SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2024

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m00230bb)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 The Siege by Ben Macintyre (m002308w)
Book of the Week: Episode 5 - A New Threat

In Ben Macintyre’s latest book about the SAS hostage crisis at the Iranian Embassy, the siege enters its third day. The volatile gunmen make a new and chilling threat. Meanwhile, clad in combat gear, the SAS double down on their preparations. Jamie Parker reads.

Ben Macintyre sets the pulse racing in his new book when he returns us to the spring of 1980. On 30th April, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London, taking 26 people hostage, what followed was an intense set of events involving police negotiators, decisions makers at the highest levels, and the SAS. Jamie Parker reads.

In The Siege Ben Macintyre takes us on a journey through the crisis, painting a minute-by-minute picture of six days filled with terror and uncertainty for the hostages, the gunmen and the authorities.

When all avenues to resolve the crisis bloodlessly were exhausted, the SAS were deployed, and millions gathered around their televisions to watch the unprecedented events unfold.

Ben Macintyre’s previous titles include, Colditz, Agent Sonya, and The Spy and The Traitor. Several have been adapted for film and television – Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS Rogue Heroes.

Jamie Parker is known for his work on radio – Hamlet, Going Infinite, The Gold Finch; the stage – The History Boys, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Next to Normal, and screen - Becoming Elizabeth, The Crown and Des.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00230bh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00230bm)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00230br)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m00230bw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00230c0)
Changing Seasons

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity


SAT 05:45 Glued Up: The Sticky Story of Humanity (m001y89y)
The Birth of Civilisation

Modern life would quite literally fall apart without glues – they hold our buildings, our phones, even our bodies together. But the story of stickiness runs much deeper than that. In fact, our greatest leaps forward as a species couldn’t have happened without adhesives.

In this series, materials scientist Mark Miodownik charts the journey of human progress through the sticky substances that have shaped us. In episode one he explores the very earliest adhesives, dating back at least 190,000 years, that allowed our ancestors to invent, innovate, and make the first tools.

And he hears how lumps of these prehistoric glues contain fragments of the stone age people who used them, trapped in time for thousands of years.

Contributors:
Geeske Langejans, Delft University of Technology
Hannes Schroeder, University of Copenhagen

Producer: Anand Jagatia
Presenter: Mark Miodownik
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
BBC Studios Audio Production


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m00236w9)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m0022z9k)
Night under the Stars

For young carers, it can be difficult to find time to get away from home and enjoy the great outdoors. In this programme Helen Mark meets a group of 12-13 year-olds who all have caring responsibilities for a family member at home, but who are spending a night camping out on Dartmoor. She joins them as they pitch their tents, do some river-dipping, and help with feeding farm livestock. As dusk falls, they set off on a night-time walk across the moor - battling their way through gorse bushes in the dark, to reach a rocky outcrop where they lie on their backs to gaze in silence at the stars.

Helen talks to some of the young carers about their experiences, and hears from the charity which organised the trip and the ranger from Dartmoor National Park who guides the young people through the activities. They tell her why it's important to offer opportunities like this and explain how much difference a taste of the outdoors can make to the life of a young carer. For some of them, this is their first experience of spending a night in a tent.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m00236wc)
21/09/24 Farming Today This Week: Radical change to food safety proposed, flood repairs outstanding, trail hunting, blackberries

Radical changes to food safety are being proposed. The Food Standards Agency is discussing removing responsibility from cash strapped councils and relying instead on data collected by food companies and supermarkets. Chris Elliott, professor of food safety at Queen’s University Belfast and Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, says more work and more consultation is needed.

As the Met Office predicts another autumn and winter of destructive floods, a number of flood defences in England damaged during last winter's storms are still yet to be fixed. And the National Farmers' Union has warned that many farms still in dire need of flood support.

It's been 20 years since fox hunting was banned by Tony Blair’s government. Since then trail or drag hunting are two different ways of hunting without doing anything illegal. In drag hunting the hounds follow a non-animal scent laid by a drag pulled on a string, in trail hunting they follow an animal scent. Critics say trail hunting can be used as a smokescreen for illegal hunting and in its election manifesto Labour said it would ban trail hunting.

Picking blackberries from the hedgerows, along with the wild damson and sloes, is one of those end of summer outings, marking the seasonal shift. September is also the biggest month for selling commercially grown blackberries. Growers say new varieties mean they're bigger and better and while sales are up about 6% year on year, they're nowhere near as popular here in the UK as raspberries. Is it worth buying blackberries, at £2 or more a punnet, when you can pick them for free?

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m00236wf)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m00236wh)
21/09/24 - Emma Barnett and Simon Jack

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


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m00236wk)
Fred Sirieix, Jeff Young, Jen Stout, Candice Brathwaite

Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (p0fhsb3y)
Cleopatra

Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Shushma Malik and comedian Thanyia Moore to learn about Cleopatra.

Cleopatra, the seventh Ancient Egyptian Queen to bear that name, was born around 69 BCE and she’s seen by many historians as the final ruler of dynastic Egypt; a lineage that stretched back 3,000 years.

From marrying and murdering her siblings to liaisons of love and political pragmatism with top Romans Julius Caesar and Mark Antony; Cleopatra led a very turbulent life.

But when we strip back the modern myths and ancient interpretations, who was the real Cleopatra?

You’re Dead To Me is a production by The Athletic for BBC Radio 4
Research by Aimee Hinds Scott
Written by Emma Nagouse, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner
Produced by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Assistant Producer: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
Project Management: Isla Matthews
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00236wp)
Series 45

Norwich

Panel:
Annie Gray
Melek Erdal
Will Hughes
Melissa Thompson

Producer: Dan Cocker
AP: Dulcie Whadcock


SAT 11:00 Americast (m00230b6)
How do you protect a president?

After a second assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, Americast hears from a former Secret Service agent on what goes into protecting a secret service agent, particularly on a golf course.
Sarah, Justin and Marianna are joined by Bill Gage, who helped protect President George W. Bush and President Obama. They discuss what went wrong, what secret service agents hide in their golf bags, and he also picks out out some of his most memorable experiences on the job.

HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America Editor
• Marianna Spring, Disinformation & social media correspondent

GUEST:
• Bill Gage, former Secret Service agent

GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast

This episode was made by Purvee Pattni with Rufus Gray, Catherine Fusillo and Claire Betzer. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.

You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.

US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155

Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd
The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00236sk)
Panic in Beirut

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from Lebanon, Poland, The Gambia, Panama and Cyprus.

Lebanon is reeling from this week’s wave of exploding pager attacks, which killed more than 35 people, and injured hundreds more. Edmund Bower was in capital as the first news of the explosions began to spread, and reveals how the attacks has compounded the unease that already permeates Beiruti society.

Flooding has devastated parts of Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Austria this week leaving more than 20 people dead. Sarah Rainsford reports from Poland on the country's worst flooding in two decades.

Female Genital Mutilation is classified as a human rights abuse by the UN, but a recent bill in The Gambia sought to overturn a ban on the practice. Reporting with The Pulitizer Foundation, Sira Thierij visited a community where activists were working hard to change the minds of locals hanging on to long-held cultural beliefs.

Panama’s weather is hot, sticky and tropical – and it's causing a stink among the country's unattended rubbish piles. It was a particular problem for prisoners and prison guards at a local jail - until one inmate came up with an innovative solution. Jane Chambers went to find out more.

And it's 50 years since the war which divided Cyprus and the subsequent negotiations to reunify the island have ended in stalemate. Meanwhile the landscape of this popular holiday island is being remade by developers – though Maria Margaronis met one woman with a different vision for its future.

Series producer: Serena Tarling
Production coordinators: Sophie Hill & Katie Morrison
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m00236wr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m00236sh)
Social Tariffs and Open Banking

People are missing out on nearly two billion pounds' worth of discounts on water bills and broadband, according to Citizen's Advice. Social tariffs give lower prices to people on low incomes, but the charity says there's a "postcode lottery" when it comes to what people can get. The government says more than 1.3 million households in England and Wales benefitted from £200m worth of help with water bills in 2022/23 and that it's working with broadband providers to raise awareness of social tariffs.
Industry groups say many customers choose low-cost broadband over social tariffs and the number of households getting help paying for water should double by 2030.

How might the Chancellor change tax relief on pensions in the upcoming budget?

More than 11 million people used Open Banking in July - that figure was up by 12 percent on the month before. We'll discuss how it works.

And, have you been affected by a scam? Ahead of a special programme on October 5th we'd like to know your experiences - email moneybox@bbc.co.uk.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Jo Krasner and Emma Smith
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 21st September 2024)


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m002309n)
Series 115

Work & Play

Simon Evans, Ian Smith, Aditi Mittal and Anushka Asthana join Andy Zaltzman to quiz the news

This week on The News Quiz the panel go through the PM's wardrobe, take a splash into the Lib Dem's conference, and take on the year's greatest mystery... where are all the butterflies?

Written by Andy Zaltzman

With additional material by: Cameron Loxdale, Sarah Campbell, Owen Pullar and Peter Tellouche
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
An Eco-Audio certified Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m00236wt)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m00236ww)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m002309v)
Victoria Collins MP, Nigel Huddleston MP, Steve Reed MP, Alex Wilson AM

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Weavers Academy in Wellingborough with Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for science, technology and innovation; shadow financial secretary to the Treasury Nigel Huddleston; the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Steve Reed; and Alex Wilson of Reform, a London Assembly member.
Producer: Paul Martin
Lead Broadcast Engineer: Kevan Long


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m00236wy)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m002309q)
Writer: Liz John
Director: Mel Ward
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davies
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig…. Stephen Kennedy
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
Will Grundy…. Philip Molloy
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy…. Andrew Wincott
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000p725)
Clash. Part 1

Ellen Wilkinson's political romance, set during the General Strike, looking at the clash between North and South, work and life, tradition and emerging roles. Joan Craig bridges all these divides with energy and talent, but ultimately has to choose whose side she's on.

Cast
Kate O’Flynn ..... Joan Craig
Paul Ready ..... Tony Dacre
Luke Nunn ..... Gerry Blain
Jane Whittenshaw ..... Mary Maud Meadowes
Roger Ringrose ..... William Royd
Emma Handy ..... Helen Dacre
Stefan Adegbola ..... Harry Browne
Charlotte East ..... Factory worker
Ian Dunnett Jnr ..... Chemical Worker

Adaptation - Sharon Oakes
Sound - Peter Ringrose
Directors - Ciaran Bermingham and Jessica Dromgoole

Notes
Ellen Wilkinson is an all too rare working class, female voice from early 20th century literature. As one of the first ever women MPs and cabinet members, she is better known as a political pioneer. Joan's story echoes Wilkinson's own life. A woman with major personal and political dilemmas: Joan is born into a working class family, fights for social equality but is enchanted by world of ease and luxury represented by Mary Maud Meadowes and Tony Dacre.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m00236x0)
Weekend Woamen's Hour: Tracey Emin, Nikki Doucet on women’s football, Saoirse Ronan, Friends 30th anniversary

Dame Tracey Emin, one of the most famous artists and leading figures of the Young British Artists movement of the 1990s. Hers is a uniquely provocative, confessional style which confronts issues such as trauma of abortion, rape, alcoholism and sexual history. In recent years Tracey has focussed on painting and she has just published her first in-depth exploration of her painted work, simply called Paintings. It coincides with a new exhibition, I followed you to the end, at the White Cube gallery in London, which features mostly paintings that her treatment and recovery from bladder cancer.

Nikki Doucet has been called the most powerful person in English women’s football. She is the newly appointed CEO of the Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd which took over leadership of the two top tiers of women's football from the Football Association this summer. Nikki and her team have big plans to revolutionise the women's game and she joins Clare to tell her about them.

Four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan broke into Hollywood at 13 years old with her performance as Briony Tallis in Atonement. She has also appeared as Jo March in Little Women, as the lead actress in Brooklyn and won a Golden Globe for her performance in Lady Bird. She joins Clare McDonnell to discuss her latest role in the film The Outrun in which she plays Rona, a young woman struggling with addiction.

The number of women taking up NHS cervical screening test invitations has been declining for the last 20 years. Healthwatch England did research with women who were reluctant to accept NHS invitations for screening and found that 73% would do an at-home test instead. A trial done by King’s College London earlier this year found that if self-sample kits were available on the NHS, 400,000 more women would be screened per year. Chief Executive of Healthwatch England Louise Ansari and Dr Anita Lim, lead investigator of the King’s College London trial, join Clare to tell us more.

On 22 September 1994, the American TV show Friends premiered on NBC. Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross became household names. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Anita speaks to one of the show’s writers and producers, Betsy Borns. Plus, we hear from journalist Emma Loffhagen about why the show still resonates with Gen Z all these years later.

Carrie Hope Fletcher is an author, singer, West End star – and now a new mum. She’s about to start a brand new tour around the UK, called Love Letters, which will feature musical theatre favourites and love letters from the audience. She sings live in the studio.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Rebecca Myatt


SAT 17:00 PM (m00236x2)
Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m00236x4)
The Mick Whelan One

Mick Whelan is General Secretary of Aslef, the union representing train drivers.

He sits down with Nick on the week that his members voted overwhelmingly to accept a pay offer, bringing to an end two years of strike action.

Whelan reflects on growing up in working class West London and being one of a number of 2nd-generation Irish immigrants who have become union leaders in the UK.

Producer: Daniel Kraemer


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00236x6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m00236x8)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00236xb)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m00236xd)
Russell Watson, Jackie Kay, Deborah McAndrew and Adam Kay join Nihal with music from The Lemon Twigs

The tenor Russell Watson's remarkable career took him from playing from working mens clubs in Salford to performing at the Vatican. But his life hasn't been completely charmed - he discusses the brain tumour that threatened his life as well as his voice and how he found his way back to centre stage.

Jackie Kay is one of the UK's most lauded poets who turned to writing as a child as a sanctuary from the difficulties of life as an adopted, if much loved, half-Nigerian child in Scotland. A new BBC One documentary tells her story "In Her Own Words"; we'll be asking why she wanted to do that.

Doctor-turned-comedian-turned-author Adam Kay’s first book This Is Going To Hurt sold over 3 million copies and was adapted into a multi award-winning TV series. Now he's taken another career turn into children's fiction with a new character – Dexter Procter, the ten year old doctor.

As an actress Deborah McAndrew played Angie Freeman on Coronation Street in the 1990s. She left the Rovers Return behind long ago for a career as a writer and her latest play tells the story of the night an Unidentified Flying Object landed near Stoke-on-Trent's Bentilee housing estate. The show draws on multiple eyewitness accounts from the time to create a warm and funny depiction of an extraordinary event happening to very ordinary people.

Plus music from The Lemon Twigs's latest album A Dream Is All We Know.

Presented by Nihal Arthanayake
Produced by Olive Clancy


SAT 19:00 Profile (m00236rf)
Some call it one of the trickiest jobs in the country. How do you stop the small boats trying to cross the English Channel and smash the smuggling gangs?

The government has appointed Martin Hewitt to the role- he’s leading the UK’s new Border Security Command. It’s a tough job, so can he do it?

Martin Hewitt is a former senior police officer and chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. He is also the man who oversaw the policing of Covid lockdowns.
Mark Coles has been speaking to some of his colleagues, former colleagues and the journalists who reported on him.

Contributors
Tim Smith - Chief Constable, Kent Police
Danny Shaw - Former BBC Correspondent
Festus Akinbusoye - Former Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire
Ruth Turner - Senior Director at the Forward Institute
Dal Babu – Former Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police
Vikram Dodd - Guardian Police and Crime Correspondent

Production team
Producers: Farhana Haider, Ben Morris, Ben Cooper, Michaela Graichen
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound: Gareth Jones
Production Co-ordinators: Sabine Schereck and Maria Ogundele


SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m0022z8z)
Peter Kosminsky

Having started out as a current affairs journalist, Peter Kosminsky made his name by telling contemporary social and political stories in the form of television drama. Warriors was about British soldiers in the peace-keeping force in Bosnia; The Government Inspector dramatised the events surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly; The State explored the radicalisation of British Islamists. Kosminsky is also acclaimed for his television adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. He has won six BAFTA Awards, including one for his outstanding contribution to British television.

Peter talks to John Wilson about the huge influence of his parents. He recalls how his left wing father and his mother who had been a kindertransport child, shaped his interest social justice from the perspective of the outsider, the refugee and the disenfranchised.
Seeing Ken Loach's 1975 BBC television drama Days of Hope was a another turning point, and revealed to the 18 year old Kosminsky, the huge emotional power of the medium of television drama.
He also explains how a letter from a British soldier in response to his 1999 drama Warriors led to his acclaimed and controversial Channel 4 series The Promise, 11 years later.

Producer: Edwina Pitman


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m00236xg)
Reweaving Threads, 40 Years On

40 years ago, a BBC film showing the grim reality of a post-nuclear world terrified a generation. Jude Rogers meets its cast and crew to unravel why it still haunts so many today.

It was a film that spawned a thousand nightmares, including the most terrifying traffic warden. When the Cold War film Threads was broadcast on BBC Two on the evening of Sunday 23rd September, many across the nation didn’t sleep.

Directed by Mick Jackson and written by Barry Hines, Threads explored what would happen if a nuclear bomb went off in the city of Sheffield. The BBC production did what no other film had done to date - showing the grim reality of life after a nuclear attack in painstakingly researched and horrifying detail.

On a tiny budget and reliant on hundreds of willing extras from the city of Sheffield, Threads painted a picture so chilling that its images of melting milk bottles, urinating women, and the bleak wind of a nuclear winter have been branded into the memories of many of those who watched it when it was broadcast, or who have seen it since.

Jude Rogers saw Threads in the 1990s, when nuclear war seemed like a distant nightmare. She was drawn to the cult status of the film and the community of “Threads Heads” who re-watch it, discuss it, dissect it. But in today’s world, with wars raging and increasing political instability and unrest, some believe Threads is starting to feel eerily relevant again.

With an original soundtrack from Jim Jupp of Belbury Poly, Jude speaks to the cast and crew of Threads, as well as those who’ve been fascinated by it since, to explore how Threads was made, and how it has haunted so many in the forty years since.

Featuring:
Mick Jackson, the director
Jan Nethercot, Head of Make Up on Threads
Reece Dinsdale, who played Jimmy
Catherine Taylor, who was an extra on Threads
Dave Forrest, Professor of English at the University of Sheffield
Sylvan Baker, Senior Lecturer at the Central School for Speech and Drama
Craig Ian Mann and Rob Nevitt, filmmakers
Neil Kinnock, former Leader of the Labour Party.
With thanks to Roger Bolton, Karen Meagher, and Jim Jupp.
Presented by Jude Rogers
Produced by Leonie Thomas
Executive Producer: Steven Rajam

Soundtrack credit: Jim Jupp of Belbury Poly.
Image Credit: Catrin James

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m00236xj)
Omnibus

In this omnibus episode, catch up on four thrilling tales of data and discovery.

A Drop in the Ocean - A fisherman falls into the Atlantic late at night. Completely alone, the clock is ticking. How do you find one man lost in the open ocean? Can he be rescued in time?

The Golden Spike - At a conference in Mexico, one scientist’s outburst launches a global quest. Hannah Fry follows a group of researchers on the hunt for a ‘golden spike’: the boundary, marking a shift into a dramatic new geological period dominated, not by volcanoes and asteroids, but the influence of humans. From plastics and concrete to nuclear fallout, the data they uncover reveals a planet profoundly changed. But can these scientists persuade their colleagues - and the world?

The Night the Earth Shook - In a small Italian city nestled in the Apennine mountains, a series of low level tremors are setting nerves on edge. Is this just a passing phase, or a prelude to something far more devastating?

The Confidence Trick - An ambitious portfolio manager stumbles upon a perfect graph. It outlines eye watering profits. But something doesn't quite add up - could this graph be accurate? Or does it hide a far more sinister truth?

Produced by Ilan Goodman and Lauren Armstrong Carter
Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls
Story Editor: John Yorke


SAT 22:00 News (m00236xl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m002308t)
Nuts about Nuts

Leyla Kazim traces the journey of this unassuming wonder food, from its health benefits to its origins.

Nuts, which once would have been central to the diet of our ancestors, are now often treated as a nice-to-have health choice. It’s a food we need to reconnect with, and to do so, we can learn from both the latest science and other food cultures.

Leyla hears from Professor Sarah Berry of King’s College London, who has studied how the form in which we eat nuts - whole, ground, in butters or milks - affects how much of their benefits we receive. Swapping nuts for your daily snack, however you eat them, could help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure, as Sarah explains.

As health benefit messages around nuts take off, there has been a huge boom in demand. But what’s the impact of this on the world’s nut farmers, traders and environment? Without much origin information provided on nut packs, Leyla sets off to find some answers of her own. And her journey takes her across the world: from cashew plantations in west Africa, processing plants in south East Asia, markets in Turkey and walnut orchards in Kent. Not to mention a little diversion into California’s organised crime rings. Because there is another story here about how high demand has a price.

She spends a day with Charlie Tebbutt, founder of Food & Forest and one of the only companies to be actively selling British-grown nuts. Charlie also buys direct from other growers around the world, who are using a sustainable farming system called agroforestry, to preserve water, improve soil and diversify their income. Charlie is about to open a first-of-its-kind processing facility in Bermondsey, south London, where he hopes to de-shell and process British-grown hazelnuts in way that improves quality and allows the industry to scale up. Leyla visits his walnut orchards in Kent to ask: could British nuts ever replace imports?

If we’re trying to eat more nuts, there is also much to be learned from other countries. Specifically Turkey, where nuts are revered as a cornerstone of the cuisine and food culture. Leyla meets Turkish food writer and chef Ozlem Warren in her local Turkish supermarket, to reminisce over the Turkish 'green emerald' pistachios, green almonds and fresh walnuts, which are enjoyed by Turks in sweet or savoury dishes, at celebrations or indeed, at any other time of day.

Presented by Leyla Kazim and produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.


SAT 23:00 Randy Feltface's Destruction Manual (m00236xn)
1. Earth

Randy Feltface is done with us ruining the earth beneath our feet whether we’re digging it up, setting fire to it, or tipping it into the sea so with the help of an irritable duck, a fictional French coal-miner and a sexy earthworm he works out the best way to just get the whole destruction business over and done with.

This head-on charge into possibly the most important subject facing humanity comes to you via a show where you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll learn, you’ll laugh again between the learny bits and most of all, you’ll be able to say “I was there when Radio 4 decided to have show hosted by a puppet”

Randy Feltface has been seen on Netflix, ABC, NBC, and has a huge & devoted following across the globe (1m+ social media followers, 1.6m TikTok followers, 833k subscribers, 79m YouTube views). His hour-long specials are YouTube cult classics, his world tours are sold out sensations, and he's the only Radio 4 presenter to be entirely made of felt.

With Margaret Cabourn-Smith & William Hartley

Produced & directed by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Brain of Britain (m0022zx8)
Heat 3, 2024

(3/17)
Which is the only nation spread across all four hemispheres? Which fashion designer's signature is red-soled shoes? And which Chinese dynasty was founded by Kublai Khan?

Four contenders join Russell Davies for the latest heat in the 2024 quiz tournament, to face questions from all fields of general knowledge. A semi-final place awaits the winner, with a safety net for the top-runners up of the series too, if their scores are high enough.

Appearing today are
'Dennis', from Whitstable in Kent
Helen Lippell from East London
Mark Robotham who lives near Banbury in Oxfordshire
Shanine Salmon from Croydon.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.

SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2024

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m00236xr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Open Book (m0022zx6)
Matt Haig

Matt Haig speaks to Johny Pitts about his new book, The Life Impossible, set in Ibiza.

Plus The Lord Of The Flies at 70 - with Judy Golding, Jack Thorne, and Aimee De Jongh. The 70th anniversary of the classic novel sees two firsts: a graphic novel of Lord of The Flies, adapted and illustrated by Aimee De Jongh, and the first TV adaption - written by Jack Thorne, and set to reach BBC screens next year.

Presenter: Johny Pitts
Producer: Emma Wallace


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00236xt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00236xw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00236xy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m00236y0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m00236sr)
St Mary the Great in Cambridge

Bells on Sunday comes from the church of St Mary the Great in Cambridge. Situated between the market place and the university there has been a church on the site since at least 1205 and bells since the late 15th century when much of the present building was constructed. For the last 300 years the bells are rung for services by the Society of Cambridge Youths, one of the oldest bell ringing societies, and who are this year celebrating the tri-centennial of their foundation in 1724. Today the tower holds a peal of twelve bells, cast by the Taylor Eayre and Smith foundry of Loughborough in 2009, with a twenty four and a quarter hundredweight tenor in the note of D. We hear them ringing “Particles” Maximus.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m00230wy)
Melanie Barratt's Channel Swim; Your Questions, Please

Melanie Barratt is a decorated Paralympic swimmer, having won two Golds, two Silvers and a Bronze at the Atlanta and Sydney games. She has had a long career, but her most recent feat took her away from the swimming pool and into the English Channel. Melanie recently completed the 33km swim and made history while doing it, as she is thought to be the first blind woman to have finished. Melanie tells In Touch about how she prepared for the challenge (which involved regularly dipping into a barrel of freezing cold water), about the methods of how she did it as a blind person and about the health benefits that she believes cold water swimming provides.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m00236qm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m00230wm)
Medical Icons

The Stethoscope and the X-ray: Laurie Taylor explores two medical innovations which have achieved iconic status. Nicole Lobdell, Assistant Professor of English at DePauw University, charts the when, where, and how of our use of X-rays, what meanings we give them and what metaphors we make out of them. Is there a paradox to living in an age where we rely on X-rays to expose hidden threats to our health and security but also fear the way they may expose us?
Also, Tom Rice, Associate Professor in Anthropology at the University of Exeter investigates a scientific instrument which has become the symbol of medicine itself. What makes the stethoscope such a familiar yet charismatic object?
Producer: Jayne Egerton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m00236qp)
Farm Homeless Hostel

For three generations, Rob Addicott’s family have always wanted their Somerset farm to be accessible and welcoming to the local community. When he met his wife Suzanne, who had a background in working with people with addiction and homelessness problems, they decided they wanted Manor Farm to do, and be more.

In collaboration with Connect Community Church in Wells, the old Dairy House was converted into the area’s only direct access homeless hostel. Rural homelessness is often a hidden problem in the countryside, and it can be hard to find and access support. Dairy House residents receive accommodation and wholistic support within 2,000 acres of farmland, woodland and orchards. It receives core funding from the local authority. They can also learn skills in growing, gardening, animal care and woodwork with partner project, Root Connections. Their produce is sold direct to the local community through veg boxes, and used for meals in the communal hostel kitchen.

In this programme, Marie Lennon meets Rob and Suzanne, as well as speaking to service users and hostel staff.

Produced and presented by Marie Lennon


SUN 06:57 Weather (m00236qr)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m00236qt)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m00236qw)
A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m00236qy)
The Brilliant Club

Comedian John Robins makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of The Brilliant Club. It places PhD students into schools across the UK to deliver university-style learning to disadvantaged pupils.

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 ‘The Brilliant Club’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Brilliant Club’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1147771
If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://thebrilliantclub.org
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m00236r0)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m00236r2)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m00236r4)
The time between times

Marking a festival of music in Holy Trinity Scottish Episcopal Church, Melrose, with Fr Philip Blackledge; tracing the edges of our understanding of contact with God, in ways we can all explore and experience.
Philip speaks with Alastair McIntosh about the spiritual silence of the Quaker tradition and his experiences of liminality; and with Paul and Katriona Goode, whose son Matthew's disabilities taught them about true and deep communication of love.
Music: All creatures of our God and King (Tune: Lasst uns erfreuen)
Eternal ruler of the ceaseless round (Tune: Song 1)
I bind unto myself today (Tune: St Patrick/Clonmacnoise)
Agnus Dei - Byrd Mass for 4 Voices
Readings: Psalm 19; Romans 8: 26-39
Producer: Mo McCullough


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m002309x)
In Praise of the Nanny State

With the help of certain Conservative politicians, form number 48879-2039-876/WC and a rabbit hutch, Howard Jacobson takes a wry look at the advantages of a nanny state.

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Sarah Wadeson


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m00236r6)
Stephen Moss on the Swallow

A new series of Tweet of the Day for Sunday morning revealing personal and fascinating stories from some fresh voices who have been inspired by birds, their calls and encounters.

In his Somerset village, nature writer Stephen Moss enjoys the swallows that come to breed in the summer and fly around his home hawking for insects. Come September though, they will begin to head back to Africa to enjoy a second spring, a remarkable round trip of 20,000 kilometres for this globally widespread bird, that has even been recorded in Antarctica.

Producer : Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Caitlin Gazeley


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m00236r8)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m0023px5)
James Graham - Extended Edit

This is an extended version of a programme first broadcast on Sunday 10 March 2024.

James Graham is an award-winning dramatist whose plays include This House, Ink and Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes as the England football manager Gareth Southgate. His acclaimed television productions include Sherwood and Quiz, based on the story of the so-called coughing Major Charles Ingram who was found guilty of cheating on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

James was born in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire in 1982. He was a shy boy who was encouraged to perform in school plays by his teachers. He went on to study drama at Hull University where he wrote his first play Coal Not Dole! He took the play to the Edinburgh fringe and the reception it received from audiences encouraged him to carry on writing.

After graduating he worked as a stage doorkeeper at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham where one of his personal highlights was looking after Danny La Rue, the star of the Christmas panto. His first London premiere came in 2005 at the Finborough Theatre in London with Albert’s Boy, which explored the arguments for and against nuclear weapons.

In 2020 James was awarded an OBE for services to drama and young people in British theatre.

DISC ONE: Disco 2000 - Pulp
DISC TWO: Chatanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller
DISC THREE: Up In Arms - Foo Fighters
DISC FOUR: Syncopes - Gabriel Yared
DISC FIVE: Your Disco Needs You - Kylie Minogue
DISC SIX: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie
DISC SEVEN: If You Came To See Me Cry - Katie Brayben (from Tammy Faye: The Musical)
DISC EIGHT: Going To A Town - Rufus Wainwright

BOOK CHOICE: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
LUXURY ITEM: A keg of Single Malt Scotch Whisky
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m00236rc)
Writer: Liz John
Director: Mel Ward
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davies
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Ian Craig…. Stephen Kennedy
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
Will Grundy…. Philip Molloy
Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy…. Andrew Wincott
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen


SUN 12:15 Profile (m00236rf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 Just a Minute (m0022z3t)
Series 93

1. I’ve written down ‘Fleshy’, ‘England’ and ‘Chin’.

Sue Perkins challenges Stephen Fry, Jan Ravens, Tony Hawks and Katherine Parkinson to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include the invention of radio, doppelgängers and a bad-hair day.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Manager: Jerry Peal
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m00236rh)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m00236rk)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world.


SUN 13:30 American Paradox (m00236rm)
Immigration

James Naughtie travels to Arizona to examine the deep roots of the current political moment in the United States.

In this first episode of two, he considers the political debate over immigration and the border crisis. He looks at how a state law passed 14 years ago prefigured the rise of Donald Trump, and stimulated a political movement amongst young Arizonans against his politics. On the border with Mexico, James meets migrants, humanitarians and ranchers to understand the problems caused by a failure to effectively secure the border or efficiently process migrants. And he meets political leaders - those who have held power both in Arizona and in Washington, DC, to investigate how the politics of these issues have made compromise and successful policy outcomes - for either left or right - impossible.

Throughout, he explores how these modern political divisions lie along deep historical divides, and how the more either side presses for a 'win', the more divided the country becomes.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m002309b)
Hull: Venus fly traps, overgrown roses and controversial cucumbers

Any tips on how to keep a Venus fly trap alive? How do I successfully grow a cucumber? What unusual fruit or vegetable do the panel think is underrated?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of horticultural experts are in the hot seat, as they answer the gardening queries from an audience in Hull. On the panel are head gardener Matthew Pottage, garden designer Bunny Guinness and curator of RHS Bridgewater Marcus Chilton-Jones.

Later, Hull-born panellist Matthew Pottage meets with Cllr Henry from Hull City Council, to learn more about their ‘Right to Grow’ initiative which allows people to grow on public land for the first time.

Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m00236rr)
Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is one of the most well-known and influential pieces of writing in Western literature. Initially presented as a true account, this tale of adventure, desert island shipwrecking and survival has been re-told and re-packaged for different audiences, different generations and different times - rom The Swiss Family Robinson to Lost In Space, and Lord of the Flies to Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway. The term ‘Robinsonade’ was even coined to identify the many books that followed the desert island template.

John Yorke examines what makes the story work, unpacks Daniel Defoe’s skill as literary pioneer, and asks how we should view the book today.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatized in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters.

Contributor:
Bill Bell, Professor of Bibliography at Cardiff University and author of Crusoe's Books: Readers in the Empire of Print, 1800-1918 (2022)

Readings by Stephen Bent
Excerpts from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, 1719
Archive clip from The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, TV adaptation, 1964

Researcher: Nina Semple
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Producer: Jack Soper
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m00236rt)
Man Friday

A brilliant re-imagining of Daniel Defoe’s classic story, from the perspective of Man Friday, by Edson Burton.

Kofi is having a spectacularly bad day when he first meets the shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe. Lost at sea and out of provisions, his starving shipmates have decided to eat him. When they come upon a deserted island, it seems the perfect venue for a beach barbecue.

But Kofi spies a footprint in the sand which raises his hopes of rescue. Crusoe appears, raving, clothed only in branches, with a goat for backup. They somehow frighten off the pirates, leaving the two men alone.

This island is as foreign to Kofi as it is to Crusoe, and brings up all the same issues: loneliness, abandonment, and how to survive together.

Kofi ... CJ Beckford
Crusoe ... Alexander Kirk
Captain/Sailor 1/Sally ... Joseph Tweedale
Sailor 2 ... John Rutledge

Original music by Seckou Keita. Engineered by Andy Bell at Hudson Records.
Additional music and sound design by Ilse Lademann.
Director ... Mary Ward-Lowery


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m00236rw)
Rachel Kushner

Octavia Bright talks to Rachel Kushner, author The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room about her new novel Creation Lake.
The novel tells the story of spy-for-hire Sadie Smith who infiltrates an eco activists group in South West France, their leader is the mysterious Bruno Lacombe who is never present but communicates his radical missives by email.

Sarah Moss, best known for her novels The Fell, Summerwater, and Ghost Wall, talks about her new creative memoir, My Good Bright Wolf, her story of crisis in midlife and on what led her there.

And in the last ever, Book I'd Never Lend, the novelist Adam Thirlwell talks about his treasured teenage copy of Picasso by Gertrude Stein and gets to the heart of why some books can't ever be replaced.

Book List – Sunday 22 September

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Picasso by Gertrude Stein
The Future Future by Adam Thirwell
Summer Water by Sarah Moss
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
The Fell by Sarah Moss
My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder


SUN 16:30 Brain of Britain (m00236ry)
Heat 4, 2024

(4/17)
What name is shared by both a wind-powered sculpture in the Pennines and an East German children's film of the 1960s? Which city in Southern Britain was Alfred the Great's capital? In classic DC Comics, which team originally included the Green Lantern, the Spectre and Doctor Fate?

These and many other general knowledge questions await the contenders in the latest heat, chaired by Russell Davies at London's Radio Theatre. Another of the semi-final places will be decided today.

The contenders are:
Paula Dempsey from south-east London
Annabel Lloyd from Wantage in Oxfordshire
Simon Mason from Hampshire
Jim Murdock from Bangor in County Down

There will also be the chance for a listener to win a prize by Beating the Brains with questions he or she has devised.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5yh7)
I led the 'Umbrella' protests

On the 26 September 2014 Nathan Law stood on a makeshift stage outside Hong Kong's central government complex and chanted ‘Democracy Now’ and ‘Freedom’ into a microphone.

He was leading hundreds of protesters who had gathered to demand that China grants Hong Kong free and fair elections.

As the day went on the protest continued to grow and it wasn’t long before Nathan’s face was all over the news.

Then at 2am his microphone was cut off and the protest plunged into darkness as plain-clothed police officers rushed to the stage and arrested him.

Nathan tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how despite his arrest the protests continued to grow into some of the largest Hong Kong had ever seen lasting 79 days in total.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Picture: Umbrella Protests. Credit: Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Verb (m00236s1)
Ian McMillan presents a cabaret of the word - the best poetry and performance - with guests Daljit Nagra, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Brian Bilston and the voice of Stagedoor Johnny.

Brian Bilston, internet poetry sensation - and the poet behind 'Days like there' and 'Alexa, what is there to know about love?' shares poems in both human and animal languages from his new book 'Let Sleeping Cats Lie'.

Karen McCarthy Woolf writes us a brand new poem in response to AA Milne's classic book - now reaching its centenary, 'When we were very young', featuring mice, Christopher Robin and Buckingham Palace. Karen's latest book is a verse novel called 'Top Doll' - Karen gives voice to the dolls that were owned by reclusive New York billionaire Huguette Clark.

Daljit Nagra lets us into a classic poem for our Neon Line series - and helps us enjoy and understand how a great line works in a great poem. He also shares poetry from his new book 'Indiom' which evokes English as a chatty and ancient forest.

Stagedoor Johnny is back with another Eartoon that explains the history of various language quirks - this time revelling in words that contain 'ear',


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00236s3)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m00236s5)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00236s7)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m00236s9)
Peter Curran

A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m00236sc)
Eddie may be fighting a losing battle, and there’s sabotage afoot at the Flower and Produce Show.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m002395g)
A Man Without Bees

Why are all the bees dying? Simon Mitambo, an expert from Kenya's so-called 'Land of Bees', travels from his own affected community to huge industrial farms in search of answers. It is a journey both planetary and personal: without bees, can Simon's world survive?

Presenter: Simon Mitambo
Producer: Lucy Taylor
Field producer: Mel Myendo
Researcher: Georgie Styles
Exec Producer: Dan Ashby
Sound design and mixing: Jarek Zaba

A Smoke Trail Production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:45 Buried (m001hp0d)
Series 1

Series 1 - 6. FOFO (Fear of Finding Out)

When a man used satellites to find illegal dumps, he learned they’re everywhere. But the criminals are watching him. Could a mafia be growing rich on our waste?

"All you have to do... is dig it up."

A trucker’s deathbed tape plays out. It’s urgent, desperate.

In this BBC Radio 4 podcast series, investigative journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor deep-dive into one of the worst environment crimes in UK history - the secret dumping of a million tonnes of waste near a city. But when they uncover missing documents, fears of toxicity and allegations of organised crime, they realise they’ve stumbled into something much bigger. As they pick at the threads of one crime, they begin to see others. Could Britain be the home of a new mafia, getting rich on our waste?

In a thrilling ten-part investigation, the husband-and-wife duo dive into a criminal underworld, all the time following clues left in a deathbed tape. They’re driven by one question - what did the man in the tape know?

Presenters and Producers: Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor
Assistant Producer: Tess Davidson
Original Music and Sound Design: Phil Channell
Sound Design and Series Mixing: Jarek Zaba
Executive Producers: Phil Abrams and Anita Elash
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Smoke Trail production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:00 Word of Mouth (m00236sf)
A Poet Writing in Three Languages

How best to write about love and other things. Nabeela Ahmed talks about writing in a second language and how her early life in Kashmir shaped the language she uses to express different aspects of her life. She is also a champion for the Pahari language in her home city of Bradford. Pahari is a language spoken by people in Northern areas of India, Kashmir and Pakistant. It fell out of favour as an official language of the courts but is still widely spoken in many British Asian homes today. Nabeela works with groups of budding poets and writers to help them express themselves in whichever language they feel comfortable with alongside English.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m002309g)
Dr George Berci, Olga Craig, Michaela Mabinty DePrince, Tony Strong

Matthew Bannister on

Dr George Berci, the surgeon who pioneered the use of miniature cameras in operations to minimise cutting and accelerate patients’ recovery times.

Olga Craig, the respected journalist from Northern Ireland who reported from war zones and covered the aftermath of the bombing in Omagh.

Michaela Mabinty DePrince, the orphan from war-torn Sierra Leone who realised her dreams of becoming a ballerina.

Tony Strong, the scenic artist who worked with film directors like Stanley Kubrick, Ken Russell and Sir Ridley Scott.

Interviewee: Dr L Michael Brunt
Interviewee: Sian James
Interviewee: David Harrison
Interviewee: Graham Strong

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Holocaust Survivor Talk: Dr. George Berci, Holocaust Museum LA, YouTube, uploaded 13/01/2022; 1956 Hungary Revolution news report, BBC Radio, World of Sound documentary, 13/11/1962; Omagh Bombing news report, BBC News, 15/08/1998; Michaela Mabinty DePrince, Outlook, BBC News, 29/08/2012; Tito Jackson of The Jackson 5 (Unreleased Full Interview); DJ Vlad TV, YouTube, uploaded, 26/01/2024; Tony Strong interview, ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ documentary, (2020) Coda Films, Director: Jonathan Blagrove , courtesy Graham Strong; The Boyfriend, Official film Promo, 1971, Director: Ken Russell; Live and Let Die, Official Film Promo, 1973 Director: Guy Hamilton; Legend, Official Film Promo, 1985, Director Ridley Scott;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m00236sh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m00236qy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00236sk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m00236sm)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m0022z8v)
Benjamin Disraeli

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the major figures in Victorian British politics. Disraeli (1804 -1881) served both as Prime Minister twice and, for long periods, as leader of the opposition. Born a Jew, he was only permitted to enter Parliament as his father had him baptised into the Church of England when he was twelve. Disraeli was a gifted orator and, outside Parliament, he shared his views widely through several popular novels including Sybil or The Two Nations, which was to inspire the idea of One Nation Conservatism. He became close to Queen Victoria and she mourned his death with a primrose wreath, an event marked for years after by annual processions celebrating his life in politics.

With

Lawrence Goldman
Emeritus Fellow in History at St Peter's College, University of Oxford

Emily Jones
Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester

And

Daisy Hay
Professor of English Literature and Life Writing at the University of Exeter

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Robert Blake, Disraeli (first published 1966; Faber & Faber, 2010)

M. Dent, ‘Disraeli and the Bible’ (Journal of Victorian Culture 29, 2024)

Benjamin Disraeli (ed. N. Shrimpton), Sybil; or, The Two Nations (Oxford University Press, 2017)

Daisy Hay, Mr and Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance (Chatto & Windus, 2015)

Douglas Hurd and Edward Young, Disraeli: or, The Two Lives (W&N, 2014)

Emily Jones, ‘Impressions of Disraeli: Mythmaking and the History of One Nation Conservatism, 1881-1940’ (French Journal of British Studies 28, 2023)

William Kuhn, The Politics of Pleasure: A Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli (Simon & Schuster, 2007)

Robert O'Kell, Disraeli: The Romance of Politics (University of Toronto Press, 2013)

J.P. Parry, ‘Disraeli and England’ (Historical Journal 43, 2000)

J.P. Parry, ‘Disraeli, the East and Religion: Tancred in Context’ (English Historical Review 132, 2017)

Cecil Roth, Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (New York Philosophical library, 1952)

Paul Smith, Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform (Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC, 1967)

John Vincent, Disraeli (Oxford University Press, 1990)

P.J. Waller (ed.), Politics and Social Change in Modern Britain (Prentice Hall / Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1987), especially the chapter ‘Style and Substance in Disraelian Social Reform’ by P. Ghosh

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 23:45 One to One (m001mt3l)
Dharshini David meets cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting

Are we as obsessed as ever with not wanting to look old? And does the beauty industry respond to or fuel that desire?
BBC business correspondent Dharshini David and cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting discuss people's motivation for wanting beauty treatments and procedures, the way advertising has changed over the years, and the ethics of the industry.

Produced for BBC Audio in Cardiff by Paul Martin.

MONDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2024

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m00236sp)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Three Million (m0022clj)
7. Road to the Past

Kavita Puri goes to India to meet some of the last survivors of the 1943 Bengal famine. She looks for traces of how war and famine impacted Kolkata and then travels from the city along the road to where the story of famine begins.

Kavita goes deep into the countryside and the jungle in West Bengal to find people who lived through that devastating time more than 80 years ago. These are voices that are almost never recorded and have never been broadcast before. For the past year and a half Kavita has been asking why there is no memorial to the three million people who died. But then in the Bengal jungle she finally finds it – it’s not what she expected.

Presenter : Kavita Puri
Series Producer: Ant Adeane
Editor: Emma Rippon
Sound design and mix: Eloise Whitmore
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown

With thanks to Manoshi Barua for her translation work and to her, Bhasker Patel, Moazzem Hossain and Jesmin Ahmed for voicing up the Bengali-language interviews.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m00236sr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00236st)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00236sw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00236sy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m00236t0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00236t2)
Feathered guests

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m00236t4)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


MON 05:57 Weather (m00236t6)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m00237gl)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m00237gn)
Chance and fortune

‘Professor Risk’ David Spiegelhalter delves into the data and statistics to explore the forces of chance, ignorance and luck in The Art of Uncertainty. Whereas life is uncertain, he shows how far the circumstances of how, when and where you were born have an overriding influence on your future. But he warns against confusing the improbable with the impossible.

The novelist Roddy Doyle returns to the fortunes of one of his iconic characters, Paula Spencer, in his new book, The Woman Behind The Door. Mother, grandmother, widow, addict and survivor Paula Spencer is finally laying the ghosts of the past to rest, but how much is passed on to the next generation?

The historian Eliza Filby is interested in inheritance of a different kind – money and housing. In Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad, she explores the nature of privilege through her own family’s experience. Filby’s grandfather had the lucky fortune of winning a house in a card game and the family went on to become ‘working class accidental millionaires’ who could pass on their fortune to later generations.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Café Hope (m00237gq)
Pick you up post

Rachel Burden hears from Alison Hitchcock and Brian Greenley, who started From Me to You, where people write letters to strangers with cancer to try to reduce the loneliness associated with the disease.

The idea came from when Brian was diagnosed with bowel cancer and Alison started writing to him to try to cheer him up during his treatment. They say that receiving a letter, even from someone you don’t know, can form a connection and bring comfort in a worrying time.

Café Hope is our virtual Radio 4 coffee shop, where guests pop in for a brew and a chat to tell Rachel Burden what they’re doing to make things better in big and small ways. You can contact us on cafehope@bbc.co.uk


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00237gs)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


MON 11:00 On the Run (m00237gv)
Stay Alive

Writer, Poet and Runner Helen Mort trails a history of running, from prehistoric times to present day. Helen asks why we run, and finds out what running has meant through the ages.

In this series Helen looks at stories of running through the ages, to chart the development of humanity's relationship with running. She'll be finding out what role running played in societies through the ages, and how it has been represented in culture.

In the first episode, Helen examines the role of running in prehistoric times. What role did running play in life of early homo sapiens, and what kinds of running did they do? Did we evolve to sprint, or to run long distances, and why? How did people represent running in their culture, such as cave art? Helen finds out if cultures of running in different indigenous communities today, with traditions stretching back thousands of years, can tell us anything about humanity's approach to running.

Helen's route then leads to Ancient Greece, the site of some of the earliest known records of running as a sport. She relives the famous journey of the messenger Pheidippides to Athens, whose feat gave us the marathon, as well as learning what role the running of the early Olympiads played in society.

Producer: Sam Peach


MON 11:45 The Siege by Ben Macintyre (m00237gx)
Book of the Week: Episode 6 - Negotiations continue

Ben Macintyre’s latest book tells the story of the 1980 SAS hostage crisis at the Iranian Embassy. Day 4 dawns, negotiations with the gunmen continue and the SAS assemble their arsenal. Jamie Parker reads.

Ben Macintyre sets the pulse racing in his new book when he returns us to the spring of 1980. On 30th April, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London, taking 26 people hostage, what followed was an intense set of events involving police negotiators, decisions makers at the highest levels, and the SAS. Jamie Parker reads.

In The Siege Ben Macintyre takes us on a journey through the crisis, painting a minute-by-minute picture of six days filled with terror and uncertainty for the hostages, the gunmen and the authorities.

When all avenues to resolve the crisis bloodlessly were exhausted, the SAS were deployed, and millions gathered around their televisions to watch the unprecedented events unfold.

Ben Macintyre’s previous titles include, Colditz, Agent Sonya, and The Spy and The Traitor. Several have been adapted for film and television – Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS Rogue Heroes.

Jamie Parker is known for his work on radio – Hamlet, Going Infinite, The Gold Finch; the stage – The History Boys, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Next to Normal, and screen - Becoming Elizabeth, The Crown and Des.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


MON 12:00 News Summary (m00237gz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m00237h1)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m00237h3)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m00237h5)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


MON 13:45 Superhead (m00237h7)
John Dickens has been investigating Trevor Averre Beeson for the best part of a decade. Averre Beeson was once one of the most prominent examples of the generation of “Superheads” that Tony Blair and Michael Gove backed in turn to help transform failing schools in Britain.

He made his name in Islington, taking on a once notorious local comprehensive school and bringing it rapidly up the league tables. His reputation allowed him to launch a school improvement company on a large scale, Lilac Sky.

He was charming, slick and corporate; his star rose and rose. Averre Beeson added a large academy trust to his improvement firm and, at the height of his influence in the early 2010s. he was running over 20 schools at once, in various forms.

His schools were distinctive and surprising - painted uniformly in his brand colour, lilac, and known for investing in teacher well-being above all else, from good salaries and well kitted out staff rooms to lavish awards dinners complete with champagne at high end venues.

But in 2016, his empire suddenly and rapidly collapsed. The trust was taken over by the government, and the accounts were made public, with the close financial links between Averre Beeson’s companies and the academy trust he had founded sparking a scandal that sent shockwaves through the world of education.

John Dickens explores the inside story behind the rise and fall of one of Britain’s most charismatic educators, and investigates whether the rapid growth - and precipitous collapse - of Lilac Sky exposes weaknesses in regulation that the government has failed to fully reckon with.

Producers: Robert Nicholson and Charlie Towler
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


MON 14:00 The Archers (m00236sc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Plum House (m000hfr3)
Series 3

4. Grace and Favour

This week, manager Tom hopes to earn some much needed funds for the museum by renting out Peter's grace and favour apartment - that's if Julian has remembered to tell Peter to move out. Meanwhile the museum also welcomes a French artist to paint a picture of the property. Julian sees her as a potential love interest but it turns out she has eyes only for Tom, much to his initial indifference. When Tom finally relents to her advances however his timing couldn't be more off...

Plum House features Simon Callow, Jane Horrocks, Miles Jupp, Pearce Quigley, Tom Bell and Louise Ford.
Guests this episode: Celeste Dring, Jason Forbes and Jade Ogugua
Written by Ben Cottam and Paul McKenna
Directed by Paul Schlesinger
Produced by Claire Broughton

It is a BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


MON 14:45 Wolverine Blues (m000ysyv)
Episode 5

Wolverine Blues, or a Case of Defiance Neurosis

The conclusion of Graeme Macrae Burnet's fiction serial, inspired by the case study "Defiance Neurosis of a Seventeen-Year-Old High School Student" by Alphonse Maeder.

Dr Maeder looks back with satisfaction at Max’s case, seeing a patient who appears much changed since they began their sessions.

Read by Robin Laing and Alasdair Hankinson.
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Graeme Macrae Burnet lives in Glasgow and is the author of novels including the Man Booker shortlisted 'His Bloody Project' and longlisted 'Case Study'. His new novel, 'A Case for Matricide', is published in October and concludes the Georges Gorski trilogy.


MON 15:00 Great Lives (m00237hb)
Ekow Eshun on the first openly gay footballer Justin Fashanu

In 1981 Brian Clough paid £1 million pounds to bring Justin Fashanu to Nottingham Forest. It was the climax of a meteoric career, but within months the goals had dried up, he'd been going to gay nightclubs, and Fashanu had also become become a born again Christian. Four decades later Justin Fashanu remains top flight English football's only openly gay player. From his beginnings in care with brother John as Barnardo's boys, via adoption, boxing, football and failed pop star, this is an extraordinary life, beautifully highlighted by his nominator, Ekow Eshun.

"He was a pioneer - he broke ground. He was a prominent black footballer at a time when to be black and a footballer was fraught territory, when players were barracked from the terraces for no other reason than the colour of their skin." Ekow Eshun

Also in studio is Richard Williams of the Guardian, who saw Fashanu play on the way and on the way down. Plus there is moving archive of Fashanu himself, and also from his niece, Amal Fashanu, talking at the time of the release of her documentary, Britain's Gay Footballers.

The producer for BBC Studios Audio is Miles Warde


MON 15:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (m00237hd)
Bonus Episode: Lady Killers Live

In this special episode of Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley, recorded in front of a live audience, Lucy is joined by Professor Rosalind Crone, Lady Killers in-house historian and Salma el-Wardany, writer, poet and BBC Breakfast presenter. They look back at the last three seasons and offer an exclusive preview of the new season, Lady Swindlers.

Lady Killers is where Lucy Worsley and a crack team of female detectives investigate the crimes of women from the 19th and 20th Century from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

Producer: Julia Hayball
Assistant Producer: Riham Moussa
Readers: Clare Corbett and Jonathan Keeble
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Executive Producer: Kirsty Hunter

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4.

If you're in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Lady Killers first on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/3M2pT0K


MON 16:00 The Briefing Room (m0023qkp)
How do the Lebanon attacks alter the equation in the Middle East?

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the recent events in Lebanon. Israel has been widely blamed for a series of pager and walkie-talkie attacks targeting members of Hezbollah. Does this mark the invention of a new kind of warfare and what might the wider consequences be for the region?

Guests:

Shashank Joshi, The Economist's defence editor
Professor Lina Khatib, Director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University of London
Ronen Bergman, Israeli investigative journalist for The New York Times

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Natasha Fernandes and Ben Carter
Sound engineers: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 16:30 Marianna in Conspiracyland (m00237hg)
Why Do You Hate Me? USA

Episode 1

Marianna Spring investigates extraordinary cases of online hate unfolding State-side.


MON 17:00 PM (m00237hj)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00237hl)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m00237hn)
Series 93

2. A Punk Band Called The Sticky Carpets

Sue Perkins challenges Lucy Porter, Gyles Brandreth, Desiree Burch and Glenn Moore to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation. Subjects include doomsday bunkers, coriander, and polite conversation between enemies.

Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
An EcoAudio certified production.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m00237hq)
Kenton offers support to a loved one, and Oliver struggles to find the right words.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m00237hs)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


MON 20:00 Rethink (m0022z9r)
Rethink: Is the internet getting worse?

Rethink examines emerging issues in politics, society, economics, technology and the UK's place in the world, and considers how we might approach them differently. We look at the latest thinking and research and discuss new ideas that might make the world a better place.

In this episode, we look at "Enshittification", or to put it more politely - the problem of internet platform decay.

Facebook used to be about posts from your friends, but its feed now also includes groups, adverts, reels, and threads posts. Trying to work out if the Amazon product you want is any good can be tricky, because sellers can pay for their product to appear higher in your list of results. Search engines are not immune; German researchers have found that Google, Bing and Duck Duck Go are prone to spam marketing, making it more difficult to find what you want.

There's no ill-intent behind this: platform decay is a side-effect of the way these businesses work. So what can governments and individuals do, to try to get a better internet for everyone?

Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham

Contributors:
Cory Doctorow, visiting Professor of Computer Science at the Open University, and co-founder of the UK Open Rights group.
Professor Gina Neff, Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge,
Marie Le Conte, political journalist and author of the book escape - about the rise and demise of the internet
Dr Cristina Caffarra, competition economist and former anti-trust consultant.


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m0022z9t)
Is lab-grown meat the future of food?

Lab-grown meat, cultivated meat, cultured meat, in-vitro meat - whatever you call it, the industry claims it could be a game changer. Not just economically, but for feeding the planet in a sustainable way.

But is it too good to be true? And will people even eat it?

In this special episode of Inside Science, we take a deep-dive into lab-grown meat; visiting a production facility to see how it's made, hearing about the nuanced perspectives of British farmers, asking if this new industry can learn from the failings of GM foods, and trying to figure out what the true environmental costs of entirely new way of producing food really is.

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m00237gn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 Café Hope (m00237gq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m00237hv)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 The Last Loves of Ronnie Maker by Alice Jolly (m00237hx)
Episode 1

A newly commissioned serial from Alice Jolly about love, loyalty and the meaning of care, exploring the emotions at the heart of a family crisis.

After their mother’s death, sisters Leah and Tiffany know their father needs support. Ebullient, charming and and unreliable, Ronnie Maker has lived life at speed and he has no intention of slipping gently into a peaceful old age. How will he cope in a remote Yorkshire village on his own, with his daughters so far away, so constantly busy?
When a neighbour offers to help out, it seems like an ideal, if temporary, solution.

But the sisters cannot be sure what lies behind Marika’s offer of help and, as the crisis of their father’s situation mounts, it brings to the surface suspicions, old resentments and guilt.

Alice Jolly writes: “At its heart, this story is about who cares, in every sense of the word, in a society where the whole question of ‘care’ is a fraught and urgent issue. It circles around a demanding man, but it’s ultimately about the women around him and how they deal with loyalty and love.”

Episode 1. Ronnie Maker needs support – but who will give it? His daughters wonder if Marika is the answer they were hoping for.

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright. She has won a Royal Society of Literature V.S.Pritchett Memorial prize, the Pen/Ackerley Prize and an O. Henry Award, and was runner-up for the Rathbones Folio Prize for her novel Mary Anne Sate, Imbecile. Her short story collection From Far Around They Saw Us Burn was published in 2023.

Fiona Button, the reader, played Rose Defoe in The Split (BBC 1). As well as many television roles, she has starred in shows at the RSC, Almeida, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse and in the West End.

Writer: Alice Jolly
Reader: Fiona Button
Producer: Sara Davies
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
Sound Design: Matt Bainbridge
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:00 Limelight (m001r1sz)
The System - Series 3

The System - Method 4: Turn into a Cyborg and Fly to Mars

Five Methods for Overcoming Mortality.

Season 3 of Ben Lewis’ award-winning thriller.

A community of activists vowing to make the earth sacred again, a mob of gamers desperate to win the augmented reality game that’s sweeping the nation and an elite group of super rich party goers are all making their way towards Matt Finch’s Scottish castle.
It’s his 50th birthday and tonight he fully expects to be assassinated.

Cast:

Maya… Siena Kelly
Jake … Jack Rowan
Coyote…Divian Ladwa
Carly and Amanda…Lois Chimimba
Robin and Voice of the Game…Ryan Sampson
Matt Finch…Rhashan Stone

Percussion by Alon Ilsar

Original music and sound design by Danny Krass
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams


MON 23:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00236wp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]

TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2024

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m00237j0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Siege by Ben Macintyre (m00237gx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00237j2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00237j4)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00237j6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m00237j8)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00237jb)
Seamus Heaney's roots

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m00237jd)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 06:00 Today (m00237p9)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m00237pc)
Anna Korre on capturing carbon dioxide and defying expectations

As the famous frog once said, it's not easy being green. And when it comes to decarbonising industry, indeed, reducing emissions of all sorts, the task is a complex one.

Fossil fuels are used to manufacture some of mankind’s most ubiquitous products, from plastics to cement to steel; and even in areas where we’re trying to improve our footprint, there are repercussions. Mining lithium for electric car batteries isn’t exactly without impact. Add to the mix stories of corporations prioritising profits, and governments focusing on short-term popular policies – and it would be easy to feel disheartened.

Professor Anna Korre says her role is to be the champion of science in this debate: providing clear evidence to help reduce environmental impacts, while allowing vital production processes to continue.

Anna is an environmental engineer at Imperial College London and Co-Director of the university’s Energy Futures Lab. Her work has led to a risk model that's now used in mining operations around the world – and her current research into sub-surface CO2 storage could hold the key to decarbonising British industry. But as she tells Jim Al-Khalili, social and familial expectations when she was growing up in her native Greece meant her succesful career in engineering very nearly didn't happen...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Producer by Lucy Taylor


TUE 09:30 All in the Mind (m00237pf)
Programme exploring the limits and potential of the human mind.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00237ph)
Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m002309s)
Rick Wakeman and Fenella Humphreys, from Bach to Eurovision

Keyboard maestro and prog rock musician Rick Wakeman and concert violinist Fenella Humphreys are today's studio guests with Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye. In the penultimate episode of the current series, they take us from a Bach favourite via an Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong classic before hopping on a train to Moldova for some lively Eurovision action.

Producer: Jerome Weatherald
Presented with musical direction by Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

1st movement of Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor by Bach
A Futuristic Auntyquarian by Gryphon
Your Woman by White Town
Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Trenulețul (Eurovision 2022) by Zdob și Zdub

Other music in this episode:

Would You...? by Touch and Go
Bapaalaay by Esukolaal
Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor by Anne-Sophie Mutter
Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor by Yehudi Menuhin
My Woman by Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band
Love Again by Dua Lipa


TUE 11:45 The Siege by Ben Macintyre (m00237pk)
Book of the Week: Episode 7 - The SAS Makes a Plan

In Ben Macintyre’s latest book about the 1980 siege at the Iranian Embassy, events take a disquieting turn. Meanwhile, the SAS commander refines his plans to put an end to the crisis. Jamie Parker reads.

Ben Macintyre sets the pulse racing in his new book when he returns us to the spring of 1980. On 30th April, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian Embassy on Princes Gate in London, taking 26 people hostage, what followed was an intense set of events involving police negotiators, decisions makers at the highest levels, and the SAS. Jamie Parker reads.

In The Siege Ben Macintyre takes us on a journey through the crisis, painting a minute-by-minute picture of six days filled with terror and uncertainty for the hostages, the gunmen and the authorities.

When all avenues to resolve the crisis bloodlessly were exhausted, the SAS were deployed, and millions gathered around their televisions to watch the unprecedented events unfold.

Ben Macintyre’s previous titles include, Colditz, Agent Sonya, and The Spy and The Traitor. Several have been adapted for film and television – Operation Mincemeat, A Spy Among Friends and SAS Rogue Heroes.

Jamie Parker is known for his work on radio – Hamlet, Going Infinite, The Gold Finch; the stage – The History Boys, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Next to Normal, and screen - Becoming Elizabeth, The Crown and Des.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m00237pm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m00237pp)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m00237pr)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m00237pt)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.


TUE 13:45 Superhead (m00237pw)
The rise and fall of one of Britain's most influential educators.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m00237hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m00202m5)
The Most Important Conversations Happen in Bed

Across 50 years of bedsheets, the love story of two extraordinary women unfolds against the backdrop of evolving LGBTQ+ rights in Britain. The romance between wild-hearted Margo and shrinking violet Lucille twists and turns as the political debate around queer love transforms from aversion to acceptance over the decades.

Queer female stories and longstanding lesbian relationships are rarely seen or heard in the media. This drama is quietly radical in its intimate depiction of two women’s personal lives revolutionised by the outside world’s changing relationship to queer love. The play asks - is love enough to weather the storm of conflicting political debate?

Lie your head on the same pillow as Margo and Lucille as they have the most important conversations of their lives in the privacy of their bed, laying bare the dreams, frustrations and secrets they dare not speak in public.

Cast
Margo (17 years)……..Tamara Brabon
Lucille (17 years)………Laura Marcus
Margo (29/40 years)……..Lucy Ellinson
Lucille (29/40 years)………Kelly Hotten
Margo (66 years)……..Cara Chase
Lucille (66 years)………Alexandra Mathie

Written by Natasha Sutton Williams
Directed by Rachel Austin
Production Manager - Darren Spruce
Illustration - Kelsea Knox
Executive Producer - Eloise Whitmore

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4

Writer
Natasha Sutton Williams is an award-winning writer, composer, and actor. Her podcast Clown Sex won an Independent Podcast Award 2023. The podcast is nominated for the International Women's Podcast Awards 2024. Her critically acclaimed stage show Clown Sex sold out at Edinburgh Fringe 2023, VAULT 2023, and the Bristol Wardrobe Theatre 2024. Her Off West End Award nominated plays have been produced at multiple London venues. Her one-woman show Freud the Musical has been a Time Out London and Time Out New York top pick. This is her first drama for BBC Radio 4.

Director
Rachel Austin is an actor, voice-over artist and audio producer. She has appeared in over 30 dramas for BBC Radio 4, including the critically acclaimed Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster, and has worked extensively in theatre, film, television, voice-over and audio drama. In 2022, Rachel produced and directed her first professional audio drama for Naked Productions, Heavier on the Turf, which was a finalist for the UK and International Audio Drama Awards.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m00237q0)
The Forest

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures that venture into the forest.

Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m00237q4)
Sight and Power

Laurie Taylor talks to Becca Voelcker, Lecturer in the Art Department at Goldsmiths, University of London, about her research into the relationship between sight and power. Everyday life is full of moments where we are seen, often without our knowledge, even in the virtual world, where cookie trails and analytics make us visible to profit making companies. Going back in time, Jeremy Bentham's panopticon depended on seeing its occupants to control them. If we cannot control who sees us today are we also being controlled? How does that square with the many moments when being seen is also a means of social recognition?

Also, David Lyon, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Law at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario explores the surveillance which permeates all aspects of our lives today. Every click on the keyboard, every contact with a doctor or the police, each time we walk under a video camera or pass through a security check we are identified, traced, and tracked. So how does surveillance make people visible, how did it grow to its present size and prevalence, and what are the social and personal costs?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


TUE 16:00 Illuminated (m002395g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 on Sunday]


TUE 16:30 When It Hits the Fan (m00237q8)
Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.


TUE 17:00 PM (m00237qd)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00237qh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 18:30 Heresy (m0017tcn)
Series 12

Episode 2

Victoria Coren Mitchell presents a new series of the show which dares to commit heresy.

Joining Victoria Coren Mitchell to commit heresy about being at one with nature and mediocrity are the comedians Miles Jupp and David Mitchell, and former chair of the Conservative Party, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi.

Written, presented, and produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell
with additional material from Dan Gaster and Charlie Skelton
Series created by David Baddiel

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m00237qn)
Opportunity knocks for Fallon, and Lynda lines up the suspects.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m00237qr)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


TUE 20:00 A Wild Ride (m00237qw)
In 2023, Ailsa Rochester made the decision to buy her daughter her first horse, but was shocked by this largely unregulated sector.

In A Wild Ride, Ailsa meets the equestrian who broke her back after buying a horse sold as “a quiet all-rounder”, the mother and daughter who fundraised to buy back their beloved pony after discovering he was being sold for thousands as a “perfect first pony” despite being medically retired by a vet. She also speaks to the parent who bought her 7 year old daughter’s first horse, only to find out it was not only dangerous, but allegedly stolen.

Ailsa finds out how social media has changed the ancient trade of horse dealing and speaks to legal experts, horse owners and those who claim they’re victims of unscrupulous dealers, to hear why buying and selling horses in England and Wales today is such a risky business.

An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m00237r0)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 World Of Secrets (m0023qk2)
Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods

Al Fayed, Predator at Harrods: 1. Golden opportunity

A dream job offer arrives from Harrods, to the surprise of debutante teenager, Cheska. Why is one of the world’s most famous luxury shops interested in her? How do they know where she lives - where to send the letter? It’s the 1990s in London. Cheska and other rich girls are being introduced to high society, as part of an centuries old tradition. What should she do next? Soon after she gets the job offer, Cheska is working in owner Mohamed Al Fayed’s personal office in London’s exclusive Park Lane. Can Al Fayed help her with her ambition to act?

This season of World of Secrets is about sexual abuse, and includes descriptions which some listeners might find distressing. For a list of organisations in the UK that can provide support for survivors of sexual abuse, go to bbc.co.uk/actionline.


TUE 21:30 Great Lives (m00237hb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:00 on Monday]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m00237r5)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 The Last Loves of Ronnie Maker by Alice Jolly (m00237r9)
Episode 2

A newly commissioned serial from Alice Jolly about love, loyalty and the meaning of care, exploring the emotions at the heart of a family crisis.

After their mother’s death, sisters Leah and Tiffany know their father needs support. Ebullient, charming and and unreliable, Ronnie Maker has lived life at speed and he has no intention of slipping gently into a peaceful old age. How will he cope in a remote Yorkshire village on his own, with his daughters so far away, so constantly busy?
When a neighbour offers to help out, it seems like an ideal, if temporary, solution.

But the sisters cannot be sure what lies behind Marika’s offer of help and, as the crisis of their father’s situation mounts, it brings to the surface suspicions, old resentments and guilt.

Alice Jolly writes: “At its heart, this story is about who cares, in every sense of the word, in a society where the whole question of ‘care’ is a fraught and urgent issue. It circles around a demanding man, but it’s ultimately about the women around him and how they deal with loyalty and love.”

Episode 2. As the sisters’ become increasingly suspicious about Marika’s motives, the tension between them grows.

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright. She has won a Royal Society of Literature V.S.Pritchett Memorial prize, the Pen/Ackerley Prize and an O. Henry Award, and was runner-up for the Rathbones Folio Prize for her novel Mary Anne Sate, Imbecile. Her short story collection From Far Around They Saw Us Burn was published in 2023.

Fiona Button, the reader, played Rose Defoe in The Split (BBC 1). As well as many television roles, she has starred in shows at the RSC, Almeida, Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse and in the West End.

Writer: Alice Jolly
Reader: Fiona Button
Producer: Sara Davies
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
Sound Design: Matt Bainbridge
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 23:00 Marianna in Conspiracyland (m00237hg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


TUE 23:30 The Gift (m001qdm5)
1. Fraud

In this first episode, a scandal deep in the heart of London's Harley Street is exposed when a man in his eighties receives a DNA test Christmas present from his daughter.

It's the go-to Christmas present for the person who already has everything. A gift that promises to tell you who you really are and how you're connected to the world.

Millions of us have spat into a tube and sent a vial of our DNA to a company like Ancestry and 23andMe. Their tests promise to unlock the truth of our heritage - perhaps even a future foretold in our genes.

Across six episodes, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Gill Huggett