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

In her newly published 'diary of my thoughts', renowned author and traveller Jan Morris covers much ground:

She recalls her late brother Gareth, a 'siffleur' of the highest order. Then ascending Mount Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa, one day. And then a chaotic yet comic walk to lunch on another day..

Reader Janet Suzman

Producer Duncan Minshull.

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 Dr Lesley Carroll.

iPM listener, James, told us how he'd finally made contact with his biological father, who'd donated his sperm 30 years ago. Now that man explains what led him to be a donor in the first place, and what he expects when he meets James for the first time.

Radio 2's Simon Mayo reads our Your News bulletin.

And we hear from our listener Fabida who's returned from Kerala, where the worst flooding in a century left thousands homeless.

Let us know your story on iPM@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Luke Jones. Produced by Cat Farnsworth.

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

Helen Mark visits the Malvern Hills. She meets a landscape historian, who shows her how human history has left its marks on the topography - if you know where to look for them. She finds out about the inspiration which the composer Edward Elgar drew from the area, and learns how the landscape is reflected in his music. Malvern is famous for its spring water, which has been bottled in the town since the 17th century. Helen meets the man who bought one of the springs by accident - and then went on to revive the Malvern spring water brand. The area is also known for its gas lamps, which are believed to have inspired C.S. Lewis in his description of the entrance to Narnia in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Helen finds that there are some very 21st century developments afoot for the Victorian gas lamps, and meets the man who's worked out how to power them using something which is in plentiful supply on the hills - dog poo!

Produced by Emma Campbell.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

The latest weather forecast.

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

Morning magazine show presented by Aasmah Mir and the Rev Richard Coles. Featuring Susan Calman, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones and Simon's Cat. Plus Naga Munchetty's Inheritance Tracks.

As large numbers of U.S. troops start arriving on the Western Front in 1918, Francine Stock examines the response of artists and movie stars to their country's commitment to war.

The Bryce report on alleged German outrages causes George Bellows, one of the most acclaimed American artists of his generation, to drastically change his views on the war effort. The nephew of modernist painter Claggett Wilson talks about his uncles ability to portray the feeling, not just the sight, of war.

And Charlie Chaplin moves away from what he calls 'sausage pictures' to make Shoulder Arms - a film about a private with dreams of becoming a war hero.

Plus, in Britain, the mysterious lost film of David Lloyd George, and how Shakespeare was misquoted in the name of war.

Presenter: Francine Stock
Producers: Georgia Catt and Mark Burman
Production Coordinator: Anne Smith.

Anne McElvoy of the Economist looks behind the scenes at Westminster.
The editor is Marie Jessel.

Some are buried in mass graves; others are still in the hands of Islamic State militants. Kate Adie introduces stories from Iraq, Chile, India, Colombia, and Sweden:

Four years since IS swept through northern Iraq and carried out what the UN called a genocidal attack on the Yazidi people who lived there, Lyse Doucet returns to see what remains.
Linda Pressly meets a Chilean woman who posed as a young boy online in her quest to get her local priesthood investigated.
Vivienne Nunis learns how women and their pink rickshaws are transforming the working world in Jaipur - much to the disapproval of some local men.
Nick Thorpe makes the long journey through the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range to reach the Ciudad Perdida - the Lost City which was abandoned by the indecorous people who once lived there when Spanish conquistadors arrived at the Colombian coast in the 16th century.
And Gabriel Gatehouse has a mysterious but revealing encounter with a real-life troll in Stockholm.

Producer: Joe Kent.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Paul Lewis presents the latest news from the world of personal finance.

With Miles Jupp out of the office, comedian Simon Evans takes the guest host chair for this week's show.

Featuring all the week's stories big and small as told by Phill Jupitus, Ayesha Hazarika, Phil Wang and Rory Bremner.

Written by: Madeleine Brettingham, Dan Evans and Jenny Laville with additional material by Will Duggan, Laura Major and Mike Shephard.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Leeds Minster with a panel including the political commentator Stewart Jackson, the Conservative peer Lord Pickles, Shadow Women and Equalities Minister Naz Shah MP and the Guardian newspaper columnist Polly Toynbee.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson.

Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

Dennis Potter's unproduced screenplay of DM Thomas's award-winning novel, starring Anne-Marie Duff and Bill Paterson. With strong language and sexual scenes.

Circus performer Lisa visits Dr Probst, a celebrated Berlin psychoanalyst, to discover the cause of the mysterious pains she is experiencing in her in her left breast and pelvis. As Probst attempts to unravel the true cause of her pains, he is sure that the answer to Lisa's condition lies in her past and her realisation, after her mother and uncle are killed in a hotel fire, that the two of them were having an affair.

When Lisa allows Probst to read her secret journal, he is stunned by her erotic fantasies and sexually charged description of an imaginary relationship with a lover at a white hotel, a grand baroque Spa.

Their passionate lovemaking seems to provoke strange disasters - premonitions of the catastrophe that will soon overwhelm Lisa and Kolya.

Lisa initially plays along with Probst's investigations of her past, but eventually reveals that she also experiences unsettling premonitions. "I see what is going to happen. And what is going to happen cannot be endured."

Is her trauma really the result of childhood memories, or could it be a dark premonition of the future?

The drama is preceded by a short documentary, The Long Road to the White Hotel, telling the story of the many failed attempts to bring DM Thomas's novel to the screen and the making of the Radio 4 drama of Dennis Potter's screenplay.

Written by DM Thomas
Original Screenplay by Denis Potter under licence from Briarpatch Limited L.P
Directed by Jon Amiel

The Long Road to the White Hotel feature by Overtone Productions.

Producers: Laurence Bowen and Peter Ettedgui
A Dancing Ledge production for BBC Radio 4.

Wendy and Colin Parry discuss the film Mother's Day which follows the events in 1993 when the IRA planted two bombs in Warrington which killed their son Tim.

Corduroy was popular in the 70s and is undergoing something of a revival. We discuss why with Amber Butchart fashion historian and Victoria Moss senior fashion editor at the Telegraph.

As children begin the new school year this week how are parents managing jobs, school and childcare? Christine Armstrong is the author of Mother of All Jobs and Sian Griffiths the education and parenting editor at the Sunday Times, discuss.

Richard Madden is TV's latest heart throb but how do men feel about being objectified? We hear from Matthew Chambers an actor and director who works with the BBC Soap, Doctors. Danny Mac is an actor who was a runner up in Strictly in 2016 and Dr Peter Lucas is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Central Lancashire.

And the poet Aviva Dautch performs her poem The House, about growing up with a mother who hoards.

Presented by Jane Garvey
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Beverley Purcell.

Full coverage of the day's news.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest weather forecast.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Nikki Bedi and Sara Cox are joined by Simon Beaufoy, Cerys Matthews, Jill Johnson and Rebecca Trehearn for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from The Coral, Chilly Gonzales and Rebecca Trehearn.

Producer: Debbie Kilbride.

From foster father to Labour's second most powerful politician, Mark Coles profiles shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a new film set in the US in the 90s; Cameron (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) is a teenage lesbian sent to a gay conversion centre but not really motivated to try and change
Humans has transferred from an award-winning run on Broadway to The Hampstead Theatre in London. An American family gather together for Thanksgiving supper and all the worries and fears bubble to the surface. But it's not all grim soul-searching
Phoebe Waller Bridge is the name behind Killing Eve on BBC3; a new slick female assassin TV series starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer as the detective tracking down the killer and the ruthless killer herself respectively
Miriam Toews' novel Women Talking is set in a Mennonite settlement in rural Canada where a series of rapes has torn their world apart when it is discovered that the rapists come from within their own community
I Object, Ian Hislop's Search for Dissent is at The British Museum, tracing the history of dissent subversion and satire hidden within the Museum's vast collections
Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Meg Rosoff, Francis Wheen and Stephanie Merritt. The producer is Oliver Jones.

2018 marks the 100th anniversary since the end of World War 1, followed by the founding of the League of Nations the following year which offered a vision of peaceful world government and collaboration. History of course didn't turn out that way, and the fate of the League of Nations is often seen as symbolic of the dream of world government, fragile, utopian, and ultimately doomed to collapse in the face of resurgent and aggressive nationalism.

But the dream of world government is surprisingly stubborn. In one form or another, battered and bruised, it underlies every transnational political body which has followed, from the Red Cross, to the UN itself. It holds out a vision of political authority which crosses borders, and which dares to dream that universal values can sustain in the face of local angers, anxieties and chauvinisms.

In this archive hour the former Foreign Secretary David Milliband looks at the history of world government over the last century, with its successes and its failures.

Historical Advisor Patricia Clavin Professor of International History Jesus College University of Oxford

Producer Mark Rickards.

Tommies reveals a hidden true story, based on secret German documents, of how a British signalling blunder contributed to the terrible death toll on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

By 30th June 1916, the German lines have been under constant bombardment for days. An attack is coming, but it's vital that the enemy don't know exactly when.

As vast numbers of men, machinery and armaments move to their final jumping-off points, the Indian cavalry of the 34th Poona Horse face their battle plan. And Mickey Bliss is training the signallers of the Tyneside Scottish - according to his unique methods. Mickey has every last point of preparation covered.

But there's one tiny detail he has missed.

Lee Ross stars in this story by Nandita Ghose.

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

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.

Series created by Jonathan Ruffle
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 mother and daughter Amelia and Grace.

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
Amelia: Lia Williams
Grace: Shannon Tarbet
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.

This week: how to better protect young people from the harmful effects of social media?

Follow ten of the country's brightest minds as they gather in the library of Bartley Green school, in Birmingham. They have just one day to come up with a solution that will convince a panel of judges - and the students of the school.

Who will impress and who will fall short?

Presented by Matthew Taylor and facilitated by Cat Drew from Uscreates.

Team One:
- Rebecca Ford - head of design programme, RSA
- Tobias Revell - Artist and designer
- Sam Howey Nunn - Director of Free Ice Cream
- Marialuisa Ferro - Social media blogger for UScreates
- Luke Newbold - Founder of Lens Change and Studio You London
- Asha, pupil at Bartley Green school

Team two:
- Lil Adair - Design consultant, USCreates
- Vasant Chari - Senior Policy Adviser, Policy Lab
- Molly Thompson - Community manager, Silicon Canal
- Megan Highcock - YouthSight, Research and Marketing
- Hamda Mohamed - Young leader, Uprising youth leadership
- Maisy, pupil at Bartley Green school

Expert witnesses:
- Victoria Goodyear - Pedagogical researcher into digital technologies, University of Birmingham
- Alan Earl - Online safety consultant

Series producer: Estelle Doyle and Producer: Jordan Dunbar.
Editor: Penny Murphy.

(5/13)
What was the most notable musical achievement of Lys Assia, who died in 2018? If you can answer this you'd get off to a flying start in this heat of Radio 4's music quiz - but would you be as confident with questions about Tchaikovsky ballets, Mendelssohn oratorios or classic 1970s jazz-funk albums? All of these topics crop up in the opening round - after which today's competitors get the chance to pick a special musical subject on which they think they'll be able to score plenty of points. Paul Gambaccini provides musical extracts both familiar and surprising - and even improvises his own musical clues from time to time. A semi-final place awaits today's winner.

Taking part are:
Roderick Cromar, a chartered accountant from Inverurie
Ed Newsome, who works in arts marketing in Cardiff
Jack Spearing, a student from Baldock in Hertfordshire.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

In 1977 the sculptor Walter De Maria erected a field of stainless steel poles in the New Mexico high desert, where lighting frequently strikes. The only way to see this electrifying art work, one of the largest sculptures on earth, is to spend the night in a log cabin, in a remote and eerie location, off the grid.

We join acclaimed American poet Kim Addonizio as she drives hundreds of dusty miles to Quemado, the remote town closest to the Lightning Field. At the Dia Art Foundation Office, cowboy Robert Weathers drives the pre-booked guests out into the Field and leaves them alone overnight, with no phones, cameras, or digital devices, to experience the art work.

De Maria believed that no gallery could compete for impact with the power of a natural disaster - "Flood, forest fire, typhoon, sand storm, earthquake... it is in the unpredictable disasters that the highest forms are realised."

Addonizio responds, "Maybe that's part of his aim, to put us out here where we may experience an unpredictable disaster."

In a grid 1 mile by 1 kilometre, the 400 stainless steel poles reach an exact height on which an invisible pane of glass could be balanced. They are in themselves a remarkable sight. The added challenge for this very urban poet is a night in the desert, with heat, rattlesnakes and the potential thrill and danger of lightning strikes.

On the journey, Addonizio also dips into her favourite desert poems, including ones by Native American poets Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz and others, and finds both personal and poetic inspiration.

We also hear from writer Geoff Dyer, who has twice visited the field, to enjoy his dry take on a pilgrimage on many an art fan's bucket list. "De Maria has rightly insisted that the light is as important as the lightning. But calling it the Lightning Field is a sensational piece of marketing..."

Addonizio is making a visit to the Field in June this year, where she will consider the personal and existential meanings of De Maria's steel rods, each a polished pointed spear aimed at the heavens.

An atmospheric journey through the desert to an extraordinary location, with one of the USA's most acclaimed contemporary poets.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall

"Rattlesnake" by Stanley Vestal
"Culture and the Universe" by Simon Ortiz
"To the Desert" by Benjamin Alire Saenz
"Invisible Fish by Joy Harjo
Readings from "White Plains" by Geoff Dyer

Photograph is of Walter De Maria's, Lightning Field, 1977. A permanent earth sculpture, 400 stainless steel poles arranged in a grid array measuring one mile by one kilometer, average pole height 20 feet 7 inches, pole tips form an even plane. Quemado, New Mexico. Collection Dia Art Foundation, New York. Photo: John Cliett. Courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York.

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

In this new story by James Meek, we meet his Lordship, known as Gerry, who's flat broke and needs some heavy stones shifting at the manor. The required 'muscle' will come from an unexpected quarter..

Reader David Horovitch

Producer Duncan Minshull.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest shipping forecast.

The latest news from BBC Radio 4.

Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St George, Brailes, in Warwickshire. The tower holds the third heaviest peal of six bells. The tenor cast in 1877 by Blews of Birmingham weighs twenty nine hundredweight and is tuned to the key of C. The second is the oldest bell in the tower cast by William Chamberlain of London in 1440. We hear them ringing call changes.

The latest national and international news.

Journalist and broadcaster Remona Aly explores the turbulent relationship between Islam and the female singing voice.

Over the course of history, Islam has had a troubled relationship with music, with some believers arguing that it should be banned. Female singers have been particularly hard hit. Despite periods of repression that have seen Muslim women banned from singing in public and performing solo in front of men, there is a rich tradition of women using music to deepen their Islamic faith.

Remona interweaves the stunning tones of the "queen of Sufi music", Abida Parveen, with the young hijabi singer-songwriter Sevval Kayhan, who wowed the X-Factor Holland judges. We hear silken Quranic recitations from Indonesia alongside Olivia Newton John's rendition of one of Islam's oldest songs - Tala'al Badru 'Alayna.

In order to find out more about the current state of affairs in Britain, Remona speaks to Sakinah Lenoir and Rabiah Abdullah who together make up the acoustic duo Pearls of Islam. The band explain that they believe the negative reactions some have to the sound of the female singing voice is due to fear. Far from trying to revolutionise Islam, the pair explain that their work refers back to the time of Prophet Muhammad who surrounded himself with vocal women, female singers and poets. Following their interview, Pearls of Islam perform their beautiful track Mercy live.

Remona concludes that, while the controversy over female singers remains within certain quarters of her faith, these female singers are far from dangerous. For Remona, the real danger lies in stripping away an avenue of spiritual expression for women whose only aim is to reach out to the divine through music.

Presenter: Remona Aly
Producer: Max O'Brien
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4.

Chicken is often the cheap form of protein we find in sandwich fillings and ready meals but at Fosse Meadows Farm Nick Ball and Jacob Sykes hope to challenge our view of this humble bird and put it back at the centre of the dinner table. Ruth Sanderson visits Nick and Jacob at their farm in South Leicestershire to discover why they believe letting chickens roam freely and slow-rearing the birds to 81 days is both a good choice for the ethical consumer and a better tasting roast dinner.

The latest weather forecast.

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

Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme, presented by William Crawley.

Jon Snow makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Khulisa.

Registered Charity Number: 1120562,
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 'Khulisa'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Khulisa'.

The latest weather forecast.

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

An anticipated ten thousand Catholics from across England and Wales gather in Liverpool for the first National Eucharistic Congress in 110 years. This unique event sees people of all backgrounds coming together in thought, prayer and reflection, focussing on the Sacrament of the Eucharist and how this central tenet of the Catholic faith has an impact on their lives and the world around them.

A dynamic element of the congress is the meeting of thousands of young people at Liverpool Echo Arena. The day is based around worship, with music from Jo Boyce and CJM Music and One Hope Collective. Reflections come from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols and international speaker and author, Katie Prejean-McGrady. The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Malcolm McMahon, presides at the gathering. Producer: Katharine Longworth.

Adam Gopnik on why the prefixes we use speak volumes about us.

The "pregnant prefix", Adam writes, "is now the giveaway of class identity - and class bound condescension. The "um"s, "like"s, "look"s, "well"s and particularly "so"s of the world tell all".

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

Editor of The Countryman magazine Mark Whitley reveals how moving offices recently has opened up a whole new vista of bird species in this Tweet of the Day.

Mark begins his two weeks curating the back catalogue from Tweet of the Day. You can hear all five programmes chosen this week, and some thoughts from Mark and his passion for the natural world via the the Tweet of the Week omnibus edition, which is available via the Radio 4 Website.

Producer Andrew Dawes.

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

There's yet another shock for Elizabeth and Helen fears for Henry.

In 1991, rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) attacked Sierra Leone from Liberia, backed by Charles Taylor, a warlord who later became Liberia's president. Their target was the rich alluvial diamond fields of Kono District, which would not only provide them with personal wealth, but facilitate the purchase of arms.

Amongst the catalogue of horrors that emanated from Sierra Leone in the decade-long civil war that followed was the forcible conscription of children, some as young as seven years old. Kidnapped by rebel forces or drawn into the Government's army, they were forced to become soldiers, human shields, spies and sex slaves.

The lowest point came on January 6 1999, when the rebels entered Freetown and began razing the city. In a hellish two-week period, thousands suffered amputation and more than 6,000 were killed. Eventually the rebel forces were driven out of Freetown by West African peacekeepers, but they also carried out despicable acts against the civilians they were supposed to be protecting.

Joining Sue MacGregor around the table to look back at the war and the subsequent pursuit of justice are Emmy-award winning camera-man Sorious Samura, who risked his life to film the systematic murder of his countrymen (his film Cry Freetown shocked the United Nations into sending 17,000 peacekeepers to Sierra Leone - the largest UN deployment at the time); former British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone Peter Penfold, who found himself as right-hand man to the country's beleaguered President Kabbah; and social activist Zainab Bangura, who spoke out against the atrocities committed by the RUF during the war.

Producer Emily Williams

Series Producer David Prest

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Nicholas Parsons expertly corrals four Just a Minute regulars in the form of Paul Merton, Pam Ayres, Josie Lawrence and Julian Clary.

This week the rare achievement of an uninterrupted minute! But from who?

Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

Meat, drink, fire and bands - every year top chefs gather in London for a hearty celebration that has become a carnivore's delight. Tim Hayward arrived fork in hand to see if there is any substance to the Meatopia craze. Lennox Hastie, 'Lord Logs' Mark Parr and the Hang Fire Barbecue Girls are among the names he interviews, while Genevieve Taylor reveals how easy it is to cook on fire back home. With music from Charlie Mingus, Wendy Rene and Fats Waller.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

The latest weather forecast.

Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.

"Art saved my life", says David Tovey.

He experienced homelessness, homophobia, and despair so deep that he killed himself - twice - before being resuscitated. His ongoing recovery is intertwined with his stunning visual and textile work, which has been showcased at Tate Liverpool, Tate Modern and Gloucester Cathedral.

But will David ever stop being an outsider artist? Does the ex-homeless label hinder him, or does it serve him?

Can anyone declare themselves an artist? David considers the so-called rules as he wonders how open the established art world is to outsiders. He leads an uncompromising - and at times uncomfortable - discussion about activism, criticism, exploitation, entitlement, preconception and power.

Contributors include:
Liv Wynter, artist, activist and writer
Matt Peacock, artistic director, Streetwise Opera
Tony Heaton, artist, sculptor and chair of Shape Arts
The White Pube (Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad), critics and curators
Sir Nicholas Serota, chair of Arts Council England

Producer: Steve Urquhart
A Boom Shakalaka production for BBC Radio 4.

Eric Robson and his panel of experts visit Merseyside. Bunny Guinness, Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flowerdew answer the audience questions.

This week the panelists offer advice on when to harvest sweet potatoes, what to grow in a semi-shaded patch, and how to tackle a nasty case of Pytophthora.

They also suggest uses for homemade compost, ways to spruce up a messy alleyway, and methods for clearing an allotment of brambles.

Bunny Guinness meets with Ed Bastow of Material Change to track where green waste goes after it's been taken to the tip.

Produced by Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer: Laurence Bassett

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.

Fi Glover introduces conversations about dyslexia, body confidence and independent sperm donation. All 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.

William Goldman's dark cult thriller about a student whose world is turned upside down by a Nazi dentist and a network of spies.

Dramatised by Stephen Keyworth.

Starring Jack Lowden, Ian McDiarmid and Tom Burke.

Directed by Kirsty Williams.

John Boyne talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new novel A Ladder to the Sky, a satirical look at the literary world.

What does Mrs Gaskell mean to young women today? Nell Stevens, author of a new book called Mrs Gaskell and Me, and Georgia Thurston, who is writing her PHD on Gaskell, explain.

Novelist Catherine Chanter explores the ways that mute characters can speak volumes in fiction.

And in our Reading Clinic, Peter F. Hamilton recommends six novels to help a listener learn about the science fiction genre.

A contemporary poet examines his process of engaging with the Psalms and scrutinises his belief that poetry is the most powerful means of negotiating and making sense of ourselves and the world today.

Edward Clarke charts his journey writing a collection of modern Psalms. It began with an accidental attempt to write a Psalm in rhyming couplets, but has become a compelling part of his life - getting up in the early hours every morning and juggling writing with commitments to family and teaching.

His poems are not translations but imitations that draw on his daily life and on the "holy book2 which he sees as central to a way of life.

His wife Francesca observes her husband's commitment to the project, and how his poetry provides him with a means to critique the modern world. She concludes that, while she prefers life to poetry, Edward seems to prefer poetry to life.

Edward writes according to the old rhythms of English poetry, and uses old stanzas as well as inventing his own in the manner of the Sidneys, John Donn, and George Herbert. This attention to form embodies his hope that his Psalter will outlive other contemporary poets.

He writes out of a conviction that the role of poetry is to negotiate the boundaries between the material world and spiritual realms - an attempt to wake himself up as much as his audience.

Throughout the programme we also hear a developing sound track by the Italian Composer Corrado Fantoni who is setting some of Edward Clarke's poems to music.

Producer: Anna Scott-Brown
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

Of all the horrors of the Great War of 1914-1918, perhaps the worst was saved for the end. Writer Nicholas Rankin tracks how the outbreak of influenza in the late summer of 1918 turned into the worst pandemic since the Black Death of the 1340s. Ten million died in WW1, but the 'flu virus' of a century ago killed between 50 and 100 million people in every corner of the globe. In that last year of the war scientists understood bacteria and the germ theory of disease, but they did not have the technology to see viruses, let alone understand them. The unique conditions of the First World War gave the flu virus unparalleled opportunities to reproduce and kill. Millions of healthy young men, packed together into troopships, crowded in camps and trenches, living in battlefields contaminated by poison gases, were like a giant petri dish. Soldiers died like flies, but civilians who flocked together to celebrate the Armistice on 11th November 1918 also infected each other. Modern transport - steamships, railways, bicycles in Africa - helped deadly influenza spread world-wide as troops returned home at the war's end. Once dubbed 'the forgotten pandemic' it is now being re-researched by scientists and historians who wish to learn its lessons for today. In the 1970s, the writer Richard Collier advertised in the newspapers of 29 countries asking for survivors' stories, and in the Imperial War Museum Nicholas Rankin leafs through his huge archive of vivid replies. He also travels to Dublin to hear about the impact of the pandemic in Ireland. And he learns how influenza devastated native peoples worldwide, particularly in Polynesia, where a quarter of the population of Western Samoa died.
PRODUCER: MARK BURMAN.

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The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Liz Barclay chooses her BBC Radio highlights.

Contemporary drama in a rural setting.

Michael Frayn: the most comic philosophical writer of our time. An all-star cast has great fun with his hilarious view of us all. People talking. To each other, to themselves. To no one. Trying to communicate. To explain.

In Episode 3, a controlling theatre director (Alex Jennings) thinks he can direct anything. Lloyd Owen and Rosalind Ayres talk to each other on their mobiles, yards apart. Patricia Hodge and Roger Allam can't agree on how to deal with household repairs. And Matthew Wolf decides to take a short break from this very programme. Ian Ogilvy, Julia McKenzie, Julian Sands and Sophie Winkleman attend an unusual Memorial, and Janie Dee and Richard Sisson enjoy a musical invitation list. Martin Jarvis lectures on being 'quite clear'.

So no worries about queuing up to get a drink in the interval or finding the loo. We're on the radio - the theatre of the listener's imagination. Sit back and enjoy.

Episode 3 cast: Alex Jennings, Patricia Hodge, Roger Allam, Rosalind Ayres, Mathew Wolf, Ian Ogilvy, Julia McKenzie, Sophie Winkleman, Julian Sands, Janie Dee, Richard Sisson, Martin Jarvis

Written by Michael Frayn

Producer: Rosalind Ayres
Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis and Ayres production for BBC Radio 4.

Eight new cases to challenge the detective wit of Annika Strandhed, queen of the Oslo Police boat patrol.

Since we last met her, Annika has been promoted to Chief Inspector. Her first act was - apart from choosing a new speedboat - to co-opt Mikel, her forensic photographer of choice, to accompany her. Her son Tor is about to start school.

Being Chief Inspector means a bigger case-load. What follows will test her physically and emotionally as never before.

Episode 4: Eight Bells
Annika is sent to Sandefjord where a body has been found at the harbour front.

Nick Walker is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Blackbox and Helloland. His plays and short stories have often featured on BBC Radio 4, including the First King of Mars stories (2007 - 2010) and the plays Life Coach (2010) and Stormchasers (2012). The previous series of Annika Stranded were broadcast in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Writer: Nick Walker
Reader: Nicola Walker
Sound Design: Jon Calver
Producer: Jeremy Osborne

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

Public Health England says people over 30 should take an online test to find out their heart age, which indicates if they are at increased risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke. But how useful is the online calculator really? Loyal listeners have been querying the results. Tim Harford speaks to Margaret McCartney, GP and regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Inside Health.

Does Britain rely on imports of Danish sperm?

A listener contacted the programme to say they'd heard on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that 80% of the UK economy is services. Could that really be right, they asked. We speak to Jonathan Athow from the Office for National Statistics to find out whether the claim is correct (Clue: it is).

And are there really more statues of goats than women in the UK?

Producer: Ruth Alexander.

Pictured: Burt Reynolds

Matthew Bannister on

The prolific career of the movie star Burt Reynolds. The 'Deliverance' director John Boorman pays tribute.

The environmental campaigner Lord Melchett who, as executive director of Greenpeace, was arrested during a protest against GM crops.

The Italian anti-mafia campaigner Rita Borsellino who took up the cause after her brother was killed by a car bomb.

And the Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadeker, who led the national side to victory against the West Indies and England in the 1970s.

Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 30/01/2000; Outlook, World Service 16/03/2017; Test Match Special: Seasons To Savour, Radio 4 1971.

Do you own a sex toy? And if so, would you admit it to your friends? Increasingly, the answer to both questions is yes.

Once a seedy mail-order product advertised in the back pages of porn magazines, sex toys today are marketed as a fun way for couples to enhance their relationships. And in the process, the global sales of these objects of arousal have grown exponentially into the billions of dollars.

Laurence Knight explores how this came about, speaking to industry pioneers such as Sam Roddick, Doc Johnson and LoveHoney. And he travels to China, where many of them are manufactured.

Produced and presented by Laurence Knight.

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

With Antonia Quirke.

Desiree Akhavan discusses her new film about gay conversion therapy, The Miseducation Of Cameron Post, and her misgivings about lesbian drama Blue Is The Warmest Colour.

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

Josie Long hears stories of crossing over to the other side - from radio waves permeating political barriers to the migratory routes of eels.

Radio 100
Featuring Leslie Rosin, Cornelia Saxe and Gregor Schuster
Produced by Leo Hornak

The Other Side
Featuring Laura Barton

The Last Night
Featuring Anny Shaw
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft

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

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 Dr Lesley Carroll.

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.

Brett Westwood presents the Great Spotted woodpecker. In spring Great Spotted Woodpeckers drum loudly with their bills against tree bark to advertise their territories. Unlike many of our woodland birds, which are declining, Great Spotted Woodpeckers have increased rapidly over the last few decades - up to 250% since the 1970's.

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

The Vietnam War was a 30-year conflict in which three million people died and the reputations of successive US presidents were wrecked. Max Hastings tells Andrew Marr about the extraordinary political meddling, strategic failure and lack of compassion that characterises that war.

The historian Helen Parr was seven years old in 1982 when her uncle was killed in the Falklands War. She brings to life his experiences in the Parachute Regiment, often known as the Paras, an elite fighting force founded in 1940.

The former head of the British Army Richard Dannatt, looks at the present health of the military - and considers the difficulties that lie ahead.

While the Defence Editor of The Times newspaper, Deborah Haynes, scrutinises the defence budget and criticises the prevailing media and public narrative of the soldier as hero or victim.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

Society has slowly handed over significant control to computers but how much should we rely on them over our own instincts? Mathematician Hannah Fry uncovers the hidden algorithms which can be found behind almost every aspect of our modern lives. She lifts the lid on their inner workings, demonstrating their power and exposing their limitations.

Written and read by Hannah Fry
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

A new series of AL Kennedy's comic drama starring Bill Nighy and Anna Calder-Marshall as John and Maggie attempting to give love one more chance.
Their tempestuous relationship means they couldn't manage a week's holiday together so how is John going to persuade Maggie that they have a future?

Written by AL Kennedy
Directed by Sally Avens.

Cambridge anthropologist David Sneath examines the past, present and future of the institution of the Dalai Lama. He reports from the Himalayan foothills of India, home of the exiled Tibetan leader.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is one of the world's most famous religious figures. He has tens of thousands of followers around the world, even though his image and name is banned in his native Tibet.

As the Dalai Lama prepares to celebrate his 83rd birthday, David Sneath travels to Dharamsala in the foothills of the Himalayas in India. He meets the present Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, in his residence overlooking the plains of India and talks to leading members of the Tibetan community in exile.

David explores the colourful history of the Dalai Lama from the 14th Century. He describes the significance of Mongolia in the creation of the Dalai Lamas. He looks at the traditional role of the Dalai Lamas inside Tibet and considers the extraordinary transformation of the current Dalai Lama, as he became the rallying point for exiled Tibetans following the Chinese military takeover of Tibet in the late 1950s.

The present Dalai Lama has wide-ranging interests - from environmental issues to women's rights. He takes a passionate interest in science and in promoting secular ethics and interfaith dialogue around the world. He is famed for his humour and for his work as a scholar monk with a rigorous and sometimes austere spiritual regime.

There is much speculation on whether the title of Dalai Lama might end with the current incumbent. He has both hinted that there will be another Dalai Lama and also suggested that the title might finish with him. Either way, the death of the present Dalai Lama would almost certainly cause anguish around the world and provoke new conflict with China. The Chinese controversially chose their own version of Tibet's second most prominent religious figure - the Panchen Lama - even though the Tibetans had already selected someone else. That Tibetan choice, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, has mysteriously disappeared.

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

A fourth series of Richard Wilson's Radiography in which writer Jon Canter delves into the true and not so true nooks and crannies of Richard's life and works.

Cast:
Richard Wilson - himself
Ian McKellen - himself
David Tennant - himself
Anthony Sher - himself
Miriam Margolyesi - herself
Kathy Clugston - herself
Aunt Hilda - Sandra Voe
Cashman - Elliot Levy
Angela Carey - Nesba Crenshaw

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

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

A new history of ideas presented by Melvyn Bragg but told in many voices.

Each week Melvyn is joined by four guests with different backgrounds to discuss a really big question. This week he's asking 'How do I live a good life'?

Helping him answer it are historian Justin Champion, neuropsychologist Paul Broks , theologian Naomi Appleton and philosopher Jules Evans.

For the rest of the week Jules, Paul, Justin and Naomi will take us further into the history of ideas about the good life with programmes of their own. Between them they will examine Aristotle's idea of flourishing, selfishness, the Protestant work ethic and Buddhism's Four Noble Truths.

Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

News and discussion of consumer affairs.

The latest weather forecast.

Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.

Why can't some of the most profitable companies in the world be valued? From fitness classes to global tech firms and coffee chains, Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake reveal the growing dominance of the intangible economy and the implications for society, equality and productivity. David Grossman tells ten stories which help explain the world of contemporary capitalism.

Producer: Diane Richardson
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

By Jessica Mitic

Laura's come to Thailand for the parties and the selfies, while Mike's here for the culture. They make unlikely travelling companions. And before long Laura's quest for online approval lands them in hot water.

A romantic comedy about travel, social media and living in the moment. Starring Gwyneth Keyworth (Misfits), Liam Williams (Together) and William Thomas (Gavin and Stacey). Jessica Mitic (née Brown) is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers programme. Her debut play Chocolate Bounty won the Write Now New Writing Competition and premiered at The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre to great reviews. Jessica then won the competition for the second year running with her play Skinhead. Her first play for Radio 4, Lost or Stolen, was part of the Original British Dramatists season, broadcast in 2014.

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production.

(6/13)
Paul Gambaccini is in Salford for the latest heat of the wide-ranging music quiz. The competitors have no idea whether they'll be asked about opera, Broadway musicals, 1980s pop hits, minimalism, classic soul or nostalgic TV themes. Whatever their individual strengths, they have a love of music in common - and the winner will be the one who can demonstrate the widest knowledge across the board, and make the cleverest choice of special musical topic in the individual round.

Taking part today are:
Sue Bates, a former schoolteacher from Loughborough
Bill Cawley, a supermarket checkout operator from Leek in Staffordshire
Roger Mason, a nurse from Littleborough in Lancashire.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.

Three Japanese poets create new work in a landscape shaped by a dark past.

The world is shaped by the words we give to it. Locations across the globe are coloured by our own thoughts and feelings towards them. We worship and sanctify certain areas while dreading, demonising and recoiling away from others.

In certain places, the layers of words are so close to the surface that we cannot ignore them. They are palpable, alive and tangible.

This is the Atmosfear.

A group of poets have chosen to travel to one of these locations with a tragic history. Here, they try to overcome the negative vibrations that persist by reconnecting with the land underneath.

Poet and translator Jordan Smith travels with Yasuhiro Yotsumoto, Takako Arai and Sayaka Osaki to the Aokigahara forest in Japan.

The Japanese nickname given to it is Jukai - meaning Sea of Trees. It is a site where many people have taken their own lives. Initially, they converse about what this landscape says to each of them individually - but most importantly they discuss the new words, the new meaning and the new story they want to write onto it. They then write original works of poetry and come together to read them to one another.

As a group, they decide what Atmosfear they think should be left behind.

Produced by Anishka Sharma and Barney Savage
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

The issue of why a loving God would create a world full of suffering has exercised the minds of the world's greatest thinkers. How can you reconcile a loving God with dreadful illnesses for which there is no known cure? For millions who live with disability it is no mere academic question. If they are men and women of faith, they have to wrestle with this question on a daily basis. Developments in science now allow expectant parents to make informed choices based on scientific evidence about whether to allow a severely disabled baby to come to full term. Is this a good thing? Or are we heading down a morally slippery slope? How can religion and disability make sense of each other? Ernie Rea discusses these questions with three guests who all live with a disability: Amoghavajra, who is ordained in the Triratna Buddhist Order; Rev Zoe Heming, a Church of England priest and the broadcast journalist Ahmad Bostan.
Producer: Helen Lee.

Coverage and analysis of the day's news.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Year 51 and Series 82 of the nationally treasured panel game. In this episode Nicholas Parsons introduces another four dynamic players of the game, Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Jan Ravens and Rufus Hound.

Bad apples and pasta are on the menu this week.

Hayley Sterling blows the whistle.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.

Emma hatches a plan to help the family and Helen has a radical solution.

Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

Actress and broadcaster Jameela Jamil tackles the explosive conversation around sexual assault to determine what consent in sex and relationships should look like in a modern, digital world.

The recent sexual assault allegations that have surfaced from the #MeToo movement have radically changed how men and women view consent. The invisible contracts that get passed between sexual partners have begun to feel outdated for many.

With every new story that comes out, a series of opinion articles are published overnight. Broadcaster Jameela Jamil joined the conversation - and her concise, blunt and cutting article spread like wildfire across social media. In this two-part series, Jameela asks if our legal and moral interpretation of "consent" is no longer fit for purpose, particularly for a new social media and sexually literate generation that behaves differently, and expects different standards of behaviour.

In this second episode, Jameela explores what fundamental aspects of society need to change in order to bring about a form of consent that works for all. She looks at education, asking at what age consent should be taught to children, and considers whether the fact our wider lives play out in a non-consensual society ultimately translates into our sex lives.

Produced by Anishka Sharma
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.

In parts of Nevada, prostitution is legal - the only such state in the US. The 'live and let live mentality' is a hangover from the gold rush days and in certain counties, brothels have been officially licensed since 1971. Today no fewer than seven of them are owned by one man, Dennis Hof, a gun-toting restaurateur, entrepreneur and reality TV star. He calls himself the "Trump from Pahrump," - after a town where he recently won the Republican primaries for the Nevada State Legislature. Now though, there is a backlash from religious and social activists who have managed to get a referendum on the ballot during this November's mid-term elections. Voters in Lyon County will be asked if the legal brothels there should be allowed to continue to operate - and ultimately, the campaigners aim to end legal sex work across the whole state. They say it is an exploitative, abusive trade and prevents other businesses from investing in the area. But some sex workers are worried that a ban could push them onto the streets where they would face potential danger. Lucy Ash talks to Dennis Hof, the women who work for him, and those who are pushing for change.

Producer Mike Gallagher.

Dogs have changed us and we've changed them. Brett Westwood visits Battersea to meet the animals whose history is most inextricably linked with our own. And in the process very nearly loses a furry microphone cover to an enthusiastic lurcher named Trevor (pictured above)... As the first domestic animals, dogs made it possible for humans to spread into the areas of the world that they did, to eat more protein and to take up activities from hunting to sledding. But it was only in the Victorian period that the dogs we know today were "invented", by breeding. And throughout all of this dogs have also been changing human lives as companions.
Producer Beth O'Dea
Taking part:
Professor Greger Larson, Director Palaeogenomics & Bio-Archaeology Research Network, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford
Dr John Bradshaw, anthrozoologist and author of In Defence of Dogs and The Animals Among Us
Susan McHugh, Professor of English at the University of New England
Naomi Sykes, Lawrence Professor of Archaeology at the University of Exeter
Julie-Marie Strange, Professor of British History at the University of Manchester
Dr Krithika Srinivasan, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Edinburgh.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

Taking place during WWII, Kate Atkinson's new novel puts idealism on the spot and asks who can be trusted when loyalty is pushed to its limits.

In 1940 Juliet is about to be given one last undercover mission by her unlikely new fiancé Perry Gibbons.

Abridged by Robin Brooks
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Imagine if London's genteel literary scene had a bit more swag and a gangsta's lean. You've just imagined The Literary Adventures of Mr. Brown.

With the help of his naively affable intern, Charlie, the heroic, absurd and frankly bad-ass Kurtis Brown fights for his clients in London's entertainment industry.

When you need your fights fought and your books bought, who are you going to call? The best damn literary agent in the world, Kurtis Brown. He'll solve all your problems... For 15%.

Written and performed by Chris Gau and Mike Orton-Toliver

Producer: Zoe Rocha
Executive Producer: Ralf Little

A Little Rock production for BBC Radio 4.

The Celebrity Voicemail Show is an entirely fictitious comedy show written, improvised and starring only Kayvan Novak in which he imagines what it might be like to hear the answerphone messages of the rich and famous.

This week we listened to Nigel Farage's voicemail as he flies off to America.

The producer was Matt Stronge.

A BBC Studios production.

Sean Curran reports from Westminster.

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 Dr Lesley Carroll.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

Since his early teens, presenter Dermot O'Leary has into birdlife and from his kitchen in Central London he loves gazing into the garden and watching the effort small birds like the coal tit put in as they troop back and forth from the bird feeders.

Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photo: Tom McKibbin.

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

Singer songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae on why she's chosen to stay in Leeds, her home city, to live and work.

"I'm always singing in my head when I'm walking... I think the rhythm of walking is very musical. I still find it helps me to write songs so there are places I return to over and over again..."

In Living for the City, musicians take the listener on a personal tour of a city they love - exploring how buildings and street corners, train lines and park views hold stories of heartache and inspiration as they project their inner worlds onto the canvas of the city.

Corinne Bailey Rae grew up in Leeds, the eldest of three girls. In her teens, after initially starting out on the violin, a youth leader bought her a guitar and encouraged her to form a band. But it was as a solo artist that she found fame - quickly - with Put Your Records On.

Corinne takes us to Leeds Town Hall, where she first performed as a nine year old with her violin. She recalls her last gig, where family and friends were part of a huge celebration of her music. Gigs for her are now a semi-spiritual experience.

Church and faith were a huge part of Corinne's life growing up and continue to run as a thread through her work. She takes us to the bus stop which was her whole world as a teenager - waiting to get to school, to town, to church. And she reflects on the tragic death of her first husband and its impact on her music as she journeys through the city.

Corinne's profile is now so international that she spends part of each year in the United States. It can feel surreal, moving between Stevie Wonder in LA and returning to Leeds - but she always does return because her sense of belonging and identity are grounded in the city.

(Photo credit: Chris Turner)
Produced by Rachel Hooper
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Society has slowly handed over significant control to computers but how much should we rely on them over our own instincts? Mathematician Hannah Fry uncovers the hidden algorithms behind almost every aspect of our modern lives; lifting the lid on their inner workings, demonstrating their power and exposing their limitations.

Data: In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, can our personal information ever be safe online?

Written and read by Hannah Fry
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

John may have moved in with Maggie but how can she get the rest of the village to accept her unconventional lover?
AL Kennedy's comic drama about love in later life when you're older but not necessarily any wiser starring Bill Nighy and Anna Calder-Marshall.

Written by AL Kennedy

Directed by Sally Avens.

Mark Flowers is a wildlife film maker and a man with a passion for orchids. He has been collecting and growing orchids since he was a child - and as he guides Brett round his collection he reveals just how these stunningly beautiful plants have captivated him over the years. The story of our relationship with Orchids is a story of obsession, money, deceit, beauty, femme fatales, ghosts deception and let's be honest, sex. Orchid flowers come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes - but they all have one thing in common - they have evolved to maximise their chances of luring a pollinator and be fertilised - and they do so with such style! It's easy to see why have they captivated and lured us too! Producer Sarah Blunt.

Contributors
Chris Cleal - Head of Botany at the National Museum Wales
Mark Flowers - Wildlife filmmaker and keen orchid grower
Amy Hinsley - Researcher at the Oxford Martin Programme and a member of the IUCN's Orchid Specialist Group.
Karl Kusserow - John Wilmerding Curator, Princeton University Art Museum
Susan Orlean - staff writer at the New Yorker magazine and author of eight books including The Orchid Thief.
Jacob Phelps - lecturer at the Environment Centre at Lancaster University and a member of the IUCN's Orchid Specialist Group.
Fiona Stafford - Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford
And the reader is Elizabeth Counsell.

We experience and understand music through genre - it's organised through playlists, the live gigs we go to, the records we buy. But what if we listened to the world in a different way?

In a four-part series, music broadcaster Verity Sharp listens along latitudinal lines, hearing local stories that are having a direct impact on music and musicians. Could there be echoes along these "sound lines"? Might music that's created thousands of miles apart, but on the same latitude, share common ground? And can listening in this way allow us to understand the impact of the vast and often immeasurable forces that are changing our planet?

In the first episode, we circumnavigate the globe along the Tropic of Capricorn, hearing three stories.

Teila Watson, aka Ancestress, is a Birri Gubba Wiri and Kungalu Murri woman from Queensland, Australia. She sings and raps about the colonisation and industrialisation of land that her people have lived on for tens of thousands of years, surviving ice ages and fluctuating sea levels.

Alfredinho runs a samba café in Rio de Janeiro, a city struggling under the weight of severe austerity measures and economic hardship. Local journalist Sofia Perpétua pays him a visit.

And Pearl is a young professional and mother, living on the outskirts of Gaborone, Botswana. But she's leading a double life, and lets us into the musical subculture she adores, but which is seen as controversial by many in Botswanan society.

Producer: Chris Elcombe
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Philosopher Jules Evans wants to prove there's been a revival of Aristotle's ideas about flourishing and how to live a good life. "These ideas, which many of you might think are a bit dusty, they are central to modern politics, so the National Office of Statistics now measures national eudaimonic wellbeing, their flourishing."
To prove his point he visits Gus O'Donnell, former head of the civil service, who explains: "If you think of one thing governments could do, it would be to get rid of misery. Making multi-millionaires a little happier, to me that's not one the pressing public policy issues of our age."
And James O'Shaughnessy explains why he's helping to set up a chain of schools called Floreat based on Aristotle's flourishing concept.
Jules Evans is the author of Philosophy for Life.
The producer is Miles Warde.

Consumer phone-in.

The latest weather forecast.

Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.

Feeling the need to check your smartphone, like or post on social media? Then you're part of the attention economy. David Grossman discovers why it's so hard to resist the billion-dollar industry of digital distraction.

David talks to Tim Wu, author of 'The Attention Merchants, The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads' and former Google executive James Williams, author of 'Stand Out of Our Light, Freedom and Persuasion in the Attention Economy'.

Producer: Diane Richardson
Editor: Hugh Levinson.

Lenny Henry plays Reverend Marcus Campbell, a charismatic pastor with an adoring congregation. But has all the success gone to his head?

Reverend Marcus Campbell ..... Lenny Henry
June Campbell ..... Nadine Marshall
Jesus ..... John Bradley
Deacon Edwards ..... Peter Bankolé
Mrs Dawson ..... Martina Laird
Cornell Dawson ..... McKell David
Tailor/Homeless Man ..... Sean Murray
Homeless Guy 1/ Group Leader ..... Lewis Bray
Homeless Guy 2 ..... Cameron Percival
Homeless Guy 3 ..... Liam Lau Fernandez
Homeless Woman ..... Elizabeth Counsell
Sat Nav ..... Emma Handy
Emergency Services ..... Ryan Whittle
Mourner ..... Jeanette Percival

Director ..... Mary Peate
Writer ..... Lenny Henry

In addition to Lenny Henry's array of other achievements - as a comedian, an actor, a diversity campaigner, as co-founder of Comic Relief and more, Sir Lenny is having great success as a playwright. His autobiographical TV drama 'Danny and the Human Zoo' was broadcast on Channel 4 last year to great acclaim, this is the fifth play Sir Lenny has written for Radio 4, and there are more film and TV projects in the pipeline.

Life on the streets is hard and precarious but every soul who sleeps on a pavement has a story. Tara and George is a six-part series exploring the lives of two people in their late forties who sleep rough in London's Spitalfields. It asks the simple questions - what led them there and why do they remain?

Journalist Audrey Gillan has come to know them as neighbours in this diverse and fashionable area of the capital, and has been recording her conversations with Tara and George for nearly two years.

In this fifth episode, Tara and George endure the hottest summer the country has experienced for years, Tara carries signs of having suffered an assault and George, his health visibly deteriorating, returns increasingly often to his hostel.

Written and presented by Audrey Gillan
Produced by Audrey Gillan and Johnny Miller
Original music by Francis Macdonald
Series Producer: Alan Hall

A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.

Verity Sharp wants to keep bees. She already grows her own organic fruit and vegetables. To pollinate her garden and provide delicious honey, bees seem like the perfect addition. And then there's the warm glow of righteousness to look forward to- bees are in trouble and she'll be doing her bit.

Or will she? As Verity seeks out the best advice on beekeeping she quickly discovers moral, philosophical and environmental problems to swerve, alongside the practical issues she'd been expecting. Could honeybees be in competition with hard-pressed wild pollinators? Will her hive actually reduce the insect diversity of her corner of the British countryside?

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

Stephen Fry talks to presenter Michael Rosen about their mutual obsession with language: the particular joys they both find in speech and in writing and how language is developing. Starting at the very beginning with Stephen's theory about where a facility with words may come from, then dashing through the joy of finding connections between words in different languages, of listening to the rhythms of music-hall patter, in telephone voicemail messages and in rap, to sketch-writing with Hugh Laurie, presenting QI, the essential seriousness of comedy, the virtues of email and text as opposed to the sheer horror of having to talk on the telephone, and one time when Stephen's famous fluency broke down..
Producer Beth O'Dea.

For Cherie Blair, leading barrister and QC, picking her great life was simple - her role model is Rose Heilbron, England's first woman judge.
When Cherie was growing up in Liverpool, Rose Heilbron was always the name that excited her grandmother the most. Rose was a barrister and when she was arguing a case before a jury in her home city, Cherie Blair's grandmother would follow her cases avidly, sometimes from the public gallery. Then she would come back and tell young Cherie all about what had gone on. And so Heilbron became a great example of what a Liverpool girl could achieve in the law.
And she had a remarkable career - first woman in silk, first to lead in a murder case, first woman treasurer of Gray's Inn.
Cherie is joined in the studio by Hilary Heilbron QC , daughter and the author of the biography: 'Rose Heilbron , Legal Pioneer of the 20th century'; plus Dr John Tribe - senior lecturer in law from the University of Liverpool.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Coverage and analysis of the day's news.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Start/Stop is a sitcom by Jack Docherty about three marriages in various states of disrepair.

Barney and Cathy have been married for ages and it shows, Evan and Fiona's marriage is one big, noisy argument and David is old enough to be Alice's father.

Start/Stop follows the story of these three couples as they try to make the best of their marriages and friendships, and the characters are able to stop the action, explain themselves to the audience and start it all up again.

This week: 'Tinder'. Barney and Cathy come up with a plan to find out which of them is the most attractive. What could possibly go wrong? Meanwhile Alice has joined a life drawing class but husband David is jealous and wants to replace the person sitting for it.

Written by: Jack Docherty
Producer: Claire Jones

A BBC Studio Production.

Jim digs himself a hole and Brian is rumbled.

Live daily magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

James Naughtie examines how the retirement this summer of a single Justice on the US Supreme Court could dramatically reshape the United States.

The Supreme Court was once derided as the third branch of government, but in recent years it has become the busiest and most powerful institution in American politics. With the Justices' black robes, sober judgments and air of mystique, people often imagine that the Court acts simply as an impartial arbiter in the American body politic. But that has rarely been true, and in recent decades the Court has become a battleground for some of the most contentious issues in American society, from abortion and contraception to civil and voting rights, affirmative action and immigration reform.

The latest vacancy on the Court offers President Trump a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically alter its ideological composition. In this programme James travels to Boston to hear from those whose lives might be affected. He speaks to the Massachusetts Attorney General suing the federal government over issues as varied as healthcare, the environment and immigration. He hears from gun owners excited by the chance to extend their right to own weapons, from opponents of affirmative action who believe their time has now come, and from LGBT advocates concerned that their task may get a lot more difficult.

And as he makes his way to Washington, DC, and to the foot of the Court's marble steps, he speaks to historians about how the Court came to be so central in American public life, to lawyers about how the court operates, and to politicians about how the current dysfunction in Washington is pushing the Court to take on more contentious cases and what that might mean for the country.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

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

Marsha Owen presents the stories of those who live and work along the rail network that fans out from Cardiff up into the South Wales Valleys.

Broadly covering the ex-coalfield of South Wales, the Valleys is a collection of towns and villages ranged along, and separated by, hills and mountains. Running roughly north to south, the Valley Lines connects these towns and villages to each other - and to the growing city of Cardiff on the south coast.

Trains can offer up a slice of life, a window onto a world - glimpsed back gardens, frozen street scenes, snatches of lives and overheard conversations - and the Valley Lines provide an opening onto the people and places - and the culture and economics - of this region, defined by its geography.

As resistant to generalisations as any place, the meaning of the Valleys depends upon who you ask: a collection of deeply rooted communities with an enviable sense of cohesion and identity; a cradle of industrial and socialist history; a sublime natural resource and increasingly a rural playground; a predicament to be confronted, a problem to be solved.

And certain statistics do seem to back up this last concern: according to metrics of deprivation and economic inactivity, of educational attainment, health and life expectancy, the problems in the Valleys seem very real.

It's easy to be blinded by these statistics. And one proffered solution to 'the problem of the Valleys' that surfaces from time to time calls for, effectively, a managed clearance of large parts of the area, to rewild them, creating a tourist-focused region comparable perhaps to the Lake District.

One response to these intentions can stand as a premise for these programmes: what about the people?

It's a story usually told in a current affairs context, but these programmes hope to loosen that form to tell part of the story of the Valleys through the Valley Lines railway, its passengers and passers-by.

Producer: Martin Williams.

In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.

Taking place during WWII, Kate Atkinson's new novel puts idealism on the spot and asks who can be trusted when loyalty is pushed to its limits.

It's 1950 and Juliet's occasional work running a safe house for the Security Service allows her to investigate the threatening note she has received.

Abridged by Robin Brooks
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Current affairs parody and stupidly feasible visit to the 24-hour Hall Of Opinion Mirrors. Because there are two stories to every story .

The very young, the very old and Stevenage all come under the microscope of talking, collimated by Alexandra Palisades in this parody created by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris

With Carrie Quinlan as Alexandra Palisades and also starring:
Justin Edwards
Melanie Hudson
Simon Kane
Jess Robinson
Luke Sumner
Tony Way

Written by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris

Produced by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4.

All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.

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 Dr Lesley Carroll.

The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.

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

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Jack Snipe. The song of the Jack snipe has been likened to the sound of a distant horse cantering along a road. To hear it though, you need to visit Scandinavian bogs and mires where these small waders breed. When the ice seals their northern breeding areas jack snipes head south and west and many winter in the British Isles.

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

The Sound Odyssey is a new series in which Gemma Cairney takes British artists for musical collaborations in different countries around the world, hearing the musicians in a new light, and exposing their artistic process as they create something new in different and unfamiliar surroundings with an artist they have never met before.

In the first of a series of journeys Nadine Shah a British Muslim artist travels to Beirut, to collaborate with Lebanese singer songwriter and musicologist Youmna Saba. The challenge will be for them to create a track together in Beirut in just two days.

Both have very different musical styles and cultural heritages. Nadine was born in Whitburn, South Tyneside, to an English mother of part-Norwegian ancestry and a Pakistani father. Her music is very much inspired by conflict, immigration, and cultural and religious identity, and her latest Mercury Prize nominated album, Holiday Destination was written about the Syrian refugee crisis. Although Nadine's lyrics have been very much inspired by the conflict in Syria she has never been to the Middle East.

Youmna Saba holds a master's degree in Musicology, focusing mainly on the parallels between classical Arabic music and Arabic visual art. She is a part-time instructor at the musicology department at the Antonine University. Her sound borrows elements from the Arabic music tradition, and blends them with electronic treatments, sonic textures and loops.

They will meet and collaborate in Beirut, a city once ravaged by civil war that has been gaining a reputation as a burgeoning cultural hub where cultural and religious diversity sits side by side.

Once dubbed "the Paris of the Middle East", the Lebanese capital is a beautiful and daringly hopeful vision of what the future of the region might hold - A city of new ideas -art, fashion, political movements, multiculturalism and a thriving music scene.

Whilst in the city Gemma Cairney meets local artists including Dima Matta the host of Cliffhangers, a storytelling group and platform which offers a safe space for people to express themselves in a country where this is very problematic and censorship is very much a real thing. And we hear from Syrian rock group Tanjaret Daghet, who now live in Beirut as exiles, anxious about their families and homes.

Presented by Gemma Cairney
Produced by Jax Coombes
A BBC 6 Music Production for BBC Radio 4.

Alan Dein presents a new series in which he asks several generations of five families from across the UK revealing questions about every aspect of their lives.

From Bedlington in Northumbria to Tonbridge in Kent, every family faces the same searching questions. Today, Alan explores the importance of education and ambition across the generations. Among those in the hot seat, 20 year old maths prodigy Caleb Thomas from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, his father Ian and grandmother Barbara.

Alan's questions are drawn from a survey conducted by the University of Essex in the 1980s which interviewed 100 families across the country.

Producers: Laurence Grissell & Paul Kobrak.

Society has slowly handed over significant control to computers but how much should we rely on them over our own instincts? Mathematician Hannah Fry uncovers the hidden algorithms behind almost every aspect of modern life; lifting the lid on their inner workings, demonstrating their power and exposing their limitations.

Medicine: the cutting edge areas of research that offer a model for humans and computers working together.

Written and read by Hannah Fry
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie.

Programme that offers a female perspective on the world.

AL Kennedy's comic drama about love in later life.

John and Maggie are attempting a new phase in their rambunctious relationship - living together.
When John fears imminent death Maggie diagnoses corns but their trip to buy new shoes leaves Maggie staring at the abyss.

Directed by Sally Avens.

The benefits of long-time friendship and the hazards of texting when your thumbs are too big. Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Producer: Marya Burgess.

Comedian Michael Fabbri is dyslexic, but this programme is not a message of hope and encouragement. This programme is a catalogue of mistakes and challenges that Michael has faced throughout his life.

This hilarious account of his school years details the mental scarring of being forced to play Romeo and being confronted with surprise bible readings.

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4.

The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.

Hardworking families, alarm clock Britain, shirkers and strivers...there's no doubt that ideas about the moral power and value of hard work are embedded in our culture. But where did these ideas come from? The historian, Justin Champion, explores the ideas of the German thinker and father of sociology Max Weber.

In his most famous book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber set out his idea that the roots of our beliefs about the value of hard work and material success are to be found in the religious thinking of Protestantism, the Puritans especially and Calvin in particular. For them finding a vocation, working hard and achieving material success were evidence that they were one of the elect: the people God had saved from eternal damnation.

Those religious ideas have resonance today, albeit translated into a secular setting: Justin talks to Steve Finn, a former armed robber now involved in running, Blue Sky, a social enterprise that offers employment to ex-offenders so they can turn their lives around. He also hears from the entrepreneur Sara Murray for whom work and life are happily intermingled and whose sense of mission around the success of her company, Buddi, drives her.

Justin also looks at the darker side. With the writer Madeleine Bunting, he explores how our culture's obsession with the "work ethic" can leave people unable to participate feeling deficient and judged.

Producer: Natalie Steed.

Consumer affairs programme.

The latest weather forecast.

Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.

David Grossman tells ten stories which help explain the world of contemporary capitalism.