The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
A picture of South Africa now, as seen by a new generation of writers and poets.
In programme 1 Thabiso talks to Johannesburg-based writers and poets about the changing cityscape and how the past impacts on the present in their work. He takes a walk through the bustling University district of Braamfontein with Ivan Vladislavic, who has documented the city in his novels and non-fiction work 'Portrait with Keys', and they explore writing about Hillbrow, the troubled inner city district, where the social integration and dynamic culture looked in the early 1990s as though it might be a positive future vision of the country. He talks to the prominent poet Lebo Mashile, an inspiration to the younger poets coming through now, about the emergence of the black female voice in the past twenty years, and the legacy of the past. And he meets Niq Mhlongo, whose most recent book 'Way Back Home' looks critically at the struggle against apartheid, and the way those who went into exile to fight for the movement are haunted by their experiences.
In a three part series, street poet 'Afurakan' Thabiso Mohare explores the major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, talking to 'Born Frees', writers of the freedom generation - those born under apartheid but whose adult years have been spent in a new democracy, and gaining insights from an older generation who only began to publish their work in the new democratic era.
Thabiso looks at South Africa two decades after the fall of apartheid, through the themes writers are choosing to engage with in their work. These authors, poets and playwrights are exploring the past and present, from apartheid's legacy to political corruption, and the chaos of the inner city; some are exorcising ghosts, and some tackling current issues, or looking to an imagined future. There is plenty to write about after the end of the struggle.
Thabiso talks to new voices who are just making their names, and those who are already established, addressing the problems they face, causes for optimism, and the way conditions and opportunities have changed for writers in the past two decades. He looks at what they feel to be their literary heritage, and who they take inspiration from in a culture still feeling the inequalities of the educational legacy of apartheid. Literacy issues and the lack of a culture of reading more widely mean that the market for books is small, and the road to the arts truly blossoming into normalcy in South Africa after the end of apartheid has been uneven and complex. Other outlets for storytelling too - poetry and spoken word events, plugging into older traditions - are supporting the flowering of a diversity of voices as hoped for when the political landscape changed so radically in 1994, with writers of all ethnicities pitching in to the fray. Radio 4 explores the range of voices now being heard and the picture they present.
When farmer Charlie Byrd was looking to diversify his arable farm near Broadway in the Cotswolds, he came up with the idea of growing lavender. Now the lavender is his chief source of income, bringing in more than the traditional wheat and barley which he still grows. The farm gets up to 20,000 tourists a year, attracted by the swathes of purple which cover the hillside, and by the the farm shop which sells everything from lavender soap to lavender chocolate. The oil is extracted from the plants on site, using the farm's specially-built lavender distillery. Emma Campbell visits the farm at harvest time, to find out how you go about harvesting and distilling lavender, and what kind of products it ends up in.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the South American hoatzin. Moving clumsily through riverside trees the funky Mohican head crested hoatzin looks like it has been assembled by a committee. Hoatzin's eat large quantities of leaves and fruit, and to cope with this diet have a highly specialised digestive system more like that of cattle, which gives them an alternative name, 'stink-bird'.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
What happens if you take the warring parties of radio's biggest feud and give them their own show? Radio 4 is about to find out as Eddie Mair and Robert Peston join forces to spring surprise guests on each other in a unique late night interview programme. Expect spontaneous discussions with a wide array of interesting figures.
Eddie and Robert have each chosen three guests of personal interest to them- all in the public eye - who they feel are worthy of a late night interview slot, keeping it secret from the other which guests they have chosen until the interview itself.
The first guest is Robert's choice - Julian Barnes. Having written about losing his wife in his book 'Levels of Life', the three men talk about grief.
The Wash is a large rectangular-shaped tidal estuary in East Anglia bordering Lincolnshire and Norfolk. Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson has long been fascinated by both the mystery of King John's treasure which it's claimed was lost and buried in the mud here, and the wildlife of the Wash. This is a strange and haunting habitat; a no man's land where twice each day the tide sweeps in across the mud and drives tens of thousands of wading birds off their feeding grounds and onto a temporary roost by the shingle and gravel pits at the R.S.P.B. reserve at Snettisham in Norfolk. It's a bewitching spectacle, especially on a spring tide. At low tide the birds disperse and only the feint roar of the distant sea can be heard across the vast expanses of exposed mud. Beneath the mud however there are the sounds of crustaceans and worms; a rich food supply and the reason why so many thousands of birds are attracted to The Wash. As the tide turns, rivulets of water trickle across the mud. The tide gathers pace, and as it does it so, it forces the birds towards the shore and into the air. Huge flocks numbering hundreds then thousands of birds are pushed off the mud and onto the gravel pits. When Chris visited, the birds were roosting well away from the water and in complete darkness. Yet soon after the tide turned and by some unknown signal the knots' chattering calls increased and then the leading edge of the flock suddenly took off and thousands of birds departed creating a huge wave of sound rather like the take-off of a large jet aircraft. Within a few minutes quiet and calm was restored to the gravel pits. For Chris, it's these wild sounds of the birds revealed as the tides ebb and flow which are the real hidden treasures of The Wash. Producer Sarah Blunt.
1. He's in Tusacaloona, in a car park, thinking about going to church. In a vehicle beside
him sits Lucille, all black silk and lacey sleeves - "You lost, baby?" Her welcoming words
How much does appearance really matter? In a special with 5 Live's Men's Hour Jane Garvey and Tim Samuels look at the things we do to make us feel good about ourselves and the way we look.
From going to the gym to get the perfect abs, to going under the knife to achieve the perfect face and body. From having a tattoo to deciding to wax all our body hair off, who's influencing the choices we make? Plus how fashion helps us express who we are or who we want to be. And in the age of internet dating and the selfie what impact is social media having on the pressure we feel to 'look good'.
With Jody Furlong a casting director. The broadcaster and fashionista Caryn Franklin. Fashion historian and analyst Amber Butchart
Academic Philippa Dietrich and Glen Jankowski who is completing a PhD on male body image.
Presenters Jane Garvey and Tim Samuels.
Finding herself out of work at 51, Bindi Banerjee decides to start up her own beauty business.
Tanika Gupta's drama series about an eccentric 'olderpreneur's' adventures in business.
Alan Dein joins African and Afro Caribbean Catholics from Bristol as they take part in the annual pilgrimage to the ancient abbey at Glastonbury. On board the pilgrim bus, parishioners share their life stories, and explain why they are all drawn to worship in the church of St Nicholas of Tolentino.
Tom is annoyed that his parents don't trust him - even with his own car. He is determined to prove them wrong and what better way - than taking care of his sister Amy when she comes to London? But first he has to persuade mum and dad to trust him.
Tom persuades his parents that he can be trusted to look after his sister Amy when she comes to London.
Every episode, Tom Wrigglesworth rings his parents for his weekly check-in. As the conversation unfolds, Tom takes time out from the phone call to explain the situation, his parent's reactions and relate various anecdotes from the past which illustrate his family's views. And sometimes he just needs to sound-off about the maddening world around him and bemoan everyday annoyances.
A fascinating and hilarious glimpse into Tom, his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament,opinions and hang-ups.
During all this Hang Ups explores class, living away from 'home', trans-generational phenomena, what we inherit from our families and how the past repeats in the present. All in a 30 minute phone call.
Get underneath the skin of Tom and the Wrigglesworth family, as you sit back and enjoy a bit of totally legal phone hacking.
Judy Parfitt ... Granny
Paul Copley ... Dad
Kate Anthony ... Mum
Amy Wrigglesworth ... Amy
How nakedness has been used as a means of political protest in eastern Europe and why wearing no clothes can be a powerful political weapon.
People who bought computer software with the promise of access to thousands of cheap holidays are demanding refunds. The travel software is sold to holidaymakers accosted on the street in Tenerife who are then subjected to hours of high pressure selling.
Long-suffering airline passengers are accustomed to the discomfort of modern flying. But now the squeeze really is on, with airlines cramming more seats into the same size economy cabin. Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent, is flying away for the Bank Holiday right now, but just before he took off You & Yours caught up with him at Heathrow airport and heard what the airlines are planning.
Thousands of tonnes of fish skin are thrown away every year as we tuck into our favourite fillets. But some fashion designers are beginning to work with fish leather. It's been popular in Iceland for about twenty years and is now catching on here. Heidy Rehman, the founder of a new womenswear brand, is championing fish leather as a new ethical alternative. Presenter Melanie Abbott went to meet her at the studio of her company Rose and Willard.
BT Sport introduced its new rights to Champions League football with some fanfare. But some BT broadband customers are unhappy they've been automatically signed up for BT Sport channels. Today is the last chance you have to cancel the service for a full refund. From September 1st they'll be charged £5 a month.
In Devon a scone has cream first, then jam. But in Cornwall it's the other way around.
Well who is right? Food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond claims he has calculated the perfect formula for the flawless cream tea.
We ask how George Osborne's decision to give £500 million to the Faslane Naval Base will go down in Scotland. We hear of the diplomatic row between Britain and Egypt over the conviction of three journalists in Cairo. Plus we celebrate British gardeners and hear of a French claim to have invented cricket.
Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma
In her day, the French actor Sarah Bernhardt was said to be the most famous woman in the world after Queen Victoria. The American scholar Edward Berenson helps Francine untangle the many strands of Bernhardt's appeal, from her beauty and energy on stage and screen, to her eccentricity (she was said to sleep in a coffin and keep wild animals as pets) and her later disability. Edward Berenson pin-points the moment when he believes Bernhard's celebrity was transformed into true charisma. And, as Bernhardt later appeared in the new art-form of film, Francine sets out on a path to explore the early movie stars who did - or, in many cases, did not - have the famed "It Factor".
With contributions from the illusionist Derren Brown and the Australian author of a study of charisma, Professor John Potts.
A new comedy from David Nobbs. Two retired women teachers share a house, but little else. Then a former student, now turned rock-star, bursts into their lives and threatens to change everything.
The three competitors who've beaten off all competition in this year's tournament of the music quiz now face the final hurdle - with one of them destined to be named the 2015 Counterpoint champion.
What do the English call the musical note known in French as a 'noire'? What was Elvis Presley's middle name? Which Scottish composer founded the Ayrshire music festival known as the Cumnock Tryst?
The calibre of contestants in a Counterpoint Final is so high it's hard to stump them - but the competition will be fierce and every point counts. As usual, they'll all have to pick a musical topic for the specialist round, and in the Final the categories can be especially unpredictable.
The winner will take home the coveted Counterpoint trophy, and theirs will become the 29th name on the roll of honour since Counterpoint began in 1986.
The American poet Ezra Pound devoted much of his compendious poetic work, The Cantos, to discussion of his firmly-held beliefs about economics and the distribution of wealth. Difficult if not impossible for a casual reader to follow today, the Cantos draw heavily on American and Chinese history, and the writings of various now-obscure economists, in support of Pound's quest for an ideal society.
The modern British poet Ira Lightman has been an admirer of Pound's Cantos for many years, and realised after the financial crash of 2008 that Pound may have some surprising lessons for us about how banks operate and how monetary systems are organised. Pound is unfortunately now remembered for a series of wartime broadcasts in sympathy with Fascism, which saw him locked up in a mental institution after the Second World War. Yet the Cantos are all about social justice, about fair distribution, and about the evils of a system which extracts interest at an extortionate rate - which Pound personified as the abstract arch-villain 'Usura'.
Pound's beliefs were shaped by the aftermath of the First World War, the inequities of the post-war reparations, the straitjacket of the Gold Standard in the 1920s, and the Great Depression. In this programme Ira sets out to explore Pound's economic theories further, and to ask if they may be able to teach us something about our own financial crisis. Pound was writing at a time when many poets saw it as their natural role to ask hard questions about politics and social justice - and expected to be taken seriously. In our own time, poetry is perhaps not the genre to which readers most immediately turn for a dissection of these issues - and yet many poets are passionately involved in the debate. Is it still a poet's role to provide economic advice in the 21st century, as Pound sought to in the 20th?
In his personal exploration of Pound's modern resonances, Ira also seeks the expertise of biographer A. David Moody, poet Judi Sutherland, and Harvard economist Barry Eichengreen. Drawing upon what he discovers, he tackles the challenge of creating a brand new Canto, responding to our own economic circumstances.
Discussion programme in which guests from different faith and non-faith perspectives debate the challenges of today's world.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. SNP accuse George Osborne of "arrogance" over new funding for Faslane naval base.
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Arthur Smith, Jon Richardson, Susan Calman and David O'Doherty are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as Pets, Bacteria, Zombies and Water.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
Pip's keeping busy at Brookfield, getting ready to lay the new track way. Jill supports Pip over her career decision - it was brave to go through with it, despite the company trying to persuade Pip to change her mind. Pip feels guilty about Jill having to move out of Brookfield.
During the Opera at Lower Loxley Eddie's mobile goes off at the worst moments. Jim continues with his Italian pronunciations. With Lewis and Emma helping with her hampers, Fallon gets to sit down and enjoy the Opera herself. Christine learns that Fallon and Harrison are looking for a place to live together and suggests Woodbine Cottage.
There's bad news from Ruth, who's stuck in Prudhoe dealing with a leak at Heather's house and can't make Pip's celebration meal. When Jolene says that Kenton won't be making it either, angry Jill berates Kenton for sulking. But Jolene points out that he's well past the point of sulking and has serious problems. Shula wishes Kenton had told the family the truth about the situation at the Bull - but it's not too late to do something, says David.
When pianist James Rhodes had an injunction overturned by the Supreme Court in May, he was finally able to publish his controversial autobiography, Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music.
At the piano he talks to John Wilson about the horror of the severe sexual abuse he suffered at prep school, his struggle to get his memoir published, and how music provided a lifeline to help him cope with his demons, which included addiction, breakdown and mental illness.
Founded 220 years ago, the Orange Order is a Protestant organisation which, its members say, stands for civil liberties, fraternity and faith. However in the divided society of Northern Ireland it is rarely out of the news. Many Irish Nationalists and Republicans view it as an anti-Catholic, triumphalist organisation and disputes over some contentious Orange parades have generated headlines around the world.
What is less well known is that in a tropical land three thousand miles away, there are Orange lodges made up of African men and women. Members of the Orange Order in Ghana share the same emblems and follow the same rituals as their brethren in Northern Ireland. While there may not be sectarian conflict in their homeland, the Orangemen on the Equator feel they too are misrepresented and misunderstood.
Journalist Chris Page travels to West Africa to find out how the Orange Order took root there. Comparing the African brand of Orangeism to that found in his native Northern Ireland, he peers into the soul of an organisation which has been characterised by its ability to survive. While members in Ulster say they have been demonised by Irish Nationalists opposed to their Unionism, their brethren in Ghana describe their challenges in the face of prejudice from churches and wider society.
From post-colonial Ghana to post-conflict Northern Ireland, Chris asks what the true essence of this often controversial fraternity really is - and what these two contrasting branches of the Orange Order can learn from each other as they consider their futures.
Ten years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving over 1800 people dead and causing billions of dollars of damage. It was dramatic and destructive - but Katrina has been described as 'like a cold suffered by a cancer patient'. The cancer is the erosion of the coastal wetlands of Southern Louisiana, a slow motion environmental disaster that has continued almost unabated since Katrina. Caused by the taming of the Mississippi and oil and gas exploration, a football field of coastal land washes away every hour, and with it the homes, places and livelihoods that have sustained the storied Cajun culture. James Fletcher travels to Bayou Lafourche and the town of Leeville to get to know one community facing the reality of losing their past and their future.
Wordsworth's famous poem is always in the top 5 most loved poems in English. His encounter with daffodils in the Lake District has become a romantic expression of our relationship with nature. They are radiant beauties that bring hope to the heart after the long winter months. The native flowers are delicate and small, unlike the cultivated, rather brash varieties that adorn roadside verges and roundabouts, creating much daffodil snobbery. Daffodils are the national flower of Wales, though only since the 19th Century, promoted by Lloyd George who thought them more attractive than leeks. Attractiveness though led them to be associated with vanity, the Greek Narcissus (daffodils in Latin: narcissus) fell in love with his own reflection and pined away. Their appearance in Lent gives them the name Lenten Lilly and associated with resurrection, but in Eastern cultures it is the flower of wealth and good fortune. It has been used throughout history as a medicine, despite being toxic. Today it is grown extensively in Wales as its bulb contains galantamine, a drug used in the treatment of Alzheimer's. Whatever way you look at daffodils they are quintessentially a part of human cultures wherever it grows and can be considered the flower that brightens Britain after long, cold winters.
Queues up to thirty miles long form on the border between Hungary and Austria
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Six.
By Simon Mawer. Marian runs into an old friend in Paris. The atomic age is advancing and Marian’s personal and professional life is getting increasingly complicated.
Paul Gambaccini returns with the series that takes a long hard look behind the scenes of three classic films which have scooped the Best Picture Award. He reports on the artistic, political and personal decisions that lie behind the winners, laced with some pretty good gossip too.
During the filming, star Greer Garson insisted on tea every afternoon at four o'clock, whilst director William Wyler hated the chocolate box set of rose-strewn villages he was forced to work with. Despite these restrictions Mrs Miniver turned out to be a film that helped change history - credited by many, including Churchill, with helping to turn popular opinion in America away from isolationism and towards whole hearted support for the Allied Forces in Europe.
It portrays a family living a safe life in the Garden of England, Kent - a world where Mrs Miniver worries more about a hat than the approaching conflict. But as her world falls apart, she changes and becomes more resilient, as the people of Britain bravely face up to the task of defending this island, whatever the cost.
Veteran film critic Philip French believes that it hasn't lasted, though he recalls from his own childhood in Liverpool how it touched the hearts of British cinema goers.
And behind this patriotic movie lies a darker story - did Hollywood studios protect their sales in Germany by going softly, softly on the Nazi regime, until the tide of public opinion finally turned against the Germans?
Misha Glenny presents a compelling new history of Italy from 1494 to the end of the First World War.
Piedmont, the Venetian Republic, Mantua, Modena, the Grand Duchy of Florence, the kingdom of Naples, the Papal States - the arrival of Italy as a unified state is a surprisingly recent affair. "We are a new nation," says Professor Marco Meriggi, and this is true - but the 150th anniversary was celebrated two years ago in quite muted style. So forget what you may know about the Roman empire, and enter a country which doesn't really feel unified yet.
"Italy is a divided country, no doubt about that. The Italian equivalent of nationalism is campanalismo, from the word for bell tower - this is the attachment of Italians to their city square." Dr Filippo de Vivo.
Beginning with the French invasion of 1494, when Charles VIII's mercenaries reached Naples and then spread syphilis to all points north of the Alps, the Invention of Italy tells a story of fragmentation, foreign occupation and nationalist false starts. The second programme looks at how unification finally occurred, and why many believe that the mafia emerged at the same time. the third programme focuses on why Italians were so eager to shed blood in the First World War.
With expert contributions from Christopher Duggan, Marco Meriggi, Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Filippo de Vivo, David Gilmour, Beppe Severgnini, Simon Winder, Joze Serbec and David Laven.
The presenter is Misha Glenny, who previously collaborated with producer Miles Warde on the Invention of Germany and the Invention of Spain.
TUESDAY 01 SEPTEMBER 2015
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b067vwlf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b067w2dv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b067vwlh)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b067vwlk)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b067vwlp)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b067vwlr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0694rct)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b067whnh)
Badger cull, HSBC, NZ sheep farmer
Debate continues over the badger cull. The pilot area has been extended out to Dorset, as well as the existing sites of Gloucestershire and Somerset. Simon Cripps from the Dorset Wildlife trust says that vaccination is the answer however, Trevor Cligg who is the NFU county chairman says they have been waiting for a badger cull for 20 years, and the time to act is now.
China is often heralded as the great hope for UK agriculture and food producers. it's the second largest economy in the world and offers great opportunities for new markets. However, the Chinese stock exchange has been in crisis recently, so should we be pinning our hopes on one marketplace? Head of agriculture at HSBC Allan Wilkinson says that whilst its certainly an important place, farmers and producers need to look to various markets.
New Zealand is one of the worlds biggest agricultural exporters, whether its dairy to China or lamb to Britain. Are there lessons that farmers can learn about New Zealand farming, which exists without subsidies? Rachel Garside spoke to Murray Rohloff who is a farm consultant who runs a flock of 5,000 sheep in New Zealand. He has been speaking to welsh sheep farmers at an Farm Open day in Pembrokeshire about ways to improve production.
Presenter Sally Challoner. Producer Ruth Sanderson.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvrcj)
Australian Magpie
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Australian magpie. These large pibald birds with pickaxe bills reminded early settlers of the more familiar European magpie, but in fact they are not crows at all. Australian magpies have melodious voices which can range over four octaves in a chorus of squeaks, yodels and whistles. Pairs or larger groups of magpies take part in a behaviour known as carolling, a harmony of rich fluting calls which marks their territories and helps to cement relationships between the birds.
TUE 06:00 Today (b067wjn7)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Fry's English Delight (b067wnnb)
Series 8
English Plus One
Stephen Fry celebrates bilinguals' life stories and discovers the bonuses of bilingualism.
Bilinguals have big advantages. Those who are bilingual from birth acquire human empathy earlier and all bilinguals have advantages that go beyond language skills. Stephen delights in the stories of different bilinguals ranging from 4 year-old Luca, becoming fluent in English and French simultaneously, to 70 year old Barry Davis, bilingual in Yiddish and English. Stephen talks to him about how he uses his skill as an interpreter helping members of the London Chasidic community, many of whom have English as a second language.
In between, meet teenager Francesco in Rome who lives in a bilingual family but gets most of his English from the internet. Also there's Berliner Juliane, who learnt her English on an Arkansas rodeo and is a subtitler/translator currently working on MTV's challenging reality show Geordie Shore. And hear how Aatif Nawaz, bilingual comedian and Islam Channel chat show host, enjoys the way a multilingual audience laughs.
Bilingualism isn't that rare and bilinguals, according to new research, are often more attentive and better at decisionmaking. Antonella Sorace, Professor of Developmental Linguistics at Edinburgh University and a world authority, says there's no such thing as the perfect bilingual - one language always dominates, albeit slightly. She's bilingual in English and Italian, the latter surfacing when she gets cross.
There are downsides, but they tend to come from monolinguals' perceptions of bilinguals. People who speak the language of one place perfectly and then reveal they come from another place can make others feel deceived.
Producer: Nick Baker
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 09:30 A Walk of One's Own: Virginia Woolf on Foot (b067wnnd)
Sussex
Alexandra Harris visits East Sussex, where Virginia Woolf lived and walked from 1911 until her death.
Asham, was the Woolf's first home - re-named 'Little Talland House' - making it the descendent of the Cornish holiday home she had loved as a child. Virginia and Leonard lived through the first world war here, and left with great sadness when the lease was up.
Their next home, Monks House was small and basic, but it was theirs. The garden was vast, with a view on to the fields and hills beyond, where Woolf loved to roam alone for hours, reciting her words to herself after a morning writing. There were almost too many possible paths: towards Charleston - the home of Woolf's sister Vanessa, or across Iford Down, or along the river to Piddinghoe.
In the company of Scarlett Baron, Alexandra Harris steps out in Woolf's footsteps to the river Ouse and Southease, the route she would have taken most often, to the post office.
Producers: Sarah Bowen and Sara Jane Hall.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b067wpjs)
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads
Episode 2
Paul Theroux's account of his car journeys through America's southern states
is timely, and abridged for radio by Katrin Williams:
2. In Greensboro he meets the impressive Rev. Eugene Lyles, aged 79, who has
his own church, his own barber shop and runs the local diner on Main Street.
So, time for a haircut, then some lunch..
Reader Henry Goodman
Producer Duncan Minshull.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b067wpjv)
Gender Equality Goals
As part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, the organisation is launching a global goal to achieve gender equality by 2030. But how realistic is this timescale? Jane finds out more about what the goals should achieve for women and how they can be implemented; September is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month. Every day more than 50 women are diagnosed with one of these cancers and some experts believe that genetic testing would help more women to survive. Angelina Jolie-Pitt's decision to go public about her own condition received widespread publicity - Jane hears about the 'Angelina effect' and what can be done to protect women; Many more women are now retiring after a full-time career - and for some of them the end of paid work can lead to a drop in self-esteem and a sense of loneliness. We'll be discussing the best way to make the most of this new stage in life; And Miriam Moss was 15 years old when she was a passenger on a plane which was hijacked - now she's written a novel for young adults - Girl On A Plane - which draws on that experience.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Louise Adamson.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b067x14z)
Bindi Business: Series 1
Episode 2
Bindi’s Beauty Box is really taking off but Bindi must get her reluctant children on board if she is going to succeed.
Tanika Gupta's drama series about an eccentric 'olderpreneur's' adventures in business.
BINDI.....Meera Syal
RAJ.....Chris Nayak
ANU.....Krupa Pattani
BUZZ.....Tachia Newall
Director: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
TUE 11:00 Natural Histories (b05w9bj5)
Birds Eggs
Beautiful, fragile, mysterious – we have always loved birds' eggs. Their colours are more of a hue, the patterning gorgeous to the eye, no wonder they have been collected from time immemorial. Eggs are a symbol of new life, a transformation that speaks to us of great truths beyond the purely biological. Easter eggs are a symbol of Christ's resurrection and were adopted from pagan beliefs about Ostara, the goddess connecting to various German Easter festivities.) The egg has been used as a metaphor for the origin of the universe in many traditions. We have used them in cooking – or eaten raw - since our time on earth. We have used the hard shell for decoration, and Faberge designed exquisite bejewelled eggs of gold and precious stones for the Tsars of Russia. A peculiar tradition of using eggs to record the varied faces of clowns arose just after WW2 when new clowns stamped their identity on the world by registering their unique features on eggs – there is now a clown egg museum. The natural variety in bird's eggs, even clutches in the same year, can be very different, is prized by collectors, determined to own the greatest diversity of any one species. Along with collecting comes money and then fraud. Pleasing to hold, beautiful on the eye, versatile in cooking, intriguing in nature, practical as well - eggs will always inspire us. From 2015
Original Producer Andrew Dawes
Archive Producer Andrew Dawes
TUE 11:30 Space: The Vinyl Frontier (b067x151)
A spoken word concept album linking space and music.
Track 1: Carl Sagan on The Voyager Gold Disc.
In 1977 the Voyager space probes set off on their journey across the Solar System. On board are gold discs with the music of planet Earth in the hope that they are one day intercepted by alien life.
Track 2: Peter Pesic on the Music of the Spheres
The ancient Greeks first found a connection between maths, music and the movement of the planets. The idea was developed in the 17th century by Johannes Kepler into the Music of the Spheres.
Track 3: Lydia Kavina on the music of the Theremin and the space-age pop of Vyacheslav Mescherin's Orchestra of Electronic Instruments.
Track 4: Space and Race, the music of Afro-Futurism by Ken McLeod.
Although many exponents of space-related pop music are white Anglo-American artists, some of the most vibrant uses occur within the realm of Afro-Futurism with artists such as Sun Ra and George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic.
Track 5: The Race for Space - Public Service Broadcasting
J Willgoose Esq., one half of Public Service Broadcasting, talks about the band's latest and critically acclaimed album, The Race for Space, which uses archive recordings to chart the American-Russian space race.
Space: The Vinyl Frontier is voiced by Tom Bevan, Ben Crowe and Ben Onwukwe.
The linking drama Space Oddity was written by Danny Westgate
The interview with Carl Sagan was first broadcast in 1983 as part of the programme Music From A Small Planet produced for BBC Scotland by Martin Goldman and R. Carey Taylor.
New music and sound design by Nick Romero
Produced by Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b067vwm2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 The Why Factor (b067x3vy)
Why would anyone devote their life to collecting cuckoo clocks?
Stamps, coins, sea shells, wine - the list of things that humans collect is endless. But why do people do it? What does a collection of inanimate objects bring to our lives that other things do not? Are people attracted by the thrill of the chase, the pleasure of possession or the control in acting as the custodian of precious things?
Mike Williams talks to an eclectic group of collectors in search of some answers. Roman and Maz Piekarski have spent the last 50 years building up a collection of some of the world's finest cuckoo clocks. When Lisa Courtney was bullied as a child she gained comfort in building her collection of Pokemon toys.Seventeen-year-old Tushar Lakhanpal started his pencil collection at the age of three and when David Fulton sold his business to Microsoft in the 90s his new found wealth allowed him to pursue and acquire one of the finest collections of rare instruments ever assembled.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b067x3w1)
Call You and Yours: Have you been caught out by a cold call?
Have you lost out because of a cold call? Former Army Colonel Samuel Rae has dementia and was contacted more than 700 times by charities and scammers after he failed to tick the "no contact" box on a survey. The Daily Mail revealed he eventually lost £35,000 to unscrupulous firms who convinced him to hand over money by telling him he'd won a prize.
Have you or your family been the victim of this kind of unsolicited contact by phone or mail? What impact does it have? Have you had discussions with loved ones about the need to be careful, or even fought a losing battle with a relative who simply won't stop engaging with them? We'll have experts on hand who can explain how the law works - and explain how you can access the information which firms are sharing about you.
The phone number to call is 03 700 100 444.
E-mail you and yours at BBC dot CO dot UK.
Or you can text 84844.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b067vwmb)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b067x3w5)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Edward Stourton.
TUE 13:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b067x3w7)
The Best to You Each Morning
Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma.
7.The Best To You Each Morning
Self-made American charismatic leaders - from W.K Kellogg and Henry Ford to Apple's Steve Jobs and Viacom's Sumner Restone.
A religious upbringing, a great idea and an exceptional ability to read the desires of the American people are just three of the shared characteristics of the early 20th century self-made men who feature in this programme. Collectively, they have set an influential template for charismatic business leaders to this day.
Francine Stock hears from the business journalist and broadcaster Peter Day about his personal - and not altogether complimentary - impressions of Steve Jobs and his extraordinary "force field" of attention. She draws a somewhat surprising profile of the self-made mogul - for whom conquering death itself seems to have become the longed-for ultimate charismatic act.
Producer; Beaty Rubens.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b067wf2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b067x3w9)
Single Beds
by Colin Hough
A seriously funny comedy about prejudice, vintage cars and taxidermy.
What happens when a Fife B&B owner refuses newly-weds Geoff and Val a double room?
produced/directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (b067vh8q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 From Enlightenment to Entanglement (b067x47p)
Astrophysicist and science writer Dr Stuart Clark asks whether our increasing reliance on computers in scientific research is becoming an obstacle to progress.
Are we moving from the Enlightenment - when the scientist demystified the world, to the Entanglement where the scientist ends up mystified?
At CERN, Stuart meets Physicist Paul Laycock who reveals the tsunami of data that the Large Hadron Collider produces every second. In order to stay afloat, Paul and his team apply the tried and tested scientific method, using hypotheses and theory to guide them through petabytes of raw physics data.
We visit a genome sequencing lab where advances in computer power and sequencing technology are making it possible to collect genomic data faster than ever. Some critics argue that we are gorging on data, collecting more information than we can hope to analyse.
Stuart peers through a mass of wires to gaze at a powerful computer, part of the Human Brain Project, which plans to create a fully working computer simulation of the human brain. Many neurologists argue that the project have a misplaced faith in the power of computers, having done away with the Enlightenment principles of the scientific method. Those involved respond by stating that theirs is a fundamentally new way of doing science.
Finally, Stuart hears from super computer inventor Danny Hillis who explains that we are rapidly losing the ability to understand how our computers actually work. Once programmed to act as reliable slaves, computers now exhibit unpredictable emergent behaviour. As a result, Hillis argues, the role of scientist is changing as we enter a new age of complexity - the Entanglement.
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:00 Writing a New South Africa (b053bsfm)
Page and Stage
A picture of South Africa now, as seen by a new generation of writers and poets.
In the second programme of the series Johannesburg-based poet Thabiso Mohare looks at the challenges, tensions and solutions facing South African writers. He talks to publishers, writers and poets about the issue of a small book-reading culture being exacerbated by the high cost of books in the country, and looks at how the spoken word scene has grown in the past twenty years to provide an outlet for new voices. And he travels to the University of Stellenbosch, once the intellectual engine-room of apartheid, to talk to two poets who have managed to create a rare thing: spoken word sessions in a township that are attended by a truly diverse and mixed audience of poets and aspiring poets, where poetry in any of the eleven official languages of South Africa is welcomed.
In a three part series, poet Thabiso Mohare ('Afurakan'), looks at South Africa through the themes the post-apartheid generation of writers are choosing to engage with in their work. These authors, poets and playwrights are exploring the past and present, from apartheid's legacy to political corruption, and the chaos of the inner city; some are exorcising ghosts, and some tackling current issues, or looking to an imagined future. There is plenty to write about after the end of the struggle. Other outlets for storytelling too - poetry and spoken word events, plugging into older traditions - are supporting the flowering of a diversity of voices as hoped for when the political landscape changed so radically in 1994, with writers of all ethnicities pitching in to the fray. Radio 4 explores the range of voices now being heard, some of the challenges they face, and the picture they present.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b067x5hx)
Series 37
Monica Ali chooses Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, adventurer, soldier, author, poet, sexologist and translator. He brought us the Kama Sutra and spoke 29 languages. The author Monica Ali champions this racy character and tells Matthew Parris why this 19th-century explorer is a Great Life. They are also joined by historian and broadcaster Matthew Ward.
Producer: Perminder Khatkar.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
TUE 17:00 PM (b067x5hz)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b067vwmd)
01/09/15 Centre of migrant crisis in Hungary
Hundreds of refugees wanting to reach Germany and Austria are stranded in Hungary.
TUE 18:30 Mitch Benn Specials (b067x5j1)
Mitch Benn Is the Fat Pink Duke
David Bowie is the first rock star Mitch can remember being aware of.
He was two, David was Ziggy Stardust, and he remembers feeling that while he liked him he didn't really get him. As he's grown up - and David Bowie has grown up right along side - Mitch realises that Not Really Getting David Bowie is the whole point...
Mitch Benn takes you on a whistlestop tour of Bowie's back catalogue, examining his legacy and Mitch's own personal connection to his music.
Comedy series for anyone who's ever bought a record or fallen in love with a song.
Written by and starring Mitch Benn.
Producer: Alexandra Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b067x5j3)
Susan has organised a strongly worded letter to send to the Council planning department, as well as an email to the Echo. The letter’s signed by the whole shop committee, against Hazel Woolley’s planned change of use for the village shop. As they wait for a decision on whether the shop can be deemed a community asset (8 weeks), Susan hasn’t held back in telling the Echo what she thinks of Hazel – and she feels her sentiments could apply to Bridge Farm as well. Susan notes that Mike’s pretty upset with what’s happening – to the shop and also the Village Hall.
Shula walks around the Lower Loxley grounds with Elizabeth following the get-out of the Magic Opera company. Elizabeth looks forward to Lynda’s review in the Echo. It certainly got Oliver and Caroline in the mood for Tuscany – they just need to appoint a Health Club manager. Meanwhile, Bert looks forward to the Flower and Produce Show.
Tom notices a bruise on Helen’s wrist – it’s nothing, she says – she took a tumble whilst playing with Henry. Rob subtly gets his own way over the interior design for the Bridge Farm shop, going with a more contemporary look. Rob tells Helen he’s happy to be the project manager.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b067x5j5)
Elena Ferrante, Laila Lalami, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Kirsty Lang discusses the elusive literary phenomenon Elena Ferrante, as the fourth and final book in her Neopolitan series is published. Despite huge sales and critical acclaim, Ferrante has managed to remain anonymous.
Laila Lalami discusses her new novel The Moor's Account. Longlisted for the Man Booker prize, it's about the first slave to reach America during the 1500s and his Spanish masters.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl tells the story of a high school student as he navigates teenage life. Jason Solomons reviews.
And as Welsh National Opera launch their new season with I Puritani by Bellini, director Annilese Miskimmon talks about the 19th Century obsession with "Mad Women" and Mad Scenes in Opera.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b067x14z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Big Game Theory (b067x5w1)
The death of Cecil the lion was international news and a social media sensation. Yet trophy hunting of lions and other species is common in Africa. Foreigners pay big money to adorn their walls with heads and skins.
Many find it abhorrent, angry that it exists at all. Hunters claim it is vital, providing money to fund conservation. With hunters claiming that a ban would be "catastrophic" for wildlife, what's the truth?
Biologist Professor Adam Hart explores this explosively controversial subject, talking to hunters, conservationists, lion experts and those opposed to hunting.
Trophy hunting is not the major problem. Lions are persecuted because they eat livestock and threaten people. Africa is not the romantic place we might think. A hugely expanding population and development set us in conflict with wildlife.
Trophy hunting does work in places where regular tourists are few and far between. It works too in South Africa. Private ownership and fencing, which protects wildlife from people and people from wildlife, mean that hunting and tourism generate the cash needed to maintain huge numbers of animals. Wildlife thrives because "it pays it stays".
But in Tanzania lion populations are rapidly declining. Craig Packer, a world expert on lions, says "it takes $2000 annually to maintain 1km2 of lion habitat; 300000km2 of hunting blocks need $600million. Trophy hunting pays $20million with 10-15% used for conservation." It's the only source of income but it is far too little, only slightly slowing the inevitable.
Hunting pitches emotion against evidence and sentimentality against practicality. Adam's travels reveal a complex and sometimes unpalatable tale of economics, ecology and conservation with implications that affect everyone that cares about African wildlife.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b067x7g8)
Starting University
Peter White is joined by Ed Eyad, Rebecca Cooke & Jessica Luke who discuss their visual impairment and how to get the most out of university life.
Ed Eyad, who is about to go to Birmingham University, expresses his concerns and apprehension about going to a mainstream university after attending New College - a special college for blind students.
Rebecca Cooke is a former student of New College and is now studying psychology at Keele University. She advises Ed to be as prepared as he can in getting IT and allowances organised in advance of starting his course.
Jessica Luke is a post-graduate now working for Blind in Business, which supports blind graduates into work. She talks about her experience of moving from a mainstream school to University, and gives tips on studying and partying.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b067x7gb)
Meningitis B, Hormones and depression, Statins, Unexpected heart attacks
From this week all UK babies will be vaccinated against that most feared disease, meningitis B, the first country in the world to take this step. But the decision to include Men B in the national immunisation programme has come too late for parents, Freya and Ross. A year ago their baby daughter, Harmonie, nearly died after contracting the infection. Her arms and legs as well as the tip of her nose had to be amputated because of the resulting sepsis. Sue Davie, Chief Executive of Meningitis Now tells Mark that the vaccine is great news and will save many lives. But she hopes in the future that it will be offered to older babies and young children, as well as another at risk group, adolescents.
Mental health problems have long been linked to fluctuating hormone levels, at times of menstruation, childbirth and menopause. Dr Michael Craig who runs the Female Hormone Clinic at the Maudsley Hospital in London discusses the role of hormone replacement treatments.
Statins are the most commonly prescribed medicines in the UK. They work to lower the level of cholesterol in your blood. There's been considerable debate about when doctors should start prescribing statins and NICE, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, had been keen for GPs to be paid to put more patients on the cholesterol-reducing drugs. Dr Margaret McCartney outlines the controversy and NICE Deputy Chief Executive, Professor Gillian Leng, tells Mark that the health advisory body has listened to concerns and why their new statins targets are now to be tested in the field.
Young, healthy, sporty people don't get heart attacks. Except when they do. Dr Stuart Miller, Clinical Director of Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Bath admits that he was shocked when he had a heart attack, even though he cycles, swims and eats a healthy diet. Sanjay Sharma is professor of cardiology at St George's Hospital in London and he tells Mark how common unexpected heart attacks are.
Producer: Fiona Hill.
TUE 21:30 Fry's English Delight (b067wnnb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b067vwmh)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b067x7gd)
Battling Islamic State - a special report from northern Iraq.
We hear from one of the most effective fighting forces - the Kurds
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b067x7gg)
Simon Mawer - Tightrope
Episode Seven
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Seven.
By Simon Mawer. Marian and Absolon get closer – but who is using who? And who else knows about them?
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:00 Gossip from the Garden Pond (b04gqzgp)
The Water Boatman and Great Diving Beetle
The Water Boatman played by Sandi Toksvig and the Great Diving Beetle played by David Ryall, reveal the truth about life in a garden pond, in the second of three very funny tales, written and introduced by Lynne Truss, with sound recordings by Chris Watson and Tom Lawrence.
Messing about in water is what the Water Boatman loves to do most of all. Well actually the Water Boatman is a Boatwoman and in truth she is a Backswimmer not a Water Boatman, but she prefers to be called Water Boatman and being a decisive no-nonsense type, so be it! Her days are spent rowing around the pond and scooping up whatever tasty morsel takes her fancy and trying her hardest to ignore the 'singing' of her ardent admirer, Reg. Stridulation is the technical term for Reg's singing; moving one part of his body against another (a bit like crickets and grasshoppers) to create a courtship 'song'. His persistence finally pays off, but does he win her heart?
Meanwhile, the Great Diving Beetle soars up and down through the depths, spreading fear wherever he goes. With his coat of armour, fantastic mandibles for tearing prey to pieces and a highly unpleasant habit of ejecting toxic fumes at potential predators, he's a creature to avoid! He did have a mate once, but he ate her, and brothers and sisters too, but he ate them. So all alone, he has plenty of time to think and armed with his ballistic missiles he daydreams about being a film star; a hero with super powers, and a match for any creature ... even Batman! One evening though, whilst flying round the neighbourhood, he comes across a shocking scene at a nearby pond, and drawing on his armoury of weapons, he defends the rights of his fellow beetles in a vicious battle.
TUE 23:30 The Invention of... (b03dfpjr)
Italy
Episode 2
Misha Glenny presents a compelling new history of Italy from 1494 to the end of the First World War.
In October 1860, on a misty road north of Naples, Giuseppe Garibaldi met the future king of Italy and handed over control of the south. This brief moment in the story of the new Italian state has been often mythologised, but it is not as straightforward as it seems. Violence, civil war, the birth of the mafia - these elements in the story are often overlooked.
Beginning with Napoleon's call to the peoples of Italy in 1796, Misha Glenny picks his way through Italian unification with clarity and care. Rome only became part of this new European country under a century and a half ago - and even then the Pope ordered his followers neither to stand in nor vote in elections for the new state. Small wonder some claim that Italy is not really unified yet.
With expert contributions from Christopher Duggan, Marco Meriggi, Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Filippo de Vivo, David Gilmour, Beppe Severgnini, Simon Winder, Joze Serbec and David Laven.
The presenter is Misha Glenny, who previously collaborated with producer Miles Warde on the Invention of Germany and the Invention of Spain.
WEDNESDAY 02 SEPTEMBER 2015
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b067vwnb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b067wpjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b067vwnd)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b067vwng)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b067vwnj)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b067vwnl)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0695147)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b0680d0b)
Payments for farmers to pull out of the badger cull, Agricultural research in China, Hail destroys apple harvest
Activists 'Stop the Cull' are paying farmers £5000 to pull out of the badger cull, in order to make the cull licence invalid.
A Worcestershire farmer has had her crop of eating apples destroyed by an August hailstorm.
A British research centre has set up a department in China to share knowledge and research in agricultural science.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvrt1)
Bar-headed Goose
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Central Asian bar-headed goose. The bar-headed goose is a high-flier of the bird world. Bar-headed geese are migrants which undertake one of the most arduous journeys of any bird. They breed mainly in the remote lakes of the Tibetan Plateau, but overwinter on the plains of northern India. But to get there, they have to cross the World's highest mountain range, the Himalayas, a height of over 20,000 feet.
WED 06:00 Today (b068grm8)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Bringing Up Britain (b0680g5x)
Series 8
Boosting Your Child's IQ
As summer ends and children trade flip flops for school shoes, Mariella Frostrup starts the new academic year exploring what can affect a child's IQ.
Parents who read to their children, talk at the dinner table and help with homework might have happy offspring, but will they be making them smarter?
In the light of research into the influence of genes, Mariella and her guests debate the role of parenting on intelligence. They explore recent research into the effect of exercise and sleep and ask what difference can breastfeeding, flashcards, violin lessons and superfoods really make.
For the first in a new series of Radio 4's parenting programme, Mariella is joined by Dr Stuart Richie, Postdoctoral Fellow in Cognitive Ageing at the University of Edinburgh, writer and consultant Sue Palmer, Dr Sophie von Stumm, Lecturer in Psychology at Goldsmiths and Director of their Hungry Mind Lab, and Hilary Wilce, writer, advice columnist and coach.
Producer: Sarah Bowen.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b0680g64)
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads
Episode 3
Paul Theroux's account of his car journeys through America's southern states
is timely, and abridged for radio by Katrin Williams:
3. The author stays at the 'Blue Shadows Bed and Breakfast' in Greensboro,
and through its owner, Janet May, meets Randall Curb. And through Curb
he will then encounter the legendary Mary Ward Brown, short story
writer, aged 96.
Reader Henry Goodman
Producer Duncan Minshull.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0680g6b)
Tackling child sexual exploitation in Oxford and Rotherham, Verbal anaesthesia, Part-time school, Pregnancy and exercise
As Barnardo's receive £3.1 million to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham what lessons have been learned and what can be done to prevent it happening again? Jane is joined by Cassandra Harrison, Barnardo's Deputy Director for Policy and Public Affairs and Sophie Humphreys who was appointed as an independent advisor by the government to look at child sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire.
Dr Tony Davies and Dr Liz Vincent discuss the range of "talking methods" to ease pain and anxiety that often accompany medical procedures.
The compulsory age to start primary school is five but many schools opt to stagger the start for 4 year olds. Jane speaks to Tony Draper, President of the National Association of Head Teachers and journalist and mother Louise Tickle about the advantages and disadvantages.
Athletes such as Anna Watkins and Jessica Ennis-Hill all returned to training after giving birth but what level of exercise is safe during and after pregnancy for anyone who is not training for a major sporting event but who is keen to remain fit and healthy? Jane is joined by Jennifer Jones who went to the gym four times a week while pregnant, and Dr Vanessa Mackey from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Caroline Donne.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b0680g6f)
Bindi Business: Series 1
Episode 3
After a promising start Bindi’s Beauty Box appears to be in danger of falling apart. Has Bindi taken on more than she can manage?
Tanika Gupta's drama series about an eccentric 'olderpreneur's' adventures in business.
BINDI.....Meera Syal
ANU.....Krupa Pattani
SAM.....Will Ash
UNCLE BASH.....Vincent Ebrahim
Director: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b04xs4b8)
Sophia and Amber - Eating and Not Eating
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who are dedicated to promoting understanding of anorexia, after one of them got through it with the help of the other.
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 Donald Duck Gets Drafted (b0680gts)
Marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, illustrator and animator Gerald Scarfe tells the story of Disney's fascinating on and off-screen contribution to the war effort.
The programme explores how the iconic Studio in California became a war plant in the 1940s, churning out groundbreaking military training films and propaganda shorts, educational posters and leaflets, along with insignias for troops to help boost morale on the frontline.
Gerald, who worked as production designer on Disney's 1997's big screen animation Hercules, examines what motivated Walt to offer his artists' inkwells as weapons of war. He uncovers why Donald Duck rather than Mickey Mouse became the Studio's wartime mascot and reveals which film reportedly put Walt on Hitler's own personal hit list. He also examines Walt Disney's personal role as a Goodwill Ambassador in South America, intended to help stem potential Nazi influence.
Produced by Kellie Redmond
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b0680gtv)
Series 4
The Stag
Damien and Anthony celebrate their stag weekend in Dublin when their plans to spend it at the opera are ruined by the weather. Meanwhile, Ian is tasked with looking after Damien's mother who is recovering from laser eye surgery.
Starring:
Miles Jupp as Damien Trench
Justin Edwards as Anthony
Philip Fox as Ian Frobisher/Damien's dad/Anthony's dad
Brendan Dempsey as Mr Mullaney
Selina Cadell as Damien's mother
Alex Tregear as The Waitress
Chris Brand as Ray Jarrow
and
Stephen Critchlow as The Chef/Policeman
The producer was Sam Michell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b067vwnn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 The Why Factor (b0680gtx)
Why do so many societies mark the end of childhood?
Two girls, two stories, two very different outcomes. A party for one... a painful ordeal for another.
Mike Williams asks Why societies around the world, mark a single, special day as the point when childhood ends and adulthood begins?
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b0680gtz)
Railcard discounts, Green Deal savings, Garden ornaments
Virgin Trains is withdrawing a discount which for years has allowed railcard holders to use off-peak tickets at peak-time. For some passengers the change will mean much more expensive fares. One disabled You & Yours listener tells us that the cost of her weekly trip to London will more than triple. Virgin is the only company to have offered the discount. We hear why they have chosen to withdraw it now.
The Green Deal was meant to help homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient. The idea was to take out a loan to pay for energy saving measures and pay it back through the money saved on the reduced energy bills. But it was closed by the government six weeks ago. Energy minister Amber Rudd said it was time for a new policy that provided better value for money to the taxpayer. But what about the homeowners who signed up for the scheme? Did they get the savings it promised?
The gardening industry is currently worth an estimated £5 billion a year in the UK. One growth area is in garden ornaments. We investigate the increasing popularity of gnomes, dragons, fairies and gargoyles.
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
WED 12:57 Weather (b067vwnq)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b068yn51)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Edward Stourton.
WED 13:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b0680gv1)
Hitler's Library
Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma
8.Hitler's Library
The historical ideas that influenced the Third Reich, and how the horrors of Hitler's so-called "dark charisma" have affected European attitudes to political charisma ever since.
Francine Stock's starting point are the books in Hitler's library and the ideas which he drew from them. She talks with Professor John Adair from the UN about the influential "Great Man" theory of the Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle; and with Professor Michael Kenny from the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary, University of London, about the writings of the German sociologist, Max Weber, who died in 1920 but whose key work on charisma would have been known to Hitler.
Francine moves on to consider how the atrocities of the Hitler years have created a suspicion of charismatic political leadership across Europe to this day - as witnessed, perhaps, in Angela Merkel's "drab charisma", or the ambivalence of the British electorate towards Tony Blair.
With the help of writer and broadcaster Abdel Bari Atwan, author of an important new book on the "Digital Caliphate" of the so-called Islamic State, Francine wonders whether the dark charismatic power of an individual leader such as Hitler is now being replaced by a more diffuse but equally sinister online presence.
Reader: Simon Russell Beale
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b067x5j3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 The Interrogation (b0680hnt)
Series 4
Tom
D.C.I. Max Matthews and D.S. Sean Armitage are from different generations and different worlds but together they make an excellent team. It's Sean's first day back at work since he was seriously injured in the line of duty and both men are finding it hard to adjust. Today's interviewee is Tom, the son of a wealthy scrap metal merchant who is also an old colleague of Max's.
DCI Max Matthews ..... Kenneth Cranham
DS Sean Armitage ..... Alex Lanipekun
Tom ..... Luke Norris
Debbie Ross ..... Susan Brown
Director ..... Mary Peate
Writer ..... Roy Williams
WED 15:00 The New Workplace (b067vh8v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b067x7gb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Inconspicuous Consumption (b055j9s1)
Series 1
Exist Through the Gift Shop
This series aims to look at the cultural consumption that other media ignore. We treasure our great museums and galleries, but they increasingly depend on income and we increasingly depend on purchases to somehow validate our visit.
So what's in a postcard, a piece of replica jewellery or a tin of Rosetta Stone Mints? When we give a gift from a museum shop, what are we telling the recipient?
Nick Baker visits museums and galleries in London and Liverpool, hanging around gift shops and quizzing customers on how their purchases relate to what they've seen in the exhibitions to which they relate. If they relate. Some gallery gift shops feature stuff that's not really connected to the exhibits within. Others offer expensive replicas, like the British Museum's Elgin Marble gifts.
Andy Warhol famously predicted that one day, "All department stores will become museums, and all museums will become department stores." At a Warhol exhibition in Tate Liverpool, this seems to be becoming true. Shoppers there reflect on their purchases, how they relate to the consumer-focused artist who inspired them, and what they'll do with them when they get them home.
Sharon Macdonald, a cultural anthropologist and keen museum shopper explains how museums simultaneously are and aren't like department stores, and we visit the V&A jewellery department to ask people whether, when they look at the exhibits, they imagine themselves wearing them.
Produced and Presented by Nick Baker
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b0680hnw)
Rebekah Brooks returns, Call for controls on BBC website, Turkish media, Chair of Atvod
Rebekah Brooks is returning to News Corp as chief executive of its UK division, a year after she was cleared of all phone hacking charges. Her appointment has been condemned by Hacked Off and the shadow culture secretary Chris Bryant. What impact will her return have on a business that has tried to re-shape its image in light of the phone hacking scandal? Steve hears from Peter Preston, former editor of the Guardian.
The News Media Association, the trade body for the UK newspaper industry, is calling on the government to implement 10 changes around the scope of the BBC's digital news services. In its submission to the government green paper on the BBC charter review, it says it "fundamentally disagrees" with the corporation's ambition to grow this area of its business. Steve Hewlett talks to Mark Oliver, former head of strategy at the BBC, and founder of Oliver and Ohlbaum - the firm commissioned to write the report.
Following the arrest of two British journalists working for Vice News on the charge of aiding a terrorist organisation, we discuss the state of press freedom in Turkey. Steve is joined by former editor of The Guardian Peter Preston, who travelled to Turkey in his previous role of chairman of the International Press Institute (IPI) and Turkish journalist Yavuz Baydar, the founding member of P24, the Platform for Independent Media.
ATVOD, The Authority for Television On-Demand, is the independent co-regulator for the editorial content of UK video on-demand services. With websites of every stripe publishing video content to entice viewers, Steve speaks to ATVOD's Chief Executive Peter Johnson about the organisation's ever-broadening remit and how regulation differs between news and entertainment content.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b0680hny)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b067vwns)
The solution to EU's migrant crisis is to bring peace to Syria, says the PM. HIV clinic "sorry" for data breach. Rebekah Brooks back at the helm of Murdoch's UK newspaper empire.
WED 18:30 That Mitchell and Webb Sound (b03jb1wp)
Series 5
Episode 1
The future of farming - battery penguins; Thomas Hardy's exciting idea to make his books even sadder; and the very confusing goings on in a cash-register shop.
Comedy from the lopsided world of David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
With Olivia Colman and James Bachman.
Producer: Gareth Edwards
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b0680jh2)
Pip has several things in hand for David, including organising the new trackway at Brookfield. Having talked to Adam about soil fertility, Pip shares a brainwave with David. In order to make some cash to cover the cost of not hiring contract milker Matthew - and also to improve the soil - Pip suggests they sow stubble turnips. Pip will ask the National Sheep Association if know anyone who'd be interested in over-wintering their sheep on two of their fields.
Adam has seen off his pickers - the farewell party last night went well. Adam outlines his expansion plans to Brian, who predicts disaster - it's far too much area to put down to herbal leys. Adam reminds Brian that he (Adam) is the one taking the risk.
Jolene's so grateful to David for his offer of financial help for the Bull - he and the whole family have pulled together to cover the £26,000 they need - Shula, Elizabeth and Jill. Vowing to pay back every last penny, relieved having thought that was the end for the Bull. Now Jolene just needs to persuade Kenton to accept. He can't possibly refuse, can he?
WED 19:15 Front Row (b0680jh4)
David Hare, Meryl Streep's new film Ricki and the Flash, Max Richter
Playwright, screenwriter and director Sir David Hare, whose plays include Plenty, Pravda, and his trilogy of Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence of War, discusses his career in theatre, film and TV, as he publishes his new memoir The Blue Touch Paper.
Composer Max Richter's latest work, Sleep, which he describes as a personal lullaby for a frenetic world, is an exploration of how music enters the brain even when we're not awake. Richter discusses the new eight-hour piece, how the audience for the premiere will be experiencing it from a bed, and how he'll expect them to nod off during it.
New comedy-drama Ricki and the Flash sees Meryl Streep playing a rock musician who abandoned her family to pursue stardom as she returns home to counsel her divorcing daughter. Larushka Ivan-Zedah reviews.
Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0680g6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 FutureProofing (b0680jh6)
Food
Presenters Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson taste some strange foods of the future, as they investigate how technology and a rising global population might transform what we eat.
With a predicted two billion extra mouths to feed by 2050 and a rapidly rising obesity problem in many richer countries, the world faces a 21st century food crisis which combines the threats of starvation and ill health from over-eating at the same time.
FutureProofing examines possible responses to these twin problems: change in the way food is produced, and change in the way we think about food and its place in our lives, could significantly alter what we eat in the decades to come. Visiting Italy, the programme finds what solutions are on offer at the huge Expo 2015, as countries from across the world present their ideas for the future of food.
Producer: Jonathan Brunert.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b0680jh8)
The Power of Dreams
Shane McCorristine thinks we are losing out by no longer talking about our dreams, in contrast to our ancestors.
"This collapse in the democratic dream-archive may well have implications for the historians of the future, who will have little access to the most amazing stories of our innermost fears and desires."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
WED 21:00 From Enlightenment to Entanglement (b067x47p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Bringing Up Britain (b0680g5x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b0680k6l)
Migrant crisis - photo of drowned boy sparks outcry.
Body of Syrian child washed up on Turkish beach - could photo change public attitudes?
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0680k6n)
Simon Mawer - Tightrope
Episode Eight
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no one moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Eight.
By Simon Mawer. Marian feels vulnerable without Absolon and unsure about who to trust. Then she receives some unexpected news.
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:00 Elvis McGonagall Takes a Look on the Bright Side (b0680k6q)
Series 2
A Wholly Holistic Elvis
Elvis is feeling distinctly off-colour and Trouble has terrible wind, so when an outbreak of an obscure new strain of flu from the Himalayas is announced, he fears the worst.
Can traditional medicine help them? Or do man and dog simply need to think positive? The two invalids set out boldly in search of alternative health.
Series two of Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks, broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee.
With the hindrance of his dog Trouble and his friend Susan Morrison, Elvis tries hard to accentuate the positive - but the negative has a nasty habit of coming back to roost with the grim regularity of an unimaginative pigeon.
Elvis MacGonagall ...... Richard Smith
Narrator ...... Clarke Peters
Susan ...... Susan Morrison
Dexter Clarke ...... Roger Lloyd Thompson
With Lewis MacLeod, Gabriel Quigley and Helen Braunholtz-Smith.
Recorded on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.
Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.
Director: Frank Stirling
A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015.
WED 23:15 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b02147zz)
Series 2
About Difficult Dads
Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing: 6. About Difficult Dads
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.'
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 - turning 50 and doesn't want to.
Shirley a.k.a. Grandma - can't believe she left the paradise in the West Indies and came to the freezing United Kingdom for a better life so that years later her grandson could 'tell jokes!' How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!
Each episode illustrates the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his disapproving family as he tries to pursue his chosen career.
About Difficult Dads
Nathan's Dad celebrates his 50th birthday but resents being made to feel middle-aged by his son. So, he challenges him to see who is The Man of the House.
Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Additional Material by Ola and Maff Brown
Producer: Katie Tyrrell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
WED 23:30 The Invention of... (b03f97nz)
Italy
Episode 3
Misha Glenny concludes the Invention of Italy in the Alps and Trieste, ambitious targets of Italian warmongers in the First World War.
"You need to think of the fighting taking place in Flanders applied in the rocky limestone of the Alps .... the Italians at the bottom, the Austrians at the top." Mark Thompson, The White War
In 1915 Italy entered the Great War on the side of France, Britain and Russia. The aim ? To gain new territory up north to the watershed of the Alps; and also east over the Adriatic into parts of what later became Yugoslavia. The price of these ambitions - nearly three quarters of a million Italians dead in the snow and rock. They died upholding the nationalist belief this new Italian nation - barely fifty years old - needed to spill blood to prove itself, to demonstrate they were not just waiters and ice cream salesmen.
Chief among the characters who dragged Italy into war was a poet, Gabrielle d'Annunzio, bald as a coot and a great seducer of Italian women, and Italian minds. In the third and final Invention of Italy, Misha Glenny travels along the frontline, from Trieste via alpine trenches to Lake Garda, where d'Annunzio's Vittoriale degli Italiani attempted to create an Italian fighting tradition by dragging a battleship up the hill and setting it among ornamental gardens.
With expert contributions from Joze Serbec of the Kobarid museum in Slovenia; Lucy Hughes-Hallet, author of The Pike, the autobiography of d'Annunzio shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; plus Simon Winder, David Gilmour, David Laven, and Mark Thompson, author The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front.
THURSDAY 03 SEPTEMBER 2015
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b067vwr1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b0680g64)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b067vwr3)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b067vwr5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b067vwr7)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b067vwr9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0695dsw)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b068c7n5)
Harvest update, EU emergency agriculture summit, Pork sales to China
Whilst rain continues to impede the harvest, we hear from Lincolnshire farmer Tim Lamyman who's broken not just one but two world records for the highest yields per hectare, one for oil seed rape, the other for wheat.
Ahead of next Monday's emergency EU agriculture summit in Brussels, Irish farmers call for more help from the Commission, in the face of falling farm incomes resulting from the lower food prices across dairy, grain and other sectors.
Since the 1970's, China's consumption of pork has risen seven-fold. Nearly half the world's pigs are in China. So how can a British pork processor succeed in such a competitive market? Cranswick Country Foods has annual revenues of a billion pounds, and processes 30% of the UK's pork. It sends out 35 containers a week to China. Anna Hill meets Andrew Taylor at Cranswick's abattoir and processing plant in Watton in Norfolk, to hear about the strong market they have developed for the so-called "fifth quarter" - the bits which other countries don't want.
Produced by Mark Smalley and presented by Anna Hill.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvsly)
Brown Noddy
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents a seabird with a worldwide distribution, the brown noddy. Expert fliers, the brown noddy is seldom seen near land and is highly pelagic, wandering extensively in warm tropical waters where it searches for small fish and squid which are captured by hover-dipping and contact-dipping. However in the Galapagos Islands, brown noddies have learnt to sit on the heads of brown pelicans hoping to steal fish from their open gular pouches; a behaviour known as kleptoparasitism (literally, parasitism by theft).
THU 06:00 Today (b068c7n8)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Great Lives (b065vrl8)
Series 37
Michael Howard on Elizabeth I
Matthew Parris meets the former leader of the Conservative Party Michael Howard to discuss the life of Elizabeth I of England.
They're joined by Professor Paulina Kewes of Jesus College Oxford.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
THU 09:30 Last Day (b04hvxbk)
Shutting Down
Trampolining is the most important thing in Ollie Monroe's life. He was a national competitor, is now a coach, and has invested an incredible amount of time, money and energy into building up a successful trampoline club. Now, through no fault of his own, the club is due to shut. We join him for his emotional last day.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b0680lpf)
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads
Episode 4
Paul Theroux's account of his car journeys across America's southern states is timely,
and abridged for radio by Katrin Williams:
4. At Aiken's steeplechase event he meets well-healed locals, mainly horse
people and cotton baron descendents. Then he visits a hovel, once inhabited
by Melvin Johnson, who has stories to tell..
Reader Henry Goodman
Producer Duncan Minshull.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0680lph)
The working life of Women Police Officers, Nannerl Mozart, lawyer Ann Olivarius
Three senior police officers reflect on their careers: what took them into policing, what are their greatest challenges and what have been the high and low moments. Jenni speaks to assistant commissioner Helen King of the Metropolitan Police responsible for Roads Policing and Criminal Justice and the lead for improving public confidence in the police and continuing to drive down crime across the city; to assistant chief constable Nikki Holland of South Wales Police with responsibility for specialist crime which includes the Joint Scientific Investigation Unit, Tarian / Regional Organised Crime Unit and Wales Extremist Counter Terrorist Unit; and to temporary deputy chief constable Louisa Rolfe of Avon and Somerset Police. Among her responsibilities are The Criminal Investigation Department, and she has led projects to raise awareness around violence against women and girls.
Nannerl Mozart was the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus. She was a virtuoso performing alongside her brother during the family's tour of Europe. So why have we never heard of her? She was an extremely talented musician and she composed music, although none of her compositions survive. Jenni speaks to Sylvia Milo, actress and creator of the play 'The Other Mozart' and Professor John Irving, a Mozart scholar.
Leading lawyer Ann Olivarius represents women's rights in education and work. She talks about tackling sexual harassment on campus in a landmark case against Yale in 1980, and how 35 years on she's still fighting the problem in the UK today, and taking on newly emerging revenge porn cases.
Jacky Collis Harvey talks about her book which charts the chequered fortunes and meaning of red hair and redheadness across time and culture.
Presenter Jenni Murray
Producer: Claire Bartleet.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b0680lpk)
Bindi Business: Series 1
Episode 4
Now that Bindi's Beauty Box has hit some problems, Bindi desperately needs inspiration and guidance.
Tanika Gupta's drama series about a mobile beauty business.
BINDI.....Meera Syal
RAJ.....Chris Nayak
HEMA.....Rina Fatania
DWAYNE....Andonis Anthony
Director: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b0680lpm)
Hodei - The Man Who Vanished
The last time anyone saw Hodei Egiluz, a 23-year-old computer engineer from Spain, was on a night out in the Belgian port of Antwerp in October 2013. Hodei is one of roughly 10,000 people who disappear in Europe every year. But his case has sparked a remarkable response. Practically his entire home town in Spain got behind the Belgian police search in one way or another. The search for Hodei triggered a campaign which eventually drew in figures such as footballer Ronaldo and the prime minister of Spain. But two years on Hodei is still missing. For Crossing Continents, Neal Razzell retraces Hodei's last hours in Antwerp and tries to unravel the mystery surrounding his disappearance. Producer: Charlotte McDonald.
THU 11:30 JD Salinger's Spiritual Quest (b050rz2r)
When the late American author JD Salinger ceased publishing and withdrew from the public gaze, he left many with a fractured understanding of the man behind the writing.
His books, including Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories, supported the belief that Salinger flew from one religious conviction to another. However, recently released letters reveal a deep and enduring relationship with both Hindu philosophy and a New York based monk.
There's always been a certain mystique to the iconic Salinger. While The Catcher in the Rye has sold over 65 million copies, the author lived much of his life as a recluse. But, even while out of the spotlight, Salinger continued to write letters. He was a keen correspondent with friends and family - including the spiritual leader of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York, Swami Nikhilananda.
In this programme, Vishva Samani investigates what the letters might tell us about Salinger's relationship with Hindu philosophy and, in turn, his literature.
Today, the hidden and pervasive influence of Vedanta and Indian philosophy is interwoven into all our daily lives. We talk of karma, practice yoga, and every politician has a 'mantra'. However in the 1950's and 1960s, few outside of India Salinger had heard these terms.
As a journalist and Hindu centred in Vedanta, Vishva Samani seeks to clarify whether Salinger just dabbled or if his faith went deeper. She reveals how Vedanta left India to reach not just the Western World, but other brilliant minds including William James, Leo Tolstoy, Nikola Tesla, Aldous Huxley and, of course, Salinger.
Producer: Russell Crewe
A Like It Is Media production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (b067vwrf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 The Why Factor (b0680lxv)
Why is our hair such an important part of who we are?
Why is hair such an important part of who we are?
Each year we spend billions of dollars on cutting, shaping and colouring our hair. It's important for personal, cultural and symbolic reasons.
But why? Find out, as Mike Williams hears the stories of people who have had their hair taken from them...
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b068cbfw)
Wine promotions, Benefit delays, Runner jobs
More people are currently going to Citizens Advice with problems with Personal Independence Payments than anything else. The payments replaced Disability Living Allowance in 2013, but since then the advice charity has had 300,000 queries about it - and 20,000 appeals have been lodged. Winifred Robinson meets one man who took his appeal to tribunal and won, but has still been waiting more than 6 weeks for payment.
Running jobs in the film and TV industries are few and far between, and competition is fierce. Now the government is looking into websites that charge freelancers a monthly subscription to search and apply for work.
Plus how many wine bottles on supermarket 'promotion' are in reality a good deal? Research for You & Yours finds on average a quarter of all bottles are on offer. A former buyer for one of the big supermarkets gives us his verdict.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
THU 12:57 Weather (b067vwrh)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b068ynp8)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Edward Stourton.
THU 13:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b0680lxz)
The Nelson Effect
Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma
9.The Nelson Effect
The charisma of humility and service in Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama
Throughout the series, Francine Stock has been fascinated to learn that charisma is an amoral quality - value-free, neither positive nor negative in itself, with the potential to do good or harm depending on those who harness it. In the previous episode, she considered the appalling impact of Hitler's "dark charisma".
She now turns to two 21st century individuals who have used their charisma to serve their people: Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
Francine talks with Moeletsi Mbeki, Deputy Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs, who knew Nelson Mandela well and who anatomises his particularly powerful type of charisma. And she hears from Jas Elsner, who has worked closely with the Dalai Lama, and who explains how his religious upbringing and belief underpin his charisma.
In an era in which the casual use of the term charisma has proliferated, Professor John Potts - who recently came across an advertisement for a "charismatic sandwich" (one in which the lettuce was particularly crisp) - discusses the importance of authenticity in the truly charismatic.
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b0680jh2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b0680s8k)
The Toffee Tip
A semi-autobiographical childhood adventure-comedy, written and directed by Johnny Vegas.
Money is tighter than ever in the Pennington household and nobody is feeling the pinch more than Johnny. His favourite Dandelion and Burdock has been replaced with Council Pop (water). He's been reduced to window shopping at their local corner shop and his Mum has taken up knitting again.
All seems desperate until Johnny's friend Ian is short changed on a bag of crisps and the shop's proprietor reveals the existence of the toffee tip - a local dumping ground for all shop spoiled confectionery.
The boys plan a daring expedition way beyond the confines of Hayes Street in search of its discarded sugary delights.
Baffling bus routes, a traveller's camp and a lost tin opener threaten to thwart them at every turn and test their solidarity to breaking point.
This coming of age tale reminds us of the magical hinterland of being still young enough to believe the impossible, but just old enough to be aware of the harsh realities of what might actually lie ahead.
Other parts played by Johnny Vegas, Peter Slater, Tigga Goulding and James Brown
Producer: Sally Harrison
Writer and Director: Johnny Vegas
A Woolyback production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b0680s8m)
The Peak District
Helen Mark is in the Peak District to meet Mountain Rescue Team who keep visitors safe should they come a cropper when enjoying the rugged countryside.
The Peak District is one of the most popular destinations in the world as over half the UK's population lives within an hour of the area. Helen takes to two wheels to discover the network of traffic-free cycle tracks, before meeting the Buxton Mountain Rescue team on one of their exercises. The summer is one of their busiest of times and they regularly train so that they are ready for any situation that they are faced with.
Presenter: Helen Mark
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b067x8m6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b067xcy8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b0680s8p)
Liv Ullmann, Brian Helgeland on the Kray twins
With Francine Stock.
Liv Ullmann discusses Miss Julie, Ingmar Bergman and Sex And The City, and why she turned down the opportunity to play George Clooney's love interest.
Brian Helgeland reveals why he decided to cast Tom Hardy to play both Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie, in his new bio-pic Legend.
Model maker Jose Granell on what it's like to see your best work blown to smithereens and how he built his own miniature submarine from a manual.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b0680s8r)
El Nino, Sphagnum moss and peatlands, Inside Cern, Measuring air pollution with iPhones
Tracey Logan investigates the latest science news. Roland Pease reports on recent warnings that we're heading for one of the most severe El Ninos on record which could distort weather patterns around the world. Spongey sphagnum moss provides a protective layer to peat lands but in the bogs of the Peak District industrial and urban air pollution has killed nearly all the moss. This means the peat lands can erode releasing tonnes of ancient carbon. Tracey talks to horticultural ecologist, Neal Wright about his technique for creating tiny gel beads of sphagnum moss to spray on the moors to help restore their peat lands back to health. Marnie Chesterton talks to John Butterworth about his book, 'Smashing Physics' which is another short-listed entry for the Royal Society Winton book prize. He talks about the highs and lows of the discovery of the Higgs Boson and why CERN might soon be creating dark matter. Tracey talks to Toby Shannon, from the Institute of Physics about the International Year of Light citizen science project to measure air pollution using an iPhone. Details on how to take part here: http://ispex-eu.org/.
THU 17:00 PM (b068ynpb)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b067vwrk)
Angry migrants refuse to leave a train in Hungary that took them to a refugee camp.
THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (b0680s8t)
Series 5
Loggerheads
One of the world's best storytellers is back on BBC Radio 4 doing what he does best.
This week, we find how turtles have featured in the writer's life since childhood in Loggerheads and we hear a final extract from his peerless diaries.
Produced by Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b0680s8w)
Jennifer's working on an updated leaflet for the SAVE campaign, as Kate has taken over the house with business planning for her retreats. Jennifer feels that Adam's plans will soon have the farm buzzing. Yes, says Brian - with bailiffs.
Susan's keen for Justin's financial backing with the Village Hall restoration - Neil has written to Justin. Clarrie's surprised to hear the plan is to build a new hall and knock down the old one. Susan's letter against Hazel Woolley has appeared in the Echo. She has also been putting out protest posters, and had a run in with Tom. Clarrie's mortified to also spot in the Echo a feature on the Opera, which details Eddie's mobile phone going off
Rob's rather irritated when a late builder makes him miss seeing Henry off for his first day at school. Helen stops by at Bridge Farm's lagoon to fill in time before going back for Henry. She chats to Johnny who's clearing reeds. Henry seem to be coping ok but Helen admits the house felt empty, so she came here.
Helen's apologetic to Rob about the mix up with Henry. As they discuss potential builders for the shop, Rob decides on two building firms and assures Helen they won't let them down - he knows how to keep a close eye on people.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b0680s8y)
Jed Mercurio, Cartel Land, Michel Houellebecq
Jed Mercurio, the acclaimed writer of Line of Duty, talks about his latest project: an adaptation of Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover. At first glance it's a surprising choice for a writer of contemporary urban tv dramas but he tells Samira how he believes the issues of class and the impact of war on people's lives mean it still hits home - and why he's chosen to leave some of Lawrence's frank language about sex on the page.
Documentary Cartel Land delves into the world of Mexican drug cartels by following two modern-day vigilante groups operating on either side of the US-Mexico border. Molly Dineen reviews this double Sundance winner for Front Row.
The French literary novelist, poet, and essayist Michel Houellebecq is in conversation with Samira about his contentious novel Submission, which is about to be published in English. The storyline - which caused controversy when it was published in French earlier this year - envisions a near-future France where Islamic law comes into force. It was published on the same day as the massacre at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which killed 11 people.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Ella-mai Robey.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b0680lpk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b0680s90)
The IRA and Sexual Abuse
Máiría Cahill was Irish republican royalty. So it sent shockwaves through the republican movement when she spoke out last year about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a senior IRA operative. Cahill tells her story to BBC Northern Ireland's Jennifer O'Leary.
Presenter: Jennifer O'Leary
Producer: Ben Crighton.
THU 20:30 In Business (b0680s92)
Colombian Women
An International Labour Organization report ranked Colombia second globally for the percentage of women in middle and senior management positions. Peter Day investigates why Colombian women have managed to advance in business and whether the figures are a true reflection of life for women in a country known for its machismo culture.
Producer: Keith Moore.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b0680s8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Great Lives (b065vrl8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b0680t85)
David Cameron defends Britain's record on helping people fleeing Syria
PM comes under pressure to accept more refugees.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0680t87)
Simon Mawer - Tightrope
Episode Nine
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Nine.
By Simon Mawer. Marian encounters a man from her past with disastrous consequences. She receives news that forces her to take action and make a plan.
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Woman's Hour (b0680ttg)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Lesbian and Gay Identity
With equal marriage, protection against discrimination and online culture changing the way that the LGBTQ can meet, what does it mean to be gay in the 21st century? Jane Garvey and guests discuss. With Julie Bindel, journalist and campaigner; Matt Cook, Professor of Modern History at Birkbeck, University of London, who specializes in the history of sexuality; Eleanor Margolis. freelance journalist; Joe Stone, writer and Zing Tsjeng - the UK editor of Broadly.
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
FRIDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 2015
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b067vwtq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b0680lpf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b067vwtv)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b067vwtx)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b067vwv1)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b067vwv3)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b068yq82)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b068lsn4)
Badger Cull confirmed by Defra, Protesting French farmers, Exporting Scottish salmon to China
With Defra having confirmed that the 2015 pilot badger cull is now underway across three counties in the west of England - Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset - Martin Surl, who is Gloucestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner describes the lessons police have learnt in the first two years of the cull.
Nancy Nilcolson reports that Scottish farmed salmon has already found a regular market in Beijing. Marine Harvest exports around 50 tonnes of salmon a week to China. She visits the company's processing plant in Fort William, where the freshly gutted fish are loaded into air freight boxes.
As autumn arrives, so does the game season, with the shooting season for partridge having begun this week. One of the UK's largest game bird hatcheries is in Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales. Rachel Garside hears that there are opportunities for more farmers to diversify into game shooting.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Mark Smalley.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dv7fc)
Blue Bird of Paradise
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the blue bird of paradise. The crow sized blue birds of paradise provide a spectacular flash of blue in the Papua New Guinea rainforests yet it is the males dazzling courtship performance which grabs a female's attention. Tipping forward from his perch he hangs upside down fluffing out and shimmering his gauzy breast feathers. As if this weren't enough, as the female approaches, he increases the frequency of his calls to produce a hypnotic mechanical buzzing, more like the song of a giant cicada than any bird.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
FRI 06:00 Today (b068lsmh)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 The Reunion (b067xb8r)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b06810pl)
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads
Episode 5
Paul Theroux's account of his car journeys across America's southern states
is timely, and abridged for radio by Katrin Williams:
5. He takes to the backroads of Georgia and Alabama, which smell of sun-heated tar.
The fields are full of cotton and the big rivers beckon..
Reader Henry Goodman
Producer Duncan Minshull.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b068lsn6)
Sona Jobarteh, Women in Islamic State, Rose Bretecher and OCD
Sona Jobarteh is the first female virtuoso on the kora - the West African harp. She talks about her role as a woman in this traditionally male musical tradition and she performs live in the studio.
The number of Britons travelling to Syria to live under 'Islamic State' peaked two years ago, but the proportion of women among those still joining the extremist group has risen dramatically. The BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner and Dr Katherine Brown, an expert in Islamic Studies at King's College London discuss how women are essential to the IS political strategy.
Rose Bretécher's memoir 'Pure' reveals her struggle with a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in which she experiences intrusive and unthinkable thoughts - often sexual or violent in content. Rose explains what it is like living with the disorder.
The historian Katherine Connelly takes us on the next stage of her tour exploring women's history in the East End of London. And our Queens of Crime series - crime writers Lin Anderson and Simon Brett discuss the work of PD James.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Dianne McGregor.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b06810pn)
Bindi Business: Series 1
Episode 5
With her family’s help, can Bindi overcome her business obstacles and lead Bindi's Beauty Box to success?
Tanika Gupta's drama about an 'olderpreneur' who sets up a mobile beauty business.
BINDI.....Meera Syal
RAJ.....Chris Nayak
ANU.....Krupa Pattani
UNCLE BASH....Vincent Ebrahim
Director: Nadia Molinari
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.
FRI 11:00 Mending Young Minds (b06810pq)
Teenagers
In this moving and insightful two part series for BBC Radio 4, children and teenagers receiving treatment at the world renowned Tavistock Centre in London share their experience of living with mental health problems.
Over recent years the number of British children suffering from psychiatric illnesses has increased considerably and the age of presentation is falling. The Sunday Times has reported that the number of children admitted to hospital for self-harm, eating disorders and other psychological problems has doubled in four years. One in 10 five-to-16-year-olds has a mental health disorder, according to a 2014 Parliamentary task force report, and there has been a dramatic increase in demand for childhood and adolescent mental health services across the country.
In this programme, Dr. Juliet Singer goes inside the consulting room to speak to teenage patients, their parents and therapists about what's it's like to live with mental illness - including depression, suicidal thoughts, self-harm and anxiety - and how they are being treated.
The series explores why mental health problems among young people appear to be getting worse, with increased pressures from schools, parents, peer groups and social media.
Presenter: Juliet Singer
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Sisters (b06810ps)
Series 1
No Friends
Blake has a new girlfriend meaning Susan is even more at a loose end than usual. Unfortunately, it's time Susan chooses to spend irritating Fiona.
In a bid to occupy her, Fiona introduces Susan to some of her work friends but her attempts to control Susan's behaviour are ignored and Susan is soon proving herself to be a social liability – or at least in Fiona’s eyes. From Susan’s point of view, she has become the life and soul of the party.
It becomes a battle for the friends' attentions, with Susan and Fiona each attempting to prove they are the more fun sibling. Meanwhile, Blake's relationship with hipster girlfriend Martine gets seriously challenged by a resentful Susan .
Written by Susan Calman
Starring Susan Calman, Ashley Jensen and Nick Helm.
Producer: Mollie Freedman Berthoud
Executive Producer: Paul Schlesinger
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b067vwv9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 The Why Factor (b06810pv)
Why do so many men wear a tie?
It's mundane. About 150 centimetres long, often made of satin or silk and worn by millions, mostly by men, every day. Mike Williams explores the enduring appeal of the tie.
It's a paradoxical item of clothing: One the one hand, it expresses a desire to fit in and conform - to belong - yet it also says something about our need to demonstrate our individuality. Historically, wearing a tie has meant many different things: from being seen as being anti-Islamic in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, to representing subversion and being a symbol of sub-cultural cool.
Producer: Jim Frank
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b06810px)
Speed courses, Carers handbook, Selfie fashion
Do police sponsored speed courses have any impact on your motor insurance premiums?
Foodies find axing of Food Tech A level hard to swallow.
How changing room selfies influence fashion choices?
Bingo's back:the Chief Executive of big bingo operator Mecca explains why.
The App helping care workers deliver a better service with dignity.
The landlords holding onto tenants deposits.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b067vwvf)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b06810pz)
The Prime Minister says Britain will take thousands more refugees from Syria - but directly from camps in the middle east, not those who've already made it to Europe ... We ask International Development Secretary Justine Greening "How many is thousands -- and does the policy make sense?"
We look at the newly published Prisoner of War records with a former POW. And we enjoy the sounds of the coast as chosen by the British Library and National Trust.
Presented by Mark Mardell.
FRI 13:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b06810q1)
The New Corinthians
Francine Stock's final attempt to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma.
10.The New Corinthians
Francine Stock examines the paradox at the heart of charisma today: that we recognise its intangibility and often debunk it, but continue to crave it and even believe we can buy it.
Her starting point is the banking crisis of 2008. She talks with Elesa Zhendorfer about her new book on the role of charismatic leadership in the volatile world of banking; and hears from business journalist and broadcaster Peter Day, who passionately denounces the narcissistic role of so-called charismatic leaders in business and finance today.
Francine then returns to the beginnings of her search, hearing about today's version of charismatic Christianity in today's largely secular society, and its attempts to use charisma for the common good, in accordance with St Paul's original definition.
Francine Stock concludes by wondering whether we can turn this gift of grace to shared advantage: "After all," she states, "We get the charismatics we deserve."
Producer : Beaty Rubens.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b0680s8w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Brief Lives (b06810q3)
Series 8
Episode 3
Drama: Brief Lives by Tom Fry and Sharon Kelly
More tales from the team of Manchester's finest paralegals. Frank's mate Mickey is organising a surprise birthday party for his young wife Magda, but she is implicated in a crime that might blow their marriage apart. Meanwhile Ronnie is becoming involved with a charismatic older man who runs a voluntary organisation.
Director/Producer Gary Brown.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b06810q5)
Liverpool
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Liverpool. Matthew Wilson, Christine Walkden and Pippa Greenwood answer questions from the audience.
Producer: Howard Shannon
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Angielski (b06810q7)
Woman of Your Dreams by AM Bakalar
Three newly commissioned stories offering different angles on the Polish experience in London.
Estimates vary but there are now approximately 750,000 Poles living in the UK. And Polish is now the second most spoken language in England. Much of this is the result of immigration since Poland joined the EU in 2004 - but there is also an older community that developed in the years after the Polish Resettlement Act of 1947.
Episode 2: Woman of Your Dreams by A.M. Bakalar
In Dorota’s hairdressing salon-cum-living room in Hounslow, Angelika begins to wonder about her self-image.
Reader: Natasha Radski
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b06810q9)
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Joy Beverley, Oliver Sacks, Annette Worsley-Taylor
Matthew Bannister on
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu who founded the National Motor Museum, opened his estate to the public and served a prison sentence for homosexuality. His son, who has succeeded to the title, pays tribute.
Joy Beverley - one of the Beverley sisters who became close harmony singing stars in the 1940s and 50s. She married the England and Wolves footballer Billy Wright, making them the Posh and Becks of their day.
The neurologist Oliver Sacks who told his patients' extraordinary stories in books like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat".
And Annette Worsley-Taylor who started London Fashion Week to promote young British designers.
Producer: Neil George.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b06810qc)
Fit for Work or at Death's Door?
Deaths of people 'fit for work'
Thousands of people are dying after being declared 'fit for work' by the government according to the Guardian. The figures are from a long awaited freedom of information release from the Department for Work and Pensions. But do the figures actually tell us anything? More or Less investigates.
Sugar
Sugar has had a pretty bad press over the last few months and seems to have replaced fat as the current 'evil' in our diets. We look at some of the claims that have been made about rotting teeth and the justifications for a sugar tax.
Zero-hours contracts
The latest figures show a 20% rise - but does this really mean that more people are on zero hours contracts thab=n last year?
Queuing Backwards
Britons love to queue, but have we been getting it wrong? Lars Peter Osterdal from the University of Southern Denmark discusses his theory of how to make queuing more efficient.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b04xs4bx)
John and Fiona - A Second Chance
Fi Glover with a conversation between a father and daughter, both musicians, reflecting on the turn of events that led her to exchange her career as a dancer for one as a singer.
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 (b068c1k3)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b067vwvt)
4/9/2015 Britain will take in thousands of people from UN camps bordering Syria
David Cameron has responded to growing criticism of the government's handling of the refugee crisis by saying that Britain will take in thousands of people from UN camps.
FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (b06811fb)
Series 15
Episode 4
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 (b06811ff)
Opera Singers ..... Pop-up Opera: Eve Daniell, Helen Stanley, Adam Torrance, Oskar McCarthy, Alex Learmonth, Clementine Lovell, Cliff Zammit Stevens, Una Reynolds. MD: Berrak Dyer.
Orchestra ..... Orchestra of the Swan, conducted by David Curtis: Jonathan Hill, Cathy Hamer, Adrian Turner, Bryony James, Stacey Watton, Diane Clarke, Louise Braithwaite, Sally Harrop, Phil Brookes, Francesca Moore-Bridger.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b068c2l4)
Tom Hardy, Dope, Anne Boleyn's songbook
Actor Tom Hardy (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bronson, Locke) on his film about the notorious East End gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, Legend. He talks to Kirsty about the challenges of taking on the roles of both twins, the importance of having the story told through the voice of Reggie's wife Frances, and playing difficult or violent characters without judging them or making them heroes.
Dope centres on three teenagers obsessed with 90s hip-hop culture and what their classmates dub "white-people stuff" - until a chance encounter with a drug dealer leads them into an adventure. Bim Adewunmi reviews.
The government and local authorities own art worth at least £3.5 billion, but the Taxpayers' Alliance say that only 3% of it is available for the public to view. John O'Connell of the Taxpayers' Alliance and Sharon Heal of the Museums Association join Kirsty to discuss.
And Kirsty is given rare access to the original songbook thought to have belonged to Anne Boleyn, a collection of her favourite pieces of music, which has been recorded for the first time. She talks to musicologist David Skinner.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Sarah Johnson.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b06810pn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b06811fh)
Amanda Foreman, Nick Gibb MP, Alan Johnson MP, Ken Livingstone
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from the Dorford Centre in Dorchester with a panel including the historian and author Amanda Foreman, Education Minister Nick Gibb MP, Labour MP Alan Johnson and the former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.
Produced by Lisa Jenkinson.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b06811fk)
The Abolition of Man
John Gray warns about the dangers of science that attempts to enhance human abilities. He says such knowledge can jeopardize the very things that make us human.
More than 70 years after C.S. Lewis wrote "The Abolition of Man", John Gray argues that Lewis' questions are even more relevant today than they were then. "The scientists of Lewis's generation were dissatisfied with existing humankind" he writes. "Using new techniques, they were convinced they could design a much improved version of the species".
But Gray says that while the scientific knowledge needed to remould humanity hardly existed then, it is rapidly developing at the present time.
He believes that the sciences of bioengineering and artificial intelligence carry serious risks. "If at some unknown point in the future it becomes feasible to remould ourselves according to our dreams" he writes, "the result can only be an impoverishment of the human world".
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
FRI 21:00 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b06811fm)
Omnibus
Episode 2
The second omnibus of Francine Stock's major history of the alluring yet elusive quality that is charisma.
This edition brings the power and appeal of charisma up to date by exploring its role in theatre and film stars such as Sarah Bernhardt; self-made businessmen such as W.K.Kellogg, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs; totalitarian leaders including Hitler, and new forms of political extremism such as the so-called Islamic State; civil rights leaders, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama; and the volatile world of contemporary banking.
Francine Stock concludes the series by considering our continuing hunger for charisma, and signs off with this warning: "we get the charismatics we deserve."
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b067vwvw)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b06811qc)
UK is to accept 'thousands' more refugees
Cameron signals shift in the government's approach to the migrant crisis
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06811qf)
Simon Mawer - Tightrope
Episode Ten
A tale of love, betrayal and espionage as the political alliances forged during the Second World War give way to the moral uncertainties of the Cold War.
Marian Sutro is a highly successful British SOE operative working with the French Resistance. Then she is betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück by the Nazis.
Returning to England a broken woman, she attempts to immerse herself in a normal life with a mundane job in London. However, the lure of the secret service and her desire to work for the greater good is never far away.
As the Americans test ever more deadly atomic weapons and the Russians join the frantic race to match them, Marian finds herself in demand by all sides with no moral compass to guide her.
She must walk an increasingly precarious tightrope between her beliefs, her profession and her desires.
Episode Ten.
By Simon Mawer. Sam, now a young man, helps Marian put her final plan into action. Back to the present and she tells him what happened with the rest of her life.
Reader: Peter Firth
Abridger: Jeremy Osborne
Producer: Rosalynd Ward
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 Woman's Hour (b06b89wt)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Thoughts, the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Jane Garvey explores unthinkable thoughts, sexual fantasies and our inner lives with writers Joanna Kavenna, Madeleine Bunting, Annabel Pitcher and psychotherapist Brett Kahr.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04xrj8b)
Eilidh and Alisdair - He'll Always Be Older
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a father and daughter remembering the tragic accidental death of their son/brother and how they have dealt with it.
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.