SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2017

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b08fdbqd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b08drjdq)
Deaths of the Poets, Episode 5

What is the cost of poetry? Must poets be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive? Or is this just a myth? In our new Book of the Week, Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley - both award winning poets themselves - explore that very question through a series of journeys across Britain, America and Europe.

From Chatterton's Pre-Raphaelite demise to Dylan Thomas's eighteen straight whiskies and Sylvia Plath's desperate suicide in the gas oven of her Primrose Hill kitchen or John Berryman's leap from a bridge onto the frozen Mississippi, the deaths of poets have often cast a backward shadow on their work.

The post-Romantic myth of the dissolute drunken poet - exemplified by Thomas and made iconic by his death in New York - has fatally skewed the image of poets in our culture. Novelists can be stable, savvy, politically adept and in control, but poets should be melancholic, doomed and self-destructive. Is this just a myth, or is there some essential truth behind it: that great poems only come when a poet's life is pushed right to an emotional knife-edge of acceptability, safety, security?

Today the poets explore the life - and death - of eccentric poet W H Auden.

Written and read by the authors
Abridged for radio by Lauris Morgan Griffiths
Produced by Simon Richardson.

SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08fdbqk)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08fdbqm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08fdbqp)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b08fdbqr)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08fj62r)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with Canon Sarah Rowland Jones, Priest in charge of the City Parish of St John the Baptist in Cardiff.

SAT 05:45 iPM (b08fj62t)
The daughter

How class A drugs took over a young woman's life.

iPM is the news programme that starts with its listeners. Email ipm@bbc.co.uk. Twitter: @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair. Produced by Emma Close.

SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b08fdbqv)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SAT 06:04 Weather (b08fdbqx)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 06:07 Ramblings (b08fh5dj)
Series 35, Derrigimlagh, Ireland

Clare Balding explores a new pathway just outside Clifden in County Galway. This walking route, across the Derrigimlagh Bog, is a mosaic of tiny lakes and peat rich flora and fauna. Its a fairly lonely spot, as walking guide, Paul Phelan explains but its the place where two truly remarkable events of the twentieth century took place. In October 1907 the first commercial transatlantic message was transmitted from Marconi's wireless telegraphy station on the bog, to Glace Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. In 1919, aviators, Alcock and Brown crash landed there at the end of the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic. Historian, Mike Cronin joins Clare and Paul to explain the significance of both events and they discuss why this wild and dramatic landscape means so much to them.
Producer: Lucy Lunt.

SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b08fdbr0)
Animal welfare, Bristol veterinary school, Inside an abattoir, Kosher and halal rules for animal slaughter

Experts from the University of Bristol Veterinary School explain how they are researching into methods aimed at improving animal welfare on the farm. An examination of the ethics involved in kosher and halal slaughter of animals. And a report from inside Scotland's largest slaughterhouse

Presented by Charlotte Smith

Produced by Alun Beach.

SAT 06:57 Weather (b08fdbr2)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 07:00 Today (b08g2mg9)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b08fdbr4)
Rory Bremner

The impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner, joins Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles. With Inheritance Tracks from Gurinder Chadha.

SAT 10:30 And The Academy Award Goes To ... (b08g2mgc)
Series 7, 12 Years a Slave

Why does it take an Englishman to tackle one of the most horrific chapters in the history of the United States? Described as stark, visceral and unrelenting, "12 Years A Slave" has been hailed as "brilliant - and quite possibly essential - cinema". and it became the first film with a black director (and producer) to win the Best Picture Oscar

Paul Gambaccini talks to key personnel behind the flim and hears from its stars (both behind and in front of the camera) to find out how the film was made, including editor Joe Walker, production designers Adam Stockhausen, stars Kelsey Scott and Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Steve McQueen. And with the help of critics David Thompson, Toby Miller and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh explores what it's success at the 2014 Oscars tells us about the concerns of society an d of the Academy which in the two years that followed failed to nominate a black person for its top awards.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

SAT 11:00 Week in Westminster (b08g2mgh)
George Parker of the Financial Times looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The Editor is Marie Jessel.

SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b08fdbr7)
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.

SAT 12:00 News Summary (b08fdbr9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 12:04 Money Box (b08g2mgk)
Sanction busting

More information on the stories featured in this week's edition of Money Box can be found in the Related Links section below.

David Clapson was 59 when he died alone in his flat with no food, no electricity, and the insulin he relied on warming in his fridge above its safe maximum of 8C. A week earlier the £71.70 a week jobseekers allowance he relied on had been stopped. He had missed a meeting at the JobCentre. His death was recorded as due to natural causes. His sister Gill Thomson says she is fighting for an inquest. Paul Lewis talks to Frank Field MP who has this week demanded a yellow card system to give claimants time to appeal before their money is stopped.

What do a Parent Teachers Association, a branch of the Royal British Legion, and a group of Methodist churches have in common? HSBC has closed their bank accounts after sending them lengthy forms about their activities and personnel. Oh, and they have not been involved in money laundering or terrorism. Has HSBC gone over the top after being fined £1.2bn in 2012 for being the Mexican drug cartels' local bank?

It's not the children in daycare who will be spending their days jumping through hoops but their parents if they want to get the new 30 hours free daycare promised by the Government from September. Both need to work (just one if there is only one). They must earn at least £120 a week each but no more than £100,000 a year. They need to find care for the 14 weeks that schools are closed. Pay for extras like drinks, nappies, and snacks. And be prepared for higher fees for their 1 and 2 year-olds to help the nurseries break even.

The new £1 coin will be launched on 28 March. The old one has lasted 34 years and you can still find original 1983 examples in your change. Or can you? No coin has been forged more and some 45 million of the coins in circulation are in fact fake. So the new one has numerous security features to defeat the coiners. It is the first twelve sided coin since the old threepenny bit - last seen in 1971. And in many ways very similar. Not least in value. In terms of prices the old 3d was worth about 75p today. But someone paid a brass 3d in their wage packet in 1937 when it was introduced would expect two of the new £1 coins for the same work today.

SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (b08fhy6m)
Series 92, Episode 8

Susan Calman, Charlie Higson, Sarah Kendall and Lucy Porter join Miles' for this the last show in the current series.

A rollercoaster week of by-elections and pie selections. Strap in everyone.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

SAT 12:57 Weather (b08fdbrc)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 13:00 News (b08fdbrf)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b08fhy6p)
Arron Banks, Ayesha Hazarika, Lord Lamont, John McDonnell MP

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Edwinstree Middle School in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, with the businessman and political donor Arron Banks, ex Labour adviser turned stand-up comic Ayesha Hazarika, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord Lamont and the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell MP.

SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b08fdbrk)
Any Answers after the Saturday broadcast of Any Questions? Presented by Amol Rajan
Lines open at 1230 - Call 03700 100 444. Email any.answers@bbc.co.uk. Tweet,#BBCAQ. Follow us @bbcanyquestions.

Editor Eleanor Garland.

SAT 14:30 Drama (b08g2r99)
Herald of Disaster

6th March, 1987. Cross-channel ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left Zeebrugge for Dover with over 500 passengers and crew aboard. Within minutes, it capsized. Over 190 people lost their lives. Mixing evidence given at the subsequent inquest with the story of a fictional family of day trippers, Stephen Phelps' documentary drama asks whether this was a freak accident or a disaster waiting to happen.

Performed by Ewan Bailey, John Bowler, Ben Crowe, John Dougall, Tom Forrister, Georgie Glen, Sanchia McCormack, Nicholas Murchie, Chetna Pandya, Sarah Ridgeway, Finlay Robertson, Michael Shelford, David Sterne, David Sturzaker, Joseph Tremain, George Watkins and Maeve Bluebell Wells

Directed by Toby Swift.

SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b08fdbrm)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Why the colour pink is being redefined

In the week Cressida Dick was named the first woman Metropolitan Police Commissioner, we look at women who have worked in the force at different levels. We delve into our archives and hear from Carol Price who was a village bobby in 1985 and catch up with her today for her memories of that time.

As part of our carer's series we hear from Sue, who for the last 6 years has been caring for her 88 year old mother who suffers from dementia.

The presenter and broadcaster Fearne Cotton opens up about her episodes of depression and talks about her book Happy, a practical guide to finding happiness.

We get a taste of Late Night Woman's Hour's discussion on instinct with neuroscientist Sophie Scott, former detective Mo Dowdy, anthropologist Kit Davies and businesswoman Hilary Devey.

We discuss the benefits of making things with your hands to your mental health with Dr Jayne Wallace a researcher in craft futures and the glass artist Pinkie Maclure.

What is it like to share the care of an elderly parent with your siblings? We hear from Helen who looked after her mother for four years and from Elayne who shares the care of her mother with her sister for six weeks at a time.

The latest Sport England 'This Girl Can' campaign features 67 year old Catherine. She tells us why she got involved in British Military Fitness.

The colour pink has been creeping back into fashion over the years. Why will be seeing more of the pale pink dubbed millennial pink? Jane Monnington Boddy the Colour Director at the global fashion trend forecaster WGSN and Kassia St Clair the author of The secret Lives of Colour discuss.

Presented by Nikki Bedi
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor:Jane Thurlow.

SAT 17:00 PM (b08fdbrp)
Saturday PM

Full coverage of the day's news.

SAT 17:30 The Bottom Line (b08fh5s7)
The UK Space Industry

The UK space industry is growing faster than the wider economy. Its application is broad - from manufacturing satellites, earth observation projects, to advanced research and design for space exploration. The government aims to capitalise on all this activity and wants the UK to have its own space port for commercial flights and satellite missions. The programme will hear from the country's top small satellite manufacturer and from a firm developing a revolutionary hypersonic propulsion engine. Evan Davis's guests are:

Catherine Mealing-Jones, UK Space Agency
Mark Thomas, Reaction Engines
Patrick Wood, Surrey Satellite Technology

Producer: Lesley McAlpine.

SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08fdbrr)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 17:57 Weather (b08fdbrt)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08fdbrx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b08fdbrz)
Goldie, Sharon Horgan, Rob Delaney, John Tiffany, Dr Miriam Stoppard, Johnny Flynn, Nerija, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Emma Freud are joined by Goldie, Sharon Horgan, Rob Delaney, John Tiffany and Dr Miriam Stoppard for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Johnny Flynn and Nerija.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

SAT 19:00 Profile (b08g2r9c)
Naomie Harris

Series of profiles of people who are currently making headlines.

SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b08fdbs1)
Twelfth Night, It's Only the End of the World, America after the Fall at RA, Big Little Lies, Ross Raisin

Tamsin Greig has been gender-blind cast as Malvolia in The National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night. Does it work or is it an interesting novelty
Quebecois film director Xavier Dolan's latest film It's Only The End Of The World was booed when it won The Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Festival and some reviewers have described it as "disappointing" "excruciating" and "deeply unsatisfying". What will our panel make of it?
America After The Fall is an exhibition at London's Royal Academy which looks at painting in the USA in the 1930s, responding to social change and economic anxiety. HBO's Big Little Lies is a new TV series with an all star cast and a grubby tale of the dirt that lies beneath modern glamour
Ross Raisin's new novel A Natural is about a young footballer whose dreams of reaching the upper leagues are rapidly fading and whose identity is conflicted.
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Russell Kane, Abigail Morris and Susan Jeffreys. The producer is Oliver Jones.

SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b08g2r9f)
1917: Eyewitness in Petrograd

Emily Dicks visits St Petersburg to trace her grandfather's teenage memories of the excitement and fear of the 1917 Revolutions - as preserved on a never-previously-revealed tape.

This extraordinary recording - kept in family archives - describes the lives of ordinary people caught up in the political turmoil between the two Russian Revolutions of 1917.

Henry Dicks was the son of an Estonian-based Englishman, sent to school in Petrograd during the First World War. He recorded his memories in an interview with his son in 1967. The tape covers the period immediately after Rasputin's death and the fall of the Tsar, all the way through to the Bolshevik attack on the Provisional Government's Winter Palace in October 1917, which Henry saw first-hand.

Henry remembers the joy after the Tsar's fall when "the whole population seemed to be in the streets", servants became "much cheekier" and his schoolmasters shed their uniforms.

But then the Bolsheviks strengthened their power and Henry describes the unnerving feeling in metropolitan Petrograd that they were "getting away with it".

One October morning when, as he remembers, "the air was thick with foreboding", Henry watched the attack of the Winter Palace. Once the Bolsheviks had seized power, Henry describes "a kind of terror beginning" and he eventually fled via Finland, where he was marooned in a hotel amid a civil war...

With: Helen Rappaport, Stephen Lovell

Producer: Phil Tinline.

SAT 21:00 Drama (b08fdkd1)
Ann Veronica, Episode 1

Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells 1/2
Dramatised by Ellen Dryden
Spirited and fiercely intelligent, Ann Veronica is a 21st Century woman in an Edwardian Hobble skirt. She runs away from her stiflingly conventional home and her domineering father to make a fresh start in London. A lively and surprising story; not least because it's created by H.G. Wells.

Produced and directed by Pauline Harris

Further information
N.B. EPISODE 2 is dramatized by Lavinia Murray. The storytelling is witty and ironic and Ann Veronica caused a scandal in its time because of the feminist sensibilities of the heroine and also because of the affair Wells was having with Amber Reeves, the woman who inspired the novel's eponymous character. This is a relatively unknown and unexpected novel by Wells. The Spectator described Ann Veronica as a "poisonous book..." Although unlikely to offend modern listeners, this novel addresses many feminist versus femininity issues that are still relevant today.

Amy Hoggart who stars as Ann Veronica is a stand-up comedian and actress, best known for starring in Almost Royal, a faux-reality show on BBC America. She portrays a low-ranking heir to the British throne, Poppy Carlton. Other credits include Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (2016) and Crackanory (2013).

She is the daughter of renowned journalist Simon Hoggart, niece of Times television critic Paul Hoggart, and granddaughter of sociologist Richard Hoggart. Amy attended Cambridge University,and was a member of the Footlights, whilst reading English.

The novel deals with the early stages of what is arguably the most important social development of the 20th C. the education and financial and sexual liberation of women. And the fact is that, nearly a hundred years later, the problem of women who want to marry, have children and pursue a liberating career, is still not easy to solve. Wells makes a good case for freer sexual relationships, but Amber Reeves - and later Rebecca West - were the ones whose lives were changed - by bearing and bringing up a child by him.

Geoffrey Whitehead plays Ann's father, Mr. Stanley - most recent credits include Geoffrey in Not Going Out as Lee Mack's disapproving father-in-law, and Mr. Newbold in Still Open All Hours. His career spans decades and he has appeared in a huge range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at the Shakespeare Globe, St. Martin's Theatre and Bristol Old Vic.

SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b08fdbs5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b08fgw6p)
The Morality of Fake News

You can't open a newspaper or hear a press conference at the moment without having to dodge the allegations of "fake news" being thrown around the place. Journalism used to be regarded, at least by journalists, as the "Fourth Estate" - the foundation of a civilised society and an essential part of the democratic process. A properly working democracy, it's argued, cannot function if its citizens don't have reasonably accurate, reasonably fair and reasonably comprehensive information about the world in which they live. Now we have the President of the United States and the mainstream media accusing each other of lying and peddling fake news, while a plethora of social media and alternative online news sites are weighing in with their (often highly partisan) views. Has the internet democratised news journalism, creating a new plurality of reporting and opinion? Are we witnessing the healthy overturning of the apple cart of the entitled metropolitan elite who've run the media for so long? Or are the moral rules of journalism being scrapped and the old expectations of objectivity and fairness being replaced by a toxic digital fog of instant comment, rumour, cynicism and outright lies? Is this a danger to democracy or just entertaining political theatre? Are those who complain about accuracy and spin confusing facts with truth? The morality of fake news. Witnesses are Jim Waterson, Tom Chatfield, John Lloyd and Manick Govinda.

SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b08fdwy2)
Heat 5, 2017

(5/17)
What's the current name of the country formerly known as South West Africa? Which famous theatrical partnership wrote the musical 'Allegro'? Who is the shortest-serving British Prime Minister of the last 100 years?

If the competitors in today's fifth heat of Brain of Britain can answer these questions they may stand a fighting chance of a semi-final place in this year's tournament. Russell Davies is in the chair with the unpredictable and challenging general knowledge questions for which the quiz is renowned. Even the most seasoned of quiz contestants can slip up...

There'll also be a chance, as always, for a listener to stump the contestants with questions of his or her own devising, and win a prize for doing so.

Producer Paul Bajoria.

SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b08fdp3w)
Parenting

Sally Phillips and Matt Harvey join Roger McGough to read poems about parenting. There are different takes on the subject from Hollie McNish, William Blake and Carol Ann Duffy. Producer Sally Heaven.

SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2017

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b08g2tg1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SUN 00:30 e=mc2 (b06pdjgt)
The Twin Paradox

It's the day of the first manned mission to Mars and as Commander Carl Ehrlich's twin brother Kevin awaits the final countdown in a local bar it seems the mission just might offer him the perfect means of gaining some long-awaited one-upmanship on his internationally-renowned, hugely successful, ever-so-slightly older brother!

Taking inspiration from Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, Ian Sansom discovers it's all relative in his story of sibling rivalry and space travel.

Writer ..... Ian Sansom
Reader ..... Trevor White
Producer ..... Heather Larmour.

SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tg3)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08g2tg5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tg7)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b08g2tg9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b08g3lly)
St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford

The week's Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St. Thomas the Martyr in Oxford. The bells were gradually replaced during the 1990s and there are now ten, with the tenor weighing 11 hundredweight. We hear them ringing now, 'Spliced Surprise Royal'.

SUN 05:45 Profile (b08g2r9c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b08g2tgc)
The latest national and international news.

SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b08g2tgf)
The Wisdom of Mules

Mark Tully considers the spiritual and cultural relationship between beasts of burden and humans and celebrates the qualities of the mule.

A byword for stubborn cantankerousness, this idiosyncratic cross between donkey and horse has written its name large in history and myth. Charles Darwin wrote, "The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That a hybrid should possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature."

The programme takes us from the mining mules of America to the intrepid mule trains on the borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan, from the Old Testament to Greek myth. Mark also talks to those who commemorate the heroism of mules in two world wars every year and to Dr Faith Burden of the Donkey Sanctuary.

There are readings from the medieval poet Hafiz and twentieth century writer Cicely Fox Smith and music from the Grand Canyon and from Mexico.

The readers are Emily Raymond and Jasper Britton

Presenter: Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b08g3lm0)
Cornish Lambing

JB Gill visits Penpont Farm, a 550-acre working farm that has been in the Hawkey family since 1915. The farm is not far from the seaside town of Padstow in Cornwall, and JB helps out during the busiest time of year: lambing.

Producer: Beatrice Fenton.

SUN 06:57 Weather (b08g2tgh)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b08g2tgk)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 07:10 Sunday (b08g2tgm)
Guildford Cathedral planning crisis, Sanctuary churches in America, No swimming on the Sabbath

There's a risk Guildford Cathedral could close after a council planning committee rejected a proposal to build 134 houses on cathedral land. The Dean of Guildford Cathedral says money raised by the sale of the land would have provided long-term funding for the maintenance of the building. Trevor Barnes reports.

Church leaders from South Sudan have called on the international community to assist millions of people who are facing starvation in the country. Canon Ian Woodward tells Edward Stourton about the historic link the Diocese of Salisbury has with South Sudan and what they are hearing about the situation there.

More churches in America have declared themselves 'sanctuary churches' offering protection from deportation to undocumented migrants. Jane O'Brian reports from Washington DC.

Dr Peter Mandaville is a former Senior Advisor at the US Department of State under both Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. He's been invited to speak at the British Islam Conference. He tells Edward about the challenges he believes Muslims now face following the US election and Brexit vote in the UK.

For his latest book, the veteran Labour politician Roy Hattersley has turned his attention to a what he describes as 'the adventure story' of Catholics in Britain and Ireland.

BBC reporter Roddy Munro tells Edward why some families on the Isle of Lewis are protesting against a decision by the local council not to open a swimming pool on the Sabbath.

Should Bristol Cathedral remove a stained glass window that celebrates the legacy of the merchant and MP Edward Colston because he made much of his fortune through the slave trade? The Dean, David Hoyle debates with theologian Robert Beckford.

Producers:
David Cook
Louise Clarke-Rowbotham

Editor:
Christine Morgan.

SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (b08g3lm2)
Addaction

Margaret McQuade, a beneficiary and staff member of the charity Addaction, makes the Radio 4 Appeal on their behalf.
Registered Charity Number 1001957
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That's the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope 'Addaction'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Addaction'.

SUN 07:57 Weather (b08g2tgp)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b08g2tgr)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b08g3lm4)
The Consequences of Love

On Transfiguration Sunday Beverley Humphreys reflects on the joys, challenges and costs to believing in God's love as a transformative power to heal division and mend wounded hearts and lives. The Rev. Phil Wall leads the live service from St. David's Uniting Church, Pontypridd with music from the Cardiff Polyphonic Choir, directed by David Young. Producer: Karen Walker.

SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b08fhy6r)
The Spectre of Populism

John Gray look at the history of populism.
He argues that modern-day populism has largely been created by centre parties who have identified themselves with an unsustainable status quo.
He looks at how populism is likely to play out in the upcoming elections in France and Holland.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twnw4)
Herring Gull

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

Herring gulls now regularly breed inland and that's because of the way we deal with our refuse. Since the Clean Air Acts of 1956 banned the burning of refuse at rubbish tips, the birds have been able to cash in on the food that we reject: And our throwaway society has provided them a varied menu. We've also built reservoirs around our towns on which they roost, and we've provided them with flat roofs which make perfect nest sites.

SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b08g2tgt)
Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.

SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b08g2tgw)
Jennifer wants to strike the right note, and Roy is taken by surprise.

SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b08g3m98)
Dame Katherine Grainger

Kirsty Young's castaway is the Olympian and rower, Dame Katherine Grainger. A six-time rowing World Champion across a variety of classes, her silver medal at Rio in 2016 made her the most successful female British Olympic athlete ever, having won medals in five consecutive games.

Born in Glasgow in 1975, her parents were teachers. At school she earned a black belt in karate, and it wasn't until she went to Edinburgh University that her passion for rowing was truly ignited. Winning silver medals at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics, Katherine finally ceased to be the sport's eternal bridesmaid when, with her partner Anna Watkins, she won gold in the Double Sculls at the 2012 London Olympics. After two years away from the sport, Katherine returned in 2014, to win her fourth silver and fifth overall Olympic medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with her new partner, Vicky Thornley.

Alongside her sporting achievements, she gained an Honours degree in Law from Edinburgh, a Masters in Medical Law from Glasgow University and was awarded a PhD in Homicide Sentencing from King's College London in 2013. She was made the fourth Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University in 2015 and became a Dame in the 2017 New Year Honours.

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

SUN 12:00 News Summary (b08g2tgy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (b08ff17k)
Series 77, Episode 1

Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and kicks off the first episode of the new series with a cracking line-up: Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Zoe Lyons and Graham Norton.

The panel have to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. How much does Zoe know about Anne Boleyn? Has Graham ever used the phrase "Don't you know who I am?"? What can Josie tell us about dust sheets, and what does Paul consider the 8th Wonder of the World? Plus - spoiler alert - someone speaks for a full minute without interruption - but who?? Tune in to find out!

Hayley Sterling blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.

Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.

SUN 12:30 Food Programme (b08g3rb5)
Thailand: A Royal Food Legacy

Historian Dr Polly Russell and chef Ashley Palmer-Watts visit farming communities in the Northern Chang Mai province of Thailand who have given up farming opium in favour of Western vegetables and salad crops for fine dining restaurants in Thailand's biggest cities. It's one of a series of hundreds of national development projects pioneered by the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej and started in Northern Thailand in 1969. Over the course of his reign Thailand's beloved monarch experimented with rice fields, vegetable beds, fish ponds, and a rice-mill within the grounds of his royal residence, before scaling the work up across the country.

Polly and Ashley hear how these projects have become part of a food and farming system for Thailand. A food system that's unique in the world, but could provide a model for current opium growing regions. They hear how by growing Western vegetables, flowers and fruits and farming fish, a new supply chain for some of Thailand's finest restaurants is being developed which doesn't rely on expensive imports.

Presented by Dr Polly Russell & Sheila Dillon
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.

SUN 12:57 Weather (b08g2th0)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b08g2th2)
Global news and analysis.

SUN 13:30 Fry's English Delight (b08g3rb9)
Series 9, That Way Madness Lies

Stephen Fry openly uses his own experience of mental ill health to consider the ever-changing way in which what's commonly called madness is talked and written about. With the help of comedienne and former psychiatric nurse Jo Brand, the controversial comedienne Maria Bamford and the writer Jon Ronson.

What we mean by "mad" changes constantly. Outmoded diagnoses - moron, hysteric, schizophrenic - turn into insults. But our dissociation of madness seems to downgrade its seriousness. As Dr Oliver Double from the University of Kent describes, today we use its terminology to describe everything from being mildly annoyed to being creatively exhilarated or intoxicated. A rave in the 1990s was "mental". A recent sit-com was "hysterical". The creative endeavors of an artist are "totally bonkers". Comedians channel madness, real and metaphorical. Even an innocent game of Krazy golf borrows from the looney lexicon.

Jess Thom is a writer and comedian and the founder of Tourettes Heroes. She talks about what language means for someone with tourettes syndrome and why she wants people to feel free to laugh at what she describes as her "crazy language generating machine" - the propensity to suddenly shout out bizarre words and phrases.

Nowadays, we're all too ready to use what we think are modern technical terms - bipolar, sociopathic, narcissistic, obsessive compulsive, on the spectrum - revealing much about the hyper self-conscious, self-examining era in which we live. The new pseudo-clinical lexicon has permeated informal discourses far beyond the realms of psychiatry.

It's enough to drive you mad. Metaphorically, of course.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b08fhv24)
Tittensor

Eric and the team are in Tittensor, Staffordshire. Bunny Guinness, Christine Walkden and Matthew Wilson answer questions from local gardeners.

The panel help out a questioner afraid to prune her hydrangea, reveal that your amaryllis may not be an amaryllis, and go in search of winter stem colour.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b08g3rbh)
Omnibus - The Creative Urge

Fi Glover introduces conversations about imagination and artistic expression from Swansea, Newcastle and Sheffield, in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.

SUN 15:00 Drama (b08g3rbp)
Ann Veronica, Episode 2

Ann Veronica by H.G.Wells 2/2
Dramatised by Lavinia Murray

Starring Bill Nighy and Amy Hoggart. This witty and lively tale sees Ann Veronica living alone in London in her quest for liberation but it's an uphill struggle; she has to fight off the sexual advances of a so called friend, discovers the love of her life is married, and gets arrested and imprisoned for a suffragette raid on the House of Commons.

Produced and directed by Pauline Harris

Further information:
The storytelling is witty and ironic and Ann Veronica caused a scandal in its time because of the feminist sensibilities of the heroine and also because of the affair Wells was having with Amber Reeves, the woman who inspired the novel's eponymous character. This is a relatively unknown and unexpected novel by Wells. The Spectator described Ann Veronica as a "poisonous book..." Although unlikely to offend modern listeners, this novel addresses many feminist versus femininity issues that are still relevant today.

Amy Hoggart who stars as Ann Veronica is a stand-up comedian and actress, best known for starring in Almost Royal, a faux-reality show on BBC America. She portrays a low-ranking heir to the British throne, Poppy Carlton. Other credits include Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (2016) and Crackanory (2013).

She is the daughter of renowned journalist Simon Hoggart, niece of Times television critic Paul Hoggart, and granddaughter of sociologist Richard Hoggart. Amy attended Cambridge University,and was a member of the Footlights, whilst reading English.

The novel deals with the early stages of what is arguably the most important social development of the 20th C. the education and financial and sexual liberation of women. And the fact is that, nearly a hundred years later, the problem of women who want to marry, have children and pursue a liberating career, is still not easy to solve. Wells makes a good case for freer sexual relationships, but Amber Reeves - and later Rebecca West - were the ones whose lives were changed - by bearing and bringing up a child by him.

Geoffrey Whitehead plays Ann's father, Mr. Stanley - most recent credits include Geoffrey in Not Going Out as Lee Mack's disapproving father-in-law, and Mr. Newbold in Still Open All Hours. His career spans decades and he has appeared in a huge range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at the Shakespeare Globe, St. Martin's Theatre and Bristol Old Vic.

SUN 16:00 Open Book (b08g3rbt)
Mohsin Hamid, North Korean short stories

Mariella Frostrup talks to acclaimed novelist Mohsin Hamid whose new book, Exit West, is a love story which takes on hugely urgent themes of migration and the refugee crisis. As a rare collection of short stories from North Korea is published in the UK, and around the world, we talk to the translator about what it reveals about daily life in this secretive country, and publisher Max Porter recommends a new biography of poet David Jones.

SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b08g3xf3)
The Poem as Portrait

Roger McGough presents a selection of requests for poems which paint a portrait, including contributions from Lord Byron, UA Fanthorpe and Charles Causley. Producer Sally Heaven.

SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b08bzpb7)
Outclassed: The Kids Excluded from School

Over 300,000 children were excluded from school in England and Wales last year - almost 6 thousand of them permanently.

Many of these children will end up in "alternative provision", sometimes known as pupil referral units (PRUs) - schools for kids that the mainstream can't handle.

But five years on from the Taylor Review, a report that found 'a flawed system' that failed to provide good education and accountability for 'some of the most vulnerable children in the country' - has anything really changed?

File on 4 hears allegations of a system under pressure; of illegal exclusions, 'missing kids' and how some schools are controversially manipulating league tables through 'managed moves'.

We also hear from whistle-blowers from one school who claim an overburdened system and a rise of referrals of kids with extreme and complex needs have led to an increase in the use of physical restraint to manage escalating violent behaviour in classrooms."

Reporter: Adrian Goldberg
Producer: Alys Harte.

SUN 17:40 Profile (b08g2r9c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08g2th4)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 17:57 Weather (b08g2th6)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08g2th8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b08g2thb)
Liz Barclay

This week we take you on a life threatening journey from Syria; a ground breaking discrimination case in India and the missing manuscript of a famous story annotated by the author.
We take the high road to Scotland in the footsteps of Queen Victoria and the low road with the Scottish Nudist Association.
We also reveal a well ken't voice from the past and there's music with Jazz, hip hop and Kwela in the mix.
Presenter: Liz Barclay
Producer: Stephen Garner
with production support from Kay Bishton.

SUN 19:00 The Archers (b08g3xf6)
Life at Grange Farm is squeezed, and Tom is having second thoughts.

SUN 19:15 Guilt Trip (b07nrlqx)
Episode 4

Felicity Montagu and her daughter play mother and daughter doing a two week sponsored walk along The Thames Path.

Comedy drama in which Felicity Montagu (Lynn in Alan Partridge and Mrs Mainwaring in the new Dad's Army film) and her daughter (Olivia Nixon) play a mother and daughter doing a two week sponsored walk along The Thames Path to raise money for the dead father's charity. But the mother and father had been divorced for nine years and he had re-married, so relationships between them all have been strained. Things come to a head at any mention of the French Oak gable table Ros and her now dead ex bought together in Camden. This has ended up in the step-mother's house, much to Ros's annoyance: "I mean she sits at it! It's my table and she sits at it." The series is co-written by Katherine Jakeways who also plays the step-mother.

It's the last day of the walk and they still have 10 miles to go, but when they oversleep at the hotel they were not supposed to be staying in in the first place, it's not looking good. They are hung over and Ruth is organizing a big reception for them at Tower Bridge - but will they get there in time?

The producer was Jane Berthoud, it was a BBC Radio Comedy production.

SUN 19:45 Bottle Man (b08g3yc2)
Specially commissioned short stories by some of Ireland's most exciting writers.

A darkly comedic tale of failed relationships and golf that answers that age old question: 'Why would a man move into a glass bottle?' As read by Damien Molony (Being Human, Crashing).

Reader ..... Damien Molony
Writer ..... Nicole Flattery
Producer ..... Michael Shannon.

SUN 20:00 Feedback (b08fhv33)
Radio 2 Schedule Changes

Listeners are up in arms about the significant shake-up to Radio 2's schedule. Their concerns are sparked by radical time changes, the moving of beloved presenters, and an apparent lack of diversity. As the new schedule comes into effect this weekend, Radio 2's Head of Programmes Lewis Carnie answers a range of listeners' questions - from his side of the Brian Matthew story, to ensuring that Desmond Carrington's show is filled with a similarly eclectic sound.

"Gone, but not dead." Earlier this month, the new editor of The Archers gave his verdict on the future of Rob Titchener - the character who exerted coercive control on his partner, Helen. With his on air persona having fled to America, actor Timothy Watson gives listeners an inside understanding of this devious and manipulative mind - and whether he would ever return.

But it's not only the hard-hitting, emotive storylines that keep Archers fans hooked. Feedback reporter Rebecca Pearce went behind the scenes of this year's Archers conference - where academics and life-long fans gather to discuss everything from serious panels on Helen's life in prison to flower and producer shows.

And listeners pay tribute to broadcaster Steve Hewlett.

Produced by Katherine Godfrey.
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 20:30 Last Word (b08fhv2q)
Stanley Bard, Norma McCorvey, Michael Ember, Peter Skellern

Kate Silverton on

Stanley Bard, the enigmatic proprietor of New York's Chelsea Hotel who created a haven for artists, writers and rock stars and presided over one of the greatest experiments in bohemian living in the history of New York

Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe, the anonymous plaintiff in the Roe v Wade case by which the US supreme court legalised abortion, who became an unlikely icon for feminism

Michael Ember, the Hungarian émigré who fled his country's uprising to become one of the BBC's most respected radio producers - creating programmes In the Psychiatrist's chair and Stop the Week

And Peter Skellern - the singer, songwriter and pianist who found fame with 'you're a lady' and forged an enduring musical partnership with his colleague and friend Sir Richard Stilgoe.

Producer: Neil George.

SUN 21:00 Money Box (b08g2mgk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]

SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b08g3lm2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]

SUN 21:30 Analysis (b08ff18d)
How Voters Decide: Part One

What does the story of the Downing Street cat reveal about the way voters decide? We are not taught how to vote. We rely on intuition, snap judgments and class prejudice. We vote for policies that clash wildly with our own views. We keep picking the same party rather than admit we were wrong in the past.

Rosie Campbell, Professor of Politics at Birkbeck University, sets out to become a rational voter. Class and religion have a huge impact. But our political views have become less polarised even as the parties have moved further apart. Rosie asks whether discussions of "left" and "right" have become irrelevant. In a neuropolitics lab Rosie undergoes tests to uncover her implicit biases. She learns that hope and anger make her want to vote - but blind her to the truth.

Producer: Hannah Sander.

SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b08g2thd)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b08fh5dl)
The Crying Game

With Francine Stock.

Stephen Woolley, producer of The Crying Game, reveals why the film almost never got made and the lengths he went to keep the movie's famous twist a secret.

Critics Tim Robey and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh talk about twists that work and twists that don't, without giving away the twist.

Sandra Hebron and Ceyda Uzun slug it out to get their chosen director into The A To Z Of Film. This week it's James Cameron versus Jane Campion in the battle of the weepies - Titanic versus The Piano.

SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b08g2tgf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2017

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b08g2tk9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b08fgvln)
Platform Capitalism

Platform Capitalism: How the most powerful tech companies of our time are revolutionising the global economy. Laurie Taylor talks to Nick Srnicek Lecturer in International Political Economy at City, University of London, and author of a new study which critically examines how companies ranging from Google, Amazon and Microsoft to Facebook, GE and Airbnb, are turning into platforms: businesses that provide the hardware and software foundation for others to operate on. This transformation in how companies operate offers new possibilities for consumers, but also represents an arguably troubling monopoly control over both distribution and production. How did Platform Capitalism originate, what are its merits - as well as its dangers - and does it have an infinite future? Ursula Huws, Professor of Labour and Globalisation at Hertfordshire School of Business and Andrew Leyshon, Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham, also join the discussion.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b08g3lly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]

MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tkc)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08g2tkf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tkh)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 05:30 News Briefing (b08g2tkk)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08h9y2f)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with Canon Sarah Rowland Jones, Priest in charge of the City Parish of St John the Baptist in Cardiff.

MON 05:45 Farming Today (b08g2tkm)
Career options for new entrants to UK farming, Contraception for squirrels

Charlotte Smith hears about the career opportunities for new entrants to the farming industry. Harper Adams University's Placement officer, Terry Pickthall explains that with increasing automation the role of machine operators is being upskilled to become a career that's drawing in graduates.

A squirrel contraceptive is being developed, to control the numbers of grey squirrels in the hope of boosting the native reds.
Although Landowners get grants to keep squirrel numbers down they still manage to cause around £17 million of damage to woodlands every year. However, as Keeley Donovan of BBC Yorkshire reports, scientists are trialling a contraceptive that's fed to the squirrels in a peanut paste.

While agriculture might not seem an obvious interest for inner city kids, St Werburgh's City Farm in Bristol has an 'Urban Farmers' project that's really taking off. It has just won funding for another three years. We hear that it's aimed at people who aren't thriving in mainstream education, and has already produced some future farmers. Beccy Barr has been along to find out more.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.

MON 05:56 Weather (b08g2tkp)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.

MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt7v)
Firecrest

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

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Firecrest. Firecrests are very small birds, a mere nine centimetres long and are often confused with their much commoner cousins, goldcrests. Both have the brilliant orange or yellow crown feathers, but the firecrest embellishes these with black eyestripes, dazzling white eyebrows and golden patches on the sides of its neck ... a jewel of a bird.

MON 06:00 Today (b08g4h89)
News and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

MON 09:00 Start the Week (b08g2tkt)
'Build That Wall': Barriers and Crossings

On Start the Week Kirsty Wark explores what it means to live either side of a wall, and whether barriers are built to repel or protect. Supporters of the US President urge him to 'build a great wall' along the Mexican border but the journalist Ed Vulliamy points out that there is already a wall and border guards, supported and funded by US Presidents for decades. And yet still drugs, guns, money and people continue to move north and south. Israel has been building its own separation barrier since the turn of the century, but Dorit Rabinyan is more interested in psychological barriers that drive Palestinians and Israelis apart. The map-maker Garrett Carr travels Ireland's border to explore the smugglers, kings, peacemakers and terrorists who've criss-crossed this frontier, and asks what it will become when the United Kingdom leaves the EU. The historian Tom Holland looks back at the successes and failures of wall-building from Offa's Dyke to Hadrian's Wall and asks whether they work more as statements of power than as insurmountable barriers between people.
Producer: Katy Hickman.

MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b08fdwff)
Border - Tales from the Edge of Europe, Episode 1

When Kapka Kassabova was a child, the borderzone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece was rumoured to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall, so it swarmed with soldiers, spies and fugitives.

On holidays close to the border on the Black Sea coast, she remembers playing on the beach, only miles from where an electrified fence bristled, its barbs pointing inwards toward the enemy - the holiday-makers, the potential escapees.

Today, this densely forested landscape is no longer heavily militarised, but it is scarred by its past.

Kapka Kassabova sets out on a journey through a hidden corner of the continent and meets the people of this triple border - Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, indigenous Balkan Muslims and the latest wave of refugees fleeing conflict further afield. She discovers a region that has been shaped by the successive forces of history - by its own past migration crises, by communism, by Nazi occupation, by the Ottoman Empire and - older still - by the ancient legacy of myths and legends. But there seem to be non-human forces at work here too. It is a land rich with curative springs and Thracian tombs; home to psychic healers and Europe's last fire-worshippers.

As Kapka Kassabova explores this enigmatic region in the company of border guards and treasure hunters, entrepreneurs and botanists, refugees and smugglers, she traces the physical and psychological borders that criss-cross its villages and mountains, and goes in search of the stories that will unlock its secrets.

Written by Kapka Kassabova
Read by Indira Varma

Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08g2tkw)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08g4h8c)
A Small Town Murder, Episode 1

The ninth series of Scott Cherry's ever popular crime series with Meera Syal starring as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell.

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 11:00 Is One Career Enough? (b08g4h8f)
When Sarfraz Manzoor was a child growing up in the eighties, his father wanted him to be a doctor. Medicine did not appeal at all and he ended up working in the media. But since then he has read the work of writers such as Atul Gawande and Henry Marsh, who both work in medicine and have used their specialism to create profound and powerful narratives. If Sarfraz had known it might be possible to be both a doctor and a writer and have a portfolio career, he might have heeded his father's advice.

So what is a portfolio career and in a fast-changing economy can any of us trust that one career is enough? In conversation with portfolio career enthusiasts and sceptics, Sarfraz finds out how and why increasing numbers of us are preparing to branch out, gain new skills and either switch career or develop a portfolio of occupations. Sarfraz explores whether the trend is a response to our desire for more fulfilling careers or symptomatic of increasing insecurity and the end of the job for life. He speaks to generalists like Emilie Wapnick, who has coined the term 'multipotentialite' to describe her diversity of skills, and to specialists such as watchmaker Roger Smith, who have immersed themselves in one thing and do it very well.

Sarfaz looks at the implications for our brains of juggling competing concerns and discovers whether his brain is still plastic enough to learn new skills. Embracing the idea that he could possibly handle a portfolio career as a lawyer and a journalist, he challenges himself to give it a go, discovering in the process whether it is possible - and necessary - for us all to diversify our skills later in life.

MON 11:30 Chain Reaction (b08g4h8h)
Series 12, Katherine Ryan Interviews Sara Pascoe

In this edition, Katherine Ryan turns interviewer and invites her chosen guest Sara Pascoe into the Chain Reaction hot seat.

Chain Reaction is the talk show with a twist where one week's interviewee becomes the next week's interviewer. John Cleese was first in the hot seat back in 1991 and since then, a procession of big names from the world of comedy and entertainment including Jennifer Saunders, Jarvis Cocker and Eddie Izzard have helped continue the chain.

Katherine Ryan is a Canadian stand-up star and presenter who is perhaps best known for her live stand-up work - 'Glam Role Model' and 'Kathbum' - as well as appearances on BBC2's Episodes and Taskmaster on Dave. As revealed in her chat with Joe Lycett in the last episode in the Chain, Katherine has a cat called Sara Pascoe and so her choice of interview guest for this week's episode was perhaps never in doubt.

Sara Pascoe (the human) is a comedian, writer and actor known for her acclaimed live shows - Sara Pascoe the Musical and Sara Pascoe vs History to name just two - as well as numerous high profile TV appearances on programmes ranging from Live at the Apollo, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and W1A. Her debut book Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body was released in 2016. In this programme Katherine and Sara, who both started stand-up in 2007, discuss insects, yoga, hip hop and everything in between.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production

Photo credit: Matt Stronge.

MON 12:00 News Summary (b08g2tky)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 12:04 Witness (b08g4h8k)
Sanctuary Cities

So-called 'sanctuary cities' in the USA have been protecting undocumented immigrants from the threat of deportation for almost 30 years. But President Trump has said he will cut their funding if they don't change their ways. Simon Watts looks back at how San Francisco became one of the first 'sanctuary cities'.

MON 12:15 You and Yours (b08g2tl0)
IVAs, City retirement

Consumer affairs programme.

MON 12:57 Weather (b08g2tl2)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 13:00 World at One (b08g2tl4)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

MON 13:45 Neither There Nor Here (b08g4h8m)
Series 1, A Troubled Homecoming

Writer, academic and diplomat David Dabydeen recalls five very different stories of mass migration from around the world.

They move in times of crisis, fleeing war or instability, poverty or corruption. And then they face a new challenge - how to find a way to survive and prosper in new, often unfamiliar environments.

David considers to what extent were these migrants were affected by the circumstances of their departure - by the violence they may have witnessed or the economic and political stresses they endured - and who bore the responsibility for their integration. Many different approaches have been tried, from large-scale mobilisation of official institutions to an almost total disengagement by the state. And the results are equally variable, suggesting that there are no easy solutions to this increasingly important dilemma. What does emerge clearly is that race, education and language all play a vital role.

In this first programme, we hear the story of the Ethiopian Jews. Persecuted in the 1980s, tens of thousands have been airlifted to Israel under that country's Law of Return. Housing, healthcare and education were all provided under a meticulous assimilation plan. Yet Ethiopian Jews remain the most disadvantaged group within the Jewish population. Many have been victims of racism and tensions have boiled over, resulting in clashes in with the police.

Why has the homecoming to Israel been so troubled for the first generations of Ethiopians? And are there signs that younger members of the community are determined to improve their circumstances?

Producer: Hugh Costello
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 14:00 The Archers (b08g3xf6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]

MON 14:15 Drama (b08g4lks)
The Wells Way

Martyn Wade's play brings H.G. Wells and George Gissing together with some lovely comic moments. Each man would quite like to be like the other. Wells is weary of space and time travel and Gissing has no money. A surprising but long lasting friendship develops at a time when both writers are at a crisis point in their lives.

Writer.....Martyn Wade
Producer and Director.....Tracey Neale

Through friendship with George Gissing, H.G. Wells begins to confront his doubts and difficulties and discovers a new direction for his writing, and an unconventional approach to married life. Wells's career - thanks to his run of futuristic novels - is successful and making him lots of money. By contrast, Gissing's depictions of poverty, depression and failure have failed to bring him financial rewards. But Wells is at crisis point. Confused and uncertain. Weary of space and time travel. Dissatisfied with his marriage and this is his second attempt at marital bliss. The friendship with Gissing throws Wells into turmoil. It's time for him to take stock and be honest with himself. As the friendship develops so each writer begins to reveal more. Gissing sets Wells on a new literary path and he begins work on writing about real life (particularly his own) in Love and Mr Lewisham. Wells tells Gissing he should relieve the gloom of his next novel with a little humour and a few rays of sunshine - but Gissing won't oblige. Is Gissing being completely honest with Wells or holding something back? Gissing has found a new love and his work does begin to change direction too but an air of melancholy still hovers around him. Why?

MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b08g4lkv)
Heat 6, 2017

Russell Davies asks the questions in the nationwide general knowledge quiz, with contestants in this edition from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

MON 15:30 Food Programme (b08g3rb5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:30 on Sunday]

MON 16:00 Writing a New Caribbean (b08g4lkx)
Elisha Efua Bartels talks to some of the new wave of writers coming out of the English-speaking Caribbean.

MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b08g4lkz)
Pakistan

70 years ago Pakistan was born out of the partition of the Indian sub-continent, at the end of British colonial rule. It was created to meet the demands of Indian Muslims for their own homeland. The Constitution states that all laws are to conform with the rulings of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah. Religion is deeply woven into Pakistan; its culture, its laws and its justice system. It's been a turbulent 70 years politically, characterised by a civil war which resulted in the breakaway of Bangladesh; interchanging periods of military rule and transitional democracy. And Pakistan is frequently cited among the top 10 worst countries for human rights violations of religious minorities and women.

How has religious faith shaped Pakistan? To what extent are the blasphemy laws, adultery punishments and honour killings religious? And how is the cultural and religious patriarchy of the country being challenged today?

Ernie Rea explores religion in Pakistan with Iftikhar Malik, Professor of history at Bath Spa University; Humaira Masihuddin, an Islamabad-based lawyer and Islamic scholar, who trains the Pakistani police and judiciary; and Dr Saeeda Shah, reader in Education at the University of Leicester and an expert in Islam and Education in Pakistan.

Producer: Dan Tierney
Series producer: Amanda Hancox.

MON 17:00 PM (b08g2tl6)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08g2tl8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b08g4ll1)
Series 77, Episode 2

Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and continues to host with skill and panache! This week our panelists are Paul Merton, Shelia Hancock, Tom Allen and Gyles Brandreth., who will endeavor to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

Who is Sheila Hancock's flavour of the month? What has Tom Allen got to say about the venerable telephone box? What was Paul Merton's new year resolution and listen as Gyles sails very close to the wind...

Beverly Tagg blows the whistle and it was produced by Matt Stronge.

Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.

MON 19:00 The Archers (b08g4ll3)
Emma goes in search of inspiration, and Lynda's offer of support is refused.

MON 19:15 Front Row (b08g2tlb)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08g4h8c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

MON 20:00 The Philosopher's Arms (b08g4m8t)
Series 6, Swearing

Matthew Sweet examines knotty philosophical conundrums in an abstract pub.

MON 20:30 Analysis (b08g4m8w)
How Voters Decide: Part Two

What makes us change our mind when it comes to elections? We are all swingers now. More voters than ever before are switching party from one election to the next. Tribal loyalties are weakening. The electorate is now willing to vote for the other side.

Professor Rosie Campbell from Birkbeck University finds out what prompts voters to shift from one party to another. Quentin Davies had been a Tory MP for decades when he crossed the floor of the house. He believes his views stayed the same - but the world changed around him. Journalist Janet Daley was once too left wing for the Labour Party - until Margaret Thatcher came along. Meanwhile Daryll Pitcher felt as though no party wanted his vote. Today he is a UKIP campaign manager.

Does age make us become more right wing? Have the main political parties alienated their core vote? And was does this mean for democracy?

Producer: Hannah Sander.

MON 21:00 The Rise of the Robots (b08ffv2v)
Series 1, Where is my mind?

From Skynet and the Terminator franchise, through Wargames and Ava in Ex Machina, artificial intelligences pervade our cinematic experiences. But AIs are already in the real world, answering our questions on our phones and making diagnoses about our health. Adam Rutherford asks if we are ready for AI, when fiction becomes reality, and we create thinking machines.

MON 21:30 Start the Week (b08g2tkt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

MON 21:58 Weather (b08g2tld)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b08g2tlg)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08g4m8y)
The Underground Railroad, Episode 6

Clarke Peters (The Wire, Treme) reads The Underground Railroad, the new novel by Colson Whitehead. This brilliant and at times brutal novel about the history of slavery and racism in America won the US National Book Award for Fiction in 2016.

"What if the underground railroad was a literal railroad? And what if each state, as a runaway slave was going north, was a different state of American possibility, an alternative America?"

Whitehead's inventive novel follows Cora and Caesar as they escape from a Georgia slave plantation and run north in pursuit of freedom, aided by the stationmasters and conductors of the Underground Railroad.

Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Clarke Peters.

MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b08ffvp6)
Emoji: The Future of Language?

Is emoji really the world's fastest growing language? (And can it really be said to be a language at all?) Who gets to decide which pictograms get added to the official set of emoji? Do they clarify the meaning of written language or are they dangerously open to misinterpretation? And why did the aubergine emoji get banned from some social media platforms?

Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright are joined by Professor Vyv Evans to talk all things emoji.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b08g4m90)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.

TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2017

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b08g2tn2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b08fdwff)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]

TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tn4)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08g2tn6)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tn8)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b08g2tnb)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08hjwbr)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with Canon Sarah Rowland Jones, Priest in charge of the City Parish of St John the Baptist in Cardiff.

TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b08g2tnd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378srp)
House Sparrow

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

Michaela Strachan presents the house sparrow. These birds are more commonly found living alongside us than any other British bird. Perhaps the most enterprising birds were the House Sparrows which bred below ground in a working mine at Frickley Colliery in Yorkshire.

TUE 06:00 Today (b08g2tv9)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b08g52z3)
Alison Woollard on what you can learn from mutant worms

C. elegans is a rather special worm, so-named for the elegant way it moves in sinusoidal curves. It's studied, and much loved, by thousands of scientists around the world. Alison Woollard joined this exclusive club of worm scientists when she moved to the world famous Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, also known as 'worm Mecca' in 1995. She started her career working as a lab technician, having dropped out of university. After later graduating from Birkbeck, she worked on yeast. But once she found the worm there was no turning back. She describes the hours she spent staring down the microscope at these tiny creatures, unprepossessing to the uninitiated, but an absolute joy to her. These hours led her to the discovery of two genes responsible for different defects in the tails of the male worms, called male abnormality 2 and male abnormality 9. (There are no female worms by the way, only males and hermaphrodites). It's not easy finding a gene or genes when you don't even know what it is that you're looking for, only the effect it has on the tails of mutant worms, each no more than a mm long. And it took Alison a year of repetitive trial and error to see which normal gene corrected the fault in the next generation. "Most days are failures", she says. Finding her first gene was a euphoric moment. She celebrated by buying everyone a cup of tea.

Producer: Anna Buckley.

TUE 09:30 One to One (b08g52z5)
Lucy Mangan on Responsibility

Lucy Mangan avoids responsibility wherever possible. She's got cats instead of dogs because she can't face a needy pet; she only has one child 'and that's more than enough.' But she's always been fascinated by those who run towards responsibility rather than away from it. Today she talks to Reverend Claire Herbert about a life dedicated to helping others. One of the first women priests to be ordained, Claire was working as a rector at St Anne's church in Soho when the Admiral Duncan bomb exploded. But she admits that being there for others has not been an easy road - in her 30s she took some time out from full-time church work to become a social worker and learn to be young 'perhaps for the first time'; she has realized that she needs to learn to play, and now gives herself permission sometimes to be 'naughty and horrible.'.

TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b08ffv2q)
Border - Tales from the Edge of Europe, Episode 2

When Kapka Kassabova was a child, the borderzone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece was rumoured to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall, so it swarmed with soldiers, spies and fugitives.

On holidays close to the border on the Black Sea coast, she remembers playing on the beach, only miles from where an electrified fence bristled, its barbs pointing inwards toward the enemy - the holiday-makers, the potential escapees.

Today, this densely forested landscape is no longer heavily militarised, but it is scarred by its past.

Kapka Kassabova sets out on a journey through a hidden corner of the continent and meets the people of this triple border - Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, indigenous Balkan Muslims and the latest wave of refugees fleeing conflict further afield. She discovers a region that has been shaped by the successive forces of history - by its own past migration crises, by communism, by Nazi occupation, by the Ottoman Empire and - older still - by the ancient legacy of myths and legends. But there seem to be non-human forces at work here too. It is a land rich with curative springs and Thracian tombs; home to psychic healers and Europe's last fire-worshippers.

As Kapka Kassabova explores this enigmatic region in the company of border guards and treasure hunters, entrepreneurs and botanists, refugees and smugglers, she traces the physical and psychological borders that criss-cross its villages and mountains, and goes in search of the stories that will unlock its secrets.

Written by Kapka Kassabova
Read by Indira Varma

Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08g2tng)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08g52z7)
A Small Town Murder, Episode 2

The ninth series of Scott Cherry's ever popular crime series with Meera Syal starring as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. A young man - Josh Cooper - has been found dead in some woods next toa shot gun. But Jackie's not convinced he shot himself.

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 11:00 The Whale Menopause (b07mxv62)
Killer whales and humans are almost unique in the animal kingdom. The females of both species go through the menopause in their 40s or 50s, and then live for decades without producing any more offspring themselves. It's an extremely rare phenomenon. No other mammal does this, including other apes, monkeys and elephants, with the exception of another species of toothed whale. There are good grounds for thinking the menopause evolved for a reason, but why?

BBC science reporter Victoria Gill takes to the sea off the northwest coast of the USA with scientists who believe the killer whales in this part of the world can explain why the menopause evolved in both orca and our own species.

Victoria encounters 'Granny', the world's oldest known orca - a matriarch killer whale who is estimated to be somewhere between 80 and 105 years old. 'Granny' has not had a calf for at least 40 years and is still very much the leader of her family group.

Granny is more properly known as J2 - her individual designation in the longest running and most detailed study of a population of whales in the world. In 1976, the Center for Whale Research took up the task of identifying and counting every member of the resident population of killer whales which inhabit the Salish Sea region between the USA and Canada. The project arose from fears that too many of members of this population were being captured for the entertainment industry and taken to zoos and commercial 'dolphinariums'.

The survey's findings led to a ban on the removal and rendition of orca from the Salish but the Center's work has continued. There is now forty years of data on births, deaths, family ties and health status of all the individual whales among the Southern Residents,.

The data has become of huge interest to evolutionary biologists Darren Croft of the University of Exeter and Daniel Franks of the University of York who are analysing it to explore why killer whale females live for decades after they've stopped reproducing themselves. They've discovered that these older females are critical to the survival of other members of their families - particularly their adult sons.

A female killer whale's offspring of both sexes stay with her for her lifetimes. If a matriarch dies, her fully grown sons are eight times more likely to die in the following year. Her adult daughters are also at risk. Further study of the Center's data suggests that the whale matriarchs possess decades of knowledge and wisdom about their world on which her offspring and grand-offspring depend. This may well go part of the way in explaining why old females have evolved to stop reproducing themselves and focus on promoting their genetic legacy through her children's and grandchildren's success.

One of the potential evolutionary explanations for the menopause in our own species is the 'Grandmother hypothesis'. In the killer whales, you might call it a combination of the Grandmother and Italian Mother hypothesis. But according to Croft and Franks, even that doesn't completely solve the mystery of the menopause. So what might?

Producer: Andrew Luck-Baker

Image credit: Jane Cogan.

TUE 11:30 Jazzed Up: How Jazz Changed Britain (b08g542h)
In the century since the first jazz recordings, how has jazz has been received in the UK? Kevin Le Gendre explores how the music spread into popular culture.

Episode 3:
Kevin investigates the role of jazz in post World War 2 Britain and how the split between traditional and modern jazz showed itself in other art forms such as poetry.
Producer Harry Parker.

TUE 12:00 News Summary (b08g2tnj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 12:04 Witness (b08g542k)
Sara Ginaite, Lithuanian Jewish Partisan

The story of Sara Ginaite, a young Jewish Lithuanian who escaped the ghetto in the city of Kaunas to join communist partisans in the forest. She has spoken to Alex Last about her life on the frontline of the battle against the Nazis.

TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b08g2tnl)
Call You and Yours

Consumer phone-in.

TUE 12:57 Weather (b08g2tnn)
The latest weather forecast.

TUE 13:00 World at One (b08g2tnq)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

TUE 13:45 Neither There Nor Here (b08gmtx1)
Series 1, A Disappearing Nation

Writer, academic and diplomat David Dabydeen recalls five very different stories of mass migration from around the world.

They move in times of crisis, fleeing war or instability, poverty or corruption. And then they face a new challenge - how to find a way to survive and prosper in new, often unfamiliar environments.

David considers to what extent were these migrants were affected by the circumstances of their departure - by the violence they may have witnessed or the economic and political stresses they endured - and who bore the responsibility for their integration. Many different approaches have been tried, from large-scale mobilisation of official institutions to an almost total disengagement by the state. And the results are equally variable, suggesting that there are no easy solutions to this increasingly important dilemma. What does emerge clearly is that race, education and language all play a vital role.

This second programme looks at David's native Guyana, a country that has, to an unrivalled degree, exported its people. More Guyanese now live in the Tri-State Area around New York City than in Guyana itself. And once in America, Guyana's two largest communities - those descended from African slaves, and those whose forebears were indentured Indian labourers - continue to live in separate enclaves.

The programme meets members of both groups to explore how the American experience has reshaped their identities. As Guyanese immigrants become ever more integrated, their home country is now - in David Dabydeen's words, in danger of disappearing.

Producer: Hugh Costello
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 14:00 The Archers (b08g4ll3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]

TUE 14:15 Drama (b0543yj7)
The Mark

The Mark
by Karen Brown

Inspired by a true story - An ambitious policeman is duped.
Dean Ellis believes his life is coming together; he gets the new job in Fraud, the new girlfriend, and then everything falls apart.

Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris.

TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (b08g552z)
Series 11, The Pretenders

Josie Long presents stories of those who have pretended to be someone they're not. From an undercover cop to stars of the art world caught in an elaborate fiction.

Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree Production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b08g5531)
Soil Saviours

Can soil play a role in the fight against climate change? Our soils are the biggest store of terrestrial carbon on the planet. This crucial non-renewable natural resource is under threat, and millions of hectares of farmland are lost every year through erosion and degradation of topsoil, releasing significant quantities of carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.

The French Government believes that soil can play a significant part in keeping the rise in global average temperatures below 2 degrees. They've introduced an initiative called "4 per 1000", which aims to improve the organic carbon matter in soil stocks by 4 parts in 1000 per year. They claim such an increase in the planet's cultivated soil would offset all emissions of greenhouse gases on the planet. Tom Heap talks to scientists and farmers to find out what can be done to put carbon back below our feet.

Producer: Sophie Anton.

TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (b08g5533)
Like, Totally Awesome: The Americanisation of English

Michael Rosen is joined by writer Matthew Engel and linguist Dr Lynne Murphy to discuss the Americanisation of English. Is the pace of Americanisation of British English really increasing? Why do Americans say eggplant and sidewalk, rather than aubergine and pavement? Why does your spellchecker insist it's 'color' not 'colour'? Do Americans complain about the 'Britishisms' creeping into use in the States as much as we complain about Americanisms in use in the UK? Does it really matter if British and American English begin to be used interchangeably and could we stem the flow if we tried?

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b08g5537)
Craig Brown and Pippa Evans

Satirist Craig Brown and comedian Pippa Evans tell Harriett Gilbert about the books they love. Craig's recommendation is the furiously funny diary Enter A Fox by the playwright Simon Gray. Pippa's is Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell, and Harriett's Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. Modern-day parallels abound..
Producer Beth O'Dea.

TUE 17:00 PM (b08g2tns)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08g2tnv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (b04mcssb)
Series 1, Money

A new series from multi-award winning comic Mark Watson where he attempts to answer the big questions and make sense of life, nimbly assisted by Tim Key and Tom Basden.

Mark and his two henchmen tackle academic and abstract topics. Themes will be examined from every angle, torn apart, laughed at and put back together again in an effort to understand ourselves and the world around us, and make it a slightly better place using stand-up, poetry, songs and dippy interactions.

This week Mark looks at "Money". These days it's quite unfashionable to like money. People get demonised for having high salaries. Bankers are seen as bad-guys. Less-is-more philosophies abound, yet they are flawed - mathematically, more is actually more. Is it so bad to try and get rich?

The programme looks at the corrupting influence of money and the harm it does versus the good impact it can have, and weigh them up. Mark discusses his own experiences of being poor and quite well-off and how each impacted his personality.

Is money really the root of all evil? Or a useful way of buying things like Polo mints, fruit, etc?

Mark Watson is a multi-award winning comedian - his awards include the inaugural If.Comedy Panel Prize 2006. He is assisted by Tim Key, winner of an Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2009, and Tom Basden who won the the If.Comedy Award for Best Newcomer in 2007.

Written and performed by Mark Watson, Tim Key and Tom Basden

Produced by Lianne Coop
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 19:00 The Archers (b08g553b)
Lynda sizes up the competition, and Lily has a near miss.

TUE 19:15 Front Row (b08g2tnx)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08g52z7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]

TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b08g58fl)
Neglect: The Story of UK Homecare

With an ageing population the need for carers to help elderly people stay healthy and safe in their own homes has never been greater.

From making a meal, to help getting out of bed or having a shower, domiciliary carers provide a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of elderly and vulnerable people. But what happens when things go wrong and carers inflict serious abuse and neglect on the people who depend on them?

Lesley Curwen speaks to the families of elderly people who have been neglected in some cases left for days without proper medication or attention to personal hygiene - with devastating results.

Experts say cuts to local authority care funding, unmanageable workloads and poor training are contributing to the toll of abuse. So how can families be assured that their family member is in safe hands?

And after File on 4 previously uncovered evidence of widespread sex abuse in care homes, we ask whether enough is being done to protect the most vulnerable people in society in their own homes.

Reporter: Lesley Curwen
Producer: Ben Robinson.

TUE 20:40 In Touch (b08g2tnz)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.

TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b08g597g)
Medical series in which Dr Mark Porter explores health issues of the day.

TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b08g52z3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b08g2tp1)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08g597j)
The Underground Railroad, Episode 7

Clarke Peters (The Wire, Treme) reads The Underground Railroad, the new novel by Colson Whitehead. This brilliant and at times brutal novel about the history of slavery and racism in America won the US National Book Award for Fiction in 2016.

"What if the underground railroad was a literal railroad? And what if each state, as a runaway slave was going north, was a different state of American possibility, an alternative America?"

Whitehead's inventive novel follows Cora and Caesar as they escape from a Georgia slave plantation and run north in pursuit of freedom, aided by the stationmasters and conductors of the Underground Railroad.

Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Clarke Peters.

TUE 23:00 Sarah Kendall: Australian Trilogy (b08g5h2g)
Series 1, A Day in October

Multi-award winning storyteller Sarah Kendall, brings her critically acclaimed trilogy of funny and moving, live shows to Radio 4.

Taking her audience on a trip, Sarah gives a unique snapshot of small-town life in Australia in the early nineties.

At a time when most people were seeing Australians through the filter of 'Home and Away' and 'Neighbours', Sarah's shows present a darker underbelly to the stereotype of the sun-loving, happy-go-lucky Aussie teenager.

Comedic and tragic in equal measure, Sarah's tales of her teenage life blend intricate narratives with a cast of memorable characters, bringing events to life in front of your very ears.

Episode 1: A Day In October

"This show is a story about a day in October in 1990, when I saw a miracle happen to a boy, and his name was George Peach..."

A Day in October is about Sarah's secret relationship with bullied classmate, George Peach. Following an accident at the beach, George Peach died for exactly 11 seconds. Sarah's story examines the remarkable effect those eleven seconds had on Sarah and her schoolmates. The show plays with the relationship between fiction and real-life and explores the redemptive power of storytelling.

Written and performed by Sarah Kendall
Producer - Carl Cooper
Production Coordinator - Emily Hallett
This is a BBC Studios Production.

TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b08g597l)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.

WEDNESDAY 01 MARCH 2017

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b08g2tqv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b08ffv2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]

WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tqx)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08g2tqz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08g2tr1)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 05:30 News Briefing (b08g2tr3)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08hk2rm)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with Canon Sarah Rowland Jones, Priest in charge of the City Parish of St John the Baptist in Cardiff.

WED 05:45 Farming Today (b08g2tr5)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Beatrice Fenton.

WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03k72zr)
Starling

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

David Attenborough presents the starling. Throughout autumn parties of starlings have been crossing the North Sea to join our resident birds and as winter's grip tightens they create one of Nature's best spectacles. These huge gatherings, sometimes a million or more strong, are called murmurations and they offer the birds safety in numbers.

WED 06:00 Today (b08g5k5m)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

WED 09:00 Midweek (b08g2tr7)
Lively and diverse conversation with Libby Purves and guests.

WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b08fgdqd)
Border - Tales from the Edge of Europe, Episode 3

When Kapka Kassabova was a child, the borderzone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece was rumoured to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall, so it swarmed with soldiers, spies and fugitives.

On holidays close to the border on the Black Sea coast, she remembers playing on the beach, only miles from where an electrified fence bristled, its barbs pointing inwards toward the enemy - the holiday-makers, the potential escapees.

Today, this densely forested landscape is no longer heavily militarised, but it is scarred by its past.

Kapka Kassabova sets out on a journey through a hidden corner of the continent and meets the people of this triple border - Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, indigenous Balkan Muslims and the latest wave of refugees fleeing conflict further afield. She discovers a region that has been shaped by the successive forces of history - by its own past migration crises, by communism, by Nazi occupation, by the Ottoman Empire and - older still - by the ancient legacy of myths and legends. But there seem to be non-human forces at work here too. It is a land rich with curative springs and Thracian tombs; home to psychic healers and Europe's last fire-worshippers.

As Kapka Kassabova explores this enigmatic region in the company of border guards and treasure hunters, entrepreneurs and botanists, refugees and smugglers, she traces the physical and psychological borders that criss-cross its villages and mountains, and goes in search of the stories that will unlock its secrets.

Written by Kapka Kassabova
Read by Indira Varma

Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08g2tr9)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b08g5k5p)
A Small Town Murder, Episode 3

The ninth series of Scott Cherry's ever popular crime series with Meera Syal starring as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell. David Cooper seems to be implicated in the murder of his son, Josh. Jackie is investigating, but has her doubts about his involvement.

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b08g5k5r)
Mahera and Moh - It's My Choice How I Live My Life

Fi Glover introduces a conversation between a brother and sister who grew up believing they were cousins and who have very different outlooks on family values. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.

WED 11:00 Everybody Hates Me (b07mxgz4)
What's it like to have a job that guarantees you'll spend your working life being loathed by the public? To work in a profession where your heart sinks when asked "what do you do?" What are the psychological costs of reading endless negative headlines about the role to which you've dedicated your life? What personal qualities are needed to put up with the constant jokes?

Writer James Walton meets people who might be tempted to avoid questions about their work.

From an estate agent who admits that in his younger days he was "a bit of an idiot" to a corporate downsizer who has to strike the balance between empathy and detachment, as she fires people on behalf of their bosses. From the former Daily Mail journalist who feels each slight on her profession ("journalists make it all up!") as an attack on her personal integrity, to the 18 year old trainee football referees who are adamant that they just shrug off abuse from spectators and players. But when the insults take on a racist tone, are they so easy to shut out?

James also speaks to stand-up comedian Nish Kumar about what it's like to harvest people's professions for laughs on stage. What does it feel like to go to a comedy gig and dread the moment when the comedian alights on you in the audience and asks "what's your job"? And how does Nish feel when someone in the front row says they're an estate agent and the whole audience turns on them?

Producer: Hannah Marshall.
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 11:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b045c0j2)
Series 1, Oil

How do you make economics funny? How do you put the comedy in commodity? Simon Evans has the answer in this new series which asks us to get involved in investment.

Rather than being cowed by an apparently complicated and overwhelming system, Simon jumps right in. He takes as his focus four commodities which are so intrinsic to our lives they have an almost elemental significance - land, gold, oil and grain. Yet, despite the fact we encounter them everywhere we look, very few people have been able to build a fortune on them.

All that's about to change as, Simon enlists help from the experts. Each week he will be joined by Tim Harford, Merryn Somerset Webb and a guest specialist as they examine the chequered social and economic histories of these commodities. By looking at four such fundamental products, Simon brings us to a closer understanding of how global economic forces have a far-reaching and often surprising impact on our lives.

In this episode, Simon looks at commodities markets in oil or petrolium. How is it produced? Why is this trade different to others? Is our over-reliance on it dangerous?

Performed by ..... Simon Evans, with regular guests Tim Harford and Merryn Somerset-Webb, and to talk about Oil markets, Paul Horsnell.

Written by ..... Simon Evans with Benjamin Partridge and Andy Wolton

Researcher ..... Matthew Oldham

Producer ..... Tilusha Ghelani.

WED 12:00 News Summary (b08g2trc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 12:04 Witness (b08g5k5w)
Bob Marley Survives Assassination Attempt

In December 1976 gunmen tried to kill the most famous reggae artist of all time, Bob Marley, at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. Marley's friend and neighbour, Nancy Burke, was at the singer's house that night. She's been telling Mike Lanchin about life in the reggae star's entourage, and how she hid in a back room when the unidentified gunmen broke in.

WED 12:15 You and Yours (b08g2trf)
Consumer affairs programme.

WED 12:57 Weather (b08g2trh)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 13:00 World at One (b08g2trk)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

WED 13:45 Neither There Nor Here (b08gmv95)
Series 1, The Swedish Model

Writer, academic and diplomat David Dabydeen recalls five very different stories of mass migration from around the world.

They move in times of crisis, fleeing war or instability, poverty or corruption. And then they face a new challenge - how to find a way to survive and prosper in new, often unfamiliar environments.

David considers to what extent were these migrants were affected by the circumstances of their departure - by the violence they may have witnessed or the economic and political stresses they endured - and who bore the responsibility for their integration. Many different approaches have been tried, from large-scale mobilisation of official institutions to an almost total disengagement by the state. And the results are equally variable, suggesting that there are no easy solutions to this increasingly important dilemma. What does emerge clearly is that race, education and language all play a vital role.

Sweden is the location for this third programme, charting the progress of Bosnians who fled war at home in 1992-93. Almost 100,000 - many of them Muslims - were resettled in Sweden, a country proud of its relatively recent tradition of offering sanctuary to refugees. The Swedish government aimed to assimilate its new arrivals with minimal delay, focusing its energies on language lessons. The result was one of the most successful examples of rapid integration, in which the potentially divisive issue of religion was calmly negotiated.

Yet now - Sweden, faced with a new wave of mass migration, is moving away from its inclusive philosophy.

Producer: Hugh Costello
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 14:00 The Archers (b08g553b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]

WED 14:15 Drama (b08g5kw5)
Baller

by Nathaniel Price

Meshach's dream of playing professional football is about to come true; the money, the glamour, the fame, it's every boy's dream, so why is is he about to throw it all away?

Directed by Sally Avens

This is Nathaniel Price's first radio play and he's chosen to write about a world he knows well.
At the age of ten, he signed a 'schoolboy' contract with Crystal Palace FC, playing above his age range for the majority of time through to the under 19 squad, before
injury ended his ambitions. Subsequently he worked for The FA, the governing body of English football, within the Talent and Identification department, gaining an insight to the unique world of top level football. What became rapidly apparent was the complete lack of responsibility assigned to players. Everything is done for them, down to the tiniest detail. Their days are meticulously planned out; training, rest periods, dietary requirements etc. They are highly limited in what they are allowed to do off the field in their down time. Boredom and depression are more common place than people may expect. He began to realise that
for a rare few, football is neither a passion nor glamorous, it is a job;plain and simple. A means to try and provide for themselves and their family
a better life. Consequently, the pressure exerted upon them to succeed and earn lucrative contracts is immense. Few will make it. And for some,
a fear of being used by the people they are closest to and who wield the greatest power over them is all too real.
This is the world he writes about here. Nathaniel went on graduate from the MA Screenwriting Course at the National Film & Television School

Joivan Wade has appeared in Youngers, EastEnders and Dr. Who.

WED 15:00 Money Box (b08g7mjp)
Money Box Live: Business rate reform?

Financial phone-in.

WED 15:30 Inside Health (b08g597g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]

WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b08g7mjr)
Squatting - 'Streaking'

Squatting: Laurie Taylor discusses the first popular history of squatting in Europe and North America. Alexander Vasudevan, Associate Professor of Human Geography at the University of Oxford, drew on extensive archival research to retrace alternative forms of housing from Copenhagen's Christiana 'Free Town' to the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He's joined by Lucy Finchett-Maddock, Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex

Also: 'Streaking', 'mooning' and 'flashing'. Barbara Brownie, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication at the University of Hertfordshire, explores the many meanings of public disrobement, from the playful to the criminal.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

WED 16:30 The Media Show (b08g2trm)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

WED 17:00 PM (b08g2trp)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08g2trr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 18:30 It's Jocelyn (b08g7mjt)
Series 2, Dates

It's Jocelyn returns for a second series of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.
In episode two, Jocelyn talks about a dating, we follow a day in the life of Britain's worst bus driver and Kingston's take away caters for a vegan customer.
This series Jocelyn is joined by Paul Whitehouse as a cockney funeral director, as well as the vocal talents of Ninia Benjamin, Curtis Walker, Dee Kaate, Gavi Chera and Karen Bartke.
The producer is Suzy Grant and It's Jocelyn is a BBC Studios production.

WED 19:00 The Archers (b08g7mjw)
Rex and Anisha meet in secret, and Jennifer is not sure Lilian can be trusted.

WED 19:15 Front Row (b08g2trt)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b08g5k5p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:41 today]

WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b08g7mjy)
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Matthew Taylor, Anne McElvoy, Michael Portillo and Claire Fox.

WED 20:45 Four Thought (b08g7mk2)
Supporting Mothers

Kerry Littleford argues that mothers who have multiple children taken into care need help to stop it happening again.

As she shares her own story, Kerry makes the case for focusing not just on the children who have been taken into care, but the women whose problems haven't gone away.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b08g5531)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]

WED 21:30 Midweek (b08g2tr7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

WED 21:58 Weather (b08g2trw)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b08g2try)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08g7nwz)
The Underground Railroad, Episode 8

Clarke Peters (The Wire, Treme) reads The Underground Railroad, the new novel by Colson Whitehead. This brilliant and at times brutal novel about the history of slavery and racism in America won the US National Book Award for Fiction in 2016.

"What if the underground railroad was a literal railroad? And what if each state, as a runaway slave was going north, was a different state of American possibility, an alternative America?"

Whitehead's inventive novel follows Cora and Caesar as they escape from a Georgia slave plantation and run north in pursuit of freedom, aided by the stationmasters and conductors of the Underground Railroad.

Produced by Mair Bosworth
Abridged by Sara Davies
Read by Clarke Peters.

WED 23:00 Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme (b05n17yz)
Series 3, Horror

This week Tim gets to the bottom of the concept of horror, by attempting to scare the wits out of his long-suffering musician, Tom Basden. And by reading poems. Last in the series.

Written and presented by Tim Key
With Tom Basden and Katy Wix

Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.

WED 23:15 Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science (b03zd3jk)
Series 3, Episode 1

A new series of Helen Keen's comic but scientifically accurate look at the science and history of space exploration.

This week's episode looks at how we might one day travel to Mars and beyond, and discusses the problems of long space voyages, with tips on a rather unsavoury way to stop cosmic rays and what to do if you feel like eating your crewmates.

Starring Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane
Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill
Produced by Gareth Edwards.

WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b08g7nx7)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.