The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Five scientists, working in different parts of the world, bear witness to some of the dramatic changes to our planet that have occurred in their lifetimes, as the global climate warms.
5. Richard Dawson, Professor of Earth System Engineering at Newcastle University, was the lead author of the Infrastructure section of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2017. He reflects on how he and his fellow civil engineers now view flooding from a variety of sources the main threat to our infrastructure.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
iPM is the news programme that starts with its listeners. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk. Twitter: @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Today Clare is walking in Surrey with a group of asylum seekers who are former detainees of the Gatwick Immigration Removal Centres. Alongside them are volunteers from "Refugee Tales" which is a project run by the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group; it involves monthly walks as well as an annual event which combines walking and storytelling. The idea, they say, is to "reclaim the landscape for the language of welcome". Over 50% of those held in Immigration Removal Centres are released back into the UK community though their cases may be unresolved, their living conditions precarious, and their future uncertain. These walks give the former detainees a chance to meet up with their friends, enjoy the countryside and - for just a few hours - forget their challenging and unknown future.
Today the group is in Reigate. The group will walk from the station to the top of Reigate Hill, then along the North Downs ridge where there are views towards Gatwick and the detention centres. They then work their way back along the Pilgrim's Way, and return to the station..
All photos by John Barrett
Producer: Karen Gregor.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
The latest weather forecast.
News and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
With Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir,
John Torode on MasterChef and how travel has inspired his cooking, Simon Mayo shares his Inheritance Tracks, Milad Shadrooh reveals how he became The Singing Dentist, psychologist Janina Scarlet on how superheroes changed her life and enabled her to help others. Mandy Coppin breaks off from organising the largest number of light aircraft to fly the River Tyne, plus JP Devlin meets listener and Tetbury WoolSack Racer Lucy Collins.
John Torode's book Sydney To Seoul: Recipes from my travels in Australia and the Far East is out on the 31st May.
Fly The Tyne is happening from around 1.30pm on 26th May.
The Tetbury WoolSack Races is on Bank Holiday Monday.
Simon Mayo chose The Nightmare Song 'Love unrequited robs me of my rest' from Iolanthe by Gilbert and Sullivan and Graceland by Paul Simon.
Janina Scarlet's book Therapy Quest is out now.
Ian Sansom is trapped. He has no idea where he is, who he's talking to and where that annoying music is coming from. If the voice in his head is to be believed, he's somehow managed to turn up in an edition of niche American podcast, Whiskey Cats, and he better have something to say about the matter.
But this could be the least of Ian's worries. It appears he may have been swallowed up into some kind of bigger, stranger, far more disconcerting audio rabbit-hole.
Just as he's beginning to adjust to a lively discussion about single malts and feline friends, he's off again - to the Australian outback, a meditation session with Harvey Keitel, the wrong side of a mirror and a sewer deep beneath the streets of London with someone called Gary.
Turns out that voice inside Ian's head belongs to an unreliable narrator who feels it's her duty to explain he's trapped inside a radio documentary. A radio documentary about radio documentaries, podcasts and audio story-telling from around the world, as it happens. If that's not enough, his only chance of escape is to come up with some sort of thesis based on all the things he's discovering. But he better hurry - this programme ends in less than half-an-hour...
Producer: Conor Garrett.
Sam Coates of The Times asks how Brexit is affecting the social lives of politicians. Why have negotiations on security arrangements only just begun? Who's behind a promised boost to health spending? And the MPs who can't help speaking up.
Editor: Peter Mulligan.
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
How can you avoid SIM swap fraud happening to you? TSB customers have contacted Money Box after their mobile phones were targeted by criminals. The fraud involves an identity thief posing as their victim in order to trick mobile phone providers into issuing a new SIM card. That card is then used, along with other information, to access and steal from online bank accounts. Reporter Tony Bonsignore investigates, and we hear from Keiron Dalton, head of fraud at Aspect Software.
There is a call for people who have stopped work before reaching state pension age to check if they can top up their pension through voluntary contributions. In certain cases it could add £244 a year to their state pension. Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London explains who qualifies and what they need to do.
More lenders appear to be offering mortgages to older borrowers, with one provider allowing people to hold one until the age of 99. Jane King, independent mortgage advisor with Ash-Ridge Private Finance discusses what is behind the focus on older borrowers.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Producer: Charmaine Cozier
Editor: Hugh Levinson.
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Miles Jupp.
The latest weather forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from the Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House, London, with the journalist and historian Ruth Dudley Edwards, Education Secretary Damian Hinds MP, the author and economist Paul Mason and the Labour MP Lisa Nandy.
Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?
Inspector Chen finds himself "promoted" sideways from the Shanghai Police Bureau before narrowly escaping a night-club trap and exposing a web of financial and sexual corruption. Dramatised by John Harvey.
Director: David Hunter
"Shanghai Redemption" is the 9th of Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen novels, all 9 of which have been dramatised for BBC Radio 4. They have sold over 1 million copies and been translated into 20 langauges.
"Witty and thrilling" The Daily Telegraph
"A welcome alternative to Scandi-noir" The Observer.
World-renowned musician Mike McGoldrick, with friends and fellow pipers Jim Horan and David Lim, reveal the extraordinarily painstaking processes involved in making a set of Uilleann Pipes.
Uilleann is the Gaelic word for elbow, as it's the elbow which powers the pipes' bellows. We hear how this Irish bagpipe works, and how the ability to slide, bend and lean into notes gives it unique powers of expression. At his Manchester workshop, David makes 160 different parts for each full set of pipes - everything apart from the leather bag and twelve screws.
We discover the minute detail and precision required to make the various instrument parts. Five home-made reamers are needed to create a tapered bore inside the wooden chanter, which has to be accurate to within a fraction of a millimetre. Months must be left between each adjustment to allow the wood to shrink and relax.
And what issues really matter to players of this instrument? The semi-crouch posture they adopt and how that affects the body, how travelling to humid climates can stop the instrument from working and, crucially, the quality of the delicate reed inside the chanter. According to Jim, when Uilleann Pipe players meet, they spend more time talking about reeds than actually playing music. "If your reed is going well, you know your mental health is okay as well because your outlook changes if you've got a good reed."
There's also a visit to a North West Uilleann Pipers meeting in Manchester to see how the next generation is being encouraged to take up the instrument. The organisation, run by Jim and David, facilitates workshops, one-to-one teaching and supplies sets of practice pipes to local children.
Produced by Kellie While
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.
Anita Dobson talks about her new role as the matriarch in the play 3 Women exploring what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.
We hear why more people are falling victim to sextortion or webcam blackmail.
Dame Helena Morrissey Head of Personal Investing for Legal and General tells us why she is spearheading the first mainstream fund that will invest in UK companies bases on their gender balance and Rebecca Hilsenrath the CEO of the Equality and Human Rights Commission explains what'll happen to the five hundred companies who've failed to meet the reporting deadline.
Playwright Athena Stevens, who has cerebral palsy, plays the lead role in her new play Schism, and explains the themes explored in her latest work.
Plus Amy Bloom discusses her new novel White Houses a story created around the long-standing love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok.
We ask why so many children getting addicted to online games such as Fortnite.
And learn how to cook the perfect sourdough starter with Vanessa Kimbell author of The Sourdough School
Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Beverley Purcell
Reporter Sue Elliott Nichols.
Chris Morris with the day's news.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest weather forecast.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Clive Anderson and YolanDa Brown are joined by Lee 'Kix' Thompson, Kevin Le Gendre and Yuriko Kotani for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from The Last Poets and and Maya Youssef.
Producer: Tim Bano.
Few Italians had heard of Giuseppe Conte when they found out he would most probably become their new prime minister.
President Sergio Mattarella approved his nomination as prime minister after a deadlock which had seen Italy without a government for 11 weeks.
The surprise candidate is a law professor in Florence and has no political experience. Even people close to him said he had never mentioned politics.
In the first few days of new-found fame he was accused of embellishing his CV, which he denied.
But as PM he could now become a key player influencing the future of the European Union.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Estelle Doyle, Clare Spencer
Editor: Emma Rippon.
Animated film The Breadwinner (co=produced by Angelina Jolie) is the story of a young Afghani girl in Kabul who has to disguise her gender in order to be able to support her family
David Shrigley was the curator for this year's Brighton Festival. We went to see Problem in Brighton; described as "an alt-rock/pop pantomime... requiring ear plugs and an open mind". what on earth is one of those?!
Sister Corita Kent was an artist, a famously charismatic educator and a Roman Catholic nun based in LA during the 60s. Her vibrant screen-printed banners drew on pop art influences and confronted poverty, racism and war in spite of disapproval from her archdiocese who said her work was blasphemous and communist. An exhibition of her work has just opened in Ditchling in Sussex.
Susannah Walker's The Life of Stuff is a memoir of the mess we leave behind. When she has to clear her mother's house, she is confronted by the random collections of a hoarder and reflects on what causes it and what it all means.
Anthony Hopkins plays King Lear in modern dress in BBC TV's latest Shakespeare adaptation, directed by Richard Eyre
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Katie Puckrik, Kerry Shale and Susan Jeffreys. The producer is Oliver Jones.
Stuart Maconie celebrates the golden age of the music press interview.
In the heyday of the printed music media between the mid-sixties and the early noughties, the music interview was many things - combative, intimate, confessional, unhinged, flirtatious, sometimes violent - but it was rarely dull. Still, it seems that long-gilded age of rock journalism is now over.
The days of extraordinary access, when a reporter might spend a week with a band on its tour bus or private plane, hanging out in their dressing rooms and hotel suites, are at an end. The music papers are gone. Earlier this year NME - the last inky survivor - went online only.
Stuart Maconie looks back at the lost world - those revealing encounters between journalist and musician. The programme features classic recorded archive interviews with Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson - as well as contributions from journalists Caitlin Moran, Barney Hoskyns, Allan Jones, Dawn Slough and others.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4.
This Omnibus edition of the second five programmes in the series covering the events of 1915 is presented by Dan Snow. Drawing on the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum and the BBC, the series looks at soldiers memories of their first trips home on leave, the rise of U-Boat attacks, and the disastrous Battle of Loos. And we hear the experiences of those fighting on the Eastern Front as the war expanded, in Salonika and Mesopotamia, where the siege of Kut-Al-Amara began in December 1915.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
How does the global fashion industry worth more than a trillion dollars a year meet the disruption and upheaval that technological and social change now pose?
Fashion carries not only the livelihoods of millions of workers, but has become a major cultural force which shapes and supports individual and community identity. Presenters Leo Johnson and Timandra Harkness find out how this huge global business aims to meet the challenges posed by technological developments, environmental threats and social changes which could spell the end for fashion as we have known it.
FutureProofing meets designers, technology wizards, and those who influence and shape tomorrow's trends from across the globe.
Producer: Jonathan Brunert.
(13/17)
The first of this year's four semi-final contests features questions on topics ranging from Greek mythology to botany, theatre history, music, classic science fiction and sport. At stake is a place in the 2018 Final and a real chance for the winner of being named the 65th BBC Brain of Britain.
As is traditional, the semi-final contenders comprise the twelve heat winners this season, alongside the top-scoring runners-up across the series. Today they are:
Daniel Adler, an IT consultant from Surrey
Jack Bennett, a student from Lancaster
Graham Cox, a business development manager from Greater Manchester
Rob Cruise, a primary school teacher from Liverpool.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
Writer James Walker unearths the dialect poetry of the Nottinghamshire miners who penned their verse underground in the county where he was born and bred.
Through the humour of poems like Miner's Dream and Pity Pony, James explores a language used almost exclusively by miners and finds retired pitmen still reciting pit talk poetry in pubs and other venues across Nottinghamshire. He says: 'these men cry regularly at this poetry. Big retired pit men getting all emotional. It's quite an experience.'
As part of the programme, James visits the former home of famous Nottinghamshire novelist and poet DH Lawrence where he meets mining historian and former miner David Amos. He also talks to Natalie Braber, Associate Professor at Nottingham Trent University about her research into pit talk and dialects, language and identity.
James hears some of the poems penned underground, translates the dialect and tries to understand what made so many miners turn to poetry. He also discovers how dialect pit poetry is being kept alive by forming the lyrics to new folk music.
Meanwhile part of the programme explores the Nottinghamshire dialect more widely including the use of the greeting 'duck' There's also a performance by Nottinghamshire dialect poet Bridie Squires about the local word 'mardy'.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
It's the summer of 1999 and expectation rides high for Ayesha on GCSE results day. That is, until her boyfriend receives some results of his own.
A short story for radio, written and read by award-winning poet, playwright and writer Sabrina Mahfouz.
Produced in Bristol by Becky Ripley.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Bells on Sunday comes from St Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide, Australia. The bells were cast and installed by Taylors of Loughborough in 1946. The Tenor, tuned to C, weighs over two imperial tons which makes it second only in weight to that of the tenor at Sherbourne Abbey. They are ringing Grandsire Triples.
The latest national and international news.
Mark Tully considers one of our most common human emotions - anger.
Anger is all too easily dismissed as a negative emotion with no capacity for doing good, but Mark considers the positive as well as the negative aspects of this emotion.
In conversation, Rabbi Stuart Altshuler of the Belsize Square synagogue in London gives his definition of Righteous Anger and explains how anger and love can go together.
Mark also considers the misunderstanding that allows some Muslims to think the concept of righteous anger justifies them in using violence, carrying out acts of terror, fighting a Jihad, to take revenge for what they see as insults to Islam or injustices to their fellow Muslims.
And for a Hindu perspective, we hear a fable about an aggressive and poisonous snake that was commanded by a Swami to desist from biting passers-by. The snake took this edict too far and was abused for its passivity. The Swami tells the snake, "I told you not to bite, but I did not tell you not to hiss!"
Throughout the programme, Mark balances the dangers of misdirected or selfish anger with the need for anger as a means of challenging injustice and improving the lives of the disenfranchised. He attempts to discern when to bite, when to hiss, and when to turn the other cheek.
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.
The autonomous farming project Hands Free Hectare achieved a world-first last summer - when the team successfully oversaw the growing and harvesting of a crop managed entirely by machinery.
As the team at Harper Adams University work to perfect their driverless tractor, their drones, their combine harvester and the other mechanical members of the farming team, Lucy Taylor finds out how this less intrusive fleet could help soil health - and how soon we'll see autonomous harvests taking place in fields across the UK.
This is the second of three programmes, showcasing the finalists in the 'Farming Today Future Food Award' category of the 2018 BBC Food and Farming Awards.
The latest weather forecast.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.
Photojournalist Tom Stoddart makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of ShelterBox.
Registered Charity Number: 1096479
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'ShelterBox'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'ShelterBox'.
The latest weather forecast.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
One year after the terrorist atrocity at a concert full of young people in Manchester's MEN Arena, the Bishop of Manchester Dr David Walker reflects on the way the faith communities of this diverse city came together to say no to further evil and revenge, and to begin to bring healing to individuals and communities across the city. Producer: Andrew Earis.
Amit Chaudhuri on why he believes modern movies have a "spiritual glumness".
"Digitisation's subterranean agenda", he says, "is to repress natural light."
Unlike old black and white films which were flooded in natural light, he sees the light of digitisation as a grey light.
"We're meant to be distracted by drama, violence and special effects; but, crucially, enchantment is withheld from us."
Producer: Adele Armstrong.
During his first week, wildlife photographer, naturalist and presenter of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams continues his quest to unearth the best and most uplifting episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue.
Producer Andrew Dawes.
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
Lily admits the truth, and Alistair plans his future.
David Baddiel is a comedian and writer. Known both for his solo work and for his comedic collaborations with, among others, Rob Newman and Frank Skinner, he has also written a screenplay, a musical and several books. Born in 1964 to Jewish parents, the second of three boys, he was brought up in Dollis Hill, London. His father was a scientist from Swansea and his mother was a refugee, whose family had to flee from Nazi Germany. When David was 13, his older brother Ivor played him sketches by Derek and Clive which kindled his appetite to become a comedian.
He read English at Cambridge and became vice-president of the Footlights before starting out on the London comedy circuit. Together with Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and Rob Newman, he was part of The Mary Whitehouse Experience for Radio 1 and later BBC 2. Rob and David went on to create Newman and Baddiel in Pieces, and were the first comedians to sell out Wembley Arena with a gig in 1993, prompting newspapers to declare comedy "the new rock 'n' roll". David then formed a comedy partnership with Frank Skinner and they hosted Fantasy Football League and later Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. They co-wrote the lyrics to one of the best-known football songs, Three Lions.
In 2005, David took a break from performance and concentrated on writing novels for adults and children's books as well as the script for a film, which became a musical, The Infidel. He returned to stand-up in 2013 with a show about fame. He recently mined his parents' idiosyncrasies and the rare form of dementia from which his father suffers for a stand-up show entitled My Family: Not the Sitcom. His partner is fellow comedian and writer Morwenna Banks. They have two teenage children.
Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Just A Minute is back for its 81st series and this second episode features Paul Merton, Marcus Brigstocke, Rebecca Front and Gyles Brandreth.
As ever, the panel are tasked with talking on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. This week, a subject that Gyles somewhat tenuously manages to link to this weekend's royal wedding, Rebecca talks sharks and there's a minor contretemps between Marcus and Paul about travelling to the moon.
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and the producer is Richard Morris.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
From prisons to research chefs, Sheila Dillon and chef Romy Gill hear how food is used around the country to transform lives.
The latest weather forecast.
Global news and analysis.
As Washington pulls out of the nuclear deal with Tehran, why are Iranians so often suspicious of the motives of the outside world? Pooneh Ghoddoosi, who has presented numerous programmes on the BBC Persian Service, explores a long and tortuous history. It dates back to the Western desire for Iran's rich oil reserves in the early 20th century, and continues through the CIA-backed coup in 1953, which strengthened the Shah's grip on the throne. The Western powers supported Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War, while the US is believed to have unleashed a highly effective cyber-weapon against the Iranian nuclear programme. Iran has reasons to be equally suspicious of Moscow - with the Russian Empire seizing large parts of historical Persia in the 19th century.
Producers: Matthew Chapman and Michael Gallagher.
Peter Gibbs hosts a correspondence edition from the Chelsea Flower Show. Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and Bunny Guinness answer the questions from the postbag.
The panellists are granted exclusive access to the greatest flower show in the world and, as they look around the show gardens at the Grand Pavilion, answer listeners' questions on layering and ailing orchids - among other matters.
Peter Gibbs chats to GQT panellist and Gold Medal winner Chris Beardshaw about his award-winning garden and his inspiration for this year's design.
And garden designer (and Chelsea Gold Medal winner from last year) Charlotte Harris takes a look at this year's show gardens, chatting through the "take home tips" that can be applied to a garden at home.
Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Fi Glover introduces conversations about marital failure (and re-invention) and the 1996 IRA bombing of Manchester in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Charles Dickens' iconic story of love, revolution and redemption, updated and set in contemporary Aleppo and London.
Dickens' original novel is a powerful portrayal of personal sacrifice set against the turbulent backdrop of political change. As resonant today as it was then, the redemption of flawed humanity is at the heart of award winning writer Ayeesha Menon's bold reworking of A Tale of Two Cities.
The story of a chance resemblance between a feckless lawyer and a troubled exile, both in love with the same woman, is updated to modern-day London and war-torn Syria. However, in this modern version, the driving forces are two women - British Syrian journalist Lina Mahmoud and her nemesis, Taghreed Daffar.
It's a classic tale reimagined as a provocative and moving drama for today.
Episode 2: 2013/2014.
Lina is reporting from Aleppo when she is confronted by Taghreed, now in the Free Syrian Army, accusing her of not speaking the truth. Back in London, Lina and Shwan fall in love but, when his dark family secret is revealed, it propels Dr Mahmoud's descent into madness, driving the two lovers apart. Sid confesses his unrequited love for Lina, promising always to protect her and those she loves. Meanwhile Shwan desperately returns to Syria to rescue his old housekeeper, Samia, and is trapped by Taghreed's terrible plan for vengeance.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, adapted for radio by Ayeesha Menon
Development concept written by Silas Parry
Sound design by Eloise Whitmore
Broadcast Assistant: Jan Shepherd
Produced by Gill Parry
Directed by Polly Thomas
Producer for Goldhawk Productions: Emma Hearn
Executive Producer: John Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.
Dame Fiona Kidman is one of New Zealand's leading authors. Novelist, short story writer, poet, she has been garlanded with awards at home and abroad, including the French Legion of Honour. She talks to Mariella Frostrup about her latest novel, All Day At The Movies a family saga which opens in 1950s New Zealand.
Also on the programme, the rise and rise of non fiction books for children; 30 years of the Lambda literary award and a reading tip for June.
In the final episode of this three part series, children's author Kirsty Mckay offers a snapshot of dialect poetry in Northumberland today.
When Kirsty returned home recently she was struck by how dialect and culture was being eroded by the encroachment of urbanisation and the influx of people moving into the area.
Here Kirsty rediscovers the dialect poetry by listening to old tapes recorded by her late father. She says: 'I found recording after recording of dialect poetry, often accompanied by local musicians, some recorded in late night lock-ins at local pubs or by the fire in the tiny cottage I'd known as a child.'
Kirsty sets out on an exploration of identity and the future of the Northumbrian language in the poetry of the Cheviot hills.
Among the people she meets along the way are poet, musician and composer James Tait, retired shepherd Allan Wood and poet and historian Katrina Porteous. Kirsty also hears poetry from the children of Harbottle School and the entrants of The Morpeth Gathering.
Meanwhile the case is made for Northumbrian as a language, not a dialect. It represents the remainder of Old English and is the grandmother of the Scottish language.
Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets is produced by Made in Manchester for BBC Radio 4.
During much of the 20th century unmarried women who became pregnant faced being condemned, stigmatised and shunned by their communities.
Across the Republic and Northern Ireland thousands of women and girls were sent to mother and baby homes to give birth in secret and then gave their babies over for adoption.
For some women, the homes which were mostly run by the Catholic Church, provided sanctuary and a chance for them to rebuild their lives.
But others have claimed they were subjected to human rights abuses which culminated in seeing their babies taken from them and adopted out without their consent.
File on 4 investigates one such former institution in Northern Ireland - Marianvale in Newry - and hears concerns over the conditions and practices at the home which closed in 1984.
Now some of the children adopted from the home are in a race against time to find their birth mothers before they pass away. Some claim they face a trail of secrecy and obfuscation and there are growing calls for a public inquiry to provide answers about the extent of alleged forced adoption practices within Northern Ireland.
File on 4 asks whether enough is being done to provide answers for some women who went into Northern Ireland's mother and baby homes and for the babies they never saw again.
Reporter: Michael Buchanan
Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor: Gail Champion.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest weather forecast.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
This week Lou Reed causes havoc in a bizarrely themed Swedish restaurant where model boats deliver the food. Surely a recipe for disaster.
There's an impassioned plea about how climate change is affecting the birds seen in the UK whilst Hugh Sykes gets his garden birds mixed up - do you think any Radio 4 listeners will notice?
We've a quick guide to the Uilleann Pipes - they're the Irish bagpipes you play sitting down.
Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities is reimagined set against the war in Syria and it works brilliantly, and another two cities - London and Manchester both remember the traumatic events of last year with the Arena attack and the start of the Grenfell Inquiry.
Produced by Dave James.
Shula struggles to keep up appearances, and Fallon is on a mission.
A stand-up show recorded this weekend at the Leamington Assembly featuring a new and exciting generation of comedians from up and down the UK who have recently featured in Radio 4's celebrated 11:00pm comedy slot and have also been heard on the new raft of comedy podcasts launched by the BBC in 2018.
Tez Ilyas, star of the critically acclaimed Radio 4 show 'Tez Talks', hosts the show and the line-up features:
Rhys James - the man behind the recent Radio 4 hit 'Rhys James is.'
Lauren Pattison - Edinburgh Comedy Award best newcomer nominee 2017 and star of Radio 1 podcast 'Ed and Lauren get on'
Bisha K Ali - stand-up and star of the current Radio 1 podcast 'Grown up Land'
Darren Harriott - Edinburgh Comedy Award best newcomer nominee 2017 for his show, 'Defiant'
Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Hayley Sterling
A BBC Studios Production.
Lynne Truss observes the inhabitants of Meridian Cliffs, a small wind-battered town on the south coast of England, where Colin treasures his collection of improving books.
But as lapses in his memory become more apparent, Colin's wife Shirley spots an opportunity for a bit of decluttering.
Written by Lynne Truss
Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
What does the rain percentage mean?
With weather being the national obsession, More or Less has received a number of weather-related emails - specifically about the BBC's weather app. This was updated earlier this year, and it now includes an hour by hour breakdown telling users what chance there is of it raining wherever they are - but what does this percentage actually mean? Tim Harford speaks to meteorologist Nikki Berry from Metrogroup, which provides the BBC's weather forecast analysis.
University of Oxford admissions statistics
How diverse are the most recent undergraduates to start at one of the country's top universities? We take a look.
Waiting for the facts on Voter ID trials
In the recent local elections in England there were five authorities taking part in a trial, requiring voters to show ID for the first time when they turned up at the polling station. In the initial days after the vote it was reported that up to 4,000 people were turned away and couldn't vote because they didn't have identification. But now, Newsnight's David Grossman has collected the data from the trial areas to discover the original estimate was out by a factor of 10.
Counting teabags
How much tea do we drink? A figure that is often quoted suggests that Brits drink 165 million cups of tea a day which works out as around 60 billion a year. We take a look at what evidence is available and whether it is possible to calculate such a statistic.
Are pensioners richer than workers?
A More or Less listener heard a claim that the average income for pensioners is higher than the average income for people of working age - is that true? Jonathan Cribb from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has an answer.
Photo: Philip Roth
Julian Worricker on:
Beth Chatto, the gardener and writer regarded as one of the most influential horticulturists of the past 50 years
The multiple award-winning American novelist, Philip Roth...author of Portnoy's Complaint and American Pastoral
Doreen Simmons, who moved to Japan in her forties and became an authority on sumo wrestling
Britain's first Muslim judge, Khurshid Drabu, described as a pioneer in promoting community cohesion
And June Milne, writer, publisher, and trusted guardian of the works of independent Ghana's first leader, Kwame Nkrumah.
Archive clips from: The Cancer of Betrayal, 03/03/07 Radio 4; Woman's Hour, 18/08/08 Radio 4; Gardening Gurus, 30/01/00 Radio 4; Front Row, 27/06/11 Radio 4; The World Tonight, 15/07/05 Radio 4; Sumo wrestling commentary, NHK TV.
When you throw away rubbish, it can create an environmental problem - or a business opportunity.
Your old newspapers, tin cans and plastic bottles are someone else's valuable harvest. Just like gold, steel, sugar or coffee, rubbish is traded all over the world as a commodity. If it can be recycled, it's worth money.
Until recently, countries vied to recycle the waste of others. But now one of the main players - China - says it doesn't want foreign rubbish anymore. That has sent this multi-billion dollar industry into turmoil and is forcing it to invent new solutions. Ruth Alexander reports.
Producer: Tony Bonsignore.
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.
With Francine Stock.
Nora Twomey, director of The Breadwinner, explains how an animation about life under the Taliban in Afghanistan was produced by Angelina Jolie and made in Kilkenny
Olivia Hetreed is president of the Writers Guild Of Great Britain that published a report this week which revealed that only 16% of screenwriters are female. She crunches the figures with Francine, and discusses the moment she woke up one day and wondered "where have all the women gone ?". She reveals why she has been stereotyped as a writer who specializes in costume dramas after penning the adaptation of Girl With The Pearl Earring, and why she would really love to write science fiction.
Perfume expert and film writer Dariush Alavi detects the scent of film noir in his olfactory history of the movies and reveals what Barbara Stanwyck might be wearing in Double Indemnity to tempt Fred MacMurray.
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller joined an illustrious club when they were removed from the production of the latest Star Wars spin-off, Solo. Five directors, for instance, left the helm of The Wizard Of Oz, with Victor Fleming taking the ultimate credit. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh takes us through some of the famous names who were handed their P45,and reveals the contents of the lesser-known Eastwood Rule, named after Clint Eastwood.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Law and Order: the legacy - 40 years ago, GF Newman's quartet of plays, Law & Order, provoked calls from MPs for the author to be arrested for sedition and the summoning of the director-general of the BBC to the Home Office to explain himself. The dramas explored the role of the Metropolitan Police, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system around one central story. They provided a savage and uncompromising assessment of the criminal justice system, one in which corruption and stitch ups were common. Laurie Taylor considers the impact of those plays and the extent to which they created a public and political debate which produced positive reform. Four decades later, have we any cause for complacency? He's joined by the writer, GF Newman, Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology at the LSE and Charlotte Brunsden, Professor of Film & Television Studies at the University of Warwick.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
In the Cotswold town of Minchinhampton, the month of May has always been a special time of year. It's when hundreds of cattle are released on to the 450 acre Common nearby to spend the summer roaming free and grazing. Since Victorian times the livestock have been turned out on the same date every year, 13th May, known locally as Marking Day.
The generations-old practice of gathering herds together beside the local inn to brand (or 'mark') them has long since ended but the turning out of cattle on Marking Day is continued by a dedicated group of local graziers who are proud of their ancient commoners rights. This year there's renewed interest from the public thanks to a community event and celebration held beside the site of the old Marking Day cattle pens.
Vernon Harwood meets some of the people working hard to maintain this slice of farming heritage. Grazier Joyce Jones owns the most iconic herd to roam Minchinhampton Common; a fold of Highland cows. Stories about Marking Day and the traditions of the Common have been collected by retired schoolteacher Diana Wall who chairs the Minchinhampton Local History Group. The release of the animals and their welfare while they roam free is overseen by Mark Dawkins who has the title of Hayward, a role that dates back to the Middle Ages. He works alongside Richard Evans from the National Trust who is responsible for ensuring that the nationally important wildlife habitat is preserved for the future.
Photo courtesy of Minchinhampton Local History Group.
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
Michael Palin presents the red-eyed vireo from North America. About the size of British great tits the red-eyed vireo is a common summer visitors to much of North America where they breed in woodlands. The adult vireos are mainly olive green with white bellies and grey heads and their red eyes are highlighted by a white eyestripe. Seeing the birds as they hunt insects among the leaves is much harder than hearing them, because red-vireos are tireless songsters. They used to be known locally as "preacher birds " and territorial males hold the record for the largest repertoire produced by a songbird in a single day.
Each vireo can have a repertoire of between a dozen and over a hundred different song-types. And while these marathon "question- and- answer" sessions are the soundtrack to many North American woods, they aren't universally appreciated. The nature writer Bradford Torrey wrote in 1889 that "whoever dubbed this vireo the preacher could have had no very exalted opinion of the clergy"
Producer Andrew Dawes.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
In a special edition at Hay Festival, Tom Sutcliffe explores success and failure, from Homer's epic poetry to global pandemics.
The historian David Christian looks at the birth and development of the universe. He weaves together science, arts and humanities in his vast tale of human existence.
Emily Wilson is the first woman to translate, The Odyssey, the great adventure story of classical literature.
The historian Antony Beevor reconstructs the tragedy of Arnhem, the Battle for the Bridges in 1944. He questions whether the British military strategy was doomed from the start.
Success and failure are woven through Dr Jonathan D Quick's study of epidemics. He asks whether politics and science can come together to prevent the deaths of millions of people.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and often funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Today, she reflects on growing up in multicultural London in the 1980s.
Feel Free is an electrifying selection of Zadie Smith published essays from the last eight years. Wide ranging, timely and witty each essay is a perceptive view of the contemporary world from one of the best regarded writers of her generation.
Zadie Smith is the award winning author of the novels, White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW and Swing Time. Feel Free is her second essay collection. She was listed as one of Granta's 20 Best Young Novelists in 2003 and again in 2013. Her 2000 debut White Teeth, won numerous literary awards, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Guardian First Book Award. Zadie Smith is a professor of fiction at New York University.
Read by Zadie Smith
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas
Gudrun, a young woman from 11th century Iceland, forges her path through a world of unearthly beauty yet uncompromising harshness. Gudrun has risked everything to save her daughter, Sigrid, only to be double-crossed by her supposed ally, King Sweyn of Denmark. Knowing he's made a powerful enemy he plans to get rid of her.
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins
Iceland is now an occupied country, its people forced to convert to Christianity by the ruthless King of Norway, Olaf Trygvasson. The last series saw Gudrun attempt to overthrow the regime and rescue her daughter who is being brought up in the new faith, by entering into an uneasy alliance with Olaf's rival King Sweyn of Denmark. Their scheming saw Olaf meet a bloody end but instead of supporting Gudrun's campaign to return to Iceland Sweyn double-crossed her. Now, alone and in shackles, Gudrun awaits her fate.
Despite the warmongering and bloodshed Gudrun is a story of family and a mother's love. An avenging angel forged from violence, she continues to try and lead a good life in a man's world. She longs for the freedom to make her own rules.
Gudrun is under the protection of Freija, the Norse Goddess of love and war. Freija's voice cries out for a new kind of leadership. She can sometimes be as slippery a customer as her protégée - is she really on Gudrun's side or does she have an agenda of her own?
The show is inspired by the famous Laxdaela Saga featuring the original Nordic Noir heroine, Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir. There is speculation that the saga was written by a woman. Gudrun has the same steely determination and in some cases the almost psychopathic single-mindedness of her successors, Lisbeth Salander and Saga Noren, not to mention the ability to scheme, manipulate and bend others to her will in the manner of Borgen's wily politician Birgitte Nyborg.
Kate Phillips reprises the role of Gudrun. Previous roles include Jane Seymour in Wolf Hall, Linda in Peaky Blinders and Lise in War & Peace, all on BBC1.
And a new series of Gudrun returns in November.
Ruth Bowie returns home to Ireland to witness the Irish Abortion Referendum and the result of the vote up close.
Nine years ago, she travelled to the UK to have a termination of a much-wanted baby for medical reasons. She felt guilty but she also felt abandoned by her country, where the abortion would have been illegal. Since then, she has campaigned so that other women in her position would not to have to 'travel', the euphemistic term for women who come to mainland UK like she did. She settled in England a few years later.
Now she's about to return home to the land that she left and find out if the Irish people will vote to change the law. Tensions are high, and the result of the referendum could go either way. There are strong feelings on both sides of the debate, and the lead up to the referendum has brought this divide in Ireland to the fore.
Producer: Sara Conkey.
To win back Corinne's heart, Jeff takes her to an escape room. But no-one expects a puzzle set by Death himself. Philip Jackson, Alison Steadman and Mark Benton star.
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
"What is the fifth dimension?" asks Lena Komaier-Peeters from East Sussex.
Proving the existence of extra dimensions, beyond our 3D universe, is one of the most exciting and controversial areas in modern physics. Hannah and Adam head to CERN, the scientific cathedral for quantum weirdness, to try and find them.
Theoretical physicist Rakhi Mahbubani explains why we think that dimensions beyond our own might exist. Adam meets Sam Harper, who has spent 14 years hunting for an elusive particle called the 'graviton', which could provide a portal to these extra dimensions.
But if they exist, where have these extra dimensions been hiding? Sean Carroll from Caltech explains various ideas that have been dreamt up by physicists, from minuscule hidden planes to gigantic parallel worlds.
Producer: Michelle Martin
Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford.
In this special programme from California, we look at how transport is changing.
In 20 years, will we be travelling around in cars without drivers? Will we get to work in trains that glide on air and cover vast distances in minutes? Will we even be able to travel to space like tourists?
You'll hear directly from the tech entrepreneurs working on autonomous cars, and we'll ask how safe they are, after the death of a pedestrian in Arizona. We speak to the man who became the first consumer to ever ride in one and hear from the team hoping to bring them to the UK.
Can you imagine travelling down a tube in a pod at speeds of up to 700mph? We visit the engineers in Los Angeles who're working on new Hyperloop technology. Think of it like a train, but it glides using magnets.
Plus Sir Richard Branson in a spacesuit? The entrepreneur on his high hopes for space travel.
Presenter: Samantha Fenwick
Producer: Jess Quayle.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Does the conflict in Syria mean that the ideas of liberal interventionism and the responsibility to protect are now dead? Edward Stourton and guests examine how the West now sees its role when it comes to waging war to protect civilians.
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics;
Lord Malloch-Brown, former UK government minister and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General.
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Producer: Ben Crighton.
Our Hylda by Martyn Hesford
A poignant comedy about British TV's first female comedy star.
It's 1968, and Hylda Baker is a big variety star. However, she's never broken through on the telly. But totally out of the blue Granada TV wants her for a new sitcom, "Nearest and Dearest". Hylda's going to be a major TV star. Unfortunately for Hylda, she doesn't get on with her co-star Jimmy Jewell and the studio is a war zone, and to make matters worse Hylda keeps on forgetting her lines. But this masks a bigger problem - Hylda is struggling with the early symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Director/Producer Gary Brown
Martyn Hesford is a well known TV screenwriter with many credits to his name including 'Fantabulosa' and adaptations of Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop. His last two plays for R4 were the critically acclaimed 'Frankie Takes a Trip' and 'Give Dotty a Chance'.
(14/17)
The second of this year's semi-finals will determine who takes another of the places in the 2018 Brain of Britain Final. Russell Davies asks the questions, which include the name of the current President of South Africa, the final film of Sir Ralph Richardson, and the Shakespeare play that inspired a Tchaikovsky overture.
The contenders today are
Colin Daffern, a data analyst from Salford
Amit De, a financial services adviser from Sutton in South London
Tim Footman, a freelance editor from South London
Brian Thompson, a retired teacher from Liverpool.
The Brains will also be invited to collaborate in answering a brace of questions set by a Brain of Britain listener, who stands to win a prize if they are defeated.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
Children's author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce shares a selection of his favourite pieces of writing, including Tove Jansson, Jackanory, E. Nesbit and Dylan Thomas.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce's screenwriting credits include Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie and 24 Hour Party People. Millions, his debut children's novel, won the 2004 Carnegie Medal and was shortlisted for the Guardian Childrens Fiction Award. His second novel, Framed, was shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Children's Fiction Award and has also been shortlisted for the 2005 Carnegie Medal. His third novel, Cosmic, was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. He has collaborated closely with the filmmaker Danny Boyle, including scripting the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony
Producer: Mair Bosworth
Readers: Samuel West and Indira Varma.
Aleks Krotoski explores living in a digital world.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Nicholas Parsons is joined by Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Fern Britton and Graham Norton, in this instalment of the iconic panel show.
The panel have to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. What car did Fern drive during the 70s? How does Graham like to break the ice? Why does Paul think Jesus had a brother called Kevin and what does Sheila really know about the Tower of London? All of this is revealed and more!
Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.
Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.
Emma has concerns, and Tom lets his hair down.
At the age of ninety jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine looks back at her extraordinary career.
She talks to Stig Abell about her lasting musical and romantic partnership with saxophonist and composer Sir John Dankworth, and how she found her voice. They also discuss Ella Fitzgerald and her collaboration with Ray Charles.
Stig visits Cleo at her countryside home, where in 1970 she and husband John Dankworth created The Stables concert hall in their back garden, and meets Cleo's daughter, the singer Jacqui Dankworth.
Presenter: Stig Abell
Producer: Timothy Prosser.
Misha Glenny on the Dutch golden age - when a few boggy Netherlandish provinces turned into one of the military and trading heavyweights of the world.
In 1607 the Dutch took on and defeated the mighty Spanish in their own backyard at Gibraltar, Sixty years later they sailed up the Medway and humiliated another trading nation by towing away the flagship of the English fleet. It was called the Royal Charles, and parts can still be seen in the Rijksmuseum. This was the golden age - when North America, South Africa, north east Brazil and the Dutch East Indies all received visits from this violent upstart nation. How did this happen? How did Amsterdam transform itself from a small fishing town into the hub of a global super power in a few short decades?
With contributions from Rebecca Rideal, author of 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire; Ben Kaplan of University College London; Gils Rommelse, author of the Second Anglo-Dutch War; Judith Pollmann of Leiden University; Maarten Prak of Utrecht University; and the Dutch journalist Geert Mak.
From the team behind The Invention of Germany, the USA and of Brazil. The presenter is Misha Glenny.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
Do French women really think differently about sexual harassment - and if so, does feminism has national borders? Catherine Deneuve was one of 100 prominent women who signed an open letter to Le Monde critiquing the #metoo movement. "We believe that the freedom to say yes to a sexual proposition cannot exist without the freedom to pester," they wrote. Have the French mastered a more sophisticated approach to relations between men and women, based around seduction - or is this a myth that sustains male power? Parisian journalist Catherine Guilyardi investigates.
Producer: Estelle Doyle
Contributors:
Claude Habib - historian and author of "Galanterie francaise"
Elaine Sciolino - ex New York Times Paris bureau chief and author of "La Seduction" and "Rue des Martyrs"
Eric Fassin - professor of sociology, Paris-8 University
Sylvie Kauffman - editorial director and columnist at Le Monde
Sandra Muller - journalist and founder of #balancetonporc
Cécile Fara and Julie Marangé - feminist activists, organisers of the Street Art and Feminism tour in Paris
Fatima El Ouasdi - feminist activist and founder of Politiqu'elles
Peggy Sastre - philosopher of science and author of "Male Domination Doesn't Exist".
Plastic waste has been a global crisis waiting to happen. To date it's estimated that around 8.3 billion tonnes of waste plastic exists. That's 25 Empire State Buildings or 1 billion elephants. Incredibly around half of this has been generated in just the last 14 years, despite mass production having begun in the 1950s. Events such as China's recent refusal to take any more "foreign rubbish" and Sir David Attenborough's graphic portrayal of the devastation that plastic waste is causing in our oceans, has prompted political and media discussion like never before. We are at a critical moment where, if we're to turn the tide on plastic pollution, it will require science and society to come together to create real change. But it won't be easy. One major area that needs an overhaul is recycling. In the UK only 14% of plastic collected is recycled. We, and the rest of Europe tend to burn our waste for energy, and plastic has a calorific value similar to that of coal. But proponents of the circular economy say we should never consider plastic as waste at all and we should think of it as 'Buried Sunshine' - a resource that needs conserving - by reusing and recycling again and again.
Picture: Rubbish on beach, Credit: Paul F Donald.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
The quiet contentment of a music teacher is stirred by the arrival of a new pupil, for whom all will be forgiven.
Niamh Cusack reads William Trevor's gentle story of give and take.
'The Piano Teacher's Pupil' is the first of five stories from William Trevor's final and posthumous collection, published this week to coincide with what would have been his 90th Birthday. Often described as the master of the short story, revered by his fellow writers and by his readers, these stories written in the last years of his life, contain all his hallmarks; his piercing observation of human life, his humanity, his elegant prose and distinctive voice.
Reader Niamh Cusack
Producer Di Speirs.
Michael Rosen and Laura Wright look at the history behind and witty wordplay used in shop names, with guest Greg Rowland of The Semiotic Alliance, which invents names for products, and favourite punning shop names tweeted in by the audience.. a florist called Back to the Fuchsia, anyone?
Producer Beth O'Dea.
Alan Dein travels the world via the internet, talking to people trying to survive against the odds.
Locking himself away in a studio in Broadcasting House, Alan crosses time zones and continents speaking to random strangers using Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp.
Among those Alan gets chatting to today is BJ who spends half his life working on the confines of an oil rig in the East Timor Sea so that he can spend the rest of his time throwing himself off high rise buildings as he pursues his super dangerous pastime, base jumping. Then there's Syrian refugee Abdulkader who tells of his epic journey to Europe from the ruins of Aleppo. Also on Alan's contacts list today are Sam and Anna, co-workers in a call centre in Ukraine, who dream of leaving their poorly paid jobs behind forever.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Hobby. Sickle winged, red-trousered and black-moustached, the hobby is a strikingly beautiful falcon. Hobbies arrive in the UK in late April or May from their wintering grounds in Africa. They are now flourishing in the UK where there are now around 2000 pairs, breeding mainly on farmland and heaths in England and Wales.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
John Crawshaw Taylor is a prolific inventor who specialises in designing and manufacturing thermostatic controls. His ingenious integrated control system is found in in one billion electric kettles worldwide, enabling kettles to switch off automatically when the water boils, stopping the element from boiling dry and preventing plastic kettles from catching fire under a worst case scenario. 600 million of his safety controls for the small electric motors have been sold to date, and are used mainly to prevent the motor in windscreens wipers from overheating. He talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his struggle with severe dyslexia at school, the art of inventing and why he doesn't believe in selling an idea.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
Becoming a parent is a challenge at any age, but imagine becoming one before the age of 20. We hear a lot about teenage mothers, but very little about or from the teenage Dads who play an active part in their children's lives. What is it like for young men to find themselves responsible for a child at such a young age? How do they cope? In this series of frank discussions between young Dads, Michael Jenkins who became a father aged 18 talks to other young men who have gone through similar experiences. This week he talks to comedian Gary Meikle from Glasgow about his love for his daughter Ainsley who he brought up pretty much by himself.
Producer: Maggie Ayre.
Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and sometimes funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Today, some lessons on the connection between writing and dancing.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas.
Gudrun is on a slave ship bound for Constantinople. The slave captain is now in her debt and Gudrun uses her new-found influence to plot her escape.
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins.
The solutions to the problem of plastic pollution and plastic waste lie in many directions. A global plan to stop littering will go a long way. But human behaviour change often needs some economic intervention. One idea by the UK government and many others around the world, is to give a little financial incentive in the form of deposits on plastic bottles, or taxation on single use plastic like coffee cups, food wrapping and plastic bags. Mark Miodownik investigates some of the scientific solutions such as alternatives to petrochemical plastic using microbes or plant materials, clever waste sorting technologies to help make the process easier, even using less plastic. And he hopefully untangles some of the confusing messages about plastic and comes up with ways to be plastic smart.
Akram Khan is one of the UK's leading dancer-choreographers. As he prepares his final full-length solo show, Xenos, about Indian soldiers in World War One , Beaty Rubens follows the creative process.
Akram Khan's first professional engagement was aged 7, and at 10 he was cast by the legendary director Peter Brook in his production of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Now, at 43, he's announced that Xenos will be his final, full-length solo show. Xenos explores a subject close to Akram's heart - the largely unacknowledged experience of the 1.4 million Indian soldiers who fought for the British in the First World War. Telling the story of an Indian court dancer who becomes a communications engineer, laying down wires in the mud of the trenches, Xenos enables Akram to showcase both his Kathak and Contemporary repertoire.
In the months leading up to its world premiere in Athens, Beaty Rubens has been behind the scenes to observe the creative process, speaking extensively with Akram and his talented international team. Xenos integrates live Indian and Western music and original voice archive to create a hugely powerful narrative in which the mass horrors of the trenches are brought back to life by by one sensational solo dancer.
Featuring the music and sound design of Vincenzo Lamagna and rehearsal performances by Nina Harries, Aditya Prakash, Tamar Osbone, B.C.Manjunath and Andrew Maddick.
Akram Khan has collaborated in the past with the French ballet sensation, Sylive Guillem, the actor Juliet Binoche and the sculptor Anthony Gormley, and performed at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics to live music from Emilie Sande.
Presented and produced by Beaty Rubens.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
"What happens to the human voice as we age? If I hear a voice on the radio, I can guess roughly how old they are. But singer's voices seem to stay relatively unchanged as they age. Why is this?" All these questions were sent to curiouscases@bbc.co.uk by Jonathan Crain from Long Island in New York.
The Doctors discover how the human voice is produced and listen to how our voice sounds when it emerges from our vocal cords. Acoustic engineer Trevor Cox, author of 'Now You're Talking', explains why German and French babies have a different accent. And neuroscientist Sophie Scott describes what happens when boys' voices break, and why a similar thing can happen to women during the menopause.
Finally, our voices often change dramatically in later life, as demonstrated by impressionist Duncan Wisbey from Radio 4's Dead Ringers. Expect cameos from David Attenborough, Dumbledore and Paul McCartney.
Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin.
Consumer phone-in.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Edward Stourton and guests trace the course of the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two and consider whether Europe's migrant crisis was a decisive factor in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics
Dawn Chatty, Emerita Professor of Anthropology and Migration at Oxford and author of 'Syria - the making and unmaking of the Syrian refugee state'
Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman.
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Producer: Ben Crighton.
The Last Flag
'Feelings' are dangerous and all Union Jacks are banned except for one - but somebody steals it. Written and produced in collaboration with Eclipse Theatre Company
Written by Selina Thompson, Chinonyerem Odimba and Lorna French.
Directed by Dawn Walton and Charlotte Riches.
Josie Long presents short documentaries about creating something out of nothing, fresh starts and the beginning of the end.
From a band that existed before they'd ever met each other to the new beginnings which bring sweet, if painful, endings in a relationship between a mother and daughter.
The Dandelion Adventure
Produced by Geoff Bird
Good Year for the Roses
Produced by Sophie Townsend
Meteor Shower
Produced by Nanna Hauge Kristensen
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
What do we want from our countryside and how much are we willing to pay for it?
Tom Heap chairs a debate in response to the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan focusing on "Public Money for Public Goods " and asks what are public goods? Is food a public good?
Should public money be used to support food production or conservation and the environment? How can environmental enhancement be measured? What will the landscape of the future look like?
Producer: Sarah Blunt.
Criminologist Professor David Wilson examines how history and society have shaped the sentencing of criminals against a backdrop of public opinion on matters like the recent Worboys case and serious offences etched into our criminological past, such as the murder of James Bulger.
What part do public views and political expediency play in legislation that has increased custodial sentences and contributed to a doubling of the prison population? Is sentencing about punishment and the protection of society or, more controversially, the offender? Why is it that a gang of teenagers were only sentenced to community service after their victim died, while other crimes warrant a long prison term?
To find out how courts deal with these contested cases, Professor Wilson puts these questions to those with responsibility for sentencing, including retired circuit judge Simon Tonking , Sir Anthony Hooper who has twenty years experience as a High Court and Appeal Court judge, and the chair of the Sentencing Council Lord Justice Treacy.
The Law Commission is currently working on clarifying the technical aspects of sentencing because there are thought to be errors in some 30% of sentencing due to complex and confusing legislation going back a thousand years.
But how much of a deterrent are harsher sentences to criminals? At public hangings in the 17th and 18th centuries, pick pockets would steal from those in the crowd while their fellow thieves were being executed. Professor Wilson asks how society's values have changed since the abolition of capital punishment.
Producer: Sara Parker
Executive Producer; Samir Shah
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
Catherine the Great assumed power in a St Petersburg coup, extended the empire into Crimea, Ukraine and Alaska. is Russia's longest lasting female ruler, and wasn't even Russian herself. All of this intrigues Dame Barbara Stocking, former head of Oxfam, who admires Catherine's leadership style.
Biographer Virginia Rounding provides the details of her background and her lovers, and Matthew Parris presents.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Why not sort out your life and sign on with the patent Milton Declutterering Method! (Including getting rid of that extra "er" in Declutterering.)
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is "Help!". Each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners" - The Guardian.
"King of the surreal one-liners" - The Times
"If you haven't caught up with Jones yet - do so!" - The Daily Mail
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda), and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton," returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Ben Willbond (The Thick Of It).
With music by Guy Jackson
Produced and directed by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
Brian pulls out all the stops, and Lynda makes a connection.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
Knife crime in England and Wales rose by a fifth last year, with stabbings in London at their highest level for a decade. So far this year, there have been more than 30 fatal stabbings in the capital - with knife injuries amongst young people also on the rise.
What lies behind the rise in violence is complex with cuts in police numbers, use of stop and search, rise in mental health issues and a lack of youth services being cited as contributing factors.
But Britain's most senior police officer, Cressida Dick, also says that social media is also partly to blame, with sites like You Tube, Snapchat and Instagram "allowing young people to go from 'slightly angry with each other' to 'fight' very quickly"
Relatives of victims - and judges in murder trials - also claim a form of hip hop, where rappers make threats to other gangs - and keep scores of killings - is helping fuel the bloodshed. It's called Drill.
When announcing a new strategy to tackle serious violence, the former Home Secretary Amber Rudd asked musicians to have a "positive influence" on young people, and to move away from lyrics which glamorise violence.
File on Four investigates this world of violence playing out online - and on our streets.
Reporter: Paul Connolly
Producers: Emma Forde and Mick Tucker
Development Producer: Oliver Newlan
Editor: Gail Champion.
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.
Claudia Hammond presents a series that explores the limits and potential of the human mind.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
A cartographer returns to an isolated house on the moors where he once passed an idyllic summer tutoring, and reignites a life lasting love.
An Idyll in Winter is the second of five stories from William Trevor's final and posthumous collection, published this week to coincide with what would have been his 90th Birthday. Often described as the master of the short story, revered by his fellow writers and by his readers, these stories written in the last years of his life contain all his hallmarks; his piercing observation of human life, his humanity, his elegant prose and his distinctive voice.
Reader Hattie Morahan
Abridger Rowan Routh
Producer Di Speirs.
Comic monologues in which a range of characters find themselves engaging in that most un-British of activities: talking to a stranger.
Each piece is a character study: funny, frank, absurd, moving... Characters include a sex councillor who loves to draw, a spy who loves to share, a woman who likes to help too much ('I'm a serial helpist...'), a frustrated falconer, and a cheater who has to call her cheatee the morning after. And in this show, the listener themselves 'plays' the silent stranger in the piece...
Written and performed by Sally Phillips and Lily Bevan, with guest stars including Emma Thompson, Olivia Coleman, Jessica Hynes, Steve Evets, Sinead Matthews and Joel Fry.
Produced by Sam Bryant. A BBC Comedy Production.
Alan Dein travels the world via the internet talking to parents and children about navigating the tricky expectations they have of each other.
Among those Alan strikes up conversation with today: a Filipino mother estranged from her gay son, a Ugandan woman whose education was cut short and a young Korean man hiding his tattoos from his parents.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Musician Fyfe Dangerfield tells the story of an inspirational trip to the 'birdland' of the Farne Islands where a seabird inspired the name for the band that made him famous.
Producer: Mark Ward
Photograph: Simon Stobart.
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
The writer Louise Welsh meets the artist Duggie Fields.
Louise lives in Glasgow and is the author of eight novels, including The Cutting Room, Naming the Bones, and the Plague Times trilogy, which imagines a world ravaged by a pandemic.
Duggie studied at the Chelsea School of Art in the 1960s, and is known for his colourful geometric canvases, inspired by pop and classical culture. For the past 50 years, he has lived and worked in the same Earls Court flat- which he once shared with Syd Barrett, a founding member of Pink Floyd. A re-creation of the flat is currently on show in Glasgow - complete with paint-spattered floor, furniture, and life-sized photographs of the walls, covered in art-works.
Producer Clare Walker.
James Naughtie explores history through front page small ads. The classified ads in the Hereford Journal of Sunday 1st January 1800 reveal the stresses of a country at war - from "English wines nearly as good as foreign" to the list of the dead and injured from the Battle of Camperdown. The list reveals the breadth of races and countries of origin from Malaya to New York in the crews of Britain's triumphant fleet.
Front page news is a relatively late addition to the newspaper business. For most of their first couple of centuries, British newspapers carried classified ads rather than news on their front page. They transformed the hustle and bustle of the marketplace into newsprint, so you could take it home or to the inn to pore over at your leisure.
James Naughtie travels the country discovering how these front page ads give us a snapshot of time and place, exploring how they weave national and local life together - the heartbeat of history rolling daily or weekly off the presses.
The ads tell us what people were eating, drinking and wearing, what was on stage and what people were playing at home. They mark the mood of the time through notices for public meetings held to stoke up or damp down public fears of crime and political unrest. They are a record of the notices placed for houses and public buildings to be built, licenses applied for and subscriptions raised for publications and commemorations. They show the latest labour saving gadgets "trending" as technology arrived, and they track jobs and trades on the way up and down as the British Empire waxed and waned. The ever present ads for patent medicines record our most popular ailments.
Produced by John Forsyth
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.
Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and sometimes funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Today's essay is the talk Zadie gave in Berlin on 10th November, 2016 on receiving the Welt Literature Prize, where she offers some reasons for optimism and despair.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas.
Gudrun and fellow slave, Marlas, grow closer as they talk of escape. Meanwhile the slave ship enters the waters of King Vladimir of Rus and Gudrun finds the stakes are high when she engages in a game of dice.
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins.
Friends who are artists demonstrate that they make room in their lives for many enthusiasms. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Comedy about the inept staff at a historic house. Starring Simon Callow, Jane Horrocks and Miles Jupp.
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). Tom Collyer (Tom Bell) tries and fails to get the museum back on track, alongside the hopelessly out of touch deputy Julian (Miles Jupp), corner-cutting gift shop manager Maureen (Jane Horrocks), put-upon education officer Emma (Louise Ford), and enthusiastic but dim-witted caretaker Alan (Pearce Quigley).
In the first episode of the new series, the team are making an audio tour they hope will bring visitors flocking. But they can't agree on who will star in the recording, and Tom has a bigger problem when he accidentally breaks the most valuable artefact in the museum.
Written by Ben Cottam and Paul McKenna
Produced by Sarah Cartwright
Directed by Paul Schlesinger
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
"Do we know what causes déjà vu?" asks Floyd Kitchen from Queenstown in New Zealand.
Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate this familiar feeling by speaking to world-leading reseacher Chris Moulin from the University of Grenoble in France and memory expert Catherine Loveday from Westminster University. Plus, they find out why early investigations classed déjà vu as a type of paranormal phenomenon.
For most of us, it's a fleetingly strange experience, but for some people it can become a serious problem. Lisa from Hulme in Manchester started experiencing déjà vu when she was 22 with episodes that could last all day. The origin of her déjà vu has been the key to helping psychologists investigate its cause.
Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin.
Consumer affairs programme.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
In July 2014, the Muslim cleric Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi addressed his followers as 'caliph', leader of a Muslim nation and successor to the Prophet Mohammed. It was the first time in almost a century that any significant figure in the Islamic world had claimed this ancient title, and it was a dramatic illustration that there was a powerful and terrifying new force in play: the radical Sunni Islamist militant group which calls itself Islamic State. Edward Stourton and guests trace the rapid rise, fall and legacy of the group.
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics
Patrick Cockburn, journalist and author of 'The Rise of Islamic State; ISIS and the new Sunni revolution'
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Producer: Ben Crighton.
by Jessica Swale
Ruth is desperate because boyfriend Tom seems to have fallen out of love with her.
Could science provide the answer?
Produced and directed by Marion Nancarrow
Jessica Swale won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2016. This is her first play for radio.
Financial phone-in.
Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
The hit series returns for a sixth series with more shop based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Mahju and his trusty sidekick Dave. Written by and starring Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli.
Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop, the award winning Fags, Mags & Bags sees a return of all the shop regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way, from the likes of Julia Deakin and Mina Anwar.
In this first episode, Ramesh's girlfriend Malcolm has opened up Lenzie's first foodbank to help the local needy. However, the patrons appear to be quite pernickety about what's on offer, and a debate opens up about who is actually eligible to use the foodbank, causing tension amongst the Lenzidens.
Join the staff of Fags, Mags and Bags in their tireless quest to bring nice-price custard creams and cans of coke with Arabic writing on them to an ungrateful nation. Ramesh Mahju has built it up over the course of over 30 years and is a firmly entrenched, friendly presence in the local area. He is joined by his shop sidekick, Dave.
Then of course there are Ramesh's sons Sanjay and Alok, both surly and not particularly keen on the old school approach to shopkeeping, but natural successors to the business. Ramesh is keen to pass all his worldly wisdom onto them - whether they like it or not!
Written by Donald Mcleary and Sanjeev Kohli
Producer: Gus Beattie
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4.
Will makes a surpising decision, and Jennifer takes over.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Giles Fraser and Anne McElvoy.
Actress and comedian Diona Doherty says we need a big rethink about who we allow to make a speech at weddings. She tells us why if we want true equality it all starts with letting the bridesmaids speak.
Recorded in front of a live audience at the Palm House in Belfast as part of the BBC Music Biggest Weekend Festival 2018.
Presenter: Olly Mann
Producer: Jordan Dunbar.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
In a quiet farmhouse in rural Ireland a crippled man engages two painters, and a woman's patience is running out.
The Crippled Man is the third of five stories from William Trevor's final and posthumous collection, published this week to coincide with what would have been his 90th Birthday. Often described as the master of the short story, revered by his fellow writers and by his readers, these stories written in the last years of his life contain all his hallmarks; his piercing observation of human life, his humanity, his elegant prose and his distinctive voice.
Reader Dermot Crowley
Abridger Rowan Routh
Producer Di Speirs.
The Godfather of British stand-up comedy returns to the live stage with his trials of modern life. Today, John muses over the proverb "children should be seen and not heard" and looks back into his own childhood, and the phrase's old high English origins.
The learning of children fascinates John, left to interpret the world himself by his Irish family. Gorilla warfare? How does that work? Perhaps the barbary apes of Gibraltar have more of a chance.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.
The last episode in this series sees Terry Alderton at his very best. Sketches, songs and general hilarity from a brilliant mind. Bears, airports, stand up, accents, and even the odd catchphrase. Perfect.
Written by and starring Terry Alderton. With additional material from Johnny Spurling, Boothby Graffoe, Richard Melvin, Julia Sutherland and Owen Parker.
Sound designed by Sean Kerwin.
Produced by Richard Melvin.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.
Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them.
This week, his guests are in far flung places and bustling cities but each, in their own way, isolated.
He finds Clare, an ex-Mounted Police Officer in the High Arctic, Dino, a security guard, locking up after a long nightshift in Skopje and in Northern China, 19-year-old Ben, whose ears are still ringing from his first night ever in a nightclub.
Producer: Sarah Bowen.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
Ever since childhood, Helen Moncrieff, Shetland Manager for RSPB Scotland has been fascinated by the ways in which Shetland Starlings can mimic not only other birds but other sounds including a squeaky toy belonging to her own dog!
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: John Dixon.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great Norwegian playwright and poet, best known for his middle class tragedies such as The Wild Duck, Hedda Gabler, A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People. These are set in a world where the middle class is dominant and explore the qualities of that life, its weaknesses and boundaries and the ways in which it takes away freedoms. It is the women who fare the worst in this society, something Ibsen explored in A Doll's House among others, a play that created a sensation with audiences shocked to watch a woman break free of her bourgeois family life to find her destiny. He explored dark secrets such as incest and, in Ghosts, hereditary syphilis, which attracted the censors. He gave actresses parts they had rarely had before, and audiences plays that, after Shakespeare, became the most performed in the world.
With
Tore Rem
Kirsten Shepherd-Barr
and
Dinah Birch
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and sometimes funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Today, Zadie Smith's Inaugural Philip Roth Lecture, given at the Newark PublicLibrary on 27 October 2016 where she airs some thoughts on the art and practice of writing fiction.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas.
After a successful mutiny Marlas is now captain of the ship. Freed from Orm's brutality, the crew sets sail for Constantinople with renewed hope.
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins.
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.
New Yorker Huey Morgan examines the life, work and enduring appeal of a musician known as Moondog who lived and worked on the city's streets in the 1950s and 60s.
Born Louis Thomas Hardin in Kansas in May 1916, he played musical instruments from an early age and lost his sight in an accident when he was 16. He went on to teach himself music and composition by ear, as well as music theory through books in braille.
In 1943, Moondog moved to New York where he soon became acquainted with Leonard Bernstein and Arturo Toscanini as well as jazz performers and composers like Charlie Parker and Benny Goodman.
In the late 1940s, he lived as a street musician, composer and poet on the streets of New York City and became known as The Viking of 6th Avenue because of his beard, long hair and attire which included a cloak and a Viking-style horned helmet.
Moondog's music would take inspiration from street sounds such as the New York subway and foghorns. His compositions were a combination of classical, traditional jazz and American vernacular. He became a pioneer with a unique attitude to composition and melody. He also invented instruments including a small triangular shaped harp known as the "oo" and the Trimba, a triangular percussion instrument.
Huey Morgan returns to his home city to learn more about Moondog, his life and his music. He discovers how Moondog went on to influence other musicians, including Phillip Glass, and how his work is continuing to be used and adapted to this day.
Huey is joined in New York by Moondog biographer Robert Scotto and poet and writer Magie Dominic who remembers meeting him in the 1960s. They take Huey to some of the places popular with Moondog, including Carnegie Hall and his regular pitch on 6th Avenue.
Huey hears from the Swedish musician Stefan Lakatos who befriended Moondog when he moved to Europe, from composer John Zorn, saxophonist and composer John Harle and classical pianist and composer Joanna McGregor.
The programme also includes rare recordings of Moondog speaking in the early 1980s.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
"My boss insists that if you choose the same numbers in the lottery each time your probability of winning will increase. Is this true?" asks Vince Scott from Edinburgh.
National lotteries are played in more than 80 countries worldwide, but can you increase your chances of winning? Hannah consults statistician Jen Rogers to discover the best way to select your lucky numbers.
Adam talks chance and luck with David Spiegelhalter and hears how the field of probability began with a philandering gambling polymath in 16th century Italy. Plus, we meet the Oxford professor who tried to beat the house in a Las Vegas casino, using a computer concealed inside his shoe.
Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
Producer: Michelle Martin.
Consumer affairs programme.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Edward Stourton and guests examine how the deep sectarian divide in Syria has now become entrenched across the Middle East region as the major faultline.
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics
Madawi Al-Rasheed, Saudi Arabia expert and visiting professor at the Middle East Centre of the LSE
Anoush Ehtheshami, professor of International Relations at Durham University and a specialist in Iran.
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Producer: Ben Crighton.
by Amy Rosenthal
To complement the dramas being broadcast on the next two Fridays by her father - Jack Rosenthal's "Eskimo Day" and "Cold Enough for Snow" - this is Amy's tribute to him, inspired by an unusual pact they made when she - very reluctantly - went to university in 1993.
Produced and directed by Marion Nancarrow
This affectionate tribute from playwright Amy Rosenthal to her father - the award-winning dramatist and writer Jack Rosenthal - is part of a trilogy of dramas being broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Amy has adapted 2 of his dramas - "Eskimo Day" and "Cold Enough for Snow" - for radio and they follow on the next two Friday evenings. (All three plays will be available on BBC iPlayer for a month). His dramas look at empty nest syndrome from the parents' point of view. Her drama looks at it - but, as she describes it, from the point of view of the bird! Amy introduces her drama and talks about how her perspective on her father's dramas and stories has changed with the distance of twenty years. Jack Rosenthal died in 2004.
Clare Balding is off to Little Switzerland in this week's programme, but she's not travelling far: Church Stretton, in Shropshire, earned its nick-name in Victorian times because of the area's Alpine feel. Her companions are Mark and Debbie, who met after both lost their spouses to cancer. Together with Ted, the wire haired Dachshund, they are attempting to complete every route listed in the book "50 walks in Shropshire". They have just passed the 20 mark. Today's walk takes them to the trig point of the Long Mynd, from there they retrace their steps back to the top of Town Brook Hollow and return over the top of Yearlet Hill and Ashlet Hill and back into Church Stretton.
Producer: Karen Gregor.
Cult director J.A. Bayona tells Francine Stock why he took on the dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Adam Rutherford investigates the news in science and science in the news.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
A sitcom, written by Moray Hunter and starring Angus Deayton, about five single, middle aged neighbours living in flats in a converted house in North London.
Mitch (Angus Deayton) is a widower and part-time therapist who is looking to put his life back together now that he is single and living - supposedly temporarily - with Will (Pearce Quigley), his younger, more volatile and unhappily divorced half-brother.
Elsewhere in the building are schoolteacher Ellie (Abigail Cruttenden) who is shy, nervous and desperately missing her ex-boyfriend, overly honest, frustrated actress Louisa (Kate Isitt), and socially inept IT nerd Morris (Bennett Arron).
In Birthday Drinks, Mitch's birthday is approaching and he's desperately trying to avoid any fuss - not least because he's having a break from alcohol. Meanwhile Louisa is on the warpath, wanting feedback after her latest acting role, but everyone seems to be trying to change the subject for some reason.
An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.
Kirsty loses her temper, and Christine is out of her depth.
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
Series looking at important issues in the news. Presented by David Aaronovitch.
Evan Davis hosts the business conversation show.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
Hattie Morahan reads William Trevor's tale of unrequited love and loss of nerve.
Making Conversation is the fourth of five stories from William Trevor's final and posthumous collection, published this week to coincide with what would have been his 90th Birthday. Often described as the master of the short story, revered by his fellow writers and by his readers, these stories written in the last years of his life contain all his hallmarks; his piercing observation of human life, his humanity, his elegant prose and his distinctive voice.
Reader Hattie Morahan
Abridger Rowan Routh
Producer Di Speirs.
For a few minutes, twice a day, at precisely seven in the morning and seven in the evening, a receptionist and a security guard meet to swap ownership of a desk.
Mathew Baynton and Jenny Bede star in the last of six two-handers written by Cabin Pressure's John Finnemore.
Written by John Finnemore
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
Alan Dein continues his virtual global journey, calling random people he stumbles across on line.
Through extraordinary stories of tolerance, Alan hears what people endure in their political, religious and love lives.
Bob, a Lebanese computer intern, tells of his struggles as a fervent Islamist, Samira a Brazilian teacher confesses to infidelity and Tariro shares her joy as the tanks roll into Harare.
Producer: Sarah Bowen.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest shipping forecast.
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
Spiritual reflection and prayer to start the day with Healthcare Chaplain, the Rev Duncan MacLaren.
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
David Attenborough presents the Sedge Warbler. Sedge warblers like tangled vegetation near water. They're summer visitors here but seek out similar habitats in Africa where they spend the winter. Before leaving our shores in autumn, they gorge on insects, often doubling their weight.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
Zadie Smith reads from her latest essay collection where she offers sharp, and sometimes funny, insights and observations on high culture, pop culture, social change, political debate and the personal. Today, some thoughts on the Alte Frau, an enigmatic painting of a woman by the German painter Balthasar Denner.
Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard.
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.
Lucy Catherine's Viking epic of love, revenge and faith inspired by the Icelandic sagas.
Delirious from his injury, Grim is gripped by religious fervour and threatens the safety of the ship.
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins.
Rex Bloomstein goes inside Britain's prisons to observe the parole system in action - revealing how decisions are reached regarding the release of prisoners.
Every year, the Parole Board releases thousands of prisoners, including those convicted of the most serious violent offences, such as murder, rape and arson. The recent controversy over the release of serial sex offender John Warboys has raised major questions about how the parole system works.
Rex Bloomstein meets prisoners ahead of their crucial hearings and listens-in on the entire process as the parole panel interrogates prisoners and witnesses, attempting to establish if release would present a risk of further serious harm to society. The panels are heard discussing the evidence from prison staff, probation workers and psychologists, arriving at their conclusions and explaining their decisions - to release or not to release.
The serious consequences of getting it wrong weigh heavily on them and Rex finds out more about the people who make these crucial decisions on society's behalf, asking if the Parole Board is sufficiently accountable, transparent and effective in what it does.
He talks to Parole Board chief executive Martin Jones as well as former chair Nick Hardwick who resigned after the High Court quashed a parole panel's decision to release Warboys. How might the parole system have to change in the wake of that decision?
The programme also includes Probation Service executive director Sonia Crozier, Victims' Commissioner Baroness Helen Newlove, and solicitors representing the interests of prisoners.
Producers: Brian King and Rex Bloomstein
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.
Martin Jarvis directs the masterly comic series written by Michael Frayn, the author of Noises Off and the most comic philosophical writer of our time. The outstanding cast is led by Ian McKellen, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry, Alfred Molina, Alex Jennings and Jarvis himself.
It's an astonishing tour de force of comic imagination and satire.
Each of the four episodes reveals Frayn's infectious delight in writing between the lines of theatre, fiction, television and the media, the church, relationships - life in general.
In this first episode, Joanna Lumley opens the series with "assembly instructions", Alex Jennings is a subversive theatre director, Ian McKellen meets Mozart (George Blagden), Alfred Molina has security problems with packaging, Lisa Dillon and Edward Bennett are Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews National Gallery portrait, Stephen Fry conducts a weird press interview with Martin Jarvis, and McKellen and Lumley are Mr and Mrs God.
Cast:
Joanna Lumley, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Alfred Molina, Martin Jarvis, Lisa Dillon, Edward Bennett, George Blagden, Nigel Anthony, Janie Dee, Rosalind Ayres, Alex Jennings.
Written by Michael Frayn,
Director: Martin Jarvis.
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
Why do birds sing? And why are some songs so complex? Science sleuths Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford investigate.
Consumer news and issues.
The latest weather forecast.
Analysis of news and current affairs.
Edward Stourton and guests consider how the 7-year war has shaped geopolitics in the region and the standing of the big players on the world stage. Did the failure of Kofi Annan's UN peace plan in 2012 mark the beginning of the end of western influence and allow Russia to become the key international player in the Middle East?
Guests:
Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle East Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economic
Louise Fawcett, professor of International Relations at Oxford University
Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman.
Researcher: Louise Byrne
Producer: Ben Crighton.
A young black woman sits opposite a middle-aged white woman on a train. Neither of them is quite what they seem. New play by actress and playwright Amelia Bullmore.
Joy ..... Brid Brennan
Umi ..... Tamara Lawrance
Steward ..... Sean Murray
Officer ..... Ryan Early
Lisa ..... Nahel Tzegai
Delivery Man/ Officer ..... Ryan Whittle
Carla ..... Lauren Cornelius
Director ..... Mary Peate
Writer ..... Amelia Bullmore
Amelia Bullmore is an actress and playwright. Best known recently as no-nonsense DCI Jill Murray from SCOTT AND BAILEY and the well-meaning but ineffectual Kay from the BBC Olympics drama TWENTY TWELVE, Bullmore is also an accomplished playwright. Her first play, MAMMALS, won the Susan Blackburn award when it premiered a at the Bush Theatre and her most recent stage play DI AND VIV AND ROSE, transferred from Hampstead Theatre to the West End in 2015. For TV, she wrote episodes for several series of SCOTT AND BAILEY, including the series finale, in which she also starred. For Radio 4, Amelia has written four series of CRAVEN starring Maxine Peake as well as THE MIDDLE, FAMILY TREE and THE BAT MAN starring Bill Nighy.
A panel of experts answer listeners' horticultural queries.
Writers choose poems as inspiration for new stories.
Grey Evening
An achromatic artist is exposed in Beatrice Colin's witty story inspired by D H Lawrence's poem.
Writer ..... Beatrice Colin
Reader .... Cal MacAninch
Producer ..... Gaynor Macfarlane
A BBC Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the life stories of people who have recently died.
Investigating the numbers in the news.
A survivor of Auschwitz and a musician whose visit there inspired him to explore the experience, share their commitment to ensure it is never forgotten. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Miles Jupp.
There is a shock for the Aldridges, and Alistair makes a touching gesture.
News, reviews and interviews from the worlds of art, literature, film and music.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate Ventnor's Winter Gardens on the Isle of Wight with a panel including j Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont and the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Layla Moran MP.
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.
by Jack Rosenthal
adapted for radio by Amy Rosenthal
1996 and it's interview day at Cambridge University. As well as nerves, hopefuls Pippa from Cheltenham and Neil from Blackburn must also endure the embarrassment of their parents' company. But as the day progresses, it seems it's not the children who are most in need of help...
Written by Jack Rosenthal
Adapted for radio by Amy Rosenthal
Produced and directed by Marion Nancarrow
Playwright Amy Rosenthal's father, Jack, was a prolific and much-loved dramatist and this is the first of two linked comedy dramas he wrote in the 1990s ("Cold Enough for Snow" follows next Friday). Amy has adapted her father's dramas for radio and written a new drama, "Thin Ice", inspired by what happened when she went to University, which precedes these 2 plays in the drama slot on Thursday at 2.15.
A stellar cast includes Ben Miles (Wolf Hall, The Crown), Pooky Quesnel (The A Word), Nicholas Gleaves (Scott & Bailey) and Lucy Robinson (Cold Feet). Real-life father and son, Timothy and Samuel West, guest star as fictional father and son, James and Simon. Simon's a University lecturer trying to juggle interviews and persuade his father to go into a home. But his father is not quite ready to give in yet....
The potential Cambridge students are played by Rosie Day (Outlander; Screen International Star of Tomorrow) and David Moorst (Winner of the Emerging Talent Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2015).
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
For a man whose memory is not all it should be, art and beauty offer the most constant solace. Dermot Crowley reads a poignant story of deceit and comfort in the backstreets of Dublin.
Giotto's Angels is the last of five stories taken from William Trevor's final and posthumous collection, published this week to coincide with what would have been his 90th Birthday. Often described as the master of the short story, revered by his fellow writers and by his readers, these stories written in the last years of his life contain all his hallmarks; his piercing observation of human life, his humanity, his elegant prose and his distinctive voice.
Reader Dermot Crowley
Abridger Rowan Routh
Producer Di Speirs.
Alan Dein connects with random strangers around the world and calls them. Each has a personal, intimate story of how art has enriched their lives or provided solace in difficult times.
Producer: Georgia Catt.
Friends consider their annual preparations for the Kirkcudbright Arts and Crafts Trail. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
Producer: Marya Burgess.