SATURDAY 22 MAY 2021
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000w5wx)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:30 How I Learned To Understand The World by Hans Rosling (m000w5wz)
Episode 5
Professor Hans Rosling was ‘the man in whose hands data sings’. He was dubbed ‘a true inspiration’ by Bill Gates and became a viral celebrity thanks to his popular TED talks, which broke down the statistics behind global health and economics. Passionately driven to dispel common myths about the so-called developing world, he used facts in a new way to share the surprisingly good news about global development.
In his memoir, completed just before he died, the data visionary looks back at the events that shaped his world view. From curiosity about his family history through to working as a doctor in Mozambique, he pinpoints the encounters that drove him to a life dedicated to fundamentally changing our view of the world.
Hans Rosling is travelling to Liberia, where his public health expertise is needed to fight a deadly outbreak of Ebola.
Read by Adrian Rawlins
Written by Hans Rosling with Fanny Härgestam
Translated by Dr Anna Paterson
Abridged by Anna Magnusson
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000w5x1)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000w5x3)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000w5x5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m000w5x7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000w5x9)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good Morning. The man was staring intently at the grey steeple at the top of a pretty church outside Durham, North Carolina where I was then studying for the ministry.
“Like our new lightning rod?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
“Has the church been struck before?” I replied.
He shook his head. “Nah. You see, the Holy Spirit once came down on that church and caused a revival. That led to no end of trouble. So, we figured if we installed a lightning rod, the next time the Spirit comes, we’ll channel it harmlessly out into the ground.”
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended onto the first apostles like tongues of fire, inspiring them to preach the Gospel of the Risen Christ.
You might say it caused a revival and no end of trouble.
Before the Holy Spirit’s descent, the Apostles could only hide away in the Upper Room. Afterwards, they preached the Gospel boldly and fearlessly. Before, the most trouble they could cause was to elect a new apostle. Now, they would turn the world upside down. From those twelve useless disciples came a message of faith, hope, and love that changed the world utterly.
You might say that the Holy Spirit caused no end of trouble by giving the Church a pulse. That same Spirit remains available to do the same for us today. We’ve only to ask.
God, who filled the hearts of your faithful people with the fire of your love, grant us such a measure of your Spirit that we may turn this world upside down by contending for all that is good and against all that is evil and corrupt. Amen
SAT 05:45 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
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000wbxj)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m000w5j5)
Screenwriter Kay Mellor at Harewood in Leeds
Kay Mellor is one of our most successful screenwriters. On today's ramble she takes Clare on her favourite route at Harewood House in her home city of Leeds. En route they discuss The Syndicate, Kay's hit drama series on BBC One and the iPlayer, which tells the story of a group of people who have won a huge amount of money on a lottery. Kay also discusses how walking helps her in the writing process, her desire to nurture more new writers, and how she started directing her own work.
The walk they do is on land which is free to enter, but there is a charge to enter the main house and grounds of Harewood. They met at Grid Reference: SE 325 431 by large iron gates.
Producer: Karen Gregor
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000wbxl)
22/05/21 Farming Today This Week: Australia tariff-free trade deal, peat action plan, access to the countryside
British farmers are furious and talking of a "betrayal" by the Government on a potentially tariff-free trade deal with Australia. They say a big increase in imports of Australian beef and lamb could cripple British producers who would be undercut by meat produced to lower welfare standards.
The Government announced its England Peat Action Plan, with proposals to restore damaged dry peatland which releases carbon dioxide to a wetter state, which locks in carbon. The Wildlife Trusts' chief executive Craig Bennett said the initial target to restore 35,000 hectares was disappointing.
Over the last year, rural areas of the UK have have seen a massive rise in the number of visitors, especially when lockdown rules have prevented people travelling abroad. We look at access to the countryside, and the pressure that can bring to those who live and work there.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m000wbxn)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m000wbxq)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000wbxs)
Omid Djalili
Award winning comedian and actor Omid Djalili joins us to talk about his route to fame, taking part in Splash, quiz show catchphrases, performing in Persian for the first time recently and getting back on stage after lockdown.
In 1974, aged 17, Debbie Gayle travelled to the Soviet Union to train at the Kirov school of ballet. It was the height of the Cold war, and she found the experience thoroughly unwelcoming with the exception of a woman called Natasha who became her friend. When Debbie became ill and was isolated in hospital, Natasha proved to be a life line, helping her return to the UK where she left ballet and started a family. Almost 50 years later, after having cancer, she told the story to her son and tracked Natasha down.
Former Chelsea and Everton winger turned 5live pundit Pat Nevin on becoming a footballer by accident.
Emma Gray is a world-renowned sheepdog trainer who recently relocated from a remote farm in Northumberland to the even more remote Isle of Bute in Scotland. Not only did she take along her husband and baby, as one would expect, but she packed up her 500 sheep, 40 cows and 20 dogs and transported them by ferry. She talks to us about uprooting, new love and new pastures.
Mary Beard chooses her inheritance tracks: Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel and Sisters are Doin' it for Themselves by Eurythmics with Aretha Franklin. And your thank you!
Producer: Corinna Jones
SAT 10:30 You're Dead To Me (p07r3cdy)
Lord Byron
Who was Lord Byron and why did he drive the girls (and many boys) so wild? Find out about this scandalous early celebrity who was described as, "mad, bad and dangerous to know". Greg Jenner is joined by comedian Ed Gamble and historian Dr Corin Throsby.
This episode was produced by Dan Morelle and scripted and researched by Emma Nagouse.
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m000wbxx)
Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000wbxz)
Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers from around the world.
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000wc23)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000wby3)
The latest news from the world of personal finance
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m000w5wj)
Series 105
Episode 6
Andy Zaltzman is joined by Geoff Norcott, Anand Menon, Felicity Ward and Eleanor Tiernan for a look back at the week's headlines
Items on this week's agenda include foreign holidays and sheep. Stories range from red to green via amber in terms of national importance.
Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Cherlynn Andrew-Wilfred
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m000wby5)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m000wby7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m000w5wn)
Pauline Black, Jess Phillips MP, Andy Street, Baroness Stuart
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Coventry Cathedral with a panel which includes the lead singer of The Selecter Pauline Black, the Labour MP and Shadow Home Office Minister Jess Philliips, the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and the non-affiliated peer and former Chair of Vote Leave Baroness Stuart.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m000wby9)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 One to One (m000m104)
Introverts & Extroverts: Russell Kane & Angela Barnes
What are you: an introvert or an extrovert? Russell Kane is a comedian, so he has always assumed he's a textbook loud-mouthed extrovert. But now he's not so sure.
Across this series of interviews, Russell explores exactly what we mean by the terms "introvert" and "extrovert". He questions whether it is useful to define people in this way and whether we have a cultural bias towards one personality type over the other.
In this third and final interview, Russell talks to fellow comedian Angela Barnes about playing the extrovert for work. Is there a disconnect between her on-stage and off-stage versions of self? And if so, are both authentic?
Producer: Becky Ripley
SAT 15:00 Drama (m000qhgn)
Dinner with Dylan
"My name’s Jon Canter and I’m a Bobaholic. That means I’m addicted to the songs and mystery of Bob Dylan. But it’s an addiction from which I never want to recover, because it’s sustained and nourished and challenged me for nearly 50 years.
There are millions of people like me and this play is dedicated to them. But it’s also dedicated to the people who know and love Bobaholics and have to live with their addiction, which isn’t always easy."
Dinner with Dylan is a play about three grown men - Bobaholics - who meet in a restaurant to chat about the meaning of life and Dylan. It's set in 2017, in the week when Dylan played a series of shows at the London Palladium and after an accidental meeting between playwright Jon Canter and writer and producer Richard Curtis. This is what happened next....
Cast:
Richard Curtis played by himself
Kerry Shale played by himself
Lucas Hare played by himself
Eileen Atkins played by herself
Sam Akbar Kurtha
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m000wbyc)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: We are Lady Parts, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow, Police abuse supercomplaint, Brit rising star Griff
A TV comedy series featuring funny and bold Muslim women – ‘We Are Lady Parts’ is a new six part comedy series for Channel 4. It follows the highs and lows of the female punk band Lady Parts. Anita speaks to Anjana Vasan and series writer Nida Manzoor.
The Government has announced a range of measures to protect the environment, from banning peat in garden centres to increasing the rate of tree planting and reversing the loss of species diversity. A 10p charge on single-use plastic bags came into force in England on Friday. But what difference will these policies - and others made in the run-up to COP26 - make to the crisis facing nature and the climate? Emma speaks to Environment Minister Rebecca Pow.
Listener Clementine Baig was diagnosed with Primary Ovarian Insufficiency last year, and got in touch to share her experiences with infertility. She's joined by the Podcaster Noni Martins, whose husband was diagnosed with Male Factor Infertility in 2019, to explore how an infertility diagnosis can impact families, relationships and self-image.
Since a supercomplaint was made last year about domestic abuse by police officers, dozens more women have come forward to say they are affected. The centre for women's justice is still waiting for an outcome to its complaint. But wants the way these cases are dealt with to be drastically changed. We talk to a woman who suffered abuse from her police officer husband.
The terms polyamorous and consensually non-monogamous are increasingly normalised when it comes to relationships and dating. For some people, monogamy just doesn’t work for them. We hear from three people who all describe themselves as non-monogamous.
Twenty year old Griff is the recipient of this year’s prestigious BRITs Rising Star Award, following past winners such as Celeste, Sam Smith and Adele. Griff has also been nominated for an Ivor Novello award and ended 2020 by singing the sound-track for Disney's Christmas advert. She performs a special version of her song Black Hole for Woman’s Hour.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
SAT 17:00 PM (m000wbyf)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m000wbyh)
Nick Robinson talks to the Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes in a personal and political interview.
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000wbyk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 17:57 Weather (m000wbym)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wbyp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000wbyr)
Seth Rogen, Lesley Sharp, Gilles Peterson, Derek Griffiths, Allison Russell, Gruff Rhys, Sara Cox, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and Sara Cox are joined by Seth Rogen, Lesley Sharp, Gilles Peterson and Derek Griffiths for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Allison Russell and Gruff Rhys.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m000wbyt)
Edwin Poots
Edwin Poots has been named as the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.
A farmer from the outskirts of Lisburn, not far from Belfast. Mr Poots entered political life in 1997 - and, since then, he's slowly but steadily risen to the top. He's held four Ministeries including health and agriculture and is viewed across the sectarian divide as a shrewd political strategist.
A devoutly religious and committed member of the Free Presbyterian church, Mr Poots's ultra-conservative views on issues such as abortion and gay marriage have attracted heavy criticism over the years, as has his strongly held belief that the earth is 4,000 years old.
His supporters, however, insist that his personal beliefs have no bearing on his ability to do his job - and to lead the DUP into a new era.
Via in-depth interviews with family, close personal friends and political commentators, Becky Milligan reveals the character behind the caricature sketched by media, the real person behind the public persona of Edwin Poots.
Presenter: Becky Milligan
Researcher: Stefania Okereke
Studio manager: Rod Farquhar
Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Producer: Paul Connolly
Editor: Richard Vadon and Alex Lewis
SAT 19:15 My Teenage Diary (m000jmtm)
Series 9
Julie Myerson
Rufus Hound returns for another series of honest, intimate and hilarious interviews, with famous guests reading from their genuine teenage diaries.
Guests this series are Woman's Hour host Dame Jenni Murray, former Goodie Bill Oddie, comedian Shazia Mirza, impressionist Jan Ravens, podcaster Olly Mann and writer Julie Myerson.
Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 19:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m000w3lh)
Stand On One Leg
In this episode, Michael is reborn as a one legged yogi to reveal why the one leg stance is one the best thing you can do for a longer and more active life. He speaks to Professor Dawn Skelton at Glasgow Caledonian University, to find out what happens to your balance as you get older, why our balance is getting worse with each generation, and how regularly making yourself wobble could help improve your body and your brain.
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000wbyw)
Bob Dylan: Verbatim
The many variations of Bob Dylan’s life and music told in his own words, combining rare interviews, studio outtakes, archive and musings, all set to his music. Part of Radio 4's celebrations of Dylan's 80th birthday.
From his very first interviews when he arrived in New York in 1961 in search of Woody Guthrie and a path to musical eminence, Dylan created mystique and drama by offering obfuscate descriptions of his early life, as he set about creating a bohemian troubadour myth that transcended the real suburban Zimmerman upbringing.
He enjoyed these early fabrications and, realising they gave him power over journalists, he continued to use contradiction, dissension and confutation in interviews to avoid being labelled and typecast.
As his reputation grew, his patience withered and, before long, the media began describing him as tense, belligerent, taciturn, grim and irascible. All these iterations of one of the most acclaimed and admired singer songwriters in modern music are incorporated in to this unique soundscape.
A Zinc Media production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 Tumanbay (b06ycytj)
Series 1
Jaws of Victory
In the ninth episode of this epic saga inspired by the Mamluk slave-dynasty, a trade delegation from across the ocean, brings to Tumanbay the very latest in war merchandise. Convinced of victory by the words of the prophet child, the Sultan (Raad Rawi) is now ready to march out with his armies and destroy rebellious provincial leader Maya. His nephew Madu (Danny Ashok) has only one desire – to escape the city with his army comrade and lover Daniel (Gareth Kennerley). But Daniel is not everything he seems.
Tumanbay, the beating heart of a vast empire, is threatened by a rebellion in a far-off province and a mysterious force devouring the city from within.Gregor (Rufus Wright), Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri with the task of rooting out this insurgence and crushing it.
Cast:
Gregor........................Rufus Wright
Cadali.........................Matthew Marsh
Wolf............................Alexander Siddig
Sarah..........................Nina Yndis
Ibn..............................Nabil Elouahabi
Maya's Envoy..............Nadir Khan
Madu...........................Danny Ashok
Daniel..........................Gareth Kennerley
Heaven........................Olivia Popica
Slave............................Akin Gazi
Al-Ghuri........................Raad Rawi
General Qulan..............Christopher Fulford
Physician.......................Vivek Madan
The Hafiz.......................Antony Bunsee
Bello..............................Albert Welling
Frog...............................Deeivya Meir
Frog's Mother................Sirine Saba
Don Diego.....................John Sessions
Dona Ana......................Annabelle Dowler
Boy................................Darwin Brokenbro
Rider..............................Akbar Kurtha
Music - Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design - Steve Bond, Jon Ouin
Editors - Ania Przygoda, James Morgan
Producers - Nadir Khan, John Dryden
Written by Mike Walker
Directed by Emma Hearn
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:45 Drama (b087ppbn)
Reading Europe: Scandinavia
Sweden: Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion
A chance meeting at a party, a call in the early morning, and a day trip to the dry Spanish Interior - one sightseer is profoundly moved by her experience on the day.
Originally commissioned for a short story festival in Croatia, Swedish writer Lina Wolff's tale takes us from Madrid to Granada and back again, highlighting the different cultural views of northern and southern Europe and their attitudes to superstition, and leaving our narrator shaken and profoundly moved by her experience.
Lina Wolff has lived and worked in Italy and Spain. During her years in Valencia and Madrid she began to write her short story collection Many People Die Like You (2009). Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs, her first novel, was awarded the prestigious Vi Magazine Literature Prize and shortlisted for the 2013 Swedish Radio Award for Best Novel of the Year. She now lives in southern Sweden.
The translator, Saskia Vogel, is from Los Angeles and lives in Berlin where she works as a writer and Swedish-to-English literary translator. She has written on the themes of gender, power, and sexuality for publications such as Granta, The White Review, The Offing and The Quietus. Her translations include work by leading female authors such as Katrine Marcal, Karolina Ramqvist and the modernist eroticist Rut Hillarp.
This story is part of Radio 4's Reading Europe project and continues an exploration of contemporary writing from Scandinavia.
Written by Lina Wolff
Translated by Saskia Vogel
Read by Olivia Darnley
Produced by Lizzie Davies
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 22:00 News (m000wbyy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 The Reunion (m000m49c)
The Bid for London 2012
The Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games held in London in 2012 are widely regarded as one of the most successful of modern times. They regenerated a largely wasteland area in East London and inspired a generation into sport.
On the track, Team GB’s sporting performance was the best this country had produced at an Olympics since 1908, and there was an equal emphasis on the Paralympics too, with over 4,000 athletes from 164 countries competing in front of packed crowds.
However, the initial resistance and negative reception to the bid when it began in 2003, was a world away from the euphoria and patriotism that London 2012 would inspire. By the time London had decided to bid, the UK hadn’t tried to host the Olympics for a decade. There had been three previous failed British bids, by Birmingham and Manchester, and many years of cynicism by those who felt that hosting an Olympics was nothing more than an elaborate and expensive exercise in national ego boosting.
Encompassing resignations, a TV investigation that nearly scuttled the team’s hopes, and a dramatic final push involving Prime Ministers and global superstars, the story of the bid for London 2012 contains almost as much drama as the Games themselves.
Kirsty Wark is joined by core members of the bid team:
Barbara Cassani was the first Chair of the bid and Sir Keith Mills was its Chief Executive.
Jonathan Edwards and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson sat on the Athletes Advisory Board.
Richard Caborn was the Minister for Sport and Sir Craig Reedie was a member of the International Olympic Committee
Lord Sebastian Coe became Bid Chair in its second stage.
Producer: Steve Hankey
Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (m000w4p2)
Programme 11, 2021
(11/12)
For the final time this season David Edwards and Myfanwy Alexander of Wales meet Val McDermid and Alan McCredie of Scotland. Another win could make a crucial difference to either team's position on the 2021 league table. Tom Sutcliffe asks the programme's trademark cryptic questions, and awards and deducts points according to how much of a nudge he has to provide as they grapple towards the answers.
There are several questions based on ideas sent in by RBQ listeners, and Tom will also have the answer to the puzzle he left unanswered at the end of last week's quiz.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SAT 23:30 The Medieval Feminist (m000w3m1)
Writer and comedian Carys Eleri reignites a centuries old creative beef, exploring the hilarious, erotic and whip-smart poetry of Gwerful Mechain.
If you went to school in Wales or like a bit of medieval poetry, you’ve probably heard of Dafydd ap Gwilym, who was regarded as one of the greatest Welsh bards of the Middle Ages but is probably best known for writing an Ode to the Penis. However, few know the name Gwerful Mechain, who just one century later penned a Poem to the Vagina. Carys Eleri wants to find out why.
Gwerful is the only female Welsh medieval poet whose work has survived - but until very recently her writing was suppressed by male scholars who disapproved of her enthusiastic tendency towards the indecent. Rude, risqué and fiercely feminist, Gwerful's poetry cuts through even in the 21st century.
Katie Gramich, who recently published the first complete translation of Gwerful’s surviving works, tells Carys about Gwerful’s talent for "dyfalu" - concocting ingeniously bizarre metaphors - and her habit of writing incendiary rebuttals to her male contemporaries.
To find out why sparring inspires creativity, Carys talks to rapper Nadia Rose about growing up on the battle rap scene. Never one to bite her tongue and no stranger to a poetic beef, Nadia tells Carys how diss tracks have birthed some of the most creatively cutting lyrics in rap.
Carys first stumbled upon Gwerful when her friend, historian Sara Huws, posted an ASMR video of her reading Poem to the Vagina on Instagram. Carys and Sara chat about rediscovering and relating to Gwerful today.
Throughout the programme, the poetic battles of Gwerful and her contemporaries break out of the dusty archives and are brought to life with shockingly rude dramatic readings by Alexandria Riley and Geraint Rhys Edwards.
SUNDAY 23 MAY 2021
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000wbz0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:30 Empty Stages (m000w5w4)
Madison Chorus
When drama graduate and part-time usher Madison is laid off during the pandemic by the famous London theatre where she works, she joins a skeleton team of night cleaners – all of them young actors – on a temporary contract to check and clean the building overnight.
Working in rotation, each of them alone, they take turns to sweep and polish the empty stage, sometimes spontaneously performing to the vacant auditorium.
On Madison’s shift, she reflects on her difficult journey into acting and speculates about her uncertain future. Must she abandon her dreams and return to Yorkshire? Is she deluding herself she could ever succeed? Standing under the ghostlight – the lightbulb which illuminates an otherwise dark stage – Madison experiences a life-changing revelation.
Read by Lisa McGrillis
Written by Nicola Baldwin
Directed by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000wbz2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000wbz4)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000wbz6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000wbz8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000wbzb)
The Church of St Peter and St Paul, in Aston in Birmingham
Bells on Sunday comes from the Church of St Peter and St Paul, in Aston in Birmingham. A church at Aston is recorded in the Domesday Book when Aston was valued at one hundred shillings, five times as much as the nearby settlement of Birmingham. The fifteenth century west tower houses a ring of twelve bells, cast by Taylors of Loughborough in 1935 with a tenor weighing twenty four and a half hundredweight and tuned to the note of D. We hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Maximus.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m000wbyt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m000wbzd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0495llj)
Rocks that Fail
Mark Tully asks what happens when the things or people we rely on to be strong, to be there, to be with us, turn out to be fragile, absent, or against us.
From Peter's denial of Jesus, to the failure of financial institutions in times of economic depression, Mark suggests that a crack in a rock need not necessarily be a fatal fault line. From one of the great medieval love stories, he draws from the letters of Heloise castigating her lover Abelard for failing her, while insisting that still only he can be her rock. And he finds a metaphor for our very human tendency to mask our inner weakness with a show of outward strength in the extraordinary phenomenon that is a Prince Rupert's Drop - a tear-shaped drop of glass that can withstand the blows of a hammer to its bulbous end, but will explode into fragments at the slightest twist of its tail.
The programme features the song Anthem by Leonard Cohen, which includes the lyrics, "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in". Mark considers if it is ever possible to find perfection or whether, paradoxically, we should use the flaws we come across to strengthen our faith in the people and institutions on which we build our lives.
The readers are Brian Cox, Frank Stirling and Fiona Shaw.
Producer: Adam Fowler
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000wbzg)
Nigel Owens
Anna Jones visits the Gwendraeth Valley in Carmarthenshire, to meet a farmer better known for his work in a very different field.
Nigel Owens MBE came from a farming background, but fell in love with rugby refereeing while he was at school and went on to have a 17-year career in the sport, making history as the first professional referee to oversee a hundred test matches, before retiring last year. He's also spoken out candidly about his experience of being the sport’s first openly gay personality, and the mental health issues he overcame as a young man coming to terms with his sexuality.
Today, Nigel is the proud owner of a herd of Herefords, and the current President of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs - where he hopes to spread a message of inclusivity and positivity at a time of real change for British agriculture.
Presented by Anna Jones. Produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this programme, there are details of organisations that offer advice and support at BBC Action Line:
Emotional Distress / Suicide
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/emotional-distress-information-and-support
Mental Health in the Farming Community
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/489tVhcXfvd98RmcH5CBmdj/information-and-support-mental-health-in-the-farming-community
Mental Health
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm
Eating Disorders
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2DRkg4JC7SLT3B7hlrn6DKN/information-and-support-eating-disorders
LGBT Issues
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1nYWPTdMtKStFL2ztx1SV11/information-and-support-lgbt-issues
SUN 06:57 Weather (m000wbzj)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000wbzl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000wbzn)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000wbzq)
International Justice Mission UK
Rapper Guvna B makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of International Justice Mission UK.
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 ‘International Justice Mission UK’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘International Justice Mission UK’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
Registered Charity Number: 1099126
Main image credit: Prince Gyasi
SUN 07:57 Weather (m000wbzs)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000wbzv)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000wbzx)
The Breath of Life
Bishop of Bangor, the Right Reverend Andy John and Archdeacon of Bangor, the Venerable Mary Stallard, lead a service for Pentecost from St Tudno's Church on the Great Orme peninsula. With readings from the Vicar of Llandudno, Reverend Andrew Sully.
Music used in the service (recorded prior to lockdown or commercially available) includes:
Immortal Invisible (BBC recording: Bangor Cathedral)
Wind Upon The Waters (Marty Haugen)
Breathe on me Breath of God (BBC recording: Cantemus Chamber Choir)
Veni Creator Spiritus (Portsmouth Cathedral Choir)
O Thou Who Camest From Above (BBC recording: St David's Cathedral Pembrokeshire)
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000w5wq)
On Concrete
Rebecca Stott reflects on why we should be looking to the Romans, and our other ancestors, for imaginative ways of building.
"People who walked the planet long before us knew more sustainable ways to build their homes", she writes.
With concrete responsible for 8% of the world's carbon emissions, Rebecca argues that we urgently need to find alternatives.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b0423ctf)
Reed Bunting
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the reed bunting. The reed bunting makes up for its lack of musicality with striking good looks. Male birds have jet black heads and a white moustache and look stunning on a spring day as they sit on shrubs or sway on reed stems, flicking their tales nervously and chanting a simple refrain.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000wbzz)
News with Paddy O'Connell including the future of the Union, what we get wrong about the North and the pursuit of Love. Reviewing the news: Michael Portillo, Janey Godley and Mark Pougatch.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000wc01)
Writers, Liz John and Nick Warburton
Director, Marina Caldarone
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas
Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge … Angela Piper
Alice Carter … Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter … Wilf Scolding
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter … Charlotte Martin
Emma Grundy … Emerald O’hanrahan
Shula Hebden Lloyd … Judy Bennett
Jim Lloyd … John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller … Annabelle Dowler
Peggy Woolley … June Spencer
SUN 10:54 Tweet of the Day (m000wc03)
Tweet Take 5 : Flycatchers
Two charismatic species of flycatcher enrich the summer landscape after their arrival from Africa. The pied flycatcher is a sprightly bird of open oak woodlands in the west and north. It's relative the spotted flycatcher is more at home nearer human habitation as we'll hear in this extended version of Tweet of the Day featuring Sir David Attenborough on the pied flycatcher, with Steve Backshall and ecologist Penny Anderson on the spotted flycatcher.
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Andrew Dawes.
SUN 11:00 Desert Island Discs (m000wc05)
Alexei Sayle, comedian
Alexei Sayle is a comedian and writer, who began his career just over 40 years ago at the small Comedy Store venue in London, which proved a launch-pad for a new generation of comic stars.
Alexei was born in Liverpool, where his parents were loyal members of the Communist Party: their politics informed almost every aspect of the family’s life, including holidays by train to eastern European countries that were then part of the Soviet bloc.
He won a place at Chelsea School of Art but didn’t thrive as a painter. He began performing with a theatre troupe and - after answering an advertisement - became the compere on the opening night of the Comedy Store. He soon found himself at the centre of a new wave of British comedy. With his tight suits and often abrasive stage presence, he enjoyed successful stand-up tours, appearances on numerous TV shows including The Young Ones, and even a novelty pop hit.
He attempted to launch a career in America, but was fired from a TV series on his 40th birthday. He stepped back from stand-up and devoted himself to writing novels and short stories. More recently, he has returned to live performance, and has also created a number of comedy series for Radio 4.
He lives in London with his wife Linda: they have been married for almost 50 years.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor
SUN 11:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m000wc07)
Take A Breath
In this episode, Michael reveals how slowing down and focusing on your breath can have a wide-reaching effect on your body and brain - from reducing pain, to improving concentration. He speaks to psychologist and neuroscientist Professor Ian Robertson, Trinity College Dublin, who’s discovered how spending just a couple of seconds to control your breath can act as a powerful reset button for your brain.
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000wc09)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 12:04 Nature Table (m000w4pf)
Series 2
Episode 3
Nature Table is comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins’ new comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a ‘Show & Tell’, each episode Sue is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history. Each of the natural history guests brings an item linked to the wild world to share with the audience, be it an amazing fact or funny personal anecdote. Each item is a springboard for an enlightening and funny discussion, alongside fun games and challenges revealing more astonishing facts. We also hear from some of the London Zoo, as they bring us their own natural history ‘show and tells’ for Sue and the guests to discuss.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in an fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Note: Series 2 was recorded in November 2020, during lockdown conditions, so this time round there is no studio audience. The host, panel and guest zookeepers recorded the series at ZSL London Zoo, socially distanced.
Episode 3
Recorded at London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests:
Lucy Cooke (Zoologist, writer, presenter), Dr. Karim Vahed (Entomologist) and comedian Felicity Ward.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler & Jon Hunter
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Music by Ben Mirin. Additional sounds were provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Produced by: Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000wc0c)
Socially Distanced Dining: Indoor restaurants reopen again
As hospitality businesses in most parts of the UK are allowed to resume serving customers indoors this week, Leyla Kazim heads to Padstow to meet a couple who have moved their restaurant out of town in order to adapt to the new rules. Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow is a fishmonger with a small restaurant, which can typically fit around 22 diners, but only 12 with social distancing. Owners Rick and Katie Toogood have now relocated the restaurant into a marquee on a nearby farm, where all the restaurants vegetables are grown by Ross Geach from Padstow Kitchen Garden.
Over the past 15 months since the first Coronavirus lockdown forced hospitality to shut down, many businesses have had to adapt to keep going. Some restaurants started selling takeaway, others did 'heat at home' boxes, or meal kits. Many have used the Government furlough scheme, taken advantage of rent holidays, government grants and loans. For some, it's not been enough. Research from CGA and AlixPartners suggests there are now nearly 10% fewer restaurants to choose from than before the pandemic, while analysis from The Local Data Company for The Food Programme suggests certain types of cuisine fared better than others in staying open.
During the programme we meet Oskar Ali, the owner of Falafilo Island, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Newport, which shut down after Christmas because of financial pressures. We also hear from restaurants and cafes around the UK that have been adapting to keep going, including Contini's in Edinburgh, Hangfire in Barry, Fodder in Downpatrick, and Ivy Chutney in Leicester.
Presented by Leyla Kazim
Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan
SUN 12:57 Weather (m000wc0f)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000wc0h)
Jonny Dymond looks at the week’s big stories from both home and around the world.
SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m000wc0k)
A place to belong
Fi Glover presents friends, relatives and strangers in conversation.
This week: student social worker Zara and retired social care manager Anne compare their experiences in foster care and reflect on the importance of belonging; co-admins of the Joy of Socks Facebook group Flora and Matt discuss what the group has meant to members during the past year; sea lover Laura and Royal Navy Commander Dave consider the attraction of life above and below water; and mother and son Julie and Ryan reflect on what they're looking forward to as lockdown eases.
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: Ellie Bury
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000w5w2)
GQT at Home: Tasty Tomatoes and Anarchic Aloes
Peter Gibbs hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts - Bob Flowerdew, Matthew Pottage and Bunny Guinness - and a virtual audience of green-fingered listeners.
This week, our panel answers your questions on temperamental wisteria, planting around a Wendy house, and what you can plant to encourage pollination in your garden.
Away from the questions, Pippa Greenwood visits Rosy Hardy of Hardys Cottage Garden Plants to take a trip down Chelsea memory lane.
Producer - Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer - Millie Chu
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Thought Cages (m0001799)
The Art of Self-Deception
Humans are masters of the art of deception – like it or not, it’s hard to disagree.
But the art of SELF-deception is all around – the manifold ways which we subconsciously kid ourselves about our motivations and deepest desires. From little white lies to fake news, self-placebos to dodgy dossiers.
In today’s episode, advertising guru and behavioural expert Rory Sutherland speaks to a legendary figure in evolutionary biology – the American geneticist Robert Trivers, who wrote the foreword to Richard Dawkins’ Selfish Gene. He’s also joined by evolutionary psychologist Diana Fleischman, and “guru of randomness”, the statistician and author of “Black Swan”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
Produced by Steven Rajam for BBC Wales
SUN 15:00 Hardy's Women (m000wc0m)
Two on a Tower
Part 2 - Marriage
During 2021 on Radio 4, Hardy’s Women takes a fresh look at the novels of Thomas Hardy, through the eyes of some of his female protagonists
Two On A Tower
Adapted by Anita Sullivan
With the death of Sir Blount in Southern Africa, Viviette and Swithin are finally able to marry. They marry in secret, deciding to wait for the impoverished Swithin to make his name as an astronomer and for Viviette to observe a period of mourning before they share their love with the world. Tragically, the stars are not aligned. Blount's death has been mis-reported, and Swithin has a secret...
Hardy's scandalised his contemporary readers with this love story across age, class and legal barriers, settting "the emotional history of two infinitesimal lives against the stupendous background of the stellar universe."
CAST
Lady Viviette Constantine - Olivia Poulet
Swithin St Cleeve - Callum Scott Howells
Louis Glanville - Tommy Sim’aan
Tabitha Lark - Scarlett Courtney
Bishop Helmsdale and Mr Cecil - Tony Turner
Parson Torkingham - Keiron Self
Haymoss and Sir Blount - Marc Danbury
Mrs Martin and Mrs Poulter - Jane Slavin
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Cymru Wales production
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000wc0p)
Elizabeth Day talks to Lisa McInerney and Lucy Caldwell, two young writers born in the same year from different side of the Irish border. 100 years since partition, they discuss how a literary culture once defined by exile and sectarian identities is being reconfigured in exciting new ways today.
Dedications and acknowledgements in books offer fascinating insights into authors' self-fashioning and desires to ingratiate themselves with certain readers. Professor Adam Smyth explains how what seems like an a new trend actually goes back to the time of Virgil.
And US author Mary Gaitskill choses Flaubert's Madame Bovary as a book she'd never lend - a book which coincidentally was dedicated to the lawyer who defended at an obscenity trial after the depiction of adultery scandalised 19th century France.
Book List – Sunday 23 May and Thursday 27 May
The Rules of Revelation by Lisa McInerney
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The Blood Miracles by Lisa McInerney
Being Various: New Irish Short Stories: Edited by Lucy Caldwell
Multitudes by Lucy Caldwell
Intimacies by Lucy Caldwell
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
A Belfast Woman by Mary Beckett
A Literary Woman by Mark Beckett
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Book Parts: Edited by Dennis Duncan and Adam Smyth
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
Bad Behaviour by Mary Gaitskill
Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill
Two Girls, Fat and Thin by Mary Gaitskill
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
SUN 16:30 On Form (m000wc0r)
The Sonnet
In this series, free verse poet Andrew McMillan meets a diverse group of contemporary British poets who are re-framing traditional techniques to write about the modern world, exploring why form is fashionable again.
In today’s programme, poet and academic Aviva Dautch goes back in time to unpick the history of the classic but flexible sonnet, with poems read by Juliet Stevenson. She traces the sonnet’s European origins and the poetic revolution that happened once it reached the UK and became a mainstay of English poetry in a modern multicultural Britain.
This year sees the publication of three books of sonnets with new takes, ranging from playful to dark, on the traditional form. We’ll meet Jacqueline Saphra, author of 100 Lockdown Sonnets, as well as sonneteers Vidyan Ravinthiran and Hannah Lowe, hearing poems that travel from Limehouse canals to inner-city classrooms.
The reader is Juliet Stevenson.
Photo of Andrew McMillan credited to Urszula Soltys
Producer: Mohini Patel
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m000w4t4)
The Cost of Long Covid
Latest figures show more than a million people in Britain are suffering from long Covid. For many the condition is completely debilitating. The extreme fatigue, breathing difficulties, brain-fog is forcing hundreds of thousands of previously fit, working people on to long term sick. File on 4 hears from the hero frontline workers who kept Britain going through the pandemic but now feel abandoned. Others reveal how they’ve felt pressurised to return to work even though they’re very ill. So who’s looking after them – and who, if anyone, is going to support them when their sick pay runs out?
Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Mick Tucker
Editor: Carl Johnston
SUN 17:40 Profile (m000wbyt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000wc0v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m000wc0x)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wc0z)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000wc11)
Peter Curran
This week we'll share the story of the training shoe, remember Joy Division's Ian Curtis and hear about the most outrageous spy story that brought war and peace for decades. There's also the legend of Medusa, a young Palestinian and young Israeli share thoughts beneath the bombing, we'll hear an homage to re-opened cinemas and learn how standing on one leg can save your life.
Presenter: Peter Curran
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production support: Emmie Hume
Studio Manager: Sue Stonestreet
SUN 19:00 The Mirror by Kate Mosse (b08018qq)
Toussaint. The Eve of All Saints. A time when the veil between our world and the next is as thin as a spider's web. A time when ghosts and unquiet spirits wait in the shadows for the darkness to fall. When night comes, or so it is said, so come they to claim the souls of those destined to die in the coming year. On this day, in the year 1883, in a remote village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, a mother struggles through a long labour to bring her baby into the world.
Written for Radio 4 by Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth, The Taxidermist's Daughter and The Winter Ghosts.
Read by Kate Mosse
Produced by Mair Bosworth
Music by Timothy X Atack
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
SUN 19:15 The Confessional (m000wc13)
Series 1
The Confession of Phil Wang
Actor, comedian and broadcaster Stephen Mangan presents a comedy chat show about shame and guilt.
Each week Stephen Mangan invites a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three 'confessions' to him. This is a cue for some remarkable storytelling, and surprising insights as their confessions are put under the microscope.
We’re used to hearing celebrity interviews, where stars are persuaded to show off about their achievements and talk about their proudest moments. Stephen is not interested in that. He doesn’t want to know what his guests are proud of, he wants to know what they’re ashamed of. That’s surely the way to find out what really makes a person tick.Stephen and his guest reflect with empathy and humour on things like: why we get embarrassed, where our shame thresholds should be, and the value of guilt.
Series guests include Marian Keyes, Cariad Lloyd, Joan Bakewell, Suzi Ruffell, Phil Hammond, Alastair Campbell and many more.
This week, award-winning stand-up and sketch comedian, Phil Wang confesses about potty training, supermarket gossip and getting the wrong end of the stick.
Written and presented by Stephen Mangan
With extra material by Nick Doody
Devised with Dave Anderson and produced by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 The Things We Leave Behind (m000wc15)
Episode 3
A five-part series specially written for Radio 4 by Mary Paulson-Ellis.
THE THINGS WE LEAVE BEHIND tells the story of a life in five objects. Starting near the end of her life and moving backwards in time, the defining moments of Rosalind Goddard’s life are revealed through seemingly random accumulated items. It's the Eighties and Ros has made a rash decision.
Part Three - THE DOOR KEY - is read by Alexandra Mathie.
Producer - Gaynor Macfarlane
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m000w5w8)
Listeners have been enjoying the conclusion of long-running Radio 4 fictional serial The Corrupted this week. The author GF Newman explains how he sees corruption everywhere in our most respected circles and how, as a child, his eyes were first opened to it.
And what is more important to the new presenter of the News Quiz, who is also the Test Match Special statistician, Andy Zaltzman, comedy or cricket? Andy responds to listener comments and questions.
In the Out of Your Comfort Zone feature, a theology graduate gives her view on 5 Live’s early morning science series.
Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000w5w6)
Spencer Silver, Kevin Jackson, Patricia Brown, Asfaw Yemiru
Matthew Bannister on
Dr. Spencer Silver, the American chemist who invented the adhesive used in Post It Notes.
Kevin Jackson, the writer, broadcaster and critic described as a “21st century man of letters”.
Patricia Brown, who played a leading role in cracking German codes at Bletchley Park during the second world war.
Asfaw Yemiru, the former street boy from Ethiopia who founded a school for orphans in Addis Ababa which has given free education to thousands of students.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Linda Spencer
Interviewed guest: Art Fry
Interviewed guest: Tom Sutcliffe
Interviewed guest: Iona Brown
Interviewed guest: Dr Tessa Dunlop
Interviewed guest: Beneberu Demissie Kassa
Interviewed guest: Revd Canon Tim Kinahan
Archive clips used: Twenty Minutes_Dutch Icons_Vermeer: Radio 3, TX 8.
10.2002; Saturday Review: Radio 4, TX 9.
11.2019
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000wby3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000wbzq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Short Cuts (m0008nwp)
Series 20
The Archivist
The tattered book worth risking everything for, the man who can't forget and chronicling history one voice message at a time. Josie Long presents short documentaries and adventures in sound about record keepers.
Memories
Featuring Bob Petrella
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Messages from Manus Island
Featuring Behrouz Boochani
Produced by Femi Oriogun-Williams
The Exercise Book
Featuring Jeremiah
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Production Team: Eleanor McDowall and Alia Cassam
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000wc17)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000w5j7)
Cinema: open for business
With Antonia Quirke
As cinemas opened for the first time in 5 months, have concerns about the so-called Indian variant made people think twice about visiting their local picture palace ? Antonia takes a mini-tour of London cinemas and hears from Kevin Markwick, owner of the Uckfield Picture House, and from listeners who went to the flicks on opening day: Simon Barraclough, Ruby Phelan, Pamela Hutchinson and Michael O'Kelly.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b0495llj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 24 MAY 2021
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000wc19)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000w33c)
Fitness & fatness
Fitness & fatness: Laurie Taylor asks if they are two sides of the same coin. He's joined by Jürgen Martschukat, Professor of North American History at the University of Erfurt and author of a new book which looks at the history of self-optimisation from the Enlightenment to the present. What’s the relationship between neoliberalism and phenomena like Viagra & aerobics? How did the body come to symbolise success and achievement? Also, Sarah Trainer, medical anthropologist at Seattle University, discusses her study on extreme weight loss, via bariatric surgery. Her in depth interviews with patients reveal, in painstaking detail, how the journey to drastic weight - often half a person's body weight - can be at once painful and liberating, revealing which bodies are treated as though they don't belong in modern societies. Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000wbzb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000wc1c)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000wc1f)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000wc1h)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000wc1k)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000wc1n)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good morning. A Church out of touch; tedious worship far removed from people’s daily experiences and struggles; lazy clergy pontificating on morality to increasingly empty pews; a Christianity overly keen for the approval of the Establishment. Our church today, you may be thinking? You’d be wrong. This was the 18th century.
Two men changed all that: John and Charles Wesley. With, in Wesley’s words, “strangely warmed hearts” they not only revived Christianity in England and Wales but also inspired an Evangelical Revival that would bring about social reforms and eventually sweep away the slave trade.
John is now best known as the father of Methodism, as he inspired people long ignored or belittled by an elitist Church to embrace a vibrant faith. His brother Charles adorned their Evangelical message with glorious music: the much-loved hymns that are still sung today. Together, they (and those they inspired) breathed new life into British Christianity.
Although during their own times, the Church of England could never accept the Wesleys, today Anglicans around the world celebrate their feast day. Such is our debt to those once dismissed as dangerous “enthusiasts” that we now include them in the company of our saints. In this week of Pentecost, may the same Spirit that warmed their hearts, inspire us to address our faith to the lives of the poor and the powerless.
Lord God, you inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls and endowed them with eloquence in speech and song: Grant to all people boldness to proclaim your word and a heart ever to rejoice in singing your praises; Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000wc1s)
24/05/21 - The NI Protocol, gaps in hedgrows and buying local food
Farmers and food producers are facing ‘significant challenges’ dealing with the Northern Ireland Protocol according to a study from the Irish Farmers Journal and KPMG. A survey of businesses on both sides of the border found they thought for the protocol to function it must have rules which are based on the real level of risk. There has been an ongoing debate about the protocol's implementation and the number of checks required.
As the UK strives to reduce its carbon emissions millions of trees continue to be planted. But not every landscape is suited to trees and not every landowners wants to sacrifice fertile fields. We visit the East Yorkshire wolds where a new project is using drones to search for gaps in hedgerows where new trees and bushes could be planted, without encroaching on productive fields.
And the pandemic changed our shopping habits - last year a You Gov poll found that 64 per cent of the 1,032 people asked wanted to support local businesses and buy local products - but will that last? And what does it mean for farmers and food producers? Well this week we’ll try to find out - as we look at vending machines, farm shops and other ways to get produce off the farm on onto our plates. We start by hearing from Dr Rosalind Sharpe, Director of Food Research Collaboration at the Centre for Food Policy, University of London. She says using small, local supply chains is a more sustainable way to buy food, and the pandemic gave many of those businesses a boost.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
MON 05:56 Weather (m000wc1w)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09f2cxr)
Dermot O'Leary on Swifts and Swallows
Presenter Dermot O'Leary relishes the effortless soaring of swifts and remembers the joy of the independence of his first car and the feeling of taking country roads home to visit his family and seeing swallows bobbing along in front of him on the lanes.
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photo: Phill Luckhurst.
MON 06:00 Today (m000wcbz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000wcc1)
On Thin Ice: Glaciers, Geopolitics, and Nature's Goods
Once-indomitable glaciers – from high up in the Himalayas to the polar regions – are today in grave peril, as our climate warms at an accelerating rate. The glaciologist Jemma Wadham says that melting ice sheets not only leads to meltwater overwhelming sensitive marine ecosystems but could also release vast quantities of methane. In her book Ice Rivers she shows that far from being freezing sterile environments, the world’s glaciers are teeming with microbial life, as rich and fascinating as the forests.
Record ice loss last year and the effect of climate change are also having an impact on geopolitics and international relations. Dwayne Ryan Menezes, the founding director of the think tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative looks at the viability of a busy sea route through the arctic region as ice recedes for longer periods. And he explains why the recent elections in Greenland – a territory of just over 56,000 people – sent reverberations around the world.
The importance of nature’s finely-tuned system to our everyday lives is at the heart of Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson’s research at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. In her new book Tapestries of Life she uncovers many of the lifesaving secrets of the natural world which impact directly on humans, from medicines to pollution control, carbon sequestration to spiritual health.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wcc3)
Ep 1 - Ardoyne
Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland charts her life story beginning with a happy and boisterous childhood, growing up in the tight knit streets of Belfast in the 50s and 60s, before the start of the Troubles when her family was subjected to brutal violence. At Queen's University she studied law before becoming one of the first women called to the Bar, and laying the groundwork for her run for the presidency in 1997, months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. One of her last acts as president was hosting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they made their historic state visit to Dublin. Not one to rest, after her two terms as President of Ireland she studied for a doctorate in Canon Law to highlight the Roman Catholic Churches failure to protect its children from abuse. Interwoven with intimate glimpses into family life, her memoir is written and read with wit and candour, Mary McAleese's story is one about the pursuit of peace and equality for all.
The music is An Droichead which was composed and performed by Liam O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration as President of Ireland.
Photo credit - Linda Brownlee
Abridged by Penny Leicester
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000wcc5)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
MON 11:00 The Untold (m000wcc7)
Getting Back to Life
This is a story of a young man’s grit and determination and a mother’s unstinting support.
Nick was 23 when his life changed forever. He was driving home late one night when his car came off the road. He thinks he fell asleep at the wheel. Luckily no one else was involved, but the consequences for Nick and his family have been immense. He suffered a serious brain injury and was in hospital for months. But slowly, slowly, he's worked at getting his independence back.
We first met Nick back in 2016, following him for a couple of years, from rehab unit to sheltered accommodation and then back to living with his mum Ann, his greatest champion.
Over three years on, how is Nick doing? Nick is a man on a mission – to get his life back. How’s the mission going?
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Jo Dwyer
MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000wbyr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
MON 12:00 News Summary (m000wccb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 12:04 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wccd)
Episode 6
A magical literary debut about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you. As read by Louisa Harland (Derry Girls).
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
The Author
Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare, Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2016. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly and Southword. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. ‘Snowflake’ is her debut novel.
Author: Louise Nealon
Reader: Louisa Harland
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000wccg)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
MON 12:57 Weather (m000wccj)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m000wccl)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Edward Stourton.
MON 13:45 Piccadilly (m000wccn)
Episode 1
The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad. It's 1965 and he'd just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Yemen and Malawi: all East African counties experiencing extraordinary social change as British rule comes to an end. The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of one of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live in the UK, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.
And now here they are standing right smack in London, the city at epicentre of the Empire. How did they each get to this point and where did they go from here? In this five-part series Krupa Padhy tells a personal story about a group of men whose friendship has stretched - in some cases - over more than five decades.
Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
MON 14:00 Drama (m0005f5y)
The Not Knowing
By Daniel Maier. When her four-year-old goes missing in a supermarket, Harriet begins to imagine her life with and without him.
In just 12 minutes, she'll discover her child's fate, but in the meantime her frantic real-time search for little Frank is punctuated by projections of both near and far futures, constantly rewritten in her own mind.
How will her marriage be affected? Her daughter? Her own capacity for love? And is it better to find out the worst possible news about your child than never to know what happened to them?
Cast:
Harriet ..... Louise Brealey
Therapist ..... Pippa Haywood
Alex ..... Mark Bazeley
Tina ..... Rebekah Staton
Sophie ..... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Rosie ..... Kathryn Drysdale
Supermarket Manager ..... David Holt
PC Hobbes ..... Ben Crowe
Rosie's Date ..... Tom Glenister
All other parts played by members of the cast.
Writer: Daniel Maier
Sound Design: David Thomas
Production Assistant: Sarah Tombling
Producer and Director: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:45 The Why Factor (b08y1991)
Series 4
Hypochondria
Why do people suffer from hypochondria, the fear of having a serious, undiagnosed illness? It can be an intensely distressing and disabling condition, with some sufferers even ending up in wheelchairs. So why do hypochondriacs attract so little sympathy?
Presenter: Becky Milligan
Producer: Ben Crighton.
MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m000wccq)
Programme 12, 2021
(12/12)
The outcome of this year's Round Britain Quiz season depends on the result of this final match, between the South of England and the Midlands. If the Midlands' Elizabeth-Jane Burnett and Stephen Maddock win today, they'll have won four out of four and will become 2021 champions. Can Marcus Berkmann and Paul Sinha of the South of England thwart their victory?
Tom Sutcliffe is on hand to ensure fair play, and to award and deduct points depending on how much nudging the teams need, to steer them away from red herrings and blind alleys. All of the questions in this final show of the series, by tradition, are based on ideas supplied by RBQ listeners.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000wc0c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 A Life in Music (m000w5hn)
Teenage life
When music journalist Jude Rogers lost her father aged five, she turned to songs for solace and structure. Music helped her redefine her identity as a teenager and connect with her young child as a parent after post-natal depression.
In this emotional and educational series, we explore how music impacts us at each stage of our lives. In four programmes, Jude speaks to musicians, neuroscientists, psychologists and music-lovers to discover why music means so much to us all.
In this second episode, Teenage life, Jude explores how music provides teenagers with agency, autonomy and emotional support. As they begin to form their identity, music makes teenagers feel more in control of their lives and even helps crucial parts of their brains to mature.
We hear from Mercury Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Nadine Shah, music psychologist Associate Professor Suvi Saarikallio, neuroscientist Professor Elvira Brattico, and K-pop fan Ellelivia Degiorgio.
Producer: Georgia Moodie
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m000wcct)
Series 20
Saved
Illustration by Seonaid MacKay
The history of early cinema, radio, and television has suffered from a mass loss of material. Lon Chaney’s vampiric grin and Betty Balfour’s joyful dances were melted down for the silver. Canisters full of voices from radio’s early days cast aside. Doctor Who and Dad’s Army fans still scour basements and attics in the hope of finding episodes lost decades ago. When a new technology creates a new artform, we seem to make the same mistake - not seeing the value, and ditching parts of our cultural history.
The same mistake was made with video games.
Compounding this is the fact that games are a particularly challenging art form to preserve. Technology is constantly changing, consoles rapidly become obsolete, and for the first few decades the companies that made the games had no financial incentive to save old games - it was all too easy for games to be cast into the void.
However, the gamer community has long been fighting against this erasure of history, and now more and more organisations are forming to save not just games, but the cultural and social history tied up in the games, and the communities who love them.
Aleks Krotoski explores how we can prevent gems of video game history from being lost, while following the unlikely story of how one of these forgotten games was recovered against the odds.
MON 17:00 PM (m000wccw)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wccy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Nature Table (m000wcd0)
Series 2
Episode 4
Nature Table is comedian, broadcaster and writer Sue Perkins’ new comedy ‘Show & Tell’ series celebrating the natural world and all its funny eccentricities.
Taking the simple format of a ‘Show & Tell’, each episode Sue is joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history. Each of the natural history guests brings an item linked to the wild world to share with the audience, be it an amazing fact or funny personal anecdote. Each item is a springboard for an enlightening and funny discussion, alongside fun games and challenges revealing more astonishing facts. We also hear from some of the London Zoo, as they bring us their own natural history ‘show and tells’ for Sue and the guests to discuss.
Nature Table has a simple clear brief: to positively celebrate and promote the importance of all our planet’s wonderfully wild flora and fauna in an fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a giggle.
Note: Series 2 was recorded in November 2020, during lockdown conditions, so this time round there is no studio audience this time round. The host, panel and guest zookeepers recorded the series at ZSL London Zoo, socially distanced.
Episode 4
Recorded at London Zoo, this week Sue Perkins is joined by special guests:
Billy Heaney (Zoologist & wildlife presenter), Dr. Claire Asher (Science writer) and comedian and writer Josie Long.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler & Jon Hunter
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Music by Ben Mirin. Additional sounds were provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Produced by: Simon Nicholls
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m000w9v0)
The siblings assemble for Jennifer while Helen faces a dilemma.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m000wcd2)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
MON 19:45 A Big Disease with a Little Name (m000k2sr)
ACT UP Fights Back
A meeting in March 1987 at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in New York's West Village would go on to change the national conversation on AIDS in America.
At the time there were 50,000 reported cases of AIDS in America, and 40,000 deaths - and largely silence from the country’s President, Ronald Reagan.
"It was very obvious that our government was going to let us die," says activist Peter Staley.
The formation of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power - ACT UP - put unprecedented pressure on the US government to speed up the approval of new treatments for people living with AIDS, and expand access to trials of experimental new drugs.
In this episode Maria Maggenti and Peter Staley recall their time with ACT UP, and how its public demonstrations, which frequently brought New York to a standstill, helped improve access to potentially life-saving treatments for people living with HIV-AIDS and other diseases.
Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
MON 20:00 Parallel Lives (m000wc52)
Bradford
In the final part of the series about the northern riots of 2001, after Oldham and Burnley comes Bradford.
On July 7 tensions were high in the city, as an anti-fascist demonstration is gripped by rumours that the far right had arrived. Within minutes what had been a carnival atmosphere became the scene of such violence that 1,000 police officers from ten different forces were called upon to restore order.
Barnie Choudhury listens back to the recordings he made in the thick of the conflict, to ask what lessons can be learned about racial tension in the UK now.
A report into the violence by Professor Ted Cantle found that communities were living "parallel lives" which seldom crossed the racial divide, creating a toxic mix of myths, suspicion and mistrust.
Twenty years on Barnie talks to a rioter from Oldham whose life was changed by sentences viewed as draconian. He finds out why proud families regretted turning in their sons to the police and hears from women who put themselves on the frontline to prevent a return to violence.
Presented by Barnie Choudhury
Produced by Kevin Core
Assistant Producer Emb Hashmi
MON 20:30 Analysis (m000wcd4)
What the Foucault
Last December Liz Truss made a speech. The Minister for Women and Equalities spoke about her memories of school in Leeds. Not enough time, she said, was spent ensuring pupils could read and write. There was time, however, to be taught about racism and sexism. "These ideas," she said, "have their roots in post-modernist philosophy - pioneered by Foucault - that put societal power structures and labels ahead of individuals and their endeavours."
So do Foucault's ideas pose a real and present danger to social and cultural life in Britain? Or is he only a "bogeyman", an imaginary monster deployed by British politicians to divide and distract us from real issues?
Detractors say that Foucault's critiques of structural inequality, which underlie many contemporary justice movements, promote a culture of victimhood, dividing society along the lines of oppressors and oppressed. And while often associated with left-wing politics, his complicated legacy makes him a controversial champion for the left. His political convictions were often hard to pin down and continually evolving. His reputation is mired in troubling allegations about sexual abuse. Noam Chomsky once called him the most amoral man he'd ever met.
In this edition of Analysis, writer and academic Shahidha Bari tries to make sense of Foucault's influence in the UK, and asks whether his ideas really do have an effect on Britain today?
Producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Jasper Corbett
MON 21:00 Do Not Resuscitate (m000w4s0)
Recalling the discovery of her father’s DNR notice in his medical notes six years ago, Yasmeen Khan investigates clinical resuscitation, talking to terminally ill patients and bereaved family members.
She discusses ethical issues surrounding the use of what is now called a DNAR notice or DNACPR – Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation – examining the recent controversy over the placing of DNAR notices on people with learning disabilities, specifically in relation to the Covid pandemic.
Yasmeen talks to representatives from Mencap, the Resuscitation Council UK, medical education and resuscitation expert Dr Linda Dykes, and Merry Varney, the lawyer responsible for representing the Tracey family in a landmark DNAR case. In this 2014 case, the Court of Appeal found that an NHS Trust had a legal duty to tell a patient with mental capacity that a DNACPR order had been placed on their medical records. Following the judgment, all NHS Trusts then had a legal duty to consult with and inform patients if such an order had been placed on their records.
Throughout the programme, Yasmeen discusses the events surrounding the death of her father with her best friend, Julie.
A Spools Out production for BBC Radio 4
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000wcc1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000wcd7)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
MON 22:45 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wccd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
MON 23:00 Rich Hall's (US) Breakdown (m000vhl7)
Rich Hall’s First 100 Days Breakdown
Comedian Rich Hall is joined by Nick Doody to look at the first 100 days of the Biden presidency via the stylings of an American radio talk show.
Starring: Rich Hall, Nick Doody, Lewis MacLeod, Freya Parker, Alonzo Bodden and Merrill Markoe.
It was written by Rich Hall and Nick Doody, with additional material from Tasha Dhanraj and Jenny Laville.
Producer... Hayley Sterling
Production Coordinator... Sarah Sharpe
A BBC Studios Production
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000wcd9)
Today in Parliament
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
TUESDAY 25 MAY 2021
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000wcdc)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wcc3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000wcdf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000wcdh)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000wcdk)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000wcdm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000wcdp)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good morning. Today Anglicans and Catholics mark the feast of the Venerable Bede, the 8th-century Anglo-Saxon monk famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the English Speaking People. When I was studying at Durham, I prayed regularly at his shrine and visited the still-standing churches at Monkwearmouth and Jarrow where he lived his entire life.
Bede has a mixed reputation here in Wales as he wasn’t too kind to the Welsh in his writings. He preferred the Irish, whose saints emerge as ideals of Christian humility, bravery, and devotion.
Bede ought to be better known for his sermons, which are almost as engaging as his history. They show him to have been a man of wisdom and holiness.
For example, in one of his Easter sermons, he wrote, “Christ appeared to those who were speaking of his resurrection. So, he is with us now when by his gift we do the same thing.” Bede is saying here that if Christians want a life that transcends death then they must talk to others about it. If they want to find Christ, the source and substance of that life, then we must speak of him also.
Why? I think it’s because we must talk about that which we passionately love. It bubbles out of us. Like our other passions, too, our passion for the resurrected life grows in the telling. Horde it to yourself like a miser, and it withers; share it and it springs to ever new life.
Almighty God, who has enriched your church with the learning and holiness of your servant Bede: Give us the gift of your grace to find in Scripture and disciplined prayer a life that transcends death, and the encouragement to extend that life to others. Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000wcdr)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x45s5)
Black Redstart
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Bill Oddie presents the black redstart. It was the German Luftwaffe which enabled black redstarts to gain a real foothold here. The air-raids of the Blitz created bombsites which mimicked their rocky homes and the weeds that grew there attracted insects. In 1942 there over twenty singing males in London alone and now they're being encouraged by the creation of ‘green roof’ habitats, rich in flowers and insects.
TUE 06:00 Today (m000w9t3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m000w9t5)
Mike Tipton on how our bodies respond to extreme conditions
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future.
TUE 09:30 One to One (m000w9t7)
Learning A Skill: Kieran Yates speaks to Ellie
What happens when you do something you thought you could never do? In this programme, journalist Kieran Yates speaks to Ellie who has been managing her agoraphobia for a few years, to hear how she has learned the mighty task of how to leave the house.
Kieran hears how Ellie has faced up to her fears and learnt how to cope through breathing and disco music.
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Caitlin Hobbs
TUE 09:45 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000w9t9)
Ep 2 - Living Through the Troubles
Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland reads from her memoir. Today, she recalls forging a career in the law, and being one of the first women called to the Bar.
Recollections follow of how daily life changed in Belfast during the early years of the Troubles.
Mary McAleese charts her life story beginning with a happy and boisterous childhood, growing up in the tight knit streets of Belfast in the 50s and 60s, before the start of the Troubles when her family was subjected to brutal violence. At Queen's University she studied law before becoming one of the first women called to the Bar, and laying the groundwork for her run for the presidency in 1997, months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. One of her last acts as president was hosting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they made their historic state visit to Dublin. Not one to rest, after her two terms as President of Ireland she studied for a doctorate in Canon Law to highlight the Roman Catholic Churches failure to protect its children from abuse. Interwoven with intimate glimpses into family life, her memoir is written and read with wit and candour, Mary McAleese's story is one about the pursuit of peace and equality for all.
The music is An Droichead which was composed and performed by Liam O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration as President of Ireland.
Photo credit - Linda Brownlee
Abridged by Penny Leicester
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000w9td)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
TUE 11:00 Why Time Flies (and how to slow it down) (m000w9tg)
Armando Iannucci travels through time - discovering why it seems to accelerate alarmingly as he gets older and what, if anything, can be done to slow it down.
How exactly does the human brain calculate the passing of time? Why are the results often so distorted, with time either dragging or flying by? Armando meets physicists, psychologists and philosophers who help him unravel the emotional, physical and cultural factors which affect our perception of time.
Along the way he finds out how time flies….for flies.
Neuroscientist David Eagleman explains how he attempted to simulate the experience of time slowing down during a road accident, by throwing participants off a 150 foot high platform. Would they be able to decipher flickering images which would normally flash by too quickly?
Physicist Adrian Bejan suggests that Armando's brain has simply worn out, generating temporal discrepancies. He argues that as people age, the rate at which their brain processes visual information slows down, making time speed up.
Can the phenomenon be explained by mathematics. Kit Yates explains that each moment of our lives, every hour, day or week, becomes a smaller and smaller fraction of our entire life.
Psychologist Ruth Ogden, has conducted experiments to test how people of all ages estimate the passage of time, including under lockdown conditions. She says the reason our perception of time varies so dramatically lies in the way we form memories. Children’s lives are filled with new experiences, creating rich memories which make time seem to pass slowly. As we age, we have fewer new experiences, fewer vivid memories, and time rushes by.
To slow down time we must inject new, exciting experiences into our lives… like listening to this programme for example.
Producer: Brian King
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 11:30 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m000w9tj)
Series 7
Pandora
"Rock star classicist" and reformed stand-up Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. In these series she explores (historical and mythological) lives from ancient Rome and Greece that still have resonance today. They are hilarious and tragic, mystifying, revelatory. And they always tell us more about ourselves now than seems possible of stories from a couple of thousand years ago.
Today Natalie stands up for Pandora, she of the box. Which turns out to have been a jar, and not a box, or a casket, or any of the other receptacles that have been depicted as containing all sorts of evils, and of course hope. It's Erasmus' fault, for a 16th century mistranslation.
A mythological equivalent to Eve with a bit of Sleeping Beauty thrown in, Pandora is described as 'beautiful evil', an irresistible punishment meted out on mankind by the god Zeus, who is annoyed with Prometheus for stealing fire. Pandora is made from clay and given a lovely silvery dress by Athene, and from her all women are descended. Once her jar is opened by Epimetheus (he was warned! but he didn't listen), and all the evil flies out, then mankind's carefree life is at an end. So, not really Pandora's fault at all.
With Professor Edith Hall.
Producer Mary Ward-Lowery
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000w9tl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:04 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000w9tn)
Episode 7
A magical literary debut about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you. As read by Louisa Harland (Derry Girls).
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
The Author
Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare, Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2016. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly and Southword. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. ‘Snowflake’ is her debut novel.
Author: Louise Nealon
Reader: Louisa Harland
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000w9tq)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
TUE 12:57 Weather (m000w9ts)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m000w9tv)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 Piccadilly (m000w9tx)
Episode 2
The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad. It's 1965 and he'd just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Yemen and Malawi: all East African counties experiencing extraordinary social change as British rule comes to an end. The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of one of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live in the UK, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.
And now here they are standing right smack in London, the city at epicentre of the Empire. How did they each get to this point and where did they go from here? In this five-part series Krupa Padhy tells a personal story about a group of men whose friendship has stretched - in some cases - over more than five decades.
Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000w9v0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (m0004cq5)
My Friend, Marie Antoinette
Intimate first-hand account of the final days of Marie Antoinette, staring Lily Loveless as young prison maid, Rosalie Lamoriere, who forms a strong bond with the tragic queen, played by Laure Stockley.
Rosalie worked in the Conciergerie Prison kitchens, shared with soldiers and guards drinking, eating and laughing raucously over the pornographic pamphlets they pass around. The pamphlet shows Marie Antoinette, legs akimbo, masturbating on a chaise longue and having sex with a pageboy. Everyone hated the "Austrian Whore". Rosalie hated her too - she believed her family was starving because of the monstrous, profligate queen.
But when Rosalie is given the task of attending to Marie Antoinette in her prison cell, she encounters a broken, sick and distraught woman, desperate for news of her children.
This powerful drama from writer Carine Adler charts an extraordinary journey for both women, as Rosalie risks her life for the Queen she once despised.
Based on memoir accounts thirty years after the execution of Marie Antoinette by the historian Lafont d'Aussonne, who interviewed Rosalie Lamoriere.
Cast:
Rosalie Lamoriere.............Lily Loveless
Marie Antoinette.............Laure Stockley
Madame Harel.............Becci Gemmell
Inspector Michonis and Fouquier-Tinville.............Ewan Bailey
Madame Richard.............Clare Corbett
Chauvau Lagarde.............Peter Hamilton Dyer
Herbert and Doctor.............Antony Bunsee
Original Music by Jon Ouin
Sound Design by Eloise Whitmore
Produced by Emma Hearn
Written by Carine Adler
Directed by John Scott Dryden
A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m000w9v2)
Sensory
Josie Long presents visceral short documentaries and audio adventures about - or made to engage - the five senses. From the taste of a soup nearly lost to a storm, to a collective kiss in.
Curatorial team: Alia Cassam and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000w9v4)
Beaver Town
Adrian has a big idea. His home of Braunton, a village in North Devon, has a problem with flooding. Over the last decade he has seen it get worse. The village flooded badly in 2012 just after a million pound flood defence scheme was completed, and there was more flooding in 2016. Braunton has since had those defences upgraded, but more work is needed further up the valley. Instead of more expensive schemes, Adrian has an alternative solution - bringing back beavers to do the work for them.
Beavers are nature’s engineers, their dams prevent flooding by holding water upstream and slowing the flow in rivers, while simultaneously creating new wetland habitats for species of insects, amphibians, birds, fish and plants to flourish in. These industrious rodents were hunted to extinction in Britain about 400 years ago, and are now beginning to make a comeback. A record number of beavers will be released by the Wildlife Trusts this year, but so far pretty much all licensed beaver reintroductions have been on individual private estates or within fenced enclosures.
What Adrian is proposing would be the first community-led reintroduction of beavers on a landscape scale, and if successful in gaining permission, the project could provide a model for others. Working together with the Beaver Trust, Adrian now has nearly 50 local landowners on board and the project is gaining momentum. However there are many obstacles to overcome, not least that not everyone is in favour of beavers flooding their land. We visit Braunton as it begins its beaver journey and hear what can be learnt about managing the species from communities in Scotland and Bavaria. Can we move beyond keeping beavers in enclosures and learn to live alongside them?
Producer: Sophie Anton
TUE 16:00 Tainted Money (m000w9v6)
David Cannadine knows a great deal about philanthropy - from the history of the 'robber barons' of the USA such as Carnegie and Rockefeller - to the way that today's museums and universities depend upon private giving. But philanthropy these days can often seem an enterprise fraught with moral ambiguity and possible reputational damage.
The ways universities and arts organisations raise and take money (and from whom) has rarely been a more urgent topic.
David speaks to those who support philanthropy (though they call for increased transparency) citing the good it can do. But we also hear from those who maintain that donations often come with strings attached, are fundamentally undemocratic and sometimes a handy reputational whitewash for the corporate or individual giver.
Philanthropy and the idea of 'tainted money' raises larger questions too - is the backlash against private giving simply a symptom of people's rejection of super-wealth and of the power that inevitably comes with it?
Presented by David Cannadine
Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio programme for BBC Radio 4
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000w9v8)
Rosie Millard on Edward III
Edward III should be much better known, Rosie tells Matthew Parris. He not only won great battles like Crecy in 1346. He also championed the flourishing of Perpendicular architecture; he understood the "branding" of England, and introduced the flag of St George; and he was ahead of his time in other ways - he was the first king of England to own a mechanical clock and the first to have hot and cold running water in his bathroom!
The expert is the medieval historian, Lord Sumption. He agrees Edward III deserves to be better known, but is less starry-eyed about his achievements. Edward, Lord Sumption says, was an incompetent diplomat, lived too long, and ended his reign a "heroic failure".
Presented by Matthew Parris
Produced by Chris Ledgard
TUE 17:00 PM (m000w9vb)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000w9vd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Alex Edelman's Peer Group (m000w9vg)
Series 4
The Impossibility of Escape
With lockdown changing all our perspectives on what's important, Alex Edelman reflects on how things have changed for him and what he now truly values. He takes a personal look at what life's really about now that the comedy clubs are closed and he can't go anywhere, and investigates how much his existence has been improved by the arrival of a new flatmate: his girlfriend.
Written by Alex Edelman and Max Davis
With special thanks to
Josh Weller
Simon Alcock
Charlie Dinkin
Adam Brace
Danny Jolles
and
Hannah Einbinder
Producer is Sam Michell
It is a BBC Studios Production.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000w9vj)
Ian offers some advice and Elizabeth is left speechless.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000w9vl)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
TUE 19:45 A Big Disease with a Little Name (m000k2lw)
The AZT Price War
In 1987 the drug AZT was heralded as a breakthrough in the fight against AIDS, but its $10,000 price tag also made it the most expensive drug in history at the time.
As a member of the AIDS activist network ACT UP, Peter Staley fought to lower the price of AZT by taking on the drug manufacturer, Burroughs Wellcome.
In this programme he tells the story of how he occupied the company's HQ and took his campaign to the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in the fight to lower the price of AIDS medication.
Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
[Photo credit: Peter Staley]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000w9vn)
Sexual Abuse in Schools
In 2016 the House of Common’s Women and Equalities Committee published a report into sexual harassment and abuse between pupils in British schools. In concluded that the scale and impact was such that urgent action was needed by the government.
Five years on, it took thousands of disturbing anonymous posts by teenagers on the website Everyone’s Welcome to prompt the government to announce a new safeguarding inspection regime from Ofsted and a Department for Education/NSPCC hotline for young people.
In this investigation Hayley Hassall assesses how common this abuse is, whether schools are brushing the problem under the carpet, to what extent the availability of online porn plays a role and whether teachers are getting enough training.
Reporter: Hayley Hassall
Producer: Jim Booth
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000w9vq)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m000w9vs)
Programme exploring the limits and potential of the human mind. Producer: Deborah Cohen.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m000w9t5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000w9vv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
TUE 22:45 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000w9tn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
TUE 23:00 Fortunately... with Fi and Jane (m000w9vx)
Drive In Volcanoes and Platters that Matter, with Jon Holmes
This week on Fortunately, Fi and Jane are joined by the writer, presenter and comedian Jon Holmes. Jon tells them about his latest podcast, Cold Case Crime Cuts, a spoof on true crime that investigates hit songs. He also chats about his audio bending Radio 4 series The Skewer, hospital radio portacabins and his grandest achievement as a travel writer. Before Jon beams in, there's chair jeopardy and a listener reveals what Fi is like when she's off duty.
Get in touch: fortunately.podcast@bbc.co.uk
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000w9vz)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 26 MAY 2021
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000w9w1)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000w9t9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000w9w3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000w9w5)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000w9w7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000w9w9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000w9wc)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good Morning. One of the most remarkable meetings in British history happened in the year 597 when St Augustine of Canterbury met King Æthelberht of Kent. Augustine, who’d been sent to convert the English, came from a Mediterranean world shaped by Christianity and Roman civilization. King Æthelberht lived within a Germanic landscape inhabited by gods like Woden and Thor. From the perspective of the Catholic world, Augustine was a missionary-monk; from that of the Anglo-Saxon world, he was a dangerous magician—each perspective was, on its own terms, correct.
For Augustine to be successful, he had to bridge the wide gap that divided their two worlds. The only feasible way of doing this was by engaging the English at the level of their imagination by addressing their culture, stories, and homes. He did this not by abolishing those things but by baptizing them, allowing their shrines to become churches and their festivals Christian holidays. Within a few generations, all distinction between the two worlds had vanished. All shared a worldview – still thoroughly English, only now populated by the Christian faith, as can be seen in their Christianized stories like Beowulf. From that fusion emerged one of the richest cultures our island has ever known.
Therein lies a lesson for us today, Augustine’s feast day. It’s often by seeing and accepting the good in other worldviews that we discover how best to thrive together.
O Lord our God, who called Augustine to these Isles to preach the Gospel, entwine our stories with those of our neighbours as you convert both by your truth that together we may flourish and abound. Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000w9wf)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bks90)
Jack Snipe
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 Jack Snipe. The song of the Jack snipe has been likened to the sound of a distant horse cantering along a road. To hear it though, you need to visit Scandinavian bogs and mires where these small waders breed. When the ice seals their northern breeding areas jack snipes head south and west and many winter in the British Isles.
WED 06:00 Today (m000wc4r)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m000wc4t)
Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life
WED 09:30 Four Thought (m000wc4w)
Thought-provoking talks in which speakers explore original ideas about culture and society
WED 09:45 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wc4y)
Ep 3 - The Election Campaign
Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland reads from her memoir. Today, it's 1997, and the peace process is making fragile progress. Mary makes a decision to run for high office on a platform of creating a spirit of neighbourliness among the fractured communities across the island of Ireland.
Mary McAleese charts her life story beginning with a happy and boisterous childhood, growing up in the tight knit streets of Belfast in the 50s and 60s, before the start of the Troubles when her family was subjected to brutal violence. At Queen's University she studied law before becoming one of the first women called to the Bar, and laying the groundwork for her run for the presidency in 1997, months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. One of her last acts as president was hosting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they made their historic state visit to Dublin. Not one to rest, after her two terms as President of Ireland she studied for a doctorate in Canon Law to highlight the Roman Catholic Churches failure to protect its children from abuse. Interwoven with intimate glimpses into family life, her memoir is written and read with wit and candour, Mary McAleese's story is one about the pursuit of peace and equality for all.
The music is An Droichead which was composed and performed by Liam O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration as President of Ireland.
Photo credit - Linda Brownlee
Abridged by Penny Leicester
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000wc50)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
WED 11:00 Parallel Lives (m000wc52)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Mark Steel's in Town (b09h3rc9)
Series 8
Bedford
Mark Steel is back with the 8th series of his award winning show that travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.
In this first episode Mark visits Bedford.
Everyone's heard of Bedford but not many seem to know where it is or what goes on there. It is a town full of surprises; it has the highest concentration of Italians in the country, it is the home of the biggest airship in the world and it has a museum dedicated to a cult called The Panacea Society, who believe The Garden of Eden is actually in Bedford.
Written and performed by ... Mark Steel
Additional material by ... Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator ... Hayley Sterling
Sound Manager ... Jerry Peal
Producer ... Carl Cooper
Picture Credit ... Tom Stanier.
A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in December 2017.
WED 12:00 News Summary (m000wc54)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 12:04 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wc56)
Episode 8
A magical literary debut about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you. As read by Louisa Harland (Derry Girls).
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
The Author
Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare, Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2016. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly and Southword. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. ‘Snowflake’ is her debut novel.
Author: Louise Nealon
Reader: Louisa Harland
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000wc58)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m000wc5b)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m000wc5d)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 Piccadilly (m000wc5g)
Episode 3
The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad. It's 1965 and he'd just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Yemen and Malawi: all East African counties experiencing extraordinary social change as British rule comes to an end. The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of one of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live in the UK, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.
And now here they are standing right smack in London, the city at epicentre of the Empire. How did they each get to this point and where did they go from here? In this five-part series Krupa Padhy tells a personal story about a group of men whose friendship has stretched - in some cases - over more than five decades.
Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
WED 14:00 The Archers (m000w9vj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b0952dzn)
Rumpole
Rumpole and The Way Through the Woods
Rumpole's surprised when he discovers he's a dog lover at heart - and perplexed as he defends a man who insists he's guilty of murder.
What's more, it's clear to Rumpole that the guilty party is among the hunting fraternity and not among the hunt saboteurs who, in 1966, are making their presence felt and their beliefs known on the hunting fields of Britain.
Adapted for radio by Richard Stoneman
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m000wc5j)
MBL: Financing Electric Vehicles
Adam Shaw discusses the financing of electric vehicles with experts and listeners experiences.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m000w9vs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m000wc5l)
Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000wc5n)
Social media, anti-social media, breaking news, faking news: this is the programme about a revolution in media.
WED 17:00 PM (m000wc5q)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wc5s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Shush! (b08pfnqg)
Series 2
Ticks & Foibles
When Snoo makes an unexpected purchase, Alice has to face an old rival, some electrical cables and a very dusty dictionary.
Meet Alice (Rebecca Front) - a former child prodigy who won a place at Oxford aged 9 but, because Daddy went too, she never needed to have any friends. She's scared of everything. Everything that is except libraries and Snoo (Morwenna Banks) - a slightly confused individual with a have-a-go attitude to life, marriage, haircuts and reality. Snoo loves books, and fully intends to read one one day.
And forever popping into the library is Dr Cadogan (Michael Fenton-Stevens) - celebrity doctor to the stars and a man with his finger in every pie. Charming, indiscreet and quite possibly wanted by Interpol, if you want a discrete nip and tuck and then photos of it accidentally left on the photocopier, Dr Cadogan is your man.
Their happy life is interrupted by the arrival of Simon Nielson (Ben Willbond), a man with a mission - a mission to close down inefficient libraries. Fortunately, he hates his mission. What he really wants to do is once - just once - get even with his inexhaustible supply of high-achieving brothers.
Written by Morwenna Banks and Rebecca Front
Based on an idea developed with Armando Iannucci
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (m000wc5v)
Ruairi attempts to help and chaos reigns at Beechwood.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m000wc5x)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
WED 19:45 A Big Disease with a Little Name (m000k3g4)
The Atlanta Buyers Club
In the first decade of the AIDS epidemic, officially licensed drugs were hard to come by, but there were plenty being trialled around the world.
As a result, a network of underground operations began to spring up where these experimental drugs were bought and distributed to AIDS patients who didn't have time to sit and wait for drug regulators to make their minds up about approving new treatments.
Diagnosed with AIDS himself, Christopher Harris went in search of anything which might help prolong his life and found a buyers club being run out of a derelict building in his hometown of Atlanta - and he was soon helping to run the operation.
Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m000wc5z)
Panel: Anne McElvoy, Mona Siddiqui, Tim Stanley and Matthew Taylor.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000wc4w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:30 today]
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000w9v4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000wc5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000wc61)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
WED 22:45 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wc56)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
WED 23:00 Jamie MacDonald: Life On The Blink (m000wc63)
Love Is Blind
Jamie MacDonald is a Glaswegian stand-up comedian who found himself rapidly going blind in his teens. This series shows how Jamie used humour to turn denial into acceptance.
He managed to find the spotlight as the darkness descended and has turned some pretty dark experiences into hilarious stories and anecdotes.
Produced by Julia Sutherland
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Domestic Science (b09v6yh3)
Series 2
14/03/2018
A heady combination of maths, science and comedy with Festival of The Spoken Nerd trio who are stand-up Mathematician Matt Parker, Physicist Steve Mould and Physicist-Musician Helen Arney. It's science that you can play along with at home as the team look at domestic phenomena that we relate to on a day to day basis. This week it's bath time.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
A BBC Studios Production.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000wc65)
Today in Parliament
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
THURSDAY 27 MAY 2021
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000wc67)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wc4y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000wc69)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000wc6c)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000wc6f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000wc6h)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000wc6k)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good Morning. Almost every year, I go on a long-distance walk. These have included in Iceland, Norway, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and from Grenoble to Avignon amidst fields of sunflowers and lavender. However wonderful the endpoint may be, it doesn’t compare to the days of walking it takes to get there. Pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, I suspect, are changed more by following the Way there than by their arrival at the grand old cathedral.
Here in Brecon, we recently launched our first Pilgrims’ Walk, a short route from our Cathedral to the ancient church in Llanddew where Gerald of Wales once lived. We’ve marked stations on the way where walkers can stop to pray and reflect amidst nature and heritage.
Like nomads, pilgrims are always on the move. Yet by moving at a slow pace, they inhabit the land, soaking in the personality of each landscape they pass through. Perhaps they bless each place as well with their prayers and by their attention.
Pilgrimages teach us that by being mindful of each step along the journey of our lives, we can inhabit them better. We too often skip to our destinations— like children do with Christmas—failing to recognize that it’s in the journey that life happens. By slowing down, focusing on the present, and blessing that present with our prayers and attention, we learn how best to live.
A Pilgrim’s Prayer: “O Lord, be for us our companion on the walk, Our guide at the crossroads, Our breath in our weariness, Our protection in danger, Our shade in the heat, Our light in the darkness, Our consolation in our discouragements, And our strength in our intentions. Amen.”
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000wc6m)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b038qk6p)
Great Shearwater
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Brett Westwood presents the Great Shearwater; a wanderer of the open ocean. They breed on remote islands in the South Atlantic and then disperse widely and many follow fish and squid shoals northwards, appearing around UK coasts in late summer and early autumn. The south-west of Britain and Ireland is the best area to look for them.
THU 06:00 Today (m000wcxl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m000wcxn)
The Interregnum
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the period between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the unexpected restoration of his son Charles II in 1660, known as The Interregnum. It was marked in England by an elusive pursuit of stability, with serious consequences in Scotland and notorious ones in Ireland. When Parliament executed Charles it had also killed Scotland and Ireland’s king, without their consent; Scotland immediately declared Charles II king of Britain, and Ireland too favoured Charles. In the interests of political and financial security, Parliament's forces, led by Oliver Cromwell, soon invaded Ireland and then turned to defeating Scotland. However, the improvised power structures in England did not last and Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658 was followed by the threat of anarchy. In England, Charles II had some success in overturning the changes of the 1650s but there were lasting consequences for Scotland and the notorious changes in Ireland were entrenched.
The Dutch image of Oliver Cromwell, above, was published by Joost Hartgers c1649
With
Clare Jackson
Senior Tutor at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge
Micheál Ó Siochrú
Professor in Modern History at Trinity College Dublin
And
Laura Stewart
Professor in Early Modern History at the University of York
Producer: Simon Tillotson
THU 09:45 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wcz9)
Ep 4 - An Historic Visit
Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland, reads from her memoir. Today, recollections of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh's historic visit to the Republic of Ireland.
Mary McAleese charts her life story beginning with a happy and boisterous childhood, growing up in the tight knit streets of Belfast in the 50s and 60s, before the start of the Troubles when her family was subjected to brutal violence. At Queen's University she studied law before becoming one of the first women called to the Bar, and laying the groundwork for her run for the presidency in 1997, months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. One of her last acts as president was hosting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they made their historic state visit to Dublin. Not one to rest, after her two terms as President of Ireland she studied for a doctorate in Canon Law to highlight the Roman Catholic Churches failure to protect its children from abuse. Interwoven with intimate glimpses into family life, her memoir is written and read with wit and candour, Mary McAleese's story is one about the pursuit of peace and equality for all.
The music is An Droichead which was composed and performed by Liam O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration as President of Ireland.
Photo credit - Linda Brownlee
Abridged by Penny Leicester
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000wcxs)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m000wcxv)
Insight, and analysis from BBC correspondents around the world
THU 11:30 A Life in Music (m000wcxx)
Adult Life
When music journalist Jude Rogers lost her father aged five, she turned to songs for solace and structure. Music helped her redefine her identity as a teenager and connect with her young child as a parent after post-natal depression.
In this emotional and educational series, we explore how music impacts us at each stage of our lives. Across four programmes in A Life In Music, Jude speaks to musicians, neuroscientists, psychologists and music-lovers to discover why music means so much to us all.
In this third episode, Adult Life, Jude explores how music helps us navigate the challenges and changes that come our way in adulthood. How and why does music allow us to come to terms with our past, quiet the demons in our head and move forward with our lives?
We hear from American singer-songwriter John Grant, neuroscientist Dr Daniel Levitin, Dr Beate Peter who researches electronic dance music cultures, and dance music fans Brett and Sylvia Van Toen.
Producer: Georgia Moodie
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
THU 12:00 News Summary (m000wd2w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 12:04 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wcy1)
Episode 9
A magical literary debut about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you. As read by Louisa Harland (Derry Girls).
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
The Author
Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare, Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2016. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly and Southword. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. ‘Snowflake’ is her debut novel.
Author: Louise Nealon
Reader: Louisa Harland
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000wcy3)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
THU 12:57 Weather (m000wcy5)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m000wcy7)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 Piccadilly (m000wcy9)
Episode 4
The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad. It's 1965 and he'd just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Yemen and Malawi: all East African counties experiencing extraordinary social change as British rule comes to an end. The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of one of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live in the UK, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.
And now here they are standing right smack in London, the city at epicentre of the Empire. How did they each get to this point and where did they go from here? In this five-part series Krupa Padhy tells a personal story about a group of men whose friendship has stretched - in some cases - over more than five decades.
Presented by Krupa Padhy
Produced by Kate Bissell
THU 14:00 The Archers (m000wc5v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Ambler (m0004mzn)
The Battle of San Pietro
By Nick Perry
In 1944, British spy novelist Eric Ambler and Hollywood film director John Huston were paired up to make a film to support the Allied war effort. Neither Huston nor Ambler had made a documentary before; they were used to writing the script then shooting and now they were going to shoot before writing. They agreed that there would be no staging, no re-enactment, nothing fake or artificial in their production. But the ethics of both men were tested by the reality of crafting a story in a war zone.
John Huston . . . Elliot Cowan
Eric Ambler . . . Joseph Kloska
Jules Buck . . . Joseph Ayre
Colonel Gillette . . . Nathan Osgood
The Interviewer . . . Lorelei King
David MacDonald . . . Christopher Harper
General Harrison . . . Kenny Blyth
Elsie . . . Helen Clapp
Director . . . Sasha Yevtushenko
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m000wcyc)
Tales of International Adventure on a Walk in Somerset
Bex Band was not an outdoorsy person, but one day she decided to hike the length of Israel. Whilst there she noticed very few women walking the 1000km National Trail so, on her return, decided to do something about it. She set up Love Her Wild, an organisation that encourages women to become more adventurous. The community now has over 25,000 members. On today’s walk, she takes Clare for a loop around King Alfred’s Tower near the Stourhead Estate, not far from Shepton Mallet in Somerset. As they walk, Bex discusses her forthcoming book; why women need encouragement and support to access the outdoors; and the other adventures she’s completed including kick-scooting the length of the United States.
Car Park Grid Ref: ST749354
King Alfred’s Tower Grid Ref: ST746351
OS Map: Explorer 142 Shepton Mallet and Mendip Hills East
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000wbzq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m000wc0p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000wcyf)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000wcyh)
A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.
THU 17:00 PM (m000wcyk)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wcyp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m000wcyr)
Series 9
Episode 4
The ninth series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is very different to the previous eight. It's still written by John Finnemore, "one of our best sketch writers", (The Observer), and performed by him with "a great supporting cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan" (The Telegraph), and there are still sketches and songs. But, with no live studio audience this year, John has taken the opportunity to try something completely new
Every episode in this series of Souvenir Programme is made up of scenes from one person's life, played in reverse order. There's no narrative to the episode; it's still a sketch show, not a sitcom... but the sketches in each episode all happened to one person, played by one member of the cast, over the course of their lifetime.
This week, we follow our way back through the life of Vanessa, from a quiz show in 1990 all the way back to a family walk taken one hundred years ago.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme started in 2011 and quickly established itself as "One of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" (The Guardian), and "One of the funniest and most inventive new radio comedy shows of recent years" (The Daily Mail).
Written and performed by ... John Finnemore
Vanessa ... Carrie Quinlan
Ensemble ... Lawry Lewin
Ensemble ... Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Ensemble ... Simon Kane
Original music composed by .... Susannah Pearse
Original music arranged by ... Susannah Pearse and Tim Sutton
Recorded and edited by ... Rich Evans at Syncbox Post
Production coordinator ... Beverly Tagg
Producer ... Ed Morrish
A BBC Studios Production
THU 19:00 The Archers (m000wcyt)
Writers, Caroline Harrington and Adrian Flynn
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas
Tony Archer … David Troughton
Brian Aldridge … Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge … Angela Piper
Lee Bryce … Ryan Early
Lilian Bellamy … Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Vince Casey … Tony Turner
Ian Craig … Stephen Kennedy
Ruairi Donovan … Arthur Hughes
Clarrie Grundy … Heather Bell
Shula Hebden- Lloyd … Judy Bennett
Adam Macy … Andrew Wincott
Kirsty Miller … Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter … Alison Dowling
THU 19:15 Front Row (m000wcyw)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
THU 19:45 A Big Disease with a Little Name (m000k31x)
The AIDS Denialists
How conspiracy theories and denial about the causes of AIDS had devastating consequences in the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
When Thabo Mbeki took office as the second President of South Africa in 1999, the country was emerging as the global epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
While effective treatment was beginning to emerge to suppress HIV and stop the transmission of the virus from mothers to babies, Mr Mbeki was sceptical.
He had tapped into a network of alternative theories about AIDS which emerged in the USA during the 1980s, fuelled by the work of Professor Peter Duesberg. These theories claimed that HIV was only a passenger virus and AIDS was the result of poverty and lifestyle choices, such as recreational drug use.
In this episode we hear from Professor Nicoli Nattrass and Professor Seth Kalichman, who have studied the AIDS denialist community and what drives their conspiracies.
Professor Nattrass was part of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) which took President Mbeki to court in 2002, to force him to grant access to anti-retroviral treatment for pregnant women in South Africa, to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to baby.
Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000wcyy)
David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m000wcz0)
Evan Davis chairs a discussion providing insight into business from the people at the top.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000wcyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m000wcxn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000wcz3)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
THU 22:45 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wcy1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
THU 23:00 52 First Impressions with David Quantick (b07bft8m)
Series 2
Episode 3
Journalist and comedy writer David Quantick has met and interviewed hundreds of people. What were his first impressions, how have they changed and does it all matter?
This week, stories about Christopher Walken, Leiber and Stoller, and the advertising industry, among others.
Written and Presented by David Quantick
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000wcz5)
Today in Parliament
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
FRIDAY 28 MAY 2021
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000wcz7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wcz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000wczc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000wczf)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000wczh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000wczk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000wczm)
A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rev'd Dr Mark Clavier, Residentiary Canon of Brecon Cathedral.
Good morning. Every inch of earth is sacred, or so the New Testament tells us. You’re as close to God standing in a rubbish-strewn alleyway as you are kneeling before the altar in a cathedral. The veil between heaven and earth is everywhere diaphanous—or at least ought to be. That’s the thrust of Gerard Manly Hopkins over-quoted line: ‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God’.
If you can believe that after standing in the cramped shrine of St Melangell, then you’re a better person than I.
My wife and I visited there on a late autumn’s day. It’s an evocative place: drenched as much in Welshness as it is with holiness. Melangell is among the most pleasing of saints; a hermit venerated for sheltering a hare from hounds while a hunting party watched on in awe. We stood by her shrine prayerfully as the world outside echoed with the repeat of rifles blasting pheasants in the surrounding fields.
What are we Christians to make of such places? Few of us have the eyes of saints. We may know that every inch of the earth is sacred, but we can’t easily discern that. We certainly don’t act like that is so. But places like Melangell’s shrine remind us that when heaven and earth coincide even in the gentle action of a woman protecting a defenceless animal, then God is powerfully present…even to two visitors 1,500 years later.
On this her feast day, I can think of no better lesson as we seek to respond to an ecological crisis of human making.
God the Creator, teach us to share your creation and to care for every inch of it as holy, so that we may continue to delight in its grandeur and encounter your presence among us. Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000wczp)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tx41n)
Sparrowhawk
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the sparrowhawk.
A garden visit from a sparrowhawk can be an exciting affair. They're smash-and grab raiders, using bushes, hedgerows and fences as cover to take their victims by surprise. Males are blue-grey above, with a striking rusty-orange chest and are smaller than the brown females - this allows the pair to take a wide range of prey.
FRI 06:00 Today (m000wdg6)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m000wc05)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Here's the Story by Mary McAleese (m000wdhy)
Ep 5 - The Third Act
Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland, reads the final instalment of her memoir. Today, after leaving high office, there's a plan to become a canon lawyer, and a new start as a doctoral student.
Mary McAleese charts her life story beginning with a happy and boisterous childhood, growing up in the tight knit streets of Belfast in the 50s and 60s, before the start of the Troubles when her family was subjected to brutal violence. At Queen's University she studied law before becoming one of the first women called to the Bar, and laying the groundwork for her run for the presidency in 1997, months before the Good Friday Agreement was signed. One of her last acts as president was hosting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh when they made their historic state visit to Dublin. Not one to rest, after her two terms as President of Ireland she studied for a doctorate in Canon Law to highlight the Roman Catholic Churches failure to protect its children from abuse. Interwoven with intimate glimpses into family life, her memoir is written and read with wit and candour, Mary McAleese's story is one about the pursuit of peace and equality for all.
The music is An Droichead which was composed and performed by Liam O'Flynn for Mary McAleese's inauguration as President of Ireland.
Photo credit - Linda Brownlee
Abridged by Penny Leicester
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000wdgd)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.
FRI 11:00 Descendants (m000wdgg)
Jen and Gayle
One year on from the toppling of the Colston Statue in Bristol, Descendants asks... how close is each of us to the legacy of Britain's role in slavery? And who does that mean our lives are connected to?
Yrsa Daley-Ward narrates seven episodes telling the stories of people whose lives today are all connected through this history.
The story begins with Jen Reid – whose image first captured attention of the national and international press after a replacement statue of her appeared on the plinth where Colston once stood. In the first episode, we discover the connection between Jen's ancestors in Jamaica and another family 3000 miles away in Detroit. Scrolling backwards and forwards in time, their stories span 200 years and take us on a journey from a plantation field in Jamaica to a football pitch in Scotland and a connection to a legendary figure of the 20th century.
Producers: Polly Weston, Candace Wilson, Rema Mukena
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Academic consultants: Matthew Smith and Rachel Lang of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at UCL
Additional genealogical research is by Laura Berry
FRI 11:30 It's a Fair Cop (m000wdgk)
Series 6
Exposure
This week Alfie and his team of audience cops investigate a case of Exposure. When a repeat offender is discovered in the community, Alfie takes the audience through all the policing options to try and catch the perpetrator.
Written and presented by Alfie Moore
Script editor: Will Ing
Production co-ordinator: Beverly Tagg
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000wdng)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:04 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wdgp)
Episode 10
A magical literary debut about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you. As read by Louisa Harland (Derry Girls).
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
The Author
Louise Nealon is a writer from County Kildare, Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Queen's University Belfast in 2016. Her short stories have been published in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly and Southword. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. ‘Snowflake’ is her debut novel.
Author: Louise Nealon
Reader: Louisa Harland
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000wdgr)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
FRI 12:57 Weather (m000wdgt)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m000wdgw)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
FRI 13:45 Piccadilly (m000wdgy)
Episode 5
The photo is sepia tinged. Five men, leaning against railings in Piccadilly Circus. The men are all in their twenties and they look sharp, hopeful. They can't quite tear their eyes away from what's going on around them to look at the camera. One of them is presenter Krupa Padhy's dad. It's 1965 and he'd just arrived in London from Tanzania. The other men come from Yemen and Malawi: all East African counties experiencing extraordinary social change as British rule comes to an end. The five men met while staying in the Central YMCA on Great Russell Street. Little did they know then that they would weave in and out of each other's lives for the next five decades. Scattered job opportunities, racism and economic hardship lay ahead - but the support network they created was to be a formidable force in helping them survive. The photograph captures a particular moment in history for a particular generation: one which experienced a double diaspora. In this five part series Krupa Padhy tells a very personal story of the men she grew up calling 'uncles'. We'll explore the lives of one of the five men; their hopes, their early experiences and the lives they went onto live in the UK, propelled by a desire to integrate into British society, and supported by life-long friendship.
And now here they are standing right smack in London, the city at epicentre of the Empire. How did they each get to this point and where did they go from here? In this five-part series Krupa Padhy tells a personal story about a group of men whose friendship has stretched - in some cases - over more than five decades.
Presenter Krupa Padhy
Producer Kate Bissell
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000wcyt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m000wdh0)
The System
Get Naked
By Ben Lewis
A propulsive thriller starring Siena Kelly, Jack Rowan and Iain de Caestecker.
Level 1: Get Naked.
When Jake signs up to a personal training programme that promises to turn the meekest man-boy into an alpha male, he doesn’t have a clue what he’s getting himself into. Two years later, his sister Maya sets out to uncover the truth.
Cast:
Alex … Iain de Caestecker
Jerome… Don Gilét
Maya … Siena Kelly
Beau…Matthew Needham
DI Cohen …Chloe Pirrie
Jake …Jack Rowan
Original music and sound design by Danny Krass
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams.
With thanks to Dr Joel Busher at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, University of Coventry.
FRI 14:45 Chinese Characters (b09z6725)
River Elegy: River and Ocean
In 1988, one of the most important television programmes in history was shown. Titled River Elegy, it was watched by perhaps 100 million Chinese viewers. Despite its stirring music and dramatic imagery, it wasn't a drama, or documentary - but an argument onscreen that China had been inward-looking and backward for too long, and had to turn to the west for renewal. It rejected the legacy of Mao's Cultural Revolution and daringly embraced the idea of learning from the empire across the "blue ocean" - the US. After Tiananmen Square in 1989, the show was banned and its makers went into exile. Yet it remains one of the rare examples of a broadcast that started a national conversation about modernisation and democracy - a dialogue abruptly cut off but perhaps not yet ended.
Presenter: Rana Mitter
Producer: Ben Crighton
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000wdh3)
GQT at Home
Kathy Clugston hosts the gardening Q&A with a panel of experts. Joining Kathy and the virtual audience this week are Christine Walkden, Anne Swithinbank and Chris Beardshaw.
Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer - Millie Chu
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000wdh5)
Book Club
An original short story from the acclaimed Irish author Joseph O'Connor. As read by the actor, writer and comedian Aisling Bea (This Way Up).
The Author
Joseph O'Connor was born in Dublin. He is the author of nine novels as well as two collections of short stories and a number of bestselling works of non-fiction. He has received numerous awards including the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature.
Writer, Joseph O’Connor
Reader, Aisling Bea
Producer, Michael Shannon
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000wdh7)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant. Prod: Eleanor Garland (Beverley Purcell Apr-July)
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m000wc4t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m000wdh9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000wdhf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000wdhh)
Series 105
Episode 7
Andy Zaltzman presents a look back at the week's headlines
FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000wdhk)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music
FRI 19:45 A Big Disease with a Little Name (m000k2c0)
The End of HIV/AIDS?
The 'triple cocktail' was a game-changer in treating HIV/AIDS when it arrived in 1996 - a combination of drugs which gave life to many men and women who were on the verge of death.
However, for a generation of people living with HIV who had been expecting to die, the prospect of having to suddenly plan the rest of their lives was a burden some found hard to manage.
As those drugs developed further, today it is possible to suppress HIV to 'undetectable' levels, with very few side effects for those taking the medication - but there is still no cure on the horizon.
But do we really need one to eradicate the epidemic spread of HIV - and in turn, the stigma which still affects many people with the virus?
Narrator: Chris Pavlo
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000wdhm)
David Davis MP, Angela Eagle MP
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from Bridlington Spa with a panel which includes the Conservative MP and former Brexit Secretary David Davis MP and the Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000wdhp)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.
FRI 21:00 Meeting Myself Coming Back (b037ghx5)
Series 5
Esther Rantzen
From "That's Life" to ChildLine and beyond, broadcaster Esther Rantzen examines her younger self in the BBC Sound archives and discusses her reaction with John Wilson.
Esther Rantzen became a fixture on people's televisions as the face of "That's Life", the consumer journalism television programme which ran for over 20 years. But she began her career in the BBC doing spot effects for drama productions and gained gradual on-screen exposure on "Braden's Week" and "Nationwide". She made several landmark films examining stillbirth and dying and her campaigns for victims of child abuse led to the formation of ChildLine.
Among the clips that she hears from the archives are an early written sketch from "That Was the Week That Was", one of her first reports from "Nationwide", the very first edition of "That's Life" and an extract from a little-known encounter with the sculptor Fiore de Henriquez who made a sculpture of the head of Esther and her new baby Emily.
Esther also discusses her relationship with her late husband Desmond Wilcox, the formation of ChildLine and her decision to stand as an independent MP.
Producer: Emma Kingsley.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000wdhr)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Snowflake by Louise Nealon (m000wdgp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 today]
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000w9v8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000wdht)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament