SATURDAY 27 MAY 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001m55f)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m50c)
Rivals and Roots

If we reject the grand narrative of the West as it has been presented, what alternatives are there? How are we to understand our future by looking at past and what do contemporary rivals of the West, particularly China, believe of their own history?

Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.

Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.

Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m55j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m55l)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m55n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001m55q)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m55s)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Romain

Good morning

I had a shock recently - not because of anything untoward, but because someone took me at my word and then acted on it. I was walking down Maidenhead High Street when I saw a member of the synagogue….and my jaw dropped. I’ll call him, Gerry. He was around 25 years old, tall, and had thick black hair. Or, rather, he had thick black hair the last time I’d seen him at a service. Now, he was completely grey. I don’t normally comment on personal appearances, but the difference was so dramatic that I had to do so, and gently mentioned the sudden change.

‘It was your sermon, rabbi!’ Gerry said, ‘You spoke about the pretences we build up and hide behind, and that instead we should be honest both about ourselves and about our relationships with others. Well, I went grey when I was twenty, and was so ashamed that I’ve been dying my hair ever since. But after your words, I decided to accept who I am and what I look like…and I have to tell you, I feel much better for it’.

I’d been completely unaware of that! It shows how a chance remark - be it in a sermon or a one-to-one chat - can inadvertently address a pressing concern that had been gnawing at another person. What we say, and what others hear, can be so different, and maybe the reverse is true, that what’s on our mind can be touched by other people without them having a clue.

But full marks to Gerry for sensing something about himself needed to change, and others, too, whether it’s to stop doing something, or to start something new. And then a chance word makes it clear it really is time to act - and having the courage to actually do so.

So however that moment comes, I ask God’s help to make changes in our lives when we suddenly realise we need to do so, and the moment has come.

Amen


SAT 05:45 Please Protect Abraham (m001g391)
9. Inquest

A letter out of the blue informs Ronke that - four years on - an inquest will take place looking at how Abraham was killed. For the first time, documents from the police and council are released.

Presenter and Original Research: Sam Holder
Series Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Story Consultant: Robert Awosusi
Additional Research: Christy Callaway-Gale


Theme music written and performed by Rebekah Reid and Tapp Collective.
Original music compositions by Femi Oriogun-Williams

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001mbkb)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m000vqqt)
Cressida Cowell in West Sussex

The best-selling author Cressida Cowell takes Clare for a nostalgic walk near Chichester in West Sussex. As well as writing the whoppingly successful ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series, Cressida created ‘The Wizards of Once’ books which draw upon her childhood memories of roaming across the South Downs. She grew up in London but during school holidays would visit her grandparents where she found the freedom of the Sussex countryside intoxicating. Clare and Cressida walk for roughly six miles on a route known as The Trundle Loop, which begins and ends in the village of Charlton.

Grid Ref for start of walk: SU 888 130

Producer: Karen Gregor


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001mbkd)
27/05/23 Farming Today This Week: Animal welfare bill; Tenant farmers; Uplands; Wine; Global farming.

The Government has dropped the Kept Animals Bill. It would have banned the live export of animals from the UK, the bill would also have brought in new measures to tackle dogs worrying livestock and puppy farming. The Farming Minister Mark Spencer told the House of Commons the bill "risked being extended" beyond its original commitments and was being dropped. Compassion in World Farming has condemned the move.

Some English farmers are celebrating a government u-turn on payments to hill farms. We find out what the changes are and what they could mean for farmers.

Tenant farmers in England criticise the Government response to a review of the sector.

Defra says it plans to get rid of EU regulations, a move which it claims will release £180 million into the the UK's wine industry. Plans would enable growers to import hybrid vines, adding new grape varieties into higher quality wines grown in England and Wales. The changes would also include new labelling to show where the grapes are from, and not where the wine was bottled.

This week the World Farmers Organisation has been meeting in South Africa and Farming Today has been looking at some of the challenges facing farmers around the world. We report from the Netherlands, where there are radical proposals to reduce the number of farms. Also we speak to a farmer in Ukraine about farming in a war zone and hear from fruit growers in Ghana where there's a glut of watermelons.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001mbkg)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001mbkj)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001mbkl)
Hay Festival - Lisa Snowdon, Fats Timbo, Horatio Clare, Sadiq Khan

Live from the Hay Festival Nikki and Huw are joined by the model, presenter and writer Lisa Snowdon whose book 'Just Getting Started' urges women, especially those who’re menopausing, to seize their power.

Author, travel writer, broadcaster and local boy Horatio Clare has been asking ‘Does Psychiatry Work’ in his latest radio series and as someone who understands psychosis personally, he may have some good insights.

More empowering guidance is at hand in the shape of the irrepressible TikTok star and funny woman Fats Timbo with her ten commandments to live with 'Main Character Energy'.

And The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, shares his Inheritance Tracks.

Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Huw Stephens

Producer: Ben Mitchell


SAT 10:00 Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny (m001mbkn)
Adrian Chiles: Murter, Croatia

Adrian Chiles tempts Shaun to the laid-back Croatian island of Murter with potent fig brandy and his mum's homemade biscuits. Will Shaun be reassured by the promise of local strongmen, ready and waiting to carry him across all the bare rocks and sea urchins? Resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence helps navigate around the island.

Your Place Or Mine is the travel podcast that isn’t going anywhere. Join Shaun as his guests try to convince him that it’s worth getting up off the sofa and seeing the world, giving us a personal guide to their favourite place on the planet.

Producers: Sarah Goodman and Beth O’Dea

Your Place or Mine is a BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001mbkq)
Series 40

Postbag Edition

Jay Rayner hosts The Kitchen Cabinet season finale from the comfort of a radio studio. Joining Jay are food writers Jeremy Pang, food historian Dr Annie Gray and chef and food writers Sophie Wright and Tim Anderson.

The panellists have cleared out the cupboards of the TKC inbox to answer some of your culinary queries. They discuss everything from their go-to sour dishes that pack a bitter punch, to the qualities they look for in the perfect cooking knife, and offer secret tips on the perfect method for frying croquettes.

Producer: Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001mbks)
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001mbkv)
Ukraine's Counter-Offensive

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from Ukraine, Greece, Armenia, the US-Mexico border and Indonesia's Raja Ampat Islands.

There have been months of speculation about when and how Ukraine might use its armed forces, and their new weaponry, in a counter-offensive to take back territory occupied by Russia. Russian attacks are still hitting Ukrainian cities almost every day. Hugo Bachega describes how two men in Kyiv - a civilian whose home was bombed, and the President, who must lead the country through this war - are keeping their nerve.

Before the Greek election there was plenty of talk about the frustrated ambitions of young Greeks, and public outrage over cronyism in politics. Yet Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was re-elected, and his wasn't the only familiar face to be brought back to govern in Athens. Nick Beake covered the campaign, and gained a few insights into the enduring power of the country's political dynasties along the way.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been discussing normalising relations, and reopening transport links, in peace talks in Moscow - but there are still many potential stumbling blocks along the road to a settlement. The disputed enclave of Nagorno Karabakh is at the heart of the matter, but as Emily Craig heard while visiting southern Armenia, many people in the country still feel they're on a permanent war footing.

Last week, international media readied themselves to cover an expected surge of people trying to cross the border into the United States from Mexico. It was believed that the expiry of the Title 42 regulations would trigger a new migration crisis. Yet it didn't happen - even though there are thousands of people still trying to enter the US. Bernd Debusmann Jr reports from the streets of El Paso.

And in the island archipelago of Raja Ampat, in the Southwest Papua province of Indonesia, Sara Wheeler has recently seen wonders - including a rare glimpse of the purple tail of a Wilson's bird of paradise, and a walking shark in some of the world's most biodiverse waters.

Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001mbkx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001mbkz)
Buy Now Pay Later and Mortgage Prisoners

The Chief Executive of the Association of British Credit Unions has told Money Box his members are seeing more people applying for borrowing who already have multiple buy now, pay later loans. We'll hear from a young woman who got into debt that way and get a response from the industry.

Mortgage costs will go up again this week. That's going to put the squeeze on many households but it's especially bad news for the tens of thousands of people who are trapped paying unaffordable mortgages. We'll speak to Martin Lewis, who's campaigning for change, and get a response from the Treasury.

The Financial Conduct Authority is concerned that younger investors are using social media platforms for investing advice - without fully understanding the risks and how much money they might lose. We'll speak to their Director of Consumer Investments, hear from some young people and from the platforms themselves.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm, Saturday 27th May 2023)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001m53k)
Series 111

Episode 5

Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news, in a special edition recorded on stage at the Hay Festival. Providing the answers, hopefully, are Lucy Porter, Simon Evans, Kate Andrews, and Robin Morgan. This week the panel look at the health of the economy, the health of the government, and the health of health.

Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001mbl1)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001mbl4)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001m54d)
Lord Callanan, John Elliott, Bridget Phillipson MP, Professor Mona Siddiqui

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Felton Village Hall nr Morpeth with the Minister for Energy Efficiency Lord Callanan, businessman John Elliott, Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP and the academic and broadcaster Professor Mona Siddiqui.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Michael Smith


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001mbl9)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week


SAT 14:45 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (m001mblf)
Special

John Finnemore returns with a one-off edition of his Souvenir Programme, joined as ever by his cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan, as well as composer Susannah Pearse at the piano and cellist Sally Stares on the drum.

This forty-five minute special sees a palaeontologist try to not lose his head, a husband try to explain why he’s going to Milan, and the world’s top golfer getting a surprise. We also hear from a member of the silent majority and our regular interviewer hears from someone else. And… well, since you ask him for a story about an amazing journey…

Written and performed by … John Finnemore
Ensemble … Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Ensemble … Simon Kane
Ensemble … Lawry Lewin
Ensemble … Carrie Quinlan

Original music … Susannah Pearse
Piano … Susannah Pearce
Drum … Sally Stares

Recording … Jerry Peal & Jon Calver
Editing … Rich Evans

Production Co-ordinator … Katie Baum
Exec Producer … Richard Morris

Producer … Ed Morrish

John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme is a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SAT 15:30 A Living Leg-End (m001ljch)
Fifty years in the business, and she’s still at it. Meet Lavinia Co-op - transatlantic icon of the radical drag scene.

This drag queen, artist and performer is no stranger to holding court for audiences in bars, clubs and theatres. But in Living Leg-End, she invites you behind the curtain and into her home. Of course, she has stories to tell, always with a cuppa - from the bombed-out East End finding theatre and gay liberation, to the early 70s forming a radical drag troop, commandeering camper vans, and touring Europe with camp, comedic shows. There’s Lust in Space, Odds and Sods, Living Leg-Ends, Slung Back and Strapless. And living through the AIDS crisis in 80s and 90s New York, before migrating home.

With shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, the art of drag is becoming increasingly mainstream. But when Lavinia started out, she was a radical. She’s here to remind us that drag is a political act.

Now in her early 70s, she’s feeling reflective. A triple-heart bypass hasn’t kept her from the stage, but it has slowed her. As she flicks through the rails of outfits which line her home - each evoking memories of people, performances and places - she explores what’s kept her from hanging up the heels over all these years. She might not crave recognition, that doesn’t mean it’s undeserved.

Produced by Michael Segalov with Jesse Lawson
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001mblk)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Period Inequality, Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Electropop duo Let’s Eat Grandma

A recent survey of a thousand teenage girls has found that nearly half of them have struggled to access products at school. On Sunday a Period Parade will make its way through London to call for continued support to combat period inequality and shame. We hear from Emily Wilson - the International chief executive of I Rise, a period-equality charity.

Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan grew up as one of five children living in dire poverty, surrounded by addiction. She is now an award winning lecturer, whose work explores barrier to education. She tells us about her extraordinary life story, as told in her memoir ‘Poor’ and to explain how she triumphed through sheer determination.

As the Online Safety Bill progresses through the House of Lords, the former culture secretary Baroness Morgan of Cotes has tabled an amendment to the Bill calling for a Violence Against Women and Girls Code of Practice. She tells us why she believes a code is desperately needed to specifically address the harms to women and girls.

Sales of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK will end by 2030, but women are less likely than men to consider buying an electric vehicle, and the gap seems to be widening. Erin Baker, Editorial Director from AutoTrader and Beth Morley, a mobility and human insights manager from Cenex, discuss.

Let’s Eat Grandma are an electro-pop duo composed of best friends Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth. They tell us about their friendship since the age of four and perform ‘Two Ribbons from their latest album.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed


SAT 17:00 PM (m001mblp)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001mblt)
The Feargal Sharkey One

The former Undertones frontman tells Nick how his youth in Derry during the Troubles led him to becoming one of the most prominent environmental campaigners in Britain today.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001mblx)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001mbm2)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001mbm6)
Huge queues form after e-passport gate fault, Turkey goes to the polls


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001mbmg)
Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Simon Day, Joseph Coelho, Dr Ranj Singh, Sweet Baboo, Panic Shack, Andrew O' Neill, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Andrew O' Neill are joined by Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Simon Day, Joseph Coelho and Dr Ranj Singh for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy from the Hay Festival in Wales. With music from Sweet Baboo and Panic Shack.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001mbml)
Jesse Armstrong

Succession - the dark comedy following an American media family - has won 13 Emmys, 5 Golden Globes and a BAFTA. As it draws to a close, we take a look at the life of its creator, a British writer who has co-written some of the best television of the last 20 years including Peep Show, The Thick of it and Fresh Meat.

From the border town of Oswestry, Shropshire to the toast of Manhattan and LA, Jesse Armstrong has had an extraordinary journey.

Mark Coles hears from his family, friends and colleagues (including Chris Morris, Isy Suttie, Paterson Joseph, David Mitchell and Susan Soon He Stanton), finding out how Armstrong was able to write such rich worlds that bring the pain and absurdity of life in such a colourful fashion.

Credits

The Hollywood Reporter

Succession
Created by Jesse Armstrong
HBO

Peep Show
Objective Productions/Channel 4

The Thick Of It
BBC Comedy

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Jordan Dunbar, Georgia Coan and Nathan Gower
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Design: James Beard


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001mbmq)
Nicole Farhi

John Wilson talks to fashion designer and sculptor Nicole Farhi. Born in the south of France, she designed for various labels before teaming up with Stephen Marks in the early 1970s to establish French Connection as a worldwide clothing brand. She launched her own label Nicole Farhi in 1982 and was one of the biggest names in UK fashion for three decades. Nicole started studying sculpture whilst still in the fashion world, and staged her first solo exhibition in 2014. She has been married to the playwright David Hare since 1992.

Nicole recalls the influence of her glamourous and well-dressed aunt Visa who sparked Nicole's early interest in fashion by taking her to the Parisian couture shows. Meeting her partner Stephen Marks proved to be a major turning point and they went on to found two successful fashion labels together. But alongside her life as a designer, Nicole also had a passion for sculpture which had been ignited seeing the work of Giacometti at the Fondation Maeght in the south of France. Her own work in clay was encouraged by the Pop Art pioneer, sculptor and printmaker Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, who became her friend and mentor.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001mbmw)
Marvel vs DC: Contest of the Champions

Marvel and DC, the two titans of America superhero comics, have been locked in cosmic battle for over six decades - raging across publishing, radio, TV, movies, gaming and animation.

It’s one of the greatest rivalries in the history of pop culture, ferociously debated by generations of readers, fans and industry creatives alike.

While both companies are now worth billions, this wasn't always the case.

This feature goes back to their early comic book roots, where DC comics and young upstart Marvel both had offices in 1960s Manhattan - and yet differed widely in their approach to the genre, posing very distinct ideas of what our superheroes should be – and as a result, what it means to be human. Do we want to look up to the skies or do we really want to see a reflection of ourselves? Are our heroes other, outsiders like gods – or are they basically people like us, who gain strange powers but keep their flaws? Readers had a choice.

The creative rivalry between Marvel and DC comics has always been more than a question of sales or market share. It is a fascinating culture clash of ideals, morals and even politics. It has constituted one of the greatest post-war, pop-culture wars of our times.

For years DC Comics dominated the super-hero genre with its pulp tales of super-powered crime fighting, bright costumes and capes, shiny headquarters, secret identities and primary colours. Their heroes - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Flash, the Green Lantern – have a kind of mythic grandeur. But dig deeper, and there's another story. DC's creative department had its own secret identity, driven mostly by writers and artists who felt themselves to be at the margins of mainstream American society.

Marvel Comics in its modern form arrived later, in the early 1960s, a totally different cultural era. In every way the precocious new kid on the block, Marvel offered a widely different set of ideas about what superheroes ought to be - they would be like us. The tone was less authoritarian than the opposition, politically liberal under the stewardship of Stan Lee, tapping into the emerging counter-culture and creating a web of integrated characters (the ‘Marvel Universe’). Marvel heroes - Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four - lived in our world and suffered as we do. They had financial difficulties, dead-end jobs, romantic heartache, teenage angst, even drug addiction, suffered blindness, breakdown and divorce. They encountered street protest and the counter-culture, gang violence and organised racism. .

Each company watched the other. Each company tried to outdo the other, either on their own terms or – sometimes brilliantly - their opponents'. This is the comic-book bedrock upon which the blockbuster superhero movie franchises are currently fighting tooth and nail.

Talking to industry legends from both companies, artists, writers, experts and diehard fans, this Archive on 4, presented by documentary maker and lifelong Marvel and DC comics fan Simon Hollis, tells the story of the Greatest Battle on Earth.

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Stone (b05sxx23)
Series 5

Dirt

Dirt by Martin Jameson. First drama of Stone: a detective series created by Danny Brocklehurst.

When a body is found in a flooded gravel pit DCI John Stone and his team embark upon an investigation that leads to the discovery of suspicious activity on a remote farm.

But with his personal life in tatters and still reeling from the mishandled shooting of Callum Gartside, a gunman who had murdered his own family, Stone struggles to hold it all together.

DCI STONE.....Hugo Speer
DI MIKE TANNER.....Craig Cheetham
DS SUE KELLY.....Deborah McAndrew
ANTHONY.....Jeff Hordley
ELAINE.....Sally Carman
TROUT.....Thomas Pickles
LEO.....Darren Kuppan

Sound design by Steve Brooke

Directed by Nadia Molinari


SAT 21:45 Short Works (m001m51d)
Gwen's Silver Fox

Gwen's Silver Fox.

The truth behind a rags-to-riches story set in seaside Barmouth by award winning writer John Sam Jones.

Directed by Philippa Swallow
Sound by Nigel Lewis
A BBC Audio Drama Wales production

An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News (m001mbn0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001m546)
Sports movies and TV

Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore sport on screen, from Field of Dreams to Ted Lasso.

Ellen looks at the life lessons to be gleaned from baseball movies such as Field of Dreams, The Natural and A League of Their Own, with the help of film critic Simon Brew and the first woman to coach men's baseball in the US - trailblazer Justine Siegal.

And Mark focuses on football in film and TV, speaking to Ted Lasso co-creator and star Brendan Hunt about the inspirations for the sitcom about an American football manager hired to manage a fictional Premier League team. He also talks to critic and programmer Ashley Clark about his favourite screen depictions of the beautiful game, from Escape to Victory to Sunderland 'Til I Die.

Pioneering BBC Sport broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Oldroyd shares her Viewing Notes.

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


SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001m4fw)
Programme 7, 2023

(7/12)
The Round Britain Quiz teams get the chance to turn the tables in the second half of the series as they play return matches against their opponents from earlier in the season. This week Frankie Fanko and Stephen Maddock of the Midlands are back, to see if they can avenge their defeat by Paul Sinha and Marcus Berkmann of the South of England.

Kirsty Lang is on hand with the show's trademark cryptic questions, and will be steering the panellists away from their wilder speculations and providing clues if they need them. But for every heavy hint she drops, they'll pay a penalty in points.

As usual, the programme includes a generous helping of questions suggested by Round Britain Quiz listeners.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Uncanny (m001mbn6)
S2. Case 8: The Guest Book

Kitty moves into her new partner’s house, a former Victorian cobblers shop in the North West of England... but someone else is already living there with him. Someone who doesn't want her there. Someone who isn't alive.

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Script editor: Simon Jacobs
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4

SUNDAY 28 MAY 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001mbnc)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Whose Truth Is It Anyway? (m001m4q8)
Memoir and Me

Writer and broadcaster Damian Barr grapples with the slippery idea of truth in literature - from memoir to fiction to writing that occupies all the areas in between. What does it mean for a story to be true - and is the idea of truth changing? Who gets to decide whose truths make it into onto the page and into our bookshelves?

With contributions from Sathnam Sanghera, Olivia Laing, Ellah Wakatama, Taymour Soomro, Alexandra Heminsley and Suede singer and co-creator of the new album Autofiction, Brett Anderson.

In this first episode, Damian explores one of the most popular and personal genres of writing - memoir. Revisiting his own complex experience of writing a memoir, and dealing with the aftermath, Damian unpicks what it is that authors and readers expect from type of writing. What makes a memoir more or less true? And do readers understand something different by that truth from authors? Do modern audiences expect a different kind of truth?

Damian also reveals some of his own discoveries about the process of writing a true memoir - including discovering that even the most candid memoir is also be shaped by legal and personal considerations. Not all truths are published equally.

Written and Presented by Damian Barr
Produced by Leo Hornak
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001mbnh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001mbnm)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001mbnr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001mbnv)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001mbnx)
St Magnus the Martyr in the City of London

Bells on Sunday comes from St Magnus the Martyr in the City of London. Located next to the site of the medieval London Bridge, there has been a church on this site since at least the 12th century. Destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, the church was rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. In 2009, a ring of twelve bells were installed by the Whitechapel Foundry of London with a tenor weighing twenty six and three quarter hundredweight, tuned to the note of D. We hear the bells ringing Stedman Cinques, performed by the ringers of the Ancient Society of College Youths.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001mbml)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001mby6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b00sf1v2)
Translation

In this episode of Something Understood from 2010, Mark Tully presents a programme on the theme of translation to mark Pentecost, when Jesus' disciples spoke in different tongues.

He talks to Bible translator Father Nicholas King about the process of translating the New Testament: what is the most impossible passage? Does it matter if people find spiritual inspiration from texts which are actually mis-translations?

The programme includes poems and thoughts on translation by Keats, A.S.Byatt, Eva Hoffman, Vesna Goldsworthy and Kei Miller. The music comes from Allegri, John Tavener, JS Bach, and Ella Fitzgerald - "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off".

Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001mbyr)
A Future for Flax?

Several years ago, farmer Helen Keys and her husband Charlie Mallon embarked on what they thought would be a straightforward venture – growing flax to make linen. Charlie, a blacksmith and sculptor, makes bronze statutes inspired by Celtic myths and legends. The couple wanted to market the bronzes in attractive linen bags but couldn't find anyone making Irish linen on a commercial scale. So they thought they should have a go themselves. After all flax, with its distinctive bright blue blossoms, had been grown on their 50 acre farm in County Tyrone for generations. It was once a staple crop across Northern Ireland.

Processing the flax includes retting – where it is soaked in water to loosen the fibre from the stalk. Helen and Charlie soak their harvest in an upcycled cheese vat and pour the water back onto the fields as fertiliser. The next step is scutching, where the fibre is separated from the stalk and prepared for spinning. Helen and Charlie show presenter Karen Patterson their pride and joy - a1960s scutching mill. The next stage - spinning - has proved to be the biggest challenge. Although there are a few hand spinners, there are currently no commercial spinning operations in the UK.

Helen began investigating the potential for flax's use as a composite material in industrial manufacture. She's teamed up with the Northern Ireland Advanced Composite and Engineering Centre which is researching a range of products to help decarbonise industry. Manager Peter Quigley tells Karen the flax plant has the potential to replace glass fibre in making components for the aviation and car industries. Helen and Charlie hope their flax growing project will encourage other farmers in Northern Ireland to consider reviving this heritage plant.

Produced by Kathleen Carragher


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001mbz4)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001mbzj)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001mc01)
Child abuse, Ron DeSantis, Celebration Day

The government has announced plans to deal with the problem of child sex abuse, but what are the implications for religious organisations? Almost every week, there are news stories about churches or religious groups facing allegations of the abuse of children or vulnerable adults. While the issue exists across society, its prevalence in religious settings has been striking. We explore why this is the case and what churches need to do if they are to tackle it effectively.

The Florida Governor Ron DeSantis threw his hat into the US presidential ring this week. He's taking on Donald Trump for the Republican nomination and hopes to capture much of Donald Trump's religious base. DeSantis is a Catholic and often talks about the importance of faith. His policies in Florida have galvanised the Christian Right. We examine the likely importance of religion in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

How do you remember loved ones who have died? In Mexico, there is a celebratory "Day of the Dead". In Japan, a centuries old festival, called Obon. In Britain, there is a new invitation for us to reflect on our memories of friends and family who have died. It's called Celebration Day, and it falls today, May 28th. The idea is that on this day in particular we pause to cherish our memories and keep the lives of those who have died, more present in our minds.

Producer: Amanda Hancox
Presenter: William Crawley
Editor: Jonathan Hallewell


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001mc0n)
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Actor Robert Lindsay makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 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 ‘NSPCC’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘NSPCC registered charity’.
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: 216401


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001mc13)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001mc1m)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001mc20)
Pentecost Sunday - Creator Spirit

‘When you send forth your spirit they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.’ Psalm.104.30.

On this Pentecost Sunday, Revd Dr Stephen Wigley, Chair of Wales Synod Cymru of the Methodist Church, leads a service of prayer and reflection from the Amelia Trust Farm in Vale of Glamorgan, in South Wales. The farm forms part of the mission of the Methodist Church in Wales, providing therapeutic support to disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

Pentecost Sunday marks the celebration of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit in the birth of the church as a new community born by his Spirit. From the surroundings of the farm, including a woodland walk, animal pastures and a prayer labyrinth, Stephen and members of the farm community reflect on the work of the Amelia Trust as a care farm, and explore how Pentecost can mark not only the birth of the church, but the ongoing renewal of the face of the earth in the here and now, offering new life and hope to those who find things hard.

Music includes hymns, songs and anthems ranging from The Heavens are Telling (Haydn's Creation) to Al Green's ‘The Spirit might come’.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001m54l)
Taking Hammer to Gill

Howard Jacobson deplores the recent vandalising of Eric Gill's sculpture at BBC Broadcasting House as a failure to understand the meaning of art.

'Art, we go on protesting, is not the artist, but some will always believe that whatever is fashioned by evil hands must itself be evil,' he writes.

'If art and the artist were not distinct, the word art itself would have no meaning. For it denotes manufacture and artifice... not simple equation or reflection.'

Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03ths4v)
Chaffinch

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

John Aitchison presents the chaffinch. The name chaffinch refers to its habit of flocking in stubble fields, often in the company of other birds, to sort through the chaff for seeds. In less tidy times when spilled grain was a regular feature in farmyards and stubble was retained for longer periods, these winter flocks were widespread.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001mc2c)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001mc2p)
Writer, Daniel Thurman
Director, Jess Bunch
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer ..... Louiza Patikas
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ..... William Troughton
Tony Archer ..... David Troughton
Lee Bryce ..... Ryan Early
Alice Carter ..... Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter ..... Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig ..... Stephen Kennedy
Emma Grundy ..... Emerald O'Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin ..... Susie Riddell
Adam Macy ..... Andrew Wincott
Jazzer McCreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Kirsty Miller ..... Annabelle Dowler
Oliver Sterling ..... Michael Cochrane
Anna Tregorran.... Isobel Middleton


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001mc30)
Ronnie O'Sullivan, snooker player

Ronnie O’Sullivan OBE is currently ranked the number one snooker player in the world, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players in the history of the sport.

He has won the Masters a record seven times and he jointly holds the record for winning the World Snooker Championship seven times. Since 1997 he has held the world record for the fastest 147 break, leading to his nickname 'the Rocket'.

Ronnie grew up in Essex and his father gave him his first snooker cue when he was seven. He took to the game immediately: he was playing on a full size snooker table when he was just eight, and two years later he was beating adult players. By the age of 12, he was winning cash prizes in local tournaments, and was soon earning more than his teachers.

Ronnie turned professional when he was 16, and quickly established himself as a star player and a fans' favourite - but he has also made headlines away from the snooker table, with accounts of his depression and struggles with alcohol and drugs. For many years he has kept his physical and mental health in check through his passion for running.

He received an OBE in 2016 for services to snooker.

DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem
DISC TWO: Careless Whisper - Wham!
DISC THREE: Step by Step - Whitney Houston
DISC FOUR: Real Gone Kid - Deacon Blue
DISC FIVE: You’re So Vain - Carly Simon
DISC SIX: Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics
DISC SEVEN: Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) - Train
DISC EIGHT: That’s All - Genesis

BOOK CHOICE: Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
LUXURY ITEM: A painting set
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: That’s All - Genesis

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001mc3f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (p0fdn54d)
Series 91

8. The Great Barrier Reef, Static Electricity and Pride and Prejudice

Sue Perkins challenges Gyles Brandreth, Jan Ravens, Tony Hawks and Rachel Parris to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.

The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from The Great Barrier Reef to Static Electricity.

Production coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia

A BBC Studios Production


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001mc3q)
The Awards Return

The BBC Food and Farming Awards are back for 2023 and now is the time to get nominating.

This year the judging will be lead by former Masterchef winner, and founder of the Mexican restaurant chain, Thomasina Miers.

In this programme, Jaega Wise meets Thomasina at one of her London restaurants to discuss how she plans to approach judging, and she chats to Sheila Dillon about how the awards came about, and why she believes they are still so vital.

This year the awards will all have a climate first theme, plus listen out for an announcement of a brand new award for 2023.

You can nominate people and businesses you know and love for the BBC Food & Farming Awards, just visit bbc.co.uk/foodawards where you can also find the terms and privacy notice. Nominations close 19 June at 23:59

Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001mc3y)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001mc44)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Conspiracies: The Secret Knowledge (m001mc4b)
Now What?

Historian Phil Tinline explores the role of conspiracy, and conspiracy theory, in our politics.

In this final episode, Phil asks leading journalists and commentators across the political spectrum about how the battles over Brexit. What light can the history we've been exploring in this series shed on the present?

Series contributors include: James Ball, Oliver Bullough, Nick Cohen, Matthew D'Ancona, Stephen Dorril, Ruth Dudley Edwards, David Edgar, Steven Fielding, Matthew Goodwin, Simon Heffer, Helen Lewis, Dan Lomas, Andrew Lownie, Jean Seaton, Camilla Schofield

Producer: Phil Tinline


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001m50y)
Chelsea Flower Show 2023: Postbag Edition

Which stepover trees produce the crunchiest apples? Should celandines be treated as a traditional weed? What type of slugs are actually helpful in my garden?
 
Kathy Clugston is joined by experts Matthew Wilson, Juliet Sargeant and Dr Chris Thorogood as they head to this year's Chelsea Flower Show. While the panellists enjoy the various innovative exhibitions on show, they also answer some of your horticultural queries.
 
Meanwhile, roving reporter Peter Gibbs explores the showgrounds. He learns all about putting soil through a laundry room to prepare it for reuse, is drawn to an unusual plant he's not encountered before, learns which orchids can be grown at home easily and hears all about the different types of bees we have in our garden

Producer: Dom Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod and Dulcie Whadcock

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001mc4j)
A Room With a View - Episode 2

John Yorke continues his examination of E M Forster’s best-loved novel A Room with a View, first published in 1908.

Set in Florence and Surrey, A Room with a View is both a coming-of-age story and an intoxicating love story, as teenage Lucy Honeychurch has to choose between two very different men, and between following convention or following her heart. It is a book full of muddle and misunderstanding, as well as comedy and joy, as Lucy tries to make sense of her feelings and to work out how to be true to herself.

In this second programme, John is keen to find out how Forster’s own life ties in with A Room with a View. As a gay man in Edwardian England he was all too aware of the painful dilemma of loving someone you were not supposed to love. John also wants to know how the book reflects women’s lives in the early 20th century and why, nearly 120 years after it was first published, readers still enjoy this book so much.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for thirty years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday/Saturday Drama series.

From EastEnders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone.

Contributors:
Alison Hennegan, former Director of Studies in English, Trinity Hall Cambridge
Sarah Winman, novelist
Reading by Sarah Winman

Credits: A Room with a View by E M Forster, first published by Edward Arnold 1908

Produced by Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Sound by Sean Kerwin
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Love Stories (m001mc4q)
A Room with a View: Episode Two

Writer ..... E.M. Forster
Dramatist ..... Marcy Kahan

Lucy ..... Rosie Day
Cecil ..... Samuel Barnett
George ..... Luke Thallon
Mrs Honeychurch ..... Jane Booker
Reverend Beebe ..... John Heffernan
Charlotte ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Freddy ..... Will Kirk
Mr Emerson ..... Gerard McDermott
Miss Alan ..... Jessica Turner
Sir Harry Otway ..... Ewan Bailey
Morgan Forster ..... Daniel Ings

Pianist ..... Peter Ringrose
Director ..... Sally Avens

Lucy Honeychurch has returned from a transformative trip to Italy to her native Surrey and tradition and family. She is soon engaged to the son of a family friend.
But Lucy can't shake off the intensity of her experiences in Italy and her encounter with the unconventional George Emerson who swept her up in his arms on an Italian hillside.
Forster's hugely enjoyable novel takes a satirical sideswipe at polite Edwardian society and makes a plea for tolerance and inclusion.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001mc4w)
Guy Gunaratne, plus Literary Thefts with Rebecca Kuang and Andrew Lipstein

Johny Pitts talks to Guy Gunaratne about Mister, Mister, their picaresque and piercing novel about young man's journey to becoming a radicalised Muslim poet, set during the world-changing events of the 1990s and 2000s

Rebecca F. Kuang and Andrew Lipstein discuss the moral ambiguities at the heart of their new books, both of which feature literary thefts and satirise the contemporary publishing industry. We ask "who owns a story?" in the age where discussions about cultural appropriation and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence destabilise traditional notions of a creative work.

Plus Roy Williamson of Pushkin Press choses his Editor's Pick for next month - a Japanese novel which makes everyday experience feel strange and vertiginous.

Book List – Sunday 28 May and Thursday 1 June

Mister, Mister by Guy Gunaratne
In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang
Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein
Mild Vertigo by Mieko Kanai: Translated by Polly Barton


SUN 16:30 Whose Truth Is It Anyway? (m001mc52)
Fiction: True Lies

What does it mean for a story to be true? Writer and broadcaster Damian Barr grapples with the increasingly slippery idea of truth in books - from memoir to fiction and all the grey areas between. Reflecting on his own writing, Damian unpicks the different truths that writers and readers expect from different genres. Is our idea of truth changing? And who gets to decide whose truths make it onto the page and onto our shelves?

In this second episode, Damian reveals his own experiences with writing truth in fiction including how he came to partly dedicate his own novel, You Will Be Safe Here, to a boy who was killed at a paramilitary training camp in South Africa.

Damian explores whether readers should expect any truth in novels and whether writers hide truth in their fiction. He talks to Jo Browning Wroe, the author of A Terrible Kindness, about the responsibilities fiction writers have to the survivors of the real events they’re writing about. Writer and journalist, Sathnam Sanghera, shares his experiences of truth in fiction compared to other genres. Novelist, Graeme Macrae Burnet, tells Damian why there’s no such thing as truth in fiction but facts in fiction are another matter.

Written and presented by Damian Barr
Producer: Brian Meechan

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001lyxt)
Sex Attacks in Hospitals

When you go to hospital you expect to be safe. But File on 4 has discovered that many patients and staff who are victims of sex attacks say not enough is done to deal with the perpetrators - and hospital managers ignore complaints. The programme examines startling data on the number of reported cases and asks what's being done to prevent sexual assaults in hospitals. The Department of Health says sexual violence or misconduct of any kind is unacceptable and has no place in the NHS. However, they also say there is still a long way to go in tackling sexual assaults to deliver justice for victims.

Reporter: Fergus Hewison
Producer: Matthew Pintus
Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Carl Johnston


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001mbml)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001mc58)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001mc5g)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001mc5n)
The government is considering proposals that would cap the price of some products and the health secretary has admitted not all new hospitals promised will be built from scratch


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001mc5t)
Edward Adoo

Edward Adoo chooses his audio highlights of the week.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001mc48)
Elizabeth and Freddie are in the office discussing plans for Lower Loxley’s Late Mayfest. Elizabeth notes there’s been grumbling from stallholders about where they’ve been put. Freddie insists it’s only because he’s managed to attract so many stalls. He hopes the trustees notice all the hard work he’s put in. Later, Freddie reveals to Oliver that Eddie’s ‘Wildlife Underground’ stall turns out to mean ferrets. He’s worried the trustees will think it sets the wrong tone. In fact, rather than put up with their scrutiny, he’s tempted to walk away. Oliver counsels him against this, reminding him of the much tougher situations he’s handled. Feeling bolstered, Freddie reassures Elizabeth he has the Eddie Grundy situation in hand.
It's the day of the Ambridge T20 cricket match and Tracy accuses Tom of sabotaging her team. It was Jazzer’s stag do last night, and she thinks someone spiked her players’ drinks. Tom points out that some of his team are worse for wear too. Jim arrives wearing shades, which he insists is not because he’s hungover but because he’s lost his glasses. Later, play is underway, but Jim is struggling to keep an accurate score without his glasses. At the end of a very close match, Jim isn’t sure who’s won, so proposes a tie and the Mark Hebden Memorial Trophy is shared between the teams. Tracy complains she’s been cheated out of a win because Jim can’t keep track of his specs. Jim reveals he lost them somewhere on Jazzer’s stag do. He simply needs to retrace his steps.


SUN 19:15 Mark Steel's in Town (m0002mfr)
Series 9

Malta

Comedian Mark Steel visits the island of Malta and performs a bespoke stand-up show for the local audience.


SUN 19:45 On Portobello Prom (m001mc60)
More Than Meets the Eye

Still reeling from Violetta's announcement, Giorgio and Rosie go for coffee where an unexpected admission opens Rosie's eyes to secrets and truths. There is more than meets the eye for life on Portobello Prom and Rosie is an expert at negotiating the unexpected.

Read by Jessica Hardwick
Written by Sara Sheridan
Produced by Naomi Walmsley

Based on Sara Sheridan's short story 'On Portobello Prom' originally published in 'The People's City'


SUN 20:00 More or Less (m001m523)
NHS waiting lists, voter ID, and measuring divorce

The government has trumpeted a big fall in those waiting over 18 months for hospital treatment in England. But total numbers on waiting lists have hit a new high. Also we look at how much impact the introduction of Voter ID had on turnout in May's English local elections. We ask whether Portugal really has a divorce rate of 94%. And we remember mathematician Dr Vicky Neale of Oxford University, who has died at the age of 39.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Josephine Casserly, Octavia Woodward, Ellie House
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001m51s)
Tina Turner, Martin Amis, Leroy Cooper, Rolf Harris, Marlene Bauer Hagge

Matthew Bannister on

Tina Turner, the singer who overcame an abusive relationship to become an international superstar

Martin Amis, one of the literary giants of his generation

Leroy Cooper, the photographer who captured the social history of his area of Liverpool

Rolf Harris, the entertainer who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting young girls

Marlene Bauer Hagge, the last surviving founding member of the US Ladies Professional Golf Association

Interviewee: Dan Franklin
Interviewee: Leee John
Interviewee: Ray Quarless
Interviewee: Levi Tafari
Interviewee: David Sillito
Interviewee: Lewine Mair

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:
Tina Turner - From the archives: Life of suffering and triumph, CBS Sunday Morning, originally broadcast October 2018, YouTube uploaded 25/05/2023; Tina Turner talks to Larry King about her life in music (1997), CNN, YouTube uploaded 21/05/2016; Will Gompertz interviews Tina Turner, Tina Turner: Simply the Best, BBC One, 26/11/2018; Anne Rohmer interviews Tina Turner (1985), Canada TV News , CTV YouTube uploaded 24/05/2023; Martin Amis interview, The Late Show: Face To Face, BBC TWO, 25/10/1993; Martin Amis, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 29/12/1996; Leroy Cooper interview with Flora Zajicek, Empathy Museum, 2022; Toxteth riots July 1981, BBC News; Marlene Bauer Hagge interview, LPGA Takeaway: 67 Years Later, the Founders Look Back, Golf.com YouTube uploaded 4/11/2016; 1960 U.S. Women's Open newsreel, United States Golf Association, YouTube uploaded 30/05/2014; Marlene Bauer, The Last Of The LPGA Founders, The Golf Library, YouTube uploaded 19/05/2023;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001mbkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001mc0n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001mbmg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001mc6b)
Ben Wright asks whether some food prices should be capped to help combat inflation, and analyses Labour's green energy policy, with former cabinet minister Sir Robert Buckland; Labour frontbencher Fleur Anderson; and the deputy comment editor of the Financial Times, Miranda Green. The Sun's chief political correspondent Natasha Clark brings news of all the latest developments at Westminster. The programme also includes an interview with Lord Evans, chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life.


SUN 23:00 Moral Maze (m001m5pb)
How should we talk about suicide?

The tragic death of primary headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life when her school was set to be downgraded to “inadequate”, has prompted widespread anger from teachers and calls to reform or abolish Ofsted. Ruth Perry’s family believes that the stress of the inspection led to her suicide, and this week an article in the British Medical Journal argued that “every work-related suicide” should be investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.

While some see this as an important intervention in seeking to understand and prevent further suicides, others are concerned that speculation about direct causal 'triggers' can oversimplify a complex issue. The Samaritans’ media guidelines state: “vulnerable people experiencing similar issues are more likely to over-identify with the deceased when a single reason is given”. Moreover, others are worried about the ‘weaponisation’ of individual cases of suicide by campaign groups seeking to advance wider political aims.

Suicide is a highly sensitive issue and the way we talk about it matters. Across different times and cultures it has been seen as both honourable and sinful. Today, most responses start from a place of compassion, based on a better understanding of mental health. While it is vital to understand, prevent and treat suicidal thoughts, should we ever seek to rationalise or explain suicide? That question is also pertinent in the debate around assisted dying. For some, choosing to end one’s life in this way is a rational decision we should be allowed to make in certain circumstances, for others, that social acceptance would have a far-reaching impact on people's perception of the worthwhileness of their life.

How should we talk about suicide?

Producer: Dan Tierney.

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

MONDAY 29 MAY 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001mc6g)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001m5nv)
Digital intimacy

Digital intimacy - Laurie Taylor asks how the algorithms embedded in digital technologies are transforming our relationships. He's joined by Anthony Elliott, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of South Australia and author of a new book which suggests that that machine intelligence is changing the nature of human bonds, from sexual partners to friendship and therapy. Also, Carolina Bandinelli, Associate Professor in Media and Creative Industries at the University of Warwick, discusses her study of Tinder, and other dating apps, and the surprising finding that sex and love are not at the core of how people use them.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001mbnx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001mc6l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001mc6q)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001mc6v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001mc6z)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001mc73)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Romain

Good morning

I don’t know about you, but I get puzzled by the mixed messages I receive, about how religious people in this country are interacting, with some saying how full of religious conflict society is, with rivalry either between religious groups or within them, and others claiming, on the contrary, it’s a time of great interfaith harmony.

Personally, I’m an optimist and follow Monty Python in always looking on the bright side. That’s not to ignore the problems and the need to overcome them, but if someone shows me a rose stem, I concentrate on the petals, not the thorns.

That’s why my favourite story is the one about a rabbi and his two friends, a vicar and a Catholic priest. They lived in the same town in the USA and used to meet to play cards once a week. The problem was that it was a very conservative town and activities such as playing cards was banned, so they had to do it privately.

One night, as they were playing, the local sheriff burst in, caught them red-handed and hauled them off to the judge. He looks at the priest and sternly demands: “Were you playing cards ?” The priest looks heavenwards, whispers “Forgive me Lord” and says “No, of course not”. So the judge turns to the vicar, “Were you playing cards ?”. The vicar looks to the heavens and says “No”. So the judge asks the rabbi: “Were you playing cards?” The rabbi replies, “With whom?”

I like the story because it highlights how not only are they firm friends, regularly spending leisure time with each other, but they are all equally innocent - or guilty. They know that their fate is bound up with each other; they stand or fall together. Like us, they are now irrevocably intertwined in this multi-faith, multi-race, multi-cultural society of ours, and we have to work together.

So I ask God’s help that even if we can’t love our religious neighbour as ourselves all the time, we can at least get on and co-exist, and work towards religious peace and then peace in society as a whole.

Amen


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001mc77)
29/05/23 Young Farmers Clubs come together for the highlight of the year - the county rally.

All year long, Young Farmers' Clubs prepare for a big competition - the county rally. We join young farmers from across Wiltshire as they vie for the trophy. Activities range from practical skills, like fence erecting, cooking, tractor reversing and flower arranging, to the silly - like making cocktails in costume or hooking ducks with a mini digger. This year's theme is "a day at the races" and it coincides with the 90th anniversary of Malmesbury YFC who are hosting the rally at Aquetong Farm near Malmesbury.

Produced and presented by Rebecca Rooney.


MON 05:56 Weather (m001mc7c)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020xvlw)
Marsh Warbler

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

Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the Marsh Warbler. Marsh warblers are astonishing mimics and when you hear one singing you could be forgiven for thinking that there's a flock of different species in the bush.


MON 06:00 Today (m001mc15)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001mc1k)
Hay Festival - Dickens in the 21st century

In front of an audience at the Hay Festival Tom Sutcliffe asks what Dickens would say about the world today. The prize-winning Barbara Kingsolver discusses her retelling of David Copperfield, in which her eponymous hero, Demon Copperfield, must struggle to survive amid rural poverty and America’s opioid crisis.

Michael Rosen has imagined his own modern Oliver Twist (An Unexpected Twist) and A Christmas Carol (Bah! Humbug!) and reflects on the unspoken grief and trauma of recent years, retold in his memoir, Getting Better.

And while Natalie Haynes’s favourite Dickens adaptation is The Muppet Christmas Carol, she explores how the telling and retelling of stories and ancient myths shines a light on our contemporary world. Her latest work, Stone Blind, looks again at the tragedy of Medusa.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History by Jonathan Kennedy (m001mc70)
Episode 1

Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History by Jonathan Kennedy explores how pathogens have been the protagonists in many of the most important social, political and economic transformations in history - the demise of the great empires of Antiquity, the transformations of Christianity and Islam from small sects in Palestine and the Hijaz to world religions, the devastation wrought by European colonialism in the Americas and Africa, and the creation of the modern welfare state.

Dr Kennedy maintains that the modern world was shaped by the spread of disease, much more than by the actions of individual men and women.

He also issues a warning that pathogens are not done with us yet. “We’re living in a golden age for microbes. Population densities are increasing, people are moving more quickly around the world, the climate is changing. We’ve seen the emergence not just of Covid, but of HIV/Aids, Zika, Dengue fever, Sars and Ebola. It seems now that we won’t be able to conquer infectious diseases. Rather, by working together globally, we’re going to have to learn to deal with the new diseases that periodically arrive to threaten us.”

Dr Jonathan Kennedy is a sociologist, teaching Politics & Global Health at Queen Mary University of London.

In today’s episode, Jonathan Kennedy explores the victory of Sparta over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, reveals that the Romans weren’t as clean as we think, and discusses the growth of Christianity and Islam.

Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Reader: Gunnar Cauthery
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001mc27)
Why we lie, The Traitors star Amanda Lovett, Lies told by families, Lying to your partner

Why do we lie? And what is happening in our brain when we do it? Nuala asks psychologist Dr Sharon Leal, Senior Research Fellow and Member of the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology at the University of Portsmouth and Professor Tali Sharot, director of the Affective Brain Lab. a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, and the author of The Optimism Bias.

A 2019 study by Portsmouth University found that men were more than twice as likely to consider themselves expert liars who got away with it. But women can be just as good at lying. Nuala speaks to two women who are very good at it! Amanda Lovett, from the BAFTA award winning BBC gameshow The Traitors, won legions of fans for her steely ability to lie during the show, and Kirsty Mann is a writer and comedian - but she’s been keeping a very big secret from some of her comedy pals. She has a show about having a double life is called SKELETONS and is playing at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Some lies are bigger than other and can have a huge impact on your life. Nuala talks to writer Miranda Doyle about exposing her family's lies in her memoire Book of Untruths, and a listener we are calling Ravi, explains why she lied to her family about moving to the US for love.

Plus, you can’t read a tabloid newspaper without some form of cheating scandal filling the headlines. But what makes someone lie to the person they love? Nuala asks Natalie Lue, a boundaries and relationships coach, and author of The Joy of Saying No, and writer Rosie Green, author of How to Heal a Broken Heart and host of podcast Life’s Rosie about the big and little lies we tell in relationships.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Sophie Powling


MON 11:00 Blood on the Dance Floor (p0fhr0fv)
6. Take Back the City

The untold story of the murder of a gay police officer in Northern Ireland in 1997

Belfast 1997. But not just any part of Belfast, gay Belfast. A place you've probably never heard of before. Cigarette smoke, aftershave and expectation fill the air in the only openly gay bar in the country. Sat having a drink on a night out is Darren Bradshaw. He was just 24 years old when he was shot dead in front of hundreds of people. His brutal murder by terrorists sparked fears of a return to all out violence as the new Labour government under Tony Blair sought to bring peace to Northern Ireland - on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.

This is the untold story of his life and murder. A story of both love and eventually betrayal.

Presenter Jordan Dunbar grew up in the city, he was a comedian and drag performer on the Belfast scene and yet this murder and Darren's life was never talked about. As a child of the ceasefire, his knowledge of LGBT life in Northern Ireland all came after the Good Friday Agreement. His history was based on the Loyalist and Republican - the Orange or Green versions and the rainbow had never come up.

Following Darren's story brings to life the struggle of being gay in The Troubles, how Belfast got its first Pride parade only in 1991 and its very first gay club in 1994 -The Parliament - where Darren was tragically shot dead.

It's a community surviving as well as thriving against a backdrop of violence and discrimination. He meets the original drag queens, DJs and club pioneers determined to claim back the city centre from the terrorists and create a safe place of their own.

Determined to piece together for the first time how Darren was killed that night and why, Jordan uncovers stories of bigotry, bravery and betrayal.

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar
Series Producer: Paul Grant
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna
Commissioning Editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston


MON 11:30 The Boy in the Peking Hotel (m001mc2q)
When 8 year old Kim Gordon set off for China in 1965, it set in train a tale of passion, imagination and still unanswered questions. Kim’s parents were committed communists in the thick of Mao’s cultural revolution. Kim became a Red Guard, one of an army of children and teenagers marshalled in support of Mao and he had a ringside view of the vast rallies in Tiananmen Square. But when the political tide turned against foreigners, the family was imprisoned for two years in a tiny hotel room, Room 421.

The Gordon family had no contact with the outside world for two years and their families back in Britain had no idea where they were. With only a block of paper and a wild imagination for company Kim passed the time by writing letters that could never be sent, and thrilling plays which he’d act aloud playing all the parts himself. His story reveals much about families and loyalties; on the grip of ideology; and the ingenuity of a child shut in an empty room. A rich and strange reminiscence not just of China but of the human heart.

Charlie Brand plays young Kim in this dramatic, intimate documentary.

Producer: Monica Whitlock

Photo by Eric Gordon. 'Kim Gordon in Peking, 1966'


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001mcyd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001mc3d)
Insulation Conundrum, Suez Waste and Cost of Living Panel

Why is it so hard to persuade homeowners to insulate their properties, and is visiting a theme park a treat or a rite of passage for a child?


MON 12:57 Weather (m001mc3n)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001mc3x)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.


MON 13:45 Oliver Burkeman's Inconvenient Truth (m001mc43)
Other People

Oliver Burkeman explores the insidious way in which convenience has warped our existence. In this episode Oliver considers how convenience makes life less meaningful by focusing on our everyday transations in a world where technology is all about removing friction. With writer Kat Rosenfield, philosopher Julian Baggini and co-founder of Perspectiva organisation, Jonathan Rowson.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001mc48)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001mbmq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Saturday]


MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001mc4g)
Programme 8, 2023

(8/12)
Kirsty Lang is in the chair as Val McDermid and Alan McCredie of Scotland take on Stuart Maconie and Adele Geras of the North of England. Scotland will be going all-out to reverse the defeat they suffered at the hands of the North earlier in the series.

Their general knowledge might stand them in good stead when it comes to the origins of band names, the titles of Spaghetti westerns or rugby internationals - but Wimbledon stars of the 1950s, opera singers and 80s dance hits might prove more of a sticking point.

As always, there's a generous helping of questions taken from the many hundreds of suggestions received from Round Britain Quiz listeners.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001mc3q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 The Sky's the Limit? (m001mc4r)
Norman Foster is the world's principal architect of airports - from Beijing to Mexico City, from Hong Kong to Kuwait, his buildings are remarkable theatres of aviation.

Foster's passion for flying extends to him piloting himself around the world. But what is the future of flying and its related infrastructure amid the current climate crisis?

Jonathan Glancey considers some options. He reports on the development in Britain of hydrogen/electric engines that may soon power smaller aircraft, how airports can achieve net zero and the part that drones might play in the future of freight transport. And, interestingly, he discovers new thinking about the airport as a hub for all kinds of activity and transport - but where less, not more, flying takes place.

Presented by Jonathan Glancey
Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m001mc4x)
Series 29

The Orbital Human

Now the fanfare of billionaires space adventures has died down we're left with the question of are we witnessing a new democratisation of space not unlike the revolution that brought us the modern digital world?

Aleks Krotoski asks if the legions of amateurs and innovators working out of bedrooms and garages are about to fundamentally change our relationship with space. And will that be a continuation of the idealism of early pioneers or a repeat of the unregulated, disruptive free-for-all that the internet has largely become.

From the NASA retirees who reactivated a space probe from an abandoned MacDonalds to the kids building operational satellites in their after school clubs the face of space is about to change forever.

Producer: Peter McManus
Researcher: Anna Miles
Sound Engineer: Gav Murchie


MON 17:00 PM (m001mc53)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001mc5h)
Charities say the plans threaten patients' and the public's safety


MON 18:30 The Unbelievable Truth (m001mc5p)
Series 29

Episode 1

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.

Alan Davies, Holly Walsh, Angela Barnes and Henning Wehn are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as horses, cleaning, airports and New Zealand.

The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith.

Producer: Jon Naismith

A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001mbzc)
Adam calls Brian at Blossom Hill Cottage, ostensibly to check about today’s shearing of the Brookfield sheep at Home Farm. Brian doesn’t seem particularly interested and gives him short shrift. Later, Adam is surprised to find Brian watching the shearing. Brian knows that the real reason Adam called was because it’s his and Jennifer’s anniversary. He thanks Adam for not making a big deal of it, unlike Kate and Alice. Visiting the farm has reinvigorated Brian. He appreciates Adam holding the fort, but he’s determined to get back into the swing of things – starting with the accounts. Later, Brian discovers Stella’s purchase of the new disc drill. He’s furious. He didn’t approve this. Adam claims he didn’t either.
Helen and Pat are cleaning the dairy’s viewing window. It’s been a hit with the public, although Helen mentions one nasty piece of feedback online. A tap on the window makes Helen jump. It’s Harrison asking to speak to her. Alone together, he tells Helen that the Crown Prosecution Service have decided not to charge Rob with kidnapping Jack. Later Helen, Pat, and Tony try to make sense of the decision. Once again, the justice system seems to have failed them. Tony is especially angry and storms out. Having calmed down, he explains he’d convinced himself Rob was heading for prison. He wonders if there are other offences they could go after him for. But Helen can’t bear the idea of another court case. Unlike Tony, she doesn’t want to nail Rob. She just wants him out of her life.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001mc5z)
The 75th anniversary of the Windrush - the cultural legacy of a generation

The Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks on 22 June 1948 from Jamaica. Front Row marks the artistic and cultural contribution of a generation of people from the Caribbean, now characterised as the Windrush Generation, who arrived then, soon before or in the years following. Samira talks to the Jamaican-born actor and director Anton Phillips about his career, including starring in the cult classic Space 1999 and directing James Baldwin's The Amen Corner in a landmark production on the London stage. Andrea Levy's highly acclaimed 2004 novel Small Island tells the story of four people caught up in the Caribbean migration story and has been adapted for radio, TV and stage. The playwright Patricia Cumper, poet and writer Hannah Lowe and novelist Louise Hare discuss the impact of the book on them and their own writing. The composer Shirley J Thompson OBE talks about how her Jamaican heritage shaped her music making and about composing for the Coronation. And Kevin LeGendre explains the impact of the arrival of calypso and steel pan on the musical life of the nation.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Sarah Johnson


MON 20:00 What Are the Railways For? (m001mc65)
As the government prepares a major reorganisation of Britain's railways, Daniel Brittain asks what are they for. It's a question which has been ignored in previous reorganisations - which typically take place after a crisis or a disaster. So Daniel travels to Greater Manchester, meeting people on trains, people who want to be on trains, and those who run the railways, to understand how the rail industry has changed, and what its place in Britain's society, economy and culture might be in the future.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


MON 20:30 Analysis (m001mc6f)
We know how to stop knife crime, so why don’t we do it?

In the last five years in the UK, more than 100 children have died from knife wounds. But violence isn't inevitable and evidence shows that we need more mentoring, therapy, family support and police in the areas where violence is high. So why don't we do what works? Jon Yates from the Youth Endowment Fund looks at the schemes that have successfully reduced knife crime. He investigates why the lessons they've taught us haven’t been scaled up. And why we’re spending money on other things like knife awareness campaigns without any evidence they work.

Presenter: Jon Yates
Producer: Rob Walker
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Engineer: Richard Hannaford
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Contributors:
Karyn McCluskey, Chief Executive, Community Justice Scotland
Karen Timoney, Director, KDT Wellness
Graeme Armstrong, author of The Young Team
Laura Knight, Toolkit and Evidence Engagement Lead, Youth Endowment Fund
Gavin Stephens, Chair, National Police Chiefs’ Council
Lawrence Sherman, Chief Scientific Officer, Metropolitan Police
Jhemar Jonas, youth worker and musician
Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and author of Cut Short
Thomas Abt, Founding Director, Center for the Study and Practise of Violence Reduction at the University of Maryland; author of Bleeding Out
Sajid Javid, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, former Home Secretary
Luke Billingham, youth worker and researcher
Jahnine Davis, Director, Listen Up


MON 21:00 Living with AI (m001m6pg)
When Stuart Russell gave the 2021 Reith lectures, he said that artificial intelligence could represent “the most profound change in human history”. Since then, AI technologies have been developing faster than anyone expected. Professor Russell sits down with Anita Anand to discuss what’s going on – and how worried we should be.

Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley.


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001mc1k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001mc6m)
Anti-homosexuality laws come into force in Uganda

Also

Jeremy Paxman’s last University Challenge.

and

Mars Bars get a paper wrapper.


MON 22:45 The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (m001mc6r)
1: The Visit

Based on real events, Tan Twan Eng's new novel of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.

Penang, 1921: Lesley Hamlyn and her husband Robert are visited by Willie, an old friend of Robert's, known to the world as the great novelist Somerset Maugham.

Willie is in an unhappy marriage, suddenly penniless and now struggling to write. But before he leaves to face his demons, Lesley finds herself confessing to him her innermost secrets, concerning a Chinese revolutionary and an Englishwoman accused of murder. What she tells him, could blow her marriage apart.

Today: from Africa in 1947, Lesley looks back on the moment Willie arrived with his secretary, Gerald - a two-week visit that threatened to change all their lives.

Writer: Tan Twan Eng is the author of the Man Booker-longlisted The Gift of Rain, and The Garden of Evening Mists, which won the Man Asian Literary Prize, 2012, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Readers: Hattie Morahan + Julian Rhind-Tutt
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 23:00 Gaby's Talking Pictures (m000761t)
Series 2

Episode 1

Gaby Roslin hosts the film quiz featuring impressions by Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona. This week, team captains John Thomson and Ellie Taylor are joined by special guests Amanda Redman and Hugh Dennis.

Presenter: Gaby Roslin
Team Captains: John Thomson and Ellie Taylor
Impressionists: Alistair McGowan and Ronni Ancona

Created by Gaby Roslin
Written by Carrie Quinlan and Barney Newman

Produced by Gaby Roslin and Barney Newman
Executive Producer: Gordon Kennedy
Recorded at RADA Studios, London

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 The Spark (m001jsk0)
Rory O'Connor and preventing suicide

In the first of the latest series of The Spark, Helen Lewis meets Rory O'Connor, author of When It Is Darkest, who sets out his radical new approach to suicide prevention.

Professor Rory O'Connor leads the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory at the University of Glasgow. He has dedicated his career to the study of why, as he puts it, some people 'lose their struggle to live' - and of how suicide can be prevented. He tells Helen about some of the persistent myths he has identified, such as the notion that by raising the subject with someone, you risk planting the idea in their mind. Much better, he says, to reach out to someone who appears to be struggling than to shy away.

He explains how suicide is best understood as a behaviour, not simply as the by-product of mental illness, and unpacks his Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of how some people end up taking their own life.

And he talks candidly about how suicide has affected him personally, through the loss of two friends and colleagues - and about how coming to terms with this has informed his understanding of the human complexity of the subject.

Producer: Phil Tinline

If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

TUESDAY 30 MAY 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001mc6w)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History by Jonathan Kennedy (m001mc70)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001mc74)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001mc78)
World Service

BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001mc7d)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001mc7g)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001mc7j)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Jonathan Romain

Good morning

Tell me, do you have a motto? Personally, I don’t, but I often think I should, especially as there are so many good ones to choose from. One of the great rabbis of the 1st century was Hillel. He declared, “If I am not for myself, who is for me”? [in other words, I have to stick up for my own rights].

“But if I am only for myself, what am I”? [hmm...yes, being self-obsessed is equally wrong].

“And if not now, when”? [there comes a point when I have to stop theorising and start getting on with it].

A contemporary of his was Shammai, who summed up his teachings as, “Say little, do much, and welcome everyone cheerfully”. I think that is superb, it rolls off the tongue easily and covers a wide range of situations.

Another rabbi, Tarphon said something that has inspired those campaigning for a particular cause they believe in passionately, but often feel overwhelmed by the task ahead. He said, “It is not your duty to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it”.

That’s very encouraging; the goal might take several years to reach, and involve many others, but we can each contribute to it and make it happen eventually.

Still, I like best what Mendel of Kotzk said in the last century, “Take care of your own soul and another person’s body.... but not of your own body and another person’s soul”.

You might think of something better, but what’s good about having a motto is that we are not pious beings who live in a state of perpetual holiness, but we are rooted in the muddy world, and we are often overwhelmed with work or family life.

So it’s good to have a pithy formula to fall back on, and to remind ourselves about what’s important. So I ask God’s help that, whatever our motto is, be it an official one or just a favourite saying, it helps us tackle the various challenges we face.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001mc7l)
30/05/23 Shaun the Sheep to promote Countryside Code, indoor salmon farm, animal products in medicine

Aardman Animation's world famous animated sheep is being adopted by Natural England to teach children how to behave in the countryside, in a new campaign which aims to teach how to 'respect, protect and enjoy' it.

The UK's first indoor salmon farm could be built in Cleethorpes. The company behind it says it's a safe and efficient way to produce fish and avoids the potential problems of sea lice, pollution and escapes faced by farms at sea or in lochs. Opponents say it's factory farming.

All week we're looking at growing the ingredients for medicines. Today we hear about animal products in pharmaceuticals.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyh9)
Shag

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Shag. Perhaps the least vocal of all British birds they hiss and belch to warn off interlopers getting too close to their nest. They are seabirds and their name comes from the shaggy crest on the top of their head.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001mbw1)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001mbw3)
Gillian Reid on making chemistry count

How often do you think about chemistry?

The chances are, not often - but it is vital to every part of our lives, from the air we breathe, to the processes that take place inside our bodies and the materials we use.

Gillian Reid is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Southampton and she is on a mission to make sure we all know what chemistry can do for us - and how it is tackling some of society’s biggest challenges.

Hers is a story of firsts - the first in her immediate family to go to university and the first female member of staff in the chemistry department at the University of Southampton, where she later became the first female Professor and Head of Department. She is also the reigning President of the Royal Society of Chemistry - one of very few women to have taken on that mantle in its 182-year history.

She tells Jim Al-Khalili about life as a female professor in a male-dominated space - and what needs to change to unlock chemistry for everyone. He also hears how Gillian is discovering new compounds that could revolutionise tech and medicine.

We’ll also hear why she thinks research isn’t actually that hard and how chemistry can be a little bit like Lego… Do join us.

Produced by Gerry Holt


TUE 09:30 One to One (m001mbw6)
Crying: Keith Brymer-Jones and Susie Orbach

Presenter of The Great Pottery Throwdown Keith Brymer-Jones finds that watching people create pottery often moves him to tears. In this episode he talks to psychotherapist Susie Orbach about why we cry and how it can be a form of communication.

Produced by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio


TUE 09:45 Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History by Jonathan Kennedy (m001mc54)
Episode 2

Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History by Jonathan Kennedy explores how pathogens have been the protagonists in many of the most important social, political and economic transformations in history - the demise of the great empires of Antiquity, the transformations of Christianity and Islam from small sects in Palestine and the Hijaz to world religions, the devastation wrought by European colonialism in the Americas and Africa, and the creation of the modern welfare state.

Dr Kennedy maintains that the modern world was shaped by the spread of disease, much more than by the actions of individual men and women.

He also issues a warning that pathogens are not done with us yet. “We’re living in a golden age for microbes. Population densities are increasing, people are moving more quickly around the world, the climate is changing. We’ve seen the emergence not just of Covid, but of HIV/Aids, Zika, Dengue fever, Sars and Ebola. It seems now that we won’t be able to conquer infectious diseases. Rather, by working together globally, we’re going to have to learn to deal with the new diseases that periodically arrive to threaten us.”

Dr Jonathan Kennedy is a sociologist, teaching Politics & Global Health at Queen Mary University of London.

In today’s episode, the plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis has been dormant for 500 years, but becomes active again in the 14th Century, bringing the Black Death to Europe, killing millions. Dr Kennedy explains the measures taken by various European countries to prevent the spread of infection, and how the devastation caused, helped give rise to the Reformation.

Abridger: Libby Spurrier
Reader: Gunnar Cauthery
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001mbwj)
Childcare debt, Big boobs, Succession

As figures show more than a third of parents are using debt to pay for childcare, Nuala will be meeting two women who’ve gone deep into the red to pay nursery fees in order to maintain a career and discussing whether the financial risk has been worth it.

The government has announced that it is set to close what it calls an ‘unacceptable’ loophole which allows e-cigarettes to be given to teenagers - a ban on nicotine free products to under 18s is also being considered. Research by NHS Digital shows that one in five 15-year-old girls use electronic cigarettes, which is 7% higher than boys of the same age. Nuala is joined by Linda Bauld, Professor of Public Health at Edinburgh University as well as Leanne McGuire, the mother of a teenager who was addicted to vaping at 15 and Rob Pavey, the Headteacher at a secondary school in Oxford to discuss.

Writer and Podcaster Jackie Adedeji speaks to Nuala about her new Channel 4 documentary UNTOLD: My Big Boobs, a look into the impacts of having big boobs and the rise in breast reduction surgery. Sarah Ditum also joins to discuss the cultural trends of breasts through the years.

Succession has ended after four dramatic seasons. It has been called ‘the greatest TV show ever made.’ The satirical dark comedy-drama about power, politics and a family dynasty followed the highly dysfunctional Roy family. The show might be a fantastic snapshot into the lives of the top 1% but it has also produced some incredible female characters. Nuala hears more about the women in Succession from comedian Sara Barron, who co-hosts Firecrotch and Normcore: a Succession Podcast, and Journalist Laura Martin.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Emma Pearce


TUE 11:00 Fever: The Hunt for Covid's Origin (m001mdfv)
1. Batshit

As a deadly new virus starts spreading in Wuhan, China, so do rumours about a lab there.

In the remote, jungle-covered hills of China’s far-southwestern Yunnan Province, teams of scientists have spent years intensively researching one animal: bats. The scientists are virus hunters, trying to better understand and mitigate the threat of new viruses jumping from bats to other animals and humans, potentially setting off a pandemic. Their samples of bat droppings are brought back to labs, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology. So when a new coronavirus begins killing people in that same city, questions are raised about whether the people trying to stop a pandemic could’ve accidentally triggered one.

Archive: CBS; The White House; NPR; CGTN; NBC.

Presenter: John Sudworth
Series producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound design and mix: James Beard
Commissioning editor: Dan Clarke
Science advice: Julian Siddle and Victoria Gill
Extra production: Eva Artesona and Kathy Long
Research support: Zisheng Xu and BBC Monitoring
Production coordinators: Siobhan Reed, Helena Warwick-Smith, Sophie Hill, and Debbie Richford
Theme and original music: Pete Cunningham, with trumpet by Joss Murray
Radio 4 Editor of Editorial Standards: Roger Mahony
Head of BBC News - Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon


TUE 11:30 Sound Towns (m001mbwq)
Bristol: Wild Bunch

Great music is born from a collision of societal and political change. This series explores the origin stories of some of the UK's most vital musical movements.

In this episode, we visit Bristol. The 'Bristol Sound' has been described as "possessing a darkness that is uplifting, a joyful melancholy", but it couldn't have existed without the 'Wild Bunch' parties of the 80s, These were the spark that grew to create Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky. The sound of Bristol can't be separated from the story of immigration. Illegal sound system parties, directly inspired by their Jamaican counterparts, were commonplace.

Bristol's goldilocks size, coupled with its collision of cultures, incubated the 'Wild Bunch', the name for a loose gathering of musicians, DJs and graffiti artists. The Wild Bunch parties were a direct descendent of the earlier sound system events, and threw together hip hop, reggae, funk and R&B with ambient electronic sounds. The Wild Bunch eventually became the musical collective that defined trip-hop. Three Wild Bunch members - Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles - formed Massive Attack, alongside Tricky.

Producer: Victoria McArthur
Narrator: Vanessa Kisuule
Researcher: Juliet Conway
Sound mix: Lee McPhail


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001mcbj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001mbxd)
Call You and Yours: What have you done to make your home more energy efficient?

On today's Call You and Yours, we're asking - what have you done to make your home more energy efficient?
In just 18 months time, new building regulations are coming in. From 2025, all buildings will have to produce 75- 80% less carbon than they do now. Some of the changes will affect existing homes, too. This means all new homes will need to be net zero ready and not require retrofitting.
The Government is also planning to phase out the installation of fossil fuel boilers in off-gas properties from 2025 and in on-gas areas from 2030.
What's your experience of trying to make your home more energy efficient? How difficult is it? If you can't afford to live in an energy efficient home, do you worry you'll be left behind, paying huge bills while others might be paying very little?
Whether you own your home, you're renting or a landlord, we'd like to hear from you. Or, do you work in the construction industry and are already building net zero properties.
Whatever your experience, please get in touch.
You can call us from 11 am on Tuesday May 30th on 03700 100 444. You can also email youandyours@bbc.co.uk
Don't forget to include a phone number so we can call you back.

Presenter: Shari Vahl
Producer: Tara Holmes


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001mbxv)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001mbyd)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Oliver Burkeman's Inconvenient Truth (m001mbys)
The Nomadic Life

Oliver Burkeman considers the inconvenience of travel and the convenience of being mentally elsewhere. By never fully inhabiting a place we risk loneliness and disconnection. With digital nomad Mark Manson and philosopher Julian Baggini.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001mbzc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Undercover Mumbai (m00088k8)
Episode 1

The body of a young woman, Nyla Ansari, is found in a bathtub in her parents' home, a bottle of pills beside her. It looks like a suicide, until the discovery of the video she made a year before claiming her father, a wealthy Indian businessman, was going to kill her.

Police inspector Alia Khan goes undercover, moving into the flat next door with her male colleague Junaid Qureshi. Posing as a newly married couple, their mission is to befriend Nyla's family, their servants and friends, and discover the truth.

Third series of the crime drama set and recorded in India. Written by Ayeesha Menon and directed by John Scott Dryden.

Cast:
Alia..............Prerna Chawla 
Junaid..............Tavish Bhattacharya
Ratna..............Shivani Tanksale
Shahnaz..............Shernaz Patel
Parvez..............Rajit Kapur
Jaz..............Sukant Goel
Roopkala..............Lovleen Mishra
Popo..............Rohit Malkani
Bhupinder..............Aseem Hattangady
Patel..............Jaimini Pathak
Roopkala's son..............Ajitesh Gupta
Mrs. Gomes..............Radhika Mital
Dr. Rao..............Sohrab Ardeshir
Dr. Rameshwari..............Anahita Uberoi
Sam, Insp. Kaur and Ensemble..............Vivek Madan
Pander, Bartender and Ensemble..............Nadir Khan
Nyla, Adele and Ensemble..............Abir Abrar
Poona and Ensemble..............Kamakshi Rai
Boy..............Dhruv Hemdev

Writer: Ayeesha Menon
Producer: Nadir Khan
Production Manager: Toral Shah
Production Assistant: Vivek Madan
Editing Assistant: Varrunn Bangera
Directed, recorded and edited by John Scott Dryden

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001mbkq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


TUE 15:30 Bad Blood: The Story of Eugenics (m001fd36)
You've Got Good Genes

In this 6-part series, we follow the story of eugenics from its origins in the middle-class salons of Victorian Britain, through the Fitter Family competitions and sterilisation laws of Gilded Age USA, to the full genocidal horrors of Nazi Germany.

Episode 1: You’ve Got Good Genes

Eugenics is born in Victorian Britain, christened by the eccentric gentleman-scientist Sir Francis Galton. It’s a movement to breed better humans, fusing new biological ideas with the politics of empire, and the inflexible snobbery of the middle-classes.

The movement swiftly gains momentum - taken up by scientists, social reformers, and even novelists as a moral and political quest to address urgent social problems. By encouraging the right people to have babies, eugenicists believed we could breed ourselves to a brighter future; a future free from disease, disability, crime, even poverty. What, its proponents wondered, could be more noble?

The story culminates in the First International Eugenics Congress of 1912, where a delegation of eminent public figures from around the world gather in South Kensington to advocate and develop the science – and ideology – of better breeding. Among them Winston Churchill, Arthur Balfour, the Dean of St Pauls, Charles Darwin's son, American professors and the ambassadors from Norway, Greece, and France: a global crusade in motion.

But amidst the sweeping utopian rhetoric, the darker implications of eugenic ideas emerge: what of those deemed 'unfit'? What should happen to them?

Contributors: Professor Joe Cain, Daniel Maier, Professor Philippa Levine, Professor Angelique Richardson

Featuring the voices of David Hounslow, Joanna Monro and Hughie O'Donnell

Music and Sound Design by Jon Nicholls
Presented by Adam Rutherford
Produced by IIan Goodman

Clips: Trump addresses a rally in Bemidji, Minnesota in 2020, C-Span / Trump on his German blood, Kings of Kallstadt 2014, directed by Simone Wendel, produced by Michael Bogar, Mario Conte, Inka Dewitz, Thomas Hofmann / Julian Huxley - Heredity in Man, Eugenics Society, 1937


TUE 16:00 Law in Action (m001mbzs)
Climate Change Challenging the Law

The law is having to deal with new challenges due to climate change. Is it a human right to be protected from global warming? Do the 46 member states of the Council of Europe have to reduce carbon emissions faster to protect their citizens' right to life? The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has been asked to rule on these questions. We hear about the case of the Swiss 'Klimaseniorinnen', elderly women arguing that climate change-induced heatwaves threaten their lives.

The little-known Energy Charter Treaty enables companies to sue governments for compensation for the loss of predicted profits, if signatory states reduce the value of contracts such as by banning new fossil fuel extraction projects. Could this deter countries from passing the carbon-reduction measures necessary to combat climate change? Or is the ECT a tool worth keeping, as it also protects renewable energy contracts that governments promised subsidies for?

What are the ethical choices for climate-conscious lawyers when it comes to either representing fossil fuel companies, or prosecuting climate change protesters? Could, or even should, lawyers refuse to act for certain clients, or to prosecute certain defendants? What's more important: fighting global warming or ensuring access to justice for all and upholding the rule of the law as it stands? We discuss the dilemmas, and some new guidance for lawyers.

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Simon Watts

Photo of Swiss 'Klimaseniorinnen' activists at Strasbourg on 29.3.2023: © Greenpeace / Shervine Nafissi


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001mc0c)
Tony Benn

"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew Parris

Tony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001, packed so much into a long career. He renounced the peerage inherited from his father, served in the Labour governments of both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, led the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 and became pretty much the country’s pre-eminent rock star politician in older age. Comedian Ellie Gibson says she was a Tony Benn groupie and saw him speak many times. A brilliant orator and prolific diarist, he was by the 1980s distrusted by many in his own party, and a bogey figure in the right wing press. Contributors include ex Labour MP, Chris Mullin, and his biographer, Jad Adams; plus rare early archive of Tony Benn himself talking about his constitutional fight to give up his inherited peerage.

Ellie Gibson is one half of the Scummy Mummies podcast duo.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


TUE 17:00 PM (m001mc0v)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001mc1x)
President Putin has promised improved air defences around the Russian capital in response


TUE 18:30 Olga Koch: OK Computer (m001mc28)
Series 2

2. Intelligence

Comedian and computer scientist Olga Koch returns for a second series of her comedy and STEM stand up show, joined by her trusty digital assistant ALGO (voiced by Tia Kofi). This episode, the duo put their heads together to understand intelligence.

Written by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin

Featuring Tia Kofi

Additional Material From Rajiv Karia, Cody Dahler and Kate Dehnert

Production Co-ordinator Katie Baum

Produced by Benjamin Sutton

A BBC Studios Production


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001mc2k)
Adam talks to Ian about Stella’s decision to buy the new drill. Brian is still furious that she didn’t get his say so to go ahead. Ian remarks that she did speak to Adam, who is shocked to realise that in the wake of Jennifer’s death, Stella may have taken his instruction to use her initiative as permission to spend £150,000. Since Adam’s keen to return to Home Farm at some point, Ian discourages him from admitting he may have inadvertently okayed the purchase. No point volunteering for Brian’s bad books. Stella can defend herself.
Having bumped into Lee at Bridge Farm, Susan mentions she knows Jazzer’s stag party visited Chuck’s Chips burger van after their meal in Borchester. Meanwhile, a food inspector arrives unexpectedly to tell Helen they’ve received a complaint. She can’t say from whom, but she needs to inspect the ice cream-making facilities. Susan shows her around and the dairy gets the all-clear. Helen isn’t relieved though. She tells Pat she’s worried the complaint came from Rob, along with the nasty online review they received the other day. Pat urges Helen not to let Rob inside her head and offers to have the boys for a sleepover so Helen and Lee can spend the evening together. Later, over a Mexican takeaway, Lee offers to forego the trip to San Francisco this year. They should use the money for Jack’s access case instead. A touched Helen insists he must visit his daughters. She doesn’t need his money. The fact he makes her so happy is enough.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001mc2y)
Chita Rivera, a new funding model for the arts discussed, Priscilla Morris

Broadway legend Chita Rivera, who made her name playing Anita in the original stage production of West Side Story, talks to Samira Ahmed about the highlights of her seven decade career, ahead of the publication of her memoir.

Arts consultant Amanda Parker, formerly editor of Arts Professional magazine and now of the Forward Institute, and theatre director Tom Morris, who until recently ran Bristol Old Vic, discuss new approaches to funding the arts.

Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist: Priscilla Morris on her nominated debut novel Black Butterflies

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Julian May


TUE 20:00 Today (m001mc39)
The Today Debate: Is 'Greedflation' making food more expensive?

The Today Debate is about taking a subject and pulling it apart with more time than we could ever have during the programme in the morning.

Mishal Husain is joined by politicians, campaigners, alongside representatives for supermarkets and and food manufacturers in front of an audience in the BBC's Radio Theatre to ask whether greed is part of the reason food prices remain so high.

On the panel were Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales; Kathleen Kerridge, a food poverty campaigner and Chair of the Lived Experience Panel at The Food Foundation; Karen Betts, Chief Executive of the Food and Drink Federation; Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North since 1997 and a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee and Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001mc3m)
Holidays

It's the time of year to perhaps start thinking about a holiday, and when you have a visual impairment there are often lots of things to consider. How you'll get there, whether the accommodation will be accessible and the kinds of activities that you'll do. So, we thought we'd look at some trips that could be suitable; including Sense Adventures, who offer walking holidays in the Malvern Hills and elsewhere, The Visually Impaired Sailing Association, who teach you how to sail a yacht and Christine Thomas tells us about why her static caravan in Cornwall is perfect for her independence.

A few weeks ago, we spoke about a consultation that the Civil Aviation Authority have launched, to gather people's experiences of accessibility when dealing with airlines. They have now added a phone line, as well as online and email submission options. The number to call is: 0330 138 5015. You can also email: consumerenforcement@caa.co.uk. For more information, visit: https://consultations.caa.co.uk/corporate-communications/performance-framework-for-airline-accessibility/

Sense Adventures: https://www.senseadventures.co.uk/
The Visually Impaired Sailing Association: https://visa-gb.org.uk/

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


TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (m001mc3w)
Stories of Loss and Hope

This week we have two more finalists in the All in the Mind Awards.

When Hollie met the love of her life Pete she felt she belonged for the first time. But then her new husband's cancer returned and this time it was terminal. Soon after he passed away, her dad and her cat died too. Having experienced so much loss, she attempted to take her own life. Then she found the charity the New Normal - which Ben formed with Jack when both their fathers died. The safe space of the online meetings helped her to keep going - and now the charity has members across the world. So what makes them so special?

When Aura took up her job working in a busy specialist GP practice for homeless people she had already experienced loss after her brother died because of addiction. When her alcoholic father died she got the emotional support she needed from her boss Dr Paul O'Reilly - who also helped her to grow in confidence in her role as an independent nurse prescriber.

Professor Catherine Loveday from the University of Westminster uncovers new research about how a lack of gender equality can change structures in the brain and how warmth and competence in a therapist could help convince sceptical clients that talking therapy might make a difference.


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001mbw3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001mc42)
AI could lead to extinction, experts warn

Today, three hundred and fifty leading AI experts agreed with him - warning that it poses an existential threat to humanity on a par with pandemics and nuclear war. We'll ask one of them what lies behind the apocalyptic language.

Also on the programme:

Despite the protests, a controversial talk by the gender critical academic Kathleen Stock went ahead tonight at the Oxford Union. We speak to two Oxford students on different sides of the free speech debate.

The rock band - Royal Blood - have sparked a backlash after insulting the crowd at a festival. So it that ever a good idea?


TUE 22:45 The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng (m001mc49)
2: Lovers

Based on real events, Tan Twan Eng's new novel of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire.

Penang, 1921: Lesley Hamlyn and her husband Robert are visited by Willie, an old friend of Robert's, known to the world as the great novelist Somerset Maugham.

Willie is in an unhappy marriage, suddenly penniless and now struggling to write. But before he leaves to face his demons, Lesley finds herself confessing to him her innermost secrets, concerning a Chinese revolutionary and an Englishwoman accused of murder. What she tells him, could blow her marriage apart.

Today: Lesley is hit by the sudden realisation that her two new house guests are lovers....

Writer: Tan Twan Eng
Readers: Hattie Morahan + Julian Rhind-Tutt
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 23:00 Witch (m001mc4l)
1. The Spark in the Fire

The witch has held a place firmly in our imagination for centuries – from whispered warnings in folklore to pop-culture driven heights. But what does it mean to be a witch now?

Presenter India Rakusen, creator of the podcast 28ish Days Later, is on a journey to find out.

We find out what it means to call yourself a witch today. India joins a Beltane ritual in Nottingham, where two sisters tell us what it means to them and when they first knew they were witches. They talk about the infamous "teen-witch" phase and explore why that sense of magic we have as children so often fades away. And how we might start to get it back.

Scored with original music by The Big Moon.

Presenter: India Rakusen
Executive Producer: Alex Hollands
Producer: Lucy Dearlove
Producer: Elle Scott
AP: Tatum Swithenbank
Production Manager: Kerry Luter
Sound Design: Olga Reed

A Storyglass production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:30 The Spark (m001k0ky)
Stuart Ritchie and open science

Helen Lewis meets science writer Stuart Ritchie to discuss how science has lost its way, and what can be done about it.

Ritchie explains how dubious experiments he spotted as a young academic spurred him to write his book Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science. He tells Helen why he has chosen to leave academia to become a science journalist. And he sets out why he thinks a radically more transparent approach, 'open science', could address the problems he has identified.

Producer: Phil Tinline