The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
Lord Plumb on the 1975 referendum, Decline in land used for organic farming, Monitor farms
Former NFU president Lord Plumb remembers the 1975 referendum. He voted 'in' then and will again this time. But beef farmer and former NFU committee chairman Michael Seals wants out of what he describes as the "European straight jacket".
The latest government figures show a decline in land used for organic farming in the UK, despite the fact that we're buying more organic food.
The AHDB's Monitor Farm Scheme brings like-minded arable farmers together to share their knowledge and expertise. This summer will see the launch of nine new monitor farms - commercial farms which open up their businesses to groups of farmers who become involved in the decision making process.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Chris Packham presents the avocet. With its black and white plumage, blue-grey legs and delicate upturned bill, the avocet is one of our easiest birds to identify. They are a conservation success and are now breeding in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Kent and elsewhere.
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Half a century after the search for gravitational waves began, scientists confirmed that they had finally been detected in February 2016. Physicists around the world were ecstatic. It was proof at last that Einstein was right: the tiny ripples in the fabric of spacetime that he predicted a hundred years ago are real. And now that we can detect them, a new era for astronomy is anticipated. Traditional telescopes rely on light for information. No good when you want to find objects that are dark. Now for the first time we can 'see' black holes colliding.
Sheila talks to Jim at the Cheltenham Science Festival about her part in this momentous discovery.
Tim Samuels goes in search of alternative relationships and meets women who have ditched traditional monogamy in favour of part-time, polygamous and pragmatic love.
Tim recently wrote about the challenges of being a 21st century man, including how monogamy can be a struggle. He's not the first man to feel it could run counter to men's biological make-up. And these days, in heterosexual couple break ups, female infidelity is just as likely to be cited as a cause for divorce as the male half of the partnership straying.
Tim says we are now living in a world where religion has lost its grip, women are freer than ever before to express their sexuality without male diktats, and we are continually evolving and adapting to changing times. He's long been interested in alternatives to monogamy, and now he wants to hear about some actual examples.
In the first of his three programmes for One to One, Tim meets Helen who has ripped up the relationship rules to find a model that works for her. She is a mother of two, but partner of none.
To be born into a black , relatively wealthy family in Chicago, in the late 1940s, was to be born into a world of contradictions. Margo Jefferson describes this world of 'privilege and plenty' as 'Negroland'.
But despite their comfortable home and private education she and her sister still had to navigate the rules that determined what made a black woman attractive. The shade of their skin, the texture of their hair, the shape of their noses.
In prose that is always intellectually incisive and often powerfully vulnerable Margo Jefferson reads from her own memoir.
The England and Chelsea footballer on sport's key role in building confidence and how football has shaped her. Journalist and writer, Anna Kessel and football coach, Annie Zaidi discuss the importance of sport in raising ambition and aspiration in girls.
Eni tells Jane about her passion for social justice. Solicitor and human rights activist, Gareth Peirce and political campaigner Helen Steel discuss the issues involved in legal challenges to large corporations and institutions.
Eni talks about the difficulty of fitting a social life into only three free days a month, and the challenge of finding a man not intimidated by either her career as a lawyer or her football skills.
Christine continues to tell her daughter extraordinary stories from her past. Today she relives her time in the folk and jazz clubs of London and her unsuitable relationship with blues giant Chicago Slim.
Owls are lovable cuddly creatures and wicked associates of witches and the dark: what prompted such contradictions? Brett Westwood investigates. With contributions from a host of hoots and the poetry of William Wordsworth and George Macbeth and Mike Toms of the British Trust for Ornithology, writers Mark Cocker and Richard Mabey, biologist and man-watcher Desmond Morris, a husband and wife team of owl keeper and collector of ceramic figurines, and the museum curator David Waterhouse. Plus a stuffed specimen of the extinct laughing owl of New Zealand. Producer: Tim Dee.
When Elgar was commissioned to write a new work for the Birmingham Music Festival of 1900 he eventually lighted on a poem by the late Cardinal John Henry Newman, The Dream of Gerontius. The resulting piece, neither Oratorio nor Cantata, has remained a favourite in this country for over a century in spite of a disastrous first performance.
When Novello's eventually decided to print the orchestral score Elgar presented his handwritten manuscript, which had been used to conduct the work for two years, to Cardinal Newman's library at the Birmingham Oratory.
Frances Fyfield and her guests, the internationally acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano and singer of the role of the Angel, Sarah Connolly, the choral conductor and head of music at Gloucester Cathedral, Adrian Partington and the music scholar and conductor Nigel Simeone make the pilgrimage to Birmingham to see this extraordinary work which Elgar himself declared in the score was 'the best of me'.
As ever the musician's eye is drawn to the details, the nuances, the refinements in the composer's own hand, and they're not disappointed. Although the famous conductor Hans Richter used the score to conduct the work in Birmingham and elsewhere, Elgar's neat markings mean there's little more than the composer's hand on display.
There are, however, tell-tale additions by Elgar's publisher August Jaeger (The Nimrod of the Enigma Variations) and just occasionally Richter does call upon the chorus and orchestra not to rush.
The setting of Cardinal Newman's Library, the sheer beauty and complexity of the music and the sense of a composer working at the very peak of his powers make this a compelling manuscript with a moving response from the musicians lucky enough to see it.
If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help.
In this series, we're giving you a break from the politicians and we're going to try to figure out the truth. Bracing concept, isn't it? We'll be looking at some of the big questions - The cost of the EU, lawmaking, regulations and trade.
In th secomd of these programmes Tim Harford asks what might happen to migration if we left the EU, and what are the benefits and costs of EU migrants to the UK economy?
With just nine days to go before the EU Referendum, in a special edition of Call You & Yours, we are examining the big EU question through the lives of our listeners.
In recent weeks, there has been no shortage of claims and counter-claims about Britain in Europe, as the campaigns do their best to secure your vote.
But we want to hear your experience of the EU - good or bad. How has Britain's membership of the EU affected your life, your family, your work or business?
Email us - youandyours@bbc.co.uk and don't forget to leave your phone number, so we can get back to you. And join Winifred Robinson at
Will there be a black hole in our public finances or extra cash for the NHS? We look at competing claims in the EU debate and talk to both sides.
As a senior police officer and his partner are killed in France, we look at the terrorist threat there.
The chair of John Lewis tells why the UK lags behind in productivity and gives us his views on brexit.
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, returns to Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 2. COMMUNION AND CONSCIENCE - The communion cup that Shakespeare may well have used sheds light on the dramatic religious changes that came in the aftermath of the Reformation
The second in a series of three dramas set inside legal hearings.
Today Barrister Rebecca Nyman is representing a client at a Mental Health Tribunal. Andrew has been in a High Security Mental Hospital for seven years, now he thinks he’s fit to be released. But will the Tribunal agree?
Margosha Day……. ……………………… NICOLA FERGUSON
The series that looks at current events through the lens of psychology - Michael Blastland explores the quirky ways in which we humans think, behave and make decisions.
In this first episode of a new series, we look at facts and the EU referendum. We are bombarded with statistics and projections about how the UK will benefit or suffer, depending on whether or not we are in or out of Europe. And we, the public, clamour for even more. How do we respond and use these facts, if at all, to formulate a reasoned opinion?
To what extent do we make a judgment first and then collect the evidence afterwards? Do we simply seek out facts that confirm our original belief - are we simply self-justification machines? As we near ballot time, the Human Zoo team investigate how emotions - such as fear and anger - may shape the way we think and act.
Michael Blastland is joined by resident psychologist Nick Chater, Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, and roving reporter Timandra Harkness.
Contributors this week include Professor Jennifer Lerner, Harvard University; Historian Lucy Robinson, University of Sussex; Professor Peter Johansson, Lund University, Sweden; and James Fisher, Cut-Throat London.
Six months ago, new laws on coercive and controlling behaviour were introduced, targeting those who subject spouses, partners and family members to psychological and emotional torment - but stop short of violence.
The type of abuse covered by the new offence could include a pattern of threats, humiliation and intimidation, or stopping someone from socialising, controlling their social media accounts, surveillance through apps and dictating what they wear.
It's an issue featured in Radio 4's The Archers, in a story-line which saw character Rob Titchener's long-term emotional abuse of wife Helen slowly drip fed to listeners over two-and-a-half years, bringing wide public attention to the problem. But what about the women who this affects in real life?
Joshua Rozenberg speaks to Gemma Doherty about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered while living with her partner Mohammed Anwar. Mr Anwar sought to control every aspect of Gemma's life, from who she socialised with, her diet, and an enforced exercise regime. Mr Anwar became one of the first men jailed for the new offence.
He also speaks to Women's Aid - one of several charities which campaigned for the new law, which hopes that the threat of a conviction will help bring in cultural changes in how some people conduct themselves in relationships.
Also: Joshua interviews Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, to find out what he has learned six months into taking up his new post.
Barrister Robert Rinder, TV's Judge Rinder, and novelist Stella Duffy talk to Harriett Gilbert about the books that matter deeply to them.
Robert Rinder loves Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford so much that he says he couldn't be friends with anyone who didn't.
Stella Duffy shares her thoughts about facing mortality with Staring at The Sun: Overcoming the Dread of Death by Irvin D. Yalom.
Harriett introduces them to what she thinks is a dark comedy: A Matter of Death and Life by Andrey Kurkov, set in Kiev - but there is some dispute over its comedic value..
Jeremy Corbyn launches new push to persuade wavering voters to stay in the EU
Referendum Campaign Broadcast by the Vote Leave campaign for the Referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union on 23rd June 2016.
Poet and broadcaster Michael Rosen reads from his teenage diaries which focus on growing up as a naughty schoolboy in the 1960s, his early enthusiasm for politics and his warm, loving and unusual family life.
Susan keeps pestering Clarrie with questions about yoghurt and ice cream. Pat wonders if she should have a word but Clarrie says it's just Susan being the way she is - a bit bossy. Tony arrives back from visiting Helen, who is looking well for sitting out in the garden. Helen has been able to nominate Tony and Tom as the two people who can take Jack out of the mother and baby unit which means Pat can meet her grandson.
Tom helps Ed and Jazzer with a shearing job in Wales. They talk about Oliver and Caroline's return to Ambridge. Ed tells Tom his tenancy of the land at Grange Farm will continue and he is thinking about developing a breeding stock of Texel sheep.
At Grange Farm Clarrie finds Emma mopping up water that has come through the ceiling. Joe left the water running in the free-standing bath that doesn't have a proper overflow. Emma has held off the Sterlings visit to Grange Farm until the end of the week. They find the water has spread further than they thought and a rug and furniture are put outside to dry.
Rob unexpectedly turns up at Bridge Farm with a proposition: He wants to spend Father's Day - a Sunday - with Henry. In return, Henry can stay over with Pat and Tony one night next week. Rob leaves before they make a decision. Pat says they have to stand up to him; she's not going to let Rob push them around.
Tate Modern's new Switch House gallery, Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Debut novelist Emma Cline
Tate Modern opens its new £260m extension to the iconic former power station on London's South Bank on Friday. Architect Amanda Levete, who has remodelled the V&A, and the art critic Andrea Rose visit the Switch House to discuss the opportunities the new space offers for international and female artists.
Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard is performing Messiaen's two-hour celebration of birdsong, Catalogue d'Oiseaux, at the Aldeburgh Festival this Sunday from dawn to dusk. We join him in front of the piano for a tour of the different bird calls in the piece and he reveals how Messiaen's personal connection to nature informed his work.
Emma Cline discusses her debut novel The Girls which is tipped to be the summer bestseller. It follows teenager Evie Boyd who gets caught up in cult that will eventually lead to murder, in a narrative loosely based on the Manson murders of the '60s.
As the publishers Penguin prepare to relaunch their series Modern Poets for the first time this century, Samira takes soundings on the state of contemporary poetry with the series editor Donald Futers.
The recent deaths of children at the hands of family members have revealed some children's social work departments are still failing children some nine years after the death of Baby P. In some regions the reaction of the Government has been to take social workers out of the hands of councils and put them into independent trusts.
So what's been going wrong - and will the radical solution coming out of Whitehall really work? Jenny Chryss investigates.
Gyms aren't always good news for blind people because they can be hard to find your way around and can be noisy, but two of our listeners are standing up for them. That's because they've had a great experience with them and find them a good way to keep fit and make friends. Our listeners share some tips about the best way to manage gyms when you can't see. We also get into the fresh air with the blind cyclists who belong to a tandem group. And we get your reaction to our recent piece about filling out government disability benefit forms.
Could you be one on the 2.5% of the population psychologists have dubbed "supertaskers". These are people who are able to deal with a multitude of different tasks all at the same time? Now a team in Australia has put together an online test so that you can find out for yourself.
We've had a lot of response to our discussion on education and exam stress. Claudia Hammond looks at a radical system designed to end exam stress forever - by doing away with exams and using artificial intelligence to carry out much more nuanced assessments. The research is being done at the University College London Knowledge Lab, and Claudia went along to see how it all works.
And a strong bond between mother and daughter is at the heart of our latest interview with a finalist in the All in the Mind awards. We hear from the daughter who has nominated her mother for an award. Ellie, who's 20, explains why she thinks her mother should get an award for the support she's given her since her diagnosis with depression, psychosis and a personality disorder at the age of 14.
Has Labour left it too late to convince voters they're serious about immigration? We talk to former Labour Culture minister Ben Bradshaw. We explore the link between Russian football and politics. And why do some Israelis fear Iran more than IS - we have a report from Golan Heights.
Kate has been introduced to her father's research assistant Pyotr, in a somewhat staged encounter.
Already her forthright manner has caused him to describe her as 'rude-spoken', but nonetheless Pyotr manages to bump into her on her way home from the nursery school where she works.
Kate and Bunny's mother died when Bunny was a baby, and since she dropped out of college (after a disagreement with her biology lecturer) Kate has managed the household for her father and teenage sister.
Anne Tyler's contemporary response to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is set in Baltimore where Dr Battista, an obsessively dedicated scientist, lives with his two daughters Kate and Bunny.
Stephen K Amos's sitcom about growing up black, gay and funny in 1980s south London.
Sean Curran reports from Westminster on a committee inquiry into anti-Semitism and a statement on violence by British fans at the Euro 2016 football tournament.
WEDNESDAY 15 JUNE 2016
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b07fdxy7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b07ffxsh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b07fdxy9)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b07fdxyc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b07fdxyf)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b07fdxyh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b07gm2xq)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b07fg1x0)
Brexit or Bremain, Agriculture and the law, 'Field of Wheat' group in Lincs, Diamond-back moths in East Anglia
If there's a vote to leave the EU, how quickly would legal disentanglement be achieved? Anna Hill hears from agricultural QC Hugh Mercer who says it's far from straightforward, and Dr Mary Abbott of Farmers for Britain.
We all know the saying that "many hands make light work". However, one farmer in Lincolnshire is experiencing the ultimate in job sharing. Peter Lundgren is allowing a large group of people from all over the world to decide how one of his crops is grown. It's all part of an art project called 'A Field of Wheat'. Environment Correspondent Paul Murphy has been to see how it works.
A plague of moths could seriously affect this year's brassica crops. An infestation has blown in from the continent with a 2 mile wide cloud of the Diamondback moths reported in parts of Eastern counties, where the majority of brassica vegetables are grown. There are millions more than normal and they are resistant to common insecticides. Doctor Stephen Foster, Senior Scientist at Rothamsted Research, describes the problem.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Mark Smalley.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03thswl)
Canada Goose
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
John Aitchison tells the story of the Canada goose. These large black-necked geese with white cheeks and chinstraps are native to Canada and the USA. The first reference to them in the UK is in 1665 when English diarist, John Evelyn, records that they were in the waterfowl collection of King Charles II at St. James' Park in London.
WED 06:00 Today (b07fg1x2)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b07fg1x4)
Adam Henson, Tracey Curtis-Taylor, Paul Spike, Joe Langdon.
Libby Purves meets farmer and broadcaster Adam Henson; writer Paul Spike; pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor and theatre student Joe Langdon.
Tracey Curtis-Taylor is a pilot who last year followed Amy Johnson's flight from the UK to Australia in her classic open cockpit biplane, Spirit of Artemis. Earlier this year the self-styled bird in a biplane attempted a round-the-world flight which ended when her vintage biplane lost power and crashed after take-off in the Arizona desert. She plans to be back in the skies when her plane is fully repaired.
Paul Spike is a writer and journalist. His book Photographs of My Father was first published in 1973, seven years after his father, The Reverend Robert - Bob - Spike, was murdered. Bob Spike was a US church minister who was active in the civil rights movement in 1960s America alongside Martin Luther King Jr. His murder was never solved. Published by Knopf, Photographs of my Father has been reissued to mark 50 years since Bob Spike's death.
Joe Langdon is studying theatre studies at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. His interest in drama was piqued when he was an inmate at a young offenders' institution. He attended workshops organised by the Bristol Old Vic as part of its outreach programme which helps young and disenfranchised people express themselves. This year the Bristol Old Vic celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Adam Henson is a farmer and presenter of Adam's Farm on the BBC's Countryfile programme. He took over the Cotswold farm from his father, Joe, who as a champion of rare breeds, opened the Cotswold Farm Park in 1971 and was founder chairman of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. In his memoir, Like Farmer, Like Son Adam delves into his family's theatrical lineage - his grandfather was comedian and actor Leslie Henson and his uncle is the actor Nicky Henson. Like Farmer, Like Son is published by BBC Books.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b07fg1x6)
Negroland
Episode 3
To be born into a black, relatively wealthy family in the late 1940s was to be born into a world of contradictions. Margo Jefferson describes this world of 'privilege and plenty' as 'Negroland'.
As her father became increasingly successful as a leading black paediatrician, he and her mother moved the family into a neighbourhood that had been exclusively white. Change was coming but it wasn't always welcome. As a young girl, Margo had to learn who amongst her white friends she could trust and who came from families which really despised them.
Margo Jefferson went on to become an arts and theatre critic on the New York Times and Newsweek; she won a Pulitzer for her journalism and now teaches at Columbia University.
Written and read by Margo Jefferson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b07fdxyk)
Takeover week: Guest editor Jackie Kay
The newly appointed Makar - Scottish National Poet - guest edits the programme. The subjects she has chosen are
Writing poems to order - Jackie and fellow poet Imtiaz Dharker on writing commissioned poems. Both have recently written poems inspired by bookshops which are published this week in the Off the Shelf anthology and will form part of the Shore to Shore tour in which they and other poets will be touring the UK giving poetry readings in independent bookshops. Shore to Shore starts on the 19th June in Falmouth and ends on the 2nd July in St Andrews.
Vitiligo and hyperpigmentation - What causes these skin conditions and what it's like to live with them? with dermatologist Dr Sunil Chopra and Natalie Ambersley who has had vitiligo since she was a toddler.
Refugee Tales - Refugee Tales are a series of poems and stories based on the real experiences of refugees in the UK interpreted by writers and poets and published to bring attention to the situation of people held in long term detention. Refugee Tales was set up by the action group Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group who are campaigning for a 28 limit to detention. Reporter Catherine Carr talks to poet Patience Agbabi and 'Farida' who came to this country as a refugee. Anna Pincus, of the GDWG joins Jackie live in the studio to talk about Refugee Tales and their modern interpretation of the Canterbury Tales walk.
Complicated grief - Psychotherapist and agony aunt Philippa Perry on how to deal when the grieving process is complicated by a difficult or unresolved relationship with the deceased.
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Eleanor Garland.
WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b07fg1x8)
Unsuitable Men with Familiar Smiles
Episode 3
by Caroline and David Stafford
Episode Three
While Sally worries about her daughter in Mexico, Christine reveals her unlikely involvement in the Profumo Affair. But is she telling the truth?
Directed by Marc Beeby.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b07fg1xb)
Ian and Chikodi - Sharing in a Different Way
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a couple reflecting on the differences that bind them together. 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 The Borders of Sanity (b07ffkhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Plum House (b07fg2q7)
Series 1
Why Why WI?
Comedy about the inept staff at an historic house. Starring Simon Callow and Jane Horrocks.
Every year, thousands of tourists flock to the Lake District. But one place they never go to is Plum House - the former country home of terrible poet George Pudding (1779-1848). Now a crumbling museum, losing money hand over fist, it struggles to stay open under its eccentric curator Peter Knight (Simon Callow).
Can anyone save Plum House from irreversible decline?
Tom Collyer, sent from the Trust to do just that, seems to be the most likely candidate but the challenge is huge as he confronts the reality of winning round Peter Knight's handpicked team - the hopelessly out of touch deputy Julian (Miles Jupp), the corner-cutting gift shop manager Maureen (Jane Horrocks) intent on making profit from extremely cheap plum-themed merchandise, and maintenance man Alan (Pearce Quigley) who has heard the words "health" and "safety" but never in the same sentence.
In this opening episode, the museum's preparations for the annual WI visit include hiding away valuable artefacts as, according to Peter, some members are prone to stealing them. And Julian gives a disastrous lecture on the life and work of George Pudding.
Written by Ben Cottam and Paul McKenna
Peter ...... Simon Callow
Maureen ...... Jane Horrocks
Julian ...... Miles Jupp
Tom ...... Tom Bell
Alan ...... Pearce Quigley
Emma ...... Louise Ford
Mary ...... Kate Anthony
Jean ...... Sandra Maitland
Directed and Produced by Paul Schlesinger
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b07fdxym)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 More or Less (b07hjvk4)
The Referendum by Numbers
Law
If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help.
In this series, we're giving you a break from the politicians and we're going to try to figure out the truth. Bracing concept, isn't it? We'll be looking at some of the big questions - the cost of being a member, immigration, regulations and trade.
But today we're looking at lawmaking. Tim Harford asks how much UK law comes from the EU and are we always being outvoted on what to implement?
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b07fdxyp)
Make-up tutorials, Charity marketing
A Charity Commission investigation finds ten charities spend up to 90% of their income sending out mailshots and gifts. We look at who the charities are and whether they have links with each other.
We speak to the older women following in the footsteps of the younger Youtube stars like Zoella and Tanya Burr, by making money from posting online make up tutorials. We interview one of the most popular, Tricia Cusden from Look Fabulous Forever.
New research by Paul Lewis of Radio 4's Moneybox shows investing in cash savings brings more returns than investing in shares.
We report from a housing block in Peckham that's having to be demolished because the quality of building work is so poor.
We follow the latest developments from the Select Committee hearing with the former owner of BHS, Sir Philip Green.
The government proposes to sell off Land Registry to private companies. Campaigners against the idea say Land Registry is the only system we have of property registration, and to allow that data into private hands would be deeply dangerous. We discuss the pros and cons with a housing expert.
And, how the rising cost of vet fees and treatments are driving up the cost of pet insurance, and what insurers are willing to offer in terms of cover.
WED 12:57 Weather (b07fdxyt)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b07fg2qb)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
WED 13:45 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01drtc2)
Snacking through Shakespeare
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, returns to Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 3. SNACKING THROUGH SHAKESPEARE - A luxury fork discovered on the site of the Rose theatre helps explain what people were nibbling on when they first heard: "Is this a dagger I see before me?"
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b07ffxtm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Behind Closed Doors (b07fg2qd)
Behind Closed Doors: Series 3
Protection
The last in a series of three dramas set inside legal hearings.
Today’s drama is set at the Court of Protection. Mary has been in a Minimally Conscious State for over three years following a road accident. Barrister Rebecca Nyman is representing her husband who feels it is time to allow his wife to die.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS SERIES 3:
Protection
by CLARA GLYNN
Barrister Rebecca Nyman ………………… CLARE CORBETT
Mr Buchar………………………………… VINCENT EBRAHIM
Justice Rainer …………..…………… ELIZABETH BENNETT
Gavin Howell ………………………..………… EWAN BAILEY
Emily Howell ………………………………… AMY SHINDLER
Dr Raplock/Mrs Forest.…………………… CLARE PERKINS
Professor Rushmore …….…………… BRIAN PROTHEROE
Megan Trantor……………………………… BETTRYS JONES
Producer/Director: David Ian Neville
WED 15:00 Money Box (b07fg6tm)
Money Box Live: The Modern British Workplace
The modern British workplace. Flexible working - is it too much in the employer's favour?
Zero hours contracts, short hours contracts and self-employment are all on the rise in Britain, giving workers less job security and less automatic entitlement to paid holidays or paid sick leave. Mike Ashley, the founder of Sports Direct was criticised by a committee of MPs earlier this month over working practises at one of his warehouses. MPs heard how workers were fined for being late and subject to searches and surveillance. Mr Ashley admitted that in the past some workers had not been paid the legal minimum wage. But employers - both in the private and public sector - say they have to keep costs low in a competitive global market and that means having flexibility over hiring and shedding staff quickly.
Join Adam Shaw and guests to explore the position of the modern worker. We want to hear your experiences as a worker or as an employer.
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday, standard geographic charges from landlines and mobiles will apply. Or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (b07ffxtt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b07fg6tp)
Secrecy at Work, Drugs and Employment
Secrecy at Work: the hidden architecture within our organisations. Laurie Taylor talks to Christopher Grey, Professor of Organization Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, about his study into the secrecy which is woven into the fabric of our lives at work - from formal secrecy, as we see in the case of trade and state secrets based on law and regulation; informal secrecy based on networks and trust; and public or open secrecy, where what is known goes undiscussed.
Also, drug taking and employment: how does the UK anti drugs policy shape our concept of 'employable citizens'? Charlotte Smith, Lecturer in Management at the University of Leicester, argues that drug consumption, in neo liberal times, is positioned as the antithesis of economic potential.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b07fdxyw)
Reporting the refugee crisis, Accessing news online, Achieving 'balanced' EU coverage.
The International News Safety Institute is launching a survey into the psychological impact on journalists covering the migrant crisis, following anecdotal evidence that some journalists are finding it is taking a high emotional toll on them. INSI Director Hannah Storm discusses the challenges of reporting the crisis, and Steve Hewlett is also joined by Channel 4 News International Editor Lindsey Hilsum, who has spent decades reporting around the world on conflicts and who, more recently,has been reporting first-hand on the refugee crisis.
A survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has revealed that more than half of online news consumers are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter ahead of traditional media groups. The trend is aided by the acceleration of smartphone use, as 53 percent of those surveyed reported using their handheld device to access news content. Steve Hewlett talks to lead author Nic Newman about Facebook's growing influence, and what it means for traditional publishers.
There have been calls for broadcasters to do more to fact check claims made in EU referendum coverage. Writing in the Guardian, columnist Peter Preston thinks the BBC in particular is being restricted by fairness and balance rules, leaving interviewers unable to robustly refute claims politicians make. But what can broadcasters do to ensure every fact is correct, in a situation where one sides 'fact' may be the other sides 'lie'? Steve Hewlett discusses with Peter Preston, and Stewart Purvis, former editor in Chief at ITN, and Jamie Angus, editor of the Today programme.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b07fdxyy)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b07fdxz0)
Attempts by George Osborne to make the economy the decisive issue in the referendum, by saying a vote to leave the EU would be followed by an austerity budget, have resulted in a direct challenge to his authority.
More than 60 Tory MPs have said his position as Chancellor would become untenable. He's been backed by David Cameron, who said Brexit would leave a "huge hole" in the public finances.
WED 18:28 EU Referendum Campaign Broadcasts (b07dm2pl)
Stronger IN Europe
08/06/2016
Referendum Campaign Broadcast by the Stronger IN Europe campaign for the Referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union on 23rd June 2016.
WED 18:30 Heresy (b07fg6tt)
Series 10
Episode 5
Victoria Coren Mitchell presents the show which dares to commit heresy.
With comedians Lee Mack and David Baddiel and performer and QI elf Andrew Hunter Murray.
Together they discuss Netflix, father figures and Katie Hopkins.
An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2016.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b07fg6tw)
Jennifer asks Lilian to look after Phoebe, who is in the middle of A-Level exams, while she and Brian are away. Alice drops by to say bye to Jennifer before she leaves. And Lilian and Kate wave off the couple on their ruby wedding anniversary holiday. Kate is relieved to have Brian off her back while she organises the launch of her new venture, Spiritual Home.
Pip and Rex go to a farm-tech event together and Rex asks Pip if she wants to go for a meal on the way home but Pip is non-committal. To her surprise, Pip spots Alice who is there to introduce herself to an agricultural technology company. Pip can't believe that Alice is showing an interest in farming. Pip offers Alice a lift home, scuppering Rex's plan for him and Pip to have a meal together.
Kate talks through her plans for Spiritual Home with Lilian who has chased up the decorators for the studio on Kate's behalf. They retire to the house to open some wine. Phoebe complains they're making too much noise and Lilian tries to hush Kate. Kate says Lilian has been rather boisterous lately and wonders why that would be. Lilian says she couldn't possibly comment.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b07fdxz2)
Ashley Pharoah, Novels in verse, Chris Watson
Ashley Pharoah, writer of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, discusses his latest creation for BBC TV - The Living and the Dead. Set in rural Somerset in 1894, this supernatural drama follows Nathan Appleby, a reluctant gentleman farmer who is obsessed with proving the existence of the afterlife, as he investigates hauntings, paranormal happenings and ghostly visitations.
Writer Sarah Crossan has won the 2016 Bookseller YA prize for her novel One. It's the story of conjoined twins, written in verse. Ros Barber's debut novel The Marlowe Papers is a fictional account of the life of Christopher Marlowe, also written in verse. They talk to Kirsty about writing novels which take the form of series of poems.
Sound artist Chris Watson, who has worked alongside David Attenborough on many of his BBC nature series, discusses his new project The Town Moor - A Portrait in Sound. Over the course of a year he documented the sounds of the ancient and vast grazing common at the heart of Newcastle, and will be presenting the audio portrait as a 'dark' cinema experience at the Tyneside Cinema.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b07fg1x8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b07fg6ty)
Assisted Dying
Every year thousands of terminally ill patients are being helped to die by their doctors, according to Baroness Molly Meacher, the new chairwoman of Dignity in Dying. She claims doctors are prepared to risk their own freedom rather than see their patients continue to suffer unbearably. Her assertion comes as the British Medical Association next week prepares to discuss the results of its 18 month long survey in to the public and medical professionals' attitudes on end-of-life care and physician-assisted dying. For 26 years now this programme has charted the moral and ethical life of the nation and this subject, above all others, has been the one we've returned to most often. And little wonder as it's an issue that combines moral dilemma, religious principle, human compassion and fear in equal measure. As a prelude to the BMA debate, this week we're going to invite back witnesses who've appeared on our programme over the years to explore how the debate has developed over time. In 1991 we started out discussing the morality of suicide manuals. Advances in medical technology since then have transformed our expectations of what we demand from life. We've seen a growth of the "me generation" that prizes and demands individual choice and rights above collective responsibility. While as a society we have increasingly recognised the rights of disabled people, there is also growing support for legalising assisted suicide, which may give comfort to some, but could put many more vulnerable people at risk. And there has also been our changing relationship with religion. The moral maze that is the debate on assisted dying, live at
8pm Wednesday. Chaired by Michael Buerk with Mona Siddiqui, Anne McElvoy, Giles Fraser and Claire Fox. Witnesses are Dr Michael Irwin, Lesley Close, Dr Kevin Yuill and Prof David Cook.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b07fg6v2)
Citizen Diplomacy
Tom Fletcher, former British Ambassador to Lebanon and known as the 'naked diplomat' for his direct, unvarnished approach, argues that the future of diplomacy will be citizen-led.
Speaking at the Hay Festival, the 'ex-Excellency' explains how in the digital age most people doing diplomacy - what he describes as a basic human reflex to find common ground - will never have crossed the threshold of a Foreign Ministry. Instead, they will be working for NGOs, the media, in business, elsewhere in government or in communities.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Science Stories (b07fg6v6)
Blood Banks
Blood and Fire: the segregation and racialisation of blood
The development of plasma transfusion for masses of people was born of urgent necessity during WW2. In 1940, Britain struggled to treat thousands of civilians injured in the Blitz and many more soldiers at Dunkirk. Into that desperate maelstrom Charles Drew, an African American doctor, came to the rescue. Dr Drew was the key driving force behind a project called Plasma for Britain which saved many lives.
But when a similar project was rolled out in the USA the authorities insisted that the blood be segregated. Charles Drew resigned and returned to work at a black establishment.
A few years later Dr Drew was involved a catastrophic car accident; he was taken to a segregated (whites only) hospital but died of his injuries. For decades afterwards, the myth persisted, especially amongst African Americans, that the man credited with saving the lives of so many through transfusion was denied blood (because of his colour) that would have spared him. Naomi Alderman explores the pivotal moment in the history of blood transfusion and its legacy in the controversy over race-based medicine.
Producer: Colin Grant
WED 21:30 Midweek (b07fg1x4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b07fdxz4)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b07fdxz6)
How Rotterdam views the EU referendum
In a special programme, James Coomarasamy reports from Rotterdam on how a possible Brexit is viewed in the Netherlands. And Paul Moss reports from Rotterdam's twin town of Hull.
Photo: the port of Rotterdam; credit Reuters.
WED 22:45 Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (b07gb74k)
Episode 3
Dr Battista spends most of his waking hours at the lab where he is assisted by a brilliant young researcher called Pyotr.
But Pyotr’s three year visa is set to expire in a few weeks and, fearful that it will not be renewed, Battista has suggested that his eldest daughter Kate might marry Pyotr and resolve the situation to everyone’s satisfaction – except hers.
After all it’s not as if Kate has a boyfriend or a bevy of admirers like her pretty sister, Bunny.
Kate responds with anger and humiliation, but her father is still determined to pursue his plan.
Anne Tyler's contemporary response to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is set in Baltimore where Dr Battista, an obsessively dedicated scientist, lives with his two daughters Kate and Bunny.
Read by Liza Ross
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
WED 23:00 The Lach Chronicles (b07fg6v8)
Series 3
Goodnight Tokyo
Lach was the King of Manhattan’s East Village and host of the longest running open mic night in New York. He now lives in Scotland and finds himself back at square one, playing in a dive bar on the wrong side of Edinburgh.
His night, held in various venues around New York, was called the Antihoot. Never quite fitting in and lost somewhere lonely between folk and punk music, Lach started the Antifolk movement. He played host to Suzanne Vega, Jeff Buckley and many others. He discovered and nurtured lots of talent including Beck, Regina Spektor and the Moldy Peaches- but nobody discovered him.
In this episode, Lach remembers a time he played a gig in Tokyo. Things didn’t go to plan.
Written and performed by Lach.
Sound design: Al Lorraine and Sean Kerwin
Producer: Richard Melvin
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (b07fln54)
Series 3
Episode 2
Everyone craves a place where their mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts, which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air.
Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, your tired mind can wander.
This is the nearest faraway place for Patrick Marber and Peter Curran. Here they try to get the heart of things in an entertainingly vague and indirect way. This is not the place for typical male banter.
From under the bed clothes, they play each other music and archive of Angela Carter, ex-prime ministers, a castrato singer and an elephant playing the piano. Work, family, literature and their own badly-scuffed dreams are the funny, if warped, conversational currency.
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2016.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b07fln56)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster where Parliament holds its final debates on the UK's membership of the EU ahead of next week's referendum. It was the last chance for the Leave and Remain camps to put their arguments in Parliament because it is now going into recess to make way for the remaining days of the campaign. Also on the programme: an apology from the former owner of BHS, Sir Philip Green. Sir Philip also promises that the shortfall in the BHS pension fund will be addressed.
THURSDAY 16 JUNE 2016
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b07fdy0q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b07fg1x6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b07fdy0s)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b07fdy0v)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b07fdy0x)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b07fdy0z)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b07gbp3l)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b07fl5b9)
Bluetongue, Biotechnology, Sheep shearing, Farm subsidies
Farmers across the UK are being warned to vaccinate against the highly infectious disease Bluetongue, which experts say is likely to arrive here later this summer. The midge-born disease causes serious problems in ruminants. Now Defra, vets and others are taking the message out in a roadshow starting next week.
MEPs have voted through a report calling for Europe to stop blocking progress in areas such as genetic modification and new pesticides and herbicides. The report, by Conservative MEP Anthea McIntyre, says if European farmers aren't allowed to use new technology, they'll be left behind in the global market. But not all MEPs agreed.
And we go back to a Welsh hill farm where we spent a week lambing back in the Springtime. Richard Roderick and his 18 year old son Tudor are now shearing their 150 ewes ready for the summer.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Sally Challoner.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twnw4)
Herring Gull
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the herring gull.
Herring gulls now regularly breed inland and that's because of the way we deal with our refuse. Since the Clean Air Acts of 1956 banned the burning of refuse at rubbish tips, the birds have been able to cash in on the food that we reject: And our throwaway society has provided them a varied menu. We've also built reservoirs around our towns on which they roost, and we've provided them with flat roofs which make perfect nest sites.
THU 06:00 Today (b07fl5bc)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b07fl5bh)
The Bronze Age Collapse
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Bronze Age Collapse, the name given by many historians to what appears to have been a sudden, uncontrolled destruction of dominant civilizations around 1200 BC in the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia. Among other areas, there were great changes in Minoan Crete, Egypt, the Hittite Empire, Mycenaean Greece and Syria. The reasons for the changes, and the extent of those changes, are open to debate and include droughts, rebellions, the breakdown of trade as copper became less desirable, earthquakes, invasions, volcanoes and the mysterious Sea Peoples.
With
John Bennet
Director of the British School at Athens and Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Sheffield
Linda Hulin
Fellow of Harris Manchester College and Research Officer at the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Oxford
And
Simon Stoddart
Fellow of Magdalene College and Reader in Prehistory at the University of Cambridge
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b07fl5bk)
Negroland
Episode 4
A fiercely intelligent account of race and class by writer and critic Margo Jefferson. She was born in 1947, the daughter of a paediatrician and a fashionable socialite, and grew up surrounded by the comforts of a well off family who were part of Chicago's black elite. This is the world she terms 'Negroland' - 'a small region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty'.
In episode 4, Dr and Mrs Jefferson take their two young daughters on a holiday trip, but in Atlantic City not everything goes to plan.
Written and read by Margo Jefferson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b07fdy11)
Takeover week: Guest Editor Professor Sunetra Gupta
Acclaimed scientist and novelist Professor Sunetra Gupta guest edits the programme. These are the subjects she has chosen:
Can we be good at more than one thing? Should we stick to a specialism or embrace multitasking in all elements of our life?
Can writing about food be a high literary form? If so, who are the great writers?
Who were the Stettheimer sisters? How do they fit into the Avant-Garde movement of the USA? And why did one of the sisters spend over twenty years working on a doll's house?
In the 1970s women's presses flourished in the UK and around the world. Today their numbers are greatly reduced. So what was the purpose of women only publishers? And what is their relevance today?
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b07fl5bm)
Unsuitable Men with Familiar Smiles
Episode 4
by Caroline and David Stafford
When Sally unearths a set of old rosary beads, Christine tells her daughter about her time in Rome - an adventure with life-changing results.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b07fl5bp)
Departures
Leaving's the theme of this edition. Bridget Kendall, the BBC's Russia specialist, is hanging up her headphones but not before she talks about secret agents and considers what the past can tell us about that country's future. Past and present are on Kevin Connolly's mind too. He's off to a new BBC posting and points out that within half an hour's walk of his home in Jerusalem some of the defining dramas of the ancient world played themselves out. He also talks of the pleasures and pitfalls of Middle East reporting today. And Gabriel Gatehouse hums the theme tune from 'The Great Escape' while considering departures in his essay about the EU referendum and the Euro2016 football tournament in France.
Image: How to ford a river in groups - instructional diagram from the USSR's Armed Forces Ministry 1946 'Essential Manual for Spies & Scouts'
THU 11:30 Manto: Uncovering Pakistan (b07fl5br)
Sa'adat Hassan Manto was a writer who confronted social taboos in Indio-Pakistani society. Even though he died in 1955, an alcoholic and penniless, his work still speaks to 21st century Pakistan.
"If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth" (Manto)
Born in Punjab in what was then British India on 11th May 1912, Manto died aged only 42 in Punjab, by then Pakistan. As a film and radio script writer, a journalist and most significantly as short story writer in Urdu, he chronicled the chaos that prevailed in the run up to, during and after the Partition of India in 1947. Manto was tried for obscenity six times - three times in British India and three times in Pakistan, but he was never convicted.
"A writer picks up his pen only when his sensibility is hurt" (Manto)
Often compared with DH Lawrence, Manto (much like Lawrence) wrote about topics considered to be social taboos in Indio-Pakistani society. With stories such as 'Atishparay' (Nuggets of Fire), 'Bu' (Odour), 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat) and 'Shikari Auratein' (Women of Prey), he portrayed the darkness of the human psyche and the collective madness of the social and political changes around him.
"If you cannot bear these stories then society is unbearable. Who am I to remove the clothes of this society, which itself is naked. I don't even try to cover it, because that is not my job. That is the job of dressmakers" (Manto)
With the help of Manto's three daughters, Nusrat, Nighat and Nuzhat, as well as writers and scholars like Ayesha Jalal, Suniya Qureshi, Preti Taneja and Mohammed Hanif, presenter Sarfraz Mansoor tells Manto's story and assesses his legacy.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b07fdy13)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 More or Less (b07hjy4z)
The Referendum by Numbers
Regulation
If it seems the EU referendum debate just involves two politicians shouting contradictory statistics at each other - then we are here to help.
In this series, we're giving you a break from the politicians and we're going to try to figure out the truth. Bracing concept, isn't it? We'll be looking at some of the big questions - the cost of being a member, immigration, law-making and trade.
But today we're looking at EU regulation. Tim Harford asks how much red tape from the EU is costs the UK and what might happen if we leave?
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b07fdy15)
Fertility treatment postcode lottery, Super-gentrification
For many couples, IVF offers their best or only hope of having a baby. In Scotland, couples will soon be entitled to three cycles of the treatment funded by the NHS. In Wales, two cycles are funded, but in England the provision is patchy and depends on decisions made locally by clinical commissioners. Fertility experts are concerned that a postcode lottery in the UK is becoming more pronounced.
We investigate a surprising fraud that starts with thieves breaking into a mailbox.
Is it now socially unacceptable to hang your washing out to dry? We hear that some residential areas have become "super-gentrified", with a new generation of incomers bringing with them surprising expectations of how others should behave.
Producer: Kevin Core
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
THU 12:57 Weather (b07fdy17)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b07fl5bt)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
THU 13:45 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01g637c)
Life without Elizabeth
Radio 4 with a new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 4. LIFE WITHOUT ELIZABETH - Painted in 1571 to justify and celebrate Elizabeth I's position in the Tudor succession, by the 1590s, with no direct Tudor heir, this image had very different implications.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b07fg6tw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Tommies (b07fl5bw)
16 June 1916
Lee Ross, Indira Varma, Fay Castelow and Justin Salinger star in this story by Jonathan Ruffle.
When Mickey Bliss is summoned to advise on signals at the Bureau Centrale Interallie in Paris he comes across both an impressive young woman and a disturbing figure from his past.
Meticulously based on war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war exactly 100 years ago.
Through this series of TOMMIES we follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers. They are cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of war, over 4 long years.
With Ewan Bailey, Nick Underwood and Maksim Mijovic.
Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: David Hunter.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b07fl5by)
Series 33
The Cotswold Way
Clare Balding joins Graham Hoyland and his partner, Gina Waggott, as they retrace the steps they took in 2015 along the Cotswold Way as part of their three month epic walk of 500 miles, following the progress of the spring as it spread up England from the south coast to Gretna Green.
They planted an acorn every mile and are thrilled to discover some of them have grown. They talk to Clare about the joy they felt in sharing this journey, their favourite rucksack snacks and their future walking plans.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2016.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b07fdzjx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b07ff199)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b07fl5c0)
Toby Jones, Virtual reality
With Francine Stock
Toby Jones reflects on his new role, a king who becomes obsessed by a flea, in the historical drama Tale Of Tales.
When David Bowie announced the retirement of Ziggy Stardust to a stunned audience in 1973, D.A. Pennebaker was there to catch that historic moment on his camera. As he was when Jimi Hendrix set alight to his guitar at the Monterey festival and Germaine Greer verbally jousted with Norman Mailer at a town hall debate. Pennebaker and his partner Chris Hegedus discuss their five decades of film and history making.
Francine talks to the winner of the first awards for Virtual Reality at this year's Sheffield Documentary Festival.
Dominique Nasta reveals why film-going was compulsory in communist Romania and a few other things you might not have known about cinema in the Eastern Bloc.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b07fdy19)
More gravitational waves; Ocean floor mapping; Selfish Gene 40th; Spoonies
Gravitational waves have been detected for a second time. These waves are ripples in the curvature of space time, predicted by Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity in 1916. Back in February, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (better known as LIGO) announced that they had detected the signal of gravitational waves from the collisions of two big black holes. The detection in February was the first observation of these waves, and confirmed General Relativity. This week, LIGO confirm a second detection. BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos explains what is new about these new gravitational waves.
We know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the ocean floor. Admittedly, the sea is much more dynamic, the scene of many chemical and biological processes, about which scientists would like to learn more. This week, cartographers meet in Monte Carlo, to discuss their plan to map the ocean floor by 2030. Roland Pease reports on the ocean-mapping options.
40 years ago, The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins was published. Since then, it has been a perpetual bestseller. In it, Dawkins explains that the gene is the unit of natural selection, an idea that has become central to all biology. Adam Rutherford speaks to Richard Dawkins, and his co-author on ‘The Ancestor’s Tale’ Yan Wong, at the Cheltenham Science Festival, to discuss the impact of The Selfish Gene.
The spoonbilled sandpiper is standing on the edge of extinction, but in good news, Adam hears about of a clutch of eggs laid not in their native Russia but in Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. BBC producer Andrew Luck-Baker visited the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s population back in April, and describes these birds to Adam.
THU 17:00 PM (b07fdy1c)
Carolyn Quinn with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b07fdy1f)
The Labour MP, Jo Cox, has died after being attacked in the street in her constituency in West Yorkshire.
She was stabbed and shot outside a library in Birstall, where she was holding an advice surgery. A man has been arrested.
Campaigning in the EU referendum has been suspended.
THU 18:30 Paul Sinha's History Revision (b07fl6sk)
Series 2
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Paul Sinha returns for a second series of his History Revision, the show that uncovers the fascinating stories that we've forgotten in our onward march of progress. In the last series we learned how Alexander Graham Bell did NOT invent the telephone, and that the World Cup final of 2014 could only have happened because of the 1415 invasion of Morocco.
In this episode, Paul asks "How did we get here?", quite literally, getting the studio audience to tell him how they got to the BBC Radio Theatre, and then regaling them with stories from the history of transport. From the area of London that became a Russian train station, to the man who revolutionised both the motor industry and the music charts, to the names of airports around the world, this programme about the world of planes, trains and automobiles will provide fascinating facts and surprising stories (unless you listen on a weekend, when a bus replacement service is in operation).
"Sinha's gift for finding humour in it all makes him worth a listen" - The Telegraph
Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Produced by Ed Morrish
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2016.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b07fl6sw)
Alice is keen to see Pip at work with the mob-grazing herd. She also tells Pip she reckons Rex fancies her rotten, Pip insists they are just good mates. Alice is on her way to give Phoebe a lavender pillow to ease her exam stress and at Home Farm, they find Phoebe stressed and clearing up after Lilian and Kate. Kate has put an open invitation on Facebook to her summer solstice event and Phoebe's worried too many people will come. Alice tells her to stop clearing up and invites her to The Nest where she can study in peace.
Pat is angry that Rob is pictured and called a hero in the Echo's coverage of the weekend's events. Tony says she can't expect other people to see through him if they never did. He thinks they should agree to Rob's request of altering the arrangement with Henry for Father's Day. It will show they are co-operative people which could serve them well at the FHDRA hearing. Plus, they can spend the Sunday visiting Jack.
Toby serves Pip dinner at the Bungalow - Bert has gone to the pub and Rex is away. Pip is impressed with the quality of the cooking. Toby shows her the updated film and Pip's not impressed by the lack of mention of the wider Brookfield farm. She points out his business would never have got off the ground without a lot of help from her mum and dad. Pip leaves, thanking him for dinner but it was a shame about the rest of the evening.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b07fdy1h)
Mike Bartlett on Wild, Tale of Tales film review, Georgiana Houghton exhibition review, Suburra director Stefano Sollima
The film Tale of Tales is a fantastical interweaving of fairytales, based on a collection of stories published by the 17th Century poet Gianbattista Basile. It stars Salma Hayek, Toby Jones, Vincent Cassel and John C Riley and is directed by Matteo Garrone, who previously made Gomorrah. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews.
Playwright Mike Bartlett, who won Olivier Awards for his plays King Charles III and Bull, discusses his new play Wild, based on an Edward Snowden-like character who faces the consequences of leaking thousands of classified documents about US operations at home and abroad.
Charlotte Mullins reviews the exhibition of drawings by 19th Century spiritualist Georgiana Houghton at the Courtauld Gallery in London. Layers of watercolours and gouache, painted, she believed, under the influence of a spirit, Houghton's work has long been neglected. Now her abstract works have been reexamined as precursors of the work of artists such as Kandinsky and Mondrian.
Suburra portrays a dark and rain-soaked Rome, where mafia families plot to turn the city's waterfront into the next Las Vegas. The scheme involves shady deals with politicians, the Vatican and warring organised crime gangs. Director Stefano Sollima explains why he is drawn to the underworld of Italy and why he thinks Italian film is enjoying a renaissance.
Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Elaine Lester.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b07fl5bm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 Law in Action (b07ffxsy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b07fl6t6)
The Finance of Films
The business of film. Evan Davis follows the money trail from script to screen. With the help of a top independent film producer, a film distributor and the head of a top cinema chain, Evan discovers who takes the risks and who makes the money behind the scenes.
Guests
Alex Hamilton, Managing Director, Entertainment One UK
Elizabeth Karlsen, Producer and co-founder, Number9 Films
Tim Richards, CEO, Vue International.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b07fdy19)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b07fl5bh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b07fdy1k)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b07fdy1m)
Labour MP Jo Cox shot dead in the street
Labour MP Jo Cox has died after being shot in the street. Paul Moss reports from Birstall, in her constituency, and we hear from her friend Brigid McConville, and senior labour colleague Harriet Harman. Also the UN has declared efforts by so-called Islamic State to wipe out the Yazidis 'genocide'. And what does China think of a potential British exit from the EU?
Photo: Jo Cox. Credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire.
THU 22:45 Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (b07gb89g)
Episode 4
Dr Battista, an obsessively dedicated scientist, lives with daughters Kate and Bunny in Baltimore.
He spends most of his waking hours assisted in his lab by brilliant young researcher, Pyotr. But Pyotr’s visa is set to soon expire and fearful that it won’t be renewed Dr Battista has suggested Kate might marry him and resolve the situation to everyone’s satisfaction – except hers.
After all it’s not as if Kate has a boyfriend or a bevy of admirers like her pretty sister, Bunny.
Pyotr has paid a visit to Kate at home and apologised for offending her. Dr Battista is determined to see the fact that she responded graciously to his apology as progress, and is still keen to persuade her to at least consider his plan.
Without Pyotr he’s convinced that he would be unable to successfully complete his research, which he believes to be at a crucial stage.
Written by Anne Tyler
Read by Liza Ross
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
THU 23:00 The World of Simon Rich (b07fl6t9)
Series 1
Episode 3
Simon Rich has been Saturday Night Live's youngest writer, a staff writer for Pixar and a regular contributor to The New Yorker - as well as one of the funniest short story writers of his generation.
Now the American brings his enchanting, absurd world to radio with his first British comedy show.
The series takes us across time and space, from the design of the universe and prehistoric love triangles to the terrors of life as an unused condom inside a teenager’s wallet.
Performing the stories alongside Simon is a cast of UK comic talent:
Peter Serafinowicz
Tim Key
Cariad Lloyd
Jamie Demetriou
Joseph Morpurgo
Claire Price.
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producer: Richard Wilson
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
THU 23:30 Sugar, Saris and Green Bananas (b06b36w4)
Sugar in My Blood
When you reach for the sugar bowl do you ever think where those sweet granules come from? In the first of two programmes, London-born journalist Lainy Malkani embarks on a quest to uncover her family's Indo-Guyanese roots on the sugar plantations of the Caribbean.
She learns how her ancestors were among the tens of thousands of poor indentured labourers shipped from India to work on the British-owned sugar estates - a practice that began after slavery was abolished in 1838 and continued well into the 20th century. They lived and laboured on plantations with quintessentially English names like Rose Hall and Albion.
When Jock Campbell, the Eton-educated son of the owners of Albion, first visited in 1932 he was shocked by the conditions he found. He asked the fearsome Scottish manager James Bee why the workers' lodgings were so much worse than those of the mules. He was told "Because mules cost money to replace."
Lainy hears firsthand accounts of life on the sugar plantations and the intense nostalgia workers felt for their Indian homeland. She also learns how some of the most famous West Indies cricketers, such as Alvin Kallicharran and Rohan Kanhai, began their careers on the cricket grounds of the Guyanese sugar estates.
And in a south London suburb, she joins numerous other Indo-Guyanese families as they commemorate the first generation of indentured labourers who went to the Caribbean.
She says, "It was sugar that brought my Indian ancestors to the Caribbean. It was the sugar plantations that defined their daily lives. And eventually it was what drove so many of my parents' generation to seek better lives abroad, such as here in Britain."
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4.
FRIDAY 17 JUNE 2016
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b07fdy31)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b07fl5bk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b07fdy33)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b07fdy35)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b07fdy37)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b07fdy39)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b07gbqs0)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b07fl7c4)
EU Fisheries, Cereals 2016, Young Farmers Debate Brexit
Two young farmers at Cereals 2016 debate the future of UK farming & the EU, confirming that the topic is animating the next generation of farmers.
Dr Bryce Stewart from the University of York, assesses the success of European fisheries management.
The British Film Institute has launched the latest batch of archive films - Britain on Film : Rural Life includes 750 films from silent black and white movies to full colour videos spanning the 20th Century. Andrew Dawes has been taking a look with the BFI's senior archivist, Patrick Russell.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02ty530)
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the lesser black-backed gull.
These smart gulls are charcoal grey on top and white beneath. Like herring gulls, their close relatives LBBs have moved into urban areas and now breed on flat roofs in the centre of cities. It seems almost any flat surface will do. In just three hours, one bird in Gloucester built a nest on a car roof and laid an egg in.
FRI 06:00 Today (b07flbs3)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b07ff0hj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b07flbsd)
Negroland
Episode 5
The writer and critic Margo Jefferson was born in 1947, the daughter of a paediatrician and a fashionable socialite, and grew up surrounded by the comforts of a well off family who were part of Chicago's black elite. This is the world she terms, 'Negroland' - 'I call it Negroland because I still find 'Negro' a word of wonders, glorious and terrible. ... because I lived with its meanings and intimations for so long.'
In the 1960s, as the Black Power movement in America gained momentum, the young Margo Jefferson had to find a way of resolving the internal conflicts arising from being educated to be better than the white people who occupied positions of power. Growing up with the advantages of class and money had somehow resulted in 'an excess of white-derived manners and interests'. Negotiating rules, entitlements and prejudices made it increasingly difficult to find her place and her self in the fractured world around her.
Written and read by Margo Jefferson
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b07fdy3c)
Takeover week: Guest Editor Angelina Jolie Pitt
Guest editor Angelina Jolie Pitt brings her focus to health in refugee camps. How do women cope with something like a difficult pregnancy or everyday conditions like asthma? We hear from Esther Nyambu, who works in emergency reproductive health with the IRC (International Rescue Committee), an international aid organisation. She's worked most recently in South Sudan. We also speak to Dr Renee Bou Raad from the medical charity MSF who works with women in camps in Lebanon.
Sexual violence in conflict is a feature of many current and past wars. What's being done to help those who survive what's often described as conflict rape, then find themselves stigmatised and shunned by their communities? How do they speak out about what's happened to them? Jenni talks to Helen Durham from the International Committee of the Red Cross about what they're doing on the ground in areas like Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan, and to the Kosovan/British artist Alketa Xhafa Mripa who uses the symbol of dresses aired on a washing line to raise awareness and fight stigma.
Any mother of a teenage son might welcome the chance to collaborate on a project. What's it been like for Angelina to work with her 14 year old son Maddox, adopted from Cambodia, on a film about the home of his birth?
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b07flbsn)
Unsuitable Men with Familiar Smiles
Episode 5
by Caroline and David Stafford
With Sally frantic with worry about her daughter in Mexico, Christine reveals her biggest - and most surprising - secret.
Directed by Marc Beeby.
FRI 11:00 The Secret History of Yoga (b07flbst)
As UN International Yoga Day approaches, Mukti Jain Campion sets out to explore the roots of modern yoga practice.
Like millions of people across the world, Mukti attends regular yoga classes and enjoys its many physical and mental benefits while believing it to be the "timeless Indian discipline" so often described in yoga books.
But recent research challenges this common assumption. Could modern yoga classes, as now taught all around the world, actually be the product of 19th century Scandinavian gymnastics as much as ancient Indian philosophy?
Startled by this possibility, Mukti sets out to explore the roots of modern yoga practice and uncovers an extraordinary multicultural history in which early 20th century European ideas of health, fitness and the cult of the Body Beautiful became intertwined with Indian nationalism and the revival of Indian interest in its own traditions of physical culture. Out of this heady mix emerged a new generation of yoga innovators who transformed an obsolete and frowned-upon practice of Indian holy men into something that would appeal to masses of ordinary people.
Contributors include Dr Mark Singleton, author of Yoga Body: The origins of modern posture practice, Dr Jim Mallinson, a Yoga historian from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, Dr Manmath Gharote, Director of the Lonavla Yoga Institute in India and Dr Suzanne Newcombe from The London School of Economics who has studied the development of yoga in Britain.
Readers: Tim Pigott-Smith and Denise Stephenson
Producer: Mukti Jain Campion
A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b04lss87)
Series 4
Episode 2
John Finnemore, the writer and star of Cabin Pressure, regular guest on The Now Show and popper-upper in things like Miranda, records a fourth series of his hit sketch show.
2/6: This second edition of the fourth series has a sketch that you'll never really own; the rudest of awakenings for one particular pet; and a look at the often ignored positive side of stereotyping.
The first series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme was described as "sparklingly clever" by The Daily Telegraph and "one of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" by The Guardian. The second series won Best Radio Comedy at both the Chortle and Comedy.co.uk awards, and was nominated for a Radio Academy award. The third series actually won a Radio Academy award.
In this fourth series, John has written more sketches, like the sketches from the other series. Not so much like them that they feel stale and repetitious; but on the other hand not so different that it feels like a misguided attempt to completely change the show. Quite like the old sketches, in other words, but about different things and with different jokes. (Although it's a pretty safe bet some of them will involve talking animals.)
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Also featuring ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
Original music by ... Susannah Pearse.
Producer ... Ed Morrish.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b07fdy3f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Across the Board (b05sxv7t)
Series 3
Antony Beevor
Across The Board is a series of interviews conducted over a game of chess. In this programme Dominic Lawson talks to the best-selling military historian Antony Beevor. What are the parallels between chess and warfare?
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b07fdy3h)
Convenience stores, Storecard PPI claims, Green homes, BHS Suppliers
Peter White hears about new figures suggesting the number of convenience stores may have peaked on our high streets.
Could your old storecard owe you some PPI cash back?
A major supplier to BHS tells us what he's doing to stay afloat without his biggest customer.
And, if you want to make your home more energy efficient - but don't know where to start - we'll have advice from some of those who've done it themselves.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b07fdy3k)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b07flbt3)
Analysis of news and current affairs.
FRI 13:45 Shakespeare's Restless World (b01gf5t0)
Europe: Triumphs of the Past
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, continues his new object-based history. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived.
With old certainties shifting around them, in a time of political and religious unrest and economic expansion, Neil asks what the plays would have meant to the public when they were first performed. He uses carefully selected objects to explore the great issues of the day that preoccupied the public and helped shape the works, and he considers what they can reveal about the concerns and beliefs of Shakespearean England.
Programme 6. EUROPE: TRIUMPHS OF THE PAST - As a tourist attraction in Westminster Abbey, Henry V's instruments of battle reflect the view of English history as depicted on the Elizabeth stage.
Producer: Paul Kobrak.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b07fl6sw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b07flhl7)
Reasons for Leaving
Reasons for Leaving by Peter Whalley
Lauren thinks someone is breaking into her house and calls the police, only to discover it's Ian, her estranged husband who walked out and disappeared eleven months ago. When we discover the woman, lying in hospital in a coma,s is Ian's lover, Ian's reasons for leaving and why he's back, become more allusive. The real reason is finally realised but is it too late?
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b07flhl9)
Stonehenge - Midsummer Special
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Stonehenge. Anne Swithinbank, Pippa Greenwood and Matt Biggs join him to answer the audience questions.
This week the panel share ideas for a scented pergola, discuss how to create a camomile seat and help a gardener with banana-shaped blackthorn berries.
Matt Biggs finds out how snails can help trace our neolithic ancestors, and how a rare crop of lichen has given archaeologists at Stonehenge yet another puzzle to solve.
Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 The Hank of Black Hair by Sebastian Barry (b07flhlc)
It’s 1922 and in a Dublin park, Matt Kirwan is enjoying his Sunday afternoon painting a landscape when a young woman approaches his easel to watch him work.
He knows from this day forward his life will never be the same.
Liam O'Brien reads Sebastian Barry's short story.
Sebastian Barry is one of Ireland’s finest and most celebrated writers. He's twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for his novels A Long Long Way (2005) and The Secret Scripture (2008), the latter of which won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His 2011 novel On Canaan's Side was longlisted for the Booker. Days Without End was published in 2016.
Producer: Gemma McMullan
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2016.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b07flhlf)
Jo Cox MP, Dave Swarbrick, Viktor Korchnoi, Wendy Leigh
Reeta Chakrabarti on:
The MP Jo Cox , who was brutally killed in the street, after meeting local people in the West Yorkshire constituency she represented
The musician Dave Swarbrick, who found fame with the folk group Fairport Convention - and who celebrated the premature publication of his obituary by a newspaper, 17 years before his death.
The chess player Viktor Korchnoi, a grandmaster of the international circuit, who defected from the Soviet Union and whose career became enmeshed in Cold War politics.
And the showbiz writer Wendy Leigh, who produced racy celebrity biographies and steamy novels, and who had a long affair with the publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b07flhlh)
Radio 4's Today Programme on Monday morning focused largely on the shooting at a gay club in Orlando. Unfolding details were assessed by a variety of interviewees, but some listeners felt the discussions failed to explore questions around homophobia. They called for Radio 4 aficionado Luke Howard tells Roger Bolton why he felt particularly let down and calls for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender views to be discussed as much as topics on gun laws, terrorism and IS.
The Queen's 90th birthday inspired a more traditional and simple service from Radio 4's Sunday Worship. The broadcast from the church in Sandringham evoked reactions of joy and delight from those listening - as they ask for services in this style to be aired more often. Series producer Philip Billson explains the decisions behind this and whether it's an approach the team will take again.
And, while the latest series of award-winning comedy Fags, Mags and Bags has recently come to an end, listeners have been in touch throughout to declare it a unique, hilarious and addictive listen. Comedy writers Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary respond to praise over the multi-ethnic cast - as well as to criticism over possible stereotypes and complicated language.
Produced by Kate Dixon
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b07flhlk)
Ian and Chikodi - People Stare At Us
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a couple whose different ethnic origins, ages and the visual disability one of them has elicit stereotypical reactions from the public. 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.
FRI 17:00 PM (b07fdy3m)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b07fdy3p)
Police investigating the killing of the MP Jo Cox have revealed that they are looking into whether a 52-year-old man arrested yesterday had links to right-wing extremism. Officers say the man's mental health is also a line of inquiry.
David Cameron and Jeremy Corbyn have paid tribute to Mrs Cox during a joint visit to the West Yorkshire village where she was stabbed and shot.
FRI 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (b06qht29)
Series 2
The Red Planet
Tony Hancock takes up astronomy, and discovers something terrible among the stars.
Between 1954 and 1959, BBC Radio recorded 102 episodes of Galton & Simpson's comedy but 20 went missing from the BBC archives, and had not been heard since their original transmission… until these faithful re-imaginings.
After a highly acclaimed first series, another five were lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at London's BBC Radio Theatre.
The Lad Himself …. Kevin McNally
Bill Kerr …. Kevin Eldon
Sid James …. Simon Greenall
Kenneth Williams …. Robin Sebastian
Andree Melly …. Susy Kane
Newly recorded score by the BBC Concert Orchestra
Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson
Produced by Ed Morrish and Neil Pearson
Originally broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in November 1955.
Recreated for broadcast by BBC Radio Comedy for BBC Radio 4 and first broadcast in November 2015.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b07flhlp)
Back in Ambridge, Caroline and Oliver are impressed how the village has recovered from the flood. They're pleased with business at Grey Gables, Caroline insists she doesn't miss it - Roy, Kathy and Ian are doing a tremendous job. On their arrival at Grange Farm, Oliver and Caroline are surprised to see pigs in the garden. Ed says they will move them and lay new turf. Inside, Clarrie insists they will fix the damage from the over-flowing bath. Oliver is sure the insurance will cover it.
In the mother and baby unit garden, Helen tells Kaz her parents are taking Jack out but Helen won't see her mum and she misses her a lot. While Helen starts to feed Jack, Kaz recounts seeing one of the staff members wearing an unmatched pair of shoes. This makes Helen laugh and then she realises that Jack is feeding happily for the first time. She thanks Kaz for her help but Kaz says it's Helen who should take the credit.
Oliver confirms Ed's tenancy on the Grange Farm land will continue despite the state of the house. Ed explains Eddie, Clarrie and Joe will be moving to No 1, The Green and he and Emma and the kids will live with Susan and Neil. Oliver announces they plan to sell Grange Farm and the Grundys will have three months' notice. Eddie worries what Joe will think. Clarrie says he will have to face reality, like the rest of them.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b07fdy3r)
Trevor Nunn, Natasha Walter, Jake Bugg
John Wilson talks to Sir Trevor Nunn, as he returns to his hometown of Ipswich to direct A Midsummer Night's Dream. With this new production Nunn will have directed all of Shakespeare's 37 plays.
Singer-songwriter Jake Bugg talks about his third album, On My One, and plays his new song The Love We're Hoping For live in the studio.
Natasha Walter, known for her non-fiction books The New Feminism and Living Dolls, discusses her first novel, A Quiet Life, inspired by the wife of Cambridge spy Donald Maclean.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b07flbsn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 One to One (b07jndjx)
Interview series in which broadcasters follow their personal passions.
FRI 20:45 The Listening Project (b07flhlk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:55 today]
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b01rrd9c)
Science, Magic and Madness
What is the difference between magic and science? What is the difference between Galileo and his contemporary, the famous Elizabethan astrologer and alchemist John Dee? According to Adam Gopnik it's the experimental method - the looking and seeing and testing that goes with true science. But when he wrote about this recently he found that fervent members of the John Dee fan club disagreed.
FRI 21:00 Five Hundred Years of Friendship (b03zdm6g)
Five Hundred Years of Friendship: Omnibus
Episode 2
Dr Thomas presents this omnibus edition of his history about the changing meaning and experience of friendship over the centuries
He explores working class Friendly Societies - pre-Welfare State, grassroots insurance schemes - in the 18th and 19th centuries; children's friendships and the invention of the idea of the best friend; the idea of dogs being "man's best friend"; the Victorian borderland between platonic and homosexual love; and the tragic impact of the First World War on male friendships.
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b07fdy3t)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b07fdy3w)
MP killer 'may be right-wing extremist'
We have the latest on the Jo Cox murder investigation and interviews with the Canadian MP, Nathan Cullen, who broke down when he spoke about her in parliament, and Yasmine Nahlawi, a UK-based Syrian activist who'd worked closely with her. Also Cass Pennant a former football hooligan tells us why there's been so much trouble at Euro 2016.
Photo: A picture of Jo Cox at a memorial in Parliament Square. Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.
FRI 22:45 Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (b07gbb1m)
Episode 5
Dr Battista, an obsessively dedicated scientist, lives with daughters Kate and Bunny in Baltimore.
He’s desperate to keep his brilliant young researcher Pyotr, whose visa is set to expire in weeks.
Pyotr has now apologised over the Doctor’s plan for him to marry Dr Battista’s daughter Kate in order to get a visa.
This has left Kate wondering what she should do next...
Written by Anne Tyler.
Read by Liza Ross
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in June 2016.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b07ffxt5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 Sugar, Saris and Green Bananas (b06c48pj)
Indo-Guyanese and Proud
A cutlass once used for chopping sugar cane, a collection of old Indian music albums and a pair of shiny red stiletto shoes. Can these objects help a daughter better understand her mother's past?
Since her mother died, London-born journalist Lainy Malkani has been trying to make sense of her family's history of double migration. In the first programme she uncovered the epic story of her ancestors who came from India to work as indentured labourers on the sugar plantations of British Guyana in the 19th and early 20th century. In this programme she discovers how difficult it was to forge an Indo-Guyanese identity for the migrants who came to build new lives in Britain during the 1960s.
"No-one knew what to make of us when we came to England. We looked Indian but we didn't speak any Indian language or dress in Indian clothes. If we said we were from the Caribbean people didn't understand because, to most British people, Caribbean just meant being black. So we became sort of invisible."
When her parents were alive they didn't speak much about the past. But by going through her mum's belongings with her siblings and speaking to other immigrants of that period Lainy has begun to reconnect with her Indo-Guyanese heritage. And as she reflects on the life her mother created for herself and her children in north London, Lainy learns that migration can be motivated by many things other than money.
Producer Mukti Jain Campion
A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b07flm1r)
Ian and Chikodi - Leaving Things Where You'll Trip Over Them
Fi Glover introduces a conversation about being aware of your partner's needs... or not... 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.