The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

Leonora Carrington, born in 1917, was the last surviving member of the Surrealist movement of the 1930s. A prodigious painter and writer, she was caught up in some of the most exciting - and most terrible - events of the 20th century. Joanna Moorhead tells the remarkable life story of her father's cousin.

At the age of 17, Leonora Carrington rejected her upper class English upbringing and her family, in favour of the bohemian life of an artist, first in London and then Paris. She became the lover and muse of Max Ernst, and friend of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and many other creative geniuses. Soon after the outbreak of the war however, she suffered a mental breakdown and ended up in an asylum in Madrid. She eventually escaped war-torn Europe by marrying a Mexican, which enabled her passage to New York, and from there she journeyed to Mexico where she lived out the rest of her life.

Mexico is where Joanna Moorhead went to find Leonora in 2006. During Joanna's childhood, all she knew was that her father's cousin had been a wild child who had caused the family no end of trouble and "simply flounced off into the sunset". But this first visit of many was the start of a life-changing friendship. During days of talking and reading, of drinking tea and tequila, of going for walks and eating in local restaurants Leonora told Joanna her amazing life story.

This book is the story of Leonora Carrington's life, and of the relationship between two women. And it's about Surrealism as Leonora lived it - a way of approaching the world in a spirit of constant curiosity, with the desire to work out, if not the answers, then at least some of the questions.

Read by Juliet Stevenson
Written and introduced by Joanna Moorhead
Abridged by Sara Davies
Directed by Alexa Moore

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew, Director of Communications with the Canterbury Diocese.

How do you buy a Mother's Day card for a mother you don't know? A listener, who was adopted as a baby, on dealing with new family members. On iPM we start with our listeners. Email us on ipm@bbc.co.uk or tweet @BBCiPM. Presented by Luke Jones and Eddie Mair. Produced by Emma Close.

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Clare Balding is walking The Nidderdale Way in North Yorkshire for this series and here she completes the fourth leg of the route from Bewerley to Dacre Banks. She's accompanied by three members of the Tordoff family. Keith, came to the town of Pateley Bridge, that lies in the centre of the dale, twenty five years ago with his wife, Gloria. He gave up the stress of being a police officer in Leeds and took to running the local sweetshop, the oldest in the country. He is now a spokesman for the town and the area and does all he can to promote it, concerned as he is, that small rural towns like this, can die without the whole community pulling together. His son Alex is a local fireman and his partner Kirsty also works in the family business. Kirsty and Alex explain to Clare that their love of walking has taken them traveling all over the world, while Keith explains his love of Pateley Bridge means he no longer wishes to go anywhere else.
Their walk starts at Bewerley Grange Chapel where Keith's parents are buried and ends in the village of Dacre Banks, right on the banks of the river Nidd.
Producer Lucy Lunt.

Charlotte Smith presents from the South of England Show in Ardingly, West Sussex, now in its fiftieth year.

With the country still coming to terms with the General Election result she asks West Sussex NFU Chairman David Exwood and CLA South East Regional Director Robin Edwards where it leaves farmers and the agricultural sector.

Inside the cow shed students from Plumpton College explain what attracts them to these shows and why showing cattle is still a relevant skill. Charlotte discovers that spinning wool is much harder than it looks, and she introduces reports on Open Farm Sunday, the Cumbrian poet Harriet Fraser and Quattro the bull who carries the future of a rare Welsh breed of cattle on his shoulders.

Producer: Toby Field.

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

The Rev. Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir are joined by the wine writer and broadcaster Oz Clarke; TV presenter and author of "The Grief Survival Guide" Jeff Brazier; former England cricketer and Director of Surrey Women's Cricket Ebony Rainsford-Brent and mathematician Dr Hannah Fry. Plus Bron Campbell and Holly Ford who opened a cake shop in a phone box. And garden designer Dan Pearson shares his Inheritance Tracks.

Oz and Armonico Drink to Music at Harrogate Festival (1 July), Buxton Festival (10 July) and Lichfield Festival (11 July).
The Grief Survival Guide: How to Navigate Loss and All That Comes With It by Jeff Brazier is out now.
Dr Hannah Fry and Ant Anstead present 'Britain's Greatest Invention' on BBC Two, 15 June.

Producer: Tim Allen.
Editor: Eleanor Garland.

Aleks Krotoski takes her seat at the table to explore the amazing world of fictional food made real.

Food is not a new force in fiction, but increasingly fictional food is finding its way onto the table. And fan communities from the new breed of modern cultural canon aren't just nibbling on Laura Esquivel's devastating quail in rose petal sauce from Like Water for Chocolate, but also tucking in to fried squirrel and raccoon from The Hunger Games, Sansa's lemon cakes from Game of Thrones, or downing a frothy glass of butterbeer from Harry Potter.

Now Aleks gathers together three people who know a lot about fictional food to discuss its appeal for fans, authors and food creators alike. Together, they will make, and eat, a meal of food from fiction, and discuss some of the interesting questions it raises.

Joanne Harris is author of several novels where food is almost a character in its own right - most famously Chocolat, which was turned into a film of the same name; she also co-created a cookbook, The Little Book of Chocolat, for the many fans desperate to make the concoctions they had read about in her novels. Sam Bompas is co-founder of creative food studio Bompas & Parr, who recently helped create Dinner At The Twits, inspired by Roald Dahl's book. And Kate Young brings together her passion for food and literature in her blog The Little Library Café, where she creates recipes for food found in fiction, and many of them will be included in her first cookbook, The Little Library Cookbook.

The programme also includes music played on the flavour conductor - a working cocktail organ, conceived by Sam Bompas for Johnnie Walker. The music is composed by Simon Little.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Steve Richards and fellow Week In Westminster presenter Helen Lewis of the New Statesman, Tom Newton Dunn of the Sun, and and George Parker of the Financial Times, discuss the results of the General Election 2017.
The editor is Peter Mulligan.

Reports from writers and journalists around the world. Presented by Kate Adie.

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The latest news from the world of personal finance.

Mark Steel, Hugo Rifkind, Rich Hall and Katy Brand join Miles to find the funny in all things general election.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

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Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate from Broadcasting House Radio Theatre in London.

Any Answers after the Saturday broadcast of Any Questions?. Email any.answers@bbc.co.uk. Tweet,#BBCAQ. Follow us @bbcanyquestions.
Lines open at 1230 on Saturday 03700 100 444.

Presenter Anita Anand
Producer: Maire Devine
Editor Eleanor Garland.

Three years since the nuclear misunderstanding which led to the third world war ("and it's no idle boast when I remind you that this was the shortest world war on record... two minutes twenty eight seconds... including the signing of the Peace Treaty which is now on sale at Her Majesty's Stationery Office with a free T-shirt") survivors gather together on the former-streets of London. In amongst the rubble, Captain Kak and his fiancee Penelope find Lord Fortnum, who is convinced he's turning into a bed-sitting room. With property prices what they are, Kak should be on to a good thing.

This atmospheric, surrealist play was originally written by John Antrobus and Spike Milligan, and has been adapted for radio by John Antrobus and Paul Merton.

Music and FX by Jerry Peal.
Directed by Sam Michell.
Produced by Victoria Lloyd.

The Actor Elisabeth Moss discusses her role as Offred in the television adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale, why is the story still resonant more than 30 years after it was first published?

Karen Gardner was one of the women who had accused Rolf Harris of molesting her when she was 16 years old. She tells us how she feels now that a court has decided Rolf Harris will face no further legal action over allegations of historical sexual abuse after a jury was unable to reach a verdict.

As part of Woman's Hour 70th Birthday we hear from seven women all born in different decades since 1946. Ten year old Solei, Stemettes founder Anne-Marie Imafidon, journalist Bryony Gordon, dentist Dr Uchenna Okoye, performer Penny Pepper, former Isuzu MD Nikki King and 73 year old model Jan de Villeneuve all discuss body image.

We discuss why the highly successful Netflix series 13 Reasons Why has become such a topic of controversy. The show features a high school girl who kills herself and throughout the series she explains the 13 Reason's Why she took her own life. Kate Delaney is a young writer who has experienced suicidal thoughts and thinks it's important to show how graphic mental health problems can be. Writer Lucy Nichol has a teenage stepson who has struggled with his mental health and Alice Newton is a suicide prevention advisor for the charity Papyrus.

The seven women from seven decades discuss how the importance of making money and being financially independent and whether they believe it has got easier or harder for women.

This week the trial into sexual assault claims made against the comedian Bill Cosby has begun. After years of rumours involving the US star in 2004 women began to come forward with their stories of alleged drugging and sexual assaults. But it has taken ten years to bring the issue to public consciousness in 2014 - why? The Playwright Bonnie Greer and filmmaker Ricardo Pollack discuss.

And ten year old Solei Brown - one of our seven women born in the seven decades of Woman's Hour, talks about being the youngest person to have been selected as an ambassador for the Diana Anti Bullying Campaign.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow.

Full coverage of the day's news.

What's the future for UK Farming? Evan Davis meets three food producers from across the country to talk about the daily challenges of farming in Britain today. Guests include one of the biggest carrot producers in the country, a Wiltshire Beef farmer and Deputy President of the National Farmers Union and a lowland sheep farmer whose herd shares the land with cadets from the Ministry of Defence in Kent.

GUESTS

Guy Poskitt, Managing Director, M H Poskitt Ltd

Marie Prebble, Lowland Sheep farmer

Minette Batters, Beef farmer and Deputy President of the National Farmers Union.

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Clive Anderson and Nikki Bedi are joined by Joe Thomas, Darryl DMC McDaniels, Thomas Dolby and Rose Matafeo for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Voices of the Amazon.

Producer: Sukey Firth.

Arlene Foster's Democratic Unionist Party now hold the balance of power, after elections this week. Some people have suggested that all the parties lost - but across the Irish Sea one party definitely won. Only with their votes can the Conservatives get things through the House of Commons. Which makes Arlene Foster possibly the most powerful woman in Britain. Mark Coles takes an updated look at the former first minister of Northern Ireland.

My Cousin Rachel is an atmospheric adaptation for the big screen of Daphne Du Maurier's novel starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin and directed by Notting Hill director Roger Michell. Like her most famous novel "Rebecca" the narrative revolves around a large private estate in Cornwall and a powerful woman whose life is an enigma.

Arundhati Roy was the first Indian woman writer to win the Booker Prize, which she won in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things, and which sold over 8 million copies world wide. A political activist and writer, it has taken her 20 years to publish her ambitious second novel, The Ministry of Untold Happiness.

Raphael: The Drawings at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford includes 120 drawings by the celebrated Renaissance artist, including 50 from the Ashmolean's own collection which is the largest and most important in the world. The drawings are taken from across Raphael's brief but brilliant career, taking visitors from his early career in Umbria through his radically creative years in Florence to the period where he was at the height of his powers in Rome, working on major projects such as the Vatican frescoes.

Common, a world premiere by DC Moore, and directed by Headlong's Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin opens at the National's Olivier Theatre. An epic new history play co-produced by the National Theatre and Headlong, it is set in the early days of the Industrial Revolution when the common land of England is under threat. Common stars Anne-Marie Duff.

Set against an awe-inspiring backdrop of the Riviera in the South of France, Riviera is a new ten part television series from Sky, and stars Julia Stiles as Georgina Clios, the smart and resourceful second wife of a billionaire banker who dies in a yacht explosion. This catastrophe sets in motion a dramatic chain of events that exposes the darker side of the Riviera's glitz and glamour and the global art market. Conceived by Neil Jordan, who co-wrote the first episode with John Banville, the series also stars Adrian Lester.

For decades psychologists working for the CIA have drawn up psychological profiles of foreign leaders.
Using expertise developed watching the Nazis, the programme presented American Presidents with detailed profiles of their opponents, complete with proposed weak points and personal foibles.
In 1961, prior to a planned summit meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the CIA profiled the Russian leader, declaring him "an uninhibited ham actor who ...has a truly unusual ability to project the force of his own powerful personality."
The report - which today reads like generalisation of a peculiarly obvious kind - so impressed Kennedy that he became "addicted" to reading analyses of foreign leaders, particularly if they contained details of sexual peccadilloes. The Russians became keen on psychological reports too, commissioning one on Kennedy which questioned whether his liberalism was anything more than skin deep.
Extraordinarily, the CIA unit profiling foreign leaders survived the Cold War, offering such gems as...
"Fidel Castro is not "crazy," but he is so highly neurotic and unstable a personality as to be quite vulnerable to certain kinds of psychological pressure. The outstanding neurotic elements in his personality are his hunger for power and his need for the recognition and adulation of the masses..."
"While Saddam Hussein is not psychotic, he has a strong paranoid orientation..."
Psychoanalyst Daniel Pick explores these extraordinary files, and speaks to psychiatrists about the validity of "distance readings" and foreign policy experts and historians about how they may have influenced the direction of American foreign policy.
And what exactly are the psychiatrists currently saying about today's world leaders?

Alistair McGowan, Morgana Robinson, Sian Phillips and Al Murray star in George Bernard Shaw's classic tale of Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower girl who is trained to talk 'like a lady' by irascible professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins. Eliza faces the day of reckoning: can she pass as a lady at the Ambassador's Ball?

Directed by Emma Harding.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.

Will sin disappear in future, as technology and a better understanding of human behaviour allow us to stop people from sinning before they act? And if sin does disappear, what would the consequences be? FutureProofing presenters Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson find out how technology is changing our understanding of morality, and how social changes may create the circumstances for radically different moral values in future.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert.

A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from the University of Derby with specialist subjects including Education Studies, Forensics and Theatre Studies and questions ranging from cannibalistic beetles to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with a passing nod to Olivia Newton-John and orbital mechanics.

The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.

The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.

Other Universities featured in this series include Roehampton, Hull, Liverpool, Queen's University Belfast and St John's College Cambridge.

Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners' requests for poems which celebrate the body in all its forms whether stretched, flabby, swollen or svelte.

Inspired by Walt Whitman's 'I Sing The Body Electric', the programme features poems from Sylvia Plath, Stevie Smith, Sharon Olds and P J Harvey as well as an interview and reading from Andrew McMillan whose first ever poetry collection, 'Physical' won The Guardian First Book Award in 2015.

Readers are Rosie Cavaliero and John Mackay.

Producer: Sarah Addezio.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

Companions by Adam Marek. Specially-commissioned for Radio 4.

A young man confides in his grandmother about problems in his relationship. Unfortunately, she knows nothing at all about problems with robots.

Adam Marek is the award-winning writer of two short story collections - Instruction Manual For Swallowing and The Stone Thrower - which featured on Radio 4 Extra as The Stories Of Adam Marek in 2014. A specially-commissioned story, The Bullet Racers, was broadcast later that year on Radio 4 as part of the series Short Rides In Fast Machines. He was shortlisted for the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. His story The 40-Litre Monkey was included in The Penguin Book Of The British Short Story in 2015.

Writer: Adam Marek
Reader: Lee Ingleby
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

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This week's Bells on Sunday comes from St Peter's Church, Congleton, in Cheshire. The tower holds a peal of eight bells from various foundries cast between 1720 and 1867. The tenor weighs thirteen and a quarter hundredweight and is tuned to F. The first full peal of five thousand and forty changes was rung on Christmas Day 1867. We hear them now ringing Stedman Triples.

The latest national and international news.

Theologian Jane Williams explores our multifaceted relationship with water in its many forms and how it can simultaneously be both precious resource and inimical enemy, bringing both deep joy and terrible destruction.

Jane explains, "In the Genesis creation story, God starts by creating the formless, almost chaotic mass of the waters, from which life will spring. In it, life is potential - but so is death. It has to be restrained, held back by divine initiative, to make space for human life, and the threat of the return of the waters to inundate the land is ever-present."

Jane considers some of the paradoxes of water and illustrates her narrative with poetry from Emily Dickinson and Matthew Arnold, along with readings from CS Lewis and Jules Verne. She also uses music to capture the different aspects of water and how we experience it. Compositions from Wagner and Toshiro Mayuzumi add to her thinking, with John Ireland's setting of John Masefield's poem Sea Fever.

For Christians, water is significant in the ritual of baptism which itself symbolises death and resurrection, the heart of the Christian faith. Jane concludes, "I suppose this exploration of the water that is both creation and destruction, chaos and peace, turns out to be a plea for hope. Not a naïve optimism that everything is all right really, but a kind of reckless trust that says, since we cannot control life and death, beginnings and endings, any more than we can in the end control the seas' tides, let us choose an adventure of trust rather than a life of fear."

Presenter: Jane Williams
Producer: Michael Wakelin
A TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Brett Westwood relives programmes from The Living World archives. In this programme from 2010, Lionel Kelleway is on Dartmoor with BTO nest finder Mark Lawrence.

If you're out walking on Dartmoor and see a hump of camouflage netting with binoculars poking out, don't be alarmed. It's likely to be Mark Lawrence at work.

Thousands of birds make their nests amongst the bracken and gorse of dartmoor, tucked into hollows low in the brush. Finding them is Mark's passion. But they are totally hidden, so how does he do it? Lionel Kelleway asked the same question and goes on a nest-finding expedition with Mark to watch him in action. It turns out that it's all about observation. Picking up clues which signal where the nests are: clues from the behaviour of the parent birds.

In just one morning Mark and Lionel find Pippits' nests, two of which have been taken over by enormous cuckoo chicks; a whinchat brood just hatched and finally a rare and precious family of young Grasshopper Warbler chicks.

So why does Mark do it? Listen now to find out.

Produced by Andrew Dawes.

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Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme, presented by Edward Stourton.

Fi Glover makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Africa Educational Trust.

Registered Charity Number 313139
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 'Africa Educational Trust'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Africa Educational Trust'.

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On Trinity Sunday theologian Elaine Storkey explores the mystery of the Holy Trinity in the light of issues facing women across the world today. Live from Emmanuel Church Didsbury in South Manchester. Director of Worship: Helen Leach; Organist: Simon Leach; Producer: Ben Collingwood.

"The election has left many people wondering if politics has morphed into a wholly new condition" writes John Gray.

He reflects on whether politics really has been turned upside down by a momentous election.

He argues that the situation is not unprecedented but says "the election has punctured what was the ruling illusion of our age - the belief that we'd left behind the ideological antagonisms of the past".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Urban Birder David Lindo reflects on the arrival of the swift as a sign that summer is here. He marvels at the ability of this small bird to navigate its way to Britain across Africa and Europe.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Maggie Ayre.

Sunday morning magazine programme with news and conversation about the big stories of the week. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.

Lynda strikes a deal, and for Tom there is no time like the present.

Rick Wakeman, musician and composer, is interviewed by Kirsty Young for Desert Island Discs

Producer: Paula McGinley.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and presides over the following all-star panel: Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Graham Norton and Stephen Fry.

The panel have to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. How much does Paul know about the Norfolk Broads? What happens when Josie's gloves come off? If Graham could change a law, which one would it be and we hear about Stephen's favourite dance.

PLUS one of our panellists talks for a full minute - which one? You'll have to 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.

Think beer. Think boys with beards? Think again. The last time Sheila Dillon reported on the women in British beer, in 2013, she met Sara Barton head brewer at Brewster's brewery in Lincolnshire. At the time Sara was the only woman head brewer in the country and women were drinking only a tenth of all the beer sold in the UK.

Today that figure has nearly tripled, Sara has become the first woman to be named 'Brewer of the Year' by the Guild of Beer Writers, and women all around the UK are turning to jobs in brewing.

And yet Sheila still prefers a glass of wine in the pub.

In this programme, beer sommelier Jane Peyton introduces Sheila to some of the most exciting beers being brewed by women brewers (or brewsters) in the country. Louise Mulroy and Lucy Stevenson, co-creators of podcast 'We Made a Beer' demystify the art of brewing. Chemical engineer-come-head brewer at London's award winning Wild Card brewery shares a one-off brew created by a group of brewers on International Women's Day. We hear from 'FEM.ALE' a British festival for all celebrating beer brewed by women. And Sheila asks if there is a biological reason she remains unconvinced by a pint of bitter.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.

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Global news and analysis.

Eric Robson and his panel of experts are in Lyme Regis. Anne Swithinbank, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew answer the horticultural questions.

Produced by Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover introduces conversations between teachers about the days before the National Curriculum, the pernicious spread of fast food into the classroom, and work-life balance 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.

The third book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, charting the lifelong relationship between two girls, Lila Cerullo and Elena Greco, who grew up together in the slums of post-War Naples.

Elena, having escaped to Milan after the publication of her first book, struggles to find the courage to live, parent and write again after her marriage to her increasingly dismissive husband Pietro.

Lila, meanwhile, also struggles to rise above her social conditions and desperately tries to find a way to better herself in whatever way she can. By day she suffers the daily abuse and exploitation at work in the local sausage factory and by night she works hard with her partner, Enzo, to make a difference with her life by studying hard the ever-changing face of technology.

Struggling with periods of mental darkness, she also wrestles with being a parent and finding the time to be true to herself. Eventually she is encouraged by a group of old friends and young students to admit her anger at the social adversity and abuses suffered by the women at work in the factory and to stand up and shout about it.

As always, amid the troubles, the two women turn to each other, gaining either strength or weakness from the other, not always to happy effect.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Mariella and her guests explore the space where fiction meets technology: novelist Catherine Lacey's new book The Answers explores dating in a digital age; two writers for younger readers discuss how they portray social media in their novels and Chris Brookmyre on why computers can be bad for plots.

Roger McGough presents a selection of listeners poetry requests on the theme of Virtue and Vice, that moral tug of war.

Guiding us through the moral maze will be poems from Thomas Hardy, Simon Armitage and Ogden Nash about temptation, conflict and the pleasures of resisting or succumbing to everything in between. How could you resist?

Readers are Rosie Cavaliero and John Mackay.

Producer: Sarah Addezio.

Around 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis each year. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine was introduced nearly a hundred years ago, but is only partially effective against the bacterium that causes TB.

With so many infected and the BCG vaccine only 60% effective, a race is on to develop a better way of preventing TB. Hundreds of millions of public and philanthropic money has been poured into this quest. For researchers, the competition for this pot of money is fierce.

A new vaccine called MVA85A developed by scientists in Oxford as a booster to BCG was heralded as a possible solution. But when it was trialed on nearly 3000 infants in South Africa it didn't offer any further significant protection.

File on 4 investigates the outcome of tests carried out on monkeys and asks to what extent animal trials are used to help decide whether to go on to test in humans.

How do regulators and ethics committees decide to give their approval and who is looking out for the people who volunteer to take part?

Reporter: Deborah Cohen
Producer: Paul Grant.

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John Waite chooses his BBC Radio highlights.

Bridge Farm's secret is out, and Pip faces difficult questions.

Comedians Josh Widdecombe and Helen Keen, Dictionary Corner's Susie Dent and classics scholar Natalie Haynes vie for wordy supremacy under the watchful eye of chair Gyles Brandreth.

Lexicographer Susie Dent admits to the words she finds most difficult to spell; science lover Helen Keen grumpily dismantles the portmanteau word 'murse'; Natalie Haynes works out what 'kyacting' is, and does some to boot; while Josh Widdecombe tries to ban the word 'chilllax'.

The panel also guess what some foreign words which have no direct equivalent in English: the Caribbean Spanish word 'cotisuelto; the Welsh phrase 'glas wen'; the German word 'Kummerspeck' and the Central American Spanish word 'achaplinarse'.

Finally they unearth some archaic phrases from the 1870s: 'gigglemug', 'Jeremiah-mongering', 'back row hopper' and 'robbing the barber'.

Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones.

Lynne Truss observes the inhabitants of Meridian Cliffs, a small wind-battered town on the south coast of England.

Ravi, the proprietor of the Flag of India curry house is a football mega-fan. So when Meridian Cliffs FC's manager and his star striker take a table in the restaurant, he's over the moon. But Ravi's golden opportunity to contribute to a discussion on team tactics is interrupted by a shocking confession.

Directed by Kate McAll
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

On the morning after the night before, Roger Bolton talks to the BBC's Head of Newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, about the corporation's election coverage, responding to audience complaints about bias and over-aggressive interviewers.

Also, listener Marcia Hughes gets to the heart of Radio 4's Soul Music with producer Maggie Ayre.

And audio addict Anthony Frost explains why his all-consuming passion for radio means he finds it difficult to find time to talk to his wife.

Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Matthew Bannister on

Miriam Rodríguez Martínez- the Mexican woman whose daughter was killed by drug cartels - and who led a campaign for justice for thousands of missing people.

Lord Soulsby - the first vet to be made a peer. He was an expert on parasites nicknamed "Lord of the Worms."

Peter Sallis the actor best known for his role as Norman Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine - and for being the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit.

Lady Anne Piper, the novelist who campaigned for nuclear disarmament.

Jiří Bělohlávek, the Czech-born chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the first non-native English speaker to preside at the Last Night of the Proms.

Do we unconsciously harbour racist and sexist attitudes? Far fewer people are explicitly racist than a couple of decades ago. They won't express or admit to racist sentiments. But what happens beneath the conscious level? In recent years there has been an explosion in research into what's called implicit bias. David Edmonds discovers that big business is taking the idea very seriously. He asks: does it stand up to scrutiny?
Producer: Ben Carter.

Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.

With Francine Stock

Roger Michell, the writer/director of My Cousin Rachel, discusses the work of Daphne Du Maurier on film, from Rebecca to The Birds to Don't Look Now.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

Fashion and Class: Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Smith, Lecturer in Sociology at Anglia Ruskin University, and author of a study of the 'branded gentry' the target buyers of the Jack Wills clothing brand. How did a fashion company come to be associated with elite educational institutions and what can it tell us about the maintenance and reproduction of social and economic privilege? How has the relationshio between class, style and fashion democratised, or not, over the years? They're joined by Angela McRobbie, Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London and Angela Partington, Associate Dean at Kingston University.

Producer: Jayne Egerton.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew, Director of Communications with the Canterbury Diocese.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast for farmers.

Cameraman Mark Smith describes an unusual encounter with a corncrake.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Miles Warde.

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

On Start the Week Kirsty Wark asks what it is to be a man, and to belong to a tribe. Thomas Page McBee has sought answers as he's transitioned from female to male, and explored how far the violent men of his youth are models of masculinity. Fatherhood and aggression take centre stage in Gary Owen's play, Killology, in which he's created a video game that allows players to live out their darkest fantasies. The poet Kayo Chingonyi moved to Britain when he was a child and in his debut collection he translates the rites of passage of his native Zambia to his new home. In the TV drama Ackley Bridge, filmmaker Penny Woolcock imagines a new school that throws together two communities, segregated along ethnic lines, in a fictional Yorkshire mill town.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Image: Missy (Poppy Lee Friar) and Nasreen (Amy Leigh Hickman) in Ackley Bridge on Channel 4 Photographer: Matt Squire.

Andrew O'Hagan reads from his essay 'Ghosting', about the turbulent process of writing the memoir of Wikileaks editor Julian Assange. Taken from the book of collected essays THE SECRET LIFE.
Read by the author
Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

by Sarah Cartwright

Director ..... Sally Avens

When Beth's estranged father asks her to go on a road trip to Moscow with him to attend an old friend's wedding she jumps at the chance; this could be the opportunity for her to heal old wounds that could help her move on with her own relationship. What Beth doesn't know is that Vinnie isn't so much going to a wedding as getting married himself.

David Threlfall is best known for his role as Frank Gallagher in Shameless.
Kimberley Nixon has starred in Fresh Meat and Ordinary Lies

Sarah Cartwright has written several plays for Radio 4.

Grace Dent follows 23 year old Koye as he weighs up whether to abandon his homegrown fashion label for a corporate job in the City of London.

Koye's Nigerian parents - who've spent a fortune on his education - are desperately keen for him to get a job in the City. But Koye himself is torn. He's also the sole force behind successful African street wear brand Mojo Kojo. This is where his heart truly lies.

We follow him as he goes through the gruelling process of applying for City graduate schemes and confronts the possibility of leaving behind the business he's worked so hard to establish.

Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Original music by Mina.

Radio 4's word-obsessed comedy panel game - with stars from across the world of wordplay coming together to score points off each other, under the well-read eye of chairman Gyles Brandreth.

Former linguistics student Josh Widdicombe tells us about his favourite West Country words, lexicographer Susie Dent predicts some of the new words that might enter the dictionary this year and astronomy enthusiast Helen Keen reveals her favourite words from the language of outer space.

The letter of the week is 'L'. Josh has to guess what the World War 2 slang term 'latrinogram' meant; Natalie Haynes explains the American expression 'log-rolling'; Susie Dent gets full marks for explaining where the phrase 'limbo dancing' comes from and in a Germanic twist Helen Keen is asked under what circumstances you would act like a 'liver sausage'.

The panellists are asked to invent new words or phrases. Their new offerings include 'Antandecophobia'; 'smellationship'; the 'Josh number' and 'agony hooves'.

In a round about derogatory terms for different occupations Natalie has to guess what a 'nutbuster' is; Susie a 'needle-dodger'; Helen a 'knob thatcher' and Josh a 'honey-dipper'.

They then coin their own terms of abuse including bikopaths, fobslotch, nerds of prey and chattypedia.

Finally the panellists are asked what four Victorian slang terms meant: widdling, muffin-worry, lully-prigger and hock-dockies.

Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle.
Producer: Claire Jones.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

"How on earth do cats find their way back to their previous home when they move house?" asks Vicky Cole from Nairobi in Kenya.

Our enduring love for our feline friends began when Egyptian pharaohs began to welcome domesticated moggies into their homes. Pictured reclining in baskets at the feet of royalty, pet cats soon became fashionable throughout society in Egypt.

Today they are the most popular pet in the world, and home is definitely where their hearts lie.

"Whereas dogs are bonded to people, cats are bonded to place," explains zoologist Dr John Bradshaw. "It's very typical for them to try and find their way back to their old house when you move."

But how do they do it? And if their navigational skills are so good, why do they get lost?

Plus, Prof Matthew Cobb reveals the super-senses that cats possess, which humans don't, and how to spot when your cat is deploying them.

You can send your Curious Cases for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

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

News and discussion of consumer affairs.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

The dark days following 9/11, watching how the US would react, recalled by BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen. America's enemies were about to feel its anger. "The hard years of war that followed might have been easier - and more effective," he says "if the attacks had been treated as the actions of a dangerous but small group of conspirators. But Al Qaeda earned a new status on 9/11"

Bowen has been reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. In this series, he combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. He has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic power. He has interviewed dictators, fanatics and fundamentalists as well as the ordinary people caught up in their dangerous games. In that time, the past has always been present, providing motivation and political ammunition . Bowen has made headlines himself and he has paid a personal price, coming under fire and losing a colleague in the course of reporting - one of the worst days, he says, in his life.
Producers: Mark Savage and Cara Swift.

Coralie is a nineteen year old student. It's the morning of the 30th April and she had just taken a Mifepristone pill, the first stage of a medical abortion. As she waits the 24 hours until she is due to take the second set of pills which will complete the procedure, she relates and reflects on the events and circumstances which brought her to this moment.

Set in Northern Ireland, the only part of the UK in which the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply, Mayday takes us into the mind of an increasingly isolated, conflicted, and terrified young woman who, having ordered the drugs online - illegally - fears that she, and anyone she might confide in, could face prosecution and jail if her actions are discovered.

Starring Eileen O'Higgins (Brooklyn, My Mother and Other Strangers) as Coralie, the cast also includes Anthony Boyle ( Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Sophie Robinson (Rebellion, Fifteen) and Imogen Doel (The Importance of Being Earnest, Whisper).

WRITER ..... LUCY CALDWELL
PRODUCER ..... HEATHER LARMOUR.

A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from St John's College, Cambridge with specialist subjects including Human, Social and Political Sciences, World History and Physics and questions ranging from Christoffel Symbols to Cannibal Rituals via August Strindberg and Jojo Moyes.

The programme is recorded on location at a different University each week, and it pits three Undergraduates against three of their Professors in an original and fresh take on an academic quiz.

The rounds vary between Specialist Subjects and General Knowledge, quickfire bell-and-buzzer rounds and the Highbrow and Lowbrow round cunningly devised to test not only the students' knowledge of current affairs, history, languages and science, but also their Professors' awareness of television, sport, and quite possibly Justin Bieber. In addition, the Head-to-Head rounds see students take on their Professors in their own subjects, offering plenty of scope for mild embarrassment on both sides.

Other Universities featured in this series include Roehampton, Hull, Derby, Liverpool and Queen's University Belfast.

Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

Steven Camden writes young adult fiction books about love, from a male perspective. Love is at the heart of all the stories he's written over the last twenty years -but he's only just realised it.

He has also realised that being a man who writes love stories for boys is pretty unusual - some might even say it's a bit weird.

Steven wants to know why it's such a big deal. Is love not a subject that appeals to boys or is it the books bit that's most off-putting?

Steven meets teenagers and talks to fellow authors Chris Vick and Alex Wheatle, along with mental health campaigner Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks.

Presenter: Steven Camden
Producer: Milly Chowles
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

The Moon has been venerated since the dawn of religion. Has Space exploration diminished its allure?
Ernie Rea's guests are Professor Ronald Hutton from Bristol University, Professor Monica Grady from the Open University, Edgar Mark Williams, author of "The Moon, Nature and Culture" and the Associate Director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, Tim O'Brien.

Producer Rosie Dawson.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Just A Minute is 50 years old this year! Nicholas Parsons has been hosting since day one, and presides over the following all-star panel: Paul Merton, Pam Ayres, Zoe Lyons and Julian Clary.

The panel have to talk on a given subject for sixty seconds without repetition, hesitation or deviation. Paul takes us out to the Sahara Desert, Julian talks us through his fitness regime, Zoe tells us what she knows about fly fishing, and Pam thinks outside the box.

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

Just A Minute is a BBC Studios production.

Pat delivers a telling off, and Lower Loxley's prodigal son returns.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

Emma Barnett explores what happened in Oklahoma City after the devastating 1995 bomb.

Travelling to the city, Emma speaks to survivors of the bombing, to relatives of the 168 people who died that day, to those who rushed in to help and to those whose job was to rebuild the city, about what happened after 9.02am on 19th April, 1995.

She explores how the attack affected tens of thousands of people's lives and forever changed the face of this city; she investigates how the city used the horror to transform itself physically and psychologically; she hears how some whose lives were turned upside down by the bombing feel let down by the federal government's response; and she asks what Oklahoma City might have to teach the rest of America, and all of us, about civility and compromise.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

With angst over European security growing, why is Germany such a reluctant military power? Chris Bowlby discovers how German pacifism has grown since World War Two. The German army, the Bundeswehr, is meant to be a model citizen's army but is poorly funded and treated with suspicion by the population. Some now say the world of Trump, Putin and Brexit demands major change in German thinking, much more spending and Bundeswehr deployments abroad. But most Germans disagree. Could Germany in fact be trying historically something really new - becoming a major power without fighting wars?

Producer: Chris Bowlby
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

Every Autumn vast numbers of continental starlings migrate here to take advantage of our milder winters. Huge flocks of a million birds or more swirl over their roost sites before settling down for the night. These impressive gatherings, called murmurations, are both remarkable and inspiring as Brett Westwood discovers as he visits a reed bed in Somerset. He also gets to grips with the physics of how the birds avoid each other in flight and hears from a sound artist who uses the patterns of starlings on a wire as musical staves. Plus a man whose starlings accompany him on the piano.

The latest weather forecast.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

In the hotly anticipated new novel by the celebrated writer Arundhati Roy the story shifts to an apartment in Delhi, and is taken up by the landlord, Biplab Dasgupta who discovers that his tenant is absent. Reminiscences about an enduring love lead to the vivid memory of a coded message, and the moment when the lives of Biplab's college friends catch up with him, setting in train a set of events that none of them will ever forget. Emilio Doorgasingh reads.

This is Arundhati Roy's first novel since her award winning debut The God of Small Things which was published in 1997. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes the listener on a powerful journey from Old Delhi to Kashmir and back, introducing listeners to a cast of vivid and unforgettable characters. The corrupting nature of power is brought into stark relief as each endures through the darkest of times sustained by hope and love.

If you've missed an episode or you would like to listen ahead you can find out how to download all fifteen episodes by visiting the iPlayer Radio app or the Book at Bedtime pages at the Radio 4 website. On the website you'll also find new features and archive programmes about Arundhati Roy's life and work.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

Playwright John Godber takes a drive around Hull in the company of the artists, actors, musicians and writers who live and breathe the city's culture, to explore the challenges and liberations of creating art in a 'working class city'.

Hull's big year is here: UK City of Culture 2017. But as well as ships, white phone boxes and renewable energy, there has been the odd bit of culture in Hull before now.

Playwright John Godber has been absorbing and interpreting the city's culture in his work at Hull Truck and in his plays for over thirty years. One of the most-performed playwrights in the English language, his work has travelled all over the world, but it is perhaps most fiercely loved by people in Hull: 'you're not proper 'ull if you 'ent seen 'Bouncers'.

John is well-placed to take a closer look at the city he's made his home in this series of conversations with the people who make culture happen in Hull. Hull is a sprawling sliver of a city, built along the banks of the Humber, so it makes sense to talk and drive, visiting key places in the cultural life of the place along the way. It's like carpool karaoke but without the karaoke, although there is a bit of singing.

John discovers why Hull is 'defensively self-deprecating' with a BS alarm which means that you can't get away with talking about things you don't really understand, why so many people would turn out to see shows in a freezing cold theatre where you got wet if it rained, how you reach audiences that see theatre as alien as the moon. And he finds a beating, passionate heart determined to keep on making culture in Hull even when the City of Culture circus has left town. Restlessly sharp, charismatic and funny, John is a breath of fresh air as a presenter.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

Sara Pascoe presents her favourite and funniest readings - including some killer putdowns by Tina Fey - to the audience at the BBC Radio Theatre. Sara is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor. A regular panellist on TV quiz shows like QI and Mock the Week, she also appeared in In the Thick of It and Twenty Twelve. Her readers are Olivia Poulet and John Robins, and the extracts are from Bossypants by Tina Fey, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Henry and June by Anais Nin and My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.
Producer Beth O'Dea.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew, Director of Communications with the Canterbury Diocese.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

Polly Weston describes an important encounter with an eagle owl.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Miles Warde.

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

Art can bring the dead back to life, argues the best-selling novelist Hilary Mantel, starting with the story of her own great-grandmother. "We sense the dead have a vital force still," she says. "They have something to tell us, something we need to understand. Using fiction and drama, we try to gain that understanding." She describes how and why she began to write fiction about the past, and how her view of her trade has evolved. We cannot hear or see the past, she says, but "we can listen and look".

Over this series of five lectures, Dame Hilary discusses the role that history plays in our culture. How can we understand the past, she asks, and how can we convey its nature today? Above all, she believes, we must all try to respect the past amid all its strangeness and complexity.

The lecture is recorded in front of an audience at Halle St Peter's in Manchester, and is followed by a question and answer session chaired by Sue Lawley.
The producer is Jim Frank.

In an extract from his new collection of essays, THE SECRET LIFE, Andrew O'Hagan reveals the truth behind his difficult collaboration with Julian Assange. As their work together continues, O'Hagan is intrigued by glimpses of the Wikileaks team in action. However he's becoming increasingly frustrated by Assange's attitude to deadlines.
Read by the author
Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

by Sarah Cartwright

Director ..... Sally Avens

When Beth's estranged father suggests she accompany him on a road trip to Moscow she sees it as a chance to heal old wounds.
However, her plans go awry when she discovers he's going there to meet a potential bride he's met on the internet.

The Dodo is a byword for extinction and whilst none of us have ever seen a living Dodo it somehow feels familiar even though we know virtually nothing about it. As Brett Westwood traces our relationship with this icon of extinction, he meets a man whose home is a shrine of Dodo memorabilia, follows the auction of a Dodo skeleton, hears how a head and a foot inspired a famous Caucus race and handles a selection of beautiful Dodo bones. With the help of Lewis Carroll, this bizarre looking bird has captured our hearts and imagination, whilst the true story of this flightless pigeon is a poignant tale. Producer Sarah Blunt.

The music writer Laura Barton visits three corners of Britain and listens closely to the music found in different landscapes.

In Belfast, a city known for its industry and its Troubles, Laura is accompanied by the composer Deirdre Gribbin, who grew up in west Belfast and went to school along the Falls Road. They take a stroll along the towpath of the River Lagan, which Deirdre often visits to think through her orchestral music against the rhythms of the water.

Also, Laura visits three figures who still live in Northern Ireland - the avant garde performance artist Die Hexen, the musician David Holmes and the singer Susan McCann. She discusses how growing up during the conflict shaped their musical tastes, why country music is so popular in Belfast and what it's like to be at the cutting edge of musical innovation in the city.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

"What is fire? Is it a solid, liquid or a gas? Why is it hot and why can you see it in the dark?" asks Hannah Norton, aged 10.

Dr Fry embarks on a quest to "set fire to loads of stuff" in the Burn Hall at The Buildings Research Establishment in Watford.

Whilst Dr Rutherford gets to grips with Michael Faraday's pioneering Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on 'The Chemical History of a Candle'. Plus, he chats to forensic chemist Niamh Nic Daeid from Dundee University about our lasting fascination with fire.

You can send your Curious Cases for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

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

Consumer phone-in.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Jeremy Bowen considers the fallout from the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The BBC's Middle East editor delayed going to Baghdad after the allied attack. He was still having nightmares dating back to the First Gulf War and decided it would be a step too far. He eventually flew out to Iraq after President Bush famously appeared on a US warship which displayed a banner reading 'Mission Accomplished'. Bowen discovered an Iraq in turmoil. His questions about weapons of mass destruction, directed at Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, went unanswered.

Bowen has been reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. In this series, he combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. He has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic power. He has interviewed dictators, fanatics and fundamentalists as well as the ordinary people caught up in their dangerous games. In that time, the past has always been present, providing motivation and political ammunition. Bowen has made headlines himself and he has paid a personal price, coming under fire and losing a colleague in the course of reporting - on the worst day, he says, in his life.
Produced by Mark Savage and Cara Swift.

The blood-soaked finale to the second series. The rebel army, under General Qulan (Christopher Fulford) prepares to march on the city where Gregor (Rufus Wright) struggles to decide where his loyalties lie and is faced with a terrible truth about his past.

Tumanbay is created by John Dryden and Mike Walker and inspired by the Mamluk slave rulers of Egypt.

Original Music by Sacha Puttnam

Sound Design by Steve Bond
Sound Edited by James Morgan and Andrea Gomez
Additional Music by Jon Ouin
Script Edited by Abigail Youngman

Produced by Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan and John Dryden
Written and directed by John Dryden

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4.

Josie Long hears stories of our desire to pause - from dismantling a house which seems stopped in time to the difficulties of watching your child grow up.

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

Helen Castor presents the programme that goes behind the history headlines.

Today, Scottish medievalist Fiona Watson and landscape historian Francis Pryor join Helen to discuss medieval mutilations in North Yorkshire, illegal whisky distilling in nineteenth century Scotland and the demise of a once great medieval Mexican city.

Tom Holland travels to North Yorkshire and the deserted medieval village at Wharram Percy which, archaeologists now believe, was the site of a gruesome practice of mutilation in the middle ages. Dr Simon Mays is a human skeletal biologist for Historic England and he noticed some odd marks on human bones recovered at Wharram Percy in the sixties. These bones were found in the middle of the deserted village - not in the churchyard. Simon thinks that the marks on them were caused by severe blows made shortly after death - maybe to stop disruptive souls from tormenting villagers again.

Whisky writer Rachel McCormack takes us to another remote and deserted location, the Cabrach between Aberdeen and Inverness. This was the centre of a well-developed, but illegal, whisky distilling industry in the eighteenth century. Although the remote location kept these stills hidden from the revenue men it also made them commercially unviable when whisky production was licensed in the 1820s. The ruined farmsteads in this otherwise untouched environment are the only clues to this tumultuous past.

Mexico: Earth's Festival of Life has been thrilling audiences on BBC 2, but what's the story behind the spectacular ruins at what is now the deserted city of Paquimé? Professor Paul Minnis has been studying this once thriving medieval metropolis for nearly 40 years and joins us from Arizona.

Producer: Nick Patrick
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

Following the general election, Joshua Rozenberg introduces a special live discussion programme in which he and his guests consider what the composition of the new House of Commons means for the law. They consider the courts and those who use them, the strained prison system, impending legislative changes to the law - including those required to achieve commitments made on Brexit - and how those seeking access to justice are likely to fare.

Producer Simon Coates.

Harriett Gilbert talks favourite books with comedian Nathan Caton and science presenter and geneticist Adam Rutherford.
Leviathan by Paul Auster is Adam's favourite novel, in part because little happens in it..
Black and Blue: how racism, drugs and cancer almost destroyed me by Paul Canoville, the first ever black first-team player for Chelsea FC, is Nathan's recommendation.
And presenter Harriett picks I'll Sell You A Dog by the Mexican writer Juan Pablo Villalobos.
Producer Beth O'Dea.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

The Godfather of Alternative Comedy delivers a mixture of stand-up, memoir and philosophy from behind the counter of his Imaginary Sandwich Bar.

Episode 2 - Political Beliefs

Alexei explores his political beliefs system, looking back at his childhood in a communist house-hold, his career as a drug-dealer and his physical attraction to Boris Johnson.

Written and performed by Alexei Sayle
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.

Lynda has troublesome guests, and Kirsty is keen to recruit.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

File on 4 reveals the true scale of child sexual grooming and abuse online and asks whether social media companies are doing enough to prevent paedophiles from targeting children. The investigation follows the rape and murder of 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood from Leicestershire who was groomed online before meeting her killer in person. File on 4 reveals the number of children being groomed online and who are subsequently abused is increasing. Child abuse experts say some social media platforms have ignored repeated calls for better child protection measures and Parliament's Home Affairs Select Committee has accused them of putting profit before safety.

News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.

Claudia Hammond explores the latest developments in the worlds of psychology, neuroscience and mental health.

Jolyon Jenkins reports on one man's attempt to create a new nation - a libertarian utopia - in what he says is unclaimed land between Serbia and Croatia. He has money and supporters, and half a million people have signed up for citizenship.

But it's not been easy for Vít Jedlicka, Czech politician and president of "Liberland". Since he planted his flag on these marshy 7 square kilometres on the banks of the Danube in 2015, his supporters have been arrested, fined and jailed. He himself has been barred from entering Croatia. Neither Croatia nor Serbia seem to want to claim the territory, but that doesn't mean they want a zero tax libertarian enclave with no gun laws sitting between them.

Jedlicka is not deterred though. He keeps up a busy schedule of international conferences, has appointed a full cabinet, and is busy opening embassies and bestowing proto-ambassadorships around the world.

Jolyon Jenkins joins him as he and his foreign minister try to get back into Croatia and visit the territory he would eventually like to call home.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is Arundhati Roy's first novel since her award winning debut The God of Small Things which was published in 1997. The powerful new novel by the internationally acclaimed writer takes listeners on a mesmerising journey from Old Delhi to Kashmir and back. In this episode the story continues with the events that took place in 1996 in Kashmir where conflict rages. Looking back across almost twenty years Biplab Dasgupta recalls pulling a few strings for the beautiful and insouciant Tilo, and he also discovers some photos in her apartment that are cause for disquiet. They point to the moment when the lives of Biplab and three old friends were suddenly brought together in the most unlikely and dangerous of circumstances. Emilio Doorgasingh reads.

If you've missed an episode or you would like to listen ahead to all fifteen episodes visit the Radio 4 website to find out how. There is lots more about the celebrated writer on the Book at Bedtime pages on the Radio 4 website including her recent Desert Island Discs as well as newly created features.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

Liam Williams - Ladhood.

Please Note: Due to it's subject matter of teenage sex, this episode contains language and content that some listeners may find offensive.

From Liam Williams, a two-time Edinburgh Festival Award Nominated comedian, comes a rich new storytelling Radio 4 series entitled "Ladhood", about Liam's teenage misadventures in the Yorkshire suburbs. With evocative monologues by "Adult Liam" being interjected with flashback scenes from his teenage years, the series was recorded in Leeds and stars teens from Yorkshire, with each episode delving into Liam's memories of his first fight, virginity loss, the best house party ever organised, and his marvelous outwitting of an entire teaching staff. This is the New Labour, post-mining, aspirational heartland, meeting 50 Cent and Generation Y ennui, represented in a bourgeois radio format - by one of Britain's most exciting comedians.

Written By: Liam Williams

Produced By: Arnab Chanda

It is a BBC Radio Comedy Production.

The comedian and actor Liz Carr, who plays Clarissa in Silent Witness, chooses the words and poetry that inspire her one way or another. Expect the unexpected in her choices which range from Laura Hershey's poem You Get Proud by Practicing to Peter Falk's memoir on playing Detective Columbo as well as an extract from her Dad's PHD in Chemistry and her own childhood poems on being 7 by Elizabeth Anne Carr.
She's joined on stage at the Radio Theatre by her friends Penny Pepper and Daniel Weyman who plays her on screen husband.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Anna Drew, Director of Communications with the Canterbury Diocese.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

Singer Will Young dates his love of birds from this encounter with the woodland kingfisher.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer Miles Warde.

Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Sandy Denny was just 19 years old when she wrote 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?', her much-loved song about the passing of time. Soul Music tells the story behind the song and speaks to people for whom it has special meaning.

The record producer Joe Boyd and founder member of Fairport Convention Simon Nicol remember Sandy and her music. We speak to musicians who have covered the song, including folk legend Judy Collins and the singer Rufus Wainwright, about what the song means to them. And we hear from people whose lives have been touched by the song, including the singer-songwriter Ren Harvieu, who suffered a back break in a freak accident and found strength in the song during her recovery. And neuroscientist and best-selling author David Eagleman explains why the years seem to fly past ever more quickly as we grow older. Also featuring contributions from Sandy Denny's biographer Mick Houghton and Dr Richard Elliott, Senior Lecturer in Music at Newcastle University.

Producer: Mair Bosworth.

In today's show, John has an accident with his coffee, prompting an unwelcome visitor to the studio - the BBC Health and Safety officer, Elviz Tucker.

Starring John Cleese, Harriet Carmichael, Peter Richardson and Sam Holmes, and written by John Cleese and James Peak.

The extracts used in this programme are taken from John's audiobook of his autobiography, So Anyway.

Producers: James Peak and Andre Jacquemin
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4.

In an extract from his new collection of essays, THE SECRET LIFE, Andrew O'Hagan reveals the truth behind his difficult collaboration with Julian Assange. O'Hagan has agreed to ghost write the Wikileaks editor's memoir and international interest in the project is mounting but there's a major problem - Assange is getting cold feet...
Read by Andrew O'Hagan
Abridged by Rosemary Goring
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

David Threlfall and Kimberley Nixon star in Sarah Cartwright's comedy about an estranged father and daughter's road trip to Moscow.

Friends who met through an organisation that supports adults with learning difficulties and/or autism, find that managing bus travel has changed their lives. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Policeman and comedian Alfie Moore returns in this his third series for Radio 4, in which he takes his studio audience through a real-life case that he's investigated and asks them to make the policing decisions he had to make. With tales of life behind the scenes in Britain's police force he offers a rare insight into what it's really like to serve as one of Britain's finest. Winkling out secrets from his audience and recounting very funny anecdotes about law-breakers he has known, Alfie is a delightful and entertaining host.

This, the third in this four-part series, concerns a missing gnome.

Written and presented by Alfie Moore

Script Editor ..... Will Ing

Producer ..... Alison Vernon-Smith.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

"What's inside a black hole and could we fly a spaceship inside?" asks Jorge Luis Alvarez from Mexico City.

Some interstellar fieldwork is on the agenda in today's Curious Cases. Astrophysicist Sheila Rowan explains how we know invisible black holes actually exist. And cosmologist Andrew Pontzen is on hand to help cook one up.

But which of our intrepid doctors will volunteer to fly into the heart of a black hole?

You can send your Curious Cases for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

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

Consumer affairs programme.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Jeremy Bowen's personal history of the Middle East.

By Jonathan Ruffle.

After the victory at Messines, Belgium are we prepared for the much bigger challenge of Ypres? A tale of sibling and professional rivalry and the cold logistics of organising and servicing the war effort.

Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago.

Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
Producers: Jonquil Panting, David Hunter, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: David Hunter.

Financial phone-in.

Sociological discussion programme, presented by Laurie Taylor.

Topical programme about the fast-changing media world.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

It's Pidge and Gavin! The old team back together again for one last mission.

Kieran Hodgson and Ethan Lawrence star in the third of six two-handers written by Cabin Pressure's John Finnemore

Written by John Finnemore
Produced by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

Lilian chooses her side, and can Elizabeth see history repeating?

Arts news, interviews and reviews.