James Rebanks, author of the hugely popular 'The Shepherd’s Life', considers the environment, legacy and how to live a good life on the land.
Combining old methods with new thinking as he tends to his family farm, Rebanks sees the land around him come to life as his hard work begins to pay off.
On this day in 1833, Joseph Pease finally succeeded in taking his seat in Parliament by affirming his loyalty, as he was not willing, as a Quaker, to swear an oath of allegiance to the king. It may sound unimportant now, but the first Quaker had been elected an MP back in 1698, and had been unable to take up his seat because of that oath.
And it wasn’t only Quakers. Other non-conformists were affected too, as were Roman Catholics and Jews. The first Jew did not take up his seat in Parliament until 1858, because Jews could not say “on the true faith of a Christian.” Since then, huge changes have taken place. Now, you see MPs and Peers swearing or affirming on a Hebrew Bible or a Koran, on a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib or on no religious text at all.
We now accept that we are all equal in the sight of God and humanity, and we can see God, and good, in every person, whatever their beliefs, as long as they aim to do what is right. And we ought to celebrate the diversity of members of Parliament and of people everywhere- it makes us a richer, fairer, more interesting society, and it allows us to see ourselves in those who are like us and in those who, on the surface at least, seem very different.
Dear God, remind us that it matters not whether a person be Jew or non-Jew, rich or poor, man or woman, whatever they may be. It is in accordance with the merits of his or her deeds that the Holy Spirit rests upon a person- and brings us blessings.
We descend 10,000 feet from the summit of Cima Verde in Northern Italy, down the alpine slopes, across high pastures, through Alpine forest and down into the vineyards on the valley floor. The programme opens with an imagined soundscape high above the mountain in a place we cannot tread, but as we begin our descent we catch the sounds of passing ravens as they fly high above the summit scavenging for food. A snow field melts into the sounds of a high pasture. Further down, capercaillie are captured in a forest clearing, spirits dancing in the forest at first light, as these brightly coloured male birds perform their ritual dance to attract the females. A tawny owl signals a change of location and a woodland chorus reveals resident birds as well as African migrants. Our descent continues through orchards and vineyards where the clear silver song of a nightingale fills the air. This nocturnal soloist is then joined in the first light of dawn by the forest chorus as we reach our journey's end. Producer Sarah Blunt.
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
From tower blocks to stately homes, the office to the garden shed, schools, hospitals or even a prison cell. Windows of all shapes and sizes admit light and connect us to green or urban landscapes, and if you are very fortunate – wildlife! During the winter months and through lockdowns, we are spending more time indoors and perhaps looking out of a window.
For this Open Country, we meet 3 people who each have a unique relationship with windows and who live and work on both sides of the glass to understand why they are so important to our mental health and well-being? Interviewed are Professor John Mardaljevic from Loughborough University, window cleaner Amy Owens and retired psychologist Marco Del Aberdi.
Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by Comedian Ed Byrne. He went from youthful horticultural dreams to stand up star and has toured every other year since the late 90s – so what’s he done in lockdown? Some walking, some woodwork and a cookery show... he join us.
We also have writer and poet Penny Pepper who is also a wheelchair-user who defied doctors' diagnoses and got inspired by the Sex Pistols and her English teacher to go into writing.
Stephen Morris was the drummer for Joy Division and New Order who introduced new technology into the band to create Blue Monday and other era defining music.
Saturday Live listener Carol Godsmark contacted us with memories of her childhood growing up in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. As the daughter of a Canadian diplomat, her family were being tracked by the authorities. But a game of hide and seek uncovered a surprise in a hotel’s linen closet.
Actor Anna Friel gives her Inheritance Tracks, choosing Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead Heart on Ice by Desi Friel (her dad).
Jay Rayner hosts the culinary panel show from home. In a Burns Night edition, he is joined by Dr Barry Smith, Rachel McCormack, Nisha Katona and Jeremy Pang as well as a virtual audience.
The panellists discuss alternative dishes using lentils and how to cook swede, as well as haggis dishes you might not expect.
And Hilina Burke, owner of Abyssinia Kitchen in the Wirral, brings her expertise of Ethiopian food to the show.
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world
Joining Andy this week are Helen Lewis, Olga Koch, Andrew Maxwell and US stand-up Hari Kondabolu.
It's a Biden Inauguration Special for News Quiz this week as Andy and teams reflect on four years of Trumpism and look ahead to the bulging Biden in-tray. There's also time for a mountaineering news round-up and an appearance from a record-breaking French restaurant.
Written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Simon Alcock, Madeleine Brettingham, Alice Fraser and Suchandrika Chakrabarti.
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with the economics correspondent at The Spectator Kate Andrews, the Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy MP, the Green Party's Health and Social Care spokesperson Larry Sanders and the Energy Minister and COP26 champion Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP.
What constitutes success and failure, particularly in the creative industries? And who gets to make that judgement anyway? Rosie Millard has reported on people following their dreams and striving for success in the unpredictable world of the creative arts throughout her 30 years as an arts journalist and broadcaster. She says in many cases there is the same narrative arc, that luck and persistence will win the day. All you need to do is follow your dream, and success will be yours. But this is just a fairy tale, surely! So what does success and failure really mean in the artistic world? Many people don't ever achieve the success they wanted or expected, for others it’s just a long hard slog, and then there are many whose ambitions are reframed as they go through life.
In this programme Rosie talks to Norwegian opera singer Patrick Egersborg, who has written a blog about the beginning of the end of his dream.
It is 1847 and American journalist Grantley Dixon is investigating a murder on board the Star of the Sea of bankrupt landowner, husband and father Lord David Merridith. The ship is bound for New York and full of fleeing refugees escaping from Ireland and the Potato Famine that has torn the country they have left apart.
The ship is full of characters, all of whom may have a reason as to why they would want to kill Lord Merridith, but who is the actual murderer. Someone on board this ship is hungry for vengeance and and has a need to see justice executed…
Could it be Laura his wife, or their maidservant Mary or the pitiful Pius Mulvey who drags his maimed leg behind him as he stalks the deck at night….
Few novels have been written about the Irish Potato famine by the great writers but Joseph O’Connor shows us in glorious technicolor just what effect this famine had on Ireland and its people.
Grantley Dixon ... Kyle Soller
Lord David Merridith ... Johnny Flynn
Laura ... Georgina Beedle
Pius ... Rory Keenan
Mary ... Charlene McKenna
Captain ... Daniel Flynn
Leeson ... Carl Prekopp
David's father ... Stephen Critchlow
Doctor Mangan ... Niall Buggy
Nicholas Mulvey ... Kwaku Fortune
Jonathan ... Ronan Casey
Robert ... Alfie Hurley
Young Mary ... Joni Martin
Young David ... Hugo Mallon
Mary's mother ... Tallulah Bond
Broadcaster Clemency Burton-Hill on learning to speak again. Plus Katie Price talks about her son Harvey.
Clemency Burton-Hill gives her first broadcast interview to Emma Barnett since she suffered a brain haemorrhage a year ago. She talks about how music has helped her ongoing recovery, and how she has learnt to speak again.
Sindiso Khumalo & Dr Christine Checinska on the V&A museum's African fashion exhibition,
Plus Katie Price on her son Harvey who was born with Septo-optic Dysplasia, a rare disorder that affects brain function. Her family have lived their lives in the public eye for more than 15 years - and now in a new BBC One documentary, we see her having to make tough decisions about his future as he turns 18.
We investigate the lack of suitable housing for women escaping domestic violence .
And the lives of Irish women in the US in 19th and why they were called Bad Bridgets
Nick Robinson talks to the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, in a personal and political interview.
Stewart Lee, Angela Hartnett, Salena Godden, Sleaford Mods, KT Tunstall, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Arthur Smith are joined by Stewart Lee, Angela Hartnett and Salena Godden, for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from KT Tunstall and Sleaford Mods.
Welsh screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies has been entertaining the country for decades. From his ground-breaking series Queer as Folk to the revamped Doctor Who – his new series for Channel 4 - It’s a Sin - focuses on the 1980s AIDS crisis. The son of two teachers, Davies grew up loving drama and drawing cartoons - early indications of creativity that have served him well ever since. Mark Coles speaks to family and friends to find out more about one of the TV industry's most respected, and at times controversial, writers.
17. Riz Ahmed
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 Oakland, California as the UK enters another lockdown, actor and director Riz Ahmed chats with Louis about rap battles, his relationship with the UK and the joy of daytime raves.
40 years ago shots rang out in two separate assassination attempts. Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II were shot just six weeks apart. The events would reverberate through history, binding together two of the most prominent figures in the downfall of the Soviet Union.
They talked for nearly an hour and nothing of what they discussed has ever been officially released.
Did this meeting mark the start of a secret collaboration to try to bring down the Soviet Union? Was it the beginning of a 'Holy Alliance' as it would later be claimed? Or was this simply a meeting of two world leaders who shared rare and painful common ground?
Both men are credited with prominent roles in the downfall of the Soviet Union and the extent to which they worked together is a continued source of fascination three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Everyman: Rivals for Paradise, 1997: Clips of interviews with Richard Allen and Vernon Walters
President Reagan's First Press Conference in Room 450 of the OEOB, January 29, 1981
President Reagan’s and Pope John Paul II Remarks at their Arrival in Alaska on May 2, 1984
President Reagan's Remarks Following Discussions With Pope John Paul II on June 6, 1987
Bruce Springteen and Jackson Browne: Promised Land from Anti-Nuclear Disarmament Rally, Central Park, NYC '82, Label Rox Vox.
Having acquired copper silver and gold, Pilgrim returns to Jacksons Mill where his friend Morgan and the spirit Hartley have prepared a nasty surprise. Last in series.
Pilgrim ..... Paul Hilton
Morgan ..... Justin Salinger
Mattias ..... Nicholas Jones
Siri ..... Vineeta Rishi
Hartley ..... Matthew Tennyson
Liam ..... Shaun Mason
Karen ..... Bettrys Jones
Gaynor ..... Jane Slavin
You might think it is a universal trait, something that we all do. But when European explorers travelled the world, they met tribes that didn't kiss. So is it a learnt response after all?
It can be as a greeting, or a sign of reverence or supplication- but we will be talking about the romantic kiss- face to face, lips to lips.
We examine the biochemistry, psychology, anthropology and history of kissing. Where does it come from?
More editions of The Why Factor are available on the BBC World Service website.
Helen Lewis returns with a new series of interviews with people offering radical solutions to the big problems we face, and explores how their personal experiences drive their work and thinking.
In her book The Double-X Economy, the economist Linda Scott explains how, in her view, cultural assumptions hold back women's economic potential.
Drawing on both recently-available data, and her own first-hand experience in the developing world, she tells Helen how she thinks this potential could be liberated using a series of practical solutions. And why she believes that liberating the Double-X economy could change the world for the better.
Paul Gambaccini's questions in this heat of the musical quiz range from Bernstein to Saturday Night Fever and from Andre Previn to Roxy Music. Recorded under lockdown conditions with all contestants joining in from home, the show nevertheless takes them well beyond their comfort zones.
The winner will take another of the places in the semi-finals which begin later this month.
Eve L. Ewing
Chicago poet, sociology professor and comic writer Eve L. Ewing chooses poems from Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Ada Limon, Danez Smith and others. Producer Sally Heaven
SUNDAY 24 JANUARY 2021
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000rmd7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Disability: A New History (b01snxyf)
Finding a Voice
Peter White draws on the latest research to reveal the lives of physically disabled people in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Today - Finding a Voice: Peter discovers William Hay, an 18th-century MP born with spinal curvature who has left us a remarkably revealing account of his life.
Peter comments, 'This series has been full of surprises for me - surprises even after making programmes about disability for 30 years. But perhaps this discovery has been for me the most startling. It's a book which very few people know about, and even fewer have read - a personal exploration of what it's like to be disabled in the 18th century. It's full of insights we like to think of as modern.'
In his book 'On Deformity', William Hay describes his life as a disabled MP, in Parliament and on the streets. He reveals the daily humiliation of being a man of restricted growth and his fear of rowdy crowds. But he also proudly challenges the conventional thinking of the time that his disability makes him ill. He gives advice to other men in his situation about which careers they should follow. And he excels at self-deprecating humour - sometimes, he confesses, he feels like 'a Worm'.
Hay's essay is seen by historians as ground-breaking - because in William Hay, disability had for the first time found a voice. But Hay is a challenging role model for modern disability activists.
With historians David Turner, Naomi Baker, Tim Hitchcock and Chris Mounsey and readings by Jonathan Keeble.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
Academic adviser: David Turner of Swansea University
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000rccc)
Island
An original short work for radio by Nina Allan.
In a world not unlike ours, Janet flees the city after a devastating loss.
Read by Alexandra Mathie
Nina Allan is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction. Her next novel, THE GOOD NEIGHBOURS, is published in March.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rmd9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rmdc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rmf2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000rmf4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000rmb4)
All Saints Church, Wigston Magna, in Leicestershire
Bells on Sunday comes from All Saints Church, Wigston Magna, in Leicestershire. The present building dates from the 14th century and by 1790 there were five bells which were subsequently augmented to a ring of eight in the 19th century. In 1922, a completely new ring of eight bells were cast by John Taylor of Loughborough and mounted in a cast iron frame. The tenor weighs sixteen hundredweight and is tuned to the note E. We hear them ringing Stedman Triples.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000rm9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News (m000rm87)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b04d0x1k)
Forests: Weaving Magic Secrets
John McCarthy asks why we are drawn to and drawn into forests, both real and imaginary. And what do we find there?
From Jean Paul Sartre's Nausea to Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows, woodland has often been seen as magical, strange, sacred and scary. The ancient forests of northern Europe were where folk tales began - the wolf, the witch, the gingerbread house, and the poor woodcutter.
Mostly though forests, whether invented or actual, stand in relation to civilisation and, as such, have a particular imaginative resonance.
In Dante's Paradise Lost, he sees the forest being domesticated, from the dark forest of the Inferno, an allegory of the soul's state of sinfulness and error to the ancient forest of Eden at the top of Purgatory, which is a kind of park under the jurisdiction of the City of God.
Following in the footsteps of the poet John Clare on his walk out of Epping Forest and away from his asylum, John McCarthy learns why the forest is not just a setting for so many stories, it is central to what happens next with rules of its own and a way of intervening into the drama of those travelling through it.
The programme featuress music by Paul Weller and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Producer: Emily Williams
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000rm89)
Australian extremes
While Britain languishes in the depths of winter, Peter Hadfield finds out how scorching heat has affected farmers on the other side of the world. Years of drought in New South Wales hit Australian growers hard, but when wet weather came it was a double-edged sword. It brought bumper crops for some, but many have struggled to get the harvest in before late rains ruined it. Peter visits the Chandler family, who have farmed the same land near Gilgandra in New South Wales for a century, to find out how they've coped with extremes of weather. He meets three generations of the family now living and working on the farm, and hears how they had a good crop this season after three long years of drought.
Produced and presented by Peter Hadfield
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000rm8c)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000rm8f)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000rm8h)
Faith and Kamala Harris; China's Uighar Minority; How to be a Refugee
When Kamala Harris was sworn in as the US vice-president this week, Hindus gathered in her family's ancestral home town in India to pray for her success. Much is said about her status as the first woman and first African American to hold her post, but less about her South Asian heritage. In this week's programme William Crawley asks how important her Hindu background is to her and to Americans.
One of the final acts of the Trump administration this week was to declare that China's treatment of the Muslim minority Uighar people amounts to genocide. This happens to be one of the few things President Biden's government agrees with him about. Here, MPs debated but failed to implement a bill that would make it illegal to trade with a country guilty of genocide this week. Who are the Uighar people and what exactly is happening to them? We find out from an Uighar activist and refugee in the UK, Rahima Mahommad.
This Wednesday, on Holocaust Memorial Day, we are asked to place a candle in the window to remember those murdered for who they are. But we should also remember those who escaped at a cost. The philosopher and writer Simon May was brought up a Catholic, by parents who came to the UK as Hitler rose to power.
His mother, the acclaimed violinist Marianne Liedtke, converted to hide her background and refused to consider herself Jewish. William talks to Simon May about his new book - How to be a Refugee - about his quest to uncover his Jewish heritage.
Producers:
Olive Clancy
David Cook
Editor:
Tim Pemberton
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000rlm5)
Practical Action
TV reporter Seyi Rhodes makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Practical Action.
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 ‘Practical Action’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Practical Action’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: 247257
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000rm8k)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000rm8m)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000rm8p)
Be the light in the darkness!
The Archbishop of Canterbury's Special Advisor for Reconciliation Programmes, Canon Sarah Snyder, and Reverend Julia Hedley, Chaplain to the Rose Castle Foundation, mark this time of Holocaust Memorial. The global pandemic has reminded this generation of the fragility of human life. But down the ages, and particularly in the last century, millions have been indiscriminately killed, not by disease or natural disaster, but by the targeted barbarism of their fellow beings. Witnesses and speakers from a variety of faith and political perspectives are associated with the Rose Castle Foundation, devoted to reconciliation across all kinds of divides, based at the 800-year old seat of the bishops of Carlisle. Sarah Snyder sees in its thick defensive walls an opportunity to invite strangers in, rather than shut them out, to welcome potential enemies from both sides of a divide - to live and learn together. Producer: Katharine Longworth.
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000rcd0)
The Power of Slow Storytelling
Rebecca Stott on why stories told over time seem so fitting for lockdown.
"In this third lockdown," Rebecca writes, "now that my grown up children have gone back to their flats, I am living alone for the first time. I miss our conversations over the dinner table. I miss mulling over the day with them."
But, she says, the cumulative power of slow storytelling is a perfect antidote. And, in particular, The Archers!
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvrcj)
Australian Magpie
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the Australian magpie. These large pibald birds with pickaxe bills reminded early settlers of the more familiar European magpie, but in fact they are not crows at all. Australian magpies have melodious voices which can range over four octaves in a chorus of squeaks, yodels and whistles. Pairs or larger groups of magpies take part in a behaviour known as carolling, a harmony of rich fluting calls which marks their territories and helps to cement relationships between the birds.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000rm8r)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000rm8t)
Contemporary drama in a rural setting
SUN 10:54 Tweet of the Day (m000rm8w)
Tweet Take 5 : Blue Tit
As one of our most familiar garden birds, the gregarious and diminutive blue tit holds a special place in many peoples hearts. Either from its jaunty song or its more nefarious activities of pecking holes in milk bottle tops to gain access to the cream, blue tits bring a flash of delight to our bird feeders and nest boxes close to home. In this extended edition of Tweet of the Day we'll hear from comedian Ed Byrne, wildlife presenter Chris Packham and remote camera operator and ecologist Alasdair Grubb.
Produced by Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol.
SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs (m000rm8y)
Tim Peake, astronaut
Major Tim Peake, is an Army Air Corps officer and a European Space Agency astronaut. He was the first British astronaut to carry out a spacewalk.
As a child, he became interested in aviation, visiting air shows with his father and learning to fly as a teenager, although space travel was not yet a passion. He joined the school Cadet Corps and found he was in his element. From there he progressed to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and then into the Army Air Corps in 1992. His military career included service in Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia, and he spent several years based in Germany where he met his wife Rebecca. He qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1992, and later became a helicopter instructor. He spent time in the USA, learning to fly the Apache attack helicopter, before becoming a test pilot in 2005.
In 2008, he answered an advert from the European Space Agency looking for astronauts. The following year he became one of six successful candidates, chosen from more than 8000 hopefuls. Years of training followed, involving anything from basic dentistry to underwater 'spacewalking', and in December 2015 he headed to the International Space Station for six months.
After his return, Tim moved back to the UK to work with industry and engage in outreach work while he awaits his next space mission. He lives in Hampshire with his wife and two sons.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor
SUN 11:45 The Battles That Won Our Freedoms (m0001xq0)
1 Freedom from Absolute Monarchy
In this first episode, Phil Tinline asks historian Professor David Carpenter to explain how Magna Carta challenged King John's tyranny in 1215 - and asks exiled Saudi human rights activist Ghanem Almasarir what he makes of the story, given his own experience of perhaps the nearest thing the world today has to an absolute monarchy.
Producer: Phil Tinline
The Battles That Won Our Freedoms was first broadcast in 2019.
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000rm90)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 The Unbelievable Truth (m000rd1m)
Series 25
Episode 2
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Sindhu Vee, Lloyd Langford, Zoe Lyons, and Henning Wehn are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as vegetarians, bananas, squid, and Eurovision.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000rm92)
All at Sea? Fishing after Brexit
Dan Saladino finds out what the Brexit deal means for the fishing industry. Some exports and logistics companies have seen problems along the supply chain into Europe. Is this just a glitch or a long term issue?
With the UK now outside of the EU's Single Market and Customs Union, new border controls are in place and a new system for exporting goods is in place.
One exporter working under this new system is David Noble whose business is based on the Scottish west coast. He describes the delays he has experienced and the extra costs he has encountered.
The company which moves most of the UK's fish across Europe is called DFDS. The head of their 'cold chain', Eddie Green explains the range of factors that disrupted fish exports, from confusion over paperwork to IT system failures.
Dan also looks at some of the longer term questions being posed by the Brexit deal, for example, how much extra fish do we now have access to?
To answer this Dan has some help from Radio 4's More or Less team who not only examined the stats behind the UK's new quota regime but also explained the calculations in a sea shanty (lyrics were by Kate Lamble, to a traditional tune, arranged by Freda D’Souza and mixed by James Beard. The singers were David Denyer, Sophie D'Souza, Will Ashcroft and on bass Moose).
The UK's exclusion zone is also on the agenda. It had been expected to be set at 12 miles but in the Brexit deal it stands at six miles from the coast. People from the industry explain why this is a big issue for them.
But what about the role of British consumers? Can our eating habits help shape the future of the post-Brexit industry? Chef Mitch Tonks explains why we need to eat a more diverse range of fish to help our fishers.
Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000rm94)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000rm96)
Radio 4’s look at the week’s big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000rm98)
Fi Glover presents friends and strangers in conversation as the nation adjusts to the 'new normal'.
In this week's programme includes four lively conversations; between 22 year old Laurie who has begun the journey to transition from female to male, and Helen who is 73, divorced and has a daughter, and who identified as a transvestite before transitioning more than 20 years ago. And between father and daughter Tony and Eve. Tony, a former police offer, is now a mental health activist . He talks about why he switched careers and 15 year old Eve’s burgeoning interest in speaking out about mental health issues. Complete strangers Alan and Anne talk about their shared passion for model railways. And two women who wrote in to the programme and volunteered to talk to a stranger, begin by talking about losing people close to them and discover they shared a surprising family history.
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 (m000rcc7)
GQT at Home: Chilean treats and Onion feats
Peter Gibbs hosts this week's gardening Q&A, with a panel of green fingered experts answering questions sent in by listeners via social media and email.
Matt Biggs, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage tackle the queries, from making your garden design coherent, to the best lettuce to grow for your loved one.
Away from the questions, Juliet Sargeant pays homage to the unsung hero of gardening, and Alex Young gives a refresher course in re-potting your houseplants.
Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Disability: A New History (b0211jrg)
Doing and Being
Work and disability has always been an awkward fit.
Peter White says, 'When as a teenager I said I wanted to be a broadcaster, there was a sharp intake of breath. Shouldn't I be considering becoming a piano tuner, or a physiotherapist? That's what blind people did. I wanted to know what it was like in the past, when people had to work - or starve.'
What he discovers is surprising - disabled people were everywhere in the 19th century work-force. In some parts of the country, more than 60% of nurses had a disability. For other disabled men and women, earning a living meant creating a particular niche for themselves. Peter uncovers the career of the blind poet Priscilla Pointon, who made a living writing poetry about her life - signing up hundreds of people on a subscription list to become a wealthy woman. She was just one in a long tradition of blind poets.
Peter also discovers a treasure trove of letters from disabled people seeking work in the Victorian period, which have been collected by Professor Stephen King of Leicester University. They describe the indignity of being assessed by the authorities of the day, and their anger at being accused of faking disability. There are some striking parallels with today, when the debate about work and disability is in full swing.
With historians Steven King, Chris Mounsey and Julie Anderson, and readings by Gerard McDermott and Emily Bevan.
Producer: Elizabeth Burke
Academic adviser: David Turner of Swansea University
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 15:00 Drama (m000rm9b)
Devils
Devils. Part 1
Gary Lilburn, Jane Whittenshaw , Georgia Henshaw and Jonathan Forbes star in Dostoevsky’s unsettling tale of revolution and betrayal. After years away from home, Nicholai Stavrogin returns to his old home town bringing with him the radical ‘free-thinkers’ of Petersburg, hell-bent on causing civil unrest. Dramatised by Melissa Murray.
Stepan ..... Gary Lilburn
Mrs Stavrogina ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Nicholai ..... Joseph Arkley
Pyotr ..... Jonathan Forbes
Darya ..... Charlotte East
Virginsky ..... Ian Dunnett Jr
Krillov ..... Hasan Dixon
Shatov ..... Stefan Adegbola
Lisa ..... Cecilia Appiah
Marya ..... Georgia Henshaw
Written by Melissa Murray
Directed by Carl Prekopp
Produced by Marc Beeby and Anne Isger
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000rlm7)
Kate Mosse, Books on TV, Writing in prisons
Bestselling novelist Kate Mosse talks to Elizabeth Day about her new book The City of Tears. The second in a planned quartet which began with The Burning Chambers, it is the story of the Joubert and a fateful wedding which would have huge repercussions for the Huguenots is 16th century France.
Recent smash television series Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit have led to huge sales for the previously little-known books on which they are based. Hannah Griffiths, Head of Literary Acquisitions at a production company, reveals what they look for in adapting to the small screen.
And Ryan Gatiss's new book The System voices multiple perspectives around the criminal justice system in LA. He tells Open Book about judging the short story competition for people in prison her in the UK along with Lily Staunton-Howe of the Reading Agency who set it up.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (m000rm9f)
Murray Lachlan Young
BBC Radio 6 Music Poet in Residence Murray Lachlan Young is Roger McGough's guest making his selection of poems. His choices include works by Dylan Thomas, Kathleen Jamie and Emily Dickinson. He reads a couple of his own poems - Liverpool Poem and Negative Thoughts
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m000rcq5)
Women Who Abuse
Women are seen as the caring, nurturing sex, safe to be left in charge of children.
But stigma and stereotyping around female perpetrated abuse means it can be seen as a lesser crime, with many victims deeply reluctant to report their ordeal to the authorities.
Experts tell File on 4 that current case numbers are the ‘tip of the iceberg’, while the early indicators of abuse, like online grooming and social media befriending, can be brushed aside when the abuser is a woman.
File on 4 hears from adult survivors who describe decades of trauma and shame caused by their female abusers, as well as the difficulties they faced in reporting the crime.
Psychologists and campaigners say the criminal justice system urgently needs to better support victims to give evidence.
They describe how abusers are still able to take advantage of laws that leave children in informal settings, such as sports clubs and choirs, open to abuse, settings where female abusers can thrive.
And although societal perceptions of female child sexual abuse are changing, many deeply traumatised victims risk being left behind.
Reporter: Melanie Abbott
Producer: Helen Clifton
Editor: Gail Champion
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000rm9h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000rm9k)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000rm9m)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rm9p)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000rm9r)
Lindsey Chapman
Presenter: Lindsey Chapman
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production support: Elodie Chatelain
Studio Manager: Richard Hannaford
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 (m00083fh)
Episode 4: Coast
Alex Jennings continues Cynan Jones' electrifying short story series set in the very near future.
Water is commodified and the Water Train that feeds the city is increasingly at risk of sabotage. And now ice bergs are being towed to a huge ice dock outside the capital city - a huge megalopolis that is draining the country of its resources.
Meanwhile, out on the east coast, life is harsh. An elderly couple struggle to live out their final years in their beloved home, in the face of rising sea levels...
Reader: Alex Jennings is an acclaimed stage and screen actor, and 3-time Olivier Award-winner, known most recently for his roles in A Very English Scandal, and the Crown.
Writer: Cynan Jones
Producer: Justine Willett
Music: Original music by Kirsten Morrison
SUN 19:15 Stand-Up Specials (m000rm9t)
Jayde Adams: From ASDA to Diva
Jayde Adams is a Bristol born comedian and entertainer who used to work in Asda. Jayde has shot to stardom due to her innate confidence, cracking singing voice and unique personal take on modern life. With three powerhouse Edinburgh shows behind her and a blossoming presenting career on TV she has shot from the fish counter at ASDA to fully fledged diva and is keen to tell everyone about it.
Jayde has a classic case of "you can take the girl out of Bristol, but can't take Bristol out of her" - she says what she sees and is unapologetic about it. It's part of what's got her where she is today - a working class girl riding high on the often middle class wave of show business. She's an upstart, she's new money, she's wearing a sequined dress and singing at you while lying across a piano. But beyond all that, she's a (relatively) normal person with a fascinating journey.
In this special, Jayde combines her wit and world class set of pipes with show-stopping music by Olivier Award winner Richard Thomas (Jerry Springer: The Opera). Jayde will give her unique slant on class, body positivity and being from Bristol. Weaving her hilarious brand of entertaining yet personal stand-up with catchy numbers, Jayde shares how she went from working at ASDA to becoming a fully fledged diva. Jayde's main aim is to bring out the diva in all of us, not just the few. It's dying to escape, and who are we to stop it?
Producer: Hayley Sterling
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 19:45 The Last Resort (m000rm9w)
Anna
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: Jo Donnelly
Writer: Jan Carson
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (m000rccm)
Will the vaccine bring back normal life? GDP and Fishing
The vaccine rollout continues: how long will it take before we see the benefits, and what benefits will we see? Figures suggest the UK’s economy performed worse than almost anywhere else in the world during the pandemic. But are the numbers misleading us? Will UK fishing quotas increase two thirds in the wake of Brexit? We trawl through the data. Plus, alarming claims have been circulating about the number of suicides during lockdown. We look at the facts.
If you are experiencing emotional stress, help and support is available at BBC Action Line:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/emotional-distress-information-and-support
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000rcch)
Phil Spector, Grace Robertson, Paul Nihill
Matthew Bannister on:
Phil Spector, the influential record producer who created the “Wall of Sound”. He died while serving a prison sentence for murdering actress Lana Clarkson.
Grace Robertson, the photojournalist known for chronicling working class life in post war Britain.
Paul Nihill, one of the world’s finest race walkers who won 96 consecutive races and was the first male British athlete to compete in four consecutive Olympic games.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Mick Brown
Interviewed guest: Prof. Amanda Hopkinson
Interviewed guest: David Ainsworth
Archive clips from: Five Master Photographers, Radio 3 TX 14.
8.1990; Olympic Memories Part 3/6 - Mexico 1968, Radio 4 TX 1.
4.1984; Olympics 1964: 50km walk, Radio 4 TX
18.10.1964
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000rm9y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000rlm5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 The Corrections (m000p8xv)
Trojan Horse: The kingpin
The Corrections revisits one of the most controversial news stories of recent years to see how journalists told it and how they could have told it differently.
In March 2014, The Sunday Times broke the story of the Trojan Horse Affair about an alleged plot to Islamise schools in Birmingham and beyond. It named as the ‘kingpin’ a local Ofsted inspector, Tahir Alam. He was later banned from governing schools. But is he the villain or the hero of this story?
In this episode, Jo Fidgen learns about Tahir Alam’s backstory to see how that changes our understanding of his role in this story. And a Muslim women’s rights campaigner reveals what she was hearing from teachers and parents behind the scenes, and how that challenges the narrative reported in the mainstream press.
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Editor: Emma Rippon
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000rmb0)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000rc55)
The Dig
With Antonia Quirke
The Dig production Designer Maria Djurkovic reveals how she re-created the famous burial mounds in Sutton Hoo in a field just outside Guildford.
Director Mark Jenkin reveals what it's like to make a film in lockdown. He's currently in pre-production on Enys Men, but has to use online maps to do a recce, had to cut out a scene involving 200 extras because of social distancing rules, and must wait for an actor to get their vaccine before he can shoot a crucial scene.
What's it like to let a film crew in your home and return it to its 19th century glory ? Antonia visited a house in the south of Watford that doubled as William Turner's Chelsea residence for the film Mr Turner, with the production designer Suzie Davies.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b04d0x1k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 25 JANUARY 2021
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000rmb2)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Word of Mouth (m000rcpj)
Being a Polyglot
Alex speaks 15 languages fluently. Does he have a special gift or could we all do this? Plus, what does 'to Donald Duck' mean in Hungarian?
Producer Sally Heaven
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000rmb4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rmb6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rmb8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rmbb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000rmbd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000rmbg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Good morning.
I wish we had some musical accompaniment today, as back in 1858 this was the day Felix Mendelssohn’s famous Wedding March was played, at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Victoria with Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia. Since then, it has been played millions upon millions of times. Mendelssohn became a celebrity composer, a professing Christian whose grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, was a distinguished Jewish philosopher.
Mendelssohn’s wedding march, is now played at Jewish weddings as well as Christian ones, and is a frequent overture at classical music concerts, almost a classical ‘top of the pops.’ Hearing the first few notes, we all know what is to come. And many of us can hum it or sing it, and love it- one of many famous works by that great composer.
But Mendelssohn’s own complex relationship with his Jewish antecedents and relatives is mirrored in the complications of Princess Victoria’s relationship with her English siblings and cousins. And that was even worse for her daughter, also called Viktoria, who loved all things English and hated the worsening relationship between the two countries during and after the First World War.
You can be a German princess and still be a bit British, a Christian composer but also a bit Jewish, a proud Brit with German connections, a proud Scot with English cousins, and so on.
Teach us to understand, God, that we all have many different identities, and we should value them. And let us remember, when we hear that proud loud wedding march, that its composer combined many identities within his brilliant talent, and so can we.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000rmbj)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
MON 05:56 Weather (m000rmbl)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dwvdy)
Redshank
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 Redshank. Redshanks spend the winter on our estuaries and wetlands, taking food from the surface of the mud and probing the ooze for creatures which live beneath.
MON 06:00 Today (m000rmhf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000rmhh)
Mariana Mazzucato on moonshot economics
Mariana Mazzucato, Professor of Economics at University College London, tells Amol Rajan it’s time western governments took a braver approach to the biggest problems of our time – inequality, disease and environmental crisis. In her book, Mission Economy, she argues that capitalism has foundered. Taking inspiration from President Kennedy’s decision in 1962 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, she calls for a greater sense of purpose from governments and a bolder public-private cooperation.
The former cabinet minister and Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable looks back over the last 250 years to understand the power politicians have to transform their countries’ fortunes, for better or worse. In Money and Power – The World Leaders who Changed Economics he ranges from Thatcher to Trump, from Lenin to Bismarck to examine the interplay of economics and politics.
But what happens when people begin to feel the economy is broken. In Why You Won’t Get Rich the journalist Robert Verkaik aims his ire at capitalism and the failure to treat people fairly. He argues that for too many people hard work is no longer enough to keep them off the breadline. While economic statistics place the UK as the sixth richest economy Verkaik believes too few reap the benefit.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rmhk)
Ep 1 - A Revelation
Esther Safran Foer's haunting memoir tells the story of her quest to uncover how her family endured and survived the Holocaust across four generations. Her determination to remember the lives of those lost takes her from her home in Washington to the sites of the shtetls where her parents lived and worked in Urkraine. Read by Sara Kestelman.
When Esther Safran Foer's mother made an extraordinary revelation about her father, Esther set out to uncover the truth about what happened to both her parents and their extended families during the brutal years of the Holocaust. In the absence of memory, mementos, photos, or even names, Esther must find unique ways to record and remember the past. What emerges is a powerful story about loss, memory and the power of kinship and community.
Esther Safran Foer was the CEO of Sixth and I, a centre for arts, ideas and religion. She lives in Washington D.C with her husband Bert. They are the parents of Franklin, Jonathan, and Joshua, and the grandparents of six.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000rmhm)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
MON 10:45 Lamentation (m000rmhp)
Episode 6
6/10. Drama based on the best-selling novel by C.J. Sansom. In 1546, Catholic and Protestant factions vie for power at the court of Henry VIII while heretics
are burned at the stake. In his search for the Queen's stolen confessional book Shardlake makes a disturbing discovery when he interviews a prison guard from the Tower of London.
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Shardlake…………………Justin Salinger
Barak………………………..Bryan Dick
Queen Catherine……..Jessica Hardwick
Lord Parr………………….Robbie Jack
Henry VIII………….……. Michael Mackenzie
Richard Rich……………..Simon Donaldson
William Paget……………Gavin Mitchell
Charles Stice……………..Matthew Barker
William Cecil……………..James Rottger
Myldmore…………………Kenny Blyth
Okedene……………………Mark McDonnell
Cranmer………………….. Crawford Logan
Mary Odell………………….Francesca Dymond
Barwic…………………………Mark Jeary
Elias…………………………..Caleb Hughes
Garet………………………….Harri Pitches
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland
MON 11:00 Battle for the Capitol (m000rs8w)
In the run up to the 2020 Presidential election, journalist Leah Sottile explored the motivations and agendas of America’s far right for the Radio 4 series Two Minutes Past Nine. Recordings were made against a backdrop of a country that felt tense, divided and dangerous.
In the past month, a lot has happened. In this reactive and raw programme, Leah explores America’s far-right at this very moment; fired up by conspiracies, frustrations, and the defeat of the first President they have ever supported.
On Wednesday 6th January, as a Joint Session of Congress met to certify the election of Joe Biden, Trump supporters breached security lines and stormed the Capitol Building in scenes that looked straight out of the racist hate filled propaganda novel The Turner Diaries. Two pipe bombs were found just blocks away at the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees.
Two days later an armed man upset about the results of the 2020 presidential election fired five shots into the side of Portland’s federal courthouse.
Leah asks how Donald Trump has managed to manipulate a rabble of foot-soldier extremists and asks what’s next and how worried we should be.
Interviews include Kelvin Pierce, son of William Luther Pierce, author of The Turner Diaries, Kerry Noble, and former elder of far right militant group The Covenant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord.
Presenter: Leah Sottile
Producer: Georgia Catt
MON 11:30 How to Vaccinate the World (m000rmht)
Tim Harford reports on the global race to create a vaccine to end the Covid-19 pandemic.
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000rmhw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000rs8y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 12:06 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rmhy)
Episode 1
Richard Osman's best-selling debut novel, read by Olivier-nominated Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot the Musical, Drop the Dead Donkey). Abridged by Sara Davies.
In a peaceful retirement village in Kent, four residents meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. Highly accomplished in their pre-retirement professions (psychiatrist, nurse, political firebrand and - probably - international spy) they are eminently qualified for the job.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still run rings round the local police. Drug gangs, high finance and lemon drizzle all loom large in this compelling, funny and endearing crime thriller.
The members of The Thursday Murder Club are residents at Coopers Chase, a luxury retirement village in the Kentish Weald. They persuade local policewoman PC Donna De Freitas to join them when she visits the village to give a talk on safety for the elderly. She soon realises the cosy talk she has planned isn't going to cut it with this rather feisty and wily group of seniors. But they do need her help.
Built on the grounds of a former rectory, Coopers Chase is about to be developed by its owner, the wealthy Ian Ventham, but before he goes ahead he must sack his long-term partner, the builder Tony Curran. Ventham is a bit worried that Tony Curran might not take the news well. Might, in fact, kill him.
Reader...Haydn Gwynne
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
Music by Tom Constantine.
MON 12:20 You and Yours (m000rmj0)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m000rmj2)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000rmj4)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 Bodies (m000rmj6)
Episode 6: Irreconcilable Opposites - The Medieval Body
The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.
When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.
In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.
Episode 6: Irreconcilable Opposites - The Medieval Body
The Medieval era stands out for its obsession with the body and proliferation of theories, often far-fetched, surrounding it. Professor Alice Roberts takes us from the transformation of Thomas Becket's body from a corpse into a relic, to arguments around resurrection, sex and the mirroring between the human body and the elements that make up the universe.
Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:00 The Interrogation (m000kty4)
Series 8
Sandra
New series of popular and long-running crime drama by Roy Williams, with Kenneth Cranham and Alex Lanipekun as the interrogating detective team. Today the detectives interview Sandra, a local vicar with a challenging family.
D.I. Max Matthews ..... Kenneth Cranham
D.S. Sean Armitage ..... Alex Lanipekun
Sandra ..... Emma Fielding
Writer, Roy Williams
Composer, David Pickvance
Producer, Jessica Dromgoole
Director, Mary Peate
MON 14:45 The Why Factor (b07jyw86)
Series 3
Fear of Robots
Robots are in our homes, our factories, on battlefields and in hospitals. Some are smarter than us, some are faster. Some are here to help us, others not. Science fiction is filled with malign machines that rise against humanity. Mike Williams asks if we have reason to fear the machines we are creating.
Presenter: Mike Williams
Producer: Sandra Kanthal
Editor: Andrew Smith
First broadcast on the BBC World Service.
MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m000rmj8)
Series 34
Heat 8
(8/13)
Today's Counterpoint contest once again features competitors taking part on remote links from their own homes during the Covid lockdown. The rivalry is no less keen than if they were together on stage, with all three hoping their musical knowledge will win them a place in the semi-finals. Dolly Parton, John Coltrane, Stephen Sondheim, Pavarotti and Michael Jackson all feature in the questions - and will anyone pick the specialist round on James Bond themes?
Today's contenders are
James Dingle, an editor from Cambridge
Patricia Hester, a nurse from Reading
Steve Lodge, a care support worker from Bridgwater in Somerset.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000rm92)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Dante 2021 (m000rmjc)
Episode 3
Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is commonly considered the greatest single work of all European literature, but this three-part epic poem isn't only for those with a taste for medieval Italy.
Seven hundred years after Dante's death in 1321, Katya Adler, the BBC's Europe Editor and lover of all things Italian, sets out to discover why the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso are such key works for the 21st Century.
With Michael Sheen as Dante.
Three guides conduct Katya through their region of the afterlife - just as Virgil, and Dante’s great lost love Beatrice, do in the original - taking her to hell and back again.
Each guide proposes seven reasons why Dante (a great lover of numerology as well as a great poet) is such a powerful contemporary read - adding up to 21 reasons in the 21st year of the 21st century.
3. Dr Vittorio Montemaggi, Senior Lecturer in Religion and the Arts at King's College, London, and Acting Director of the Von Huge lInstitute in Cambridge, is Katya's guide through Paradise. Although Paradiso is often considered the least appealing of Dante's three regions, Vittorio ponts out surprsing resonances for today, and shares his own personal epiphany, experienced while reading Dante with inmates of a high-security prison, that we each carry within us a spark of Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso.
Specially commissioned music by Emily Levy, sung by Michael Solomon Williams, Jon Stainsby and Emily Levy.
Further cotnribtutions from Fatemeh Keshavarz, Professor of Persian Studies at the University of Maryland and presenter of podcast, Radio Rumi
iItalian readings by Alession Baldini.
Producer: Beaty Rubens
MON 16:30 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m000rmjf)
Neanderthals
The Neanderthals
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by hominids Alan Davies, Neanderthal expert and author Rebecca Wragg Sykes, and Paleontologist and Woolly Mammoth expert Tori Herridge and learn just how misunderstood our ancestors have been. The image of the lumbering, ape like, simple, grunting neanderthal has been turned on its head with the discovery that we are far more related to Neanderthals then we ever thought possible. Nearly all Europeans will have around 2% Neanderthal DNA, and the revelation of widespread interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans has turned the idea of our exceptionalism on its head. It seems that what defines us, may have defined the Neanderthals as well, and we are not so different after all.
Producer: Alexandra Feachem
MON 17:00 PM (m000rmjh)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rmjk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m000rmjm)
Series 25
Episode 3
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Sarah Millican and Gary Delaney, Marcus Brigstocke and Rachel Parris, and Lucy Porter and Justin Edwards are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as rabbits, marriage, and crisps.
Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000rmjp)
Pip drops a bombshell and Freddie has an admirer.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000rmjr)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 Lamentation (m000rmhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 How the Irish Shaped Britain (m000rlns)
The Long Road to Peace
Fergal Keane completes his exploration of the profound influence of the Irish on Britain, from reconstruction after the Second World War, through the hard road to peace and onto the uncertainty posed by Brexit.
Following in the footsteps of earlier generations of migrants, hundreds of thousands of Irish came to Britain in the 20th Century, rebuilding shattered cities, putting in new infrastructure, working in the NHS. Some faced hardship and racist abuse, particularly during the difficult times of IRA bombs on the British mainland. Others flourished, bringing innovation and rebellion, shaping the music scene and politics.
The Good Friday Agreement heralded a time of hope and good relations across the Irish Sea, with the Queen's first ever visit to Ireland as a potent symbol of that. Meanwhile many of the Irish and their descendants in Britain put a difficult past behind them and looked to the future. Derogatory Paddy jokes fell out of favour. However, the UK's decision to leave the European Union has, as Fergal hears, unsettled what many thought was settled. Following the hard road to peace, uncertainty has returned.
Producers: John Murphy and Adele Armstrong
Mixed by Eloise Whitmore
Thanks to (in order of appearance in series): Emeritus Professor Roy Foster (Oxford University), Sinéad Morrissey (poet + Newcastle University), Dara O'Briain, Dr. Clare Downham (Liverpool University), Professor Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (ex NUI Galway), Professor Diarmaid MacCullough (ex Oxford University), Fiona Shaw, Professor Thomas Devine (ex Edinburgh University), Dr. Catriona MacDonald (Glasgow University), Greg Quiery (In Hardship and Hope: A History of the Liverpool Irish), Michael Boyle, Theresa Hill, Ultan Cowley (The Men who built Britain: A History of the Irish Navvy), Professor Louise Richardson (Vice Chancellor Oxford University), Ralph McTell (singer, songwriter), Sean Mulryan (CEO Ballymore Group), Una Heaslip, Carmel Wilson, Danny Maher (CEO Ashford Place), Bob Geldof, Bobby McDonagh (ex Ambassador to London), Maurice Malone (CEO Birmingham Irish Association), Adrian Goldberg (The 21 Podcast), Dr Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid (Sheffield University).
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000rc4f)
Europe’s Most Dangerous Capital
Bucharest, in Romania, is arguably Europe’s most dangerous capital city. It’s not the crime that’s the problem – it’s the buildings. Many of them don’t comply with basic laws and building regulations. Permits are regularly faked. And yet Bucharest is the most earthquake prone European capital. A serious quake would cause many of the buildings to collapse, with a potential loss of life into the thousands. Some years ago a red dot was put on a number of buildings in the city which were in danger of collapse. Nothing else has happened since. A microcosm of the problem is a type of building called ‘camine de nefamilisti’ or, ‘homes for those without families’. These were built during the Ceaucescu era to temporarily house workers brought in from the countryside and people who were still single after university. The single room flats, the size of a prison cell, with one communal shower and three Turkish style toilets per floor were never meant for families. But after the fall of Communism many of these ‘matchboxes’ ended up in private hands and conditions deteriorated with whole families moved into spaces designed for a single person. Simona Rata grew up in one of these buildings. For Crossing Continents she returns to the ‘camine de nefamilisti’ and finds little has changed since her childhood. The overcrowded blocks with poor sanitary conditions make tackling Covid difficult and the stability of the buildings remains a source of grave concern.
Reporter and producer: Simona Rata. Editor, Bridget Harney
MON 21:00 The Power of Three (m000q8nb)
Episode 3
Cole Moreton presents a deeply personal account of what it’s like to have and to be triplets, as his children Ruby, Josh and Grace prepare to leave home.
We hear from experts and the experiences of other parents of triplets. The series also examines how triplets can often think and feel differently to other children, facing challenges as they grow; retaining identity, and dealing with teachers and friends.
The Moreton family gather for a family holiday before Ruby starts a new job and Grace and Josh head to university. As the family finds ways of getting used to living apart, Grace and Josh are quarantined due to Covid-19.
Cole reflects on the future and the new challenges the family will face.
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000rmhh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000rmjv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rmhy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
MON 23:00 Loose Ends (m000rmd0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000rmjy)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 26 JANUARY 2021
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000rmk0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rmhk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rszr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rmk2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rmk4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000rmk6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000rmk8)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Good morning.
Still in lockdown, our hospitals having a tough time, our healthcare staff are exhausted, and our schools are closed. I chair two hospitals in London, and I am moved beyond measure by the work of our professionals- doctors and nurses, physios and radiographers, receptionists and cleaners, lab scientists and porters, and the ever present security staff trying to persuade members of the public to be sensible, and not visit when this new strain of Covid is so infectious. The staff are absolutely wonderful. But they are also absolutely exhausted.
It reminds me of the story of the prophet Elijah in the Hebrew Bible. He was being pursued, not by Covid, but by King Ahab’s men. And he was beyond weary: “He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Some of our staff sometimes feel as weary as that.
Yet things changed for Elijah. “…he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” …. there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank…” And his strength was renewed.
We too could help exhausted staff. God, give us the strength to support those who are looking after the sick. Give us the empathy to feel for their exhaustion, and let us help make their lives better, by supporting and caring for them, thanking them for their work, and showing we value them immeasurably.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000rmkb)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt7v)
Firecrest
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Firecrest. Firecrests are very small birds, a mere nine centimetres long and are often confused with their much commoner cousins, goldcrests. Both have the brilliant orange or yellow crown feathers, but the firecrest embellishes these with black eyestripes, dazzling white eyebrows and golden patches on the sides of its neck ... a jewel of a bird.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000rn4v)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m000rmp5)
Giles Yeo on how our genes can make us fat
Many of us think we’re in control of what we eat and that, coupled with what we do, dictates our shape and size. It’s physics after all - if you eat too much and move too little, you put on weight; do the opposite, and you lose it. Genes, the theory goes, have minimal if any effect on our size.
But what if we’re wrong? What if our genes have a powerful influence over how we put on weight, and why many struggle to lose it?
Over the past two decades, this once controversial idea has gained acceptance and has inspired the work of Giles Yeo. His research on the genetics of obesity at Cambridge University reveals the powerful ways in which our genes, which function within our brains, influence our eating behaviour.
These genes are far better suited to times of food scarcity. Fast forward to the modern diet, packed with sugar and fat, and our genetic makeup quickly becomes a recipe for disaster.
Producer: Beth Eastwood
TUE 09:30 One to One (m000rn4x)
The Dream of Success: Rosie Millard and actor Ben Hopwood
For more than 30 years arts journalist and broadcaster Rosie Millard has reported on people following their dreams and striving for success in the unpredictable world of the creative arts. But just what is success and failure, particularly in the creative industries? And who makes that judgement anyway? The fairy story we love to hear is that all you need to do is follow your dream, and success will be yours. But for many the dream does not materialise. They don’t get that lucky break. For others it’s just a long hard slog, and then there are those who reframe their ambitions as they go through life. In this programme Rosie talks to amateur actor and director Ben Hopwood about living his own dream - on his own terms.
Produced by Jo Dwyer for BBC Audio in Bristol
TUE 09:45 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rmph)
Ep 2 - Childhood
Esther Safran Foer's parents have outlasted the war. In1945,they are newly married and with the birth of baby Esther family life begins, but living in a Displaced Person's camp is hard. With the promise of a future in the US they attempt to bury the horrors of the past. Sarah Kestelman reads.
Esther Safran Foer knew little of her parents' early years during WWII in Ukraine where so many of her family perished during the Holocaust. Then in her early forties, Esther decided to uncover the truth about what happened to her mother and father and their extended families during the Holocaust. In the absence of memory, mementos, photos, or even a name, Esther finds her own way to remember and record her family's legacy. What emerges is a powerful story about loss, memory and the power of kinship and community.
Esther Safran Foer was the CEO of Sixth and I, a centre for arts, ideas and religion. She lives in Washington D.C with her husband Bert. They are the parents of Franklin, Jonathan, and Joshua, and the grandparents of six.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000rn4z)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
TUE 10:45 Lamentation (m000rmnz)
Episode 7
7/10. Drama based on the best-selling novel by C.J. Sansom. Shardlake encounters his enemy, Sir Richard Rich, who is also searching for a missing manuscript - which accuses him of torturing a condemned heretic. But does Rich know about the book stolen from the Queen?
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland
TUE 11:00 A Year of Misinformation (m000r1sq)
The final months of Donald Trump’s presidency and the coronavirus pandemic led to an explosion of misinformation – conspiracy theories, rumours, misleading social media posts and so-called “fake news”.
It’s meant busy times for a team inside the BBC who work to untangle truth from fiction and identify the bad actors behind bad info.
BBC Trending presenter Mike Wendling and specialist disinformation and social media reporter Marianna Spring have investigated some of the most viral falsehoods and conspiracy theories circulating online.
With the help of colleagues, they explored the rise of the pro-Trump movement QAnon. And they unpicked wild rumours and pseudoscience about Covid-19 that led to real-world harm – including deaths, riots and the destruction of mobile phone masts.
In this programme, they look back at some of the biggest stories of the past year, and reflect on what they learned about who spreads disinformation, who believes it, and what we all need to watch out for in the year ahead.
Producer: Ed Main
TUE 11:30 Max: The Literary Kingmaker (m000rn51)
Maxwell Perkins was the editor who nurtured and ushered in a generation of writing talent that revolutionised literary life in 1920s America. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe and others benefitted from Max's brilliant editing and his dedicated friendship. He championed talent that otherwise would have fallen by the wayside.
Lennie Goodings, Chair of Virago and herself a celebrated editor, asks what it takes to spot a talent and to draw the best from the writer. She is joined by Sarah Churchwell, Perkins' biographer A. Scott Berg and by writers Colm Toibin and Linda Grant.
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000rn53)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000rsjh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 12:06 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rmn4)
Episode 2
Richard Osman's bestselling debut crime novel, read by Haydn Gwynne.
Developer Ian Ventham has big plans for Coopers Chase, the retirement village where the members of The Thursday Murder Club meet to figure out unsolved crimes. It's going to make him rich and happy. But it's going to upset a lot of other people, among them his long-term business partner, builder Tony Curran, who has a reputation as a hard man.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
TUE 12:20 You and Yours (m000rmn6)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000rmn8)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000rmnb)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 Bodies (m000rmnd)
Episode 7: Leonardo - Drawing the body
The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.
When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.
In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.
Episode 7: Leonardo - Drawing the body
Drawing and anatomy have always gone hand in hand. And perhaps the most beautiful anatomical drawings of them all are from the notebooks of the Renaissance master, Leonardo da Vinci. Professor Alice Roberts celebrates da Vinci's lifelong fascination with anatomy and the ground-breaking diagrams he made. His drawings were based on his first-hand experience of dissections. He claimed to have performed more than thirty by the time he died.
Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000rmjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 The Interrogation (m000kx1z)
Series 8
Stephen
Stephen has been beaten up at school. The assailant is an excluded pupil, and Stephen is a teacher. But is that really why he's here?
Cast
Max ..... Kenneth Cranham
Sean ..... Alex Lanipekun
Stephen ..... Joel MacCormack
Writer, Roy Williams
Composer, David Pickvance
Producer, Mary Peate
Director, Jessica Dromgoole
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m000rmdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (m000rmng)
Series 17
The Flying Clock and the Stopped Watch
Psychologist and presenter of All in the Mind, Claudia Hammond wrote the book ‘Time Warped – Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception’. She explains how emotion and memory are big factors in how time is perceived. She stresses how time can stretch and squeeze depending on whether you are looking backwards or forwards. And she explains how Lockdown has warped time in different ways for different people.
Professor David Eagleman, from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston conducted a very famous experiment on time dilation, to see whether time slows down when you are very frightened. He wanted to see whether people actually have increased time resolution during a terrifying moment, and tested whether his students actually see in slow motion when they leapt off a tall building (in a safe manner).
Professor Marc Whitman is a neurologist who has spent his career looking for the clock in our brains. He says that time dealt with in many parts of the brain, with some parts dealing with different durations, from milliseconds to decades.
Katya Rubia is Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Kings College London and is an expert on time perception in children with ADHD. She links the impulsiveness of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to problems with time perception and has found that the pre frontal lobe, which is key for perceiving time is both functionally and structurally different in children with the disorder. Which means that time goes much slower for them and goes some way to explain their impatience and inability to sit still.
Produced by - Fiona Roberts
Presented by – Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford
A BBC Radio Science Unit Production
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m000rmnj)
Adam Bradley: The Poetry of Pop
Literary critic Adam Bradley talks to Michael about pop lyrics, melody and performance, and how they all work together.
Producer Sally Heaven.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000rmnl)
Rights activist Cesar Chavez nominated by Cori Crider
In 1960s California, Mexican-American Civil Rights Leader, Cesar Chavez led the United Farmworkers union in a series of strikes, boycotts and semi-religious processions, which inspired farmworkers, students and celebrities to join him in what he called 'La Causa'
'The Cause' was his struggle to force the landowners and growers - and the system in which they operated - to recognise farmworkers as human beings who deserved dignity, respect and basic rights.
Senator Robert F Kennedy was a fan, describing him as a "heroic figure". Joan Baez sang at his rallies. Years later, President Obama stole his slogan and opened a national monument to his memory. And yet he is little known internationally or even outside latino communities in the US.
The lawyer and founder of Foxglove, Cori Crider, tells Mathew Parris why she is inspired by his legacy and why the lessons from his life are needed now more than ever.
Matthew and Cori are joined by Miriam Pawel, the author of The Crusades of Cesar Chavez.
Clips of Eliseo Medina were taken from an interview conducted by the producer.
Producer: Ellie Richold
TUE 17:00 PM (m000rmnn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rmns)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Beta Female (m000rmnv)
Series 1
Episode 3
Beta Female is a semi-autobiographical sitcom by Amna Saleem, starring Kiran Sonia Sawar (Black Mirror, Pure) as Amna, a young woman trying to find her place in the world - in her work, in her relationships, and in her family.
The Zumzum Pani: Amna tries to cover up an unholy mistake from her mother, with her brother as an accomplice.
Amna ... Kiran Sonia Sawar
Harris ... Omar Raza
Mum ... Sudha Bhuchar
Dad... Bhakser Patel
Nora ... Evelyn Lockley
Written by Amna Saleem
Produced & directed by Ed Morrish
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000rlpd)
Shula finds herself in trouble and Tom faces a difficult dilemma.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000rmnx)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 Lamentation (m000rmnz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000rmp1)
A Year of Covid
A year ago this week, the first reported case of Covid-19 was recorded in the UK. Within weeks frontline medics faced their toughest ever test. Doctors and nurses in intensive care units recorded diaries for a powerful and insightful episode of File on 4 which illustrated the true scale of the challenge they faced. So one year on, how do they think they coped? What have they learned about themselves and the National Health Service which many warn could be overwhelmed by the current second wave of Covid 19 which continues to claim tens of thousands of lives. Reporter Jane Deith revisits some of those doctors and nurses to find out how they themselves survived the biggest challenge of their careers. And she asks whether when they recorded their original diaries, did they envisage they’d be where they are now in battle against the pandemic?
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000rmp3)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m000rlpj)
A weekly quest to demystify health issues, bringing clarity to conflicting advice.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m000rmp5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000rmp7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rmn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
TUE 23:00 Fortunately... with Fi and Jane (m000rmp9)
Influencing Mole Rats, with Tom Allen
This week on Fortunately, Fi Glover and Jane Garvey chat to comedian Tom Allen. The presenter of Bake Off: An Extra Slice joins Garvey and Glover to talk growing up in Bromley and writing about it for his book No Shame. The three of them also discuss dinner table expectations, sartorial etiquette, speaking French and of course, cake. Before Tom there's virtual cookalongs, tunnel mysteries and a new way for the BBC to save some cash.
Get in touch: fortunately.podcast@bbc.co.uk
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000rmpc)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2021
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000rmpf)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rmph)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rmpk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rmpm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rmpp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000rmpr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000rmpt)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Good morning.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, the day the Red Army liberated the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Their leaders were horrified. General Vasily Petrenko said: "I, who saw people dying every day, was shocked by the Nazis' indescribable hatred toward the inmates who had turned into living skeletons. I read about the Nazis' treatment of Jews in various leaflets, but there was nothing about the Nazis' treatment of women, children, and old men. It was in Auschwitz that I found out about the fate of the Jews.”
Everyone knows about Auschwitz now, but there were also Belsen, Sobibor, where my great grandmother was murdered, Treblinka, where my great aunts and uncles were murdered, and many more.
And yet there is hope. Some of those liberated that day at Auschwitz survived to tell the tale, despite disease and starvation. Others survived other camps. Some were hidden. Amazing people sheltered Jews, especially children, and saved them. There were heroes and heroines, as well as murderers and butchers. And as I think of family members who were murdered, I also feel immense gratitude to those people who helped others escape to this country, who campaigned for Britain to take more desperate refugees, and who supported them for years.
My refugee mother always believed that, despite the horrors and the genocide, good would one day prevail. So as we remember the victims of the Nazis and those of all other genocides today, and as we protest against all forms of racist hatred, let us also remember the good that some brave people did at that time- and give thanks for their moral courage. And may we learn from that moral courage, and be brave in our turn too.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000rmpw)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b096h1qz)
Stephen Moss on the Song Thrush
In the first of five recollections about his encounters with birds, writer and wildlife programme-maker Stephen Moss explains why the sound of the Song Thrush evokes such powerful memories of his grandfather.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Full Moon Images.
WED 06:00 Today (m000rlmx)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m000rln5)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.
WED 09:30 Steelmanning (m000rln9)
Episode 3
Timandra Harkness tries to test her views by steelplating the arguments of her opponents on a range of controversial topics. Each week, she will debate a subject with a different sparring partner, who will receive coaching to fortify their case. In this episode, Timandra meets Professor Kay Peggs from Kingston University, to debate the merits of veganism. Other contributors include the journalist and author Louise Gray.
Producer: Peter Snowdon
WED 09:45 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rlqc)
Ep 3 - Finding Trochenbrod
Esther Safran Foer sets about finding the Ukranian Shtetl where her father was hidden during the Holocaust, and makes unexpected progress in her quest. Sara Kestelman reads.
Esther Safran Foer knows little about her father. Then in her early forties, she learns that her father had been married once before and had a daughter, Esther's half sister, and that they had both perished in the Holocaust. Without names, or photos there is nothing to know about them, and so Esther embarks on a journey to remember and recover the past. What emerges is a powerful story about loss, memory and the power of kinship and community.
Esther Safran Foer was the CEO of Sixth and I, a centre for arts, ideas and religion. She lives in Washington D.C with her husband Bert. They are the parents of Franklin, Jonathan, and Joshua, and the grandparents of six.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000rlnj)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
WED 10:45 Lamentation (m000rlnn)
Episode 8
8/10. Drama based on the best-selling novel by C.J. Sansom. In an ambush at London docks, Shardlake and his assistant Barak capture the man who stole the Queen’s confessional manuscript.
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland
WED 11:00 How the Irish Shaped Britain (m000rlns)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Rob Newman (b08nq5x9)
Rob Newman's Neuropolis
Robot New Man (or Attack of the Killer Sci-Fi)
One of Britain's finest comedians, Rob Newman, is our guide on a unique audio odyssey of the brain, taking in everything from love and guilt to robot co-workers and the unlikely importance of prehistoric trousers.
It's a witty, fact-packed series mixing stand-up and sketches, challenging notions of neuroscience with a new theory that's equal parts enlightening and hilarious.
Rob offers an alternative to some of the more bizarre claims in modern popular science, as well as rejigging theories of our brains in light of what we know about nature, artificial intelligence and Belinda Carlisle.
Created by the award-winning team behind Robert Newman's Entirely Accurate Encyclopaedia of Evolution.
Written by and starring Rob Newman
Co-starring Claire Price and Richard McCabe
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producer: Richard Wilson
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000rmy3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000rs92)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 12:06 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rlp1)
Episode 3
Richard Osman's bestselling debut crime novel, abridged by Sara Davies and read by Haydn Gwynne.
The Thursday Murder Club have their first live case. And some unorthodox approaches to solving it.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
WED 12:20 You and Yours (m000rlp4)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m000rlp6)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000rlp8)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 Bodies (m000rlpb)
Episode 8: The genius of Vesalius - science and salvation
The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.
When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.
In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.
Episode 8: The genius of Vesalius - science and salvation
In 1543, a scientific and artistic phenomenon emerges into the world. With a hefty thud. De humani corporis fabrica – on the fabric of the human body – by a Flemish artist known by his Latin name, Vesalius. This book was full of the most gorgeous illustrations of anatomy, based on Vesalius' own dissections. Its publication marks a watershed in the history of anatomy. Not only was it the most accurate depiction of human anatomy to date, it directly contradicted the anatomy of the Roman Galen, which had gone unchallenged for more than a millennium.
Presenter - Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000rlpd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 The Interrogation (m000kvkw)
Series 8
Tanya and Natalie
New series. Best friends Tanya and Natalie are the prime suspects after a spate of muggings including an attack on an elderly man, but are these young women capable of such brutality?
Cast
Max ..... Kenneth Cranham
Sean ..... Alex Lanipekun
Tanya ..... Kirsty J. Curtis
Natalie ..... Danielle Vitalis
Writer, Roy Williams
Composer, David Pickvance
Producer, Jessica Dromgoole
Director, Mary Peate
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000rlpg)
Travel
Stay at home is the current advice but travel companies are reporting a surge in holiday bookings from those hoping for adventure later this year. Others may have rebooked a trip which was cancelled last summer but be uncertain about whether they can or should go. What happens if your trip is cancelled again and what should you consider if you need or hope to travel safely when restrictions ease?
On Wednesday’s programme Adam Shaw and guests will answer your questions about travel rules, rights and refunds. e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk now.
On the panel are:
Rory Boland, Travel Editor, Which?
Jill Starley-Grainger, Travel Journalist, JetSet Journeys
Presenter: Adam Shaw
Producer: Diane Richardson
Editor: Rosamund Jones
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m000rlpj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Tales from the Stave (m000lmz6)
My Fair Lady - Lerner and Loewe
My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe is perhaps the most successful musical of the golden age of the genre. When it was created in the 1950s it brought together not only the librettist Lerner and the composer Loewe, but also Broadway's best arrangers and orchestrators as well as the performing brilliance of the leads who brought it to the stage, Dame Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison.
The manuscripts of the collections of both Lerner and Loewe, now housed at the Library of Congress, give a unique insight into this creative journey that lasted from 1952 to 1956. In a programme recorded as the Covid 19 crisis loomed on the horizon, Christine Andreas who sang the role of Eliza Doolittle in the official Broadway 20th anniversary production of the show, and Ted Sperling who was the MD of the latest award winning version that ran until 2019, are shown the way classic numbers like 'Just You Wait' and 'I could have danced all night' were honed and perfected. With the guidance of scholar Dominic McHugh and library curator Mark Horowitz, they also get to see numbers that were crafted, perfected and then cut as the final production prepared for its Broadway opening.
Producer: Tom Alban
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000rlpl)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world
WED 17:00 PM (m000rlpn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rlps)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m000rlpv)
Series 2
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
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 5, ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ – Roger is late home from a pub lunch and Joanna finds out he had a ‘chance encounter’ on the train home with a former student and didn’t tell her.
In spite of his protests that it was innocent, Joanna warns the woman off – but then confesses she has been strongly attracted to another man.
Written by Jan Etherington. Produced and directed by Claire Jones. Production co-ordinator Beverly Tagg. A BBC Studios Production.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000rllz)
Brian makes his presence felt and Freddie tries to keep the peace.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000rlpx)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 Lamentation (m000rlnn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 The Spark (m000rlpz)
Tim Spector and Food Myths
Helen Lewis returns with a new series of interviews with people offering radical solutions to the big problems we face, and explores how their personal experiences drive their work and thinking.
In his book Spoon-Fed, the genetic epidemiologist Tim Spector argues that almost everything we have been told about food is wrong. He tells Helen why - and what he thinks can be done to transform the situation.
Producer: Phil Tinline
WED 20:45 What Is a Story? (b061tpq2)
As If: Dreams of Shelter
Marina Warner concludes her series with an episode titled 'As if: Dreams of Shelter'.
A look at the world of contemporary fiction. In the company of leading contemporary writers, she considers a story and story writing from a different angle.
Marina speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
There are questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction which Marina believes are central to any consideration of storytelling, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller or writer and the audience.
With discussions on the reasons for writing, writers as witnesses and political interaction.
Marina was Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and the series draws on the expertise of the International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.
Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio first broadcast in July 2015.
WED 21:00 Mysteries of Sleep (b09hrkwd)
Series 1
Dreaming
Imagine waking up and finding you're paralysed. Unable to move. Dark, shadowy figures enter your room, demonic images press against your face. You open your mouth to scream but you can't make a sound. A heavy pressure bears down on you. You feel like you're suffocating. The more you panic, the longer it lasts. Welcome to the terrifying world of sleep paralysis - just one of the sleep disorders experienced by patients of neurologist, Dr Guy Leschziner, from Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals in London.
In this programme, he explores this and other medical conditions that affect normal dreaming and assesses what they tell us about the brain and its control of our sleep.
Dreaming usually occurs in REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement sleep) when our brains are very active, but our bodies are not. A switch in the brain paralyses almost all our muscles, to stop us hurting ourselves. But sometimes this switch is faulty, causing sleep disorders that can significantly impact daily life.
We meet Evelyn who experiences sleep paralysis and horrific hallucinations. Christian describes his narcolepsy, a rare brain condition that makes him suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times - including when driving a forklift truck. Adrian recounts his experience of cataplexy, a sleep disorder that can happen during the day and means he suddenly loses control of his muscles. And we hear from John who has REM sleep behaviour disorder (known as RBD) which causes him to act out his dreams, kicking and thrashing in his sleep. Sometimes injuring himself and his wife, Liz. And we learn how RBD may be an early warning of degenerative brain conditions like Parkinson's disease and certain types of dementia.
Presenter: Dr Guy Leschziner
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000rlpl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000rlq1)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rlp1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
WED 23:00 Bunk Bed (m000rlq3)
Series 7
Episode Four (with Kathy Burke)
Kathy Burke returns to the pull-out mattress to discuss self-censorship, Irish accents, boyfriends and her father - before Patrick sings them both a lullaby.
The three bed fellows discuss the meaning of having 'a good heart' and Peter shares some of the pleasure and pain that results from having an attractive voice, but an Irish accent.
A Foghorn Company production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 The Skewer (m000rlq5)
Series 3
Episode 3
Jon Holmes's award winning satirical river of sound returns to twist itself into the news.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000rlq7)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 28 JANUARY 2021
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000rlq9)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rlqc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rlqf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rlqh)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rlqk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000rlqm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000rlqp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Good morning.
Two hundred and eight years ago today, Jane Austen’s much loved novel, Pride and Prejudice, was published, written by a woman who did not travel far from her Hampshire village, but could nevertheless express a world of emotion and humour in her brilliant prose. She studied the human condition, and poked fun at the social customs of her day, the snobberies, the desire for money, the obsession with landowning, the fate of women like her who had no dowry, and little to recommend them as eligible matches for bright young men seeking a fortune. We may not like many of her characters. But we can admire her wide-ranging social observations.
So as we reassess our priorities in the wake of this pandemic, having been locked down for months, Jane Austen has much to teach us. She would have grasped opportunities had they been given to her. Young people are queuing up now to become doctors and nurses, when they have witnessed the stress those clinicians are under, but admired what they do.
As we emerge from this pandemic, give us the wisdom, God, to reexamine our lives to see what we can contribute to our society. The rabbis told us this nearly 2000 years ago: “The day is short, the work is huge,…… and the Master of the house (God) is pressing us.”
They also said: "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it." God, give us the strength to grasp opportunities, and to do what is right to help others in this changing world of ours.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000rlqr)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dwsb7)
Jackdaw
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 jackdaw. Jackdaws are scavengers with a reputation for stealing shiny or glittering objects. Martin Hughes-Games tells the story of a tame jackdaw he had as a child, which became a very colourful member of the family, with her very own store of costume jewellery to play with.
THU 06:00 Today (m000rll2)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000rll4)
Saint Cuthbert
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Northumbrian man who, for 500 years, was the pre-eminent English saint, to be matched only by Thomas Becket after his martyrdom in 1170. Now at Durham, Cuthbert was buried first on Lindisfarne in 687AD, where monks shared vivid stories of his sanctifying miracles, his healing, and his power over nature, and his final tomb became a major site of pilgrimage. In his lifetime he was both hermit and kingmaker, bishop and travelling priest, and the many accounts we have of him, including two by Bede, tell us much of the values of those who venerated him so soon after his death.
The image above is from a stained glass window in the south aisle of the nave in Durham Cathedral: 'St Cuthbert praying before his cell in the Farne Island'
With
Jane Hawkes
Professor of Medieval Art History at the University of York
Sarah Foot
The Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford and Canon of Christ Church Cathedral
And
John Hines
Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rll6)
Ep 4 - Kiev
Esther Safran Foer makes an emotional journey to the Ukrainian shtetls where her parents once lived, and where so many perished during the Holocaust. Sara Kestelman reads.
When Esther Safran Foer's mother made an extraordinary revelation about her father, Esther set out to uncover the truth about what happened to both her parents and their extended families during the brutal years of the Holocaust. In the absence of memory, mementos, photos, or even names, Esther must find unique ways to record and remember the past. What emerges is a powerful story about loss, memory and the power of kinship and community.
Esther Safran Foer was the CEO of Sixth and I, a centre for arts, ideas and religion. She lives in Washington D.C with her husband Bert. They are the parents of Franklin, Jonathan, and Joshua, and the grandparents of six.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000rll9)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
THU 10:45 Lamentation (m000rllc)
Episode 9
9/10. Drama based on the best-selling novel by C.J. Sansom. Shardlake is arrested and taken to the Tower of London.
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald
Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m000rllf)
Insight, and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world
THU 11:30 Unplayable: Disability and the Gaming Revolution (m000rllh)
There has long been a sizable gap between the popularity of video games and their accessibility. Disabled gamers can find themselves thwarted by changes to controller settings, frozen out of storylines because particular motor skills are being tested, or stymied by sudden obstacles that require acute hearing or eyesight from someone who has hearing or sight loss.
But after decades of advocacy work by disabled gamers, that gap is beginning to close. In this documentary, Steve hears some of the stories behind how gaming became more accessible. Contributions include Steve Spohn from Able Gamers on how a bag of rice proved instrumental in getting an innovative controller made and Mike 'BrolyLegs' Begum, who uses his face to press the buttons and has become one of the best Street Fighter players in the world.
Blind gamer Steve Saylor always thought that he sucked at gaming - it turned out that gaming sucked for him.
Produced by Ant Adeane
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000rllk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000rss0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 12:06 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rllm)
Episode 4
By Richard Osman, abridged by Sara Davies and read by Haydn Gwynne.
The police are investigating the brutal murder that's the talk of Coopers Chase retirement village. But The Thursday Murder Club are way ahead of them.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
THU 12:20 You and Yours (m000rllq)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m000rlls)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000rllv)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 Bodies (m000rllx)
Episode 9: Dutch Still Life - the theatre of anatomy
The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.
When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.
In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.
Episode 9: Dutch Still Life - the theatre of anatomy
Art, literature and science in 17th century Holland shared a fascination with death – and overlapped each other in macabre ways as they explored their subject. Dutch anatomists made great discoveries both about the structure of the body and how to preserve and prepare corpses for dissection. But they also created what today we'd call artistic installations. Some turned their dissection theatres into museums of curiosities open to the public, others took preserved body parts to create creepy scenes – a boy's foot stamping on the guts of a girl who had died, a fetal head resting on a pillow of placenta. Professor Alice Roberts explores this intriguing turn of events in the history of anatomy.
Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000rllz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (m000rlm1)
Voodoo Macbeth
by Sharon Oakes
In 1936, the newly-formed Federal Theatre Project’s Negro Unit (part of the ‘New Deal’ initiative) decided to stage a production of Macbeth.
The production was the box office sensation, ‘VOODOO’ MACBETH which is regarded as a landmark theatrical event for several reasons: its radical interpretation of the play, its success in promoting African-American theatre, and its role in securing the reputation of its 20 year old director, Orson Welles.
Our drama charts the impact of staging this production on both cast and director. We follow the trials and tribulations of mounting a huge production with only a handful of trained actors, an inexperienced yet wildly ambitious director, a cast of nearly 150 including Haitian voodoo drummers and a witchdoctor - as well as constant protests by Harlem Communists on the streets outside the theatre.
In spite of everything, Welles’ production was not only a breath-taking, traffic-stopping, must-see success but, radically, it played to integrated audiences. Three years before his death Welles said in a BBC interview, “by all odds, it was my greatest achievement."
Orson Welles – Tom Bateman
Jack Carter – Ariyon Bakare
Edna Thomas – Clare Perkins
John Houseman – John Hollingworth
Abe Feder/John Barrymore – Tom Lawrence
All other parts – Adam Courting, Maggie Service, Lloyd Thomas.
directed by Gaynor Macfarlane
THU 15:00 Open Country (m000rlm3)
Julia Blackburn and the Suffolk coast
Helen Mark talks to the writer Julia Blackburn about her love of the Suffolk coastline and the ways in which this ancient seascape has influenced her work.
Producer: Toby Field
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000rlm5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000rlm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000rlm9)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000rlmc)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world
THU 17:00 PM (m000rlmf)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rlmh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Elephant in the Room (m000rlmk)
Series 2
Episode 4
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 Kate Fox, Shappi Khorsandi, Eleanor Tiernan and Scott Bennett.
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 (m000rlmm)
Writers, Naylah Ahmed & Keri Davies
Director, Julie Beckett
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Shula Hebden Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Stephanie Casey ….. Kerry Gooderson
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000rlmp)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 Lamentation (m000rllc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000rlmr)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders explore major news stories.
THU 20:30 The Untold (m000h8g3)
Ron and his Royal Medal
In the 1970s, Ronnie Russell accidentally saved Princess Anne.
Ron was a heavyweight boxer – 6’4” with “very large” hands – who had grown up in the East End and learnt to box at the Kray twins’ gym.
He was travelling back from his job as a manager of a cleaning firm when he passed a car with a blue light, and witnessed another car stop in front of it. He knew the blue light meant it had a royal passenger. He thought it was a case of road rage and was concerned that the person about to lose their rag didn’t realise the trouble they would soon be in.
“If I see someone in trouble, I always think I’m a good person to stop it.”
And so he got out of his car and went over to intervene – and that is when he saw the man pull a gun out. The man was Ian Ball, and he was attempting to kidnap the Princess Royal. He managed to shoot four people, before Ron got to him and knocked him out.
The Queen awarded him the George Medal – the highest award for civilian gallantry. But now, at the age of 72, and following ten years of health problems, Ron has decided to sell the medal in order to give him a secure future.
It’s not just the money he wants. At the time, he wasn’t allowed to speak to the press, and he feels some things were misreported. He wants the chance to tell his story. But he gets more than he bargained for – the news that he is to sell his medal, results in a media frenzy, and in the middle of this, good Samaritans start crowdfunding for him, and benefactors come forward offering to give him the money he needs for his future so he can keep it. What will he do?
Produced by Polly Weston
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000rlmc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000rll4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000rlmw)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rllm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
THU 23:00 Fred at The Stand (m000rln0)
Series 3
Mark Nelson, Sikisa, Janey Godley, Kai Humphries and Marcus Brigstocke
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 gig like never before!
Featuring cutting edge satirist and stand up, Marcus Brigstocke, one of Scotland’s funniest topical comedians Mark Nelson, star of stage and social media Janey Godley, and representing Newcastle where we should have recorded this show, the endlessly effervescent Kai Humphries.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000rln4)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 29 JANUARY 2021
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000rln8)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rll6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000rlnd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000rlnk)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000rlnp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000rlnt)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000rlny)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Julia Neuberger
Good morning.
It’s Friday, and the Jewish sabbath begins tonight. Normally a chance for a big family meal, with everyone telling everyone else about their week, and hugs and kisses all round, it’s very different during this pandemic. No hugs. No guests. Just the 2 of us for yet another meal. We still try to make it special. We light the sabbath candles with our children and grandchildren on Zoom.
Yet the hardest thing for so many of us is not being able to see and touch our loved ones. Older people in care homes. People with learning disabilities in residential care. People with dementia who cannot understand why it’s just a face at a window. And those who are very old who fell life slipping away in isolation rather than with family and friends. And yet we are so fortunate. We have Zoom and Teams. We have FaceTime and WhatsApp.
We can talk to friends in Australia as easily as to the children down the road we’re not allowed to visit. And we can keep in touch with people in ways our parents and grandparents couldn’t have dreamed of. So teach us, God, to value the relationships we have and the ways we have to maintain them. And remind us that those relationships matter far more than worldly goods. For they nourish us and our souls.
The rabbis taught us: “Get yourself a teacher, acquire a friend, and judge every person on the side of merit.” So let’s not bear grudges, and complain about family and friends whilst we’re missing them in lockdown, but instead really look forward to the time we can see friends and family again, and open our arms to them in joy.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000rlp2)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03z9k44)
Woodcock
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Kate Humble presents the woodcock. Woodcocks are waders, thickset, long-billed, and superbly camouflaged. On the woodland floor, where they hide by day, their rust, fawn and black plumage conceals them among the dead leaves of winter. Often the first sign that they're about is a blur of russet and a whirr of wings as a woodcock rises from almost under your feet and twists away between the tree-trunks.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000rnkc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000rm8y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 I Want You To Know We're Still Here by Esther Safran Foer (m000rnmb)
Ep 5 - The Photograph
Esther Safran Foer finds answers among the horrors of the past, and her quest to find the truth is fulfilled. Sara Kestelman.
Esther Safran Foer knew little of her parents' early years during WWII in Ukraine where so many of her family perished during the Holocaust. Then in her early forties, Esther decided to uncover the truth about what happened to her mother and father and their extended families during the Holocaust. In the absence of memory, mementos, photos, or even a name, Esther finds her own way to remember and record her family's legacy. What emerges is a powerful story about loss, memory and the power of kinship and community.
Esther Safran Foer was the CEO of Sixth and I, a centre for arts, ideas and religion. She lives in Washington D.C with her husband Bert. They are the parents of Franklin, Jonathan, and Joshua, and the grandparents of six.
Abridged by Julian Wilkinson
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000rnkr)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
FRI 10:45 Lamentation (m000rnkv)
Episode 10
10/10. Final episode. Drama based on the best-selling novel by C.J. Sansom. After a brutal struggle, a wounded Barak is dumped on a rubbish heap by his attackers - while Shardlake is escorted to Whitehall for a fateful audience with Henry VIII.
Dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland
FRI 11:00 The Disrupters (m000rtg0)
CEO of Netflix: Reed Hastings
Kamal Ahmed and Rohan Silva lift the lid on the realities of starting your own business.
Kamal and Rohan speak to founder and CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings. Reed discloses the mistakes made in his first business and how he overcame them. They talk about what it took for Netflix to take on a company 100 times their size - and win.
Plus why creative industries need to break away from work practises tailored to the industrial era and what that means for Netflix employees: no bonuses, no holiday limits and why being 'on the clock' doesn't apply.
Presenters: Kamal Ahmed and Rohan Silva
Producer: Georgia Catt
FRI 11:30 Skeletons in the Cupboard (m000rnkx)
Dial M for Maureen
Lesley and Maureen turn detective. While Lesley follows David to meet his publisher in London, Maureen stays behind to search the house for the incriminating manuscript.
But David takes a detour, misses his train, lets himself in to three strange houses and returns to their house while Maureen is still inside. Now Maureen is trapped and David is building something sinister in the cellar.
A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000rnqx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:03 Shipping Forecast (m000rsxb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 12:06 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rnl1)
Episode 5
By Richard Osman. Abridged by Sara Davies and read by Haydn Gwynne.
Elizabeth has turned up some incriminating financial information that might lead to the killer.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery
FRI 12:20 You and Yours (m000rnl3)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000rnl5)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000rnl7)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Caroline Wyatt.
FRI 13:45 Bodies (m000rnl9)
Episode 10: Visible and Invisible - where the body ends
The human body is the battleground where our most fundamental ideas about the way the world is come into sharp focus.
When we think and talk about the body, we are suddenly very aware of that pattern of thinking which frames concepts in opposition, divides the world up between dark and light, material and immaterial, technology and humanity, invisible and visible, mind and body, body and soul.
In this ten part series, academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts traces how human knowledge of anatomy has grown and changed over time, and how this changing understanding has in turn affected our understanding of who we are.
Episode 10: Visible and Invisible - where the body ends
Professor Alice Roberts ends her journey through the history of anatomy. From pre-history until the 20th century, the story was broadly the transformation of a conception of the body as a mysterious black box into the body as a machine. But now we seem on the cusp of a new era – with technology profoundly changing the ways we view our bodies both metaphorically and practically.
Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000rlmm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (m000rnlc)
Our Truth, Their Lies
Our Truth Their Lies is a reactive drama about an alarming phenomenon in British society – the growing influence of conspiracy theories such as QAnon. High-profile proponents like David Icke come from a reassuringly loony fringe, but many of those now subscribing to and spreading unproven theories are hitherto rational people from very ordinary backgrounds. There are multiple gateways to QAnon obsession: a belief that 5G played a role in the pandemic, concerns that organised child sex abuse is coordinated by a cabal of global elites, fears that vaccines are a form of insidious government control. A belief in any one of these often exposes social media users to a barrage of unfounded stories about the others.
Our story backtracks through 2020 as it follows Jen’s journey into the darker reaches of the online conspiracy theory universe. We get a portrait of a loving, mostly functional family thrown into crisis as Michael and Louise try to make sense of Jen’s transformation. They reach an uneasy accommodation with Jen, but it is painfully apparent that she has seen the dark heart of the world and it’s her moral duty to spread the word. For her silence is not an option.
Written by Hugh Costello
Jen Monica Dolan
Michael Nicholas Murchie
Louise Macy Nyman
Luka Matthew Aubrey
Newcaster/
Bot Jane Slavin
Director Eoin O’Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000rnlf)
GQT at Home: Episode Forty-One
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts hosted by Peter Gibbs. Joining him on the panel are pests and diseases expert Pippa Greenwood, RHS Curator Matthew Pottage, and plantsman Matt Biggs. They answer questions sent in by listeners.
Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000rnlh)
Where Joy Gone?
By Ingrid Persaud. Joy is in the late stages of dementia. Every week, her daughter Lani visits her in the care home and tries to trigger her memory with food.
Born in Trinidad, Ingrid Persaud won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2017 and the BBC Short Story Award in 2018. Her first novel, Love After Love, won the 2020 Costa Prize First Novel Award.
Writer: Ingrid Persaud
Reader: Ingrid Persaud
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000rnlk)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m000rln5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m000rnlm)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000rnlr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000rnlt)
Series 104
Episode 5
A satirical review of the week's news.
FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000rnlw)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 Lamentation (m000rnkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000rnly)
Lord Hogan-Howe, Kirsty Williams MS
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Broadcasting House in London with a panel which includes the crossbench peer and former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Hogan-Howe and the Liberal Democrat and Education Minister for Wales Kirsty Williams MS.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Studio direction: Laura Thomas
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000rnm0)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 Bodies (m000rnm2)
Omnibus Episode 2
In this second omnibus edition of Alice Roberts' series, she begins by looking at the medieval era and how it stands out for its obsession with the body and proliferation of theories, often far-fetched, surrounding it. She takes us from transformation of Thomas Becket's body from a corpse into a relic, to arguments around resurrection, sex and the mirroring between the human body and the elements that make up the universe.
Perhaps the most beautiful anatomical drawings of them all are from the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Alice celebrates da Vinci's lifelong fascination with anatomy and the ground-breaking diagrams he made.
In 1543, De humani corporis fabrica – on the fabric of the human body – by a Flemish artist known by his Latin name, Vesalius was published. This book was full of the most gorgeous illustrations of anatomy. Its publication marks a watershed.
Art, literature and science in 17th century Holland shared a fascination with death – and overlapped each other in macabre ways as they explored their subject. Dutch anatomists made discoveries both about the structure of the body and how to preserve and prepare corpses for dissection. But they also created what today we'd call artistic installations.
From pre-history until the 20th century, the story was broadly the transformation of a conception of the body as a mysterious black box into the body as a machine. But now we seem on the cusp of a new era – with technology profoundly changing the ways we view our bodies both metaphorically and practically.
Presenter: Professor Alice Roberts
Actor: Jonathan Kydd
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000rnm4)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (m000rnl1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:06 today]
FRI 23:00 Americast (m000rs28)
Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel follow the the US election.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000rnm6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament