Strontium is the 15th most common element in the earth yet we really only come into contact with it in fireworks. It gives us the deep red colour we admire in a pyrotechnics display. Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at UCL, meets Mike Sansom of Brighton Fireworks who explains how a firework is constructed and reveals the chemical mix that creates the bright red flashes.
The Science Museum's Curator of Chemistry, Rupert Cole, shows Andrea a Thomas Rowlandson etching of Humphry Davy experimenting with the then recently discovered element in front of a fashionable audience at the Royal Institution in London in the early 19th century.
Professor Thomas Klapötke of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich talks about his search for a substitute for strontium in fireworks and about how the element can get into our bones.
And Janet Montgomery, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, explains how strontium traces have revealed that our Neolithic ancestors moved around much more than was previously thought. Nearly half the people buried around Stonehenge were born in places with different rocks from those under Salisbury Plain.
John Barton’s fascinating A History of the Bible investigates the origins, development and contemporary meaning of this greatest of unread bestsellers. From a disparate collection of writings that first emerged deep in the distant past Barton charts the gradual emergence of both the Old and the New Testaments and their evolution into what have become the two revered volumes of authoritative Scripture that we know today. In a series of lively and engaging essays Barton shows how meaning has both been drawn from the Bible and been imposed up on it and explores how differently Judaism and Christianity approach and interpret the books of both the Old and the New Testaments.
In this final episode A History of the Bible Barton takes the famous Nine Lessons and Carols Service as a starting point to explore the markedly different Christian and Jewish readings of the Scriptures, underscoring how the Bible offers a never-ending source of fascinating and fruitful investigation.
A new year stretches out before us like fields covered in freshly fallen snow. My children gaze out dreaming of snowmen waiting to be built, snowballs waiting to be thrown and sledge runs waiting to be travelled. All I see is a cold, lonely landscape and the prospect of head injuries and soggy shoes. I don’t remember being so pessimistic last January - perhaps 2020 sucked out my sense of adventure. The unexpected challenges of last year have left a legacy of worry and self-preservation.
After their close friend died unexpectedly, Jesus’s disciples went through a similar period of emotional exhaustion. Once inspired by the teacher’s claims, they gave up friends, family and lucrative jobs - and it had all been worth it! They saw the sick healed, the hungry fed and the dead raised to life. But just when everything was going so well, Jesus was brutally murdered on trumped-up charges. When life throws you a curve ball, you begin to imagine them appearing from all directions. The disciples did what we might be tempted to do too: stay at home with your fears and lock the door.
There are not enough bolts in the world that can stop God from entering a room. Jesus had made his way past death, gravestones, and armed guards to get to his beleaguered disciples, greeting them finally with one word: “Shalom” - peace. This peace quelled their anxieties and soon the bunch of scared young people had turned into fearless world-changers.
Lord Jesus, where some see hope and opportunity ahead in this new year, others see danger and challenge.
Visit us we pray with your Shalom peace calming our anxious thoughts and reviving our spirits.
At the time of Emperor Napoleon the Third aluminium was more valuable than gold and silver. The Emperor liked the metal so much he had his cutlery made out of it. But once a cheaper way was discovered to extract aluminium it began to be used for all kinds of objects, from aeroplanes to coffee pots. Andrea Sella, Professor Inorganic Chemistry, talks to Professor Mark Miodownik at the Institute of Making at UCL about why aluminium is such a useful material, from keeping crisps crisp to the tinsel on our Christmas trees. Andrea visits the Science Museum where he admires an aluminium plane of the class flown by Amelia Earhart. And he talks about the lightness of bicycles made from aluminium with Keith Noronha, of Reynolds Technology.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
Helen Mark is used to travelling all over the UK recording for Open Country, however this year she's mostly stayed at home in the north-west corner of Northern Ireland. In April she introduced us to her family farm in Limavady as winter gave way to spring. Now as 2020 draws to an end, we join Helen as she rediscovers the coastal lowland landscape which surrounds her home, overlooked by the dramatic peak of Binevenagh. The area between Derry Londonderry and Castlerock has been an overlooked landscape, but is full of historical intrigue and is one of the best places in the UK to experience the wildlife spectacle of overwintering Whooper Swans on Lough Foyle. The Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust has just been awarded lottery funding to restore and reconnect people to aspects of this landscape. We go to find the pillboxes and other relics from the Second World War to hear about when Lough Foyle was one of the main bases for the Allied Forces in Europe. The mountain of Binevenagh towers above these lowlands and Helen’s farm. She climbs the peak to hear more about its history, wildlife Through the programme Helen and her guests reflect on how this extraordinary year has changed our sense of place and how we experience our local landscapes. Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Sophie Anton.
Jonathan Thomson says he's always had a close bond with the natural world. He grew up on a dairy farm in New Zealand and has dedicated his retirement to creating his own private nature reserve. Six years ago he bought a 25 acre parcel of land in Wiltshire. Underhill Wood had been a llama farm and a commercial woodland. Now with a team of volunteers, he's created a mosaic of habitats: from sedge marsh and meadows, to woodland and hedgerows. He says the bio-diversity has improved enormously and the site is now a haven for barn owls, bats, snakes and kingfishers., He uses it as a place of learning and regularly invites ecologists, school children and insect experts to study the wildlife there.
Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show from home. Dr Annie Gray, Sophie Wright, Jordan Bourke and Sumayya Usmani ring in the new year by answering questions sent in by the audience.
This week, the panellists discuss how to make the perfect scrambled eggs, favourite family recipes, and making the best out of a bad bunch of celery. They are also joined by Amy and Emily Chung (The Rangoon Sisters), who share their favourite Burmese recipes.
As a new decade ticks over, Dr Adam Rutherford, Professor Alice Roberts and Professor Brian Cox look back on a decade of science that has transformed perceptions of our medicine, our history and our universe.
From advances in genetics that have brought personalized medicine to reality, and revealed the ghosts of ancestral human species never before identified, to quantum computing lessons that hint at the nature of existence and causation throughout the universe, it has been an interesting time. New observational technologies have revealed fresh windows in time and space. And all of it has been reported by BBC Inside Science.
Programme may contain traces of informed speculation, but (almost) no references to Covid.
Kate Adie reflects on key moments of 2020 with some of the most thought provoking dispatches by our correspondents.
Andrew Harding, who covers Africa and is based in Johannesburg, spends a lot of his time travelling around the continent to witness events at first hand. The Coronavirus pandemic put a stop to much of that but he still had a dramatic story to tell in the autumn. He reflected on the somewhat ironic parallels he was seeing as he compared the situation within Africa with that of another key country in the world which was facing a significant election.
Afghanistan is a country where it’s not easy to define the term outrage. Violence there has not abated despite peace talks between the government and the Tailiban. But an attack on Kabul University on November 2nd sent shock waves across the country and beyond. At least 35 people were left dead and 50 seriously wounded. Photographs of the murdered students and their blood-stained classrooms spread widely through Afghan social media. Lyse Doucet spoke to one university lecturer about the students he lost and the damage done to Afghanistan’s hopes for the future.
The death of George Floyd, an African American living in Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota last summer triggered mass demonstrations across America and the world. He died whilst under arrest as a white police office knelt on his neck. Derek Chauvin has since been charged with murder. There was fury about police brutality and racist treatment of black Americans. In a country which has a massive gap between the richest and poorest, Emma Sapong, an African American journalist based in Minnesota reports that there is more than money that separates white and black lives there.
The enormous blast in Beirut's port in August killed 200 people in the city and injured thousands. Buildings were destroyed and lives up-ended after stock piles of ammonium nitrate caught alight and exploded. People took to the streets to protest at a political elite who they accuse of mismanagement and negligence. One of those who was badly hurt was Leila Molana Allen, a journalist in the city. But as she reports, in the immediate aftermath she realised that her dog was missing.
2020 will be remembered by many as a year of lock downs and restrictions as countries around the world battled to control the coronavirus pandemic. It was a way of living that most of us had never experienced before and we all longed for a return to normality. Our correspondent in Brussels, Kevin Connolly had been confined at home for weeks when the rules were relaxed briefly in the summer. He was surprised by his urge to indulge in some rather unusual shopping.
2020 has been a tumultuous year, full of the unexpected, so what can we anticipate for our finances over the years to come?
In 1998 futurologist Graeme Leach wrote a report for Barclays called ’2020 Vision’, designed to look beyond the impending millennium to life in the next 20 years. It wanted to stimulate thinking and discussion on how the future will look.
Join Felicity Hannah to discover how Graeme’s predictions for 2020 have weathered and discuss with three listeners what their hopes and aspirations are for the next 20 years, what have been their successes and failures from the last 20, and what lessons can be learnt.
Andy Zaltzman gives 2020 the treatment it deserves in this compilation episode of News Quiz highlights from planet earth's latest annus horribilis.
There were times in 2020 when the world felt like an out of control carousel and we could all have been forgiven for just wanting to get off and to wait for normality to return.
But will 2021 be any less dramatic? Joe Biden will be inaugurated in January but will Donald Trump have left the White House by then? Vaccines are promised to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic but how successful will they be and how do global leaders go about trying to repair the economic damage the virus has caused? And then there's the not insignificant matter of what happens in the latest Brexit chapter, the ending of the transition period. What impact will that have on both the UK and the EU?
So many big questions but luckily we have some big hitters to provide plenty of answers.
Panel: Aleem Maqbool, Dharshini David, Gabriel Gatehouse, Justin Rowlatt and Katya Adler
Take a trip on a time machine, as comedian Doc Brown - Ben Bailey Smith - activates the flux capacitor and heads back to the 21st January 1981, when the first DeLorean inched its way off the assembly line at Dunmurry in Belfast.
Doc Brown immerses himself in that day as it unfolded and in the process learns about a time he is too young to remember.
Ronald Reagan had just become president, and Iran released 52 American hostages who had been held for 444 days. Back in the UK, there were concerns that some Labour MPs were going to split off to form a new political party, and fears that a fire at a party in New Cross which had killed 13 black teenagers had been racially motivated.
In an immersive experience, with the memories of Radio 4 listeners, music, adverts, newspaper, TV and radio archive, Doc Brown relives that day and asks what effect decisions made then had on our long term future. He is joined on the journey by guests including Shirley Williams, Gavin Esler, former Radio 1 DJ Andy Peebles - and from Belfast, the man who drove that first DeLorean off the production line.
The programme was first broadcast in October 2015, which was the month Marty McFly travelled to in Back to the Future.
Anansi Boys is a magical web of a story that spans the old world and the new, from South London to the Southern US, to the fictional Caribbean island of St Andrews, and the Mountains at the End of the World. Or the Beginning of the World. Depending on which way you're heading.
Jacob Anderson is a musician (as Raleigh Ritchie) as well as an actor. Starring as Fat Charlie, a young man who struggles to find his voice, he has also written and performed a specially commissioned song - Charlie's Song - which forms part of the magical fabric of Anansi Boys.
The stellar cast of the series also includes Earl Cameron, Tanya Moodie, Adjoa Andoh, Joseph Marcell, Jacob Anderson, Lenny Henry, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Sheila Atim, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Cecilia Noble, Angela Wynter, Ariyon Bakare, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Danielle Vitalis, Ronke Adekoluejo, Clifford Samuel, and Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong.
Writer ..... Neil Gaiman
Adaptor ..... Dirk Maggs
Sound Design ..... Wilfredo Acosta
Producer ..... Allegra McIlroy
Director ..... Allegra McIlroy.
Holly Ridings is the first woman to be Nasa's chief flight director and is in charge of the Artemis programme - named after Apollo's twin sister - which will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. She tells us about the challenges involved with space travel and what makes a good astronaut.
More and more of us are living longer - so how can we do it better? Consultant Geriatrician Dr Lucy Pollock, CEO of the Centre for Ageing Better Anna Dixon, and Dr Niharika Duggal from the University of Birmingham explain how to approach independence, exercise, and even driving as we get older.
As The Archers celebrates 70 years, we look at how farming - the backdrop of the radio drama - has changed for women since it's been on air. Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth Archer, meets Mary Quicke - one of the real life inspirations behind the storylines.
What makes the night sky so magical? We speak to Karine Polwart, a folk singer whose new work takes inspiration from the stars she watched as a child.
And, of course, we say goodbye to Jane Garvey who leaves Woman's Hour after 13 years. The journalist Elizabeth Day quizzes Jane, and we listen back to some of her funniest moments.
"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will get you through life" Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. An artist, illustrator and writer she became best known as the creator of The Moomins, the little white trolls who lived in Moominvalley with other fantastical creatures such as the Hattifatteners, Mymbles and Whompers.
Acclaimed screenwriter and children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce has described Tove Jansson as his 'Guardian Angel' having first discovered Moominvalley one Saturday morning in his local library in Liverpool. He encountered Comets, Great Floods and a little Midsummer Madness all of which were met with the warmth and wisdom of Moomin-Mamma, the gentle observance of Snufkin and the inventiveness of Little My.
Fantastical in their adventures but rooted in reality and humanity, Frank Cottrell-Boyce champions the creator of Mooninvalley who poured her fascinating life into her books. Drawing inspiration from childhood disagreements about the philosopher Immanuel Kant, creative ways to survive a war and a forbidden - but wonderful - love story that lasted a life time.
Cerys Matthews, Adjoa Andoh, Melissa Johns, Tanita Tikaram, David Morrissey, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and David Morrissey are joined, amongst others, by Cerys Matthews, Adjoa Andoh and Melissa Johns for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka had a massive year in 2020, becoming the highest earning sportswoman ever, and protesting police violence against black Americans in both her private and professional life. This year she's set to light up the Tokyo Olympics as one of the popular faces of the games.. Born in Osaka she has spent most of her like in the US. What else lies ahead for Naomi Osaka? We hear from those closest to her including her coach and manager, and feature an exclusive interview with a tennis campaigner and tennis legend in her own day, Billie Jean King.
Kirsty Wark brings together six people who were in the eye of the storm during this year's pandemic.
The poet and author Michael Rosen is reunited with some of the intensive care staff who cared for him during his battle with coronavirus. He has no memory of much of his time in hospital as he was in an induced coma for seven weeks. The staff who looked after him rarely see their patients again once they have been discharged.
For the ICU staff at the Whittington Hospital in north London, the rising tide of infected patients was like "a tsunami" and the following weeks were like working in "a warzone". Michael's consultant, Professor Hugh Montgomery, said that he and his team watched six coffins go out in one morning. Charge nurse Ally Auladin said, "You'd start your day putting on PPE, then it would be 100mph for the rest of the day."
Senior nurse Jo Eardley said, "You could work a whole day and not know your patient's name because we didn't have time." The baffling symptoms of infected patients meant that much of their previous training and experience was useless. Junior doctor Amanda Macaskill Stewart said; "It's the first time I've worked with a disease that I didn't know about. We were hoping for the best without really knowing."
Michael's wife Emma Williams said that, on the night after Michael was intubated, she feared he may never wake up. As medics worked around the clock to save him, Michael's poem celebrating the NHS took on a new resonance during the pandemic.
For months after his discharge, Michael struggled to make sense of what he had been through. But for Amanda, "He was truly one of our happy stories."
From squirearchy in the 1950s, where caps were doffed to lords of the manor, via teddy boys tearing up the village in the 1960s, to the heretical change of name recently inflicted on the venerable old Bull, Ambridge hasn’t spent the past seventy years frozen in aspic. Far from it. In this programme, featuring extracts from the series and many new interviews, David Kynaston brings a professional historian’s eye to bear on the way the Archers has reflected, over the seven decades of its existence, the immense changes in the way we live our lives, socially, culturally, politically and – not least - agriculturally.
With new contributions by June Spencer (Peggy Archer), Patricia Greene (Jill Archer), Angela Piper (Jennifer Aldridge), Tim Bentinck (David Archer), Louiza Patikas (Helen Titchener), Joanna Toye, Vanessa Whitburn, Tim Stimpson, Sarah Swadling and Jeremy Howe.
by Sebastian Baczkiewicz. A new series of dark fantasies featuring William Palmer, the immortal wanderer. Pilgrim discovers that an old friend is being haunted by a malevolent spirit. Meanwhile, homeless people are disappearing from a local shelter.
Pilgrim ..... Paul Hilton
Morgan ..... Justin Salinger
Hartley ..... Matthew Tennyson
Liam ..... Shaun Mason
Karen ..... Bettrys Jones
Gabriel ..... Paul Heath
Gaynor ..... Jane Slavin
The Girl ..... Agnes Bateman
Mike William investigates the age of consent. It used to be 12 in England, it's currently 14 in Italy - less for so-called "Romeo and Juliet" couples who have only three years' age difference. The Why Factor explores the real reasons we draw a line on sexual relationships.
14. Ruby Wax
Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and, due to travel restrictions, neither has Louis Theroux. In the second outing of his podcast series, he tracks down more high-profile guests he’s been longing to talk to - a fascinating mix of the celebrated, the controversial and the mysterious.
Calling in from an eco-village in Scotland, comedian, writer and mental-health campaigner Ruby Wax speaks to Louis about spending time with Donald Trump, turning her back on television and how the sight of Louis's face put Ruby off her food.
Another trio of music lovers joins Paul Gambaccini for the contest of musical knowledge, covering the widest possible range of styles and eras.
From the Woodstock Festival to the Salzburg Festival, from indie rock to great Baroque Mass settings - the questions test the competitors' knowledge in all areas. Sometimes they surprise themselves with things they didn't realise they knew - at other times they're frustrated at answers which are just out of reach. There's a rich spread of musical extracts to illustrate the questions, and something to suit every taste. The winner today will take another of the places in the semi-finals in the new year.
Ian's selection ranges through George Mackay Brown, Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes, and Roger reads a poem he composed especially for Ian.
SUNDAY 03 JANUARY 2021
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000qxd8)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Disability: A New History (b01sm70w)
Miracle Cures
Peter White draws on the latest research to reveal the lives of physically disabled people in the 18th and 19th centuries. In this second episode - the search for Miracle Cures.
Peter says, 'Every so often in the street someone sees me with my white stick and comes up to me -and offers me my sight back. I'm usually quite rude to them, it depends what kind of day I'm having. But the idea of miracle cures runs very deep.'
It goes back at least to the Middle Ages, to the earliest accounts we have of disability in Britain. Peter investigates the roots of the idea of the miracle cure, in conversation with medieval historian Irina Metzler. She reveals that having a child with a disability was thought to be the result of 'the wrong kind of sex' - and there were many 'wrong kinds', such as sex on Feast Days and in daylight.
Thousands of people with illnesses and disabilities flocked to their local Cathedral, praying to the Saints for a cure. When that didn't work, they simply moved on to another cathedral. And the belief in miracles lasted at least until the 18th Century - we hear how the infant Samuel Johnson was taken to see Queen Anne, his mother hoping that the Royal touch would cure his skin disease. It didn't work, of course, but the great rationalist wore the amulet the Queen gave him all his life - hoping for a cure for his multiple disabilities. There's a triumph of hope over experience!
With historians Irina Metzler and Judith Hawley and voices from the past brought vividly to life by actors Emily Bevan, Ewan Bailey and Gerard McDermott.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
Academic adviser: David Turner, Swansea University
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000qnjy)
One
An original short work for radio by Merryn Glover.
A mathematician shares her New Year rituals with a young visitor.
Read by Sarah Lam
In a life spent crossing cultures and settling in new habitats, Merryn Glover was born in Kathmandu and brought up in Nepal, India and Pakistan. She went to University in Australia, keeps returning to South Asia for love and work and has called Scotland home for over 25 years. She writes fiction, plays, poetry and non-fiction. Her first novel, A HOUSE CALLED ASKIVAL, is set in an Indian hill-station and her second, OF STONE AND SKY, is the story of a Highland shepherd who disappears into the mountains and is published in April 2021. Her current project is THE HIDDEN FIRES: A CAIRNGORMS JOURNEY WITH NAN SHEPHERD. A response to 'The Living Mountain' as a woman walking and writing in the Cairngorms today, it is due out with Polygon in 2022.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qxdb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qxdd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qxdg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000qxdj)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000qxdl)
Saint Barnabas, Queen Camel in Somerset
Bells on Sunday comes from Saint Barnabas, Queen Camel in Somerset. The church was built in the 14th century and is home to the heaviest peal of six bells of any church with a combined weight of six tonnes with the tenor alone weighing 1.8 tonnes or thirty six and three quarter hundredweight. The peal includes three 20th century bells from the John Taylor Foundry of Loughborough and three ancient bells with the second bell cast in Bristol circa 1500 and the fourth and tenor bells cast in the early 17th century by Richard Purdue. We hear them ringing Grandsire Doubles.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000qxd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News (m000qxkp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b04l03f6)
You Cannot Be Serious!
John McCarthy weighs up the merits of playfulness versus seriousness in our lives. He recalls a time during his captivity when he and Brian Keenan played dominoes in order to deal with the ongoing anxiety of their situation. This memory has led John to recognise the role of playfulness even when in the darkest of circumstances, and also to acknowledge the purpose of play in coming to terms with fear.
The programme features a series of letters, including correspondence with Frank Cottrell Boyce and letters written by Rainer Maria Rilke, The Fourth Earl of Chesterfield and a Grandad to his new grandaughter.
The programme includes readings from works by Rainer Maria Rilke and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Music comes from Chick Corea, Elgar and Bellowhead.
Readers: Jonathan Keeble, Chetna Pandya and David Schofield.
Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000qxkw)
New Era for Farming
2021 means a new era for British farming. For the first time in nearly 50 years the policies that shape the way farmers manage their land and livestock – and the kind of support they can expect from the government – will now be made in the UK rather than in the European Parliament. Caz Graham visits Nic and Paul Renison on their upland livestock farm on the edge of the North Pennines in Cumbria, to see how they’re gearing up for this new chapter in agriculture. She learns how they hope the regenerative farming system they’re introducing, with cattle, sheep, pigs and a flock of pasture-fed chickens with their own home built egg-mobile, will future-proof their business.
Produced and presented by Caz Graham.
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000qxl0)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000qxl4)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000qxl8)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000qxlb)
Keep Britain Tidy
Naturalist, TV presenter and author Chris Packham makes the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Keep Britain Tidy.
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 ‘Keep Britain Tidy’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Keep Britain Tidy’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: 1071737
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000qxld)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000qxlg)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000qxlj)
Through Change and Chance
"Through change and chance He guideth, only good and only true."
Robert Bridge's translation of Joachim Neander's hymn "All my hope on God is founded" expresses faith and trust in God throughout the changes and chances of this fleeting world.
At a time of uncertainty, Canon Angela Tilby and Canon Stephen Shipley reflect on the changes and chances in their own lives; the personal challenges they have faced and how these have had an impact on their health, well-being, faith and vocation.
Through the writing of St Ignatius, Francis Thompson, John Henry Newman, Thomas Merton and GK Chesterton they explore the place of faith in unpredictable times. They focus on the central message of The Feast of the Epiphany, a revelation that transforms all knowledge and throws the world into a different perspective.
With music by Vaughan Williams, Messiaen, Schubert, George Gershwin and Peter Warlock, this conversation focuses of faith in times of trouble and finding God in all things.
Reader: Ian Dunnett Jnr
Producer: Katharine Longworth
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000qnkl)
New Year Letter from New York
Adam Gopnik, cycling around Central Park in New York, explains why going round in circles suddenly appears not futile, but fortunate.
In the midst of the pandemic, Adam - like thousands of other New Yorkers - has taken to cycling round the park on a daily basis.
"The truth, revealed at the end of one more revolution is simple," he writes. "We feel lucky to be alive. That may be the one truth we didn't know before, or didn't know enough."
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dw6yc)
Spix's Macaw
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the now extinct in the wild, Spix's macaw. The Spix's macaw was declared extinct in 2000 when the last known wild born male disappeared from its final refuge in Brazil. Fortunately this strikingly beautiful member of the parrot family survives in captivity. The Al-Wabra Wildlife Preservation centre in Qatar is providing a reservoir for an organised breeding programme which is now managed by several conservation organisations under the guidance of the Brazilian government. Soon it is hoped the bird that inspired the film Rio, can once more fly free in the wild.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000qxll)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000qxln)
Writers, Keri Davies & Sarah McDonald-Hughes
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Peggy Woolley ….. June Spencer
Rhiannon ….. Shelley Rees
Tanners ..... Jane Slavin
SUN 10:54 Tweet of the Day (m000qxlq)
Tweet Take 5: Eider
The eider duck was one of the first species to be given protection. In the seventh Century St Cuthbert decreed they needed protecting, and to this day in the north east of England these hardy sea ducks are known as Cuddy Ducks. It is from these ducks that we get the soft feathers which make eiderdowns. It is their call and appearance though which appeals to actor Samuel West in this extended version of the series. Also featured is ecologist Ruth Cromie and wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Andrew Dawes
SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs (m000p8xl)
David Mitchell, novelist
David Mitchell has published eight novels, two of which – number9dream and Cloud Atlas – have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
He has also translated two books on autism from Japanese, working with his Japanese wife: their son is on the autistic spectrum. While his work also includes writing for the screen and opera libretti, his main occupation has been, as one critic put it, “quietly pottering away at the frontier of fiction” for more than two decades.
David is the son of two artists, and grew up near the Malverns, where his father worked in the art department of the Royal Worcester porcelain factory. After studying at the University of Kent, he worked in a bookshop, and moved to Japan in the mid-1990s to teach English. Here he met his wife and put his mind to writing. His first two novels were published while still living in Hiroshima.
With each standalone novel, David is also adding to what he calls an uber-novel in which all of his books are part of a larger narrative, with characters flitting from one story to another, transported to a different time and place, but bringing a familiarity and a backstory with them.
He now lives in County Cork, Ireland, with his wife and two children.
DISC ONE: Sunset by Kate Bush
DISC TWO: Requiem Op. 33b, For Mixed Choir A Cappela / Fyrir Blandadan Kór A Capella.
Performed by Motet Choir Of The Hallgrím's Church, chorus Master: Hörður Áskelsson
DISC THREE: Mercury by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhli, James McAlister
DISC FOUR: Un Dia De Noviembre by Zsofia Boros
DISC FIVE: Anima by Milton Nascimento
DISC SIX: Stylo by Gorillaz, featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def
DISC SEVEN: In a Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
DISC EIGHT: Sonata in F minor, K466, composed by Domenico Scarlatti, performed by
Yevgeny Sudbin
BOOK CHOICE: A book of Chinese characters (Kanji)
LUXURY ITEM: A complete archive of Desert Island Discs
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Anima by Milton Nascimento
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor.
SUN 11:45 Charisma: Pinning Down the Butterfly (b0680gv1)
Hitler's Library
Francine Stock attempts to pin down the alluring yet elusive quality of charisma
8.Hitler's Library
The historical ideas that influenced the Third Reich, and how the horrors of Hitler's so-called "dark charisma" have affected European attitudes to political charisma ever since.
Francine Stock's starting point are the books in Hitler's library and the ideas which he drew from them. She talks with Professor John Adair from the UN about the influential "Great Man" theory of the Victorian writer Thomas Carlyle; and with Professor Michael Kenny from the Mile End Institute at Queen Mary, University of London, about the writings of the German sociologist, Max Weber, who died in 1920 but whose key work on charisma would have been known to Hitler.
Francine moves on to consider how the atrocities of the Hitler years have created a suspicion of charismatic political leadership across Europe to this day - as witnessed, perhaps, in Angela Merkel's "drab charisma", or the ambivalence of the British electorate towards Tony Blair.
With the help of writer and broadcaster Abdel Bari Atwan, author of an important new book on the "Digital Caliphate" of the so-called Islamic State, Francine wonders whether the dark charismatic power of an individual leader such as Hitler is now being replaced by a more diffuse but equally sinister online presence.
Reader: Simon Russell Beale
Producer: Beaty Rubens.
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000qxls)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000qlt1)
Series 73
Lockdown Recording 2
Another lockdown recording of the nation's favourite wireless entertainment sees Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans and Harry Hill pitted against Sandi Toksvig, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell provides piano accompaniment.
Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000qwtp)
Inside the World Food Programme
Dan Saladino tells the inside story of Nobel Peace Prize winners the World Food Programme.
Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000qxlw)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000qxly)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.
SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000qxm0)
The Listening Project - Memorable Conversations from 2020
Fi Glover presents friends and strangers in conversation as the nation adjusts to the 'new normal'. In this week's programme, a selection of some of the most memorable conversations from 2020: Kofi and Bax talking about the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in the USA; Amira and Beth talking about mental health, faith and culture; Vicki and Shelley, two remarkably upbeat and stoic women, both newlyweds, both in their thirties and both with secondary cancer, on having to deal with all that and Corona Virus on top; Danny and Paul sharing their past experiences of being homeless; and the unforgettable hairdressing sisters Vicky and Sarah on adapting to working in pandemic times.
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. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moments 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 this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Mohini Patel
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000qnjw)
GQT at Home: Happy New Year
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts, hosted by Kathy Clugston. Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden and James Wong answer questions from green-fingered listeners.
This week, the panellists suggest the best trees to grow for toothbrush handles, discuss why two acorns from the same tree can produce such different plants and identify an interesting looking fungus.
Away from the questions, Humaira Ikram is at the Olympic Park finding out about its wildlife legacy since 2012, Matt Biggs gives his top tips for using Christmas leftovers in the garden, and Dr Chris Thorogood has the ultimate gardener's hangover guide.
Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Disability: A New History (b01smkq3)
Freaks and Entrepreneurs
Peter White draws on the latest research to reveal the lives of physically disabled people in the 18th and 19th centuries. In this third episode, he challenges our modern ideas of freaks and freak shows.
Many disabled people who exhibited themselves in the 18th century were in fact wealthy entrepreneurs. Historians now argue that they were in charge of their own careers, and they challenged society's expectations of what disabled people could achieve.
Case studies include the artist Matthew Buchinger, who was born without arms or legs but became a performer to Royalty and a symbol of virility in the 18th century. Peter also discovers that 18th century dwarves could be delivered to your door in a box - if you were wealthy enough to pay for a private view.
With historians David Turner, Judith Hawley and Naomi Baker and voices from the past brought to life by actors Gerard McDermott, Ewan Bailey and Emily Bevan.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
Academic adviser: David Turner of Swansea University
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 15:00 Passenger List (m000qxm2)
The White Matchmaker
The wreckage, a missing passport, an unexpected call...
Atlantic Airlines flight 702 has disappeared mid-flight between London and New York with 256 passengers on board. Kaitlin Le, a college student whose twin brother vanished with the flight, is determined to uncover the truth. Kelly Marie Tran, Patti LuPone, Colin Morgan and Rob Benedict star in this multi-award-winning mystery thriller.
Written by John Scott Dryden
The wreckage, a missing passport, an unexpected call.
Kaitlin ..... Kelly Marie Tran
Gavin ..... Carl Prekopp
Laura Jones ..... Heather Craney
School Secretary ..... Anjli Mohindra
Professor Marshal ..... Richard Doyle
Homeland Security Man ..... Briggon Snow
Homeland Security Woman ..... Alex Brown Marshall
Murphy ..... Tesse Auberjonis
Mai (Kaitlin’s Mother) ..... Elyse Dihn
Hassan ..... Raad Rawi
Kirsty ..... Julie Adamo
Created by John Scott Dryden
Script Editor, Mike Walker
Casting, Janet Foster
US Producer, Julia Thompson
Assisted by Julia Adamo
UK Producer, Emma Hearn
Editing, Sound Design & Music by Mark Henry Phillips
Directed by Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producers: Lauren Shippen & John Scott Dryden
Executive Producer for Radiotopia, Julie Shapiro
A Goldhawk production for Radiotopia/PRX and BBC Radio
SUN 15:45 Welcome to the Quiet Zone (b05vhh46)
Change Must Come
Rumours of closure at the Robert C Byrd Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy facility in Green Bank, West Virginia, abound.
Emile Holba hears from Karen O'Neill what extraordinary things the telescope can hear, and asks if the Quiet Zone is no longer needed how will that change the lives of those who live in this valley?
The telescope is trying to understand the creation of the universe, but there are universal issues pushing against the Quiet Zone.
The lives of those in the valley are in the hands of outsiders. The real MIB.
Producer: Sara Jane Hall.
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m000qxm4)
Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, discusses his novel Never Let Me Go with James Naughtie and a group of invited readers.
In one of the most acclaimed novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of Kathy, Tommy, Ruth and other school friends growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England.
Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go is her attempt to come to terms with her childhood and adolescence at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School as well as the fate that always awaited her and her friends outside in the wider world.
To join in future Bookclub programmes email us bookclub@bbc.co.uk
Presenter : James Naughtie
Producer : Dymphna Flynn
February's Bookclub Choice : The Wych Elm by Tana French (2018)
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (m000qxm6)
Mona Arshi
Mona Arshi was awarded the Forward Prize in 2015 for her debut poetry collection Small Hands. She's a former human rights lawyer and soon to be novelist. Her poetry selection includes work by Adrienne Rich, Caleb Femi and Gerard Manley Hopkins whose poem God's Grandeur she assesses from a 21st century perspective.
Produced by Maggie Ayre for BBC Audio in Bristol
SUN 17:00 The Burning Question (m000qn9c)
Ahead of a huge year for climate change policy that will culminate in COP 26 in Glasgow, Philip Ball explores how the fight against climate change can move beyond the political left/right agenda. The left has been labelled as the part of the political spectrum for policies that will reduce carbon emissions and the right as those arguing for business as usual. But Philip Ball shows that the picture is more complex than that. He also asks if the world needs a new way of making decisions about climate policies. It's become accepted that targets for carbon emissions should be set on a global scale but would there be more progress if they were made for individual nations? To stop global warming do we need a new approach that appeals to national interests, (which have been associated with the right), as well as the international (and more traditionally left wing), which seems to have become the received wisdom as the best way to tackle it.
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000qxd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000qxm8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000qxmb)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qxmd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000qxmg)
Stuart Maconie
Like Janus with a mask and hand sanitiser, Stuart will be turning his face away from 2020 and into 2021 with his headphones full of festive radio highlights. Featuring the poet laureate on Monopoly, Diane Morgan on the Battle of Britain, Jazzer singing and Chris Packham’s backstage dust-up with Bobby Davro. All this... and a singing dog.
Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production support: Kay Whyld
Studio Manager: Sue Stonestreet
Contact potw@bbc.co.uk
The full programmes of all of the selections featured can be accessed in the Related Links section on the Pick of the week homepage.
SUN 19:00 Stillicide (m0007kf7)
Episode 1: The Water Train
Cynan Jones' electrifying series set in the very near future - a future a little, but not quite like our own.
Water is commodified and the Water Train that feeds the city is increasingly at risk of sabotage. And now icebergs are set to be towed to a huge ice dock outside the capital city - a huge megalopolis that is draining the country of its resources.
Against this, a lone marksman stands out in the field. His job is to protect the Water Train...
From one of the most celebrated writers of his generation, Stillicide is a moving story of love and loss and the will to survive, and a powerful glimpse of the tangible future.
Reader: Richard Goulding
Writer: Cynan Jones is an award-winning Welsh writer, who has has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award 2007, a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2014 and the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize 2015. He won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2017.
Producer: Justine Willett
Music: Original music by Kirsten Morrison
SUN 19:15 Stand-Up Specials (m000qxmj)
Joz Norris: A Small Talk on Small Talk
Joz Norris doesn’t do small talk, but he’s moving home, so attending lots of flat-viewings and finding himself repeatedly having to chat with strangers.
Desperately, even by his own standards, he’s just answered the question, “What do you do in your spare time?” with “I went to a Van Morrison gig in 2016… but it wasn’t very good…” He remains mortified by just how hard he finds forcing himself to deal with new people.
In this comedy special, he unpacks why small talk is so utterly, existentially, horrible and invites you to 30 minutes inside Joz’s head – it’s a bit of a squeeze, but an intelligent, creative and rather noisy place!
Like his live shows, this half-hour special anchors itself around autobiographical moments, and incorporates some of his funniest, stupidest and most imaginative routines constructed into a narrative about loss, recovery and how small talk has ruined his life.
No Van Morrisons were harmed in the making of this programme.
CAST:
Joz .... Joz Norris
Lucy .... Lucy Pearman
Written by Joz Norris
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 The Last Resort (m000qxml)
Pete
A caravan-park on the Northern Irish coast is beset by a series of impossible thefts, forcing its disparate group of residents to come together to find their missing belongings. However, in this uncanny place where static caravans teeter on an eroding a cliff-edge overlooking the ocean, each holidaymaker soon finds themselves similarly wavering between certainty and doubt; one world and the next; the past and the present; and even reality and fantasy.
Author
Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her most recent novel ‘The Fire Starters’ was awarded the EU Prize for Literature 2019 and the author was acclaimed as “one of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation” by the Sunday Times. She has also written ‘Wings’ for BBC Three, ‘UnRaveling’ for BBC Radio 3, several short stories for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Short Works’ series and was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020.
Reader: Patrick Buchanan
Writer: Jan Carson
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SUN 20:00 The Five-Foot Shelf (m000qlwx)
In 2018 Ian asked a Wigtown craftsman to make a book shelf, fashioned from elm wood and recycled whiskey barrels. Ian was inspired by Charles W. Eliot - President of Harvard and cousin of T.S. – who said that everything required for a complete, liberal education could fit on a shelf of books just five feet in length.
Then he took it to a local bookshop, where visitors dropped in to nominate their book of choice for his brand new shelf.
Buoyed by the success of this first outing, Ian had planned take the shelf on the road, but unfortunately Covid-19 and restrictions on our movements for safety reasons put paid to that plan.
Then, a new idea was born for a virtual shelf of sorts. What have people been reading in 2020 to help them through what has been a very tough year for so many? What books have brought solace and comfort to their lives along with humour, hope and perhaps a chance to learn? While movements have been severely restricted, books have offered a chance to escape, explore and journey far beyond the confines of our homes.
We’ve reached out to four local independent bookshops right across the UK; Leakey’s in Inverness, City Books in Hove, Little Acorns in Derry city and Seaways Books in Fishguard. We asked them to put us in touch with their readers to ask a simple question - what book would they choose for Ian’s Five Foot shelf?
Produced by Conor McKay
Music composed by The Bookshop Band
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000qnk0)
Stella Tennant, George Bizos, Joan Feynman, Rishi Kapoor
Matthew Bannister on
Stella Tennant, the iconic fashion model who rose to prominence in the 1990s, becoming the face of Chanel.
George Bizos, the South African human rights lawyer who represented Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.
Joan Feynman, the astrophysicist who made important breakthroughs in her study of auroras and solar cycles.
Actor Rishi Kapoor, who appeared in almost 100 films and defined Bollywood for a generation.
Interviewed guest: Plum Sykes
Interviewed guest: Sir Nicholas Stadlen
Interviewed guest: Christopher Riley
Interviewed guest: Laura Tenenbaum
Interviewed guest: Haroon Rashid
Archive clips from: HARDtalk, BBC News 11/10/2011; Remembering Rivonia, BBC World Service 06/03/2018; Nelson Mandela Released from Prison, BBC News Archive 11/02/1990; The Fantastic Mr Feynman, dir. Christopher Riley, BBC2 12/05/2013; Bobby, R.K. Films Ltd 28/09/1973; Prem Rog, K.R. Films Ltd. 31/07/1982; Agneepath, Dharma Productions/Eros International 26/01/2012.
Producer: Dan Hardoon
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000qxcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000qxlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 My Name Is... (m000mbjl)
My Name Is Julie
Julie has become increasingly worried about her children's education over lockdown. She is a single mum on a low income and life changed overnight, bringing financial stress and the challenges of homeschooling. Already aware of the existing attainment gap between the children of disadvantaged households and those in more affluent ones, she asks if she is alone in worrying about the effect of lockdown on children's education and if it has indeed increased these differences.
She speaks to her children Alex and Tom as well as to Sammy Wright, a teacher and Social Mobility Commission lead for Schools and HE; to Kadra Abdinasir, Head of Children and Young People's Mental Health at the Centre for Mental Health; Professor Greta Defeyter, Director of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University; and also to Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee.
Producer: Philippa Geering
Executive Producers: Sean Glynn, Max O'Brien
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000qxmp)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000qmph)
Richard Lester
With Francine Stock
Francine rifles through The Film Programme archives to hear from director Richard Lester about working with The Beatles on A Hard Day's Night and Help ! And why he didn't work for several years after the 60s had ended.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b04l03f6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 04 JANUARY 2021
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000qxmr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000qm0d)
THE BED
THE BED: Laurie Taylor talks to Nadia Durrani, writer on archaeology and co-author of a study which explores 'what we did in bed', offering a social history of an often taken-for-granted object. In a story spanning millennia, she illuminates the role of the bed through time, reminding us that it was not always simply a private space for sleep, sex and relaxation; it's also been a place for sharing with strangers, issueing decrees, even taking us to the afterlife.
Also, the rise and fall of twin beds for couples. Hilary Hinds, Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University , charts shifting attitudes towards separate sleeping. Whereas it was once seen as the sign of a modern, hygiene conscious and forward thinking relationship, it came to be regarded as the enemy of intimacy. Why did so many couples abandon a sleeping arrangement which used to be regarded as one of the keys to re-imagining domestic relations, promoting equality between the sexes and personal autonomy?
This is the last of our current series, as Thinking Allowed heads for a long 'lie in' until April 2021.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000qxdl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qxmt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qxmw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qxmy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000qxn0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000qxn2)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah
Good Morning.
When my home office ceiling began shuddering, I excused myself from the zoom meeting and went to investigate. Upstairs I found two of my children – and the rest of their class via videolink – dancing away energetically to Crazy Frog. The impromptu party had overtaken their online lesson and even the teachers appeared delighted at the welcome relief to the miseries of self-isolation. Thankfully there was no long-lasting damage to the ceiling – but for the rest of the week, try as I might, I just couldn’t get the annoyingly inane tune out of my head.
Maybe there’s a song that plays on repeat in your mind. A song that makes you cry for someone you miss, a song of rage that reflects your daily struggles, or a song of despair because you have lost hope.
Psalm 40 has always been my go-to song in difficult times. I once heard it sung at the end of a U2 concert: it wormed its way into my brain then and it has never left:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
The ancient songwriter cried out to God - not to take away the slimy pits of life - but to be lifted away from them. Perhaps, like him, with firmer ground under our feet we may discover a new song in our mouths.
Lord God, may songs of adoration replace our anguish, songs of faith arise from our fear, and songs of hope ring out from our helplessness.
Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000qxn4)
04/01/21 Mental wellbeing, Anaerobic Digesters, Weather forecasting farmers
The biggest ever survey of farmer wellbeing and mental health is being launched. The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) says it wants to do this once-in-a-generation research so that in the future help can be targeted better for people working in agriculture. We also speak to the producer of a documentary film called "Under the Soil" which addresses the issue of mental health in farming which is out from today.
All this week Farming Today is looking at different ways of generating energy on farms. We start the week discussing Anaerobic Digestion. So far the UK has around 688 Anaerobic Digestors, many of which are based on farms - using waste and crops to make biofuels. Charlotte Morton from the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association explains why growing crops for energy is not as problematic as some claim that it is.
And here in the UK we talk about the weather a lot, and understandably, farmers are probably even more obsessed than the average person too. We visit Down Court Farm in Kent to meet a father and son who have taken their obsession up a level, by setting up their own weather stations to get their own personal forecast.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
MON 05:56 Weather (m000qxn6)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08q5x7q)
Mat Waddington on the long tailed tit
Worcestershire lawyer Mat Waddington recounts an encounter with a long tailed tit tapping at his window, his girlfriend at the other end of the village was similarly visited by a long tailed window tapper. Was this the same bird flying between the two houses which Mat describes as being the lovebird of Hallow?
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 Maggie Ayre.
MON 06:00 Today (m000qwrv)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Rethink Fairness (m000qwrz)
Rethink Fairness: Wealth
Rethink Fairness is the latest chapter in Radio 4's Rethink project that ran throughout last year. It is a series of five discussions spread over one week at the start of the new year, presented by Amol Rajan. Its focus is fairness, a theme that emerged time and again in the conversations and essays of 2020. The pandemic brought renewed focus on how we value those who have kept shelves stacked, transport running and the old and sick cared for. So is now the time to bring about a fundamental shift in how our society and economy work? The first programme looks at wealth in the UK - who has it and how that has changed over the decades, if it is becoming harder to acquire and whether or not that matters.
Contributors
Paul Johnson, economist and director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Mohammed El Erian, chief economic adviser at financial services multinational Allianz and president of Queens’ College, Cambridge
Dame Louise Casey, former homelessness tsar and adviser to four prime ministers on social issues
Karolina Gerlich, ex-care worker and head of the Care Workers Charity
Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Rosamund Jones
MON 09:45 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qws5)
Niall Ferguson
As the century turns 21, five essayists offer their personal appraisals and advice. Niall Ferguson gives a historian's view of lessons from previous centuries in a wry take on the past 800 years. "I've invited seven of your big brothers and sisters - from the twentieth century all the way back to the fourteenth - to give you some fraternal or sororal advice".
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Producer: Sheila Cook
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000qwsb)
Emma Barnett presents. With Imelda Staunton, Mel C, Jeremy Hunt and Richard Ratcliffe.
Emma Barnett presents her first edition of Woman's Hour with music from Mel C, Imelda Staunton on her new role in The Crown and the latest on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe from her husband Richard and the former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
MON 10:45 80 Not Out (m000qwsg)
The Saving of Albert Perks
One of our best-loved actors, Bernard Cribbins, will always be remembered for playing Albert Perks in the much-loved film The Railway Children. In this poignant story, which has been specially written for him by Roy Apps, Bernard revisits this popular character.
Now nearing retirement, Perks' life is turned upside down when one of the railway children returns to Oakworth. But why has she come and who are the two children she has brought with her?
They are not hers but refugees from atrocities in Germany.
This story reunites Bernard Cribbins and director, Martin Jenkins, who have worked together many times since Bernard recorded Winnie-the-Pooh for Radio 4 in the early 1970s.
Director: Martin Jenkins
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 11:00 The Power of... (m000qwsk)
The Power of Celibacy
You might think that sex is essential for life, but you'd be wrong!
Lucy Cooke travels to the Hawaiian island of Oahu to meet a community of mourning geckos - self-cloning sisters who have done away with males altogether.
An array of reptiles, amphibians and fish, along with a host of spineless wonders, from snails to spiders, can reproduce without sex. It's what biologists call parthenogenesis, from the Greek meaning “virgin birth”.
Many, like the mourning gecko, make great “weed” species. They're explosive opportunists capable of rapidly colonising new territory, as they don’t need to waste energy finding a mate. But without the mixing up of genes, that sex with a male provides, they are less able to adapt and change.
So sex pays if you don’t want to go extinct.
Yet there is one self-cloning sister that defies that theory - the Bdelloid Rotifer. Living for millions of years and comprising over 450 species, these microscopic water dwelling creatures have conquered the planet. They get around the drawbacks of no sex, by stealing genes, and escape disease by desiccating and then coming back to life.
Producer: Beth Eastwood
MON 11:30 How to Vaccinate the World (m000qz3p)
Larry Brilliant
Epidemiologists don’t often hang out with rock stars, and not many of them can say they’ve played a part in eradicating a disease as deadly as smallpox. But Larry Brilliant isn’t your run of the mill public health official. He’s been warning about the dangers of a pandemic for years, and now that one is upon us, Tim Harford sat down to talk with him about how the world has handled the pandemic of 2020 and what we can hope for in 2021.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000qwsm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qwsp)
Episode 6
In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition.
It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives.
The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd."
Lamming wrote:
"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...)
Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement."
Abridged by Florence Bedell
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000qwsr)
Travel Special
Peter White chats with leading figures in the travel industry after months of disruption during the pandemic.
We'll look back at 2020 and the problems getting refunds for your holidays. What state is the cruise industry in now? How are airlines and airports- big and small-- coping? How has domestic rail travel fared?
And, with Brexit and continuing Covid pressures, what hopes are there of a recovery for the travel industry in 2021?
PRODUCER: Mike Young.
MON 12:57 Weather (m000qwst)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000qwsx)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qwt1)
Super Rice
We’re resourceful, adaptable and the smartest thing this planet has ever seen. We got ourselves into this mess but we can get ourselves out of it. BBC Radio Four, in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society presents 39 ideas to relieve the stress that climate change is exerting on the planet.
From tiny solar cells to the total transformation of the Siberian landscape, Tom Heap and Dr Tamsin Edwards from Kings College, London view the fundamental problem of our age from a fresh perspective. Small things that make a big difference. Big things that make a small difference. We’re going to need every one of them.
In the first programme Tom discovers the secret of low-carbon rice with Dr Smita Kurup from Rothamsted Research.
Producer : Alasdair Cross
MON 14:00 Drama (m000qwtb)
You & Me
An intense, emotionally charged two-hander tackling a key issue of our time - predatory behaviour of men.
This isn’t a story about powerful rich old men and film stars, it’s a story about you and me, about ordinary people, everyday sexism, and the pain of living in an unequal world. It's a play for the #metoo and #timesup generation, confronting the spaces between us and the lies we tell ourselves.
The material is not unfamiliar – marital infidelity exposing more and more lies - but there is a twist: actor Robert Lonsdale plays the woman and Racheal Ofori plays the man. It's no drag show - the woman plays in her own voice, the man in his voice. This role reversal challenges preconceptions and sheds new light on the essential question - can men and women understand each other?
The swapping of the genders starts as a kind of actor’s revolt.The drama begins at the actual recording, when the actors stop proceedings and decide they want to swap - they are bored of playing these familiar kinds of roles. The motif of role playing continues throughout, offering a subtle, sometimes comic, always provocative and illuminating approach to a familiar, often cliché-ridden issue.
The writer, Dan Rebellato, is a leading British radio dramatist, as well as a Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Royal Holloway London. He has written extensively for BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as theatres such as Plymouth Drum, Suspect Culture and Graeae, and Pitlochry Festival Theatre. He has won Sony's and BBC Audio Awards for his radio dramas. He was lead writer on the blockbuster BBC Radio 4 Series, Emile Zola; Blood Sex and Money starring Glenda Jackson. Dan has published several books, most recently co-editing Contemporary European Playwrights in 2020, and is currently writing a practical play-writing guide for the National Theatre, due out in 2021/22.
Cast:
Naomi…………………..Racheal Ofori
Tom…………………………Robert Lonsdale
Nick ……………………….Chris Jack
Polly…………………………Polly Thomas
Dan…………………………Dan Rebellato
Director/Producer…………………… . Polly Thomas
Recording engineer……………..Louis Blatherwick
Sound design/Producer….Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer…………..Joby Waldman
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m000qwth)
Series 34
Heat 5
(5/13)
There are musical extracts by Strauss, Ravel, Prince and Heaven 17 in store for the contestants in the fifth heat of the series, recorded without an audience. There's no 'buzzer round' this year because of the need to accommodate contestants taking part on broadband links - but the competition promises to be as keen as ever. Today's contestants are
Bryan McAlley, a former prison governor who now runs a repair cafe in East Sussex
Charles Redfearn, a semi-retired civil servant from North London,, and
Anju Sharda, a civil servant from Hertfordshire.
The winner will go through to the semi-finals.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000qwtp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Lady Chatterley's Bed Bugs (m000qwtx)
In the early 20th century, technological advances and scientific breakthroughs revolutionised our understanding of insects, bringing the swarming world of bugs into focus for the first time. As modernist writers searched for new ways of seeing the world, they drew on the insects that were all around them.
Dr Rachel Murray explores this small but teeming world of inspiration for modernist writers, tracking a fascination with insects to the trenches of the First World War, where lice infested soldiers and men were killed like flies. We hear from entomologist Richard Jones on the prevalence, and downfall, of bedbugs and the excitement caused by bug mania in cinemas and laboratories throughout Britain.
From this crawling context, literature emerged. Rachel speaks to Dr Michael Malay, who connects Marianne Moore’s precise poetry to her studies in biology and asks Dr Cari Hovanec if D.H. Lawrence was as parasitical as a mosquito.
We go on a moth hunt in Virginia Woolf’s garden at Monk’s House in Sussex and peer into the chaotic patterns of a beehive with writer and beekeeper, Helen Jukes, to discover how and why bugs opened up new worlds for modernist writers.
Readings from Rich Willmott, Fotina Kate Theodore and Jack Thacker.
Presenter: Dr Rachel Murray
Producer: Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Natalie Steed
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m000qwv4)
Religion and Science in Schools
Since Darwin published The Origin of Species, there has been a perceived battle between science and religion. It was not always so. For hundreds of years, science was designed to help people reach a better understanding of God rather than the world. The Enlightenment changed all that. Today schoolchildren are taught science and religion as separate subjects. Are the two incompatible? Would it not be better if science and religion were taught together to help children consider some of the Big Questions of Life?
To discuss this subject, Ernie Rea is in debate with Berry Billingsley (Professor in Science Education at Canterbury Christ Church University); Dr Ruth Wareham (Education Campaigns Manager at Humanists UK); and Dr Miles MacBean (National Director at Scripture Union England and Wales).
Producer: Helen Lee
Editor: Amanda Hancox
MON 17:00 PM (m000qwvc)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qwvn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m000qwvz)
Series 73
Lockdown Recording 2
A final lockdown recording of the nation's favourite wireless entertainment sees Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans and Harry Hill take on Sandi Toksvig, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden with Jack Dee in the chair and Colin Sell providing piano accompaniment.
Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Studios production.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000qww9)
There’s regret at Brookfield, and Justin has questions to answer
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000qwwm)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 80 Not Out (m000qwsg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 I Am Robert Chelsea (m000qwwy)
The first African-American to have a face transplant tells his own story - in a documentary about faith, identity and character. Robert suffered horrific burns in a car accident - but survived and went ahead with a series of demanding surgical operations in an attempt to restore his appearance. A shortage of black donors meant it was a long wait for his doctors to find even a partial match for his skin colour. In a moving narrative, Robert, his friends, family and doctors reflect on his remarkable journey.
Producer: Ben Davis
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000qmns)
Searching for Wisdom in Lagos
A young woman is desperately searching for her brother in Lagos. On the night of 20th October, Nigerian soldiers opened fire at a peaceful demonstration camped at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos. The government say they fired into the air, but witnesses insist that unarmed protesters came under deliberate attack. Amnesty International says that 12 people died.
The incident has traumatised a highly popular political reform movement that began as a demand to close down the S.A.R.S., a notoriously corrupt and brutal police squad. In the aftermath, many of the movement’s young supporters are keeping a low profile. Some have had their bank accounts frozen and passports seized. Others have even fled overseas, in fear of their lives.
The BBC’s Nigeria correspondent Mayeni Jones has been talking to some of them, including a witness to the Lekki shooting, and Peace, who is tirelessly searching for her brother, Wisdom, who is still missing after attending the demonstration. Mayeni finds a country whose traditionally deferential society and elderly leadership seem suddenly vulnerable; shaken by a perfect storm of youthful idealism, social media activism, and the crippling economic fallout of the Covid pandemic.
Producers: Naomi Scherbel-Ball & Michael Gallagher
With additional research by Jonelle Awomoyi
Editor: Bridget Harney
MON 21:00 Don't Log Off (m000qlws)
Series 12
Opportunity
Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changing world.
Today, Alan hears stories from people who’ve transformed their lives and are helping others to do the same against the backdrop of the pandemic.
He speaks to Alhaji in Sierra Leone who’s building a house for his parents from the money he’s earned working in the United States.
He hears from Tiffany in India who helps visually impaired people become more independent, after her own challenging childhood.
Alan also connects with Al in the United States who aims to inspire young people in a tough area of Chicago.
And he catches up with Ibrahim who, at the start of the pandemic, was homeless on the streets of Athens. Nine months on, Ibrahim’s life has changed beyond recognition.
Plus, Margaret in Uganda – who cares for youngsters orphaned by AIDS – shares her hopes for the new year.
Producers: Sarah Shebbeare & Laurence Grissell
MON 21:30 Rethink Fairness (m000qwrz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000qwxc)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qwsp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Loose Ends (m000qwxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 23:30 Wireless Nights (m0001v06)
Series 6
A New Year's Resolution
Jarvis Cocker continues his nocturnal exploration of the human condition. He often lies awake at night trying, unsuccessfully, to nod off. But, not one to give up, his New Year's resolution is to crack this habit and attain the perfect night's sleep. His restless search leads him to fellow insomniac Marina Benjamin, sleep coach Max Kirsten, Greek goddesses and a cave where night meets day and peace may possibly reside.
Producer Neil McCarthy
TUESDAY 05 JANUARY 2021
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000qwxv)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qws5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qwy1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qwy6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qwyc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000qwyk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000qwyp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah
Good Morning.
“It will be alright in the end, if it is not alright then it is not the end.” These words are spoken by one of the characters in the movie Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The film tells the story of a group of British senior citizens seeking a new start in life in a hotel in Jaipur, India. Right now, stuck in the UK in cold January, I wish I was one of those hopeful travellers setting out for new adventures in warmer climates before the world ends.
Every January my retired father disappears to Malaysia to soak up the sunshine and avoid the gloomy British weather – not this year of course. His end of life slogan is not so catchy: don’t come for my funeral, son, just make sure you don’t miss the traditional Malaysian 30th day celebration.
I prefer the ending the prophet Malachi offers in the Bible 2,600 years ago. It is far less depressing than my father’s, and even more trustworthy than the film’s. It may sound like the forecast of good weather or a feature in a travel brochure, but it is so much more.
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.” Malachi 4:2
Those of us who trust in God can face this new year knowing a dawn is coming where wrongs will be put right, wounds will be healed, and true joy, freedom and satisfaction will be experienced. It turns out the end will be just the beginning.
Dear Lord God
May the light of your goodness heal our broken hearts and bruised spirits.
Give us the hope of joy and the joy of hope.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000qwyr)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dx91j)
Tree Sparrow
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Martin Hughes-Games presents the Tree Sparrow. With its russet cap, white cheeks and smarter appearance, the tree sparrow looks like a freshly-scrubbed house sparrow. Unlike house sparrows whose sexes look very different, the male and female tree sparrows are identical.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000qy2w)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Rethink Fairness (m000qy30)
Rethink Fairness: Regions
Rethink Fairness is the latest chapter in Radio 4's Rethink project that ran throughout last year. It is a series of five discussions spread over one week at the start of the new year, presented by Amol Rajan. Its focus is fairness, a theme that emerged time and again in the conversations and essays of 2020. The pandemic brought renewed focus on how different areas of the country fared. There has been political talk - on both the left and the right - for decades about the need to make the regional map of the UK, economically and socially, more equal. Why has that been so difficult to achieve and Is now the time to bring about a fundamental shift?
Contributors:
Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England
Dame Helena Morrissey, City of London financier and campaigner
Paul Swinney, director of policy and research for the independent think-tank, Centre for Cities
Dr Joanie Willett, senior lecturer in politics at Exeter University and co-director of the Institute of Cornish Studies
Professor Calvin Jones, deputy dean of Cardiff Business School
Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Rosamund Jones
TUE 09:45 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qy35)
Jane Burston
As the century turns 21, five essayists offer their personal appraisals and advice. Jane Burston says now is the time to get really serious about climate change. "Decisions will be made and the actions taken that determine the very future of life on this planet. In the next decade, either the climate emergency will be turned around, or it'll run out of control."
Jane Burston is Executive Director of the Clean Air Fund. She was previously Head of Energy and the Environment at the National Physical Laboratory. She has been named as a "Young Global Leader" of the World Economic Forum.
Producer: Sheila Cook
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000qy39)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
TUE 10:45 80 Not Out (m000qy3f)
Sparks Will Fly
This combustible story by Roy Apps is set in post-war Britain, when many towns still supported local repertory theatres, and is specially written for Penelope Keith, one of our best-loved actresses.
Having spent too long as an assistant stage manager, Marjorie Tillingham jumps at the chance when she is offered an acting job at a provincial theatre.
But things start to go wrong almost immediately when she finds herself the victim of some deliberate misinformation perpetrated by another – younger – member of the company which leads to her having to once again accept the detested role of assistant stage manager.
Determined to seek her revenge, Marjorie draws on her earlier experience as a stage electrician and soon sparks are flying – literally.
This story also reunites Penelope Keith and director Martin Jenkins, who first worked together at the RSC.
Director: Martin Jenkins
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:00 Science Stories (b06z2x0j)
Series 2
Einstein's Fridge
What do you do when you've described the nature of the universe?
In the late 1920s Einstein was working on a grand unified theory of the universe, having given us E=mc2, space-time and the fourth dimension. He was also working on a fridge.
Perhaps motivated by a story in the Berlin newspapers about a family who died when toxic fumes leaked from their state-of the-art refrigerator, Einstein teamed up with another physicist Leo Szilard and designed a new, safer refrigerating technology. And so it was that in 1930, the man who had once famously worked in the patent office in Bern was granted a patent of his own. Number: 1, 781, 541. Title: refrigeration.
Phillip Ball explores this little known period of Einstein's life to try and find out why he turned his extraordinary mind to making fridges safer.
Despite considerable commercial interest in the patent, Einstein's fridge didn't get built in his lifetime.The Great Depression forced AEG and others to close down their refrigeration research. But in 2008 a team of British scientists decided to give it a go.Their verdict : Einstein's fridge doesn't work.
Producer: Anna Buckley
TUE 11:30 Swooshes, Seaboards, Synths and Spawn (m000cngg)
Singer, tech enthusiast and multi-instrumentalist Bishi explores how new technologies and artificial intelligence are shaping the future of music creation.
At the heart of the story, is the unlikely tale of London-based inventor Roland Lamb, superstar producer and recording artist Pharrell Williams and the creation of ROLI, a music tech company at the cutting-edge of expressive music creation.
How did an ex-Buddhist monk end up in business with one of the world's biggest music names? And what does this collaboration tell us about the shape of music-making to come?
We hear Bishi get her hands on some of ROLI's mould-breaking technology - including their tactile silicone Seaboards and modular rainbow synth Blocks. And across London, she's introduced to the extraordinary MI.MU glove, used by pioneering musician and multidisciplinary artist Lula Mehbrahtu, to play with sound, rhythm and voice by physically manipulating the space around her.
We'll find out how these innovations are not just making music more accessible, but transforming the way musicians - from professionals right the way down to total beginners - conceptualise musical creation.
It's not just a question of new toys. Composition and production is also being revolutionised by Artificial Intelligence, with neural networks that can analyse millions of bars of music and catalyse and compose new musical works and sounds at the touch of a button.
So are the machines taking over? Not quite. Vocalist and composer Jennifer Walshe discusses how, instead of replacing the human, these artificial musical brains can help catalyse new frontiers of composition in ways we might never have dreamed of. We also speak to musician Holly Herndon, who has built an AI "baby" - called Spawn - which mimics, interprets and develop Holly's musical ideas, often revealing new elements in her compositions.
Presenter: Bishi
Producer: Steven Rajam
A Boom Shakalaka production for BBC Radio 4
Photo credit: Zuzanna Blur
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000qy3k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qy3p)
Episode 7
In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition.
It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives.
The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd."
Lamming wrote:
"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...)
Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement."
Abridged by Florence Bedell
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000qy3t)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000qy3y)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000qy41)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qy43)
Wood for Good
We’re resourceful, adaptable and the smartest thing this planet has ever seen. We got ourselves into this mess but we can get ourselves out of it.
BBC Radio Four, in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society, presents 39 ideas to relieve the stress that climate change is exerting on the planet.
Trees soak up carbon dioxide, trees store carbon dioxide. So why not build with wood instead of concrete and steel? The usual reason is strength, but Dr Michael Ramage at Cambridge University has what he thinks is the answer- cross-laminated timber. It's strong enough to build a skyscraper and replaces lots of that carbon from conventional building. Tom Heap and Dr Tamsin Edwards take a look at the global possibilities of cities built of wood.
Producer : Alasdair Cross
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000qww9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m000qy45)
Release
By Matt Hartley.
Aimee's dad has been in prison since she was 8. For murder. Now she is 17. He's been released.
She has grown up with her aunt, believing that her father is a monster who killed her mother. Slowly, she discovers her dad was innocent, of the murder at least. Can they rescue something from the devastation?
Aimee - Saran Morgan
Olly - Richard Harrington
Sian - Siwan Morris
Kyle - Kyle Lima
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Cymru Wales Production
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000qxcb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m000qy47)
Series 17
The Noises That Make Us Cringe
Why do some people find noises like a fork scraping a plate so terrible? Asks Findlay in Aberdeenshire. Rutherford and Fry endure some horrible noises to find out the answer.
Warning - This episode contains some horrible sounds
Trevor Cox, Professor of Acoustic Engineering at the University of Salford has run experiments to find out what the worst, most cringe-making sound is. He divided horrible sounds into three categories – scraping sounds, like nails down a blackboard; disgusting sounds like a snotty sniffy nose and sounds that make us cringe because of what we associate them with like the dentist’s drill. All horrible sounds have some sort of association whether it’s a primal scream, or fear of catching a disease and they’re dealt with in the ancient part of the brain – the amygdala.
Professor Tim Griffiths is a Cognitive Neurologist at Newcastle University’s Auditory Cognition Group. He has been studying people with misophonia, a condition where ordinary, everyday sounds, such as someone eating or breathing causes a severe anxiety and anger response. Misophonia may affect around 15% of the population and Tim thinks that different parts of the brain – the insula and the motor cortex are involved in this fight or flight response to seemingly innocuous sounds.
Cat Thomas’s job is to make horrible sounds. She is a foley artist at Boompost. If you watch Call the Midwife or Peaky Blinders, all the incidental sounds are created by Cat and her team. She also created some of the sounds for the horror film Camilla, which involved evisceration and disembowelling with the aid of some squishy oranges and bananas. Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry try their own horror sounds when they chop off a finger with the aid of some large pasta shells, and orange and a knife.
Presenters: Hannah Fry & Adam Rutherford
Producer: Fiona Roberts
If you want more information on misophonia –
http://www.misophonia-uk.org/
https://www.allergictosound.com/
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m000qy49)
Talking Disability
Michael Rosen is back. In the first in a new series, he meets actress and campaigner Samantha Renke and asks her how we talk about disability.
Producer Sally Heaven.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000qy4c)
Rob Rinder on Jessica Mitford.
Jessica Mitford was the fifth born of the notorious Mitford Sisters. Born into the aristocracy, as a child she had her own language, collected a running-away fund and fought to set herself apart from her fascist siblings. As an adult she was in turn a communist rebel, an investigative journalist, a civil rights activist and pop singer - opening a gig for Cyndi Lauper and recording an unlikely duet with her friend and fellow mischief maker Maya Angelou.
She’s championed by Robert Rinder, the criminal barrister and television personality known to many from the reality courtroom series ‘Judge Rinder’ and more recently, ‘My Family, The Holocaust and Me’ who reveals the impact her story has had on his own life. Robert Rinder is joined by guest expert Laura Thompson, author of the New York Times best seller, 'The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters'.
Presented by Matthew Parris
Produced By Nicola Humphries for BBC Bristol
TUE 17:00 PM (m000qy4f)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qy4h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Beta Female (m0007rt8)
Pilot
The identity of Amna depends on who you are. To her fellow Glaswegians, she's a Londoner now, having lived there for three years. To Londoners, she's Scottish when they can only hear her, but Asian if they can see her. To Scots, she's Pakistani - but to Pakistanis, she's British. To employers, she's disposable. And to her white, English boyfriend, she's just Amna, as his white privilege means he doesn't have to think about all of that.
To her mum, of course, she's just "beta", the Urdu term for child.
Beta Female is a new sitcom which hinges on Amna's desire to be all these things and more - to keep her Mum and Dad happy by allowing her to believe that she and her boyfriend don't live together, and to keep her boyfriend happy by getting a job and contributing to the rent. Like many women of her background and age, Amna wants to have her differences acknowledged but to be treated the same as everyone else. From work to love to family to social media, Amna walks a tightrope of identity.
Contrasting with her confusion are her little brother, Haris, and her sister, Sunnah, both of whom appear to have "picked a side" - Haris is a young Scottish slacker, and Sunnah is a Muslim wife and mother. Amna still finds herself wanting to be part of both worlds, and seeming to feel part of neither.
This pilot episode sees Amna return home to Glasgow for an Eid party, where she will introduce her boyfriend to her family for the first time.
Cast:
Amna ... Kiran Sonia Sawar
Theo ... Tom Stourton
Mum .. Sudha Bhuchar
Dad ... Bhasker Patel
Haris ... Omar Raza
Sunnah ... Amna Saleem
Uncle ... Anil Goutam
Auntie ... Nina Wadia
Written by Amna Saleem
Produced by Ed Morrish
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000qx0w)
Kirsty reveals the truth, and Neil’s under pressure
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000qy4l)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 80 Not Out (m000qy3f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 Beyond Brexit (m000qy4n)
At this pivotal moment in the history of the United Kingdom, four key protagonists in the event that became known as Brexit reflect on the long-term consequences of our momentous decision to leave the European Union. After four years of fraught debate, and with the transition period over, what are their hopes now for Britain beyond the EU?
Producer: Eliane Glaser
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000qx10)
A weekly quest to demystify health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.
TUE 21:30 Rethink Fairness (m000qy30)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000qy4t)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qy3p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 The News From Nowhere (m000qz3r)
The News From Nowhere. New comedy from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:30 The Cliff (b051rnlg)
Alan Read on Shakespeare Cliff
Alan Read's starting point for his review of our relationship with cliffs, is his own vertigo. Vertigo for him is not associated with a fear of falling but rather a fear of the ground "coming up to meet me to embrace me, or to engulf me". It's not heights that worry him but proximity. So he has never been to Shakespeare Cliff in Dover but he knows it well from the play King Lear. He recalls the scene where Gloucester, having had his eyes gouged out, begs a man who he thinks to be poor mad Tom, but is instead his own son Edgar, to lead him to the edge of the cliff at Dover. Edgar leads his father, but not to the edge. Instead he imagines the cliff. He describes a cliff, and on this cliff he describes the rock samphire collectors as they move across the cliff gathering this plant - "a dreadful trade". Imagining this scene, Alan says "Here a graph has been drawn, a sequence of points on a grid with two axes, of cliff and beach, joined by a line that describes, in the form of a gradient angle, the nature of trade, dreadful trade indeed" Shakespeare would not have been familiar with graphs. The term wasn't in use until the 1800s. One of the pioneers of cinematography Etiennne-Jules Marey "certainly thought graphs to be the 'universal language' of the future". Today graphs are ubiquitous. For example, we have the fiscal cliff which describes our economies. As Alan reflects on this, he is drawn back to Shakespeare Cliff: "Creatures it would seem, do not thrive on the cliff. It is samphire that grows so well there, and might be left in peace. Dreadful trade."
Actors are David Acton and Sam Dale.
Additional sound recordings by Chris Watson.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
TUE 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000qy4w)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 06 JANUARY 2021
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000qy4y)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qy35)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qy50)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qy52)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qy54)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000qy56)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000qy58)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah
Good Morning.
This week I have been inspired by a friend who has welcomed a couple of young men into his home when they had nowhere else to go. It had become too dangerous for them to stay in Hong Kong because their friends had been arrested for promoting democracy. And as asylum seekers in the UK they had no place to live and no means to earn money. My friend has no connection to Hong Kong - no family there, no business interests - but when he heard about the plight of these two strangers, he stepped forward to help.
Today is epiphany when the church remembers other travellers from the east. The Magi were ancient scientists who had interpreted the movement of the stars to mean someone extremely important had been born in Israel. Many of the locals would have sent them packing – not only because of their strange beliefs and customs, but because they were deemed ceremonially unclean. But Joseph and Mary, despite being poor and busy with a new baby, welcomed them in.
Christians have understood for millennia that these visitors were a significant part of the post-Christmas story because Jesus was born for the whole world. All are welcome into God’s family, wherever they come from. My friend is living this message out by opening his home to travellers from the east today. When we’re able, Perhaps more of us will follow in his footsteps and experience the post-Christmas power of offering hospitality to those in need.
Dear Lord,
Thank you that our ethnicity and nationality are no barrier to us receiving your grace.
May we mirror your hospitality to us to those around who need it most.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000qy5b)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020tp38)
Puffin
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Puffin. Far better-known for its comical looks than its calls, the puffin is a bird that that is recognised by many and has earned the nickname "sea-parrot" or "clown of the sea".
WED 06:00 Today (m000qx03)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Rethink Fairness (m000qx05)
Rethink Fairness: Education
Rethink Fairness is the latest chapter in Radio 4's Rethink project that ran throughout last year. It is a series of five discussions spread over one week at the start of the new year, presented by Amol Rajan. Its focus is fairness, a theme that emerged time and again in the conversations and essays of 2020. The pandemic brought renewed focus on different educational experiences as some schools managed to deliver online lessons more successfully than others. It also shed light on our exam system as different parts of the UK wrestled with the question of how fair this form of assessment was likely to be. However, education has been at the centre of the debate about how to increase social mobility for decades. Is now the time to bring about a fundamental shift and rethink how we might make education fairer?
Contributors
Sammy Wright, vice principal of Southmoor Academy - a coeducational secondary school in Sunderland.
Katherine Birbalsingh, founder and headteacher of the Michaela Community School in London
Anna Vignoles, professor of education at the University of Cambridge
Lindsay Paterson, professor of educational policy at Edinburgh University
Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Rosamund Jones
WED 09:45 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qx07)
Brian Christian
As the century turns 21, five essayists offer their personal appraisals and advice. Brian Christian reflects on the progress in the twenty first century of Artificial Intelligence, seeing its coming of age as posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human.
"In adulthood you become part of society. And that means learning how to get along. How to contribute. How to be a functional part of the whole.
Brian Christian is an American author, poet and programmer. His books include "Algorithms to Live By" and most recently, "The Alignment Problem".
Producer: Sheila Cook
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000qx09)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
WED 10:45 80 Not Out (m000qx0c)
Amy
A powerful story by award-winning playwright, David Pownall specially written for Timothy West who, together with his wife Prunella Scales, has made many vivid television programmes about Britain’s canals.
Pownall’s story takes us back to the days when many boats were towed by horses. But what happened to these proud beasts when they were approaching the end of their working lives?
George, who has worked all his life on the canals, is about to retire. He becomes evermore concerned about his horse. He is determined that the horse will survive - but the odds seem stacked against him.
This evocative story reunites Timothy West and David Pownal,l who scored a tremendous stage hit with the play Master Class, and Martin Jenkins, who directed the play for BBC Radio 4.
Director: Martin Jenkins
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
WED 11:00 I Am Robert Chelsea (m000qwwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 The Cold Swedish Winter (m000qx0f)
Series 5
Vasaloppet
Geoff (Adam Riches) is enjoying the glory of Sweden in the snow. Out with the kids in the hills, he bumps unexpectedly into his nemesis Johan (Thomas Eriksson), an ex-boyfriend of Linda's, who issues a challenge Geoff can't turn down.
Meanwhile Linda (Sissela Benn) is struggling to deal with a difficult work/life balance and yearns for the days when she could lose herself in her beloved cross-country ski-ing. And little John (Harry Nicolaou) discovers the joys of being caught short in the snow.
Danny Robins' series is partly recorded on location in Sweden and features some of Sweden's best loved comedy actors.
Cast
Geoff: Adam Riches
Linda: Sissela Benn
Sten: Thomas Oredsson
Gunilla: Anna-Lena Bergelin
Johan: Thomas Eriksson
John: Harry Nicolaou
Ian: Danny Robins
Written by Danny Robins
Produced and directed by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000qx0h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qx0k)
Episode 8
In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition.
It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives.
The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd."
Lamming wrote:
"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...)
Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement."
Abridged by Florence Bedell
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000qx0m)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m000qx0p)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000qx0r)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qx0t)
Sublime Seagrass
Simple and sublime seagrass meadows work naturally to absorb carbon. The leaves cause friction in the water and trap carbon from organic matter in the sediment. Yet industrial activity and pollution has damaged and reduced the extent of the meadows around the UK coast. With the marine environment improving, work is being done to restore patchy seabeds and create new ones, both in the UK and around the world. Take a dip with Tom Heap as he explores the wonders and potential of these plants on the sea floor.
Back in the studio Dr Tamsin Edwards of King's College, London helps Tom calculate just how useful seagrass can be in the fight against climate change.
Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Series made in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000qx0w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 The Republicans (m0000n3c)
Ronald Reagan: Death Valley Days
Entertaining new dramas following the political swings of The Republican Party, through the personal stories of its Presidents.
Closely based on the accounts of those who were there, we imagine the triumphs and disasters which have driven the party's electoral fortunes.
1965. As Barry Goldwater’s campaign against LBJ crashes and burns, the Grand Old Party needs a fresh face who can handle the new world of TV.
Step forward a fading Hollywood heartthrob, with a down-home style - and plenty of space in his diary...
Written by Jonathan Myerson
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting.
Ronald Reagan . . . Kerry Shale
Nancy Reagan . . . Madeleine Potter
Maureen Reagan . . . Samantha Dakin
Barry Goldwater . . . Corey Johnson
Richard Nixon . . . Jonathan Hyde
Cliff White . . . Joseph Balderrama
Lee Edwards . . . Ryan Whittle
Holmes Tuttle . . . Stephen Hogan
Writer . . . Jonathan Myerson
Director . . . Jonquil Panting
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000qx0y)
Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000qx10)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Sonnets for Albert (m000qx12)
The poet Anthony Joseph has been writing a new collection that addresses a key relationship in his life.
His father, Albert was many things - a sharp dresser, an orator, a builder but he was only an intermittent figure in Anthony's childhood. And it is this absence which made him powerfully present in Joseph's imagination.
Anthony reveals some of his writing process and his form of 'calypso sonnet', a politically invested line length that, he says, "enforces a melodic rhythm which reminds me of my father" and favours a decidedly Afro-Caribbean approach.
In this programme, Anthony explores ideas around fatherhood, masculinity, absence and loss, as he talks to other artists whose art has become a space for interrogating the memory of their father.
We hear from fellow poet Raymond Antrobus, the singer Gregory Porter and the Trinidadian film-maker Mariel Brown.
Produced by Hannah Dean with additional production from Zakia Sewell
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000qx14)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world
WED 17:00 PM (m000qx16)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qx18)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m000qx1b)
Series 2
Episode 2
Conversations from a Long Marriage is a two-hander, starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam, as a long-married couple who met in the Summer of Love and are still passionate about life, music and each other. We listen to – and empathise with - their dangling ‘conversations’ covering everything from health scares, jealousy and confessions, to TV incompatibility and sourdough bread.
In Episode two, Joanna gets distracted by a work project, which happens to be with a man who just happens to be much younger and rather more exciting than Roger. When Roger complains about being pushed out of her life, he’s told, in no uncertain terms, 'it’s just work’. But is it?
Written by Jan Etherington. Produced and directed by Claire Jones. Production co-ordinator Beverly Tagg. A BBC Studios Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000qx1d)
Clarrie’s a reluctant romantic, and Lynda’s feeling inspired
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000qx1g)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 80 Not Out (m000qx0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Grounded with Louis Theroux (p08ybt8d)
15. Frankie Boyle
Covid-19 hasn’t gone away and, due to travel restrictions, neither has Louis Theroux.
In the second outing of his podcast series, Louis tracks down more high-profile guests he’s been longing to talk to - a fascinating mix of the celebrated, the controversial and the mysterious.
In the latest episode, comedian and writer Frankie Boyle chats with Louis about growing up in Glasgow and discovering alcohol as a teenager. They also discuss whether cancel culture exists and the role that tabloid newspapers play in public outrage.
Produced by Sara Jane Hall
Assistant Producer: Catherine Murnane
A Mindhouse production for BBC Radio 4
WED 20:45 Full Circle (m00028c3)
Fox and Owl
La Ronde, written by dramatist Arthur Schnitzler is a play about sexual morality between social groups, explored through a prism of infidelity, lust and desire. Considered a very controversial work it was censored and banned as soon as it was printed in 1900. Although provocative the dramatic structure of the play is simple. It’s a succession of 10 sexual encounters exclusively focused on the before and the after; the act itself is never described. Each successive scene takes one character from the previous one and introduces another.
In the style of the play La Ronde, Julien Manuguerra, who produces a podcast about breakups and more largely, our common and very humane vulnerability in the face of love, explores how intimacy and morality are evolving today. The series draws a picture of what modern love is – or rather, what modern love can be. The original La Ronde was considered a social commentary master piece on how sexual contact transgresses boundaries of class, our radio version of the play will explore how sex can transgress any boundaries. But it's not a play, there won’t be any actors or actresses. Our characters are real, and they’re all linked to one another; always by sex, sometimes by love, sometimes by something in between. They’ll tell us about their inner emotional experiences of desire and connection and hopefully, this time too, our Round of Dance will go Full circle.
In episode five we meet Fox again to see their own full circle. Our series also comes full circle, from the struggle to become the person they wanted to be, to their brief encounter with Joe from our first episode Fox finally finds real love...
Presented by Julien Manuguerra
Produced by Kate Bissell
WED 21:00 The Media Show (m000qx14)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 21:30 Rethink Fairness (m000qx05)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000qx1k)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qx0k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m000qx1m)
Series 8
Episode One (with Kathy Burke)
Bunk Bed is back for its 8th series of funny, sleepy wonders as Peter Curran and Patrick Marber lay down in the dark with special guests and let random thoughts drift into the air.
Genuinely recorded in bed and in the dark, it's an audio treat that seems to unite critics with very varied tastes:
"Funny, enchanting, moving, and beautifully put together." Observer
"The return of one of my most favourite things on radio, the brilliant and funny Bunk Bed.' Radio Times
"A clever, welcome comfort amid the storms." The Spectator
"You'll either love Marber and Curran's meandering thoughts or just hate Bunk Bed. Stick with it: this is gold." Sunday Telegraph
"Bunk Bed is beloved of broadsheet critics, but don't let that put you off...." Metro
In this first episode, they are joined by the great comic actor and director Kathy Burke, foul-mouthed star of Twitter and the perfect foil for the dozy duo of Marber and Curran. Kathy reveals the joy of amusing police officers by giving them 'the fingers' even though she's in her 50s. She and Peter Curran take Patrick Marber to task over his expensive gifts such as food hampers from Hollywood star Julia Roberts, and the three discuss the art of eating crisps in bed.
In future episodes, outrageous showbiz stories abound as Patrick and Peter are joined by Guy Garvey from the band Elbow with his actor wife Rachel Stirling. They also talk about the hilarity and heartache caring for the late Dame Diana Rigg (Rachel's mother) in their home.
Chef and TV presenter Andi Oliver reveals her amazing and very loud singing voice while laying in the dark with others trying to sleep.
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian (m000fw03)
Series 2
7: Free Speech
Stand-up series exploring British Chinese culture from BBC New Comedy Award finalist Ken Cheng.
Dave's Joke of the Fringe Winner, Cambridge mathematics dropout and professional poker player Ken Cheng returns with a brand new series in which he’ll explore free speech, social status, racism and money…
Producer: Adnan Ahmed
Ken Cheng - Chinese Comedian is a BBC Studios Production.
WED 23:30 The Cliff (b051s2bm)
Chris Watson on Skellig Michael
Skellig Michael or Great Skellig is the larger of the two Skellig islands situated some 12 km off the coast of Portmagee in south-west Ireland. It's a spectacular rocky pinnacle towering over 200 metres above sea level. The summit is reached by climbing what is, at times, an almost vertical wall of nearly 700 steps. On the summit are the remains of a well-preserved monastic outpost, including six beehive cells which date back to early Christianity. Monks were sent to island outposts like Skellig Michael to pray and keep evil spirits at bay. A visit to this island cliff is not for the feint-hearted as wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson describes in this vivid account, which is illustrated with recordings he made on and around the island. Landing is no easy task, as the waves crash against the island buttress, whilst kittiwakes soar overhead, their cries piercing the air. Climbing the steps, you have to "hold your nerve and not look back or down, behind you and beneath you is a void". Puffins explode unexpectedly out of underground burrows, their strange low growling calls, reverberating through the ground. Higher up, Chris is met by "by stiff-winged fulmars sheering and slicing through the air". Eventually he reaches the summit, and his destination. After 10 pm, there's a flutter of wings in the darkness as storm petrels emerge, their "sinister cackling sounds start to emanate from the walls". But there's more; after midnight, the air is filled with the banshee-like cries of Manx shearwaters. "Hearing these sounds come out of the darkness must have been a terrifying experience for the monks in their cliff top hives – easy to think that they were evil spirits from the west."
Producer: Sarah Blunt
WED 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000qx1q)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 07 JANUARY 2021
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000qx1s)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qx07)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qx1v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qx1x)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qx1z)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000qx21)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000qx23)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah
Good Morning.
The first time I saw the brand-new carpet in my daughter’s bedroom I smiled. It hid the floorboards I had once tried to sand. The floorboards that amplified every stomped foot and dropped make-up jar. The floorboards that swallowed her sewing needles in the cracks. This new carpet opened up a new chapter for me and her.
The next time I saw the new carpet I felt worried. I began to count the potential problems: a stray kohl eyeliner, a fountain pen rolling off her desk, dirty shoes, the sewing machine oil, her beloved chocolate. I frowned, reconciling myself with the realisation that this new chapter would not be new for long.
The Bible talks about faith in Christ as a new chapter in our relationship with God, but this transformation goes far beyond any other we could experience.
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
Décor, diets or dresses: new things quickly become old. But God not only creates the new but does away with old altogether. He not only reconciles - restores – us but gets us into the restoration business ourselves.
I wish I could tell you I wasn’t counting the marks on my daughter’s new carpet. But at least they remind me that God still sees me as brand new and will never count how often I mess up.
Dear Lord, thank you that you really can transform us and make us perfectly new.
Thank you Jesus for making this possible by dying for our sins.
Amen
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000qx25)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08slxsy)
David Lindo on the Robin
David Lindo is the Urban Birder who has loved birds since he was a tiny boy. Here he extols the virtues of Britain's national bird, the robin.
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 Maggie Ayre.
THU 06:00 Today (m000qxzg)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 Rethink Fairness (m000qxzl)
Rethink Fairness: Health
Rethink Fairness is the latest chapter in Radio 4's Rethink project that ran throughout last year. It is a series of five discussions spread over one week at the start of the new year, presented by Amol Rajan. Its focus is fairness, a theme that emerged time and again in the conversations and essays of 2020. The pandemic brought renewed focus on health outcomes across social and racial groups and raised questions about whether our care and health system performed differently across the country and, if so, why? Those concerns are not new, but might now be the time to bring about a fundamental shift and rethink how we might make the situation fairer?
Contributors
Sir Angus Deaton, professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University and Nobel laureate for his work on health, inequality and poverty
Professor Michael Marmot, epidemiologist and author of the Marmot review which published its report 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives' in February 2010. The follow-up Marmot Review: 10 years On was released in February 2020.
Dame Julie Moore, former nurse and recently retired chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Saleyha Ahsan, emergency medicine and intensive care doctor at the Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor, north Wales. She has also worked as a humanitarian doctor in Libya and Syria. and is a broadcaster.
Producer: Louise Hidalgo
Editor: Rosamund Jones
THU 09:45 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qy1d)
Ashley Hickson Lovence
As the century turns 21, five essayists offer their personal appraisals and advice. Ashley Hickson Lovence writes a letter to his younger brother who has grown up with the century.
"I worried about what the future would be like for you growing up in this environment of danger and fear. You were too young to understand it then, but it was a scary time to be a teenager and all I wanted to do was protect you."
Ashley Hickson Lovence is the author of the novel, "The 392". He is also a teacher and a PhD student in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia.
Producer: Sheila Cook
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000qxzq)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
THU 10:45 80 Not Out (m000qxzs)
Demerara Jazz
At the age of 80, Coral Samuels has written her first play, which she is also directing at the community theatre she has established in order to help disadvantaged people.
The man she has chosen to play American playwright James Baldwin is homeless. She knows he is struggling to find the control to communicate with an audience.
Her determination to help him revives memories of growing up in Guyana and how she tried so hard to help her young nephew to find ways to breathe freely. She also remembers coming to London and hearing the jazz players of the time using every breath in their body.
This story has been specially written by Jacqueline Crooks.
Producer: Martin Jenkins
Director: Marina Caldarone
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000qxzv)
Libya's Brothers from Hell
Amid the anarchy of post-Revolution Libya, seven brothers from an obscure background gradually took over their home town near Tripoli. They're accused of murdering entire families to instill fear and to build power and wealth. They created their own militia which threw in its lot, at different times, with various forces in Libya's ongoing conflict. And they grew rich by levying taxes on the human and fuel traffickers crossing their territory. Now, the full horror of their reign of terror is being exposed: since they were driven out in June, more and more mass graves are being discovered. The Libyan authorities - and the International Criminal Court - are investigating what happened. But the four surviving Kani brothers have fled. Will they ever face justice? And what does their story tell us about why the 2011 overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi brought not democracy, but chaos, to Libya? Tim Whewell reports.
Editor: Bridget Harney
THU 11:30 Transcendence: How Can I Feel Art Again? (m000qxzx)
When Gaylene Gould was younger she would find herself speechless and breathless in the presence of great sculpture and fine painting. Now, after 25 years of professional arts curating, she has seen it all and finds herself largely unmoved.
Gaylene wants to recover the spark which left her rooted to the spot in a gallery, unable to move or speak. It’s a feeling she thinks of as “transcendence”, and she wants to experience it again.
At the extreme end of this spectrum is Stendhal syndrome, or Florence syndrome, which occurs when individuals are exposed to objects or phenomena of great beauty and experience symptoms including rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations.
She tests her capacity for interoception, the sensing of your internal bodily changes, with the help of the neuroscientist Sarah Garfinkel, and meets the Turner Prize-winning visual artist Mark Leckey, whose works are concerned with art’s magic and ritual qualities. Art historian Chloe Ward recalls the rise of activist art in the 1840s, when painters actively sought to provoke emotions with images of social deprivation to compel people into taking action. Zoe Whitley, director of the Chisenhale Gallery, encourages a wider view of the cultural experience outside of institutions.
Can Gaylene reawaken her sensitivity to art?
Produced by Sasha Edye-Lindner and Joby Waldman
Presented by Gaylene Gould
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000qyn6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qy01)
Episode 9
In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition.
It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives.
The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd."
Lamming wrote:
"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...)
Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement."
Abridged by Florence Bedell
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000qy03)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m000qy05)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000qy07)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qy09)
Educating and Empowering Girls
Around the world many girls leave school before completing their education. It's said that those who stay to the end of high school have more agency and choice, but also earn more money and have fewer and healthier children.
Tom Heap hears how education and access to family planning don't just impact family size, it can also propel young women into positions of leadership where they can help their communities adjust to climate change.
Dr Tamsin Edwards of King's College, London helps Tom calculate just how useful secondary education for girls can be in the fight against climate change.
Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock
Series made in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000qx1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 The Republicans (m0000qdm)
Richard Nixon: Searchlight Has Left the Building
Entertaining new dramas following the political swings of The Republican Party, through the personal stories of its Presidents.
Closely based on the accounts of those who were there, we imagine the triumphs and disasters which have driven the party's electoral fortunes.
1970. President Nixon has announced the invasion of Cambodia, and student protests have ignited across the US, with National Guardsmen shooting four dead at Kent State University.
Washington is on high alert.
But when the insomniac President wakes up at 4a.m. to see defiant students gathering at the Lincoln Memorial, he walks over to talk to them, taking his White House butler with him.
The Secret Service are left struggling to catch up, as the night takes a bizarre turn.
Written by Jonathan Myerson
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting
Richard Nixon . . . Jonathan Hyde
Arnold Hutschnecker . . . Jack Klaff
Manolo Sanchez . . . Joseph Balderrama
Pat Nixon . . . Emma Handy
Carrie Moore . . . Ellen Thomas
Bob Haldemann . . . Aaron Vodovoz
Secret Serviceman . . . Ryan Whittle
Young Richard Nixon . . . Rupert Simonian
Student . . . Saffron Coomber
Writer . . . Jonathan Myerson
Director . . . Jonquil Panting
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000qy0c)
Brett Westwood and Wyre Forest
Brett Westwood and Rosemary Winnall take a walk through Wyre Forest in Worcestershire in search of wild service trees, lemon slugs and land caddis.
Producer: Toby Field
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000qxlb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (m000qxm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000qy0f)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000qy0h)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world
THU 17:00 PM (m000qy0k)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qy0p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Elephant in the Room (m000qy0r)
Series 2
Episode 1
Sarah Millican's hit panel show returns, using surveys to discover who is the most Average Jolene and who is the most Maverick Matilda. This week's sparkling panel features Susan Calman, Shazia Mirza, Kirsten O'Brien and Nick Mohammed.
Surveys on subjects including childhood, daily rituals and favourite cheese are the basis for Sarah's questions to the panellists, discovering who is the closest to, and furthest from, the average. Surprising quirks, hilarious insights and unexpected anecdotes are revealed along the way.
The winner will be the most average. But joint winner will be the most different - the furthest from the norm.
A little bit like a dinner party, but one where you know all of the spoons.
Written by Sarah Millican, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, Jess Fostekew and Juliet Meyers.
Produced by Lianne Coop.
A Chopsy Production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000qy0w)
Writers, Sarah Hehir & Caroline Harrington
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Shula Hebden-Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Martyn Gibson ….. Jon Glover
Tanners ..... Jane Slavin
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000qy0y)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 80 Not Out (m000qxzs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000qy10)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders explore major news stories.
THU 20:30 The Untold (m000hv9p)
Predator Exposure
In this edition of The Untold Rob Lawrie follows the Leeds based group of self-styled paedophile hunters from the court case and the Jury's not guilty verdict. The group, Predator Exposure, "overstepped the mark" according to prosecutors, when they confronted two men after they had taken part in online chats with group members posing as teenagers. Six of the group went on trial accused of charges including false imprisonment and common assault. They were all found not guilty and emerged from Leeds Crown Court vowing to step up the work that they do.
Rob Lawrie spends time with the leaders of Predator Exposure, Phil Hoban and his son, Jordan, who became committed to confronting so called child abusers after a mother called on them for help - her daughter had been approached online and she was worried about what was happening. Since then their activities have led to many arrests and successful prosecutions of those making contact with youngsters online and they have a huge social media following. Grace Dent, who oversees The Untold, introduces the programme and sets the scene as listeners follow a so called 'hunt.'
In this episode Rob Lawrie is alongside Phil and his team as they set a trap which a 24 year old man quickly falls into. He sends videos of himself masturbating to a Facebook account he thinks is held by a teenage girls. He wants to meet her, but unbeknown to him he's speaking to Jordan, who controls the false profile and does little to encourage the avalanche of sexual messages. The work is emotionally draining and Rob questions both the motives and the tactics being used as they close in on their suspect. As the case nears a conclusion listeners are drawn into this strange world and can form their own opinions about it.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000qy0h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 Rethink Fairness (m000qxzl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000qy13)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qy01)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 Fred at The Stand (m000qy15)
Series 3
Carl Hutchinson, Priya Hall, Laura Lexx and Seann Walsh
Fred MacAulay introduces some of the funniest comedians in the UK doing what they do best – pure stand-up comedy. And since we can’t all get together in The Stand Comedy Club this year, everyone is gathering virtually for a live recording like never before.
Featuring hilarious Welsh over-sharer Priya Hall; the comedian best known for her fantasy marriage to Jurgen Klopp, Laura Lexx; more cracking observations and brilliant characterisations from Geordie Carl Hutchinson; and one of the country’s most gifted natural comics, Seann Walsh.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 The Cliff (b051s4jv)
Zoe Shipton on Geological Cliffs
"Most people look at a cliff and just see a pile of rocks. But when I look at a cliff I see millions of years of geological time." says Zoe Shipton, Professor of Geology at Strathclyde University. "In cliffs made up of sedimentary rocks, each layer of rock contains clues to how that layer was laid down millions of years ago, and what has happened to it since. We can read those layers like pages in a book". Trying to unpick the geological story of the earth, though, is far from simple - after all "the Earth is nearly 13,000 km across. Geologists are approximately 1.6 m tall, trying to unpick the story of a complicated 4D puzzle - ie one varying in space and changing in time. But we are doing this to decipher the history of a planet that is 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times larger than we are". Undaunted, she takes three cliffs - the Book Cliffs in central Utah, the Grand Canyon and Nanga Parbat in the Himalayas - to explain how geologists decipher the clues left in the rocks. But rocks are subject to the weather, and so to study them in their natural habitat geologists use underground rock laboratories. To extend the depths to which we can observe the Earth even further, geologists use geophysical tools such as seismic surveys. But because we can't produce signals strong enough to penetrate into the very centre of the Earth, geologists use natural signals as well. Listening to earthquakes from the other side of the planet provides information that can be used to map the topography at the outside of the Earth's core. "With modern technology we are learning to read the complete atlas of Earth's history."
Written and presented by Zoe Shipton, with readings by David Acton.
Additional sound recordings by Chris Watson.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
THU 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000qy18)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 08 JANUARY 2021
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000qy1b)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qy1d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000qy1g)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000qy1j)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000qy1l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000qy1n)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000qy1q)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah
Good Morning.
Last week my wife and sister were reminiscing about the Christmas dinner we had with my mum just before she died. We had eaten around coffee tables squeezed into the hallway outside her bedroom so she could feel part of the festivities. We had pulled crackers and placed a yellow paper crown where her hair should have been. We had gobbled platefuls of turkey with cheese-topped vegetables while she had struggled through half a bowl of clear soup.
The thing was – I had no recollection of the occasion at all. We had wanted to give her a last Christmas to remember. But I had forgotten it. I desperately wanted to recall that last meal with my mum as clearly as my wife and sister did, but ten years of other memories were stuck in the way.
Perhaps this resonates with you. Can you remember being jammed inside a tube carriage hurtling underground? Waiting in a dentist’s reception for a check-up? Going on holiday? The freezing huddle of parents cheering on the edge of a football pitch? Or have those distant, disappearing memories been supplanted by new ones?
Since our connection with the past is elusive, it is vital we connect to our future. The Bible says:
“I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
In God’s future we won’t need nostalgia to feel positive. Our joy will be eternal. We will be reunited with him and with our loved ones.
Thank you, Lord, that the best is yet to come. Grant us confidence in your character, your creativity and your new community.
Give us patience and hope in equal measure.
Amen
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000qy1s)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mzv53)
Mandarin Duck
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Chris Packham presents the story of the Mandarin Duck. A drake mandarin has orange whiskers, red bill, a broad creamy eye-stripe and an iridescent purple chest, set off by a pair of extraordinary curved orange wing feathers which stand up like a boat's sails. Today there are seven thousand birds living in the wild and the numbers are increasing.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000qyvy)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Rethink Fairness (m000qyw2)
Rethink Fairness: Generations
Rethink Fairness is the latest chapter in Radio 4's Rethink project that ran throughout last year. It is a series of five discussions spread over one week at the start of the new year, presented by Amol Rajan. Its focus is fairness, a theme that emerged time and again in the conversations and essays of 2020. The pandemic brought renewed focus on the economic pain faced by the young who have been disproportionately hit by job losses in retail and hospitality. They will also live with the consequences of climate change, soaring national debt and, depending on where in the country they live, high housing costs. And for many there is the additional burden of student debt. So is now the time to rethink whether we can bring about a fundamental shift in the contract between the generations and ask what that might look like.
Contributors
Dame Minouche Shafik, director of the London School of Economics
Ian Goldin, professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford Martin School
David Willetts, former minister for universities and science, now president of the think tank the Resolution Foundation
FRI 09:45 Coming of Age: Letters to 2021 (m000qyy3)
Episode 5
As the century turns 21, five young essayists offer their personal appraisals and advice.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000qyw6)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world
FRI 10:45 80 Not Out (m000qyw8)
The Seven Ages of Woman
Kath has taken a job as a volunteer at her local art gallery. She watches the comings and goings as she sits among the paintings - one of which seems to speak directly to her.
Entitled The Seven Ages of Woman, she becomes obsessed by the women depicted, with one in particular engaging her attention.
Has the painter captured her own fears and doubts? Can she share her thoughts with anyone but herself? Will it help her to deal with a new disappointment?
Siân Phillips reads this heartfelt story by Stephen Wyatt. The story also reunites Siân with director Martin Jenkins, who first worked together some 50 years ago.
Director: Martin Jenkins
Sound Designer: David Thomas
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:00 Three Pounds in My Pocket (m000qywb)
Series 4
Episode 1
Since 2014 Kavita Puri has been charting the social history of British South Asians in post-war Britain. Many came with as little as three pounds due to strict currency controls.
This series picks up where the last one finished - the fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989 - and begins by looking at the 1990s. The decade began with Norman Tebbit and his so-called 'cricket test', which questioned the loyalty of those who supported India over England in international cricket. It was a far cry from the multicultural Britain that would be ushered in by Tony Blair's New Labour in 1997.
Amidst this changing political landscape, the children of the three pound generation were finding mainstream cultural success. Goodness Gracious Me was a hit on national television, films like East is East and Bhaji on the Beach found success, and there were hit records from acts like Apache Indian, Bally Sagoo and Panjabi MC. The first weekly British Asian music night began in 1993 - it was called Bombay Jungle and soon hundreds were queuing up in central London to get in.
Producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Historical consultants:
Dr Florian Stadtler, University of Exeter
Dr Edward Anderson, Northumbria University
FRI 11:30 Stand-Up Specials (b09z3dkg)
Ruby Wax: Frazzled - 1
Ruby Wax talks about mental health in her inimitable style, focusing on how we are all frazzled, how we got to be that way and what we can do about it - using comedy, mindfulness and chat with the audience.
There is so much to say about mental health and feeling frazzled and Ruby has the knowledge - a Master's degree in mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She also has the experience after years of struggles with mental health. And of course she has the comic gifts to say it in an articulate, funny and entertaining way
In this show, she wants to make us laugh at her and at ourselves, make our lives feel more manageable, and share tools for how to cope.
Another chance to hear a show recorded in February 2018.
Written and performed by Ruby Wax
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000qyyh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qywh)
Episode 10
In the Castle of My Skin is the first and much acclaimed novel by Barbadian writer George Lamming, originally published in 1953 by Michael Joseph in London. The novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and was championed by Jean-Paul Sartre and Richard Wright, the latter writing an introduction to the book's US edition.
It's an autobiographical coming-of-age novel - set in the 1930s and 40s in Carrington Village, Barbados, where the author was born and raised - and follows the events in the life of a young boy named G, taking place against the background of dramatic changes in the society in which he lives.
The book's title comes from a couplet in Derek Walcott's early work Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos (1949), "You in the castle of your skin / I the swineherd."
Lamming wrote:
"Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time (...)
Much of the substance of my first novel, In the Castle of My Skin, is an evocation of this tragic innocence. Nor was there, at the time of writing, any conscious effort on my part to emphasise the dimension of cruelty that had seduced, or driven, black people into such lasting bonds of illusion. It was not a physical cruelty. Indeed, the colonial experience of my generation was almost wholly without violence. It was a terror of the mind; a daily exercise in self-mutilation. Black versus black in a battle for self-improvement."
Abridged by Florence Bedell
Read by Paterson Joseph
Produced by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000qywk)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000qywm)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000qywp)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
FRI 13:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qywr)
Robots of the Wind
The UK government is betting big on offshore wind to provide a huge percentage of our electricity by 2030. The turbines are certainly efficient, low carbon energy producers but they have one Achilles heel. They're expensive to maintain and repair. Boats or helicopters have to be sent out with a maintenance crew- it's dangerous and costly work. Developers in robotics and artificial intelligence have got together to come up with a solution. If an offshore turbine needs checking an unmanned boat will head out to sea. Once in position it will launch a drone which can inspect the turbine. If a closer look is needed then the drone can launch its secret weapon- the Bladebug. It's a suitcase-sized robot which can cling to the huge turbine blades, check them and even clean or repair them. They should make new offshore wind development cheaper and safer.
Tom Heap meets the experts behind the robots- Chris Cieslak and Sara Bernadini- and works out the carbon impact of offshore wind expansion with climate scientist, Tamsin Edwards of King's College London..
Producer: Alasdair Cross
Series made in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000qy0w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 The Republicans (m0000srd)
Gerald Ford: Fascist Insect
Entertaining new dramas following the political swings of The Republican Party, through the personal stories of its Presidents.
Closely based on the accounts of those who were there, we imagine the triumphs and disasters which have driven the party's electoral fortunes.
1975. After Nixon’s resignation, President Gerald Ford is fighting for his political survival. But the country is in chaos - and his party is disintegrating.
Challenger Ronald Reagan is attacking in weekly radio broadcasts: “Make America Great Again” is his big catchphrase.
Saigon has just fallen, the Panama Canal is threatened and détente looks like a sell-out. There’s political fervour on the streets. Even Patty Hearst, celebrity rich-girl kidnap victim, seems to have turned terrorist.
Then a small-time FBI informant decides that she is the woman to catalyse the revolution.
She buys a gun - and aims it at the President.
Written by Jonathan Myerson
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting
Sara Jane Moore . . . Sian Thomas
Gerald Ford . . . Nathan Osgood
Betty Ford . . . Barbara Barnes
Bob Hartmann . . . Daniel Betts
Jerry terHorst . . . Kerry Shale
Benton Becker . . . John Macmillan
Bert Worthington . . . Philip Desmeules
Richard Nixon . . . Jonathan Hyde
Detective Callaghan . . . Stephen Hogan
Kat . . . Emma Handy
Lud . . . Sean Murray
Writer . . . Jonathan Myerson
Director . . . Jonquil Panting
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000qywt)
GQT at Home: Episode Thirty-Eight
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts. Peter Gibbs is joined by Pippa Greenwood, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson to answer questions sent in by green-fingered listeners.
Producer - Rosie Merotra
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000qyww)
This Sunday
Sundays at our house are always loud. There’s all this noise, but somehow it feels quiet today. Lonely.
An original short story for radio, written and performed by Jade Anouka. With thanks to Delawhere for the theme music. Produced by Becky Ripley.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000qywy)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 Rethink Fairness (m000qyw2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
FRI 17:00 PM (m000qyx1)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000qyx5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000qyx9)
Series 104
Episode 2
A satirical review of the week's news
FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000qyxf)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 80 Not Out (m000qyw8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000qyxk)
Ian Blackford MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with a panel which includes SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford MP and the Conservative MP and the UK’s international champion on adaptation and resilience for COP26 Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000qyxn)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000qyxq)
The First Five Fascinating Ideas
We’re resourceful, adaptable and the smartest thing this planet has ever seen. We got ourselves into this mess but we can get ourselves out of it.
BBC Radio Four, in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society presents 39 ideas to relieve the stress that climate change is exerting on the planet.
From tiny rice seeds and perovskite solar cells to the total transformation of landscapes, Tom Heap and Dr Tamsin Edwards view the fundamental problem of our age from a fresh perspective. Small things that make a big difference. Big things that make a small difference. We’re going to need every one of them.
In the first week of programmes they meet the experts behind a selection of fascinating carbon-cutting ideas; super-strong building timber, wind turbine repairing robots, secondary education for women in the developing world, planting seagrass and rice without the paddy field.
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by : Alasdair Cross and Anne-Marie Bullock
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000qyxv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming (m000qywh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Americast (m000qyxx)
Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel follow the the US election.
FRI 23:30 The Cliff (b051vlpy)
Martin Palmer on Spiritual Responses
In the last of four illustrated essays by different writers on the theme of cliffs, Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, reflects on the spiritual responses evoked by cliffs in religious stories and traditions across the world. Drawing on examples, he explores five spiritual responses. First, a sense of awe "Reverence for such majestic soaring creations". The second is a feeling of being closer to God, and one of the reasons for cliff burials around the world such as those near the town of Sagada in the Mountain Province on Luzon Island in the Philippines "Neither earth nor sky – safe also from scavenging animals". The third is adding to the wonder of nature's creation with shrines, temples and monasteries projecting from cliffs. The fourth response could be described as creating or strutting our own power through use of cliff faces as advertisement of our status; "cliffs have been the setting for monumental carvings of victories, for religious texts or poems extolling the beauty of the place" and for carving vast figures with special significance. Finally, Martin suggests, we have created our own versions of cliffs - from skyscrapers to the facades of great cathedrals and temples - and in these we create our own meaning of the cliff face. Vast creations, our natural cliffs speak both of permanence and time, but also bear witness to change,"even if it is change over an unimaginably long period of time".
Written and narrated by Martin Palmer
Readings by David Acton
Additional sound recordings by Chris Watson
Producer Sarah Blunt
FRI 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000qyxz)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament