SATURDAY 11 MARCH 2017

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b08gwg2t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b08hd298)
What Happened, Miss Simone?, Episode 5

Inspired by the Oscar-nominated TV documentary, Alan Light's biography draws on Nina Simone's early diaries, rare interviews, childhood journals and input from her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly to paint a picture of the classically-trained pianist who became a soul legend, a leading civil rights activist and one of the most influential artists of our time.

Episode Five: Mississippi Goddam

"There were two things that people in the [civil rights] movement would fight over. One was if you took their books. The other was if you took their Nina Simone albums." - Andrew Young

Music journalist Alan Light is the author of The Holy of the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah, and Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain, among others. He was editor-in-chief of the music magazines Vibe and Spin, and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times.

Writer: Alan Light
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Reader: Alibe Parsons
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08gwg2w)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08gwg2y)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08gwg30)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b08gwg32)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08h0hs6)
A short reflection and prayer with the Rev. David Bruce.

SAT 05:45 iPM (b08h0hs8)
It's never too late to take up the piano

You've been meaning to take up piano for ages. Meet the iPM listeners who already have.
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 (b08gwg34)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SAT 06:04 Weather (b08gwg36)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 06:07 Ramblings (b08h08kc)
Series 35, Clwyd Hillforts

Clare Balding heads for the Clwyd Hills in North Wales as she joins the county's Archaeologist, Fiona Gale, to find out more about the many Iron Age hill forts that are so prevalent along the range. They start at Moel Arthur , walking along to Penycloddiau, one of the largest sites. They are joined by two of Fiona's colleagues. David Shiel and Helen Mrowiec, all three of whom are passionate about the area and the leisure opportunities it offers. While they all discuss the marks left on the landscape by past generations, Clare and her companions become united in their hatred of a twenty first century scar, the plastic dog poo bag, filled and left hanging on branches or in bushes. Clare is now on a mission to eradicate these eyesores from the countryside.
You can follow the walk on Explorer no 265 Clwydian Range/Bryniau Clwyd.
Starting grid ref , SJ146657
Producer Lucy Lunt.

SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b08gwg38)
Farming and Pollution

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.

SAT 06:57 Weather (b08gwg3b)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 07:00 Today (b08hl25z)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b08gwg3d)
Paul Nicholas

The actor Paul Nicholas talks about his recent visit to The Real Marigold Hotel and his early career in the first rock musical Hair.
'Punk potter' Keith Brymer Jones describes how he made his first item, a pottery owl, when he was 11 years old, but reveals that he actually started out as a ballet dancer.
Saturday Live listener and retired nurse, Maggie Jones, has an obsession for photography and ... the ordinary. She can be seen snapping doors and alleyways, or checking for initials on bollards...
Brenna Hassett is a bio-archaeologist who digs up bones for living, but she started her career running a record shop in California.
Sooty and Sweep have graced our TV screens since the 1950s firstly with Harry Corbett and then with his son Matthew. They're now in the hands of Richard Cadell. Richard, Sooty and Sweep recently came into the Saturday Live studio to meet JP.
And Corinne Bailey Rae shares her Inheritance Tracks - Me and Mrs Jones performed by Billy Paul, and There's More To Life Than This, by Bjork.

The Real Marigold Hotel is on BBC One on Wednesday at 9pm. Earlier episodes are available on iplayer.
"Built on Bones", by Brenna Hassett, is out now.
Sooty and Sweep (and Soo) are on tour until June.
The Great British Throw Down is on BBC Two on Thursdays at 8pm.

Producer: Louise Corley
Editor: Eleanor Garland.

SAT 10:30 Soul Music (b07zz5y8)
Series 23, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Memories of first love, first borns and loss are stirred by The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, the timeless love song written by Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, and made famous by Roberta Flack.

The activist and folk musician Peggy Seeger tells the story of her first meeting with Ewan MacColl, which would inspire him to write the song, and talks about what the song means to her today. MacColl's biographer Ben Harker explains why this song is so different from much of Ewan's other work.

Julie Young talks about singing the song to her son Reagan, who had severe complex needs following a cardiac arrest as a baby, and the writer Louise Janson speaks about what the song came to mean to her as she set out on the path to becoming a mother on her own.

Writer and academic Jason King tells the story of how Roberta Flack came to cover this ballad by a Scottish folk musician, and how it catapulted her to fame. And Kandace Springs, a singer and pianist from Nashville, Tennessee, records her version of the song and talks about why the song is one of the greatest love songs of all time.

Produced by Mair Bosworth.

SAT 11:00 Week in Westminster (b08j2flr)
Helen Lewis of The New Statesman looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The editor is Marie Jessel.

SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b08gwg3g)
Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.

SAT 12:00 News Summary (b08gwg3j)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 12:04 Money Box (b08hl261)
National insurance and self-employment

The latest news from the world of personal finance.

SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b08h0g4t)
Series 50, 10/03/2017

Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and guests present the week in news through stand-up and sketches.

This week we look at Philip Hammond's budget and hear from Kerry Godliman in the week of International Women's Day. Lucy Porter gives us the lowdown on the French Presidential election and Pippa Evans helps us feel less overwhelmed.

Plus intelligence specialist Julian Fisher.

Featuring: Luke Kempner.

With Additional Material by: Benjamin Partridge, Andy Woolton, Ben Hillyar, David Mayes and Jenny Laville

Producers: Adnan Ahmed and Joe Nunnery

BBC Studios Production.

SAT 12:57 Weather (b08gwg3l)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 13:00 News (b08gwg3n)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b08h0g4w)
Debbie Abrahams MP, Tim Farron MP, Stephanie Flanders, Lord Forsyth

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Giggleswick School near Settle in Yorkshire with the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams MP, the leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron MP, Economist Stephanie Flanders and the conservative peer and financier Lord Forsyth.

SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b08gwg3q)
Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

SAT 14:30 Drama (b08hdk9d)
The War of the Worlds, Episode 2

by HG Wells, dramatised by Melissa Murray

Mars on radio 4: As the Martians continue their merciless invasion, transforming the landscape and decimating the population, Robert begins to lose his reason.

Directed by Marc Beeby.

SAT 15:30 Things Called Jazz That Are Not Jazz (b07q7lzc)
There's a Jazz apple, Jazz aftershave, Jazz car, Jazz spreadsheet software, even a range of non-alcoholic beer called Jazz. Why are so many things called Jazz that are not Jazz?

Documentary maker and failed jazz musician Russell Finch has an unusual hobby. He collects examples of Things Called Jazz That Are Not Jazz.

There are more than you'd think. The UK intellectual property office lists over 290 trademarks for things called jazz - everything from jazz garlic to jazz wigs to a jazz wettable powder biofungicide. Russell has been documenting some of his stranger discoveries on a blog. He insists it almost went viral once.

But it's made him curious why are so many completely unrelated objects named after this one music genre? Even more mysterious, why are they named after a type of music that - it pains him to admit - not many people actually like?

Along the way he finds out the surprising origins of the word, the reason some musicians find it offensive, and why jazz is not a good name for food.
With comedian Stewart Lee, singer Gwyneth Herbert and musician Nicholas Payton.

Presented by Russell Finch

Contributors:
Stewart Lee - Comedian
Greg Rowland - Commercial Semiotican
Mark Laver - Historian
Gwyneth Herbert - Singer
Lauren M Scott - Marketing Manager
Tom Perchard - Historian
Nicholas Payton - Musician
Gerald Cohen - Etymologist

Produced by Peggy Sutton and Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b08gwg3s)
International Women's Day and Craftivism - where craft and activism collide

We celebrate International Women's Day hearing from women around the world. Preeti from the Tamil Nadu province of India tells us how an accident transformed her life. The women's rights campaigner Nimco Ali and Brita Fernandez-Schmidt the Executive Director of Women for Women International discuss what needs to be done to improve women's lives.

The bluegrass and country singer Alison Krauss tells us about the release of her first solo album in 17 years.

We discuss the story of the discovery at a former mother and baby home in Tuam in County Galway of the remains of babies found in a septic tank. The first report of human remains being found at the site came from two boys who were playing there in 1975. We hear from the an amateur local historian, Catherine Corless, who began to investigate why and how many bodies were there and we hear from Sally Mulready the Chair of the Irish Women Survivors Network and from the journalist Catherine Sanz from the Ireland edition of The Times.

Twenty-five years since its publication we discuss the relationship guide 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'. How did its success affect the sexual politics of the time? The television presenter Kate Garraway, author John O'Farrell and the editor of the Sunday Times Magazine Eleanor Mills discuss.

A report has found that Hull was one of the worst places in England and Wales to be a girl. What is it like to grow up in Hull, the City of Culture we hear from Suzanne, Dagmara and James and from Dr Suzanne Clisby who co-authored the report The State of Girls' Rights in the UK.

'Sporty, clever, lazy or naughty' are just some the labels we give to our children but can it hold them back? We discuss the issue with Scummy Mummy Helen Thorn and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Ruth Glover.

We discuss Craftivism - when craft and activism collide most recently seen with the pink 'pussy' hats at the Women's March around the world. Sarah Corbett from the Craftivist Collective and Debbie Zawinski from Haddington Spinners and Weavers explain how they do it.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Lucinda Montefiore.

SAT 17:00 PM (b08gwg3v)
Saturday PM

Full coverage of the day's news.

SAT 17:30 The Bottom Line (b08h08km)
The Secrets of Fixing a Price

From budget airline seats to insurance premiums, Evan Davis discovers the secrets of complex pricing and how to get the best deal.

Are you bewildered by constantly changing air fares when searching online? Or curious why insurance premiums can be haggled down if you pick up the phone? Welcome to the world of complex pricing. You, the consumer, may be paying more for the same goods or services than your neighbour. Businesses are coy about revealing exactly how they price their goods and services. In this programme we hear some of the secrets.

Guests:
Sophie Dekkers, UK director, Easyjet
Simon Warsop, chief underwriting officer personal insurance, Aviva
Dr John Thanassoulis, Professor of Financial Economics, Warwick Business School

Producer: Lesley McAlpine.

SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08gwg3x)
The latest shipping forecast.

SAT 17:57 Weather (b08gwg3z)
The latest weather forecast.

SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08gwg41)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b08gwg43)
Trevor Nelson, Noel Clarke, Matt Forde, Barbara Nice, Lula Pena, 47 Soul, Nikki Bedi, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Nikki Bedi are joined by Trevor Nelson, Noel Clarke, Barbara Nice and Matt Forde for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Lula Pena and 47 Soul.

Producer: Debbie Kilbride.

SAT 19:00 Profile (b08hl263)
Sergey Kislyak

Who is Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the heart of a massive global controversy?

Sergey Kislyak - Russia's convivial Ambassador to Washington - has been in the eye of a media storm since it emerged that members of the Trump administration had undisclosed meetings with him in the run up to the 2016 US election. Kislyak is a career diplomat, having spent 35 years working for the Soviet and Russian governments.

He has previously kept a low profile, favouring lavish dinners over media appearances to get his message across. But the recent controversy over the Trump administration's relationship with Russia has forced him into the spotlight.

Mark Coles speaks to people who have worked with him and followed his career to get under his skin and find out where his career might go now that he's become such a controversial figure.

Producer: Ben Crighton.

SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b08gwg45)
Hull, City of Culture; Richard Bean's The Hypocrite; Helen Dunmore; Radio 4's Mars Season; Elle

A review of the week's cultural highlights.

SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b08hl265)
The Mind in the Media

If you ask the author, Nathan Filer, when he first came into contact with mental illness, he'll tell you it was in 1999 when he first became a psychiatric nurse. But, like many of us, he'd actually met it much earlier : through film, drama and the news. Like many of us, his understanding had been shaped by how the media chose to portray it. But he quickly realised how very different real life was to fiction and the reports.

Now he asks what does that difference do to us - both as a society and to us as individuals, when many of us have experienced mental health disorders in our every day lives, either personally or to close family and friends. How does story-telling in the 21st century influence public understanding and our sympathy or condemnation for those experiencing mental health disorders?

Times are changing. As Alastair Campbell says, in the 80s, if you'd suggested to the newsroom a piece on depression, it just wasn't on the agenda. But although mental health is becoming more common as a storyline or story, many myths still prevail about violence, treatment, diagnosis, recovery.

Looking back through archive, Nathan Filer tells the story of the way we've framed mental health and illness across all media over the last few decades, and he talks to those with knowledge to explore its effect. Featuring Alastair Campbell; Professor Graham Thornicroft of Kings College London; Jenni Regan, senior editorial advisor at Mind; Dr Sarah Carr; Erica Crompton; and author Ramsey Campbell, among others.

The producer is Polly Weston.

For information and support on the subjects discussed in this programme visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health.

SAT 21:00 From Savage to Self (b08j8shc)
Omnibus, Part 1

Farrah Jarral tells the intriguing and unexpected story of anthropology, and examines how a discipline which started studying the so-called 'savage' other has now turned its gaze on every society.

In this first omnibus edition Farrah begins her travels in the East End of London with one of the classic jokes in anthropology. She then hears how anthropology emerged out of colonialism, and how some anthropologists embraced eugenics. But as she tells the story of three of the twentieth century's most influential anthropologists - Franz Boas, Bronislaw Malinowksi and Margaret Mead - she also discovers how anthropology affected the way we think about the most profound questions of human identity, including race and gender.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b08gwg47)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (b08gy87z)
Virtue Signalling

There was a time when publicly standing up to protest at injustices, especially if they didn't affect you personally, was the sign of an upright citizen - the very definition of altruism - a "disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others." Now such expressions of moral outrage are as likely to be dismissed as "virtue signalling" as they are to be applauded. It's a neat and pithy phrase and like all the best neologism seems to capture and distil something in our cultural discourse. It's only been in use for a couple of years. You know the sort of thing - ice bucket challenges, male actors and politicians wearing t-shirts with the slogan "this is what a feminist looks like". Virtue signalling - the practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate our good character or the moral correctness of our beliefs - was only coined a couple of years ago, and has caught on like wild fire. Perhaps because the only thing people seem to like more than virtue signalling is judging other people. To some the phrase deftly skewers an age where politics is driven by narcissism and the echo chamber of social media where being moralistic is more important than being moral? But has what started off as a clever way to win arguments become a lazy put down or mental shortcut to dogmatism? Does accusing others of virtue signalling encourage you not to interrogate your own beliefs? Even if we can't change something we know to be wrong, big collective moral shifts in society have to start somewhere, so is dismissing them as empty gestures a cynical counsel of despair? There was a time when virtue was its won reward. Is that still the case? The morality of virtue signalling.
Witnesses are James Bartholomew, Maya Goodfellow, Dr Jonathan Rowson and Professor Frank Furedi.

SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (b08gwy5d)
Heat 7, 2017

(7/17)
Which two English football teams contest what's referred to as the Second City Derby? And what name was given to the generation of nuclear reactors that used uranium metal fuel contained in a magnesium non-oxidising alloy sleeve?

Russell Davies puts these and many other questions to today's competitors, as they vie for a place in the 2017 semi-finals. There's also an opportunity for a listener to win a prize by outwitting the Brains with questions of his or her own devising.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

SAT 23:30 Poetry Please (b08gwn7w)
Dusk 'til Dawn

Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners' requests for poems to take us through the night, from dusk 'til dawn. Poems of sun rise and sunset; of twilight and the dawn's early light. Of 3am worries and deep, deep sleep.

We watch the sun go down over the sea with Norman Nicholson and Siegfried Sassoon's lulls us to sleep. We lie awake fretting with Fleur Adcock and wake on a cold narrowboat with Jo Bell. John Donne helps us convince our other half to call in sick to work and come back to bed, and find that Robert Burns is not a morning person.

Readers: John Mackay, Siobhan Redmond and Barbara Flynn
Producer: Mair Bosworth.

SUNDAY 12 MARCH 2017

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b08hl5dz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

SUN 00:30 A Change (b08hl723)
A new short story by Allan Radcliffe.
A man faces an uncertain future as his son leaves for university.
Read by Cal MacAninch
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.

SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5f1)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08hl5f3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.

SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5f7)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b08hl5f9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b08hl7bv)
St Peter's, Tiverton

This week's Bells on Sunday comes from the Parish Church of St. Peter, Tiverton in Devon. Only a doorway remains of the original Norman stone church; the tower and much of the chancel date from the 15th century when the Earls of Devon ruled Tiverton from the Castle nearby. All but two of the ring of eight bells date back to 1737 with a tenor weighing 25 and a half hundredweight tuned to D. We hear them now ringing 'Grandsire Triples'.

SUN 05:45 Lent Talks (b08gy881)
Anouchka Grose - Destiny and the Psyche

The writer and psychoanalyst Anouchka Grose explores the force of destiny in our lives and as Jesus contemplates his future in his 40 days in the wilderness.
Producer: Phil Pegum.

SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b08hl5ff)
The latest national and international news.

SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b08hl5fh)
Shrines

Centred around a visit to his local Sufi shrine in Delhi, Mark Tully considers the apparently increasing popularity of shrines in many cultures.

He talks to journalist and Sufi devotee Sadia Delvi at the holy shrine at Nizamuddin Auliya, which is the mausoleum of India's most famous Sufi saint. The Qawwals sing, offerings are made and food is shared as they discuss the pluralism of worship in such places.

Mark also introduces readings by poets Robert Lowell and Edmund Blunden, and by journalist Jon Lichfiled, along with music from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Matthew Halsall and David Bowie.

The readers are Emily Raymond, Francis Cadder and Jasper Britton.

Presenter: Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 06:35 The Living World (b08hl8hz)
Toads (The Toad)

Chris Packham relives programmes from The Living World archives.

The loveable Mr Toad in Kenneth Graham's Wind in the Willows talked long about what he planned to do in the days to come. In this programme from 2000 Lionel Kelleway heads to a Surrey woodland to see for himself what toads really get up to on a warm damp evening in March. Disappearing from our view in early winter, once the conditions are suitable in early spring toads will reappear en-masse as if by magic it seems. These warty amphibians are a much loved part of the British countryside but as Lionel discovers from herpetologist Julia Wycherley while still widespread their numbers are declining. Many factors are at work to threaten toads, loss of wet woods and ponds, fragmentation of the habitat and human disturbance to name a few and as this programme begins by a busy road, the famed toad movement in spring across a busy road often poses another barrier.

Producer Andrew Dawes.

SUN 06:57 Weather (b08hl5fk)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b08hl5fm)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 07:10 Sunday (b08hl5fr)
Jewish manuscript, Child refugees' mental health, Bishop Philip North reaction

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.

SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (b08hl8j1)
St Giles Trust

Jenny Agutter, a Patron of St Giles Trust, makes the Radio 4 Appeal on the charity's behalf.

Registered Charity Number 801355
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 'St Giles Trust'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'St Giles Trust'.

SUN 07:57 Weather (b08hl5ft)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b08hl5fw)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b08hl8j3)
The Pearl of Great Value

'What we measure controls us' is the theme the Bishop of Dorking, the Rt Revd Dr Jo Bailey Wells, takes as she preaches for the second of Radio 4's special services for Lent, from St Mary's Church in Guildford. The service is led by the Rector, the Revd Canon Robert Cotton. The choir is directed by Martin Holford and Alexandra Stevenson and the organist is Anthony Gritten. Producer Andrew Earis.

A link to resources for individuals and small groups based on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book is available on the Sunday Worship web pages.

SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b08h0g4y)
The Screensaver of Life, or the Idling Brain

Stella Tillyard looks at the phonomenon of the "idling brain" - when the brain is supposedly at rest.

She ponders what it means that we have no idea what's running through the minds of the people closest to us and argues that - in an increasingly fractured world - knowing what's going on in each other's minds might help us understand each other.

Scientists, she points out, have taken up the challenge. One group of psychologists estimate that people spend somewhere between 25 and 50% of their waking hours engaged in thoughts unrelated to the here and now.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03k21n6)
Blackbird

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

Chris Packham presents the blackbird. Resident blackbirds are on the alert just now because their territories are under siege. Large numbers of Continental blackbirds pour in to the UK each winter to escape even colder conditions elsewhere.

SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b08hl5fy)
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 (b08hl5g0)
Miranda makes herself clear, and Fallon gets an unexpected reaction.

SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b08hl8tr)
Marian Keyes

Kirsty Young's castaway is the writer Marian Keyes.

Her twelve novels to date have sold 35 million copies and are published in 33 languages. Some of her novels have been adapted for the screen. She has also published three volumes of journalism.

Marian was born the eldest of five children in Ireland in 1963. While she was academically successful at school, she says she wasn't taught to think for herself, which left her ill prepared for university where she studied law.

After completing her degree, but failing to get apprenticed to a law firm in Dublin, she moved to London. She spent her twenties working as a waitress, and began drinking heavily. She went into rehab for her alcoholism when she was 30.

Her fortunes changed once she was sober: she sent some short stories she had written the previous year off to a publisher and had her debut novel published in 1995.

Marian has described each of her books as "a comedy about something serious" and says they are a reflection of who she is:
"I'm very bleak, really melancholic. But I've always used humour as a survival mechanism. I write for me and I need to feel hopeful about the human condition. So no way I'm going to write a downbeat ending. And it isn't entirely ludicrous to suggest that sometimes things might work out for the best."

Producer: Sarah Taylor.

SUN 12:00 News Summary (b08hl5g2)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (b08gwy5l)
Series 77, Episode 3

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 panellists are Paul Merton, Jenny Eclair, Marcus Brigstocke and Just A Minute newbie, Al Murray. The panel will endeavour to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

What has Jenny got to say about flying saucers? What is Marcus's hidden talent? Does Paul ever play second fiddle? And we find out what Al's ideal pub consists of.

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

Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.

SUN 12:32 Food Programme (b08hl90c)
Tea: A Coffee Drinker's Guide, Part 2

Do we pay enough for tea? Dan Saladino - a long-term and deeply committed coffee drinker - continues his look at our love affair with the leaf.
Dan catches up with the BBC's South Asia Correspondent Justin Rowlatt, who has reported on conditions for tea workers in Assam, India. He also discovers a world of 'rock-star' tea growers and learns how to tell the difference between CTC and orthodox tea - and why it matters.
Presented by Dan Saldino and produced in Bristol.

SUN 12:57 Weather (b08hl5g4)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b08hl5g6)
Global news and analysis.

SUN 13:30 Faking It: Trump and the Media (b08hlbsd)
Alan Rusbridger, former Editor of The Guardian, talks to journalists and news consumers across America in dispatches from President Trump's 'running war' with the US media Alan asks why the media has been cast as Trump's 'opposition party', how they are responding to the dilemmas and opportunities the new administration brings and whether the President is right to claim that the 'mainstream media' has lost the trust of the American people.

SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b08h0g4f)
North Hampshire

Eric Robson and the panel present the show from North Hampshire. Joining Eric to answer the questions are Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood and Chris Beardshaw.

This week, the panel recommend outdoor tomato varieties, solve the mystery of a non-fruiting grapevine, and offer advice on deadheading Hydrangeas. They also suggest a whole host of wildlife-friendly hedging plants.

And Pippa Greenwood visits Peter Greenwood, a pioneering plant breeder who's been breeding innovative plant varieties for the best part of 70 years.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b08hlbtg)
Omnibus - Belonging

Fi Glover introduces conversations between friends and partners about how they overcame first impressions and negative experiences 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 (b0713m30)
Rebus: A Question of Blood, Episode 2

2/2. Thriller by Ian Rankin. Dramatised by Chris Dolan.

Three pupils are gunned down by an ex-SAS soldier at a private school near Edinburgh. The police are at a loss to explain the motive - until DI Rebus begins to investigate an army helicopter crash on Jura.

Other parts played by the cast.

Producer/director: Bruce Young
BBC Scotland.

SUN 16:00 Open Book (b08hlbtx)
Helen Dunmore

Acclaimed novelist Helen Dunmore talks about her latest novel Birdcage Walk, set in her home town of Bristol against the backdrop of the French Revolution. Lizzie a hot headed young woman is forced to confront the differences between her idealistic mother and man-of-action husband. Once again Dunmore creates her trademark mix of ordinary lives played out in tumultuous times, also seen in books like The Siege and A Spell of Winter. Lizzie's husband faces ruin and her family are forced to question their ideals thanks to the long shadow cast by events in France. Helen Dunmore also talks movingly about being diagnosed with a serious illness while writing this novel, and how that affected her work.

SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b08hlbv1)
In-between Days

Winter is over but Spring has not quite sprung. Roger McGough presents a selection of poetry requests for an in-between time of year which looks both forward and back. The programme's full of memories and desires, some regrets; but poems of hope and expectation too. Expect stars, trees, childhood escapades, journeys taken (and not taken); things viewed across distances of time and space. Producer James Cook.

SUN 17:00 File on 4 (b08gxx7h)
Rogue Hauliers

In January a haulage boss and his mechanic were jailed for a tipper truck crash which killed four people. The brakes on six of the truck's eight wheels weren't working properly. The expert examiner from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency said Grittenham Haulage's vehicle would have been taken off the road if it had been stopped in a roadside check.

But are there sufficient roadside and on-site checks to detect safety breaches?

File on 4 uncovers cases where unsafe vehicles and drivers were allowed to remain on the roads, despite known concerns.

So does the current system of regulation and punishment go far enough to deter rogue operators who drive some of the most dangerous vehicles on our roads?

Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: David Lewis.

SUN 17:40 Profile (b08hl263)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]

SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5g8)
The latest shipping forecast.

SUN 17:57 Weather (b08hl5gb)
The latest weather forecast.

SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08hl5gd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b08hl5gg)
Gerry Northam

Memorable women are celebrated this week: women selling flowers in a city square, women in the golden age of Hollywood
women in music, Renaissance harmonies to the Blues, women in power, Clytemnaestra to Angela Merkel.
Men too of course: there's toe-curling embarrassment in an orchestral instance of the phrase 'You had one job and you muffed it', and Al Murray shows the regulars how to win a round on Just A Minute.

The radio iPlayer pick this week features A Tribute to Robert Robinson.
Presenter: Gerry Northam
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production support from Lorna Newman.

SUN 19:00 The Archers (b08hld2y)
Lilian has some news, and Usha shakes things up.

SUN 19:15 Boswell's Lives (b053bq4l)
Series 1, Boswell's Life of Freud

by Jon Canter

Comedy as James Boswell Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer pursues other legends to immortalise. Today he attempts to write a biography of Sigmund Freud but finds it is Freud who is asking all the questions.

Directed by Sally Avens

Other celebrities that have their lives penned by James Boswell will include - Maria Callas (Arabella Weir), Harold Pinter (Harry Enfield) and Boris Johnson (Alistair McGowan).

Jon Canter is an award winning comedy writer for both television and radio. He recently penned the radio series 'Believe It' starring Richard Wilson but his work goes back to Spitting Image. He is also the author of several books and has been called our greatest living comic novelist.

Miles Jupp is an actor and stand up. He is best known for playing Nigel in the series 'Rev' and is a regular contributor to R4 panel games and 'Have I Got News For You' on BBC1. In March he will open in a new play at the National Theatre: 'Rules For Living'.

Henry Goodman has recently been seen as Sir Humphrey Appleby in the stage version of Yes Minister and Arturo Ui. Films include 'The Damned United', The Life and Death of Peter Sellars' and 'Notting Hill'.

SUN 19:45 Egg (b08hldkj)
Specially commissioned short stories by some of Ireland's most exciting writers.

Recounting the story of her son's birth, a mother explains the unusual gift he brought with him into the world. As read by Roísín Gallagher.

Northern Irish author and winner of the 2016 Harper's Bazaar short story competition Jan Carson has been described as "a born storyteller" by The Guardian and her debut short story collection 'Children's Children' praised as "sharply written and inventive" by The Irish Times.

Reader ..... Roísín Gallagher
Writer ..... Jan Carson
Producer ..... Michael Shannon.

SUN 20:00 Feedback (b08h0g4p)
Keeping it impartial

This week a storm of controversy has surrounded Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray. Many listeners feel a newspaper article she wrote breached the BBC's guidelines on impartiality and compromised her presenter role. Others supported her right to free speech. We hear from listeners on both sides of the argument.

John Humphrys has also attracted criticism. During a Today programme interview he suggested that referring to MP Jo Cox's murder as an act of terrorism could "muddy the waters". Listeners say he "muddied the waters" himself and was inaccurate. They share their views on his remarks.

On Wednesday, Philip Hammond got to his feet to deliver his first Budget. TV and radio teams braved the rain and mud, crowding onto College Green to cover the story. We follow Emma Barnett and the 5 Live Daily team to find out the secrets of broadcasting the budget from a flimsy tent in the pouring rain.

And finally, Val McDermid has been pondering the horrifying prospects of a world where antibiotics no longer work. Her drama Resistance was inspired by a two-day Experimental Stories workshop hosted by the Wellcome Trust and Radio 4, where radio producers and writers met scientific researchers to develop dramas. Starring Gina McKee, listeners loved the dram's dystopian vision. Val McDermid talks about why she chose a music festival as the setting for her unnerving story.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

SUN 20:30 Last Word (b08h0g4m)
Sir Nigel Rodley, Sir Cosmo Haskard, Louise Hulton, Pete Overend Watts

Matthew Bannister on

The human rights lawyer Sir Nigel Rodley. He helped to draft the United Nations Convention Against Torture and became its special rapporteur on the issue.

Pete Overend Watts, the bass player from Mott the Hoople. His platform soled boots were so high that if he fell over on stage he needed a roadie to put him back on his feet again.

Louise Hulton the maternal health expert who worked tirelessly to improve conditions for childbirth around the world.

And Sir Cosmo Haskard, the colourful Governor of the Falkland Islands, who helped to stop the Labour government from handing them to Argentina in the 1960s.

Producer: Neil George.

SUN 21:00 Money Box (b08hl261)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]

SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b08hl8j1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]

SUN 21:30 Analysis (b08gx81y)
How do the SNP sell a second referendum?

Could a second referendum on Scottish independence yield a different result? In September 2014 when Scotland voted against becoming an independent country it seemed like the question had been settled for the foreseeable future. All that changed on June 23rd 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU. Just a few hours later - before she'd even been to bed - Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was already talking about the prospect of another vote on independence. Ever since she has been ramping up the rhetoric. But what would the SNP's strategy be second time around?

BBC Scotland Editor Sarah Smith explores whether the SNP would dare call another vote when there seems little appetite and opinion polls have failed to move as much as Nicola Sturgeon might have expected following the Brexit vote. Sarah talks to strategists and politicians for an insight into how things might be different should a second referendum take place in the near future. She asks whether an independent Scotland would be accepted into the EU and what the future might hold for the first minister should she fail to achieve what she sees as her duty - offering Scotland another chance to gain independence.

Presenter: Sarah Smith
Producer: Ben Carter.

SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b08hl5gj)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

SUN 23:00 Cells and Celluloid: A Science and Cinema Special (b08kgzbh)
Aliens on Film: Part Two

Cells and Celluloid Live ! Part 2 of 2

Join the Radio 4 Film Show's Francine Stock, science presenter Adam Rutherford and guests from the worlds of film and science for an evening exploring questions of life, the universe and everything.

Where did we get the idea that Martians would be humanoid, like little green men ? Or like Aelita, the Queen Of Mars (the Soviet Union's first sci-fi epic from 1924), or the Devil Girl From Mars, a black-clad siren with shoulder pads the size of aircraft carriers, who came to our planet with only one thing on her alien mind - our men, who she was planning to use as breeding stock. And then there's Mars Attacks ! in which bug eyed monsters laid waste to anything that got in their way, including Tom Jones.

As part of the Radio 4 Mars season were asking what kind of life might Mars support, and looking at how ideas of Martian life have been portrayed in films. Well go on to expand our horizons exploring the potential for life elsewhere in the universe, and seeing where science fact and science fiction films intersect and diverge on this theme.

SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b08hl5fh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 13 MARCH 2017

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b08hl5js)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b08gy87s)
Money - how to break the power of the banks

The production of money: how to break the power of the banks. Laurie Taylor talks to Ann Pettifor, Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME) and author of a provocative new book which asks how money is created and whose interests it serves. Countering the notion that it's a neutral medium of exchange in which bankers are merely go betweens for savers and borrowers, she says we can claim control over money production and avert another financial crisis. But how might we go about it? Diego Zuluaga, Financial Services Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, offers a contrasting perspective.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.

MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b08hl7bv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]

MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5jw)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08hl5jz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5k1)
The latest shipping forecast.

MON 05:30 News Briefing (b08hl5k3)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08jpf5g)
A short reflection and prayer with the Rev. David Bruce.

MON 05:45 Farming Today (b08hl5k5)
Jam and chutney, Cattle fraud, Plant pests and diseases

Today we begin a week long look at plant pests and diseases. First up it's Dr Buggs! Richard Buggs is the lead researcher at Kew Gardens and he's concerned about bio-security post-Brexit.

Our Northern Ireland Farming Correspondent, Connor Macauley reports on a disturbing case from County Tyrone where a fraudulent cattle dealer preyed on a vulnerable 83-year-old farmer and put the food chain at risk by selling diseased cattle.

A chef in Bristol is using waste food to produce tasty chutney for homeless people - Farming Today's Lucy Taylor joins her in the kitchen.

And as we wake up from winter into spring - we'll have the Farming Today 5-day Forecast from the BBC Weather Centre.

MON 05:56 Weather (b08hl5k7)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.

MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03tht7c)
Skylark

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

John Aitchison tells the story of the skylark. No other UK bird is capable of sustaining such a loud and complex song while hovering high above the ground, rapidly beating its wings to stay aloft. Some songs can last 20 minutes or more and their performance is likely to be as much a territorial display as an exhibition of the male's physical fitness to impress a female.

MON 06:00 Today (b08hl5kc)
News and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

MON 09:00 Start the Week (b08hl5kf)
Britain Divided: 1642-2016

On Start the Week Andrew Marr discusses the future of politics with David Goodhart and Oliver Letwin MP. In his latest book Goodhart looks at the fractious state of the west and the rise of populism, while Oliver Letwin asks what the government can do to reach those who feel marginalised.

The playwright Richard Bean reaches back to another time of internal conflict, the beginning of the English Civil War, and finds humour in the desperate attempts of one man to retain power.

Machiavelli is always associated with unscrupulous scheming, but his latest biographer Erica Benner argues that he was a man devoted to political and human freedom.

Producer: Katy Hickman

IMAGE: Rowan Polonski as Prince Rupert and Martin Barrass as Mayor Barnard in The Hypocrite by Richard Bean, a Hull Truck, Hull 2017 and RSC co-production. Photograph by Duncan Lomax (c) RSC.

MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b08hlk9s)
The Rule of the Land, Haulbowline - Slieve Gullion

Travelling on foot and by canoe, mapmaker Garrett Carr follows the border between the UK and Ireland. In search of the landscapes and people who make up this fragile borderland, he finds fresh uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Read by John Paul Connolly
Abridged by Anna Magnusson
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08hl5kh)
US gun-carrying women

Taxidermy, railway arches and donut walls - the reality of weddings in 2017. Wendy Holden, author of 'Laura Lake and the Hipster Weddings', and wedding planner Lisa Johnson, are here to discuss wedding regrets, new wedding trends and how groomzillas are now a planners worst nightmare.

Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger had a brief, and sweet, teenage romance. It ended when Tom raped Thordis at her home after a Christmas dance. Before either of them came to terms with his act of violence, he returned to Australia. Years later she decided to email him, telling him of the deep trauma he caused. In reply, he acknowledged his actions as rape, and they began a raw and painful, but ultimately healing dialogue. The two have written a book together, South of Forgiveness, about their experience. Jane speaks to Thoris Elva and Tom Stranger about their journey from sexual violence to reconciliation.

The first in a series of interviews giving us a window in on American women who choose to carry guns. A survey from Harvard and Northeastern Universities showed the percentage of Americans who own guns has decreased slightly but the number of women owning guns is increasing. First we meet Susan and Janet who live in Hendersonville, a small town of around 13,000 people in North Carolina. Susan, a gun instructor, runs the local chapter of 'The Well-Armed Woman'.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Kirsty Starkey.

MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08hlk9v)
Going Straight, Episode 1

by Melissa Murray

When lesbian Emma begins an affair with a man she finds that she has inadvertently betrayed the trust of the people she holds most dear A comedy drama about sex, work and family.

Directed by Marc Beeby.

MON 11:00 A Call from Joybubbles (b08hlnjq)
In the 1960s and 70s a whole subculture of teenagers - many of them blind - became fascinated by the United States phone system. They spent their time finding ingenious ways to hack into it and make the network do things that not even the phone company could have imagined. They were known as the phone phreaks.

This is the story of a love affair with the phone network and of the precocious teens who outwitted and explored it. It's also the story of the genius at the centre of that subculture.

Blind, with an IQ of 172 and perfect pitch, Josef Carl Engressia Jr. was born in 1949. He developed a fascination with phones at the age of four and by seven he'd discovered that he could make free phone calls simply by whistling the right tones. Joe had a difficult family life and as a child he sought refuge and reassurance in the hums, clicks and tones of the phone system.

As he grew up, the phone system became for him a universe to explore and he delighted in pushing it to its limits. He routed free calls right across the United States and back to his own phone - just because he could. His peculiar talents led to him being first prosecuted and, later, employed by the phone company.

And he wasn't the only person doing it. He gradually discovered that, scattered across America, there were other phone phreaks. Within this community - and beyond - Joe became a legend, the catalyst uniting disparate phreaks.

Phreaking was about exploring the phone network, playing with it and understanding it. It attracted brilliant oddballs and technological adventurers, people who would later play a key role in creating the personal computer - people like Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs who founded Apple.

In 1982 Joe Engressia's life took a bizarre new twist. He moved to Minneapolis, changed his name to Joybubbles and declared that he would remain five years old forever. Now he used the phone to record his thoughts and tell his life story on a dial-in service called 'Stories and Stuff', an audio blog which he updated every week until his death in 2007.

With a soundtrack of telephonic tones from an analogue era A Call from Joybubbles explores the extraordinary subculture which for two decades outwitted Ma Bell and her phone network.

Producer: Jeremy Grange.

MON 11:30 Chain Reaction (b08hlt48)
Series 12, Sara Pascoe Interviews Harry Hill

In this edtition, Sara Pascoe turns interviewer and invites her chosen guest Harry Hill 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.

Harry Hill is an award winning comedian and world class swingball player. Born in Woking in 1964, he holds a medical degree from the University of London. His books include Flight from Deathrow and Tim the Tiny Horse. He has been a stand-up since the early 90s and is well known as the star of TV Burp and the voice of You've Been Framed. Harry can currently be seen on Alien Fun Capsule.

Sara Pascoe 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 edition, Sara talks to the very first comedian that she ever saw live - Harry Hill. Sara and Harry discuss Gogglebox, constructive criticism, remaking the Godfather and the merits of sharks.

Producer: Adnan Ahmed
A BBC Studios Production



Photo credit: Matt Stronge.

MON 12:00 News Summary (b08hl5kk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 12:04 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (b08hltw6)
Series 5, The Broken Stool

"Science tells us that our body houses microbial organisms. Then how much our weight is really our weight? If I am overweight, is it because of my own body cells or excess microflora?" asks Ajay Mathur from Mumbai in India.

Adam bravely sends off a sample to the 'Map My Gut' project at St Thomas' Hospital to have his microbes mapped. Prof Tim Spector reveals the shocking results - a diet of fried breakfasts and fizzy drinks has left his guts in disarray. But help is at hand to makeover his bacterial lodgers.

Science writer Ed Yong, author of 'I Contain Multitudes', reveals how much our microbes weigh. We're just beginning to discover the vast array of vital functions they perform, from controlling our weight, immune system and perhaps even influencing our mood and behaviour.

Send your Curious Cases for consideration to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin.

MON 12:15 You and Yours (b08hl5km)
Deprivation of liberty, Renewable energy storage, Online car adverts

A new report shows Deprivation of Liberty orders are on the rise - so why are more people with dementia and learning difficulties being detained in care?

We look at how you store renewable energy for later use with domestic storage batteries and try to calculate if the upfront costs outweigh the long-term savings.

How a revision app to help pupils with their homework has ended up at the back of the class.

How can you spot a fake car ad online, or more importantly what do you do if you've paid for a car that never existed?

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Pete Wilson.

MON 12:57 Weather (b08hl5kp)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 13:00 World at One (b08hl5kr)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

MON 13:45 Intrigue: Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel (b08hlw0t)
Episode 1

The story of the mysterious murder which changed the course of Chinese politics. Carrie Gracie investigates the killing of a British man, Neil Heywood, in Chongqing in 2011, and explores his links to China's up-and-coming power couple. China is gripped by a lurid show trial. You can hear additional material in the podcast version of the programme.
Producers: Maria Byrne and Neal Razzell
Sound mix by James Beard.

MON 14:00 The Archers (b08hld2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]

MON 14:15 Afternoon Drama (b04mgxtg)
Hancock's Ashes

by Caroline and David Stafford

Based on a real event. In 1968 Willie Rushton brought Tony Hancock's ashes back to Britain from Australia. This play imagines what might have happened behind the scenes...

Directed by Marc Beeby.

MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (b08hm0x5)
Heat 8, 2017

(8/17)
Russell Davies welcomes another four competitors to the BBC's Maida Vale studios for the latest general knowledge contest. Will they know the shared name of Jane Austen's mother and sister, what specific number the word 'myriad' technically means, or where Stalin was born? If they do, they may be in with a chance of a place in the semi-finals, and be another step nearer to the 64th Brain of Britain title.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

MON 15:30 Food Programme (b08hl90c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]

MON 16:00 The Headline Ballads (b08hm0x7)
The Town That Made Me

A series in which poets and storytellers respond to stories underneath the world news headlines.

What defines home and our sense of belonging? In Sunderland 61% of the city's population voted to leave the European Union. Set against a historical political backdrop of industrial decline and deprivation in the region, increasingly the fabric which defined and shaped the character of the city and its people is disappearing. In the final part of The Headline Ballads performance poet Bohdan Piasecki visits Sunderland to find out what makes us who we are, and how we hold onto our sense of identity when the city in which we live is changing beyond all recognition? He weaves the story of Sunderland's lost heritage using the personal testimonies of the people who live there, documenting their fierce pride in their city and explores how it's trying to redefine itself.

Produced by Cecile Wright.

MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b08hm0x9)
Science Fiction

Science fiction has perhaps been unfairly dismissed by many critics and academics; seen by some as a niche genre, not befitting the elite group of literary works deemed to be 'high art'. While some examples of science fiction could be criticised for perpetuating fantasy clichés, others undoubtedly explore the biggest questions of life. Fans argue that the Sci-Fi universe allows the audience to suspend their disbelief about what is conventional, and opens up a space to explore philosophical, ethical and religious ideas in a relatable, absorbing and entertaining way. So how has religion been explored in the most influential works of science fiction? And what does science fiction have to tell us about faith and religion?

Robert Beckford discusses the role of religion in science fiction with Aliette de Bodard, a writer with an interest in the interplay between science fiction and religion; Roz Kaveney, a writer, poet and critic; and Dr Sarah Dillon, author and Cambridge academic who explores science fiction in literature and film.

Producer: Dan Tierney
Series producer: Amanda Hancox.

MON 17:00 PM (b08hl5kt)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08hl5kw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b08hm9vy)
Series 77, Episode 4

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, Josie Lawrence, Zoe Lyons and Graham Norton, who will endeavor to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

What can Graham Norton tell us about Marie Tussaud? How long can Josie Lawrence talk about Sherwood Forest? Paul Merton begs his pardon and does Zoe plough her own furrow?

Warning! This episode contains not one but TWO uninterrupted minutes! But who scores them and on what subject? 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.

MON 19:00 The Archers (b08hm9w0)
David stands his ground, and Emma struggles on.

MON 19:15 Front Row (b08hl5ky)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

MON 19:45 Book of the Week (b088dp4c)
The Word Detective, Episode 1

Language is always changing. No one knows where it is going, but the best way to peer into the future is to look at the past. John Simpson brings to life a tradition of researching and editing, describing the way in which the Oxford English Dictionary is written and updated - based on historical principles showing how language evolves.

John Simpson joined the staff of the OED in the pre-digital 1970s. He retired as Chief Editor in 2013, having overseen the digitisation of the dictionary in the 1980s, before taking it online in 2000.

With a sense of humour, an ability to laugh at bureaucracy and an inclination to question the status quo, he gives life to the colourful characters at the OED and to the English language itself.

In today's episode, John Simpson describes how the OED got started in the mid-19th century. He relates how he joined the staff as a fledgling lexicographer in the 1970s, and was soon given the job of revising the dictionary entry for the word 'queen'.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Nigel Anthony
Producer David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 20:00 The Age of Consent (b08hm9w2)
Episode 1

Helena Kennedy QC explores the key idea of consent in our politics, law, media and digital lives.

Contemporary living is predicated on the concept of consent, in our relationships with each other, in law, in healthcare - and above all in politics. Legitimate government relies upon the consent of the people. At some level, consent means we must have agreed to be governed, allegedly through the ballot box. Without our consent, political institutions would lack legitimacy.

Yet we know it is not quite so straightforward. How well informed is our consent, and can the methods for securing it be manipulated? When should silence be taken as a form of 'tacit' consent, and does an absence of dissent imply widespread agreement to the order of things? Isn't consent really a spectrum and when new norms are created, what happens when they are not shared by all parts of society? These questions go to the heart of our politics, law, data, media and whole areas of public life.

This two-part series explores the idea of consent as a vital component of our political life, our legal obligations and how we control personal information in the digital age. But also, in terms of the psyche, an idea that says something about our own selves - what have we really consented to in the way we live, the way we are governed? Is informed consent even possible in age of so-called post-truth, fake news, propaganda and spin?

Series contributors include psychotherapist Adam Phillips, historian Quentin Skinner, digital philosopher Mark Andrejevik, essayist Pankaj Mishra and American political writer Thomas Frank.

Presenter: Helena Kennedy QC
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping Production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 20:30 Analysis (b08hm9w4)
Holland's Challenge to Tolerance

Why is liberal, tolerant Netherlands home to one of Europe's most successful anti-immigration, anti-Islamic parties?

Geert Wilders' radical right-wing Party For Freedom (PVV) - which wants to close mosques and ban the Qur'an - will be one of the biggest in the new Dutch parliament. So have its voters - whom Wilders once described as "Henk and Ingrid", Holland's Mr and Mrs Average - turned their backs on centuries-old Dutch values? Or do they just understand those values in a different way?

Unlike some far-right parties elsewhere in Europe, the PVV has no neo-Nazi roots. It's loud in its support for gay and women's rights. It promotes itself as a strong defender of Holland's Jewish community. Is its ideology just an opportunistic mishmash? Or does it make some sense in a Dutch context? Searching for Henk and Ingrid, Tim Whewell sets off through Dutch "flyover country" - the totally un-photogenic satellite towns and modern villages that tourists, and Holland's own elite, rarely see.

He asks if the PVV's platform is just thinly disguised racism. Or has it raised important questions about immigration and multiculturalism that other European countries, including the UK, have been scared to ask?

Producer: Helen Grady.

MON 21:00 Shrinking Population: How Japan Fell Out of Love with Love (b07vndh1)
Tulip Mazumdar explores how young people's rejection of intimacy and their embracing of singledom has left Japan's authorities struggling to tackle rapid population decline.

Traditionally, the working husband and the stay-at-home housewife defined a Japanese family. Now, with society changing, young people are choosing independence over 'troublesome' relationships. The result is an uncontrolled decline in population, where a decreasing birth rate and rapidly aging population paints a bleak outlook for Japan's future.

Tulip meets the eligible men and women who are choosing careers, fun and freedom over, marriage, boyfriends or girlfriends. Such is their determination to be independent, few want or have time for partners - let alone indulging in sexual relations. For those who are lonely or in need of a human connection, relationship substitutes fill a void. Theirs is a life unfamiliar to the nation's parents and grandparents.

With a generation almost refusing to procreate, the Japanese government faces something of a crisis. Tulip meets with officials to hear of the actions they're taking to arrest the decline in population including, remarkably, the funding of speed dating events.

With women taking up fresh work opportunities and grasping hold of new equalities, can government intervention defuse the demographic time bomb?

A Like It Is Media production for BBC Radio 4.

MON 21:30 Start the Week (b08hl5kf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

MON 21:58 Weather (b08hl5l0)
The latest weather forecast.

MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b08hl5l2)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08hm9w6)
Birdcage Walk, Episode 6

We continue with Helen Dunmore's new novel, published in early March. Set in Bristol in 1792, Birdcage Walk plays out against a backdrop of the French Revolution. It touches on Radical idealism, property, political turmoil and private tragedy. Inspired by the real life of Julia Fawkes, a leading Radical writer, none of whose work has survived, Dunmore explores the tensions between generations and genders, and examines the idea of legacy as Julia's daughter Lizzie finds herself torn between her charismatic, self made husband and her idealistic mother. As her husband John Diner Tredevant speculates on property in Bristol's housing boom, he risks losing everything in the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution.

Episode Six: Diner questions where Lizzie has been on her nocturnal wanderings, and a chance encounter with a dressmaker on the streets of Bristol reveals a clue to John Diner's past. Lizzie Fawkes decides to visit the dressmaker to find out more about Diner's first wife Lucie and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.

An acclaimed poet and award-winning novelist, Helen Dunmore's work often explores the interplay between the public and the personal, most famously in The Siege and The Betrayal, and most recently Exposure.

Hattie Morahan is a stage, film and TV actress who won numerous awards for her portrayal of Nora in the Young Vic production of A Doll's House. She was part of the cast of Outnumbered and recently appeared in BBC TVs My Mother and Other Strangers.

The readers are Hattie Morahan and Carl Prekopp
The abridger is Sara Davies
Produced by Julian Wilkinson.

MON 23:00 Wireless Nights (b08hmd23)
Series 5, Joujouka

Jarvis Cocker returns to Radio 4 with his nocturnal explorations of the human condition.

In tonight's Wireless Night, Jarvis travels to a remote village in the Rif Mountains of Morocco to join the Master Musicians of Joujouka. Their ancient Sufi trance music is said to heal crazy minds. Jarvis wonders if his own troubled mind can find tranquillity there but encounters the wild living embodiment of the God Pan, half man and half goat, who has other ideas.

The Master Musicians of Joujouka were first discovered by Western ears in the 1950's when beat writers and artists like Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, living in Tangier, were lured up to the hills and had their minds blown by the healing power of the music. Rolling Stone Brian Jones also made a recording of their music shortly before his death calling it The Rites of Pan in Joujouka. This ritual lives on in the village, where somebody dressed in goatskins takes on the mythical character Bou Jeloud, enters a trance, whirls around with branches of willow and anyone he brushes with is blessed with fertility.

For one night only Jarvis joins the musicians and Bou Jeloud under a starlit sky in North Africa where unexpected things happen after dark.

This programme was recorded "Binaurally". This is a special, immersive way of recording whereby you'll hear things the way Jarvis was hearing them and can best be appreciated by listening on headphones.

Producer Neil McCarthy.

MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b08hmb9y)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.

TUESDAY 14 MARCH 2017

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b08hl5mx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b08hlk9s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]

TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5mz)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08hl5n1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5n3)
The latest shipping forecast.

TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b08hl5n5)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08jtgb8)
A short reflection and prayer with the Rev. David Bruce.

TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b08hl5n7)
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 (b03thsbj)
Dunnock

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

John Aitchison presents the dunnock. You'll often see dunnocks, or hedge sparrows, as they were once called, shuffling around under a bird table or at the bottom of a hedge. They're inconspicuous birds being mostly brown with a greyish neck and breast. They aren't, as you might imagine, closely related to sparrows, many of their nearest relatives are birds of mountainous regions in Europe and Asia.

TUE 06:00 Today (b08hl5n9)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

TUE 09:00 The Long View (b08hmr15)
Jonathan Freedland compares Donald Trump's proposed border wall with the impenetrable 2500 mile Great Hedge of India constructed in the 1840s to control trade between British India and the Princely States.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.

TUE 09:30 Unforgettable (b07pf4vy)
David Temple/Derek Jarman

David Temple has an imagined conversation with his late brother-in-law, Derek Jarman. The two differ in many ways but their mutual affection, and a similar sense of humour, shine across the 22 years since Derek's death, as they share impressions of Jarman's films.

There is much laughter in the exchange between the living and the deceased as David and Derek recount stories of film premieres and family Christmases. There is sadness also as Jarman talks of the death of his mother from cancer. Temple tells Jarman of a death, also from cancer, that he did not live long enough to know of, that of Derek's sister, David's wife. Derek's own HIV-related death is a constant backdrop to the dialogue.

At times it's easy to suspend disbelief and to imagine these two men are actually in the same room together, catching up after more than two decades apart, such is the spontaneity and quiet energy of their conversation.

In 1991 Natalie Cole sang a duet with her long dead father, Nat King Cole - the result was Unforgettable. This is the radio equivalent. In each edition of the series, a different guest is invited to interact with someone, now dead, with whom they have, or have wanted to have, a connection. Using technology designed for musicians and DJs to spontaneously play out short musical clips, producer Adam Fowler facilitates a real-time conversation between the two participants, using conversational snippets of the deceased from past recordings.

The guest has no advance knowledge of the excerpts, and the conversation can take unexpected turns, occasionally leading to some emotionally charged interchanges, as living voices engage with those preserved in the archive.

Research: Philippa Geering
Producer: Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b08hmr17)
The Rule of the Land, Mile Hill - The Dorsey

Travelling on foot and by canoe, mapmaker Garrett Carr follows the border between the UK and Ireland. As his journey continues he meets the border natives who knows the land better than anyone - the farmers.

Read by John Paul Connolly
Abridged by Anna Magnusson
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08hl5nc)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b08hnj2s)
Going Straight, Episode 2

by Melissa Murray

Pressure mounts on lesbian Emma to tell her best friend Kirsty about her affair with a man - news that could ruin both their relationship and Kirsty's business.

Directed by Marc Beeby.

TUE 11:00 Supersense Me (b08hnj2v)
Timandra Harkness explores the devices and technologies being developed that, in combination with our brain processes, allow the perception of previously un-sensed information about the world around us.

As humans, we can perceive less than a ten-trillionth of all light waves. "Our experience of reality," says neuroscientist David Eagleman, "is constrained by our biology." He wants to change that.

What if we could experience the world in the same way some animals do? Feel magnetic north like migratory birds, see infrared light like snakes or hear in the ultrasonic frequency range like bats?

Timandra considers whether she could evolve her biology and acquire a super sense.

Contributors include Dr David Eagleman, neuroscientist; Dr Scott Novich, co-founder, NeoSensory; Dr Giles Hamilton-Fletcher, research fellow at University of Sussex; Daniel Hajas, student at University of Sussex; Liviu Babitz, co-founder of Cyborg Nest; and Hannes Sjoblad, co-founder of biohacker network Bionyfiken.

Producer: Dom Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 11:30 The Sound of Bombs (b08hnj2x)
Fatima Al Qadiri explores how the sounds of war run through modern music.

In 1990, the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait. They left only after 7 months of occupation and the first Gulf War. Fatima Al Qadiri was 9 years old at the time. Now an acclaimed musician, she explores what happens when warfare and music collide.

War is a permanent feature on our TV's, radios and computer screens - when it's not in the news, it's in Hollywood movies and video games. And the sounds that come with it have bled into modern music in an unmistakeable way. Some composers and producers must bring war to life in the scores for games and films, while others work to use the sounds of war to try and put the horror of war on record.

In the age of the portable mp3 player, music has become indispensable for soldiers and civilians caught up in warzones - an escape route that is used by soldiers regardless of background and mission, from US Soldiers to fighters for the so-called Islamic State. Sound also has a more sinister role. The sound of drones is a key part of the terror they create, and music has been used to torture prisoners of war and suspected terrorists.

As she explores the world of music and war, Fatima also investigates why the sounds of warfare have become an essential part of her music, and how music can be used to better understand the violence that inspired it.

Producer: Robert Nicholson.
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 12:00 News Summary (b08hl5nf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 12:04 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (b08hnj2z)
Series 5, The World That Turns

"Why does the Earth spin?" asks Joe Wills from Accra in Ghana.

Hannah quizzes cosmologist Andrew Pontzen about the birth of the Solar System and why everything in space seems to spin. Is there anything in the Universe that doesn't revolve?

BBC weatherman John Hammond explain to Adam how the rotation of the Earth creates our weather systems and the strange things that would happen if we spun the opposite way.

Send your Curious Cases for consideration to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin.

TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b08hl5nh)
Call You and Yours

Consumer phone-in.

TUE 12:57 Weather (b08hl5nk)
The latest weather forecast.

TUE 13:00 World at One (b08hl5nm)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

TUE 13:45 Intrigue: Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel (b08hnk6l)
Episode 2

We've met the mayor's wife. Now meet the mayor, the remarkable man who takes this story to the national stage. The continuing true story of death, sex and elite politics in China, presented by BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie.
You can hear additional material in the podcast version of the programme.
Producers: Maria Byrne and Neal Razzell
Sound mix by James Beard.

TUE 14:00 The Archers (b08hm9w0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]

TUE 14:15 Drama (b08hnlxw)
The Ferryhill Philosophers, Moral Status and the Golden Boy

By Michael Chaplin. The parents of a young boy grievously injured in a cycling accident face the terrible decision of whether to leave him on a life-support machine indefinitely - or to switch it off.

The boy's mother asks Joe to help her husband face up to the decision - and tells Joe something which changes everything.

Alun Armstrong and Deborah Findlay star as the ex-Durham miner and the University philosopher who, together, bring human compassion and philosophy to bear in facing up to some of life's hardest dilemmas.

Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (b08hnlxy)
Series 11, The Leap

Josie Long hears stories of courage, fresh hope and pinball wizardry - from two lawyers who pursue a sudden courageous career change in middle age to the pursuit of new love after loss.

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

TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b08hnly0)
Heroines of the Rainforest

The Indonesian rainforest has suffered enormous damage over the last few decades. Logged for timber and cleared for palm oil production, the habitat of remarkable creatures has declined at an extraordinary rate, leaving the region's iconic Orangutan critically endangered.

Peter Hadfield has travelled across Borneo to meet two remarkable women who have found a formula to reverse the decline. Dentist, Hotlin Ompusunggu and doctor, Kinari Webb set up a clinic which offered cheap healthcare to villages that agree to stop logging in their neighbourhood. The clinic also teaches low intensity farming practices, providing local people with fresh vegetables and a new income stream, bringing the traditional slash and burn agricultural techniques to an end.

Hotlin has been awarded one of the Oscars of the conservation world- a Whitley Gold Award- and the hope is that the formula can be rolled out to other regions of the world threatened by deforestation.

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

TUE 16:00 Law in Action (b08hnly2)
Legal magazine programme presented by Joshua Rozenberg.

TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b08hnly4)
Harriet Harman and Pete Paphides

Harriet Harman MP and music journalist Pete Paphides champion favourite books, with Harriett Gilbert. Harriet Harman chooses We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Pete Paphides champions Julian Cope's drug fuelled autobiography Head On, and Harriett Gilbert defends Nothing Sacred, a collection of Angela Carter's writing and journalism. There is an unexpected convert to Julian Cope's tales, and an animated debate ends up with Harriet Harman being asked if she ever inhaled. Producer Sally Heaven.

TUE 17:00 PM (b08hl5nr)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08hl5nt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

TUE 18:30 The Missing Hancocks (b08hnpmg)
A Holiday in France

The Missing Hancocks recreates those episodes of the classic Hancock's Half Hour that have been wiped or lost from the archive. Something else has gone missing in this episode from the second series - the lad 'imself, who had absconded to Rome. In 1955, he was replaced for the first three episodes by the Goon Show's Harry Secombe. In this recreation, he has been replaced by Andy Secombe - Harry's son. Not heard since then, this is a real piece of comedy history.

The first modern sitcom, Hancock's Half Hour made stars of Tony Hancock, Sid James and Kenneth Williams, and launched Ray Galton and Alan Simpson on one of the most successful comedy-writing partnerships in history. But 20 episodes of the show are missing from the BBC archives. Now, after two highly successful series, another five of those episodes have been lovingly re-recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.

Tonight's episode: A Holiday In France. Harry Secombe and Bill leave for a holiday in Southend but they get on the wrong train and end up in Paris where they first meet Andree.

Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score newly recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the show stars Andy Secombe, Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian and Susy Kane. A Holiday In France was first broadcast on the 19th April, 1955.

Produced by Ed Morrish & Neil Pearson.

Written by Ray Galton & Simpson

Music recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Levon Parikian.

A BBC Studios Production.

TUE 19:00 The Archers (b08hnpmj)
Alice spots an opportunity, and Josh gets in the way.

TUE 19:15 Front Row (b08hl5nw)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

TUE 19:45 Book of the Week (b088zmlm)
The Word Detective, Episode 2

Language is always changing. No one knows where it is going, but the best way to peer into the future is to look at the past. John Simpson brings to life a tradition of researching and editing, describing the way in which the Oxford English Dictionary is written and updated - based on historical principles showing how language evolves.

John Simpson joined the staff of the OED in the pre-digital 1970s. He retired as Chief Editor in 2013, having overseen the digitisation of the dictionary in the 1980s, before taking it online in 2000.

With a sense of humour, an ability to laugh at bureaucracy and an inclination to question the status quo, he gives life to the colourful characters at the OED and to the English language itself.

In today's episode, John Simpson is put in charge of the New Words group, and starts to investigate the world of Rastafarianism. The poet Benjamin Zephaniah teaches him the fine art of "skanking". We also learn some lesser-known English proverbs and about John's work on The Australian National Dictionary.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Nigel Anthony
Producer David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b08hnpml)
The Prison Contraband Crisis

Prisons are a crucible for corruption, a former governor claims. Staff are working in the toughest conditions the system has seen in decades. Thousands of experienced staff have left and some areas are struggling to replace them. Morale is falling amid record levels of violence. The use of new psychoactive substances is out of control - fuelling yet more violence. Mobile phones are flooding in, making the flow of drugs even more difficult to contain. So how does contraband make its way onto prison wings?

Former prisoners tell File on 4 that the bulk of smuggled goods come in with staff. Drones and visitors bring in small amounts, but the bigger consignments can only make it through with inside help. John Podmore, who's run jails and led the service's anti-corruption unit, says staff corruption is the inconvenient truth at the heart of the prison crisis.

"It is uncomfortable. They are few in number but they are large in their effect. One prison officer bringing in one coffee jar full of spice or cannabis can keep that jail going for a long time and make an awful lot of money."

Former prisoners tell the BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent, Danny Shaw, staff corruption is a serious problem but has become "the elephant in the room" that prison officials don't want to acknowledge. The ex-inmates say some staff are being corrupted while others turn a blind eye.

The Ministry of Justice has promised renewed efforts to combat corruption and professionalise the service. Thousands of frontline staff in London and south-east England will benefit from a pay boost, thanks to a new £12m package.

So will it stop the rot?

Reporter: Danny Shaw
Producer: Sally Chesworth
Editor: Gail Champion.

TUE 20:40 In Touch (b08hl5ny)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.

TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b08hnpmn)
Dr Mark Porter presents a series that aims to demystify perplexing health issues.

TUE 21:30 The Long View (b08hmr15)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b08hl5p0)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08hnpmq)
Birdcage Walk, Episode 7

We continue with Helen Dunmore's new novel, published in early March. Set in Bristol in 1792, Birdcage Walk plays out against a backdrop of the French Revolution. It touches on Radical idealism, property, political turmoil and private tragedy. Inspired by the real life of Julia Fawkes, a leading Radical writer, none of whose work has survived, Dunmore explores the tensions between generations and genders, and examines the idea of legacy as Julia's daughter Lizzie finds herself torn between her charismatic, self made husband and her idealistic mother. As her husband John Diner Tredevant speculates on property in Bristol's housing boom, he risks losing everything in the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution.

Episode Seven: The news from France darkens, and Lizzie receives a French visitor - but the visitor has not come to talk of the Revolution. Instead she is searching for Lizzie husband's Diner, and the whereabouts of his first wife's tombstone.

An acclaimed poet and award-winning novelist, Helen Dunmore's work often explores the interplay between the public and the personal, most famously in The Siege and The Betrayal, and most recently Exposure.

Hattie Morahan is a stage, film and TV actress who won numerous awards for her portrayal of Nora in the Young Vic production of A Doll's House. She was part of the cast of Outnumbered and recently appeared in BBC TVs My Mother and Other Strangers.

The readers are Hattie Morahan and Carl Prekopp
The abridger is Sara Davies
Produced by Julian Wilkinson.

TUE 23:00 Sarah Kendall: Australian Trilogy (b08hnpms)
Series 1, Shaken

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 3: Shaken

"This show is a story, and it's a big story. But it actually starts in one of my therapy sessions..."

In 1989, 13 and unpopular, Sarah misses the school bus. This prompts her to tell a lie and suddenly she finds herself the focal point of the entire community.

This show is as much about the art of storytelling as it is about a teenager's want to be popular. Sarah examines why stories are so important to her and she leaves us with a message from Ferris Bueller:

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and move around once in a while, you could miss it"

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 (b08hnpmv)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster.

WEDNESDAY 15 MARCH 2017

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b08hl5rd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b08hmr17)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]

WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5rg)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b08hl5rj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.

WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b08hl5rm)
The latest shipping forecast.

WED 05:30 News Briefing (b08hl5rp)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b08jv3fb)
A short reflection and prayer with the Rev. David Bruce.

WED 05:45 Farming Today (b08hl5rr)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Chris Ledgard.

WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03x46sm)
Treecreeper

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

Bill Oddie presents the treecreeper. Treecreepers are common woodland birds but because their high-pitched almost whispering song, is often drowned out by the dawn chorus, they're often overlooked. The first glimpse may be a silhouette, its belly close to the bark, braced by stiff tail feathers. It has a curved, tweezer-like bill with with which it delicately probes for hidden insects and spiders deep in the crevices of the bark.

WED 06:00 Today (b08hl5rt)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Yesterday in Parliament, Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

WED 09:00 Midweek (b08hl5rw)
Lively and diverse conversation with Libby Purves and guests.

WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b08hnr6b)
The Rule of the Land, Clones - The Bloody Pass

Travelling on foot and by canoe, mapmaker Garrett Carr follows the border between the UK and Ireland. At the twistiest stretch of the border, the author battles with boy racers on the narrow roads of County Fermanagh.

Read by John Paul Connolly
Abridged by Anna Magnusson
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b08hl5ry)
Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b08hnr6d)
Going Straight, Episode 3

by Melissa Murray

Emma tells Kirsty that she has been having an affair - with disastrous consequences.

Directed by Marc Beeby.

WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b08hnr6g)
Roger and Percy - A Seven Year Itch

Together for 51 years, they finally face the truth about 'the excursion' Percy took, seven years into their relationship. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

WED 11:00 The Age of Consent (b08hm9w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]

WED 11:30 Simon Evans Goes to Market (b0610182)
Series 2, Alcohol

Comedian Simon Evans returns with a new series about the economics of some of the goods - or bads - we are addicted to.

If you crave your daily coffee, can't get by without a cigarette, feel that mid-afternoon slump without your sugar-fix, or can't face an evening without a glass of wine, you are definitely not alone. But have you ever thought about the economics that has made your addiction possible? Who does it profit? And would you want to make some canny investments that take advantage of our human weaknesses?

In this series, Simon Evans looks at the economics, history and health issues behind these oh-so-addictive commodities.

With the help of economics guru, More Or Less host Tim Harford and the Queen of investment know-how, Merryn Somerset-Webb, Simon walks us around the economics of these very familiar commodities and pokes fun at our relationship with them.

Presented by Simon Evans, with regular guests Tim Harford and Merryn Somerset-Webb.
Written by Simon Evans, Benjamin Partridge and Andy Wolton.
Produced by Claire Jones.

WED 12:00 News Summary (b08hl5s1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 12:04 The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry (b08hnr80)
Series 5, A Code in Blood

"Why do we have different blood types?" asks Doug from Norfolk.

The average adult human has around 30 trillion red blood cells, they make up a quarter of the total number of cells in the body.

We have dozens of different blood groups, but normally we're tested for just two - ABO and Rhesus factor. Adam and Hannah delve into the gory world of blood and the early history of blood transfusions, to discover why we have blood groups and what makes them so important.

Featuring interviews with Dr Jo Mountford, from the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and immunologist Dr Sheena Cruikshank from the University of Manchester.

Send your Curious Cases for consideration to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford
Producer: Michelle Martin.

WED 12:15 You and Yours (b08hnr9k)
Consumer affairs programme.

WED 12:57 Weather (b08hl5s3)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 13:00 World at One (b08hnrhj)
Analysis of news and current affairs.

WED 13:45 Intrigue: Murder in the Lucky Holiday Hotel (b08hnr9m)
Episode 3

What really happened in the hotel suite in Chongqing? The British businessman and go-between Neil Heywood arrives in Chongqing, where an"iron-blooded" police chief holds sway. The continuing true story of sex, death and Chinese politics, told by the BBC's China Editor Carrie Gracie.
You can hear additional material in the podcast version of the programme.
Producers: Maria Byrne and Neal Razzell
Sound mix by James Beard.

WED 14:00 The Archers (b08hnpmj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]

WED 14:15 Drama (b08hpbx3)
The Ferryhill Philosophers, Political Obligations and the Occasional Toke

By Michael Chaplin. Joe's forced to uncover his neighbours' illicit activities and confront old betrayals from the 1984 miner's strike as he clashes with a police officer and his own daughter. Hermione forces them all to find a way forward.

Alun Armstrong and Deborah Findlay star as the e- Durham miner and the University philosopher who together bring human compassion and philosophy to bear in facing up to some of life's hardest dilemmas.

Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 15:00 Money Box (b08hpbx5)
Money Box Live: Your finances in and out of prison

Financial phone-in.

WED 15:30 Inside Health (b08hnpmn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]

WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b08hpf77)
Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.

WED 16:30 The Media Show (b08hl5s7)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

WED 17:00 PM (b08hl5s9)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b08hl5sc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

WED 18:30 It's Jocelyn (b08hpf79)
Series 2, Family

It's Jocelyn returns for a second series of sketches and stand-up from the wonderful mind of Jocelyn Jee Esien.
In episode four, Jocelyn talks about family, a spiritual medium goes over to the other side and the doctors receptionist shows her true feelings for 'big bad Don'.
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 (b08hpf7c)
Justin looks to the future, and Robert and Jim go head-to-head.

WED 19:15 Front Row (b08hl5sf)
Arts news, interviews and reviews.

WED 19:45 Book of the Week (b088zn3k)
The Word Detective, Episode 3

Language is always changing. No one knows where it is going, but the best way to peer into the future is to look at the past. John Simpson brings to life a tradition of researching and editing, describing the way in which the Oxford English Dictionary is written and updated - based on historical principles showing how language evolves.

John Simpson joined the staff of the OED in the pre-digital 1970s. He retired as Chief Editor in 2013, having overseen the digitisation of the dictionary in the 1980s, before taking it online in 2000.

With a sense of humour, an ability to laugh at bureaucracy and an inclination to question the status quo, he gives life to the colourful characters at the OED and to the English language itself.

In today's episode, John Simpson describes how the OED became digitised in the 1980s and the Second Edition was completed.

Abridged by Libby Spurrier.
Read by Nigel Anthony.
Producer David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b08hpf7f)
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk. With Mona Siddiqui, Giles Fraser, Claire Fox and Anne McElvoy.

WED 20:45 Lent Talks (b08hpf7h)
Oliver McTernan - Destiny and Faith

The former Catholic priest Oliver McTernan talks about how his decision to leave the church shaped his destiny and led him to become the co-founder and director of the conflict resolution charity "Forward Thinking".
Producer: Phil Pegum.

WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b08hnly0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]

WED 21:30 Midweek (b08hl5rw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]

WED 21:58 Weather (b08hl5sh)
The latest weather forecast.

WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b08hl5sk)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b08hpklm)
Birdcage Walk, Episode 8

We continue with Helen Dunmore's new novel, published in early March. Set in Bristol in 1792, Birdcage Walk plays out against a backdrop of the French Revolution. It touches on Radical idealism, property, political turmoil and private tragedy. Inspired by the real life of Julia Fawkes, a leading Radical writer, none of whose work has survived, Dunmore explores the tensions between generations and genders, and examines the idea of legacy as Julia's daughter Lizzie finds herself torn between her charismatic, self made husband and her idealistic mother. As her husband John Diner Tredevant speculates on property in Bristol's housing boom, he risks losing everything in the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution.

Episode Eight: Fear over the beheading of the King of France spreads to England and the housing market collapses. Diner faces financial ruin and Lizzie must face a frightening truth about her marriage.

An acclaimed poet and award-winning novelist, Helen Dunmore's work often explores the interplay between the public and the personal, most famously in The Siege and The Betrayal, and most recently Exposure.

Hattie Morahan is a stage, film and TV actress who won numerous awards for her portrayal of Nora in the Young Vic production of A Doll's House. She was part of the cast of Outnumbered and recently appeared in BBC TVs My Mother and Other Strangers.

The readers are Hattie Morahan and Carl Prekopp
The abridger is Sara Davies
Produced by Julian Wilkinson.

WED 23:00 Spotlight Tonight with Nish Kumar (b08hpklp)
Series 1, 15/03/2017

We all like to think we know about the news and yet, whilst jokes about Boris Johnson's haircut are all well and good, do you still have that nagging suspicion there's important things going on beneath the headlines you'd like to know about? Well, help is at hand! Nish Kumar is here to cast his spotlight on the week's most talked about news items, taking an in-depth look at the biggest stories from the past seven days to scrutinise what's actually going on beneath the bluster.

Recorded on the day of transmission, Spotlight Tonight brings you the most reactive up to date in-depth look at the news.

Starring Nish Kumar & Sarah Campbell.

Written by Robin Morgan, Sarah Campbell, Max Davis, Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Nish Kumar, and Tom Neenan.

It was produced by Matt Stronge and was a BBC Studios Production.

WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b08hpkls)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster.