The BBC has announced that it has a sustainable plan for the future of the BBC Singers, in association with The VOCES8 Foundation.
The threat to reduce the staff of the three English orchestras by 20% has not been lifted, but it is being reconsidered.
See the BBC press release here.

Radio-Lists Home Now on R4 Contact

RADIO-LISTS: BBC RADIO 4
Unofficial Weekly Listings for BBC Radio 4 — supported by bbc.co.uk/programmes/



SATURDAY 23 APRIL 2022

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0016hjl)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Preventable by Devi Sridhar (m0016hgs)
Episode 5

How a Pandemic Changed the World & How to Stop the Next One

Professor Sridhar lays out the terrible inequalities that have been laid bare by the pandemic - but finds room for some hope for the future.

Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University, has risen to prominence as one of Britain’s most trusted commentators on Covid-19. Fresh from advising the Scottish and UK Governments, the WHO and UNICEF, the academic uses the timeline of the pandemic to shine a light on how science, politics, ethics and economics affect our health.

Written and read by Devi Sridhar
Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016hjn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016hjq)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016hjs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0016hjv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016n5g)
Radio 4's daily prayer and reflection


SAT 05:45 One to One (m000yyq5)
Escapes: Anna Freeman talks to Miranda Allen

In this episode of One to One, writer Anna Freeman speaks to escape artist Miranda Allen. Together they explore their mutual love of escapes as a concept, and the delicate balance of peril and catharsis that makes Miranda's work so compelling.

Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Caitlin Hobbs


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0016pg2)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m0016hf8)
The Wash

Helen Mark visits the Wash, a vast bay in East Anglia, where the interests of fishing and conservation are finely balanced.

The Wash has been fished for centuries for cockles, mussels and brown shrimp, but it's also visited by thousands of migratory birds, as they crisscross the globe.

Fishing in the bay has been sustainably managed for the last 30 years, but next year things are changing, causing uncertainty and concern for the Wash fishing fleet.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0016pg4)
23/04/22 Farming Today This Week: Egg prices, growing in glasshouses, tree disease and a tribute

We've been talking about the impact the rising cost of feed and gas is having across the food and farming sectors, and now the British Free Range Egg Producers Association say its’ recent survey of around 139 members found that 51% of those who answered are considering coming out of egg production. They say supermarkets need to charge 40p more per dozen eggs, to reflect higher costs.

Home grown trees could become even more important to the country’s tree planting target as the government is to introduce new rules on sourcing trees. From June anyone getting a grant under the England Woodland Creation Offer or the Future Farming Tree Health Pilot can only get trees from approved suppliers, which some say could reduce pests.

This week we're looking at growing undercover. We hear about the more unlikely crops being cultivated under glass - trees, olives and lemons.

And we pay tribute to Lord Henry Plumb who died last week a the age of 97. Described as "farming’s greatest ever advocate", Lord Plumb was a founding member of the Young Farmers' Clubs, president of the National Farmers' Union in the 1970’s then MEP for the Cotswolds and President of the European Parliament. He also set up a foundation in his name which gives grants to help young people get rural businesses started.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0016pg6)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0016pg8)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0016pgb)
Will Young

Will Young joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles. The singer, writer and podcaster shot to fame 20 years ago after winning the first series of Pop Idol. Seven albums, four Number One’s, 10 million record sales and two Brit Awards later, he is now a leading voice in mental health awareness, particularly in the LGBTQ community.
Steve Thompson MBE is a 2003 World Cup winner and has been England’s most capped hooker in the sport of rugby union. He was recently diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
Harriet Atkinson received an email out of the blue from a stranger, Bridget Mckenzie, to say that she owned a photograph album that she thought belonged to Harriet’s family.
Jess Gillam shares her Inheritance Tracks: Whole of the Moon by The Waterboys and Stars by Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976.
Paul Hunter is a life-long Aston Villa fan. Back in 1982, Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich to win the European Cup. Around the same time, 16 year old Paul was told he wouldn’t amount to anything by one of his teachers. It’s the tale of two underdogs triumphing.

Will’s book Be Yourself and Happier – The A-Z of Wellbeing – is published by Ebury Spotlight. His album of Greatest Hits is out in May and a UK tour in the autumn. 
Steve’s book, Unforgettable: Rugby, dementia and the fight of my life is published by Blink Publishing.
Would You Bet Against Us? – written and performed by Paul and Told By An Idiot theatre company is at The Birmingham Rep from 19th May until 4th June 2022.

Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Alice Feinstein


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0016pgd)
Series 36

Home Economics: Episode 55

Jay Rayner hosts a culinary panel show packed full of tasty titbits. Melek Erdal, Rob Owen Brown, Nisha Katona and Dr Annie Gray are ready to help answer questions from listeners.

With a glimmer of more pleasant weather ahead, Jay and the team look to food that can be enjoyed outside, sharing their recipes for the most delicious pasta and potato salads and the most delectable cheese sandwiches. And, on the day of Shakespeare's birth, Dr Annie Gray summons the muse, delving into food references made throughout the bard's plays.

Eli Cohen of Beigel Bake on Brick Lane, London joins to share his family's history with that versatile bread - the bagel!

Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Bethany Hocken

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0016pgg)
Sebastian Payne of the Financial Times is joined by the chair of the Privileges Committee, Chris Bryant MP and cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg MP to discuss the partygate scandal

The government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda is debated by former shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP and Nick Timothy, who was the chief of staff to Theresa May when she was prime minister and also worked with her in the Home Office.

Conservative peer and former chief of staff to Boris Johnson, Edward Lister and shadow International Development minister Preet Kaur Gill MP assess the Prme Minister's trip to India.

And former Liberal Democrat leader and Lake District MP, Tim Farron discusses how to tackle sewage in Britain's rivers, lakes and seas with Jo Bradley from Stormwater Shepherds, a not-for-profit initiative targeting pollution in water environments.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0016pgj)
Escaping Rising Waters in Bangladesh

Rivers and the sea have long-battered waterfront villages in Bangladesh, but this is a problem now made worse by climate change. Many people have had to flee several times, as land erodes and their homes crumble. Qasa Alom went to meet those forced to repeatedly restart their lives, and joins locals working on a solution to provide more permanent sanctuary.

Morocco was once home to a thriving Jewish community, who began an exodus from the country in the 1950s as relations deteriorated between the Arab world and Israel. At its peak, there were several hundred thousand Jews living in the country, many in the coastal town of Essouira. With diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel now restored, some citizens of Essouira are reaching out to Israelis. Elizabeth Gowing found herself wondering whether tensions of the recent past really can be replaced by fonder memories of a one-time shared communal history.

When the US and its allies overthrew Saddam Hussein, they promised a new era for the people of Iraq, providing democracy, freedom, and also the rule of law. Iraq does now have a functioning legal system, with police, lawyers, and courts to try cases. But when Shelly Kittleson bumped into an old acquaintance, she was reminded of how justice often works in practice, for those caught up in what is an overburdened system, fraught with delays, lack of training and sometimes corruption too.

People from Ireland have often suffered from negative stereotypes, and sometimes from outright discrimination. However, there is one group which claims to be on the receiving end of particular contempt: Irish travellers. That prejudice is not just found abroad, but also in Ireland itself, they say, with reduced access to education, to healthcare and employment. Chris Page has been hearing stories of one man from an old Irish travelling family.

Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his invasion of Ukraine by citing those in the country who speak Russian as their first language. Russian-speakers, Mr Putin claims, actually see themselves as Russian, rather than Ukrainian. It is a claim which has been rejected by Ukraine, and yet it potentially threatens the position of Russian-speakers elsewhere in Eastern Europe: is their loyalty to Moscow first, some ask? Latvia has around half a million Russian speakers, and relations are not always easy, discovers Beth Timmins.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0016pgl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0016pgn)
Ukrainian refugees struggling to open UK bank accounts

Ukrainian refugees are now beginning to arrive in Britain under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. Money Box has been contacted by two host families having difficulty helping their guests open UK bank accounts. Karina, a doctor, escaped from Kyiv and with her mother and her 5 year old daughter. They then travelled 1,700 miles to London. They are being hosted by Roger Corke and his family. They need a bank account to get benefits and give them some financial independence. We'll hear about their experiences and get a response from the banks and the government.

Energy company bosses have been grilled in Parliament this week by MPs unhappy about price rises that critics are warning could push millions of people into fuel poverty by the end of this year. Also discussed at the same meeting was the issue of credit balances - when suppliers hold onto customers' money above and beyond what they actually owe. We'll hear from a listener about that and discuss plans by the energy regulator Ofgem to put in place more regulation to protect credit balances.

Also, one listener's experience of opening a new bank account and his shock at realising he also had access to three accounts from another couple. We'll investigate that.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researcher: Sandra Hardial
Editor: Jess Quayle


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0016hhs)
Series 108

Episode 1

Series 108 of the topical quiz where Andy Zaltzman grabs the week’s headlines and hurls them at four of the nation’s best comedians and journalists.

This week Andy is joined by Hugo Rifkind, Felicity Ward, Daliso Chaponda and Eleanor Tiernan. Topics up for discussion include a probe into probity and the burning question of whether or not schoolchildren are getting bigger.

Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Katie Baum
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0016pgq)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m0016pgs)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0016hj0)
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Dame Meg Hillier MP, Adrian Ramsay, Richard Thomson MP

Anita Anand presents political debate and discussion from St Peter's Church in Sheringham, Norfolk. On the panel: Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Labour MP and Chair of Public Accounts Committee Dame Meg Hillier MP, Co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Adrian Ramsay, and Scottish National Party spokesperson for Wales and Northern Ireland at Westminster Richard Thomson MP.

Producer: Emma Campbell
Lead broadcast engineer: Kevan Long


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0016pgv)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 39 Ways to Save the Planet (m000r5nz)
Phenomenal Photosynthesis

Some food crops convert just one percent of the sun's energy into edible food. If we can improve the process of photosynthesis we can grow more food on less land. Tom Heap visits a Yorkshire greenhouse to meet the team from Glaia with a cunning idea to do just that. Back in the studio, Dr Tamsin Edwards, climate scientist and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, considers the potential impact on our global carbon emissions.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Researcher: Sarah Goodman

Produced in association with the Royal Geographical Society. Special thanks for this episode to Professor Vincent Gauci from the University of Birmingham.


SAT 15:00 Macbeth (m0016pgy)
Macbeth Part One

David Tennant makes his first ever venture into playing the tyrannical Scottish King.

2023 will be the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio which contained 36 of his plays. Macbeth is thought to have been written in 1603.

A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders the reigning King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

Cast:
Macbeth: David Tennant
Lady Macbeth: Daniela Nardini
Banquo/Caithness: Stuart McQuarrie
Macduff: Alec Newman
Lady Macduff/3rd Witch/Apparition: Naana Agyei Ampadu
Malcolm/3rd murderer: Owen Whitelaw
Ross: Stuart Bowman
Lennox: John Hollingworth
Duncan/Old Man/2nd Murderer: Ron Donachie
Porter/Angus: Forbes Masson
Captain/1st Murderer/Siward: Fergal Mcelherron
Doctor: Richard Wilson
Menteith/Seyton/Donalbain: Jos Vantyler
Young Siward: Ty Tennant
1stWitch/Apparition/Gentlewoman: Genevieve Gaunt
2nd Witch/Apparition/Servant: Ayesha Antoine
Young Macduff: Alexander Ryan

Music by 0171
Sound design by Joe Bedell-Brill

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0016ph0)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Francis Fricker, baby loss, female con artists, the metaverse and online safety bill, women and boxing

A professional woman who was continually called "good girl" by her boss has won an employment tribunal. Frances Fricker was told by her boss which photo to put on her work profile because HE thought it was the most attractive. The judge in the tribunal found that Frances, an accounts executive with a consultancy company called Gartner, had been sexually harassed at work, and because she fought against the harassment by taking a grievance, she was treated even worse. He also described the culture where she worked as laddish and toxic. She joins us on Woman’s Hour.

The footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez have announced the death of their baby boy at birth. The couple were expecting twins. Their baby girl survived. We speak to Clea Harmer is CEO of the charity Sands and Katie Harris, who lost one of her twin daughters, Abikara, during pregnancy.

We meet Rhian from Wet Leg, the indie rock band whose debut album shot straight to number 1 last week.

We explore the Metaverse; a fast-growing sector that isn’t covered by the Online Safety Bill. We talk to Carol Voredmon MBE, who has campaigned for online safety for 20 years as well as Catherine Allen, CEO of Limina Immerse.

We hear from Maria Konnikova, author of ‘The Confidence Game: Why We Fall For It Every Time’ on the psychology of the female con artist.

Can boxing transform lives? We speak to Chanika, one of the young women taking part in Idris Elba’s Fight School, a television series currently airing on BBC and available on iplayer. We also hear from Rachel Bower, one of the boxing coaches on the show. Rachel is a former National Boxing champion and a Metropolitan police sergeant.


SAT 17:00 PM (m0016ph2)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m0016hdx)
Wagyu Beef

For many beef connoisseurs, a wagyu steak is the tenderest meat money can buy. They say it literally melts in the mouth. But Pete wants to know, if a Wagyu steak can set you back £100, how can supermarkets sell Wagyu burgers for around £3.50 a pair? How much of what makes wagyu beef so prized trickles down into a burger?

Greg speaks to meat scientist, Martin Anderson, visits a Wagyu farm in Yorkshire, and sets up a blind taste test. All to find out if Wagyu burgers are the best thing between sliced bread.

Do you have a suggestion of a ‘wonder-product’ making a bold claim that Greg can investigate next?

Send us your suggestions to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or send it to Greg direct on Twitter or Instagram where he’s @gregfoot
PRESENTER: GREG FOOT
PRODUCERS: JULIAN PASZKIEWICZ & KEVIN CORE


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0016ph4)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0016ph6)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016ph8)
The Ukrainian port city of Odessa has been struck by several Russian missiles. Officials say a baby is among those who have died.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0016phb)
Charlie Higson, Sian Clifford, Jenny Sealey, Ore Oduba, Kathryn Joseph, Alex Cameron, Anneka Rice, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Anneka Rice are joined by Charlie Higson, Jenny Sealey, Sian Clifford and Ore Oduba for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Kathryn Joseph and Alex Cameron.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0016phd)
Lisa McGee

Playwright, screenwriter and creator of the hit TV sitcom Derry Girls, about five school friends in 1990s Northern Ireland - getting up to all sorts.


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0016phg)
Hannah Gadsby

Hannah Gadsby, the Emmy-winning stand-up comedian and writer, talks to John Wilson about the most significant influences and experiences that have shaped her comic career. Born and raised in Tasmania, she first came to prominence in Australia after winning a national competition in 2006. But it was her explosive show Nanette which made her an international comedy star when it was filmed by Netflix in 2018. It was candid and confessional, tackling subjects including homophobia, sexual violence and trauma.

Hannah talks about how she felt like an ‘odd child’ growing up in Tasmania, and how she used comedy to negotiate social situations. She discusses her fascination with art history, a subject she studies at university, and which she explores to comic effect in many of her shows. Hannah chooses the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois, who died in 2010 aged 98, as a major influence on her performances which candidly draw on personal issues. She cites the French surrealist performance artist Claude Cahun as another inspirational figure. Hannah also talks about her recent autism diagnosis as a major turning point in her life and career, and why her autism became one of the key subjects of her 2019 show Douglas.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0016phj)
To Barbra

Dame Maureen Lipman presents a personal tribute to Barbra Streisand, to mark the Hollywood legend's 80th birthday.

Recipient of two Oscars, 10 Grammys, 5 Emmys, and 9 Golden Globes. Streisand's also the top-selling female album artist of all time in the USA.

For Maureen, it's an admiration that goes back six decades. As a young girl growing up in Hull, she first set eyes on the Brooklyn teeenager in her brother's Time Magazine. Barbra had just made a big splash on Broadway in the musical I Can Get It For You Wholesale and Maureen felt her rebellious chutzpah from 3000 miles away. Once Streisand started releasing albums in 1963, they formed the soundtrack to Maureen's life. Fast forward to 1983, and you can imagine the thrill when Maureen's late husband, playwright Jack Rosenthal, was hired as a writer on Barbra's directorial debut, the movie Yentl.

Using BBC interviews, we trace Barbra's career from her Brooklyn childhood to Maureen's eventual meeting with the superstar in London during production of Yentl.

Streisand was a revolutionary. Defying the conventions of the early 60s with her thrift store fashions, brazen Jewishness, and kooky persona. In Hollywood, she challenged rigid beauty ideals by refusing to get her nose fixed. As one of the top box office stars of the 70s, she became a powerful player in an industry ruled predominantly by men.

But there was, of course, enormous pushback and criticism from the start. An auteur at heart, It took 15 years, from reading the short story Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer, before she was able to produce, direct, co-write and star in her movie adaptation.

Contributors include acting coach Alan Miller, who taught Streisand as a teenager; historian David Kaufman, author of Jewhooing the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity; Rabbi Laura Geller of Temple Emanuel Beverly Hills; LA Times columnist Patt Morrison; and Dr Julie Hubbert, Professor of Music History at the University of South Carolina.

Producer: Victoria Ferran
Executive Producers: Susan Marling and Sara Jane Hall
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (b04ykk56)
Series 2

Episode 4

Crime drama based on the characters from the best selling novel by the multi-award winning writer, GF Newman. This second series runs from 1961 to 1970.

Spanning six decades, the saga plots the course of one family against the back-drop of a revolution in crime as the underworld extends its influence to the very heart of the establishment, in an uncomfortable relationship of shared values.

At the start of the 1960s, Joey Oldman acquires crafty Arnold Goodman as his solicitor, and buys shares in the civil engineering firm owned by the corrupt Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples.

Prospering with the help of venal bankers, and growing more devious, he and his wife Cath join Macmillan's Conservative Party. They strive without success to keep their son Brian free of the influence of Jack Braden (Cath's brother) as he takes their 'firm' from running illicit clubs, where they entertain politicians and judges, to armed robbery. All the while, Jack and Brian struggle to keep free of the police and further entanglements with the law, the Kray twins and the Richardsons.

Episode 4:
Joey is approached by the police to fence a lot of money from the Great Train Robbery.

Cast:
The Narrator...........Ross Kemp
Joey Oldman...........Toby Jones
Cath Oldman...........Denise Gough
Brian Oldman..........Joe Armstrong
Jack Braden............Luke Allen Gale
Leah Cohen............Jasmine Hyde

Written by GF Newman
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:45 The Skewer (m0016hbl)
Series 6

Episode 3

Jon Holmes remixes the news. This week - a bit like Uncle Vernon in Harry Potter, Boris's letterbox is besieged by owls bearing police FPNs, we Escape To The War Torn Country, and ask 'What Is A Woman?'

An Unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m0016phl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Exchange (m0016hbb)
Flooding

Catherine Carr brings together two people whose homes have been flooded. After years of battling, one decided to leave, while the other decided to stay. They share their stories and exchange gifts. Their presents unlock each of their decisions, and tell something deeper about what they’ve been through.

Lynne Jones and Selena Whitehead have a stressful experience in common. Both their homes – on opposite sides of the country – have flooded multiple times. They lost countless possessions, most heart-breaking for both were photographs of their children when they were small and presents given by relatives.

They both talk about the emotion of seeing the sanctuary of your home turned into a dank, dusty, dirty shell and they speak of how hard it is to turn that shell back into a place of comfort and belonging again.

The idea of home is complex and emotional but, ultimately, is the building that you call home worth the risk of living next to a river that floods?

Presented by Catherine Carr
Produced by Charlotte Pritchard

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (m0016gzd)
Programme 4, 2022

(4/12)
Scotland take on Wales in this week's contest. Will they have a clue why a Scottish Tractor Boy, a film in which a fly causes a wrongful arrest, and Bertholletia excelsia, might find themselves surprisingly close to France? If not, Kirsty Lang is on hand to provide helpful hints - but the more help she gives them the fewer points they'll get for their efforts. Val McDermid and Alan McCredie appear for Scotland, and Myfanwy Alexander and David Edwards for Wales.

The programme includes the usual generous scattering of question ideas received from listeners over the past year or so.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 The Language Exchange (m00120cs)
Daljit Nagra and Erica McAlister

The Language Exchange is a place where poets and scientists meet to share language and ideas and create new work. This week Daljit Nagra meets Erica McAlister.

One of Daljit Nagra's earliest poetic memories was reading 'The Fly' by William Blake. Here he goes to the Natural History Museum to meet Senior Curator and fly expert Erica McAlister to find out more about the life cycle of the fly, and ask why we have so many negative thoughts and feelings towards this amazingly various and useful small creature.

Daljit Nagra won the 2007 Forward Prize for Best First Collection for 'Look We Have Coming to Dover!'. He also presents Poetry Extra on Radio 4extra.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06qdjcn

Producer: Jessica Treen



SUNDAY 24 APRIL 2022

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0016phn)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Letter from Ukraine (m0016hhw)
A Tale of Rooster Tosha and the War

Acclaimed Ukrainian novelist, Andrey Kurkov, reflects on roosters, refugees, Genghis Khan and national identity in the final letter in this series.

Written and read by Andrey Kurkov
Translated by Elizabeth Sharp
Produced by Emma Harding

Production Co-ordinator Eleri McAuliffe
Sound by Nigel Lewis

A BBC Audio Cardiff production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Short Works (m0016hhg)
Natural Wonders

Every year, on one day in June, mayflies live, dance, mate and die above the Tisa River. A married couple go to Serbia to witness the natural wonder.

The writer Vesna Goldsworthy comes from Belgrade. Her books include a memoir, Chernobyl Strawberries, and the London-based novels Gorsky and Monsieur Ka. Her latest novel, Iron Curtain, was published in 2022.

Writer: Vesna Goldsworthy
Reader: Brana Bajic
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016phq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016phs)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016phv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0016phx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0016phz)
Kyiv’s Monastery of the Caves.

Bells on Sunday comes from Kyiv’s Monastery of the Caves. Today is Easter Day for Christians across the world whose worship follows the Julian Calendar, including in Ukraine. We hear a recording of the bells of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, or Kyiv’s Monastery of the Caves, a historic Eastern Orthodox monastery which gives its name to the city district of Kyiv where it’s located. Today the site is both a state museum and a large monastery, named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine in 2007. These are the bells marking an All Night Vigil.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m0016phd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m0016pl4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01r08ct)
Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Mark Tully compares the experiences and motives of people whose conscience has led them to abandon their religion, with those who come to terms with their differences and attempt to change things from within. And, taking Dietrich Bonhoeffer as an example of someone who disagreed fundamentally with the actions, or inaction, of his church but chose to remain within it , this programme asks how far we would be prepared to take a stance on a matter of conscience, regardless of the personal consequences. Bonhoeffer's open criticism of the regime in Germany in
the 1930s was not echoed by his fellow pastors, and led to his imprisonment and execution by the Nazis before the end of the Second World War.

From the Pilgrim Fathers, who put the Atlantic Ocean between themselves and a State Religion they felt they could not be part of, to people faced with a choice when their church does not embrace their sexuality, or bars them from certain places or positions because of their gender, Mark Tully looks at those who have had to ask: Should I stay or Should I Go.

The readers are Grainne Keenan and John McAndrew.

Produced by Adam Fowler
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0016pl6)
In Search of a New Niche

"Niche doesn't stay niche forever, so we're always having to look and see what is the next path we can follow."

Pete Thompson is a vegetable farmer, obsessed with experimenting. With a family farm of just 250 acres - and another 250 acres of rented land - it's hard for him to compete with the big, international veg growing companies. Instead, he concentrates on growing niche crops for niche markets - but that means he's constantly in search of a new niche.

Charlotte Smith visits his farm in North Essex to see his latest experiments: a newly planted olive grove and Californian lemons. Along the way, she sees what happens when experiments don't work out, and hears how the current generation is reaping the rewards of successful trials from generations past.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Heather Simons


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0016pl8)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0016plb)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0016pld)
French election; Ukrainian refugees; Abuse within the church

Today voters in France go to the polls in the final round of the country's presidential election. The incumbent Emmanuel Macron is being challenged by Marine Le Pen. As in previous elections, immigration and religion have been among the campaign issues. We consider how important public attitudes to Islam have been in the campaign and how the candidates have negotiated the issue.

After many weeks of war in Ukraine and people flooding over the borders into neighbouring European countries, Ukrainian refugees are now arriving in the UK. We hear from a trainee Anglican cleric about how her faith inspired her to provide a home to a young man who fled from Ukraine. She has hosted refugees before and finds it really rewarding. For her, opening her home to a stranger is an expression of her Christian faith.

It's 18 months since the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its highly critical investigation into the Church of England. It described the church as a place where abusers could hide and described an environment in which alleged perpetrators received more support than victims. Now, Andrew Graystone, an advocate for survivors of abuse, has written an essay in which he suggests the church is still failing survivors of abuse. We hear his views and a response from Bishop Julie Conalty, who has recently been appointed as the deputy lead Bishop on safeguarding issues.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Jonathan Hallewell and Julia Paul.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0016s1s)
Hope and Homes for Children

Singer-song writer KT Tunstall presents the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the UK charity Hope and Homes for Children.

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 ‘Hope and Homes for Children’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Hope and Homes for Children’.
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: 1089490


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0016plg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0016plj)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0016pll)
'Promin Nadii' – Ray of Hope

Today is Easter Day in countries which keep the Julian Calendar, which includes the Orthodox churches and churches in Ukraine. A meditation from the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in London. Can the Easter message enable Christians to cling to the hope of resurrection even in Ukraine?
With a homily by the Bishop to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, the Right Revd Kenneth Nowakowski, and with prayers for Ukraine by senior church leaders in the UK including the Archbishop of Westminster and the Bishop of London. The Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral Choir, ‘Promin Nadii’ (‘Ray of Hope’) sings music from the Divine Liturgy for Easter Day – part of a rich history of sacred Ukrainian choral music. Director of Music: Petro Kochanskyy. Producers: Philip Billson and Ben Collingwood.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0016hj2)
The Unlistened-to Story

"It is a terrible thing to be in possession of a truth that people don't want to hear," writes Howard Jacobson.

By way of Primo Levi, the great chronicler of the Holocaust, Coleridge's 'The Ancient Mariner' and stories emerging today from Ukraine, Howard argues that stories of truth must be listened to, no matter how uncomfortable or challenging we find them.

"No deceit is ever so perfected," he says, "that it doesn't require the connivance of the deceived".

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b09ny18b)
Jane Smith on the Whitethroat

Wildlife artist Jane Smith describes her excitement at hearing the song of the whitethroat heralding his return to her garden every year.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Dave Bushell.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0016pln)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0016plq)
Writer, Tim Stimpson
Director, Dave Payne
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Adil Shah ….. Ronny Jhutti
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Jolene Archer …… Buffy Davis
Kathy Perks ….. Hedli Niklaus
Lynda Snell MBE ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Ruairi Donovan ….. Arthur Hughes
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Vince Casey ….. Tony Turner


SUN 11:00 The Reunion (m0016pls)
The Dale Farm Evictions

Kirsty Wark reunites key people involved in the 2011 evictions from Dale Farm, Essex, one of the biggest Gypsy and Traveller sites in the UK.

In 1996, one Irish Traveller family legally bought an old scrapyard in the Crays Hill area of Basildon and began living on it, eventually joined by other families. As more families moved in, local tensions grew. And half the residents were on plots with no planning permission, effectively breaking the law by being there.

In an effort to ensure that planning laws were being applied, Basildon Council began a 10-year legal battle to evict the illegal residents of Dale Farm. Yet supporters and residents argued that Gypsy and Traveller families had nowhere else to go.

After taking the case to the High Court, the residents of Dale Farm were evicted on 19th October 2011, leaving almost 1000 people without a home. The police began clearing the site at 7 am, facing serious opposition from activists who had rallied to the site to defend the Travellers' rights. It was fully cleared the following day, at a cost to the taxpayer of over £6.5 million.

Ten years later, the site stands derelict, not returned to greenbelt as promised or developed in any other way.

Kirsty is joined by supporters of the Dale Farm site, including campaigner and member of the Gypsy Council, Candy Sheridan. Journalist Katharine Quarmby has been covering the Dale Farm site since 2006 and is the author of No Place to Call Home, a detailed account of Dale Farm. We hear from a representative of Basildon Council and activist voices, as well as the perspective of those living on the site itself.

Producer: Leonie Thomas
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 11:45 Letter from Ukraine (m0016hhw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:15 today]


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m0016plv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 The Unbelievable Truth (m0016gzr)
Series 28

Episode 3

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Lou Sanders, Ria Lina, Milton Jones and Chris McCausland are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as magazines, the human body, golf and computers.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m0016pjy)
Jack Monroe: A Life Through Food

Jack Monroe, the food writer and poverty campaigner sits down in her living room in Southend-on-Sea to share her 'Life Through Food' with Leyla Kazim. It has been almost a decade since Jack first made a name for herself as a blogger and food writer - documenting life as an unemployed single mum. Her blog, A Girl Called Jack (now Cooking on a Bootstrap) first focussed on local politics, but became popular when she started sharing her costed out low budget recipes. Since then, she has written six cookery books, has written 10,000 tweets, and become a voice for those living in poverty in the UK.

Jack's most recent campaign against the way inflation data is recorded and presented, resulted in the Office for National Statistics saying it would do more to represent the experiences of people living on different incomes in the UK. It also led the supermarket chain Asda to bring back and expand it's budget range of products. Jack is currently working on creating her own 'Vimes Boots' index to document the way food prices have changed over the past decade for people living on lowest incomes.

In this programme, Leyla finds out what motivates Jack to keep speaking out about inequalities, and how she deals with social media backlashes. She talks about her early food heroes, the pleasure she gets from cooking, and why she believes there needs to be more equality and inclusivity in the food world.

Presented by Leyla Kazim
Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0016ply)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0016pm0)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 The Listening Project (m0016pm2)
Floods, fashion, town and country

Fi Glover presents four conversations between strangers.

This week: Lana and Vicky share stories of their homes and villages being flooded; Iso and Helen talk about fashion - whether it should be disposable or sustainable; Jason and Luke compare notes on living in London and living in Manchester; and Jo and Nicole reflect on the pros and cons of where you live when you raise family.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation lasts up to an hour and is then edited to extract the key moments of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in this decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Mohini Patel


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0016hhd)
Wickham Bishops, Essex

Peter Gibbs and the panel are in Wickham Bishops, Essex. Christine Walkden, Bob Flowerdew and James Wong answer the horticultural questions.

This week, the team talk pruning - when is the best time and how? They also tackle the tough subject of black spot and have some tips to leave your gardens brimming with biodiversity.

Beyond the questions, Dr Chris Thorogood, lead by botanist Pat Malabrigo, goes in search of the pungent rafflesia banoana plant in the high elevation rainforests of the northern Philippines.

Producer: Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer: Bethany Hocken

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 1922: The Birth of Now (m0013zhs)
The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, and Egyptomania

1922: The Birth of Now - Ten programmes in which Matthew Sweet investigates objects and events from 1922, the crucial year for modernism, that have an impact today.

6. The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922, and this fuelled the Egyptomania that swept across Europe and America, influencing diverse aspects of culture from dance to music to architecture. Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre opened in Hollywood in this pivotal year, and the craze for the Egyptian style can still be seen in many British buildings from cinemas to pubs. Matthew explores how this exemplifies Modernism’s fascination with the distant past, the roots of civilisations, and their relics - with the historians Debbie Challis and Roger Luckhurst. Also, Egypt gained full independence from Britain in 1922, and the disintegration of Empire was another catalyst of Modernism.

Producer: Eliane Glaser
Readings by Rebecca Crankshaw and Michael Begley


SUN 15:00 Macbeth (m0016pm4)
Macbeth Part Two

David Tennant makes his first ever venture into playing the tyrannical Scottish King.

2023 will be the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare's First Folio which contained 36 of his plays. Macbeth is thought to have been written in 1603.

A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders the reigning King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

Cast:
Macbeth: David Tennant
Lady Macbeth: Daniela Nardini
Banquo/Caithness: Stuart McQuarrie
Macduff: Alec Newman
Lady Macduff/3rd Witch/Apparition: Naana Aggei Ampady
Malcolm/3rd murderer: Owen Whitelaw
Ross: Stuart Bowman
Lennox: John Hollingworth
Duncan/Old Man/2nd Murderer: Ron Donnachie
Porter/Angus: Forbes Masson
Captain/1st Murderer/Siward: Fergal Mcelherron
Doctor: Richard Wilson
Menteith/Seyton/Donalbain: Jos Vantyler
Young Siward: Ty Tennant
1stWitch/Apparition/Gentlewoman: Genevieve Gaunt
2nd Witch/Apparition/Servant: Ayesha Antoine
Young Macduff: Alexander Ryan

Music by 0171
Sound design by Joe Bedell-Brill

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m0016pm6)
Julian Barnes; How Words Get Good; Bangkok Postcard

Elizabeth Day talks to Julian Barnes about his latest book Elizabeth Finch. Finch is a teacher, thinker, and intellectual inspiration to her mature student Neil. When she dies he unpacks her many notebooks to study her ideas of the past and writes the story of the Roman Emperor, Julian the Apostate, her historical soulmate. Julian Barnes also talks to Open Book's Elizabeth about cancel culture, the absence of young male writers, and why his bisexual sleuth, Duffy, from his 1980s crime novels isn't likely to be resurrected.

With over twenty years in the publishing industry, Rebecca Lee talks about her book How Words Get Good, which explores the history and process of writing a book. From getting the first words on the page to book cover design and blurbs, and why 20,000 copies of The Importance of Being Earnest headed to the pulp. While Bangkok resident and writer Emma Larkin sends her literary postcard revealing the city's multifarious books scene.

Presenter: Elizabeth Day
Producer: Kirsten Locke

Book List – Sunday 24 April and Thursday 28 April

Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Only Story by Julian Barnes
How Words Get Good by Rebecca Lee
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography by Charles Moore
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Everything is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma by Emma Larkin
A Woman of Bangkok by Jack Reynolds
Four Reigns by Kukrit Pramoj
The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha
The Sad Part Was by Prabda Yoon: Translated by Mui Poopoksakul
Comrade Aeon’s Field Guide to Bangkok by Emma Larkin


SUN 16:30 Guide Books (m000xf0n)
On Nature with Helen Macdonald and Melissa Harrison

A new series about how books might help us navigate everyday life, presented by writer and broadcaster Damian Barr.

Each episode takes a life experience - such as grief - and talks to writers about they handle it through their own reading, writing and lived experience. We explore the fiction, non-fiction, memoir and poetry that might help us better understand our own stories.

This week - how can we deepen our engagement with the natural world around us? Many of us experienced a shift in our relationship with nature during the pandemic; how can we stay tuned in to nature, and keep looking with fresh eyes, as the world grows busier once more? Damian is joined by Helen Macdonald (Vesper Flights; H is for Hawk) and Melissa Harrison (The Stubborn Light of Things; By Ash, Oak and Thorn; All Among the Barley) to talk about the poetry, field guides and fiction that have guided them.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio in Bristol


SUN 17:00 Today (m0016rvz)
Ukraine: Where’s the Line?

Eight weeks ago it still seemed almost unthinkable that Russia would mount a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then the reality of the war - and the way it has been waged - has shocked and appalled the world. Mishal Husain and a panel of expert guests ask what it would take for NATO to confront Russia directly over Ukraine.

Guests:
General Sir Richard Shirreff who served in the Gulf War, Kosovo and Iraq while in the British Army, before becoming NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe between 2011 and 2014.
Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House.
BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen, who has been reporting from Ukraine for weeks.
And we're joined from Washington by Douglas Lute, former US Ambassador to NATO.


SUN 17:40 Profile (m0016phd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0016pm8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0016pmb)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pmd)
President Zelensky says Ukraine will emerge victorious in a defiant address to mark Orthodox Easter


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0016pmg)
Peter Curran

Oh what a world! Still, here be moments to set you ears a-tingling. And that’s without wading though all the stuff that sparkles with the allure of a Commons Select Committee Report. The best bits of Comedy, the human brain, the art of film scoring, the natural world, the ethnic Kaleidoscope of language, ways through grief, and how to tell if someone is lying. Practical too!


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0016pjr)
Brian rues that he and Jennifer only saw Ruairi briefly and now he’s gone again. Brian and Alice can’t believe Grey Gables is closing its doors next week. Brian is not looking forward to the valuation of his own assets, due to Alice’s divorce proceedings, and everything being under the microscope. Wondering whether Alice’s share in the family partnership will provide a matrimonial asset, Brian wants to press on as they are and involve the rest of the family when they have to. Alice knows how worried Jennifer is.

At cricket practice, Pat and Tony sympathise with Tracy, all reeling from the news about Grey Gables. Tracy explains the plan to play a series of games against Darrington, with the overall winner lifting the trophy. Tracy’s impressed by new starter Leonard, and Tony’s reflexes, but then Clarrie takes a nasty slip catching a ball. She refuses to go to hospital. They all worry about Clarrie, and Pat realises she’ll need a plan B to help Helen in the dairy. Tony suggests Adam.

Ian admits to Adam he’s upset and a bit lost without the challenge of cheffing at Grey Gables. Ian has started researching ideas to use his redundancy money. Adam says why don’t they just go ahead with Ian’s idea to buy a pizza oven? Enjoying a relaxing drink at the Bull and watching Xander play, Adam and Ian reflect – Adam’s happy as a farmhand, while Ian wonders whether Oliver and Adil have given him his ticket to freedom.


SUN 19:15 Stand-Up Specials (m0016pbb)
Athena Kugblenu: Magnifying Class

Athena has a conservatory (it came with the man). But what does that tell us about her identity? She’s got an aluminium-hooded extractor fan and uses fabric conditioner. But does the quilted toilet roll in both of Athena’s toilets signify a working class girl done good? Or does it say that the rigid way we look at class might need a rethink? This stand-up show tackles these questions and gives Athena the courage to finally live her truth as an upwardly mobile individual.

Producer... Leila Navabi
Production Coordinator... Caroline Barlow
A BBC Studios Production


SUN 19:45 Spring Stories (m0016pmj)
Ramble

"I’ll remember that feeling as we pressed on, broaching what we could in our own way, and making space for what we had a right to all along, even if we did not always have the words to tell each other so..."

An original short story for radio inspired in part by the anniversary of the Kinder Mass Trespass, a protest on 24th April 1932 that saw hundreds of ramblers walk on to private land in the Derbyshire peaks, asserting their "right to roam". Following the protest, five men were arrested and imprisoned. It’s often cited as one of the most successful acts of civil disobedience in British history.

Written by Eley Williams, performed by John Lightbody, and produced by Becky Ripley.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m0016hhl)
After almost 40,000 questions over 75 years, is Gardeners’ Question Time in danger of running out of new questions? The programme's presenter Kathy Clugston gives an answer to that, and a range of other listener comments.

And what do Radio 4 listeners make of the station’s science programmes?

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0016hhj)
Mimi Reinhard, Sir Harrison Birtwistle (pictured), Sylvia Lancaster OBE, Letizia Battaglia

John Wilson on

Mimi Reinhard, the Holocaust survivor who typed Oskar Schindler’s famous list and later turned down an offer from Steven Spielberg.

Sir Harrison Birtwistle, the uncompromising British composer of contemporary classical music who once caused panic at the Proms.

Sylvia Lancaster, the mother of Sophie Lancaster who was brutally murdered in 2007. Sylvia set up a foundation with the aim of promoting tolerance and inclusivity among young people...

And Letizia Battaglia, who defied the Mafia with her graphic photographs of their crimes.

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips used: BBC News 24, Mimi Reinhard 07/12/2007; Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment, Schindler's List - Trailer 1993; Oscars, Schindler's List wins Best Picture 1994; The Royal Opera - YouTube Channel, The Minotaur - Labyrinth Scene 1991; BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs - Sir Harrison Birtwistle 16/01/1994; BBC Radio 3/English National Opera, The Mask Of Orpheus 01/04/1987; BBC News 24, Greater Manchester Police records offences against members of subcultures 04/04/2013; BBC TWO, Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster 12/03/2015; BBC Radio 4 Extra, Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster 11/10/2015; Granada TV, Coronation Street 07/05/2021.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0016pgn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0016s1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 The Digital Human (m000p1v5)
Series 21

Sacred

In Maori culture, images and objects or treasures can come to embody a person. However when the Maori were first confronted with portrait photography they initially responded by hiding from the camera, fearful that their 'mauri', or life force, would be lost. Professor Deidre Brown explains though how the Maori began to see the new medium as an effective method of embodying the 'wairua', or everlasting spirit, of a person.

Robin Finn was very close to her mother, they spoke to each other several times a day. After her mother's death Robin decided to keep their phone-mediated relationship alive and continued ringing her mum and leaving voicemails. Robin fantastically hoped that maybe these messages were being sent out into the cosmos and her mum would somehow receive them. For Robin, her mother's mobile helps to keep her 'Mauri', or life force, alive.

David Glowacki is a Royal Society Research Fellow who runs the 'Intangible Realities Lab' at the University of Bristol. David is interested in aesthetic metaphors that guide scientific imagination. He believes this is particularly important in domains which cannot be seen with the naked eye, where our scientific intuition is guided by the aesthetic representations and metaphors we use to imagine phenomena which are otherwise invisible. David uses virtual reality to bring to life molecular physics and quantum dynamics, particularly in relation to the idea of matter and energy. David says watching colleagues interact with the virtual visualisations of molecular physics inspired him to design VR which explores how energy connects to the sacred.

Aleks asks if technology really can give us a greater understanding of our relationship with the sacred.

Producer Kate Bissell
Researcher Juliet Conway


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0016pml)
Carolyn Quinn discusses the outcome of the French election and current domestic politics with former Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick; Shadow Scotland Secretary Ian Murray; and Liz Saville-Roberts - Plaid Cymru's leader at Westminster. The political editor of the Guardian, Heather Stewart, brings additional insight and analysis.


SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m0016phb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b01r08ct)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 25 APRIL 2022

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0016pmq)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m0016h9w)
Footwear

Footwear - the ‘magic’ & the material reality. Laurie Taylor talks to Claudio Benzecry, Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Sociology at Northwestern University, about the people and places involved in the global manufacture of women’s shoes. They’re joined by Elizabeth Ezra, Professor of Cinema and Culture at the University of Stirling, and author of a study about magic shoes, from Wizard of Oz to Cinderella, which finds that 'the perfect fit' relates to more than size and that our culture invests footwear with symbolic meanings beyond their status as mere commodities.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0016phz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016pmw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016pn0)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016pn3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0016pn7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016pnc)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good Morning.

On this day in 1953, two scientists from Cambridge published an article that claimed they had discovered The Secret Of Life. I can’t believe it. Here we are in the present day still trying to figure this all out and it turns out it had all been wrapped up almost 70 years ago. Their names were James D Watson and Francis Crick and they were talking about the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or as we more commonly know it - DNA. Their work, alongside that of Rosalind Franklin and others, would go on to change the way we understand the fundamental code that makes us who we are, as well as leading to technology such as fingerprint matching and confusing headlines that we apparently share 60% of that code with… bananas.

I confess that some of my more in-depth knowledge of DNA has faded since my science lessons at school, but I remember finding it fascinating that we could share 99.99% of DNA with someone and yet be so different, and also being excited that it spelt AND backwards. What I can add to that now is that “deoxyribonucleic acid” is an anagram of “Ex-Crocodile DIY in Cuba.” You’re welcome. Since their discovery we know more than we have ever known about our bodies and minds, much of it building on previous discoveries, some contradicting them entirely. For me an in-depth explanation of the miraculous way our body works makes it no less full of wonder, I think trying to figure out the secret of life for ourselves is a worthy pursuit.

God, thank you for life. Thank you that such a tiny part of us can be a blueprint for so much more. Thank you that no matter how we are born we continue to be shaped by the world around us further. We pray you help us cultivate this sense of wonder and discovery, and as our understanding of how everything around us works grows, may that sense of wonder grow with it.

Amen


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0016pnh)
25/04/22 - Natural History GCSE and farming, Kendal College and water

We asked the Department for Education if the new Natural History GCSE will include farming - they told us the focus will be natural history rather than farming...but said "There is a range of content that could be covered - we will work closely with independent experts and a range of stakeholders and exam boards to decide the detailed content.” We speak to one of those bodies about how it could work.

Cumbria’s Newton Rigg college provided an education in agriculture for tens of thousands of farmers over more than 120 years. But as we reported last summer it closed, much to the disappointment and anger of the local farming community - after Askam Bryan College in York which was running it said it was no long financially viable. But there’s been widespread support for another further education establishment, Kendal College, which has taken on teaching the next generation of Cumbrian farmers.

And water is an increasingly tricky issue for British farmers, who are getting used to wetter winters and dryer summers. We hear how some are now getting nervous after receiving less rain than normal in April.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Heather Simons


MON 05:56 Weather (m0016pnm)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020tp38)
Puffin

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Puffin. Far better-known for its comical looks than its calls, the puffin is a bird that that is recognised by many and has earned the nickname "sea-parrot" or "clown of the sea".


MON 06:00 Today (m0016pj1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0016pj3)
The age of the strongman leader

In The Age of the Strongman, the journalist Gideon Rachman explores how populist and authoritarian leaders have become a central feature of global politics. Since Vladimir Putin took power in Russia at the beginning of the new millennium, self-styled strongmen have emerged across the globe, from Trump and Bolsonaro to Orbán, Xi and Modi. Rachman tells Tom Sutcliffe how these leaders have taken power and the challenge they pose to liberal democracy.

Judy Dempsey is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of the Strategic Europe blog. She explains how Viktor Orbán has tightened his grip on power in Hungary, while the EU has dragged its heels. And how Putin’s war in Ukraine has not only exacerbated pre-existing global divisions but divided Europe as well.

History is littered with powerful leaders, and Christopher de Bellaigue, tells of the rise of one of the most feared – Suleyman the Magnificent. In The Lion House: The Coming of a King the 16th century Ottoman Sultan dominates the lives of those from Baghdad to the walls of Vienna.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pj5)
Episode 1

The Secret Barrister is an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, and author of the award-winning blog of the same name. In this frank, funny and sometimes shocking memoir of their career to date, they give a revealing account of their progress to the Bar, their introduction to the legal system, and their dawning perception of the crisis at the heart of the profession and the failures of the creaking criminal justice system.

From hilarious descriptions of their first encounter with the arcane traditions of the Inns of Court and the cut-throat competition for pupillage, to entertaining accounts of some of the more memorable characters encountered along the way and hard-hitting criticism of the failures of the law, this is a wry, clear-eyed account of an outsider’s entry into a closed and all-too-often frustrating world.

Asking questions about what we understand by justice, and making an impassioned argument for reform of the criminal justice system, the Secret Barrister writes of a profession where ideals and good intentions are undermined daily by debilitating funding cuts, shocking under-resourcing and the short-term demands of political expediency. The book is both a highly personal story and a rousing call for root and branch reform, and pulls no punches in what it reveals of how society deals with crime and punishment.

In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards, and in 2018 they were named Legal personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. You can follow the Secret Barrister at https://thesecretbarrister.com

Reader: Patrick Kennedy
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Recording: The Soundhouse Studios
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0016pj8)
Ladies of Letters with Tessa Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong; Caroline Nokes MP on Angela Rayner

Only Fools and Horses stars Tessa Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong will perform together in a touring stage adaptation of Ladies of Letters. The pair famously played Raquel and Cassandra - the wives of Del Boy and Rodney. They join Emma to discuss the stage show, working together again, and of course, the iconic sitcom.

The Prime Minister has been in touch with the Labour Deputy leader, Angela Rayner -- to make it clear he regards claims about her reported in yesterday's Mail on Sunday as misogynistic. The paper said some Tory MPs had suggested she tried to distract the Prime Minister in the Commons by crossing and uncrossing her legs. Emma gets the reaction to the story of Conservative MP and Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Caroline Nokes,

Today the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System publishes a report on women’s health and well-being in prison. Co-chair of the group, Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price talks exclusively to Woman’s Hour about the steps needed to improve to the health of women offenders, and prevent increasingly high levels of self-harm. Why despite many reports over the last fifteen years are these needs still not being met?

How has the pandemic impacted the prevalence of child sexual abuse imagery online? Emma discusses the findings of the upcoming Internet Watch Foundation annual report with BBC Look East reporter Jon Ironmonger, who has been given exclusive access before its publication on Tuesday.

In our series Threads we have been finding out the stories behind the items of clothing that women can't bear to part with. Today. Lisa on a black and white checked jacket which her Mum bought for her first trip abroad in 1967 and which Lisa commandeered years later for a job in an upmarket department store.


MON 11:00 The Untold (m0016rzs)
A Job before Fifty

Will has several university degrees, he also has autism - can he get a job after a decade out of work? He's putting his faith in his new job coach Rosa, who has ADHD and is evangelical about what she calls "neuro-Ds" - people with neurodiversity - and what they have to offer employers. Can she help Will break out of his rut, change how he feels about himself, and fulfil his potential? And should his predicament make us rethink the barriers that recruitment throws up for those of us who think differently?

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton


MON 11:30 Don't Log Off (m0016pjb)
Daria - Love and War

Alan Dein has charted ten years of Don't Log Off. Encounters with anyone, anywhere via social media. Complete strangers sharing lives and worlds. Some he never hears from again, others become constant companions, updating Dein on their ever-changing world.

Daria began sharing her life in Ukraine from the very outset of the series. A remarkable powerhouse of energy and hope who has battled cancer, is a wheelchair user and suffers a chronic medical condition - nothing, it seems, daunts her or dents her optimism for her life and her hopes for her country. Ever since 2014 and the coming of hybrid war to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, Daria has charted the divisions and bitterness it has brought. But now, as the rockets strike her country and she takes shelter from the war, DarIa speaks of love and hope.

Producer Mark Burman


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0016pjd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m0016pjg)
Travel report, Consumer confidence, Low-rise Jeans

Many who cancelled flights because of the pandemic will still remember the nightmare of trying to get refunds. Today MPs have called for new measures to ensure travellers don't lose out if there is another public health crisis, including giving the civil aviation authority the power to fine airlines for not making prompt refunds.

It seems that some of the fashions from the 90s are enjoying a comeback. The global shopping app Lyst searches for low rise jeans are up 58% year on year.
And in January this year the resale app Depop reported a 36% increase in searches for low rise jeans. We look at what's behind the revival...

Consumer confidence is now even lower than it was during the 2008 financial crash.
Figures suggest that here's been a big slow down in consumer spending and is worse than when banks were on the brink of collapse during the financial crisis 14 years ago. But what exactly are we cutting back on?

Energy prices are soaring and that may be why a lot more people seem to have bought solar panels so far this year.
Last month alone ten thousand new smaller sets of solar panels went up and many of them will be on the roofs of peoples' houses. That was more than double the number during the same period last year. We look at whether they will save you money in the long run...

PRODUCER: JAY UNGER

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON


MON 12:57 Weather (m0016pjj)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m0016pjl)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 The Bear Next Door (m0016pjn)
Lithuania

Five cultural figures from the front line of Russia's border with Europe - Lithuania, Finland, Moldova, Latvia and Estonia - explore their national psyche in uncertain times. Their words weave with sounds and encounters from their home city as they explore their country's history, ambitions and distinctive character in the 21st century.

Our essayists across the series include a rapper and media commentator, a former President, a celebrated art critic, a dystopian novelist, and a distinguished literary director.

Today - Lithuanian spoken word artist Žygimantas Kudirka considers the strange and sobering history of his home nation, where surreal is beautiful.

---

Speakers featured are:

Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania) - rapper, spoken word artist and media commentator
Emmi Itaranta (Finland) - novelist and commentator; author of the dystopian novel Memory Of Water;
Paula Erizanu (Moldova) - arts critic, political commentator and former Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal;
Nora Ikstena (Latvia) - literary director and author of the novel Soviet Milk about female experience in Soviet-occupied Latvia;
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia) - former Estonian president and writer on digital democracy.

Producer: John Beauchamp
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

A Free Range and Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0016pjr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (m0016pjt)
Pretty Vacant

When a major financial donor approaches a Manchester housing charity for the homeless offering them a block of new apartments for the use of those most in need, the organisers think there is a god after all. Using the charity’s fast track access to planning permissions, money is lavished on refurbishing a raft of luxury apartments – a clear statement that even the poor deserve a decent place to live.

But it’s only when a local journalist raises the question as to where the benefactor’s money is coming from that alarm bells start to ring.

Cast
Nora: Jane Slavin
Frankie: Tim McInnerny
Leyla: Genevieve Gaunt
Phil: John Hopkins
Yolanda: Alex Constantinidi
Kev: Will Howard

Written by Hugh Costello

Director: Eoin O’Callaghan

A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m0016pjw)
Programme 5, 2022

(5/12)
Why could you get tangled up by a bachelor boy, a Dawley man, a Fabian woman, a wonderful salad and a new watcher of the skies?

The teams from the North of England and the Midlands have to untangle this and many other puzzles in this week's contest, with the Midlands hoping to take another scalp following their victory over Wales a few weeks ago. Stuart Maconie and Adele Geras appear for the North, with Frankie Fanko and Stephen Maddock representing the Midlands.

Kirsty Lang asks the questions and awards the points. As always, there's a generous scattering of question ideas provided by RBQ listeners, and Kirsty will have the answer to the teaser puzzle that went unanswered at the end of the previous edition.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m0016pjy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Behind the Scenes (m0014wt6)
Afro-Futurist Shakespeare

What is Afro-Futurism and what does it bring to the Bard? Radio 4 follows the creative team in the build-up to the first performances of director Roy Alexander-Weise's RSC debut with Shakespeare’s beloved comedy Much Ado About Nothing, in the first shows with a live audience at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon since the pandemic began.

Two very different couples fall in love in Much Ado About Nothing, amidst a maze of misunderstandings and deception. In this ground-breaking production, Beatrice and Benedick bicker on an Afro-Futurist stage. “Shakespeare knew the creative potential that came with setting his plays in imagined worlds… or at least worlds unfamiliar to his audience at the time,” Roy says. “I wanted to explore what a futuristic vision of society might look like; what has the potential to be different... and equally what fundamental aspects of the human condition remain unchanged.”

To realise his vision, the co-Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre has assembled a largely Black cast and team of creatives. With contributions from MOBO nominee Femi Tomowo who's composing the music, and costume designer and Beyonce favourite Melissa Simon-Hartman, we follow the team as they draw on their African heritage, projecting it forward to opening night and beyond.

Producer: Marilyn Rust for BBC Wales


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m0016pk0)
Young and Full of Faith

In a society that’s becoming increasingly secular, why are some young people embracing a ‘full fat’ version of faith? During the pandemic a UK poll showed that those in Generation Z are more likely to believe in God than their millennial peers. A new study of British Catholics has found that younger believers show a greater degree of religious commitment than their elders.

Whilst those ticking ‘no religion’ box on the census is increasing, are those who still identify with a religion more likely to have a strengthened commitment to it? Ernie Rea is joined by a panel representing different faiths, to discuss the pull of religion for young people in 2022.

Bhavya Shah is the President of the National Hindu Student Forum, Jasvir Kaur Rababan is a Sikh music teacher, Professor Stephen Bullivant from St Mary's University is about to publish new research called 'Why Younger Catholics Seem More Committed' and Dr Sadek Hamid is a writer and academic with an expertise on Islam and young people in Britain.

Producer: Rebecca Maxted
Editor: Tim Pemberton


MON 17:00 PM (m0016pk2)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pk4)
Politicians condemn "sexist" article, as newspaper editor called to a meeting with the Commons Speaker


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m0016pk6)
Series 28

Episode 4

David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.

Lucy Porter, Holly Walsh, Tony Hawks and Alan Davies are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as scouting, hair, South Korea and Nicolas Cage.

Produced by Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0016pk8)
Worried Tracy checks on injured Clarrie, who has an adductor strain (not a groin injury!). Clarrie reports that Oliver looks awful – exhausted and hardly eating. Hurt by her own situation, Tracy doesn’t feel sympathy.

Susan’s aghast to see Clarrie turn up at work and insists she’s fine with Adam supporting, with Pat worried about Clarrie. Adam’s showing a client around the farm, as Helen’s desperate to find new customers.

Tracy tells Susan about Roy trying to make waves at Grey Gables by involving a solicitor. New face Adil Shah has got Tracy’s back up, but more happily Lily has agreed to recommend Tracy for a telesales job.

Brian and Stella discuss the spring barley at Home Farm, which is coming along nicely. Stella knows about rumours going around about slurry and distracted-looking Brian admits he has other things on his mind, namely the impact of Alice’s divorce on the farm business. Hopefully for Stella she’ll keep her job. Brian feels he’d be less vulnerable if he hadn’t set up the family partnership, and regrets Alice marrying on a whim with no pre-nup. Brian is going to call an accountant friend – but Stella warns Brian not to muddy the waters by involving friends and give Chris any legal ammunition.

Stella may have spotted something to work in Brian’s favour – a legal provision for the rest of the family to buy out Alice’s partnership share and leave Chris unable to make a claim. Brian will start with Adam (and Ian), and thanks Stella for giving him a ray of hope.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0016pkb)
Punchdrunk's The Burnt City, John Morton on Ten Percent, musician Jack Savoretti

The Burnt City is the biggest production to date from the pioneering immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. As the company takes up residence in the former Royal Arsenal buildings of Woolwich, their first permanent space, they draw on the Greek tragedies of Agamemnon and Hecuba to reinterpret the Trojan war as a dystopian future noir.

The French comedy drama, Call My Agent, was one of the breakout hits of lockdown. It has spawned a Turkish version, an Indian version, and now an English version called Ten Percent. John Morton, the creator of BBC mockumentaries Twenty Twelve and W1A, joins Front Row to discuss the challenge of recreating the Parisian series in London.

Fresh from a sold-out UK tour this month, singer songwriter Jack Savoretti is live in the studio to perform his new single Dancing Through The Rain. The track is the second to be taken from his forthcoming release Europiana Encore, a special extended edition of his 2021 chart topping album, Europiana.

Presenter: Shahidha Bari
Producer: Jerome Weatherald

Photo: Performers Yilin Kong and Steven James Apicello in Punchdrunk's production The Burnt City Photographer credit: Julian Abrams


MON 20:00 Blood, Sweat and Tears (m0016pkd)
As the BBC’s former defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt spent more than a decade covering the war in Afghanistan. She first went there just after the 9/11 attacks, to report on the British troops joining the US-led coalition against Al Qaeda and their Taliban hosts. By the time combat operations ended in 2014, 454 British military personnel and civilians had died - and many more Afghan civilians.

Following the final withdrawal of US troops last year – and the scramble for safety by Afghans who’d worked with the West – she set out to speak to British veterans of the conflict. To find out what had made them sign up to fight, despite the risks, and what the campaign’s ultimate failure means to them now.

Like many who served in Afghanistan, Louise Jones signed up because she “wanted to make a difference”. She found watching the scenes unfold on television “painful”. It made her question how much she trusted those in power “when they say we want to commit to Ukraine, for example.”

Harry Parker, a former captain in the 4th Battalion The Rifles, signed up at 26 just as the fighting in Afghanistan was reaching a crescendo. Eight weeks into his tour of duty he stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost both his legs. Meanwhile, his father General Sir Nick Parker was preparing to head out to Afghanistan to take over as commander of British Forces. “It only made me even more committed to make sure that we achieved our military objectives,” he says, “that we didn't squander young men and women's lives.”

As a commando trained chaplain with the Royal Marines, Stuart Hallam ministered to young soldiers as they fought and died on the front lines. “We never come back to being normal in the same sense as we were normal before. It can be a very positive transformation. But nevertheless, it's a transformation.”

Presenter: Caroline Wyatt
Producer: Emily Williams

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m0016hdq)
Myanmar: fighting the might of the junta

Myanmar is now in a state of civil war. What started in February 2021 as a mass protest movement against the military coup is now a nationwide armed uprising. The junta is under attack across the country from a network of civilian militias called the People’s Defence Forces who are fighting to restore democracy. The BBC gained rare access to the jungle training camps where young protests are being turned into soldiers. We follow a single mother and a student who have sacrificed everything to join the fight. They're up against a well-trained military that’s willing to use brutal tactics to stay in power. As the death toll mounts and the world looks away, can they restore democracy?

Reporter, Rebecca Henschke.
Produced with Kelvin Brown, Ko Ko Aung and Banyar Kong Janoi.


MON 21:00 Three Pounds in My Pocket (m0016hgx)
Series 5

Episode 3

Kavita Puri looks at how where you come from and what you come with can affect outcomes for generations. For almost a decade Kavita has been charting the social history of British South Asians in post-war Britain. Many of the pioneers arrived with as little as £3 due to strict currency controls. In the final episode of this series, Kavita explores a sensitive subject - but one that keeps coming up while making these series. She tries to understand a bit more about how origins on the Indian subcontinent, your background and where you settled may affect your life chances after migration. She hears stories about how different groups are perceived and accepted. These are personal reflections rarely told of what you give up to survive - and thrive - in Britain.

Producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Hugh Levinson

Historical consultants:
Professor Tariq Modood, University of Bristol
Dr Florian Stadtler, University of Bristol
Dr Edward Anderson, Northumbria University
Professor Gurharpal Singh, School of Oriental and African Studies


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m0016pj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0016pkh)
Elon Musk buys Twitter

In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 These Days by Lucy Caldwell (m0016pkk)
Episode 6

Two sisters, four nights, one city.

April, 1941. Belfast has escaped the worst of the war – so far. Over the next two months, it’s going to be destroyed from above, so that people will say, in horror, My God, Belfast is finished.
Many won’t make it through, and no one who does will remain unchanged.
Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey – one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz, 'These Days' is a timeless and heart-breaking novel about living under duress, about family, and about how we try to stay true to ourselves.

Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and two collections of short stories: Multitudes and Intimacies. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad.’

Author: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m0016h3l)
The language we use about children in care

Adoptive parent Margaret Reynolds talks about the language used around children in care. From the unthinking people asking about 'real parents' to the clinical language used to describe children's lives.

Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol, Sally Heaven


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0016pkm)
All the news from Westminster with Sean Curran.



TUESDAY 26 APRIL 2022

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0016pkp)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pj5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016pkr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016pkt)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016pkw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0016pky)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016pl0)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good morning.

This Sunday I turn 11000 days old. This roughly translates as 30 years, 1 month and 12 days - but that feels less catchy. The reason I am aware of this fact is because of a poem I wrote as a teenager called Paper People. As I was writing it my mum told me that my grandparents had been praying for me every single day since I was born. I thought this was incredible, so used to quote how old I was in days whenever I performed the poem, as that was the number of times I knew someone had been thinking about me in that way.

When I was 8396 days old my grandpa died, so I paused the number in the poem as a reference to him, and it meant that my 10,000th birthday was always marked out in the calendar as something I didn’t want to miss. My way of celebrating in style was taking a show all about poetry and maths up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival entitled “I am 10,000” before touring it around the UK. One thing I loved about doing the show was how many people told me they had also celebrated turning 10,000. These are the same people who got excited when this year the date was all twos and just so happened to fall on a Tuesday, or the moment when you turn 31.69 years old, when you have been alive for exactly a billion seconds (I can’t wait!). One mum brought her son along to the show and described him as someone who sees patterns and beauty where other people just see nerd. That was me as a teenager and is who I aspire to be today.

God thank you that we live in a world full of patterns and beauty. We pray today you would give us a chance to look at the things we take for granted around us and see them in a new light. Thank you for the many reasons we have to celebrate life, from the magnificent to the minute, and we pray for more opportunities to share those moments of celebration with others. I also pray for my grandma - it’s about time I returned the favour.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0016pl2)
26/04/22 - Money for farming, avian flu restrictions to be lifted and keeping rivers clean

Several voices in the farming industry have been calling for a delay to the transition away from the old EU subsidy system to the new Environmental Land Management Scheme, which will pay farmers in England "public money for public goods". Now, with the cost of producing food rising, those voices are growing louder…. But we hear from the environmental think tank Green Alliance, which says delaying the transition would be bad news for nature - and could even lead to a reluctance on the part of the Treasury to release funds for farming payments in future.

We're talking about water all this week: Rebecca Rooney visits a group of 25 farms in Wiltshire, where farmers have spent six years trying to improve and protect the quality of the River Ebble, which runs through their land.

And in Northern Ireland, there are hopes of analysing every field's soil quality over the next four years. The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme is being rolled out by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and will cost up to £45 million.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Heather Simons


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020tp7c)
Barn Owl

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Barn Owl. Barn owls are mainly nocturnal hunters. They are ghostly creatures, with rounded wings and a large head which acts as a reflector funnelling the slightest sound from their prey towards their large ear openings.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0016prq)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 Positive Thinking (m0016prv)
On-demand buses

Sangita Myska asks if on-demand buses offer a passenger-friendly, cost-effective solution to isolation and transport poverty in rural Britain

Long: Powered by apps and algorithms from tech companies such as Via and Padam Mobility, on-demand buses are being piloted in rural areas across the UK.

For local authorities they promise a cost-effective means of tackling rural isolation, boosting rural economies and reducing the number of cars on the roads. And for passengers, on-demand buses should mean more flexibility than traditional bus timetables and routes as well as a greener and cheaper way to travel.

But will technology that works well in city centres and suburbs prove effective across much bigger rural areas, where journey times are longer and, traditionally, the car is king ?

Sangita Myska talks to innovator Chris Snyder at tech transit company Via as well as Niki Park of Norfolk County Council, Justin Ward, Head of Policy at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and Alex Shapland-Howes, CEO of Tandem.

Producer: Julia Johnson


TUE 09:30 One Direction (m0016prz)
North

Author Jerry Brotton presents a five-part series exploring each of the four cardinal directions in turn – north, east, south and west – and the possibility that, in the age of digital mapping, we are being left disoriented.

Throughout history, the cardinal directions have been crucial to virtually all societies in understanding themselves in relation to the wider world. More than points on a compass, they are ideas in their own right – creating their own political, moral and cultural meanings. They’ve shaped how we divide the world geopolitically into East and West (Orient and Occident) while contrasting the Global South with the industrialised Global North drives much current development policy, especially around climate change.

In Part 2 of this series, Jerry looks North. It’s the cardinal point at the top of most world maps, although historians and cartographers have never really agreed why – even as digital mapping threatens to de-throne it’s position. It’s also the most contradictory of the of the four directions, associated with vast wastelands and uninhabitable cold but also great beauty, revelation and the navigational truth of the North Star. For Jerry, born in Bradford, the North also confers identity.

So why is north at the top of most world maps? The four cardinal points on a compass are defined by the physical realities of the magnetic North Pole (north-south) and the rising and setting of the sun (east-west) but there is no reason why north is at the top of maps - any other cardinal point would do just as well. The convention was developed by the western world. So why not put west at the top? Well, early societies refused to privilege the west because it was the direction of the sunset, where darkness and death reigned. For medieval Christianity, east was at the top, because that was the direction of the Garden of Eden, shown on many mappae-mundi. On early Islamic maps south was at the top, while Chinese maps used north because the emperor looked 'down' southwards and everyone else looked 'up', north.

Series contributors include Google spatial technologist Ed Parsons, historian Sujit Sivasundaram, neuroscientist Hugo Spiers, author Rana Kabbani, journalist and editor for Bloomberg City Maps Laura Bliss, former head of maps at the British library Peter Barber, barrister and specialist in equality law Ulele Burnham, historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, author Irna Qureshi, geographer Alistair Bonnett, wayfinder and science writer Michael Bond, curator and Medieval scholar Rosemary Firman and historian of Islamic maps Yossef Rappaport.

Presenter: Jerry Brotton
Producer: Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 09:45 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016ps3)
Episode 2

The Secret Barrister is an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, and author of the award-winning blog of the same name. In this frank, funny and sometimes shocking memoir of their career to date, they give a revealing account of their progress to the Bar, their introduction to the legal system, and their dawning perception of the crisis at the heart of the profession and the failures of the creaking criminal justice system.

From hilarious descriptions of their first encounter with the arcane traditions of the Inns of Court and the cut-throat competition for pupillage, to entertaining accounts of some of the more memorable characters encountered along the way and hard-hitting criticism of the failures of the law, this is a wry, clear-eyed account of an outsider’s entry into a closed and all-too-often frustrating world.

Asking questions about what we understand by justice, and making an impassioned argument for reform of the criminal justice system, the Secret Barrister writes of a profession where ideals and good intentions are undermined daily by debilitating funding cuts, shocking under-resourcing and the short-term demands of political expediency. The book is both a highly personal story and a rousing call for root and branch reform, and pulls no punches in what it reveals of how society deals with crime and punishment.

In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards, and in 2018 they were named Legal personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. You can follow the Secret Barrister at https://thesecretbarrister.com

Reader: Patrick Kennedy
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Recording: The Soundhouse Studios
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0016ps7)
Dame Margaret Beckett MP. Author Susan Cain. And helping women get a job.

Dame Margaret Beckett is one of Britain's most celebrated and respected female politicians and will be talking to us about her decision to stand down as an MP at the next elections She was first elected in October 1974. and has been described by Keir Starmer the leader of her own party as a “legend” and a “trailblazer”. She talks about the highlights of her time in politics and her plans for the future.

Job interviews can be intimidating at the best of times, but not knowing how to present yourself, what to expect and what to wear can be a huge barrier and it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of failed interviews and unemployment. Over the last eight years the charity Smart Works has been providing outfits and bespoke coaching to help women re-enter the job market. Most of the referrals come from the Government funded employment agency JobCentre Plus. We talk to Mims Davies Minister for Employment at the Department for Work and Pensions and Kate Stephens the CEO of the charity

Now the Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has struck a deal to buy Twitter. Can he balance safety with free speech, and what does this mean for women? we hear from journalist Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic and former technoology columnist, who has recently left Twitter.

And we hear from best selling author Susan Cain who's best known as the author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Her new book is called Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole. She tells Emma why she believes sadness can be a positive force in our lives.

Presented by Emma Barnett
Produced by Beverley Purcell


TUE 11:00 Putin (p0byc0wr)
7. The Ultimate Insult

False flags, brutal military tactics and aspirations of greatness – Putin’s approach to the war in Syria, as he tries to prove Russia is still a power-broker in the Middle East.

To understand how Putin views history and his place in it, Jonny Dymond is joined by:

Professor Angela Stent of the Brookings Institution, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the US National Intelligence Council
Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute
Kevin Connolly, former BBC Moscow and Middle East correspondent.

Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sandra Kanthal and Joe Kent
Production coordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Series Editor: Emma Rippon
Commissioning Editor: Richard Knight.


TUE 11:30 Mary Portas: On Style (m0016psf)
Menswear & Gender-Fluid Fashion

Mary Portas is back with another series of the programme that celebrates style with subtance, and this week we're focussing on menswear's past, present and future. Mary visits the V&A to meet their Senior Curator Claire Wilcox and to take a look at their new exhibition 'Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear'. The show mixes historic and contemporary looks ranging from 18th Century oppulence to the art of suit tailoring. We also meet designer Edward Crutchley who talks us through his look in the show, an enormous gown designed with the male body in mind.

Mary speaks to Jonathan Anderrson, founder of the label JW Anderson, one of the driving forces in fashion reconsidering its rigid seperation between menswear and womenswear. We also hear how his theatre background inspired his designs, incorporating influences from art and literature in clothing, and about how the pandemic sparked his creativity.

Finally Mary sits down with rising star Priya Ahluwalia whose work is inspired by her dual Indian-Nigerian heritage and London roots. Priya Ahluwalia is commited to sustainability, and was awarded the 2021 Queen Elizabeth II Award for Fashion Design for her work with her eponymous label Ahluwalia.

Presenter: Mary Portas
Producer: Jessica Treen


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0016psk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m0016psp)
Call You and Yours: Can you cope with going cashless?

Call You and Yours: Can you cope with going cashless?

Winifred wants to know how you're dealing with the drive towards digital payments? She's speaking to Jenny Ross from Which? The consumer group is calling for a halt to what they call the country's 'cash crisis' Their analysis shows that since 2015 almost 4700 bank branches have closed with more than 200 scheduled to shut by the end of the year. It also found that more than 12K free to use ATMs have stopped operating. Which? believes legislation needs to be included in next month's Queen's Speech to protect the elderly, vulnerable and those living in isolated areas who are less likely to have access to cash.

There's been a big switch towards digital payments since the pandemic. In 2020 more than 13 million people used cash only once a month or not at all, almost double the previous year. Does it make your life more convenient to get out your contactless or are you alarmed at the rise of things like cashless cafes or parking app? What about when it comes to budgeting? Do you prefer paying via banking app or getting your money out and seeing exactly how much you have to spend? Maybe you can't remember the last time you used cash or you've had to turn down a service because you couldn't use physical money. if you own a business, does it make your life easier if you go cashless? Tell us your story and your experience.

Email us and leave your contact number: youandyours@bbc.co.uk

Or after 11 on Tuesday call us on 03700 100 444

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER:CATHERINE MURRAY


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0016pst)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0016psy)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 The Bear Next Door (m0016pt1)
Finland

Five cultural figures from the front line of Russia's border with Europe - Lithuania, Finland, Moldova, Latvia and Estonia - explore their national psyche in uncertain times. Their words weave with sounds and encounters from their home city as they explore their country's history, ambitions and distinctive character in the 21st century.

Our essayists across the series include a rapper and media commentator, a former President, a celebrated art critic, a dystopian novelist, and a distinguished literary director.

Today - Novelist Emmi Itaranta considers the Finns' reputation as a silent, deadly Resistance, historical connections between her home city of Tampere and Manchester, and the quandary of "resting Finn face".

---

Speakers featured are:

Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania) - rapper, spoken word artist and media commentator
Emmi Itaranta (Finland) - novelist and commentator; author of the dystopian novel Memory Of Water;
Paula Erizanu (Moldova) - arts critic, political commentator and former Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal;
Nora Ikstena (Latvia) - literary director and author of the novel Soviet Milk about female experience in Soviet-occupied Latvia;
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia) - former Estonian president and writer on digital democracy.

Producer: John Beauchamp
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

A Free Range and Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0016pk8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (m000g3jh)
Brave Old World

After an eco-holocaust the remaining populations of the world have gone completely green. Economic growth is banned, invention is a crime, and everyone lives in small, self-sufficient villages rigorously controlled by Facilitators.

But all revolutions tend to go wrong, no matter how well-intentioned, and there are always rebels.

Miranda, disaffected with the new old ways and bored by her designated ideologically perfect partner, decides to see what the bad old world had to offer.

Cast:
Miranda ..... Eleanor Jackson
Peter ..... Tom York
The Facilitator ..... Geraldine Alexander
The Trader ..... Yvonne Newman
Wendy ..... Kellie Shirley
The Inventor/Boss ..... Christian Rodska
The Prophet ..... Paul Joseph

Written by Mike Harris
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m0016pgd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m0016prj)
Timber!

Millions of trees were brought down by this winter's storms. Storm Arwen in November proved particularly damaging, taking out whole swathes of woodland in Scotland and the north of England. It comes at a time when there is more focus than ever on planting trees, with the urgent need to both tackle climate change and produce more home-grown timber. At the moment, the UK imports more than 80% of the timber it uses.

In this programme, Tom Heap visits two forest estates in the North East of Scotland, to see for himself what havoc the high winds have wrought. One estate manager tells him that they'll be clearing up for the next three years, with an estimated 45,000 tonnes of timber now lying broken on the ground. Tom finds out what this means for the work of foresters on the estate, and how it will affect the value of the timber they'll be able to sell. Meanwhile he discovers why the National Trust for Scotland is seeing the damage caused by Storm Arwen as an opportunity to re-think the kind of woodland it has on its land.

Tom talks to the Royal Forestry Society at their research site in the Chilterns, and finds out what techniques can be used to improve the resilience of woodlands to future storms. He asks whether - when the clear-up is over and it's time to re-plant - we may need to explore using different species of trees, better able to survive in the climate we expect to have in another fifty years' time. He also meets a meteorologist from Reading University, who explains what changing weather patterns may mean for storms in the future.

Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol Emma Campbell


TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m0016pt3)
Weather Words

It's Gone Dark Over Bill's Mother's

In Britain talking about the weather is a good neutral way to start conversation. Because we have such varying weather conditions (three seasons in one day) there is always something to marvel at or grumble about. But around the world sayings and descriptive words for clouds, winds, rainfall and dry spells are also popular. Michael Rosen is joined by lexicographer, Harry Campbell, who compiled a Compendium of Weather to discuss the various ways we like to talk about it from the North East of Scotland to the South West of England via Wales and Northern Ireland. Snel winds, dreich days and nesh climates all feature along with some of the hundreds of contributions sent in by listeners from around Britain.

Producer for BBC audio in Bristol, Maggie Ayre


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m0016ppy)
Lolita Chakrabarti on actor Ira Aldridge

Award-winning playwright and actor Lolita Chakrabarti celebrates the life of Ira Aldridge, an icon of theatre who rose to fame at the height of the movement to abolish slavery and brought Shakespeare to audiences across the world. He made his career on the London stage before touring Europe where, along with rapturous applause, he received top honours from heads of state. He is the only actor of African-American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage to be honoured with a Bronze Plaque at The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon and a Blue Plaque at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre - which he managed in 1828 - also celebrates his contribution to theatre. Lolita Chakrabarti shares her deep passion and knowledge of this fascinating actor alongside historian Stephen Bourne, author of 'Deep Are The Roots -Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theatre'.

Presented by Matthew Parris
Produced by Nicola Humphries


TUE 17:00 PM (m0016pt5)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pt7)
The US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin, has vowed to move heaven and earth to make sure Ukraine defeats Russia.


TUE 18:30 Teatime (m000g4fy)
Episode 4

Comedy by Katherine Jakeways about a chaotic but loving family. Starring Philip Glenister, Samantha Spiro, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Katie Redford and Steven Brandon.

There’s an awkward atmosphere in Vicky and Rav’s house, as Joe (Glenister) and Donna (Spiro) sort through the boxes in the garage and divide up the last of their belongings, remnants left over from their failed marriage. As they talk about old times, Vicky (Edwards) and Rav (Puwanarajah) are upstairs redecorating their spare room, and talking about the future.

Meanwhile, Lisa (Redford) and Uncle Bob (Brandon) are on tea-cooking duties. Bob can handle it, but for Lisa, it’s genuinely the challenge of a lifetime.

So: Joe and Donna have a chat in a garage, Vicky and Rav paint a bedroom wall, and Lisa and Uncle Bob cook some baked beans. Needless to say, events quickly spiral out of control.

Teatime was produced by Sam Ward, and is a BBC Studios production.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0016pqv)
Adam talks about village gossip around slurry, but Brian has bigger issues on his mind. Brian asks about Ian’s career plans and Adam wonders what’s really going on - is it Alice? It’s Chris, who wants to take the family to the cleaners and Brian hopes Adam can help - could the remaining partners raise the funds to buy Alice’s share in the business? Adam realises that the upcoming valuation will take everything into account, which made Brian think of Adam and Ian and the need for everyone to chip in. But Adam is resistant – he’s already making plans with Ian.

Tracy has an interview today for a new job in kitchen telesales, via Lily, but she’s worried about not understanding the questions. Reassuring Jazzer does some practice with Tracy. The interviewer breaks the ice and gets Tracy to talk a bit about herself – being a single mum has armed her for any challenge. The interviewer realises she knows Tracy and introduces herself as Tam Brownlow, who sat next to Tracy at school. Gently grilled on specific questions, Tracy struggles and the interview breaks down, with Tracy apologising. On the phone to Jazzer, Tracy’s upset and feels like she’s not good enough - she could tell what Tam was really thinking. Jazzer tries to encourage Tracy, but she lets rip – Tam Brownlow has it all, whereas Tracy has to borrow her sister’s clothes just to turn up to an interview.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0016pt9)
Tim Foley, Heartstopper, The Proms, Lawrence Power performs

Emerging playwright Tim Foley is in the distinctive position of having won a prize for every play of his that has been staged. He joins Front Row to discuss his third play, Electric Rosary – a sci-fi exploration of religion and science in the company of a group of nuns and a robot - which has just opened at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Based on the graphic novel by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper is the new Netflix LGBTQ+ drama set in a British high school about teen friendship and young romance. Jack Remmington is in the studio to review.

Music critic and author Jessica Duchen picks out some of the highlights in the Proms 2022 season and gives us her thoughts on the programme.

Viola player Lawrence Power performs live.


TUE 20:00 Connections (m0016h3z)
Douglas Alexander examines whether recent crises - from Covid to the Ukraine war - have helped bring people together or driven them apart. In the more digital, hybrid world many of us have now glimpsed, will we have more time and more friends, or are we fated to feel that, in the real world, we are living among strangers? As we emerge into a post pandemic world already being shaped by a European conflict and the refugee and cost-of-living crises, it has brought in its wake, Douglas asks what we are learning about what really matters most in life. He visits the Cyrenians, Edinburgh's homelessness charity, and meets individuals who have opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees. And he talks to leading thinkers including social geographer Danny Dorling, anthropologist Robin Dunbar, economist Minouche Shafik and Emily Morrison of the Institute of Community Studies. Douglas Alexander is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and was member of the Cabinets of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Before Covid struck, he examined the forces which could bring Britain closer together in his Radio 4 documentary "A Culture of Encounter".
Producer: Phil Reevell
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0016ptc)
Elections Bill - The Final Decision; Accessible Opera

The Elections Bill passed the final reading stages in the House of Lords and will soon receive Royal Assent to be passed into law. We discuss the amendments which were approved in the House of Lords and were proposed by visually impaired Life Peer, Lord Holmes of Richmond. The amendments aim to provide blind and partially sighted people the right to vote at polling stations independently and in secret. We speak to Lord Holmes about what these amendments mean for you in future elections.

The Graeae Theatre Company are currently touring the UK with an opera about an 18th Century blind woman composer called Maria Theresia von Paradis. The opera is called The Paradis files and it has disability access at its core; with integrated audio description, signing and an all disabled cast and artistic team. We speak to Selina Mills, who co-wrote the libretto and to the star of the show, Bethan Langford who sings the role of Maria Theresia.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

Website image description: pictured are five cast members of The Paradis Files on stage. Bethan Langford stands in the middle, inside of a large gilded frame with red curtains on either side. All of the cast members have their right hand raised and are smiling. In the foreground in front of Bethan, are two 18th century style chairs with dark brown wood and embellished with tactile markings. Photographer Patrick Baldwin captured the image.


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m0016pr0)
How to cope when your child can't

When a child is suffering from mental health problems it feels natural for a parent to feel sad and anxious. But when Ursula Saunders' son refused to go to secondary school her life was turned upside down: his problems dominated family life, she gave up work and couldn't stop crying. She searched online for support but it all seemed to be directed at children, with nothing on offer for parents. So she sought advice from two psychologist friends Professor Roz Shafran and Dr Alice Welham. After speaking to dozens of other parents about what helped them, they co-wrote How To Cope When Your Child Can't - a collection of experiences and information from psychological research. We hear from Ursula and Roz about their top tips for parents like problem solving, self-compassion and creating boundaries.

Roz Shafran offers advice to families waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, which have been under particular strain during the Covid pandemic.

We also hear from Lily who got support from youth worker Jo at Rise Youth Empowerment in south London when she was struggling with overwhelming anxiety. Lily had already had contact with mental health services but she found that the less formal approach from Rise helped to build up trust and gave her the confidence to make her way back into education. She’s now in the second year of a degree course, has her own flat and is engaged. Jo says that they want to help young people to become resilient – encouraging them to make calls themselves to housing or healthcare professionals rather than doing it for them. Lily says she now feels able to gives back to Rise by presenting workshops for other young people.

And there’s news of a study in a German school – where surprisingly few pupils opted for a later start to their day, offered to see if it helped to boost the amount of sleep they got.


TUE 21:30 Positive Thinking (m0016prv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0016ptf)
Guterres meets Putin in Moscow

In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 These Days by Lucy Caldwell (m0016pth)
Episode 7

Two sisters, four nights, one city.

April, 1941. Belfast has escaped the worst of the war – so far. Over the next two months, it’s going to be destroyed from above, so that people will say, in horror, My God, Belfast is finished.
Many won’t make it through, and no one who does will remain unchanged.
Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey – one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz, 'These Days' is a timeless and heart-breaking novel about living under duress, about family, and about how we try to stay true to ourselves.

Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and two collections of short stories: Multitudes and Intimacies. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad.’

Author: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


TUE 23:00 Fortunately... with Fi and Jane (m0016ptk)
230. Natterjack Toads and Non-Confrontation, with Shaun Keaveny

This week on the podcast, Fi and Jane are joined by fellow broadcaster and Fortunately co-star Shaun Keaveny. Fi and Jane venture back out on the piazza and meet none other than newsreader and BBC icon Huw Edwards! Following on from their encounter with Huw they head into the house of broadcasting to speak to Shaun, who gives them the lowdown on his series The Line Up - a fantasy festival podcast, and Your Place or Mine, where his guests entice him to other parts of the world. Shaun and Jane reminisce about trips to the Mersey Riviera and jaws are the floor for the French premier's chest hair. All that and Fi's seen a famous Face in a bar in Nice.

Get in touch: fortunately.podcast@bbc.co.uk


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0016ptn)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs criticise the prime minister over his trip to India and a minister explains why the home secretary needed to see the latest James Bond film.



WEDNESDAY 27 APRIL 2022

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0016pts)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016ps3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016ptx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016pv1)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016pv6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0016pvb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016pvg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good Morning.

I am currently attempting to grow a sunflower. As a teenager I got a mini cactus in my room because I didn’t trust myself with taking care of a standard houseplant. It turns out my bedroom must have been a harsher climate than the Sahara desert because I still struggled to keep it alive for very long. Therefore the simple challenge of growing a whole flower fills me with apprehension and excitement in equal measure.

It started with filling a pot with soil, sunflower seeds, and a bit more soil, then the instructions were to keep it moist at all times and wait. Rather than my teenage tactic of instantly forgetting this and hoping for the best, I have been topping it up with the misty-spray bottle obsessively - a daily act of faith and tenderness - all the time questioning if anything will come of it. Last week the first shoot broke through the surface of the soil. Every day since either a new shoot has broken through, or I have seen the small amount of progress the existing ones have made. My favourite part is how each emerges with the seed casing still attached, like a protective helmet as it bursts through into the wider world. A simple reminder of how far they have already come, as well as how far they have to go, so long as I can keep them alive until they go outside.

God thank you for the opportunity to grow each day. Thank you that no matter how small that growth may be, we wake up each morning with the chance to build on what has gone before. We pray today you would be with us and help us lean towards the light, and we attempt to unfurl some more of the potential that has been inside us all along. We thank you for the basics that keep us alive, may we nourish and nurture each other so they may grow into the best possible versions of themselves too.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0016pvl)
27/04/22 - NI whistleblower, anti-fungal resistance and preventing water pollution

A former government vet at the centre of a whistleblowing scandal in Northern Ireland, has been awarded £1.25 million and an unreserved apology from the Department of Agriculture and Environment. Dr Tamara Bronckaers resigned after concerns she had raised about animal welfare and traceability weren't acted on. An industrial tribunal found she had been constructively dismissed.

Scientists have traced a connection between agricultural use of an anti-fungal spray with drug-resistant lung infections in humans. They found that some moulds in the environment have evolved drug-resistance because of the anti-fungal treatments used in timber production and farming and have gone on to infect human patients with low immunity, whose treatment could be compromised by that resistance.

And water companies that provide domestic drinking supplies spend millions of pounds a year cleaning up the water they abstract - so it can pay off for them to help farmers ensure less pollution reaches the river in the first place. We visit one farmer who has been trialling a variety of methods of growing maize as part of an initiative funded by South East Water.

Presented by Anna Hill
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Heather Simons.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tvggm)
Corn Bunting

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Steve Backshall begins May with the corn bunting. Corn buntings may be plain-looking birds which sing their scratchy songs from cornfields, but their private lives are a colourful affair and a single male bird may have up to 18 partners.


WED 06:00 Today (m0016ppf)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 Life Changing (m0016ppk)
Face value

It’s 1996 and Jill Clark has been living in Guernsey for less than a year. It’s been a glorious summer and she is looking forward to her 25th birthday. Like for most young people looks are important to her. A journey home from the pub is about to make Jill question the importance of the human face.


WED 09:30 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0016ppn)
Eat Beetroot

In this episode, Michael explores the extraordinary effects of beetroot on your body and brain – from helping lower blood pressure to keeping your brain healthy as you age. He speaks to Professor Andy Jones from the University of Exeter who has found that simply drinking a shot of beetroot juice can improve your endurance during intense exercise by 16%, and finds out why these bright red jewels can have such significant benefits on your heart, your muscles and your brain.


WED 09:45 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pps)
Episode 3

The Secret Barrister is an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, and author of the award-winning blog of the same name. In this frank, funny and sometimes shocking memoir of their career to date, they give a revealing account of their progress to the Bar, their introduction to the legal system, and their dawning perception of the crisis at the heart of the profession and the failures of the creaking criminal justice system.

From hilarious descriptions of their first encounter with the arcane traditions of the Inns of Court and the cut-throat competition for pupillage, to entertaining accounts of some of the more memorable characters encountered along the way and hard-hitting criticism of the failures of the law, this is a wry, clear-eyed account of an outsider’s entry into a closed and all-too-often frustrating world.

Asking questions about what we understand by justice, and making an impassioned argument for reform of the criminal justice system, the Secret Barrister writes of a profession where ideals and good intentions are undermined daily by debilitating funding cuts, shocking under-resourcing and the short-term demands of political expediency. The book is both a highly personal story and a rousing call for root and branch reform, and pulls no punches in what it reveals of how society deals with crime and punishment.

In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards, and in 2018 they were named Legal personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. You can follow the Secret Barrister at https://thesecretbarrister.com

Reader: Patrick Kennedy
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Recording: The Soundhouse Studios
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0016ppx)
Bethany Shriever, Sian Ruddick, Katherine Gordon, Debbie Cook, Meg Mason, Ruth Evans, Tamanna Rahman

Bethany Shriever’s win at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 gave the British Olympic team its first ever gold medal in BMX racing even though she had to launch a crowdfunding appeal to stand a chance of qualifying for the games. What does this latest award mean for her and BMX racing?

In the wake of the Sarah Everard murder, Boris Johnson said he’d stop at nothing to jail more rapists’ and promised to fix the system which means just 1.3% of cases result in a charge. Our reporter Melanie Abbott has been investigating new guidelines on evidence gathering issued by the Crown Prosecution Service and Emma Barnett talks to Sian Ruddick who is an independent sexual advisor who works with victims of sexual assault.

In 1958, The Great Leap Forward was a campaign led by the Chinese Communist Party to reconstruct the country and its economy which resulted in mass starvation and famine. Thousands of people fled to the neighbouring state of Hong Kong, which was a British colony at the time and many children – often girls - living in overcrowded Hong Kong orphanages were adopted by British families in the sixties. We hear from two of those children Katherine Gordon and Debbie Cook and their remarkable start to life.

After the DJ Tim Westwood faces multiple allegations of sexual misconduct - which he strenuously denies - we talk to Tamanna Rahman and BBC Producer Ruth Evans.

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason is a funny novel about mental illness and families and love of all sorts. Martha Friel is loved and hilarious and clever but she sometimes cries for days. When she was 17 she had a breakdown which has shadowed her life since then. At 40 she finally gets a diagnosis which helps her to understand why she is as she is. So why did Meg Mason decide not to name Martha's illness in the book? She explains her decision to Emma.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Managers: Tim Heffer & Michael Millham


WED 11:00 Blood, Sweat and Tears (m0016pkd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m0016pq1)
1. Florence Bravo

Lucy Worsley investigates the crimes of Victorian women from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

In the first case in the series, Lucy explores the story of Florence Bravo, the woman at the heart of one of the most sensational unsolved murder cases of the Victorian era, and asks whether she was a ruthless poisoner or an abused wife.

Lucy visits The Priory, Florence Bravo’s grand house in Balham where, on 21st April 1876, after three days of agony, her young husband Charles died of poisoning. They had been married for only five months but the relationship was already under strain - Charles was jealous of the much older doctor Florence had been involved with before their marriage, he was frustrated that he had only limited control of her large fortune, both of them were drinking heavily, and Florence had suffered two miscarriages in close succession.

Lucy meets historian Rosalind Crone at the nearby pub where an inquest was held into Charles Bravo’s death. This case became known as The Balham Mystery and was a Victorian media sensation, with pages of coverage every day in the respectable broadsheets, tabloids and penny dreadfuls. An intimidating, all male environment, Lucy and Rosalind discover how the inquest into Florence’s husband’s death degenerated into an inquiry into her sexual morality, and they wonder what Victorian woman made of Florence’s story. And we hear Florence’s own words as she tried to defend herself at the inquest into her husband’s death.

To gain a contemporary perspective on the Florence Bravo case, Lucy talks to the leading barrister Sasha Wass QC, who has worked on many high-profile cases including those of Rosemary West, Johnny Depp and Rolf Harris. Lucy wants to know why Florence’s accusations about her husband’s cruelty were ignored by the inquest. Would Florence have been treated differently had there been women in the police force, in her legal team, on the jury and in the press? Why do women in criminal investigations continue to undergo ‘trial by media’?

And, crucially, in a case that has never been solved, did she do it?

Producer: Jane Greenwood
Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble
Sound Design: Chris Maclean

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0016pq7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m0016pqb)
Airport Car Parking, Shared Ownership and Crisis at Ramadan

The airport car parking scam that can put miles on your car and leave you facing multiple traffic fines. Is shared ownership a good option to get on the property ladder?


WED 12:57 Weather (m0016pqg)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0016pqm)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


WED 13:45 The Bear Next Door (m0016pqq)
Moldova

Five cultural figures from the front line of Russia's border with Europe - Lithuania, Finland, Moldova, Latvia and Estonia - explore their national psyche in uncertain times. Their words weave with sounds and encounters from their home city as they explore their country's history, ambitions and distinctive character in the 21st century.

Our essayists across the series include a rapper and media commentator, a former President, a celebrated art critic, a dystopian novelist, and a distinguished literary director.

Today - Arts critic Paula Erizanu unravels her tangled double identity as both Moldovan and Romanian, and considers how her nation has been shaped by the scars of its post-Soviet identity and frozen conflict in Transnistria.

---

Speakers featured are:

Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania) - rapper, spoken word artist and media commentator
Emmi Itaranta (Finland) - novelist and commentator; author of the dystopian novel Memory Of Water;
Paula Erizanu (Moldova) - arts critic, political commentator and former Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal;
Nora Ikstena (Latvia) - literary director and author of the novel Soviet Milk about female experience in Soviet-occupied Latvia;
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia) - former Estonian president and writer on digital democracy.

Producer: John Beauchamp
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

A Free Range and Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0016pqv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 From Fact to Fiction (m000ymy0)
The Pivot by Hugh Costello

The UK, 2025. Loraine Wilson (Monica Dolan), a junior minister at the Department of Business Expansion, is negotiating a trade deal with the ASEAN bloc of South-East Asia. The deal would be both lucrative and prestigious, extending the UK’s global footprint – but there is fierce competition for the business from other countries.

A problem arises when Loraine is informed by her scientist son, James, that SEARS 25, a new Covid variant, is spreading from South East Asia and that it’s imperative the UK secures its borders to stop the virus arriving in the country.

Mother clashes with son, and political expediency clashes with the inconvenient need to do the right thing.

Cast:
Loraine Wilson - Monica Dolan
James Wilson - Owen Findlay
Melanie - Jane Slavin
Kim - Macy Nyman
The Newscaster - Paul Panting

Written by Hugh Costello
Produced and directed by Eoin O'Callaghan

A Big Fish Radio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 15:00 Money Box (m0016pqy)
The Cost of IVF

How much would you pay to increase your chances of having a baby? Would you travel abroad? Borrow money or ask family for help?

The use of private IVF clinics is soaring and prices for a cycle of treatment can reach over £10,000. Felicity Hannah chats to Jess, Steve, Peter and Pragya.

And our expert panel responds to their questions and experiences.

Panel:

Tone Jarvis-Mack – Chief Executive – Fertility Foundation

Kayleigh Hartigan – Founder – Fertility Mapper

Katherine O’Brien - Associate Director of Communications and Campaigns – British Pregnancy Advisory Service


WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m0016pr0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m0016pr2)
Prison Protest

Prison protest: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which prisoners have sought to transform the conditions of their imprisonment and have their voices heard. Nayan Shah, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and History at the University of Southern California, considers the global history of hunger strikes from suffragists in the US and UK to Republican prisoners in Northern Ireland and anti apartheid campaigners in South Africa. What is the meaning and impact of the refusal to eat? They’re joined by Philippa Tomczak, Director of the Prisons, Health and Societies Research Group at the University of Nottingham, and author of a study which examines the way in which the 1990 riots at HMP Strangeways helped to re-shape imprisonment. Was the change lasting or significant?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0016pr4)
Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover

Three major stories could change the way we get our news. The multi-million-dollar streaming service CNN+, once billed as the broadcaster’s future, has shut down after less than a month. Over in Silicon Valley, Elon Musk has signed a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. And the UK has seen the launch of a new broadcast channel in Talk TV. These three models – streaming, social media, and broadcast – offer competing alternatives for how we’ll consume news-based content in the future, but which of them will win out?

Guests: Claire Atkinson, Chief Media Correspondent, Insider; Vivian Schiller, Executive Director, Aspen Digital; Christopher Williams, Business Editor, The Telegraph; Lauren Hirsch, reporter, The New York Times.

Producer: Dan Hardoon
Presenter: Ros Atkins
Studio engineer: Tim Heffer


WED 17:00 PM (m0016pr6)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pr8)
The High Court has ruled that the government's policy of discharging untested hospital patients into care homes at the start of the pandemic was "unlawful".


WED 18:30 The Confessional (m000vp1b)
Series 1

The Confession of Clarke Peters

Actor, comedian and broadcaster Stephen Mangan presents a comedy chat show about shame and guilt.

Each week, Stephen invites a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three 'confessions' to him. This is the cue for some remarkable storytelling, and surprising insights.

This week, Clarke Peters, famous for his roles as Lester Freamon in The Wire and Albert Lambreaux in Treme, surprises with his stories of youthful indiscretions, hidden loot and embarrassing his brother on the Borscht Belt.

We’re used to hearing celebrity interviews where stars are persuaded to show off about their achievements and talk about their proudest moments. Stephen is not interested in that. He doesn’t want to know what his guests are proud of, he wants to know what they’re ashamed of. That’s surely the way to find out what really makes a person tick. Stephen and his guest reflect with empathy and humour on why we get embarrassed, where our shame thresholds should be, and the value of guilt.

Other series guests include Marian Keyes, Cariad Lloyd, Joan Bakewell, Suzi Ruffell and Phil Wang.

Written and presented by Stephen Mangan
With extra material by Nick Doody
Produced by Dave Anderson and Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


WED 19:00 The Archers (m0016prb)
Ed reminds restless injured Clarrie to take it easy and stop fussing, and to do her exercises as directed by the doctor. To keep busy, Clarrie offers to take on Ed’s job of filling in Keira’s reading record and helping with reading after school. Ed surprises Clarrie again later, concerned she hasn’t kept her phone next to her – what if she had a fall? Feeling useless, Clarrie has been working away at her patchwork picnic rug, which should cover the jubilee field and half of Ambridge for the picnic. She welcomes a visit from Susan, who’s amazed by Clarrie’s handiwork. Susan reassures insecure Clarrie that she’s much missed at the dairy and asks for some material to make a sunhat for Martha.
Snappy Tracy insists to Jazzer she’s fine, despite not getting the kitchen sales job, and learning via email this morning. Jazzer has an idea – why doesn’t he have a go at getting the job, using the same prep as Tracy, if Lily can swing him an interview? Tracy agrees to help him.
Tracy shares her bad news about the job with Susan, who’s surprised to hear that Jazzer is going for it, but more shocked that Tracy is now looking at working at the chicken factory. Susan does her best to put Tracy off, with horror stories and accounts of how much Emma hated it, despite appearances. Reluctantly, Tracy asks Susan for a loan, but Susan’s so sorry she can’t help – due to helping Chris with his solicitor fees. Tracy understands – what on earth is she going to do?


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0016prd)
Raphael exhibition; The Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist; poet Valzhyna Mort

Dr Matthias Wivel, co-curator of the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery, discusses the life and death of the Renaissance painter and how he shaped the history of western art.

The shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction is announced today. Literary critic Alex Clark talks about the six books in contention for the prize, and we’ll be hearing from each of the authors before the winner is announced on June 15th.

Belarusian born poet Valzhyna Mort’s third collection, Music for the Dead and Resurrected, was ten years in the making and has only just been published in her home country. She joins Tom to discuss how she blends music and metaphor to confront state sponsored violence and censorship.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Sarah Johnson

Image: Raphael's The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Child Saint (‘The Terranuova Madonna’), about 1505
Copyright: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie Photo: Jörg P. Anders


WED 20:00 The Exchange (m0016prg)
Status

Two people who share a common experience meet for the first time. Each has a gift for the other - an object that unlocks their story. With the help of presenter Catherine Carr, they exchange personal experiences and uncover the differences between them.

Jeremy Schwartz and Alex Murray both achieved high status in their careers - Jeremy as a chief executive for major companies, Alex as a senior officer in the Royal Marines.

In their encounter, the two men explore what status has meant to them throughout their lives, how it affects their identity and what the consequences are of walking away from it or chasing it.

Jeremy describes how his father’s refugee experience shaped his attitude towards success. His father escaped the Nazis in Vienna and came to London. Seeing the gap  between  the status his father was capable of achieving  and  what he  actually  achieved in the UK  was a driving force in Jeremy’s own life:  “I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I saw  the pursuit of status as important.”  He enjoyed success in management at major brands such as L’Oreal, Coca Cola, Sainsburys and The Body Shop. His marketing talent helped shape some of the most effective brands of the past 30 years. 

For him, status is a complex blend of wealth, power and respect. But, in his 50s, Jeremy left his last CEO role and has not been able to secure a job at that level since. He reveals how the loss of that title or  “calling card”  has a profound effect on self worth. But in the end, it’s made him reflect on the value of status:  “In the end it is about the impact you can make in life.” 

Alex Murray left the Royal Marines with rank and kudos, but life outside the military was a struggle. He could not find fulfilment in the corporate world but was trapped by his expectations of money and status:  “I just thought that someone with my background and what I’d done ought to be earning a certain amount. It took 10 years to realise you only have one shot at this life, and you need to make it count.” 

His  wife saw a job in the prison service advertised in the paper. “You’re good at looking after lads,” she said.  He  applied and  got it.  He’s now  studying for a Masters in running prisons alongside doing this job.  Alex says he had to  get over  wanting the status of a highly paid career and accept that true satisfaction for him lies in a job without high status:  “I just wanted to do something where I could feel like I was making a difference.”

Presented by Catherine Carr
Produced by Charlotte Pritchard

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


WED 20:45 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m0016ppn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m0016prj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m0016pr4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0016prl)
Lord Frost tells us GFA is on “life support”

In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


WED 22:45 These Days by Lucy Caldwell (m0016prp)
Episode 8

Two sisters, four nights, one city.

April, 1941. Belfast has escaped the worst of the war – so far. Over the next two months, it’s going to be destroyed from above, so that people will say, in horror, My God, Belfast is finished.
Many won’t make it through, and no one who does will remain unchanged.
Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey – one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz, 'These Days' is a timeless and heart-breaking novel about living under duress, about family, and about how we try to stay true to ourselves.

Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and two collections of short stories: Multitudes and Intimacies. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad.’

Author: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


WED 23:00 Little Lifetimes by Jenny Eclair (m0016prt)
Series 7

Millie Makes Her Mind Up

Written by Jenny Eclair
Read by Maggie Steed
Producer ..... Sally Avens

A grandmother is determined not to lose touch with her granddaughter even when she has a whole new family in the posh part of London.


WED 23:15 The Skewer (m0016pry)
Series 6

Episode 4

Jon Holmes's The Skewer remixes the news into a satirical soundtrack This week, The Terrors of the Earth, Tom Cruise v Alan Titchmarsh, and a questionable pint of Starmerpramen.

An Unusual production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0016ps2)
Sean Curran reports as Boris Johnson is challenged by MPs over the cost of living at the last Prime Minister's Questions of the parliamentary year.



THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2022

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0016ps6)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pps)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016psb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016psg)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016psl)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0016psq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016psv)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good Morning.

Next week I am leaving the country for the first time in two years. From a teenage pilgrimage to the home of Slam Poetry in the United States, to studying maths on a year abroad in Germany, I have always loved the way travelling pushes you out of your comfort zone and broadens your mind. With my work I have been lucky enough to perform all over the world, from Dubai Opera House to a friend’s garden shed in New Zealand, and have always appreciated the people and places it’s enabled me to see as much as the performances that took me there.

Yet In more recent years it’s been a tougher decision. The guilt of the carbon emissions of flying began to outweigh the thrill of being halfway round the world having just watched three films back to back on a tiny screen. I began to be much more intentional about the trips I said yes or no to, and then when the pandemic hit that choice was taken out of my hands. Suddenly everything was online and I could perform for an International school in Hong Kong from my front room, even if it meant getting up at 4am to do so.

What this means is that the last time I did leave the country was on the leap year in 2020 to see Stormzy performing in Paris. Train and gig tickets combined were cheaper than his big London shows, and the memories of that night got me through many a low moment in lockdown. It feels only right that what finally takes me abroad again is cramming four of us in a car to go and see Dua Lipa in Belgium. What a time to be alive.

God thank you for this wonderful world and for the hospitality of strangers. Thank you for adventure and the excitement of going somewhere new, as well as the memories and insights we can bring back with us. Thank you for those who are fighting to save our planet, and as our awareness grows I pray we remember the power our individual and collective choices have to do the same.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0016psz)
28/04/22 - Global vegetable oil shortages, Wildlife Trusts strategy and drought in Scotland

The majority of the UK's sunflower oil comes from Ukraine and disruption to exports because of the war has led to shortages - with some supermarkets limiting how much sunflower oil customers are allowed to buy. Meanwhile, pressure on the global vegetable-oil market has been increased further by Indonesia banning exports of its palm oil. This has lead to an increased demand for alternatives - like rapeseed oil - and the price of oilseed rape has shot up.

Nature needs to be put into “special measures” according to the Wildlife Trusts. They've launched their 2030 Strategy calling for a decade of concerted nature restoration to not just slow the decline of nature, but to actively reverse it. They say the action’s vital to stop some native species like water voles from becoming extinct and to address the climate crisis.

And although you may associate Scotland with too MUCH rather than too little water, in recent years some parts of the country have experienced exceptionally dry conditions. The county of Angus is one of the dry spots - we visit one potato grower to find out what that means.

Presented by Caz Graham
Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Heather Simons


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01s89gk)
Song Thrush

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Song Thrush. The male's song in the dawn chorus includes a repertoire of over a hundred different phrases making it one of the richest songs of any British Bird.


THU 06:00 Today (m0016ptp)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0016ptt)
Early Christian Martyrdom

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the accounts by Eusebius of Caesarea (c260-339 AD) and others of the killings of Christians in the first three centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus. Eusebius was writing in a time of peace, after The Great Persecution that had started with Emperor Diocletian in 303 AD and lasted around eight years. Many died under Diocletian, and their names are not preserved, but those whose deaths are told by Eusebius became especially celebrated and their stories became influential. Through his writings, Eusebius shaped perceptions of what it meant to be a martyr in those years, and what it meant to be a Christian.

The image above is of The Martyrdom of Saint Blandina (1886) at the Church of Saint-Blandine de Lyon, France

With:

Candida Moss
Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham

Kate Cooper
Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London

And

James Corke-Webster
Senior Lecturer in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King’s College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson


THU 09:45 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pty)
Episode 4

The Secret Barrister is an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, and author of the award-winning blog of the same name. In this frank, funny and sometimes shocking memoir of their career to date, they give a revealing account of their progress to the Bar, their introduction to the legal system, and their dawning perception of the crisis at the heart of the profession and the failures of the creaking criminal justice system.

From hilarious descriptions of their first encounter with the arcane traditions of the Inns of Court and the cut-throat competition for pupillage, to entertaining accounts of some of the more memorable characters encountered along the way and hard-hitting criticism of the failures of the law, this is a wry, clear-eyed account of an outsider’s entry into a closed and all-too-often frustrating world.

Asking questions about what we understand by justice, and making an impassioned argument for reform of the criminal justice system, the Secret Barrister writes of a profession where ideals and good intentions are undermined daily by debilitating funding cuts, shocking under-resourcing and the short-term demands of political expediency. The book is both a highly personal story and a rousing call for root and branch reform, and pulls no punches in what it reveals of how society deals with crime and punishment.

In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards, and in 2018 they were named Legal personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. You can follow the Secret Barrister at https://thesecretbarrister.com

Reader: Patrick Kennedy
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Recording: The Soundhouse Studios
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0016pv2)
Julia Bradbury, Porn in Parliament, Female Life of Pi

The presenter Julia Bradbury talks to Emma about her new documentary Breast Cancer and Me.

Conservative Party Whips are conducting an investigation after two female MPs say they witnessed a colleague watching porn on his mobile phone in the House of Commons. The Attorney General Suella Braverman joined Emma, along with the feminist and activist Dr Helen Mott who's been involved in advising parliament in it's cultures of sexism and violence against women.

Music journalist Jude Rogers has written a book, The Sound of Being Human, part memoir, part exploration of how music is interwoven into our lives from before birth to beyond the grave. She joins Emma to talk about the power of music.

The ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme was introduced last month by the Government in an attempt to encourage UK citizens to sponsor Ukrainians who are fleeing the war. Judith Hutchinson is one such sponsor and has supported Oksana Melashchuk, a Ukrainian citizen, and her two children. Last week she drove them from Romania to Calais. A month on and Oksana still awaits her visa despite her children having been issued them, meaning she can't enter the UK -- she's currently waiting in Dunkirk. Emma spoke to Judith.

Payal Mistry has made history as the first woman to play the role of Pi in the West End production of Life of Pi. Payal usually plays the role of Rani, Pi’s sister, but understudies the title role. She joins Emma to discuss the experience and why she thinks more shows should cast both men and women as understudies.

Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Emma Pearce


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0016pv5)
The Accordion Wars of Lesotho

A form of oral poetry accompanied on the accordion is the basis of a wildly popular form of music in Lesotho, southern Africa. But jealousy between Famo artists has triggered warfare that’s killing hundreds. Some of the genre’s best-known stars became gang bosses, and their rivalry has helped make rural, stunningly beautiful Lesotho the murder capital of Africa, with the sixth highest homicide rate in the world. Musicians, their relatives, producers and DJs have all been gunned down. Whole communities live in fear, and are now demanding action from politicians and police who are accused of protecting the Famo gangsters. Tim Whewell tells the story of a style of music that developed among Basotho migrant workers in the tough world of South African mines. He meets some of Famo's greatest artists - now disgusted by the violence - and talks to the families of victims of a cycle of revenge that the authorities appear unable to end.

Presented and produced by Tim Whewell.


THU 11:30 What's Left of Kerouac? (m0016pv9)
Looking for Jack Kerouac in his hometown on his one hundredth birthday.

The writer Jack Kerouac was known to have a clear, almost photographic memory. He claimed to remember the day on which he was born: March 12th 1922, a late afternoon in Lowell, Massachusetts.

“It was a strange afternoon.” he wrote. “Red as fire.”

As is the way, Lowell – and the world – has changed since Jack’s day.

The network of canal-side mills and factories, which turned the town into the cradle of the industrial revolution in America, are long abandoned. Broken windows have given way to restoration and redevelopment. Like many post-industrial towns, Lowell is undergoing an extended transition towards a future which is still unclear.

In a world where Jack Kerouac’s books don’t quite resonate they way they once did.

His novel On the Road – a paean to wanderlust, open-mindedness, and the music of language – broke the mould of American literature. And it brought with it a new dimension for teenage expression. In the words of Kerouac’s friend William Burroughs, On the Road "sold a trillion pairs of Levis and a million espresso machines". That subcultural selling power endured for decades.

But now?

The advertisers don't seem to come calling at Kerouac's door any longer. His image and the aura he conjured no longer 'sell' in the way they used to.

His values were always questionable, some might say, his writing naïve.

The story goes that when On the Road was published, Kerouac went to bed obscure and woke up famous. That fame – as avatar for the Beat Generation – would be his undoing. Far from being a firebrand or a spokesman, he was a conservative and reserved man, a Buddhist-Catholic and a patriot. And in the end: drink-sodden, reactionary and sad.

His youthful work stands in a lineage of American transcendentalism that goes back to Whitman, Thoreau and beyond. His real subject was, in part, America itself.

And that is still the best place to find him. So this programme will be rooted in Lowell, as the city celebrates the centenary of its most famous son.

Holly George Warren is in town to begin research in Kerouac's archive for her forthcoming biography; writers Geoff Dyer and AM Homes reflect on their feelings toward Jack Kerouac today; and we hear from a variety of citizens of Lowell about what’s left – for today and for the future – of Kerouac and of Lowell itself.

Readings by Kerry Shale.

Recording assistance by Avishay Artsy.

Producer: Martin Williams


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0016pvf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m0016pvk)
Gap Finders - Greg Jackson

Today's guest is the founder & chief executive of Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson.

Born in Germany and growing up in a single parent family in Middlesborough, Greg's first job on a milk round earned him £15 a week. He joined Greenpeace when he was sixteen.

Before founding Octopus Energy in 2016, he began his working life as a video games programmer, worked in mirror manufacturing, coffee shops and multiple software ventures.

The company say their mission is to bring cheaper, greener power to all. Despite launching just 6 years ago, the challenger energy company is now worth as much as British Gas-owner Centrica.

This month Octopus became the first supplier to charge existing customers £50 below the latest energy price cap. It's also doubled it's hardship find for customers struggling to pay their bills, from two-and-a-half to five million pounds.

We explore the ways in which Greg wanted to disrupt the energy sector and the hopes he has for the future of Octopus Energy.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: LINDA WALKER


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0016pvn)
Air Source Heat Pumps

One of your most requested ‘wonder-products’ so far. Heat pumps are promising to not only make our houses greener but to also cut our energy bills. But will they?
The Government says every home could have one and have reintroduced grants to help buy them. However Nick wants to know if an air source heat pump would be suitable for the 1930s house he’s about to move into with his family. Given the higher cost of the unit and the extra insulation he needs, will he actually be better off with a new combi boiler instead?
Greg speaks to experts, does a survey on his own home and gets Nick answers so he can decide if a heat pump, for him, would be the best thing since sliced bread.
Do you have a suggestion of a ‘wonder-product’ making a bold claim that Greg can investigate next?

Send us your suggestions to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or send it to Greg direct on twitter or instagram where he’s @gregfoot

PRESENTER: GREG FOOT
PRODUCER: SIMON HOBAN


THU 12:57 Weather (m0016pvq)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0016pvs)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


THU 13:45 The Bear Next Door (m0016pvv)
Latvia

Five cultural figures from the front line of Russia's border with Europe - Lithuania, Finland, Moldova, Latvia and Estonia - explore their national psyche in uncertain times. Their words weave with sounds and encounters from their home city as they explore their country's history, ambitions and distinctive character in the 21st century.

Our essayists across the series include a rapper and media commentator, a former President, a celebrated art critic, a dystopian novelist, and a distinguished literary director.

Today - Literary director and author of the acclaimed novel Soviet Milk, Nora Ikstena explores the ideas, politics and stereotypes that link the modern nations of Latvia and Ukraine - and their shared (and complicated) experience of Russian colonisation.

---

Speakers featured are:

Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania) - rapper, spoken word artist and media commentator
Emmi Itaranta (Finland) - novelist and commentator; author of the dystopian novel Memory Of Water;
Paula Erizanu (Moldova) - arts critic, political commentator and former Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal;
Nora Ikstena (Latvia) - literary director and author of the novel Soviet Milk about female experience in Soviet-occupied Latvia;
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia) - former Estonian president and writer on digital democracy.

Producer: John Beauchamp
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

A Free Range and Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0016prb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 McLevy (m0016pvx)
McLevy in the New World

Part 2: A Stirring in the Blood

Part 2: A Stirring In The Blood
By David Ashton

Adrift in San Francisco, Jean and McLevy are thrown closer together – an intimacy which doesn’t always suit either of them! In this wild lawless West they are soon investigating crooked gambling rings and dodgy land deals – but when a poker player is found murdered the local Mayor decides McLevy is the chief suspect. The resourceful (former) Inspector has to take to the streets disguised as a tramp.

McLevy ..... BRIAN COX
Jean Brash ..... SIOBHAN REDMOND
Mayor Brennan ..... DES McALEER
George Taylor ..... GUNNAR CAUTHERY
Cathleen/ Maria ..... ELLIE MEJIA
Eduardo Diaz ..... JOSEPH BALDERRAMA
Flaxman ..... JASON BARNETT
Other parts played by the cast

Producer/director: Bruce Young


THU 15:00 Open Country (m0016pvz)
Bath Workhouse Burial Ground

Helen Mark visits a field on the edge of Bath, once used as the burial ground for Bath Union Workhouse. Over 3100 bodies of people who died in poverty between 1858 and 1899 were buried here in unmarked graves. For over a hundred years, the site has been unrecognised and those buried here forgotten.

Now a group of local residents, artists, and descendants of those buried here are remembering what happened. Helen hears how the group is planting trees and wildflowers, putting up a plaque, and commemorating the lives of people who were buried anonymously.

Produced by Beatrice Fenton


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0016s1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m0016pm6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 Elon Musk: The Evening Rocket (m000xdxb)
Dimension X

Jill Lepore untangles the strange sci-fi roots of Silicon Valley's extreme capitalism - with its extravagant, existential and extra-terrestrial plans to save humanity. In this world, stock prices can be driven partly by fantasies found in blockbuster superhero movies, but that come from science fiction, some of it a century old. If anyone personifies this phenomenon, it's Elon Musk, the richest or second-richest person in the world on any given day. "The bare facts of Musk’s life, the way they’re usually told, make him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero," says Lepore. He says he hopes to colonize Mars, create brain-hacking implants and avert an AI apocalypse. He even has a baby named X. In this first of five episodes Lepore looks at the early origins of ‘Muskism’, and explores how the science fiction stories that today’s techno-billionaires grew up on have shaped Silicon Valley’s vision of the future.

Jill Lepore is Professor of American History at Harvard University, a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author. Her latest book is If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future. She is also the host of The Last Archive, a podcast from Pushkin Industries.
Producer: Viv Jones
Researcher: Oliver Riskin-Kutz
Editor: Hugh Levinson
Sound: Graham Puddifoot
Original music by Corntuth


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0016pw1)
The Ebb and Flow of the Tidal Power Revolution

This week, we begin with a disturbing medical mystery. Since the start of the year, almost 200 children worldwide have fallen ill with hepatitis—or liver inflammation—without any apparent cause. Most of the children are under five, and nearly half of the cases were in the UK. Vic Gill asks clinical epidemiologist Deepti Gurdasani, Queen Mary University of London, what we do and don't know about these rare cases.

Also on the programme, with a huge tidal range, Wales and the west coast of England have become the focal point for a new generation of tidal power plans. So, is the tidal energy revolution finally happening? Roger Falconer, Emeritus Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at Cardiff University, and Andrew Scott, CEO of Orbital Marine Power, which has demonstrated a working tidal stream turbine - called O2 - off Orkney, share their insights.

And fancy eating an insect burger? Or how about adding seaweed smoothies or mycoprotein meatballs to your diet? Fellow BBC science correspondent Helen Briggs shares how lab-grown proteins could make our diets much kinder to the planet.

And a recent study has found that a fifth of reptile species are at risk of extinction. Conservation scientist and study co-author Monika Bohm, Indianapolis Zoo in the US, tells us how, despite the gloomy findings, she remains hopeful.

Presented by Victoria Gill
Produced by Alex Mansfield and Samara Linton


THU 17:00 PM (m0016pw3)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pw5)
A British man believed to have been fighting for Ukrainian forces has been killed; another British national is missing.


THU 18:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m0016pw7)
Series 1

Round two: The World

The problem with quizzes is that the same questions keep coming up, like “What’s the largest land mammal?”*. So the more quizzes you do the more predictable they get.

Luckily, here comes quizzer, comedian and Rose d’Or winner Paul Sinha with his new series, Paul Sinha’s Perfect Pub Quiz. In each episode he will invite the audience to tell him their favourite quiz questions, before offering up not just different and surprising questions, but also the fascinating stories behind the answers.

It’s facts, jokes, stories and puns – just the way you like them.

This week's show is full of questions for the World Round of the quiz. Paul asks about the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, the world's longest river, and the US state which has Boston as its capital. The audience, meanwhile, contribute questions about countries on the equator, wordless national anthems, and matching flags.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material Oliver Levy
Additional questions The Audience

Original music: Tim Sutton

Sound engineer: Jerry Peal

Producer: Ed Morrish

A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4

*The African elephant, as you well know.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0016pnt)
Adam’s pressed by Ian about how he’d use a small windfall – helping Brian and securing Xander’s future versus investing in Ian’s cookery venture? Adam admits Xander comes first, and Ian agrees – decision made.
Susan’s pleased that the client Adam showed round Bridge Farm has put in a big order with Helen. Adam and Susan discuss Ian and Tracy having to make new starts. Susan admits that you can only try to do your best, before excusing herself to leave Adam to finish up at the dairy – she needs to do something important.
Susan gives Tracy some cash to help out. Initially protesting, Tracy’s grateful for some breathing space while she looks for work and they share a tender moment.
As Adam enjoys the best pizza he’s ever eaten from Ian’s new oven, Ian proposes a toast to Home Farm. But Adam shocks Ian - thanks to talking with Susan, Adam has changed his mind and told Brian it’s a no to Adam and Ian helping financially.
After some prep with Tracy, Jazzer aces the job interview that she recently failed, proudly announcing that he’s the newest salesman in the Felpersham Kitchens team – with a three month trial. They celebrate with what’s left in the cupboard – schnapps. Jazzer insists that everything he earns will be shared; he’ll do everything he can to avoid Tracy going to work at the chicken factory. Tracy’s moved, and finally starts to feel better. She’s so happy to have Jazzer with his big, generous heart.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0016pw9)
The Corn is Green play and Walter Sickert exhibition reviewed, Cherylee Houston

Observer theatre critic Susannah Clapp and broadcaster and Editor of the Wales Art Review Gary Raymond review The Corn is Green at the National Theatre and Tate Britain's Walter Sickert exhibition.

And Samira talks to actor actor Cherylee Houston, best known as Coronation Street’s Izzy Armstrong, who is also co-founder of the The TripleC organisation, which has just won BAFTA’s TV Special Craft award, talks about working to improve access and inclusion for disabled artists in the screen industries.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Harry Parker


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0016pwc)
What's the impact of the Shanghai lockdown?

What will the social and economic costs be of China's full-scale lockdown of Shanghai? David Aaronovitch examines the problems with the country's vaccination programme.

Joining David in the briefing room are:

Robin Brant, BBC Correspondent based in Shanghai
Vincent Ni, China Affairs correspondent for The Guardian
Professor Nancy Qian, Northwestern University
Dr Yu Jie, senior research fellow on China in the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House
George Magnus, economist and research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre.

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Production Co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed
Studio Manager: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 20:30 Life Changing (m0016ppk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0016pw1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m0016ptt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0016pwg)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


THU 22:45 These Days by Lucy Caldwell (m0016pwj)
Episode 9

Two sisters, four nights, one city.

April, 1941. Belfast has escaped the worst of the war – so far. Over the next two months, it’s going to be destroyed from above, so that people will say, in horror, My God, Belfast is finished.
Many won’t make it through, and no one who does will remain unchanged.
Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey – one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz, 'These Days' is a timeless and heart-breaking novel about living under duress, about family, and about how we try to stay true to ourselves.

Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and two collections of short stories: Multitudes and Intimacies. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad.’

Author: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


THU 23:00 The Likely Dads (m0016pwl)
Series 2

Labels and Names

Host Tim Vincent and regular panelists Mick Ferry and Russell Kane return for The Likely Dads, this time talking about labels and names.

Are some of the labels Dads are given justified? Do they really matter in the grand scheme of things? How important is it to them to be recognised as a father? And how did they arrive at the names they gave their children?

"Mick and Russell's Dad Off" is back, with regulars Mick and Russell reacting in their own unique way to some everyday parenting scenarios - and once again our panel is asked to point-the-finger to determine which of our Likely Dads committed a parenting faux-pas.

Joining Tim, Mick and Russell this week - Yorkshire comedian Pete Selwood and trans journalist Freddy McConnell, who has given birth twice.

Producers: Kurt Brookes and Ashley Byrne

A Made In Manchester production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0017983)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.



FRIDAY 29 APRIL 2022

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0016pwq)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pty)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0016pws)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0016pwv)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0016pwx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0016pwz)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0016px1)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good morning.

I have a new favourite activity. I may have said this before the first time I tried paddleboarding, flying a kite, or hot yoga, but this time I think I mean it. It can be summed up in three magical words - Sunrise Silent Disco.

It started as all my social activities in Margate by being invited to join a whatsapp group. We are given a time and location on the beach and the host shares a playlist that we all start simultaneously, with everyone bringing their own headphones to join in. After an initial moment of self-consciousness everyone spreads out and find their spot. We are all in our own worlds, simply linked by a joint soundtrack.

It is everything I love about dancing with the added bonus of sand between your toes. Instead of being dark and late it is bright and early. Instead of being crammed in together everyone has enough space to do their own thing. Instead of my uni experience of almost falling asleep but not wanting to go home in case I miss out, it is the most wonderful way to wake up.

The first one I attended was on Good Friday - the playlist curator needed strength and power that week and so chose the songs to match. When Bless Me Today by Alan Dixon came on I felt closer to God than I have done in a long time. It was gentle, it was personal, it was communal, It was euphoric. And it was of course followed by jumping in the sea.

God. Thank you for shared experiences and for movement. For the personal and the communal. We pray today we can be in touch with your world and our bodies, from the way the light falls on our face to the feel of the wind against our skin. May you be with us as we share this world with others, whether via the same commute, meal table, or even soundtrack to our lives. In other words - Lord, Bless me Today.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0016px3)
29/04/22 - import checks, biosolids and George Eustice on agroforestry and American animal welfare

The government has announced a delay to import checks on goods coming into the UK from the EU; these checks were due to come in from July, having been delayed three times already. Last year a committee of MPs concluded that the lack of checks has undermined the competitiveness of British seafood and meat businesses in their home market and that there are concerns that this could have ‘serious implications for the spread of disease.

The organic campaign group The Soil Association says trees are part of the answer to achieving the UK’s nature and net zero targets while also growing enough food. It suggests that growing trees as part of a farming system - alongside crops and livestock, brings many benefits - and held a conference on this topic, this week. DEFRA Secretary George Eustice spoke at the conference about agroforestry and whether he is concerned that companies might plant trees as a means of offsetting their carbon emissions. He had also just come back from America where he'd been discussing the differences between animal welfare standards in the UK and the US.

And this week on Farming Today we're looking at water. We hear how biosolids - otherwise known as human sewage turned into fertiliser - can be treated to create an alternative to increasingly expensive manufactured fertilisers.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b08zd770)
Laura Howard on the Swift

Springwatch producer Laura Howard describes how the arrival of swifts in May and learning more about nature walking in the countryside felt like wearing glasses that let her see clearly for the first time.

Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photograph: Phil Luckhurst.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0016pmr)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0016pls)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister (m0016pmv)
Episode 5

The Secret Barrister is an anonymous junior barrister specialising in criminal law, and author of the award-winning blog of the same name. In this frank, funny and sometimes shocking memoir of their career to date, they give a revealing account of their progress to the Bar, their introduction to the legal system, and their dawning perception of the crisis at the heart of the profession and the failures of the creaking criminal justice system.

From hilarious descriptions of their first encounter with the arcane traditions of the Inns of Court and the cut-throat competition for pupillage, to entertaining accounts of some of the more memorable characters encountered along the way and hard-hitting criticism of the failures of the law, this is a wry, clear-eyed account of an outsider’s entry into a closed and all-too-often frustrating world.

Asking questions about what we understand by justice, and making an impassioned argument for reform of the criminal justice system, the Secret Barrister writes of a profession where ideals and good intentions are undermined daily by debilitating funding cuts, shocking under-resourcing and the short-term demands of political expediency. The book is both a highly personal story and a rousing call for root and branch reform, and pulls no punches in what it reveals of how society deals with crime and punishment.

In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards, and in 2018 they were named Legal personality of the Year at the Law Society Awards. You can follow the Secret Barrister at https://thesecretbarrister.com

Reader: Patrick Kennedy
Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Recording: The Soundhouse Studios
Sound Designer: Lucinda Mason Brown

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0016pmz)
Maya Sondhi, Aunties, Consulate Failings

Maya Sondhi has made a name for herself in television dramas like Silent Witness and Line Of Duty. But now she's in the writer’s chair, and she's behind a new police drama called DI Ray. It follows DI Rachita Ray who's promoted to join a ‘Culturally Specific Homicide’ investigation. Rachita suspects there's something else going on here.

Rebecca Hilsenrath from The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman talks about failings of the Foreign Office when dealing with a 2018 rape complaint in Turkey. She describes how a British woman who was raped when she was on holiday went to the Consulate for help but was told, "Carry on with your holiday and enjoy it." The woman, who's remaining anonymous, first complained about the response she got from Consulate officials, and then how the Foreign Office dealt with it. Her complaint’s been upheld.

We have our last part of Life After Divorce. Today we're hearing from Sita who talks about getting divorced from her wife. They didn't have children or shared assets but, she says, in a way that made the split harder to deal with.

And we talk about the "aunties". You know: they're the older women in the community who we should respect. But to be honest, they might be suffocating and judgemental as well as motherly. We speak to podcaster and writer, Tolly Shoneye who honoured her Nigerian aunties in her book, Keep the Receipts, and Anchal Seda who's a podcast host and author of What Would The Aunties Say.


FRI 11:00 Mother, Nature, Sons (m0016pn4)
Writer Nell Frizzell has spent years agonising about whether climate change should stop her from having a second child. She invites listeners to join her as she strives to make an intensely personal decision about her future.

As the biological and doomsday clocks tick away, Nell calls upon friends, campaigners and experts at different stages of life to explain their reproductive decisions, in the hope that the path to a conclusion will reveal itself.

Nell speaks to Dr Matt Winning, comedian and author of Hot Mess, a book about raising a baby and understanding climate change. She also hears from musician Blythe Pepino, who formed and then disbanded the campaign group BirthStrike, and Les Knight, a campaigner for the extinction of the human race. Finally, she interviews reproductive epidemiologist Dr Shanna Swan, whose book Count Down predicts the potential end of natural conception.

Produced by Elly Lazarides
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:30 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? (m0016pn8)
Series 1

Episode 4

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders star as respected novelist Florence and movie star Selina, in a sparkling comedy series about two sisters at war, by Veep writer David Quantick.

When Florence (Dawn French) is asked to appear on Celebrity Mastermind, she is delighted but terrified as she can’t think of a specialist subject. Meanwhile Lucy finds a strange clue to Selina and Florence’s secret but is told to leave well alone by Florence’s PA Mrs Ragnarrok. And when Florence becomes too stressed to appear on Mastermind, Selina steps in to save – or ruin – the day.

Cast:
Florence - Dawn French
Selina - Jennifer Saunders
Mrs Ragnarrok – Rebecca Front
Lucy - Lisa McGrillis
All the men - Alistair McGowan

Written by David Quantick
Producer: Liz Anstee

A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0016pnd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m0016phj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Saturday]


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0016pnl)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0016pnp)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.


FRI 13:45 The Bear Next Door (m0016pnr)
Estonia

Five cultural figures from the front line of Russia's border with Europe - Lithuania, Finland, Moldova, Latvia and Estonia - explore their national psyche in uncertain times. Their words weave with sounds and encounters from their home city as they explore their country's history, ambitions and distinctive character in the 21st century.

Our essayists across the series include a rapper and media commentator, a former President, a celebrated art critic, a dystopian novelist, and a distinguished literary director.

Today - Former Estonian President (2006-2016) Toomas Hendrik considers his nation's post-Soviet rebirth as a world-leading digital society, a cradle of e-commerce, telecommunications and digital democracy.

---

Speakers featured are:

Žygimantas Kudirka (Lithuania) - rapper, spoken word artist and media commentator
Emmi Itaranta (Finland) - novelist and commentator; author of the dystopian novel Memory Of Water;
Paula Erizanu (Moldova) - arts critic, political commentator and former Culture Editor of The Calvert Journal;
Nora Ikstena (Latvia) - literary director and author of the novel Soviet Milk about female experience in Soviet-occupied Latvia;
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia) - former Estonian president and writer on digital democracy.

Producer: John Beauchamp
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

A Free Range and Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0016pnt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0bytt4r)
Dead Hand

Dead Hand – Episode 5: Ceasefire Babies

A contemporary thriller set in Northern Ireland written by Stuart Drennan.

Greg is the host of a true crime podcast dedicated to uncovering the identity of a serial killer, last active over twenty years ago, known only as Dead Hand. A killer named after a mysterious radio transmission which has been broadcasting an indecipherable code in the years since Dead Hand vanished. A code told in the voices of Dead Hand’s victims; including Greg’s missing father. However, when a new voice is added to the code, Greg realises that Dead Hand is active again. With time already running out, can he finally crack the code and catch the killer?

Cast:
Greg … Paul Mallon
DS Murray … Michelle Fairley
Kate … Roísín Gallagher
Lucy … Hannah Eggleton
Stacey … Eimear Fearon
May … Julia Dearden
Control … Louise Parker
Police Officer … Andrew McCracken
TSG lead … Patrick Buchanan
Marc Sheene … Conleth Hill
All other roles played by members of the cast.

Writer … Stuart Drennan
Script Editor … Philip Palmer
Producer … Michael Shannon
Executive Editor … Andy Martin

A BBC Northern Ireland production for Radio 4.


FRI 14:45 Living with the Gods (b09bfnhc)
Here Comes the Sun

Neil MacGregor continues his series on the expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world, and focuses on light.

He experiences the sunrise whilst inside the monumental stone passage tomb at Newgrange, Ireland, a structure older than Stonehenge or the pyramids in Egypt. Here, on the winter solstice, thanks to the design of the tomb, a bright, narrow beam of sunlight reaches deep inside the structure.

He also considers the story of Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess, whose decision to hide herself in a cave plunged the world into darkness, and reflects on how - centuries later - the image of rising sun became closely linked with Japanese national identity.

Producer Paul Kobrak

The series is produced in partnership with the British Museum
Photograph: (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0016pnx)
West Maldon, Essex

Peter Gibbs and the panel are in West Maldon, Essex. Christine Walkden, Bob Flowerdew, and James Wong are answering the horticultural questions.

This week the panellists puzzle over a mimosa that won't flower and try to diagnose a poorly potted olive tree. They also suggest some brilliant evergreen trees to replace a topiaried conifer.

Away from the questions, James Wong heads to Kew where he speaks with researcher Dr James Borrell about a banana-like plant that has the potential to feed millions.

Producer: Jemima Rathbone
Assistant Producer: Bethany Hocken

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0016pnz)
Dance of the Wild

In the Alpujarras - while her daughter is at school - Anya visits a house sometimes stayed in by Gerald Brenan, who used to live in this remote mountainous region, receiving Bloomsbury guests. Once, he was visited by Virginia Woolf.

Writer and artist Amanthi Harris was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Colombo, before moving to London. Her novella Lantern Evening won the Gatehouse Press New Fictions Prize in 2016. Her novel, Beautiful Place, was published in 2019.

Writer: Amanthi Harris
Reader: Aiysha Hart
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0016pp1)
Yvonne Blenkinsop (pictured), Dr Margaret Carswell, Mikhail Vasenkov, Denise Coffey

Matthew Bannister on

Yvonne Blenkinsop, one of the four so-called 'Headscarf Revolutionaries' from Hull who campaigned for better safety regulations on fishing trawlers after three were lost at sea in 1968.

Margaret Carswell, the doctor and ornithologist who treated survivors of the Ugandan civil war and in her spare time compiled the definitive guide to the country’s bird population.

Mikhail Vasenkov, the Russian spy who assumed a South American identity and lived undercover in the United States for decades.

Denise Coffey, the talented comic actor who made her name in the TV show 'Do Not Adjust Your Set'.

Producer: Emily Finch

Interviewed guest: Nell Carswell
Interviewed guest: Grace Carswell
Interviewed guest: Gordon Corera
Interviewed guest: Dr. Brian W. Lavery
Interviewed guest: Humphry Barclay
Interviewed guest: Michael Coveney
Interviewed guest: Miriam Margolyes

Archive clips used: British Pathé, Hull - Trawlers Lost At Sea - Wives Demand Stricter Safety Measures 1968; BBC World Service, Witness - Hull's Headscarf Revolutionaries 12/02/2018; BBC TV, Look North - Yvonne Blenkinsop gets freedom of the city of Hull 20/12/2018; YouTube, Triple Trawler Disaster - Hull 1968; xeno-canto, XC292779 Speckled Tinkerbird / XC291649 Woodland Warbler; BBC World Service, Witness - The Fall of Idi Amin 29/04/2014; BBC News 24, Russia/US Spy Swap 09/07/2010; Rediffusion, Do Not Adjust Your Set Ep 05 25/01/1968; BBC Radio 4 Extra, Alison and Maud 20/05/2009.


FRI 16:30 Feedback (m0016pp3)
What is going on in the mind of Vladimir Putin? A new Radio 4 series has been trying to answer that question. Roger Bolton asks the Presenter of ‘Putin’, Jonny Dymond, if he thinks he knows, and puts listener reaction to him

Neil MacGregor discusses his latest Radio 4 series The Museums that Make us. What does he think museums are for?

And two non-radio listeners are exposed to a French and Saunders radio comedy. Did they enjoy the experience?

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Kate Dixon
Executive Producer: Samir Shah

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 17:00 PM (m0016pp5)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0016pp7)
The three-time Wimbledon champion had hidden million of pounds of assets after being declared bankrupt


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m0016pp9)
Series 108

Episode 2

Andy Zaltzman reflects on a week of headlines in the company of guests Andy Hamilton, Spectator journalist Isabel Hardman, French stand-up comedian Celya AB and host of BBC Radio Scotland's 'Breaking the News', Des Clarke.

The panel look forward to the local elections in the UK next week and there's an intruder at the snooker.

Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Katie Baum
A BBC Studios Production


FRI 19:00 Past Forward: A Century of Sound (m00139pj)
Traffic

Greg Jenner watches an archive clip of Ernest Marples, transport minister in the 1960s, discussing the emerging challenges of car congestion and pollution in Britain’s cities. Greg speaks to the writer Lynsey Hanley and the historian Joe Moran about the rise of car culture in Britain. What is the particular appeal of the private car, how does the rise in car ownership relate to the rise of the environmental movement, and what is their vision for how we’ll get from A to B in the future?

Marking the centenary of the BBC, Past Forward uses a random date generator to alight somewhere in the BBC's vast archive over the past 100 years. Public historian Greg Jenner hears an archive clip for the first time at the top of the programme, and uses it as a starting point in a journey towards the present day. The archive captures a century of British life in a unique way - a history of ordinary people’s lives, as well as news of the great events. Greg uncovers connections through people, places and ideas that link the archive fragment to Britain in 2022, pulling in help from experts and those who remember the time – and sometimes the speakers themselves, decades later - along the way. What he discovers are stories, big and small, that reveal how the people we were have shaped the people we have become.

Producer: Eliane Glaser


FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m0016ppd)
The Erotic Thriller

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore cinema's steamiest genre - the erotic thriller - 30 years on from the release of Basic Instinct.

Mark reappraises recent best director Oscar-winner Jane Campion's oft-overlooked 2003 erotic thriller In The Cut, with the help of the film's author and co-screenwriter Susanna Moore and the film critic Maria San Filippo.

And Ellen speaks to film historian Karina Longworth and intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien about the highs and lows of the erotic thriller, and how we're dealing with sex on screen in the 21st century.

Also, Basic Instinct 2 star David Morrissey shares his Viewing Notes.

Screenshot is Radio 4’s guide through the ever-expanding universe of the moving image. Every episode, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode journey through the main streets and back roads connecting film, television and streaming over the last hundred years.

Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0016ppj)
Dr Stephen Farry MP, John Finucane MP, Claire Hanna MP, Mike Nesbitt, Edwin Poots

Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from the Ulster Transport Bowling Club in Jordanstown with the Deputy Leader of Alliance Dr Stephen Farry MP, Sinn Féin MP John Finucane, SDLP MP Claire Hanna, the former UUP leader Mike Nesbitt and the former DUP leader Edwin Poots.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: John Benson


FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b08cq9fk)
Ovid in Changing Times

In the 2000 years since Ovid's final metamorphoses back into base matter, his masterpiece has inspired writers, composers, artists, doctors, scientists and all those who want change to pursue the idea of transformation both physical and metaphorical. In this Archive on Four, Tom Holland explores Ovid's pagan hymn to transformation and traces its echoes through our cultural and natural world.

Producer Mark Rickards.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0016ppp)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


FRI 22:45 These Days by Lucy Caldwell (m0016ppt)
Episode 10

Two sisters, four nights, one city.

April, 1941. Belfast has escaped the worst of the war – so far. Over the next two months, it’s going to be destroyed from above, so that people will say, in horror, My God, Belfast is finished.
Many won’t make it through, and no one who does will remain unchanged.
Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey – one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman – as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz, 'These Days' is a timeless and heart-breaking novel about living under duress, about family, and about how we try to stay true to ourselves.

Lucy Caldwell is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and two collections of short stories: Multitudes and Intimacies. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad.’

Author: Lucy Caldwell
Reader: Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland Production.


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m0016ppy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m0017985)
News and views from Westminster with Mark D'Arcy.




LIST OF THIS WEEK'S PROGRAMMES
(Note: the times link back to the details; the pids link to the BBC page, including iPlayer)

1922: The Birth of Now 14:45 SUN (m0013zhs)

39 Ways to Save the Planet 14:45 SAT (m000r5nz)

A Point of View 08:48 SUN (m0016hj2)

All in the Mind 21:00 TUE (m0016pr0)

All in the Mind 15:30 WED (m0016pr0)

Any Answers? 14:00 SAT (m0016pgv)

Any Questions? 13:10 SAT (m0016hj0)

Any Questions? 20:00 FRI (m0016ppj)

Archive on 4 20:00 SAT (m0016phj)

Archive on 4 12:04 FRI (m0016phj)

Archive on 4 21:00 FRI (b08cq9fk)

BBC Inside Science 16:30 THU (m0016pw1)

BBC Inside Science 21:00 THU (m0016pw1)

Behind the Scenes 16:00 MON (m0014wt6)

Bells on Sunday 05:43 SUN (m0016phz)

Bells on Sunday 00:45 MON (m0016phz)

Beyond Belief 16:30 MON (m0016pk0)

Blood, Sweat and Tears 20:00 MON (m0016pkd)

Blood, Sweat and Tears 11:00 WED (m0016pkd)

Broadcasting House 09:00 SUN (m0016pln)

Connections 20:00 TUE (m0016h3z)

Costing the Earth 15:30 TUE (m0016prj)

Costing the Earth 21:00 WED (m0016prj)

Crossing Continents 20:30 MON (m0016hdq)

Crossing Continents 11:00 THU (m0016pv5)

Don't Log Off 11:30 MON (m0016pjb)

Drama 14:15 MON (m0016pjt)

Drama 14:15 TUE (m000g3jh)

Elon Musk: The Evening Rocket 16:00 THU (m000xdxb)

Farming Today 06:30 SAT (m0016pg4)

Farming Today 05:45 MON (m0016pnh)

Farming Today 05:45 TUE (m0016pl2)

Farming Today 05:45 WED (m0016pvl)

Farming Today 05:45 THU (m0016psz)

Farming Today 05:45 FRI (m0016px3)

Feedback 20:00 SUN (m0016hhl)

Feedback 16:30 FRI (m0016pp3)

Fortunately... with Fi and Jane 23:00 TUE (m0016ptk)

From Fact to Fiction 14:15 WED (m000ymy0)

From Our Own Correspondent 11:30 SAT (m0016pgj)

Front Row 19:15 MON (m0016pkb)

Front Row 19:15 TUE (m0016pt9)

Front Row 19:15 WED (m0016prd)

Front Row 19:15 THU (m0016pw9)

GF Newman's The Corrupted 21:00 SAT (b04ykk56)

Gardeners' Question Time 14:00 SUN (m0016hhd)

Gardeners' Question Time 15:00 FRI (m0016pnx)

Great Lives 16:30 TUE (m0016ppy)

Great Lives 23:00 FRI (m0016ppy)

Guide Books 16:30 SUN (m000xf0n)

In Our Time 09:00 THU (m0016ptt)

In Our Time 21:30 THU (m0016ptt)

In Touch 20:40 TUE (m0016ptc)

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley 09:30 WED (m0016ppn)

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley 20:45 WED (m0016ppn)

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley 11:30 WED (m0016pq1)

Last Word 20:30 SUN (m0016hhj)

Last Word 16:00 FRI (m0016pp1)

Letter from Ukraine 00:15 SUN (m0016hhw)

Letter from Ukraine 11:45 SUN (m0016hhw)

Life Changing 09:00 WED (m0016ppk)

Life Changing 20:30 THU (m0016ppk)

Limelight 14:15 FRI (p0bytt4r)

Little Lifetimes by Jenny Eclair 23:00 WED (m0016prt)

Living with the Gods 14:45 FRI (b09bfnhc)

Loose Ends 18:15 SAT (m0016phb)

Loose Ends 23:00 SUN (m0016phb)

Macbeth 15:00 SAT (m0016pgy)

Macbeth 15:00 SUN (m0016pm4)

Mary Portas: On Style 11:30 TUE (m0016psf)

McLevy 14:15 THU (m0016pvx)

Midnight News 00:00 SAT (m0016hjl)

Midnight News 00:00 SUN (m0016phn)

Midnight News 00:00 MON (m0016pmq)

Midnight News 00:00 TUE (m0016pkp)

Midnight News 00:00 WED (m0016pts)

Midnight News 00:00 THU (m0016ps6)

Midnight News 00:00 FRI (m0016pwq)

Money Box 12:04 SAT (m0016pgn)

Money Box 21:00 SUN (m0016pgn)

Money Box 15:00 WED (m0016pqy)

Mother, Nature, Sons 11:00 FRI (m0016pn4)

News Briefing 05:30 SAT (m0016hjv)

News Briefing 05:30 SUN (m0016phx)

News Briefing 05:30 MON (m0016pn7)

News Briefing 05:30 TUE (m0016pky)

News Briefing 05:30 WED (m0016pvb)

News Briefing 05:30 THU (m0016psq)

News Briefing 05:30 FRI (m0016pwz)

News Summary 12:00 SAT (m0016pgl)

News Summary 06:00 SUN (m0016pl4)

News Summary 12:00 SUN (m0016plv)

News Summary 12:00 MON (m0016pjd)

News Summary 12:00 TUE (m0016psk)

News Summary 12:00 WED (m0016pq7)

News Summary 12:00 THU (m0016pvf)

News Summary 12:00 FRI (m0016pnd)

News and Papers 06:00 SAT (m0016pg2)

News and Papers 07:00 SUN (m0016plb)

News and Papers 08:00 SUN (m0016plj)

News and Weather 13:00 SAT (m0016pgs)

News 22:00 SAT (m0016phl)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 09:45 MON (m0016pj5)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 00:30 TUE (m0016pj5)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 09:45 TUE (m0016ps3)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 00:30 WED (m0016ps3)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 09:45 WED (m0016pps)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 00:30 THU (m0016pps)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 09:45 THU (m0016pty)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 00:30 FRI (m0016pty)

Nothing But The Truth by the Secret Barrister 09:45 FRI (m0016pmv)

On Your Farm 06:35 SUN (m0016pl6)

One Direction 09:30 TUE (m0016prz)

One to One 05:45 SAT (m000yyq5)

Open Book 16:00 SUN (m0016pm6)

Open Book 15:30 THU (m0016pm6)

Open Country 06:07 SAT (m0016hf8)

Open Country 15:00 THU (m0016pvz)

PM 17:00 SAT (m0016ph2)

PM 17:00 MON (m0016pk2)

PM 17:00 TUE (m0016pt5)

PM 17:00 WED (m0016pr6)

PM 17:00 THU (m0016pw3)

PM 17:00 FRI (m0016pp5)

Past Forward: A Century of Sound 19:00 FRI (m00139pj)

Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz 18:30 THU (m0016pw7)

Pick of the Week 18:15 SUN (m0016pmg)

Positive Thinking 09:00 TUE (m0016prv)

Positive Thinking 21:30 TUE (m0016prv)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 SAT (m0016n5g)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 MON (m0016pnc)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 TUE (m0016pl0)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 WED (m0016pvg)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 THU (m0016psv)

Prayer for the Day 05:43 FRI (m0016px1)

Preventable by Devi Sridhar 00:30 SAT (m0016hgs)

Profile 19:00 SAT (m0016phd)

Profile 05:45 SUN (m0016phd)

Profile 17:40 SUN (m0016phd)

Putin 11:00 TUE (p0byc0wr)

Radio 4 Appeal 07:54 SUN (m0016s1s)

Radio 4 Appeal 21:25 SUN (m0016s1s)

Radio 4 Appeal 15:27 THU (m0016s1s)

Round Britain Quiz 23:00 SAT (m0016gzd)

Round Britain Quiz 15:00 MON (m0016pjw)

Saturday Live 09:00 SAT (m0016pgb)

Screenshot 19:15 FRI (m0016ppd)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SAT (m0016hjq)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 SUN (m0016phs)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 MON (m0016pn0)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 TUE (m0016pkt)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 WED (m0016pv1)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 THU (m0016psg)

Selection of BBC World Service Programmes 01:00 FRI (m0016pwv)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SAT (m0016hjn)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SAT (m0016hjs)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SAT (m0016ph4)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 SUN (m0016phq)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 SUN (m0016phv)

Shipping Forecast 17:54 SUN (m0016pm8)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 MON (m0016pmw)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 MON (m0016pn3)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 TUE (m0016pkr)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 TUE (m0016pkw)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 WED (m0016ptx)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 WED (m0016pv6)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 THU (m0016psb)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 THU (m0016psl)

Shipping Forecast 00:48 FRI (m0016pws)

Shipping Forecast 05:20 FRI (m0016pwx)

Short Works 00:30 SUN (m0016hhg)

Short Works 15:45 FRI (m0016pnz)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SAT (m0016ph8)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 SUN (m0016pmd)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 MON (m0016pk4)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 TUE (m0016pt7)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 WED (m0016pr8)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 THU (m0016pw5)

Six O'Clock News 18:00 FRI (m0016pp7)

Sliced Bread 17:30 SAT (m0016hdx)

Sliced Bread 12:32 THU (m0016pvn)

Something Understood 06:05 SUN (b01r08ct)

Something Understood 23:30 SUN (b01r08ct)

Spring Stories 19:45 SUN (m0016pmj)

Stand-Up Specials 19:15 SUN (m0016pbb)

Start the Week 09:00 MON (m0016pj3)

Start the Week 21:30 MON (m0016pj3)

Sunday Worship 08:10 SUN (m0016pll)

Sunday 07:10 SUN (m0016pld)

Teatime 18:30 TUE (m000g4fy)

The Archers Omnibus 10:00 SUN (m0016plq)

The Archers 19:00 SUN (m0016pjr)

The Archers 14:00 MON (m0016pjr)

The Archers 19:00 MON (m0016pk8)

The Archers 14:00 TUE (m0016pk8)

The Archers 19:00 TUE (m0016pqv)

The Archers 14:00 WED (m0016pqv)

The Archers 19:00 WED (m0016prb)

The Archers 14:00 THU (m0016prb)

The Archers 19:00 THU (m0016pnt)

The Archers 14:00 FRI (m0016pnt)

The Bear Next Door 13:45 MON (m0016pjn)

The Bear Next Door 13:45 TUE (m0016pt1)

The Bear Next Door 13:45 WED (m0016pqq)

The Bear Next Door 13:45 THU (m0016pvv)

The Bear Next Door 13:45 FRI (m0016pnr)

The Briefing Room 20:00 THU (m0016pwc)

The Confessional 18:30 WED (m000vp1b)

The Digital Human 21:30 SUN (m000p1v5)

The Exchange 22:15 SAT (m0016hbb)

The Exchange 20:00 WED (m0016prg)

The Food Programme 12:32 SUN (m0016pjy)

The Food Programme 15:30 MON (m0016pjy)

The Kitchen Cabinet 10:30 SAT (m0016pgd)

The Kitchen Cabinet 15:00 TUE (m0016pgd)

The Language Exchange 23:30 SAT (m00120cs)

The Likely Dads 23:00 THU (m0016pwl)

The Listening Project 13:30 SUN (m0016pm2)

The Media Show 16:30 WED (m0016pr4)

The Media Show 21:30 WED (m0016pr4)

The News Quiz 12:30 SAT (m0016hhs)

The News Quiz 18:30 FRI (m0016pp9)

The Reunion 11:00 SUN (m0016pls)

The Reunion 09:00 FRI (m0016pls)

The Skewer 21:45 SAT (m0016hbl)

The Skewer 23:15 WED (m0016pry)

The Unbelievable Truth 12:04 SUN (m0016gzr)

The Unbelievable Truth 18:30 MON (m0016pk6)

The Untold 11:00 MON (m0016rzs)

The Week in Westminster 11:00 SAT (m0016pgg)

The World This Weekend 13:00 SUN (m0016pm0)

The World Tonight 22:00 MON (m0016pkh)

The World Tonight 22:00 TUE (m0016ptf)

The World Tonight 22:00 WED (m0016prl)

The World Tonight 22:00 THU (m0016pwg)

The World Tonight 22:00 FRI (m0016ppp)

These Days by Lucy Caldwell 22:45 MON (m0016pkk)

These Days by Lucy Caldwell 22:45 TUE (m0016pth)

These Days by Lucy Caldwell 22:45 WED (m0016prp)

These Days by Lucy Caldwell 22:45 THU (m0016pwj)

These Days by Lucy Caldwell 22:45 FRI (m0016ppt)

Thinking Allowed 00:15 MON (m0016h9w)

Thinking Allowed 16:00 WED (m0016pr2)

This Cultural Life 19:15 SAT (m0016phg)

Three Pounds in My Pocket 21:00 MON (m0016hgx)

Today in Parliament 23:30 MON (m0016pkm)

Today in Parliament 23:30 TUE (m0016ptn)

Today in Parliament 23:30 WED (m0016ps2)

Today in Parliament 23:30 THU (m0017983)

Today in Parliament 23:30 FRI (m0017985)

Today 07:00 SAT (m0016pg8)

Today 17:00 SUN (m0016rvz)

Today 06:00 MON (m0016pj1)

Today 06:00 TUE (m0016prq)

Today 06:00 WED (m0016ppf)

Today 06:00 THU (m0016ptp)

Today 06:00 FRI (m0016pmr)

Tweet of the Day 08:58 SUN (b09ny18b)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 MON (b020tp38)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 TUE (b020tp7c)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 WED (b02tvggm)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 THU (b01s89gk)

Tweet of the Day 05:58 FRI (b08zd770)

Weather 06:57 SAT (m0016pg6)

Weather 12:57 SAT (m0016pgq)

Weather 17:57 SAT (m0016ph6)

Weather 06:57 SUN (m0016pl8)

Weather 07:57 SUN (m0016plg)

Weather 12:57 SUN (m0016ply)

Weather 17:57 SUN (m0016pmb)

Weather 05:56 MON (m0016pnm)

Weather 12:57 MON (m0016pjj)

Weather 12:57 TUE (m0016pst)

Weather 12:57 WED (m0016pqg)

Weather 12:57 THU (m0016pvq)

Weather 12:57 FRI (m0016pnl)

Westminster Hour 22:00 SUN (m0016pml)

What's Left of Kerouac? 11:30 THU (m0016pv9)

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? 11:30 FRI (m0016pn8)

Woman's Hour 16:00 SAT (m0016ph0)

Woman's Hour 10:00 MON (m0016pj8)

Woman's Hour 10:00 TUE (m0016ps7)

Woman's Hour 10:00 WED (m0016ppx)

Woman's Hour 10:00 THU (m0016pv2)

Woman's Hour 10:00 FRI (m0016pmz)

Word of Mouth 23:00 MON (m0016h3l)

Word of Mouth 16:00 TUE (m0016pt3)

World at One 13:00 MON (m0016pjl)

World at One 13:00 TUE (m0016psy)

World at One 13:00 WED (m0016pqm)

World at One 13:00 THU (m0016pvs)

World at One 13:00 FRI (m0016pnp)

You and Yours 12:04 MON (m0016pjg)

You and Yours 12:04 TUE (m0016psp)

You and Yours 12:04 WED (m0016pqb)

You and Yours 12:04 THU (m0016pvk)