SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2023
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001j4l3)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:30 Forgiveness: Stories from the Front Line (m0018p8h)
Ivan
Ivan Humble is a single father from East Anglia and a former organiser for the English Defence League who once recruited people to the far-right cause. He’s now working to prevent radicalisation. He wrestles with forgiving himself.
“I hated Muslims. I thought they were all terrorists. I know now that hate is just fear of the unknown.” In a surprising about-turn, he’s now friends with many Muslims, including Manwar Ali, a former jihadist from Ipswich who supported Ivan when his father died. We hear from both men about their friendship and how they are making amends for the past.
Marina Cantacuzino is an award-winning journalist who became interested in forgiveness at the time of the Iraq War. It’s a subject she’s explored now for many years, in books and through founding a charity, ‘The Forgiveness Project’. A common theme running through these stories is that forgiveness is difficult, messy, and complex, but it brings with it the power to transform lives.
Producer: Kim Normanton
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Burke
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001j4l5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001j4l7)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001j4l9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001j4lc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001j4lf)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
So, as a working comedian I’m resigning myself to the non-growth and socioeconomic descent of any form of precarious employment; to a vision of work life that writer and professor Madeline Lane-McKinley describes as “constant juggling, frantic side-hustles, living off credit cards, family favours, and impossible debts”. (For instance, I once did a gig where the ‘stage’ was a buffet table and the ‘fee’ was a bit of buffet from the buffet table.)
And since comedians are all gig workers looking out to a “ horizon of deteriorating career options and prospects of security” there must be something, that compels us to get onstage. For me, it’s the power of the comic mode as a ritual of the human spirit.
“Human existence at its best, both individually and collectively, is a running interplay between seriousness and laughter, sense and nonsense, sacred concerns and comic interludes,” writes historian and Presbyterian minister Conrad Hyers.
Life is at its most vibrant when the lines are blurred between profundity and triviality – allowing us to catheterise experience and temporarily drain it of its misery. (Example: When my Nan passed away I told my Mum I was gonna use her earthly remains as a toboggan. This could be seen as bad taste and disrespectful – but, as a family, we know the rules of morbid humour, and how the inappropriateness is kind of the point, so Muv and I shared a moment of unexpected, delinquent laughter.)
With this in mind. God, thank you for revealing the comic essence, the absurdity, of experience. Thank you for showing me the spirit which comedy represents – and for accepting those moments where we “tie down the angel in us” and succumb to comic relief. And please tell Nan it was only a joke.
Now go lightly.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m001j48v)
Life Without Chilli
Three years on from her first appearance on Four Thought, Dr. Dina Rezk returns to Four Thought. Her first talk was about the shocking and unexpected death of her mother; this time, as she describes another bereavement, the tone is unexpectedly positively, even exultant, as Dina reflects on the difference between the two experiences.
Producer: Giles Edwards
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001jbyz)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m001j493)
Villagers' Walks around Timsbury
Clare joins three walkers from the village of Timsbury in Somerset who have created several books detailing100 walks for local people to enjoy in the area. Peter Bradshaw, Larry Cunningham and Sue Fraser stress the books are very much a community project with any proceeds going back into the village. On an extremely wet and windy winter day they take Clare from the village centre around the valley to explore the area's little known coal mining history. All the former mines are obviously closed and the slag heaps are now covered over rich green hillocks which make for safe and easy walking.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001jbz1)
18/03/23 Farming Today This Week: Seasonal Labour; Environment Agency delays; Space tech used in food and farming; Lambing
One of the firms which operates the Government’s visa scheme for seasonal workers in food and farming has had its licence revoked. AG Recruitment was one of six companies which brought temporary workers from Europe and around the world to work on UK farms. We ask British Growers what this means for a sector which is already struggling to find workers to pick their fruit and veg this summer.
A farmer who lost all his ducks through bird flu, says delays with paperwork could jeopardize his plans to produce chickens instead. Tom McVeigh wants to house broilers on his farm in Suffolk after 95,000 ducks died because of avian influenza. He needs the Environment Agency to sign off on the the change of use but says they've told him staff shortages mean instead of taking six weeks to process the paperwork, it'll take six months.
All week we are boldly going beyond our world to talk about how food and farming can benefit from our exploration of space. From satellites guiding tractors and scouting for illegal fishing operations, to zero gravity crops. We speak to: the UK Space Agency about how space exploration already has an impact on farms; an Israeli company which has produced lab-grown meat in space; a tech start-up which is taking technology designed for exploring Mars to weed organic crops; and a campaign group which is using images from space to keep tabs on illegal fishing.
Early lambing's started, which means late nights and early mornings on some sheep farms. We join one couple who breed Texel rams in the lambing shed on their farm in Gloucestershire.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
SAT 06:57 Weather (m001jbz3)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m001jbz5)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001jbz7)
Johnny Vaughan
Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined in the studio by broadcaster Johnny Vaughan. Best known for his presenting stints on The Big Breakfast and radio shows on pretty much every network, Johnny now has a new podcast called Alien Kidnap Club in which he interviews people who believe they have encountered alien life.
Actress Felicity Montagu stars in new series Beyond Paradise, which spins off from Death in Paradise. Known for her wide range of acting roles, especially playing Alan Partridge's long-suffering PA Lynn Benfield, Felicity talks about her life and career.
In the nineties, Patrick Duff was poised to become a huge hit as the lead singer of the band Strangelove. They supported Radiohead and Suede on tours, and played Glastonbury's main stage twice. But Patrick was living with alcoholism, which ultimately led to the band's breakup before they had their chance at fame. Since then he has been performing with a huge range of singers and songwriters, including the legendary South African performer Madosini.
After training as a stonemason, Beatrice Searle decided to complete a pilgrimage from Orkney to Nidaros Cathedral in the Norwegian city of Trondheim. As if that weren't challenging enough, she dragged a 40kg rock that she had plucked from an Orkney beach in a specially made cart behind her. She tells Nikki and Richard about this journey and its impact on her life.
Andrew Roachford, known for hit single Cuddly Toy and for his work with Mike + the Mechanics, picks his Inheritance Tracks. And we have a Thank You from father and daughter John and Amelia.
Producer: Tim Bano
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001jbz9)
Series 39
Cardiff
Jay Rayner hosts this week's culinary panel show from the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. Joining Jay are chefs Angela Gray and Jeremy Pang, panel first-timer Ixta Belfrage, and materials expert Dr Zoe Laughlin.
Inspired by Cardiff's extra-terrestrial residents, the panel time-travel through the food of science fiction. They get serious over exciting uses for prunes, and dunk their recipe ideas into the subject of soup.
Sweet or Savoury? The team also throw their favourite pancake recipes into the frying pan. Dr Zoe Laughlin puts her artistic abilities to the test when she attempts to recreate a familiar face in dough form.
Producer: Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Louisa Field
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 How Ukraine Made Us Care (m001jbzc)
Since the 24th February 2022, in village halls and Twitter bios, the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag has become a familiar sight. Over 150,000 Ukrainian refugees have found temporary homes in the UK, many hosted by sympathetic British families inspired by coverage of the war. In Ukraine, Boris Johnson’s notoriety has led to streets and babies being named in his honour. And more recently, Britain made headlines by supplying Ukraine with a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks.
How did the UK come to be Ukraine’s biggest ally on the world stage? And how did Ukraine marshal such a massive wave of public support in the UK? Ash Bhardwaj explores what might be the most successful information campaign in history. In this documentary, Ash talks to the Ukrainians on the frontlines of the information war, as well as the Brits best placed to turn support into arms.
From President Zelensky’s speeches invoking Shakespeare and the Battle of Britain to the gallows humour of viral TikToks about life in a war zone, he explores how over the past year Ukraine has cut through years of Russian disinformation and found a way to tell its story.
Presenter: Ash Bhardwaj
Producer: Artemis Irvine
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001jbzf)
The questions after Turkey's earthquake
Kate Adie introduces analysis and reportage from correspondents in Turkey, Israel, Nigeria, Georgia and South Sudan.
While reporting from across southern Turkey after the February 6 earthquake, Nick Beake often came across moments of astonishing kindness and generosity - but also found an incalculable burden of grief and a growing sense of anger. How and why did the natural disaster have such devastating human consequences - and can anyone be held responsible for the deaths and damage?
There's a war of words going on in Israel over moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to reform the status and powers of the country's Supreme Court. Amid the fervent demonstrations and political horse-trading in and around the Knesset building, Yolande Knell's been hearing the cases for and against the proposed changes to the system.
Nigeria is due to elect its next President on the 25th of February, but the scheduled election day comes as the nation grapples with a string of crises. Soaring inflation, burgeoning insecurity and dire fuel shortages have been capped off with currency chaos - as the entire country struggles to find enough cash to pay for its daily needs. Mayeni Jones reports from Lagos.
The political career of Mikhail Saakashvili has never been short of passionate rhetoric or dramatic twists, but recently, people in Tbilisi have been worried by a series of images which seemed to show their former President wasting away in a prison clinic. Rayhan Demytrie explains why 'Misha' still provokes strong feelings in Georgia.
And, what is really the point of a Papal visit? As Aleem Maqbool followed the route of Pope Francis's recent travels to the D R Congo and South Sudan, he was moved by the joy of the crowds - and considered how Popes can move politicians to act.
Producer: Polly Hope:
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001jc0x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001jby6)
Lasting Power of Attorney delays and Mortgages
The Office of the Public Guardian has told Money Box it apologises to its customers for the distress caused by delays in dealing with applications for Lasting Powers of Attorney. Its target is turning them round in eight weeks. But its own website says people should expect to wait twenty. It also says it has recruited more staff to process applications and teams have been working around the clock to reduce wait times and are now registering around 18,000 more LPAs a month than before the pandemic. We'll hear from listeners and speak to a legal expert.
If you're one of the millions of people who have a mortgage, or indeed would like to get one, you might have struggled to keep up with ongoing changes to the market in the last few months. In the past two weeks nine lenders have started offering fixed term deals at less than 4% while another has doubled the amount borrowers can overpay. We'll look at how they’re affecting new and existing customers.
How should I invest? New research looks at active and passive investing, we'll speak to co-author Professor Crawford Spence of King's College London.
And how can you avoid an huge estimated bill from your energy company?
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast
12pm Saturday 18th January, 2023)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001j4kj)
Series 110
Episode 8
Andy Zaltzman is joined by Zoe Lyons, Angela Barnes, Hugo Rifkind and Nish Kumar. On the agenda this week is Nicola Sturgeon's surprise resignation, Jeremy Corbyn being barred as a Labour candidate and the case of 200,000 stolen Cadbury Creme Eggs.
Hosted and written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Alice Fraser, Catherine Brinkworth, Eleanor Morton, Peter Tellouche and Cameron Loxdale.
Producer: Georgia Keating
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m001jbzk)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001jbzm)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001j4kq)
Professor Mary Beard, Sir Rocco Forte, Robert Halfon MP, Steve Reed MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Fowlmere Village Hall in Cambridgeshire with a panel including the classicist Professor Mary Beard, hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships & Higher Education Robert Halfon MP, and shadow justice secretary Steve Reed MP.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Lead broadcast engineer: Liam Juniper
Editor: Chris Ledgard
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001jbzp)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?
SAT 14:45 Opening Lines (m001jbzr)
Gaslight
John Yorke looks at Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 stage play Gaslight. A big hit on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue and an even bigger success on Broadway, Patrick Hamilton’s drama of the mental abuse of Bella Manningham by her husband Jack lives on, sometimes unacknowledged, as the source of the term Gaslighting - one person’s attempt to make another doubt their sanity.
Best known for his novels such as Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude, Hamilton drew on his own miserable childhood memories of being terrified of his own abusive father for this taut, chilling thriller.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 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 dramatised on BBC Radio 4.
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 (his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone).
Contributors:
Brigid Larmour, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Watford Palace Theatre
Sean French, author of Patrick Hamilton: A Life and one half of the writing duo Nicci French
Readings by Sam Dale
Credits:
Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton. Acting Edition published by Constable, 1970
Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton, Acting Edition published by Samuel French, 1942
Clip from Angel Street (1952), The NBC Presents Best Plays radio adaptation starring Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn
Produced by Caroline Raphael
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Sound by Matt Bainbridge, Redlight Studios and Sean Kerwin
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 15:00 Drama (m001jbzt)
Gaslight
Atmospheric drama from Radio 4 with bonus scenes for BBC Sounds.
Featuring original music by Imelda May.
Have you ever wondered where the term 'gaslighting' comes from?
Find out in this dark reimagining of the classic 1938 stage thriller by Patrick Hamilton.
Jonathan Holloway's modern adaptation is set in the present, with a deliciously vintage feel.
Jack Manningham has used his wife’s recently inherited money to buy a huge period property - a former bell foundry - which they will renovate. They occupy a small habitable part of the ground floor and basement. This previously neglected ramshackle building is lit by gas, as it was in Victorian times.
Cast in order of appearance:
Tippi Griffiths ..... Lacey Turner
Jack Manningham ..... James Purefoy
Bella Harding ..... Rebecca Night
Ishani Rawe / Izzy ..... Macadie Amoroso
DCI Nina Rawe ..... Cathy Tyson
DI Reynolds / Michael McLennon / Chris De Jeanne ..... Richard Lintern
Music: Imelda May with Tim Bran.
Produced by Sally Harrison with James Purefoy.
Directed by Johnny Vegas.
A Woolyback production in association with Darling Pictures, for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001jbzw)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Aimee Lou Wood, Wayne Couzens and Indecent Assault, Nne Nne Iwuji-Eme on African Queens, Nell Mescal
Actor Aimee Lou Wood is best known for her role in Netflix’s Sex Education. Her character - also called Aimee - was at the heart of some of the most iconic storylines that came out of the first three seasons of the show. Now she’s taking to the stage as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in London’s West End. She talks about performing in the show and her recent BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination.
The former police officer, Wayne Couzens, who raped and murdered Sarah Everard two years ago, has admitted three counts of indecent exposure. Now academics and criminologists are calling for a change in the way indecent exposure is seen – saying we need to stop the perception of it as a so-called ‘nuisance offence’ and take it more seriously. Jennifer Grant from the University of Portsmouth and the BBC’s Home Affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani discuss allegations against Wayne Couzens that go back to 2015.
A new Netflix series from Executive Producer Jada Pinkett-Smith tells the stories of African Queens. The first focuses on Queen Njinga, a powerful woman who led Ndongo, modern day Angola, through the slave trade and invasions by the Portuguese. One of the writers and former British High Commissioner to Mozambique, Nne Nne Iwuji-Eme explains why it’s so important to hear her story.
Woman's Hour is in the process of putting together our Power List for 2023 - this year focussed on finding 30 of the most powerful women in sport. But what about the power of sport itself? Hayley Compton and Jessica Morgan who say sport got them through very difficult times in their lives explain why.
Coleen Greenwood spent almost two and a half years in a relationship with a man she knew as James Scott. He said he was a divorced firefighter who wanted to marry and go into business with her - but it was all based on a lie. Her story is the subject of a new BBC podcast series Love-Bombed with Vicki Pattison. Coleen talks about the impact the relationship had on her. She is joined by Chris Bentham, who investigated the case.
Nell Mescal is a singer songwriter who writes Indie Folk songs. She’s a rising star whose featured in Rolling Stone Magazine and has been named as an artist to watch by NME. She performs her single ‘Graduating’ live in the studio.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Paula McFarlane
Editor: Emma Pearce
SAT 17:00 PM (m001jbzy)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001jc00)
The Steve Reed One
Nick Robinson talks to the shadow justice secretary, Steve Reed, about why the collapse of a factory that employed most of his family led to him joining the Labour Party, how being mugged at knifepoint helped inform his new approach to antisocial behaviour and why he thinks the parentsof young offenders should be sent to mandatory parenting classes.
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001jc02)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 17:57 Weather (m001jc04)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jc06)
Western leaders have called for a global pact to stop Russia's aggression in Ukraine. And, Rishi Sunak has said a deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements is by no means done.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001jbyb)
John Kearns, Leila Farzad, Jamie Demetriou, Neil Forsyth, Robyn Hitchcock, Maja Lena, Anneka Rice, Danny Wallace
Danny Wallace and Anneka Rice are joined by John Kearns, Leila Farzad, Neil Forsyth and Jamie Demetriou for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Robyn Hitchcock and Maja Lena.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m001jbxr)
Barry Keoghan
Irish actor Barry Keoghan spent most of his childhood in foster homes, losing his mother to addiction issues when he was just 12-years-old. He found his passion for acting after answering a casting notice for a short indie film in his local shop window.
Keoghan was so determined to succeed that he’s often made his own audition tapes to send to studios. Praised by directors for his natural talent, Keoghan has risen from starring in the Irish drama series ‘Love/Hate’ as a ‘cat killer’ in 2013, to the current hit ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’. His moving performance as the comical yet heart-breaking Dominic is wowing critics.
So can Barry Keoghan take home all the awards this year? Mark Coles speaks to his friends, colleagues and teachers about his rise from the streets of Summerhill in Dublin to success in Hollywood.
Credits
Ireland Unfiltered with Dion Fanning
In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast
The Banshees of Inisherin
Director and writer: Martin McDonagh
Searchlight Pictures
Between the Canals
Director and writer: Mark O’Connor
High Fliers Films
Dunkirk
Director: Christopher Nolan
Warner Bros.
Hairspray
Director: Adam Shankman
Warner Bros.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Diane Richardson, Beth Ashmead-Latham and Georgia Coan
Editor: Simon Watts
Production Co-ordinator: Sabine Schereck
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m001jc09)
Series 26
Southern Skies
Brian Cox and Robin Ince start a new series from Sydney, Australia. They are joined by astrophysicists Kirsten Banks and Devika Kamath and comedian Ross Noble as they discuss how different the night sky looks from the southern hemisphere. They hear stories of how different cultures have always used constellations in the sky to help navigate life down here, on planet Earth. They find out how just one point of light can tell you exactly what a star is made of and why this can be the key to understanding the future of our galaxy.
Producer: Caroline Steel
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001jc0d)
Oh Yoko!
“Dragon-lady”. “Witch”. “The woman who broke up the Beatles”. These are some of the labels that have been commonly used to describe Yoko Ono, a pioneering musician, artist, and activist who can plausibly claim to be one of the most maligned and misunderstood figures in the history of popular culture.
On this edition of Archive On 4, marking her 90th birthday, you’ll hear Yoko Ono on her own terms, in her own words.
Host Jennifer Lucy Allan, a music writer and broadcaster specialising in experimental sound, also assembles a collection of Yoko's peers, friends, and admirers.
Art historian Reiko Tomii reveals how the deprivation and danger of wartime Japan formed Yoko’s artistic worldview.
Sound artist Tomoko Hojo explores how an audience becomes Yoko Ono’s co-collaborator.
Fluxus poet Nye Ffarrabas remembers baring her bottom for one of Yoko’s seminal works.
Rock star Peaches reflects on Yoko Ono’s infamy.
Music writer David Keenan asserts that Yoko is "the best Beatle".
Producer: Mae-Li Evans
Executive Producer: Jack Howson
Sound Mix: Mike Woolley
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
BBC archive interviews featured:
Late Night Line-Up (BBC 2 - 1967)
Parkinson (BBC 1 - 1971)
Andy Peebles (BBC Radio 1 - 1980)
Face To Face (BBC TV - 1998)
Kaleidoscope (BBC Radio 4 - 1998)
Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC 1 - 2003)
Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4 - 2007)
Andrew Marr Show (BBC 1 - 2007)
The First Time (BBC Radio 6 Music - 2016)
SAT 21:00 Stone (b09ly6rm)
Series 7
Episode 7
Stone. Episode 7. By Alex Ganley
The team now have their prime suspect, but who is he? There is only one person who can identify him.
Created by Danny Brocklehurst. Script Editor Caitlin Crawford. Director Gary Brown. Producers Gary Brown & Nadia Molinari
DCI John Stone investigates the suspicious death of a man in a fire at a homeless hostel. Stone's enquiries lead him to re-examine a murder he worked on twenty years before in order to solve the case. In doing so he uncovers a web of lies and deceit that make him face past mistakes and lead to personal trauma.
SAT 21:45 The Skewer (m001j49p)
Series 8
Episode 2
Jon Holmes's multi-award-winning The Skewer returns to twist itself into current affairs. This week - a Sturgeon leaps, it's Balloondependence Day, and labour leader Mr Cellophane.
Produced by Jon Holmes.
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:00 News (m001jc0g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (m001j48l)
Why does God allow natural disasters to happen?
Why does God allow natural disasters to happen?
The devastation following the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria has been appalling. Already more than 41,000 people have died. Extraordinary stories have emerged as people have been rescued after spending days trapped under rubble. Those small moments of respite have been greeted with heartfelt prayers of thanks for each life saved. The blame for the earthquake and the shocking loss of life has been placed not on God’s shoulders, but on the planning officials and builders who allowed fragile homes to be built. But if God really is almighty and good, why does he allow natural disasters like this to happen? It’s a recurring moral conundrum, but if God is given credit for the splendour and beauty of nature, why then isn’t he also held responsible for the destruction and suffering caused by forces completely beyond the control of people? Some see this as a compelling argument against the existence of a good and almighty God. Others suggest that we can never fully understand divinity and it makes no sense to apply such crude moral questions to God. What is certain is that religion provides many believers with great consolation in times like this, when sorrow and suffering are all around. Also, many of those providing support in the rescue effort do so inspired by their faith.
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Michael Buerk
SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (m001j3jx)
Series 36
Heat 6, 2023
(6/13)
Three music lovers from northern England and the Midlands join Paul Gambaccini for the much-loved music quiz, from the BBC's Salford studios.
The quiz tests the range and variety of their musical knowledge, and there are extracts to identify from musical works of all genres. They may struggle if they don't know their Vivaldi from their Handel, their Benny Goodman from their Count Basie or their Suede from their Pulp. As usual they'll be asked to pick a special topic on which they'll face an individual set of questions - with no prior warning of the choices available, and no time to prepare.
Appearing today are:
Judith Bradley from Newton-le-Willows
Carolyn Evans from Bromsgrove
Sally Wilson from Sale.
The winner will be back for the semi-finals of this year's Counterpoint tournament, which begin in a few weeks' time.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SAT 23:30 The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed (m001j3n6)
Lucy Beaumont
If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink, waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills, he's been working on a new kind of poem he's invented - the Flyku - inspired by the moths and butterflies he sees around him. Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about creativity, music, art, sheds, music, poetry and the countryside.
This week, writer, actress and stand-up comedian Lucy Beaumont joins Simon in the shed. Their conversation ranges from the differences in their Yorkshire accents - Lucy grew up in Hull, Simon in the village of Marsden, to writing comedy for TV and radio, appearing on panel shows and working with her husband Jon Richardson on their reality show Meet the Richardsons.
Produced by Susan Roberts
SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001jc0j)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Understand: The Economy (p0df7gzl)
Series 1
The Economy: 6. Recessions
What is a recession and what causes a recession? Whether something suddenly makes you poorer or just makes you worry about becoming poorer, when you cut your spending in the shops, this affects other people and ripples through the economy. Tim Harford explains the role a government can play in pulling a country out of a recession and Cambridge University Economic Historian Victoria Bateman tells the story of one of our longest recessions that started in 1921.
Everything you need to know about the economy and what it means for you. This podcast will cut through the jargon to bring you clarity and ensure you finally understand all those complicated terms and phrases you hear on the news. Inflation, GDP, Interest rates, and bonds, Tim Harford and friends explain them all. We’ll ensure you understand what’s going on today, why your shopping is getting more expensive or why your pay doesn’t cover your bills. We’ll also bring you surprising histories, from the war-hungry kings who have shaped how things are counted today to the greedy merchants flooding Spain with silver coins. So if your eyes usually glaze over when someone says ‘cutting taxes stimulates growth’, fear no more, we’ve got you covered.
Guest: Professor Richard Davies, University of Bristol
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Clare Fordham
Theme music: Don’t Fret, Beats Fresh Music
A BBC Long Form Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 00:30 Short Works (m001j4k2)
Pakistana
For young Nina the bustling Spanish city of Barcelona is home. But with her melancholic father homesick for Pakistan, and her Spanish boss insisting on calling her Pakistana, Nina struggles with divided loyalties. She finds herself torn between her family and their past in a country she barely knows and her present in a city that both dazzles and beguiles.
Pakistana is a specially commissioned story for Radio 4, written and read by Fatima Bhutto.
Produced by Karen Holden
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jc0l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jc0n)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jc0q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001jc0s)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001jbyg)
St Mary’s, Lamberhurst in Kent
Bells on Sunday comes from St Mary’s, Lamberhurst in Kent. The tower has a ring of six bells originally cast in 1779 by Pack and Chapman of London. In 1925 the third bell was recast and all bells re-tuned and re-hung by the Croydon Foundry. The tenor bell weighs thirteen hundredweight and is tuned to F. We hear them ringing Spliced Plain and Little Bob Major.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m001jbxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001jbwg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b03tr7hh)
Up in Flames
Fire is one of the most savage forces on Earth, yet burning something can also offer the hope of purging and rebirth. We might use fire therapeutically to burn love letters from a failed relationship, or to clear the decks for the start of a new year. Burning can be very liberating.
Samira Ahmed reflects on our ambiguous relationship with fire. She looks at the way nature uses fire to play a crucial part in natural regeneration and at the scared fires central to many faiths.
Erich Kästner, author of 'Emil and the Detectives', witnessed his own books being burned by the Nazis in 1930s Berlin. Samira Ahmed talks to Michael Rosen about the significance of this event. She also explores the scientific properties of fire with Dr Matthew Juniper of the University of Cambridge.
Featuring music by Sibelius, Jim Reeves and Kurt Weill and with words of writers including W.B. Yeats, Simon Armitage and Germaine Greer.
Producer: Caroline Hughes
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001jbwj)
A Closewool Encounter
It’s lambing time for Lyn and Ricky Rennie’s flock of pedigree Devon Closewool sheep, near Hatherleigh. Sarah Swadling hears how the first generation farmers founded the flock in 2016 with just nine ewes. Seven years later they are enjoying considerable show ring success alongside a meat box business. Lyn and Ricky tell Sarah how they met at school and finally realised their dream of getting a farm in 2021, after years of hard work and searching for a tenancy. Sarah also learns about the history of the Devon Closewool breed, once the mainstay of sheep farming in the county but now on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s watchlist.
Produced and presented by Sarah Swadling
SUN 06:57 Weather (m001jbwl)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001jbwn)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001jbwq)
Ukraine's Religious Freedom Watchdog; Black Jesus; Champing
A year on from Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, William speaks to Viktor Yelensky, the new Lead of Ukraine’s Religious Freedom Watchdog, about what the future may now hold for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, given its ties to the Moscow Patriarchate.
The 'Champing' or 'camping in a Church' season begins again soon. Created by the Churches Conservation Trust, it helps raise funds towards maintaining both active and redundant Churches within their portfolio. We send our reporter Mark Hutchings to 'Champ' at St. Bartholomew's, Lower Failand, Bristol.
As the staggering death toll continues to rise following the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, we hear from Franciscan Priest, Father Fadi Azar in Latakia, Syria and Ravi Singh, CEO and Founder of Khalsa Aid, on his return from Turkey, about the impact of this catastrophe both on the community and the supply of aid.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales recently unveiled new artworks depicting Mary and Jesus with different ethnicities. Chine McDonald, Director of Theos and Author of 'God Is Not A White Man' explains why it's important to have such representation in religious iconography.
Leanna Hosea reports on the Native Americans forcibly removed from their homes as children and placed in residential schools, stripped of their spiritual beliefs and subjected to emotional and sexual abuse. Leanna's report covers themes that some listeners could find disturbing. Details of organisations - in the UK - offering information and support with child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. And the full story is on Heart and Soul: Stripped of my Spirituality, BBC World Service, available now on BBC Sounds.
Producers: Jill Collins and Katy Booth
Production co-ordinator: David Baguley
Editor: Helen Grady
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001jbws)
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
International trumpet soloist and educator Trumpeter Alison Balsom OBE presents the BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- 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 ‘National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at
23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.
Registered charity number: 290598
SUN 07:57 Weather (m001jbwv)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001jbwx)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001jbwz)
Wren 300
The Bishop of London, Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, leads a service marking the 300th anniversary of the death of Sir Christopher Wren, one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. Along with their cultural and historic significance, Wren’s churches offer a place of peace, reflection, creativity and connection, where the bigger questions of life can be explored.
Today’s Sunday Worship visits some of Wren’s churches, exploring their wide-ranging mission and ministry today, as centres of worship, community, culture and social outreach. Art historian Neil MacGregor explores the way in which Wren’s churches not only achieve beauty, but provide different sorts of spaces for diverse congregations. Wren was rebuilding not just churches, but communities after the catastrophic divisions of the Civil War, as well as the destruction of the Great Fire. He explores the notion in Ephesians of citizens as saints, and the need for diversity in the new expanding, ever more international city of the time, and reflects on the need today to provide spaces where citizens of different backgrounds and faiths can engage together with questions of the divine.
Music comes from the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, one of Wren’s masterpieces.
Producer: Andrew Earis
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001j4ks)
Donatello and a New Renaissance
Sarah Dunant says the rediscovery of ideas from the past can help with 'the toxicity of the present'. Just as the Renaissance master Donatello drew from the classical world to create revolutionary art, so we can find a moment in history to inspire progress in our time.
'On the surface it seems like an impossible task' says Sarah, 'not least because like everything else in this angry, polarised moment, the past itself has been commandeered as a weapon...but the wonderful thing about ideas, is that while they can travel weightlessly through history, they still pack a punch.'
Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound engineer: Peter Bosher
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mztp0)
Mistle Thrush (Song)
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
David Attenborough presents the story of the Mistle Thrush. Mistle thrushes are early singers and you'll often hear one singing from the top of a tall tree in windy winter weather. Because of this habit, an old name for the thrush is 'storm cock'.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001jbx1)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001jbx3)
Writer, Sarah Hehir
Director, Jenny Stephens
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Ruairi Donovan ….. Arthur Hughes
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Jakob Hakansson ….. Paul Venables
Paul Mack ….. Joshua Riley
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Noluthando Madikane ….. Mogali Masuku
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
Julianne Wright ….. Lisa Bowerman
Lisa ….. Katherine Jakeways
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001jbx5)
Jenny Beavan, costume designer
Jenny Beavan has won three Oscars for her costumes for the films Room with a View, Mad Max: Fury Road and Cruella, and has received nine further Academy Award nominations.
She was born in London, and her parents were both professional musicians who encouraged her to paint, draw and learn a musical instrument. After studying theatre design, she was invited at the age of just 21 to create the sets for a production of Carmen at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. She also worked on the costumes, which eventually led to her current career.
Her credits now include more than 60 films and television series, including a long collaboration with the Merchant Ivory team, on titles such as Howards End and Remains of the Day, as well as Room with a View. Her costumes range from precise period recreations, in films such as The King’s Speech, to the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max and the extravagant 1970s-inspired gowns for Emma Stone and Emma Thompson in Cruella. Along with her Oscars, Jenny has also won four Baftas and two Primetime Emmy awards.
She was appointed a OBE in 2017.
DISC ONE: Endure from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Performed by Hans Peter Blochwitz and the Chapelle Royale Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
DISC TWO: The Stately Homes of England - Noël Coward
DISC THREE: Bizet: Carmen / Act 2 - "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" (The flower you threw at me) Performed by Plácido Domingo and London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
DISC FOUR: O Mio Babbino Caro. Composed by Giacomo Puccini and performed by Kiri Te Kanawa and The London Philharmonic Orchestra
DISC FIVE: Scream - Caitlin Albery Beavan and Jim Bell
DISC SIX: Parking Fines - Joe Lycett from his That’s the Way, A-Ha, A-Ha tour
DISC SEVEN: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
DISC EIGHT: Radamisto, HWV 12, Act 2: "Ombra cara di mia sposa" (Radamisto) (Beloved shadow of my bride) Composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by Emöke Baráth and Ensemble Artaserse, conducted by Philippe Jaroussky
BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Novels of Jane Austen
LUXURY ITEM: A cello
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Endure from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Performed by Hans Peter Blochwitz and the Chapelle Royale Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001jc0v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m001j3ky)
Series 90
The Day I Cut My Fringe, Rap Battles and Prawn Cocktail
Sue Perkins challenges Gyles Brandreth, Lucy Porter, Ria Lina and Rhys James to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.
The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game returns this week with subjects ranging from Rap Battles to Prawn Cocktail.
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001jbx9)
Delia Country: How Delia Smith changed food in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Sheila Dillon is on a trip through 'Delia Country'; Norwich, Norfolk and mid-Suffolk. An area with a rich agricultural past and a vibrant food present, and the place where Delia Smith has lived and worked for more than 50 years. In that time, she has championed local food traditions and food producers, and the broad variety of food and drink made in East Anglia has shaped her recipes.
Delia Smith invites Sheila to join her to watch Norwich City's first home game under their new manager. At Carrow Road football club, where Delia and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones are majority shareholders, Sheila meets Delia's Canary Catering team which every match day, serve 1250 sit down meals. She joins fans by the bar at half time and Delia in the Director's dining room.
In Norwich city centre, Sheila meets chef and food blogger Zena Leech-Calton and in the Waveney valley, farmer and cheesemaker Jonny Crickmore. They describe the quiet food revolution which has happened in Norfolk and Suffolk. And Suffolk fisherman and restaurateur Bill Pinney and Essex turkey farmer Derek Kelly dwell on earlier encounters with Delia.
Presented by Sheila Dillon.
Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.
Photo by Robert Wilson.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m001jbxc)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001jbxf)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world
SUN 13:30 How Wars End (m001j3mb)
It seems like an impossible conundrum.
Ukraine is valiantly defending itself against the man Boris Johnson called "a blood-stained aggressor" and fighting for survival in a war that is currently deadlocked.
President Zelensky has warned that attempts at talks with The Russian Federation will fail, because Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted.
So in the absence of a decisive victory or a negotiated settlement - what happens?
James Naughtie investigates how other conflicts have come to a conclusion, in a bid to shed light on a war which has so far defied predictions.
He will talk to key figures who have been in the room as peace deals are ground out - and visit the law makers in Washington DC who are the key source of defence funding for Ukraine.
History may have lessons when it comes to a conflict for which there seems no end in sight.
Presented by James Naughtie
Produced by Kevin Core
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001j4jx)
High Weald
How do you grow a decent-sized brussels sprout? When is the right time to prune a raspberry bush? What species of plant should be named after you?
Returning to Balcombe to answer these questions and more in front of a live audience are Kathy Clugston and this week’s panel - garden designer Juliet Sargeant, Plants expert Christine Walkden and Matthew Pottage, Curator at RHS Wisley.
And Christine answers your Cyclamen queries with an in-depth masterclass on the tuberous perennial.
Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Louisa Field
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001jbxh)
The Bronze Horseman
John Yorke explores the way the celebrated 19th century writer Alexander Pushkin’s 400-line narrative poem, The Bronze Horseman, gives us an astonishing image of the unequal relationship between ruler and ruled.
This ground breaking poem, which is one of the great landmarks of Russian literature, shows us how the empire building passion of one ruler, the tsar Peter the Great, with his grand design to create the city of St Petersburg in spite of its situation on marshy and inhospitable land, can be seen to lead to tragic consequences for one particular individual, a hundred years later.
We learn how the story becomes mythic when this man, a lowly clerk, descends into madness after losing his beloved to the flood that descends on the city, and then confronts the statue of the tsar. The statue then comes to life and chases the clerk to his death.
Pushkin’s poem changed literature and narrative forever by introducing the idea of this ‘little man’ who embodies us all, and who Is single handedly taking on the legacy of history.
It's also clear to see that the poem speaks to us as forcefully now as it did to its contemporary readers.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly thirty years, and shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact behind the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday/Saturday 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 - his students have had 17 green lights in the last two years alone.
Contributors:
Masha Karp, translator, author and broadcaster.
Alexandra Smith, reader in Russian studies, University of Edinburgh
Andrew Kahn, professor of Russian literature, St Edmund Hall, the University of Oxford.
Credits:
A Poet’s Library – Biblioteka Poeta (Set of 3 Volumes)
Alexander Pushkin Poems – Volume 2 (Leningrad: Sovetsky Pisatel 1954)
Selected Poetry by Alexander Pushkin, Translated by Antony Wood, Penguin Classics, 2020
Producer: Penny Boreham
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Researcher: Nina Semple
Sound: Iain Hunter from Iain Hunter Sound Design.
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
SUN 15:00 Drama (m001jbxk)
The Bronze Horseman
The Bronze Horseman is one of the most important and influential poems of world literature, a 19th Century Russian masterpiece. The central theme of this great poem - the conflict between state power and the individual - is as urgent and resonant as ever today.
Poet Michael Symmons Roberts has brought The Bronze Horseman to life in a fresh new translation. The linking narrative explores Pushkin's own parallel struggles with state power as his wife - amid rumours of infidelity - gets drawn further and further into Tsar Nicholas's social circle and the poet, suspected of sedition, finds his epic,The Bronze Horseman, censored and ultimately banned from publication.
Pushkin's symbolic evocation of the battle between Tsar and citizen, the powerless and the powerful, has real currency for now. In its interweaving of his great poem with the drama and politics of his own life in the 1830s, this play raises questions about power, class, nationalism, racism and identity. Both narratives - the story of the poem and the story of its censorship - speak to urgent contemporary debates about the conflict between state power and individual freedom.
Pushkin's poem on the page is vibrant, furious and alive with the sound of the city; the rush of the river Neva rising; waves, floods, torrential rain, water gushing into cellars as citizens run or swim, struggling to escape the rising waters; boats picked up by the storm and smashed into houses; bridges breached and shattered, and the iconic, macabre chase, when the bronze statue of Peter the Great comes to life, clattering and baying through the streets of St Petersburg in pursuit of the desperate outcast Yevgeny.
Pushkin - Max Irons
Sergey/ Evgeny - Tachia Newall
Anna - Deborah McAndrew
Parasha - Verity-May Henry
BBC North production directed by Susan Roberts
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001jbxm)
Aleksandar Hemon, Roddy Doyle on Soul, and Dorothy Tse on Hong Kong
Chris Power talks to Bosnian-American writer Aleksandar Hemon about The World and All That It Holds, his expansive new novel set in the aftermath of World War One.
Roddy Doyle choses an evocative history of soul music as the Book I'd Never Lend.
Plus writer Dorothy Tse and translator Natascha Bruce discuss the literary scene in Hong Kong.
Book List - Sunday 19 February and Thursday 23 February
The World and All That it Holds by Aleksandar Hemon
The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon
Nowhere Man by Aleksandar Hemon
Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick
Life Without Children by Roddy Doyle
Owlish by Dorothy Tse
Mourning a Breast by Xi: Translated by Jennifer Feeley
Moving a Stone by Yam Gong: Translated by James Shea and Dorothy Tse
Tongueless by Lau Yee Wa: Translated by Jennifer Feeley
SUN 16:30 The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed (m001jbxp)
Simon Dobson
If the poets of the past sat in their garrets dipping their quills in ink , waiting for inspiration to strike, our current Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has a more mundane and domestic arrangement. From his wooden shed in the garden, surrounded on all sides by the Pennine Hills, he's been working on a new kind of poem he's invented - the Flyku - inspired by the moths and butterfies he sees around him. Any distraction is welcome, even encouraged, to talk about creativity, music, art, sheds, music, poetry and the countryside.
This week Simon is joined by the composer and conductor Simon Dobson who is particularly noted for his brass band compositions . Their discussion takes in growing up in Cornwall in a brass banding family , fitting in at the Royal College of Music, tattooes and piercings, sell out- shows with rock and metal bands and composing one of his best- known pieces based on the Penlee lifeboat disaster
Produced by Susan Roberts
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001j47w)
Three Friends
They were born in the same month of the same year: Emily, Nadia, and Christie. The three young women who lived close to each other in the North East of England became friends, their lives intertwined due to severe mental health problems. They shared their innermost fears, their thoughts and laughs. But their tragic deaths came within eight months of each other while under the care of the same mental health trust. An investigation has higlighted multiple failings by the Tees Esk and Wear Valley Mental Health Trust. File on 4 tells their stories in their own words and hears from those closest to them, and asks what could have been done to save them all.
Details of organisations offering information and support with mental health or feelings of despair are available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Reporter: Datshiane Navanayagam
Producer: Fergus Hewison
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Production Team: Tim Fernley and Jordan King
Editor: Carl Johnston
SUN 17:40 Profile (m001jbxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001jbxt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m001jbxw)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jbxy)
Police investigating the disappearance of Nicola Bulley say a body has been found. And, the search for survivors of the earthquakes in Turkey has mostly ended.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001jby0)
Laura Barton
A selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001jby2)
Mabel and Evie are at Bridge Farm with Henry and Jack. Helen’s worried when Tony comments how much Lee seems to be enjoying himself with them. The girls have told her they’re excited about moving to California but won’t say it in front of Lee. The more they’re enjoying themselves, the more Lee’s imagining a life with them here. When he finds out about how they feel about moving to America, Lee will come crashing down.
Susan offers to help with Jennifer’s funeral, but Alice tearfully admits she doesn’t know if there’ll be one. Brian’s announced there won’t be a funeral and she feels like everything’s a horrible mess. Alice feels like she has to keep it all together, but she’s not coping. Susan’s shocked when Alice says she sometimes wishes she could hide under the table with a bottle of vodka and wait for it to be over. Alice has even failed at repairing Jennifer’s recipe book. Susan offers to fix it and Alice apologises for offloading.
Later when Susan visits Brian to ask what he’s playing at, Brian asks her to kindly leave him alone. Susan tells him Alice is beside herself with worry and reveals that Alice is thinking about drinking. Alice has to manage her addiction as well as Jennifer’s loss. When Brian asks quietly what he’s supposed to do, Susan counsels be a father, that’s all she needs right now. Later Brian visits Alice to apologise and suggests getting together with Kate in the morning to look at coffins. He’ll be there to help make decisions from now on.
SUN 19:15 The Ultimate Choice (m001jbqv)
Series 1
Episode 1
Steph McGovern asks some seriously funny minds to offer definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not.
Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Zoe Lyons and Dane Baptiste.
Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Zoe Lyons and Dane Baptiste
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by Jerry Peal
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas
Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn
A Naked production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 The Circus (m001jby4)
Episode 7 - The Medium
A former working men’s club in North Belfast called ‘The Circus’ has been refurbished and relaunched with an inaugural talent show – and a massive cash prize for the winner! – inspiring the locals to brush up on some old skills. The new owner, a successful London property developer, has promised to bring a bit of the West End to North Belfast. But can the area really change? Can the people?
Cliftonville Circus is where five roads meet in North Belfast. It is situated in the most deprived part of the city; it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. ‘The Circus’ explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity.
The Author
Born in Belfast, Paul McVeigh has written comedy, essays, flash fiction, a novel, plays and short stories. His work has been performed on radio, stage and television, and published in seven languages. Paul co-founded the London Short Story Festival and is an associate director at Word Factory. His debut novel 'The Good Son' won The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrea Literary Award. He is also the editor of ‘The 32: Irish Working Class Voices’, ‘Queer Love: An Anthology of Irish Fiction’ and ‘Belfast Stories’.
Writer: Paul McVeigh
Reader: Michael Patrick
Producer: Michael Shannon
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (m001j41z)
Nurses' pay, ambulance times and forgotten female economists
How much do nurses in the UK earn compared with those elsewhere in Europe? Tim Harford and the team investigate. Also we have an update on ambulance response times, which were the worst on record in December but are showing signs of improvement. Should we use the word data in the singular or plural? The Financial Times has just changed its policy and Tim’s not happy. We look back at women who have made a key contribution to economics but have often been forgotten. And we hear how a spreadsheet error by the Office for National Statistics made the UK’s productivity appear to be one of the fastest improving in Europe.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Josephine Casserly, Nathan Gower, Perisha Kudhail
Editor: Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001j4k6)
David Vaughan OBE, Burt Bacharach, Janet Anderson, Eileen Sheridan
Matthew Bannister on
Professor David Vaughan OBE, who was a leading expert on the effects of climate change on glaciers in the Antarctic.
Burt Bacharach (pictured), who wrote scores of hit songs including 'I Say A Little Prayer', 'Do You Know The Way To San José' and 'Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head'.
Janet Anderson, the Labour MP who wrote entertaining reports of proceedings in parliament for Queen Elizabeth.
Eileen Sheridan – one of Britain’s greatest cyclists, she held the speed record for the journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats for 36 years.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Justin Rowlatt
Interviewed guest: Professor Dame Jane Francis
Interviewed guest: Professor Andrew Shepherd
Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon
Interviewed guest: Paul Jones
Archive clips used: BBC World News, Our World - Journey to Doomsday Glacier 07/02/2020; BBC News, Scientists at NASA say East Antarctica is showing signs of significant melting 11/12/2018; The Christmas TV & Film Company/ BBC Four, Burt Bacharach... This Is Now 30/04/2012; BBC Radio Wales, Eye on Wales 16/06/1996; BBC Radio 4, With Humble Duty Reports... 05/10/2014; British Pathé, Sporting Britons - Eileen Sheridan's Record 1954; British Pathé, Housewife Cyclist 1956, Testimony Films/ BBC Four, Pedalling Dreams - The Raleigh Story 20/07/2017.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001jby6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001jbws)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Analysis (m001j3lq)
Has economic crisis put net-zero plans on the backburner?
The UK has pledged to reach net-zero by 2050. But has a pandemic, the fallout from the war in Ukraine and now an economic crisis derailed our plans to decarbonise? Or have they provided an inflexion point, accelerating necessary change? With the energy crisis has come a renewed emphasis on security of supply. Does that bind us more firmly to fossil fuels - or spur the transition to cleaner fuels and new technology? And has a cost of living crisis been a catalyst for change in consumer and corporate behaviour - or made going green seem unaffordable and less of a priority? Dharshini David speaks to policymakers, business leaders and experts and asks whether the economy, or political will, is the main driver in reaching net zero.
Presenter: Dharshini David
Producer: Caroline Bayley
Editor: Clare Fordham
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001jby8)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.
SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001jbyb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b03tr7hh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2023
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001jbyd)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Sideways (m001j468)
39. Please, I beg you.
When Ben Taylor receives a Facebook message from a stranger in Liberia, asking in badly spelled English for financial or business assistance, he quickly assumes it’s a scam. But instead of just ignoring the message, he decides to find out about the person behind it.
In this episode, Matthew Syed explores what happens when you let your guard down and make a leap of trust.
With author and Oxford University trust fellow Rachel Botsman, philosopher Julian Baggini, Ben Taylor and Joel Mentee-Willie.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Eliza Lomas
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001jbyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jbyj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jbyl)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jbyn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001jbyq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001jbys)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
So, I became a Quaker by sending off for a Quaker ‘starter pack’. I had spent a couple of years window-shopping for a belief system to a) give my life meaning, and b) redivert my attention away from painkillers. Despite briefly alighting upon unorthodox belief systems such as Gnosticism or Vodou. I finally settled upon Quakerism.
What initially appealed to me was their foregrounding of social justice issues; their push for a rectification of inequality. A movement towards light – towards “correct, reverential action” - guided by ‘Christ the Inward Teacher’ or an internal, innate Godliness. And as someone who had wasted years on stasis and lethargy, his call-to-action, this personal response to social ills unprompted by liturgical coercion, was invigorating.
I was already opposed to a reflexive obedience to authority so this anti-establishment bent – especially when statements of defiance are paired with testimonies for peace – really appealed to me.
Either way, we need faith and spiritual guidance when the very foundations are shaken – whether literally or metaphorically as in the case in Turkey and Syria . The deadliest quake in the region in two decades has led to the deaths of thousands. A catastrophic moment that has shown the best of humanity and an inward sense of concern as a humanitarian call-to-action. And if you think your own gesture has no bearing on the wider landscape, remember that an accumulation of personal responses can mend a broken region.
With this in mind. God, I believe you move the tides within me and expand my capacity for fellow-feeling. You point out my responsibilities; my commitment to the Other. Thank you for igniting my social conscience.
Now go lightly.
Amen
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001jbyv)
20/02/23 - Seasonal worker scheme, species re-introductions and global food trade
The Government needs to 'go back to the drawing board' and re-design the visa system for seasonal workers in food and farming. That's according to researcher, Dr Lydia Medland from the University of Bristol, who says the current scheme leaves both workers and operators vulnerable. 45,000 visas are available this year for people to come to the UK to work on farms or in food processing. Last week we reported that one of the 6 firms which operates the scheme has had its licence revoked - the Home Office wouldn't tell us why and the company says the revocation is unjust and is considering appealing.
We hear how species re-introductions can be used to restore ecosystem services like pollination or nutrient cycling.
And Asia and North Africa are the most exciting emerging export markets for British livestock farmers over the next decade - according to a new report published today by the industry body AHDB.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
MON 05:56 Weather (m001jbyx)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09fy6fv)
Fyfe Dangerfield on the Black-throated Diver
The jewel-like patterns of the black-throated diver have musician Fyfe Dangerfield in awe as he heads to Highlands in search of space to write.
Producer: Mark Ward
Photograph: Paul Jessett.
MON 06:00 Today (m001jc0z)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001jc11)
Ancient knowledge
The theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli celebrates the life of an ancient Greek philosopher, in Anaximander And The Nature Of Science (translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg). He tells Adam Rutherford that this little known figure spearheaded the first great scientific revolution and understood that progress is made by the endless search for knowledge. Anaximander challenged conventions by proposing that the Earth floats in space, animals evolve and storms are natural, not supernatural.
The travel writer Kapka Kassabova has gone searching for ancient knowledge about the natural world in her latest book, Elixir: In the Valley at the End of Time. The Mesta River, in her native Bulgaria, is one of the oldest inhabited rivers in Europe, and a mecca for wild plant gatherers, healers and mystics.
In Dvořák’s lyric opera the eponymous hero Rusalka is a water spirit who sacrifices her voice and leaves her home for the love of a Prince. In a new contemporary staging at the Royal Opera House (21 February–7 March 2023) the co-directors Ann Yee and Natalie Abrahami foreground the uneasy relationship between nature and humanity, and the latter's destruction of what it fails to heed.
Producer: Katy Hickman
Image credit: Asmik Grigorian in Natalie Abrahami and Ann Yee’s Rusalka, The Royal Opera ©2023 Laura Stevens
MON 09:45 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc33)
Episode 1
By Katherine Rundell. This prize-winning new biography of John Donne reveals him as an “infinity merchant”, a man whose preaching could make his congregation weep, a poet whose “beauty deserved walk-on music”.
This engaging, witty and often thrilling book champions a man impossible to categorise: pirate, soldier, scholar, priest, inventor of new words and author of some of most intensely and intimately passionate poetry in English. Donne was a Catholic who lost - or left - his faith, from a family of martyrs, whose career led him to become Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Read by Blake Ritson
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001jc15)
Dr Kirsty Sedgman, Esther Webber, Jenny Symmons, Elaine Dunkley, Nadine Benjamin
Who gets to decide about social norms, about what's reasonable and unreasonable behaviour? Is it OK to breastfeed in public, to let your children play in the garden while others are working from home? Can we come together and talk about these things reasonably? According to Dr Kirsty Sedgman, the author of a new book, On being Unreasonable: Breaking the rules and making things better, we're living in an age of division. If she asks, we reimagined the rules of public togetherness, what would get better? What would change for the worse? And for whom?
As MPs return to parliament today, they come back to a new set of proposals by the Standards Committee. It has recently published a report recommending that MPs arrested for serious offences should be banned from the parliamentary estate. We discuss with Esther Webber, Senior UK Correspondent for Politico, and Westminster parliamentary aide and GMB representative Jenny Symmons .
Half of state-funded schools in England for children with special educational needs and disabilities are oversubscribed, new BBC research has found. Schools have been forced to convert portable cabins and even cupboards into teaching spaces due to a lack of space. Head teachers say this puts pressure on staff and makes pupils anxious. Parents say their children are missing education while they wait for places. BBC correspondent Elaine Dunkley who has led the investigation and produced an Iplayer documentary, ‘SEND help’, explains how this situation has arisen.
Nadine Benjamin MBE is a celebrated Soprano. But if it wasn’t for the words of an encouraging high school music teacher, she would never have considered a career in Opera. Now, she’s played in the UK’s most prestigious Opera Houses in shows including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and the Marriage of Figaro. Last year she performed for the new King. Nadine joins Nuala to talk about her journey into the industry and performs from Songs of Joy which brings together stories told through song and spoken word, celebrating the lived experiences of black and mixed-race composers.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
MON 11:00 Don't Log Off (m001jc17)
Away from Home
Olga has been living in an accommodation centre for Ukrainians refugees in a church in Moldova. Finding work is a struggle and Olga looks forward to the day she can earn enough money to rent an apartment.
Pavel left Russia in September last year, just days after Vladimir Putin mobilised military reservists to fight the war in Ukraine. Now Pavel is alone in Kazakhstan but the clock is ticking on his temporary resident's permit.
Emran was among one million or so migrant workers who helped build the stadiums which hosted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But it wasn't long before Emran found there was an unexpected price to pay.
Whether displaced by war or working overseas - Alan Dein uses social media to connect with people living away from home.
Producer: Conor Garrett
MON 11:30 The Bottom Line (m001j4bz)
Running Rolls Royce
Warren East has run two of the UK's most successful companies, ARM and Rolls Royce Holdings. During his tenure at ARM he oversaw a rapid growth of this globally successful Cambridge semi conductor company. He went on to lead Rolls Royce during a time of turbulence, from aircraft engine trouble, to COVID and a massive restructure which led to several thousand redundancies. He shares his reflections on his business career, as well as his thoughts on Brexit, tax and economic growth.
GUEST
Warren East, former CEO Rolls Royce Holdings Ltd.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Julie Ball
Editor: China Collins
Sound: James Beard and Graham Puddifoot
Prod Co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed
MON 12:00 News Summary (m001jc91)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001jc1c)
Bus Miles Decline, Pre-Pay Rent Scam and De-Influencers
It's estimated that bus services lost over 200 million passenger miles in the five years between 2017 and 2022. Across Britain that's a decline of 14%, but it hides dramatic variations with some largely rural counties in England losing half their passenger miles.
If you shop for clothes online, you may have noticed that a lot of brands are selling clothes made of what they call 'recycled polyester'. Two-thirds of the clothes we buy are made from synthetic fibres, like polyester. What does the description 'recycled polyester' really mean?
BT and Sky are raising the price of their no-contract sports streaming passes this month. A BT Sport Monthly Pass is rising from £25 to £
29.99. Sky's Now Sports equivalent is going up from £
33.99 to £
34.99. These price hikes once again highlight just how expensive it's becoming for football fans, in particular, to watch top-flight games on their screens at home.
Last year TikTok claimed more than half its users in the UK bought something after watching a video on their app. Now a growing number of users are uploading videeos encouraging their followers to do the opposite! Either not to buy something or buy less overall. So what does this mean for influencers and the brands they work with?
Criminals are pretending to be well known holiday accommodation rental sites like Airbnb and Tripadvisor, to scam people looking for long term rentals. The website imitations are so good, it's hard to tell the difference between them and the real things. The criminals are taking advantage of high demand for rented homes and reducing expensive supply to trap their victims.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: KEVIN MOUSLEY
MON 12:57 Weather (m001jc1f)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m001jc1h)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc1k)
1. The Scottsboro Boys
Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.
He begins with the first ever use of 'woke', appearing on a 1938 recording by the musician Lead Belly. The track, entitled 'Scottsboro Boys', describes the plight of nine young Black men wrongly accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. Matthew hears the story of the Scottsboro Boys, discovering how their case became became international symbol of race-based injustice and a nucleus of the US Civil Rights Movement. He looks into the extraordinary life of Lead Belly and uncovers what the singer meant when he instructed people to "stay woke, keep their eyes open.” What relationship do these words have to the way 'woke' is used today?
Featuring Peggy Parks Miller, niece of the Scottsboro Boy Clarence Norris, and Kip Lornell, Professor of Music, History & Culture at George Washington University and co-author of 'The Life and Legend of Leadbelly'
Presented by Matthew Syed
Produced by Sam Peach
MON 14:00 The Archers (m001jby2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m001jc1n)
Hope and Sheila
By Roy Williams
We began following the lives of Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto as they were beginning their lives in the UK in 1946. It’s now 1968 and Hope and second husband Rodney worry about the three English-born youngsters they are raising and the turbulent times they are living through in the aftermath of Enoch Powell's infamous speech and the emergence of the Black Power movement. Can Hope heal the family by revealing the secret she has kept from Sheila, Jean and James all their lives?
Hope ..... Danielle Vitalis
Rodney ..... Richie Campbell
Sheila ..... Keziah Joseph
Connor ..... Laurie Kynaston
Jean ..... Cecilia Appiah
James ..... Michael Ajao
Miss Grayling ..... Joanna Monro
Giles ..... Luke Pierre
Woman ..... Carol Russell
Produced and directed by Pat Cumper
*************
Faith, Hope and Glory’ returns for its fifth series on Radio 4. We began following the lives of Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto in the UK in 1946. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the late 1960s.
This series is set in 1968. Racial tensions are growing, partly as a result of Enoch Powell’s controversial 'Rivers of Blood' speech and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968. It was the year of increasing student protest and the rise of the Black Panther movement in Britain.
Hope still works at the hospital as a sister, having long accepted that she will never be promoted. She is happily married to her second husband, Rodney. The children are growing up fast. James is now a mechanic and Jean is about to do her O-Levels. But Hope’s biggest worry is Sheila who moved out after she and her mother had another blazing row - this time about her going to an anti-Vietnam march. Sheila is living with Connor in a squat down the road. Hope’s missing daughter Eunice is never far from her mind.
MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m001jc1q)
Series 36
Heat 7, 2023
(7/13)
The latest heat of the wide-ranging music quiz comes from Salford, with Paul Gambaccini asking the questions. From Bizet and Elgar to Bowie and Oasis, the extracts and topics range across the musical spectrum. The competitors will also have to select a special topic on which to answer indiividual questions, with no prior warning of the subjects on offer.
Appearing today are:
Rob Caley from Wallasey on the Wirral
Julie Cowburn from Hyde in Greater Manchester
Charles Dusting from Worcester.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001jbx9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Roleplay (m001j46t)
Lady Macbeth
One big dramatic role and stories of actors from across the world who have all played the same part. They tell us what the role means and what it means to them.
A new series for BBC Radio 4. First up, the iconic Lady Macbeth.
Featuring: Dame Harriet Walter, Isabelle Schuler, Alice Grace, Akiya Henry, Niamh Cusack, Nicole Cooper and Tristan de Beer
The performers tell us how the character of Lady Macbeth evolves through Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, and share how they approached the role. They tell their stories of first encountering Lady Macbeth and reveal how playing the part affected them.
Their reflections take us across the world - from the suburbs of Capetown via Los Angeles to a school in Weston-Super-Mare. And they reflect on whether perceptions of the famous villain might be changing.
Produced by Camellia Sinclair and Sam Grist for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mixed by Michael Harrison for BBC Audio in Bristol
Acknowledgements:
Macbeth BBC Radio 3 16th Feb 1992
Producer - Nigel Bryant
Lady Macbeth - Harriet Walter
Composer/performer - Nick Gammon
Macbeth BBC Four 14th Jun 2020
Director - Polly Findlay
Lady Macbeth - Niamh Cusack
Royal Shakespeare Company Production 2018
MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m001jc1t)
Series 28
Generate
Art has, since time immemorial, been viewed as something quintessentially human. Many utopian visions of a technological future are based on the idea that machines will automate all the mundane, monotonous tasks of life, allowing humanity to fully indulge itself in creative expression. Certainly, artists would not be made obsolete by number crunching machines.
But in the past few years, AI Art Generators, specifically Text-to-Art Generators such as MidJourney and Dall-E, have taken the world by storm. Users simply write a prompt, and the Algorithm takes knowledge amassed from images all over the internet, to create beautiful images. A mermaid basking on the shore of Loch, on a moonlit night, in the style of Van Gogh? Done. Cubist Unicorn? Have four. With a little practice, anything you want you can get with the right text?
But what does this mean for human artists? We’ve already seen push back from artists worried about their livelihoods, existential worries about human creativity and self-expression, and concerns about the moral and legal issues around masses of artwork being used without consent in order to train AI Generators.
In this episode, Aleks explores why art is so core to some people’s existence, why these Generators have such wide appeal, uncovers the story of a pioneer who grappled with the place of human and machine in art making for decades, and finds out why wonky AI may offer the most opportunity for human imagination to bloom.
MON 17:00 PM (m001jc1x)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.
MON 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jc21)
He pledged unwavering support for Ukraine just days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, and promised more arms and more finance.
MON 18:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m001jc23)
Series 17
Episode 1
John Lloyd and Anna Ptaszynski welcome entrepreneur Bill Liao, actress Miriam Margolyes OBE and comedian Chris McCausland to the first episode of a new series of The Museum of Curiosity. Inspiring questions such as: What is the best record? What would your favourite, long dead, author write about now? And how could a fruit fly save your life?
This series of The Museum of Curiosity has been recorded remotely.
The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Turner, Mandy Fenton and Lydia Mizon of QI.
Exec Producer: James Robinson
Producer: Sam Holmes & Leying Lee
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound: David Thomas
A BBC Studios production.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m001jc26)
David and Ruth chat about how much they’ve got on with calving, Ben and the B and B. They really want Ben to make a go of the B and B, although he’s starting at the Laurels next week. They decide to ask Lynda the secret to her B and B success.
Susan offers to babysit Martha for Alice. When Lilian suggests that Alice takes up the offer, worried Alice thinks she’s made a stupid mistake. Lilian visits Susan to tell her that Alice regrets saying she was close to drinking. Alice thinks Susan only offered to look after Martha because she thought Alice wasn’t up to it. Later Alice explains to Susan, although she may always feel the urge to drink, she hasn’t and she wouldn’t. Susan clarifies she only wanted to ensure that Alice had some proper rest. Susan praises Alice, saying she’s a very good mother because she hasn’t given in to drinking. Tearfully, Alice opens up about how hard it’s been and how lucky she feels to have Susan there. Alice is touched when Susan presents Alice with a book to put Jennifer’s recipes in, illustrated by Poppy and Keira.
Lee’s surprised when Helen reveals that Mabel and Evie are excited about going to America. Helen explains they thought Lee would feel hurt if they told him. Lee is loath to give Mable and Evie up, but feels he hasn’t got a choice. Helen suggests he could go too; with his skills, he’d easily find work there, but Lee wonders what will happen to him and Helen.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m001jc28)
Hugh Jackman, Kevin Jared Hosein, the future of opera
Hugh Jackman talks to Samira Ahmed about his role in Florian Zeller's new film The Son, in which he plays a father struggling with his child’s mental health issues.
Kevin Jared Hosein, who won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2018, talks about his first novel for adults. Hungry Ghosts tells the stories of the marginalised Hindu people of Trinidad, focusing on a family who, close by a luxurious estate, live in poverty in a ‘barrack’, in the early 1940s.
Philip Oltermann, the Guardian’s Berlin bureau chief tells us why, despite it winning Best Film at the BAFTAs last night, critics in Germany are not showering praise on Netflix’s German-language film, All Quiet on the Western Front.
And in the light of funding cuts and plans for English National Opera to be moved out of London, the former head of Opera Europa Nicholas Payne and English Touring Opera’s chief Robin Norton-Hale discuss what a strategy for opera in the UK could look like.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Paul Waters
MON 20:00 My Name Is... (m001jc2b)
My Name Is Hayley
Hayley is worried about the education that her five-year-old autistic son George is getting at his mainstream primary school. It’s been agreed by the local authority that he needs specialist provision, but the only place on offer is at a school 45 minutes away, where he would need to get a taxi there and back, every day. George is non-verbal and, for Hayley, this is not an option.
She's on a waiting list for the local school, but it could take years for him to get a place there. Over a year, Hayley embarks on a journey to try and get George a place at a local specialist school, and asks why it’s so difficult for parents and carers across England to get their children the right Special Educational Needs (SEN) support.
George's mainstream school is doing the best they can, but he’s excluded from some classes and they are struggling to meet his safety needs. As time goes on George is falling further behind his peers, and not getting the kind of specialist support that could help things like his communication. Hayley decides to embark on an appeal process to get George a place at the local specialist school, which will result in a legal tribunal if her appeal is unsuccessful. It's the most extreme route available to parents.
Hayley's not the only one. Since 2015, the number of parents and carers appealing to the first tier SEND Tribunals has increased year on year. Hayley meets Jen, another parent who has struggled to get her daughter Betty the right educational support. She talks to IPSEA, the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice, about the legal issues that parents are facing across the country, and hears from inclusion specialist Rob Webster who explains why the mainstream education system we currently have is unable to meet the needs of ever increasing numbers of pupils with SEN.
We hear first hand how difficult it is for parents to navigate the SEN system, and what is at stake when children don't get the right support they need.
Producer: Emma Barnaby
Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey
Mix engineer: Rob Speight
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
MON 20:30 Analysis (m001jc2f)
From Brother to Other
It’s a year since Russia launched its war in Ukraine; a year that has brought failure, humiliation, defeat and heavy losses on the battlefield, and international isolation. The conflict has impacted the entire Russian population, with unprecedented sanctions and an unpopular and poorly executed nationwide mobilization. Ukraine was always considered Russia’s closest and most loved neighbour, and yet the Kremlin’s so-called ‘special military operation’ still apparently enjoys considerable support and acceptance among Russians.
Journalists Tim Whewell and Nick Sturdee tell the story of how the war has been presented to the Russian people. They explore the myths, lies and truths that have won Vladimir Putin the support he needs to sustain a war effort on whose success his rule and place in history will depend.
Talking to a Russian state TV talk-show host, Russia’s most famous war reporter, a singer and so-called ‘Z poet’, and volunteer Russian fighters in Ukraine, Analysis investigates how Russians' understanding of and support for the war are forged.
MON 21:00 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001j4hm)
Therapy
Although psychiatry helped writer Horatio Clare when he was in crisis, some people in difficulty, their families, clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists themselves will tell you there are serious questions about the ways psychiatry understands and treats some people in trouble. And so this series asks a simple question: is psychiatry working? In the following series, accompanied by the psychiatrist Femi Oyebode, Horatio traces a journey through crisis, detention, diagnosis, therapy, and recovery. In this episode, they consider the different forms and aims of therapy.
If you need support with mental health or feelings of despair, a list of organisations that can help is available at BBC Action Line support:
Mental health & self-harm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm
Suicide/Emotional distress: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress
or you can call for free to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066.
Presenters: Horatio Clare and Femi Oyebode
Producer: Emma Close
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Mix: James Beard
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001jc11)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001jc2m)
Joe Biden in surprise visit to Kyiv
Also:
The 4-day working week experiment.
The heady mix of religion and politics.
And a special series marking anniversary of Russian invasion.
MON 22:45 Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (m001jc2p)
Episode One
Young aristocrat Eugene Onegin begins his life with every advantage, indulged and feted by the cream of St Petersburg society. He's the sole heir of his uncle's lands and fortune, so it matters little that his father is somewhat profligate. And luckily, his uncle isn't looking too well.
Pushkin's masterpiece evokes mid-19th century Russian life with the vivid detail and scope of Dickens but considerably more economy, a 'novel in verse' as he called it.
It's the story of how three lives intersect: Onegin the cynical rake, Lensky the idealist poet and Tatyana, the passionate young reader of novels. Their outlook and preoccupations feel fresh and contemporary, set against a society rich in memorable characters and landscapes that make you want to pull your furs about you. Hilarious, painful and breath-taking.
Pushkin is often called the ‘father of Russian literature’, the writer who best represents the workings of the Russian soul. His African heritage (his great-grandfather was from Cameroon) may have given him an outsider's perspective on the Russian society he affectionately eviscerates here, to form a vivid and witty backdrop for this mesmerising, tragic story.
Read by Rhashan Stone
Translated by James E Falen
Abridged and Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery
Studio Production by Ilse Lademann
With Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (m001j45s)
Interpreting for Mum and Dad
Sanmeet Kaur has been interpreting for her parents since the age of five, when her family arrived in the UK from Afghanistan.
Producer Sally Heaven
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001jc2s)
Susan Hulme reports as two former prime ministers re-enter the fray as MPs debate the invasion of Ukraine.
TUESDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2023
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001jc2w)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc33)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jc3f)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jc3n)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jc3v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001jc41)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001jc47)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
I’ve been attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings for a few years. They usually take place in environments that are emblems of social need: churches, council owned multi-function rooms and Quaker meeting houses. (Which, as a practicing Quaker, is awkward for me. Stillness on the Sunday; NA on the Tuesday.) They’re rooms with scuffed carpet and fluorescent tube lighting. In the lobby is a cubicle containing the final working payphone in Essex. There’s a serving hatch where soul-sick people pass through austere biscuits and cups of coffee (which are almost devoured by the attendees who are still raw, active addicts – cup an’ all). These are rooms that writer and music journalist Ian Penman might describe as “Little Englander, stodge-with-everything revivalism”.
I read about rooms like these in 100 Years of NCVO and Voluntary Action, which was started by philanthropist Edward Vivian Dearman Birchall. It’s the best of democratic localism: community spaces where people can loosen the knots of their existence or establish a mini-symposium to reflect on the bus timetables or acrimony between two warring neighbours. (“If his dog barks after midnight one more time he’s gonna’ become part of my crazy paving!”) And there’s something to be said about the healing potential of group confession. At NA there’s different viewpoints, different coping mechanisms, about a shared, communal malady. You can focus group your pain.
With this in mind. God, thank you for keeping me clean and serene. And thank you for underlining the moral imperative that drives us to help each other, especially the ones disadvantaged by the greed of others.
Now go lightly.
Amen.
Details of organisations offering information and support with addiction are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information on 08000 155 947
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001jc4f)
21/02/23 Salad shortages; Wheat disease; Juniper reintroduction
Social media has been awash with pictures of empty supermarket shelves - where there should be salad, nothing but gaps. The problem seems to be country-wide and across all stores, from the discounters to the big supermarkets. Dr Jim Monaghan, Professor of crop science at Harper Adams, says extremes of weather in southern Spain, coupled with ferry strikes have contributed to the shortages. Some British growers haven't planted early crops under glass this season because of the high cost of energy needed to heat them. Farmers say it's time that the prices for fresh produce reflect the seasonal variation in availability.
An international investigation by scientists, to combat a new wheat disease which has devastated crops in South America and Bangladesh, has found part of the answer in grains gathered by British embassy staff from around the world, 150 years ago. Using brand-new gene data analysis called AgRenSeq, the scientists are now well on the way to tackling Wheat Blast - a fungal disease which can cause 100 percent crop loss in severe cases.
We're talking about re-introductions this week, from birds and mammals, to insects and plants. Juniper was once a familiar site on the downs of southern England, but with changes to land use and agriculture, it's now a protected species, which has all but disappeared from much of the landscape. Conservationists are working to re-introduce it on the chalklands of South Wiltshire. Matt Pitt from the charity Plantlife has been working with volunteers to plant juniper on farmland in the Wylye Valley
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04dvtjk)
Wrybill
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the New Zealand wrybill. The wrybill is an inconspicuous wader yet it is unique. It is the only bird in the world whose bill is bent sideways , and as it happens, always to the right. In the shingly, gravelly world it inhabits alongside fast flowing rivers, the wrybill's beak is the perfect shape for finding food. With neat, rapid movements, it sweeps aside small stones to reveal insects beneath. Endemic to New Zealand in winter dense flocks gather and display, their highly co-ordinated aerial movements having been described as a flung scarfe across the sky.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
TUE 06:00 Today (m001jc3c)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001jc3s)
Haley Gomez on cosmic dust
Jim Al-Khalili talks to astrophysicist Haley Gomez about defying expectations and becoming a world expert on cosmic dust.
For centuries, cosmic dust was a major source of irritation to optical astronomers because, like smog, it stopped them from seeing the stars. Now studies of these tiny particles are challenging some deeply held assumptions about the physics of the universe.
Haley’s research has changed the textbook explanation of how cosmic dust is formed and helped to open our eyes to just how many galaxies there are in the universe.
In 2018 she was awarded an MBE for services to physics and inspiring the next generation of physicists and astronomers from less privileged communities. A cause which is very close to her heart.
Produced by Anna Buckley and recorded in the Pier Head Building in Cardiff as part of the Cardiff Science Festival.
TUE 09:30 One to One (m001jc3z)
Gaming and Me: Ellie Gibson speaks to Andrew Przybylski
Ellie Gibson has spent her life playing and writing about video games. It is a passion that she enjoys sharing with her son but as a parent she's become interested in the impact games play on the mind and behaviour. It's an emerging area of science and one that's frequently skewed by fevered debates about whether games are "good" or "bad". Ellie's theory is that exploring online worlds and connecting with one another through games is far more constructive than endlessly scrolling through social media, and it's a theory she explores with Professor Andrew Przybylski at the Oxford Internet Institute in the hope that he'll agree.
Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio in Bristol
TUE 09:45 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc6f)
Episode 2
Today Katherine Rundell’s engaging and witty new biography explores John Donne’s early years, the family’s history of religious dissent, and a rumour about Thomas More’s pickled head…
This prize-winning new biography of John Donne reveals him as an “infinity merchant”, a man whose preaching could make his congregation weep, a poet whose “beauty deserved walk-on music”.
Rundell champions an impossible to categorise man: pirate, soldier, scholar, priest, inventor of new words and author of some of most intensely and intimately passionate poetry in English. Donne was a Catholic who lost - or left - his faith, from a family of martyrs, whose career led him to become Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Read by Blake Ritson
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001jc4d)
Nicola Bulley, tearing during childbirth, black women swim, tweakments gone mad?
We discuss the statement released by Nicola Bulley's family following the sad news that that the body found in river Wyre had been formally identified as Nicola Bulley who had been missing for over 3 weeks. They expressed their pain on how their loved ones were treated throughout this ordeal. They called for accountability, and for another family not to go through what they had gone through. Joining Nuala is Zoe Billingham, former head of the inspectorate of Constabulary, Ellen Milazzo from Victim Support and Baroness Helen Newlove, former victim's commissioner for England and Wales.
Up to 9 in 10 first-time mothers who have a vaginal birth will have some sort of tear. So, it’s no wonder that tearing is a big worry for expectant mums. Marie Louise, also known as The Modern Midwife, explains to Nuala why tears happen, and what to really expect. Plus, midwife turned inventor, Malene Hegenberger, explains how she created a retractor to help her see tears better when suturing.
Why are women from diverse background much less likely to be able to swim than white women? And what can be done about it? Team GB’s first black female swimmer Alice Dearing helped to found the Black Swimming Association along with journalist Seren Jones – they join Nuala to discuss.
As London Fashion Week draws to a close today, the Times fashion director, 51-year-old Anna Murphy, reflects on feeling like the only woman of her age in the front row who has not had work done on her face. What she calls the normalisation of ‘tweakments’ is one of the topics explored in her new book Destination Fabulous. She tells Nuala about the changing trends in tweakments, why she finds the term problematic and how to embrace ageing naturally
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
TUE 11:00 Ukrainians in Britain: Where Next? (m001jc4j)
English teacher Olga Rybak has found herself trying to establish a temporary life in rural Somerset as she awaits an end to the war back home in Ukraine.
More than 110,000 Ukrainians like Olga and her two daughters have come to the UK since March 2022 through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, better known as Homes for Ukraine. In many cases, they have been welcomed into the homes of previous strangers as Britons with spare rooms have opened up their doors to provide sanctuary in a national outpouring of solidarity.
When Olga arrived in May 2022, she hoped her stay may only be for a few months and that she could soon return to her husband, parents and life in Ukraine. But as the war with Russia has dragged on, Olga faces the prospect of a prolonged separation from her homeland and is beginning the challenging search for her family’s own accommodation.
With hosts initially asked to provide accommodation for a minimum of six months, and many guests themselves determined to establish some kind of independence and agency, Olga speaks to fellow Ukrainians as they grapple with the question, where next?
Producer: Jack Butcher
Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:30 I Feel Therefore I Am (m001jc4p)
Who Owns the Truth?
Where once facts, evidence and rationality were the path to knowledge, now the logic of feeling, of ‘my truth’ and ‘lived experience’ offers an alternative. Do we know our world through objective facts, or through subjective feelings?
In the second programme in the series, Professor Abigail Williams explores how subjective experience and individual feeling has offered a profound challenge to institutional authority, from John Bunyan's Pilgrims to the French Revolution and beyond.
Abigail looks back at Michael Gove's claim that people 'have had enough of experts' and explores how a new focus on lived experience is reshaping our institutions, from the patients invited onto NHS Lived Experience Panels to Victim Impact statements in courtrooms. Who knows more about crime, illness or poverty, someone who has experienced it or someone who has studied it?
But it's hard to value both 'my truth' and 'your truth' without descending into identity politics, outrage and intolerance. And what happens to our institutions when we no longer agree on who knows best: the person with expertise or the person with first-hand experience?
Producer: Julia Johnson
Presenter: Abigail Williams
Executive Producer: Samir Shah
A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001jc6r)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001jc4w)
Call You and Yours: What's your experience of social media, for good and bad?
What’s your experience of social media, for good and bad?
The disappearance of Nicola Bulley led to a social media frenzy. Speculation and theories shared online have attracted crowds to the village where she lived and social media "investigators" searching for clues. The police have spoken out about being inundated with false information, accusations and rumours.
It's an example of how powerful social media has become. So this week's Call we are asking: What’s your experience of social media for good and bad?
It's created friendships, launched businesses and charities, but it also has a dark side.
Is your use of social media changing because of cases like this?
Call us on 03700 100 444. Lines open at 11 am on Tuesday 7th February.
You can also email us now at youandyours@bbc.co.uk. Don't forget to leave a phone number, so we can call you back.
PRESENTER: Winifred Robinson
PRODUCER: Catherine Earlam
TUE 12:57 Weather (m001jc4y)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m001jc50)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc52)
2. If You're Woke You Dig It
Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.
In Episode 2 Matthew explores one of the first ever uses of 'woke' in print, by the young author William Melvin Kelley in 1962. Kelley wrote an article for the New York Times entitled 'If You're Woke You Dig It', observing the appropriation of Black idiom by Beatnik poets and artists. The satirical essay charts the progress of black slang into white communities, and proved prophetic on the destiny of the word 'woke' itself today.
Matthew hears from William's daughter Jesi Kelley about her father's life, his mission to illuminate the white world to Black readers and his rediscovery as a 'lost giant of American literature'. The episode considers the idea of 'waking up' as a central metaphor for the movement for racial equality in the United States and its place in the last sermon Martin Luther King ever gave.
Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach
Readings by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Excerpts from 'If You're Woke You Dig It' (New York Times, 1962)
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001jc26)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m001jc54)
Joy and Hopeton
By Rex Obano.
We first met Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto as they were beginning their lives in the UK in 1946. It's now 1968 and Joy, Gloria’s daughter, has dropped out of university. She's in Birmingham, 'finding herself' in the hippy scene. There she bumps into Hopeton, her childhood admirer. He is left torn between staying faithful to his Christian calling or joining Joy for a spiritual, sexual and cultural awakening.
Joy ….. Sapphire Joy
Hopeton ….. Solomon Israel
Philomena ….. Susan Lawson-Reynolds
Doctor/Police Sergeant ….. David Hounslow
Nurse ..… Joanna Monro
Manager ….. Tom Kiteley
Produced by Pat Cumper
Directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour.
*********
Faith, Hope and Glory’ returns for its fifth series on Radio 4. We began following the lives of Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto in the UK in 1946. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the late 1960s.
Joy (formerly 'Baby Eunice') was the baby lost at Tilbury Docks in 1946 and found by Gloria and Clement who she believes are her parents, though she hasn't seen them for years. Now in her twenties, she still can’t shake the feeling that she is out of place and lost. Immersed in the fully blossomed drug-fuelled counterculture, she encounters many fellow travellers journeying to what they hope will be a better place.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001jbz9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Shocking (m001jc56)
The word “controversy” almost always accompanies any reference to ECT or electroconvulsive therapy. It has a dark history and remains a deeply contentious practice.
For many, ECT is seen as outdated, forever linked with frightening images of medical abuse, cruelty and even punishment.
But when Professor Sally Marlow met Dr Tania Gergel at King’s College London, she was forced to acknowledge and then reassess everything she thought she knew about ECT.
Her friend Tania told Sally that ECT had saved her life on numerous occasions and that ECT is, in fact, the only treatment that can bring her back to health after episodes of severe depression, psychosis and mania.
Tania is Director of Research at Bipolar UK. She’s a philosopher and an internationally respected medical ethicist. She also lives with a serious mental illness; an unusual mixed type of bipolar disorder, and during her last period of illness a year ago, Tania kept an audio diary.
In this programme, Sally wants to test her own preconceptions about ECT and to find out about the group of people who describe ECT as having "given them back their lives".
She delves into her own family history and talks to her mum, Kath, about the secrecy and shame around the mental illness of her Auntie Joyce, who received ECT in the 1960s. And she joins Tania in the ECT suite at Northwick Park Hospital with nurses Anjali and Kathy to understand how modern ECT is given, with anaesthetic, muscle relaxants and, as Tania says, much kindness.
Retired social worker, Sue, tells Sally about the dramatic impact on her acute illness of ECT and clinician and researcher Professor of Psychiatry George Kirov, ECT lead for the Cardiff area, describes the group of patients for whom this treatment works.
And Sally talks to the grandfather of American ECT, Professor Max Fink, now 100 years old, about the origins of electroconvulsive therapy. Throughout, Tania shares extracts of her audio diary in order to break down stigma around both mental illness and ECT.
Producer: Fiona Hill
TUE 16:00 Word of Mouth (m001jc58)
Richard Osman's love of language
Richard Osman talks in depth to Michael Rosen about his life in language: from growing up loving TV and sports, to working on Pointless and then writing The Thursday Murder Club. And you can download the longer Word of Mouth podcast version to hear their conversation in full. Download button on the BBC programme page.
Link to all the Word of Mouth podcasts: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qtnz/episodes/downloads
Producer Beth O'Dea
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m001jc5b)
James Marriott and Jude Rogers
Columnist at The Times James Marriott and arts journalist for The Guardian Jude Rogers discuss favourite books with Harriett Gilbert.
James picks The Past by Tessa Hadley, a contemporary novel about family, place and the modern world encroaching upon the old; Jude recommends Border Country by Raymond Williams, a semi-autobiographical story of a man returning home to his small village on the Welsh borders, and how it's changed over a century; and Harriett loves A Summer Without Men by Siri Hustvedt, about a woman re-examining her life in after her husband's rejection.
Do you agree with their assessments? Join us on Instagram @agoodreadbbc
Produced by Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio in Bristol.
TUE 17:00 PM (m001jc5d)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jc5j)
In Poland, the US President insisted Russia would never win the conflict
TUE 18:30 Mark Watson Talks a Bit About Life (m001jc5l)
Series 4
Episode Two: Tuesday's Child Is...
Multi-award winning comedian and author Mark Watson continues his probably doomed, but luckily funny quest to make sense of the human experience.
This series is about time - the days of the week, the stages of our existence - and the way we use it to make sense of things. We make our way through the working week - tonight it's Tuesday. What does 'full of grace' mean in a secular world? Why is it so hard to swim in a straight line? And why did a crumpet almost wreck Mark's relationship with his son?
Expect jokes, observations and interactions galore as Mark is aided, and sometimes obstructed, by the sardonic musical excellence of Flo & Joan. There's also a hand-picked comedy colleague each week - this time it's the turn of Angela Barnes.
Producer: Lianne Coop
An Impatient production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001jc5n)
Kirsty tells Roy that Brian was waiting outside their house with a shepherd’s pie as a thank you for having him over the other night. But now he’s going to help decorate Phoebe’s room. All Kirsty wants is some quiet time to herself. Later Brian’s asleep in their armchair. Kirsty and Roy wonder what to do, but they don’t want to disturb him. Kirsty’s nonplussed when Roy suggests that Brian stays for dinner.
When Helen tells Tony her suggestion that Lee move to San Francisco to be near his daughters, Tony wonders why. Helen explains she doesn’t want to stand between Lee and Mabel and Evie. When Tony asks what would happen if Lee decided to go, Helen says she couldn’t join him because of Henry and Jack and her work. Although it might mean the end of their relationship, she loves Lee too much to stand in his way.
Later Lee tells Tony that he thinks Helen’s looking for a way out of their relationship. But Tony explains Helen’s just trying to make it easier for him. Helen loves Lee but she also knows how much he loves his girls. When he asks Tony what he should do, Tony says there are many ways to be present in his daughters’ lives, even long-distance. Later Lee tells Helen he’s come to a decision. He’s going to accept the girls are going to move to America and trust they’ll always know he’s their dad and love them. That way he gets to be a good Dad to his daughters, and to his sons too.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001jc5q)
Michael Douglas, culture in Ukraine a year after invasion, visual effects and animation in the UK
Hollywood star Michael Douglas talks about his double-Oscar winning movie career, how he’s still learning the craft of acting and about his new film, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which is in cinemas now.
As the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, we hear from two artists working in the country under conflict - Oksana Taranenko, director of the opera Kateryna in Odesa and Hobart Earle, Conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic.
William Sargent, the founder of Framestore, the visual effects studio behind Top Gun: Maverick and Sean Clark, the CEO of Aardman, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss their fears for the future of visual effects and animation in the UK.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Harry Parker
Image: Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas in the film Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001jc5s)
Firefighters on Trial
A damning report into the culture of London Fire Brigade found a toxic mix of racism, sexism, misogyny and bullying. Launched after a young firefighter of colour took his own life, the review included terrible anonymous accounts from those serving in the capital, women groped during exercises, a black man who had a noose left on his locker.
Now File on 4 has discovered shocking new evidence of problems within the fire service elsewhere across the UK. We hear from those subjected to sexual assault, violence and bullying while working on the frontline, left suicidal as a result of the treatment they suffered at the hands of colleagues and those who were hounded out or chose to walk away from a career they loved.
Reporter: Jane Deith
Producer: Nicola Dowling
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001jc5w)
Financial Aid for Ukraine; The Royal College of Ophthalmology on the Delivery of Medical News
With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the European Blind Union have been looking for ways to help the visually impaired that have stayed in the country and those that have moved to neighbouring countries. Their Executive Director is Lars Bosselmann and he tells us about some recent financial aid the EBU sent into Ukraine. He tells us what this money went towards, and about what the EBU's plans are to continue assisting the visually impaired dealing with the war.
Olga and Denys Petrov are a Ukrainian blind couple that evacuated to Poland ten days after the war began. We spoke to them soon after they moved; with a five-year-old daughter, seven animals and Olga was pregnant at the time. She has now had their baby and so we catch up with them to see how things are going and what their plans are when it comes to returning to Ukraine.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is the representative body of the ophthalmic profession in the UK. We've invited them onto the programme to give us some insight into what is best practice when delivering medical news about your eyes. Stephen Kaye is their Vice President and he tells us about the kinds of training that ophthalmologists get in this area, about whose role it is to give information on after care services and we discuss the importance of the Eye Clinic Liaison Officer.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual 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 of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m001jc60)
Sperm Counts
James Gallagher investigates whether there is a decline in male sperm including the results of his own sperm count analysis. He meets a couple who conceived after having treatment for a varicocele, enlarged veins in the testes that can heat the sperm up and the leading known cause of male infertility. And James is joined by leading scientists in the field to debate whether sperm counts are falling.
Producer: Erika Wright
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001jc3s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001jc66)
Vladimir Putin’s State of the Nation address
Also:
Nurses call off strike.
And the SNP’s “civil war”.
TUE 22:45 Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (m001jc6g)
Episode Two
Bored of the balls, gossip and women in St Petersburg's high society, Onegin moves to his newly-inherited country estate.
He's glad to have something else to do, quite frankly.
But how long will the novelty last?
Read by Rhashan Stone
Translated by James E Falen
Abridged and Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery
Studio Production by Ilse Lademann
With Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
TUE 23:00 Alex Edelman's Peer Group (m00017tc)
Series 2
Material
Nominated for this year’s main Edinburgh Comedy Award, and winner of the Newcomer in 2014, American comedian Alex Edelman is back for a second series of his show PEER GROUP in which he takes a comic look at what it’s like being a millennial today.
The first episode is all about his relationship with materialism and what millennials actually want to own, apart from - obviously - a house. He looks at how the internet has changed people's perceptions of owning things, and what things actually mean anything to millennials in a world where everything is disposable.
We also hear from Alex's "peer group" - comedians Alfie Brown, Moses Storm and Jak Knight, journalist Rebecca Nicholson and cultural commentator David Burstein.
It is written and presented by Alex Edelman, with additional material by Ivo Graham.
Producer: Sam Michell.
A BBC Studios production.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001jc6s)
Sean Curran reports as MPs question ministers about the police response to a mass shooting in Plymouth 18 months ago.
WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2023
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001jc70)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc6f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jc76)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jc7f)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jc7n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001jc7v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001jc81)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
Lately I’ve been revisiting The Collected Essays of Elizabeth Hardwick. If I’m stirred by a particular passage, I turn down the corner of the page to remind myself to come back to it later – whether to mark it down in one of the notebooks I’ve been keeping since I was 7 years old or incorporate it into my stand-up.
In an essay about William James (historian, philosopher and psychologist) Hardwick writes about his aversion to “Germanic system-making” and “temperamental repugnance to the processes of exact thought”. As she surmised: “[He] feared losing touch with the personal, the subjective, the feelings of real human beings more than he feared being logically or systematically faulty”.
I think I signposted this page because I’ve always respected people who exhibit an openness, a broadness of tolerance, over the argumentative and pedantic discourse you find online. Whether it’s the Left interpreting behaviour in the most uncharitable way possible or the Right insisting on quantifiable evidence for the immeasurable parts of everyday life, there’s a false certainty about the opinions you find online at odds with James’s freedom from narrow restrictions.
(Having said that, I’ve made online friends with people who hold all sorts of beliefs by bonding over our shared love of wrestling. The other day I received a recipe for a Banana Cream Pie from a gentleman who said he could suplex three men at a time.)
With this in mind. God, thank you for encouraging radical tolerance – an attitude that’s often lacking in the concrete convictions of those participating in The Discourse. Help us to keep our minds open and our hearts enthusiastic; let’s embrace the complexity of our affections.
Go lightly.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001jc88)
22/02/23 NFU Conference; Defra Minister, Labour leader nd NFU president Minette Batters.
Farmers have gathered in Birmingham for the National Farmers Union conference. Delegates were told their industry is threatened by “Volatility, uncertainty and instability” and with an election looming, both government and opposition speakers have been at the podium. Prime minister Rishi Sunak addressed the conference via video link, and the farm minister Mark Spencer said seasonal workers won’t be paid more than the living wage from April, which will be a relief for many employers. He also announced £168 million pounds in grants for innovations on farms.
Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer came to the conference too. He admitted that Labour is usually seen as an urban party, but told delegates his party does care deeply about the countryside - and he wants to forge a new relationship. On farming policy, he said although the new Environmental Land Management schemes in England are a step in the right direction, farmers needed transparency and certainty.
NFU president Minette Batters drew a picture of British farming under threat, from climate change, the growing global population, and particularly huge rises in input costs which she said are already resulting in reduced production across eggs, salad, beef and sheep. She told the conference that the sector needs to boost productivity and manage volatility, while protecting the environment.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m0000xmx)
James Henry on the Little Owl
Author of the prequel detective Jack Frost thrillers James Henry picks the diminutive, non native little owl beloved by Florence Nightingale for his Tweet of the Day.
The diminutive little owl takes it genus name, Athene from Athena, the Olympian goddess for war and wisdom, and protector of Athens. It is from this ancient connection that Western culture derives an association of wisdom and knowledge with owls. And maybe why Florence Nightingale on a tour of Greece rescued a Little Owl chick she found at the acropolis. The owl, she named Athena was her companion for 5 years.
Producer Andrew Dawes
WED 06:00 Today (m001jc64)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m001jc6d)
Reoffending rates, Welsh taxes and the menopause
The Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says crime reoffending rates in England and Wales have fallen significantly since the Conservatives came to power. We ask whether he’s right and look more broadly at crime and conviction rates with former BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw. Also we look at how much taxes in Wales might have to rise to pay for increases in NHS funding. We ask whether 13 million women in the UK are really menopausal. And we return to the debate that has sparked consternation among loyal listeners everywhere – should the word data be treated as plural or singular.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: James Beard
WED 09:30 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001jc6p)
Lift Some Weights
Lifting weights is obviously great for your strength, but it can also boost your brain power, improve your immune system, and even reverse signs of cellular ageing. Michael enlists Jenny, a self-confessed weight lifting novice, to try strength training at home using milk bottles and a sturdy rucksack. He speaks to Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose at University of British Columbia, Canada who has recently found that strength training can lead to better memory. She reveals how activating your muscles can release special chemicals called myokines which astonishingly, can travel around the body and cross your blood-brain-barrier where they can have beneficial effects on your brain.
WED 09:45 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc6y)
Episode 3
Katherine Rundell’s biography of the poet and "alchemist" of words John Donne. Today, the loss of his brother Henry, and the loss of his faith…
This prize-winning new biography of John Donne reveals him as an “infinity merchant”, a man whose preaching could make his congregation weep, a poet whose “beauty deserved walk-on music”.
Rundell's engaging, witty and often thrilling book champions an impossible to categorise man: pirate, soldier, scholar, priest, inventor of new words and author of some of most intensely and intimately passionate poetry in English. Donne was a Catholic who lost - or left - his faith, from a family of martyrs, whose career led him to become Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Read by Blake Ritson
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001jc74)
Black women and cancer, Eleanor McEvoy, Shamima Begum ruling, Yazidi women, A Victorian dress diary
New research from Cancer Research UK and NHS Digital has revealed that Black women from Caribbean and African backgrounds are more likely to be diagnosed with certain types of cancer at later stages, when treatment is less likely to be successful. This study is the first to show that ethnicity is a significant factor in late-stage diagnosis for women with breast, ovarian, uterine, non-small cell lung cancer and colon cancer. Nuala speaks to Kruti Shrotri, Head of Policy Development at Cancer Research UK and Adobea Obeng who sought medical help three times over two years before she was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer.
Eleanor McEvoy is one of Ireland's foremost songwriters and has worked with the likes of U2, Sinead O'Connor and Mary Black. She is the composer and co-performer of A Woman's Heart, the title track for the best-selling Irish album in Irish history, and one of Ireland's favourite folk songs, which recently featured in the award winning Derry Girls. One of Eleanor's songs, Sophie, is used in treatment centres to treat patients with eating disorders. She joins Nuala live in the studio to discuss her UK tour, the inspiration behind the tracks of her most recent album Gimme Some Wine and to perform the track South Anne Street.
In 2014, thousands of Yazidi women and girls were captured as part of an Islamic State Group genocide. While many of the men were shot, women and girls were forced into sex slavery for IS. Today, many of these women and children still live in camps in Iraq as they have nowhere else to go. Now, the Iraqi government says they’re going to close the camps. Nuala McGovern is joined by journalist Rachel Wright and CEO of Bellwether International Rachel Miner to talk about the conditions in the camps and what more needs to be done.
Judges from the Special Immigration Appeals Commission have today decided the removal of British citizenship from Shamima Begum, who left the UK as a 15-year-old schoolgirl to join Islamic State, was lawful. In the hearing last year challenging the decision, her legal team said it ignored the fact that she may have been trafficked into Syria. Nuala is joined by BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford.
In 1838 a middle-class Victorian woman, Mrs Anne Sykes, was given a diary on her wedding day which she filled over the years with snippets of clothes and household fabrics, carefully annotating each one. Nearly two hundred years later Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian, came across the scrapbook. She spent six years researching the materials she found stuck to the album’s pages and created her own book The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Skyes about this unique record of the lives of Victorian women.
WED 11:00 I'm Not a Monster (p0dnlb1h)
The Shamima Begum Story
Series 2: 7. Trapped
Someone close to Shamima Begum is looking for a way out of the so-called caliphate.
Reporter: Josh Baker
Written by: Josh Baker and Joe Kent
Producers: Josh Baker, Sara Obeidat and Joe Kent
Composer: Firas Abou Fakher
Theme music: Sam Slater
Mix and sound design: Tom Brignell
Production coordinator: Janet Staples
Series Editor: Jonathan Aspinwall
Head of Long Form Audio: Emma Rippon Commissioning Executive: Dylan Haskins
WED 11:30 Gloomsbury (b08n4hmk)
Series 4
Bosom Chums
At Sizzlinghurst, Mrs Gosling is on the point of divorce - which is seriously affecting her cooking. Henry has had enough and is on the verge of firing the Goslings, so Vera embarks on a mission to get Mrs Gosling to forgive her husband and bring harmony back below-stairs.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to win back Vera's affection (which Vera has given to Hilda), Ginny secretly installs an Aeolian Harp in the gardens at Sizzlinghurst in the hope that its sweet sound will captivate Vera. But things backfire when the painter Augustus Dong and his Biblical beard turn up to propose the setting up of a pantisocracy with Vera and Henry.
A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.
VERA SACKCLOTH-VEST..........................MIRIAM MARGOLYES
HENRY MICKLETON...................................JONATHAN COY
MRS GOSLING..............................................ALISON STEADMAN
GINNY FOX..................................................ALIS0N STEADMAN
LIONEL FOX................................................NIGEL PLANER
HILDA MATTHEWSON…………………...MORWENNA BANKS
AUGUSTUS DONG…………………….…..JOHN SESSIONS
GOSLING THE GARDENER........................NIGEL PLANER
WED 12:00 News Summary (m001jc7d)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001jc7l)
Cazoo Subscriptions; Care Worker Shortage; Free Range Eggs; Royal Mail Ransomware
Why are some Cazoo subscription customers being told to hand back their cars?
How some asylum seekers are being recruited to help address a major shortage of care workers.
Avian flu has led to hens being kept indoors for so long that their eggs can no longer be labelled as free range, so where does that leave the industry?
PRESENTER: Winifred Robinson
PRODUCER: Jon Douglas
WED 12:57 Weather (m001jc7t)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m001jc80)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc86)
3. #StayWoke
Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.
In this episode, how the use of 'woke' online exploded in 2014, following the shooting of the black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was killed by a white police officer and his death sparked weeks of unrest and drew worldwide attention to racial injustice in the United States. Much of the activity took place online. On Twitter #staywoke became recognised around the globe and galvanised the Black Lives Matter movement. The words urged citizens to remain aware of the threat of systemic racism. Matthew speaks to Johnetta Elzie, whose live-tweeting of the activity in Ferguson shot her to unexpected fame and made her a leader among the activists. He learns how her use of platform shaped Twitter's development, and considers its significance in the era of Elon Musk's ownership.
Featuring Johnetta Elzie and Nicole Holliday, Asst. Professor Linguistics, Pomona College.
Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach
WED 14:00 The Archers (m001jc5n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m001jc8c)
Faith and Trevor
By Carol Russell
Cardiff, 1968. Faith and Trevor agree to take in a Biafran child whose mother needs to work in London. At the same time, they find themselves battling fierce opposition to their night club ownership. Some members of the local community have become enraged and emboldened by Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech.
Faith ..… Shiloh Coke
Trevor ..… Gary Beadle
Merlene ….. Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Isioma ..… Gayle Ngozi
Aneirin ..… Matthew Aubrey
Morgan ..… David Hounslow
Serena Hope ..… Rosie Ekenna
Adamma ..… Ifeoma Machie
Doctor ..… Roger Ringrose
Produced by Pat Cumper
Directed by Anastasia Osei-Kuffour
*********
Faith, Hope and Glory’ returns for its fifth series on Radio 4. We first met three young women from the Caribbean, Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto, at the beginning of their lives in the UK in 1946. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are now taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the late 1960s.
This series is set in 1968. Racial tensions are growing, partly as a result of Enoch Powell’s controversial 'Rivers of Blood' speech and the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968. It was the year of increasing student protest and the rise of the Black Panther movement in Britain. The Biafran War - Nigeria's civil war - is in full swing.
Faith (whose real name is Eunice) and her husband, former union activist Trevor, have been happily building their family together in Cardiff, with their son Winston and their eldest, Serena-Hope, who comes to the fore in this episode. But whatever else is going on in her life, never far from Faith's thoughts is Baby Eunice (now known as Joy), the child she lost on Tilbury Docks twenty-two years ago.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m001jc8h)
Money Box Live: Your Pensions and Investments
With the end of the tax year fast approaching, people are looking at their finances and investments. But in a cost of living crisis with unstable markets, are they performing, and how should we be investing?
The experts on the panel are Sangita Chawla, Managing Director at Standard Life, and Kirsty Stone, Chartered Financial Adviser at The Private Office.
Presenter: Adam Shaw
Producer: Amber Mehmood
Editor: Elisabeth Mahy
(First broadcast
3pm, Wednesday 22nd February 2023)
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m001jc60)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Sideways (m001jc8m)
40. The Embodiment of Music
A musician is halfway through a public performance when they realise they might not make it to the end. Their body is fighting them, they’re in extreme pain. But stopping is not an option so they push on. No one would know.
But boy does the musician know it. When they come off stage, they are in agony. It feels like their career is at an end.
In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores the connection between the musician and their instrument and what happens when that precious relationship is severed by injury. He considers what happens when the thing we love to do most in the world begins to hurt us, and how being unable to do it can tear at the fabric of who we are. But in experiencing that loss, how we may find new ways of understanding ourselves?
With cellist Corinne Morris, Artina McCain (pianist and Associate Professor of Piano, University of Memphis), and clarinetist Professor Dr Luc Nijs (University of Luxembourg).
Featuring recordings of Artina McCain from her album Heritage: an American Musical Legacy, performing The Vale of Dreams, composed by Charles Griffes, and Troubled Water from Spiritual Suite, composed by Margaret Bonds.
And also featuring recordings of Corinne Morris from her album Chrysalis with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, performing Siciliène, composed by François Couperin, and the final movement from Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No, 1 In C Major.
Mstislav Rostropovich is the solo cellist for Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme.
Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Executive Producer: Max O'Brien
Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001jc8s)
The 'shameful' coverage of Nicola Bulley
Nicola Bulley's family have denounced some media coverage of her disappearance as 'shameful'. What are the lessons for the media in reporting missing person cases? Also in the programme, a year on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, how has war reporting changed?
Guests: Josh Halliday, north of England correspondent at The Guardian; Andy Trotter, former chief constable, British Transport Police; Orla Guerin, senior international correspondent at BBC News; Kateryna Malofieieva, freelance journalist and producer; Rohit Kachroo, global security editor at ITN; John Sweeney, independent journalist.
Producer: Dan Hardoon
Presenter: Katie Razzall
WED 17:00 PM (m001jc8y)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jc95)
Shamima Begum, the East London schoolgirl who ran away to join the Islamic State group, has lost her appeal to be allowed to come home
WED 18:30 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001jc9f)
Series 4
Let It Go
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return with the fourth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy about a long-married couple in love with life and each other. This week, Joanna’s goddaughter, Jools, discovers she cannot have children and wants advice from her godmother. Roger and Joanna recall the day they learned they would never become parents but Joanna reassures Jools that ‘I’m lucky. I have a love affair with my husband and I don’t have to share it with hordes of kids’. ‘And it’s cheaper’, Roger adds, helpfully.
Conversations from a Long Marriage is written by Jan Etherington. The sound engineer is Wilfredo Acosta. The sound designer is Jon Calver. The production coordinator is Katie Baum. It is produced and directed by Claire Jones. It is a BBC Studios Production.
Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020 and was nominated for a Writers’ Guild Award in 2022
‘Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ RADIO TIMES
‘Peppered with nostalgic 60s hits and especially written for the pair, it’s an endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN
‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones. Unlike many a current Radio 4 ‘comedy’, this series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES
‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY
WED 19:00 The Archers (m001jc8j)
David asks Lynda’s advice on running the Brookfield B and B and reluctantly agrees to her making a visit. Lynda has a very critical eye and when David’s defensive about her suggestions, Lynda tells him Brookfield needs a real guest staying there. She’s going to book in and stay tomorrow night.
Roy moans to Adil about Brian popping round to Willow Farm all the time and now Brian has invited them for dinner tomorrow night. Adil suggests Roy declines the invitation, because there’s no point going without a good intention. Adil explains that for Brian, falling asleep in the armchair at Willow Farm must make Brain feel normal. It’s probably the only real sleep he gets. Adil discloses he lost someone close a few years ago. He knows the last thing Brian needs is insincerity.
Tony’s upset when Lilian tells him she’s going to travel in a separate car to him to Jennifer’s funeral. Lee thanks Tony for his advice about his daughters moving to America. Tony’s helped change Lee’s perspective, which has felt like a massive weight has been lifted for Lee. Tony says he wishes Lilian was open to some sound reasoning; she’s stubborn as a mule. Later at The Stables, Lee tells Lilian that you never know what tomorrow may bring, so you have to make the most of today. He doesn’t understand why Lilian’s creating a distance with Tony after the loss of Jennifer. People should make the most of the present. If a sudden loss doesn’t teach us that, then what does it teach us?
WED 19:15 Front Row (m001jc9p)
New film The Strays, artists Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Dawinder Bansal, Janet Malcolm’s photography memoir
Nathaniel Martello-White on making his directorial debut with the psychological thriller The Strays, set between a south London estate and an affluent English suburb.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s show at FACT in Liverpool, Merseyside Burman Empire, references her MBE for services to Visual Art, awarded last year in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and her experiences growing up in Bootle as the daughter of Punjabi-Hindu parents. Dawinder Bansal’s Jambo Cinema installation, which explored her life growing up in 1980s Wolverhampton with Indian-Kenyan parents, was one of the big commissions at last year’s Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival in Birmingham. Chila and Dawinder discuss making art that draws upon their South Asian heritage.
Throughout her career, the distinguished writer Janet Malcolm, who died in 2021, was fascinated by photography. She came to prominence through her journalism for the New Yorker including six years as the magazine’s photography critic. Photography was the subject of her first book and it has turned out to be the subject of her final book, a memoir – Still Pictures: On Photography and Memory. Photographer of the Year Craig Easton reviews.
Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Photo caption: Ashley Madekwe as Neve in The Strays
Photo credit: Chris Harris/ Netflix © 2023
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m001jc9y)
How should Britain make amends for its colonial past?
How should Britain make amends for its colonial past?
Should museums in the UK return historic artefacts to their countries of origin? Many items displayed in museums were looted in colonial times and now there are campaigns for them to be returned. There's a related question of whether Britain should pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. Attitudes to both of these questions have shifted in recent years. Some of the Benin Bronzes, looted by the British Army in 1897 have been returned to Nigeria. The British Museum is now in talks over how the Elgin Marbles, removed from the Parthenon Temple in Greece in the 19th century, might be displayed in Athens.
Recently the Church of England set up a fund, worth £100m, to address the past wrongs of its involvement with slavery. The church has expressed shame that it invested in, and made money from the slave trade. The fund will be used to benefit communities affected by historic slavery. Several universities have taken similar steps. But is this an appropriate way to acknowledge the suffering caused during Britain's colonial past? Some believe that while it's appropriate to openly admit Britain's role in slavery, it’s impossible to repair the damage done and it's wrong to expect British people today to pay reparation to the descendants of enslaved people. Others say that the economic cost of slavery is still being felt by those descendants. It's a debt that needs to be paid. It’s also suggested that paying reparation is a valuable step in tackling the racism that still exists today.
What moral obligations of restitution and reparation do we inherit from our ancestors? What rights of redress can we claim for what was done to our forebears? How should Britain make amends for its colonial past?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Michael Buerk
WED 20:45 Four Thought (m001jcb6)
What I've Learned from Four Thought
In the final episode of Four Thought, Sheila Cook reflects on what she has learned from producing it for eleven years.
Sheila, who left the BBC in 2022, produced around 150 episodes on Four Thought, and in this reflection on the power of hope she looks back at some of the talks which have reminded her that - amidst bad news - we are often surrounded by remarkable people, doing remarkable things.
Producer: Giles Edwards
WED 21:00 Shocking (m001jc56)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001jc8s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001jcbg)
Putin hails ties with China
Also on the programme:
Why is Donald Trump visiting the site in an Ohio town, where a train derailment resulted in the spewing of toxic chemicals?
And Starbucks says it's launching a new range of coffees infused with olive oil at its stores in Italy. How will that go down?
WED 22:45 Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (m001jcbq)
Episode Three
Novel-mad Tatyana lives with her wealthy family in the quiet Russian countryside. Bored by life, the rakish Onegin pays a visit to their home with his friend Lensky, who is in love with Tatyana's sister. Onegin barely notices Tatyana, but he makes a big impression on her.
Sleepless with passion, she resolves to write him a letter.
Read by Rhashan Stone
Translated by James E Falen
Abridged and Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery
Studio Production by Ilse Lademann
With Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
WED 23:00 The Hauntening (m0000ylb)
Series 2
Viral
Travel through the bad gateway in this modern ghost story as writer and performer Tom Neenan discovers what horrors lurk in our apps and gadgets. In this episode Tom attracts the attention of a very persistent vlogger...
Modern technology is terrifying. The average smartphone carries out three-point-three-six billion instructions per second. The average person can only carry out one instruction in that time. Stop and think about that for a second. Sorry, that’s two instructions; you won’t be able to do that.
But what if modern technology was... literally terrifying? What if there really was a ghost in the machine?
Starring
Tom - Tom Neenan
Heidi - Jenny Bede
Camilla - Nicola Walker
Dean - Ewan Bailey
Felixxx - Ivan Gonzalez
Written by Tom Neenan
Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 The Skewer (m001jcc2)
Series 8
Episode 3
Jon Holmes's multi-award-winning The Skewer returns to twist itself into current affairs. This week - a dalliance with Dahl, Deal or No Northern Ireland Deal, Andrew Tate Modern, and GI Joe Biden.
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001jccf)
PMQs clash on new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2023
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001jccp)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jc6y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jccy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jcd7)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jcdn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001jcdx)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001jcf4)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
One morning I wasted an hour wrapping up an empty Coke can with plumbing tape. Why? No reason. No reason whatsoever. This was just another one of those pointless rituals that mark the passage of time. A miniscule procedure with a futile objective: to cover the can in tape so the tape totally covered the can.
Despite the needlessness of this act, ritual is actually a fundamental part of spiritual practice. Whether it’s ritualised courtship, communal dancing, synchronised shrieking or the more personalised rituals.
As anthropologist and cognitive scientist Dimitris Xygalatas writes in Ritual: “Rituals are highly structured. They require rigidity (they must always be performed the ‘correct’ way), repetition (the same actions performed again and again) and redundancy (they can go on for a long time). In other words, they are predictable. This predictability imposes order on the chaos of everyday life, which provides us with a sense of control over uncontrollable situations”.
The world is buzzing, cacophonous; full of attention grabbing and social-media sharing. A world alive with visual clutter and aural detritus. In such a world sometimes you need to just stop, take a breath…and cover a can with plumbing tape.
With this in mind. God, thank you for the feeling of togetherness experienced during collective rituals. And thank you for the discipline and order of my own repetitive action patterns. With constant noise, change and fluctuation, it’s nice to have the continuity of daily customs.
Go lightly.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001jcfg)
23/02/23 - Salad grower, Defra secretary at NFU conference, Reintroducing hoverflies
As supermarkets ration salad, one tomato grower tells us what that what the sector really needs is government help to invest in hi-tech greenhouses. Flavourfresh near Stockport produce tomatoes under glass. They have their own power plant, selling energy to the grid. They use the excess heat to warm the glasshouses and the carbon dioxide to help plants grow bigger. However, large modern greenhouses like theirs cost millions. Producer Andy Roe says the sector needs help to finance state-of-the art sites like theirs, then he says they'd be able to grow more for the British market.
The Defra secretary, Therese Coffey, has been addressing farmers at the NFU annual conference in Birmingham. She said the ELMS budget did not need to be increased to help farmers meet government environmental targets, and she also said that the challenges faced by pig and poultry producers did not equate to market failure and so she would not be using new powers under the Agriculture Act to intervene.
Re-introductions of animals and birds usually feature high-profile species like beavers or wild cats, but there are others like the pine hoverfly - a small, elusive and very rare insect, whose habitat is among Scots Pine trees. The last population in Britain is in the Cairngorms National Park - and that's where conservationists from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are involved in a breeding programme which has been releasing pine hoverflies back into the wild for the past two years.
Presenter: Caz Graham
Producer: Rebecca Rooney
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09gg8t1)
Michael Morpurgo on the Buzzard
Children's author Michael Morpurgo recounts how his daily walk in the Devon countryside is often enlivened by the call of buzzards overhead for this Tweet of the Day.
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photograph: Mandy West.
THU 06:00 Today (m001jc5x)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001jc68)
Paul Erdős
Paul Erdős (1913 – 1996) is one of the most celebrated mathematicians of the 20th century. During his long career, he made a number of impressive advances in our understanding of maths and developed whole new fields in the subject.
He was born into a Jewish family in Hungary just before the outbreak of World War I, and his life was shaped by the rise of fascism in Europe, anti-Semitism and the Cold War. His reputation for mathematical problem solving is unrivalled and he was extraordinarily prolific. He produced more than 1,500 papers and collaborated with around 500 other academics.
He also had an unconventional lifestyle. Instead of having a long-term post at one university, he spent much of his life travelling around visiting other mathematicians, often staying for just a few days.
With
Colva Roney-Dougal
Professor of Pure Mathematics at the University of St Andrews
Timothy Gowers
Professor of Mathematics at the College de France in Paris and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge
and
Andrew Treglown
Associate Professor in Mathematics at the University of Birmingham
The image above shows a graph occurring in Ramsey Theory. It was created by Dr Katherine Staden, lecturer in the School of Mathematics at the Open University.
THU 09:45 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jcdz)
Episode 4
Katherine Rundell’s biography of the poet and "alchemist" of words John Donne. Today – a runaway wedding and an inauspicious start to a relationship that fuelled some of the most desire-filled poetry in English.
This prize-winning new biography of John Donne reveals him as an “infinity merchant”, a man whose preaching could make his congregation weep, a poet whose “beauty deserved walk-on music”.
Rundell's engaging, witty and often thrilling book champions an impossible to categorise man: pirate, soldier, scholar, priest, inventor of new words and author of some of most intensely and intimately passionate poetry in English. Donne was a Catholic who lost - or left - his faith, from a family of martyrs, whose career led him to become Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Read by Blake Ritson
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001jc6w)
The UK’s first woman vascular surgeon, South African choreographer Dada Masilo, Benefits of older siblings.
Averil Mansfield was the UK’s first woman vascular surgeon and first female professor of surgery. She qualified as a surgeon in the early 1970s, at a time when only two per cent of her colleagues were female – and was often met with disbelief bordering on amusement when telling people what she did. She talks to Woman’s Hour about her medical achievements, which she downplays to, ‘It’s just glorified plumbing,’ as detailed in her memoir ‘Life in Her Hands.’
A a new app to block child abuse images has received £1.8m pounds of EU funding, with the aim to help combat what has been described as a "growing demand" for child abuse images. According to the NSPCC, child abuse image offences have reached record levels with more than 30,000 reported in the last year. It also revealed that the police have recorded the first child abuse crimes in the metaverse, with eight instances recorded last year. We hear from Rani Govinder, Senior Child Safety Online policy officer from the NSPCC and John Staines, former police officer from E-Safety Training who goes into schools to educate children and teens about online safety.
Dada Masilo is a South African choreographer, who is known for her re-working of classic stories to reflect black female identity. Her latest show is called Sacrifice, inspired by Stravinksy’s iconic ballet Rite of Spring is on a national tour of the UK, and will be performed at the Sadler’s Wells in London this weekend.
Plus the new study from the Cambridge Centre for Family Research which shows that having an older sibling helped keep children well-adjusted during lockdown. Prof Claire Hughes joins Nuala to discuss how older siblings can provide protection from stress.
Presenter Hayley Hassall
Producer Beverley Purcell
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m001jc72)
Ukraine: One Year On
Orla Guerin, Senior International Correspondent, reports from Ukraine's east, a region she has covered on different trips during the last year. She describes the permanent sense of danger that has become a way of life since the Russian invasion.
Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, recounts his own feelings of surprise at Vladimir Putin's decision to invade - and how far everyday Russians have swallowed the government propaganda. He explores the motivations as to why this might be.
US Editor, Sarah Smith describes the secrecy surrounding President Joe Biden's surprise visit to Kyiv - and what the political climate is like in Washington amid pledges the US will support the war for 'as long as it takes'.
Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe Correspondent, has followed the story of Ukrainians fleeing the war from the outset of the invasion. She speaks to those who have only recently fled in Poland's east and what prompted their decisions to leave now.
Vitaliy Shevchenko, presenter of Ukrainecast, has lost friends during the conflict. Over the last year, he evacuated his parents from Zaporizhzhia, a region now partially- controlled by Russians, and also watched a broader shift in Ukraine's standing in the world - and that of its leader.
THU 11:30 Roleplay (m001jc78)
Peter Pan
One big dramatic role and stories of actors from across the world who have all played the same part. They tell us what the role means and what it means to them.
A new series for BBC Radio 4. This time, Peter Pan.
Featuring: Charlie Randall, Cathy Rigby, Hayley Mills, Tristan Sturrock, Hiran Abeysekera, Allison Kavey and Lester D. Friedman
We hear how the magic of playing Peter Pan has changed the lives of actors. The role lets performers explore their inner child, play with gender and fly across the stage.
But there is a dark side of being the boy who never grows up. Themes of loneliness, abandonment and death are core parts of JM Barrie’s story.
The reflections take us from panto in Great Yarmouth to civil war in Sri Lanka to arenas across the United States.
Produced by Sam Grist and Camellia Sinclair for BBC Audio in Bristol
Mixed by Ilse Lademann for BBC Audio in Bristol
Acknowledgements:
Peter Pan - BBC Sound Archive 30th Mar 1941
Producers - Derek McCulloch and Gordon Crier
Peter Pan - Patricia Hayes
Wendy - Rosamund Barnes
Music by John Crook
Peter Pan – Radio 4 26th Dec 1986
Producer – Glyn Dearman
Peter Pan - Graham McGrath
Wendy - Lucinda Bateson
Music by John Crook
Archive
The Lost Boys: J.M. Barrie - A Reminiscence - BBC Radio 4 - 6 October 1978
Woman’s Hour - BBC Radio 2 - 20 Dec 1967
An Appreciation of Sir James Barrie, by Nina Boucicault – BBC Sound Archive – 19 Jun 1937
Peter Pan Broadway Musical Theatre TV Commercial 1999
Blue Peter - BBC Archive - 10 Dec 1965
22nd Academy Award Ceremony – 23 Mar 1950
J.M.Barrie and Peter Pan – BBC Two 23 Dec 2001
THU 12:00 News Summary (m001jcfk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001jc7m)
Gap Finders - Tunde Okewale
On Gap Finders this week, Winifred Robinson speaks to Tunde Okewale, founder of Urban Lawyers, a charity that helps young people from disadvantaged communities and ethnic minorities find a way into the legal profession. Tunde, himself a barrister, grew up on a council estate in Hackney in London.
Drawing on his own experience of trying to establish a legal career, he founded Urban Lawyers at the age of 27 – just three years after qualifying as a barrister. He explains how those from poorer backgrounds can encounter barriers that are difficult to overcome in the workplace.
We also hear how the difficulties of getting a foot on the ladder, as a solicitor or barrister, are often rooted in low expectations which start at home, carry on at school and then continue into employment.
In this episode of Gap Finders, we explore how Tunde, through setting up Urban Lawyers, has helped to break the mould and how he hopes it will keep making a difference to young people in the future.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001jc7s)
Conditioners and Heat Protection Products
After the Sliced Bread episode on shampoo, a number of listeners got in touch to request a follow-up episode on conditioners. So of course, we obliged.
Listener Katie wanted to know what they actually do to our hair, if they can deliver on promises for shinier, smoother, or stronger locks – and whether leave-in treatments could be more effective than conditioners you wash off in the shower?
Listener Franziska also got in touch, as she wondered if we could also have a look at heat protection products. She wanted to know what’s in them, can they offer our hair any protection while styling, and is there a difference between the effectiveness of sprays or creams?
Greg Foot rinses out the claims on both, speaking once again to the experts from Shampoo – also available on BBC Sounds.
This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.
Presenter: Greg Foot
Producer: Kate Holdsworth
THU 12:57 Weather (m001jc7z)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m001jc87)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jc8d)
4. The Women's March
Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of the word 'woke', a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.
In this episode, Matthew looks into how the the adoption of 'woke' at the 2017 Women's March led to it's movement away from black communities and into the mainstream. The day after the inauguration of Donald Trump, millions took to streets around the world to protest against the President's positions on the rights of women and other minorities. One photo became iconic from the march, a toddler with a banner round his neck reading 'I Love Naps, But I Stay Woke'. Matthew hears from Prisca Kim, the boy's mother, about the meaning behind the sign and how the image went viral, within days being sold on t shirts and posters across the globe. He considers how the image formed part of a wider movement of 'woke' away from it's African American roots, asking how that impacted the word's meaning.
Presented by Matthew Syed and Produced by Sam Peach
THU 14:00 The Archers (m001jc8j)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Nazis: The Road to Power (m001jc8n)
7. Hitler? Whatever Happened to Him?
By 1932, the Nazis are the largest single group in Parliament but no-one will invite them into coalition and President Hindenburg refuses to even contemplate Hitler as Chancellor.
Yet Hitler flatly refuses any arrangement where he is not Chancellor – Vice-Chancellor will not suffice. But so many of his party members, his stormtroopers have been waiting for government jobs, government salaries – they’re pushing hard for the compromise. Can Hitler hold them off for long enough to secure total power?
Meanwhile the current Chancellor, General von Schleicher, and the previous, Franz von Papen, are both determined to unseat each other – once allies, they are now sworn enemies. President Hindenburg would rather see von Papen restored to the post but, like von Schleicher, he cannot form a governing majority. Meanwhile the President’s son, Oskar, once a close friend of von Schleicher, starts to see a way through - and it involves the Nazi Party.
Starring Derek Jacobi as President Hindenburg, Jack Laskey as Oskar von Hindenburg, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Aditomiwa Edun as the Daily Express Berlin Correspondent, Sefton Delmer.
Cast:
President Hindenburg - DEREK JACOBI
Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN
Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE
Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI
Heinrich Himmler - OSCAR BATTERHAM
Otto Meissner - EDWARD BENNETT
Franz von Papen - WILLIAM CHUBB
Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON
Herman Göring - SCOTT KARIM
Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP
Oskar von Hindenburg - JACK LASKEY
Joachim von Ribbentrop - MICHAEL MALONEY
Magda Goebbels - SHANAYA RAFAAT
Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS
Kurt von Schleicher - ANDREW WOODALL
The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON
Sound Designer – ADAM WOODHAMS
Studio Manager – MARK SMITH
Casting Director – GINNY SCHILLER
Original Score – METAPHOR MUSIC
Producer – NICHOLAS NEWTON
Writer and Director – JONATHAN MYERSON
A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m001jc8r)
Four Waterfalls Walk, South Wales
Sam and Roger met through a walking group on social media. Both were already keen walkers and Sam posted on the Walking In Wales page looking for a walking companion for a walk she wanted to do. Roger offered to go with her... and the rest is history. Reader, they got engaged. They take Clare on one of their favourite walks in Waterfall Country in the Brecon Beacons in South Wales on a beautiful frosty sunny February day.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001jbws)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m001jbxm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m001jc09)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Saturday]
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001jc94)
Antarctic Ice Special
Sea ice coverage hit a recording-breaking low in the Antarctic this week, but what does this mean for the rest of the world? Why is the region so difficult to predict? And what could further changes in climate mean for the South Pole?
Often the Arctic dominates conversations around polar warming but this week, with the help of climate modelling expert Tamsin Edwards, Kings College London, we’ll be tackling these questions and more. We’ll hear from British Antarctic Survey researcher Nadia Frontier, a marine biologist spending the summer at Rothera research base in the Antarctic. We join her as she traverses snow and ice to study the inhabitants of Adelaide island and the surrounding waters. Rachel Tilling from the Cryospheric Sciences Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center helps us explore the continent from a different vantage point, explaining her work using satellite data to understand sea ice thickness. And climate reporter Georgina Rannard takes us through an artistic interpretation of polar sounds, Dr Geraint Rhys Whittaker uses underwater microphones to capture the impact of human activity on polar wildlife.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Julian Siddle and Emily Bird
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with The Open University.
THU 17:00 PM (m001jc9b)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jc9v)
Three people have been arrested after the attack in County Tyrone. The officer remains critically injured in hospital.
THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (m001jcb3)
Series 9
1. Happy Go Lucky
“If something is in Esquire and you don’t like it, it might be a bad essay. If something is in the New Yorker and you don’t like it – there’s something wrong with you!”
In the first episode of this series, David reads from Happy Go Lucky – the latest comic essay about his turbulent relationship with his father, Lou, aged 98. The story opens at Springmoor, the assisted living facility where Sedaris senior is seeing out his final days and where his cognitive impairment seems to have turned him from a monster into a pussycat.
Also in this show – some extracts from David’s hilarious diary, which he’s kept for over 40 years and which reveals some of his darkest and cheekiest thoughts – including the magical marketing of a town called Uranus.
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m001jcbh)
Brookfield welcomes their first ‘mock’ official booking at the B and B; Ms Innis Pectre-Goole, aka Lynda Snell. Ben’s really keen for Lynda to test out their facilities, but David’s not so sure. Especially when Lynda criticises half-naked David for washing in the kitchen sink, having come in from calving. She reminds David that it isn’t an episode of Poldark. Lynda keeps Ben on his toes as well, even pretending to have an allergy to Bess. Ben does his best to cater to her every whim.
Kirsty and Roy are invited round for dinner at Willow Cottage, cooked by Brian and overseen by Alice. Brian apologises for falling asleep at Roy and Kirsty’s and explains the meal is his way of saying thank you. When Brian’s out of earshot, Kirsty admits to Roy how bad she feels about having found Brian an imposition. Particularly since Roy had told her about his conversation with Adil who’d revealed he’d lost someone close. Roy asks Kirsty to keep his conversation with Adil to herself. They agree that Brian will be welcome at theirs any time. They chat about Grey Gables and how well it’s coming along, with designs for the new part of the building really complimenting the old part. Kirsty’s really supportive when, after a few minor cooking errors, Brian says that Jennifer would be mortified if she could see him. Brian tells Kirsty that it’s been really lovely having them over and emotionally admits to missing Jennifer terribly. Kirsty thinks that if Jennifer could see Brian now, she’d be really proud of him.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m001jcbr)
Immersive David Hockney art and Korean film Broker reviewed; artist Mike Nelson; AI-generated writing
Reviews of the new immersive show David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) at Lightroom in London and Korean film Broker, with Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Ekow Eshun.
Installation artist Mike Nelson on the art in his new retrospective at the Hayward Gallery in London and the challenge of reconstructing such epic work.
Plus AI writing. Neil Clarke, Editor of The American science fiction and fantasy magazine Clarkesworld, on suspending new submissions after being swamped by AI-generated stories, and why AI could be a serious challenge the way we think about literature.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Sarah Johnson
Photo: David Hockney with his work at Lightroom. By Justin Sutcliffe
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001jcc1)
Who's Afraid of The Wagner Group?
The Briefing Room's David Aaronovitch is joined by a team of experts to find out more about the Wagner group, the mysterious private organisation, that's acknowledged by the Russian government to have been supplying soldiers to fight its war in Ukraine. Wagner's leader, Yevgheny Prigozhin, was once known as Vladimir Putin's 'chef'. Soldiers fighting for him won the battle for Soledar - one of few military successes for Russia in Ukraine in recent months. Has his prowess on the battlefield re-invigorated Russia's army - or turned Prigozhin into a potential rival to Putin?
Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:
Samantha De Bendern, Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House
Joana De Deus Pereira,Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute Europe
Marina Miron, Post-doctoral researcher at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London
Andras Racz, Senior Research Fellow of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin
Produced by: Daniel Gordon, Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight
Edited by: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: James Beard
PHOTO: Graffiti praising soldiers from the Wagner Group (Getty)
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m001jccc)
Powered by AI
Machines now have the ability to write novels, create works of art, or compose original songs thanks to artificial intelligence. In future the technology could be used to discover drugs, design entire buildings, or come up with new materials.
So how should businesses respond to the evolution of AI, most embodied by the AI chatbot ChatGPT? Evan Davis and guests discuss its potential for creating new products and increasing efficiency, as well as the risks involved in handing machines even more power.
GUESTS
Priya Lakhani, CEO, CENTURY Tech
Scott Petty, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone
and Colin Murdoch, Chief Business Officer, DeepMind
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Neil Churchill and Graham Puddifoot
Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001jc94)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001jc68)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001jccs)
Israeli raid in occupied West Bank leaves 11 dead
Also:
Overwhelming vote at UN against Russian war in Ukraine.
Off-duty police officer seriously injured in County Tyrone.
And have we lost the ability to read maps ?
THU 22:45 Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (m001jcd0)
Episode Four
Some months have passed since Eugene responded to Tatyana's letter. Now it's her name day celebration and Lensky persuades Onegin to come along.
Read by Rhashan Stone
Translated by James E Falen
Abridged and Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery
Studio Production by Ilse Lademann
With Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
THU 23:00 The Absolutely Radio Show (m0006l75)
Series 3
Episode 1
Members of the cast of Channel 4's hugely popular sketch show ‘Absolutely’ return for another series on BBC Radio 4. Pete Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John Sparkes are revisiting some of their much-loved sketch characters for four half hour shows, whilst also introducing some newcomers to the show.
In 2013, the group got back together for the “Sketchorama: Absolutely Special for BBC Radio 4” which subsequently won a BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best Live Scripted Comedy category. The first two series of ‘The Absolutely Radio Show’ picked up Celtic Media Award nominations for Best Radio Comedy, and the second series was nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2018.
The opening episode of the series features The Stoneybridge Town Council pitching for their very own radio station, the Little Girl giving her explanation of MeToo and Time’s Up and Calum Gilhooley being interviewed for a job. We also hear from a family agonising about being completely average and from the archive we hear about Two Line Terry’s film career.
Produced by Gordon Kennedy & Gus Beattie.
An Absolutely/Gusman Production for BBC Radio 4.
Written and Performed by: Peter Baikie, Morwenna Banks, Moray Hunter, Gordon Kennedy and John Sparkes
Production Manager Sarah Tombling
Recording Engineer Dave Murricane
Editor Pete Baikie
Producer Gus Beattie
Producer Gordon Kennedy
BBC Executive Sioned Wiliam
Recording Venue The Oran Mor, Glasgow
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001jcdb)
All the news from Westminster with Sean Curran, including questions for the minister about the shortage of salad.
FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2023
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001jcdr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jcdz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001jcf7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001jcfh)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001jcfr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001jcfy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001jcg5)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Hope Lonergan
Good Morning!
John Dewey proposed that the “self has no meaning except as contrasted with other personas” and, as a consequence, “the self and the world are correlative, and have the same content”. This relational interactivity – the idea that the origins and foundations of the self emerge in reference to others – is a key part of social approaches to care work (I cared for the elderly a decade before going into comedy). With any relationship, there’s a fluidity to interaction – both to the other entities and the world at large. So carers have to be socially agile and adaptable, rather than forcing a resident into certain modes of communication.
I’ve found it to be highly effective to open up space for people with dementia to participate in self-directed action, including the ‘direction of travel’ for conversation. (For instance, a resident, out of nowhere, initiated a discussion about getting an acorn trapped in his belly-button. So I decided to share a story about the time I got a popcorn kernel stuck in my ear hole. ) I don’t subscribe to a one-size-fits-all, essentialist view of dementia – even if some people promote this.
Either way, when I’m offstage I now lead a very hermetic – almost monastic - existence. I used to love banging on. You could never get me to shut up. I was an enthusiastic conversationalist; I wanted to find out everything about a person. Now I’m part of a religion (Quakerism) where I’m forced to shut up. Which suits a 31 year old recluse, like me.
With this in mind. God, thank you for the care workers who devote their time to the vulnerable . Thank you for the moments of quiet and contemplation. These are the only moments when I’m truly free of anxiety.
Go lightly.
Amen
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001jcgf)
Acute labour shortages have led to some UK meat processors moving their work abroad. Whole carcasses are being exported overseas to be butchered and distributed because they can’t get the staff to do it here. The British Meat Processors Association says that affects productivity and investment in UK plants. They want butchers to be included on the Home Office shortage occupation list so that they can recruit more workers from abroad.
Growing strawberries all year round is a challenge for British producers. We take a tour of the UK's first producer to do that. An entrepreneur has transformed a warehouse in Essex into a vertical farm. Fruit is grown on shelves reaching twelve metres up to the roof, under LED lights. The plants are pollinated by bees, while pests are controlled by predators rather than chemicals.
We've been looking at reintroductions of plants, insects and mammals all week. Wildcats are the UK's only native cat species. They look like a large stocky tabby cat, but with a black banded bushy tail. Only small numbers remain in the Scottish Highlands, and even there they are close to extinction. But Wildcats could be reintroduced to Devon, if conditions are right and local communities support the idea. Devon Wildlife Trust is investigating the feasibility of bringing back Wildcats after an absence of more than 100 years.
Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03ths74)
Wren
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
John Aitchison presents the wren. You'll often see the male wren, with its tail cocked jauntily, singing from a fence-post or shrub, bill wide and trembling with the effort of producing that ear-splitting territorial advertisement. It's the extrovert side of what can be an introvert bird that normally creeps, like a mouse, among banks of foliage or in crevices between rocks. They can live almost anywhere from mountain crags and remote islands to gardens and city parks.
FRI 06:00 Today (m001jc9d)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m001jbx5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Super-Infinite by Katherine Rundell (m001jch9)
Episode 5
Katherine Rundell’s biography of the poet and "alchemist" of words John Donne. Today, Donne’s turn to the priesthood finally secures his fortunes as he becomes chaplain to King James and later Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London.
This prize-winning new biography of John Donne reveals him as an “infinity merchant”, a man whose preaching could make his congregation weep, a poet whose “beauty deserved walk-on music”.
Rundell's engaging, witty and often thrilling book champions an impossible to categorise man: pirate, soldier, scholar, priest, inventor of new words and author of some of most intensely and intimately passionate poetry in English. Donne was a Catholic who lost - or left - his faith, from a family of martyrs, whose career led him to become Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral.
Read by Blake Ritson
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001jcb5)
Dame Melinda Simmons, British Ambassador to Ukraine, Fully female clergy, Twin sisters on pregnancy & miscarriage; Quilting
It is a year since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. The war has severely impacted social cohesion, community security and the resilience of local communities, especially women and girls. Approximately 5.4 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine, and 8 million people have registered as refugees across Europe. Woman’s Hour speaks to the UK ambassador to Ukraine, Dame Melinda Simmons her only UK interview on this first anniversary.
Leicester Cathedral is celebrating having a fully female clergy team in what it believes might be a first for England. Hayley Hassall speaks to one of the team of 5, the canon pastor Reverend Canon Alison Adams at Leicester Cathedral.
What do you do when something amazing happens to you whilst someone you love is going through something terrible?…a sibling, a best friend…or even a twin. That is what happened to twin sisters Chloe and Lydia. When Chloe was days away from giving birth, Lydia experienced her second miscarriage and it tested their bond to the limit. They join Hayley to share their story.
Do you sew or quilt? ‘The New Bend’ is the name of an exhibition running at the Hauser and Wirth gallery in Somerset until 8 May. It showcases the work of 12 contemporary artists and quilters whose work pays homage to the enduring legacy of the women of the Gee’s Bend Alabama quilters, who were quilting as early as the 19th century in the Alabama Black Belt in America. Hayley is joined by Ferren Gipson - art historian, textile artist and author of ‘Women’s Work: From Feminine Arts to Feminist Art’ to discuss quilting and reclaiming the idea of ‘women’s work’ within the history of art.
Presented by Hayley Hassall
Producer: Louise Corley
Studio Engineer: Bob Nettles
FRI 11:00 Is Psychiatry Working? (m001jcbd)
Healing and Recovery
Although psychiatry helped writer Horatio Clare when he was in crisis, some people in difficulty, their families, clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists themselves will tell you there are serious questions about the ways psychiatry understands and treats some people in trouble. And so this series asks a simple question: is psychiatry working? In the following series, accompanied by the psychiatrist Femi Oyebode, Horatio traces a journey through crisis, detention, diagnosis, therapy, and recovery. In this episode, they look at healing and recovery.
If you need support with mental health or feelings of despair, a list of organisations that can help is available at BBC Action Line support:
Mental health & self-harm: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health-self-harm
Suicide/Emotional distress: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4WLs5NlwrySXJR2n8Snszdg/information-and-support-suicide-emotional-distress
or you can call for free to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066.
Presenters: Horatio Clare and Femi Oyebode
Producer: Emma Close
Assistant Producer: Lucinda Borrell
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Mix: James Beard
FRI 11:30 Mrs Hudson's Radio Show (m0001h2j)
Episode 2: Wild Geese
Behind every great man there is an even greater woman - demanding rent.
The late, much missed comedy legend Barry Cryer brings his unique brand of silliness to the world of Sherlock Holmes’ landlady in a special Radio 4 double bill recorded in front of an audience in London in November 2018. There’ll be plenty of festivities (as well as Music Hall singalongs accompanied by pianist Jeremy Limb) in this humorous and alternative take on Mrs Hudson’s life below stairs at 221b Baker Street.
Barry plays chestnut salesman Harry Fryer and is joined by Patricia Hodge as Mrs Hudson and Miriam Margolyes as her mischievous friend and neighbour, Mrs Brayley.
The show was written by Barry and his son, Bob Cryer and is based on their book, Mrs Hudson's Diaries.
In this second episode, a dead goose and a battered hat are found by Inspector Lestrade (Bob Cryer) lying in the middle of Baker Street. It’s not long before Mrs Hudson is leading her friends out into the night on a very silly seasonal adventure.
However, one thing you can be sure of, Sherlock Holmes (Orlando Wells) and Dr Watson (Stephen Critchlow) are never far away and usually ahead of the game. So come in from the cold, turn on the wireless and make a date with Mrs Hudson. But don’t forget to wipe your feet first.
CAST:
MRS HUDSON - Patricia Hodge
MRS BRAYLEY - Miriam Margolyes
HARRY FRYER - Barry Cryer
HOLMES - Orlando Wells
ARCHIE / WATSON - Stephen Critchlow
MARTHA/BELLA - Ruth Bratt
GUSTAV / MD - Jeremy Limb
LESTRADE - Bob Cryer
Written by Bob and Barry Cryer
Produced and directed by Ned Chaillet and Ben Walker
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001jchp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 AntiSocial (m001jcby)
Asylum seekers and the far right
Thousands of asylum seekers are currently housed in hotels around the UK as they wait for their claims to be processed. The government has a huge backlog and are spending millions of pounds a day on the accommodation.
Local residents have started to mount protests near the hotels, prompting claims from commentators and counter-protestors that they are 'far right'. What does that term mean? Are these protestors really 'far right'. And to what extent is the extreme right on the rise across the country?
Presenter: Adam Fleming
Producers: Lucy Proctor, Phoebe Keane, Ellie House and Octavia Woodward.
Editor: Emma Rippon
FRI 12:57 Weather (m001jcc9)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m001jccl)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
FRI 13:45 Woke: The Journey of a Word (m001jccv)
5. Where Woke Goes to Die
Matthew Syed traces the origins and evolution of a term that's become synonymous with our era of angry debate.
Once a watchword for African Americans in the early 1900s, 'woke' is now used as an insult across the political spectrum. As the word has spread, what people actually mean by it has become less clear than ever. In this series, Matthew follows the evolution of 'woke' through five key stories.
In this final episode, Matthew looks into the actions of Governor Ron DeSantis, tipped to be the next President of the United States. The politician has labelled his state of Florida as 'Where Woke Goes To Die', introducing a 'Stop W.O.K.E.' bill aimed at reducing the spread of identity politics in education and the workplace. Matthew hears from Sam Rechek, the student who has successfully challenged the bill in the courts over its restriction to free speech. DeSantis is just one example of the embrace of 'woke' by the political right. As the word appears commonly in the media today, Matthew considers its multiple meanings, including whether it corresponds to a new set of ideas on the rise in society.
Contributors: Nicole Holliday, linguist at Pomona College, writer James O'Malley, Prof Matthew Goodwin, University of Kent, Women of Keele Educate.
Presented by Matthew Syed
Produced by Sam Peach
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001jcbh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0dy5zc1)
The Incident at Ong's Hat
The Incident at Ong’s Hat - Episode 5: The Other Side
All roads lead back to Ong’s Hat, as Charlie has an experience that defies explanation and Sarah’s ultimate fate is revealed.
Cast:
Charlie - Corey Brill
Sarah - Avital Ash
Rodney Ascher - Himself
Det. Stecco - James Bacon
Casey - Hayley Taylor
Ringo - Benjamin Williams
Kit - Randall Keller
Denny Unger - Himself
Joseph Matheny - Himself
Newscasters: Elizabeth Saydah, Dean Wendt
Created and Produced by Jon Frechette and Todd Luoto
Inspired by Ong’s Hat: The Beginning by Joseph Matheny
Music by Blue Dot Sessions, Jon Frechette, Chris Zabriskie, Anthéne, Alessandro Barbanera, Blanket Swimming, Macrogramma (under Creative Commons)
Editing and Sound Design - Jon Frechette
Additional Editing - Brandon Kotfila and Greg Myers
Special Thanks - Ben Fineman
Written and Directed by Jon Frechette
Executive Producer - John Scott Dryden
“Ong’s Hat Survivors Interview” courtesy of Joseph Matheny
Visit thegardenofforkedpaths.com & josephmatheny.com
A Goldhawk production for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
FRI 14:45 Understand: The Economy (p0df7j3k)
Series 1
The Economy: 7. Jobs and Unemployment
What happens when lots of people lose their jobs? Why might wages be low even though everyone who wants a job, has one? What do we mean by employment and unemployment and what does 'economic inactivity' mean? What is productivity and how does it relate to you and your job? Tim Harford explains, and Cambridge University Economic Historian Victoria Bateman tells the story of what happened when unemployment in the North East of England reached 70%.
Everything you need to know about the economy and what it means for you. This podcast will cut through the jargon to bring you clarity and ensure you finally understand all those complicated terms and phrases you hear on the news. Inflation, GDP, Interest rates, and bonds, Tim Harford and friends explain them all. We’ll ensure you understand what’s going on today, why your shopping is getting more expensive or why your pay doesn’t cover your bills. We’ll also bring you surprising histories, from the war-hungry kings who have shaped how things are counted today to the greedy merchants flooding Spain with silver coins. So if your eyes usually glaze over when someone says ‘cutting taxes stimulates growth’, fear no more, we’ve got you covered.
Guest: Professor Richard Davies, The University of Bristol
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Clare Fordham
Theme music: Don’t Fret, Beats Fresh Music
A BBC Long Form Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001jcdd)
Hale
What to plant to turn my garden into an oasis? Where do I start with an allotment riddled with weeds? How do I grow saffron?
In Hale to answer these questions and more are Peter Gibbs and this week’s GQT panel - plants expert Christine Walkden, self-proclaimed botanical geek James Wong, and Ashley Edwards, Head Gardener of Horatio’s Garden.
Also, we return to Horatio’s Garden in Stanmore, West London to find out more about the effect nature has on our mental and physical health.
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Louisa Field
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001jcds)
MENopause by Karen Quinn
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 written by Karen Quinn. As read by Caolan McCarthy.
Karen Quinn is an award winning writer and educator based in Donegal. She is one of BBC Writersroom's Belfast Voices 2022. She was longlisted for the Mammoth Screen TV Writer’s Award 2021, and twice shortlisted for the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting award run by the International Emmy Committee, in both 2014 and 2015. She was also the winner and recipient of the Northern Ireland Comedy Writers programme in 2016, organised by Grand Scheme Media, and a shortlisted writer and director for Jameson First Shot 2016. She has toured her writing both nationally and internationally. She is also a published children’s writer, with her work broadcast on television and published in short story collections. At the moment, her main focus of creative work is on young women’s mental health.
Writer: Karen Quinn.
Reader: Caolan McCarthy
Producer: Michael Shannon
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001jcf2)
Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Ralph Hooper OBE, Raquel Welch, Dickie Davies
Kirsty Lang on
Dorothy Pitman Hughes who brought black women into the 70s Feminist movement and inspired Gloria Steinem.
Raquel Welch (pictured), the Hollywood actor who became a Sixties sex symbol after playing a cavewoman in the film 'One Million Years BC'.
The aeronautical engineer Ralph Hooper OBE who designed the revolutionary Harrier jump jet.
And Dickie Davies, the sports presenter best known for anchoring ITV Saturday afternoons in the 70s and 80s.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Laura L Lovett
Interviewed guest: Professor John Fielding
Interviewed guest: Sir Colin Chandler
Interviewed guest: Jim Rosenthal
Archive clips used: ITV Sport, World of Sport 1985/1973/1981; CBS Mornings/ YouTube Channel, Life and Legacy of Activist and Feminist Leader Dorothy Pitman Hughes uploaded on 24/07/2021; Artemis Rising Foundation/ Saks Picture Company/ The Glorias, The Glorias – movie clip (2020); Associated British Pathé/ Hammer Films/ Seven Arts Productions, One Million Years BC – trailer (1966); BBC Radio 2, Gloria Hunniford Show 01/01/1989; BBC One, Parkinson 11/11/1972; Twentieth Century Fox, Myra Breckinridge – movie clip (1970); HIT Entertainment/ Henson Associates (HA)/ Incorporated Television Company (ITC), The Muppet Show S03E11 17/11/1978; Film at Lincoln Center/ YouTube Channel, Q&A with Raquel Welch uploaded on 23/02/2012; BBC Two, Designing the ‘60s 15/03/2003; British Pathé, Harrier Plane (1968); BBC One, Red Arrows Flyover Centenary of RAF 10/07/2018; Thames Television, The Benny Hill Show 18/02/1976; ITV Studios, The Best of ITV Wrestling (DVD) 2006.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m001jc6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m001jcfd)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O' Clock News (m001jcfw)
The anniversary brings promises of more weapons and further sanctions against Moscow.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m001jcg2)
Series 110
Episode 9
Andy is joined by Ian Smith, Holly Walsh, Andy Parsons and from The Spectator, Kate Andrews. This week the panel discuss the war in Ukraine one year on, Keir Starmer's missions, and the editing of Dahl.
Hosted and written by Andy Zaltzman with additional material from Alice Fraser, Catherine Brinkworth, Jade Gebbie, and Will Hall.
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001jcgb)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed
Director, Gwenda Hughes
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Adil Shah ….. Ronny Jhutti
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Roy Tucker ….. Ian Pepperell
FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m001jcgj)
James Taylor of JTQ and Dinara Klinton celebrate the joys of the keyboard
James Taylor of the British jazz-funk outfit the James Taylor Quartet brings his C3 Hammond organ to the studio while Ukrainian-born pianist Dinara Klinton sets herself up at the grand piano as they join Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye to add the next five tracks to the playlist.
The journey takes them from Cape Verde to The Gambia and Lebanon, with insights from Senegalese kora player Kadialy Kouyate and French-Lebanese singer and composer Bachar Mar-Khalifé.
Producer Jerome Weatherald
Presented, with music direction, by Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye
The five tracks in this week's playlist:
Song for my Father by Horace Silver
Africano by Earth, Wind & Fire – Live
Bannaya by Sona Jobarteh
Concerto No. 3, 1st mov by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Kyrie Eleison by Bachar Mar-Khalifé
Other music in this episode:
Popcorn by Hot Butter
Gnossienne: No. 1 by Erik Satie
Theme from Starsky & Hutch by the James Taylor Quartet
Rikki Don't Lose That Number by Steely Dan
The Beat Goes On by Buddy Rich
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001jcgq)
Mary Dejevsky, James Heappey MP, Darren Jones MP, Isabel Oakeshott
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from St Andrew's Church, Wiveliscombe, with the columnist and former Moscow Correspondent Mary Dejevsky, Conservative MP and Armed Forces Minister James Heappey, Labour MP and Chair of the Business Select Committee Darren Jones and Talk TV's International Editor Isabel Oakeshott.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Tim Allen
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001jcgv)
Stay Weird, Britain
Trevor Phillips argues that Britain, in its desperation to eliminate inequality, risks destroying the very principles that have drawn people here for generations.
He points to its eccentricity, its easy going tolerance and its spirit of non-conformity, but he believes 'zealots' are slowly demanding a new sort of 'group-think' that has all the features of a repressive sect.
'I, for one, hope that the rough spirit of British eccentricity, the awkward squad, of putting two fingers up to the establishment, endures.'
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
FRI 21:00 Flight of the Ospreys (m001jcgx)
Morocco to Guinea
It's autumn 2022, and Scotland's ospreys are continuing their epic annual migration south. They've flown their nests in the Scottish Highlands, traversed the length of the UK, down through Western Europe and across the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa. Now they face one of their biggest challenge yet: crossing the Sahara desert, and on still further to their wintering grounds in the mangrove swamps on the lush coast of Guinea. Many attempt the journey, but they won't all make it. It's a route that's fraught with danger, both natural and man-made. Only 1 in 3 ospreys who take it on will live to return the following spring.
But this time, they're not doing it alone. A team of conservationists headed up by biologist Sacha Dench are following them every wing-beat of the way, on a mission to discover as much as possible about the journey, and the challenges they face along the way. Climate change is making weather patterns less predictable, crucial wetlands on their route are being poisoned by pesticides and depleted by drought and the birds have the unfortunate habit of electrocuting themselves when they land on powerlines with freshly caught fish. Emily Knight follows the birds, and the people, on their extraordinary journey.
In this episode, the team take on the challenge of the West African coastline - through lush wetlands and the harsh heat of the Sahara, through mangrove swamps teaming with life and the tangled waterways of Guinea. At every turn, they meet people who love and care for the birds they share their homes with, and hear stories of the length they've gone to to protect them.
Producers: Emily Knight and Alasdair Cross
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001jcgz)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (m001jch1)
Episode Five
Back in St Petersburg after some years spent travelling, Onegin attends a ball. A beautiful woman is causing a stir in the crowd. Can it be Tatyana?
Read by Rhashan Stone
Translated by James E Falen
Abridged and Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery
Studio Production by Ilse Lademann
With Editing and Sound Design by Mair Bosworth
FRI 23:00 Americast (m001jch3)
America And The War In Ukraine
A busy week for President Biden! On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, he made a surprise trip to Kyiv to meet President Zelensky, pledging to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes". Biden then gave a speech in Poland to reaffirm America's commitment to Nato. Sarah was on the trip and shares her impressions, and the Americast team also talk to Assistant US Secretary of State Karen Donfried.
In Kentucky, a Christian university campus went viral on TikTok after one of its church services turned into a continuous worship session lasting two weeks. We speak to a student about the so-called "Asbury Revival".
And former President Jimmy Carter, 98, has been moved to hospice care. Carter served just one term between 1976 and 1980, but what will his legacy be?
Americast is presented by North America editor Sarah Smith, Today host Justin Webb, the BBC's social media and disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring, and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher.
Find out more about our "undercover voters" here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63530374.
Email Americast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments and send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp, to +44 3301239480.
This episode was made by Phil Marzouk, Cat Farnsworth and Alix Pickles. The studio director was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor was Simon Watts. The senior news editor was Sam Bonham.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001jch5)
All the news from today's sitting at Westminster.