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

Raja Shehadeh, the award winning Palestinian writer, lawyer, and founder of the human rights organisation, Al Haq receives shocking news and he comes to a new understanding about the value of his friendship with Henry. He also reflects on the controversial killing of a young Palestinian attacker by a teenage Israeli soldier who was later jailed for manslaughter. Read by Peter Polycarpou.

The music is Reem Kelani's Sprinting Gazelle.

Abridged by Penny Leicester
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.

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 Rev Cheryl Meban.

One listener explains how a TV advert made him see that he was in an emotionally abusive relationship, and how he moved on.

What helped you realise you needed to make a change in your life? Ipm@bbc.co.uk

Katie Derham reads the Your News bulletin.

Presented by Luke Jones. Produced by Cat Farnsworth.

The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.

Writer Jonathan Gornall has attempted to row across the Atlantic twice. On the second attempt he nearly drowned but his relationship with the sea has continued. Today he spends his time at Pin Mill in Suffolk where he has just built a small sailing boat for his daughter and he hopes the boat will teach her to love the sea too. Helen Mark meets him and the boat building community who live beside the River Orwell to discover the great history of sailing which remains at the heart of Pin Mill today.

'How to Build a Boat' by Jonathan Gornall
http://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/How-To-Build-A-Boat/Jonathan-Gornall/9781471164781.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast.

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

Conversation from the actor Stephen Mangan, pop-up beach organiser Scott Barton, nanotechnologist Dr. Michelle Dickinson, and The Madonna of Bolton - Matt Cain.
With Orla Kiely's Inheritance Tracks. Presented by Aasmah Mir and the Rev. Richard Coles.

The actor Stephen Mangan talks about his hair, his 52 cousins, his teenage prog rock band, and his new Channel 4 series Hang Ups! in which he plays a therapist, who has his own therapist.
Sean Randell shares his story of Thanks, to the couple who fostered him before he was adopted.
Scott Barton organises pop up urban beaches around the country. He describes what's happening today in Northfield, Birmingham; and find out why he was once Lady Mayoress of Sheffield!
Dr. Michelle Dickinson - aka Nanogirl - is a nanotechnologist who shares her passion for nanobots, and the possibilities for levitation and mind reading.
JP Devlin meets Catherine Geddes who explains why she became homeless and how she transformed her life, helping other youngsters in the process.
Matt Cain - aka The Madonna of Bolton - on growing up gay in Bolton in the 1980s. He describes how Madonna's music and videos inspired him, and her fierce determination to succeed gave him the confidence to do the same - and to find his own voice.
And the designer Orla Kiely chooses her Inheritance Tracks - Night and Day by Cole Porter and 7 seconds by Youssou n'dour & Neneh Cherry.

Producer: Louise Corley
Editor: Beverley Purcell.

Jay Rayner and his panel of culinary experts travel to Arundel Castle. Dr Annie Gray, Sue Lawrence, Andi Oliver and Jordan Bourke answer the audience questions.

The panellists give suggestions for the best ways to cook with cherries, advise recipes for pungent fermented bean pastes and talk about the stinkiest Norman foods.

They also discuss how best to cook fresh trout and hear from fishing expert Jake Casson.

Produced by Miranda Hinkley
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

Food Consultant: Anna Colquhoun

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Steve Richards discusses the state of British politics with fellow presenters George Parker, Helen Lewis and Peter Oborne.
The Editor is Peter Mulligan.

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

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Customers have been left stressed and in debt after signing up to an energy-saving deal they believed would save them money, but instead have found their electricity bills have gone up. More than twenty households on Glenfruin Road in Blantyre, near Glasgow, were persuaded to have solar panels fitted on their roof by a company called HELMS, as part of a government scheme called the Green Deal. The costs would be partially covered by a loan from a government-sponsored body called the Green Deal Finance Company and from money they'd get from generating their own electricity. What they didn't realise was that they'd signed over the rights to that money and would not receive a penny. Tony Bonsignore investigates.

Are retailers being charged too much for allowing customers to pay by debit or credit cards? The UK payments watchdog is reviewing banks that process card transactions on behalf of businesses to see what fees they impose. There's concern that a lack of competition within the card industry means that customers are not getting a fair deal. James Lowman, Chief Executive at the Association of Convenience Stores, explains how the system, (known as card-acquiring services) works and voices his concerns about a lack of transparency.

More than a million families are not claiming a valuable Government tax break which could help ease the cost of paying for summer childcare. The scheme is called Tax-Free Childcare, and started in April 2017. HMRC has told Money Box that although 1.5m families are eligible for the top-up payments, there are currently only 240,000 Tax-Free Childcare accounts being operated by parents. Paul Lewis talks to Victoria Todd from the Low Incomes Tax reform Group to find out who's eligible and why the take-up is so low.

An energetic, intelligent female-anchored show with a female panel - using the events, trends and talking points they think should really be top of the news agenda in a series of fresh and funny challenges.

Host Jo Bunting is joined by a panel of women including Sindhu Vee, Felicity Ward, Andi Oliver and Jess Phillips MP

Jo Bunting is a producer and writer of topical comedy and satire, with credits including Have I Got News For You, the Great British Bake Off spin off show An Extra Slice with Jo Brand, and the successful topical chat show That Sunday Night Show presented by Adrian Chiles on ITV. Jo was a guest interviewer on Loose Ends for several years and a panellist on Loose Women.

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Ritula Shah presents political debate from The Parish Church of Saint Mary and Saint Nicolas in Spalding with Giles Fraser priest-in-charge at St Mary's, Newington, near the Elephant and Castle, south London, the Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation Chi Onwurah, Chloe Westley from the TaxPayers' Alliance and the Conservative MP and Chair of the Commons Health Select Committee Sarah Wollaston MP.

Listeners have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

by HG Wells, dramatised by Melissa Murray

Mars on Radio 4: Following sightings of strange explosions on the surface of Mars, Martian ships begin to arrive on Earth. But scientific excitement quickly turns to horror - and a merciless invasion begins.

Directed by Marc Beeby

At the time of the novel's writing (first published in 1898), Britain had never been stronger, but a sense of moral queasiness at the methods used in Empire building was growing. This dramatisation highlights the questions Wells poses: What if we were the colonised? How would we fare if a vastly superior technological invader attacked us? How would we behave? This dramatisation also reflects Wells' depiction of late Victorian suburban life and culture, making its domestic heart a poignant and terrifying starting point for an invasion by Martians with their own imperialist agenda, and reflecting the common fear which had emerged in the years approaching the turn of the century - that the apocalypse would come on the last day of 1899.

The music writer Laura Barton heads west to listen to the music of Bristol. Surrounded by hills and divided by the River Avon, she finds a city where music is made with the roguishness of pirates and agitators.

In the south of the city, Laura's invited into the tranquil new home of Invada Records, the studio of music producer and Portishead instrumentalist Geoff Barrow. Down on the Harbourside, neo-soul singer China Bowls busks with the band Snazzback and talks to Laura about the sense of freedom moving back to Bristol has given her music. Japanese-born artist Yoshino Shigihara has similarly found a home there, drawing energy for her band Yama Warashi from the nearby M32 motorway and late night reggae sessions in St Paul's. Laura finds Tom Friend leafing through the Bristol section in his record shop, Friendly Records, on North Street. Together they try to put their finger on the source of the "Bristol sound". And Joe Talbot, the singer in post punk band IDLES, muses on how the city's lines, tunnels and hills have led to a more accepting place to live and make music today.

Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Kim Busty Beatz Bowers and Lisa Fa'alafi the co-creators of the cabaret performance Hot Brown Honey talk about how it's smashing stereotypes and promoting social activism.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of pupils being permanently excluded from state schools, but what impact does this action have on a child and parent. We hear from Anita who's 14 year old son was excluded from school and from Emma a teacher with a child with Special Educational Needs.

The novelist and internationally renowned literary scholar Professor Janet Todd talks about dealing with three cancer diagnoses and about making sense of her life and the uncertainty of death.

The journalist Emma Brockes discusses the panic and joy her solo path to motherhood has bought her and the changing face of the modern family.

How do the big shops decide what bra sizes to sell? And why is it so difficult for all women to find a bra that fits? Alice Holden of Attollo Lingerie and Georgia Larsen a former lingerie buyer for Topshop discuss.

We hear from Mariam Olayiwola and Ashleigh Brown members of the all female hula hooping troop Marawa's Majorettes.

And the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries talks about her new novel Shadows in Heaven.

Highlights from the Woman's Hour week.Presented by Jane Garvey
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow.

Coverage and analysis of the day's news.

There are thousands of festivals in the UK each year and millions of us go to them. But as an organiser how do you make any money? Do logistics and the British weather make them a risky business? Every year festivals get cancelled and some cease trading. Profit margins are tight, say organisers, and set-up costs are high. A big festival may have to pay more a million pounds to secure a top headline act.

Evan Davis and guests discuss mud, music and hard cash.

Guests:
Syima Aslam, co-founder and director of the Bradford Literature Festival
Ian Stockley, chief executive of the Bath Festivals.
Simon Taffe, co-founder of the End of The Road Festival.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Clive Anderson and YolanDa Brown are joined by Frank Skinner, Nicola Walker and Craig Cash for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Meklit and Abatwa.

Producer: Debbie Kilbride.

In 2014, one of the oldest financial institutions in the City of London, Lloyd's, appointed its first ever female chief executive, Inga Beale. Next year, she will step down from the role.

A champion for diversity in the workplace, Beale has overseen big cultural and technological changes at the insurance market - some controversial. A drinking ban for Lloyd's employees during working hours made the headlines in 2017, as did a loosening of the famously conservative dress code.

She has faced other challenges during her leadership, notably Brexit and a "disastrous" 2017, which was one of the worst ever years for natural disasters globally. Big insurance pay-outs led to Lloyd's reporting a £2bn loss that year.

Inga Beale, one of the UK's few openly bisexual senior business leaders, did not follow a typical route to the top. She dropped out of financial services for a year to go back-packing in Asia and Australia, and is a former competitive rugby player.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Clare Spencer, Elisabeth Mahy and Bethan Head.

Apostasy is a British film about disfellowship in Jehovah's Witness congregations. How do families cope when their religious beliefs come into conflict with contemporary social mores.
London's National Theatre is staging its first production of a play by Eugene Ionesco. Adapted and directed by Patrick Marber, Exit The King stars Rhys Ifans as a monarch who knows he will die before the end of the play.
Olivia Laing's first novel Crudo was written in real time in 7 weeks during 2017, recording her thoughts on the news of the day, "to get an imprint of the moment while it is still wet".
White Cube Gallery's newest exhibition marks its 25th anniversary. Memory Palace is on at their two London sites (as well as at their Hong Kong gallery, but we didn't go there!) looking at memory and how it shapes our identities.
BBCTV has put the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (you know, the one where Colin Firth comes out of the lake clad in a clinging shirt) on iPlayer as a box set, we consider whether the fond memories of it match up to a re-watching 22 years on...
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Alex Preston, Kate Williams and Abigail Morris. The producer is Oliver Jones.

"There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists." So begins E.H. Gombrich's 'The Story Of Art', currently in its 16th edition and translated into more than 30 languages. It was the book that opened the door to human creativity for millions across the globe.

But what of the man himself. What of the Austrian émigré, who spent fifteen years in Britain as a 'restricted alien' before becoming one of the UK's most honoured scholars... the man who broke the BBC news story alerting Churchill to the death of Hitler... whose vast network of relationships and correspondence with the likes of Karl Popper, Anna Freud and Antony Blunt was like the internet before the internet... and who, through such books as varied as 'A Little History of the World' and 'Art & Illusion', taught the world how to see.

Radio 4 broadcaster Robert Newman has long been fascinated by Gombrich's intellectual circle which he regularly references in his shows and his writing. He has not only read all of Gombrich's books but has also befriended Leonie Gombrich - who inherited her Grandfather's vast private collection of letters which she keeps along with a cache of personal, and previously unheard private tapes.

In this Archive on 4 Leonie and Rob play excerpts from Gombrich family recordings and from his appearances on Radio 3 and such shows as Desert Island Discs. They also select choice passages from the letters he sent and received, painting a portrait of another time.

Producers: Dixi Stewart & Paul Kobrak.

by Nick Warburton

Series created by Jonathan Ruffle.

Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, the new series of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago: from the Western Front, to Mesopotamia, via neutral Holland and occupied Belgium.

And through it all, we'll follow the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers, from the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.

Indira Varma, Lee Ross and Jassa Ahluwalia star in this story, set at Brigade HQ 89th Punjabis, Pont du Hem, France, on October 21st, 1915. Mickey Bliss returns to the front line as a newly-trained officer, with the beginnings of war-winning technology in his hands. But it's a month since the battle of Loos began - and the Allies are still where they were before it started.

Producers: David Hunter, Jonquil Panting, Jonathan Ruffle
Director: Jonquil Panting.

Psychotherapist Susie Orbach explores the private relationship between therapist and patient. We join Susie in her consulting room, where she meets a different client each day.

Today, Susie meets Natalie. She works for an upmarket estate agent. Her faith is very important to her.

All of the clients are played by actors, but these are not scripted scenes. Each client profile has been carefully constructed by therapist Susie, director Ian Rickson (former artistic director at the Royal Court, and director of the highly acclaimed Jerusalem) and radio producer Kevin Dawson. The client profiles have been given to the actors who have learned about the characters' lives, backgrounds, and reasons for seeking therapy. The scenes have then been improvised and recorded on concealed microphones at Susie's surgery.

Throughout the encounters in this series, we get to hear the therapist at work, experiencing what it's like to eavesdrop on the most intimate of exchanges.

To help us with our understanding of the process, Susie Orbach commentates on what is happening in the room, giving us an insight into her role as a therapist and shining a light on the journey both she and her patient have embarked upon.

Psychotherapist: Susie Orbach
Natalie: Vinette Robinson
Producer: Kevin Dawson
Director: Ian Rickson

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

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

Historian Margaret MacMillan looks at representations of war: can we really create beauty from horror and death? Speaking at the Canadian War Museum, she discusses the paradox of commemoration. She questions attempts to capture the essence and meaning of war through art. The programme is presented by Anita Anand in front of an audience and includes a question and answer session.

Producer: Jim Frank
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from the University of Sheffield with specialist subjects including Archaeology, Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy, and Civil Engineering and the questions ranging from Blockchain and Xerostomia to Big Shaq and Slime.

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 Merton College Oxford, Dundee, Hertfordshire, Newcastle and Brunel.

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

Roger McGough is joined by Imtiaz Dharker, with a selection of her favourite poems from the Poetry Please archive of listeners' requests. This week her choices include requests from some special listeners with whom she was on tour recently, Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay as well as poems from Helen Mort, Liz Berry and Clare Shaw.
Imtiaz Dharker is a poet, artist and documentary film-maker. Awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014, recipient of the Cholmondley Award and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her most recent collection is Luck is the Hook (Bloodaxe Books UK). Her poems are on the British GCSE and A Level English syllabus. She has been Poet in Residence at Cambridge University Library, for Thresholds, and has recently completed a series of poems based on the Archives of St Paul's Cathedral. She has had ten solo exhibitions of drawings in India, London, New York and Hong Kong.
'If there were to be a World Laureate, then for me the role could only be filled by Imtiaz Dharker.' Carol Ann Duffy

Producer: Sarah Addezio.

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

Death meets the Lady in this short ghostly story written and narrated by Paul Evans. Inspired by a 19th Century ballad, the death of a witch, local folklore and the sounds of a woodland. The singer is Elizabeth Counsell. Wildlife sound recordings Chris Watson. Produced by Sarah Blunt.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Bells on Sunday comes from the parish church of St. John the Baptist, Egham. The present church was built in 1817 and stands on the site of a former Norman building. A ring of 8 bells was cast in 1912 and in 1971 two more were added. We hear the Egham band ringing Bristol Royal.

The latest national and international news.

Mark Tully explores approaches to negotiation - from the domestic to the international.

In a programme looking at the many ways in which negotiations underpin so much of human behaviour - the child asking for their ball back, the ups and downs of personal relationships, the bartering of governments and entrepreneurs, the delicate art of international diplomacy - Mark asks how best to negotiate a way through life.

He draws on the writing of politicians and poets and of musicians, who have brought harmony where there was discord, with examples from the work of John Maynard Keynes and Denise Levertov, Elvis Costello and Pablo Casals. He also talks to ex-diplomat and Middle East expert Carne Ross, now founding director of an NGO that advises on diplomacy.

The readers are Emma Cuniffe and Jasper Britton.

Presenter; Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling

A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4.

What happens when your land becomes designated as a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' and you have to suddenly change the way you farm? This is the dilemma Philip Merrick faced back in the late 1980s. He tells Caz Graham how he and his family have transformed the landscape and reinvented Kingshill Farm on the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary.

The 3200 acre estate is now home to around 800 cattle, but also provides an exceptional habitat for wading and breeding birds. They are the only farming family in England to be running a commercial farm and a National Nature Reserve. Caz Graham discovers how they achieve the perfect balance.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme.

Simon Callow makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Prisoners Abroad.

Registered Charity Number: (England & Wales) 1093710.
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 'Prisoners Abroad'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Prisoners Abroad'.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.

St Francis of Assisi is one of the world's most popular saints. This medieval mystic and patron of animals and ecology has found a special place in the lives of people of many different faith traditions today. His commitment to a life of poverty and rejection of material possessions strikes a chord with those seeking a sense of spirituality in the modern world.

The Revd Sharon Grenham-Thompson journeys to Assisi accompanied by Kantos Chamber Choir to explore the life and legacy of this remarkable man. She follows in the footsteps of St Francis, visiting the sites that have become associated with his life and meets men and women who have chosen to follow his path.

Kantos Chamber Choir, directed by Ellie Slorach, sing hymns and sacred music inspired St Francis and Franciscan spirituality in sacred spaces in Rome and Assisi.

Producer: Katharine Longworth.

Michael Morpurgo on a new initiative to help refugee children.

Michael says "it shames us" that Britain in recent years has done so little to help child refugees.

"There are fine examples of how our predecessors have shown great kindness towards the suffering of child refugees", he writes. He argues that we now need to follow their example.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Writer, filmmaker and co-founder of bird song recognition app Warblr Florence Wilkinson has early memories of watching wildlife and being woken by her parents to hear tawny owls. But in this Tweet of the Day she discusses why the siskin has been chosen, not the brightly coloured male, but the female which Florence thinks of as subtly nuanced in colour, rather than drab as some people would say.

You can here more from Florence and her work in the accompanying Tweet of the Week podcast, via the Radio 4 website.

Producer Sarah Addezio.

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

Pip is in trouble, and there's a shock for Anisha.

Marianne Elliott is the first woman to win two Tony awards for theatre direction: the first for War Horse and the second for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Both transferred to Broadway from the National Theatre, London, and have gone on to travel the world.

Marianne's parents, grandparents and great-grandparents all worked in the theatre. Her father, Michael Elliott, was a founding director of the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester and her mother, Rosalind Knight, now in her 80s, has enjoyed a lifetime on the stage and is still working. Although Marianne read Drama at Hull University, it wasn't until she was in her late 20s that her career began, when she became assistant director at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre. She went on to follow in her father's footsteps, working at the Royal Exchange, before becoming Associate Director at the National Theatre in London. In 2017 she left to set up her own theatre company with producer Chris Harper. Their next show will be Stephen Sondheim's Company.

In addition to all her theatrical prizes, she has just been awarded the OBE for services to theatre in the 2018 Birthday Honours list. She is married to actor Nick Sidi and they have one daughter.

Presenter: Kirsty Young
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to the Playhouse Theatre in Oxford. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by programme stalwart Jeremy Hardy with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano.
Producer - Jon Naismith.
It is a BBC Studios production.

Dan Saladino explores the relationship between tunes and taste with Andi Oliver on the link between Sam Cooke and roast chicken and chef Stephen Harris on food and The Buzzcocks.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

The latest weather forecast.

Global news and analysis.

Sharon Van Etten has been described as having an elegant voice "wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident". It can suggest folk traditions and Americana with layered harmonies, as well as an edgier, more confrontational sound rooted in urban drones reminiscent of John Cale or PJ Harvey.

After a decade or more of songwriting and recording - on albums such as Because I Was In Love, epic, Tramp and Are We There - she's now migrated into acting via a surprising detour.

The interviews for this intimate portrait were recorded in Los Angeles, where she's working on a new album of songs between calls for her role in the Netflix drama, The OA.

Presented and Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
(Photo credit: Ryan Pfluger).

Peter Gibbs chairs the horticultural panel programme from Ledbury, Herefordshire. Pippa Greenwood, Chris Beardshaw and Anne Swithinbank take questions from amateur gardeners.

The team hears how Ledbury locals have been working hard to try and ensure a 12th RHS Britain in Bloom gold medal in a row, and they discuss tactics for gardening through the ongoing drought. There's also a question from one of GQT's long distance listeners who's travelled all the way from California to ask what makes the British so good at gardening.

Meanwhile, RHS Wisley Curator Matthew Pottage visits Surbiton to meet Myles Irvine, a remarkable back-garden-breeder of ornate and hardy passionflowers.

Produced by Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Hester Cant

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover introduces conversations about the loss of partners, to dementia or death, and ways of coping with the absence, 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.

by Jules Verne, dramatised by Gregory Evans

Jules Verne's science fiction classic brought vividly to life in this thrilling, fast-moving dramatisation, featuring the mysterious Captain Nemo and a ferocious giant squid.

Directed by Marc Beeby.

This summer bookshops are awash with islands in every genre from crime, to YA and romance. Mariella Frostrup and guests consider what makes them such popular fictional locations.

Anna Mazzola explains why she thinks islands make such perfect settings for crime novels.

Lydia Syson and Malachy Tallack discuss the appeal of the insider outsider dynamic for novelists.

Bermuda's Angela Barry and St Lucia's Kendel Hippolyte consider whether living on an island influences the writing they produce.

And Victoria Hislop gives her recommendations for the best novels to read on Greek islands.

Roger McGough is joined by John Cooper Clarke, with a selection of his favourite poems from the Poetry Please archive of listeners' requests. His choices include requests for poems by Sir Henry Newbolt, Rudyard Kipling, Sylvia Plath, and Pam Ayres.

Occasionally described as the Poet Laureate of Punk, John Cooper Clarke has performed in many guises; rock star, fashion icon, TV and radio presenter, social and cultural commentator and reluctant national treasure. Ahead of the release of a new poetry collection, 'The Luckiest Guy Alive', his first in 37 years, he shares his love of classic verse, some newly-penned poems and his hilarious musings on life.

Producers: Elliott Prince and Sarah Addezio.

File on 4 goes inside Altcourse Prison in Liverpool to meet the staff trying to stem the supply of drugs into the jail.

Perimeter security has been tightened, searches have been stepped up and new technology is being trialled as officers deal with the influx of new psychoactive substances, such as spice, and more 'traditional' banned drugs, including cannabis and heroin.

More widely, across England and Wales, the availability of drugs in prisons is posing huge challenges to their stability, as well as the health and safety of inmates and officers.

Some prisoners are so desperate to feed their addiction they secrete drugs inside their bodies to by-pass security; others persuade or pressurise friends and family to bring them in.

The demand for contraband is so great that a lucrative trade has developed behind bars, co-ordinated by criminal gangs who use threats, violence and exploitation.

In some cases, vulnerable people are coerced into smuggling drugs, acting as "mules", at great risk to themselves. Offenders who've been let out on licence have been known deliberately to breach the conditions of their release, so they can take supplies into jail when they're sent back there. Some drug-dependent prisoners rack up massive debts which their families are expected to pay off. The BBC's Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw meets those who've got caught up in the sophisticated markets in operation inside the system and reaching out into communities.

The Government has promised to tackle the problem by improving intelligence, investing in new serious and organised crime teams and separating ringleaders from other prisoners.

But ministers are also being urged to improve provision for those who are in the grip of addiction by offering treatment, rehabilitation and opportunities when they leave custody.

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

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

BBC Breakfast Presenter Naga Munchetty chooses her BBC Radio highlights.

An arrival ruffles feathers, and Harrison has a confession.

The third series of Jon Canter's not quite true autobiography of Richard Wilson.

After a brush with death, Richard Wilson concludes that it's time to tell the truth. To everybody. He can't just be nice all the time. Sometimes you've got to tell it how it is.

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

A multi-contributor series of specially-commissioned stories with subterranean settings.

Episode 1 (of 3): Redemption Song by Jami Attenberg
Early one morning, a woman insists that her casual lover accompanies her on her walk to the New York subway.

Jami Attenberg is the author of a collection of short stories and three novels. Her last, The Middlesteins, was a Book At Bedtime on BBC Radio 4 in 2013. Her next, Saint Mazie, will be published in 2015. Jami lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Read by Laurel Lefkow

Produced by Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

Roger Bolton shares listener reaction with Michael Howard and Ed Miliband, Evan Davis discusses Sweet Reason and there's audience comment on Where's the F in News?

Are debates on the radio too angry? Has everyone stopped listening and just become determined to get their own view across? Evan Davis's new programme Sweet Reason is designed to be an alternative to adversarialism. But, when it made its debut, it still had some Feedback listeners shouting at the radio. Evan joins Roger to talk about making a reasonable programme in a divided age and answers listeners' comments on the way he handled the topic of Patriarchy in the first episode.

Where's the F in News? is Radio 4's first all-female comedy panel show. When started its first full series on Friday, it split the Feedback inbox between enthusiastic fans and those who felt it just wasn't funny. We hear the listeners' verdict.

And Lord Michael Howard and Ed Miliband MP have completed their runs sitting in for Jeremy Vine. The former Conservative leader was earning his first cap for network while, by comparison, his Labour counterpart is a seasoned veteran. They join Roger to react to audience views and reflect on the experience.

Presenter: Roger Bolton
Producer: Will Yates
Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

Pictured: Anne Olivier Popham Bell

Julian Worricker on:

Charles Gimingham, an environmentalist, described as the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes....

Human rights lawyer, Felicia Langer, who represented many Palestinians in the Israeli courts....

Campaigning doctor, Julian Tudor Hart, who pioneered the regular monitoring of blood pressure in patients....

Art historian, Anne Olivier Bell, who edited the five volumes of Virginia Woolf's diaries....

And the real-life Good Morning Vietnam DJ, Adrian Cronauer, inspiration for the film starring Robin Williams...

Archive clips from: Assignment: A Report From The Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights, Radio 4, 07/04/1982; On Behalf of the Working Class, BBC Wales, 07/11/1982; The Good Doctor, BBC TV/Worldwide, 07/10/1996; Newsnight, BBC Two, 23/01/2008; George Orwell Back at the BBC, Radio 4, 05/11/2017; Panorama: Life at 100, BBC One, 23/10/2017; Dear Diary, Episode 2, BBC Four, 11/01/2010; Good Morning Vietnam Revisited, Radio 2, 13/04/2015.

As well as marking the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, this year marks a similar milestone in adult social care. But whereas our notions of fairness in treating those who fall ill are simple and straightforward - free to those who require care at the point of delivery in the NHS - with social care it is different: means testing remains the device by which assistance with care is decided. When it comes to helping the aged and the infirm, then, we struggle with decidedly different ideas of fairness - and have done so since the advent of National Assistance - the forerunner of today's social care - in 1948.

What should the individual contribute and how much should the state provide? What ideas of fairness properly apply in providing social care? And how can agreement on them be reached?

Paul Johnson - the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the respected economic research body - asks why politicians should find it so difficult to agree on simple ideas of equity and fairness in this area. From Labour's so-called "death tax" in 2010 to the Conservatives' alleged "dementia tax" last year, attempts to come up with ways to reform a system that is widely considered to have broken down, have collapsed in failure and left both main parties reluctant to get their fingers burnt again with proposals for change.

So with the pressures on available services continuing to grow as the proportion of the population that is elderly rises and its needs become more specialised and as numbers of working age adults with social care needs increase, Paul Johnson considers what principles a fair social care system should enshrine and what likelihood there is that policies to give effect to them will be implemented.

Editor Hugh Levinson.

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

Daniel Kokotajlo explains how his upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness informed his debut film Apostasy. The drama stars Siobhan Finneran as a dedicated Jehovah's Witness, whose two teenage daughters begin to struggle to reconcile their beliefs with the secular world around them.

Editors Emma E Hickox and Rebecca Lloyd discuss how they first got into the cutting room and how diplomacy is a key skill when editing a film.

Jason Stalman, the lead animator on Wes Anderson's stop-motion film, Isle of Dogs, talks through the artistry and challenges behind creating Chief, Rex, Nutmeg and the other canine characters in the film. He also reveals how watching old acting performances from Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton informed the way the dogs were animated.

Presenter: Francine Stock
Producer: Kate Bullivant.

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

Smart Cities: Laurie Taylor presents a special edition of Thinking Allowed which was recorded at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He was joined by Sophie Watson, Professor of Sociology at the Open University, Oliver Zanetti, Visiting Fellow at the Open University and Gillian Rose, Professor of Human Geography at Oxford 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 Rev Cheryl Meban.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast for farmers.

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

Martin Hughes-Games presents the Siskin. Siskins are visiting our gardens as never before. These birds now breed across the UK and cash in on our love of bird-feeding. They are now regular visitors to seed dispensers of all kinds.

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

Aggression peaks at the age of 2. It can be a good thing on a rugby pitch, in a boxing ring or in business and we associate it, perhaps wrongly, with boys rather than girls. Most children become less aggressive as they grow older but not all kids are able to manage their anger and distress. Anyone who's watched brothers and sisters scrapping on the back seat of a car, knows aggressive behaviour is part of family life. Even if home is an oasis of calm, children will still have to deal with aggressive classmates at school. And for many children, aggression and serious violence is inescapable and it can fuel their own behaviour.

As they discuss furious toddlers, warring siblings, school exclusions and serious harm, Mariella and her guests explore the roots and impact of children's aggression. Questions for discussion include why some children are more aggressive than others, whether parents respond differently to aggression in boys and girls, whether violence is addictive, how parents can best deal with meltdowns and intimidation and where to draw the line between normal sibling rough and tumble and unacceptable attacks. As levels of school exclusions and knife attacks rise, contributors also explore possible links between children's aggression at home and school and rising violent crime among teenagers.

Joining Mariella are Child Psychologist Laverne Antrobus, the author Tim Samuels, Seamus Oates from the TBAP Multi-Academy Trust of Alternative Provision schools, Debra Spencer of the University of Cambridge and Jane Griffiths from Break4Change.

Author and journalist Charlotte Higgins explores our ancient fascination with mazes and labyrinths, and reflects on their significance - in art and in mythology, in literature and in life.

Her own interest was inspired by a childhood visit to the palace of Knossos on the island of Crete - where, according to legend, King Minos ordered the construction of a labyrinth to house the half-bull, half-man Minotaur. The monstrous creature was slain by the hero Theseus, who famously managed to escape from the labyrinth with the help of a ball of red thread supplied by Minos's daughter, Ariadne.

"This is where it began," writes Higgins, "my longing for the labyrinth..."

It was also the beginning of her career as a classicist: "I tried to learn my way back there," she says, going on to study Greek and Latin at school and then at Oxford.

As for her own sense of direction: "I have never been able to find my way. Turn me loose in a city without a map and panic rises, as if I were a child who had lost the grip of a parent's hand in a crowd."

And in life? "What frightens me more than the wrong turns I have taken ... are the right turns, the ones I so nearly didn't take...."

Charlotte Higgins is the chief culture writer of the Guardian and the author of three previous books on the ancient world, including Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain, short-listed for the Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction. She is also the author of This New Noise: the Extraordinary Birth and Troubled Life of the BBC.

Red Thread is written and read by Charlotte Higgins.

The book is abridged and produced by David Jackson Young.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

In this fourth series of Just A Girl, trans teenager Amy has just finished her GCSEs and is waiting for her results. She's been taking hormone blockers since she was 11 and is now anxious to start on the next phase of transitioning.

She's always been certain of her gender identity - it's other people who are the problem. Over the course of a week away in Manchester, she falls in love, experiences her first kiss, meets the inspirational Kate O'Donnell, deals with challenging counter-views on trans-gender politics and learns that being trans is just part of her life - not all of it.

Episode 1: Teenagers Amy and Ryley are falling for each other. How will Amy tell him she's trans? And when should she tell him? Will he still like her? She's going to have to find out. Amy, now 16, and her grandad Ted arrive in Manchester. Ted has a funeral to attend and Amy needs some time out from her mum who wants her to wait before starting cross sex hormones. The last thing Amy needs is to meet a boy she really likes.

Writer: Mark Davies Markham
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Director: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4.

On a busy street in Reading - at the front of the shopping centre - you might catch the distinctive smell of peri peri chicken. This is Fernandos. Opened in Autumn 2017, it's a halal restaurant, belonging to Asam Aziz.

A huge fan of the ITV dating show, Take Me Out, Asam says he named his restaurant after the fictional island where couples are sent : "the isle of Fernandos". Some customers did wonder whether Nandos might take issue with the name - but "I just couldn't see that. Why would Nandos have a problem with that?", he says.

This is Asam's first venture of his own. His Dad arrived in Reading in 1965 from Pakistan "with nothing but 50p in his pocket and the trousers he was wearing", and Asam moved here in the 70s when he was one. His Dad saved and saved until he could afford their first convenience store in 2000 and now, with Fernandos, Asam is branching out on his own.

200 people came to their opening in September, as the local Imam blessed the restaurant. The restaurant was a huge success in the community. Busy all the time, Asam seemed to be succeeding in his first year in business. But then, in March, a letter arrived from Nandos' lawyers - it stated that Fernandos was in breach of the company's copyright. Not only with the name, but with the Portuguese Chicken Barcelos symbol he'd chosen as his logo, and other branding inside. Now he faces a dilemma that could bring him down: should he totally re-brand, or refuse to make changes and be taken to court. Clearly, as a small business, the risk in fighting a huge global chain is enormous, but there's a problem - Asam isn't the sort of person who backs down easily: "I can't just hang my gloves up".

But, it's still early days in the life of his very own restaurant. What should he do?

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

It's 1952. Of course.

As Churchill's squadron of bagpiping bombers grows closer, our intrepid crew and their duplicates face the diabolical traps of the Alien ziggurat.

Meanwhile, Jenkins (John Sessions) races back to the laboratory to secure the cellar, and uncovers a duplicate Quanderhorn (James Fleet), who claims he's the real thing.

Barely surviving the Deadly Duck Trap, the Waterfall of Glue and the Collapsing Stairway of Strangling Vines, Brian (Ryan Sampson) and the originals face the ultimate challenge - the Mirror Maze of Laser Death.

The duplicates reach the prize, the legendary Gaulus Tempus - the Time Bucket - but they are immediately betrayed by Guuuurk 2 (Kevin Eldon) who claims it for Mars.

Can Gemma (Cassie Layton), Troy (Freddie Fox), Guuuurk and Brian triumph and use the Time Bucket to save reality before the bombers strike and the bagpipers strike up Ride of the Valkyries?

The Quanderhorn Xperimentations - an adventure beyond human understanding.

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

On this day in 1918, German prisoners were banned from farming alongside the Women's Land Army, and in Devon, Ivan is working closely with Primrose.

Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Ciaran Bermingham
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.

News and discussion of consumer affairs.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

TV director and producer Geoff Posner has an imagined chat with the late Victoria Wood, reliving their classic comedy collaborations like Dinner Ladies and As Seen on TV.

The conversation through the archives provides an insight into the working methods of one of Britain's most loved and greatly missed entertainers. They discuss the lengths she went to ensuring her work was as good as it could be, how she empowered other women to succeed in comedy, and the way she drew from her insecurities in order to give voice to others who might feel "stuck in corners of their own lives where they didn't want to be".

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 exchanges, as living voices engage with those preserved in the archive.

Other pairings in this series include Psychiatrist RD Laing in conversation with his son Adrian Laing, Anita Roddick with her daughter Samantha Roddick, Doris Lessing with her current biographer Patrick French, and Professor Stuart Hall with filmmaker and artist Isaac Julien.

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

It's 2am. There's an intruder in your dining room. Of course you'll call the police. It's the only sane and reasonable thing to do. But this is the story of a couple who don't.

In The Fix by Cat Jones, Mark arrives home in the early hours worse for wear after post-work drinks, expecting he might get some grief off his partner Lucy. If only that was all.

Written by Cat Jones
Directed by Sharon Sephton.

A funny and dynamic quiz show hosted by Steve Punt - this week from Brunel University with specialist subjects including Politics, Theatre and Computer Science and questions ranging from La Dame Aux Camelias and XOR gates to wardrobe malfunctions and Axl Rose.

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 Merton College Oxford, Dundee, Hertfordshire, Sheffield and Newcastle.

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

Join Natalie Haynes and guests for half an hour of comedy and the Classics from the BBC Radio Theatre in London.

Natalie is a recovering comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greece and Rome. Each week she takes a different figure from the Ancient World and tells their story through a mix of stand-up comedy and conversation.

Today she stands up in the name of Phryne, the Greek courtesan famed for her extraordinary wit and beauty. Glossy of skin and a model for statues of the goddess Aphrodite, Phryne was as clever as they come and minted to boot.

Outrage, outrageousness and as always, a lot of gossip from a couple of thousand years ago.

With special guests comedian Katy Brand and classicist Professor Edith Hall.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.

The Immune System

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Shappi Khorsandi, Prof Dan Davis and Prof Steve Jones to look at our amazingly complex and clever Immune system. They look at how the human body fights disease, and why it has been so little understood until now. Fear not though, a new revolution in understanding is underway, with some extraordinary insights into the cunning of our little white cells. The panel look at how this new understanding is already leading to some real breakthroughs in treatment for diseases such as cancer, and Shappi reveals the crucial role she played in one such discovery.

Producer: Alexandra Feachem.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Back for a second week at the Playhouse Theatre in Oxford, regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by programme stalwart Jeremy Hardy with Jack Dee in the chair. Piano accompaniment is provided by Colin Sell.
Producer - Jon Naismith.
It is a BBC Studios production.

Alistair goes too far, and Shula has an emergency on her hands.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

The American satirist Joe Queenan goes in search of sovereignty. He wants to know what it is, what's it for, and how old it is

"Now I know this is a big issue for you all right now. Over here we've been fighting over sovereignty since the eighties.
The 1780s. But I still don't really understand what it is, nor why it's making everyone so mad."

With contributions from Professor Richard Bourke, editor of Popular Sovereignty in Historical Perspective; and Edith Hall the author of Aristotle's Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Why does South Korea have the lowest fertility rate in the world?
The average South Korean woman is expected to have 1.05 children in her life - exactly half the rate needed to maintain a population. That means a shrinking workforce paying less taxes and more elderly people who will need expensive care. South Korea's government has pumped tens of billions of pounds into dealing with the problem over the past decade, but the fertility rate is still going down. In this whodunnit, Simon Maybin finds out who's not doing it - and why.
Producer: John Murphy
Presenter: Simon Maybin.

Brett Westwood explores how our idea of the dung beetle has morphed over the ages.

The most sacred symbol in Egyptian ideology, the scarab beetle was also the butt of Classical Greek jokes, the inspiration for anti-conceptual art, the go-to filthy vermin for use in moralising fables and more recently the source of celestial wonder for poets.

Brett visits an enormous scarab sculpture at the British museum with entomologist Richard Jones, who has brought along his collection of favourite shiny bugs. Biologist and cartoonist Jay Hosler explains why his character Sisyphus is the wisest creature in his graphic novel Clan Apis. Dr Rachel Murray from the University of Bristol reveals the entomologist Fabre's influence on DH Lawrence's Ladybird. Producer Simon Bell explains just how much baby elephant manure it takes to film a dung beetle and Billy Childish revels in the elementary appeal of a creature that sculpts, rolls, battles over and eats poo.

Producer: Ellie Richold.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

By Anne Tyler

A new novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.

In today's episode, Willa and her husband Peter have travelled to Baltimore in a spontaneous act of kindness. Willa begins to meet members of the local community.

Read by Barbara Barnes

Abridged by Sian Preece

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.

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 another famous Johnson - Boris - when he is Mayor of London , but finds him a fiendish opponent especially on the whiff-whaff table.

Directed by Sally Avens.

17-year-old Maya is struggling with anorexia. Her life at home is volatile and her A levels are looming. It will mean the world to her if she can do well in these exams, but she can't concentrate to revise.

Anorexia has been explosive within the family and Maya captures, with a raw honesty, the agonising rows they have. Combining extremely candid audio diaries with behind-the-scenes confrontation, Maya gives us an extraordinary insight into the life of a family living with an eating disorder. No one shies away from explaining the deceptive, manipulative and painful nature of this illness.

Maya was a loving, fun and happy teenager, surrounded by friends and with a world of opportunity ahead of her. But at 16 her life changed and when admitted to hospital, she was so unwell, she was told she was lucky to be alive.

Now doing well in the A levels this summer has become crucial, "The exams are the key to going to university, proving to myself that I can beat this illness. I just get so scared because, if I fail the exams how am I going to get better, how am I going to succeed in life?"

She needs to get to AAB to read Zoology at Bristol University, but the disease is all consuming: "I think it's more than just starving yourself of food, it's starving yourself of everything because everything becomes about using as much energy as possible. So I starve myself of friends, I starve myself of family, I starve myself of education because I can't dedicate any time to sit down and work because the thought of sitting down and not constantly moving and constantly using energy is too stressful."

With 6 weeks to go, will Maya be well enough to sit the exams and get the grades she needs?

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

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 Rev Cheryl Meban.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

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

Brett Westwood presents the Wood Sandpiper. Wood Sandpipers are elegant waders and just a handful of pairs breed in the UK, in wooded marshes and remote bogs of Northern Scotland. There's a chance to see them when they break their migration journey south at inland pools and marshes here. Listen out for their cheerful call that has been described as sounding like an old penny-whistle.

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

Peter Hennessy, the historian, asks senior politicians to reflect on their life and times. Each week, he invites his guest to explore their early formative influences, experiences and impressions of people they've known. In the first programme of this run, his guest is Paddy Ashdown, who was Leader of Liberal Democrats from 1988 until 1999, and international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2002 -2006).

Paddy Ashdown's background was unusual for a politician of his generation - commando, diplomat, spy and unemployed youth worker. He discusses his formative experiences and tells how soldiering influenced his politics. He stood for the Liberals at Yeovil in 1979 and four years later won the seat, but confesses that he never much liked Westminster and it never much liked him.

Ashdown discusses his attempts to strengthen the centre ground of British politics. He recalls working with former Labour ministers in the Social Democratic Party (SDP), but admits to having found it difficult working with David Owen. Recalling his leadership of the Liberal Democrats, he tells how he and Tony Blair planned to work together in government and explains why his hopes for a coalition with Labour were dashed. Although the Liberal Democrats played a role in constitutional reform after 1997, notably devolution, Ashdown regrets Blair's failure to change the 'first-past-the-post' voting system at general elections. He tells why he stood down as Leader of the Liberal Democrats and later declined Gordon Brown's offer to become Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Producer: Rob Shepherd.

Author and journalist Charlotte Higgins explores our ancient fascination with mazes and labyrinths, and reflects on their significance - in art and in mythology, in literature and in life.

In this second reading from her new book, Higgins discusses some literary labyrinths, including the mysterious, forbidden library in Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose. And she describes the extraordinary mappa mundi at Hereford Cathedral, a medieval "cloth of the world" (with the island of Crete and its "eleven course labyrinth" - the lair of the Minotaur - particularly prominent). But as Higgins observes, Hereford's mappa mundi is "not just a diagram of space, it is a map of time and destiny..."

Red Thread is written and read by Charlotte Higgins.

The book is abridged and produced by David Jackson Young.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

In this fourth series of Just A Girl, trans teenager Amy has just finished her GCSEs and is waiting for her results. She's been taking hormone blockers since she was 11 and is now anxious to start on the next phase of transitioning.

She's always been certain of her gender identity - it's other people who are the problem. Over the course of a week away in Manchester, she falls in love, experiences her first kiss, meets the inspirational Kate O'Donnell, deals with challenging counter-views on trans-gender politics and learns that being trans is just part of her life - not all of it.

Episode 2: Amy meets her great heroine Kate, played by real-life transgender artist and activist Kate O'Donnell, who urges her to have fun, take no nonsense and never apologise for being trans. It's exactly what Amy needs to hear as her romance with Ryley develops.

Writer: Mark Davies Markham
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Director: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4.

Brett Westwood looks at the history of a bird which has become a byword for male beauty. It's all about the tail: inspiration for everyone from Darwin to Oscar Wilde, from poets to peacocking pop stars.

In Lancashire, Brett walks among peacocks of every shade and type, and with colour scientist Pete Vukusic explores the secrets of the bird's shimmering, iridescent appeal. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, a natty dresser himself, explains the birds influence on pioneering artist Aubrey Beardsley, and Maan Barua reveals the enduring influence of the bird in its native India - traded as a gift for centuries, and elected as a national symbol following independence.

The writer Laura Barton listens closely to music on the Isle of Man. Surrounded by the tempestuous Irish Sea, the island is said to contain all the landscapes of Britain in only 220 square miles. There's a strong tradition of Celtic music but many say you can hear the particular landscape and character of the people in Manx tunes.

On the rugged northern coast, Laura meets a young harpist, Mera Royle, who plays traditional Manx music and received the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award this year. In the western town of Peel, Laura listens to a variety of performers, including Breesha Maddrell and Aalin Clague from Moot and Clash Vooar, at the Yn Chrunniaght festival. And in a fishing village in the south, Laura meets Gyp Buggane, the bassist of the psychedelic band 13th Pillar, who also runs a studio recording the diverse mix of musicians on the island.

Produced by Andrea Rangecroft and Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

On this day in 1918, a farmer from Ashburton was prosecuted for illegally removing sheep from Dartmoor, and at a nearby shepherd's hut, Cathy is found in the wilderness.

Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Ciaran Bermingham
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.

Consumer phone-in.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Adrian Laing has an imagined chat with his late father RD Laing, challenging him on his controversial psychiatric methods, his excessive drinking, his frequent depression, and his inconsistent parenting.

RD Laing revolutionised the seemingly uncaring and sometimes brutal treatment of mental illness in the 1950s, but a certain frustration permeates the conversation as Adrian tries to understand why his father never backed up his theories with the academic evidence which might have ensured his place in the psychiatric establishment. Instead, RD Laing's unconventional approach later in his career, including the use of LSD to treat patients, led to hostility from the profession and the undermining of his reputation.

Adrian says to his father in the programme, "You were such a force for good for so many, you helped people in very distressed states of mind to come through it and to find the light, but when it came to your own, you were a disaster."

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

Other pairings in this series include Victoria Wood in conversation with TV producer Geoff Posner, Anita Roddick with her daughter Samantha Roddick, Doris Lessing with her current biographer Patrick French, and Professor Stuart Hall with filmmaker and artist Isaac Julien.

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

by Sarah Wooley

A comedy drama about festivals and the start of a legendary literary romance.
In 1962, novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard took on the job of running the Cheltenham Literary Festival. It was to be a baptism of fire.

Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

With Olivier Award nominee Melody Grove (Farinelli and the King).

John Wilson returns with a new series of Mastertapes, in which he talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios. Each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both editions feature exclusive live performances.

Programme 1, A-side. "Tigerlily" with Natalie Merchant

Completely self-funded (to ensure creative control),"Tigerlily" went on the sell over 5 million copies and continues to be Natalie Merchant's most successful album to date. Its bold and stripped down sound gave more emphasis to her powerful and often personal lyrics, including "Beloved Wife" (inspired by her grandfather's grief in the wake of her grandmother's passing) and "River" (written in response to the sudden and untimely death of her friend River Phoenix). The album also included the top-40 singles "Wonder" and "Jealousy", as well as her first top-ten hit as a solo artist, "Carnival".

Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.

Producer: Paul Kobrak.

As John Lennon once wrote 'life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans'. In this four-part series broadcaster Lauren Laverne follows the twists and turns in the lives of three people who spent an intense period of time together and then went their separate ways. Where did they end up and what took them there? Did early promise turn into a stellar career or did life take a different turn?

Lauren hears how these lives unfolded; the successes and tragedies that form the backdrop of their stories; the incidents that prompted them to change direction and the moving and surprising conclusions they've come to as they look back on their younger selves.

In this first edition Lauren meets three former students who studied acting at the Poor School drama college in 1993. Today one of them is the deputy principal of a performing arts school; one a personal stylist and one an advocate for children in care. But who became who, and how did they get there? They recall with humour and sadness. the fickle and unforgiving world of professional acting.

Producer: Paula Mcginley
Editor: Eleanor Garland.

"Suddenly this light comes into your life" - says Hanif Kureishi, referring to his hero, his great life, David Bowie.
Hanif, an author, screenwriter and film maker went on to become friends with Bowie in the 1990's after they worked together when Bowie wrote the soundtrack to Kureishi's TV adaptation 'The Buddha of Suburbia'.
For Hanif it was also David Bowie who inspired him to become an author and filmmaker - he says for a "mixed race Pakistani kid living in a crummy terrace bored out of my mind, I wanted to get out - I wanted to explore, I wanted to express myself, I wanted to be free".
Hanif gives his personal insight into the life of David Bowie; the expert witness is Dylan Jones - author of 'David Bowie A Life' and 'When Ziggy Played Guitar'.
The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Jake Yapp applies his sharp satirical eye to the modern media, exploring its strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies through stand-up, sketch and music.

Episode 2 - Speech Radio

Jake uses the medium of speech radio to satirise... Speech Radio. Exploring its most exhausting iterations and tropes.

Written, performed and composed by Jake Yapp
Starring George Fouracres and Emily Lloyd-Saini
Additional material by Robin Morgan
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.

Neil finds himself in trouble, and Elizabeth offers her support.

Arts news, interviews and reviews.

Could abortion be banned in the United States? Since the election of President Trump, and particularly since with his nomination of a second Supreme Court Justice, the question has taken on a new urgency, for both sides of America's abortion wars. Now Philippa Thomas travels to two states which encapsulate the debate - Texas and Kentucky - to explore the past, present and future of this most controversial issue.

In Texas, Philippa hears from women on why they chose to have abortions and the context of their lives; from the anti-abortion 'sidewalk counsellors' who try to persuade women seeking abortions - often just outside the doors of abortion clinics - to choose a different option; and from pastors on both sides of the issue.

In Kentucky, she visits the state's last functioning abortion clinic and is invited to a smart suburb of Louisville to see for herself one answer to the challenge often posed to anti-abortion activists about what are the alternatives.

Finally, in Washington DC, Philippa goes to the US Supreme Court to hear arguments in the latest abortion-related case. It will be the court's nine judges - with their lifetime tenure and current fine balance between abortion rights supporters and abortion opponents - who will decide the fate of abortion across the United States. And Philippa asks whether President Trump's latest appointee could tilt the balance against abortion rights.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

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

Dr Mark Porter presents a series that aims to demystify perplexing health issues.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

By Anne Tyler

A bittersweet new novel about family and self-discovery by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.

In today's episode, Denise has returned home leaving Willa with a tough decision about whether to stay or go.

Read by Barbara Barnes

Abridged by Sian Preece

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane.

Jackie Harrison has a 50-50 chance of developing Huntington's disease. Her grandfather, mother and uncle all died young with this devastating, neuro-degenerative disease and she cares for her younger brother who has it too.

In December 2017 it seemed that there might have been a breakthrough and there's been a surge of people at risk asking for a predictive test. It's a blood test which simply tells you if you will develop the disease - but currently there is no cure.

Jackie has previously shied away from the test, but is now considering it. The test is a gamble. A bad result can be devastating.

Having lived all her life thinking she has Huntington's, Jackie hasn't leant to drive for fear she will have her license taken away. She hasn't had children, for fear that any child would have to look after her when she became ill.

"There are very few days you're not thinking about it," she admits, checking herself for symptoms, "I twitch my shoulder and I know I do. Sometimes I've a twitchy eye or one time my thumb was shaking or shivering for no reason. I'm being bad tempered and I'm shouting at people - so you think is this the start of it?"

As Jackie approaches 50, she is increasingly persuaded to have the test. Her partner Tony describes it as a horrendous Catch 22, "Do you want to live the rest of your life in the hope that you may be free of the disease or do you want to toss the coin, with the negative of that being you find you're not free of it and you then you have no hope left?"

Should she have the test and could she cope with the result?

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

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.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

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

Kate Humble presents the hoopoe. The hoopoe, a salmon-coloured bird with a long curved bill and a black-tipped crest, which it can spread like a fan when excited, is so outrageously exotic that its call reminds us of the Mediterranean. Several hoopoes arrive in the UK each spring and autumn. These are usually birds which have overshot their migration routes and almost certainly won't find a mate here, though they do breed very occasionally.

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

'A Life's Work' is a new series in which Paddy O'Connell brings together three people, from three different generations, who have all dedicated their lives to the same profession.

This programme features three diplomats whose many years of service to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have contributed to over half a century of British foreign policy. From the Cuban missile crisis, via the fall of communism, natural disasters, countless receptions and numerous changes in government to one of the defining moments in the world history - 9/11 - their personal careers reflect the changing attitudes of the country they have served.

Sir Christopher Mallaby joined the diplomatic service in 1959. He was British Ambassador to Germany during the fall of the Berlin wall (1988-92) and then British Ambassador to France (1993-96). He clashed with Mrs Thatcher over the reunification of Germany (she was against it) and he was a junior diplomat in the Moscow embassy during the Cuban missile crisis.

Dame Nicola Brewer is the former High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland (2009 - 2013). She joined in 1983. Her children were born during a posting to France, grew up in India and spent time in South Africa. She is now Vice-Provost (International) at UCL.

Arthur Snell was High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago (2011 - 2014). As an Arabic speaker, he worked in Africa, Yemen and Iraq and his career was defined by 9/11. He joined in 1998 but decided to leave the diplomatic service - in part - because he has a young family.

Producer: Helen Lee.

David Cannadine returns with five more programmes examining the careers of British Prime Ministers through their props of power. From the Duke of Wellington's boot to Mrs Thatcher's handbag, he explores political fame and image through the way in which an object or prop can come to define a political leader.

When the Duke of Wellington died, his horse carried a pair of his boots the reverse way around in the stirrups at the end of his funeral procession. The sight of these boots brought tears to the eyes of the thousands of mourners at his state funeral. The Duke became associated with his boots after he wrote to his boot maker from the Iberian Peninsula to request he made shorter boots without a tassel, which fitted under trousers, because the Duke tended to wear civilian dress while on campaign.

David Cannadine meets the present Duke of Wellington to explore how his ancestor's utilitarian boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen, eager to emulate their war hero. But Wellington's boots were turned against him during his premiership by his enemies, who characterised him as a military despot, complete with jackboots and spurs.

The Duke's eponymous footwear were revived again in the aftermath of the First World War, when Wellingtons reappeared in a new guise as our more familiar and much loved 'wellies' - no longer made of leather, but of rubber.

Readings by Ewan Bailey and Will Huggins

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
Series Researcher: Martin Spychal

A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.

Author and journalist Charlotte Higgins explores our ancient fascination with mazes and labyrinths, and reflects on their significance - in art and in mythology, in literature and in life.

In this third reading from her new book Higgins investigates some mental mazes, and Sigmund Freud's view that psychoanalysis "supplies the thread that leads a man out of the labyrinth of his own unconscious."

She also describes the neuroscience behind the human being's sense of direction, the enlarged hippocampi of London cabbies, and how, on some level, "finding our way through life, building up stories about ourselves and making meaningful memories out of our experiences, may be twined together with our ability to navigate..."

Red Thread is written and read by Charlotte Higgins.

The book is abridged and produced by David Jackson Young.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

In this fourth series of Just A Girl, trans teenager Amy has just finished her GCSEs and is waiting for her results. She's been taking hormone blockers since she was 11 and is now anxious to start on the next phase of transitioning.

She's always been certain of her gender identity - it's other people who are the problem. Over the course of a week away in Manchester, she falls in love, experiences her first kiss, meets the inspirational Kate O'Donnell, deals with challenging counter-views on trans-gender politics and learns that being trans is just part of her life - not all of it.

Episode 3: Amy finds the pressure too much and wants to run back to London, but Ryley persuades her to stay in Manchester. She has to face his mother who has trenchant views about trans issues.

Writer: Mark Davies Markham
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Director: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Polly Thomas

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4.

Inspiration and friendship, on stage and off. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Jack and Millie discover the Eleventh Commandment - Thou shalt not try and please a son's scary ex-girlfriend. And what's really in the mysterious neighbour's packages?

A chance encounter and a classy fish restaurant combine to create a tale of Middle Eastern diplomacy, tight shorts, strictly no ospreys and a married lifetime's-worth of verbal sparring.

So Millie's son Melvin has given her a new tablet with a voice recorder?

So suddenly Jack and Millie have decided to record everything that happens to them? And for this, we should be grateful?

Well Yes! Because this is a new comedy show written by Jeremy Front (writer of the Charles Paris mysteries for Radio 4) and starring Jeremy Front and Rebecca Front as Jack and Millie Lemman, an older couple who are fully engaged with contemporary life while being at war with the absurdities of the modern world.

Written by Jeremy Front
Produced by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

On this day in 1918, On this day in 1918, the Franco-Swiss border was closed to contain the spread of Spanish Flu. But in Devon, the doors of Engleby Hall are thrown wide open to mark the first day of harvest.

Written by Sarah Daniels
Directed by Ciaran Bermingham
Editor: Jessica Dromgoole.

Consumer affairs programme.

The latest weather forecast.

Analysis of news and current affairs.

Samantha Roddick has an imagined conversation with her late mother, businesswoman Anita Roddick, and realises that the founder of The Body Shop had even more influence on her than she thought.

The conversation covers Anita Roddick's fear of death that spurred her on in life, her outrage at injustice, her vision that big business "should fly the flag of social change", her desire for a belief system that goes beyond materialism and, poignantly, her hopes for her funeral - which Samantha assures her were met in full.

For both mother and daughter there is an enduring faith that goodness will prevail and future generations will find ethical ways to live and do business, to the benefit of the earth, and for us all.

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

Other pairings in the series include Victoria Wood in conversation with TV director Geoff Posner who directed her in classic comedies such as Dinner Ladies, psychiatrist RD Laing with his son Adrian Laing, Doris Lessing with her current biographer Patrick French, and Professor Stuart Hall with filmmaker and artist Isaac Julien.

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

By Neil Brand

Mickey's big deception plan could change the course of the War but the arrival of soldier son Jack and WAAC Controller sister Evadne complicates matters.

Meticulously based on unit war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war, exactly 100 years ago, telling untold stories about the war in Gaza, Gallipoli, Serbia, Mesopotamia, Russia, Macedonia, Italy, Turkmenistan and Tanzania, as well as on the Western Front.

And through it all, we've followed the fortunes of Mickey Bliss and his fellow signallers, from the Lahore Division of the British Indian Army. They are the cogs in an immense machine, one which connects situations across the whole theatre of the war, over four long years.

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

Financial phone-in.

A dream-like journey, a man trying to prove he hasn't died and a reflection on a eulogy. Josie Long presents documentaries where words linger long after they're uttered.

Featuring the voices of the oral historian Studs Terkel, recorded a couple of years before he passed away, and the writer Julia Cooper, finding the words she wished she could offer her younger self.

A Taxi Stops
Produced by Rikke Houd

Afterwords
Featuring Jeremy Lee Bass
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft

Eulogy
Featuring Julia Cooper
Produced by Veronica Simmonds

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