The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
In a brand new series aims to satisfy our fascination with moving, as Rosie Millard charts the progress of people across the UK as they take the plunge and look for a new home - whether out of necessity or just for a change.
Whether contemplating a mansion or a shoe-box, all her subjects have one thing in common - it's a jump into the unknown, somewhere where there is no network of friends waiting for them, no family and no preconceptions.
In the first programme we follow Hannah and John, cycling fanatics, who are hoping to buy a live/work space in a converted mill in the Yorkshire dales. It's a big step for them both as Hannah has always lived in the far South of England, and now contemplates a new life in the North, whilst John, Cumbrian born and bred has, like so many 30 somethings, still kept his room on at his parent's house. Most of the time he just lives out of a kit bag as he travels the world as a cycle guide, and he certainly never contemplated having a mortgage.
Trudi, meanwhile, is facing eviction for the second time in two years, as her run-down flat in Islington has dramatically turned into prime London real estate. "There was a two bed flat across the road went on the market for £770,000. It was sold in a week!"
The notice to quit has arrived, and as a wheelchair user she's facing life on the streets or in sheltered accommodation, something she's none too pleased to contemplate at the age of 55 - "It's like God's waiting room..."
But as Rosie finds out, things don't always turn out for the worst, or the best, in the moving business.
UK farming unions meet later today to discuss what they describe as a 'crisis' in agriculture. With milk and lamb prices falling, many farmers say they're being pushed to the brink. But as protests continue south of the border, in Scotland dairy farmers are putting their energy into promoting the industry better.
Hundreds of volunteers are going out this summer tackling invasive weeds which are clogging some rivers and streams, and crowding out native species. We join a group as they get to work on Himalayan Balsam, which can produce up to 800 seeds every year.
And we're talking goats all this week. Kept for centuries for their milk and cheese, their produce is now a popular choice on the high street, which has led to an increase in goat farms.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Crested Tit. Although crested tits are quite common in Continental Europe, they are confined in the UK to the central Highlands of Scotland. They're the only small British bird with a crest so identification shouldn't be a problem and their black eye-stripe contrasts well with their grey and white face.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Mariella Frostrup and guests discuss why we read, and the pleasure that this strange and solitary activity has given millions. Mariella and her guests John Mullan, Naomi Alderman, Damian Barr and neuroscientist Joe Devlin, will be investigating the history of reading, and the impact it has on our brains and asking what would happen if we didn't read fiction. Clive James will reveal the Book He'd Never Lend and Sarah Dillon will be exploring the pleasures of close reading.
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's extraordinary biography of the pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein.
Mary Wollstonecraft, famous for her polemic A Vindication on the Rights of Woman, died ten days after giving birth to her daughter who wrote one of the nineteenth century's most significant novels, Frankenstein. Though she never knew her mother, Mary Shelley was inspired and influenced by the way Wollstonecraft had lived her life, and her philosophy on freedom. Charlotte Gordon's dual biography brings together these visionary women and illuminates the many similarities between the two. Both acquired fame and notoriety through their writing, they married difficult men, had children out of wedlock and were assailed by tragedy. Above all both left legacies that continue to endure.
Jane hears the latest on the case of Farkhunda, the young woman killed by a mob in Afghanistan, from the BBC's Zarghuna Kargar; Three women judges - Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, Her Honour Judge Eleri Rees and Deputy District Judge Sophie Toms - discuss their careers at different levels of the judiciary; The latest in our series on men and relationships with Suzi Godson of the Times - this week we're hearing from men in their 30s about fatherhood; and two young civil servants, Rebecca Jeffree and Rebecca Baldwin, tell us about how they promoted gender equality in their workplace.
Karen knows her much-loved husband of 19 years is gay. A new normality reigns. Jack stays with his boyfriend Tom on agreed nights away and slips back into the house before the children get up.
But now he wants to tell the girls. Is there a best way? Karen persuades him to wait until the summer holidays begin. But Jack is impatient - and impetuous.
In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.
She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?
The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.
Stuart Maconie spent a year working in a cotton mill, and so can personally testify to the many ways the industrial landscape influenced different aspects of life in northern England. One of those, he argues, is the nature of friendships between men.
While these relationships have much in common with male friendships generally, he says that under the particular conditions of industrial life , the emphasis is more pronounced.
For over two hundred years, a high proportion of men worked alongside each other in tough jobs and tougher locations. This, combined with the long hours spent alongside mates in the bars, societies and sports teams, bred a tightness and loyalty between northern men.
Chatting to miners from the Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens and to his own friend, singer-songwriter Richard Haley, he considers whether the impact of that former industrial life had ripples that affect today's northern male and his mate.
It's May in Edinburgh and life at Cafe Culture is certainly bursting with life.
Trisha is about to marry her long-term, long-distance lover Richard and, despite being mid-divorce, big sister Clare can't resist meddling in the wedding arrangements.
Relations are strained too between supposedly recovering kleptomaniac trainee Lizzie and laid-back Glaswegian chef Callum over her friendship with his autistic teenage son Max.
There is much uncertainty over living (and sleeping) arrangements all round as everyone works out where home is exactly - and who else is in it.
Will Trisha and Richard actually make it up the (outdoor) aisle and who might still be speaking to who?
Trisha ...... Hilary Maclean
Clare ...... Hilary Lyon
Lizzie ...... Pearl Appleby
Callum ...... Derek Riddell
Richard ...... Roger May
Max ...... Scott Hoatson
In a new series, David Baddiel sets out to make sense of some apparently puzzling topics.
In this first programme, and after hearing suggestions from his followers on social media, David seeks to understand electricity. He travels to Manchester to learn the basics from a professor of high voltage technology, and to Staffordshire to grasp the operations of a huge power station.
Supermarkets are already getting ready for Christmas, and this year they're banking on customers buying lobster.
They've already ordered stocks and we'll hear more about where they come from and how they're fished.
More about the borough of London, which is to become the first in the capital to implement a legal highs ban. Lambeth is getting ready to bring it in on the 17th August. The move essentially bans the use and supply of legal highs in public areas across the whole borough and means anybody caught breaching the new order could face a fine.
The new man at the top of BHS tells us what he's doing to try and turn around the store's fortunes, after it was sold for £1.
Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall says the party has 'robust measures' to check on new members who will have a vote in the coming contest. We hear from the teacher who says he has forgiven the 14-year-old boy who stabbed him. And why we might be falling out of love with nightclubs. With Shaun Ley.
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this first episode, he returns to the small Welsh village he was evacuated to during the Second World War, to find the family that took him, his mother, and sister, into their house.
With four of the Thomas siblings, now all in the 80s, he explores their different, sometimes conflicting, memories of the years 1943 to 1945 and remembers and recreates the sounds that surrounded them.
Orkney, 1944, and clerk George finds common ground with Italian POW Giorgio as they build the famous sea defences.
Pianist ..... Neil Brand
Paul Gambaccini is at the BBC's historic Maida Vale studios to welcome back the first three of this season's heats winners, ready to face the challenge of the UK's widest-ranging musical quiz.
This week the semi-finalists hail from London and Leicestershire. They've already proved the breadth of their musical knowledge by coming unscathed through the heats. Now a place in the 2015 Final awaits today's winner.
As usual, they'll have to answer questions and identify musical extracts ranging across all styles and eras - from Verdi and Brahms to Prince - and beat their opponents to the buzzer if they're going to gain the vital edge in what promises to be a close contest.
The poet Michael Symmons Roberts tells the story of Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter Allegra, who was only five when she died in an Italian convent. Michael goes to Ravenna to find out how Byron came to abandon her, and how she came to haunt his imagination (and that of fellow Romantic Percy Bysshe Shelley).
Through visiting the Palazzo Guiccioli in Ravenna, where Byron lived for a time, and the convent at Bagnacavallo where Allegra died, Michael discovers evidence for her as a spirited little girl, who wrote heartbreaking letters to her father, pleading with him to visit her.
In this documentary, Allegra gets her own voice at last. . .
No dead strawberries this week, but plenty of dead bodies, as Brian Cox and Robin Ince take a gruesome look at the science of death and some of the more unusual ways that forensic scientists are able to look for and gather clues and evidence. From insects that can be used to give a precise time of death, to the unusual field of forensic botany, It's not just DNA evidence that can be used to pinpoint someone to the scene of a crime. They are joined on stage by Professor Sue Black from the University of Dundee, Dr Mark Spencer, a forensic botanist at the Natural History Museum and comedian Rufus Hound.
10/08/15 Teenage boy who stabbed teacher in racially-motivated attack receives 11-year sentence
A 14-year-old boy who stabbed a black supply teacher in a racially-motivated attack in Bradford has been given an 11-year sentence. Vincent Uzomah says he forgives his attacker
The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to Sheffield City Hall. Old-timers Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Susan Calman, with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Radio Comedy production.
Susan's pleased with the new tabards that have arrived at the village shop for the staff to wear. But Lynda's horrified at the pink and orange paisley - and misspelt 'Linda' on the helpful name badges. Susan's looking for a local celebrity for the shop's reopening. Jim suggests Jennifer but Susan thinks they should aim higher. Lynda confides in Pat her plans for the shop - Pat keeps quiet about her own plans for the new Bridge Farm shop.
Helen feels so lucky - it was so generous of Peggy to give her and Rob a cheque. Helen jokes with a slightly worried Pat about seeing the money as a 'dowry'. Helen also plans to open their joint bank account, saying she has no need for her own account anymore.
Charlie calmly interrogates Rob over Berrow Farm's online data, which Charlie has been carefully checking though. Rob's slightly thrown when Helen and Henry show up unannounced to say hello. Is something wrong, asks Rob? No, they've just been baking and brought him some of the spoils. Back to business, Charlie reminds Rob to get him the worksheets to look over.
Later, Rob tells Helen that she should phone ahead next time rather than surprise him in the office.
The acclaimed ballet and contemporary dancer Sylvie Guillem reflects on her career spanning almost 35 years and tells John Wilson about her final programme of work.
To mark the start of the latest Ashes Test cricket series, former England captain David Gower relives the days when England and Australia cricketers went by ship to play in the Ashes.
Legendary Australian players taking part include Neil Harvey (who played in Don Bradman's team in 1948), Alan Davidson, Bill Lawry, Bob Simpson, Graham Mackenzie and Colin MacDonald. Ted Dexter leads the England contingent, joined by such names as Peter Richardson, Peter Parfitt, John Murray and David Larter.
The programme is rich in the colours of a 10,000 mile sea voyage. Stories of life on board include everything from the delights of first-class cabins and fabulous food to fancy dress contests and tricks for fending off fans.
It was a different world as far as keeping fit for a sportsman was concerned, with fiery fast bowler Fred Trueman testily able to refuse training runs in favour of long hours in a deck chair.
There are tales of exotic stopping off points. England fast-bowler David Larter tells the story of the day his 'sea-legs' let him down as he tore in to bowl in Colombo - and fell flat on his face. Twice running. Australians Brian Booth and Colin MacDonald re-live the scenes as local traders surrounded their ships on arrival at port after port. There's poignancy, too, as former Times cricket correspondent John Woodcock recalls a pilgrimage by Yorkshire and England cricketers at Naples to lay flowers on the grave of outstanding spin-bowler Hedley Verity, who died fighting in Italy during the Second World War.
What method of travel would these cricketers choose if they were travelling to play now?
Celia Hatton goes undercover to The Fortress, the Chinese village at the centre of the world's illicit ketamine problem. She hears how China is a top maker and taker of the drug. Celia visits karaoke bars where ketamine is snorted regularly; she hears from those trying to wean themselves off their addiction; and hears from police who took part in a major raid on a village accused of producing vast quantities of illegal ketamine. A local farmer complains that his land and his crops have been destroyed by the drug gangs and Celia discovers how Chinese ketamine has led to the problem known as "Bristol bladder" back in the UK. John Murphy producing.
For thousands of years we have marvelled at the stones that fell from the sky. They were mysterious messages from the heavens; omens of luck and favour. Ancient Egyptians buried them in their tomb and Terry Pratchett put meteorite iron into his home made sword to enhance its mystical properties.
Myths and legends about meteorites abound in all cultures. In religious art they are visions in the sky foretelling of the apocalypse. Interest in them rocketed when it was finally accepted, as late as the 1970s that they did kill the dinosaurs, a scientific debate that took many years to settle and was hard fought. Meteorites are marvels; they are fragments of other worlds come to our home to remind us we are not alone and that above the sky there is a dynamic, restless universe.
Today people still believe meteorites contain magical minerals. The bizarre plants, Venus flytraps, only grow in the areas meteorites are found (by coincidence) and were thought to be plants brought down from another planet. We are all touched by the mystery of meteorites and today they are helping unravel the mysteries of our own solar system - and beyond.
Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.
Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.
Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.
Josie Long presents stories of intimate conversations. A thirty year long conversation comes to an end, an undercover agent reveals how to flatter someone into prison and we discover the secrets of the 'dual form'.
Feat. Bostjan Dvorak
Feat. Dr Irene Pepperberg
Feat. Ed Follis
Feat. Sally Potter
Produced by Vanara Taing with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a nonprofit dedicated to recording and collecting stories of everyday people.
What was the impact and legacy of the BBC’s popular current affairs programme that launched Sue Lawley’s TV career, and spawned the birth of TV consumer journalism?
Series in which Paul Jackson celebrates innovative TV programmes, whilst using them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.
Paul talks to Nationwide’s first presenter, Michael Barratt and the first director, Keith Clement, who recall the early technical mishaps which threatened to take it off air. The BBC circuit system wasn’t quite up to speed with the technical ambition of the programme. When linking to Glasgow, viewers would see wavy lines and hear technical clunks. But within six months, and ever increasing audience numbers, the programme found its feet.
Popular across the nation because of its inclusion of the regions, Sue Lawley explains its success. She also recalls THAT interview with Mrs Thatcher when housewife, Mrs Diana Gould persisted in questioning the prime minister on the decision to sink Argentinian war ship, Belgrano when it 'was sailing away' during the Falklands War.
TUESDAY 11 AUGUST 2015
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b064x35y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b064xjn1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x360)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x362)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x364)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b064x366)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b066739g)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b064yjbp)
Farm protests, Rail crossings, Angora goats
Protests by farmers have been in the national headlines, with shelves stripped clean of milk by campaigning dairy producers, and cows set loose in the aisles of a Staffordshire supermarket. But should farmers just face up to the realities of running a business, be grateful for their subsidies, and stop complaining? Sybil Ruscoe talks to one agricultural consultant who thinks just that.
There have been more than a hundred near misses at railway crossings on farmland in the last five years, and some fatal collisions. With harvest underway, one of the busiest times in the farming year, Network Rail and the National Farmers' Union have launched a campaign reminding farmers of the dangers.
And as the week-long look at goat farming continues, we hear from a couple in Wales who have been breeding and showing Angora goats for more than forty years.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt07)
Yellow-Browed Warbler
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Yellow-Browed Warbler. The delicate yellow-browed warbler breeds in Siberia and winters in south-east Asia. Several hundred birds, sometimes many more, turn up each autumn anywhere between the Isles of Scilly and Shetland.
TUE 06:00 Today (b065t49j)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
*Correction - Radio play 'Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell' staring John Hurt is on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at
14.30 NOT Sunday, as said by James Naughtie.
TUE 09:00 Fry's English Delight (b064yjm4)
Series 8
Words Fail Me
Stephen gets emotional as he attempts to measure the gap between feelings and the language we use to express it. He's joined from LA by John Lydon - a man who famously wears his emotions on his sleeve - albeit torn in several places. John describes how anger has been his energy throughout his life and how being the frontman of a band allows him to express 'proper emotions'.
Emotion and language are both held to be proof of our humanity but, as Professor Stephen Pinker explains, there's a mismatch between the two. We often fail to control the emotion in our language. At other times the language we have to express our emotions fails us altogether.
For some, this can be extra challenging. Dr Rebecca Chilvers at Great Ormond Street Hospital describes how people with autism often struggle to express feelings, over-relying on learned cliche or creating startlingly unusual turns of phrase.
And how does emotion translate to text? Poet Kate Tempest describes the raw feelings that go into her live performances. And we hear how mood and food unite in language. A bad restaurant review often employs the language of a trauma victim to express disgust.
Today the old fashioned love letter has been usurped by a new hieroglyphic language - emoji, serving both our need for micro-second communication and our desire to emote. Should this inspire a frown face, single tear drop or a smiley grin? We now have more than 722 emoji to help us out. But how do we assess their sincerity?
And although machines don't have emotions, computers can now detect them in text. Professor Stephen Pulman, computational linguist, explains 'sentiment analysis'.
Producer: Sarah Cuddon
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:30 A Walk of One's Own: Virginia Woolf on Foot (b064yjm6)
In Spain
Virginia Woolf, sun hat firmly in place, scrambling along the dusty footpaths of Southern Spain - an unexpected image of the very English, upright writer more commonly associated with Bloomsbury. But in 1923 Woolf and her husband Leonard made an adventurous journey by boat, train, bus and mule to the remote mountain village of Yegen, where the British writer Gerald Brenan had made his home.
In a burst of intense, exploratory friendship, Woolf walked with Brenan through a landscape of goats and asphodels, opening up to him, and opening herself to the allure of Spain. "The mind's contents break into short sentences. It is hot; the old man; the frying pan; the bottle of wine".
She wrote about riding mules, about village sounds, and as she got into the rhythm of rural Spain fantasised about a new life abroad.
Virginia Woolf was the perfect exponent of the belief that walking clears the mind, expands the soul and strengthens the leg. On the centenary of Woolf's first published novel, Woolf biographer. Alexandra Harris takes us on four walks which inspired her, shaped her writing and character, and tell her story.
In part one Harris seeks out the paths where the determined walker would have tramped - through olive groves, past tangled vines, in thrall to the smell of orange blossom. She is accompanied in this Spanish sojourn by another writer, also seduced by the beauty of the Alpujarras, Chris Stewart, of "Driving Over Lemons" fame. Stewart was inspired 27 years ago to move to the area described in 'South From Granada', Gerald Brenan's classic portrait of Andalucía, in which Virginia Woolf's visit is also described.
They scramble up hillsides, leap into pools of icy water, and are deafened by the sound of cicadas, contemplating Virginia Woolf's time, walking and writing under the Spanish sun.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b064yjm8)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
Writing Lives
Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's biography of the extraordinary lives of the pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today's episode explores the writing that made them famous; Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women and Shelley's Frankenstein.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b064yjmb)
US elections, Grandparents in charge, Staying in a bothy
Jane Garvey talks to Felicity Spector, chief writer for Channel 4 about the role of women in the US 2016 presidntial campaign. Cari Rosen, editor of Gransnet and novelist and grandmother Hilary Boyd discuss how parents can best negotiate with their parents and in-laws when it comes to looking after their children; Writer Meike Ziervogel talks about her new novel, Kauthar and explains why she chose to make her main female protagonist, a British woman called Lydia, convert to Islam. Author Phoebe Smith has written a book about her love for the bothy, an old empty building that is usually left open for anybody to use free of charge.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b064yjmd)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage
Episode 2
It's starting to unravel. Naomi disappears to school at the crack of dawn, Ella has decamped to a friend's house, Jack is throwing himself into work (and his boyfriend) and Karen has taken up running. The children want answers.
In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.
She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?
The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.
Written by Nicholas McInerny
Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:00 Natural Histories (b05w9b6b)
Mammoths
"Manny" the hairy, grumpy, yet ultimately caring hero of the animation series Ice Age sums up our love of these giants of the past. When a superbly preserved baby mammoth was displayed at the Natural History Museum she became a star attraction.
We are intrigued by the idea of a hairy elephant wandering our land so tantalisingly recently; the last mammoths are thought to have died out in Russia just 4,000 years ago. Bones of these huge elephants have often been found, people believing they were the remains of giants, or that they were the huge burrowing creatures that died underground.
Beautiful paintings of mammoths adorn ice age cave walls, symbolising our close relationships with these animals that provided us with so much cultural material. Not only mammoth meat but bones and tusks to build shelter, skins for walls, ivory for carvings and teeth for musical instruments; the first flute was a mammoth bone.
Music played on instruments made from mammoth bone created haunting sounds. Delicately carved tiny mammoths are found in places many miles from where mammoths lived, dating back at least 30,000 years. If they were alive today we would no doubt be protecting them from ivory traders, but as they are extinct, the mass of ivory bone being exhumed from the tundra (it is thought there are 150 million tusks buried there) is legally sent to China to be made into jewellery, trinkets and pieces of art.
Not far off 50% of the ivory entering China is mammoth. Some think it is a sustainable alternative to elephant ivory, others believe it keeps the whole trade alive. Should mammoth ivory be treated the same as elephant? Should mammoth become the first extinct animal to be listed as an endangered species?
TUE 11:30 The Great Songbook (b064yjnw)
Spain
What makes a song typically Spanish? In a country of autonomous regions and different languages, is there such a thing as a 'Spanish songbook'? Cerys Matthews travels to the capital of Catalonia to meet people who live, breathe and sing some of Spain's complex legacy of popular songs. The discussion ranges from Civil War songs such as 'Ay, Carmela' to Franco-era copla ballads, to Beatles-inspired pop songs. She discovers one Catalan protest song that started life in the Franco era; it was subsequently taken up by protesters in Poland, and then more recently in Tunisia, before returning to the streets of Barcelona amidst protests against austerity. Cerys' guests include veteran rocker and writer Sabino Mendez, musicologist Silvia Martinez, music journalist Nando Cruz and cultural historian Alex Fernandez de Castro.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b064x36f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b04xrl8t)
Series 1
Cryptic Crosswords
Continuing his new series where he tries to make sense of apparently puzzling matters, David Baddiel seeks to understand something which is meant to be puzzling: cryptic crosswords.
David gets help from a crossword champion and and also from a leading compiler who sets him a special crossword. Can he put his learning into practice and complete it?
Producer: Giles Edwards.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b064yjny)
Call You and Yours: Can You Afford to Go to University?
it's estimated it'll cost students £36 k in living costs to complete a standard three year degree. Add on fees of £27 k and the university experience is likely to cost in excess of £60,000. With the government planning to cut maintenance grants and three quarters of students relying on family to see them through can you afford to go to university and if you can is it worth it?
TUE 12:57 Weather (b064x36h)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b064yjpq)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Shaun Ley.
TUE 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064yk0g)
Wordplay: Theatre in the Open Air
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this second episode he revisits Stowe School where, in the 1950's, he fell in love with Shakespeare's language while acting his plays in the open air. Piers compares notes with present day 'Stoics', in the middle of rehearsing this year's Shakespeare productions, to find out what his language means to them.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b064ygln)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b01sdr1p)
Becky Prestwich - Chopping Onions
Chopping Onions
by Becky Prestwich
Grandmother Esther has suffered a stroke . Esther's daughter, Ruth, has insisted she come to stay while she recovers. To welcome Esther, daughter Ruth is attempting to make chicken soup and grand-daughter Vanessa is going to make a desert.. But as the three generations of Jewish women come together in the kitchen, they stir up much more than the soup. A poignant and comic new drama about motherhood.
Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b064yk0k)
Professor Pamela King and Dr Richard Blakemore join Helen Castor to discuss some our earliest theatre scripts and what a wreck in the Thames Estuary tells us about Cromwell's navy.
Tom Holland travels to St Just in Cornwall to meet theatre producer Will Coleman who has researched the outdoor locations of medieval plays and how they were staged. Using manuscripts from the Bodleian Library in Oxford he suggests that Country theatre in the 14th century was an immersive experience, more like going to Glastonbury than The Globe. Helen Castor talks to Professor Pamela King who believes that what was happening in Cornwall is happening all over Britain at this time
On Wednesday divers and archaeologists from Historic England will try and lift a gun carriage from a 350 year old wreck which lies on the bottom of the Thames estuary having blown up in 1665. The wreck is that of The London, an important ship in Cromwell's Navy. We hear from a diver working on the wreck and Dr James Davey from the National Maritime Museum and Dr Richard Blakemore from Merton College Oxford who explain the importance of this revolutionary navy in the development of the British Navy.
TUE 15:30 Random Radio (b064yk0m)
Diana Quick
A series which encourages guests to "think with the heart and feel with the intellect." In this final programme, Murray Lachlan Young invites actor Diana Quick to combine her favourite sounds and her most passionately held ideas in unexpected ways by feeding them into an electronic device. Murray has not prepared an interview but, instead, he and Diana respond spontaneously to what the device returns to them in the form of short audio snippets. Neither of them knows which of the sounds, music and speech the device will select, nor how it will combine them. The idea is to throw up connections that might not have occurred to guests otherwise, and to encourage them to think and feel about their concerns and passions in a different way. Diana's sounds include an air raid siren, eggs being beaten in a bowl, waves lapping on a Suffolk beach, nightingales singing and foxes barking. The unpredictability increases as the device introduces some audio of its own, drawn from the BBC Radio archives using keywords and phrases suggested by Diana as search terms - including the women's movement, nuclear power, honesty and friendship. This mix of archive creates even more unusual associations between apparently disparate material, and prompts a conversation ranging from dancing pigs and unexpected Indian roots, to the future of feminism and the quest for serenity. Producer: Adam Fowler An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:00 The Move (b04n600y)
Frustrations
Each year about three million people across the country pack their entire life into a removal truck and move home. And for most people it is rarely simple. Even the most meticulously planned move can be complicated and traumatic, the most optimistic people reduced to tears.
This week Rosie meets Romaine, a dynamic, fast-talking businesswoman who loves London, thriving on its energy and opportunities. But bringing up young boys and running a fashion company from their two bedroom flat is proving challenging. Sleeplessness, illness and harassment are plaguing the family and for the sake of them all, Romaine has to confront moving to a sleepy rural village.
Pete has long revelled in the unruly and bohemian side of Brighton and Hove. Now in his early fifties he is weary of jostling with tourists and party-goers and feels like a stranger in his own town. Having recently met someone on line who lives a mobile home in Aberystwyth, Pete prepares to pack up and move three hundred miles to be with them.
Producer: Sarah Bowen.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b064z4sw)
Series 37
Vicky Pryce on Melina Mercouri
Matthew Parris's guest is Vicky Pryce, the Greek born economist, who attracted media headlines on her conviction over speeding points incurred by her former husband, Chris Huhne.
Vicky has chosen the film star turned politician, Melina Mercouri who believed culture to be as important as money or power - if not more so. As Minister for Culture, she promoted Greece's cultural heritage and fought for the return of the Elgin Marbles. Some consider one her greatest achievements to be the founding of the European Capital of Culture.
Expert witness is Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London and Victoria Solomonidis contributes
Producer Maggie Ayre
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
TUE 17:00 PM (b065gfzv)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x36k)
Athens to get 85 billion euros in exchange for spending cuts, tax rises & privatisations
TUE 18:30 Mitch Benn Is the 37th Beatle (b03szxdh)
Musical satirist Mitch Benn explores his comedy connections to the story of The Beatles.
Mitch has realised that over the years many people have claimed the title The Fifth Beatle. In fact, so many of them have been described as such that there are now at least 36 of them. They can't all be right. But some of them are righter than others...
Fifty years on from the release of 'Please, Please Me', Mitch presents his own definitive list of the Beatles. He presents a whistlestop tour through musical history and the enduring legacy of the Fab Four, whilst shamelessly milking his own - incredibly tenuous- connection to it.
Written by and starring Mitch Benn
Producer: Alexandra Smith.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b064z4w2)
Helen knows that Charlie's breathing down Rob's neck at work. Helen drops Henry off at Rowan's before catching up with Ian for a natter at Grey Gables. Ian opens up about his relationship with Adam. Ian feels rather ignored, having told Adam that he doesn't have to live in Ambridge. Ian would have gone to Hungary to live with him, as Brian's offer was an 'insult'. Helen focuses on the bright side - they'll be married soon and everything will be fine - just like she is with Rob, having had their difficulties.
Carol and Jill chat over coffee at Grey Gables. Carol has been down to Bristol to see her old friend Hester, whose husband recently died. Carol talks fondly of Ambridge, admitting that she doesn't miss Bristol like she thinks she should.
Rob tells Helen that what would make things complete for him would be to have a child of his own with her. Helen understands but mentions that timing is important - Henry's school and the farm shop are factors. Helen cheers up a grumpy looking Rob, telling him she loves him.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b064z4w4)
Amanda Levete, Trainwreck, Crystal Moselle, Stephen Kelman
Architect Amanda Levete gives John Wilson a tour of the building site that will be a new £30m addition to the V&A in London, due to open in 2017. The main elements to her designs are a new spacious gallery for temporary exhibitions, and a new entrance and porcelain-tiled courtyard for the museum.
Amy Schumer stars in, and has written, a new comedy Trainwreck, directed by Judd Apatow. Meryl O'Rourke reviews the film.
Stephen Kelman was nominated for the Booker Prize for his debut novel Pigeon English. He discusses his new novel Man on Fire, based on the life of an Indian world-record-breaker whom Kelman befriended after seeing him in a TV documentary.
Documentary film The Wolfpack focuses on a group of brothers raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side but kept hidden indoors by their domineering father for most of their lives. Director Crystal Moselle discusses how she came across their story and the crucial part that cinema played in their sheltered lives.
Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064yjmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 The Other Side of Adoption (b0650jwh)
Tim Whewell investigates the challenges of life post-adoption, discovers the remarkable tenacity of many adoptive parents faced with challenging behaviour, and asks what changes are being made to improve the current situation where a quarter of adoptive families face serious difficulties.
Thirteen years ago, Sarah and her husband adopted two brothers. The younger one had extensive therapy to guide him through a fixation with suicide. The older brother is now living away from the family following years of violence and the revelation that he had been sexually abusing the young son of family friends.
Ten years ago, Mary and Steve (not their real names) adopted two young siblings. The challenges they have faced - truancy, self-harming, drugs, violence - left Mary suffering from depression and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Today, they believe the worst is behind them. But they also believe that adopted children and their adoptive families are the 'poor relations' - compared to children in foster care or in children's homes - when it comes to allocating resources/providing services. "It feels like you're abandoned once the children are placed for adoption with you - as if adoption is a magic wand - and that everything will now be OK," says Mary. "In reality it's very, very difficult."
Forty years ago, most adopted children were given up at birth by mothers escaping social stigma. Today, 70 percent of them come from care. As a result, many adoptive families today need significant support to overcome the history of abuse and neglect that children import into their new family. But are they getting the help they need?
Produced by Geoff Bird
A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b064z551)
Archery, Conducting, Red Szell
The Paralympics prides itself on having brought recognition to disabled athletes; so can it make sense that in some Paralympic sports visually impaired participants have had to make themselves more disabled, in order to achieve a fair competition? One of the sports in question is archery, and many partially sighted competitors have refused to take part in international competition under such rules. In a further twist, those who would like to take part have been told there aren't enough entrants to stage a viable event. Peter talks to David Poyner, chair of the archery section in British Blind Sport.
Before he went blind at the age of thirty-five Graham Helm had been the conductor of a youth orchestra in Lancashire, using all the visual methods he needed to keep control of the musicians. Determined to carry on, Graham has devised an approach which combines hand gestures and verbal communications to achieve the same results. Tom Walker watches Graham in action, and meets members of the orchestra.
And climber, novelist and reporter Red Szell talks about the subject of risk-taking.
Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.
TUE 21:00 Slimboy Fat: The Problem with BMI (b064z553)
Dr Mark Porter puts the BMI, or bodymass index, to the test. BMI calculates whether someone is too fat,too thin or just right but how accurate is it?
As a man of a certain age Mark's aware that his waistband is getting tighter but assumes it is only a statistical aberration - probably. He compares his results with other measures of body fat and discovers hidden risks.
TUE 21:30 Fry's English Delight (b064yjm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b064x36m)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b064z555)
Russian missile parts found at site of MH17 airliner crash in Ukraine.
Dutch investigator vows to find out who fired weapon that brought the plane down.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gjs0)
Go Set a Watchman
Episode 2
Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.
Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.
Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Harper Lee
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
TUE 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b064yglg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Monday]
TUE 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00ym5fc)
Series 4
Men Behaving Badly
Another chance to catch the programme in which Paul Jackson shines a light on TV classics that helped define their time. Tonight, the 1990s sitcom whose title spelled out exactly what the audience saw: Men Behaving Badly, featuring contributions from producer Beryl Vertue, writer Simon Nye and stars Martin Clunes and Leslie Ash.
Producer: Ed Morrish.
WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2015
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b064x37g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b064yjm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x37j)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x37l)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x37n)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b064x37q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06673vc)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b064z55c)
Dairy prices latest, with Morrisons, Arla and NFU
Are milk processors and supermarkets beginning to address dairy farmers' concerns over low milk prices?
Sybil Ruscoe examines Morrisons' announcement that they'll be introducing a voluntary 10 pence per litre addition to milk prices in the autumn that customers can pay in stores if they want to support farmers. She asks what if any difference it'll make for hard-pressed dairy farmers, some of whom are not recovering their costs of milk production.
She also speaks to Arla, the milk processor, who're introducing a new milk marque, while the NFU's Ruth Mason, who liaises with supermarkets, gives her response to developments.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt1q)
Sooty Shearwater
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Sooty Shearwater. Sooty Shearwaters are rather scarce seabirds around our islands as they breed on islands off South America and the coasts of eastern Australia and New Zealand. After breeding, the shearwaters head north to feeding grounds in the North Pacific and North Atlantic undertaking one of the longest journeys of any migratory animal.
WED 06:00 Today (b0667gfs)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 What's the Point of...? (b064z590)
Series 7
The Army Reserve
A government review of defence spending provides a timely backdrop for Quentin Letts to ask what's the point of the Army Reserve?
They've served in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years and more than 30 volunteers have given their lives for their country, but is the Reserve a way of getting an army on the cheap in these times of budget cuts and austerity?
Britain's had a volunteer force since the Middle Ages but the modern Reserve was created in 1908, bringing together militias and Yeomanry to create a trained military back-up. Then called the Territorial Army, Reservists served with distinction in WW1, WW2, Korea and Suez but were relegated to home duties during the Cold War becoming the brunt of jokes about 'Dad's Army'.
Renamed the Army Reserve three years ago, today's part-timers have to be as fit as their comrades in the Regular Army and ready to servce in combat zones.
As the government plans to cut the number of full-time soldiers and boost part-time replacements, Quentin asks is this wise and will we be fighting fit to face our enemies, whether the threat comes from land, sea or cyber-space?
Producer: Vince Hunt
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.
WED 09:30 Witness (b064z592)
The Inuit Children Experiment
In 1951 22 Inuit children from Greenland were taken from their families and sent to live with foster parents in Denmark. It was part of a social experiment aimed at improving the lot of the indigenous people of Greenland but for the children concerned it was a confusing and often traumatic experience. Helen Thiesen was one of those children.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b064z594)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
Revolution and Notoriety
Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's dual biography of the remarkable and pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her extraordinary novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, revolutionary France leads Mary Wollstonecraft to make a life changing decision. Meanwhile, following Frankenstein's publication, Mary Shelley considers a new start.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b064z752)
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Health tests, Crime writer Margery Allingham
Jenni speaks to Buffy Sainte-Marie. The singer, song writer and activist first came to prominence as part of the 1960's protest movement with songs like Universal Soldier. Over the course of her career, Buffy's made more than 20 albums, and spent five years appearing on Sesame Street.
Health Tests are the focus of a BBC2's Horizon programme. Joining Jenni to discuss whether screening tests can be useful are Dr Iona Heath, former president of Royal College of GPs and Dr Anne Mackie, director of National Screening Committee.
Suzi Godson, the relationships columnist for The Times has been speaking to men from their twenties to their eighties. In this programme, Max from Preston talks about how the impact of fatherhood came as a shock.
Continuing the summer reading season the Queens of Crime, we look at Margery Allingham, the Essex writer who created the bespectacled sleuth Albert Campion. With Margery's biographer Julia Jones and writer Mike Ripley.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Claire Bartleet.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b064z754)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage
Episode 3
Things are looking up for Karen. She's getting ready for a date and looks a complete knock-out. Jack is beside himself with a feeling he hasn't experienced for a long time in relation to his wife - jealousy.
In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.
She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?
The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.
Written by Nicholas McInerny
Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b064z756)
Cathryn and Francesca - Living With Invisible Illness
Fi Glover introduces friends who both suffer from illnesses that are debilitating but not obvious, sharing their experiences of being judged by the public to be swinging the lead, in a conversation recorded in the mobile Booth in Moseley Park, Birmingham. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Fi Glover presents another conversation in 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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
WED 11:00 Three Pounds in My Pocket (b064z758)
Series 2
Episode 2
Kavita Puri looks at a turbulent period for South Asians living in Britain, from 1976 to 1981. There were confrontations and street battles across the country, in largely immigrant towns, between the National Front and anti-racist organisations. Many from the first generation shied away from conflict and ignored racist abuse, but the younger generation - many born here - fought back. "We are likely to die in this country," one interviewee says, "so if it means staying and fighting that's what we will have to do, and we won't give an inch." Kavita explores this generational difference, through candid and heartfelt memories.
Producer: Smita Patel
With help from Dr Florian Stadtler, University of Exeter.
The programme contains archive from "Mind Your Language" written by Vince Powell for London Weekend Television.
WED 11:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b064z75b)
Series 4
The Panel Show
Damien is persuaded to appear on topical TV panel show "I Beg Your Pardon" in order to boost his profile ahead of his street food series. Meanwhile, Anthony and Mr Mullaney's property business has developed to the point at which they can now start buying somewhere to do up. Will Anthony plump for the right property though?
Starring:
Miles Jupp as Damien Trench
Justin Edwards as Anthony
Philip Fox as Ian Frobisher
Brendan Dempsey as Mr Mullaney
Mark Edel-Hunt as The Auctioneer/Ivan
Alex Tregear as Livi Hollinshead
and
Stephen Critchlow as Gavin Colthorpe
The producer was Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b064x37v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b04ykd7p)
Series 1
Derivatives
Continuing his quest for understanding, David Baddiel explores derivatives. What are they and how do they work?
David begins by meeting journalist Janice Turner, who initially suggested the subject, and she explains why she believes we should all try to understand derivatives.
Then David visits the London Metals Exchange, the last place with open outcry trading in London, where he discusses the history of derivatives with financial historian D'Maris Coffman. And on a trading floor at Canary Wharf he hears how the market works today.
At the end, he returns to try to explain to Janice what he's learned, with D'Maris ready to pass judgement on his understanding.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b064z75d)
Bake Off, University 'incentives', Boarding pass campaign
You & Yours sets its own Great British Bake Off challenge, to find out if home baking can ever be cheaper than shop bought. Winifred Robinson assists two WI bakers as they take on the Bargain Biscuit challenge.
A-Level pupils get their results this week, setting off the rush for university places. This year universities are no longer restricted on the numbers they can take in, and some are offering lucrative incentives to attract more students. Would a free laptop convince you to enrol?
Plus will you be supporting the campaign to stop airport shops from pocketing your VAT savings? Some passengers say they are going to stop showing their boarding passes when asked at airport shops after discovering the information is being used by stores to save money.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
WED 12:57 Weather (b064x381)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b065ggjn)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Shaun Ley.
WED 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064z75g)
The Chuckler: A Short Ride in a Smart Machine
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this third episode, Piers goes for a drive with his two daughters in a Morris Minor, the same model and vintage as the one he owned between 1968 and 1990. As his only car, he discovers just what made it so special when the family was growing up.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b064z4w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b064z77j)
Gull Therapy
Dan used to be a successful drugs sales rep for a pharmaceutical company but, after a stroke, he finds all kinds of communication difficult and fatiguing. He employs Alice, a private speech and language therapist, to 'make him better'. Recently divorced Alice has moved home and business to a small rented flat where, at night, the sea gulls gather on her skylight.
A play about sound, language and meaning.
With thanks to Connect, the communication disability network, for assistance with information on aphasia.
Written by Anita Sullivan
Music and sound FX composed and performed by Eleanor Gamper
Produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 The New Workplace (b064ww0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
WED 15:30 Slimboy Fat: The Problem with BMI (b064z553)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 The Business of Film with Mark Kermode (b053zsn5)
Getting to the Screen
Close to 700 movies opened in the UK last year. Blockbusters, franchises, documentaries, debuts, experiments, low-budget indies and beyond. It's never been easier to make a film and it's said there is an audience for everything. But what is the likely size of that audience? In the second part of this series, film critic Mark Kermode talks to the film financiers and the distributors.
According to the head of Film Four, David Kosse, the film industry is a "break-even business" - the trick is to identify a winner and ensure it's not just a one off. The independent film world - most of the British film industry - spreads the risk of making a film across independent distributors, equity financiers and other tax benefits. We hear from the BFI, Film Four and BBC Films on what films they are looking to finance.
Since the early days of film, rich outsiders have financed the industry. Now, producers who don't fit the studio model are looking to a multitude of ways to finance their film - from crowdfunding to rich kids with cheque books. Director Shane Carruth tells how he distributed his film Upstream Color himself, road-showing cinema screenings and bringing the film out on Blu-ray. And with much talk of Video on Demand, what role will Netflix and Amazon play in the future of film?
Marketing is crucial to the life and death of a movie but it remains the one hard cost in moviemaking. The trailer can be of vital importance and we hear what we respond to and what scenes should be left out.
Producers: Barney Rowntree and Nick Jones
A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b064z78f)
Celebrity injunctions; Economist sale; FT editorial independence; football bans
A prominent sportsman has been granted an injunction preventing The Sun newspaper from publishing a story about a relationship he had before he was married, based on the woman's account. The case has raised questions over how injunctions like this, relating to kiss-and-tells, impact on journalism, especially tabloids. Andrea Catherwood talks to The Sun's editor David Dinsmore, and discusses the efficacy of injunctions in an internet era with two media lawyers; Mark Stephens from Howard Kennedy, and Kirsten Sjovoll from Matrix Chambers.
Publishing group Pearson has agreed to sell its fifty per cent stake in the Economist Group for £469m. Exor, the holding group of the Agnelli family, has agreed to buy most of Pearson's shares. Media analyst from Liberum Ian Whittaker explains why Pearson's selling, and why Exor's buying.
Following Pearson's sale of the FT to Japanese media group Nikkei, journalists at the paper have written to Nikkei management asking for assurances that editorial independence will be maintained. Nikkei has promised to protect the independence of the FT, but in a letter, writers have called on the Nikkei to "enshrine" its editorial independence. Andrea Catherwood talks to Financial Times journalist Martin Sandu about what guarantees staff are looking for.
Last week, the NUJ called on the FA to act on what it described as "a worrying trend" amongst clubs about banning journalists from their grounds if they don't like their reporting. Then on Friday, Channel 4 news was banned from Newcastle United's press conference for wanting to ask the club a question about banning journalists! We hear from Channel 4 news correspondent Alex Thomson about what happened.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b064z78h)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x385)
12/8/15 Record number of EU migrant workers in Britain
Record number of EU migrant workers in Britain.Yuan devalued again
WED 18:30 Sketchorama (b061yh01)
Series 4
Episode 2
Clever Peter, Hennessey and Friends, and In Cahoots.
Award winning actress and comedian Isy Suttie presents the pick of the best live sketch groups currently performing on the UK comedy circuit
Every show spotlights three up and coming groups featuring character, improv, broken and musical sketch comedy.
There are so many incredibly talented and inventive sketch groups on the British Comedy scene but with no dedicated broadcast format. Sketchorama aims to bring hidden gems and established live acts to the airwaves.
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2015.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b064z7dr)
David's on his way home but Ruth's staying in Prudhoe for a few more days. Pip hoped to have more time with everyone before going to start her new job. She's starting in High Wycombe before travelling to Brazil. Pip and Ed discuss Adam's big plans for Home Farm. Toby rolls up with loud music blaring from his truck - he says Pip missed out on a good Game Fair and invites her for a drink, but Pip's busy- she'll be showing David her designs for the new track way layout for grazing.
Jolene talks to Kenton about his slovenly behaviour and drunkenness - he should focus on their success at the pub, but he's being negative about their financial situation. Jolene confides in Lynda, who offers Feng Shui advice. When Robert notices that Kenton seems upset, Jolene tells Kenton he needs to snap out of it.
At Ambridge Hall, Lynda tells Robert about having been to the Bridge Farm shop to escape her awful tabard. Helen's clearly enjoying being married, having possibly shared a bit too much information. With the topsoil in great shape, Lynda vows to make change in the garden. However, she's horrified to discover that Hazel has put in a planning application, to turn the Village Shop into apartments.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b064z7dt)
Paper Towns, Nick Coleman, Jules Buckley and Wretch 32, Olive Edis archive
Cara Delevingne stars in Paper Towns, the latest adaptation of a John Green Young Adult novel. Rhianna Dhillon delivers her verdict on the film.
Former music writer Nick Coleman discusses his new novel Pillow Man, which begins in the bed linen section of a London department store.
Composer, conductor and orchestrator Jules Buckley and grime artist Wretch 32 reveal their plans for the first Radio 1Xtra Prom.
Olive Edis was Britain's first female war photographer. As the Cromer Museum in Norfolk - which holds the largest collection of her photos - receives funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create the first online archive of her work, curator Alistair Murphy explains what made her such a pioneering figure.
Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Ellie Bury.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064z754)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 FutureProofing (b064z7f2)
Life
FutureProofing is a new series in which presenters Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson examine the implications - social and cultural, economic and political - of the big ideas that are set to transform the way our society functions.
Episode 1: Life.
FutureProofing explores why emerging bio-technology will transform how we understand and control life itself.
Timandra and Leo discuss the consequences for humankind with leading genetic scientists and designers - people who are now able to create and manipulate the very building blocks of life.
The programme examines the results of inventing and editing life forms; how easy it is to become a bio-hacker; why the FBI has decided to adopt a strangely relaxed attitude towards such potentially catastrophic experimentation; and how a new understanding of biology as a software engineering system that we can design has profound consequences for the way we think about Life in future.
Producer: Jonathan Brunert.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b064z7gw)
Big Charity, Big Business
David Russell asks whether backing big charities is the best way of improving the world.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.
WED 21:00 Mind Changers (b062jsn7)
Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset
Claudia Hammond presents the history of psychology series which examines the work of the people who have changed our understanding of the human mind. This week she interviews Carol Dweck, who identified that individuals tend towards a fixed or a growth mindset regarding what they can learn and achieve. She also showed that a fixed mindset can be changed, and that once people adopt a growth mindset, they can achieve more.
Claudia visits a UK primary school where growth mindset is part of the curriculum, and sees how children who don't like maths soon change their attitude at a summer camp in California, once they're shown that getting the wrong answer actually makes their brains grow more than getting the right answer.
She hears more about Dweck and her work from colleagues Greg Walton and Jo Boaler at Stanford University, and executive head Dame Alison Peacock at the Wroxham Primary School.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
WED 21:30 What's the Point of...? (b064z590)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b064z7gy)
Croatian engineer reported to have been beheaded by Egyptian IS affiliate.
Croatian government hasn't been able to verify story -- but says it fears the worst
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gjvl)
Go Set a Watchman
Episode 3
Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.
Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.
Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Harper Lee
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
WED 23:00 Terry Alderton's All Crazy Now (b064z7h0)
Sizzle!
Thank goodness! No pole vaulting chickens this time, no honey bees, no guinea pig diving. Just cornflakes, Dave, sausages, a gravedigger, and Ed and the bear in an airport.
What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing could go wrong. It's not real. None of this is real. It's just Terry Alderton and a microphone. The microphone was real. Definitely a real microphone.
Written by and starring Terry Alderton.
Additional material from Johnny Spurling, Boothby Graffoe, Richard Melvin, Julia Sutherland and Owen Parker.
Sound designed by Sean Kerwin.
Producer: Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.
WED 23:15 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b01sdmzn)
Series 2
About Money
The series is a mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.
Janet a.k.a. Mum - loves Nathan, but she aint looking embarrassed for nobody!
Martin a.k.a. Dad - 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 - How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!
Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing - tells the story of young, up-and-coming comedian Nathan Caton, who after becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, 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 annoyance who desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'
Each episode illustrates the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his disapproving family as he tries to pursue his chosen career.
Episode 3: About Money
In a mix of stand-up and re-enacted family life - Nathan Caton finds out how his loved ones would react if he were rich. But, sadly, he isn't.
NATHAN ..... NATHAN CATON
MUM ..... ADJOA ANDOH
DAD ..... CURTIS WALKER
GRANDMA ..... MONA HAMMOND
LAYLA ..... CHIZZY AKUDOLU
REVEREND WILLIAMS / MR DANIELS ..... DON GILÉT
SHIFTY ..... OLA
Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Additional Material by Ola and Maff Brown
Producer: Katie Tyrrell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.
WED 23:30 Britain in a Box (b01shqc1)
Series 6
Casualty
Paul Jackson visits the purpose-built TV studios of the longest running medical drama in the world. Born out of necessity (as a weapon in the weekly battle for audience-share on Saturday nights) "Casualty" has become one of BBC 1's most consistent performers.
Series in celebrating innovative TV programmes, whilst using them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.
Paul discusses the programme's origins with the show's creators (Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin) and the people who commissioned it and stood by it during its lean years (Lord Grade and Jonathan Powell). He assesses how much it has changed in its long life.
Featuring cast members Patrick Robinson (Ash) and the ever-present Derek Thompson who from the very first episode played Charlie Fairhead. Plus Pete Salt, the medical consultant on whom Charlie is based) and series producer Nikki Wilson.
Paul also gauges the future of the programme with the head of BBC 1's scheduling, Dan McGolpin.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.
THURSDAY 13 AUGUST 2015
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b064x39v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b064z594)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x39x)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x3b1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x3b3)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b064x3b7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0667gty)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b064zlvb)
Role of AHDB Dairy, Amazon Fresh, Goat's milk
With falling dairy prices, Sybil Ruscoe asks what's the role of the quango, AHDB Dairy? Whilst it seems that Farmers For Action and the farming unions have been doing all the talking - and shouting - about milk prices and cheap supermarket milk, we've heard very little from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board - the body that's supposed to work for the dairy industry. Amanda Ball explains what they're doing.
What's the likely impact on UK food producers if online grocery service Amazon Fresh launches in UK? We hear from retail analyst Jeremy Garlick.
And reporter Sarah Falkingham visits Yorkshire Dairy Goats - the biggest supplier of goat's milk in the country.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt3d)
Leach's Storm Petrel
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Leach's Storm-Petrel. Only the most far-flung islands around our coasts provide sanctuary for Leach's Storm-Petrels, one of the most difficult of our breeding birds to see. Chris Watson tells the story of a perilous
2am climb he made to record the sounds of Leach's Storm-Petrel's in their breeding burrows on cliff ledges on the Island of Hirta in the St Kilda group.
THU 06:00 Today (b064zlvd)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Fantasy Festival (b064zlvg)
Brian Moore
Former rugby player and commentator Brian Moore joins presenter Tim Samuels to curate and create the festival of his wildest dreams.
Festivals are fast becoming significant events on more and more people's calendars. Whether it's a huge rock fest or a small scale village event, it's somebody's job to imagine the festival before it happens, and to assemble all the pieces of the jigsaw that are needed to bring their vision to life.
But what if you could create your own festival - where you set the agenda, chose the guests, pick the acts, and dictate the weather, the food and the ambience? A festival where anyone - whether dead or alive - can be summoned to perform, and nothing is unimaginable.
Fantasy Festival is a chance for someone to become the curator of the festival of their very own dreams. And the festival curator in this programme is former England and British Lions rugby union hooker, Brian Moore.
Brian outlines his dream festival with a flotilla of boats sailing up and down the Thames. Each boat contains iconic works of art from every genre imaginable. He's attempting to make the greatest examples of human expression accessible to everyone. On board you can encounter Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth I, Churchill and Mozart - to name but a few.
Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Monty Funk production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 09:30 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.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b064zlvj)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
Lost Love
Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's biography of the extraordinary feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft and her remarkable and famous novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, love and loss loom large for both women.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b065hg75)
Frances Kelsey and thalidomide regulation, Sophie Hannah, Cosplay, Mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately
Jenni Murray hears about the life of Canadian Scientist Frances Kelsey who resisted pressure from drug firms to keep Thalidomide out of the US, with Marjorie Wallace the journalist who worked on the campaign to secure compensation for Thalidomide victims in the UK; Sophie Hannah writer and poet talks about her latest psychological crime novel; BBC reporter Celeste Hicks on why abortion laws in Morocco are to be amended; Angela Robson hears from women at the Yorkshire Cosplay Convention about why they like to spend their spare time dressing in the costumes of their pop culture heroines; Kitty Whately, mezzo soprano, and part of Radio 3's New Generation Artist scheme about singing Sondheim at the Proms.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b064zlvl)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage
Episode 4
Karen's enjoying the attentions of her new lover and has decided to invest in her career - with money from Jack, whether he likes it or not. Jack's taken to sleeping with the dog, for company. But when they learn Ella is being bullied and Naomi is suspended from school, they snap into action - as parents.
In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.
She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?
The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.
Written by Nicholas McInerny
Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b064zlvn)
Cuba on the Move
Will Grant takes a ride in Cuba to discover how people get around and whether the thaw in relations with the United States will make any difference to their lives. The country is known the world over for its classic cars, a consequence of the American trade embargo imposed after the revolution in 1959, when, as one motoring journalist quipped, 'the tail fin was still a recent innovation in automotive design'. There are a few collectibles but spare parts are almost impossible to come by and most vehicles are held together with sticky tape and glue. It is almost as if Cuba has been stuck in a time warp for half a century with around 60 thousand vintage cars now attempting to navigate the country's notoriously bad roads. Car ownership is still the dream for most people but the reality is a chaotic bus service, a bone shaking ride in a horse and cart or hitching a lift. How do people cope and will things change?
Produced by Mark Savage.
THU 11:30 Decoding the Masterworks (b064zlvq)
Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Dr Janina Ramirez introduces the second programme in a new series on BBC Radio 4 in which three great masterworks are examined in minute detail. Recorded in the galleries in which the pictures hold pride of place, Janina is joined by experts who can provide context, biographical background and artistic insight, all combining to decode these masterworks for today's audience.
Today she visits Tate Modern on London's South Bank, with Professor Dawn Ades and the Tate's own Matthew Gale to look at Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus.
It was completed in 1937 and not long after Dali brought it to London where he showed it to Sigmund Freud. What the picture told Freud about the subconscious of its creator and what that creator wanted to reveal is the subject of this programme. As Prof Ades points out the backdrop, rather than dream or myth-scape, is rooted in the Catalan coastline familiar and loved by Dali. The main figure of Narcissus, doubled and transformed into an upturned hand holding an egg is altogether more challenging. Is there optimism in the flower emerging from the 'split head' as Dali refers to it in his poem accompanying the picture, or is there an inherent darkness in the self-absorption that results in Narcissus melting into the background.
No-one is prepared to claim an absolute decoding but there are fascinating insights into Dali's workings before the days when his staring eyes and flamboyant moustache rather obscured the fact of his brilliance as a painter.
Producer: Tom Alban.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b064x3b9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b050bk90)
Series 1
Sunni and Shia Islam
In the final episode in the series, David Baddiel tries to understand the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam.
David speaks to senior theologians from both traditions, but can he navigate his way through the complicated theological, political and social distinctions?
Producer: Giles Edwards.
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b064zlvs)
Green Deal vouchers, dodgy student accommodation, Naked Wines
Green Deal vouchers: check you have the right guarantee or you may not get your cash back from the government.
We speak to the founder of Naked Wines, Rowan Gormley, about the merger of Naked Wines and also the man in charge of retail banking at RBS about his campaign against price promotions in banking.
At this time of year many people may be looking to find student accommodation - we investigate how safe it is.
And... sales of eggs are up 10% - how do you like yours?
THU 12:57 Weather (b064x3bc)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b064zlvv)
Rigorous analysis of news and current affairs, including Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham answering questions from listeners, presented by Shaun Ley.
Editor: Nick Sutton.
THU 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064zmb4)
Splash: The Water in Winter
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this fourth episode, Piers goes for a winter swim in the Men's Pond on Hampstead Heath and discovers how special the sounds are - wild-life, swimmers, the distant hum of London - on a January morning.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b064z7dr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b064zp7h)
Red and Blue
The Futurist
Philip Palmer's series about ex-military wargamer Bradley Shoreham returns to find him back in the City. He has been summoned for an audience with industrialist and international financier Alessandra Pacetti. Thus begins a deadly game that threatens to become all too real for those caught up in its complex schemes.
Directed by Toby Swift
This is the third series of 'Red and Blue', Philip Palmer's drama series focusing on the work of Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Shoreham (Tim Woodward). After leaving the British Army, Shoreham became a Consultant Subject Matter Expert. He spends his working life creating war games for training purposes. Fictional they may be but the higher the level of authenticity, the greater their value to the participants. And when governments and major corporations are paying for training they expect a high return for their money.
In the last series, Shoreham had an abrasive encounter with leading hedge fund supremo, Malcolm Pemberley. Now he reluctantly accepts an invitation back to the City, a world far removed from his natural habitat. Military work was never so dangerous as this.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b064zp7k)
Jersey Shores
Jersey doubles in size when the tide goes out. Helen Mark discovers what the retreating waters reveal, from the evidence of our Neanderthal ancestors to the extraordinary marine life of the island's reefs.
At La Rocque three local guides take her across miles of treacherous shifting sands to Seymour Tower, built to defend Jersey against the French but used by the German occupiers. On the north coast she meets Dusty, the first red-billed chough to be born in the wild in Jersey for a hundred years and in the south-east she searches for evidence of the Neanderthal people who left more evidence of their existence here than in the rest of the British Isles combined.
Producer: Alasdair Cross.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b064x6w4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b064xbpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b064zp7m)
Greta Gerwig, Judd Apatow, Open-air screenings
With Antonia Quirke
Greta Gerwig, writer and star of Mistress America, talks about what it's like to write with her romantic partner Noah Baumbach and her life as a teenage fencer and dancer.
Judd Apatow discusses his bad taste comedy Trainwreck and why Hollywood has a problem with potty-mouthed, sexually unfettered women
As someone whose ideal cinematic experience is watching a movie in an empty auditorium on a Tuesday afternoon, Antonia has never understood the appeal of the outdoor screening. So to find out just what all the fuss is about, she braves an open air showing of Withnail And I with critic Tim Robey.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b064zp7p)
Scottish GM ban, Earth's magnetic field, OCD, Birth of a new galaxy
As Scotland announces it ban on GM crops and with the current post of chief scientific adviser for Scotland vacant, Adam talks to the previous post holder, Professor Muffy Calder about the role of science advice to government and her reaction to news of the ban. The Earth's magnetic field is weakening which could be a sign that the magnetic poles are soon due to flip. Daniel Lathrop and team at Maryland University are trying to model the Earth's magnetic field using a large molten globe of sodium. Should we be worried if a flip is on the cards? Royal Society Winton book prize short-list: Science writer, David Adam, author of 'The Man Who Couldn't Stop' talks to Marnie Chesterton about his experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Adam hears about the birth of a new galaxy seen for the very first time. He talks to Chris Martin from Caltech about his latest galactic research published in Nature.
THU 17:00 PM (b064zp7r)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x3bf)
Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper has questioned the credibility of her rival, Jeremy Corbyn.
Experts probe the cause of fatal blasts in the Chinese city of Tianjin.
THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (b064zp7v)
Series 5
Leviathan
Two stories from one of the world's best storytellers, David Sedaris, doing what he does best:
Leviathan deals with a family gathering for Thanksgiving at the seaside.
And there's another instalment from David's diary.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b064zp86)
Pip finds David in the calving shed, where he has delivered a heifer after a very long labour. Pip teases David who's awestruck - you'd think it was his first calf. They discuss Heather, who's bound to be stubborn about go into a permanent care home. Ruth is 'done in', so they agree to make sure everything at Brookfield's as calm and normal as possible for her.
Fallon's worried since seeing Hazel's 'change of use' notice at the shop. She and Kenton agree they hate being skint.
Tony enjoys being at the cattle market with Ed. Tony remembers going with Helen when she was small - they came home once with half a dozen ducklings. Tony helps Ed bid sensibly and they get a few Anguses.
Toby tries to get Pip to take a break from the farm for a night out - he was sure there was a spark between them. But Pip says she hadn't noticed.
Pip finds David up late, still sorting out odd jobs. She tells him to get to bed and conserve his energy for Ruth's sake.
Kenton joins Toby for a night out on the tiles, despite Fallon trying to persuade Kenton not to. Kenton gets drunk and sounds off to Toby, who offers him a place to crash.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b064zp88)
Philippa Gregory, Scottish art, Jordanian cinema, Street art of Stik
Historical novelist Philippa Gregory discusses her latest novel The Taming of the Queen, which takes place in the court of Henry VIII and is told through the eyes of his last wife, Katherine Parr.
The film Theeb is an Arabian Western and coming of age film about a Bedouin boy who escorts a British officer across the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, during the First World War. Middle East journalist Matthew Teller reviews.
As an exhibition of Scottish art collected by the Royal Family goes on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the critic Jan Patience reviews.
Artist Stik takes Samira on a tour of his studio in London and talks about his love of street art.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064zlvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b064zp8b)
The Corbyn Effect
Left winger Jeremy Corbyn is tipped to win Labour's leadership contest. How has he garnered so much support in a party which has spent the last two decades shaking off the vestiges of socialism? Corbyn's detractors blame far left entryism. But the far left in Britain is too small to account for the tens of thousands of Labour party members estimated to be supporting Corbyn. Reporter Mobeen Azhar talks to party members old and new in an attempt to find out what is behind the popular movement to return Labour to its socialist roots.
Reporter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Anna Meisel.
THU 20:30 In Business (b064zp8d)
A Night at the Opera
Opera is an expensive art form. It receives millions of pounds of public money. Can that be justified? Peter Day gets a range of operatic experiences - from top opera companies, to pub performers and a country house summer festival. The first opera was performed 400 years ago in Italy; how does the future look?
Producer: Penny Murphy.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b064zp7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Fantasy Festival (b064zlvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b064zptk)
Greek parliament votes on bailout agreement.
Tsipras promises harsh spending cuts and tax rises in return for new loans
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gk5b)
Go Set a Watchman
Episode 4
Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.
Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.
Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Harper Lee
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
THU 23:00 Woman's Hour (b064zqyw)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Reclaiming the Nerdiverse
Lauren Laverne and guests talk about women reclaiming the nerdiverse - science fiction, fandom, fanfiction and cosplay. With author and games designer Naomi Alderman; Deputy Editor of the New Statesman, Helen Lewis; Professor of the Sociology of Religion, Linda Woodhead; Zen Cho fantasy novelist and Lucy Saxon, writer and cos player.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2015
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b064x3cg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b064zlvj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x3cj)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x3cl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x3cn)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b064x3cq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b064zxrd)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b064zxrg)
Could culling dairy herds help the milk crisis?; Prince Charles; Rural drugs crime
Could the culling of dairy herds help solve the UK's over-production of milk? Sybil Ruscoe speaks to Eifion Huws of the Farmers Union of Wales who argues that it's a controversial but necessary option to consider. As a dairy farmer on Anglesey, he says he loves his herd, but still says that reducing numbers by 10% would be a step forward.
Urban drug gangs are moving out to target rural communities. Detective Superintendent Mark Callaghan of Dorset Police describes the problem his officers are tackling.
And ahead of Sunday's edition of On Your Farm, Charlotte Smith speaks to the Prince of Wales about the ways in which he draws inspiration from the rural communities of Transylvania, a place he's been visiting for twenty years.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt4n)
Cattle Egret
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Cattle Egret. Cattle egrets were originally birds of the African savannahs but they have become one of the most successful global colonisers of any bird species. In 2008 a pair of cattle egrets made ornithological history by breeding in the UK, on the Somerset Levels, for the first time.
FRI 06:00 Today (b0651nty)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b064x7dv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b065008l)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley
A New Beginning and a Tragic Ending
Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's dual biography of the pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, Mary Wollstonecraft is surprised by love and makes a compromise. Meanwhile, further tragedy awaits Mary Shelley.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0651nv0)
Camping and Romance
Would you breast feed another woman's baby? The history of the wet nurse; The dilemmas of classifying films which deal with teenagers and sexuality; The story of Joy Davidman, the woman who captivated C.S. Lewis and inspired Shadowlands; And canoodling under canvas - is it possible to get romantic in a tent?
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b065008n)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage
Episode 5
Suddenly the family are a tribe again, united in adversity. Dealing with events at the girls' school has brought them together. Allegiances shift, in surprising ways.
In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.
She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?
The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.
Written by Nicholas McInerny
Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore
Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:00 Random Edition (b06769zg)
VJ Day Anniversary Special
Peter Snow turns the pages of The Times for 16th August 1945, reporting VJ Day the day before.
Commemorations of the end of the Second World War tend to focus on VE Day rather than VJ Day. Yet, in marking the defeat of Japan, VJ Day celebrated the final end of hostilities.
The newspaper reports of the wild jubilation at Piccadilly Circus, and the programme talks to Gwendolen Hollingshead, who was there. Filling out The Times' description of events in Liverpool, Merseysider Irene Gill recalls joining the crowds while three months pregnant.
Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John, discusses his predecessor's refusal to allow the Abbey to be used for a VJ Day thanksgiving service - because of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Labour peer and historian Lord Morgan talks to Peter about the King's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on VJ Day - when the famous programme of the post-war Labour government was announced, embracing nationalisation and the creation of the NHS. Historian Jessica Reinisch meets Peter at Church House in Westminster where, on VJ Day, the preparatory session for the creation of the United Nations took place.
Gwendolen Hollingshead also describes her memories of Rainbow Corner, near Piccadilly Circus - an American servicemen's club where she was a volunteer worker. She recalls music from Glenn Miller and the death of an American she was planning to date.
Finally, POWs Maurice Naylor and Bob Hucklesby movingly describe coming home after being long-term captives of the Japanese in Thailand.
Producer: Andrew Green
A Singing Wren production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Clare in the Community (b0650619)
Series 10
Party On
The Sparrowhawk team hold a leaving do, and take the opportunity to reminisce.
Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.
A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.
Clare continually struggles to control both her professional and private life In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.
Clare ...... Sally Phillips
Brian ...... Alex Lowe
Megan ...... Nina Conti
Ray ...... Richard Lumsden
Helen ...... Pippa Haywood
Libby ...... Sarah Kendall
Joan ...... Sarah Thom
Producer: Alexandra Smith.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b064x3cs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 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.
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b0651nv5)
Gumtree concerns and tattoo safety
Peter White hears about a new drug to treat Hepatitis C that's at the centre of discussions over cost. Concerns over fraudsters targeting sites like Gumtree. And how some tattoo parlours are now being given a star rating.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b064x3cv)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b0651nv8)
Lord Janner to appear in court to face charges of child sex abuse.
Following a morning of confusion and the threat of arrest, it's been confirmed that Lord Janner will appear in court this afternoon to face charges of historical child abuse, we've a report.
Kensington Palace has accused paparazzi of going to extreme lengths to get pictures of Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Prince William's former advisor tells us photographers have been constructing 'hides' and using other children to lure the Prince into view.
We've the latest in the race for the Labour Leadership, as Andy Burnham attacks Jeremy Corbyn's credibility.
And as the death toll in the Chinese explosion reaches 56, has the rush for industrialisation in China left health and safety a low priority?
FRI 13:45 Stepping Stones (b065061f)
True Blues: A Cry from the Heart
Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.
In this last episode of the series, jazz pianist and teacher Louis Vause examines, with Piers, one of the great Blues performances of all time - New Orleans pianist James Booker's interpretation of True at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival.
This is a performance that has haunted Piers since he first heard it and has come to speak to him of all the longing and grief - and maybe hope - that the Blues express.
The programme includes an interview with Lily Keber who made the recent film about Booker, Bayou Maharajah.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b064zp86)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b039d4bn)
Caroline Quentin - My Brilliant Divorce
Caroline Quentin stars in Geraldine Aron's radio adaptation of her Olivier nominated West End hit - a comedy drama about surviving divorce with your sense of humour intact.
Good-natured, slightly overweight, former window-dresser Angela (declared age 39, real age 51) thinks her marriage will last forever. But suddenly her husband Max, who has an irritatingly round head, loses his heart to beautiful young Rosa and moves out.
Cheerful about her unexpected freedom at first, Angela's spirits begin to droop as she copes with a mother who won't acknowledge the break-up because she considers divorce 'common', a misogynous solicitor, and Christmas alone (apart from Dexter the family dog and a number of help-line counsellors).
She gets regular updates on the wild expenditure and goings-on at the love nest via her cleaner, Meena, whose sister Leena - also a cleaner - works for Max.
As she tells us of the ups and downs of her life and wryly observes how society treats freshly single women of a certain age, Angela learns how to deal with - and even enjoy - life on her own.
Eccentric, poignant and funny, Angela's journey will resonate with anybody who's lived through a break up.
Written by Geraldine Aron
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b065061j)
Kenilworth Castle
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire. Bunny Guinness, Christine Walkden and Bob Flowerdew answer the audience questions.
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
Produced by Dan Cocker
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Joe Smith and His Waxworks (b065061l)
Duck, Love and Eloquence
An extraordinary account of a showman's life drawn from his memoirs about touring a rough waxworks show around the southern counties of England in the 1840s. Read by Tony Lidington.
Published in 1896, Bill Smith's memoirs recall his early life working for his Uncle Joe, whose touring waxworks show was well-known at country fairs in the south of England in the middle of the 19th century.
It's an extraordinary story of the hardships of an itinerant performer's life in an age when the great historical characters from kings to vagabonds and famous scenes from the Bible, literature and fairy tales were brought to the towns and villages of England by the showmen and storytellers of the travelling fairs.
In today's episode Uncle Joe recruits an odd-job man he finds working with the donkeys on Yarmouth sands, and woos his wife at a country dance.
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b065061q)
David Nobbs, Frances Kelsey, Kyril Zinovieff, Elio Fiorucci, Harry Pitch
Last Word is presented by Reeta Chakrabarti this week. She will be remembering:
The comic writer and novelist David Nobbs - we speak to his friend and fellow writer Jonathan Coe about the man who invented the 1970s anti-hero Reginald Perrin;
Frances Kelsey, the scientist whose concerns about the drug Thalidomide prevented it from being approved in the US;
Kyril Zinovieff, who as a child in Russia saw Rasputin, and as a spy for Britain encountered Hitler;
The Italian fashion designer Elio Fiorucci, who introduced the world to skintight vinyl jeans;
And the musician Harry Pitch, the harmonica player who performed everywhere from jazz clubs to opera houses.
Producer: Neil George.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b0659q1f)
Migrant Crisis
Migrant Crisis
There is a "swarm" of migrants coming into Europe according to the Prime Minister. Where are they coming from and how many are coming to Calais to try to get into Britain? Are 70 percent of migrants in Calais making it to the UK, as claimed in the Daily Mail? We scrutinise the numbers.
Worm wars
A debate has been raging over the last month about the benefits of mass deworming projects. Hugely popular with the UN and charities, the evidence behind the practice has come under attack. Are the criticisms justified? We hear from the different sides - both economists and epidemiologists.
Football
How useful are football predictions and should we always trust the so called experts? The More or Less team look into the idea that predicting where sides will finish in the Premier League is best based on how they performed in previous seasons. Also, why is Leicester City the most watched Premier League team in the Outer Hebrides?
Generations
Loyal Listener Neil asks: So much is currently reported as the best, worst, least certain 'in a generation' - but just how long is that?
We find out..
(Image: Migrants arrive on the beach of a Greek island. Credit: AFP/Getty)
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b065061z)
Carol and Kate - Unlucky in Love
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who are now in their 60s and can reflect on the reasons for the broken relationships in both their pasts, recorded in the mobile Booth in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Fi Glover presents another conversation in 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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b0650621)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x3cx)
Paparazzi accused of harassing Prince George
Kensington Palace has accused the paparazzi of harassing Prince George. Lord Janner appears in court to face charges of child sex abuse, after a judge threatened him with arrest.
FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (b0650623)
Series 15
Episode 1
A satirical take on politics, media and celebrity.
Featuring Jon Culshaw, Debra Stephenson, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod and Duncan Wisbey.
Produced by Bill Dare.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b065086y)
Kenton wakes up at Hollowtree with a stonking hangover. Jolene has called and texted, worried, but he feels she shouldn't waste her time. Toby walks Kenton back to the Bull and morose Kenton reflects - he's sick of life, and sick of himself.
Caroline admires the herb garden at Grey Gables. She can't wait to be in Tuscany and will bring back some recipes for Ian. Jim's keen for the two of them to help him teach Christine some Italian. Caroline suggests they host an Italian themed dinner party for Jim and Christine. It would all enhance Chris's enjoyment of the opera at Lower Loxley.
Ruth returns from Prudhoe with a car full of stuff from Heather's. Ruth has a difficult phone call with Heather, whose neighbour in the care home has complained about her TV noise. Ruth gets frustrated. She feels torn - this is her life now. Ruth decides there's only one thing for it - Heather should come and live at Brookfield. David feels Ruth is exhausted and he explains why it wouldn't work. But Ruth's adamant - they're not letting Heather down again.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b0650870)
Music of Sherlock Holmes, Simon Pegg in Absolutely Anything, Paul Neagu, Edinburgh Comedy
To mark the first ever Sherlock Holmes Prom, composer David Arnold and broadcaster Matthew Sweet explore the musical world of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective.
Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale star in sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything, featuring the voices of Michael Palin, Terry Jones, who also directs, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle and the late Robin Williams in his final film role. Larushka Ivan Zadeh has the Front Row verdict.
As a new exhibition of work by Romanian born artist Paul Neagu opens, the sculptor Roger Clarke discusses the importance of the work and its impact on British sculptors.
Critic Stephen Armstrong rounds up the new comedy coming up at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Jack Soper.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b065008n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b0650872)
Andy Burnham MP, Tom Conti, Germaine Greer, Matt Hancock MP
Ritula Shah presents political debate and discussion from the Broadcasting House Radio Theatre with Shadow Health Secretary and Labour Leadership candidate, Andy Burnham MP, the actor Tom Conti, the writer Germaine Greer, and the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b0650874)
John Gray: Euro Despair
John Gray sees the European currency as a misconceived project from the outset and thinks the austerity policies imposed on Greece are destructive and self defeating.
"Attempting to maintain the euro at any cost can only result in mounting desperation, which will seek expression in violence if no practicable policies are on offer to ameliorate the situation."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 What Is a Story? (b065cdgq)
Omnibus: Part 1
Marina Warner - in the company of leading contemporary writers - looks at the world of contemporary fiction, considering writing and storytelling from a number of different angles.
Marina is the Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and this programme draws on the expertise of this year's International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.
She speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and this year's Man Booker International winner, Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
Key to this exploration will be questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction, which Marina believes are central to any discussion of the subject, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller/writer and the audience.
In this compilation created from five programmes originally broadcast in July this year, Marina considers why we should read and write, the importance of truth, and story as witness to history. She begins by considering our first encounters with stories.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b064x3cz)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b065096b)
Row after pictures taken of Prince George without permission
How hard is it to take legal action against photographers ?
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gkj1)
Go Set a Watchman
Episode 5
Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.
Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.
Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Written by Harper Lee
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.
FRI 23:00 Woman's Hour (b065096d)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Secrets and Lies
Is the truth overrated? Why and when do we lie? Joining Lauren Laverne for late night live conversation are Kellie Maloney, formerly Frank, the boxing promoter. Kellie was born a boy, but always felt she was a girl and she lived with that secret for 60-years. Eliane Glaser, author of Get Real: How to See Through the Hype, Spin and Lies of Modern Life. Dr Mahlet Zimeta philosopher and writer and honorary research associate at UCL. Dr Naomi Murphy, a clinical and forensic psychologist who works with pathological liars at Whitemoor Prison and Helen Croydon, author and reporter who worked undercover for tabloid newspapers.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Rebecca Myatt.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b0650g2j)
Carol and Kate - Missed Generation
Fi Glover introduces friends who share a history of failed relationships and now conclude that things may have been better had they been born later. A conversation recorded in the mobile Booth in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral - another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Fi Glover presents another conversation in 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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.