SATURDAY 20 MAY 2023
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001lz1n)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:30 Into the Night: A Year with the Police by Matt Lloyd-Rose (m001lyy2)
Episode 5 - The Final Shifts
A former carer, primary school teacher and education researcher, Matt Lloyd-Rose spent a year as a Special Constable, a volunteer police officer in Lambeth, South London. On Friday evenings, he policed the borough where he lived and taught.
In this lyrical, thought-provoking and often humorous account, he captures what he saw on the streets at night - victims of crime and domestic abuse, thieves and drug-dealers, but also many people who are drunk or lost, desperate to find their way home. And characters like the illegal hot-dog seller who just won’t take no for an answer.
His work brought him into contact with specialised police units, community police officers and back-office staff. He quietly recorded the best and worst of ordinary policing from thrill-seeking adrenalin junkies, misogyny and sexism to those who showed kindness, care and patience.
He says, "this is neither a defence or the police, nor a polemic against them. Rather, it is an attempt to direct a steady gaze at some of the most complex challenges that confront us – and that includes the question of who is best suited to address them."
Matt completes his final shift on duty with the neighbourhood policing team in Lambeth and observes the role of care in policing. He’s paired with a regular who excels at slow, fine-grained work with vulnerable families and individuals. And, returning to Brixton after several years, Matt encounters the illegal hot-dog seller yet again - the man is irrepressible.
Read by Jack Parris
Abridged and produced by Alexandra Quinn with Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001lz1q)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001lz1s)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001lz1v)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001lz1x)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001lz1z)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
SAT 05:45 Please Protect Abraham (m001g310)
8. Silence
The police launch an investigation for answers, but four years on, the person who shot Abraham hasn’t been brought to justice
Presenter and Original Research: Sam Holder
Series Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Story Consultant: Robert Awosusi
Additional Research: Christy Callaway-Gale
Theme music written and performed by Rebekah Reid and Tapp Collective.
Original music compositions by Femi Oriogun-Williams
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001m4bx)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m001lywh)
The Thames Path in Oxfordshire with Freddie
When Freddie was adopted by Tina and Cas he was not in a good way. The first three years of his life left him with anxiety, trauma and PTSD. Tina and Cas discovered that walking is a great way of relieving some of the symptoms and in the six years he has been with them they have already completed several long distance routes including the West Highland Way - twice!
They are currently walking the Thames Path - 185 miles of the river from sea to source in preparation for walking the Portuguese Camino this Summer.
Clare joins the family on a stretch of the Thames Path in Oxfordshire. Meeting at Wallingford just over the border from Berkshire they follow the path to Dorchester-on-Thames as Freddie talks about his knowledge of trees and plants and introduces her to his amazing assistance dog Garlic.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001m4bz)
20/05/23 Farming Today This Week: Interview with the prime minister and reaction to the Food Summit at Downing Street
This week farmers and food producers were invited to Downing Street to discuss the whole food chain; from the high costs farmers are facing to produce food, to the shortage of labour for harvesting and processing, and from trade to supply chain transparency. We speak to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, about his commitments to British food. Was it a photo op or a serious meeting? We hear reaction from those who were there, and from those who weren't invited.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
SAT 06:57 Weather (m001m4c1)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m001m4c3)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001m4c5)
Billy Billingham, Louise Minchin, Shaun Escoffery and George Asprey, Dr Alex George
We’re all standing to attention, as the paragon of discipline, former SAS member Billy Billingham and chief instructor on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins talks about how he's gone from a life of crime to towing the line.
Louise Minchin is a broadcaster who spent twenty years on the BBC Breakfast sofa, but did you know she is passionate about endurance sports? Her latest book "Fearless" sees her taking on physical challenges with inspirational women.
And completing the Circle of Life are the leonine brothers and longest serving cast members of The Lion King, actors Shaun Escoffery and George Asprey.
Former A & E doctor, Love Island star and mental health campaigner Dr Alex George shares his Inheritance Tracks.
Presenters: Nikki Bedi and Huw Stephens
Producer: Ben Mitchell
SAT 10:00 Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny (m001m4c7)
Krishnan Guru-Murthy: The Mornington Peninsula, Australia
Krishnan shares his love of Australia's Cornwall. But actual Cornwall is so much nearer and doesn't have huge spiders that jump up out of the grass at you. Which will Shaun go for? Resident geographer, historian and comedian Iszi Lawrence is on shark patrol.
Your Place Or Mine is the travel podcast that isn’t going anywhere. Join Shaun as his guests try to convince him that it’s worth getting up off the sofa and seeing the world, giving us a personal guide to their favourite place on the planet.
Producers: Beth O'Dea and Sarah Goodman
Your Place or Mine is a BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001m4c9)
Series 40
Brixton
Jay Rayner hosts this week's culinary panel show from the heart of bustling Brixton in South London. Joining Jay are food writers Melissa Thompson and Lerato, chef and food writer Marie Mitchell, and chef and Tim Anderson.
The panellists discuss the delights of Caribbean cuisine - from perfecting rice and peas, to picking the right shade of plantain. They divulge their go-to savoury breakfasts and offer secret tips on giving dishes that ‘magical punch’, including their most-loved methods of cooking asparagus.
Also joining the panel are renowned Brixton-based cook, Maureen Tyne who teaches us all you need to know about jerk, and Rastafarian cook, Jahson Peat, who gives us an insight into the beliefs and traditions of I-tal food.
Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001m4cc)
Radio 4's weekly assessment of developments at Westminster
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001m4cf)
El Salvador's brutal battle with gangs
Kate Adie introduces correspondents' dispatches from El Salvador, the streets of Pakistan's cities, the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, North Korea and Germany.
Since the 1990s, El Salvador fell into the grip of street gangs which terrorised the country. Now its President, Nayib Bukele, is running a harsh crackdown on gang members, introducing sweeping new police powers, summary arrests, mass trials and heavy sentences for alleged offenders. Will Grant spoke to some who've suffered, and others who've gained, in this new climate.
The last month has seen huge, passionate demonstrations in many of Pakistan's cities in support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Once he was seen as an ally of the country's military and security establishment, but recently those ties have cooled and he's faced a slew of legal challenges. Caroline Davies has seen how this political drama is playing out in court and on the streets.
What happened to the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims driven out of Myanmar in 2017? Rajini Vaidyanathan visits the world's largest refugee camp, in the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar, where many Rohingya families are trying to survive in cramped, squalid conditions. She reunites with a young boy the BBC first met five years ago.
Visitors to North Korea often have a hard time understanding what locals really think. But once North Koreans leave the country, they can finally speak out about feelings locked inside - or just not confronted - for a lifetime. Michael Bristow met one North Korean woman who's now making a new life in the north of England.
And in Germany, Tim Mansel explores why the future of small-town family butchers' shops appear to be on the chopping block. Like many other sectors in the German economy, retail butchery is struggling to fill all the empty vacancies.
Producer: Polly Hope
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001m4ck)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001m4cn)
Mobile Phone Scams and Scottish Widows
Criminals are targeting victims more effectively and exploiting banking apps on phones to steal thousands of pounds. That's the warning from one of the UK's most senior fraud officers, Detective Superintendent John Roch, who runs the Economic Crime Unit for London's Metropolitan Police. He's been speaking exclusively to Money Box - and you can hear that interview in full.
The Financial Conduct Authority has told this programme it has been speaking to Scottish Widows about concerns over the company's poor customer service. For the past year Money Box has been investigating complaints about the insurance and pensions firm. Customers have been contacting us to say they have faced lengthy delays when they have tried to get hold of their money. We'll hear from some of those listeners and get a response from Scottish Widows which says its overall service levels are getting back to normal as it continues to work hard behind the scenes. It says it has significantly increased the number of colleagues answering calls and dealing with customer requests.
Long-awaited plans to shake up the private rented sector in England were finally released this week. The Renters’ Reform Bill includes some very significant changes, including abolishing section 21 or so-called "no-fault" evictions and preventing landlords from banning tenants who claim benefits or have children. We'll discuss what this means for renters' rights.
And war widows who were forced to forfeit their pensions will receive a lump sum payment after a long running campaign. How will it work and who's eligible?
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast
12pm, Saturday 20th May 2023)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001lz10)
Series 111
Episode 4
Andy Zaltzman finds the funny in the week's headlines, as he quizzes the news. Providing the answers, hopefully, are Neil Delamere, Geoff Norcott, Ashley Storrie, and from the Spectator, Freddy Gray. The panel will be delving into who's not working, who should learn to work and who's trying to nick the work of others.
Written by Andy Zaltzman
With additional material by
Cody Dahler
Alfie Packham
Rebecca Bain
and Davina Bentley
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Giles Aspen
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m001m4cq)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001m4cs)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001lz16)
Jim Fairlie MSP, Lord Forsyth, Patrick Harvie MSP, Johann Lamont
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Kirkhill Community Centre near Inverness with the SNP MSP Jim Fairlie, the Conservative peer and former Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens and Minister at Holyrood Patrick Harvie and the former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Ken Garden
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001m4cv)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week
SAT 14:45 The Museums That Make Us (m001549w)
The Tower Museum, Derry Londonderry
Neil MacGregor presents a new series for BBC Radio Four celebrating the museums to be found in all corners of Britain. The ambition is to explore local, regional and city museums across the length and breadth of the country, and in the process to answer the question ‘What are Museums For in 2022’.
Today he's in Derry/Londonderry, where the Tower Museum strives to broaden the city's reputation away from one of division and violence by celebrating the lost industry of shirt making. At it's height, in the early 20th century, Derry shirts were exported all over the world. Although there is almost nothing left of that once booming trade, there remains a pride in the Shirt, chosen by the museum to demonstrate their sense of what matters to the local community.
Museums have always been telescopes trained on the past to help locate a sense of place in the present. Neil believes that role is an active one, responding to changes in the people museums serve and the shifting social and cultural landscape they inhabit. After spending much of his life at the centre of our national Museum life in London, Neil is taking to the road to discover more about the extraordinary work being done in Museums outside the capital, from Stornoway to Stowmarket, and Belfast to Birmingham.
In each episode he visits a single museum, inviting them to choose an object from their collections which they feel best illustrates their civic role, and the way they relate and want to relate to their local audience. Very rarely have they chosen a crown jewel from their often priceless collections. More often it's an object with a particular local resonance, or which helps tackle episodes from the past which are being viewed very differently by citizens in the 21st century.
He’ll be visiting the great national museums of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as major city institutions in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and elsewhere. And in spite of the challenges of the last two years, everywhere he meets passionate teams who are dedicated to providing a unique experience for both local audiences and visitors from further afield.
Neil writes: “What’s going on in our museums is at once challenging and exciting and it can only really be understood by visiting as many as possible and finding out how they have approached what is a vital role in providing a sense of local, regional and national identity.”
Producer - Tom Alban
Original music composed by Phil Channell
SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001m4cx)
The Ballad of Syd & Morgan
Syd Barrett (22), recently ex-Pink Floyd, encounters novelist E M Forster (89) in King’s College, Cambridge in 1968.
Their meeting in this dramatisation by Roger James Elsgood of Haydn Middleton’s novel of the same name leads to a conversation between two men belonging to very different eras of the 20th century and at markedly different stages in their lives, about the loss and the continued absence of creativity.
Creative success usually comes after much-unrecognised toil when it is rewarded by public recognition. But E M Forster and Syd Barrett were successful artists almost from the get-go, having had no great struggle to establish themselves.
Success arrived early in their lives, but then the impulse to be creative suddenly no longer seemed to be important, and they effectively downed tools.
Forster stopped writing novels at the age of 45 and lived for as many years again; Barrett withdrew from writing and performing music at 25 and spent a further 35 years substantially musically silent.
But both men’s cultural significance and legacy had already been secured. It had the effect of making them, their lives, and their work even more enigmatic and compelling to their followers.
Forster, who is completely at ease with his long absence of creative activity, imparts understanding and wisdom to the younger man who is confused by the turn his life has recently taken.
In return, Barrett's sudden youthful presence in Forster's life provides the eminent Edwardian with an unexpected release from long-resident inner demons, significantly the need to be circumspect about his sexuality.
Starring Simon Russell Beale as E M Forster, Tyger Drew-Honey as Syd Barrett and Madeleine Leslay as a college bedder.
Sound design by Giovanni Sipiano
Directed by Willi Richards
Produced by Roger James Elsgood
An Art and Adventure production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001m4cz)
Suranne Jones, Karen Millen, Eating disorders, Men and contraception, Kissing
Psychiatrists say they’re worried that some people with eating disorders are being offered palliative care. They say an eating disorder is not a terminal illness and most people can recover. Our reporter Carolyn Atkinson speaks to two women who currently have an eating disorder, and reports on what charities and professionals are saying about recover, and Hayley talks to mental health campaigner Hope Virgo about her experience.
Karen Millen started setting up her fashion brand just after she left college. She later sold the business, and made millions. Now, 20 years later, she’s back working for the company, creating a new collection. Anita speaks to her about what happened in between, and how it feels to be back.
Bafta-winning actor Suranne Jones is back on our screens with Maryland, a three-part drama about two sisters discovering that their mother was leading a secret life. Suranne plays the younger sister Becca. She joins Hayley to explain how the idea, which came to her in a dream, made it onto the small screen.
A new study suggests that humans kissing may have started more than a thousand years earlier than was previously thought. Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen from the University of Oxford joins Anita to talk through what it means, and how the investigation came about because of a conversation at the dinner table.
Are men responsible for unwanted pregnancies? 'Ejaculate Responsibly: The conversation We Need to Have about Men and Contraception' is a stirring manifesto by American writer and award-winning blogger Gabrielle Blair, who thinks they are. According to Gabrielle, if you boil it right down all unwanted pregnancies are caused by irresponsible ejaculations. She joins Hayley to discuss her argument.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Lottie Garton
SAT 17:00 PM (m001m4d1)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001m4d3)
The Stephen Flynn One
The SNP's Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, on what he will demand in the event of a hung Parliament, and how living with a disability shaped his politics.
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001m4d5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SAT 17:57 Weather (m001m4d7)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m4d9)
Philip Schofield has stepped down as host of ITV's This Morning after more than 20 years. And Sinn Fein is on course to be the biggest party in councils in Northern Ireland.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001m4dc)
Stacey Dooley, Gabrielle Brooks, Ben Elton, Paul Charles, Ron Sexsmith, Galen & Paul, David Morrissey, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and David Morrissey are joined by Stacey Dooley, Ben Elton, Gabrielle Brooks and Paul Charles for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Galen & Paul and Ron Sexsmith.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m001m4df)
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Enter the murky world of one of the most dominant men in Russia. From selling hotdogs to running a private army and meddling in the US elections, from Syria to Ukraine- who is this man in the shadows?
One of the most powerful figures you may not have heard of - Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Once a hotdog seller in St Petersburg, this former prisoner has risen to become a friend of Putin and his private army is now one of the main Russian players in the invasion of Ukraine.
Along the way he has catered to celebrities at his top end restaurant, allegedly run a centre for internet trolls, been accused of meddling in the US elections and financed a mercenary army - the Wagner group - based worldwide.
But is his time up? As the situation for his mercenaries gets worse in Ukraine, Prigozhin has started lashing out publicly at the Russian state.
Could this be the last course for the man once named 'Putin's Chef'?
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Jordan Dunbar, Georgia Coan
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001m4dh)
Nick Cave
Nick Cave, the Australian born singer-songwriter and author, reveals the formative influences and experiences that have inspired his own creativity. With his band The Bad Seeds, Cave is renowned for the darkness and drama of his narrative based work. His lyrics are often populated by flawed people doing bad things, but seeking redemption in love or God, or both. His musical output is diverse, ranging from rock’n’roll, to piano-based love songs. The tragic death of his 15 year old son Arthur in 2015 has informed recent work, with songs about devastating loss, grief and love explored throughout the albums Ghosteen and Carnage. Nick Cave has also written novels, poetry, a screenplay, and has recently published Faith, Hope and Carnage - a book exploring his ideas about creativity and belief.
Nick Cave talks to John Wilson about the influences of his father, an English teacher, and his mother, a school librarian, in encouraging his love of literature from a young age. He recalls seeing The Johnny Cash Show on television at the age of 10 and being spellbound by the country music star, with whom he later worked. He also remembers the life-changing effect of hearing Leonard Cohen’s Songs Of Life and Death album for the first time, and the profound influence the Canadian poet and songwriter had own his own lyrics. He reveals that fellow Australian Barry Humphries was another artist who inspired his own work, having seen a Dame Edna Everage show in Melbourne in the early 1970s. Nick Cave also discusses the impact that the death of his son had on his life, work and marriage.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001m4dk)
The Socrates of San Francisco
In a former Fire Station in 1960s San Francisco, there's a party going on, involving some of the most celebrated writers, artists, thinkers and musicians of the age. There's John Steinbeck, chatting to architect Buckminster Fuller; Marshall McLuhan is over in the corner telling another of his bad jokes to a young Joan Rivers and Tom Wolfe is talking to fellow author and Merry Prankster, Ken Kesey, who's hanging out at the bar with the Grateful Dead.
How did all these people come together in one place? The answer lies with a reluctant advertising innovator, an instigator of ideas, an agitator and a mentor - Howard Luck Gossage. The man who came to be known as ‘The Socrates of San Francisco’.
Howard Gossage was an advertising man first and foremost, a preternatural marketing and propaganda genius – but he was so much more. Defiantly independent, he both proved to be one of the industry’s most inventive innovators, astute prophets – and often its greatest critic.
A vocal thorn in the industry’s side, Howard operated the agency out of the supposed advertising backwater of San Francisco – a continent away from the Mad Men of Madison Avenue. And yet its influence is still felt around the world.
But upending the world of advertising was never going to be enough for Howard. He always felt that “changing the world is the only fit work for a grown man”. And so, in the mid-1960s, he set about to do just that. Among his many madcap adventures, Howard saved the Grand Canyon from being flooded for profit, tried to start a revolution in the Caribbean, discovered "the Patron-Saint of the Internet", Marshall McLuhan, and helped to create Friends of the Earth.
In this intriguing tale, celebrated West Coast advertising executive Jeff Goodby, whose own work and ethos has been profoundly influenced by Gossage, explores his life and legacy, which even today exerts its influence on advertising campaigns and agencies all around the world. "He was the inspiration behind the foundation of my agency and taught me about the positive impact advertising could have for society, to do more than just sell, that it can also build communities and drive change".
Presented by Jeff Goodby
Produced by Ashley Pollak and James King
Assistant Producer: Emma Stackhouse
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
A TellTale Industries production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (b0b8bmq6)
Series 4
Episode 10
It's the 1980s and Brian Oldman is back in jail for a crime he didn't commit. He suspects, but cannot prove, that Joseph Oldman, now Joseph Olinska MP, was the perpetrator.
GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing the nexus of crime, business and politics woven through the fabric of 20th century greed as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.
Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher.
The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
SAT 21:45 Short Works (m001lz05)
The Suit by Colin Carberry
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Colin Carberry. Read by Roísín Gallagher.
Colin Carberry is a writer of screenplays and fiction from Belfast. With Glenn Patterson, he co-wrote the film Good Vibrations, for which the pair were nominated for Outstanding Debut at the 2014 BAFTA Film awards. They had previously won Best Script at the 2013 Irish Writers Guild Awards, and Best Script at the 2012 Dinard British Film Festival. They were also nominated for Best First Script of 2013 by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. He is currently working on a collection of short stories and is developing a number of projects for film, television and theatre.
Writer: Colin Carberry
Reader: Roísín Gallagher
Producer: Michael Shannon
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SAT 22:00 News (m001m4dm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 Bringing Up Britain (m001lyrl)
Series 16
Should my child go to university?
For decades children have flocked to university. Governments have touted it as a boon for social mobility and economic growth, parents as a gateway to great careers. Yet as fees rise and graduate earnings stagnate, is it really worth it?
University students made a record number of complaints last year to the higher education watchdog, and a recent YouGov poll found the majority asked, said university tuition fees were 'bad value for money'.
So is university worth it? What does it really cost and what are the options if you decide not to go?
Anjula Mutanda meets mum Sophie who is unsure if she should encourage two of her teenage boys to go to university. Her eldest, Alexander, has a place at Oxford Brookes for September, but he is admittedly unacademic, dislikes studying, and his only visit to a lecture theatre filled him with horror. Her youngest is bright but would like to get stuck into work as soon as possible. He wants to be an entrepreneur and believes his school are encouraging him to think about university for the wrong reasons.
What should Sophie advise them to do?
Anjula’s panel this week is: Charlie Ball, Head of labour market intelligence at Jisc, Save the Student's Tom Allingham, Prof Tom Sperlinger, author of 'Who are universities for?', Helen Small, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, Dan Keller, CEO of Unifrog and Peter Gray, research professor of psychology at Boston College.
Producer: Sarah Bowen
SAT 23:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001lyh4)
Programme 6, 2023
(6/12)
Wales and the North of England square up in their first encounter of the season, with Kirsty Lang asking the questions. Myfanwy Alexander and David Edwards play for Wales, opposite Adele Geras and Stuart Maconie of the North of England. As always they'll be trying to disentangle the programme's trademark cryptic questions with as little help as possible from the chair. Kirsty will be docking points according to how often she has to step in with a heavy hint or steer them away from a red herring. Both teams may have cause to fear the music round, in which they not only have to identify extracts but work out what they have to do with one another.
The programme includes a generous helping of questions supplied by Round Britain Quiz listeners.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SAT 23:30 Uncanny (m001m4dp)
S2. Case 7: The Rendlesham UFO
The Rendlesham Incident is the most famous and controversial case in British UFO history, a story riddled with claims and counterclaims. Danny Robins talks to one of the original witnesses and tries to piece together just what happened back in December 1980 at a US airbase in Suffolk.
Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editor and Sound Designer: Charlie Brandon-King
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Lanterns on the Lake
Script editor: Dale Shaw
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4
SUNDAY 21 MAY 2023
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001m4dr)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 21st Century Relaxation Tape (m001kws3)
A revolution of sound is taking over the internet. Whether it’s ASMR, brown noise or binaural beats, millions of people are searching online for digital noise and modern meditative music that promises to improve sleep, sharpen mental focus, relieve stress, and ‘optimise the individual’.
Let Jennifer Walshe - esteemed composer and Oxford University professor - guide you through a hypnotic half-hour of aural bliss to biohack your brain, massage your senses, and multiply your productivity.
But within the cracks of this relaxation tape come the questions - where has this explosion of creativity come from? Can we call this content art? Does it have scientific credibility for wellness?
Your gurus of gentle sound, contributing to the programme include:
Joydeep Bhattacharya, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths.
Julie Rose Bower, ASMR-tist.
Michelle Cade aka Mind Like Water, sound therapist.
Alex Shannon, "the world’s first sleep influencer”.
Oleg Stavitsky, app creator.
Yuri Suzuki, instrument and product designer.
And students Max Blansjaar & Imi King, representing Gen Z.
Your Zen-like audio producers are Tess Davidson & Jack Howson
With ear-popping sound engineering by Mike Woolley
A Peanut & Crumb production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m4dt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m4dw)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m4dy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001m4f0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001m4f2)
St Peter’s Church in Cretingham in Suffolk
Bells on Sunday comes from St Peter’s Church in Cretingham in Suffolk. The tower houses a ring of six bells by four different founders with the oldest dating from around 1416, cast by Richard Baxter of Norwich. The tenor weighs seven and a half hundredweight and is tuned to the note of A. We hear them ringing Bourne Surprise Minor.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m001m4df)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001m4mc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0532g05)
Ideas of Self
'Be yourself', we're told. But what does that really mean? What is this thing called self?
The poet and radio producer Pejkl Malinovski reflects on a question that has intrigued poets for centuries. 'I is someone else', Rimbaud said. 'I contain multitudes', said Whitman.
Modern neuroscience contests the idea that we are somehow born with a soul and millions of Buddhists have been living happily without one for thousands of years.
Perhaps a lot of our frustrations in this self-centred era come from the idea that we must control, build and advance our egos, when really we might be a lot better off giving up some control.
Pejk's meditation embraces writings by Gertrude Stein, Fernando Pessoa and Sharon Salzberg.
Producer Alan Hall.
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m001m4ml)
Crofting in the Wild West
In Scotland’s Western Isles, crofters are determined to do more than just cling on to an old way of life. Donald John Cameron and his partner Linsay Robertson have returned to his native South Uist with big plans to turn his multi-croft holding into a thriving business, complete with agritourism, that they can pass on to their young daughter. But as well as the challenges of building their business on an island, they must deal with the reappearance of the white-tailed or sea eagle, which they believe is damaging their operation.
Produced and presented by Richard Baynes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m001m4mq)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001m4mv)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001m4n0)
Church yard allotments, Myanmar cyclone, New caritas boss
As the biggest cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in 10 years hits Bangladesh and Myanmar, we explore what this devastation means for the persecuted Rohingya Muslim refugees. Edward Stourton speaks to the Global Advocacy Director for Islamic Reliefs Shahin Ashraf.
We speak to the British Catholic who is taking the helm of one of the world’s biggest aid organisations. Alistair Dutton has just been appointed as Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, which does relief and development work in more than 200 countries. He tells Edward Stourton about the challenges of his new role and his hopes for the future of the organisation.
Many Christians in western countries have been alarmed that the Russian Orthodox Church and its leader Patriarch Kirill have supported Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The war has already caused the deaths of thousands of Orthodox Christians. We speak to the author of a new book which throws light on this and examines how the war has affected religious life in Ukraine. It's called "Holy Russia, Holy War" and it's by the writer and historian Katherine Kelaidis, Director of Research and Content at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago.
Editor: Tim Pemberton
Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Catherine Murray
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Studio Managers: Carwyn Griffith & Phil Booth
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001m4n4)
Zambia Orphans Aid UK
Mwaka Mudenda makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Zambia Orphans Aid UK.
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 ‘Zambia Orphans Aid UK’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Zambia Orphans Aid UK’.
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: 1145721
SUN 07:57 Weather (m001m4n8)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001m4nd)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001m4nj)
Hymns Alive
From Holy Trinity Claygate, Surrey, a service that focuses on ‘Seniors ministry’.
Pippa Cramer, Pastoral Care and Seniors Minister, and her husband, Steve, who developed a series which helps to bring much loved hymns alive.
These hymns are embedded in the memories of those who were taught them as children and we will hear from some elders in the congregation on what particular hymns mean to them today. Steve Cramer, explores the Hymn, My Song is Love Unknown looking at its ability to take deep truths and encapsulate them in just a few simple words.
With a reading Hebrew’s Chapter 4 verses 14 - 16.
Producer: Carmel Lonergan.
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001lz18)
The Ratings Game
Tom Shakespeare bemoans the fashion for being asked to rate everything we buy or do.
"The theory is that this drives up quality for everyone, because we won't tolerate terrible products or services - but have they really improved since these ratings became so commonplace?"
Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tx41n)
Sparrowhawk
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the sparrowhawk.
A garden visit from a sparrowhawk can be an exciting affair. They're smash-and grab raiders, using bushes, hedgerows and fences as cover to take their victims by surprise. Males are blue-grey above, with a striking rusty-orange chest and are smaller than the brown females - this allows the pair to take a wide range of prey.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001m4nn)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001m4ns)
Writer, Liz John
Director, Jeremy Howe
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Natasha Archer ….. Mali Harries
Pat Archer ….. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ….. William Troughton
Tony Archer ….. David Troughton
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Martyn Gibson ….. Jon Glover
Hannah Riley ….. Helen Longworth
Erin ….. Amy McAllister
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001m4nx)
Professor Sharon Peacock, scientist
Professor Sharon Peacock is professor of public health and microbiology at Cambridge University. In March 2020 she set up the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium to map the genetic sequence of the virus as it spread and mutated. Within a year COG-UK was leading the world in identifying mutant COVID strains, and this data was instrumental in helping the development of vaccines and treatments.
Sharon was born in Margate and left school at 16 to work in her local corner shop. She moved on to become a dental nurse the following year and after that she trained to be a nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. After studying for A levels at evening classes, in 1983 she won a place to study medicine as a mature student at the University of Southampton.
After further training and several years researching bacterial diseases in Thailand, she returned to the UK where she led the development of the Cambridge Infectious Diseases Initiative.
In 2021 Sharon was awarded the MRC Millennium Medal, the Medical Research Council’s most prestigious prize.
DISC ONE: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
DISC TWO: A Boy and a Girl - Voces8
DISC THREE: Time Has Told Me - Nick Drake
DISC FOUR: Title: Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea
DISC FIVE: Take a Bow - Muse
DISC SIX: Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11 (from Fauré’s Requiem) Composed by Gabriel Fauré and performed by Choir of St. John's College, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha
DISC SEVEN: Symphonie Fantastique by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, composed by Hector Berlioz, performed by Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
DISC EIGHT: The Lark Ascending, composed by Vaughan Williams and performed by Tasmin Little (violin) BBC Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
BOOK CHOICE: Oxford Textbook of Medicine
LUXURY ITEM: A projector and photos
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Time Has Told Me – Nick Drake
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001m4p1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m001lyhf)
Series 91
7. The Letter Q, Chaise Longue and Hazard of the Job
Sue Perkins challenges Paul Merton, Felicity Ward, Ivo Graham and Josie Lawrence to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.
The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from The Letter Q to Chaise Longue.
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
A BBC Studios Production
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001m4fy)
Tech, TikTok and the Future of Food Writing
Leyla Kazim examines the growing influence apps, maps and lists are having on restaurant recommendations, food writing and the way we eat.
Leyla sits down for lunch with Michael O’Shea from the restaurant recommendation app Jacapo, ‘the social network for people who love food,’ to hear why he thinks apps like his have the potential to reshape the way people find new places to eat.
She meets Jonathan Nunn from online magazine Vittles in Green Lanes, North London, where they discuss the rapid trajectory of lists and map-based recommendations, and what these developments mean for the changing landscape of food media in the UK.
We get the thoughts of three restaurant critics on the subject: The Telegraph’s William Sitwell, The Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa and Elite Traveler magazine’s Andy Hayler.
In Glasgow producer Robbie Armstrong meets Julie Lin at her restaurant Ga Ga, where she talks about the way apps and tech now give restaurateurs instant feedback, and why she welcomes the social media reviewer as much as the classic critic.
In Edinburgh, Robbie sits down for lunch with The Times Scotland Restaurant critic Chitra Ramaswamy to hear why she welcomes the democratisation of food reviewing. She outlines why critics continue to play a crucial role, and explains the ethics behind her approach to criticism.
Social media influencers mvlondonreviews discuss the blurred lines that can emerge between restaurants and social media reviewers, and the reasons they set clear boundaries before a review.
Finally, The Palmerston’s James Snowdon recounts the game-changing power a restaurant critic still holds.
Presented by Leyla Kazim.
Produced by Robbie Armstrong.
SUN 12:57 Weather (m001m4p8)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001m4pd)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world
SUN 13:30 Conspiracies: The Secret Knowledge (m001m4pk)
The Enemy Within
Historian Phil Tinline explores the role of conspiracy, and conspiracy theory, in British politics.
In this episode, Phil examines Enoch Powell's personal crusade against the 'enemy within' during the 1970 election campaign, with the help of Powell biographers Camilla Schofield and Simon Heffer, and explores the impact of this idea, with the help of playwright David Edgar, and historians Jean Seaton, Stephen Dorril and Dan Lomas.
Series contributors include: James Ball, Nick Cohen, Stephen Dorril, Ruth Dudley Edwards, David Edgar, Steven Fielding, Simon Heffer, Dan Lomas, Andrew Lownie, Oliver Bullough, Jean Seaton, Camilla Schofield
Producer: Phil Tinline
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001lyzw)
Causeway Coast
Which unusual rhubarb varieties can I grow in Northern Ireland? Could the panel recommend a small tree for a seaside garden?- How can I encourage an apricot tree to produce more fruit?
Kathy and her crew of gardening geniuses are back to answer all these plant predicaments and more from the blustery Causeway Coast. Ready to offer their horticultural know-how from Northern Ireland are self-proclaimed botanical geek James Wong, passionate plantsman Neil Porteous, and experienced garden designer, Kirsty Wilson.
Later on, Neil Porteus gives us all his tips and tricks on how to coast through gardening with seaside conditions, strong sea breezes and unsheltered spots.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001m4pr)
A Room With a View - Episode 1
John Yorke examines E M Forster’s best-loved novel A Room with a View, first published in 1908.
Set in Florence and Surrey, A Room with a View is both a coming-of-age story and an intoxicating love story, as teenage Lucy Honeychurch has to choose between two very different men, and between following convention or following her heart. It's a book full of muddle and misunderstanding, as well as comedy and joy, as Lucy tries to make sense of her feelings and to work out how to be true to herself.
The book opens at the Pensione Bertolini, a guest house for respectable English tourists in Florence. Lucy has just arrived with her much older cousin, Charlotte Bartlett, who is a martyr and a fusspot, and one of Forster’s greatest comic creations. They are disappointed not to have the rooms with views of the River Arno they had been promised by the landlady.
In this first programme of two, John is keen to find out how Forster’s own experiences of travelling in Italy are reflected in the book, why his writing makes the novel such a pleasure to read, and why, nearly 120 years after it was first published, it still resonates with modern audiences.
John Yorke has worked in television and radio for thirty years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatized in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday/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:
Alison Hennegan, former Director of Studies in English, Trinity Hall Cambridge
Sarah Winman, novelist
Reading by Sarah Winman
Credits: A Room with a View by E M Forster, first published by Edward Arnold 1908
Produced by Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael
Sound by Sean Kerwin
Researcher Nina Semple
Production Manager Sarah Wright
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 15:00 Love Stories (m001m4pw)
A Room with a View: Episode One
Writer ..... E.M. Forster
Dramatist ..... Marcy Kahan
Lucy ..... Rosie Day
Charlotte ..... Rosie Cavaliero
Reverend Beebe ..... John Heffernan
Mr Emerson ..... Gerard McDermott
George ..... Luke Thallon
Eleanor Lavish ..... Leah Marks
Reverend Eager ..... Ewan Bailey
Miss Alan ..... Jessica Turner
Carriage driver/vendor ..... Alessandro Dowling
Morgan Forster ..... Daniel Ings
Pianist ..... Peter Ringrose
Director ..... Sally Avens
Forster's witty, sunlit story of Lucy Honeychurch's trip to Italy accompanied by her conventional cousin Charlotte.
Arriving at the Pension Bertolini they discover they have no view from their rooms; when another guest offers to swap rooms with them it sets off a train of events that causes Lucy to question the conventions of polite Edwardian society and open herself up to the passion and romance.
Rosie Day (Lucy Honeychurch) has been seen in 'Outlander' 'Living The Dream' and 'Real Love'. She is about to direct her first feature film.
Rosie Cavaliero (Charlotte) credits include: Gentleman Jack, Worzel Gummidge and she has just finished filming Undoing Martin Parker for BBC1
John Heffernan (Reverend Beebe) recently played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the National and can be seen later this year in A Gentleman in Moscow.
Luke Thallon won the Clarence Derwent award for his performance in Leopoldstadt. He has recently been seen in Patriots at The Almeida Theatre
SUN 16:00 Open Book (m000my1r)
Martin Amis
In an edition of Open Book recorded in 2020 for the publication of Inside Story: A Novel, Martin Amis talks to the writer and broadcaster Elizabeth Day.
Inside Story was his last book, a largely autobiographical work, it included lengthy examinations of the mentors and friends who helped define him – Christopher Hitchens, Saul Bellow, Philip Larkin and his father, Kingsley Amis. In the programme, Martin Amis talked candidly about those influential relationships on his life and gives his thoughts on Donald Trump, cancel culture and the power of satire.
SUN 16:30 Whose Truth Is It Anyway? (m001m4q8)
Memoir and Me
Writer and broadcaster Damian Barr grapples with the slippery idea of truth in literature - from memoir to fiction to writing that occupies all the areas in between. What does it mean for a story to be true - and is the idea of truth changing? Who gets to decide whose truths make it into onto the page and into our bookshelves?
With contributions from Sathnam Sanghera, Olivia Laing, Ellah Wakatama, Taymour Soomro, Alexandra Heminsley and Suede singer and co-creator of the new album Autofiction, Brett Anderson.
In this first episode, Damian explores one of the most popular and personal genres of writing - memoir. Revisiting his own complex experience of writing a memoir, and dealing with the aftermath, Damian unpicks what it is that authors and readers expect from type of writing. What makes a memoir more or less true? And do readers understand something different by that truth from authors? Do modern audiences expect a different kind of truth?
Damian also reveals some of his own discoveries about the process of writing a true memoir - including discovering that even the most candid memoir is also be shaped by legal and personal considerations. Not all truths are published equally.
Written and Presented by Damian Barr
Produced by Leo Hornak
An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001m4qj)
Affirmative Action on Trial
For 40 years, affirmative action policies were created in the United States to address a lack of women and people of colour in the workplace and at university. They have been questioned before, and are now under scrutiny once again in the Supreme Court.
Two cases are being brought by a group called Students for Fair Admissions challenging the way race is considered in the admissions process at Harvard and North Carolina Universities.
The case against Harvard specifically alleges discrimination against Asian Americans, which the prestigious college denies. But affirmative action is divisive and means different things to Americans.
Nomia Iqbal speaks to Edward Blum, the man bringing the case to court, and to students on either side of the debate.
Is the policy a helping hand, or an unfair handout?
SUN 17:40 Profile (m001m4df)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001m4qq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
SUN 17:57 Weather (m001m4qx)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m4r2)
G7 leaders in Hiroshima have promised to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. And Rishi Sunak is resisting calls for an inquiry into the actions of the Home Secretary.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001m4r6)
Athena Kugblenu
You think Eurovision was tense? You should have seen Athena trying to pick the best content from BBC Radio and podcasts from the past week. But she's done it. And even if she says so herself, she's curated quite a playlist. From AfroFuturism to British cults, from Cornwall to Calais. She even learned how to tell the difference between Scottish and Irish whisky/whiskey.
Presenter: Athena Kugblenu
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001m4ft)
Adam and Tom are in Little Croxley cricket pavilion preparing for the match. They discuss Tom’s captaincy of next weekend’s village T20. Tom has a head start on Tracy having already recruited players, including Adam, to his team. They’re determined to nab Chris before Tracy gets to him. Later, Chris completes an impressive batting innings, despite turning his ankle. Tom and Adam try to persuade him to join their T20 side, but Chris reveals that Tracy has already used family ties to compel him to join hers. He’d rather play for Tom, but he’s not brave enough to disappoint his aunt. Buoyed by their victory over Little Croxley, Tom vows to stand up to Tracy.
Helen and Lee are trying to celebrate Jack’s birthday at a restaurant with an outdoor pirate play area. Helen’s on edge, knowing now that Rob wants to see Jack. She thought going somewhere away from Ambridge would feel safer, but the crowded location feels anything but. Lee attempts to reassure her, but she snaps at him. When Ian arrives with Xander they try to look forward to visiting Lee’s daughters in San Francisco at Christmas, but Helen remains tense. Ian suggests they go back to Honeysuckle Cottage, where he’ll make pizza. They do so and Helen is much happier. Jack’s having a great time. Lee worries to Ian that Ian’s better at handling Helen’s anxiety than he is. Nonetheless, when Adam returns from the match, Ian confides his fears. With Rob back on the scene, he’s worried what will be next.
SUN 19:15 Mark Steel's in Town (m0002hmd)
Series 9
The Forest of Dean
Mark Steel returns to Radio 4 with the ninth series of his award-winning show that travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents.
In this episode Mark visits the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire... and he manages to get out alive.
Written and performed by Mark Steel
Additional material by Pete Sinclair
Production co-ordinator, Hayley Sterling
Sound Manager, Jerry Peal
Producer, Carl Cooper
Picture Credit, Tom Stanier
SUN 19:45 On Portobello Prom (m001m4rc)
Broken Homes
During a sacred family dinner, Violetta makes an announcement that results in shattered pottery and broken hearts. Rosie tries to make peace with flowers but wonders if love can ever be enough.
Read by Jessica Hardwick
Written by Sara Sheridan
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
Based on Sara Sheridan's short story 'On Portobello Prom' originally published in 'The People's City'
SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001lz0q)
THIS PROGRAMME HAS BEEN EDITED SINCE FIRST BROADCAST.
Andrea Catherwood hears what former BBC Managing Editor, Dr Liam McCarthy has to say about the changes at Local Radio. Jason Horton, Director of Production BBC Local, responds.
Listeners give their verdict on Vernon Kay's first week at Radio 2.
And Feedback's Special Correspondent Rob Crossan reminisces about Radio 4 shows that have been put out to pasture.
A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001lz0d)
Newton Minow, Vicky Neale, Lois Keith, Gerald Rose
Matthew Bannister on
Newton Minow, who was just 35 when he was appointed chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission by President John F. Kennedy. He gave a famous speech describing TV as a “vast wasteland” and helped to set up the Public Broadcasting Service.
Vicky Neale, the mathematician who responded to her diagnosis with cancer by launching a podcast discussing the role of maths in cancer research.
Lois Keith, who campaigned for equal rights for disabled people.
Gerald Rose, the children’s book illustrator who won the Kate Greenaway Medal for his work on “Old Winkle and the Seagulls”
Interviewee: Nell Minow
Interviewee: Professor Hannah Fry
Interviewee: Charlie Gilderdale
Interviewee: Richard Rose
Interviewee: Joanna Owen
Interviewee: Dea Birkett
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Archive used:
Newt Minow interview, Talk of the Nation, NPR, 06/09/2006; Newton Minow's interview, PBS News Hour, YouTube, uploaded 08/05/2021; Newton Minow on his 1961 "Vast Wasteland" speech, Emmy TV Legends, 04/05/2011; President Obama Awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom 2016, The Obama White House, YouTube, uploaded 22/11/2016; Vicky Neale, Maths+Cancer podcast, University of Oxford, date unknown - source: oxford.shorthandstories.com/maths-plus-cancer/ ; Vicky Neale appearance on The Infinity Monkey Cage, BBC Radio 4, 07/07/2014; Vicky Neale, Oxford Mathematics, YouTube uploaded 27/05/2022;
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001m4cn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001m4n4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Short Cuts (m000tlvp)
Unfinished
Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about looking for completion. A son who finishes his mother’s novel, a family returning to a sacred place and an exploration of a body as ‘an unfinished product’.
Return to Iraq
Featuring Zohra Aly and Amina Alimohamed
The Four Corners of the Heart
Featuring Denis Westhoff
BBC Archive of Françoise Sagan, 1989
Produced by Hannah Dean
PMHx
Written, sound designed, scored, and performed by James T. Green
A special thanks to C’ne Rohlsen, Axel Kacoutié, C.C. Paschal, Cher Vincent, Zakiya Gibbons, and Veralyn Williams for editorial and artistic guidance.
Curatorial team: Eleanor McDowall
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001m4rh)
Nick Watt discusses the home secretary's difficulties over her speeding offence, plus forthcoming migration figures, with Conservative MP Theresa Villiers; shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock; and former senior civil servant Philip Rycroft. The panel also analyses Labour's plans for NHS reforms and the results of the local elections in Northern Ireland. Katy Balls - political editor of The Spectator - brings additional expertise and insight.
SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001m4dc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b0532g05)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 22 MAY 2023
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001m4rp)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001lyqw)
Prison Abolition
PRISON ABOLITION: Laurie Taylor talks to Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, about a new study which considers the case for ending imprisonment. Mass incarceration and its devastating impact on black communities have been widely condemned as neoslavery or “the new Jim Crow.” Can the practice of imprisonment be reformed, or does justice require it to be ended altogether? They’re joined by Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law at Durham University, who questions 'anti carceral' approaches from a feminist perspective – do they serve the interests of survivors of male violence against women and girls?
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001m4f2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m4rt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m4ry)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m4s2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001m4s6)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m4sb)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001m4sg)
22/05/23 Scottish Food Security; world farming conference; Welsh seed hub.
Scotland has a new Food Security Unit - which the government says will 'monitor food system resilience'. The unit was reccomended by a food security and supply task force which the Scottish government set up with the food industry immediately after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Farmers from around the world are meeting in South Africa this week for the World Farmers Organisation General Assembly - they'll discuss international trade, farmer driven innovation and climate change - amongst other things. All week we'll take a look a some of the issues farmers in other countries are facing.
As many keen gardeners and indeed farmers will tell you seeds grown locally are best suited to the local as they're used to the exact conditions. A group of growers in West wales are championing seeds with links to Wales - we visit the Wales Seed Hub.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
MON 05:56 Weather (m001m4sn)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyzk)
Guillemot
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Guillemot. Guillemots breed on cliff ledges and the chick is encouraged to make its first flight at the pointing of fledging by being encouraged to jump by its mother or father calling from the sea below.
MON 06:00 Today (m001m4f7)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001m4f9)
Birds and moths
The exhibition Animals: Art, Science and Sound at the British Library (until 28 August 2023) reveals how animals have been documented across the world through history. Cheryl Tipp, Curator of Wildlife and Environmental Sound, explores how people have tried to capture bird song – from using musical notation in the 17th century to the first commercial recording three centuries later, and the recording of the last Kauaʻi ʻōʻō songbird in Haiwaii.
Swifts are summer migrants, flying thousands of miles, only pausing to breed in Europe. Their screeching cries and darting flight might be the sight and sound of summer evenings, and yet we know relatively little about their lives. In One Midsummer’s Day the naturalist Mark Cocker goes in search of the elusive swift, and finds a whole natural world of connections.
The ecologist Tim Blackburn also discovers the hidden rules and interconnectedness of nature in his study of moths. His book, The Jewel Box, celebrates the diversity he finds within the moth trap on the roof of his flat. But also exposes a glimpse of a larger landscape, beyond the world of lepidoptera.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4hl)
The Importance of Origins
Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.
Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.
Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001m4ff)
Women of Northern Ireland; Baroness Nicky Morgan; Looking good for your age; Menopause drugs update
Starting on BBC Two, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer tonight, Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland gives voice to the people who lived through the Troubles, sharing intimate stories from all sides of the conflict. The series airs today on the anniversary of the referendum that ratified the Good Friday Agreement, on 22nd May 1998. Nuala is joined by two women, Denise and Bernadette, who chose to take part in the series to share their stories.
As the Online Safety Bill progresses through the House of Lords, the former culture secretary Baroness Morgan of Cotes has tabled an amendment to the Bill calling for a Violence Against Women and Girls Code of Practice. She said a code is desperately needed to specifically address the harms to women and girls. Further discussions will take place this week on the Bill. Baroness Nicky Morgan joins Nuala to discuss.
How do you feel if someone tells you you’re 'looking good for your age'? Not so secretly thrilled? Slightly indignant? Why are we likely to take it as a compliment if someone believes you look younger than you actually are? The American businesswoman and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart recently became the oldest woman on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and has been praised for looking less than her 81 years. Why? Nuala is joined by Sam Baker of The Shift podcast, and Lucy Baker who blogs as Geriatric Mum.
A new menopause drug to deal with hot flushes could be available by the end of the year in the UK. The non-hormonal drug fezolinetant has been hailed as 'game-changing' by some experts. At the same time, the supply of the HRT drug Utrogestan has been restricted by the government because of shortages. To find out more, Nuala is joined by Dr Annice Mukherjee, a consultant endocrinologist and visiting professor at the University of Coventry; and Dr Nina Wilson, an NHS GP and founder of the One Woman Health menopause clinic.
MON 11:00 Blood on the Dance Floor (p0fhr02c)
5. Ripples
The untold story of the murder of a gay police officer in Northern Ireland in 1997
Belfast 1997. But not just any part of Belfast, gay Belfast. A place you've probably never heard of before. Cigarette smoke, aftershave and expectation fill the air in the only openly gay bar in the country. Sat having a drink on a night out is Darren Bradshaw. He was just 24 years old when he was shot dead in front of hundreds of people. His brutal murder by terrorists sparked fears of a return to all out violence as the new Labour government under Tony Blair sought to bring peace to Northern Ireland - on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.
This is the untold story of his life and murder. A story of both love and eventually betrayal.
Presenter Jordan Dunbar grew up in the city, he was a comedian and drag performer on the Belfast scene and yet this murder and Darren's life was never talked about. As a child of the ceasefire, his knowledge of LGBT life in Northern Ireland all came after the Good Friday Agreement. His history was based on the Loyalist and Republican - the Orange or Green versions and the rainbow had never come up.
Following Darren's story brings to life the struggle of being gay in The Troubles, how Belfast got its first Pride parade only in 1991 and its very first gay club in 1994 -The Parliament - where Darren was tragically shot dead.
It's a community surviving as well as thriving against a backdrop of violence and discrimination. He meets the original drag queens, DJs and club pioneers determined to claim back the city centre from the terrorists and create a safe place of their own.
Determined to piece together for the first time how Darren was killed that night and why, Jordan uncovers stories of bigotry, bravery and betrayal.
Reporter: Jordan Dunbar
Series Producer: Paul Grant
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna
Commissioning Editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston
MON 11:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (p0f7qg4s)
20. Is the law gender blind?
Lucy Worsley, Professor Rosalind Crone and lawyer and comedian Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes discuss the wicked crimes of the last four Lady Killers in this series. They examine their treatment by the criminal justice system and ask whether there are parallels with women’s experiences today. Together they examine gender, prejudice and racial bias.
They explore the major changes for women over 100 years from 1823 to 1923. From raising hemlines to the campaign for women’s suffrage and opportunities in the world of work. They examine how changes in society filter through to the justice system, and reflect on the changing nature of how we consume information and the cult of celebrity - from early newspapers, pamphlets and cheap sheets to social media today.
Producer: Emily Hughes
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Series Producer: Julia Hayball.
A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4
MON 12:00 News Summary (m001m4lr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001m4fm)
New Builds, Prom Dress, Tool Theft
We hear from a man who spent £850,000 on an new build apartment which has such serious structural defects it could face demolition. The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities has described the situation for the residents of Agar Grove in Camden as "deplorable". But how did it happen and who is accountable? We'll be asking Emma Toms, Chief Operating Officer at New Homes Quality Board, who's aim is to drive up standards in new build homes, those questions as well as what she's going to do to prevent it happening in the future.
Its prom season but with the continuing cost-of-living crisis many parents looking to buy prom dresses might be tempted to search for a cheap alternative online. There are many dress companies based abroad that sell in the UK - we hear one parents saga of trying to return a dress to a company based in Hong Kong called Stacees and Gary Rycroft, Consumer Law Expert, explains what buying from one of the companies means for your consumer rights.
And tool theft is having a massive impact on trades people with new research suggesting tools were stolen every 15 minutes in 2022. We hear from one painter and decorator who's had his stools stolen three times. Are the police doing enough to stop it? Simon Dann, Intelligence and Takings Manager, Surrey Police, explains what they're doing about it.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM
MON 12:57 Weather (m001m4fp)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m001m4fr)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
MON 13:45 Taking Issue with Shakespeare (m001l23q)
Episode 1
Major public figures in conversation with Professor Emma Smith explore whether Shakespeare might help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.
Across the week, Emma talks with Michael Gove on the “levelling up” agenda and King Lear, Will Self on toxic masculinity and Hamlet, Fiona Shaw on post-Covid decisions to move from city to countryside and As You Like It, and Mercy Muroki on whether the monarchy can unite the nation and Richard II.
In this opening episode she discusses the national and international challenges of populism with senior British statesman, Gordon Brown, and Chair of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Baroness Shriti Vadera.
Shakespeare anniversaries can seem to come thick and fast. 2014 saw the 450th anniversary of his birth and 2016 the 400th anniversary of his death, but this major series marks the most significant anniversary of all. In 1623, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays was published – the so-called First Folio. Without the First Folio, many of the biggest plays – Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest – would probably have been lost forever. More importantly, without the First Folio, we wouldn’t have that cast of characters, scenarios and quotations which reverberate across time and inform our thinking.
Emma Smith is Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford and author of This Is Shakespeare. She brings to bear her deep knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays and of the era in which he wrote them – an era sometimes similar to our own and sometime very different – and her passionate interest in contemporary issues. Can Shakespeare help us grapple with these?
With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott
Producer: Beaty Rubens
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
MON 14:00 The Archers (m001m4ft)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001m4dh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Saturday]
MON 15:00 Round Britain Quiz (m001m4fw)
Programme 7, 2023
(7/12)
The Round Britain Quiz teams get the chance to turn the tables in the second half of the series as they play return matches against their opponents from earlier in the season. This week Frankie Fanko and Stephen Maddock of the Midlands are back, to see if they can avenge their defeat by Paul Sinha and Marcus Berkmann of the South of England.
Kirsty Lang is on hand with the show's trademark cryptic questions, and will be steering the panellists away from their wilder speculations and providing clues if they need them. But for every heavy hint she drops, they'll pay a penalty in points.
As usual, the programme includes a generous helping of questions suggested by Round Britain Quiz listeners.
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001m4fy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Does the Irish Republic want reunification? (m001m4g0)
25 years ago to the day since the people of both Northern Ireland and the Republic voted to accept the Good Friday Agreement, another potential referendum looms on the distant horizon. That Agreement, though primarily to end the violence of the Troubles, allows for a future border poll that would determine whether Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, or re-joined the south.
But crucially, few people realise that it’s not just up to Northern Ireland voters: consent is required on both sides of the border. And for voters in the Republic, it’s more complicated than you might think.
Andrea Catherwood investigates what the new, highly-educated, liberal, European-focused Irish Republic thinks about the possibility of its northern neighbours, from whom they were parted more than 100 years ago, re-joining their country.
Polls suggest a number of issues; symbols, violence, economics. Can Ireland afford it, and does it want to? Is it just too much trouble?
With contributions from the main Irish political parties, as well as economist David McWilliams and Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy, the assumption of a yes vote from the republic isn’t as straightforward as many assume.
Presented by Andrea Catherwood
Produced by Sarah McGlinchey
Executive Editor Andy Martin
A BBC NI production for BBC Radio 4
MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m001m4g2)
Series 29
Dialogue
We have been in an odd dialogue with algorithms from the very inception of the internet. They have been trained to spot offensive words, with the goal of allowing civilized conversation while avoiding trolls, spam adverts and hate speech.
But, many of our online spaces now moderate content to suit the needs of advertisers. This can mean a lot of people, especially those from marginalized communities, those with alternative or dissident views, or even a-typically creative people, are silenced - and so valuable voices, and conversations could be lost.
But humans are very good with language, better than any algorithm developed until now, and we have always found ways to hack around constraints. The latest instrument in this linguistic arms race? Algospeak.
Aleks explores the rise of this new form of social media language, discovers how and why black and queer communities are disproportionately silenced by ‘Ad-safe’ algorithms, and finds out that some of the most effective techniques that could allow us to circumvent AI censorship are rooted in the language of people that had to communicate, and mask themselves, with code, long before the digital world existed.
MON 17:00 PM (m001m4g5)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m4g9)
Suella Braverman says there was "nothing untoward" about her handling of a speeding ticket
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (p0fdn54d)
Series 91
8. The Great Barrier Reef, Static Electricity and Pride and Prejudice
Sue Perkins challenges Gyles Brandreth, Jan Ravens, Tony Hawks and Rachel Parris to speak for 60 seconds without repetition, deviation or hesitation.
The long-running Radio 4 national treasure of a parlour game is back for a new series with subjects this week ranging from The Great Barrier Reef to Static Electricity.
Production coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Sound editor: Marc Willcox
Producer: Rajiv Karia
A BBC Studios Production
MON 19:00 The Archers (m001m4gc)
Susan drops in on Tracy and Jazzer, who is still at home with a broken ankle. Having briefly discussed Jim’s obsession with opposing the electric charging station, they move on to Tracy’s hen party this Friday. Susan has recruited Chelsea, Lynda, Jolene and Emma, amongst others. However, they still haven’t decided where to go. They discuss various options – chocolate-making, laser tag, karaoke – but Tracy doesn’t want anything fancy or, more importantly, expensive. A drink with mates is fine. Susan doesn’t think that will do and confides in Jazzer. She’ll at least find a special location for it.
Tony talks to Pat. He’s determined to keep on at the police until they refer Rob’s kidnapping of Jack to the Crown Prosecution Service. Tony’s confident Rob will be charged, but Pat doesn’t want to jump the gun. Meanwhile Helen tries to focus on work, especially making Open Farm Sunday a success. Her positive mood is destroyed when Tony brings her a letter from Stephen South, Rob’s solicitor, formally requesting access to Jack. Pat and Tony remind her there’s a Prohibited Steps Order in place, but Helen frets that Rob has found a way to challenge it. Having failed to reach her solicitor Dominic, Tony calls Anna Tregorran for advice. While Anna says they can refuse a change to the Child Arrangement order, she also offers to meet Helen later in the week while visiting her mother, Carol. Helen worries that Anna knows something she’d prefer to tell her in person. Does she think Helen may have a fight on her hands?
MON 19:15 Front Row (m001m4gf)
Arlo Parks, Martin Amis remembered, depicting The Troubles
Singer songwriter Arlo Parks talks about following her highly acclaimed first album with a new release, My Soft Machine, which includes a collaboration with American musician Phoebe Bridgers.
Film director James Bluemel discusses his new documentary, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, which reflects on the troubles using human stories. He’s joined by Craig Murray, curator of the Imperial War Museum’s new exhibition Living With The Troubles, which takes the same approach.
The writer Martin Amis has died aged 73. To discuss how his novels defined an era and reflect on his literary criticism, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics John Self and Alex Clark.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Julian May
MON 20:00 Faith on the Factory Floor, Flock in a Hard Hat (m001m4gh)
The British Industrial Mission was forged in the steel mills of Sheffield in 1944 to reconnect workers with faith and reflection. Nearly 80 years on; when the world of work has changed so vastly, when human resources and well being are the buzz words, and the workforce has become ever more diverse- how do Industrial Chaplains listen and help ? Alan Dein explores past and present of work and faith with 4 chaplains in very different work places.
Producer Mark Burman
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m001lytt)
Hard Times in the Big Easy
New Orleans is the murder capital of the United States: researchers into 2022’s crime figures say it suffered more homicides per capita than any other major city. Carjackings, armed robberies and other potentially lethal offences are also at sky high levels in ‘The Big Easy’ - a place better known for its happy mix of cuisine, carnival and colonial architecture.
Crime plagues many American cities, and some of these problems are down to familiar causes, with economic disparity, poor education and the prevalence of guns all at play. However, other factors appear unique to New Orleans, such as high incarceration rates; entrenched racial inequality and chronic police understaffing. Many people believe that the chaos and mistrust of authority which followed Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005 has brutalised the generation which grew up in its shadow.
For Crossing Continents, the BBC’s Anna Adams meets those at the sharp end of this crisis in her adoptive city, and asks what went wrong. But as she also discovers, the spirit of the Big Easy can still be resilient, with some local people stepping up to do their failing authorities’ work for themselves in a variety of different social projects. To the backdrop of the city’s ever-present music, this is the story of a community that is literally under fire, and fighting for its life.
Presenter Anna Adams
Producer Mike Gallagher
Sound mix Rod Farquhar
Production coordinator Helena Warwick-Cross
Series editor Penny Murphy
(Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
MON 21:00 Supersenses (m001lytp)
Super-sensing Ben
We've been building computers to think like us for years, but our ability to replicate human senses has been impossible. Until now. This technological revolution is starting to profoundly change not only how we interact with the world around us, but is allowing us to see, hear, smell, taste and even touch things we never imagined possible before.
An artificial intelligence revolution is super-charging sensing technology, promising us eyes with laser precision, ears that can distinguish every sound in a mile's radius and noses than can sniff out the early signs of forest fires before the first flame forms.
Evolutionary biologist and broadcaster Professor Ben Garrod, is off to meet some of these sensory innovators and technological pioneers. The brain surgeons, bio-ethicists and psychologists who are turning our world upside down and inside out.
In episode five, we take the jump from virtual reality into augmented reality. We meet a man whose VR experience takes us inside a ducks vagina. And a company whose VR experiences have won prizes at major film festivals. We play with the health monitors which could just make us fitter, happier and more productive humans in the future. We meet a neuroscientist behind the first medically approved brain implants. And we meet a technologist who says he might be able to give people back lost senses.
Could these new technologies and natural evolutions be redefining what it is to be human? Ben takes us through the amazing adaptations, and technological developments that could help stretch us become all-sensing superhumans with possibly even more than five senses.
Presenter: Professor Ben Garrod
Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski
Series exec: Alex Mansfield
Development producer: Melanie Brown
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001m4f9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001m4gt)
Russia accuses Ukraine of 'sabotage' attack
Russian authorities say an armed group crossed from Ukraine into Russia's Belgorod region
Republican Party's only black senator launches his presidential campaign
MON 22:45 The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (m001m4h0)
6. OKB
The final pieces of casting come together in the blink of eye sometimes. OK Bailey is fresh from 'Rapier' a film creating a lot of buzz on the internet and surely is the perfect Firefall? He has some firm combat boots to fill, and decides to bring his own ideas to the set.
The debut novel by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks is a love letter to movie making and the people who make them.
Read by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
MON 23:00 The Patch (m001k0w9)
Gartree, Market Harborough
One random postcode and a story you probably haven't heard before.
Gartree, outside Market Harborough, is a rural Leicestershire village which hosts an unusual prison. HMP Gartree is a category B prison for people serving life sentences. When producer Polly Weston arrives in the postcode, she is drawn to the village by the big yellow banners in the hedgerows which say "Stop the new prison". The Ministry of Justice hope to build a new super prison here, housing another 1700 people. On her first trip, the Gartree Action Group are deep in preparations to fight the forthcoming planning inquiry. But at the planning meeting she realises that the village itself was originally built to house prison officers, and while the properties were all sold off long ago, to this day a number of former prison officers remain here and are part of the planning objection group. They claim the current prison is short staffed. Is it true? While waiting to be allowed to go and visit the prison, we track down former prisoners to talk about prison staffing and what they witnessed unfold inside the jail.
Produced and presented in Bristol by Polly Weston
Editor: Chris Ledgard
Mixed by Ilse Lademann
A BBC Wales and West Audio Production
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001m4h5)
All the news from Westminster with Sean Curran.
TUESDAY 23 MAY 2023
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001m4hd)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4hl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m4hz)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m4j7)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m4jh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001m4js)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m4k1)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001m4k9)
The government says it plans to get rid of EU regulations, a move which it claims will release £180 million into the the UK's wine industry. The plans mean growers would be able to import hybrid vines, adding new grape varieties into higher quality wines grown in England and Wales, which have PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) - a status which protects food products with a unique regional character. The changes would also include new labelling to show where the grapes are from, and not where the wine was bottled.
Brazil has come under global pressure to stop deforestation, as the demand for beef rises. Deforestation has long been linked to agricultural activities, including cattle ranching. With the global demand for beef rising, the pressure on Brazil's forests has intensified. We find out what's being done to change the way farmers produce beef in Brazil and how that might reduce deforestation.
There are sixteen agricultural universities in the UK which are members of the Agricultural Universities Council. They teach degrees in agriculture-related subjects but also carry out research into a wide range of rural and farming subjects. Now the council has decided to do more to join up the research the universities undertake, so that it has more relevance to farmers and answers the questions they are asking.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Rebecca Rooney
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03mzv60)
Moorhen
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Chris Packham presents the story of the Moorhen. Almost anywhere there's freshwater you might hear or see a moorhen. They're easy to identify from their red and yellow bill, red shield on the forehead and green-ish yellow legs with a red patch that looks like a garter.
TUE 06:00 Today (m001m4q3)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001m4qb)
Andre Geim on levitating frogs, graphene and 2D materials
The world around us is three-dimensional. Yet, there are materials that can be regarded as two-dimensional. They are only one layer of atoms thick and have remarkable properties that are different from their three-dimensional counterparts.
Sir Andre Geim created the first-ever man-made 2D material, by isolating graphene, and is one of the pioneers in this line of research. Even beyond his Nobel Prize-winning work on graphene, he has explored new ideas in many different areas of physics throughout his career.
Andre tells Jim about his time growing up in the Soviet Union, being rejected from university based on his German ethnicity, his move to Western Europe, and levitating frogs.
Produced by Florian Bohr.
TUE 09:30 One to One (m001m4qk)
Crying: Keith Brymer-Jones and Craig Mealing
Keith Brymer-Jones from the Great Pottery Throwdown has become known for being moved to tears by a pot someone has crafted. In this episode of One to One, he talks to ex-serviceman Craig Mealing who is recovering from PTSD, about dealing with emotions and learning to cry.
Produced by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio
TUE 09:45 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4qr)
The Illusion of Christendom
We may well think of the Crusades as a defining event in history, but just how unified was the Christian past of the West? The lives of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and philosopher al-Kindi have some clues.
Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.
Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.
Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001m4qy)
Adoption, Protesting Indian Wrestlers, Naoise Dolan
According to a new report from Adoption UK nearly half of families with adopted children aged 13 to 25 say they are at ‘crisis point’ or ‘facing severe challenges’. Author, Becky Brooks, discusses her report alongside Clare, a parent of adopted children.
Indian women wrestlers have been living on the streets of Delhi in protest after they accused their sport's federation's top official of sexual harassment and abuse. There is just three months until the World Championships and the Asian Games when ordinarily these women would be focussed on intense training. Nuala discusses the situation with Divya Arya, Women's Affairs Journalist at BBC Delhi.
A new production of Rigoletto opens next week at Opera Holland Park. Described as “a propulsive tragedy of toxic masculinity and unfettered power”, the director, Cecilia Stinton, explains why she has set it in an Oxbridge-style college post World War I, and the relevance of the story to a modern audience. The soprano, Alison Langer, who plays the role of Gilda, also joins Nuala and performs live in the studio.
New research has found that women are twice as likely to die within 30 days of a heart attack compared with men. To explore why women continue to appear more vulnerable after having a heart attack Nuala is joined by consultant cardiologist Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan.
The Happy Couple is the second novel by the acclaimed Irish novelist Naoise Dolan, whose debut Exciting Times was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. It follows a young couple, Celine and Luke, in the run-up to their wedding and explores the creeping doubts they have about each other, marriage and monogamy. Naoise joins Nuala in the studio.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Emma Pearce
TUE 11:00 Living with AI (m001m6pg)
When Stuart Russell gave the 2021 Reith lectures, he said that artificial intelligence could represent “the most profound change in human history”. Since then, AI technologies have been developing faster than anyone expected. Professor Russell sits down with Anita Anand to discuss what’s going on – and how worried we should be.
Stuart Russell is Professor of Computer Science and founder of the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at the University of California, Berkeley.
TUE 11:30 Sound Towns (m001m4r3)
Sheffield: Warp Records
Great music is born from a collision of societal and political change. This series explores the origin stories of some of the UK's most vital musical movements.
In this episode, we visit Sheffield...
The story of Jive Turkey and Warp Records is the story of Sheffield in the late 1980s. An industrial city in decline, its empty, industrial spaces were being turned into illegal party zones, inspiring Winston Hazel, DJ Parrot, George Evelyn and Kevin Harper to record the city's earliest techno tracks.
In 1989, George and Kevin heard British electro tracks such as A Guy Called Gerald's 'Voodoo Ray' and it inspired them to drop one of their own. The result was 'Dextrous' - an early classic in the bleep techno genre. They pressed their own white-label single and dropped it off at local record shops. One of those was Fon, a Sheffield indie retailer run by Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell. The pair asked George and Kevin if they could release the track on their recently-established label, Warp. It was to be Warp's second-ever release. The first was 'The Track with No Name', an absolute classic of the genre. The third track would be, 'Testone' by Sweet Exorcist.
The economic climate at the time created an environment in which there was nothing to lose, and this allowed Sheffield's distinctive voice to emerge. Without the idiosyncrasy of Warp Records, it's unlikely we'd have the equally distinctive Sheffield acts that followed...
Interviews include Winston Hazel, DJ Parrot, George Evelyn of Nightmares on Wax, Ian Anderson of The Designers Republic and Steve Beckett of Warp Records.
Producer: Victoria McArthur
Narrator: Johny Pitts
Researcher: Juliet Conway
Sound mix: Lee McPhail
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001m4r7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001m4rd)
Call You and Yours: Is working from home here to stay?
On today's Call You and Yours, we're asking - is working from home here to stay?
Working from home peaked during the coronavirus lockdowns with remote work carrying on post pandemic for many people in computer-based jobs.
Only six out of ten workers now go into work every day. The rest work all or partly from home.
Around one in three people do some form of hybrid working and around 10 percent work entirely from home.
The number of people working from home is five times higher than before Covid, with many people saying they value the ability to work from home two or three days a week the same as they would an eight percent pay rise.
What's your experience? Do you work from home?
Maybe you'd like to work from home but you can't. We want to hear from you, too.
If you're an employer, how is the shift towards remote work affecting you?
You can call us from 11 am on Tuesday May 22nd on 03700 100 444. You can also email us youandyours@bbc.co.uk
Don't forget to include a phone number so we can call you back.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Tara Holmes
TUE 12:57 Weather (m001m4rj)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m001m4rn)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
TUE 13:45 Taking Issue with Shakespeare (m001l27b)
Episode 2
Major public figures, in conversation with Professor Emma Smith, explore whether Shakespeare might help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.
In this second episode, Emma sets out to persuade Will Self that the kind of toxic masculinity expressed by the self-professed misogynist Andrew Tate finds a chilling counterpart in the misogynist play and character, Hamlet.
Initially, Will is not convinced, but a lively discussion ensues in which the two agree on one thing - the profound impact in Shakespeare’s era of non-gendered child-rearing until the age of seven followed by the “breeching” of boys, which separated them from women and children into their adult lives.
With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott
Producer: Beaty Rubens
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001m4gc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m000s3pd)
The Bully
Zalie Burrow's drama based on the true ordeal of a mum and her young son's traumatic journey with obsessive compulsive disorder. At times harrowing and painful but with love, hope and inspiration at its core.
Mum, Kate ..... Juliet Aubrey
Joe ..... Charlie Brand
Angie/Mrs Morton ..... Tracy Wiles
Dr Taylor ..... Hasan Dixon
Virginia Steele ..... Jessica Turner
Doreen ..... Jane Slavin
Professor Dickinson/Bruce ..... Nicholas Murchie
Older Joe ..... Luke Nunn
Writer Zalie Burrow
Directed by Tracey Neale
OCD, left untreated, can quickly overwhelm the sufferer and in Joe's case it leads to entire days being filled from beginning to end with repeated rituals, intrusive thoughts and irrepressible panic. Based on a true story, Zalie Burrow tells the harrowing story of Kate and her son Joe and their painful but yet inspiring path in finding the right treatment for OCD.
The Bully stars Juliet Aubrey as Joe's mum Kate. Juliet played Dorothea in BBC TV's Middlemarch and was the Narrator, George Eliot in Radio 4's recent adaptation of the novel. She also played Edith in five series of Radio 4's The Little Ottleys. Juliet's other TV and film work includes Primeval, Five Daughters, Snatch, Go Now, Fallen, The Infiltrator and LX 2048.
And Joe is played by Charlie Brand. This is his first lead role in a audio drama. His previous work includes playing young Linton in Radio 4's adaptation of Wuthring Heights..
This is Zalie's second drama for Radio 4 but her first solo credit. Her first drama, co-written with Guy Meredith, was 24 Hours From Tulse Hill. Zalie has previously written on-line dramas for The Wireless Theatre Company. Her play School Run appeared at the Leicester Square Theatre and Canal Cafe Theatre.
TUE 15:00 The Kitchen Cabinet (m001m4c9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:30 on Saturday]
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m001m4rs)
Steve Backshall Goes Off Grid
Steve Backshall lives in a new build house which is very energy efficient and almost totally off-grid. However, achieving this has been extremely time consuming, expensive and pretty stressful. For this episode of Costing the Earth, Steve explores why -- when the cost of heating our homes is so high and we’re being encouraged to reduce our carbon footprint -- it’s so difficult and pricey to make where we live more energy efficient and access renewable sources of power. Steve describes exactly what he’s done to his house including triple glazing, batteries for electric power and even a bore-hole for water. He then hears about a research facility at the University of Salford where two new builds and a Victorian end-terrace have been constructed in temperature controlled chambers. There they test the efficacy of various energy saving and renewable technologies on the kinds of homes that most of us live in. Back in studio, Steve speaks to the Energy Saving Trust about the cost for householders of putting some of these measures in place and what grants are available. He also hears from the Sustainable Energy Association, a trade membership body, about what they believe should be done to make all of this more accessible and affordable.
Producer: Karen Gregor
TUE 16:00 Law in Action (m001m4rx)
How to Improve Rape Trials
Conviction rates for rape trials are lower than those for other criminal trials, and the court experience can be intrusive and harrowing for survivors. The Law Commission of England and Wales (the independent body that advises the government on law reform), has just published a new consultation paper for how to change this. Criminal law commissioner Prof Penney Lewis, and before her Independent Sexual Violence Adviser Annabelle Edwards of Rape Crisis, speak about the reforms they'd like to see.
The Scottish government's Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) bill also aims to improve rape trials. If passed, it would abolish the "not proven" option for acquittal, create specialist rape courts, and controversially establish the option of judge-only, non-jury trials as a pilot scheme, as it's feared rape myths might influence some jurors. Fiona Leverick, professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Glasgow and Tony Lenehan KC, president of the Faculty of Advocates' Criminal Bar Association discuss the bill.
The Hollywood stars and former married couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced each other during two separate libel trials that asked whether or not Mr Depp physically abused Ms Heard. Depp lost the first case, against the owners of the Sun newspaper. It was heard by a judge in the High Court in London. Depp won the second case, against his ex-wife, decided by a jury in the United States. Nick Wallis is the only journalist to have covered both trials. He contrasts them in his new book "Depp v Heard, the Unheard Story".
Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Bethan Ashmead Latham
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m001m4s1)
Jake Arnott on John Gay
John Gay, eighteenth-century satirist and author of The Beggar's Opera, is nominated by the writer Jake Arnott - whose novels, including The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers, are also set in London's criminal underworld. Editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop, is the presenter, and Dr Rebecca Bullard of the University of Oxford is on hand to help uncover the life of a man who was perhaps as keen to expose the corruption and sleaze he saw around him as he was to climb the greasy pole of professional success. After reaching middle age in the shadow of his much more famous friends, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, what was it about The Beggar's Opera that suddenly brought him the fame he craved? And was John Gay, in fact, gay?
Presented by Ian Hislop
Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton
TUE 17:00 PM (m001m4s5)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m4s9)
South Wales Police are looking at a video showing a police van following an electric bike
TUE 18:30 Olga Koch: OK Computer (m001m4sf)
Series 2
1. Fun
Comedian and computer scientist Olga Koch returns for a second series of her comedy and STEM stand up show, joined by her sassy digital assistant ALGO (voiced by Tia Kofi). This episode, Olga and ALGO try to agree on what is, and isn’t, fun.
Written by Olga Koch and Charlie Dinkin
Featuring Tia Kofi
Additional Material From Rajiv Karia, Cody Dahler and Kate Dehnert
Production Co-ordinator Katie Baum
Produced by Benjamin Sutton
A BBC Studios Production
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001m4ss)
Emma discusses wedding buffet plans with Jazzer and Tracy. She gets side-tracked, bragging about George impressing Martyn Gibson at Berrow. Irritated Tracy walks out, leaving Jazzer to cover that the reception is in his remit. He wants a Scottish feast. Once Emma has left, Tracy vents to Jazzer. She can’t stand Emma crowing about George, when it was him who persuaded Brad to lie to the police. Jazzer advises Tracy to forgive and forget. Emma will be at her hen party after all.
Tom is helping Adam with the first Edible Forest Garden herb harvest. Tom reveals he’s going to try to persuade Tracy to let him have Chris for their T20 team. They go on to talk about Brian and his lack of interest in Home Farm. Adam confesses he’s enjoyed filling in for Stella and reconnecting with big arable. Even with her pushing through changes, he still thinks the family farm could benefit from his ideas. However, with Brian lost in grief, it’s hard to tell who’ll be overseeing its future.
Alice has dropped into the village shop. Susan picks her brains about where to hold Tracy’s hen night, but without success. Susan mentions that today is Ed and Emma’s wedding anniversary, prompting Alice to mention that it’s Brian and Jennifer’s anniversary next Monday. Alice feels compelled to mark it in some way, such as going somewhere connected with Jennifer, but Brian doesn’t seem keen. Later, Susan suggests that even if Brian doesn’t want to, Alice should follow her instincts and do what’s right for her.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001m4sx)
Sparks, EM Forster adaptations, nature mystery writer Bob Gilbert
Sparks, the American pop duo formed in 1960s Los Angeles, are back with their 26th album, The Girl is Crying in her Latte. Samira Ahmed meets brothers Ron and Russell Mael to discuss how Cate Blanchett came to be dancing in the music video for the title track and their extraordinary longevity.
E. M. Forster’s 1908 novel A Room with a View is being dramatised for Radio 4, as is the novel The Ballad of Syd and Morgan, which imagines a meeting between Forster and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd. Samira is joined by the producers Marcy Kahan and Roger James Elsgood to explore Forster's enduring appeal and transposing prose into audio drama.
Nature writer Bob Gilbert's new book The Missing Musk: A Casebook of Mysteries from the Natural World sets out to discover why, all over the world, a popular fragrant flowering plant has lost its scent. Samira talks to the former urban nature columnist about how his book has invented a new literary genre, the detective nature mystery.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Olivia Skinner
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001lyxt)
Sex Attacks in Hospitals
When you go to hospital you expect to be safe. But File on 4 has discovered that many patients and staff who are victims of sex attacks say not enough is done to deal with the perpetrators - and hospital managers ignore complaints. The programme examines startling data on the number of reported cases and asks what's being done to prevent sexual assaults in hospitals. The Department of Health says sexual violence or misconduct of any kind is unacceptable and has no place in the NHS. However, they also say there is still a long way to go in tackling sexual assaults to deliver justice for victims.
Reporter: Fergus Hewison
Producer: Matthew Pintus
Digital Producer: Melanie Stewart-Smith
Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001m4t1)
Attitudes and Service
A few months ago, we discussed whether the modern world has become easier or more difficult for people with visual impairments. It is a very nuanced and subjective question, that has been and will continue to be fed into, but we thought we'd pick it up again and look at people's attitudes. This can be when receiving a formal service, such as from your healthcare provider or bank or just from people in the street. We've brought together three people with differing attitudes: Roshni Hafeez, Richard Lane and Gavin Griffiths, to toss this question around.
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 All in the Mind (m001m4t5)
Supporting a son with schizophrenia
Hamish Barclay was a teenager when he was given steroids to treat kidney problems and experienced a rare side effect of psychosis. Now 29, he's lived with a diagnosis of schizophrenia for ten years and thanks to support from his mother Josephine he's been able to return to making music. His sister Maudie helped him to nominate their mum for an All in the Mind Awards - and she's now reached the finals.
The family talk candidly to Claudia Hammond about the stigma around schizophrenia - they sometimes avoid using the word because they know it can put people off playing music with him in bands. Maudie says their mum shows incredible patience and love by driving him to London from Somerset and sitting in his classes, so he can study music and play his beloved guitar.
The voices - or auditory hallucinations - which Hamish hears make it hard for him to write songs - but the medication he takes is helping to push them into the background. We hear some of Hamish's compositions he's recorded with other students at his college - and about how much difference writing music has made to his mental health and wellbeing.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001m4qb)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001m4t7)
Police refer themselves to watchdog after Cardiff crash deaths
South Wales Police has referred itself to the police watchdog after admitting that officers followed an e-bike before a fatal crash that killed two teenagers in Cardiff. After a night of riots, and a day of changing police stories, we speak to the local MP.
Also on the programme:
Boris Johnson has been referred to the police over new claims that he broke Covid rules while he was prime minister.
Who are the insurgents who launched a cross-border raid into Russia? We hear from someone's who's met one of the group's leaders.
And we take a tour of Tate Britain as its national collection gets a new - and more inclusive - look.
TUE 22:45 The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (m001m4t9)
7. The Death of Caesar
With prep and casting done, the first shooting day for 'Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall', Bill Johnson's nuanced superhero epic has arrived. Wren Lake is first up, incandescent as Eve Knight. A.K.A Knightshade. Next up is OK Bailey as the eponymous Firefall. Bill and OKB try to work out their creative differences.
The debut novel by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks is a love letter to movie making and the people who make them.
Read by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
TUE 23:00 The Confessional (m0011k2g)
Series 2
The Confession of David Quantick
Stephen Mangan puts another penitent through their paces in the comedy chat show about confession, embarrassment and a guilty conscience
Each week, Stephen invites a different eminent guest into his virtual confessional box to make three confessions. This is a cue for some rich and varied storytelling, and surprising insights. Settle back for more revelations of guilt and mortification.
This week, Stephen is in conversation with David Quantick, the prolific writer and broadcaster whose career has taken him from staff writer at NME to winning an Emmy award for his work on Veep. They discuss fake news, how to devastate a birthday party and airborne nudity.
Other guests in the series include Olivia Williams, Anthony Horowitz, Ed Byrne, Shaparak Khorsandi and Konnie Huq.
Written and presented by Stephen Mangan
With extra material by Nick Doody
Produced by Frank Stirling
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001m4tc)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament
WEDNESDAY 24 MAY 2023
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001m4tf)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4qr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m4th)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m4tk)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m4tm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001m4tp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m4tr)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001m4tw)
Food companies and retailers have been in talks with the chancellor Jeremy Hunt about addressing issues with the food supply chain. An investigation has already been carried out by DEFRA into the pig supply chain and its report, back in April, said new regulation for written contracts would be brought in, to provide 'fairness and certainty'. One of the largest pig processing companies, Cranswick, has just announced a rise in profits, while at the same time another large pig processor Pilgrims has closed its plant at Ashton in Manchester.
The government's launched a new Marine and Coastal Wildlife Code in England, which encourages people visiting coastal areas to respect marine mammals and birds. The guidelines include not approaching wildlife on beaches, including seals, and taking care when swimming or using craft such as jet skis.
The Office for Environmental Protection is to investigate the Department for Agriculture in Northern Ireland - or DAERA - after concerns that it breached environmental law on ammonia guidance. Ammonia from cattle slurry can be damaging to the environment and air quality, and has been an issue in agriculture in Northern Ireland for some time.
We often talk about food loss and waste in the UK market, and as part of our World Farming Focus week we are putting a spotlight on the excess production of fruit in Ghana. Every year the country’s farmers produce a glut of fruit like watermelon, mango and oranges, with no ready market, meaning it’s left to rot on farms and along roadsides. Research estimates that some 3.2 million tons of food is either lost or wasted along the supply chain in Ghana.
Presenter - Anna Hill
Producer - Rebecca Rooney
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0htz)
Hyacinth Macaw
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Sir David Attenborough presents the hyacinth macaw of the Brazilian Pantanal. Raucous ear-piercing screeches are produced by one of the most beautiful parrots in the world, flying high over the marshy wetlands of the Pantanal. As their name suggests they are a rich cobalt blue, with sulphur-yellow eye rings with a massive bill and long elegant tail-feathers streaming behind them in flight, making them our longest parrot. Popular as captive caged birds, they are now endangered in the wild and legally protected in Brazil. They feed on palm nuts, including those of the acuri palm which are so hard that even the macaw's powerful bill can't break into them, until they've first passed through the digestive tracts of cattle.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
WED 06:00 Today (m001m5n5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m001m523)
NHS waiting lists, voter ID, and measuring divorce
The government has trumpeted a big fall in those waiting over 18 months for hospital treatment in England. But total numbers on waiting lists have hit a new high. Also we look at how much impact the introduction of Voter ID had on turnout in May's English local elections. We ask whether Portugal really has a divorce rate of 94%. And we remember mathematician Dr Vicky Neale of Oxford University, who has died at the age of 39.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Josephine Casserly, Octavia Woodward, Ellie House
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
WED 09:30 Please Protect Abraham (m001g391)
9. Inquest
A letter out of the blue informs Ronke that - four years on - an inquest will take place looking at how Abraham was killed. For the first time, documents from the police and council are released.
Presenter and Original Research: Sam Holder
Series Producer and sound design: Anishka Sharma
Story Consultant: Robert Awosusi
Additional Research: Christy Callaway-Gale
Theme music written and performed by Rebekah Reid and Tapp Collective.
Original music compositions by Femi Oriogun-Williams
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:45 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m5pn)
Empire
At one point Britain alone had an Empire on which the sun never set. How did Europe as it was, conquer and colonise most of the known world? Technology certainly played a part, but how did the narrative of the cultural inheritance of the West and it increasingly racialised definitions contribute? The clever diplomacy of Njinga of Angola, ideological wranglings of founding father Joseph Warren and sheer life and skill of poetess Phillis Wheatley have some light to shed.
Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.
Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.
Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001m5nc)
Independent Inquiry into child sexual abuse, writer Katriona O'Sullivan, electric cars, fertility laws in France
After more than seven years taking evidence, six months ago the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published their final report which put forward 20 recommendations for the government. This week the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, announced they had accepted 19 of those put forward. Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the IICSA for seven years, joins Nuala to explain why she is deeply disappointed with their response.
Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan grew up as one of five children living in dire poverty, surrounded by addiction. She is now an award winning lecturer, whose work explores barrier to education. She joins Nuala to discuss herlife story, as told in her moving, funny, brave and shocking memoir – Poor.
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK will end by 2030, but women are less likely than men to consider buying an electric vehicle, and the gap seems to be widening. Erin Baker, Editorial Director from AutoTrader and Beth Morley, a mobility and human insights manager from Cenex, join Nuala to discuss.
This month marks ten years since a law authorising same-sex couples to marry and adopt children was passed in France. But it wasn’t until 2021 that single women and lesbian couples were allowed to get fertility treatment following two years of parliamentary debate. A new French film - La Graine or The Seed - looks at the journey of a lesbian couple, Ines and Lucie, on their quest to have a baby, set before the law came into force in France To discuss the current situation I’m joined by the director Eloïse Lang, & journalist for France24, Claire Paccalin.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
Studio manager: Sue Maillot
WED 11:00 Faith on the Factory Floor, Flock in a Hard Hat (m001m4gh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 A Very British Cult (p0fdl5nd)
8. The Showdown
It’s the final showdown. The BBC team finds out there’s been another investigation going on in parallel to their one. It’s by the Government, who want Lighthouse shut down.
Lighthouse International Group end up in court, and more than 20 team members crowd into the hearing room, squashed alongside the BBC as well as Jeff and Dawn. Catrin finally gets to put her questions to Lighthouse and their leader Paul Waugh, and a massive crowd piles down a central London street as she tries to get answers.
What happens when a life coach takes over your life? Catrin Nye and her team expose control, intimidation and fear at a sinister life coaching company.
Reporter: Catrin Nye
Written by: Jamie Bartlett and Catrin Nye
Producers: Osman Iqbal, Natalie Truswell, Ed Main & Jo Adnitt
Researcher: Aisha Doherty
Executive Producer: Ravin Sampat
Sound Mixing: James Bradshaw
Original Music by: Phil Channell
Commissioner: Rhian Roberts
WED 12:00 News Summary (m001m5q3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001m5nj)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m001m5nl)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m001m5nn)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
WED 13:45 Taking Issue with Shakespeare (m001l27w)
Episode 3
Major public figures,in conversation with Professor Emma Smith, explore how Shakespeare can help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.
In this third episode, Emma Smith reflects on how Covid led people to move from the city to the country and on why some are now opting to return to the city.
With her international career as a star of television, film and theatre, Fiona Shaw divides her time between New York, London, Sri Lanka and her native Cork. She and Emma share their thoughts on the transformative potential which Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden seems to provide in a play such as As You Like It. Although the grass often appears to be greener in this so-called “green world”, they wonder why characters almost always return to the city in the end, and what this means particularly for women such as Rosalind, whose time in Arden has appeared to be so transformative.
With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott
Producer: Beaty Rubens
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
WED 14:00 The Archers (m001m4ss)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001m5nq)
Happy Hour
Happy Hour is a modern urban tale set in a pub, tackling female friendship, class, and male entitlement with darkly comic humour, from exciting new dramatist, Liv Fowler
Chloe and Emily are catching up at the pub. Bezzies since they were 15, Chloe just got her big break as a graphic designer in Central London, and Emily recently got her first pet with her partner Ben. However, the only issue is that Emily just accidentally killed a man behind the back of the pub. Processing what the heck just happened, the pair try to navigate the situation. We find out that he was sexually harassing Emily, so she acted in self-defence. Then Emily confronts Chloe: she recently found old MSN messages suggesting that Ben slept with Chloe 8 years ago. Is it true? Confused and disorientated, the two women debate their options – confess or cover up? And can they remain friends? When they look outside to check on the body, suddenly everything changes....
Liv Fowler is a working-class South London writer. Her play Lemonade was broadcast at Pentabus Theatre’s National Young Writers Festival 2021, and accepted for 13 Submissions new writing night, The Other Palace. Liv performs her own poetry around London, reaching the semi-finals of The Roundhouse’s Slam Poetry competition 2022. Recently she headlined at Boxpark Wembley for Bring Your Own Bars and runs her own spoken word night ‘Rhymes & Stitches’, dedicated to comedic poetry, making sure art and joy are financially accessible to all. Liv is an Associate Artist at Pentabus.
New producer Jelena Budimir is a freelance director committed to making innovative, inclusive theatre, and co-founder of All Ignite Theatre. In 2018, the company’s first production, White Guy on the Bus by Bruce Graham, gained 4 Offie nominations – including Best Director. She directed extensively at Chickenshed Theatre where she was Associate Director for 20 years.
The cast
Chloe ..... Shvorne Marks
Emily ..... Ami Metcalf
Production team:
Producer, Jelena Budimir
Sound Designer, Paul Cargill
Illustration, Danny Atkinson
Production Manager, Darren Spruce
Executive Producer, Polly Thomas
Written by Liv Fowler.
A Naked Production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 15:00 Money Box (m001m5ns)
Money Box Live: Being Widowed
When your spouse dies your world changes, from admin to organising a funeral, new widows are hit with a slew of tasks amid dealing with grief.
As well as those challenges, losing a husband, wife or partner can mean significant changes to your finances.
In this podcast we discuss what the death of your partner can mean for your money. What challenges are there and where can you find help and support.
The experts on the panel are, Emma Gray, Ambassador at WAY Widowed & Young and Jane Hodges, Chartered Financial Planner at Money Honey Financial Planning.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Amber Mehmood
Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast
3pm Wednesday 24th May, 2023)
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (m001m4t5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001m5nv)
Digital intimacy
Digital intimacy - Laurie Taylor asks how the algorithms embedded in digital technologies are transforming our relationships. He's joined by Anthony Elliott, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of South Australia and author of a new book which suggests that that machine intelligence is changing the nature of human bonds, from sexual partners to friendship and therapy. Also, Carolina Bandinelli, Associate Professor in Media and Creative Industries at the University of Warwick, discusses her study of Tinder, and other dating apps, and the surprising finding that sex and love are not at the core of how people use them.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001m5nx)
Bellingcat answers Elon Musk's 'psy-ops' claim
Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of Bellingcat, responds to claims by Elon Musk that the investigative group is engaged in 'psy-ops. Also in the programme, the challenge of reporting on the Sudan crisis.
Guests: Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat; Beverly Ochieng, BBC Monitoring Africa Analyst; Lou Osborn, researcher at the Centre for Information Resilience.
Presenter: Ros Atkins
Producer: Simon Richardson
Studio Managers: Andrew Garratt and Steve Greenwood
WED 17:00 PM (m001m5nz)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m5p3)
But the drop in the rate of inflation was not as much as was expected
WED 18:30 Room 101 with Paul Merton (m001m5p5)
Claudia Winkleman
Returning in its original one-to-one incarnation, Paul Merton interviews a variety of guests from the world of comedy and entertainment to find out what they would send to Room 101.
In this first episode, Claudia Winkleman attempts to banish picnics, whispering and alliteration.
Additional material John Irwin and Suki Webster
Produced by Richard Wilson
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m001m4w0)
Tracy pulls Tom a Shires, as they spar over who has the best T20 team. But then Tom claims that Chris’s sprained ankle has deteriorated, and he can barely walk. Tracy will need to find a replacement. Later, Tracy confronts Tom. She’s spoken to Susan and discovered that Chris is fine. Tom admits it was a pathetic attempt to steal Chris. Nonetheless, he maintains that Chris would rather play in Tom’s team. Chris is just afraid to tell Tracy because she’s his aunt. Tracy worries that Chris won’t play at his best and suggests a swap. They haggle over a fair exchange and settle on Adam. Tom promises to break the news to him.
Adam returns after a long day at Home Farm to find Ian and Alice waiting for him. Alice reveals that she and Kate are going to a favourite restaurant of Jennifer’s to mark her and Brian’s anniversary. Over dinner Adam brings up the lack of clarity over Brian’s intentions for Home Farm. Alice insists she doesn’t care about her inheritance – and nor do Kate and Debbie. Adam should move on too. Later, Adam reveals to Ian that once Stella’s back, he plans to put Home Farm behind him. Ian doesn’t believe him. He helps Adam to admit that Home Farm is a big part of his identity and that he still has ambitions for its future. Not that it’s likely he’ll be returning anytime soon. Ian counsels that by accepting that’s what he wants, the chances of it happening have already increased.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m001m5p8)
Playing Putin on stage in Patriots, DJ Taylor on Orwell, new V&A Photography Centre
Patriots, Peter Morgan’s play set in Russia in 1991, traces the rise and fall of Boris Berezovsky, who helped Vladimir Putin take power. As Patriots transfers to the West End, Allan Little – who as the BBC’s Moscow correspondent met Berezovsky – talks to the director Rupert Goold and Will Keen, winner of an Olivier Award for his performance as Vladimir Putin.
The V&A Photography Centre opens this week, the largest suite of galleries in the UK dedicated to a permanent photography collection. Allan is joined by curator Marta Weiss and AI deep fake photographer Jake Elwes.
DJ Taylor won the 2003 Whitbread Prize for Biography for his first telling of George Orwell’s life. He reveals why, twenty years later, he’s returned to the subject with the publication of Orwell: The New Life.
Presenter: Allan Little
Producer: Timothy Prosser
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m001m5pb)
How should we talk about suicide?
The tragic death of primary headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life when her school was set to be downgraded to “inadequate”, has prompted widespread anger from teachers and calls to reform or abolish Ofsted. Ruth Perry’s family believes that the stress of the inspection led to her suicide, and this week an article in the British Medical Journal argued that “every work-related suicide” should be investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.
While some see this as an important intervention in seeking to understand and prevent further suicides, others are concerned that speculation about direct causal 'triggers' can oversimplify a complex issue. The Samaritans’ media guidelines state: “vulnerable people experiencing similar issues are more likely to over-identify with the deceased when a single reason is given”. Moreover, others are worried about the ‘weaponisation’ of individual cases of suicide by campaign groups seeking to advance wider political aims.
Suicide is a highly sensitive issue and the way we talk about it matters. Across different times and cultures it has been seen as both honourable and sinful. Today, most responses start from a place of compassion, based on a better understanding of mental health. While it is vital to understand, prevent and treat suicidal thoughts, should we ever seek to rationalise or explain suicide? That question is also pertinent in the debate around assisted dying. For some, choosing to end one’s life in this way is a rational decision we should be allowed to make in certain circumstances, for others, that social acceptance would have a far-reaching impact on people's perception of the worthwhileness of their life.
How should we talk about suicide?
Producer: Dan Tierney.
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m001m4rs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001m5nx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001m5pd)
Tina Turner dies at 83
Also
Tomorrow’s net migration figures expected to show steep rise.
and
Ron De Santis declares for US president.
WED 22:45 The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (m001m5pg)
8. Ike Clipper
OKB is out of the picture and Bill Johnson needs a new Firefall to take on Wren Lane's Knightshade. He finds jus the the man in Ike Clipper, an unknown but brilliant actor. It's a risk but everyone is in. Ike Clipper meanwhile, doesn't know how to feel and nor does his wife Thea.
Bill had warned Ike that becoming Firefall would change everything, Ike just didn't think it would happen so quickly....
The debut novel by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks is a love letter to movie making and the people who make them.
Read by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
WED 23:00 Twayna Mayne: Black Woman (p07r9rm5)
1. Trans-racial adoption
Comedian Twayna Mayne's upbringing as a trans-racial adoptee is explored as she searches for her own Black British female identity. Along with stand-up in front of a live audience she chats to other women about their shared experiences, with this episode featuring a contribution from lead singer of the two tone band The Selecter, Pauline Black.
First broadcast in November 2019.
Producer: Julia McKenzie
A BBC Studios Production
WED 23:15 The John Moloney Show (m0007bx7)
Jeffrey, The Jack Russell
The Godfather of British stand-up John Moloney returns to the live stage to share his latest tribulations of modern life.
This week, John welcomes a new member to the family, Jeffrey, who causes nearly as much mischief as his 'father' used to do when he was growing up. This is the start of a new, healthier journey for John, where he really does go and see a man about a dog.
Featuring Karen Bartke and Tim Wallers.
Originally recorded and broadcast in 2019.
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001m5pj)
Sean Curran reports on a Prime Minister's Questions dominated by immigration.
THURSDAY 25 MAY 2023
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001m5pl)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m5pn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m5pq)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m5ps)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m5pv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001m5px)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m5pz)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001m5q1)
25/05/23 Tenant farmers to get a new forum, wool prices down, farming in Ukraine
Tenant farming groups in England have criticised the Government response to a review of the sector. The review by Baroness Kate Rock was published last year and made 74 recommendations, including a tenancy forum, a tenant farming commissioner and improvements to tenancies, as well as making the new Environmental Land Management schemes more accessible to people who don't own the land they farm. The Government has responded by announcing a new Farm Tenancy Forum and will consult on a commissioner. Tenant Farmers Association's chief executive, George Dunn says “the last thing we need is a review of the review".
The price UK farmers will be paid for wool this year is going down, and won't cover the cost of shearing. British Wool has annouced it'll pay around 30 pence a kilo, which means many farmers will get less than £1 per fleece. Shearing costs about £
1.65 per sheep according to the National Association of Agricultural Contractors.
This year's wool price is a drop from last year when farmers got around 36 pence a kilo, prices vary according to the type and quality of the wool.
All this week as world farmers meet in South Africa we're looking at some of the challenges faced by farmers around the globe. Farming in a war zone is obviously difficult, both the day to day stresses but also the bigger picture as Ukrainian farmers struggle to export their produce. They have been big exporters of grain and oilseeds and as we've reported the war has impacted both availability and prices across the world.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04kjgy6)
Pied Butcherbird
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the virtuoso songster the pied butcherbird of Australia. Australian parks, gardens resonate to the flute like calls of a medium sized black and white bird with stout blue-grey bills, and a black hood. They earned their name 'butcherbird' from their habit of storing prey by impaling it onto thorns or in a tree crevice before feeding on it with their hooked bill. They can sing for up to twenty minutes at a time, appearing to improvise as they perform a mellifluous, but unpredictable performance which they deliver as a solo or a duet with another butcherbird. Australian composer David Lumsdaine, described its call as..... "a virtuoso of composition and improvisation".
Producer : Andrew Dawes
THU 06:00 Today (m001m4v4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001m4v6)
Louis XIV: The Sun King
In 1661 the 23 year-old French king Louis the XIV had been on the throne for 18 years when his chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, died. Louis is reported to have said to his ministers, “It is now time that I govern my affairs myself. You will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them [but] I order you to seal no orders except by my command… I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport, without my command, and to render account to me personally each day”
So began the personal rule of Louis XIV, which lasted a further 54 years until his death in 1715. From his newly-built palace at Versailles, Louis was able to project an image of himself as the centre of gravity around which all of France revolved: it’s no accident that he became known as the Sun King. He centralized power to the extent he was able to say ‘L’etat c’est moi’: I am the state. Under his rule France became the leading diplomatic, military and cultural power in Europe.
With
Catriona Seth
Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford
Guy Rowlands
Professor of Early Modern History at the University of St Andrews
and
Penny Roberts
Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Warwick
Producer: Luke Mulhall
THU 09:45 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4v8)
The West and Modernity
The 19th century may have bene the most strident age of the grand narrative of Western Civilisaiton and the West. Four-time primeminster William Gladstone inherited this legacy but had his own questions about 'the slave question' and Irish home rule. Activist Edward Said came to challenge the supermacy of the West in his then radical and seminal writings that asked questions we continue to wrangle with today.
Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.
Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.
Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001m4vb)
Tina Turner legend, Let's Eat Grandma, Whips, Sudan's women, Helen Hardy
Tributes are being paid to the Queen of Rock n Roll, Tina Turner, who has died aged 83 after a long illness. Turner became one of the world's most famous music icons, known for her smash hits What's Love Got to Do With It , We Don't Need Another Hero and The Best. To pay tribute to this music legend, Anita is joined by the music journalist Jacqueline Springer and Dhivya Kate Chetty, the director of When Tina Turner Came to Britain.
More than a million people have been displaced over the last five weeks as two men fight for control of Sudan. The United Nation’s Population Fund says there’s been a 900% increase in reports of gender based violence since the start of the conflict and doctors are reporting a rise in the number of women seeking help after being raped. Anita Rani talks to Nima Elbagir, a Sudanese-born journalist and CNN's Chief International Investigative Correspondent and Dr Attia Abdullah who’s a doctor in Khartoum and General Secretary of the Sudan doctors trade union.
Helen Hardy grew up in Newcastle loving football, playing it and watching it. At the 2019 Women's World Cup in 2019 she had a lightbulb moment as she looked around the stands and realised all the female fans were wearing men's football shirts, despite clearly being fans of the women's game. She set up Foudy's in 2020, the first retailer dedicated to selling shirts for women's football. The judges for this year's Woman's Hour Power List put her at Number 6 on the list.
Cleo Watson served in 10 Downing Street as Theresa May’s political adviser then Boris Johnson’s co-deputy chief of staff. She joins Anita to talk about her novel, Whips, which follows three young politicos trying to make a life for themselves in Westminster. It's got scandal, sisterhood and a lot of sex! But just how much of it is based on Cleo's own time behind the most famous black door in the UK?
Let’s Eat Grandma are an electro-pop duo composed of best friends Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth. They used to write together in Rosa’s family home in Norwich and made their first song together aged just 10. Three albums later, including one which was nominated for an Ivor Novello award, they are soon to be performing at Meltdown Festival in London. They join Nuala in the studio to discuss their career, friendship and perform a song from their latest album ‘Two Ribbons’.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
Studio manager: Gayl Gordon and Michael Millham
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m001m4vd)
The Families Fleeing Sudan
Kate Adie introduces stories from South Sudan, Ukraine, the USA, Australia and Sweden.
Millions of people have been displaced by violence in Sudan, with many heading across the border to South Sudan - but can they find safety there, or will they find themselves in yet another crisis? Catherine Byaruhanga has been to the South Sudanese town of Renk, where she met families trying to figure out where to go next.
Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, recently returned from the G7 summit in Japan where, where President Joe Biden gave the green light to countries to supply American-made F16 fighters to Ukraine - but just how will these jets help? Our correspondent Abdujalil Abdurasulov gained access to one of Ukraine's air bases and met two fighter pilots.
Chicago has a new mayor. At his swearing-in, Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organiser, spoke proudly of his humble beginnings in one of the most violent neighbourhoods in the western hemisphere. Mike Wendling has been to the mayor's neighbourhood of Austin to see how data science is being used to tackle the city's street violence.
Visitors to Western Australia's Rottnest Island have only recently begun to discover the island's hidden, tragic past. While many tourists visit the island to see the Quokkas - cute marsupials with happy grins - more and more, like Emma Thomson, are learning about the island's role in the treatment of the indigenous people, the Noongar,
And in Sweden Rob Crossan takes a walk around an area of Stockholm once used by Alfred Nobel to test his famous invention - dynamite. Among the old blast holes, he meets a homeless man taking shelter, and ponders the extremes of Swedish society.
Producer: Claire Bowes
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
THU 11:30 Great Lives (m001m4s1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
THU 12:00 News Summary (m001m4vg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001m4vl)
Energy House
Shari Vahl stays overnight in a New Build House inside a scientific chamber at the Energy House 2.0 at the University of Salford.
Researchers at the Energy House are currently testing two new homes - one built by Barratts, and one built by Bellway - to see how energy efficient they are.
In 2025 housebuilders have to meet strict new standards on home efficiency.
Shari Vahl stays overnight in the Barratts home, testing the new technology and finding out how efficient the homes will be - both are built with high grade insulation, windows and use heat pumps.
PRESENTER: SHARI VAHL
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001m4vq)
Hay Fever Treatments
What works to help with the symptoms of hay fever?
The better weather’s here but for the millions who have hay fever that just means a runny nose and itchy, streaming eyes. And for some people it’s seriously debilitating – listener Richard got in touch because his wife can’t go out and play with the kids in the spring and summer months.
In this episode I’m investigating the treatments that claim to help. I speak to an expert from Allergy UK to find out what works and whether - as listener Lisa wonders - the generic or own-brand versions work as well as the more expensive branded ones. And could a hay fever injection be the one-shot solution Richard’s wife is looking for?
Also, you might have heard about the gut microbiome…but did you know there’s a nasal microbiome too?! I’m finding out about some new research which shows probiotics could play a role in treating hay fever.
This series we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products, so f 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: Simon Hoban
THU 12:57 Weather (m001m4vv)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m001m4vy)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.
THU 13:45 Taking Issue with Shakespeare (m001l2gh)
Episode 4
Major public figures, in conversation with Professor Emma Smith, explore whether Shakespeare might help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.
Mercy Muroki is a Policy Fellow for the Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch. She is also a passionate royalist who believes in “full-fat” pageantry rather than a slimmed-down version.
On the eve of the coronation of King Charles, Mercy discusses with Emma what kind of monarchy is most likely to unite the nation – a somewhat distant figure, such as Queen Elizabeth II, or a more contemporary hands-on monarch. Might Shakespeare’s description in Macbeth of an ideal king or his depiction of Richard II when stripped of all regalia, help them decide?
With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott
Producer: Beaty Rubens
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
THU 14:00 The Archers (m001m4w0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001m4w2)
Nightmare(ish)
by Ollie George Clark
Amy and Ben are like most writers and actors: they haven't had any proper work for ages so they set out to make their names by writing and producing a true crime podcast. But it's not long before they find themselves redefining the word 'true'.
Amy ..... Emma Sidi
Ben ..... Barney Fishwick
Becky ..... Kymberley Cochrane
Helen/Janey ..... Leah Marks
James/Dad ..... Gerard McDermott
Director, Sally Avens
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m001m4w4)
Ashdown Forest
The group Clare walks with see Ashdown Forest as a national treasure in its own right – and largely an unsung one. They think it’s remarkable that this ten square miles of open access land has survived, only thirty miles south of London. Estate agents in the past even described it as ‘Scotland in Sussex’. A local resident and podcaster Eka Morgan is keen to reconnect visitors from far and wide back to the natural world of Ashdown Forest. Many of the 1.5 million annual visitors don’t understand that it’s actually not a forest at all, but a heath – one of the rarest habitats in the world, rarer than tropical rainforest. So, she is using audio to tell stories of the Forest with a podcast.
Joining Eka on the walk are Tom Forward a wildlife guide and bird mimic, James Adler, who was born on a heathland nature reserve and heads the Conservators of Ashdown Forest. He is at the forefront of developing the centenary celebrations of Winnie-the-Pooh in 2026; and Kari Dunbar, whose new job focuses on raising dog owners’ awareness of the impact of dogs in wildlife habitats – she has two dogs herself.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001m4n4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (m001m4q1)
Linda Grant
Alex Clark talks to the novelist Linda Grant about her new book The Story of the Forest. Her ninth novel begins in Latvia, when a teenage girl’s mushroom-gathering walk turn into something darker, and prompts a departure for America. They get no further than Liverpool, and the sprouting families become rooted in the suburbs of Brownlow Hill and Allerton. Linda Grant discusses her personal connection to the story of the Mendel family, her love of Dickens and why she's not that keen on writing about trees!
Golden Age by Wang Xiaobo regarded as one of China’s modern masterpieces. The novel is a smart sature of the Cultural Revolution which was published in 1992 but only now available in its first full English translation . Xialou Guo, the award winning author of A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, talks to Alex about the Wang Xiaobo's radical and unique style of writing.
And we head into the garden with the horticultural writer Alice Vincent, whose new book Why Women Grow looks into the many examples of women’s connection to cultivation. For Open Book Alice has dug into the pages of her favourite fictional gardens.
Book List – Sunday 21 May and Thursday 25 May
The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant
The Clothes On Their Backs by Linda Grant
When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Golden Age by Wang Xiaobo: Translated by Yan Yan
Pleasure of Thinking by Wang Xiaobo: Translated by Yan Yan
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
A Lover’s Discourse by Xiaolu Guo
Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent
Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Because The Night by Tessa Hadley
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Seasonal Quartet by Ali Smith
THU 16:00 Princess (p0ff3vnr)
Princess Margaret
Host Anita Anand joins presenter William Hanson and satirist Craig Brown to discuss Princess Margaret. From her relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth to what it was like to be the original ‘spare’, her grandest stories to her most cutting remarks, they explore the glamorous, complicated life of The Countess of Snowdon.
Producer: Rufaro Faith Mazarura
Editor: Ailsa Rochester
Sound Design: Craig Edmondson
An Audio Always production for BBC Radio 4
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001m4w7)
The benefits and problems of eDNA
This week, we hear from the University of Florida’s Dr David Duffy. He heads up a team of researchers who are studying sea turtles. In order to track the animals and their diseases, the scientists devised a method of collecting fragments of DNA from tanks at the university’s turtle hospital, as well as from sand and water in the local environment. While they found plenty of turtle DNA, they were surprised to uncover large amounts of high-quality human eDNA. Duffy tells us all about the study and his surprising findings, but also highlights the ethical problems this could raise. We are then joined by Dr Matt Clark from the Natural History Museum, and Sir Jonathan Montgomery from University College London, to discuss the ins and outs of eDNA – how it can be beneficial for conservation, forensics and healthcare, but could also be problematic from a privacy perspective.
Muriel Rabone and Dr Adrian Glover from the Natural History Museum have compiled an extensive checklist of all the species present in the remote Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which is an area twice the size of India, five kilometres deep in the Pacific Ocean. While you might expect this part of the sea to be devoid of life, the organisms that live there are surprisingly diverse, and we still know little about them. But the region is also chock-full of in-demand rare-earth metals.
And we are joined by Dr Katie King to talk over some of her favourite science stories of the week, followed up by Helen Keen, who gets the kettle on to reveal more about the surprising physics behind a cup of coffee. Milk and two sugars for us, please.
Presenter: Gareth Mitchell
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell
THU 17:00 PM (m001m4w9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m4wc)
Sir Iain Livingstone said acknowledging the force's issues was "essential"
THU 18:30 It's a Fair Cop (m000h93f)
Series 5
Informant
In this week's episode, Alfie explores the police's use of informants and takes us through a real life case from his time on the Humberside force.
Written and presented by Alfie Moore
Script editor: Will Ing
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production
THU 19:00 The Archers (m001m4wf)
Kirsty bumps into Pat at Bridge Farm. They chat, but Kirsty can see Pat is out of sorts. There’s still no news about whether the Crown Prosecution Service is going to prosecute Rob. Kirsty accompanies Pat while she feeds the goats, where Pat admits she’s scared of testifying in court again – especially after letting Helen down last time. What if she loses focus with Rob in the room? Pat’s hatred of him is becoming overwhelming. Pat feels Tom and Tony are handling it much better than her. Also, Rob is Jack’s father, and when he took him it wasn’t for long. Will he even get convicted for that? And what about justice for everything else Rob did? Pat can’t see how they’ll ever get that.
Susan’s serving Oliver in the shop. Lamenting George and Brad’s break-in at Grey Gables, Susan hopes Tracy and Emma can bury the hatchet before tomorrow’s hen party – if there is a party, that is. She still hasn’t found a venue. Tracy enters and guesses what they’re talking about. Learning that Oliver hasn’t been invited, Tracy insists he must come. He should have been top of the list. Oliver can’t be persuaded though. It’s really not his scene. Later, however, he finds Susan. He would like to contribute by offering the refurbished lounge bar at the as yet unopened Grey Gables as a venue. He’ll even pay for a cocktail waiter. Susan is delighted. With that problem solved, she’s sure Tracy will have a wonderful time.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m001m4wh)
Jhalak Book Prize, Tate Britain Rehang, The Little Mermaid, Cannes
The Jhalak Prize is an annual literary prize for British or British-Resident writers of colour, established in 2016. Previous winners include Reni Eddo-Lodge and Johny Pitts. Tom speaks to the winners of this year’s Jhalak Prize and Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize, announced at the British Library this evening.
This week Tate Britain revealed a complete rehang of its free collection displays - the first in ten years. There are over 800 works by over 350 artists, featuring much-loved favourites and recent discoveries, including 70 works which entered the collection in the past 5 years. The rehang intends to reflect revolutionary changes in art, culture and society, and present new work by some of Britain’s most exciting contemporary artists. Associate arts editor of The Times, Alice Jones, and TV and film critic Amon Warmann give their view.
Plus The Little Mermaid. In their 100th year, Disney have reworked their 1989 Oscar winning animated musical classic into a live action version, starring Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King and Melissa McCarthy. Alice and Amon review.
And the Cannes Film Festival - critic Jason Solomons offers his round up of this year's films.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Corinna Jones
THU 20:00 Law in Action (m001m4rx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Tuesday]
THU 20:30 The Patch (m001k7l6)
Sunderland Point, Morecambe
One random postcode, and a story you probably haven't heard before.
Sunderland Point near Morecambe is unique. It's the only mainland place in the UK which gets cut off twice a day by the tide washing over its only access road. The village has been here since the 1700s - it was the original port in the area before Lancaster was built, and it is steeped in history. There are things about living here which are a step back in time, too. There's no gas supply - so there's a culture of competitive drift wood collecting. There are no shops, no pubs, just a public toilet block which the 50 villagers all look after on a rota, and a reading room where they can get together.
But what the village does have is a 15-strong shanty crew - "a raucous rowdy bunch who love a drink... and singing at the tops of our lungs". When producer Polly arrives in the village to meet the shanty crew, she stumbles into a moment of change. Trevor, the Sunderland Point Sea Shanty Crew's co-founder, has just moved to the other end of the tidal road, with his wife Margaret. "We almost regard Trevor and Margaret as the mother and father of Sunderland Point" - this is the story of why they decided to leave, and what happens next.
Produced and presented by Polly Weston in Bristol
Editor: Chris Ledgard
A BBC Audio Wales and West Production
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001m4w7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001m4v6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001m4wl)
AI helps in discovery of new antibiotic against superbug
Also in the programme: Rishi Sunak denies claims his government has lost control of immigration; and we have a special report on the Turkish Alevi community in North London
THU 22:45 The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (m001m4wn)
9. Thea and Ruby
Ike, a.k.a Irving, is obsessed with his hiking and maybe his co-star. He struggles as a family man/working actor. His wife Thea arrives with their daughter Ruby and finds her own starring role thanks to Al Mac-Teer. As the family settles into life in Lone Butte they navigate stardom, parenting and increasing tensions.
The debut novel by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks is a love letter to movie making and the people who make them.
Read by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
THU 23:00 Rylan: How to Be a Man (p0fldd0r)
2. Amir Khan
Boxing champion and Olympic medallist Amir Khan talks to Rylan Clark about punching people for a living, the inner turmoil he felt when he was robbed at gunpoint, hair removal, religion and how fame, fortune and being known as King Khan has impacted on him as a man.
In this series, Rylan opens up the fault lines of masculinity in lively and revealing conversations with diverse, prominent figures and celebrities. Together they explore toxic masculinity, old-fashioned male stereotypes, gender identity, body image, parenthood, how to educate the next generation, role models and cultural differences to try to understand How to Be a Man in the 2020s.
Series Editor: Yvonne Alexander
Executive Producer: Kevin Mundye
A Mindhouse production in association with Simple Beast for BBC Radio 4
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001m4wr)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs question the government on the rise in migration figures.
FRIDAY 26 MAY 2023
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001m4wt)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m4v8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001m4ww)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001m4wy)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001m4x0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001m4x4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001m4xb)
A reflection and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Dr Emma Whittick, Chaplain at the University of Wales Trinity St David, in Lampeter and Carmarthen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001m4xk)
26/05/23 Bill dropped which bans animal exports; Increased payments for upland farmers; Dutch farmers
The government has dropped the Kept Animals Bill. It would have banned the live export of animals from the UK . The commitment to banning the export of live animals for slaughter was made in the Conservative Party's election manifesto in 2019 and the bill would also have brought in new measures to tackle dogs worrying livestock and puppy farming. The Farming Minister Mark Spencer told the House of Commons the bill "risked being extended" beyond its original commitments and was being dropped. Compassion in World Farming has long campaigned against live exports and has condemned the move.
Some English farmers are celebrating a government u-turn on payments to hill farms. Charlotte Smith finds out what the changes are and what they could mean for farmers.
This week the World Farmers Organisation has been meeting in South Africa and so all this week Farming Today is looking at some of the challenges facing farmers around the world. Today we report from the Netherlands, where there are radical proposals to reduce the number of farms.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04mlvwg)
Rhinoceros Auklet
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the rhinoceros auklet found around the North American western seaboard. Rhinoceros auklets are auks. They look very different to their relatives the puffins or guillemots. They're dark grey-ish brown birds, and in the breeding season both male and female have flowing white plumes above their eyes and behind their orange bills. It is the white vertical plate at the base of its bill which has inspired the birds' common names of "horn-billed puffins" or "unicorn puffins". This horn is only grown in the breeding season; the birds shed it in autumn when they head out to sea. Rhinoceros auklets in burrows or cavities in grassy places or on forest floors: most colonies are small, but some contain a hundred thousand birds which produce a soothing chorus of mooing and grunting sounds, strange to hear in the blackness of a coastal wood.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
FRI 06:00 Today (m001m4y9)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m001m4nx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 The West: A New History of an Old Idea by Naoíse Mac Sweeney (m001m50c)
Rivals and Roots
If we reject the grand narrative of the West as it has been presented, what alternatives are there? How are we to understand our future by looking at past and what do contemporary rivals of the West, particularly China, believe of their own history?
Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.
Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.
Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001m4z5)
The Turkish elections and female voters
In the last two years Turkey has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention which "creates a comprehensive legal framework and approach to combat violence against women" and at the same time international observers have raise concerns over femicide rates in the country as well as violence against women and girls. Anita Rani talks to the independent journalist Barcin Yinanc and Ravza Kavakci from Erdogan’s ruling AKP party.
A recent survey of a thousand teenage girls has found that nearly half of them have struggled to access products at school. On Sunday a Period Parade will make it’s way through London to call for continued support to combat period inequality and shame. We talk to Emily Wilson - the International chief executive of I Rise, a period-equality charity
Tracey Curtis-Taylor is a British aviator who has paid tribute to pioneering female aviators like Lady Mary Heath and Amy Johnson by flying the paths they once flew. Now she’s written a book all about her flights, and the reasons behind them. She joins Anita in the studio to talk more about her adventures.
Bar Pandora is the emerging alt-pop project and stage name of Coventry-based musician, writer, artist & performer, Charlie Tophill. The new single Ultramess is out this week. Charlie joins Anita to discuss the inspiration for her work, overcoming shame and self-policing in the music industry.
Liz Harvie and Debbie Iromlou are both adult adoptees in their 50's and Woman's Hour listeners. Having heard our discussion about adoption on Tuesday they decided to get in touch. They wanted to talk about the impact of being adopted on their mental health all through their lives.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
FRI 11:00 Burden of Proof (m001m4zf)
“They didn’t believe that I was gay.”
What if your safety depended on proving your sexuality? What happens when the state has the power to define queerness? And what happens if they don’t believe you?
Jason Thomas-Fournillier applied for asylum in the UK in 2014 after facing escalating homophobic violence in Trinidad. The Home Office initially refused his claim because they did not believe that he was gay. Nine years and several appeals later, he has still not received the right to stay here. He cannot work or vote. He lives on £35 per week.
Jason is not alone. A 2020 report found that LGBT+ people seeking asylum are having claims rejected at a disproportionate rate due to an "impossible burden of proof". Ostracised from their communities, subject to repeated threats, forced into marriages, losing partners to violent attacks, many of the LGBT+ people who seek asylum in the UK have experienced immeasurable trauma. Like Jason, they often find that their journey into the asylum system begins with an assessment of the "credibility" of their queerness. People who have spent their entire lives hiding their sexuality to protect themselves are asked to quickly and confidently reverse these coping mechanisms.
Bridey Addison-Child, a trans-masc British citizen, explores what happens when the authenticity of queerness is enforced by the UK Home Office. Combining testimony with reflections on queer identity, the programme follows the experiences of LGBT+ people in the UK asylum system as they grapple with proving who they are.
Featuring the voices of refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK including Jason Thomas-Fournillier and Aderonke Apata, Bridey also hears from Professor of Refugee Law at SOAS Sarah Singer, and barrister and Visiting Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton Dr. S Chelvan.
Producer: Bridey Addison-Child
Executive Producer: Jo Meek & Anishka Sharma
Sound Mix: John Cranmer
Image Credit: Jack Owen
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 11:30 Ed Reardon's Week (m000xlvb)
Series 14
Elgar’s Nose
Episode 5: Elgar’s Nose
Thanks to his weekly pension, Ed is enjoying all manner of new things like organic food box deliveries, the pleasure of ticking yes to the question ‘Do you Have a TV licence?’ with a clear conscience and a brand-new car. Elgar, Ed’s trusty feline companion, is also enjoying this new lifestyle, apart from a sneeze that he just cannot shake. A trip to the Vet is in order.
Cast list ep 5
Ed Reardon………..Christopher Douglas
Ping…………….……..Barunka O’Shaughnessy
Maggie……………….Pippa Haywood
Salesman…………….Phaldut Sharma
Olive…………………..Stephanie Cole
Pearl…………………..Brigit Forsyth
Stan……………………Geoffrey Whitehead
Vet………………….….Nicola Sanderson
Piers……………………Simon Greenall
Petroc Trelawny…….Himself
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas
Produced by Dawn Ellis
Production Co-ordinator: Cherlynn Andrew-Wilfred
Sound Recordist and Editor: David Thomas
A BBC Studios Production first broadcast in 2021
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001m50q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m001m4dk)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
FRI 12:57 Weather (m001m4zx)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m001m503)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Jonny Dymond.
FRI 13:45 Taking Issue with Shakespeare (m001l2j7)
Episode 5
Major public figures, in conversation with Professor Emma Smith, explore whether Shakespeare might help us resolve some challenging contemporary issues.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, talks about the fundamental sense of a shared humanity which King Lear’s suffering brings to him in this greatest of tragedies, set in a pagan world.
Emma, in turn, points out that the mockery of Malvolio’s aspirational attempts at social climbing in Twelfth Night, a play set in a world closer to that of Shakespeare himself, suggests that achieving the levelling up agenda may be harder than expected.
In spite of frequent claims that Shakespeare is a small-l liberal, Michael Gove makes a compelling case for Shakespeare as a small-c conservative.
With contributions from Professor Paul Prescott
Producer: Beaty Rubens
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001m4wf)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0fjx0yl)
An Eye for a Killing
An Eye for a Killing – 5. The Reckoning
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.
On Christmas Day in 1828 the jury at the High Court decide that serial killer, William Burke, is guilty of the murder of Madgy Docherty. Burke is sentenced to be hanged and his body publicly dissected. A crowd of 25,000 people turn out to watch him die – while his accomplice, William Hare, walks free from the court.
Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.
Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.
Narrator ….. Jack Lowden
Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell
Boyle ….. Paul Young
Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson
Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy
Mrs Wilson ….. Lucianne McEvoy
Galbraith ….. Andy Clark
John Fisher ….. Robert Jack
Michael Campbell ….. James Rottger
Other parts played by the cast.
Producer/director: Bruce Young
FRI 14:45 Welcome to the Neighbourhood with Jayde Adams (m001m50k)
S2 E1 Nick Grimshaw
Jayde Adams and her guest DJ Nick Grimshaw dive into the world of community apps and messageboards.
This week - a fart in a Carlisle supermarket, Grimmy's neighbours turn paparazzi at a time of crisis, and a found treasure of the Templar is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Producer: Cornelius Mendez
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001m50y)
Chelsea Flower Show 2023: Postbag Edition
Which stepover trees produce the crunchiest apples? Should celandines be treated as a traditional weed? What type of slugs are actually helpful in my garden?
Kathy Clugston is joined by experts Matthew Wilson, Juliet Sargeant and Dr Chris Thorogood as they head to this year's Chelsea Flower Show. While the panellists enjoy the various innovative exhibitions on show, they also answer some of your horticultural queries.
Meanwhile, roving reporter Peter Gibbs explores the showgrounds. He learns all about putting soil through a laundry room to prepare it for reuse, is drawn to an unusual plant he's not encountered before, learns which orchids can be grown at home easily and hears all about the different types of bees we have in our garden
Producer: Dom Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod and Dulcie Whadcock
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001m51d)
Gwen's Silver Fox
Gwen's Silver Fox.
The truth behind a rags-to-riches story set in seaside Barmouth by award winning writer John Sam Jones.
Directed by Philippa Swallow
Sound by Nigel Lewis
A BBC Audio Drama Wales production
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001m51s)
Tina Turner, Martin Amis, Leroy Cooper, Rolf Harris, Marlene Bauer Hagge
Matthew Bannister on
Tina Turner, the singer who overcame an abusive relationship to become an international superstar
Martin Amis, one of the literary giants of his generation
Leroy Cooper, the photographer who captured the social history of his area of Liverpool
Rolf Harris, the entertainer who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting young girls
Marlene Bauer Hagge, the last surviving founding member of the US Ladies Professional Golf Association
Interviewee: Dan Franklin
Interviewee: Leee John
Interviewee: Ray Quarless
Interviewee: Levi Tafari
Interviewee: David Sillito
Interviewee: Lewine Mair
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Archive used:
Tina Turner - From the archives: Life of suffering and triumph, CBS Sunday Morning, originally broadcast October 2018, YouTube uploaded 25/05/2023; Tina Turner talks to Larry King about her life in music (1997), CNN, YouTube uploaded 21/05/2016; Will Gompertz interviews Tina Turner, Tina Turner: Simply the Best, BBC One, 26/11/2018; Anne Rohmer interviews Tina Turner (1985), Canada TV News , CTV YouTube uploaded 24/05/2023; Martin Amis interview, The Late Show: Face To Face, BBC TWO, 25/10/1993; Martin Amis, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 29/12/1996; Leroy Cooper interview with Flora Zajicek, Empathy Museum, 2022; Toxteth riots July 1981, BBC News; Marlene Bauer Hagge interview, LPGA Takeaway: 67 Years Later, the Founders Look Back, Golf.com YouTube uploaded 4/11/2016; 1960 U.S. Women's Open newsreel, United States Golf Association, YouTube uploaded 30/05/2014; Marlene Bauer, The Last Of The LPGA Founders, The Golf Library, YouTube uploaded 19/05/2023;
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m001m523)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m001m52g)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001m537)
The couple have been given life sentences for murdering their 10-month-old son
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m001m53k)
Series 111
Episode 5
Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news, in a special edition recorded on stage at the Hay Festival. Providing the answers, hopefully, are Lucy Porter, Simon Evans, Kate Andrews, and Robin Morgan. This week the panel look at the health of the economy, the health of the government, and the health of health.
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound Editor: Marc Willcox
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001m53x)
Oliver welcomes Tracy and Susan to the lounge bar at Grey Gables, where the cocktail waiter will teach them to mix their own. Tracy insists Oliver stays for her hen party, and this time he can’t refuse. Later, while mixing cocktails for Susan and Emma, Oliver wonders how much money George has raised for the fostering charity. Tracy joins them in time to hear Emma claiming, falsely, that George is doing well. An argument ensues, with Emma and Tracy criticising each other’s weddings and their choice of spouse. Susan’s forced to intervene, reminding them that they’re family. She urges everyone, including Oliver, onto the dance floor.
Helen is fretting ahead of Anna’s visit. She tries to dissuade Lee from joining them, but Lee insists on being there to support her. Anne arrives and mentions Carol, who, despite struggling with her mobility, won’t consider getting assistance at home. Helen shows Anna the most recent letters from Rob’s solicitor. Anna thinks they’re mostly bluster. Rob’s legal case for access to Jack is weak, although that doesn’t stop him from drawing the process out. Anna warns it could be draining emotionally and financially. She advises that Helen’s solicitor, Dominic, should reply, stating they regard the letters as part of Rob’s ongoing abuse. Lee can’t believe the lengths Rob will go to. He hopes Rob won’t insist on a lengthy custody battle. Helen wants to be prepared though and can’t justify the expense of taking the boys to San Francisco. Lee will have to go on his own. Jack is her priority now.
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001m546)
Sports movies and TV
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode explore sport on screen, from Field of Dreams to Ted Lasso.
Ellen looks at the life lessons to be gleaned from baseball movies such as Field of Dreams, The Natural and A League of Their Own, with the help of film critic Simon Brew and the first woman to coach men's baseball in the US - trailblazer Justine Siegal.
And Mark focuses on football in film and TV, speaking to Ted Lasso co-creator and star Brendan Hunt about the inspirations for the sitcom about an American football manager hired to manage a fictional Premier League team. He also talks to critic and programmer Ashley Clark about his favourite screen depictions of the beautiful game, from Escape to Victory to Sunderland 'Til I Die.
Pioneering BBC Sport broadcaster and journalist Eleanor Oldroyd shares her Viewing Notes.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001m54d)
Lord Callanan, John Elliott, Bridget Phillipson MP, Professor Mona Siddiqui
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Felton Village Hall nr Morpeth with the Minister for Energy Efficiency Lord Callanan, businessman John Elliott, Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson MP and the academic and broadcaster Professor Mona Siddiqui.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair
Lead broadcast engineer: Michael Smith
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001m54l)
Taking Hammer to Gill
Howard Jacobson deplores the recent vandalising of Eric Gill's sculpture at BBC Broadcasting House as a failure to understand the meaning of art.
'Art, we go on protesting, is not the artist, but some will always believe that whatever is fashioned by evil hands must itself be evil,' he writes.
'If art and the artist were not distinct, the word art itself would have no meaning. For it denotes manufacture and artifice... not simple equation or reflection.'
Producer: Sheila Cook
Sound Engineer: Peter Bosher
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b0b2780g)
Listen to Britain
The 1942 black and white propaganda film Listen to Britain, directed by Humphrey Jennings, summed up our nation in just twenty memorable minutes of sounds and pictures. Inspired by watching and discussing this masterpiece, writers Julie Burchill and Dominic Grace set out to discover what Britishness means now.
They visit some of the places featured in the film , from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom to Trafalgar Square, and they report from Hastings, Newport and Bradford on pride, steel, lies, pubs, drag, flags and poncification.
Produced by Peter Everett
A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001m54s)
Former Met officer says she's been made scapegoat over Sarah Everard killing
A former Metropolitan police officer, found guilty of gross misconduct over her investigation of Sarah Everard's killer, Wayne Couzens, says she's received hundreds of hate messages.
Also in the programme: Presenter Phillip Schofield has quit ITV after admitting to an affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning; and ahead of the second round of key Turkish presidential elections, we hear from the wife of a jailed critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
FRI 22:45 The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks (m001m54z)
10. Robby
Robby Andersen, a.k.a Trev-Vor is enjoying his retirement from the days of subversive comics and now walks with cane. His niece and nephew are surprised to discover that TreV-Vor wrote The Legend of Firefall, and Robby is surprised to learn its being made into a film with none other than Wren Lane, shot in none other than Lone Butte.
A year later, life has changed for everyone involved in 'Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall' one way or another. Robby finally sees the ending Uncle Bob's story in full technicolour.
The debut novel by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks is a love letter to movie making and the people who make them.
Read by Tom Hanks
Written by Tom Hanks.
Abridged by Robin Brooks
Produced by Naomi Walmsley
FRI 23:00 Americast (m001m554)
Ron and Elon: A Failed Launch?
It’s Elon Musk’s latest launch… not a rocket this time, but Ron DeSantis’ campaign for president, live on Twitter! But after some technical hiccups, is it a failed lift-off? The Americast team reviews how it went and tries to answer whether Florida's governor can win the White House.
And after dining with Sarah and Anthony in DC, J Smith-Cameron, who plays Gerri in Succession, meets Marianna in London ahead of the show’s finale, and turns the tables by asking her what reporters can learn from how the show portrays the media.
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Sarah Smith, North America editor
• Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent
GUEST:
• J. Smith-Cameron, ‘Succession’ actress
GET IN TOUCH:
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
Find out more about our award winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.
This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg with Ivana Davidovic, Alix Pickles and Natasha Fernandes. The technical producer was Ben Andrews. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001m559)
Mark D'Arcy reports on growing tensions between ministers and officials, a planned new animal welfare law is dropped and supporters of assisted dying step up their campaign.