The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Evicted: Laurie Taylor explores the lives of people who are compelled to leave their homes. Matthew Desmond, Associate Professor in the Social Sciences at Harvard University, went into the poorest neighbourhoods in Milwaulkee to tell the stories of people on the edge of a rapidly expanding form of hardship in America. They're joined by Kirsteen Paton, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Leeds, who provides a British perspective on evictions.
Self Build: creating a home of their own in the absence of 'Grand Designs' style budgets. Michaela Benson, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, discusses her research amongst people who are determined to make affordable housing for themselves and their families.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester.
Michael Morpurgo is best known as a successful and much-loved children's author and the creator of 'War Horse'. Yet he describes his "greatest story" as the rural charity he set up with his wife Clare in 1976. This year Farms for City Children celebrates its 40th anniversary and to mark the occasion we visit Michael and Clare on the isolated Devon farm where the project began. Over the last four decades almost 100,000 children from urban schools have pulled on their wellies to experience the 'muck and magic' of life on a working farm and discovered what it means to feed and care for livestock. Now there are two other farms, one in Pembrokeshire and another in Gloucestershire, providing week-long residential stays. But what challenges face the charity today and what are the prospects for the next 40 years? Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Vernon Harwood.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Steve Backshall presents the yellowhammer. The yellowhammer is a member of the bunting family and its name comes from "ammer" the German for bunting. It's one of the few British birds to have its song transcribed into words and seems to be saying ..a little bit of bread and no cheese".
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
On Start the Week Kirsty Wark asks how we make choices about freedom and authenticity - questions that preoccupied Paris intellectuals in the 1930s. Sarah Bakewell looks back at one of the twentieth century's major philosophical movements - existentialism - and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it. Sartre and de Beauvoir may have spent their days drinking apricot cocktails in café's but Bakewell believes their ideas are more relevant than ever. The historian Sunil Khilnani reveals the Indian thinkers who didn't just talk about philosophy but lived it, and the photographer Stuart Franklin, famous for the pictures of the man in Tiananmen Square who stopped the tanks, discusses the impulse to record and preserve these moments of action. The art historian Frances Borzello looks at the female artists who chose the freedom to present themselves to the world in self-portraits.
Professor Jerry Brotton, one of the UK's leading experts on cultural exchange, examines Queen Elizabeth I's fascination with the Orient. He shows that England's relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we have ever appreciated, and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England.
Derek Jacobi reads the captivating account of how Britain sent ships, treaties and gifts to the royal families of Morocco and Turkey, including a gold carriage and a full-size pipe organ.
In this episode, we discover the origins of our taste for Oriental imports – including the sugar which rotted the teeth of our sovereign.
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2016.
Jane Garvey visits RHS Hyde Hall in Essex with horticulturalist and Guardian writer, Alys Fowler to discuss spring flowers, growing vegetables and foraging.
Matthew Oliver is in charge of planting plans for Hyde Hall's Global Growth Vegetable Garden - he tell how he hopes to inspire young people to grow their own. And Karen Robbirts who works on plant trials at RHS Wisley explains how they decide which ornamental plants and vegetables to test for their Award of Garden Merit.
Heather Cutmore is in charge of propagation at Hyde Hall and talks about succulents for indoors and out. And horticulturalist and mixologist, Lottie Muir mixes a couple of cocktails from her book Wild Cocktails from the Midnight Apothecary.
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
The British steel industry is in meltdown. But one person believes he has worked out how to make it profitable, and he's investing millions. Grace Dent and her producer zoom in on events to try and discover his secret. At stake are thousands of jobs, so does Sanjeev have what it takes to make British steel rise again?
Boswell attempts to write a biography of Karl Marx, but before he can start must help Marx pen his meisterwerk Das Kapital.
Jon Canter’s sitcom sees James Boswell become a time-travelling biographer - doing for other celebrities what he did for Dr Johnson.
James Boswell ..... Miles Jupp
Karl Marx ..... Julian Rhind-Tutt
After the fall of the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, camera crews were allowed inside Romania's state-run orphanages and children's homes for the first time. The appalling conditions shocked the world and a wave of charity workers and volunteers streamed into the country to help improve children's lives. Hundreds of children were adopted by western families. Izidor Ruckel grew up in a Romanian home for 'irrecoverable' children.
Melanie Abbott investigates the story of a man, she is told, who has the ability to gain the trust of individuals who say they then gave him their money. What made them believe him? Would any of us be taken in by a clever con?
She'll follow a trail of victims from an Australian nurse on the trip of a lifetime to a retired British couple living in France, who all say he managed to win their trust. How do they say they found him out? She talks to the hotelier who says she rumbled him and the woman who says she was so taken in by him that she wouldn't believe warnings. With the help of forensic psychologist Mike Berry and science writer Dr Maria Konnikova, she'll unravel the psychology of confidence tricksters. What might help people to see them for what they are?
Well, the answer can be found in this series of programmes in which Brett Westwood joins naturalist Phil Gates on the coast of Northumberland and with the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, they offer a practical and entertaining guide to the wildlife which you’re most likely to see and hear in different coastal habitats beginning with probably everyone’s favourite childhood haunt, the rock pool.
These are home to shore crabs and hermit crabs, as well as sea anemones, breadcrumb sponges and sea squirts. We learn how sea squirts which appear to be little more than bags of fluid clinging to the rocks might be our evolutionary ancestors, we hear how a school teacher invented glass shells to study the reproduction and subsequently house-moving antics of hermit crabs, and discover how when it comes to building, it’s the breadcrumb sponges which have mastered the art with some clever self-assembly scaffolding tricks!
By John Mortimer. Adapted for radio by Richard Stoneman.
Following in the footsteps of several distinguished former Rumpoles - Leo McKern, Maurice Denham, Timothy West and Benedict Cumberbatch - Julian Rhind-Tutt, one of Radio 4's most popular actors and much loved star of TV's Green Wing and The Hour, now dons the wig and white bands of the most erudite, astute, and seldom defeated of barristers in the annals of the Old Bailey.
After waking up with a raging tooth-ache, Rumpole finds himself in no mood to listen to his boring client Reginald Tring, who's accused of the manslaughter of his wife. As Reginald drones on with his mind-numbing evidence, Rumpole suffers throughout the trial, and argues even more angrily than usual with Mr Justice Gwent-Evans. And, when Rumpole accuses the judge of deliberately misleading the jury, Gwent-Evans warns him in no uncertain terms about his future conduct.
But, luckily for Horace, he has Phillida on his side. She goes searching for the truth, and galvanises not only Rumpole's defending counsel - Soapy Sam Ballard QC - but also Rumpole's wife.
What's the better known name for the Flavian Amphitheatre? Which football stadium has the smallest capacity in Premier League history? And which 19th century composer's third symphony is known as the 'Rhenish' because it was inspired by a Rhine excursion?
Contestants from Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Liverpool and York face Russell Davies' notoriously challenging questions, in the final heat of 2016. The programme comes from Media City UK in Salford. Only one automatic place remains in the semi-finals which begin next week. Will any of the runners-up today score enough points to qualify too?
Nigel Molesworth is one of the immortal characters of British literature - a 1950s prep-school boy, the 'goriller of 3B' and the 'curse of st custard's'.
Molesworth's diaries, written by Geoffrey Willans, first appeared in Punch and were later developed into four books, Down with Skool! (1953), How to be Topp (1954), Whizz for Atomms (1956) and Back in the Jug Agane (1959). Illustrated by Ronald Searle as a boy's school sequel to Searle's St Trinian's drawings, they are still in print today.
The books are a kind of satire of 1950s Britain as, after the war, the upper middle classes faced the onslaught of irreverence, the Welfare State and a new generation that didn’t see why authority should be respected. Molesworth’s cynical yet naive outlook on life made him popular with young and old readers in the post-war world. He was a very long way from the clean-cut school fantasies which had entertained the British before the advent of the atomic bomb.
Author Geoffrey Willans had worked as a schoolmaster and understood the cheerful cynicism of boys, while Ronald Searle's illustrative style was dark, Gothic and seething with half-hidden obsessions. Searle had spent much of the war in a Japanese concentration camp where he documented the horrors he encountered, and elaborate psychological points come through with concise and economic observation in his drawings.
With contributions from Steve Bell, Wendy Cope, Max Hastings, Mike Leigh, Chris Riddell, Martin Rowson, Gerald Scarfe and Posy Simmonds.
Since 2010 a Vatican commission has been investigating the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. An announcement is expected soon, amid concerns that the supernatural claims of six visionaries are getting out of the Vatican's control. Beginning in 1981, the apparitions purportedly continue daily, and thousands of pilgrims from all over the world travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers. What exactly are Marian apparitions and how have they been explained? What are some of the stories associated with them? Why have they become such a powerful tool for conversion over recent decades? Are they always an aid to religious devotion or can they lead to unhealthy superstition?
The group which killed more than 70 in Pakistan is threatening to carry out more attacks.
Nicholas Parsons hosts the perennially popular panel game, where contestants must speak for 60 seconds without deviation, hesitation or repetition. This week the guests are Paul Merton, Stephen Fry, Jenny Eclair and Nish Kumar.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
The Grundys head to the re-opening of the Village Hall. Ed is surprised that Alf left without saying goodbye. George has saved up and bought a nice Easter Egg for Emma. Clarrie and Alan discuss the total amount raised for the curtain fund - it's about four hundred pounds. Lynda stresses over the final preparations for the pageant - is a celebrity definitely coming to cut the ribbon? Lynda is on the phone to Jean Harvey, her back-up... when Anneka Rice walks in!
Anneka reminisces about the last time she was in Ambridge. She praises them for their community spirit in the face of floods and other troubles. She declares the refurbished Village Hall open. Justin frets that his character in the pageant is the villain of the piece. He wants to drop out but Lilian insists that would look even worse.
It's time for the pageant! While Justin is onstage, Lynda whispers to Anneka that she tried to reflect local power relationships in the casting. Afterwards, just as Alan is about to announce the total of the curtain fund, he finds the money has gone.
In 1986, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe released their first album as Pet Shop Boys.
30 years on, the most successful British pop duo of all time look back over three decades of stardom and electronic dance music as they prepare for a four-night residency at the Royal Opera House in London in July, and the release of their 13th studio album, Super, this week.
Irish Republicans once looked towards the centenary of the Easter Rising as the date by which they hoped Ireland would be one country. In 2016, the Irish border is still in place. But Republicans say their political strategy will deliver what IRA violence could not: a united Ireland. Unionists, though, say Northern Ireland's status within the UK has never been safer. In this programme, the BBC News Ireland Correspondent Chris Page examines the state of play within Irish nationalism and unionism 100 years after 1916.
The "Irish Question" has perplexed politicians, diplomats and academics in Britain and Ireland. But as Northern Ireland and the Republic approach their second century, the Question is changing. Ulster's Troubles are receding further into history. A new generation of political leaders are coming forward. Nationalists believe the peace process has provided them with the opportunity to persuade unionists to join the united Ireland project. But unionists are looking beyond the border too - But unionists are looking beyond the border too - perhaps to a hybrid political identity that transcends ideas of Britishness, or Irishness in favour of Northern Irishness. Chris has been asking the new voices in Irish politics - north and south - to explain their vision for the future. As the dimensions of the debate evolve, Chris investigates the economic arguments - and considers what, if anything, could bring another seismic shift in Ireland.
Lucy Ash asks why thousands of angry Romanian shepherds recently stormed the parliament in Bucharest. Sparked by an amendment to Romania's hunting law, the unprecedented protest was over plans to limit numbers of sheepdogs and restrict grazing rights. The increasing size of flocks is leading to growing conflict with both hunters and conservationists over land use. Romania has an influential hunting lobby - around two thirds of MPs are hunters - and they accuse shepherds dogs of scaring off or sometimes even killing their quarry. They also claim overgrazing is damaging the natural habitat of the deer, the boar and other wild animals they hunt. Environmental campaigners are concerned that winter grazing by ever larger flocks is having a catastrophic effect on biodiversity. At heart this is an argument about what the countryside is for. Is its main purpose an economic one? Is it primarily for leisure? Or should it be about the people who live there? Shepherds insist the law is an attack on centuries of sheep-rearing and their culture and traditions.
The majority of white and black rhinoceros are found in South Africa. This stronghold for these magnificent creatures is now being threatened by poachers killing rhino for their horns.
Rhino horn, traded illegally in parts of Asia, is thought to be a cooling agent in traditional Chinese medicine. It's recently been hailed as a cure for cancer, and is seen as a status symbol in Vietnam. Made from keratin, the same stuff as hair or fingernails rhino horn has negligible medical properties, yet people are willing to pay up to £40,000 a kilogramme for it.
International trade in rhino horn has been banned under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) since the 1990s. Trade in horn was banned within South Africa in 2009. Since then, poaching has increased exponentially, reaching more than 1300 rhino poached in 2015.
Protecting the rhino in National and Provincial parks and privately owned reserves is a very dangerous and expensive undertaking. The government-run parks, such as Kruger National Park have about 75% of the South African rhino and are losing the most animals to poachers. The best protected rhino tend to be in the privately owned farms.
This is because, unlike elephant ivory, pangolin scales and the bones from lions, rhinos can be dehorned without harming the animal. Many rhino owners are already removing the horns from their animals to stop them attracting poachers so they are sitting on stockpiles of harvested horn.
With education and demand-reduction schemes not working quickly enough rhino owners hope to satisfy the demand by legally selling harvested horn. Some just want to trade within South Africa while others want CITES to allow a trade agreement between South Africa and China or Vietnam. They say they would use the money earned to put back into conserving and protecting rhino.
Others worry that this would just increase demand for horn and that by making trade legal, you are making people think that it has medical benefit.
The group which carried out the bomb attack at a park in Lahore, Jammat Ul Ahrar, warns it will strike again
Renewed questions over boxing safety as Nick Blackwell remains in induced coma after Eubank fight
(Photo shows women trying to comfort a mother who lost her son in bomb attack in Lahore. Credit: AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary).
Hot Milk is the latest novel by Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy. Set in Southern Spain it explores female rage and sexuality and the stubborn primal bond that exists between a hypochondriac mother and her daughter.
Sophia, a young anthropologist, has 'been sleuthing her mother's symptoms' for as long as she can remember as Rose, the older woman, is suffering from a form of paralysis that might or might not be imagined. Driven to find a cure beyond the realms of conventional medicine, they have come to Almeria in Southern Spain to visit the clinic of Dr Gomez. His methods appear to have little to do with physical medicine and he prompts both women to confront the true nature of their relationship. Why is Sophia unable to escape her mother's constant complaints? Are Rose's symptoms psychosomatic?
The oppressive desert heat pushes both to examine the root of Rose's illness and the cause of Sofia's fractured identity. And Sofia discovers the sting of desire, and the need to be vital and alive.
Today: Dr Gomez insists that Rose gives up all her medication and Sofia and Ingrid become lovers.
The reader is Indira Varma and Hot Milk is abridged by Sally Marmion.
The internationally acclaimed cellist Steven Isserlis first encountered the Marx brothers as a teenager when he saw their film "The Cocoanuts". And it was the character of Harpo Marx, the silent clown of the brothers, who spoke to him the most directly. The young Steven became a huge fan, to the extent that, instead of practising, he would go to the library to read everything he could find about him and, as Harpo so famously did, instead of shaking people's hands, he would offer his leg instead.
But Harpo wasn't always silent. There were the noises of the horns which became his voice substitute. And at most times during the films he would play the harp- the instrument that got him his stage name. As a musician, this made Steven all the more interested in him.
Steven explores how Harpo came to be the silent Marx brother- he could talk perfectly well but stopped on stage after a bad review. However, without using his voice, Harpo managed to create a unique language with the use of props, sounds and of course his harp. What were the elements of this creation that spoke so eloquently to Steven and what legacy has the silence left?
He travels to the home of Bill Marx, Harpo's eldest son who he first met decades earlier and who first showed him Harpo's raincoat and wig. Steven gets another chance to put them on and to hear the sound of the famous horns.
Steven also talks to actor Simon Callow about Harpo's use of props and the film critic Jonathan Romney about Harpo's technique.
He discusses his harp playing with the harpists Charlotte Seale and Imogen Barford.
And he discusses Harpo with the poet and critic Charlene Fix, author of the booked "Harpo Marx as Trickster".
From the other woman to the other Michael Jackson, Josie Long hears stories from 'others'.
John Osborne explores how your identity can become inextricably linked with someone you've never met, two academics discover how a piece of theatre can push you outside of society and a homicide detective talks about how you communicate with someone whose actions are outside of your understanding.
Feat. John Osborne
Feat. Chris Knight and Camilla Power
Feat. Asbjorn Rachlew
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2013/0529/647430-radio-documetary-podcast-exam-asbjorn-rachlew-anders-breivik-norway/
TUESDAY 29 MARCH 2016
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b074vtgc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 This Orient Isle (b074w30m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b074vtgf)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b074vtgh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b074vtgk)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b074vtgm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b074x190)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b074x192)
Living Wage, Farm attractions - lambing, Spring Barley struggling with the mud
We debate this week's introduction of the Living Wage on Friday 1st April with NFU and Unite. Worcestershire fruit farmer Ali Capper, new head of the NFU's Horticulture Board, is concerned at the impact of wage inflation on producers and employers, while Steve Leniec, Chair of Unite's Agriculture Sector, says farmworkers deserve the rise.
The Easter holidays are a popular time for a visit to the farm and this week, we're taking a look at some of the place where you can experience what faming life is like. And there's nothing more appealing than a new born lamb! Beatrice Fenton visits Penpont Farm, near Wadebridge, in Cornwall, where lambing is a big tourist attraction.
Any farmer will tell you, there's always a battle with the weather and this winter was the second wettest across the UK since Met Office records began in 1910. By the middle of March parts of central and eastern England had already had a month's worth of rain.
In North Norfolk, farmers are struggling to plant spring barley in waterlogged ground - a crop that's vital for the craft beer market. Even though the soil's light and sandy, beneath the surface the ground's still unstable. Anna Hill's been to see how Teddy Maufe of Branthill Farms is coping with that sinking feeling.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tvggm)
Corn Bunting
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Steve Backshall begins May with the corn bunting. Corn buntings may be plain-looking birds which sing their scratchy songs from cornfields, but their private lives are a colourful affair and a single male bird may have up to 18 partners.
TUE 06:00 Today (b074x312)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Global Philosopher (b075f7qp)
Should Borders Matter?
Michael Sandel explores the philosophical justifications made for national borders. Using a pioneering state-of-the-art studio at the Harvard Business School, Professor Sandel is joined by 60 participants from over 30 countries in a truly global digital space.
Is there any moral distinction between a political refugee and an economic migrant? If people have the right to exit a country, why not a right to enter? Do nations have the right to protect the affluence of their citizens? And is there such a thing as a 'national identity'?
These are just some of the questions addressed by Professor Sandel in this first edition of The Global Philosopher.
Audience producer: Louise Coletta
Producer: David Edmonds
Editor: Richard Knight
(Image taken by Rose Lincoln)
TUE 09:45 This Orient Isle (b074x4t5)
Episode 2
Professor Jerry Brotton, one of the UK's leading experts on cultural exchange, examines Queen Elizabeth I's fascination with the Orient. He shows that England's relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we have ever appreciated, and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England.
Derek Jacobi reads the captivating account of how Britain sent ships, treaties and gifts to the royal families of Morocco and Turkey, including a gold carriage and a full-size pipe organ.
In this episode, one merchant voyage ends in tragedy when the English crew are captured and turned into galley slaves.
Producer: David Roper
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2016.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b074vtgp)
Coercive Control and Domestic Violence on The Archers
The storyline of Helen, Rob and his increasingly controlling behaviour has gripped The Archers audience. The programme's editor and the actor who plays Helen join Jane to discuss how an everyday story of country folk became a dark tale of coercive control and domestic violence.
Sandra Horley, chief executive of the domestic violence charity Refuge, and Guardian television critic Julia Raeside deliberate the effects of The Archers' storyline on listeners.
Vanessa Altin has reported widely on the Syrian crisis for the UK tabloids. She has now written an unsparing book about the Syrian crisis, The Pomegranate Tree. Its narrator is a 13-year-old Kurdish girl from a Syrian village close to the border with Turkey who has been forced to leave her village, flee to Turkey and has been witness to shocking events. All the characters and storylines in Vanessa's novel are based on real people and events.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b074x4t7)
Hollywood Endings - Doubles
Episode 2
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
She little knows this will become the worst day of her life.
A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:00 Goodbye Mosquito (b074x4t9)
Over a million people die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Hundreds of millions more people suffer from the illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes.
Malaria, the most widespread mosquito-borne disease, affects 350-500 million people each year. The Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in children is spreading. Dengue Fever infects nearly 400 million people each year, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths and an enormous economic cost in affected countries. Chikungunya, Yellow Fever and Eastern Equine Encephalitis are also transmitted by mosquitoes and are on the rise. These are painful and debilitating diseases which can, in some cases, prove fatal.
Although malaria is transmitted by several different species of mosquito, Zika, Dengue Fever, Yellow fever and Chikungunya are carried by just two related species, of mosquito - Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the Asian Tiger Mosquito).
So would they be missed if they were wiped off the face of the planet?
Biologist Professor Adam Hart knows only too well how complex and interconnected nature is. If we wipe out an entire species, how will the rest of the natural environment cope? Well, it seems the public enemy number one mosquito - Aedes aegyptii, wouldn't be missed very much at all. It's a mosquito that has evolved fairly recently. The females nearly always feed on humans and they breed in and near our homes, often in small pots of water and car tyres.
In Goodbye Mosquito, Adam Hart discovers some of the latest technological advances being trialled to rid us of these winged-beasts; including genetically engineering male A. aegypti mosquitoes so that their offspring don't survive.
Producer: Fiona Roberts.
TUE 11:30 Suck It and See (b074x4tc)
Grammy Award-Winning songwriter Amy Wadge fell in love with the harmonica after winning one in a fancy dress competition (she was dressed in a bin liner!). Now she investigates the history and potential of the diatonic instrument, a European the toy which in the hands of expert players became the the iconic sound of the Mississippi Delta and the Chicago Blues. Not bad for what was originally a child's toy produced then, as now, in Germany!
As music historian Christoph Wagner explains, the very first example of the instrument goes back to Vienna. But millions would soon find their way to the USA, taken there by German emigres fleeing poverty. The poor person's introduction to music, the harmonica would soon find its way to around the globe, from Britain to Australia and even China. But it was in America that it scored its biggest success. And it was there that harmonica technique underwent a transformation, as Chicago -based Joe Filisko explains. Instead of exhaling air, blues players would draw air in, and bend notes to achieve the characteristic sounds of the blues.
Amy tries her hand at bending, under the expert tutelage of Steve Lockwood - one of very few people to have studied the harmonica to degree level, and she speaks to one of Britain's best-known players, Paul Jones.
It may be the sound of the amplified harmonica popularised the instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, but has it moved on from Chicago Blues and Beatles covers? Canadian beat-boxer Benjamin Darvill - "Son of Dave" - has explored new possibilities with the instrument, and with an original sound that's been heard in edgy TV dramas and commercials. Just going to prove that for all its limitations - 10 holes and 3 octaves - there's life yet the harmonica.
TUE 12:00 News Summary (b074vtgr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 Witness (b075f6v5)
The Back to Africa Movement
In the 1890s racial violence in the American south was so extreme that many black people tried to emigrate to Liberia in West Africa. Although the Civil War had brought an end to slavery, conditions were still terrible for many African Americans. The largest number of migrants came from one US state - Arkansas. Listeners may find parts of this programme distressing.
TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b074vtgt)
Call You and Yours: Autism
On Call You & Yours today we are asking how autism has affected your family. Tonight, the BBC drama "The A Word" continues. It reflects the experience of the Hughes family and how their lives change when they discover that their youngest son, Joe has autism.
The National Autistic Society estimates that around 700,000 people in the UK are on the autism spectrum. Together with their families they make up around 2.8 million people whose lives are touched by the condition. It affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them, but it is also very variable, affecting different people in different ways.
We want to hear your experience of autism. What happened when you or your relative was diagnosed? What impact did it have on the family? How do other people react and how would you like them to react to the condition? How do you feel about the way autism is portrayed in the media?
Producer: Natalie Donovan
Presenter: Peter White.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b074vtgw)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b074x4tf)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Martha Kearney.
TUE 13:45 A Guide to Coastal Wildlife (b074x4th)
Sandy Beaches
The sandy beach is one of the most hostile habitats on our coastline.
To survive the driving wind, abrasive sand and predation by sea birds, animals either spend much of their lives below the surface or have evolved some very clever adaptations - as Brett Westwood discovers when he joins naturalist Phil Gates on the Northumberland coast.
With the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, they offer a practical and entertaining guide to the wildlife which you’re most likely to see and hear on sandy beaches.
On the lower shore, they wander amongst the lugworm burrows in search of razor clams and pogoing cockles! Brett discovers not only how razor clams escape predation by burrowing into the sand with their muscular foot, but also how to age them “It’s great I’ve come all the way to Northumberland to age a mollusc“, laughs Brett.
Higher up the beach, Brett and Phil gently rake through piles of decaying seaweed to discover a seething mass of jumping sand hoppers; small crustaceans about the size of a woodlouse with legs of two different lengths, which move up and down the beach with the tides. And finally at the top of the beach at the front of the sand dunes, they discuss the remarkable abilities of marram grass not only to avoid drying out, but also to hold back the sand and create stable areas where communities of other plants can take root and grow.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b074x4tk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b074x9gh)
Rumpole
Rumpole and Hilda
By John Mortimer. Adapted for radio by Richard Stoneman.
Following in the footsteps of several distinguished former Rumpoles - Leo McKern, Maurice Denham, Timothy West and Benedict Cumberbatch - Julian Rhind-Tutt, one of Radio 4's most popular actors and much loved star of TV's Green Wing and The Hour, now dons the wig and white bands of the most erudite, astute, and seldom defeated of barristers in the annals of the Old Bailey.
Rumpole's long-suffering wife Hilda - She Who Must Be Obeyed - narrates a fascinating tale of murder and romance that Horace would prefer to remain untold.
An instructing solicitor, Daniel Newcombe, asks Rumpole to defend a young man, Michael Skelton, who's accused of bludgeoning his father to death with a golf club. Hilda finds Daniel to be everything that Horace is not - well-groomed, charming, sensitive and complimentary.
After being wooed over lunch, she agrees to act as Daniel's 'spy', reporting back on Rumpole's defence preparations. However, when Hilda realises that Daniel is hiding the truth from her, and from everyone involved in the murder case, she's forced to consider whose side she ought to be on.
Hilda narrates the whole story with a refreshing honesty and witty candour that we thought only her husband could manage, and reveals a passionate and frustrated side, as Rumpole catches a glimpse of the true nature of his wife.
Cast:
Horace Rumpole............... Julian Rhind-Tutt
Hilda Rumpole ................. Jasmine Hyde
Daniel Newcombe ........... Stuart McQuarrie
Claude Erskine-Brown ..... Nigel Anthony
Mr Justice Graves.............. Stephen Critchlow
Mrs Beazley ..................... Cathy Sara
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b074x9gk)
Helen is joined in the studio by BBC New Generation Thinker Danielle Thom from the V&A in London and Dr Gillian Kenny from Trinity College in Dublin.
Dr Tom Charlton uncovers some surprising evidence that the original Darby and Joan were 17th Century radical pamphleteers. He heads to the first Darby and Joan club, which was opened in 1942 in Streatham, South London, and talks to Professor Ted Vallance at the University of Roehampton.
Maurice Casey joins us from Cambridge to discuss new evidence that Bolsheviks visited the scene of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 to find out more about the Republicans' tactics.
Tom Holland is in Oxford to ask why there are memorials to Nazis in some of the colleges.
And Dominic Sandbrook takes us back to the oil crisis of 1973, which he feels is a pivotal year in history.
Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b074x9gm)
Beasts of the Border
As gates close against migrants entering Europe Tom Heap is in Croatia to examine the wildlife impact of the continent's new borders.
Red deer have been found dying on the razor wire and the vulnerable local population of lynx is now split between Slovenia and Croatia. With a shrunken gene pool the lynx could soon be lost from the region.
From the Austrian Alps, south through the Balkans to Greece the mountains provide a vital habitat for large carnivores like bear and wolf. As new fences rise across the region Europe's peak predators face a bleak future.
Producer: Alasdair Cross.
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b074x9pf)
Gay Cake
This programme will focus on the legal issues surrounding the 'gay cake' controversy in Northern Ireland.
When a Christian bakery in Belfast was found guilty last year of discriminating against a gay man, by refusing his request for a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it, it became headline news around the world.
It also divided people in Northern Ireland. Many there see it as a battle between freedom of conscience and the right to religious expression, and Northern Ireland's equality laws. Joshua Rozenberg travels to Belfast to untangle the legal layers of the so-called 'gay cake' story.
Producer: Ben Crighton.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b074x9ph)
Russell Kane and Peter Lord
Aardman animations co-founder Peter Lord and comedian Russell Kane talk about their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Russell chooses Susan Pinker's The Village Effect, Peter Lord's favourite read is Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, and Harriett's choice is Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West. Producer Sally Heaven.
TUE 17:00 PM (b074vtgy)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b074vth0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Clare in the Community (b061tppy)
Series 10
Family Values
A family funeral reveals some uncomfortable home truths for the Barker family.
Brian meanwhile has enthusiastically embraced a new fitness regime.
Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.
A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.
Clare continually struggles to control both her professional and private life In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.
Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.
Clare ...... Sally Phillips
Brian ...... Alex Lowe
Nali ...... Nina Conti
The Celebrant ...... Richard Lumsden
Bernard ...... Andrew Wincott
Sarah Barker ...... Sarah Thom
Mrs Barker ...... Brigit Forsyth
Roxy ...... Alex Tregear
Producer: Alexandra Smith
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2015.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b074xbs2)
Joe is dumbfounded that anyone would have stolen the curtain fund from the church. Eddie is similarly dumbfounded about the pageant play! It made him realise that the land used to belong to common men. Bert passes by, on his way to help Rex with the pastured hens. Joe and Eddie get the guided tour of the Fairbrothers' egg-caravan. Bert is aggrieved that Toby isn't pulling his weight at home. Rex says he is used to cleaning up after his brother.
Helen's phone rings and when Rob asks, she dismisses it as a junk call. He tells her how lovely she looks, but she is tense. Rob tells Pat he would like to do something special for Helen before the baby arrives. Pat suggests a weekend away in the country.
Helen is on the phone to Kirsty, trying to put her off meeting up. Rob comes in and she says it is another robot. Later, Rob picks up Helen's phone. Rob tells Helen that it was the midwife, agreeing with Helen that a hospital birth would be better. Rob is annoyed that he was bypassed and detects Kirsty's influence. Helen summons the courage to point out that this is what she wants, and it is her baby. Rob relents, and says he understands: "darling, I'm not a monster.".
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b074vth2)
Judi Dench Launches Shakespeare's People
Front Row asks actors, writers and directors to give their personal take on a favourite Shakespeare character, to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. Dame Judi Dench launches Shakespeare's People with Lady Macbeth.
The theatre director, Yaël Farber, who won international acclaim for Mies Julie, discusses her latest production, Les Blanc, about an African country teetering on the edge of civil war. It was the last play written by Lorraine Hansberry.
Murdered By My Father shines a light on so-called 'honour killings' in the British Asian community. Its writer Vinay Patel joins Kirsty to discuss the issues raised in this one-off drama.
Poet Helen Mort reviews Black Mountain Poets, a new comedy about two sisters on the run who hide out in a poetry retreat on the Black Mountain.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b074x4t7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 How to Turn Your Life Around (b074xbs4)
What does it take to succeed if you are born into poverty and neglect? Two people who have done just that explore whether it was down to personality, circumstances or plain luck. Why do so few people manage it?
Byron Vincent, a writer and poet, and Dr Anna Woodhouse, a university lecturer and outreach worker, talk to experts to try and discover if their own triumph over lives that were blighted by abuse, drug addiction, homelessness and hunger could have been predicted. They talk to experts about the sort of traits an individual needs to overcome adversity, things like resilience, grit and will power, and discover the latest thinking on what really helps. They explore the way science is looking at the role of genes in determining character. And they look at the importance of outside forces; education, family support, mentors and the role of the Government. At the end, they discuss what they have found with former Welfare Minister and current Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Frank Field, to see what government can do to help lift individuals out of poverty and get them to turn their lives around.
Producer: Jenny Sneesby.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b074vth4)
Blindness for Beginners: Ways of Managing When You Lose Your Sight
Blindness For Beginners: three people of different ages and different backgrounds discuss the things they found most useful when they went blind, and the things they found most frustrating. Listen to their candid conversation about losing your sight when you're an adult.
Producer: Siobhann Tighe.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b074vth6)
Health checks, Fertility, Adjustment
NHS health checks or 'mid-life MOTs' have hit the headlines as new research claims they are a success. The aim is prevention - of diabetes, heart attacks and strokes - but their introduction has been controversial amid criticism they are not evidence based or cost effective. Resident sceptic Dr Margaret McCartney debates the issues with National Clinical Advisor Dr Matt Kearney.
And putting the family back into planning. As more couples leave it later before starting a family there is growing concern from fertility experts that many people don't know enough about when female fertility starts to decline. Professor Adam Balen and Professor Joyce Harper discuss the issues. And how accurate is the perception, often reported in the media, that fertility 'drops off a cliff' in the mid to late thirties? Professor Richard Anderson reviews the so called 'broken stick' study, a mathematical model which first defined the sharp drop off of female fertility.
And another instalment of Inside Language where Dr Margaret McCartney and Professor Carl Heneghan examine the terms used in evidence based medicine and why they matter. This week, adjustment and how researchers allow for factors that might skew their findings.
TUE 21:30 The Audio Describers (b05ssqpl)
Matthew Sweet enters a whole new cinematic world that sighted people know little or nothing about - audio description. It's the voice in your ear that tells you what's happening if you can't see the pictures.
The audio description profession has its own stars, its own virtuosi. How do they allow visionary cinema to exist beyond the realm of vision? This is cinema for radio.
Matthew meets the men and women who do this work - the invisible co-stars of the world's greatest actors, invisible collaborators of the greatest writers and directors.
In fact, the practice of using evocative and poetic language to bring moving pictures to life has a much longer tradition. In early 20th-century Japan, Benshi narrators would interpret - and often elaborate on - Western and home-grown films for Tokyo audiences. The art form continues today.
In Edwardian Britain, film explainers would bring an aural addition, often with musical accompaniment, to silent films. Matthew Sweet finds this tradition is also alive and well - at a film festival in Scotland.
Producer: Dom Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 21:58 Weather (b074vth8)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b074vthb)
Tata Steel 'to sell UK business'
Has the government done enough to persuade Tata to stay? We talk to the unions and to the former business secretary Vince Cable. Brazil's coalition government has collapsed after the largest party pulled out - a leading member tells us that without their votes, President Rousseff cannot avoid impeachment. And we report from a remote part of Georgia which has become a recruiting ground for the group that calls itself Islamic State
(Image: Port Talbot Copyright: Getty Images)
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b074xbs6)
Hot Milk
Episode 7
Hot Milk is the latest novel by Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy. Set in Southern Spain it explores female rage and sexuality and the stubborn primal bond that exists between a hypochondriac mother and her daughter.
Sophia, a young anthropologist, has 'been sleuthing her mother's symptoms' for as long as she can remember as Rose, the older woman, is suffering from a form of paralysis that might or might not be imagined. Driven to find a cure beyond the realms of conventional medicine, they have come to Almeria in Southern Spain to visit the clinic of Dr Gomez. His methods have little to do with physical medicine and he prompts both women to confront the true nature of their relationship.Are Rose's symptoms psychosomatic and why is Sophia unable to escape her mother's constant complaints?
The oppressive desert heat pushes both to examine the root of Rose's illness and the cause of Sofia's fractured identity. And Sofia discovers the sting of desire, and the need to be vital and alive.
Today: Sofia has flown to Athens to meet her Greek father for the first time in eleven years.
The reader is Indira Varma and Hot Milk is abridged by Sally Marmion.
The producer is Julian Wilkinson.
TUE 23:00 Love in Recovery (b074xbs8)
Series 2
Partners
The group discover that Simon has been keeping another big secret from them. But he's not the only one keeping a secret. In fact, he's not even the only one keeping THAT particular secret.
Continuing the award-nominated comedy drama set in Alcoholics Anonymous, written by Pete Jackson and inspired by his own road to recovery.
It follows the lives of five very different recovering alcoholics. Taking place entirely at their weekly meetings, we hear them moan, argue, laugh, fall apart, fall in love and - most importantly - tell their stories.
Simon............John Hannah
Marion...........Julia Deakin
Fiona.............Rebecca Front
Julie...............Sue Johnston
Danno............Paul Kaye
Andy..............Eddie Marsan
Writer Pete Jackson is a recovering alcoholic and has spent time in Alcoholics Anonymous. It was there he found support from the unlikeliest group of disparate souls - with one common bond. As well as offering the support he needed throughout a difficult time, AA also offered a weekly, sometimes daily, dose of hilarity, upset, heartbreak and friendship.
There are lots of different kinds of AA meetings. Love in Recovery is about meetings where people tell their stories. There are funny stories, sad stories, stories of small victories and milestones, stories of loss, stories of hope, and those stories that you really shouldn't laugh at - but still do, along with the storyteller.
Written and created by Pete Jackson
Producer/Director: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in March 2016.
TUE 23:30 Short Cuts (b06j1xzb)
Series 8
The Clock
Josie Long navigates the changing texture of a day - with stories from the rush hour commute through the night until first light.
From an afternoon with Dr Clock the horologist through to a serendipitous voice reaching a woman in the darkness of the early hours, we hear stories of time and timing.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
The items featured in the programme are:
Glass Not Glitter
Produced by Abby Wendle
First made for the Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs Competition
http://thirdcoastfestival.org/library/1123-glass-not-glitter
Dr Clock
Produced by Veronica Simmonds and John Spence
First featured on ABC Radio National's Soundproof
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soundproof/dr-clock/6075288
Horace and Mabel
Feat. Horace Parlan
Produced by Rikke Houd
4am
Produced by Sara Parker.
WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH 2016
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b074vtjw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 This Orient Isle (b074x4t5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b074vtjy)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b074vtk0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b074vtk2)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b074vtk4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b074xf16)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b074xf18)
Labelling UK lamb, Increasing English wine exports, Promoting Scottish farms
When it comes to food labelling what does it mean for lamb to be classified as British? Peter Hardwick of AHDB Beef and Lamb explains.
There are around 500 vineyards in England and Wales covering an area of four and a half thousand acres. And those are figures that Liz Truss, the Environment Secretary, wants to see growing. Earlier this month she called the first ever wine 'roundtable' bringing together producers and leading wine industry representatives to celebrate English and Welsh wine. She told them she wants to see a ten fold increase in UK wine exports by 2020 - in just four years. Sam Lindo, a vintner at Camel Valley Wines in Cornwall and Chairman of UKVA, the United Kingdom Vineyards Association believes it's realistic to achieve such an increase in exports.
Most farmers are happy to give a tour of the farm and show off their livestock, but some in Scotland are taking their tourism services to the next level. They're getting themselves trained up as tour guides. Nancy Nicholson's been to meet them.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Mark Smalley.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378xj7)
Northern Wheatear
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the northern wheatear. With their black masks, white bellies, apricot chests and grey backs, male wheatears are colourful companions on a hill walk. The birds you see in autumn may have come from as far as Greenland or Arctic Canada. They pass through the British Isles and twice a year many of them travel over 11,000 kilometres between Africa and the Arctic. It's one of the longest regular journeys made by any perching bird.
WED 06:00 Today (b074xg59)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b074xg5c)
Patricia Rozario, Nick Davies, Lachlan Goudie, Sita Brand
Nick Davies is professor of behavioural ecology at the University of Cambridge and an expert on cuckoos. Based at Wicken Fen, the National Trust reserve in Cambridgeshire, Davies has unravelled some of the key mysteries of this trickster of the bird world using stuffed cuckoos and dummy birds eggs. Cuckoos are so swift in laying their eggs (only one is laid per nest and the process is over in as little as 10 seconds), and so clever at disguising their eggs, that host birds are often uncertain whether an odd egg in the clutch is a cuckoo egg or one of their own. Cuckoo - Cheating By Nature by Nick Davies is published by Bloomsbury.
Patricia Rozario OBE is an opera singer who is starring in Clocks 1888: the greener which is based on the true histories of ayahs or nannies in India who were employed by British colonials to look after their children and sometimes brought back to England. Born in Mumbai, Patricia studied at the Guildhall School of Music and at the National Opera Studio. She has enjoyed a wide-ranging career in opera, concert work, recording and broadcasting. Her voice has inspired many of the world's leading composers to collaborate with her, notably Arvo Pärt and Sir John Tavener, who alone wrote over 30 works for her. Clocks 1888: the greener is on tour.
Lachlan Goudie is an artist whose late father was the Scottish figurative painter, Alexander Goudie. Distinguished as a portrait painter, Alexander painted the Queen, lord chancellors and celebrities including Billy Connolly. He was also notorious for a series of nude self-portraits in which he took on the guise of mythical figures including Bacchus and Neptune. A retrospective of his work is being exhibited at London's Mall Galleries. An artist in his own right, Lachlan spent five years at the Govan shipyard in Glasgow recording the construction of Britain's new aircraft carrier the Queen Elizabeth. Alexander Goudie RP RGI - A Retrospective is at Mall Galleries
Sita Brand is a storyteller and founder and director of Settle Stories which runs the annual Settle Stories Festival in Yorkshire. Born in India, she moved to the UK as a teenager. She learned her love of storytelling from her mother, a school librarian, and her father who was a refugee in World War 2. She is passionate about using stories to promote understanding between people and their cultures. She performs Down the Rabbit Hole at the Settle Stories Festival 2016.
WED 09:45 This Orient Isle (b074xg5f)
Episode 3
Professor Jerry Brotton, one of the UK's leading experts on cultural exchange, examines Queen Elizabeth I's fascination with the Orient. He shows that England's relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we have ever appreciated, and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England.
Derek Jacobi reads the captivating account of how Britain sent ships, treaties and gifts to the royal families of Morocco and Turkey, including a gold carriage and a full-size pipe organ.
In this episode, we are taken into the sights and sounds of a royal pageant held in Whitehall in the year 1600 for the Moroccan ambassador.
Producer: David Roper
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2016.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b074vtk6)
Make-up for women of colour, Inheritance, A history of military knitting
It's sometimes said that Where There's a Will... there's a family row just round the corner. So how do you avoid pain and arguments over inheritance? As as family structures become more complicated is the scope for pain and conflict increased? Jane speaks to two women whose situations illustrate the emotional complexity of will writing. Solicitor Alison Meek, who specialises in disputes surrounding wills and acts as a mediator when there's disagreement joins the discussion.
Are there too few options for women of colour when it comes to make-up? Florence Adepoju, founder of make-up brand MDM Flow, and journalist Kuba Shand-Baptiste discuss.
From scarves and vests to balaclavas and gloves, military personnel have long relied on knitted comforts sent from home. Jane speaks to historical knitting expert Joyce Meader about her book "Knitskrieg - A Call to Yarns" in which she traces these garments across three centuries of conflicts and the army of knitters that have provided them.
The Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition begins on April 7 in London. Featuring the world's most talented players under the age of 22, the competition is staged every two years and this year it has thrown up a surprise. Of the 44 violinists selected to compete, 36 are young women and girls, and in the Senior category there is only one male competitor. So why are young women dominating the field? Jane talks to previous Menuhin prize winner, renowned solo violinist and competition juror Tasmin Little and to 21 year-old British competitor Mathilde Milwidsky.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b074xq1v)
Hollywood Endings - Doubles
Episode 3
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
She little knows this will become the worst day of her life.
A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b074xq1x)
Karen and Colin - Lucky to Be Alive
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between two football fans who met when one of them suffered a cardiac arrest at the end of a match and the other saved his life. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
WED 11:00 Deciding a Woman's Right (b074xq1z)
Northern Ireland is a place apart from the rest of the United Kingdom when it comes to the rights of women who don't want to continue with pregnancy.
Unlike England, Scotland and Wales, the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply. Abortion in Northern Ireland is illegal, except if there is a threat to a woman's life or health. The law is intended to be assisted by guidelines but these have been the subject of decades long debate and uncertainty and the publication of new guidance for medical staff has only recently been announced.
Since 1967 it's estimated that thousands of women have travelled to England for an abortion, including those who doctors have advised are pregnant with babies that are unlikely to survive.
In a historic judgement in 2015, which is being appealed, the High Court in Belfast found that the lack of the right to an abortion in these and other circumstances contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.
In March 2016 the Northern Ireland Assembly voted against changing the law to allow abortion in cases of so-called fatal foetal abnormality but the number of votes in favour was taken by some to suggest that stances might be shifting.
Audrey Carville meets two women who both received devastating news about their pregnancies but took different decisions about how best to cope with the consequences, in an effort to illuminate the complexity and anguish at the heart of Northern Ireland's continuing abortion debate.
Producer - Regina Gallen.
WED 11:30 A Charles Paris Mystery (b074xq21)
A Decent Interval
Episode 4
Both leads played by winners of a Reality Show have been eliminated from the production of Hamlet by injury and death.
Charles is determined to find out who wanted them dead and there are plenty of suspects...
In the concluding episode, Bill Nighy stars as Simon Brett's actor cum amateur sleuth, Charles Paris.
Charles ..... Charles Paris
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Geraldine ..... Amelia Bullmore
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Will ..... Caolan McCarthy
Sam ..... George Watkins
Ned ..... Brian Protheroe
Milly ..... Rebecca Hamilton
Artemis ..... Evie Killip
Horatio ..... Richard Pepple
Marcellus ...... Ewan Bailey
Adapted from the novel by Jeremy Front.
Director: Sally Avens
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2016.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b074vtk8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Witness (b07500gb)
Harrer in Tibet
In 1944, two Austrian mountaineers fled into the forbidden land of Tibet to escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in India. Heinrich Harrer and his friend Peter Aufschnaiter spent seven years as guests of the Tibetans, gaining a unique perspective on a way-of-life that was about to disappear. Harrer became the young Dalai Lama's unofficial tutor and later wrote a famous account of his visit called Seven Years in Tibet. Hear Heinrich Harrer's memories of Tibet from the BBC archive.
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b074vtkb)
Britain's longest-serving nurse, Criminal record checks
Britain's longest serving nurse, Jenny Turner, talks to Peter White about how her role has changed, and which treatments and practices have remained the same over the course of 60 years.
The people who are losing their jobs because the police are taking too long to complete criminal records checks.
The Museum of London is recruiting a Punk Co-ordinator to curate its exhibition marking the 40th anniversary of Punk. What does the job entail and how do you market a heritage event about a scene which was the antithesis of nostalgia? As Johnny Rotten said "Don't accept the old order, get rid of it".
This week workers on the minimum wage will be entitled to a pay increase in line with the government's "National Living Wage". In the first of a series of reports, we analyse how France enforces its minimum wage.
High Street retailers including Topshop have started asking for your email address when you buy something, but what are they doing with your data?
And, it's not just You & Yours listeners. Even the Energy Ombudsman has complaints about energy companies. He explains how his problem escalated so far he nearly ended up referring it to himself.
Producer: Lydia Thomas
Presenter: Peter White.
WED 12:57 Weather (b074vtkd)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b074xq23)
Britain's biggest steel company has warned that time is ticking to find a buyer for it's UK plants, but the Government said it could take months to find a buyer. So what next for the thousands of jobs in the British steel industry, and should the Government step in to save the Port Talbot Plant?
Donald Trump is dividing the Republican movement in the US, but can anything come between him and the Republican nomination?
How new technology could allow us to read a literary treasure trove buried under volcanic lava in Pompeii.
With more and more children suffering from mental health problems, we look at the counselling services being offered by schools.
And hundreds of failed Afghan asylum seekers, who arrived in the UK as children, are facing deportation to Afghanistan following a court ruling.
WED 13:45 A Guide to Coastal Wildlife (b074xq25)
Sea Cliffs
What has an old threepenny coin and a sea cliff in common?
Well, the answer can be found in this programme when Brett Westwood joins naturalist Phil Gates on the Northumberland coast and discovers how plants and animals have evolved to survive the battering waves, salt spray and driving winds in one of the most hostile habitats on our coastline, the sea cliffs.
Their first encounter is with sea pink or thrift, a plant which has evolved to survive the high levels of salt by sequestering salt into its leaves which then die off, and are replaced by new leaves. Lured by the cries of birds calling out their name "kitti-waak", "kitti-waak", they clamber across the rocks into a cove where kittiwakes and fulmars are nesting on a sheer cliff face.
Brett learns why the young chicks don’t fall off their narrow ledges and how fulmars keep predators at bay (the clue is in their name which means, foul mouth). Below the birds, where the waves pound against the rocks, the surface is studded with barnacles and limpets, and away from the roar of the waves, in a quiet spot amongst coconut-scented gorse bushes Brett and Phil discuss just how these creatures manage to ‘cling on’, survive and thrive!
Producer: Sarah Blunt
WED 14:00 The Archers (b074xbs2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b074xr5p)
Other People's Countries
How can a house you never really lived in prove so hard to leave? A true story adapted from his memoir by Patrick McGuinness about his early years and return visits to Bouillon, a small town, in rural Belgium. Recorded where it happened and featuring talking furniture, singing streams, lost languages and the permanent sadness of the low countries. With Saskia Reeves. Producer: Tim Dee.
WED 15:00 Money Box (b074xvfl)
Money Box Live: Passing On Your Wealth
Should you leave your money to your children, or spend it all before you go?
Louise Cooper and guests discuss what to consider when passing on your wealth. They'll be talking about how to decide what's fair, how to make sure your future is secure and how to manage difficult conversations about inheritance. They'll also discuss what options you have if you want to challenge someone's will or the plans they have for their estate.
To join in with your questions and comments, email moneybox@bbc.co.uk or call the programme on 03 700 100 444 - lines are open from
1pm on Wednesday.
Louise will be joined in the studio by chartered financial plannner Claire Walsh; lawyer Christina Spencer; and Professor Mark Fenton O'Creevy of the Open University.
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b074vth6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b074xvfn)
Dance halls, Pick-up artists
Dance halls: a social and cultural history. James Nott, Lecturer in History at the University of St. Andrews, talks to Laurie Taylor about the origins, meaning and decline in a ritual which was once central to many young people's romantic lives and leisure time. He's joined by Caspar Melville, Lecturer in Global, Creative and Community Studies at SOAS.
The 'Seduction Community': a study into the mores and codes of self styled, male 'pick up artists'. Rachel O'Neill, Phd graduate at Kings College London, interviewed men whose attitudes to women have attracted considerable condemnation in the wake of the banning of Julien Blanc, US 'pick up artist', from the UK.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b074vtkg)
Netflix, Channel 5 rebrand, The end of print?
A report from BARB (The Broadcasters Audience Research Board) estimates that Netflix is now in some 5 million UK households, stating that: 'Netflix is by some margin the market leader' among subscription video on demand services. But can its subscriber base keep pace with its ambition to become 'a global Internet TV network'? To discuss, Steve is joined by media analyst Mathew Horsman, from Mediatique.
Channel Five is weeks into its first rebrand in five years, aiming to attract younger and more affluent audiences. Its head of programmes Ben Frow has been reportedly handed a 'double digit increase' in his programming budget to change perceptions about the channel. So, what commissioning decisions is he taking to make this happen? He speaks to Steve Hewlett about his ambitions.
A Media Society debate tonight will ask, 'is this the end of print?' The Independent's spin-off, the i, is continuing in print form under new ownership; Trinity Mirror has recently launched a new national daily, The New Day, and the free distributed Metro and London Evening Standard are turning a profit. So is it too soon to write off the traditional newspaper? Steve Hewlett asks journalist and Professor of Journalism at City University Roy Greenslade, Independent Digital Editor Christian Broughton and Sarah Baxter, deputy editor of the Sunday Times.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b074vtkj)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b074vtkl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Chain Reaction (b074xvfq)
Series 11
Roy Hudd interviews Alison Steadman
Series 11 of the show where one week's interviewee becomes the next week's interviewer. The first episode of Chain Reaction was broadcast on BBC Radio Five in 1991 when John Cleese was the first comedian in the hot seat. Now, 25 years on, a new series sees another raft of the world's best-loved comedians talking to each other about their lives and work. This week, comedy legend and music hall expert Roy Hudd turns interviewer as he chats to the much loved actress, Alison Steadman.
Roy Hudd has clocked up more than 50 years in showbusiness, starting out as a Butlins redcoat in the 1950s and then developing a stellar career through numerous successes on stage, radio and screen. BBC Radio listeners know him best as the host of the much loved News Huddlines on Radio 2 for 26 years. More recently, Roy gained plaudits for his moving portrayal of Bud Flanagan in the BBC drama 'We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story'.
Alison Steadman is an actress who has been popular with the British public and worldwide since making her name in the critically acclaimed works of Mike Leigh in the 1970s. She went on to deliver much-loved and memorable performances across both drama and comedy in Pride and Prejudice and Gavin and Stacey amongst many others.
In this programme Roy talks to Alison about her early days growing up in Liverpool, her trip to the palace to get the OBE and her critically acclaimed work with Mike Leigh.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b074xvfs)
Dan is distracted because he is nervous about girlfriend Dorothy meeting his mum Shula. Dorothy arrives early. She declares there is a lovely feeling in the home, and Dan is a lovely guy. She also gets on well with Shula. Dorothy says she will have to make tracks soon, but she is invited to stay the night, with Dan. Dan asks Shula if they could make up a spare bed for Dorothy, because he thinks Dorothy is special.
Something is on Clarrie's mind. Eddie encourages her to tell him. Clarrie reveals to Eddie about Alf and the missing money. She tells him that when Alf stole from her purse, they agreed to forget about it. But then when money vanished from the church... Clarrie resolves to tell Alan but Eddie says no, he will tell him, tonight. Eddie returns from Alan's, reporting that he was really nice about it, which just made Eddie feel worse. Eddie decides to pay back every penny to stop Alf dirtying the Grundy name. Eddie leaves an angry voicemail for Alf. He is ashamed.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b074vtkn)
David Tennant, Eddie the Eagle, Alison Brackenbury, Jeff Nichols, Evelyn Glennie
Kirsty Lang sees, Eddie the Eagle, the film starring Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman, which tells the story of unlikely British ski-jumper, Michael Edwards. Does it take off, glide elegantly, go the distance and land safely or, like its subject so often, crash in a heap? Critic Tim Robey gives his verdict.
In the second in Front Row's series Shakespeare's People, in which a famous actor, director or writer reflects on the Shakespeare character of their choice, David Tennant considers the 'sweet prince', Hamlet.
Kirsty talks to the acclaimed director Jeff Nichols about his new film, Midnight Special, an intriguing paranormal road movie.
The poet Alison Brackenbury's ninth collection, Skies, deals incisively with the passing of the seasons, with ageing, love and nature and, she reveals to Kirsty, the really important things in life, such as eating honey and peeling parsnips.
Percussionist Evelyn Glennie has made a new piece for the Edinburgh International Festival called 'The Sounds of Science', before its world premier she explains how she imagines and creates the sounds of DNA and the Big Bang.
Producer: Julian May.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b074xq1v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b074xvh6)
Social Convention
Would you ******* believe it? A council has ******* banned swearing in public. The council in question is Salford which has used a Public Space Protection Order to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Salford Quays area which includes Media City, home to the BBC, which might be just a coincidence. Part of the order says it will be deemed a criminal offence if anyone is caught 'using foul and abusive language'. Public Space Protection Orders, or PSPOs, are similar to ASBO's (anti-social behaviour orders), and allow for broad powers to criminalise behaviour that is not normally criminal. PSPOs are geographically defined, making predefined activities within a mapped area prosecutable. Since they came into existence in 2014 many councils have embraced their new powers enthusiastically, with various PSPO's making, or attempting to make, it a criminal offence to sleep rough, drive a loud car and walk a dog without a lead. It seems that control, or regulation, of public space is becoming more common. In the last month alone a council in Wales has banned smoking on a public beach, the London Underground is considering stopping people walking up escalators and a well known store asked a customer to leave because her toddler was having a tantrum. Are regulations to tackle public nuisance a commendable attempt to protect us or an oppressive enforcement of social conformity targeting public activities that are merely unusual or unpopular? This tension between individualism and the common good is an issue which bedevils so many aspects of contemporary society. If it is true that inconsiderate behaviour is increasing in our society, how should we deal with it? How do we balance our moral obligation to the rest of society with our desire to do what we **** well please? Chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Michael Portillo, Giles Fraser and Anne McElvoy. Witnesses are Anna Minton, Alfie Moore, Danny Kruger and Terry Christian.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b07610vh)
Healing Minds
Rachel Kelly draws on her experience of depression, and the healing power of poetry, to explain why she believes we need a more nuanced approach to treating mental illness.
The first in a new series of thought-provoking talks linked to personal experience recorded in front of a live audience.
Producer: Sheila Cook.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b074x9gm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b074xg5c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b074vtkq)
New questions over viability of EDF's Hinkley Point nuclear plant
Fresh doubts after one of the directors of the company said he'd vote against the project.
History in Myanmar - as a new civilian President is sworn in
The man known as "Hitler's commando", who's been unveiled as a member of Israeli intelligence.
And the new way to chillax: the craze for "colouring in"
(Photo of Hinkley Point - credit: Getty Images).
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b074xw23)
Hot Milk
Episode 8
Hot Milk is the latest novel by Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy. Set in Southern Spain it explores female rage and sexuality and the stubborn primal bond that exists between a hypochondriac mother and her daughter.
Sophia, a young anthropologist, has 'been sleuthing her mother's symptoms' for as long as she can remember as Rose, the older woman, is suffering from a form of paralysis that might or might not be imagined. Driven to find a cure beyond the realms of conventional medicine, they have come to Almeria in Southern Spain to visit the clinic of Dr Gomez. His methods have little to do with physical medicine and he prompts both women to confront the true nature of their relationship.Are Rose's symptoms psychosomatic and why is Sophia unable to escape her mother's constant complaints?
The oppressive desert heat pushes both to examine the root of Rose's illness and the cause of Sofia's fractured identity. And Sofia discovers the sting of desire, and the need to be vital and alive.
Today: Sofia returns from Athens to Spain feeling liberated from her father, but increasingly drawn to Ingrid who is waiting for her in Almeria.
The reader is Indira Varma and Hot Milk is abridged by Sally Marmion.
The producer is Julian Wilkinson.
WED 23:00 The Croft & Pearce Show (b074xw25)
Episode 4
Sketch show from award-winning duo Croft and Pearce, rising stars of the UK comedy scene.
These Edinburgh Fringe favourites were the break-out hit of BBC Radio 4's Sketchorama and have performed sell-out shows in London, New York and around the UK.
Packed with sharply observed characters, this debut from writer-performers Hannah Croft and Fiona Pearce is not to be missed.
In the last episode of the series, an unsentimental relationship counsellor gives marriage advice, a wide-eyed work experience girl delights in what she's learnt during her time in the Big Smoke, and middle-class powerhouses June and Jean must somehow find a way to tolerate their husbands.
Written and performed by Hannah Croft and Fiona Pearce
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b03nt9wl)
Series 2
Science
Tim Key returns and he's back to grapple with the concept of science by telling the story of Keith Lewis's Monster.
He also has plans for a very special scientific experiment.
Written and presented by Tim Key.
Musical accompaniment is provided by Tom Basden.
Producer: James Robinson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.
WED 23:30 Short Cuts (b06kcbvy)
Series 8
Copycat
Howling like a wolf, stolen identities and poetry composed from borrowed words. Josie Long presents stories of imitation and plagiarism.
Featuring:
Inspiration
Feat. Tom Robinson
Howling Cameraman
Feat. Rolf Steinmann
http://rolfsteinmann.de/
Produced by Rachel Simpson
Turd Ferguson
Feat. Alex Edelman
Produced by Sophie Black
No More Questions
Written and produced by Ross Sutherland
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in October 2015
THURSDAY 31 MARCH 2016
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b074vtmb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 This Orient Isle (b074xg5f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b074vtmd)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b074vtmg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b074vtmj)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b074vtml)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b074yyxs)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b074yyxv)
Poultry Welfare - Concern over changes to welfare guidance, Hillfarming on stage in Keswick
We hear concern from the British Veterinary Association at changes in the poultry industry next month, when the British Poultry Council is put in charge of guidance on welfare. Both organisations debate the pros and cons of the changes.
There are sheep currently on stage in Keswick - puppets, in fact - taking part in a play that celebrates hill farming in Cumbria. It's an adaptation of A Shepherd's Life, the best selling account of raising Herdwicks in the Lake District written by tweeting farmer James Rebanks. Caz Graham speaks to James and puppet director, Jimmy Grimes, more used to capturing the movement of horses in 'War Horse' than sheep on the fells.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Mark Smalley.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tyfr0)
Kestrel
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the kestrel.
The kestrel is widely distributed throughout the UK and when hovering is our most recognisable bird of prey. Their chestnut back and wings, and habit of holding themselves stationary in mid-air are a unique combination;mall wonder that an old name for kestrels is windhover.
THU 06:00 Today (b074yzwh)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b074yzwk)
Agrippina the Younger
Agrippina the Younger was one of the most notorious and influential of the Roman empresses in the 1st century AD. She was the sister of the Emperor Caligula, a wife of the Emperor Claudius and mother of the Emperor Nero. Through careful political manoeuvres, she acquired a dominant position for herself in Rome. In 39 AD she was exiled for allegedly participating in a plot against Caligula and later it was widely thought that she killed Claudius with poison. When Nero came to the throne, he was only 16 so Agrippina took on the role of regent until he began to exert his authority. After relations between Agrippina and Nero soured, he had her murdered.
With:
Catharine Edwards
Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London
Alice König
Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies at the University of St Andrews
Matthew Nicholls
Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Reading
Producer: Victoria Brignell.
THU 09:45 This Orient Isle (b074yzwm)
Episode 4
Professor Jerry Brotton, one of the UK's leading experts on cultural exchange, examines Queen Elizabeth I's fascination with the Orient. He shows that England's relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we have ever appreciated, and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England.
Derek Jacobi reads the captivating account of how Britain sent ships, treaties and gifts to the royal families of Morocco and Turkey, including a gold carriage and a full-size pipe organ.
In this episode, Queen Elizabeth I's advisers debate how to satisfy yet again the sultan of Turkey's demands for elaborate royal presents.
Producer: David Roper
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in March 2016.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b074vtmn)
Pregnancy discrimination, Anita Brookner
New research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that over the last ten years, the percentage of woman who report discrimination related to pregnancy or motherhood has risen from 45% to 75%. Jenni is joined by Jo Swinson, who commissioned the research, and Joeli Brearley who set up the website Pregnant Then Screwed.
The novelist, Anita Brookner, died earlier this month. She came to writing comparatively late in life and her best known work was almost certainly Hotel Du Lac. The writer Laura Thompson tells us why she considers that Brookner is one of the great writers and explores the appeal of her depiction of women who may feel life hasn't turned out quite as they'd hoped.
Earlier this week we discussed the Helen, Rob domestic abuse storyline in The Archers. We have had a huge response on different aspects of the situation, including many on how realistic, or not, they find the idea that Pat, Helen's mother, is unable to see what is happening right under her nose. Jenni is joined by Ruth, a listener, who also didn't see what was taking place in her own sister's relationship.
According to the United Nations, over 200,000 women and children have been raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998. In the first case of its kind, former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has been found guilty of using sexual violence as a war crime at the International Criminal Court. Anneke Van Woudenberg, Deputy Director for the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, joins Jenni to discuss what makes this such a landmark case.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b074zdcs)
Hollywood Endings - Doubles
Episode 4
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
She little knows this will become the worst day of her life.
A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b074zdcv)
Thai Buddhism - Monks, Mercs and Women
An unholy spat is stirring the Sangha, Thailand's top Buddhist authority - who will become the next Supreme Patriarch, Thailand's most senior monk? Meanwhile, allegations of 'cheque-book Buddhism', cronyism and corruption abound - including allegations about tax-evasion on an imported vintage Mercedes car. In Thailand, where the majority of the population profess Buddhism, seeking ordination isn't unusual. But salacious stories about monks who commit serious crimes - everything from sex offences to wildlife trafficking - continue to shock. Watching quietly from the side-lines is the Venerable Dhammananda - female, and a Buddhist monk since 2003. Although the Sangha bars women from ordination, there are now around 100 bhikkhunis, as female monastics are known, in Thailand. And their growing acceptance by some Buddhist believers might partly be explained by a widespread disillusionment with the behaviour of some male monks. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly explores the rifts and sexual politics challenging Thai Buddhism and its devotees.
THU 11:30 UK Confidential (b074zw48)
The Nazi Persecution Files
Martha Kearney with the newly declassified documents telling the stories of Britons persecuted by Nazi Germany.
In 1964, the UK and West Germany signed an agreement that enabled British victims of Nazi oppression to seek compensation. The total fund was limited to just £1,000,000, and the criteria were strict - only those who had spent time in "concentration camps or similar institutions", and who could prove it, would be awarded cash sums.
A special unit was set up within the Foreign Office to process claims. Soon, they were dealing with thousands of applications, some seeking redress for their own ordeals, others hoping to gain acknowledgment of the suffering of their deceased loved ones. There were applications from prisoners of war, from Jews - both British-born and those who had become naturalised Britons since the end of the war - and from ordinary men and women who had become caught up in the wave of Nazi oppression that engulfed Europe more than 20 years before.
The documents these applicants submitted in support of their claims have lain unseen in Foreign Office archives for 50 years.
Now, as the files are finally released, Martha Kearney and expert guests review them, and we hear the reaction of family and friends on seeing them for the first time.
Graphic accounts of torture and maltreatment mix with tales of great courage and fortitude. Those who survived years in concentration camps provide unflinching evidence of systematic Nazi brutality. There are stories of families tragically divided, and of acts of remarkable heroism, some already well-known, others that have remained unheralded.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b074vtmq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Witness (b0750046)
Siege of Sarajevo
Bosnian Serb guns bombarded the city of Sarajevo for almost 4 years in total. Inhabitants of the city suffered malnutrition and sniper fire, as well as daily shelling.
Vedrana Seksan lived through the siege - hear her story.
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b074vtms)
Bye bye buy-to-let?
Landlords now have to pay higher stamp duty when buying property, and from next year they will get a reduced tax allowance. Could the buy-to-let bubble be about to burst? Two experts give us their view.
The Campaign for Real Ale which has championed real ale since it was set up in 1971 could change its focus to include other consumer issues. CAMRA is consulting its 177,000 members and could widen its remit to campaign about things like pub heritage and foreign beer. We hear from one of its founders.
Tomorrow the minimum wage will increase by 50 pence an hour for workers over the age of 25. It'll make it one of the highest rates in Europe. But some UK business leaders say it will lead to higher unemployment. Today we report from the United States on how their minimum wage works.
The homeowners who don't own the bricks and mortar or the land on which their home is built. An expert on leaseholding tells us about the pitfalls and risks of not owning the freehold on your home.
What are the employment rights of the army of couriers who deliver goods to our homes? A union tells us that a planned employment tribunal could make a real difference to their terms and conditions in the future.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Helen Roberts.
THU 12:57 Weather (b074vtmv)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b074zhqs)
David Cameron has insisted the government is doing everything it can to help the British steel industry -- but said nationalising it was not the right answer. We examine what options are available under EU competition laws. Former Conservative Trade and Industry secretary Peter Lilly tells us that the industry should be nationalised if necessary, but Ken Clarke, the minister who began the privatisation of British Steel says that unsustainable industries should be allowed to fail.
Michael Palin, who both wrote for, and starred opposite Ronnie Corbett pays tribute to the star who has died aged 85.
Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa has broken the constitution, spending millions of dollars of public money on his private house. Can he hang on to power?
And following calls for school children to be taught map reading, we're on the streets of Brighton with an Ordinance Survey map.
THU 13:45 A Guide to Coastal Wildlife (b074zdd0)
The Strandline
The strandline offers shelter and food to a diverse range of wildlife, but of course you never know quite what you might find here as it moves with the tides.
Shells, feathers, skulls and egg cases might get caught up in piles of rotting seaweed or blown away by the wind. It’s a very windy day when Brett Westwood and Phil Gates scour the strandline, and having retrieved their ‘treasure’ they head off to the shelter of the dunes to share their booty; shells of various kinds, a feathers, a piece of sea sandwort and some seaweed flies – one of the few insects which you might find on the beach.
Other creatures which you might be lucky enough to find include a sea potato or burrowing sea urchin. After they have died, what remains is a beautiful heart-shaped case covered in tiny holes which mark the point where muscular feet once protruded. When alive, the urchins burrow into the sand and filter food out of the sea water. Strandlines are also good places to look for whelk egg cases, which resemble pieces of bubble wrap, but as we hear are the sites of cannibalism and molluscan violence!
But perhaps the most highly prized find on a strandline would be a mermaid’s purse; the egg case of a dog fish or skate although the latter are very rare. And as Phil reveals he’s not only found egg cases in the past but had a close encounter with the adult – a relative of a shark – and survived to tell the tale!
Producer: Sarah Blunt
THU 14:00 The Archers (b074xvfs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b074zdd3)
Deep Swimmer
The factually-based story behind the unmasking of Mark Kennedy, the undercover police officer who infiltrated environmental campaigning organisations over a period of seven years. During this time he had a series of sexual relationships with women who were unaware of his real identity.
After a legal action in 2015, Scotland Yard have issued an unprecedented apology and paid compensation to some of the women, but they have not said how or why they were targeted.
Steve Waters' new drama examines the events leading up to Kennedy's unmasking by the activists with whom he had these intimate relationships.
Deep Swimmer is based on real events, although names of the activists have been changed.
Written by Steve Waters
Music: Michael Ward, featuring Zoe Young and the Cottage Choir
Sound design: Alisdair McGregor
Produced and directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b074zdd5)
Series 32
Isle of Dogs
An unusual urban walk to finish the series: Clare Balding is in London on the Isle of Dogs for a ramble along the banks of the River Thames. It's not a true island, rather it's enclosed on three sides by the river, and has a rich and fascinating history.
Clare is joined by Sarah Wynne, her sister and a friend. Sarah moved to the Isle of Dogs when she was six and grew up there. People are intrigued when she tells them this, they want to know what her childhood entailed: did she ever play outside, or go to the countryside, how did she get to school?
For Sarah, walking gives her a breathing space in fast-paced London life. She often walks with only a vague idea of where she is going, and likes to see where she'll end up. She finds it empowering to simply follow her instincts about which direction to take.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b074vvvv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b074w044)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b074vtmx)
Terence Davies on Doris Day, Aidan Moffat on folk music
With Antonia Quirke.
Ex-Arab Strap front man Aidan Moffat talks about his controversial attempts to re-write traditional Scottish folk songs, as documented in the new film Where You're Meant To Be
Terence Davies, the director of Distant Voices, Still Lives, talks about his love for Doris Day as a sing-a-long version of Calamity Jane is about to released in cinemas
Sebastian Schipper describes how exactly he made Victoria, a heist movie that sprawls across Berlin and was shot in just one take.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b074vtmz)
Solar farm, Gravity machine, Kakapo
The world's second largest floating solar farm has just started generating power. Built on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir in West London, it's the size of eight football pitches and can provides enough power for 1,800 homes. Its construction was a race against time, because the UK government cuts subsidies for new solar farms from April. Adam Rutherford talks to Leev Harder from Lightsource Renewable Energy about the project. Dr Iain Staffel is a sustainable energy expert at Imperial College London and he explains the main issue with solar: the difficulties in storing the electricity produced until it's needed.
A team from Glasgow University has invented a portable gravity detector. Volcanologist Hazel Rymer from the Open University discusses how this cheap and portable device can detect tiny changes in gravity in the ground. She hopes to use this kind of device to monitor what's happening inside volcanoes soon.
In New Zealand, the near-extinct kakapo will become the first species to have the genome of every single member sequenced, thanks to a crowd-funded conservation project. Adam Rutherford meets geneticist Peter Dearden, in the Zealandia conservation area in Wellington, to chat about these charming but daft birds, and efforts to save them from extinction.
Producers: Marnie Chesterton and Jen Whyntie.
THU 17:00 PM (b074vtn2)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b074vtn4)
David Cameron has chaired talks about Tata Steel's decision to sell its UK business
THU 18:30 Hal (b04stlcv)
Series 1
Crime
Hal Cruttenden stars as a 40-something husband and father who, years ago, decided to give up his job and become a stay at home father. His wife, Sam, has a successful business career, which makes her travel more and more. His children, Lilly and Molly, are growing up fast, and his role as their father and mentor is diminishing by the day.
So what can Hal to as he reaches a crossroads in his life? Help is (sort of) at hand in the form of his eager mates - Doug, Fergus and Barry - who regularly meet at their local curry house for mind expanding conversations that sadly never give Hal the core advice he so desperately needs.
Hal is confused even further as he regularly has visions of his long dead and highly macho father, who he's forced to engage in increasingly frustrating conversations.
In this episode, Hal becomes the latest victim to a series of car crimes that have happened near his home. Not only has his own personal car space been invaded, but his beloved CD collection has been stolen - including Abba, Dolly Parton and The Pet Shop Boys.
How can Hal survive this tragedy?
In the process of trying to cope with this crime, Hal also tries to find the real man in himself - but in attempting to do this, only scares his young daughters and reduces them to tears.
The cast includes co-writer Dominic Holland, Ed Byrne, Ronni Ancona, Anna Crilly, Gavin Webster, Dominic Frisby, Samuel Caseley and Emily and Lucy Robbins.
Produced by Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in November 2014.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b074zgr0)
Brian and Adam discuss the no-till proposal for the estate land. Lilian tells Jennifer that Clarrie has been reminding people of Eddie's contribution to the village; namely, his bringing Anneka to the Easter celebrations. Brian passes by, on B.L. Board business.
Kirsty and Helen finally meet up. Helen points out Kirsty never liked Rob, and promises he has a nice side that Kirsty doesn't see. Kirsty still thinks Helen should call the helpline. Or, suggests Kirsty, Helen could talk to Jess - Rob's ex-wife. Kirsty thinks Jess could shine some light on Rob's behaviour. Helen could find Jess's number on Rob's phone. Kirsty gives Helen a spare phone, as a lifeline, with her number and the helpline number in the address book.
Rob says he knows Helen was with Kirsty earlier, behind his back. Rob also reports that Henry has been badly behaved. Rob blames it on that "ridiculous" Easter egg that Pat and Tony gave him, and the soft toy Helen got him. Rob's punishment is to throw the egg and toy in the bin. He points out that Helen has been inconsistent - allowing Henry chocolate from Pat but not from Ursula. Rob tells Helen it's high time she starts taking anti-depressants - he instructs her to look up the pharmacy number on his phone...
THU 19:15 Front Row (b074vtn6)
Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Corbett, Jeremy Irons
As the death of the architect Zaha Hadid is announced, Samira talks to Sir Peter Cook, Amanda Levete and Hugh Pearman and discusses why she was such a influential, ground-breaking architect.
Jeremy Irons talks to Samira about playing Cambridge maths professor G. H. Hardy in 'The Man Who Knew Infinity' - a film based on the real life story of self-taught Indian mathematics genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Ronnie Corbett is remembered by Steve Punt and producer Paul Jackson.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b074zdcs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b074x9pf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 In Business (b074zgr2)
Economic Rebellion
Why is there so much dissatisfaction about how economics is taught at universities? Since the financial crash, many students have been in revolt in the UK and overseas, determined to change the content of their courses. They are not alone. Employers and some economists share many of their concerns. Peter Day explores why the subject has changed over a generation and why that might matter.
Producer: Rosamund Jones.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b074vtmz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b074yzwk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b074vtn8)
The threat of nuclear terrorism
World leaders gather aiming to prevent nuclear terrorism. But how big is the threat? Picture: Nuclear hazard sign and protective mask; credit: Reuters.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b074zgr7)
Hot Milk
Episode 9
Hot Milk is the latest novel by Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy. Set in Southern Spain it explores female rage and sexuality and the stubborn primal bond that exists between a hypochondriac mother and her daughter.
Sophia, a young anthropologist, has 'been sleuthing her mother's symptoms' for as long as she can remember as Rose, the older woman, is suffering from a form of paralysis that might or might not be imagined. Driven to find a cure beyond the realms of conventional medicine, they have come to Almeria in Southern Spain to visit the clinic of Dr Gomez. His methods have little to do with physical medicine and he prompts both women to confront the true nature of their relationship.Are Rose's symptoms psychosomatic and why is Sophia unable to escape her mother's constant complaints?
The oppressive desert heat pushes both to examine the root of Rose's illness and the cause of Sofia's fractured identity. And Sofia discovers the sting of desire, and the need to be vital and alive.
Today: Rose files a complaint about Dr Gomez' clinic (Go-METH) and his clinic becomes the subject of an investigation.
The reader is Indira Varma and Hot Milk is abridged by Sally Marmion.
The producer is Julian Wilkinson.
THU 23:00 Down the Line (b01s4qqz)
Series 5
Food and Music
The ground-breaking Radio 4 phone-in show, hosted by the legendary Gary Bellamy and brought to you by the creators of The Fast Show.
Starring Rhys Thomas, with Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Charlie Higson, Lucy Montgomery, Adil Ray, Robert Popper and Paul Whitehouse.
Produced by Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Short Cuts (b06mfs7k)
Series 8
Afterlife
How imprisonment revealed an unlikely talent, a musical story of what follows after a dust storm has passed and the unexpected complications of standing still to watch the seasons change. Josie Long hears stories of what follows after the main event.
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
The items featured in this programme are:
John
Feat. John McAvoy and Darren Davies
Produced by Sophie Black
The Novelist
Feat. Lily Kestecher, Noel Debien, Claudia Taranto and Milan Durovic
Produced by Natalie Kestecher
Sound engineer / sound design by Russell Stapleton
The Man Who Couldn't Stop the Wind from Blowing
Produced by Cicely Fell
Original music by Smith & Watson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
FRIDAY 01 APRIL 2016
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b074vtq0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 This Orient Isle (b074yzwm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b074vtq2)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b074vtq5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b074vtq7)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b074vtq9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b076rfbt)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day, with the Right Reverend Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b074zw38)
Rat Poison Controls
Tough new laws on the use of industrial rat poison come into effect today. Farmers will have to undergo training before they'll be allowed to buy the rodenticides. The poison has been turning up in watercourses, and in birds of prey and small mammals that may have fed on rats.
And we meet two young would-be farmers from France who are volunteering on a smallholding in the UK as part of the 'Wwoofing' movement. It stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms and offers free room and board in return for work on the farm.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Sally Challoner.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378svz)
Wood Pigeon
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the wood pigeon. One of our most widespread birds, you can hear this song all year round; just about anywhere. The young are called squabs and along with seeds and green foliage, Wood Pigeons feed their chicks with "pigeon milk", a secretion from their stomach lining.
FRI 06:00 Today (b076vwg2)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b074vw94)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 This Orient Isle (b074zw3t)
Episode 5
Professor Jerry Brotton, one of the UK's leading experts on cultural exchange, examines Queen Elizabeth I's fascination with the Orient. He shows that England's relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive, and often more amicable, than we have ever appreciated, and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape of Elizabethan England.
Derek Jacobi reads the captivating account of how Britain sent ships, treaties and gifts to the royal families of Morocco and Turkey, including a gold carriage and a full-size pipe organ.
In this episode, we visit the London stage to discover the Elizabethan fascination with the little-known world of Islam, particularly by Shakespeare and Marlowe.
Producer: David Roper
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2016.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b074vtqc)
Childcare deposit guarantees, Zaha Hadid, Social business, Pauline Lynch, The Mother's Blessing
Dalia Ben-Galim, from single parents charity Gingerbread proposes a solution for lone mothers or fathers locked out of work by the exorbitant cost of childcare.
Christine Murray, editor of The Architectural Review pays tribute to Zaha Hadid, widely regarded to be the greatest female architect in the world.
The Good Loaf cafe in Northampton is a social business that gives jobs to vulnerable local women, including those who have offended. Reporter Henrietta Harrison meets workers Heidi and Gemma and Chief Executive Suzy Van Rooyen.
Actress Pauline Lynch, who played Lizzie in the 1996 film Trainspotting, talks about her debut novel Armadillos, her second career as an author and why she set her novel in the harsh Texan landscape, which is so different from her Scottish roots.
Dr Ailsa Grant Ferguson celebrates the 400th anniversary of 'The Mother's Blessing' by Dorothy Leigh and reminds us of the importance of remembering great women writers of the past.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b074zw41)
Hollywood Endings - Doubles
Episode 5
Kim and Boyd are a pair of wannabe actors living in the unfashionable part of Venice Beach, Los Angeles. They struggle to make the rent and keep themselves busy working out and doing the endless round of auditions for commercials and bit-parts in films. So it comes as a surprise when Kim is mistaken for the Hollywood 'A Lister' Faye Dexter, to whom she bears a passing resemblance.
Kim at first tries to explain to her admirer, Danica, that there has been a mistake, but Danica will not be dissuaded. So to keep her happy and to get her out of her hair, Kim agrees to have a selfie taken with Danica and gives her an autograph.
She little knows this will become the worst day of her life.
A Big Fish production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:00 The Lost Art of the TV Theme (b05tq6zy)
Few people who grew up in the 1960s could not now - fifty years on - hum you the tunes from The Persuaders, Crossroads, The Avengers, Blue Peter, Top of the Form, Grandstand, The Saint, University Challenge, Panorama, Dave Allen At Large, The Onedin Line, Department S, Tomorrow's World, Dad's Army, Sportsnight - the list goes on and on. The 1970s gave us Fawlty Towers, Colditz, Mr and Mrs, The Two Ronnies, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served, The Goodies, The Wombles, Blake's Seven, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, whose theme tune perfectly captured the affectionate nostalgia of the comedy. The melodies became so iconic that those shows which survived into the 21st century - Coronation Street, Mastermind, Match of the Day - have never ditched the theme music familiar to generations of viewers. And we haven't even mentioned Dr Who, whose pulsing theme generated by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1963 has since regenerated itself many times over, and inspired enough new music to provide a programme for an entire Prom.
Rich Morton acknowledges that his age defines his taste in themes, as in so many other things. As a composer of very plausible tunes for TV shows and films which never existed, he favours the thrilling, brassy action themes of the 1960s or the jaunty hipster tunes of the 1970s. Yet his suspicion is that programme-makers in the 1980s - perhaps as a result of squeezed budgets - stopped commissioning specially-written music and turned instead to cheaper alternatives, such as adapting instrumental extracts from pre-existing pop records.
Rich argues that, while there are still memorable themes around, far too many shows now have bland or generic music which would defy most people's attempts to hum it, let alone remember it in fifty years' time. In an age when many viewers access TV shows from Netflix, iPlayer or YouTube, the need for an instantly-recognisable theme as a clarion call to gather round and watch no longer applies.
In this programme Rich sets out to ask what it was that made those old themes so memorable, and why the TV theme may have diminished in importance as an art form. He's helped in his exploration by some of the great practitioners of the classic TV theme, such as Tony Hatch and Alan Hawkshaw, and also by one of the most successful TV composers working today, Debbie Wiseman.
FRI 11:30 Josie Long: Romance and Adventure (b074zw4l)
Series 1
Episode 1
A sitcom from award-winning comedian Josie Long about a young woman trying to build a new, more fulfilling life for herself in Glasgow.
Glasgow is the indie band theme park, where Josie will finally be happy and accepted. But almost as soon as she de-trains at Queen Street Station she begins to think she's made a big mistake.
Josie sets about finding friends, a place to live and a new job.
Based on characters from the short films "Romance and Adventure" and "Let's Go Swimming" by Josie Long and Douglas King.
Josie - Josie Long
Darren - Darren Osborne
Roddy - Sanjeev Kohli
Kerry - Hatty Ashdown
Eleanor - Clare Grogan
Chris - Michael Bertenshaw
Mona - Rebecca Hamilton
Fraser - Chris Pavlo
Written by Josie Long
Producer: Colin Anderson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b074vtqg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Witness (b075f6st)
Nigeria's War on Indiscipline
In 1984, General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime launched an unusual campaign to clean up Nigeria. Soldiers forced Nigerians to queue, be punctual and obey traffic laws. The punishments for infractions could be brutal. Veteran Nigerian journalist, Sola Odunfa, recalls the reaction in Lagos to the War Against Indiscipline. Photo: The Oshodi district of Lagos , 2008. AFP/Getty Images).
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b074vtqj)
The Care Act, The National Living Wage, Butlins at 80
Peter White on the Care Act as it turns one year old. Is it on the road to making life easier for carers?
We hear from some of the workers who won't be getting the new National Living Wage.
Butlins turns 80, but are their holidays still appealing?
Getting the best mobile phone deal.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b074vtql)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b074zw4t)
The Prime Minister says the Government is doing all it can to save steel workers goods -- so why are they blocking plans to put tariffs on Chinese steel? We'll hear what a treasury minister has got to say about that - and we'll be hearing from the Chinese city that produced as much steel as the whole of the US.
Brussels airport was due reopen today after the terrorist attack - but the company in charge says it cant because the police are on strike - they say it isn't safe and secure.
The flow of migrants across the med continues -- but how much has it grown be? We have an audio graphic to tell the story.
FRI 13:45 A Guide to Coastal Wildlife (b074zy93)
Mudflats and Salt Marshes
What attracts so many birds to gather on vast expanses of coastal sea mud around the coast?
Well, the answer can be found in this programme when Brett Westwood joins naturalist Phil Gates on the Northumberland coast and after wading carefully across a slippery bed of popping seaweed, they explore the sticky ooze of the mud flats, to discover it teeming with life; food for wading birds.
As well as cockles and lugworms, there are much smaller mud snails and mud shrimps. The latter are tiny crustaceans, very elongated with enormous antennae like “curved crane jibs” which are found in vast numbers (a conservative estimate is 10,000 per square metre) swimming on the surface in liquid mud or hiding out in tunnels below the surface. This rich source of food explains why so many birds gather here to feed; birds like the smart looking shelduck; a duck which is almost the size of small goose but lays its eggs in underground burrows!
Away from the mud, slightly higher up the shore on the salt marsh, Brett and Phil discover sea lavender, a plant which has a clever way of dealing with high salt levels by excreting salt crystals onto its leaves giving them a greyish sheen and a salty taste!
Producer: Sarah Blunt
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b074zgr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b040hjy0)
Tempting Faith
Today is one of the most important days in Martin's life. His daughter, Elizabeth, whom he has never met, has asked to meet him before she emigrates to Australia.
On this prodigious day, more than a little anxious, Martin sets off in his Dad's car bright and early, He is determined nothing can or will go wrong on this short journey to meet his daughter... despite the fact that catastrophe has somehow always dogged his best efforts at avoiding trouble.
But Martin has not anticipated coming in contact with the whirlwind that is Faith!
For Faith this is also a momentous day. She has finally escaped her Guru partner, packed her little car with all of her possessions and is determined to take control of her life for once and for all... when her car is stolen right outside the mall where she has stopped off for a coffee. Martin just happens to be parking in the next lot when Faith jumps into his car and demands he pursues the thieves in a high speed chase - needless to say neither of their days ends as either had anticipated.
But they have tempted fate, and it would appear they are destined to be together.
Writer ..... Sean Moffatt
Director ..... Eoin O'Callaghan.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b074zy95)
Prince Charles at Highgrove
Eric Robson chairs a special correspondence edition of the horticultural panel programme recorded at His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales' garden at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
The programme features an exclusive interview with The Prince of Wales about his new Highgrove Garden Festival in April.
Throughout the programme, the team will explore what advice the amateur gardener can glean from the royal gardens, and panellists Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson take questions from listeners, which were sent in by post, email and social media.
Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Cyprus Avenue (b075fdrt)
A chance meeting at the airport awaiting an increasingly delayed flight sees a young couple discover they have childhood histories - and family tragedies - in common, growing up on the streets of East Belfast - experiences which have defined every aspect of their lives, not least their relationship to the city they once called home. But as they journey back to Belfast, to their families and to the reminders of the past, they slowly begin to look to the future.
Lucy Caldwell is an award-wining playwright and novelist whose work is no stranger to Radio 4. Her novels ‘The Meeting Point’ and ‘All the Beggars Riding’ were serialised on Book at Bedtime and her drama includes ‘Notes to Future Self’, ‘Avenues of Eternal Peace’, ‘Quicksands’ and the Imison award winning ‘Girl from Mars’.
Writer: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Laura Pyper
Producer: Heather Larmour
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b074vtqn)
Dame Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Corbett, General Meir Dagan, Joan Loraine, Gary Shandling
Matthew Bannister on
The internationally acclaimed architect Dame Zaha Hadid, known to some as "the queen of the curve".
Ronnie Corbett, whose partnership with Ronnie Barker made him one of the UK's best loved comedians.
General Meir Dagan, head of the Israeli secret service Mossad when it was credited with carrying out the assassination of five Iranian nuclear scientists.
Joan Loraine who created a much admired garden at Greencombe in Somerset
And Gary Shandling who satirised the vanities and insecurities of celebrity in his fictional TV chat show.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b074zy97)
The Great EU Cabbage Myth
Could there really be 26,911 words of European Union regulation dedicated to the sale of cabbage? This figure is often used by those arguing there is too much bureaucracy in the EU. But we trace its origins back to 1940s America. It wasn't true then, and it isn't true today. So how did this cabbage myth grow and spread? And what is the real number of words relating to the sale of cabbages in the EU?
After the recent announcement that all schools would be converted to academies, a number of listeners have asked us to look into the evidence of how they perform. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan wrote a guest post on Mumsnet and More or Less were called upon to check her numbers.
The popular TV show The Only Way is Essex claimed in its 200th episode that it had contributed more than a billion pounds to the UK economy. We investigate if this is true.
Plus, can we trust food surveys? Stories about which foods are good and bad for you, which foods are linked to cancer and which have beneficial qualities are always popular. But how do experts know what people are eating? Tim Harford speaks to Christie Aschwanden, FiveThirtyEight's lead writer for science, about the pitfalls of food surveys. She kept a food diary and answered nutrition surveys and found many of the questions were really hard to answer.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b074zy99)
Lyndon and Martin - Breaking Point
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a climber who fell and broke his back and the paramedic who rescued him. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.
FRI 17:00 PM (b074vtqq)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b074vtqt)
A man from Luton has been convicted of plotting to kill US servicemen in East Anglia.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b074zy9k)
Series 48
Episode 5
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Mike Wilmot, Jake Yapp, Gemma Arrowsmith and Harry The Piano to present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.
On its 100th anniversary Jake Yapp makes a plea for us to keep British Summer Time 365 days a year, Mike Wilmot takes a crack at Canadian political satire and Deputy Arts Editor for The Independent Alice Jones discusses the TV BAFTA nominations with Punt and Dennis.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b074zy9q)
Ruth and Bert admire the sheep at Brookfield. Bert informs her that it has been good to have Rex around. He also says that he can hear Freda talking in his ear, saying Toby needs taking in hand. Bert tells Ruth that he pulled an April Fools trick on Toby: he put a stock cube in the shower head before Toby went in!
Helen meets up with Jess. Jess has to prompt Helen to say what she came here to say. Helen asks why Jess thought Rob was her son's father, and she reveals Rob was unfaithful. She says that she tried to push Rob away, but Rob was firm and cruel. Because Jess felt addicted to him she still wished he was the baby's father. She says that since she escaped Rob, life has been much simpler. Helen says that she thought Rob was the epitome of the tall, dark, handsome man everyone wants. Helen admits that Rob has been violent to her, and Jess admits the same. Helen then describes Rob's disciplining of Henry yesterday, which horrifies Jess. Helen says that Rob told her he isn't a monster - but Jess thinks he is...
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b074vtqw)
Adrian Lester on Undercover, National Poetry Competition, Victoria, James Shapiro
Kirsty Lang talks to Adrian Lester who stars in Undercover, the new legal thriller on BBC1 written by former barrister Peter Moffat.
As part of our Shakespeare's People series, leading scholar James Shapiro chooses one of the playwright's smallest roles, the First Servant in King Lear.
Hannah McGill reviews Victoria, the acclaimed new German film shot in one long take.
As Radio 4's Home Front hides Shakespeare quotes in its scripts, Kirsty talks to writer Sebastian Baczkiewicz and historian Sophie Duncan, who looks at how Shakespeare's 300th anniversary was marked during World War I.
Plus Eric Berlin, winner of the National Poetry Competition.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b074zw41)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b074zy9s)
Tim Farron MP, Andrea Jenkyns MP, Jess Phillips MP, John Timpson
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from the University of Worcester with the Leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron MP, Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns, Labour MP Jess Phillips, and the businessman John Timpson.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b074zy9v)
Virtual Violence
Will Self draws no comfort from an alleged drop in violence in the real world, as he sees us increasingly expressing our innate tendency towards violence in the virtual and online worlds.
" I don't think watching violence drives us to commit violent acts - I think it is a violent action in and of itself."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Saturday Drama (b01mhn54)
Blasphemy and the Governor of Punjab
On 4th January 2011, self-made millionaire businessman and governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was gunned down in the car park of a popular Islamabad market. He had been leading a campaign to amend Pakistan's
blasphemy laws, after an illiterate 45-year-old Christian woman, Asia Bibi, from a village in his province had been sentenced to death for blasphemy.
Within hours of his death, a Facebook fan page for the assassin Mumtaz Qadri had over 2000 members, before site administrators shut it down. When Qadri was transferred to jail, he was garlanded with roses by a crowd of lawyers offering to take on his case for free. President Asif Ali Zardari, an old friend of Taseer's, didn't go to the funeral for fear of inflaming public opinion. Leaders of state-funded mosques refused to say funeral prayers for the slain governor. The Interior Minister even gave an impromptu press conference announcing that he too would kill any blasphemer "with his own hands".
Using his extensive contacts in Pakistan, presenter Owen Bennett-Jones has interviewed Taseer's family and friends and the family of the assassin. He has also secured access to court documents including the killer's confession.
The programme includes both interviews and dramatic reconstructions.
Presented by Owen Bennett-Jones
Sound Design - Steve Bond
Executive Producer: Jeremy Skeet
Director: John Dryden
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b074vtqy)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b074vtr0)
Steel workers weigh up job options
Business Secretary Sajid Javid has told steel workers he's "on their side" during a visit to Tata's threatened Port Talbot plant
We hear how workers have fared in the six months since 1700 of them lost their jobs at the Redcar steel plant
Andrew Hosken reports on Labour's relationship with anti-Semitism
Why Estonia's president likes to moonlight as a DJ
and what to do about those pesky moths after an exceptionally warm winter.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b074zyr0)
Hot Milk
Episode 10
Hot Milk is the latest novel by Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy. Set in Southern Spain it explores female rage and sexuality and the stubborn primal bond that exists between a hypochondriac mother and her daughter.
Sophia, a young anthropologist, has 'been sleuthing her mother's symptoms' for as long as she can remember as Rose, the older woman, is suffering from a form of paralysis that might or might not be imagined. Driven to find a cure beyond the realms of conventional medicine, they have come to Almeria in Southern Spain to visit the clinic of Dr Gomez. His methods have little to do with physical medicine and he prompts both women to confront the true nature of their relationship.Are Rose's symptoms psychosomatic and why is Sophia unable to escape her mother's constant complaints?
The oppressive desert heat pushes both to examine the root of Rose's illness and the cause of Sofia's fractured identity. And Sofia discovers the sting of desire, and the need to be vital and alive.
Today: In today's concluding episode, Sofia at last feels she can live her own life, but her relationship with her mother Rose has to endure one final test.
The reader is Indira Varma and Hot Milk is abridged by Sally Marmion.
The producer is Julian Wilkinson.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b074x9ph)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 Short Cuts (b06np61j)
Series 8
Inheritance
From the sounds of the womb to fading memories - Josie Long hears stories of what we inherit from past generations.
The items featured in the programme are:
George Bernard Shaw
A Conversation
Feat. Walter Murch
Produced by Niccolò Castelli
https://vimeo.com/136595444
The Waves
Feat. Sian Phillips
Interview recorded for the Empathy Museum
http://www.empathymuseum.com/
Every Heart has a Limited Number of Heartbeats
Produced by Martin Johnson and Ann Heppermann
Originally featured in the Serendipity Podcast
http://thesarahawards.com/subscribe/
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b074zyr2)
Barbara and David - We Thank Our Lucky Stars
Fi Glover with a conversation between a husband and wife about how difficult he found life after he had to retire following bypass surgery, and how volunteering improved things. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.