SATURDAY 06 JULY 2024

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0020pjp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Obsessed with the Quest (m001tsd3)
Descending the Five Deeps

Victor Vescovo was born an adventurer. After being given his first bicycle, his family hardly saw him until he'd ridden that bicycle into the ground - he was too busy exploring his home city of Dallas, Texas. Since those early days, Victor has expanded his horizons. Having reached the highest peaks on all five continents, he then set out to dive to the deepest parts of all five oceans. Victor's longest dive was solo to the lowest point on Earth - the Challenger Deep at the bottom of the Marianas trench in the western Pacific. On reaching the bottom, some 35,853 feet below the ocean surface, should something have gone wrong, there was no hope of rescue. Victor describes his feelings before making this historic descent and on the way down. As Victor's titanium submarine descended - a journey of several hours - he was encased in almost complete silence, ever alert for even the tiniest crack or groan that might indicate there was a problem. Touching down on the sea bed, he was astounded. There was much more marine life than he had expected. Victor describes how he hopes that the mapping, observations and sample collections he has made on his dives will advance scientific understanding of the deep oceans. And where his eternal quest to explore might take him next.

Produced by Diane Hope

(Image: Bubbles in deep water. Credit: seawaters/Getty Images)


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0020pjr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0020pjt)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0020pjw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0020pjz)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0020pk3)
Happy Islamic New Year

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Yousra Samir Imran

Good morning.

Tonight, is the start of the new Islamic Year. The Islamic calendar, or Hijri calendar, is a lunar calendar of 12 months; the beginning of each month is determined by the sighting of the new crescent moon.

The Hijri calendar is important because it marks the date that the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, made his gruelling journey from Mecca to Medinah, in Saudi Arabia, with a group of some of the first Muslims, fleeing persecution by the Meccans. The Medinans welcomed them with open arms and promised them somewhere safe to practise Islam.

Muharram was one of the most sacred months in the Islamic calendar. The Arabic word Muharram in itself means forbidden; this comes from the month of Muharram having been one of four months mentioned in the Qur’an in which war is forbidden. Muharram also means sacred. Similar to Ramadan, it’s a month in which I like to reset my spiritual goals and intentions.

While Muslims don’t typically celebrate the 1st of Muharram with parties, we do remember the extreme hardship and struggle that Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, and the first Muslims went through in order to save the religion. This feels just as relevant today when I read or watch the news and witness the persecution and displacement of millions of people around the world because of their faith. It makes me feel incredibly lucky to live in a country where I am free and safe to practise mine.

So today, I would like to take a moment to pray for all of those who have had to flee where they live in order to practise their faith safely, and I am grateful for the fact that I am able to practice mine.

Ameen.


SAT 05:45 Naturebang (m001qmkt)
Drunk Moose and the Drive to Get Loose

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight tackle a serious question. One of supreme scientific importance: do animals get wasted?

From drunk moose stuck in trees, to wasted wallabies asleep in opium fields, to dippy dolphins puffing on toxic pufferfish; stories abound about animals who seem to be using their free time to get sloshed. But do these stories, delightful as they are, stand up to scrutiny? In the natural world, when your survival relies on keeping your wits about you, what could be the evolutionary purpose of dulling your wits with psychoactive drugs?

Come to think of it, why do we do it? And what's the connection between getting high, seeing God, and learning to love your neighbour?

Produced by Becky Ripley and Emily Knight. Featuring zoologist Lucy Cooke, and Professor Richard Miller at Northwestern University.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0020xh9)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m0020k05)
Donegal with Nikki Bradley - Adaptive Adventurer and Amputee

In the first of two episodes recorded in the Republic of Ireland, Clare travels to Moyle Hill in County Donegal to meet adventurer and motivational speaker, Nikki Bradley.

Diagnosed with a rare bone cancer at just 16 years of age, Nikki (now in her 30s) has defied expectations by living a very active life. She was the first person on crutches to climb four Irish mountain peaks, which took her 32 hours. She scaled the Sólheimajökull glacier in Iceland, and has completed the Fan Dance, one of the toughest endurance challenges in the UK including two ascents of Pen y Fan.

Her latest enormous challenge has been to undergo a very unusual leg amputation. The damage caused by the cancer led to two hip replacements in her twenties, but her pain and discomfort continued so ultimately her medical team suggested a procedure known as a rotationplasty. Her upper leg was removed, and her lower leg was turned 180 degrees, raised and attached to the top of her thigh to become her ‘new’ upper leg. Her foot faces backwards at knee height, with the idea that it acts as the knee joint itself. It’s been emotionally very difficult coming to terms with her change of appearance and the pain associated with the procedures and rehab.

But, in characteristic spirit, she has continued to push forward and after many months of recovery is now back walking again.

Producer: Karen Gregor
Presenter: Clare Balding


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0020xhc)
06/07/24 - Farming Today This Week: Election analysis, soft fruit farming and bee breeding

Labour have won the General Election - so what does it mean for food, farming and the environment across the UK?

We visit a soft fruit farm where flexible solar panels are being draped over the polytunnels to produce both electricity and strawberries from the same land.

And most beekeepers sell honey - but we visit a pair who also sell queen bees, which they send to customers through the post.

Presented by Helen Mark
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0020xhf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0020xhh)
Starmer holds first cabinet as PM

Emma Barnett and Justin Webb present as Labour government gets underway.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0020xhk)
Joanne Harris, Jack Garratt, Natalie Haynes, Adam Kay

The author Joanne Harris, who describes herself as ‘test-driver of experimental dream machines who sometimes writes a bit’, grew up living above her grandparents sweetshop and celebrates the 25th anniversary of Chocolat this year.

The multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Jack Garratt shot to fame in 2016 and became one of the UK’s brightest new music stars, toured the world, before taking a step back from public life to protect his mental health.

And the mighty comedic classicist Natalie Haynes, who continues to turn the ancient world on its head, championing women of the past, returns to the airwaves with the 10th series of her hit Radio 4 podcast Natalie Haynes Stands up for Classics.

Plus the Inheritance Tracks of doctor turned bestselling author Adam Kay...and we promise they’re not going to hurt.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Huw Stephens
Producer: Ben Mitchell


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m0020xhm)
Printing in England

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined in 15th-Century England by Dr Lydia Zeldenrust and comedian Robin Ince to learn all about the early history of book printing. 2024 marks the 550th anniversary of the first book printed in English: a history of Troy, produced in 1474 by William Caxton. In the decades that followed, numerous printing shops would be set up across the country, and a huge variety of texts printed, including those that carried potentially dangerous ideas. Starting with the origins of printing in East Asia, this episode explores the first century of printing in England, looking at how books were produced and by whom, what sorts of texts were being printed, who was reading them, and how the state reacted to this new industry.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Jon Norman Mason
Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner
Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands
Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse
Executive Editor: James Cook


SAT 10:30 Rewinder (m0020xhp)
What Have I Done to Deserve This?

Greg James digs into the BBC Archive to track down audio gems, using listener requests, overlooked anniversaries and current stories to guide the way.

This week, as the Olympics approach, Greg uncovers an interview with a man who competed at the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896. He took part in shot put and discus, despite never having seen a discus before.

Greg also finds out about the origins of the modern Olympic Games - not in Athens, but in the tiny Shropshire village of Much Wenlock. Anyone for pig racing?

A listener request sends Greg through the dragon’s eye as he revisits the children’s literacy programme Look and Read, with great theme tunes and awful special effects.

And 60 years on from her debut solo album, Greg listens to the incomparable voice of Dusty Springfield - not only an icon, with her beehive hair and panda eyes, but a radical too: Greg hears how she refused to play to segregated audiences in South Africa, and was told to leave the country.

Producer: Tim Bano
An EcoAudio certified production


SAT 11:00 Newscast (m0020xhr)
Electioncast: Starmer Inside Number 10

Today, Sir Keir Starmer holds cabinet meeting on his first full day as the UK’s new prime minister.

In this podcast recorded live for Radio 4, Adam, Laura and Paddy discuss Labour’s preparations for government, whether the Tory leadership race has already begun and which figure from Labour’s past could be making a return.

Plus, Laura reveals one of the more unusual forms of preparation that has taken place in the Treasury for the UK's first female chancellor.

You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere

Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming, Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Bella Saltiel. The assistant editor is Ben Mundy. The technical producer was Riccard McCarthy. The editor is Sam Bonham.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0020xht)
The Trial of Evan Gershkovich

Kate Adie presents stories from Russia, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Vanuatu and Germany.

The trial of US journalist, Evan Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg will be conducted behind closed doors. He is just one of many journalists who went to Russia to report on the country, as Vladimir Putin’s clampdown on media freedoms intensified. Steve Rosenberg was in Yekaterinburg and reflects on Russia's handling of the case.

Last year, just over 9000 deaths - around 5% of the total number - occurred as a result of euthanasia in the Netherlands, where it's legal. It’s very rare, but every year, there are more Dutch couples choosing to end their lives at the same time. Linda Pressly met someone whose parents made the decision to die together.

In Taiwan, civil liberties are strongly supported, and it is now one of the world’s most progressive countries regarding gay rights. On a recent visit to the capital Taipei, Lucy Ash meets some who fear that should China invade in the future, hard-won rights could be taken away.

In the South Pacific, Vanuatu is grappling with what happens when a significant proportion of its workforce is lured away by higher paid jobs in hospitality, agriculture and elderly care to the likes of New Zealand and Australia. In Port Vila, Rebecca Root speaks to locals about what that means for a country struggling to build up its own economy.

And finally, the UEFA Euro 2024 football championship is taking place at a time when Europe is seeing many political rifts. On a tour of some of the host cities in Germany, James Helm reflects on how football tournaments still have the power to unite rather than divide.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Richard Vadon and Tom Bigwood
Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0020xhw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0020xhy)
New Chancellor and Energy Debt

The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has swept to power promising change, but there will be no change in the rates of the three big taxes - income tax, National Insurance, and VAT to protect what their Manifesto called 'working people'. So what will the new Labour government and the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves mean for our money?

The listener being chased for more than £60,000 worth of energy debt she didn't owe. It comes as new, exclusive figures reveal more people are seeking help from Citizens Advice over debt collection.

And there are signs that mortgage rates are beginning to creep downwards – what does that mean for those coming off a fixed rate deal?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Catherine Lund and Jo Krasner
Studio Production: Craig Henderson
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 6th July 2024)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0020pj5)
Series 114

Episode 5

Lucy Porter, Ria Lina, Simon Evans, and Hugo Rifkind join Andy Zaltzman to quiz the news in this post General Election special

It's official Sir Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister of the UK. Join The News Quiz for this post vote episode recorded on the Friday morning after the vote has come in. Covering the exit polls, results, the winners, the losers, the other losers, and the rest.

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by: Peter Tellouche, Alice Fraser, Cameron Loxdale, Stu Cooper and Christina Riggs
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Chris Maclean

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0020xj0)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m0020xj2)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:15 Any Questions? (m0020pjc)
Lord Falconer, Professor Matt Goodwin, Layla Moran MP, Polly Toynbee, Lord Willetts

Alex Forsyth presents political discussion from Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre with Labour peer Charlie Falconer, author and Professor of Politics at the University of Kent Matt Goodwin, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Layla Moran MP, columnist at The Guardian Polly Toynbee and Conservative peer Lord Willetts.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Tim Allen


SAT 14:15 Any Answers? (m0020xj4)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 15:00 The Archers (m0020pj7)
Paul is off to Borchester for his couple’s therapy with Etienne. Josh suggests he come to the pub instead. But Paul wants to see it through. Later in Borchester, he bumps into his dad. John has just been to the dentist. Paul breaks down - he thinks it’s over with Etienne. He walked out of couple’s therapy. John offers to drive him back to Ambridge and buy him a drink. He tells John about Etienne’s desire for an open relationship. He’d tried to be fine about it but he couldn’t cope with the fear of losing him. The couple’s therapy had been a disaster – Etienne said Paul tried to stifle him and that he wasn’t enough for him. John thinks Paul is worth ten of Etienne. Josh arrives and Paul says he’s seen the light. Hallelujah, says Josh.

Adam picks Alice up to drive her to rehab. En route she sees Susan and asks him to stop. Alice thanks her for what she said about Martha. It prompted her to call the treatment centre. Susan’s glad. Alice knows Susan thinks she’s an entitled brat, but she has to try to get better. Susan is reassuring and promises to tell Chris. As they continue to rehab Alice worries about whether she can stay on the wagon afterwards. Adam asks her whether she has thought about changing her plea. She says she knows she should plead guilty, it’s the right thing to do after all the trouble she’s caused. He tells her she’ll be all right. She doesn’t know if she will – but she’s going to try.


SAT 15:15 Breaking the Rules (m0020xj6)
The Great Cricket Con

In July 2022, reporters in the Indian state of Gujarat broke a story that seemed unbelievable. In a tiny village in north-western India, police had arrested a gang of villagers for running a fake cricket tournament that they had made to look like the Indian Premier League. According to reports, the villagers broadcast their spectacle on betting websites and targeted gamblers from Russia.

The story caught fire, drawing comparisons with the 1973 movie The Sting, in which Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s plucky conmen run a fake gambling parlour to rip off a mob boss.

This drama-documentary explores the police allegations and media coverage of a story that could be ripped straight from the pages of a Bollywood script.

Narrator . . . . . Ayesha Dharker
Shoeb . . . . . Hiran Abeysekera
Asif . . . . . Sid Sagar
Jain . . . . . Tony Jayawardena
Farooq . . . . . Sagar Arya
Shuks . . . . . Danny Ashok
Misha . . . . . Greg Kolpakchi

Drama written by Ayeesha Menon

Production Co-ordinator: Luke MacGregor
Additional reporting: Harita Kandpal in Delhi and Laxmi Patel in Gujarat
Sound design: Peter Ringrose
Producer: Sasha Yevtushenko

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4


SAT 16:15 Woman's Hour (m0020xj9)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Jonathan Meijer interviewed on fathering over 550 babies by sperm donation, Gabby Logan, Lisa Jewell

A new series was released this week on Netflix. It is called Man with 1,000 Kids, and Netflix is billing it as the true story of Jonathan Meijer, a man accused of travelling the world, deceiving women into having his babies - via sperm donation - on a mass scale. Nuala McGovern talks to Jonathan Meijer, the sperm donor, to mums Natalie and Suzanne, who had a baby conceived with Jonathan’s donor sperm, to Natalie Hill, the executive producer who pitched the original idea for these films to Netflix and to Rachel Cutting, director of compliance and information at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the UK’s independent regulator of fertility treatment.

Gabby Logan joins Krupa Padhy to talk about her new book The Midpoint Plan. She’s challenging the stereotype of middle age. With fewer insecurities, children leaving home and perhaps a bit more money in the bank, she believes we should see it as the best point in our lives. Plus, if we look after ourselves in midlife, we’ll be happier in old age.

Summer is here, which means it's wedding season, and brides-to-be across the country are asking themselves the eternal question: what do I wear for the occasion? Kathryn Wheeler, who married earlier this year, decided to do something that old superstitions advice against: make her own wedding dress. In the process, she learned much more than just sewing skills. She also learned a life lesson, to embrace imperfections.

It’s 25 year since the New York Times’ best-selling author Lisa Jewell published her first novel, Ralph’s Party. Since then she’s written another twenty-one novels, and more recently a number of dark psychological thrillers, including Then She Was Gone, The Family Upstairs and the award winning None of This is True. She joins Krupa Padhy to discuss her latest work – Breaking the Dark – which is a Jessica Jones Marvel crime novel, exploring the world of the private detective and former superhero.

By the time she was 19, Michelle De Swarte had gone from a council estate in London to the catwalks of Manhattan. Her twenties were a swirl of parties and high end glamour but by her thirties she was broke and in need - as she once put it - of a “new personality”. Desperate to find a way out of fashion, she reinvented herself as a stand-up comedian. Michelle De Swarte joins Nuala to talk about putting some of her own experiences into a new BBC comedy, Spent.

Presenter: Krupa Padhy
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Rebecca Myatt


SAT 17:00 PM (m0020xjc)
Starmer: I'll take 'tough decisions early'

In his first press conference as prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer promises to take tough decisions early and cancels the Rwanda migrants scheme.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0020xjf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0020xjh)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0020xjk)
The Prime Minister has said he is ''restless for change'' -- and will begin a tour of all four UK nations tomorrow.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0020xjm)
Iwan Thomas, Chloe Petts, Lottie Gross, Raghu Dixit, Kiioto, Anna Ptaszynski

Stuart is joined in the Salford Loose Ends studio by the Welsh Sprinter Iwan Thomas, who held the UK 400m record for 25 years. His new memoir 'Brutal', tells his story - one of speed, the drive to succeed and an extremely high tolerance for pain. . Comedian Chloe Petts is gearing up for the Edinburgh Fringe, and in perhaps the ultimate highbrow/lowbrow combination; she's just presented a series on Radio 4 on the history of the toilet.

Raghu Dixit is an independent Indian artist, soundtrack composer and former Microbiologist. His new album 'Shakkar' has been inspired by his personal struggles, but spreads a message of joy and kindness. Kiiōtō is the new project by singer songwriter (and former Lamb vocalist) Lou Rhodes and musician and songwriter Rohan Heath, formerly of the Urban Cookie Collective. They are just about to release their debut album 'As Dust We Rise'.

Anna Ptaszynski joins us for some sport fact ephemera and Lottie Gross talks about where to take your dog on holiday.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Jessica Treen and Kev Core


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0020xjp)
Evan Gershkovich

Evan Gershkovich is the Wall Street Journal's Moscow reporter. He's been imprisoned in Russia since March last year, and has just gone on trial there - the first American journalist to be jailed in Russia since the Cold War. He's accused of espionage, something he, his employer and his government all strenuously deny.

To his friends, like Jeremy Berke, he is "the most extroverted person that I've ever met in my whole life". He loves football and is a dedicated Arsenal fan - so much so that he'd get his flatmates in Brooklyn up at 7am on Sunday mornings - despite them having been out on the town together till the early hours - to watch Arsenal matches with him on TV.

The son of Soviet-born, Jewish parents who'd fled to the USA in the late 70s, he grew up speaking Russian at home. Once in Moscow as a reporter, his fellow correspondents - many of whom quickly became friends too - were impressed by his drive, his knowledge of Russia's language and culture, his ease at making contacts, and his willingness to go the extra mile - often literally, to places like the remote Russian republics of Udmurtia and Yakutia.

He's now been detained for fifteen months and counting. Gershkovich's friends and family say his release can't come too soon; they're waiting to welcome him home with hugs, and the desire "to never let him leave again".

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Julie Ball
Editor: Penny Murphy
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0020pf7)
Peter Blake

The grandfather of British Pop Art, Sir Peter Blake is one of most influential and popular artists of his generation. A Royal Academician with work in the national collection, including Tate and the National Portrait Gallery, he is renowned for paintings and collages that borrow imagery from advertising, cinema and music. Having created The Beatles’ Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band sleeve in 1967 he became the go-to album designer for other musical artists including The Who, Paul Weller, Madness and Oasis. He was knighted for services to art in 2002.

Sir Peter tells John Wilson how, after a working class upbringing in Dartford, Kent, he won a place at the Royal College of Art alongside fellow students Bridget Riley and Frank Auerbach. He recalls being influenced by early American pop artists including Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and how he began making art inspired by everyday popular imagery. He chooses Dylan Thomas's 1954 radio play Under Milk Wood as a work which captivated his imagination and later inspired a series of his artworks based on the characters, and also cites Max Miller, the music hall artist known as 'the Cheeky Chappie'; as a creative influence. Sir Peter remembers how he made the iconic Sgt Pepper sleeve using waxwork dummies and life size cut-out figures depicting well-known people chosen by Peter and The Beatles themselves.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Archive used:
Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas, performed by Richard Burton, BBC Third Programme, 25 Jan 1954
Max Miller, introduced by Wilfred Pickles at the Festival of Variety, BBC Light Programme, 6 May 1951
Max Miller archive from Celebration, The Cheeky Chappie, BBC Radio 4, 3 July 1974
Monitor: 89: Pop Goes The Easel, BBC1, 25 March 1962
Peter Blake: Work in Progress, BBC2, 21 February 1983
Newsnight, BBC2, 7 February 1983
Ian Dury, Peter the Painter


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0020xjr)
Dirty Old Town at 75

Radio 4 has commissioned a brand new version of Dirty Old Town, the timeless classic that Ewan MacColl wrote about Salford. Mike Sweeney grew up on it’s streets, he's been singing the song his whole life, but when he brings Ewan’s widow, the folk legend Peggy Seeger back to the city to record a new version, he uncovers revelation after revelation. Peggy's new orchestral version with the BBC Philharmonic recalls all the longing and loneliness, felt by a young Ewan MacColl as he roamed Salford as a young man.

Mike unlocks the secrets of the song, peeling back layers of history, meaning and emotion. He hears about the love and hate that Ewan had for Salford -and what Ewan thought of famous covers of Dirty Old Town by The Dubliners and The Pogues. He learns about the song's 'missing verse' , and hears Peggy perform it live and exclusively, in an emotional finale overlooking the docks that MacColl sang about.

Presenter Mike Sweeney
Producer: Catherine Murray
Exec Producer: Richard McIlroy
Studio Manager: Michael Smith
Prod Co-ord: Lydia Depledge-Miller, Mica Nepomuceno and Pete Liggins
Dirty Old Town: Arrangement by Kate St John
The BBC Philharmonic was conducted by Mark Heron
Vocals: Peggy Seeger
Guitar: Neill MacColl
Orchestral Recording and Mix Engineer: John Cole
Guitar: Calum MacColl at WITW

Thanks to the Lomax Digital Archive for use of ‘When I was Single’ by the Manchester Ramblers; Pam Bishop of Charles Parker Archive for the clip of Ewan MacColl in the Critics Group, Mary Orr for use of clips from Parsley, Sage and Politics.
Thanks to Hamish and his mum for permission to use lyrics from Landscape with Chimneys.
Special thanks to Josie Cahill, Partnerships Manager at BBC North and Kate Doyle, Director of We Invented the Weekend Festival.


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m0020qtb)
What is history for?

Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Well, Camden Council for a start, who’ve put a QR code on her statue in Bloomsbury explaining that some of views and actions of the prototype feminist, widely regarded as one of the leading modernist writers of the 20th century, are now considered “offensive” and “unacceptable”.
Funny how we look back for drama and moral clarity, not just judging the past by the prejudices of the present, but affecting to see in its messiness either inevitable progress, or relentless decline. More and more, it seems, history is a weapon with which to fight today’s battles.
What should history teach us?

Witnesses:
Professor Ada Palmer
Professor Kehinde Andrews
Dr Amanda Foreman
Professor Robert Tombs

Panellists:
Anne McElvoy
Ash Sarkar
Tim Stanley
Matthew Taylor

Presenter: Michael Buerk

Producers: Catherine Murray & Peter Everett
Assistant Producer: Ruth Purser
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SAT 22:00 News (m0020xjt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m0020xjw)
Has Finland Found the Future of Food?

Saunas, pickled food.. even Nokia phones. But do you associate Finland with the future of food? Sheila Dillon visits the new factory making microbial protein out of hydrogen, oxygen and various minerals. Solar Foods, in Finland, is the latest frontier in the commercial lab-grown food sector; their invention, Solein, is a novel food ingredient that can replace animal products like milk, eggs and meat. Rather than using animal cells as a starting point, their process uses electrolysis to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen, followed by machinery usually found in the dairy industry to dry and then pasteurise the resulting protein powder. After a tour of this futuristic factory, Sheila sits down for lunch cooked by Solar Foods’ head chef to find out how this so-called ‘food of the future’ actually tastes.

Lab-grown meat has been touted as the future for many years, but it has yet to take off – in fact, companies in this space are struggling. Changes to global politics as well as the high cost of scaling up have all limited the sector's growth so far. Meanwhile, it's still not clear if people want lab-grown meat as part of their lives or diets. Sheila hears from Dutch biology and ethics professor, Cor van der Weele, who found that people were more interested in small-scale production of lab-grown meat, in containers alongside animals on farms, rather than scaled up mega factories.

So how does lab-grown meat fit into our future food system? Is it really the best way to reduce the environmental impact of our diets? And how might it help us when climate change or wars make global trade too difficult? Sheila asks professor Tim Benton, of think tank Chatham House, for his views on all the big questions.

Produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SAT 23:00 Time of the Week (m0020hyr)
1. Breastfeeding, Country Music, Forearms

Host Chloe Slack scrutinises the new breastfeeding law, celebrates 50 years of country music legend Stella Tarmac and meets the first woman to fit her whole forearm in her mouthy. Also, who feels the cold more - men or women?

Sian Clifford stars as self-important journalist Chloe Slack in this comedy series parodying women’s current affairs and talk shows, surrounded by an ensemble cast of character comedians.

Chloe Slack - Sian Clifford

Ensemble cast:
Ada Player
Alice Cockayne
Aruhan Galieva
Em Prendergast
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Mofé Akàndé
Sara Segovia

Additional voices: Etta Treen, Beatrice Walker

Created by Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield

Writing team:
Alice Cockayne
Catherine Brinkworth
Jodie Mitchell
Jonathan Oldfield
Lorna Rose Treen
Priya Hall
Will Hughes

Script Editor - Catherine Brinkworth
Photographer - Will Hearle
Production Coordinator - Katie Sayer
Producer - Ben Walker

A DLT Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Nature Table (m0020qd5)
Series 4

5: Elton John Horseflies and Supersonic Fungi

In this episode, Sue and Team Nature Table return to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.

Nipple-eyed horseflies, a fungus that sexually reproduces by itself, a fly that decapitates ants and poo-based fungi or ‘dungi’ wow Sue and the invited audience.

Sue is joined by special guests: Kew Gardens’ Fungarium collections manager, Lee Davies; Principal Curator for Diptera & Siphonaptera at the Natural History Museum, Erica McAlister; and award-winning writer-comedian Dave Gorman.

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 a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a proper giggle.

For this series of Sue Perkins’ ARIA-winning ‘Show and Tell’ wildlife comedy, Team Nature Table have recorded at the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and London Zoo.

Hosted by: Sue Perkins
Guests: Lee Davies, Erica McAlister & Dave Gorman
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jenny Laville & Jon Hunter
Additional material by: Christina Riggs & Pete Tellouche
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Sound Recordist & Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Producer: Simon Nicholls

An EcoAudio certified production
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4

SUNDAY 07 JULY 2024

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0020xjy)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Open Book (m0020qd3)
Rita Bullwinkel

Johny Pitts speaks to Rita Bullwinkel about her debut novel, Headshot - about the world of girls boxing.

Tea Obreht and Mohsin Hamid on writing about displacement, and their books The Morningside and Exit West.

Plus, Jocasta Hamilton, Executive Editor at John Murray, on her Editor's Pick - Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott.

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Producer: Emma Wallace

Book List – Sunday 30 June

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Belly Up by Rita Bullwinkel
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Morningside by Téa Obreht
The Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrot


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0020xk0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0020xk2)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0020xk4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0020xk6)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0020xk8)
St John the Baptist, Chilcompton in Somerset

Bells on Sunday comes from the village church of St John the Baptist, Chilcompton in Somerset. The earliest church on the site was recorded in 1188 when it was presented to nearby Wells Cathedral. The current building dates back to the 1460s, but was largely rebuilt during the 19th century, leaving only the tower from the original building. To celebrate the Millennium a new ring of ten bells was installed by John Taylor of Loughborough. In 2008 they were augmented to twelve bells with a tenor bell weighing nineteen and a quarter hundredweight in the note of E flat. We hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Maximus.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m0020qkt)
Election issues; Curious about creatures

Emma Tracey has a long association with In Touch and is now the presenter of the BBC disability and mental health podcast "Access All". Emma has been speaking to politicians ahead of the general election about issues affecting disabled people. We welcome her back to tell us what she learned, including about issues specific to the blind and visually impaired community.

Andrew Hesser is fascinated by wildlife. Indeed, his curiosity of creatures set him on a mission to identify ways of giving blind people like himself the tools to better understand what animals look and feel like. Andrew has collaborated with the British Library in London on his work and we visited him there to find out more about his plans.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: David Baguley

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0020xkc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Beyond Belief (m0020qk7)
More Than One Wife

Giles Fraser meets Hafsa Rizki, a British Muslim women who coaches women in polygamous relationships. Her husband was already married when they met and got married themselves. She doesn't like the term, but she says she is a second wife and tells Giles about why it's a successful relationship, and how it's part of her spiritual journey.

Perhaps surprisingly, polygamy is 'more commonplace' than might be expected in the UK, according to Dame Louise Casey in her government review on integration and equality in 2016. In a society where the model of monogamy has dominated for centuries, what leads people to enter polygamous marriages? What is it's religious history and what are the ethical and moral questions it raises? Plus, as polyamory is more openly discussed and practiced, is the model of monogamy no longer fit for purpose?

To discuss Giles is joined by Yasmin Rehman, CEO of Juno Women's Aid and a campaigner on women's rights, Imam Waleid Allam and Susannah Cornwall, Professor on Constructive Theologies at the University of Exeter.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: Linda Walker
Editors: Tim Pemberton and Rajeev Gupta


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0020xkf)
Salvation Army farm

Hadleigh Farm sits on the Thames Estuary half way between the resort of Southend-on-Sea and the container port at Tilbury Docks in Essex. Its commanding views across the river to the coastline of Kent aren’t what makes this site unique - it’s the fact that Hadleigh Farm is run by the Salvation Army. It was opened as a ‘farm colony’ in 1891 by the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, who had ambitions to transform the lives of London’s poor and needy by offering work, skills and housing.

More than 130 years later much has changed but, as Vernon Harwood discovers, the land is still owned and farmed by the Salvation Army. The estate now includes a rare breeds attraction, an arable operation, Hadleigh Country Park and a training centre for adults with additional needs who run the public tearoom. The location was thrown into the global spotlight in 2012 when part of the estate became the Mountain Bike course for the London Olympics and the legacy of the Games continues with hundreds of thousands of visitors to the parkland every year.

In this edition of On Your Farm, we ask how commercial agriculture and farm tourism fit into the aims of the modern Salvation Army and find out why poor harvests with low arable yields have led to a major re-think on the use of the wheat fields closest to the banks of the Thames.

Produced and presented by Vernon Harwood


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0020xkh)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0020xkk)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0020xkm)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0020xkp)
Cure Parkinson's

Paul Mayhew-Archer makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Cure Parkinson's.

To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- 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 ‘Cure Parkinson's'.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Cure Parkinson's’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at 23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.

Registered charity number: 1111816


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0020xkr)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0020xkt)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0020xkw)
God Always With Us

From St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow, on the Sunday after the General Election, with Rev Dr Maggie McTernan, Rev Canon Oliver Brewer-Lennon and Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth.
The Cathedral Choir is directed by Frikki Walker and accompanied by Steven McIntyre.
Readings: 2 Samuel 5: 1-5, 9-10
Mark 6: 1-13
Hymns: For the Healing of the Nations (Tune: Westminster Abbey)
Let Streams of Living Water Flow (Tune: Thaxted)
All My Hope on God is Founded (Tune: Michael)
Choral: Rage, Wisdom (Composer: Sal McDougall, Tune: Veni Creator Spiritus)
Call of Wisdom (Composer: Will Todd)


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0020xky)
Nothing but Nightingale

A night walk, listening to nightingales, and a memory of her late father lead Rebecca Stott to ponder Iris Murdoch's theory of 'unselfing'.

The theory, writes Rebecca, was 'essentially about looking out and beyond ourselves and away from what Murdoch described as the 'fat, relentless ego.''

In this post election moment, Rebecca says, 'to rise to the challenges of housing, global migration, war, the cost of living, and the crisis of climate breakdown, as well as countering the global rise of nationalism and tribal politics, we might have to find ways to radically unself not just as individuals but as whole nations.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor Tom Bigwood


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m0020xl0)
Tolga Aktas on the Skylark

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

For conservation biologist, writer and photo journalist Tolga Aktas while growing up in London he never enjoyed the singing of a skylark as they rise up into the air. But today Tolga finds himself living in Gloucestershire where he can often hear skylarks on his daily walks from home, the song of which brings him great joy.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0020xl2)
Election Legends Panel

A legends panel analyse the general election, Parliament's youngest MP, and Harry Redknapp on England's penalties victory.


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0020xl4)
Rob Delaney, actor and comedian

Rob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sharon Horgan. He has also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Deadpool and Mission Impossible.

Rob was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Marblehead on the north shore. He studied for a degree in Musical Theatre at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began writing comedy material after he graduated. In 2014, he moved to London to co-write and shoot the first series of Catastrophe and has been in the UK ever since. The series won Rob and Sharon a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society Award for comedy writing.

In 2016 Rob’s one-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and after undergoing surgery and intense treatment Henry died in 2018. In the throes of his grief Rob wrote his best-selling book A Heart That Works which was a tribute to his son, his family and the NHS.

Rob lives in north London with his wife and three sons.

DISC ONE: Galician Overture - The Chieftains
DISC TWO: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor
DISC THREE: Chopin, Nocturne No 11 in G minor. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Maurizio Pollini (piano)
DISC FOUR: Bluer Than Midnight - The The
DISC FIVE: Hey - Pixies
DISC SIX: Fire in the Hole - Steely Dan
DISC SEVEN: Plainclothes Man - Heatmiser
DISC EIGHT: Rock Lobster - The B-52s

BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Alice Munro
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0020xl6)
Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Peter Leslie Wild

Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Josh Archer…. Angus Imrie
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright
Alice Carter…. Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter…. Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Harry Chilcott…. Jack Ashton
Justin Elliott…. Simon Williams
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
George Grundy…. Angus Stobie
Paul Mack…. Joshua Riley
Adam Macy…. Andrew Wincott


SUN 12:15 Profile (m0020xjp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Mark Steel's in Town (m0020q9s)
Series 13

Malvern

Mark Steel's In Town - Malvern

“...if ever after I'm dead you hear someone whistling this tune on the Malvern Hills, don't be alarmed, it's only me" -
Edward Elgar.

This week Mark visits the Malvern hills in Worcestershire.

This is the 13th series of Mark's award-winning show where he 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 a local audience.

As well as Malvern, in this series Mark be will also be popping to Margate, Stoke-on-Trent, East Grinstead, Coleraine in Northern Ireland and Nether Edge in Sheffield.

There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator Katie Baum
Sound Manager Jerry Peal
Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0020xl8)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0020xlb)
Starmer prepares for the world stage

Sir Keir Starmer has wooed the electorate. How will he charm world leaders as he heads to the NATO summit in his first week in office? Plus a former ambassador close to Joe Biden discusses the question of to whom the President should turn to for advice.


SUN 13:30 Stealing Power (m001xdcj)
Meter tampering means altering a meter to prevent it from fully recording how much electricity or gas is being used, or bypassing the meter completely to energy usage being recorded at all. It may seem like a great idea, but there are consequences. It’s dangerous and it is a criminal offence. Its classified as theft and can lead to prison sentences and heavy fines.

The number of people illegally bypassing the grid to save money is increasing at an alarming rate. Its disturbingly simple to do but the consequences can be tragic. In May 2021, two-year-old George Hinds was killed when a gas explosion caused by tampering destroyed his home in Heysham, Lancs. The explosion was triggered by a neighbour cutting through pipes with an angle grinder. He was jailed last year for 15 years for manslaughter.

Crimestoppers UK say reports of gas and electricity theft have been rising sharply. In 2017 2,566 cases were reported and last year that figure rose to 10,694- though the industry believes the true figure may be closer to 200,000. Energy theft is not a new phenomenon but the cost of living crisis seems to be the main reason for this sharp increase.

Presenter Dan Whitworth meets gas engineers at the frontline and talks to industry insiders and to Ofgem, the energy regulator to find out what they are doing about it.

Producer: Mohini Patel


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0020phr)
Exeter, Devon

What’s causing the leaves of my Fatsia Japonica to turn yellow and die? How can I make my five year old goji berry shrub look pretty? How do I encourage my fig tree to grow sweet tasting and nice sized figs?

Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural heroes are in Exeter for this week's episode of Gardeners' Question Time.

Joining her to prune the audience's horticultural dilemmas are passionate plantswoman Christine Walkden, garden designer Chris Beardshaw, and "grow your own" guru Bob Flowerdew.

Later in the programme, we go back to basics with Dr Chris Thorogood as he educates us on plant roots and how we can best protect them.

Producer: Bethany Hocken

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m0020xld)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

John Yorke takes a look at Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a trailblazer, a human rights champion whose personal life defied convention and whose ideas changed the world. Born at a time when girls were encouraged to do needlework and prepare for marriage rather than being sent to school like their brothers, Mary rebelled against the notion and educated herself. As her ideas developed and she found her place among radical Dissenters, she fought for women to be treated as human beings rather than objects for men to admire and own – ideas viewed as outrageous at the time. She travelled to Paris at the height of the Revolution and took her baby around Norway in search of lost treasure. Unlike most 18th century women, Mary’s life reads like the script of a blockbusting Hollywood movie. She left an enduring legacy, not least in the shape of her daughter, the subject of our next episode, Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatized in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe, and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy, John has trained a generation of screenwriters.

Contributor: Bee Rowlatt, author of 'In Search of Mary' a travelogue about following in Mary Wollstonecraft’s footsteps and founding Trustee of the human rights education charity in her name, The Wollstonecraft Society.

Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Kate McAll
Executive Producer: Sara Davies

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 A Vindication of Frankenstein's Monster (m0020xlg)
Episode 1

Starting with Mary Wollstonecraft’s ground-breaking feminist text, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and moving into a radical re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), through to the contemporary world of Artificial Intelligence, Linda Marshall Griffiths' drama asks what would happen if a woman created a woman?

In the first episode of this three part drama Lizzie walks through Mary Wollstonecraft’s world at the end of the 18th Century and she has questions. Tracing Wollstonecraft's extraordinary life, she is challenged by her bravery, her incredible mind and her capacity to fall in love with the wrong men. But this is not time-travel, Lizzie is creating a Virtual Reality world at the centre of which is Mary Wollstonecraft. But as the ‘AI’ Wollstonecraft comes to life, trapped in her virtual world, she begins to question exactly what has changed for women more than two hundred years after the publication of her manifesto - have women achieved equality and freedom? And Lizzie, pregnant and recently diagnosed with an aneurysm, must decide whether to allow her life to be constrained by her health, her lover Max, her impending motherhood or whether to complete her work, following Wollstonecraft’s journey to Norway.

Lizzie.....LYDIA WILSON
Mary.....DAISY HEAD
Max.....SACHA DHAWAN
Joseph/Talleyrand-Perigord/ Father.....ANDONIS ANTHONY
Eliza/ Jane Austen/ Mother......ERIN SHANAGER
Fuseli.....HARRY TAURASI

Written by Linda Marshall Griffiths based on Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Production co-ordinators Vicky Moseley and Lorna Newman
Directed by Nadia Molinari

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4

Artwork by Lydia Wilson


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m0020xlk)
Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings

Marlon James answers readers' questions about his award-winning novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings. The novel, which is narrated by multiple characters, opens in Jamaica in the run-up to the 1976 election. Kingston is riven by violence as competing gangs, some supported by the US government, compete for territory and control of the drugs trade. The novel is based on real events, including a planned assassination attempt on Bob Marley. Marlon James talks to readers about writing multiple characters, his approach to describing violence and how he sees the book now, ten years after publication.

Forthcoming recordings at 1830 at BBC Broadcasting House in London

10 July - Ayobami Adebayo on Stay With Me
14 August - Ken Follett on A Column of Fire
25 September - Susanna Clarke on Piranesi


SUN 16:30 Nature Table (m0020xlm)
Series 4

6: Giant Giraffes and Raucous Ruffs

In this episode, Sue and Team Nature Table return to ZSL London Zoo.

The complexities of being a giraffe, badass tenrecs, the outrageous sexual behaviour of ruffs and how eggs are made all wow the London Zoo audience.

Sue is joined by special guests: Natural History Museum’s principal researcher Dr. Natalie Cooper, zoological writer / broadcaster Jules Howard and award-winning writer / comedian Bridget Christie.

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 a fun and easily grasped way... whilst at the same time having a proper giggle.

For this series of Sue Perkins’ ARIA-winning ‘Show and Tell’ wildlife comedy, Team Nature Table have recorded at the Natural History Museum, Kew Gardens and London Zoo.

Hosted by: Sue Perkins
Guests: Natalie Cooper, Jules Howard & Bridget Christie
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Jenny Laville & Jon Hunter
Additional material by: Christina Riggs & Pete Tellouche
Researcher: Catherine Beazley
Sound Recordist & Editor: Jerry Peal
Music by: Ben Mirin
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Producer: Simon Nicholls

An EcoAudio certified production
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5ygy)
Subway Art: The graffiti bible

In 1984, urban photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant came together to publish an era-defining book about the early graffiti movement.

They had been documenting the work of graffiti arts on the subways system of New York for many years.

The colourful book was called Subway Art and it quickly became known as the graffiti bible.

Forty years on from its release, Martha and Henry explore its enduring legacy with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Marta Cooper and Henry Chalfant pictured at the 25th anniversary event for Subway Art. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m0020xlp)
Ian McMillan is joined by poets and poetry lovers for this celebration of language recorded at this year's Hay Festival.

The actor, Harry Potter star, Dickens virtuoso and national treasure Miriam Margolyes shares one of her favourite poems, the 19th century poet Robert Browning's 'My Last Duchess'.
Miriam invites listeners to imagine the Duke, who is the speaker in the poem, as being like 'Hannibal Lecter' from 'The Silence of the Lambs' - a good planner, who has killed his wife.

Irish novelist Kevin Barry has written three novels and four collections of short stories - a master of dialogue, and a beloved voice in the New Yorker magazine. He explores the poetry of the language in his most recent novel 'A Heart in Winter'.

Gwenno has won awards and acclaim for her haunting and groundbreaking song-writing and performances. Gwenno's albums Le Kov and Tresor are in Cornish (she has a Welsh mother and a Cornish father). She joins Ian to share her love of the Welsh artist and poet Edrica Huws, who achieved fame late in life as a visual artist. Her poem 'Vingt-et-un' has stayed with Gwenno, and she explains why Edrica is a creative inspiration.

The poet Owen Sheers explores a poem with a stand-out line (what we call on The Verb the 'Neon Line'). This week the poem explored is 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats. Is it the 'bee-loud glade' that has caught Owen's attention, or something else? Ian finds out. Owen has an acute ear for language, with writing often inspired by his interviews with real people, for books like 'The Green Hollow'.


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0020xlr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0020xlt)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0020xlw)
It's Sir Keir's first stop in a tour of the UK Nations


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0020xly)
William Crawley

This week, we learn about how pigeon racing can bridge the generational gap, and hear the sounds of migratory monarch butterflies flap as they journey across North America. And, on the subject of insects - how many flies have existed in the world for all time? Plus, as the election post-mortem begins, how does a botanist get involved in crime forensics?

Presenter: William Crawley
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Co-ordinator: Jack Ferrie

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0020xm0)
Alistair and Denise have a romantic day out at a Borsetshire lake, enjoying a picnic on a boat. They chat about Paul who’s coming to terms with splitting up with Etienne. Alistair and Denise marvel at their luck, all the years they’ve know each other and now they’re here in each other’s arms. Feeling they’ve now turned a corner, Denise knows she has to tell John about Alistair sooner rather than later, but it will impact on her family. Alistair’s understanding when she says she can’t face doing it yet. She’ll know when it’s the right time.

Emma and George chat about the haymaking at Grange Farm which George will have to do this year as Ed and Emma will be on a tree surgery job. They’ll ask for Ben’s help. Chris pops by on his way to cricket, but when Emma comments that he’s managing well with Martha considering he’s on his own, Chris retorts that she has two parents. They’re surprised to hear Alice is in rehab and Emma wonders whether Alice will change her plea once she gets herself sober.

Later Neil asks Emma about Chris and whether he mentioned the mystery about the cider bottle that was in Alice’s car. George asks Emma what Neil was saying and anxiously wonders why Chris is obsessing about it.

Chris isn’t interested when Neil points out that he thinks Hannah fancies him - it’s time Chris started thinking about meeting someone else. But Chris is more interested in working out why Alice pleaded not guilty, if she’d caused the crash.


SUN 19:15 Shifting Soundscapes (m0020xm2)
“Sound is the barometer of the health of the planet.”

It's almost 60 years since 11-year-old Martyn Stewart made his first recording near his house in Birmingham using a reel-to-reel machine borrowed from his older brother. From that day forward, he set out to capture all the natural sounds of the world, amassing nearly one hundred thousand recordings.

Now, musician and sound artist Alice Boyd retraces his steps to three locations in Britain to document how these environmental soundscapes have changed, revealing vanishing ecosystems, amplified human noise and the return of endangered species.

(Photograph courtesy of Tom Bright.)
With archive from Martyn Stewart's library, The Listening Planet.
Location recordings and original music by Alice Boyd.
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Communicating with Ros Atkins (m0020phn)
3. Rob Elias, doctor

Ros speaks to Dr Rob Elias, a kidney consultant at King's College Hospital in South London. We all communicate multiple times a day but could we be getting better results? From a simple text or phone call, to a job interview or big presentation, the way we express ourselves and get our point across can really matter. Ros Atkins and his fascinating guests reveal the best ways to communicate and how simple changes in the way we make our point can be really effective.

In this episode, Ros and Dr Elias discuss the role of empathy in communication, the need to calculate how much information someone is able to digest, and the need to make effective communication a priority.

Series Producer: Hannah Newton
Production Support: Olivia Cope
Executive Producer: Zoë Edwards
Mix Engineer: Jonathan Last
Original Music Composed by: Tom Wrankmore / Eliphino
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Listen production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0020pft)
Book of the Week. Racing Tips. This Cultural Life

Andrea Catherwood discusses the schedule change and original commissions for Radio 4's Book of the Week with Commissioning Editor, Hugh Levinson.

The daily racing tips on Radio 4's Today programme have ended after 47 years. The news produced a mixed reaction from Feedback listeners. Tom Kerr, editor of The Racing Post explains why the move has ruffled a few feathers in the horse racing world.

Feedback's Interview of the Year is back. We want to hear listeners' nominations for the interview that stopped you in your tracks. It could be a thought-provoking or emotive personal story, the moment an evasive politician gets nailed to the wall, or just something that made you laugh out loud. As part of this process we'll be talking to some of the leading practitioners of the art of interviewing. This week, John Wilson, presenter of Radio 4's This Cultural Life, tells Andrea how he approaches conversations with some of the world's leading artists and creatives.

Next week, we’re going to be looking back at the BBC’s coverage of the election We would love to hear from you - please do get in touch.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood
Produced by Pauline Moore
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0020phx)
Frank Duckworth, Leah Levin, Professor Mary-Lou Pardue, Joss Naylor

Matthew Bannister on

Frank Duckworth, the statistician whose name will forever be associated with the Duckworth-Lewis method of calculating scores for rain affected cricket matches.

Leah Levin, who campaigned to overturn miscarriages of justice and gain reparations for victims of torture.

Professor Mary-Lou Pardue, the eminent biologist who fought against sexism at the American University, M.I.T.

Joss Naylor, the fell runner who broke the Lake District 24-hour record three times and ran the fastest known times on the Three Peaks and the Pennine Way.

Interviewee: Rob Eastaway
Interviewee: Hans Thoolen
Interviewee: Professor Susan Gerbi
Interviewee: Professor Nancy Hopkins
Interviewee: David Powell-Thompson

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Frank Duckworth interview, Broadcasting House, BBC Radio 4, 21/06/2021; England Test Match Special, West Indies v England, BBC ONE, 16/03/1968; England Cricket Sport Report, BBC Sport, 30/01/2005; Leah Levin keynote speech, Kingston University graduation ceremony, 2019; Leah Levin interview, London Plus News, BBC ONE South East, 11/10/1984; Leah Levin , BBC Breakfast Time, BBC ONE, 04/10/1985; A Conversation with Mary Lou Pardue, MIT Department of Biology, YouTube Upload, 24/08/2020; Joss Naylor profile, Countryfile, BBC ONE 30/07/2018; Joss Naylor interview, Farming Today, BBC Radio 4, 19/06/2021; Joss Naylor interview, Nationwide, BBC ONE, 1973; Joss Naylor interview Cherry Pit Spitting , BBC News, 02/07/1981;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0020xhy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0020xkp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0020xht)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0020xm5)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m0020pf0)
Bacteriophages

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the most abundant lifeform on Earth: the viruses that 'eat' bacteria. Early in the 20th century, scientists noticed that something in their Petri dishes was making bacteria disappear and they called these bacteriophages, things that eat bacteria. From studying these phages, it soon became clear that they offered countless real or potential benefits for understanding our world, from the tracking of diseases to helping unlock the secrets of DNA to treatments for long term bacterial infections. With further research, they could be an answer to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

With

Martha Clokie
Director for the Centre for Phage Research and Professor of Microbiology at the University of Leicester

James Ebdon
Professor of Environmental Microbiology at the University of Brighton

And

Claas Kirchhelle
Historian and Chargé de Recherche at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research’s CERMES3 Unit in Paris.

Producer: Simon Tillotson

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production

Reading list:

James Ebdon, ‘Tackling sources of contamination in water: The age of phage’ (Microbiologist, Society for Applied Microbiology, Vol 20.1, 2022)

Thomas Häusler, Viruses vs. Superbugs: A Solution to the Antibiotics Crisis? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)

Tom Ireland, The Good Virus: The Untold Story of Phages: The Mysterious Microbes that Rule Our World, Shape Our Health and Can Save Our Future (Hodder Press, 2024)

Claas Kirchhelle and Charlotte Kirchhelle, ‘Northern Normal–Laboratory Networks, Microbial Culture Collections, and Taxonomies of Power (1939-2000)’ (SocArXiv Papers, 2024)

Dmitriy Myelnikov, ‘An alternative cure: the adoption and survival of bacteriophage therapy in the USSR, 1922–1955’ (Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 73, no. 4, 2018)

Forest Rohwer, Merry Youle, Heather Maughan and Nao Hisakawa, Life in our Phage World: A Centennial Field Guide to Earth’s most Diverse Inhabitants (Wholon, 2014)

Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson (2019) The Perfect Predator: A Scientist’s Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir (Hachette Books, 2020)

William C. Summers, Félix d`Herelle and the Origins of Molecular Biology (Yale University Press, 1999)

William C. Summers, The American Phage Group: Founders of Molecular Biology (University Press, 2023)


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m0020phv)
Quadratic Equations and Other Love Stories by Sharon Dempsey

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the author Sharon Dempsey. Read by Eimear Fearon.

Sharon Dempsey is the author of three crime novels and two novellas. She graduated with a creative writing doctorate from Queen’s University in 2023. Sharon has also published three non-fiction books and has many short stories published in anthologies, literary journals, magazines and broadcast on radio. Sharon was named as one of the Seamus Heaney Centre’s inaugural Ciaran Carson Writing and the City Fellows for 2024-2025.

Writer: Sharon Dempsey
Reader: Eimear Fearon
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.

MONDAY 08 JULY 2024

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0020xm7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Being Roman with Mary Beard (m001styn)
4. What We Lost in the Fire

For an aspiring medic it was a dream assignment- official team doctor to the gladiators of Pergamon. The top names in the arena were worth a lot of money and it was up to young Galen to keep them alive. Slash and stab wounds had to be closed quickly and cleanly and diets devised to maintain the perfect balance of fat and muscle for the finest fighters. It gave Galen unrivalled insight into the workings of the human body, knowledge he would use as he went on to treat emperors and write the textbooks that would guide doctors for hundreds of years.

Mary Beard traces the career of Rome's greatest medic from its highs to its lowest of lows- the moment when a great fire swept through Rome, threatening to wipe out his life's work.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Expert Contributors: Helen King, Open University and Matthew Nicholls, Oxford University

Special thanks to the British Museum and the Parco Archeolgico del Colosseo, Roma


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0020xk8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0020xm9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0020xmc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0020xmf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0020xmh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0020xmk)
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Yousra Samir Imran

Good morning.

At some point all of us have been told, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it’, but sometimes it takes a parable to get us to have that ‘aha’ moment. In one such tale, a king dreams that all his teeth fall out and he sends for a dream interpreter.

The dream interpreter tells the king, “Your dream means that all your family members will die”. Upon hearing this, the king becomes furious and sends the dream interpreter to the dungeons.

The king then sends for another dream interpreter. After listening to the king, this second dream interpreter says, “My king, I have good news for you. You will live longer than all your family members and be the eldest in your family”. The king was delighted to hear this and rewarded the man.

The court officials were surprised and said to the dream interpreter, “Your interpretation was no different to the interpreter before you and he got sent to the dungeons”. The interpreter said, “It’s not what you say but how you say it”.

We can all be guilty of speaking a little too bluntly and this causes people to get angry or hurt. There is an Arabic saying, “whatever is in your heart is on your tongue”. Speaking frankly has its merits, but when extended relatives have spoken too frankly and without a filter it has hurt me.

So I pray we all find it within ourselves to always speak in a way that is thoughtful and compassionate and takes into account the feelings of other people. And as always, this is a reminder to myself first before others.

Ameen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0020xmm)
08/07/24 Artificial intelligence for agri market research, Lakenheath Fen, vertical salad farm

From interpreting pigs coughs to detect disease to analysing biodiversity data; all this week we’re going to be talking about artificial intelligence and its use in agriculture. Today, how AI is being used to sift out inaccurate agricultural market research.

A year ago the RSPB started turning land that was once arable fields, next to its site at Lakenheath Fen in Suffolk, into a wetland habitat. The hope being that they’d see many species of rare wildlife return, and it’s working. It’s giving the marsh harrier and wildlife more space to thrive.

Indoor vertical farms claim to provide the solution to unpredictable weather, growing salads in controlled conditions under lights and stacked in layers. But it's an expensive way to grow, and involves high energy consumption. We visit the Jones Food Company vertical farm in Gloucestershire.

Presented by Helen Mark and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


MON 05:57 Weather (m0020xmp)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m0020xv2)
08/07/24 - Amol Rajan and Justin Webb

News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Orwell vs Kafka (m00201vk)
Ep 1: Battle of the Adjectives

George Orwell and Franz Kafka became two of the most influential writers of the 20th century and their ideas still resonate powerfully today.

In the first episode of Orwell vs Kafka, Ian Hislop and Helen Lewis explore the two adjectives that have arisen from the writing of both men. But what exactly do we mean by Orwellian or Kafkaesque?

Professor Carolin Duttlinger of Wadham College, Oxford and Orwell Biographer DJ Taylor are on hand to wrestle with definitions, while Ian and Helen also hear from New Yorker cartoonist Evan Lian, who made fun of people who use the terms endlessly.

They also find a vivid illustration of the very particular dystopias conjured up by both Orwell and Kafka in the form of the Post Office horizon scandal, hearing from Alan Bates about his experience of striving against injustice in a system that seemed stacked against him.

Producer: Tom Alban


MON 09:30 Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics (m0020xv4)
Cleopatra

Natalie Haynes returns with a new series of sparkling stories from the ancient world which shed light on the world today.

Cleopatra was a brilliant politician, a ruthless leader and a massive brain-box, who spoke nine languages. The Queen of Egypt had charisma to burn, but she probably didn't look like Elizabeth Taylor. Her intelligence and magnetism were more than enough to attract the attentions of the world's most powerful men, and to keep her in power - in a notoriously lethal dynasty - for over twenty years.

Guests Jane Draycott and Llewelyn Morgan join Natalie to make sense of the Ptolemaic family naming system, to discover what it took to stay at the top for so long in dangerous times, and to find out just how besotted Mark Antony was with the Egyptian Queen. Cleopatra knew exactly how to make an impression: she entertained the war-weary Antony on a gold-covered luxury barge, fragrant with burning spices, decked out with fairy lights. She made him rub her feet at a banquet for losing a bet and he famously wandered out of an important lecture because Cleopatra was passing and he preferred to talk to her.

'Rock star mythologist’ and reformed stand-up Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. Here she explores key stories from ancient Rome and Greece that still have resonance today. They might be biographical, topographical, mythological or epic, but they are always hilarious, magical and tragic, mystifying and revelatory. And they tell us more about ourselves now than seems possible of stories from a couple of thousand years ago.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0020xv6)
Harriet Harman and election reaction, Sports Day, France Me Too

There are a record number of women MPs in the new parliament. Nuala McGovern is joined by former Mother of the House and now chair of the charity the Fawcett Society, Harriet Harman, who wants to set up a Women’s Caucus made up of female MPs. We also have political reaction from journalists Rachel Cunliffe and Caroline Wheeler.

Is sports day something that teaches children invaluable life lessons, or simply an annual event that demoralises? Nuala is joined by journalist Esther Walker and comedian Helen Thorn to discuss further.

The French film industry has been under the spotlight in recent months after allegations of sexual assault and harassment by women against directors and actors. Last month, the French parliament agreed to create a commission to investigate sexual and gender based violence in the industry and other cultural sectors. Some of the allegations have been put forward by the actor and director Judith Godrèche who joins Nuala on the programme to discuss the issues.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club has retrospectively awarded caps to women’s players who have represented their county to recognise their commitment and their importance to the Club – spanning nearly 90 years of history. Jane Powell, President of Yorkshire County Cricket Club who captained England and played for Yorkshire for 12 years from 1980 to 1991, and also received a cap herself joins Nuala to discuss.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Emma Pearce


MON 11:00 Behind the Crime (m0020xv8)
Sobanan

Sobanan was struggling to manage his money at university, and got involved in dealing small amounts of cannabis to fellow students to top up his income.
A bright, likeable young man, his business-mind allowed him to scale the operation. But it came crashing down when the police discovered what was going on.
Sobanan was sent to prison, where he experienced shocking living conditions. But he also found ways to thrive and remain safe, using his charm and his sharp mind.
Dr Sally Tilt and Dr Kerensa Hocken are forensic psychologists who work in prisons. Their job is to help people in prison understand the harm they’ve caused, identify why it happened and work out how to make changes to prevent further harm after they’ve been released.
In Behind the Crime, they take the time to understand the life of someone whose crimes have led to harm and prison.
Through this extended interview with Sobanan, we learn about a man with an astonishing ability to ignore risk and threat – an ability that led him to fall foul of the law.
For details of organisations that can provide help and support, visit bbc.co.uk/actionline

Producer: Andrew Wilkie
Editor: Clare Fordham
Behind the Crime is a co-production between BBC Long Form Audio and the Prison Radio Association.


MON 11:45 The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman (m0020xvb)
The Most Useful Thing

In this wide-ranging series, award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman, author of The Power and The Future, argues we are living through the third great information crisis. Following the invention of writing, and then printing, we now have digital communications technology. In what she describes as a 'speculative historical project', Naomi traces the parallels between these moments, asking if we can learn from the past to help us cope with the ‘enormous wave of information’ from the internet and social media that we are all faced with today. Drawing on the work of philosophers and historians, she explores the way new technologies open up new ways of thinking and their enormous impact on our society.

Written and read by Naomi Alderman
Produced by Di Speirs.


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0020xvd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0020xvg)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m0020xvj)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0020xvl)
Labour's building plans

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces new mandatory building targets. Plus a major attack on a children's hospital in Ukraine.


MON 13:45 Ten Second Showdown (m0020xvn)
Allan Wells

The explosive drama of a 100m sprint makes it one of those events that seems to transcend sport. Like the world heavyweight boxing championships, the crown of fastest man or woman in the world has an iconic status, drawing people in – captivating even those who might never watch another athletics event in their life.

For decades, legendary commentator Mike Costello described these mini blockbusters live on BBC radio. But that 10 seconds only tells part of the story. In this series he also explores what went on behind the races.

In episode one, sport and international politics collide with the US leading a boycott of the Moscow 1980 Olympics. Scotland's Allan Wells is under huge pressure from the UK government to stay away. But he refuses - setting up a 10 second showdown in the Central Lenin Stadium with his Cuban rivals.

PRESENTER: MIKE COSTELLO
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0020xm0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Fags, Mags and Bags (m0020xvq)
Series 11

Shopnucopia

The hit Radio 4 series Fags, Mags & Bags returns with an 11th series with more shop-based shenanigans and over the counter philosophy, courtesy of Ramesh Majhu and his trusty sidekick Dave.

In this episode, Ramesh and Dave enjoy their annual stocktake and pay a musical homage to The Wall Of Crisps and The Cardousel, though the discovery of a long-lost chocolate favourite causes an unexpected trip to A&E.

Set in a Scots-Asian corner shop and written by and starring Donald McLeary and Sanjeev Kohli, the award winning Fags, Mags & Bags has proved a huge hit with the Radio 4 audience. This brand-new series sees a return of all the show’s regular characters, and some guest appearances along the way.

Cast
Ramesh: Sanjeev Kohli
Dave: Donald McLeary
Sanjay: Omar Raza
Alok: Susheel Kumar
Mrs Begg: Marjory Hogarth
Bishop Briggs: Michael Redmond
Dr Spocktor: Forbes Masson

Producer: Gus Beattie for Gusman Productions
A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:45 Gambits (m00127km)
6: The Bishop

Anton Lesser continues Eley WIlliams' dazzling short story series, set in Little Purlington - a seemingly ordinary English village, but which is anything but.

Today, in 'The Bishop', as the village continues to be gripped by chess, the local curate reveals some startling truths about who might be behind the strange acts of misrule in the village...

Reader: Anton Lesser is an acclaimed stage and screen actor, known most recently for his roles as Thomas More in Wolf Hall and Harold Macmillan in The Crown.
Writer: Eley Williams is the author of Attrib. and Other Stories, and a debut novel, The Liar's Dictionary.
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m0020xvs)
Gyles Brandreth and Hannah Critchlow

Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth has chosen EF Benson's entertaining tale of competitive snobbery in the 1920s, Mapp and Lucia. In a contrasting choice, neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow advocates for Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, a story of a Ghanaian family transplanted to Alabama which takes in neuroscience and opiate addiction. Harriett has gone for a real crowd-pleaser in E. Nesbit's The Railway Children and all three enjoy a bit of nostalgia for the times when children could run free having adventures around the railway.
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sally Heaven.


MON 15:30 The Failure of the Future (m001w15h)
A Promise of Peace

For decades, artists and scientists have dreamed up utopias that aim to reform the way we live. But why did they not become the future we are living in today? Is there something in those “what-might-have-beens” that’s worth returning to?

Writer and artist Johny Pitts explores a series of failed visions of the future. But rather than discarding them with the sands of time, he asks what we can learn from those past projections. And might elements of these forgotten worlds propel us towards a brighter tomorrow?

For Johny, there was a time when he felt he was living inside the future. Between 1950 and 1990, Japan was a time of great prosperity, innovation and invention. The nation seemed to be mapping out an advanced reality that could shape the future that the rest of the world might live in. And yet, that didn't come to fruition.

In this final episode, Johny examines Japan's plans for a peaceful world. In the horrific aftermath of the nuclear bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan adopted a new model around disarmament and peace-building which sent reverberations around the world. For a moment in time, global society seemed to be on the cusp of progress. Are there learnings from that era which would help us map out policies for peace today? Or do we need to fundamentally reimagine what peace might look like for our present world?

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Producer and Sound Design: Anishka Sharma
Mix Engineer: Nigel Appleton
Executive Producer: Phil Smith

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:00 Stealing Power (m001xdcj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 Rewinder (m0020xhp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m0020xvv)
Labour's plan to 'get Britain building'

The new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, sets out her plan to unlock economic growth by getting 'Britain building again'. Also, a dispatch from France following a shock election result.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0020xvx)
Rachel Reeves made her first speech as Chancellor setting out plans for economic growth


MON 18:30 Mark Steel's in Town (m0020xd1)
Series 13

East Grinstead

This week Mark visits the West Sussex town of East Grinstead.

This is the 13th series of Mark's award-winning show where he 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 a local audience.

As well as East Grinstead, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Margate, Malvern, Stoke-on-Trent, Coleraine in Northern Ireland and Nether Edge in Sheffield.

There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.

Written and performed by Mark Steel

Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator Katie Baum
Sound Manager Jerry Peal
Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0020xs6)
Neil checks in on Grange Farm’s haymaking, where Ben tells him George is filming everything by drone for his social media accounts. George is shirtless, presumably for his followers. George keeps checking his phone to see if Tilly’s coming, but Ben reckons he’s got competition from Aiden Belshaw. George wants to ask her to the Winkley Music Festival at the weekend. The tedder looks like it’s on its last legs, and Neil warns George to go slowly on it. They’re stopped in their tracks by the tedder grinding to a halt. They ring Neil who knows someone who could fix it.

It's Lilian’s birthday but she wants to keep it low profile, though she’s slightly disappointed when Justin says he thought so and hasn’t done anything special for it. They talk about Carlotta who seems to be doing alright as a temporary Stables manager. Lilian wonders what they might do for their big-reopening event once they’re out of lockdown. When Justin suggests that Carlotta could come up with some new ideas, Lilian’s hesitant. Later Lilian reports back that Carlotta seems to be doing ok, although she keeps mixing up staff names and shortening them. Lilian admits that because it was Alice’s idea to have an event it feels such a shame she can’t plan it herself; she feels like she’s betraying Alice. Justin reassures Lilian and apologises for approaching Alice in the wrong way last week. If Alice comes back, it should be to a place that’s thriving. Lilian thinks that Alice will get better and Justin politely agrees, saying it’s what everyone’s hoping for.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0020xvz)
Laurie Anderson's album Amelia, what's in the new Culture Secretary's in-tray?

Laurie Anderson, the Grammy award-winning artist and musician whose career has spanned five decades, discusses her latest work. a song cycle based on the final flight of the aviation pioneer Amelia Earheart. And we hear her reflections on the unexpected chart success of of O Superman back in in 1981.

While most of the incoming cabinet are already familiar with their briefs ministers, Lisa Nandy has just been appointed Culture Secretary having not shadowed the role. Lara Carmona of the industry body, Creative UK and Liam Kelly, senior culture writer at the Telegraph discuss some of issues that will be at the top of her in tray from the Arts Council to tax breaks and prioritising arts education.

The Oldham Coliseum has been resurrected. After last year's decision to close the building, actor Julie Hesmondhalgh led the campaign to re-open the 128 year old theatre. She's joined by the Council Leader Arooj Shah to discuss the work involved in bringing the Oldham Coliseum back to life .

Adelaide Hall sang with Duke Ellington, was a contemporary of Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, a jazz and scat pioneer who broadened out into popular tunes, entertained the troops for ENSA in the second world war and sang on the BBC, living in London for more than half her life. As she is remembered with an English Heritage blue plaque, we talk to her biographer and friend Stephen Bourne.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0020pfw)
South African and Indian elections: the aftermath

2024 is the year of elections and already hundreds of millions of people around the world have been to the polls. A few months ago The Briefing Room looked ahead to elections in South Africa and India. Both have since delivered shocks to their ruling parties which failed to win parliamentary majorities. So why did the main parties in both countries do worse than expected? And what does this mean for the governments they’ve formed and the immediate future of both South Africa and India?

Guests:

David Everatt, Professor at the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg

Dr Ayesha Omar, British Academy international fellow at SOAS.

Rohan Venkat, editor of the “India Inside Out” newsletter

Louise Tillin, Professor of Politics in the India Institute at King's College London.

Produced by: Kirsteen Knight and Caroline Bayley
Edited by: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0020pfy)
Sun, sea... and science

It’s election time but over here in Science Land, we’re heading off to the seaside for our summer special.

We chat seagulls with Professor Paul Graham on Brighton beach and find out why they are so misunderstood - from what we call them to why they pinch our chips.

We bust some sun safety myths with dermatologist Dr Jess Felton and find out why ice cream is such a chemical marvel with chef Terri Mercieca.

And we join in the festivities at the Royal Society’s Summer Science Exhibition.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt
Editor: Colin Paterson
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


MON 21:00 History's Secret Heroes (m001xwry)
11. The Extraordinary Cook Sisters

How did Ida and Louise Cook, two opera-loving sisters from England, help dozens of Jewish people escape Nazi Germany?

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Edit Producer: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Producer: Lorna Reader
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


MON 21:30 The Balsall Heath Bohemians: Stewart Lee celebrates the Birmingham Surrealists (m001p6rs)
Stewart Lee takes us into a world of life-sized chess pieces, alcohol-guzzling nuns and crucified naked bespectacled men. The story of British Surrealism began, not in Bohemian north London, but in a Birmingham suburb.

Today, the tradition continues with Birmingham artist Cold War Steve, whose work is featured on the website. His detailed collages evoke the surrealist world of the original Birmingham Surrealists.

The seminal moment for British Surrealism was the 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition when Salvador Dali donned a diving suit and walked through Piccadilly. But art historian and critic Ruth Millington reveals that the actual crazy beating heart of British Surrealism had already begun. A Birmingham group of artists refused to take part in that Exhibition, viewing the other British artists chosen as ‘overnight surrealists'.

The Birmingham group, including Conroy Maddox and John Melville, were the first and truest expression of the movement in the UK, meeting in the Kardohmah café in New Street and the Trocadero pub in Temple Street.

Later joined by Emmy Bridgwater and zoologist Desmond Morris - who left a giant elephant skull in Broad Street - they frequented Maddox’s house in Balsall Heath. Inside were life-size chess pieces and wallpaper handprinted by an adapted washing mangle. They held parties where communists, Caribbean immigrants and naked women in high heels smashed pottery underfoot.

Activities included Maddox being crucified, naked and bespectacled while a nun drank from a two pint bottle of local brew Mitchell and Butler. Maddox wanted to replicate this in shop windows in Birmingham but the Council refused.

Stewart Lee explores the creative explosion in the Surrealist court of Birmingham and the art it produced.

Guests include Stephen Forcer, Ruth Millington and Desmond Morris.

Artwork above by Cold War Steve.

A True Thought production for BBC Radio 4


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0020xw1)
Macron asks French PM to stay on as deadlock continues

President Emmanuel Macron of France has asked his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, to stay in the role for now, after no political group won a majority in French parliamentary elections. We'll speak to a former government minister and a former head of the Bank of France and reflect on the result.


Also in the programme:

The UN has condemned a series of Russian missile attacks which killed at least 36 people across Ukraine including some at a children's hospital in Kyiv.

And Rishi Sunak has confirmed his interim shadow cabinet, after 12 members of his top team lost their seats in the general election.


MON 22:45 Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (m0020xw3)
Six

It is 412 BC and the Peloponnesian war is raging. Debut novelist Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits is a thrillingly funny and moving story of wild ambition, high drama and unexpected friendship set in the aftermath of the disastrous invasion of Sicily by the Athenians.

In Syracuse, two young potters and best friends, Gelon and Lampo, come up with a ridiculously brilliant and crazy idea of putting on a play and casting the characters from the captured Athenian soldiers who are starving in the Syracusean quarries. United by a love of Homer and a passion for the work of the Athenian playwright Euripides, the unlikely pair are determined to pursue their dream, wherever it takes them and however many risks they face.

First they have to find prisoners who are familiar with the work of Euripides, and then bribe the starving captives with food and wine to recite any lines they can remember. Extra olives if they are from Medea. Once they’ve auditioned and found their cast, they need money for masks, costumes and scenery. It’s only when they brave a visit to a mysterious merchant ship moored in the harbour that they secure both the funds, and a producer.

The enterprise is fraught with uncertainties and danger, but as the play goes into production, unexpected friendships are made, and unlikely bonds of loyalty are forged. When disaster strikes, the young directors have to decide how to save the prisoners they’ve befriended.

Ferdia Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Libyan father. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin, and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. This is his debut novel, set in a convincing classical world and brilliantly written in a modern Irish vernacular.

Written by : Ferdia Lennon
Reader: Jonathan Forbes
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m0018h1f)
The System - Series 2

The System - Step 3: The Art of the Steal

Or How to Save the World in 5 Easy Steps

Step 3: The Art of the Steal

Ben Lewis’s award-winning thriller returns for a second season.

The System is still holding five of the UK’s richest men.

Jake and Maya are running out of time to find them.

And Jess’s masterplan is about to take an entirely unexpected turn.

Cast:

Jake … Alex Austin
Maya… Siena Kelly
Coyote … Divian Ladwa
Jess … Chloe Pirrie
Richard…Pip Torrens

Original music and sound design by Danny Krass
Featuring tracks from Equiknoxx music collective

A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams


MON 23:30 Split Ends (m001yqtq)
3. The Fall

Singer Songwriter and BBC Introducing presenter Kitty Perrin charts the stories of band splits. What really happened in the breakups of some of history's best loved bands? Using new interviews with band members, music professionals, academics, and writers she analyses the reasons they split.

In episode 3 Kitty explores the love affair at the heart of one of the most turbulent bands in music history. She talks to Brix Smith about her time in cult Mancunian post-punk band The Fall, how she fell in love with and married the bands originator Mark E Smith, and how the break up of that marriage and Mark’s documented substance misuse led to her leaving the band - twice.

In the early 80s, teenager Brix Smith lived in LA, made music and obsessed over every sound coming out of the British music scene. Two weeks after Brix Smith met The Fall she went to see them play. Six weeks later she moved across the world, joined the band, and was in a relationship with the man who was a figure on an album sleeve eight weeks before. Her addition as songwriter and guitarist was a major turning point for the band.

Kitty gets insight into what it’s like to be in a band with a romantic partner, and how that might affect the people around you so she speaks to Simon Raymonde, former bassist in 80s pioneering band Cocteau Twins, the only member in the band with couple Liz and Robin.

She hears from Rowetta from Happy Mondays who talks about how substance abuse led to their split.

We also hear from Rock-star psychotherapist Jodi Millstein, Tamsin Embleton, editor of 'Touring and Mental Health' and Ryan Dusick, original drummer in American Pop-Rock band Maroon 5.

A Yada-Yada Audio Production
Presenter - Kitty Perrin
Producer - Julian Mayers
Original Music by Gordon Russell

TUESDAY 09 JULY 2024

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0020xw5)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman (m0020xvb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0020xw7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0020xw9)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0020xwc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0020xwf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0020xwh)
The grass isn’t always greener

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Yousra Samir Imran

Good morning.

I’d like to share something that happened to me recently, that changed my perspective on my current situation juggling motherhood with other areas of my life. Lately, my husband and I have had little support beyond ourselves with childcare for our two-year-old son.

It was starting to really get me down that neither of us were getting a break. And for months I had watched my neighbour’s mother and mother-in-law through our window popping over every day to take care of her two-year-old son. I thought to myself how lucky she was to have this constant extra support.

One day I stopped to have a chat with my neighbour and she told me that she and her son were going to travel to Paris to visit her husband. It turned out he had been working abroad for months, leaving her and her toddler on their own – And I had no idea. It suddenly dawned on me that it was me who was lucky – my husband works from home and is available to support me with my son 24/7.

Sometimes we make assumptions that other people have it easier than us. But God always has a way of showing you that you have many blessings and that the grass isn’t always greener. In Islam, we are encouraged to not look at those who have it better than us, but rather to look at those who are not as fortunate so that we are grateful for our current circumstances.

So, I pray we all find it within ourselves to thank God the Most Generous, for the endless blessings He bestows upon us. Sometimes we don’t always recognise them.

Ameen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0020xwk)
The new Chancellor Rachel Reeves has committed to relaxing planning rules for housebuilding, a representative of various rural groups gives her response.

Corinne Pluchino is the new Chief Executive of Action with Communities in Rural England - ACRE - a national charity representing 38 county based organisations across England.

The new Secretary of State for the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs is Steve Reed, he had been serving as the Shadow at DEFRA for several years.

He is a London MP, so not exactly a country man, Andrew Meredith the Editor of Farmers Weekly gives his view on the appointment.

All week Farming Today is exploring the brave new world of Artificial Intelligence, AI, and how it is being used in farming. A Staffordshire farmer demonstrates how his recently acquired droid is weeding his crops.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced by Alun Beach


TUE 06:00 Today (m0020xrh)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m0020xrk)
Janet Treasure on eating disorders and the quest for answers

From anorexia nervosa to binge-eating, eating disorders are potentially fatal conditions that are traditionally very difficult to diagnose and treat - not least because those affected often don’t recognise that there’s anything wrong. But also because of the diverse factors that can influence and encourage them.

Janet Treasure is a Professor of Psychiatry at King’s College, London - where she's focused on understanding the drivers behind these disorders, to help develop more effective treatments. Her study of twins in the 1980s offered one of the earliest arguments of a genetic link to anorexia, rather than the purely psychological motivations accepted at the time; while her most recent work explores holistic ways to better treat these conditions.

Speaking to Jim Al-Khalili, Janet explains the work that's revealed anorexia's roots in both body and mind - as well as how attitudes towards eating disorders are slowly changing.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor


TUE 09:30 Is Psychiatry Working? (m0020xrm)
Rai and schizophrenia

In this new series of Is Psychiatry Working, writer Horatio Clare and his co-host, psychiatrist Professor Femi Oyebode focus on some of the most successful ways of treating mental health conditions – both the established and the more experimental. The world of mental illness, what it is and how we understand it, the embattled position of psychiatry and its patients was the matter of the first series, explored through the story of Horatio’s own breakdown. The landscape travelled – both in terms of access to good mental health care, and psychiatry's progress - was quite bleak. Now, in the spirit of hopefulness, Femi and Horatio explore a new and important question - what is working in psychiatry now?

With the help of Rai, who has a schizophrenia diagnosis, we look at the way the Hearing Voices Network is changing the view psychiatry has of auditory hallucinations. And we explore how new talking therapies could help people deal with sinister voices and paranoia.

Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health or self-harm are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0020xrp)
Review of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Black market weight loss drugs, Composer Undine Smith Moore

Former Chief Prosecutor Nazir Afzal speaks to Nuala McGovern about his independent culture review of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is the independent regulator for nurses and midwifes in the UK. The report is highly critical, finding that a "dysfunctional culture" at the council has "threatened public safety and puts nurses at risk." Sir David Warren, Chair of the Council also joins them to respond to the findings of the report.

Women are turning to increasingly risky ways to get weight loss drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, as online prescribers become more stringent about who they will give them to. Two young women tell Woman’s Hour’s Melanie Abbott about using drugs they buy on the black market, despite the potential dangers. Plus Professor Kamila Hawthorne from the Royal College of GPs explains the dangers of taking unregulated drugs.

A new Radio 3 documentary looks at the life and work of 20th Century American composer Undine Smith Moore. Presenter Dr Samantha Ege tells Nuala about the woman affectionally called “The Dean of Black Women Composers”. She explains how Moore’s radical, experimental composition ‘Soweto’ helped her find her anger and heal after trauma.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Olivia Skinner


TUE 11:00 Screenshot (m0020pj9)
Love Triangles

In the past year, triangular love stories have loomed large in cinema - Past Lives, Challengers and Passages all had different angles on the spiky geometry of three-cornered relationships.

Since Casablanca, these complicated love affairs have fascinated filmmakers and audiences alike. They can be the subject of romantic comedies, at the centre of a melodrama or the motive for murder in a thriller - the relationships can be gay or straight and the budgets big or small.

Jean Luc Godard’s iconic new wave robbery tale Bande à part is 60 this year. It seems that each generation has its iconic love triangle movie - The Philadelphia Story, Sabrina, The Graduate, Blood Simple, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Notebook and My Best Friend’s Wedding - the films could not be more different but the dynamics are always rich and provocative.

Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones ask where love triangles have taken us over the years and how they reflect the sexual politics of the times.

Guest interviews include Ira Sachs, director of the acclaimed Passages, and writer and critic Anne Billson.

Producer: Tom Whalley
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:45 The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman (m0020xrr)
Uli That Never Fades

In this episode, Naomi considers the impact of the first information crisis – the invention of writing. Before writing, she argues. ‘there was - in a real sense – no such thing as history’. The advent of writing enabled belief systems to flourish, brought into question old hierarchical structures, and sped up our culture forever. But did it also devalue shared memory, and traditional oral cultures, meaning societies came to value elderly people less?

Written and read by Naomi Alderman
Produced by Di Speirs.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0020xrv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0020xrx)
Call You and Yours: Housing in the UK

It’s no secret that the UK need more housing, at a lower cost to get people on the housing ladder, and to provide more affordable rent costs.
So would you welcome more housing in your area?
How would you feel about new homes being built around your village, town or city?
Would you rather see them being built elsewhere, or doesn’t it bother you?
So are you a NIMBY or a YIMBY?
(NIMBY - 'not in my back yard. YIMBY - 'Yes in my back yard)

Labour have announced that they will bring back housebuilding targets in England, plan to ‘rip up’ the planning rules to encourage the building of new homes, and will review greenbelt boundaries to prioritise brownfield and "grey belt" land to meet housebuilding targets.
It's part of a plan to build 1.5 million new homes, that will include social housing, and cheaper homes for rent. To hit this level they will need to be building at a rate that was last seen in 1950.

Email us at youandyours@bbc.co.uk and leave a telephone number where we can contact you.

From 11am on Tuesday you can call us on 03700 100 444.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Dave James


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0020xrz)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0020xs1)
Labour promises to shift power out of Westminster.

The World at One speaks to Loud Houchen - now the most powerful elected Conservative in the country - who warns his party not to "spiral into an existential crisis". Also, Thames Water says it will run out of cash by next June.


TUE 13:45 Ten Second Showdown (m0020xs3)
Ben Johnson

When Ben Johnson surged over the finish line in the 100m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it seemed that inside a world record-breaking 9.79 seconds he had settled his bitter rivalry with Carl Lewis once and for all. But then it all began to fall apart.

At 4am, the phone rang in the hotel room of the Colin Hart, who was covering the Olympics for The Sun. "There's a major story about to break", the bleary-eyed Hart was told. Shortly afterwards, BBC host Des Lynam delivered the bombshell news. Johnson had tested positive for Stanozylol, a banned performance-enhancing steroid.

In this episode of Ten Second Showdown, Mike Costello hears from people who were on the front line as one of the biggest drugs scandals of all time unfolded.

This is the dramatic story of the 100m that become known as the dirtiest race in history.

PRESENTER: MIKE COSTELLO
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0020xs6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m0020xs8)
Series 5

Jim

By Roy Williams

1983. Jim, now the star of a primetime TV sit-com, is dealing with difficulties on every front. Only ex-wife Hope really understands what he is facing but has to remind him of some familiar hard truths. Is Jim ready to actually listen this time?

Jim ….. Martins Imhangbe
Hope ….. Danielle Vitalis
Sheila ….. Keziah Joseph
Jimmy ….. Michael Ajao
Bert / Dr Pearl ….. Ben Crowe
Lorraine ….. Rebecca Crankshaw
Bradley / Taxi Driver ….. Samuel James

Produced by Pat Cumper

Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike

A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

*****

Faith Hope and Glory began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK in 1946. Three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock. All three are now settled in their lives in 1980s Britain.

We have reached 1983. It’s election time. There are tensions between right and left, and young and old, and within families as a new generation of Black Britons take their place in Thatcher’s Britain, making their mark on the political, social, and creative fabric of their home.

Hope’s first husband Jim, now a successful actor, left her and their children years previously after a troubled marriage.


TUE 15:00 The Gatekeepers (m001wxlt)
5. The Vortex

One of the strange things about our new media universe, is how innocuous decisions taken in Silicon Valley - turning a dial, or adding a few lines of code to increase engagement - can change your life.

In 2016, Instagram introduced a new way of looking at content: the non-chronological feed.

Now, instead of seeing what your friends were posting in the order they were posting it, an algorithm brought you stuff based on search history, likes, and interactions.

That’s how tech engineers saw things back then - not just at Instagram, but at Pinterest, and other platforms too - if you engage with something, that must mean you want more of it.

Ian Russell believes that this algorithmic change may have altered the course of his 14 year old daughter Molly's life.

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Composer: Jeremy Warmsley
Story Consultant: Kirsty Williams
Execuitve Producer: Peter McManus
Commissioner: Dan Clarke

A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.

Archive: 'Instagram implements big changes to users' feed, ditches chronologixal content' DT Daily; March 16th 2016. US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Nov 7th 2023

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

New episodes released on Mondays. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest episodes of The Gatekeepers, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3Ui661u


TUE 15:30 Beyond Belief (m0020xsc)
Why We Walk

Why is walking spiritual? Giles Fraser asks if the power of pilgrimage in it's destination, or along the pathway.

Alice Sainsbury was recovering from a serious neurological illness when she slowly started to walk again. Step by step she found herself again through walking, and small pilgrimages near her home in Cornwall. It wasn't just a physical journey for her, but a spiritual one as well.

She tells Giles Fraser why she walks. And Giles asks a panel of enthusiastic pilgrims from different faiths about the religious beliefs behind walking and pilgrimage.

Phil McCarthy, a former GP, has founded Pilgrim Ways, promoting walking pilgrimages in England and Wales. Sr Radharamana Das is a scholar in Sanskrit and Vedic literatures and a volunteer at his local Hare Krishna temple. And Professor Raminder Kaur is the leader of a project about pilgrimage and economics at the University of Sussex.

Boots laced, let's begin.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Assistant Producer: James Leesley
Editor: Tim Pemberton


TUE 16:00 Rage Against the Regime: The Revolutionary Power of Metal Music (m0020xsf)
Oslo Location Recording by Siri Narverud Moen
Photo by Elizabeth Ann Duffy

Metal, according to a recent Spotify poll, is the most downloaded genre of music in the world. It’s a highly complex, intellectual form of music, intertwined with politics since its inception with Black Sabbath’s anti-war anthem ‘War Pigs’

This music has a special kind of power—a sonic force that inspires courage and rebellion, spurring people to speak truth to power. It can make regimes fear and attack those who use it, and can connect people across continents, even when powerful forces seek to keep entire populations and their cultures isolated and silent.

In "Rage Against the Regime: The Revolutionary Power of Metal Music," metal journalist Dannii Leivers explores the stories of bands who have faced repression in various Middle Eastern countries over the past two decades and highlights the experiences of three important metal artists

Nikan Khosravi, lead singer of Confess who was, along with his bandmates, imprisoned by the Iranian authorities for blasphemy and spreading anti-government sentiment.

Cherine Amr, who was labeled a satanist by members of the Muslim Brotherhood after the 2011 Revolution in Egypt, partly because those in power couldn’t understand why a woman would scream like she did during shows.

And Abed Hathout, co-founder of the Palestinian band Khalas — thought to be the first metal band to sing in Arabic — who opened a window into Palestinian culture and resisted the narrative of perpetual hate in the region by touring with an Israeli band across Europe.

Join us as we dive into the revolutionary power of metal music and uncover the stories of those who dare to rage against the regime.

Presenter: Dannii Leivers
Producer: Elizabeth Ann Duffy
Sound Engineer: Malcolm Torrie


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m0020xsh)
Can Keir kill spin?

Just days after Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, David Yelland and Simon Lewis take a special deep dive into what may prove to be a great communications reset at No 10 under the new Prime Minister, with greater transparency at its heart.

But will Sir Keir be able to create the space to govern between the media and his administration? And if he plans to build, build, build, how is he going to manage being very unpopular in a populist era?

Producer: Eve Streeter
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: William Miller
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m0020xsk)
A new world order?

As NATO leaders are due to meet tonight, we hear an extended interview with a man who worked with Trump on foreign policy and thinks Europe needs to prepare to defend itself.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0020xsm)
He told newly sworn-in MPs he wanted them to deliver "national renewal"


TUE 18:30 Joe Lycett's Obsessions (m000dqh7)
Series 2

Mary Berry and Holly Walsh

Joe Lycett returns to explore the nation's weird and wonderful obsessions by getting to know a selection of famous and not so famous guests. Joining Joe on the sofa this week, national treasure Mary Berry shares her love of her dog Darcy, whilst comedian Holly Walsh reveals her obsession with badgers. Joe also welcomes members of the public to share their secret passions, as well as this week's VOP (very obsessed person), Lucy Harper, a YouTube ASMR artists.

Joe Lycett's Obsessions was written and performed by Joe Lycett, with material from James Kettle and additional material from Catherine Brinkworth and Kat Sadler. The production coordinator was Damilola Mabadeje. The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios Audio production.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0020xsp)
Stella’s got the day off and is working on her pitch for Borchester Land. She hopes to reason them into a green package to be proud of for the coming decades. Pip invites her to get some fresh air when she goes over to Grange Farm to see if there are any extra bales from haymaking. They find Neil and Ben relaxing in the sun while the tedder’s being fixed. George is sunburnt from taking his shirt off to pose for videos of himself posted for Tilly Button’s eyes. She keeps saying she’ll come over but hasn’t turned up yet. Neil comes across a stray cat and kittens in the stackyard and they all go over to look at them. When Ben wonders what to do with them, Neil counsels just keeping an eye on them for now. Eddie can probably find homes for the kittens. Stella’s surprised when Pip can’t get over how cute they are.

Paul tells Alistair that he’s finished with Etienne – they wanted different things. Talk turns to Denise who’s always been such a support for Paul. He had a great heart-to-heart with his dad on Sunday too. It made Paul realise that although he enjoys partying, what he really craves are cosy nights in with a special someone. He reckons his parents’ relationship is such a great role model – he just wishes they’d stop worrying about him. Paul wonders if they’re the reason why he can’t find ‘the one’. Perhaps he’s aiming too high because his parents have such a great marriage. He goes, leaving Alistair feeling awkward.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0020xsr)
Chariots of Fire staged, Pompidou Centre redeveloped, My Native Land republished

Playwright Mike Bartlett and theatre director Robert Hastie on their new stage production of Chariots of Fire

As preparations are made for a major redevelopment of the Pompidou Centre in Paris, Catherine Croft, Director of the 20th Century Society and Olivia Salazar-Winspear Culture Reporter for France 24 discuss the iconic building.

BBC Russian senior reporter Sergei Goryashko on the sentencing of the Russian playwright, Svetlana Petriychuk, and theatre director Yevgenia Berkovich for their production of a play, Finist The Brave Falcon.

Jason Allen-Paisant, who has won both the most recent Forward Prize AND TS Eliot Prize for his poetry collection Self-Portrait as Othello reflects on Aimé Césaire's epic poem Return to My Native Land as it is republished by Penguin

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m0020xst)
Ghost Houses

There are more empty homes than homeless households in this country. Why?

Filled with cobwebs, windows broken, and rats scurrying about in their overgrown gardens, the UK has hundreds of thousands of ghost houses - properties where no one lives. The UK also has the worst homelessness problem in the rich world. So could we use those empty homes for the people in dire need of a home?

Simon Maybin investigates the phenomenon of empty homes and, over nine months, follows the work of someone trying to turn unused properties into homes for families among the record numbers who are now homeless.

Reporter/producer: Simon Maybin
Technical producer: Neil Churchill
Production coordinators: Ellie Dover & Tim Fernley
Editor: Richard Vadon


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0020xsw)
Redundancies at the RNIB

Like many charitable organisations, the RNIB is facing financial losses in certain areas and is having to find means of saving money across the organisation. It needs to cut around £10 million and staff have been told that redundancies will be happening. The RNIB's CEO Matt Stringer tells In Touch about the charity's current financial situation, whether any of services will be impacted and about the level of redundancies across the organisation.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


TUE 21:00 Wokewash (m001w12p)
Race

Satirist Heydon Prowse offers a tongue-in-cheek investigation into how companies embraced race as the next social justice bandwagon to flaunt their woke credentials.

After the murder of George Floyd organisations suddenly tweeted and posted support for a movement they had never seemed to care about, rushing to be the first to be seen to make donations. CEOs took the knee in the office, a toy company paused its marketing of its police themed range.

Heydon himself was in a panic – should he post a black square with the hashtag #blackouttuesday in support of Black Lives Matter? If he did, he feared the profoundly performative act of solidarity that required zero effort was wokewashing, if he didn’t wouldn’t he look like a full blown racist.

To discover who did it right and who did a facepalm, Heydon meets:
Enes Freedom, former NBA star whose career came to a sudden halt when he chose to protest an issue beyond BLM
Podcaster Zubi, who wonders if wokewashing is a brilliant con to subdue the left
Marketing guru Katie Martell, who hails the advert that got people setting fire to their trainers
Comedian Kae Kurd, who ponders if Pepsi or Dr Pepper is the best drink for a protest
Judd Legum who unearthed financial hypocrisy, and academics Lily Kunda and Francesca Sobande who discuss what, if anything, has changed as a result – and a favourite ice cream.

Producer: Sarah Bowen
Assistant Producer: Oliva Sopel


TUE 21:30 The Bottom Line (m0020pfc)
The Business of Dying

Managing the rituals of a loved one's death can be both bewildering and expensive.

And although no-one wants to think about it being like buying a holiday or car, it is a business with a supply chain involving funerals, burials and cremation.

A couple of years ago the Competition and Markets Authority - which protects people from unfair trading practices - carried out an in-depth investigation into the funeral market because of the “surprise” people experienced at the final cost of that farewell.

On average people spend about £4,000, so what do you get for that and how is the industry changing?

Evan Davis is joined by:
Gill Stewart, Managing Director, Co-op Funeralcare
Alison Crake, Senior Partner, Crake and Mallon Funeral Directors
Kate Tym, independent celebrant
And Greg Cranfield from JC Atkinson coffin makers.

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producers: Alex Lewis, Drew Hyndman and Miriam Quayyum
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: James Beard and Hal Haines
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison and Rosie Strawbridge


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0020xsy)
Democratic congressman: Joe Biden should stay on

Democratic party politicians have been holding meetings today after concerns were raised about US president Joe Biden's ability to beat Donald Trump in the race for the White House. We speak to a Democratic congressman who supports the president.

Also in the programme:

Joe Biden is set to host a NATO summit in Washington DC as pressure grows around his presidential re-election campaign.

And social media is awash with concerns about traces of toxic metals in tampons. We speak to a researcher who first raised concerns.


TUE 22:45 Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (m0020xt0)
Seven

It is 412 BC and the Peloponnesian war is raging. Debut novelist Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits is a thrillingly funny and moving story of wild ambition, high drama and unexpected friendship set in the aftermath of the disastrous invasion of Sicily by the Athenians.

In Syracuse, two young potters and best friends, Gelon and Lampo, come up with a ridiculously brilliant and crazy idea of putting on a play and casting the characters from the captured Athenian soldiers who are starving in the Syracusean quarries. United by a love of Homer and a passion for the work of the Athenian playwright Euripides, the unlikely pair are determined to pursue their dream, wherever it takes them and however many risks they face.

First they have to find prisoners who are familiar with the work of Euripides, and then bribe the starving captives with food and wine to recite any lines they can remember. Extra olives if they are from Medea. Once they’ve auditioned and found their cast, they need money for masks, costumes and scenery. It’s only when they brave a visit to a mysterious merchant ship moored in the harbour that they secure both the funds, and a producer.

The enterprise is fraught with uncertainties and danger, but as the play goes into production, unexpected friendships are made, and unlikely bonds of loyalty are forged. When disaster strikes, the young directors have to decide how to save the prisoners they’ve befriended.

Ferdia Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Libyan father. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin, and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. This is his debut novel, set in a convincing classical world and brilliantly written in a modern Irish vernacular.

Written by : Ferdia Lennon
Reader: Jonathan Forbes
Abridger: Sara Davies
Producer: Celia de Wolff

A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Jon Holmes Says the C-Word (m0020yrm)
1. You Might Feel a Bit of a Prick

In episode one, Jon and his guests discuss What Made You Go To The Doctors In The First Place? as they talk symptoms, tests, the importance of catching it early, and a finger up the bum.

In 2023, Jon Holmes was diagnosed with cancer – which came as a bit of a surprise because, quite frankly, he was far too busy for all of that nonsense. After a very odd, intense, unexpected, ridiculous year, Jon realised that men don’t tend to talk openly about the preposterous indignity of dealing with cancer. So he decided he would, with other men who are going through it, or who’ve been through it.

Here – inevitably – comes his new chatty podcast.

Across the series, Jon will be joined by the comedians Stephen Fry, Mark Steel, Richard Herring, Matt Forde and Eric Idle, actors Colin McFarlane and Ben Richards, rock star and The Alarm frontman Mike Peters, and journalists Jeremy Langmead, Nick Owen and Jeremy Bowen. Jon and his guests will demystify all things cancer in raw, honest, difficult, often absurd and – yes – funny detail, from fingers up the bum to blood tests via biopsies, surgery, catheters, stomas, feeding tubes, penis pumps (no, really) and incontinence pads.

Jon wants to stop the stigma and embarrassment associated with these issues (and by "issues", we mean "body parts and what happens to them"), to raise awareness and encourage listeners to ‘get checked’ as he aims to remove the fear from the whole diagnosis and treatment process in an accessible, honest and entertaining way.

Throughout the series, Jon will also be encouraging listeners to get involved and share their own experiences, whether it's something they have been through themselves or are supporting someone with cancer.

Jon Holmes Says The C-Word aims to humanise what is often a completely de-humanising process, because, honestly, the cancer road is paved with frequently hilarious unexpected moments - and Jon maintains that retaining a sense of humour is all important.

As Jon says: “If there had been a podcast like this when I was diagnosed - one full of other people’s stories, advice and light moments to illuminate the darkness of the whole sorry process - I’d have lapped it up. But there wasn’t, so I spoke to Radio 4, and now there is.”

In Jon Holmes Says The C-Word Jon will be wearing his heart - and, quite frankly, all of his body parts - on his sleeve.

Written and presented by Jon Holmes
Produced by Laura Grimshaw
Commissioning Editor for the BBC: Rhian Roberts
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 Fragments - The London Nail Bombings (m001y9kp)
It's 25 years since London suffered three vicious nail bomb attacks - holdalls filled with 4-inch nails and hand-made explosives planted in Brixton market, Brick Lane and in the bar of the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, intended to cause damage to those in the immediate vicinity and to the notion of a tolerant, diverse capital city.

The attacks are recorded in photographs shared at the time by the press - of London streets strewn with damaged buildings and injured people, an x-ray of a toddler with a nail embedded in his skull, the wedding photograph of two victims (one killed, the other severely injured) and the police mugshot of the perpetrator, a far right terrorist who hoped to start a 'racial war in this country'.

Fragments looks again at these images - some taken by Chris Taylor who happened to be on assignment in Soho's market photographing vegetables - to consider what it means for an instant to be captured and to endure in our memories and understanding of traumatic events.

Including contributions from photographer Chris Taylor; Jonathan Cash, who survived the Soho attack, Emdad Talukder, who was injured in Brick Lane and business owner Leo Epstein.

Music composed by Alan Hall, with Eleanor McDowall (chimes) and Alan Hall (trumpet)

Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio Four

(Photo credit: ChrisTaylorPhotography.com)