September). The shortlist will be announced on Front Row on Wednesday 17th September, and the winner and the runner-up will be announced in a special edition of the programme live from the BBC's Radio Theatre on Tuesday 30th September.
The stories will be available as a free download following broadcast, and in an anthology published by Comma Press.
TUE 16:00 Out of the Ordinary (b01rg1gh)
Series 1
Episode 2
Jolyon Jenkins reports on the world of electronic voice phenomena (EVP) - the community of people who believe that the dead can speak to us through radio transmissions and white noise. The technique was introduced to the English speaking world by a mysterious Latvian, Dr Konstantin Raudive, who travelled to Britain in 1969 with recordings of Hitler, Churchill and Stalin speaking from beyond the grave. The method is now a mainstay of paranormal investigators. Jolyon unearths tapes from 40 years ago made at a key séance held by Dr Raudive in Gerrards Cross. Raudive eventually came to believe that a budgerigar called Putzi was passing on messages from a dead 14 year old girl. Jolyon speaks to EVP current practitioners, and to a man who believes that his recordings of animal noises also contain messages.
The claims are improbable, but they tell us interesting things about human perception: about our ability to construct meaning from meaningless sound, and about how our brains naturally fill in the gaps where information is incomplete. Optical illusions are well known, but we are equally prone to being fooled by audio illusions. Sound artist Joe Banks suggests that, while EVP researchers may be carrying out parapsychology experiments, they are unwittingly doing conventional psychology experiments.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b04hvy0l)
Series 34
Andrew Adonis on Joseph Bazalgette
Matthew Parris hears from Labour peer Lord Adonis why Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian engineer, has his nomination as a Great Life.
Bazalgette, the grandson of a French immigrant who made a fortune lending money to the Hanoverian royal family, is one of the most important of the great Victorian engineers. He not only built a sewage system for London which wiped out cholera in the city, he also built the famous Embankments, laid out several of the main thoroughfares and built or improved many of the city's landmark bridges. Yet he is far less well-known than his flamboyant contemporary Brunel and less celebrated than the creators of the railways. With the help of Joseph Bazalgette's great-great-grandson Sir Peter Bazalgette, the man responsible for Ready Steady Cook and Big Brother and now Chairman of the Arts Council, Matthew pieces together the story of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, "The Sewer King."
Producer Christine Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
TUE 17:00 PM (b04hvy0n)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmfyz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Lewis Macleod Is Not Himself (b04hvy0q)
Episode 2
The impression and sketch show that looks behind the scenes at the life and work of star impressionist Lewis Macleod
Lewis has performed on 4 Extra's Newsjack, plus Postman Pat, The Phantom Menace and Dead Ringers.
With Kate O'Sullivan, Duncan Wisbey and Julian Dutton.
Producer: Lyndsay Fenner
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b04hvy0s)
Henry is in a grumpy mood and playing up. Tony is puzzled by Helen's enthusiasm for hunting - it seems a real change of heart. But again she says it's harmless trail hunting. She also enjoys taking part in things that make Rob happy.
Oliver leads the hunt and Helen loves the experience. When she worries about a fox, Rob reassures her that it managed to get away safely from the hounds.
Roy asks Caroline if there is any work at Grey Gables. Caroline is perturbed to learn that he has left Lower Loxley. She wonders whether Elizabeth and Roy have fallen out. But she and Oliver agree there's no work they can offer.
Johnny's excited about his apprenticeship - as is Tony. Today is his first day of induction. Johnny is worried about being academically slow, as Tony plays up the benefits of education in terms of good business skills. Tony points out that Ed regrets not getting a better education.
Johnny enjoys his first day at college, where he gets chatting to a pretty girl. Pat worries about what they'll do if Sharon puts her foot down over Johnny staying. Johnny's determined not to go to college in Leeds.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b04hvy1g)
Ricky Tomlinson; The Driver; Francesca Rhydderch; Anselm Kiefer
Ricky Tomlinson and playwright Neil Gore talk to John Wilson about United We Stand, a new play which looks at the controversial criminal prosecution that followed the 1972 national building workers' strike; Dreda Say Mitchell reviews The Driver, BBC1's new drama starring David Morrissey whose life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself moonlighting for a criminal gang. Also on the programme, Francesca Rhydderch, who's been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, reveals the research she undertook for her entry, The Taxidermist's Daughter; and this week the German artist Anselm Kiefer, whose 40-year career wrestles with the darkness of Germany's history, has his first major UK retrospective. The exhibition's curator Kathleen Soriano discusses the themes and the monumental scale of Kiefer's work on show at the Royal Academy.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hvxb7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b04hvynp)
Rigged Markets?
Is a new scandal about to engulf the UK's banking industry? Was LIBOR just the tip of the iceberg?
Regulators around the world are looking at the way important financial benchmarks have been calculated. These are used to set the value of pension funds, investments and international contracts worth billions of pounds. Financial regulators in the UK, across Europe and in the US are investigating whether the benchmarks have been rigged to increase bank profits - and to short change their customers.
Banks are already receiving big fines over the LIBOR interest rate scandal but the focus is now shifting to the way prices in the foreign exchange, gold and interest rate swap markets have been set. Reporter Lesley Curwen assesses the evidence that banks have got together to manipulate the markets and asks what it means for the reputation of London as a global financial sector and public confidence in banking.
Producer: David Lewis.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b04hvynr)
RNIB audiobook download service; Braille labelling; Space Camp
The RNIB has launched Overdrive, its audiobook download service. It currently has 12,000 of the RNIB's 23,000 audiobooks available, with the rest said to be added by the end of the year. Peter White speaks to Clive Gardiner, Head of Reading and Content Services, about how this new strand of service for the RNIB's Talking Book library will work.
Braille labelling on supermarket packaging has been appearing since 2001, but how is it done, and what measures are put in place to ensure the labels are correct? Peter White goes shopping in the Co-op and asks its National Environmental Manager, Iain Ferguson, to give him the nuts and bolts of getting legible dots on boxes and bottles.
Every year, some 200 blind and visually impaired young people from around the world, journey to Alabama, to take part in what's known as Space Camp. Here they get to take part in simulated space missions and experience some aspects of fighter pilot training. We hear from a couple of this year's would-be astronauts.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Lee Kumutat.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b04hvynt)
Conflict resolution in Ashya King case; GPs near work; Lipoedema
Dr Mark Porter goes on a weekly quest to demystify the health issues that perplex us.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b04hvx9z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b04hmfz1)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b04hvynw)
Air strikes on IS in Syria: the latest.
Ed Miliband addresses Labour Party conference.
World leaders gather for climate change summit.
With Ritula Shah.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04hvyny)
The Bone Clocks
Episode 2
By David Mitchell. Teenage Holly experiences a life-altering event. Read by Hannah Arterton.
This ambitious, much-anticipated new novel from the author of Cloud Atlas is one to lose yourself in. The Bone Clocks is an intricate feat of storytelling revealing one woman's life through those who encounter her. The journey has a global and historical sweep, it takes us from 1980s Kent via 19th Century Australia to a near future New York with a playfully genre-bending subplot.
Our Book at Bedtime is read by a stellar cast of five actors over three weeks. We open with Hannah Arterton as Holly Sykes, 15 years old in 1980s Gravesend. Then Luke Treadaway is Cambridge student Hugo Lamb, likeable, good looking, and extremely dangerous. Joe Armstrong is Ed Brubeck, a foreign correspondent in the current decade, struggling to overcome the gaps between his life at home and the loss he experiences daily at work. Robert Glenister is Crispin Hershey, once the wild child of British letters, a novelist now past his best-selling peak. And Laurel Lefkow is Dr Marinus, a psychiatrist from the seventh century who meets Holly Sykes in a near-future America.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
TUE 23:00 Kevin Eldon Will See You Now (b04hvyp0)
Series 2
You May Know Me as Dudley
Comedy's best kept secret ingredient returns with another series of his own sketch show. Sketches, characters, sound effects, bit of music, some messin' about, you know...
In this episode, we get to shape some hedges, eat some cheese, annoy an alligator and play an exciting round of Ten Man's Nancy.
Kevin Eldon is a comedy phenomenon. He's been in virtually every major comedy show in the last fifteen years, but not content with working with the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, Stewart Lee, Julia Davis and Graham Linehan, he's finally decided to put together another run of his own comedy series for BBC Radio 4.
After all the waiting - Kevin Eldon Will See You Now...
Appearing across the series are Amelia Bullmore (I'm Alan Partridge, Scott and Bailey), Julia Davis (Nighty Night), Paul Putner (Little Britain), Justin Edwards (The Consultants), David Reed (The Penny Dreadfuls) and Catherine Shepherd (Cardinal Burns, Harry and Paul).
Written by Kevin Eldon, with additional material by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris (A Touch Of Cloth, That Mitchell and Webb Sound)
Original music by Martin Bird.
Produced and Directed by David Tyler.
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:30 Journeys Down My Street (b01rvnws)
Home Away From Home - The Somalis of Bute Street, Cardiff
Amidst all the coverage of contemporary migration to Britain, it is easy to forget the older generations of immigrants from across the world who have settled here and made Britain their home.
In this series, Mike Berlin, an urban historian from Birkbeck College, University of London, visits individual streets at the heart of such communities, to hear the stories of earlier immigrants - their arrival, their early lives and their observations on Britain today.
In this episode, Mike meets the Somalis of Bute Street, Cardiff.
At the end of the 19th century many working on the steam ships of the British Empire was an attractive career choice for seamen from Somaliland. Many came to Cardiff, found work in the docks heaving the coal that powered those ships, and the first settled in Butetown in 1890.
A vibrant community grew, centred on the docks and the mosque. But the last coal was shipped out in the 1960s, Cardiff docks are not what they were and Butetown has been redeveloped - and work is scarce.
The older generation of Somalis has, in recent years, been joined by new immigrants, refugees from their war-torn homeland. Their experiences and expectations are very different, as 'De Gabay' recently made clear. This was a day-long production with National Theatre Wales, in which young poets from the Somali community performed all around Butetown.
The Somalis whose families have lived in Butetown for a century, and more recent arrivals tell their stories, too.
Producer: Julian May
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.
WEDNESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmfzz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b04hvxb3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hmg01)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hmg03)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmg05)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmg07)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04hymd6)
A short reflection and prayer with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b04hymd8)
Shadow Farming Minister, Oil Seed Rape, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dwdb1)
Eurasian Scops Owl
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Eurasian scops owl found in Mediterranean regions. In summer a mournful monosyllabic call interrupts the heady scented air of a Greek olive grove at dusk. A male scops owl is proclaiming his territory with a repeated call lasting over 20 minutes. Hearing these tiny owls, no bigger than a starling is one thing, seeing one roosting in an old tree is quite a challenge. They feed mainly on moths and beetles which they hunt for in open country with scattered trees. By autumn these largely nocturnal birds are heading south to sub-Saharan Africa, until the following spring when once again the olive groves resound to their plaintive song.
WED 06:00 Today (b04hymdb)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b04hyrpq)
Paul Merton, Alison Balsom, Louise Cordingly, Jethro Lennox
Libby Purves meets trumpeter Alison Balsom; Louise Cordingly, daugther of a POW chaplain in Singapore; comedian Paul Merton and cartogragher Jethro Lennox.
Alison Balsom is a solo trumpeter. Three-time Classical Brit award winner and Gramophone Artist of the Year, her big break came when she was a concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musician competition in 1998. Last year she appeared at the Globe Theatre, in Gabriel, showcasing the valveless trumpet and featuring the works of Purcell. She is embarking on a UK tour - The Trumpet Sings Tour - and releases a new album, Paris, on Warner Classics.
Louise Cordingly is the daughter of Eric Cordingly MBE who as a young chaplain was held as a prisoner of war in the Far East during World War Two. During his years of captivity he wrote a diary which he kept hidden from his captors. When he returned from the Far East in 1945 he worked as rector of Stevenage and chaplain to the Queen. In 1963 he was consecrated Bishop of Thetford. He died in 1976 but it was not until his wife's death 35 years later that his children discovered his papers and published the book, Down to Bedrock, which features his writings and drawings by fellow prisoners. Down to Bedrock is published by Art Angels.
Paul Merton is a comedian, actor and presenter. After making his stand-up debut at London's Comedy Store in 1982, he became a regular with the Comedy Store Players, an improvised comedy group, team captain on Have I Got News For You and a regular on BBC Radio 4's Just A Minute. He has also made several documentaries about early cinema, including Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood. His autobiography, Only When I Laugh, is published by Ebury Press.
Jethro Lennox is a cartographer and editor of the new edition of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World. The atlas contains 320 pages of maps and illustrations and depicts how the world has changed since the previous 2011 edition with 5000 place name changes. The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World is published by HarperCollins.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b04hyrps)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Moon of Pause
Tennessee Williams sails to Europe where he makes new friends. Back home a chance encounter promises love and inspiration for a new play, The Rose Tattoo.
John Lahr's evocative biography of America's great playwright.
Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.
With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04hyrpv)
Women of Flowers; Reporting historical sexual abuse; Childcare; Male bulimia
The start of a new series looking at reporting historical abuse. Why do people decide to report abuse which may have happened decades before; how are their complaints investigated, what happens to them in the courts and what effect does all of this have on their lives? Yvonne Traynor of Rape Crisis and Debbie Grafham, who decided in her 40s to report her abuse as a child, discuss. The 'arms race' on childcare policy for all the major political parties - why is it seen as only a women's issue? Playwright Kaite O'Reilly on her new play Woman of Flowers, which stars Sophie Stone, the first deaf woman to graduate from RADA. Men with bulimia - why are the numbers of men reporting this eating disorder rising? Jenni Murray presents.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Eleanor Garland.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b04hyrpx)
Marcy Kahan - Lunch
The Spotlight
by Marcy Kahan
Bill is in a state he has been invited on Newsnight to debate the economy.
Bella decides to give him a mock interview.
Director ..... Sally Avens.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b04hyrpz)
Ken and Neville - Food and Friendship
Fi Glover introduces friends who first met nearly 50 years ago and later both opened restaurants in the same town, one successfully, the other eventually closing, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
WED 11:00 Don't Log Off (b04hyrq1)
Series 5
Identity
Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers.
Today, people tell stories about grappling with issues of identity. A disabled woman from the Ukraine talks about ethnic tensions as crisis grips the country, keeping an audio diary of her reflections as the situation develops.
Alan also hears from a young woman in Moscow who discusses the difficulties of being gay and mixed race in Russia.
Meanwhile, a young Bolton man whose family originate from Pakistan recounts his horror after being shot at during his last visit there, reflecting on how it has informed his views on nationality.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
WED 11:30 Wordaholics (b04hyrq3)
Series 3
Episode 4
Comedian Josh Widdicombe, lexicographer Susie Dent, astronomy enthusiast Helen Keen and comedian Natalie Haynes vie for word supremacy.
Gyles Brandreth is in the chair.
The letter of the week is 'L'.
The panellists are asked to invent new words or phrases - and there are rounds about terms for different occupations and Victorian slang terms.
Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b04hmg09)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b04hyrq5)
24 September 1914 - Sylvia Graham
In the Graham household, there's a speech to prepare...
Written by: Katie Hims & Sean Moffat
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b04hysdb)
Scrapping Pedestrianised Streets; Computer Blackmail; Green Deal Fund; Cabin Baggage
Pedestrianising town centres was seen as the thing to do to attract shoppers. So why are some councils letting the cars back in?
We report on the hackers issuing blackmail demands after taking control of people's computers
And the landlords still waiting for payment from a government fund designed to help them make their homes warmer for tenants.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Jon Douglas.
WED 12:57 Weather (b04hmg0c)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b04hysdd)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Martha Kearney.
WED 13:45 Last Day (b04hysdg)
The Final Whistle
Very few sportsmen and women get to choose when they retire, as often it is forced through injury, loss of form or the capriciousness of the sports market. Even for those are able to pick their time find professional sport leaves a large hole in their lives. Former rugby union players Will James and Damian Hopley share their stories of the way they left, or were forced to leave the sport they loved and how they filled the void the sport left.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b04hvy0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01fhyrt)
White Noise
By Matthew Broughton.
A dark hymn to Dagenham in East London. Freddy wants to be an artist. Danny wants to clean up the streets. And Kath just wants the pictures to come back to her TV. As the Olympics loom large, something world-changing is about to happen to one family.
Directed by James Robinson
Dagenham resident, Matthew Broughton, paints a bleak, yet ultimately life affirming, picture of a community dealing with seismic economic shocks, as the attention of the world focuses on them. A contemporary parable from a fast changing world.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b04hytg2)
Student Money
Paying for University? For help with fees, loans and finance, call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk
Ready with some financial first aid for freshers will be:
Katy Barge, Student Loans Company.
Miriam Craven, Student Awards Agency For Scotland.
David Malcolm, National Union of Students.
Have you sorted out your tuition fees, maintenance loans and grants?
If you're struggling to cover costs are you entitled to bursaries or extra financial support?
What interest rate will be applied to your loan and how do the repayments work?
Or perhaps you're one of the record number of mature students who have accepted places this year.
Whether you're thinking about higher education or packing your bags for freshers' week our team will be here to answer your student money questions.
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now. Standard geographic call charges apply.
WED 15:30 BBC National Short Story Award (b04hytg4)
BBC National Short Story Award 2014
The Taxidermist's Daughter
Francesca Rhydderch's shortlisted story for this prestigious award is set in the aftermath of WW1. On the cusp of womanhood, Daisy's life is altered with the arrival of a stranger who compels her to confront new feelings. Carys Eleri reads.
Abridged by Miranda Davies.
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 16:00 The Educators (b04gw6rh)
Jo Boaler
Is our attitude towards maths killing the subject for children? Professor Jo Boaler believes a widespread belief in the existence of a 'maths brain' is ruining pupils' chances of success in the subject.
She tells Sarah Montague that anybody can be good with numbers, but unlike other subjects, we teach the idea that some people are simply good or bad at mathematics.
Having researched the way maths is taught in schools in the UK and in the US, Stanford University professor Jo Boaler says pupils are too often made to think that maths is a long list of rules and procedures to be learned off by heart.
In the programme Sarah Montague discovers why real mathematics is about uncertainty; the study of patterns and creative problem solving. She hears about some of the controversial new methods designed to teach flexibility with numbers, which have some parents confounded by the homework their children are being set.
Presenter: Sarah Montague
Producer: Joel Moors.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b04hyy19)
Devolved powers and the BBC, Inside police custody, Phone hacking
Whilst the No Vote has halted plans for a full-blown Scottish Broadcasting Corporation, with Charter Renewal on the horizon, the pan-UK public broadcaster is unlikely to escape political pressures to decentralise more power from London. To discuss the ramifications for funding, commissioning and regulation are Tim Suter - former Ofcom and BBC executive, Glyn Mathias - Ofcom content board member for Wales and Alex Bell - a former BBC presenter and one time Head of Policy to Alex Salmond.
A new Channel 4 documentary series about Luton Police Station's custody suite shows viewers how crimes like murder, child sex abuse and domestic violence are dealt with in the first few hours by police. Filmed by 60 fixed-rig cameras and 5 crews, the series provides an insight into the challenges faced by the staff and the criminal justice process. Steve Hewlett talks to Colette Paul, Chief Constable of Bedfordshire police, about the difficult decision she made to allow cameras in, and how staff reacted. Also joining Steve is Executive Producer Simon Ford about how issues of consent and legal considerations led this to be one of his toughest projects.
Trinity Mirror has admitted liability and agreed to pay compensation to four individuals who sued the group for alleged hacking of voicemails. A further six claims have already been settled out of court. What this will mean for Trinity Mirror? Steve is joined by Mark Lewis, the solicitor who acted for the Dowler family and Sven Goran Eriksson.
Producer: Dianne McGregor.
WED 17:00 PM (b04hyy1c)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmg0f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation (b04hyy1f)
Series 10
How to Define Oneself in Terms of Regional, Cultural and Geopolitical Identity Without Tears
Jeremy Hardy dispassionately examines the questions of nationality, identity and accents. The noo.
Helping him get to grips with the new world will be stand-up comedian Susan Murray and, broadly speaking, Scotsman Moray Hunter (Absolutely).
Few can forget where they were when they first heard "Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation". The show was an immediate smash-hit success, causing pubs to empty on a Saturday night, which was particularly astonishing since the show went out on Thursdays. The Light Entertainment department was besieged, questions were asked in the House and Jeremy Hardy himself became known as the man responsible for the funniest show on radio since Money Box Live with Paul Lewis.
Since that fateful first series, Jeremy went on to win Sony Awards, Writers Guild nominations and a Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He was a much-loved regular on both The News Quiz and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Written by Jeremy Hardy
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014. .
WED 19:00 The Archers (b04hyy1h)
It's a week since the storm. David thinks the paddocks have never seemed so bad. The harvester is held up in a claggy field and the work is leaving mud in the lane, causing a few complaints from locals. Still, Ed has some good news. A possible buyer for Mike's business is coming to have a look tomorrow.
Johnny has talked to his step-dad Eamon about staying on with Pat and Tony. Eamon will broach it with Sharon. Johnny's keen to have a go on the quad bike. Tony insists that he wears a helmet and takes it slowly. Tony also asks Johnny whether he has had chickenpox, as it turns out that this is the reason for Henry's recent grumpiness.
Elizabeth has accepted Hayley's resignation. Roy and Hayley have to deal with perplexed Vicky, unable to explain to her why he left.
There's good news for Johnny. Sharon says he can stay with Pat and Tony and do his apprenticeship. He has also had chickenpox!
Roy and Hayley visit Usha, who talks unofficially and rather reluctantly - suggesting they seek independent advice. When pressed, in full knowledge of the affair involving her friend Elizabeth, Usha advises on employment tribunal procedures. Roy decides to confront Elizabeth.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b04hyy1k)
Zadie Smith, Ryan Adams, Exhibit B, The Art of the Brick
Zadie Smith discusses Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets, her shortlisted entry for the BBC National Short Story Award; Tom Dyckhoff reviews The Art of the Brick, a new exhibition of artworks built with Lego; musician Ryan Adams on the analogue joys of the typewriter and the tape recorder. And as last night's controversial art performance featuring black actors in a recreation of a "human zoo" is called off after protests at its opening night in London, John Wilson hears both sides of the argument.
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hyrpx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 FutureProofing (b04hyy1p)
The Singularity
Rohan Silva and Timandra Harkness discover how close we are to The Singularity - the day when machines match human intelligence. And they find out why it's so vital to understand the implications of such a momentous future event right now.
Producer: Jonathan Brunert.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b04hyyr0)
Series 4
A World for Children
Daniel Hahn argues that as a society we would benefit from having more children's books translated into English.
A translator himself, and author of a major book about children's literature, Daniel is concerned that few books are being translated today to sit alongside Tintin, Asterix and the Moomins.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b04hyz3g)
Power to the People
There's no doubt that 'People Power' can transform a community, when keen volunteers come together to collectively improve their lot.
But what happens when People Power can be measured in watts and volts?
Communities up and down the country are taking the power back - literally - from the Big 6, and starting a variety of schemes to generate their own energy. They're reducing their bills, strengthening community spirit - and helping the UK towards its renewable energy targets at the same time. And in January of this year, the government got fully on board with the movement too, publishing the first ever UK Community Energy Strategy.
But just how easy is it to do? Can philanthropic locals really compete with the might of the UK Energy industry? And how does the money stack up? Tom Heap investigates.
Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b04hyrpq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b04hmg0k)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b04hyzf0)
Iraq to ask UK to join anti-ISIS strikes, Labour lays out NHS plans, India's Mars triumph, with Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04hz0wf)
The Bone Clocks
Episode 3
By David Mitchell. University student Hugo has a strange encounter in Cambridge. Read by Luke Treadaway.
This ambitious, much-anticipated new novel from the author of Cloud Atlas is one to lose yourself in. The Bone Clocks is an intricate feat of storytelling revealing one woman's life through those who encounter her. The journey has a global and historical sweep, it takes us from 1980s Kent via 19th Century Australia to a near future New York with a playfully genre-bending subplot.
Our Book at Bedtime will be read by a stellar cast of five actors over three weeks. We open with Hannah Arterton as Holly Sykes, 15 years old in 1980s Gravesend. Then Luke Treadaway is Cambridge student Hugo Lamb, likeable, good looking, and extremely dangerous. Joe Armstrong is Ed Brubeck, a foreign correspondent in the current decade, struggling to overcome the gaps between his life at home and the loss he experiences daily at work. Robert Glenister is Crispin Hershey, once the wild child of British letters, a novelist now past his best-selling peak. And Laurel Lefkow is Dr Marinus, a psychiatrist from the seventh century who meets Holly Sykes in a near-future America.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
WED 23:00 The Music Teacher (b01fcvy0)
Series 2
Episode 1
Richie Webb returns as multi-instrumentalist music teacher Nigel Penny.
A famous ex-pupil of Nigel's pitches up at the Arts Centre to make a 'where-it-all-began-for-me' documentary, and is keen to interview Nigel.
Whilst Nigel's preparations for the reunion are hampered by the usual array of frustrating pupils, Belinda attempts to use this tenuous connection to a celebrity to generate some much needed revenue for the Arts Centre.
Audio production by Matt Katz
Directed by Nick Walker
Written and produced by Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (b01k2b1b)
Series 3
School Sports Day
Step into the magically mundane world that is the life of 21st Century Wizard Mordrin McDonald. An isolated 2000 year-old Scottish sorcerer with enough power in his small finger to destroy a town, yet insufficient clout to get a speed bump installed outside his cave by the local council. Even for such a skilful sorcerer, modern life is rubbish!
In this episode, Mordrin (David Kay) is persuaded by his neighbour Tracey (Rosemary Hollands) to take part in her School Sports Day. Mordrin is struggling with his fitness and any attempts to simply 'magic' himself fit may result in an unwanted call up to the Wizard Olympics which contains events such as the Dragon Hurdles, a Magroth Marathon and, worst of all, a Troll chasing Decathlon.
Written by David Kay & Gavin Smith.
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Journeys Down My Street (b01s09k1)
Ode to Finchleystrasse
Amidst all the coverage of contemporary migration to Britain, it is easy to forget the older generations of immigrants, from across the world, who have settled here and made Britain their home.
In this series, Mike Berlin, an urban historian from Birkbeck College, University of London, visits individual streets at the heart of such communities, to hear the stories of earlier immigrants - their arrival, their early lives and their observations on Britain today.
In this episode:
After the Nazi annexation of Austria in March 1938, Vienna's large Jewish community fled - some to Glasgow and Manchester but the vast majority to the area of North-West London close to Swiss Cottage.
The area became so full of German-speaking refugees that anecdotes tell of war-time bus conductors calling out "Finchleystrasse - Passports Please!" as the bus drew up at the top of the Finchley Road.
The shops and cafes are no longer there, but a vibrant group of elderly refugees share their memories of Finchleystrasse with historian Mike Berlin and reflect on their conflicting desires to recreate the best of Vienna whilst assimilating into British society.
Producer: Beaty Rubens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.
THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmg1y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b04hyrps)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hmg20)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hmg22)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmg24)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmg26)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04hz496)
A short reflection and prayer with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b04hz498)
Fish stocks in Thames estuary, Farmers and climate change, Leather production, Badger image
Fishermen from the Thames estuary are due to meet with government agencies this week, to discuss falling fish stocks, which they say may threaten their livelihoods.
Farmers are "at the forefront of climate change", according to the president of the World Farmers' Organisation Peter Kendall, formerly president of the NFU. He's in New York at the UN Climate Summit this week, helping to launch a new initiative, the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
Farming Today continues its look at the production of textiles by UK farmers for the fashion industry, with a discussion of leather. British farmers produce more than nine million square metres every year, most of which is exported. The price of hide has risen by more than 100 per cent over the past six years, partly driven by demand from China. Charlotte Smith asks what that will mean for UK farmers.
And with the controversial badger cull now in its third week, we take a look at the image of the animal. Why do badgers arouse such public affection, while other animals are culled with little or no outcry?
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dyh64)
Laughing Gull
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the laughing gull off the Florida coast. In summer, the hearty peal of laughter is one of the characteristic sounds people hear along the North American east coast where laughing gulls come to breed. America's version of the British black-headed gull they are easy to recognise as they patrol the seashore in search for food. Like many gulls they eat what they can find and will scavenge at rubbish dumps, and will even feast on the eggs of horseshoe crabs which spawn in Deleware Bay each spring. Some become swept up in autumnal hurricanes and having crossed the Atlantic, occasionally turn up on a European's bird-watching list.
THU 06:00 Today (b04hz49c)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b04hz49f)
e
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Euler's number, also known as e. First discovered in the seventeenth century by the Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli when he was studying compound interest, e is now recognised as one of the most important and interesting numbers in mathematics. Roughly equal to
2.718, e is useful in studying many everyday situations, from personal savings to epidemics. It also features in Euler's Identity, sometimes described as the most beautiful equation ever written.
With:
Colva Roney-Dougal
Reader in Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews
June Barrow-Green
Senior Lecturer in the History of Maths at the Open University
Vicky Neale
Whitehead Lecturer at the Mathematical Institute and Balliol College at the University of Oxford
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b04hz49h)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Testing Times
Testing times lie ahead for Tennessee Williams as Cat on Hot Tin Roof takes shape.
John Lahr's evocative biography of America's great playwright.
Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.
With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04hz49k)
Michel Roux Sr Cooks the Perfect Ratatouille
Michel Roux Senior, Cooks the Perfect Ratatouille and talks about the essence of French cuisine. We hear from UKIP's Deputy Chairman Suzanne Evans ahead of the Party's Conference in Doncaster. We're in Leicester talking to the women's grass roots organisation STRIVE about their 'Raising Voices' workshop, which aims to help them both spot and stop extremism. And a tribute to Deborah, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, who's died aged 94.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hz49m)
Marcy Kahan - Lunch
Other People
by Marcy Kahan
Whilst Bella contemplates potential motherhood Bill is having parental problems of his own.
Directed by Sally Avens.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b04hz49p)
Taking Meat off the Menu
Few French restaurants offer a menu without meat, so John Laurenson's been finding out why that's a decision taken by one of the country's top chefs. Paul Adams explains why the government in the Ukrainian capital Kiev might have given up trying to seize back control of rebel-held eastern parts of the country. Misha Glenny talks of plans to establish a global parliament of city mayors taking powers away from 'tired old nation states'. One of Europe's most wanted men is thought to be hiding out in the mountains of central Greece - Jeff Maysh has been talking to people about a fugitive with a Robin Hood reputation and Antonia Quirke talks of Sicily where many are fed up with the corruption pervasive in Italian society and where the Mafia continues to wield influence.
THU 11:30 Bombay Jazz (b0415hbd)
Sarfraz Manzoor explores a fascinating period of music history in India when American violinist Leon Abbey brought his jazz band to Bombay in the 1930's, leaving behind an incredible legacy.
The early years of jazz calls to mind places such as New Orleans, Chicago and Paris. What is often overlooked is that the Indian city of Bombay, now Mumbai, had its very own thriving jazz scene in the 1930's that lasted three decades.
Manzoor charts this extraordinary story of jazz in India when some of the world's most accomplished musicians including Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong brought their talents to the East and mixed with performers such as Chic Chocolate, Micky Correa, Teddy Weatherford and Frank Fernand -all regarded in India today as jazz legends. This cultural exchange produced music that wove threads into Bombay's story. These threads would later become inextricably a part of the city's own definitive creation: Bollywood, and its music in particular.
Discovering India's jazz heritage and the areas the music has been preserved Manzoor travels to Mumbai to visit Naresh Fernandes author of the critically acclaimed book The Taj Mahal Foxtrot. He meets with musicians and singers along with the widow of Micky Correa and the daughters of Chic Chocolate and explores the development of jazz with saxophonist Braz Gonsalves, the first man to play Be-Bop in India.
Examining the music and legacy of the Indian Jazz legends he searches for their impact today and his journey ends in Goa, now regarded as the new 'Jazz Capitol of India' by music promoter Colin D'Cruz .
Producer: Stephen Garner
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b04hmg28)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b04hz49r)
25 September 1914 - Dorothea Winwood
Well-known suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst arrives in Folkestone to address a meeting, and there's unrest at the vicarage.
Writers: Katie Hims & Sean Moffat
Music: Matthew Strachan
Director: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b04hz52y)
Why are motorway services so expensive?
Action on Elder Abuse says family members are mostly responsible for cons on the elderly.
The EU is likely to uphold ban on minicabs using bus lanes.
Half a century after the first motorway service station opened - why are prices still so much higher than on the high street?
The new gym craze that isn't for the faint hearted.
OFGEM to close loophole which allows some energy companies to 'hide' best tariffs.
New figures suggest graduates are more likely to get a job - but do current students share that confidence?
New Home - old speed, why broadband is so feeble in some new build homes.
THU 12:57 Weather (b04hmg2b)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b04hz530)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Shaun Ley.
THU 13:45 Last Day (b04hz532)
Redundancy
For some people redundancy is a complete surprise, for others it is a long-anticipated blow to the stomach. Whichever way it happens, people react in different ways. We hear from two people who were made redundant in contrasting fashions. We learn how their different experiences affected them, both while it was happening and for some years afterwards.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b04hyy1h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b018b6yl)
Down and Out in Auchangaish
By BAFTA-winning writer, Donna Franceschild.
Cal's about to turn eighteen and he's sleeping rough. Ziggy keeps setting fire to his hotel. And Gino, the local chip shop owner, wants to help everyone. Everyone except his wife, that is.
A gentle comedy about the love that fire-fighting brings to a remote Highland village.
Cast:
Gino ..... Liam Brennan
Anna ..... Wendy Seager
Cal ..... Kyle McPhail
Ziggy ..... David Ireland
Natia ..... Lesley Hart
Peter ..... Simon Tait
Donnie ..... Robin Laing
Director: Kirsty Williams.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b04hz629)
Series 28
The Dales Way, Part Two
Clare Balding embarks on the second leg of her journey along The Dales Way, one of England's most loved long distance walking paths. This week she walks from Cavendish Pavilion to Burnsall Bridge in the company of Phil Richards, Access Ranger for the Yorkshire Dales National Park and photographer and blogger, Charles Hawes.
Producer Karen Gregor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b04hmj82)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 BBC National Short Story Award (b04hz62c)
BBC National Short Story Award 2014
Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets
Noma Dumezweni reads Zadie Smith's story, named runner-up at this year's awards. Long held resentments find an outlet when a fading cabaret artiste makes a stand while shopping for corsets on the East Side of New York.
Abridged by Sally Marmion
Produced by Gemma Jenkins.
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b04hz62f)
Olivia Williams; The Mafia in Italian Movies; Pawel Pawlikowski
With Francine Stock.
British actress Olivia Williams discusses her experiences of Hollywood and why the Tinsel Town satire Maps To The Stars is all too real.
An investigation into why Italian cinema was so coy about the mafia until fairly recently.
Polish director reveals why he returned to his homeland for his post-war drama Ida and how a black-and-white movie in a foreign language about a novice nun turned out to be his biggest hit.
Location manager Sue Quinn explains how she managed to get a military helicopter to land in Trafalgar Square at the personal request of Tom Cruise.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b04hz62h)
Cosmic inflation latest; Indian space success; Science and language; Wax Venus
BICEP - gravitational waves and dust
One of the biggest scientific claims of 2014 has received another set-back. In March this year, the BICEP2 research team claimed it had found a swirling pattern in the sky left by the rapid expansion of space just fractions of a second after the Big Bang. This announcement was quickly criticised by others, who thought the group had underestimated the confounding effects of dust in our own galaxy. And now, new analysis from the European Space Agency's Planck satellite suggests dust found in our own galaxy may have confounded what was thought to be a universal revelation.
India's Mars satellite enters orbit
India has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth nation or geo-bloc to do so. Following a few teething troubles with a planned engine burn shortly after launch on 5 November 2013, and a long journey, the Mangalyaan probe has started sending back images of the Red Planet. It is the first time a maiden voyage to Mars has entered orbit successfully and it is the cheapest mission to-date.
Science of language
Professor Steven Pinker talks to Adam Rutherford about the language of scientists and the science of language. He has a new book out, "The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century", discussing how the latest research on linguistics and cognitive science can improve writing.
The Anatomical Venus
Adam visits the Wellcome Collection to see an 18th-Century Florentine Wax Venus - complete with removable abdominal organs. He discusses our preoccupation with death, with Joanna Ebenstein. And finds out if these beautiful, if slightly unnerving, statues were the cutting edge of anatomical learning, or a gory sideshow.
Producer: Fiona Roberts
Assistant Producer: Jen Whyntie.
THU 17:00 PM (b04hz62k)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmg2d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b04hz62m)
Series 3
About Paranoia
In a mix of stand-up and re-enacted family life - Nathan Caton illustrates how watching too much TV can make you paranoid and that can have serious repercussions for your family.
Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
After becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, Nathan opted not to use his architecture degree but instead to try his hand at being a full-time stand-up comedian, much to his family's horror and disgust. They desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'
Janet a.k.a. Mum is probably the kindest and most lenient of the disappointed family members. At the end of the day she just wants the best for her son. However, she'd also love to brag and show her son off to her friends, but with Nathan only telling jokes for a living that's kind of hard to do.
Martin a.k.a. Dad works in the construction industry and was looking forward to his son getting a degree so the two of them could work together in the same field. But now Nathan has blown that dream out of the window. Martin is clumsy and hard-headed and leaves running the house to his wife (she wouldn't allow it to be any other way).
Shirley a.k.a. Grandma cannot believe Nathan turned down architecture for comedy. She can't believe she left the paradise in the West Indies and came to the freezing United Kingdom for a better life so that years later her grandson could 'tell jokes!' How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!
So with all this going on in the household what will Nathan do? Will he persevere and follow his dreams? Or will he give in to his family's interference? Or will he finally leave home?!
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b04hz62p)
Ruth goes to visit her Mum Heather, feeling bad for abandoning David.
Peggy and Adam discuss Jennifer. Peggy is quietly shocked about Jennifer's windfall. Jennifer is planning to show off her bookcase with John's books. In her place, Peggy would pack the books off to auction rather than display them.
Charlie is on Adam's back, getting him to carry on harvesting the maize despite difficult conditions. The mud on the roads needs clearing, so it's time to get out the road brush. Why not get Ed on board to help? Later, Charlie seems more supportive, humbly admitting he has a tendency to tell Adam how to do his job.
Carol seems to have transformed Glebe Cottage. Peggy wonders about Carol's parents and Carol's backstory away from Ambridge. Peggy also wonders whether Heather might move down from Prudhoe.
Ruth feels useless. She couldn't be a carer, even for her own mum. Heather is stubbornly independent. David and Ruth talk about options such as a purpose built flat - not a care home. They certainly can't leave Heather to her own devices in Prudhoe.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b04hz62r)
What We Did on Our Holiday reviewed; Bernard Sumner; Lionel Shriver; Activism on Stage
Bernard Sumner, one of the founding members of Joy Division and the lead singer of New Order, discusses his autobiography "Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me" which charts his part in the Manchester music scene since the late 1970s, author Lionel Shriver discusses her short story Kilifi Creek, which has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, as two plays about youth activism open, playwrights James Graham and Tim Price discuss portraying political protest on stage and What We Did On Our Holiday, a comedy starring David Tenant, Rosamund Pike and Billy Connolly, reviewed.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hz49m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b04hz62t)
Stirling Decides
The city of Stirling is situated in the heart of Scotland and has been described as the brooch the clasps together the Highlands and the Lowlands. It lies in Scotland's central belt, seen by many as the region that could decide the outcome of the referendum on independence. Sharmini Selvarajah spends the final days of the campaign in the city following local people as they make up their minds which way to cast their ballots. How did Stirling, in the centre of a country split down the middle on its future, decide whether to remain part of the UK or whether to leave the union?
THU 20:30 In Business (b04hz62w)
Myanmar - Learning to Do Business
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, used to be one of the wealthiest countries of south-east Asia. Then came decades of military rule. While other Asian countries furiously modernised, Myanmar stagnated. In the past few years, the country has begun to open up and many international sanctions have been lifted.
But what's it like for home grown businesses and new entrepreneurs? Peter Day talks to those who are setting up businesses despite a number of challenges, such as a lack of funding and poor infrastructure. In the capital, Yangon, he meets people who went abroad for education and have now returned to seek business opportunities at home. And he visits rural Myanmar and sees how micro-financing is working in the countryside.
Producer: Charlotte MacDonald.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b04hz62h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b04hz49f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b04hmg2g)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b04hz7s2)
UK readies for Iraq action, UN warning on Ebola, Scotland's political fever - with David Eades.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04hz7s4)
The Bone Clocks
Episode 4
By David Mitchell. A not so chance encounter between Holly Sykes and Posh boy Hugo. Read by Luke Treadaway.
This ambitious, much-anticipated new novel from the author of Cloud Atlas is one to lose yourself in. The Bone Clocks is an intricate feat of storytelling revealing one woman's life through those who encounter her. The journey has a global and historical sweep, it takes us from 1980s Kent via 19th Century Australia to a near future New York with a playfully genre-bending subplot.
Our Book at Bedtime will be read by a stellar cast of five actors over three weeks. We open with Hannah Arterton as Holly Sykes, 15 years old in 1980s Gravesend. Then Luke Treadaway is Cambridge student Hugo Lamb, likeable, good looking, and extremely dangerous. Joe Armstrong is Ed Brubeck, a foreign correspondent in the current decade, struggling to overcome the gaps between his life at home and the loss he experiences daily at work. Robert Glenister is Crispin Hershey, once the wild child of British letters, a novelist now past his best-selling peak. And Laurel Lefkow is Dr Marinus, a psychiatrist from the seventh century who meets Holly Sykes in a near-future America.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
THU 23:00 Ayres on the Air (b01mxpyr)
Series 4
Summer
Pam Ayres continues her series of poetry and sketch shows about the seasons.
Summer includes matters of keeping cool, finding the perfect swimsuit, summer weddings and eating al fresco.
Her poems include: No Alarm on the Flight Deck, That Perfect Swimsuit, The Seagull and The Swifts Are Back.
With Felicity Montagu and Geoffrey Whitehead
Producer: Claire Jones.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in September 2012.
THU 23:30 Blofeld and Baxter: Memories of Test Match Special (b047wfmf)
Episode 1
Two broadcasting legends, Henry Blofeld and Peter Baxter, join forces to recount hilarious tales from across the world, gained during 40 years in the Test Match Special commentary box and beyond.
Produced by Jon Harvey
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b04hmg3j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b04hz49h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b04hz80f)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b04hz898)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b04hmg3l)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b04hmg3q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b04hz80z)
A short reflection and prayer with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b04hz89b)
Cattle rustling, Dry weather, Milk prices, Angora goats
Cattle thefts in Northern Ireland have doubled over the last two years, according to figures released by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Nearly one thousand cattle were stolen in 2013-14, compared to 500 the year before. The Deputy President of the Ulster Farmers' Union tells Charlotte Smith how bad the situation has got.
Milk prices are falling again. Are we likely to see protests? Charlotte takes the temperature of the industry, with an independent dairy analyst.
The first half of September was the driest since 1960, according to the Met Office. For farmers, that means difficulty establishing crops such as wheat and barley, especially on sandy soils. Anna Hill has been to talk to one farmer in Suffolk, who's keeping his fingers crossed for rain.
And Farming Today visits a farm rearing angora goats, as part of a week-long look at textiles produced on UK farms for the fashion industry.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Emma Campbell.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dyh88)
Emperor Penguin
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the emperor penguin from the Antarctic Peninsula. With temperatures down to minus 50oC, midwinter blizzards scouring one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, this is not an obvious location for raising young. Yet at the heart of this landscape, the world's largest penguin, the emperor, stands guard over their young. Tightly-packed colonies of hundreds or sometimes thousands of birds huddle together, to conserve heat. The male broods the single egg on his feet, protected under folds of bare abdominal skin. Females travel up to 100km from the colony in search of food, using a technique called tobogganing which is far more efficient than walking on their short legs. Harsh though the landscape is in midwinter, all this activity is co-ordinated to allow the young to fledge into the relatively warmth of an Antarctic summer.
FRI 06:00 Today (b04hyvtf)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b04hml41)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b04hyvth)
Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh
Crisis Point
Drink and pills lead Tennessee Williams to crisis point. His troubled relationship with Frank Merlo is reflected in a new play, Sweet Bird of Youth.
John Lahr's evocative biography of America's great playwright.
Read by Damian Lewis with Trevor White as the voice of Tennessee Williams.
With the voices of Elaine Claxton, Bettrys Jones and Ian Conningham.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Producer: Elizabeth Allard
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04hyvtk)
For the first time Sweden's feminist party has a seat in the European Parliament. Soraya Post will take her seat as representative of The Feminist Initiative. The party has been growing - it's membership up to two hundred thousand, and it narrowly missed out on winning seat in Sweden's General Election. Part of its success has been put down to its wealthy backers - including Abba's Benny Anderson who has donated to the Feminist Initiative. Feminist parties are not new to Scandinavia - so how credible a force are they and could the model ever work in the UK?
For many Brigitte Bardot remains the ultimate sex siren, so much so, that despite celebrating her 80th birthday this weekend, an image of the her as a young woman was still being used on the front cover of Paris Match magazine as recently as last month. Bardot set the template for a wave of female stars , Raquel Welch and Ursula Andress to name a few, but what about today - does the sex siren live on in 2014, is Beyonce maybe the new Bardot ? Jenni asks Ginette Vincendeau , author of 'Brigitte Bardot: The Life, The Legend, The Movies' and Stephen Gundle, author of 'Glamour: A History'.
As many young adults around the country start packing to leave home for university or work, some parents will be experiencing what has become known as the empty nest syndrome. But what is it like for single parents when the empty nest is literally empty - is the silence golden or more of a leaden weight.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hyvtm)
Marcy Kahan - Lunch
The Whole Enchilada
by Marcy Kahan
Bella has made some life changing decisions but Bill has an announcement of his own.
Directed by Sally Avens.
FRI 11:00 How to Teach Maths (b03szv89)
Alex Bellos takes you on a mathematical learning journey from the first stages of number recognition through to an understanding of how children solve sums and calculate answers. On the way he will look at the neuroscience of maths and how our mathematical brain develops. He investigates the scientific evidence behind teaching maths and he'll compare how modern methods of teaching children differ from those taught to their parents, helping kids today go beyond basic numeracy to develop a passion for numbers.
The producer is Ania Lichtarowicz.
FRI 11:30 My First Planet (b04d12x5)
Series 2
Adjective from Space!
It's election time on the colony - Richard goes for the youth vote while Brian's campaign is based on feeding everyone some nauseating protein. And just who is the mysterious Security Officer hidden on the colony?
The return of the hit sitcom starring Nicholas Lyndhurst and Vicki Pepperdine ("Getting On") set on a shiny new planet.
Welcome to the colony. We're aware that, having been in deep cryosleep for 73 years, you may be in need of some supplementary information.
Personnel:
Unfortunately, Burrows the leader of the colony has died on the voyage so his Number 2, Brian (Nicholas Lyndhurst), is now in charge. He's a nice enough chap, but no alpha male, and his desire to sort things out with a nice friendly meeting infuriates the colony's Chief Physician Lillian (Vicki Pepperdine), who'd really rather everyone was walking round in tight colour-coded tunics and saluting each other. She's also in charge of Project Adam, the plan to conceive and give birth to the first colony-born baby. Unfortunately, the two people hand-picked for this purpose - Carol and Richard - were rather fibbing about being a couple, just to get on the trip.
Add in an entirely unscrupulous Chief Scientist, Mason and also Archer, an idiot maintenance man who believes he's an "empath" rather than a plumber, and you're all set to answer the question - if humankind were to colonise space, is it destined to succumb to self-interest, prejudice and infighting? (By the way, the answer's "yes". Sorry.)
Written by Phil Whelans
Produced and Directed by David Tyler.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b04hmg3v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b04hyvtp)
26 September 1914 - Victor Lumley and Kitty Wilson
After much negotiation, an amicable alliance is finally reached on the Leas in Folkestone...
Written by: Katie Hims and Sean Moffat
Music: Matthew Strachan
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b04hyvtr)
Pet Pre-Nups; Customer Complaints; Private Tuition
We speak to a woman whose ex partner abducted the dog while she was at work. Could a pet pre-nup have headed off the dispute?
We spend six billion pounds on private tuition every year. What does it achieve and how do parents know if they're getting value for money? You and Yours investigates.
Customer complaints - why can't our energy, mobile and financial service companies get it right?
FRI 12:57 Weather (b04hmg3x)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b04hyw68)
Analysis of current affairs reports, presented by Shaun Ley and Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Last Day (b04hyw6b)
Advice
How should you approach your last day of work? Should it be a time of celebration or remorse? Should you go out in a blaze of glory or with as little ceremony as possible? Life coach Carol Ann Rice and ACAS spokesman Stewart Gee give their advice on the best way to go and we hear the story of Mary Manion whose day did not go as she expected at all.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b04hz62p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b04hywtb)
Julie
By Rob Gittins
Based on the true story of Operation Julie - the biggest drug bust in British history.
In the 1970s a large proportion of the world's LSD supply was coming from the wilds of West Wales. Based on true events, this is the story of how one idealistic chemist - Richard Kemp - sought to change the world. And how one determined detective - Dick Lee - set out to stop him.
In 1977 the Operation Julie police team retrieved 18 million microdots of LSD from one small cottage in Tregaron, West Wales. The street value of the haul was over £65 million. But this was no ordinary drugs ring. It grew out of the exploits of a handful of idealistic hippies, motivated by a genuine desire to open people's minds.
Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04hywtd)
Sparsholt College
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Sparsholt College in Hampshire. On this week's panel are Chris Beardshaw, Anne Swithinbank, Christine Walkden and Matthew Wilson.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
Assistant producer: Darby Dorras.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Q. I will be on holiday for the next six months and would like some advice on preparing the garden to survive whilst I am away.
A. Anne: Make sure you do the normal winter tidy-up and trim the edges of the lawn. Cut back any heavy shrubs from the base of the plant, taking back any straggling shoots.
Christine: The main thing is to weed and mulch.
Chris: Now is the time for early planting of spring flowering bulbs.
Q. Is it true that a garlic-based solution will stop slugs from breeding?
A. Matthew: The national collection holder of Hosta has thousands of unmarked plants and his secret is to put down one slug pellet per square metre in early February. He places them in hiding places rather than next to the plants. He then uses the garlic spray every ten days, or more frequently if the weather is wet.
Q. I grow large amounts of Basil in the greenhouse. Many of the stems have gone brown and hard, and the leaves have started to drop off. What can I do to prevent this happening in the future?
A. Christine: This could be a case of wilt disease. I would favour soil-based compost because they have a better nutrient content and retain water more easily. An interrupted flow of water to the plant can cause dehydration. Try to regulate the watering.
Chris: Check the proximity of the plants and make sure you have plenty of air flow. If they are congested, you will be creating an environment which will allow disease to take hold. Water from below rather than above and reduce the amount of moisture falling onto the foliage. Add a fine sand mulch to the surface of the soil.
Q. How can I get the flowers at the top of a Yucca plant to open before the bottom blooms have died?
A. Chris: Unfortunately there is nothing you can do and it has been the perfect summer for the Yucca. They are programmed to flower in a deliberate sequence and it is hormonally triggered. It is an evolutionary process designed to extend the insect pollination period.
Q. Do beech tree leaves inhibit the growth of plants? If so, could the panel suggest some shrubs that would flourish under the canopy of large beech trees?
A. Christine: This is a process called allelopathy. However, the dry conditions beneath the tree are an even bigger issue. In the early spring you could look at bulbs such as Cyclamen. Improve the soil and make sure you water continually.
Anne: A lot of the Euonymus plants would cope well in dry, shady conditions, such as the Spindle with its lovely berries. Christmas Box would also do well on such as site.
Q. Will my forty-year-old monkey puzzle be effectively bonsaied after always being kept in a pot or will it grow now that it has been planted out?
A. Matthew: There is no reason why it shouldn't do well. You will need some proper soil preparation and there may be some root girdling.
Christine: You will have very few young and vigorous roots. You could try root pruning, by taking away about two thirds. Make sure it is well watered.
FRI 15:30 BBC National Short Story Award (b04hywtg)
BBC National Short Story Award 2014
Kilifi Creek
Lionel Shriver's winning story for this prestigious award for a single short story is about a naïve, young woman who makes her first trip abroad and finds herself in peril. Nancy Crane is the reader.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b04hywtj)
The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Oleg Ivanovsky, Jim Petrie, Dame Julia Polak and Bob Crewe
Julian Worricker on
The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, the last of the Mitford Sisters and a woman credited with turning around the financial fortunes of the Chatsworth Estate.
Oleg Ivanovsky, one of the last remaining rocket scientists who witnessed the complete Soviet space programme from within.
The artist and illustrator, Jim Petrie, who brought us the comic-strip adventures of Minnie the Minx in the Beano.
The scientist, Dame Julia Polak, who - after a heart and lung transplant - embarked on a second career developing laboratory organs.
And the songwriter, Bob Crewe, who composed some of the Four Seasons' biggest hits.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b04hywws)
The Barnett Formula
This week Tim Harford explains the Barnett Formula with a bit of help from Money Box's Paul Lewis and Alan Trench from University College London.
He looks at Ed Balls sleight of hand in his speech to the Labour Party Conference with Carl Emmerson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Is Ed Miliband's promise on NHS funding really worse than the funding increases delivered by Margaret Thatcher? Tim asks John Appleby Chief Economist at The think-tank The Kings Fund.
And how do we know how far away is the sun really is? Astrophysicist, Andrew Pontzen from University College London explains all.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b04hywwv)
Leah and Esther - Being Jewish
Fi Glover introduces a student and her aunt, who both realize that surviving the Holocaust affected their grandmother/mother and that they've had to come to terms with the legacy.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b04hywwx)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b04hmg43)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b04hyx8q)
Series 44
Episode 3
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by special guest Sara Pascoe for a comic romp through the week's news. With Pippa Evans, Grace Petrie and Jon Holmes.
Written by the cast, with additional material from Sarah Morgan, Nadia Kamil and Liam Beirne. Produced by Alexandra Smith.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b04hyxj0)
Hayley is a bit snappy with Mike, who'd only popped round to ask about tidying up Roy and Hayley's garden. Potential buyers will be looking around his and Vicky's place, so he wants to make the whole area look neat. Apologizing, Hayley is grateful for the smart job he makes of it.
Caroline asks Elizabeth what's happened with Roy. It's odd that he's left his job. And he'd normally be in charge of the hunt ball. Elizabeth tries to convince Caroline that it was mutual and Roy needed a new challenge.
Mike can't understand why Roy left a secure job. He suggests Roy has a word with Elizabeth. Caroline is slightly embarrassed to offer Roy a temporary receptionist job, to cover some suddenly early maternity leave. It's way below his level but he accepts it without fuss.
Mike is optimistic following a visit from the potential buyer for his business. Ed did a good job showing off the herd. Fingers crossed.
Roy confronts Elizabeth over his employment rights. She'll have to come up with a substantial settlement package or he'll take her to a tribunal.
Freddie and Phoebe meet up and Freddie tells her all about Hayley and Roy. Phoebe doesn't believe it, but Freddie's vehemence convinces her. And he believes that the affair is still going on.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b04hyxj2)
Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace, Eimear McBride, Roy Williams, New Prince Albums
A new exhibition by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace will be his biggest UK show to date, which Craig Clunas reviews with Kirsty Lang. Eimear McBride, who won the Bailey's Women's Prize for her debut novel A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, and theatre director Annie Ryan discuss adapting McBride's experimental and challenging book for the stage. Playwright Roy Williams talks about putting Sophocles's Greek tragedy Antigone in a contemporary setting, and as Prince releases two new albums on the same day, Matt Thorne asseses whether the Minneapolis singer-songwriter still has the power to thrill and surprise.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Olivia Skinner.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04hyvtm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b04hyxj4)
William Hague MP, Yvette Cooper MP, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Simon Jenkins
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from the the City of London School in London with Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP, the Leader of the House of Commons William Hague MP, the columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and the Chairman of the National Trust Simon Jenkins who also writes for The Guardian newspaper.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b04hyxmj)
Keeping Time
Lisa Jardine reflects on the rich history of time-pieces and the power of clocks and watches.
"Each watch on display in the British Museum's Clocks and Watchers galleries speaks to me of a world galvanized by scientific innovation, whose horizons were expanding through voyages of discovery and the new objects and ideas brought back."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b04hyxml)
22-26 September 1914
Well-known suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst visits Folkestone and on the Leas, an amicable alliance is reached.
Written by: Katie Hims and Sean Moffat
Consultant Historian: Professor Maggie Andrews
Music: Matthew Strachan
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Directed and produced by: Lucy Collingwood
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b04hmg47)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b04hyxxv)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04hyxxx)
The Bone Clocks
Episode 5
By David Mitchell. Part five. The path not taken. Hugo's heart warms to Holly Sykes. Read by Luke Treadaway.
This ambitious, much-anticipated new novel from the author of Cloud Atlas is one to lose yourself in. The Bone Clocks is an intricate feat of storytelling revealing one woman's life through those who encounter her. The journey has a global and historical sweep, it takes us from 1980s Kent via 19th Century Australia to a near future New York with a playfully genre-bending subplot.
Our Book at Bedtime will be read by a stellar cast of five actors over three weeks. We open with Hannah Arterton as Holly Sykes, 15 years old in 1980s Gravesend. Then Luke Treadaway is Cambridge student Hugo Lamb, likeable, good looking, and extremely dangerous. Joe Armstrong is Ed Brubeck, a foreign correspondent in the current decade, struggling to overcome the gaps between his life at home and the loss he experiences daily at work. Robert Glenister is Crispin Hershey, once the wild child of British letters, a novelist now past his best-selling peak. And Laurel Lefkow is Dr Marinus, a psychiatrist from the seventh century who meets Holly Sykes in a near-future America.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Allegra McIlroy.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b04hvy0l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 Today in Parliament (b04lby3t)
Sean Curran reports on an impassioned Commons debate as MPs back air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq. Peers consider the subject too.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04hyxyk)
John and Laura - A Working Relationship
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between colleagues who went for the same job but didn't both get it. Twelve years on, they reflect upon power in the workplace, proving once again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.