SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2023
SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001qtqx)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 00:30 Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire by Michael Palin (m001qtr1)
Episode 5
From the time, many years ago, when Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, who was killed in the First World War, he was determined to find out more about him.
The quest that followed involved hundreds of hours of painstaking detective work. Michael dug out every bit of family gossip and correspondence he could. He studied every relevant official document. He made use of his great-uncle Harry’s diaries, letters and postcards, and pored over photographs of First World War battle scenes to see whether Harry appeared in any of them. He walked the route Harry took on that fatal, final day of his life amid the mud of northern France. And as he did so, a life that had previously existed in the shadows was revealed to him.
A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir, Great-Uncle Harry is a compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life.
Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. His much-acclaimed travel documentaries have taken him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth), and several volumes of diaries. From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society. He received a BAFTA fellowship in 2013, and a knighthood in 2019.
In today’s episode, Harry is in the trenches in northern France. It’s 1916, and the Battle of the Somme is about to begin. Michael Palin visits Mametz Wood, where his great-uncle was killed.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Producer: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001qtr5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001qtr9)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001qtrf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001qtrk)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001qtrp)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Professor
Good morning.
My Mum was a medical student in Cork University. She was awaiting the arrival of one of her Professors for an early morning lecture.
The Professor swept in, unexpectedly late, flanked by two orderlies escorting a very sick-looking man, who was whisked onto a central podium where he was sat on a chair, facing the class.
The Professor spoke to the intrigued students. “Before I proceed with today’s lecture, I want to present this patient to you and I’d like your diagnoses of his rare condition.”
The patient had bleeding gums, loose teeth, and his body was easily bruised; he had extreme fatigue, dry-&-brittle hair, joint pain and wounds that were not healing.
The medical students suggested various lurid illnesses to match the symptoms: blood cancer, jaundice, brain tumours…
“You are all wrong!” said the Professor finally. ‘This man has scurvy. He’s been drinking too much whiskey, taking no exercise and has not been eating any fruit or vegetables. Take him away, give him some Vitamin C!”
It was a vivid demonstration that lodged in my Mum’s memory: the wonder of how the lack of a trace-chemical like Vitamin C can have such a devastating effect on the integrity of the human body.
Thus it is in the spiritual life: we can trek along, everything seemingly normal - but over time, by conscious decisions, neglect or just drift, something essential is being leeched away from my core… Suddenly, in a crisis, my soul is found to be ‘not fit for purpose’.
Lord, let your Holy Spirit guide me that, in my choices and priorities this day, I will not compromise the health & integrity of my soul.
Amen.
SAT 05:45 Close Encounters (m001mlm5)
Sir Chris Whitty and Dr Edward Jenner
The latest in Martha Kearney's new series celebrating portraits and portraiture through the eyes of ten Great Britons.
Her guest this time became a familiar face to anyone keeping abreast of developments during the COVID pandemic. The UK's Chief Medical Adviser Professor Sir Chris Whitty has chosen a fellow medical scientist and son of Gloucestershire, Edward Jenner, the man who's work developing Vaccination made it possible to start on the road to eradicating Smallpox.
After three years of closure for major refurbishment and expansion the National Portrait Gallery, just off London's Trafalgar Square is set for re-opening. To mark the occasion the gallery, along with BBC Radio 4 have launched a celebration of great Briton's, with Martha Kearney hosting a Close Encounter between the likes of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Dame Katherine Grainger, Edward Enninful and Arlo Parks and a portrait they choose to champion. For Sir Tim Berners-Lee it's the Suffragette campaigner Christabel Pankhurst, for Dame Katherine Grainger it's the first English woman to swim the channel, the largely forgotten Mercedes Gleitze.
In each episode we find out about the subject of the portrait, the moment at which their image was captured for posterity and the importance of image and identity for those who find themselves in the eye of the nation's attention today.
Producers: Tom Alban and Mohini Patel
SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001r0s0)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.
SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m001qtr6)
Into Portpatrick on the Rhins of Galloway
Clare joins two friends on what could possibly be the slowest walk between Land's End and John O'Groats. Hiking one week at a time (with a gap of several years when the Welsh coastline wasn't fully navigable) it's taken Iain McHenry and David Rowe 18 years to reach the coast of Dumfries and Galloway. That's where Clare joins them, on a beautifully sunny day, as they approach the village of Portpatrick on the remote Rhins of Galloway.
This is the first of two episodes recorded in the area: next week Margaret Hughes and Peter Ross take Clare on a section of the Southern Upland Way, starting in Portpatrick and heading north.
Producer: Karen Gregor
Presenter: Clare Balding
SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001r0s2)
30/09/23 - Farming Today This Week: The State of Nature, rural youth groups and nature writing
Farming needs to change to help reverse the ongoing decline in the UK's nature - that's the message in the new State of Nature report published this week by more than 50 research and conservation organisations, from the RSPB to the wildlife trusts and statutory bodies like Natural England. The report warns that 1 in 6 species of British wildlife are under threat of extinction and highlights nature friendly farming as part of the solution. But which approach works better for nature - sharing productive farmland with biodiversity, or farming more intensively so some land can be spared entirely for nature?
Young people in rural areas are missing out on "critical" services due to a "postcode lottery", charities have warned. BBC analysis shows that of the seventy million pounds in grants for youth clubs awarded in August, most of it went to venues around big cities. Experts describe children in villages and small towns as ‘the forgotten youths’.
And sales of books about nature have been steadily rising over the past few years - we're said to be living in a golden age for nature writing. We hear from writers about what motivates them, and what impact they feel they can have.
Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons
SAT 06:57 Weather (m001r0s4)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SAT 07:00 Today (m001r0s6)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001r0s8)
Danny Cipriani, Paige Lewin, Allison Angell, Alan Fletcher
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (m001r0sb)
Victorian Bodybuilding
Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Darren Harriot to learn about the bodybuilding boom of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The latter part of the 19th century saw the beginning of a fitness craze where the seeds of modern day gym and fitness culture were sown. But physical fitness also tapped into other parts of the psyche of British society at the time.
From concerns over the fighting fitness of the British army to the racist pseudoscience of eugenics, this novel leisure activity tells us a surprising amount about the societal and intellectual currents that existed in this period.
Research by Caitlín Rankin-McCabe
Written by Emma Nagouse, Caitlín Rankin-McCabe and Greg Jenner
Produced by Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Assistant Producer: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow
Project Management: Isla Matthews
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
The Athletic production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 10:30 My Dream Dinner Party (m001r0sd)
Simon Callow's Dream Dinner Party
Actor and writer Simon Callow hosts a dinner party with a twist - all his guests are from beyond the grave, long-time heroes brought back to life by the wonders of the radio archive.
Simon is joined by his old friend and agent Peggy Ramsay, actor and director Orson Welles, comedian and satirist Barry Humphries, writer and polemicist Christopher Hitchens - and Princess Margaret.
As Simon tops up the strawberry rum daiquiri glasses, he and his guests discuss press intrusion, alcoholism, spoiled childhoods - and Christopher Hitchens describes a fruity encounter with Margaret Thatcher.
Alongside fine dining and high brow conversation, there’s a guest who comes clean about her embarrassing body search.
Written and presented by Simon Callow
Produced by Sarah Peters and Peregrine Andrews
Co-producer Tim Bano
Additional Editing: Jerome Watson
BBC Archivist: Tariq Hussain
Executive Producer: Iain Chambers
A Tuning Fork and Open Audio production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 11:00 Reflections (m001pf88)
Valerie Amos
Baroness Amos takes James Naughtie behind the scenes of a career in the foreign office, Tony Blair's government, and the UN, and reflects on how to bring activism to the establishment.
SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001r0sg)
Niger: After the Coup
Kate Adie presents stories from Niger, Syria, Portugal, Costa Rica and the US.
French President, Emmanuel Macron announced he is withdrawing French troops from Niger, once seen as a key ally in the fight against jihadists in the Sahel, and withdrew his ambassador. Meanwhile, in Niamey, people are adjusting to life under military rule after the coup in July. Mayeni Jones recounts her recent visit there.
Thousands of people have gone missing or been detained since the Syrian protests began in 2011, which escalated into a brutal civil war. Lina Sinjab spoke to people in Lebanon and Istanbul about their attempts to find out information about their relatives, often involving vast sums of money.
Portugal has for the last twenty years taken a softer approach to narcotics than other countries across the world, which impose tough penalties for the production, distribution and the consumption of substances such as heroin and cocaine. It's no longer a crime to possess drugs there for personal use. James Cook visits the city of Porto to find out what this means in practice.
Costa Rica is known for its high-quality coffee, which is grown in the mountainous regions of the Central American country. But it has traditionally been a male-dominated industry there. Matilda Welin visited a farm to meet one of the emerging group of female growers to hear how things are changing.
And as Republican debates get into full swing for the presidential candidacy, and an imminent US budget shutdown looms, Gary O'Donoghue reports on another flashpoint which has diverted attention from other matters of state: the Senate's dress code.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: China Collins
SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001r0w7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001r0sl)
Energy Credit and Bereavement Support
Energy companies are holding on to too much of their customers' money in the form of credit on their accounts. That's according to Angus MacNeil, Chair of the House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero committee. Money Box has uncovered the total amount of credit being held in the first three months of this year was £8.1 billion. Those figures are from the regulator, Ofgem. Energy UK, which represents energy companies says suppliers are obligated to set direct debits that are, over a 12 month period, estimated to result in a balanced account. It also told us at the time this £8.1bn was being held as credit prices were extremely volatile and the level of government help was unknown. It also said it's not meaningful to compare credit and debt.
Charities say new figures obtained by Money Box show that less than 1 in 4 bereaved parents who were not married have claimed a support payment they became entitled to in February. That was when the government changed the law to give cohabiting parents equal rights with parents who were married or in a civil partnership.
The Department for Work and Pensions say it's telling bereaved parents about the backdated benefit via stakeholders, charities and a targeted media and social media campaign. More information on who can claim is available at: www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/cohabiting
What you need to know about the self-assessment tax deadline on 5th October.
And, we'll also run through the changes to energy bills coming in on 1st October.
Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Luke Smithurst
Editor: Jess Quayle
Energy Credit
00:00
Bereavement Support
08:43
Tax Deadline
14:49
Energy Bills
16:32
(First broadcast,
12pm Saturday 30th September, 2023)
SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m001qtp9)
Series 112
Episode 4
Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news. With him to find the answers to all our problems Andrew Doyle, Athena Kugblenu, Felicity Ward and Hugo Rifkind.
This week, Andy and the panel discuss Suella's desire to ditch conventions, Sunak laughing all the way to the Rosebank, and the thrills and spills of the Lib Dem conference.
Written by Andy Zaltzman
With additional material by
Alice Fraser
Ben Clover
Cody Dahler
and Miranda Holms
Producer: Gwyn Rhys Davies
Executive Producer: Richard Morris
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Editor: Giles Aspen
A BBC Studios Production
SAT 12:57 Weather (m001r0sn)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001r0sq)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4
SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001qtpz)
Victoria Atkins MP, Anneliese Dodds MP, Alexander Downer, Professor Sir David King
Alex Forsyth presents political discussion from One Sixth Form College in Ipswich with a panel including Victoria Atkins - Conservative MP for Louth and Hardcastle and Financial Secretary to the Treasury; Anneliese Dodds - Labour MP for Oxford East and Chair of the Labour Party; Chairman of Policy Exchange Alexander Downer and Professor Sir David King - climate change scientist and former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
Lead broadcast engineer: Richard Earle
SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001r0ss)
Call Any Answers? to have your say on the big issues in the news this week
SAT 14:45 Dementia: Unexpected Stories of the Mind (m001kxf2)
Jo
In the last episode of their series uncovering rare dementias, neurologist Jules Montague and William Miller meet Jo, who has primary progressive aphasia (PPA). A novelist, she is losing her ability to speak, read and write.
PPA (previously called semantic dementia) usually affects people in their 50s and 60s. This condition erodes vocabulary. People with PPA have difficulty finding the right word. They also lose knowledge of what words mean and what objects are for.
Details of organisations offering information and support with dementia are available at the BBC Action Line here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1Y8B7y39T07GnTlMsLPJG2S/information-and-support-dementia
Producer: Eve Streeter
Original music: A Brief Encounter by Max Walter
A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m0019yw7)
Brick Lane
Part One of a new adaptation of Monica Ali’s bestselling novel, dramatised by Tanika Gupta.
When a teenage Nazneen arrives in London, the hectic streets and cramped high-rises of the East End are a world away from her life in Bangladesh. As her sister’s situation back in Dhaka worsens, and with a baby on the way, life only gets more complicated. Can Nazneen really leave things up to fate this time?
Winner of Best Adaptation at the 2023 Audio Drama Awards.
CAST
Nazneen .... Anneika Rose
Chanu ..... Zubin Varla
Razia ..... Chetna Pandya
Hasina ..... Hiftu Quasem
Mrs Islam ..... Nina Wadia
Dr Azad ..... Neil D’Souza
Dramatized by Tanika Gupta
Directed by Anne Isger
Sound by Caleb Knightley, Ali Craig and Pete Ringrose
Production Co-ordination by Luke MacGregor
Production Assistance by Hannah O'Reilly
A BBC Audio Production
Tanika Gupta
Tanika Gupta MBE FRSL is a prolific radio, stage and film writer, having written over 25 stage plays that have been produced in major theatres across the UK, over 30 radio plays and numerous television dramas. In the past year, her stage play The Empress was added to the GCSE curriculum, alongside her adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House.
Brick Lane
Monica Ali's debut novel Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2003. In the same year Ali was named as one of Granta's 'Best of Young British Novelists'.
SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m001r0sw)
Performance artist Marina Abramovic, Universities and sexual misconduct, Nicole Scherzinger, Finances and friendship
The world renowned Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic talks to Emma Barnett about a major exhibition of her work across five decades at the Royal Academy in London.
Universities are said to be spending increasingly more of their time investigating complex sexual misconduct cases raised by students. But how equipped and effective are universities at investigating such cases? Professor Steve West, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West of England, Eleanor Laws KC, leading criminal barrister and Geraldine Swanton, a lawyer working with the higher and further education sector discuss.
The American performer Nicole Scherzinger came to our attention as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. She has since carved out a successful solo career as well as being a judge on television talent shows including The X Factor. Eight years after she was nominated for an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Grizabella in Cats, Nicole has now returned to the West End stage where she stars as Norma Desmond in a new production of the musical Sunset Boulevard.
The cost of living has put a strain on people’s budgets and a recent report from Carnegie UK Trust suggests around a third of people are not even seeing their friends because they can’t afford to. Danielle Bayard Jackson, a female friendship coach and Otegha Uwagba, author of We Need to Talk about Money discuss navigating friendships and money.
Author Ysenda Maxtone Graham talks about her new book Jobs for the Girls which gives a snapshot of British women's working lives from 1950s.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Dianne McGregor
SAT 17:00 PM (m001r0t0)
Full coverage of the day's news
SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m001r0t4)
The Keir Starmer 2023 One
The Leader of the Opposition sets out his vision for getting Labour back into government
Producer: Daniel Kraemer
SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001r0t8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SAT 17:57 Weather (m001r0td)
The latest weather forecast
SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r0tj)
Time is running out for the US Congress to avert a government shutdown. And, more than 30 Conservative MPs have promised to fight any further tax rises.
SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001r0tn)
Miriam Margolyes, Beverley Knight, Nick Frost, Paul Sinha, George Egg, Emily Breeze, Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson and George Egg are joined by Miriam Margolyes, Beverley Knight, Nick Frost and Paul Sinha for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Emily Breeze and Beverley Knight.
SAT 19:00 Profile (m001r0ts)
Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch will become the boss of one of the world's most powerful media empires. His father, Rupert, has said his eldest son will succeed him as chairman of Fox and News Corp. Lachlan's appointment ends years of speculation over which one of the siblings will take control of the businesses their father built.
At one point Lachlan's younger brother James was favourite for the top job but it didn't go his way. So, who is Lachlan Murdoch, how did he win his father's approval and what impact will he make? Timandra Harkness pieces together what we know about him through interviews he's given and by speaking to people who've worked for and observed the Murdochs.
Guest:
Paddy Manning, Author, The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch.
Michael Wolff, Author, The Fall: The End of the Murdoch Empire.
Sarah Ellison, Washington Journal National Enterprise Reporter, Author, War at the Wall Street Journal.
Kelvin MacKenzie, Former Editor, The Sun.
Claire Enders, Founder, Enders Analysis.
Credits: ABC Dynasties
Presenter: Timandra Harkness
Producer: Nick Holland
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound: James Beard
SAT 19:15 This Cultural Life (m001r0tx)
Lucy Prebble
Renowned for tackling big themes on stage, Lucy Prebble made her name as a playwright in her mid-twenties when she wrote the hugely successful Enron. The play, which premiered in 2009 and explored the collapse of the American energy corporation eight years earlier, transferred to the West End and also played on Broadway. In 2019 she premiered A Very Expensive Poison which dramatized the assassination in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Lucy Prebble has also written for television, she devised and wrote the black comedy series I Hate Suzie with its star Billie Piper. She was also one of the writers of the Emmy, Golden Globes and BAFTA winning Succession, about the ageing media mogul deciding if and how to hand control of his corporate empire to his children.
In conversation with John Wilson, Lucy recalls how an early job as an assistant to Nicholas Hytner in his first year as Director of the National Theatre helped her to begin her career as a writer. She reveals how Billy Bragg's song Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards is a continued inspiration in her work as a playwright and the influence that Bob Fosse’s 1979 film All That Jazz had on her TV series I Hate Suzie. She also discusses being part of the team that wrote the hit TV series Succession and what effect the experience has had on her and her work.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001r0tz)
How the Yom Kippur War Changed Everything, for Everyone
It's a war with many names - The Yom Kippur War, the Ramadan War, the October War.
What is clear 50 years after it was fought is that it was a conflict that really did change the world. In this Archive on 4, Michael Goldfarb tells the story of the war that began on 6th October 1973 and ended less than three weeks later, yet somehow the combatants and the rest of the world still live with the aftermath.
The consequences of the war were immediate. Arab oil producers united for the first time and raised the price of oil precipitously. The resulting inflation in the developed world would end the post World War 2 economic boom virtually overnight. In the Anglosphere, this inflation would ebb and flow for the rest of the decade and only come to an end with the election of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan who broke its back by neutering unions with their "cost of living plus" contracts.
In Israel, within months, five of the right-wing nationalist political parties united into a new political party called Likud, which means consolidation. In 1977, the Likud would be elected to government. It has been in power, either alone or in coalition, for most of the half century since the war and its expansionist ideology-building settlements in "Samaria", the West Bank Palestinian land captured in 1967, would come to redefine Israel.
In Egypt, Anwar Sadat, negotiated the return of the Sinai that more than 5000 Egyptians died trying to recapture. His signature on the Camp David Accords was his death sentence. He was assassinated three years later. Among those imprisoned and tortured for their role in the assassination plot was Ayman al Zawihiri, who would found al-Qaeda and recruit Osama bin-Laden to the cause.
A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 21:00 Stone (m000rvp9)
Protection
Blame
Stone. Detective series created by Danny Brocklehurst.
Series 9 Protection: Episode 4 'Blame' written by Martin Jameson
Fifteen year old Layla has gone missing, determined to seek retribution for her sister’s murder.
DCI JOHN STONE.... Hugo Speer
DS SUE KELLY ........Deborah McAndrew
DI MIKE TANNER.......Craig Cheetham
ALICE....... Sydney Wade
JAX BRAITHWAITE ........Doña Croll
LAYLA / DS NOVAK.........Sade Malone
PHIL SIMPSON / DOUGIE...... Rupert Hill
RUBY ............ Lucy Dixon
Director Gary Brown. Producer Nadia Molinari
SAT 21:45 Short Works (m001qtnx)
Boy by Clare Watson
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the Northern Irish writer Clare Watson. Read by Roísín Gallagher.
Clare Watson is the author of short stories published in the Seamus Heaney Centre Blackbird Anthology, and broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster’s Storytellers series. She studied at Queen’s University Belfast and graduated with a Masters degree in Special Educational Needs as well as a Masters in Creative Writing. She has been teaching for over 25 years and has been a Special Needs Co-ordinator in three different schools for over 8 years. She is currently working on a compilation of character driven stories focusing on the lives of women.
Details of organisations offering information and support with autism are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Writer: Clare Watson
Reader: Roísín Gallagher
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SAT 22:00 News (m001r0v1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SAT 22:15 Screenshot (m001qtpq)
Stunts
To celebrate 50 years of the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon, Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode look at the unsung heroes of cinema, stunt artists.
Mark talks to stunt choreographer on the Oscar winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once, Daniel Mah, and stunt historian Scott McGee about the history of stunts in Hollywood and how the Hong Kong style influenced cinema.
Ellen then speaks to journalist Brandon Streussnig and veteran stunt woman La Faye Baker about why stunt performers deserve awards recognition for their contributions to film.
Producer: Freya Hellier
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m001qtb1)
Heat 7, 2023
(7/17)
The general knowledge quiz comes from Salford this week with four more contenders starting their bid to become the 70th BBC Brain of Britain. Russell Davies's questions range from Tudor history to hi-hip and from football to philosophy - with a guaranteed place in the semi-finals awaiting today's winner.
Appearing in today's heat are
Julie Byres from Aberdeen
Jude Cole from Sheffield
John Robinson from Birmingham
Haydn Thompson from the Peak District.
There'll also be a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by stumping the contenders with questions he or she has devised, in 'Beat the Brains'.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
SAT 23:30 Uncanny (m001r0v3)
Series 3
S3. Case 1: The Blue Man
16-year-old Sarah moves to a new house in North Wales, and every night wakes to see a man standing at the end of her bed, accompanied by a terrible feeling of intense sadness. She thinks it’s a dream, but then realises she’s not the only one to see him…
Written and presented by Danny Robins
Editing and sound design: 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 01 OCTOBER 2023
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001r0v5)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:15 Stories in the Air (m001qt4j)
Live from the Contains Strong Language festival in Leeds, today’s rich audio drama scene is celebrated against the backdrop of the 100th anniversary of BBC radio drama. The corporation broadcast a single scene from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in February 1923, before going on to commission more radio drama than any other organisation. So what makes a great audio drama? What’s unique about it for the writers and actors taking part? And what does the future hold as audio industries and technologies evolve? Actor Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch), producer Benbrick (Have You Head George’s Podcast?), sound designer Eloise Whitmore, and writers Katie Hims and Michael Symmons Roberts join Front Row’s Nick Ahad to discuss.
Producer: Ruth Thomson
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r0v7)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r0v9)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r0vc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001r0vf)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001r0vh)
The Parish Church of St Leonard, Bledington in Gloucestershire
Bells on Sunday comes from the Parish Church of St Leonard, Bledington in Gloucestershire. The Grade I listed parish church dates from the 12th century and was lavishly rebuilt in the 15th century and retains some of the original 15th century painted glass . The Cotswold stone tower has a ring of six bells, with the 17th century tenor bell weighing eight hundredweight and tuned to G. We hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.
SUN 05:45 Profile (m001r0ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001r10q)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (m001r10t)
Ocean Deep
The writer and seaman Joseph Conrad described it as enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving; it covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe and is vital to human existence. Rabbi Julia Neuberger explores the spiritual and practical elements of the ever-changing sea.
First Broadcast in 2006.
A Unique Broadcasting Company production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b0bfy96y)
Adder
Holding what looks like a television aerial, reptile ecologist Nigel Hand strides across the heath. It may look something out of a science fiction movie, but as Nigel explains to Brett Westwood he is on a serious quest; searching for adders. These adders he has previously caught and fitted with tiny radio transmitters and the aerial is used to track and follow them as he learns more about the behaviour and habits of these much misunderstood snakes. Like Nigel, Brett Westwood has been fascinated by adders since he was a child and as he discovers they have long been the subject of myths and superstitions often attributed with powers of wisdom or a sly nature, giving rise to stories about their ability to hypnotise their prey and swallow their young. But as Brett discovers the truth about our only venomous snake is even more fascinating.
Originally broadcast in a longer form 21st August 2018
Original Producer : Sarah Blunt.
Archive Producer : Andrew Dawes
SUN 06:57 Weather (m001r110)
The latest weather reports and forecast
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001r116)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001r11f)
Politics and the Lords Spiritual; The Venerable Bede; Spirituality of Sycamore Gap
Prayers are being said at church services today for the family of 15 year old Elianne Andam, who was stabbed to death while on her way to school in Croydon. A 17 year old man has been charged with murder. William Crawley speaks to local Anglican bishop, Rosemarie Mallett who has been working to tackle knife crime and supporting Elianne's family.
It's called the holy grail of medieval history; the search to find the actual handwriting of the Venerable Bede, a monk from the north east of England. He was a man obsessed with learning who became the only English Doctor of the Catholic Church. Professor Michelle Brown has writen a new book, "Bede and the Theory of Everything". She explains what we owe to this saint from the 700s.
Hare Krishna rapper Jake Emlyn tells us why he gave up music for his faith and why he's now considering a return to the record industry.
There was shock over the felling of the 300 year old tree at Sycamore Gap, a place where people scattered ashes, made marriage proposals and contemplated nature. William hears from the Bishop of Newcastle, Rt Rev Helen-Ann Hartley and asks if you have a spiritual or a strong connection to a particular tree.
PRESENTER: WILLIAM CRAWLEY
PRODUCERS: BARA'ATU IBRAHIM & LINDA WALKER
EDITOR: HELEN GRADY
STUDIO MANAGERS: CHRIS HARDMAN & NAT STOKES
PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR: DAVID BAGULEY
SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001r11t)
United Response
Actor Leon Harrop makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of United Response.
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 ‘United Response’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘United Response’.
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: 265249
SUN 07:57 Weather (m001r129)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001r12q)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001r138)
Live from Paisley Abbey
Live from Paisley Abbey, reflecting on the Abbey's long connections with Paisley's people.
With The Rev Jim Gibson and The Very Rev Dr Lorna Hood, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Abbey Choir directed by George McPhee. Organist: Mark Browne.
Hymns: As pants the hart for cooling streams (Tune: Martyrdom)
Children of God, reach out to one another (Tune: Highwood)
How shall I sing that majesty (Tune: Coe Fen)
Choral: Celtic Prayer (McPhee)
Benedictus es Domine (McPhee)
O Radiant Dawn (MacMillan)
Readings: Micah Chapter 6
St Matthew Chapter 25
SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001qtq6)
Mixed Signals
Stephen Smith on why HS2 is such a cause of national hand-wringing.
'We get railways, we do railways - ever since Stephenson's Rocket in the nineteenth century. We gave railways to the world', writes Stephen.
He argues that there would never have been the same sense of dismay if we were talking about a road or a runway.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: China Collins
Note to clarify: The Thames Tunnel used an innovative design, but not cut-and-cover.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b09013nj)
Frank Gardner on the Great Northern Diver
In the first of five Tweet of the Days this week, the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner recalls listening to great northern divers on television programme by Ludwig Koch, as a boy.
Producer: Tom Bonnett.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001r13p)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001r145)
Writer, Naylah Ahmed
Director, Pip Swallow
Editor, Jeremy Howe
Josh Archer ...... Angus Imrie
Pip Archer ..... Daisy Badger
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Neil Carter…. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter….. Charlotte Martin
Toby Fairbrother ….. Rhys Bevan
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Mia Grundy ….. Molly Pipe
George Grundy ..... Angus Stobie
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Stella Pryor ….. Lucy Speed
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001r14k)
Katherine Ryan, comedian
Katherine Ryan is a Canadian comedian and writer. Her edgy and provocative routines have led to sell-out tours, comedy specials on television and her sitcom series The Duchess. Based on her experience at the time, the Duchess tells the story of a successful, happily single mother and Katherine wrote it out of frustration because she believed no one else was telling a story like hers on screen.
Katherine was born in Sarnia in Ontario where she attended a local French-speaking primary school. The school celebrated the arts and Katherine became a musical theatre enthusiast who could sing, dance, write and act.
Later she moved to Toronto where she studied city planning and worked for a branch of the restaurant chain Hooters. She credits the latter with teaching her the value of being entertaining and smart.
In 2008 she relocated to London with her boyfriend and a few years later she got her big break as a comedian, performing on the panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. By now a single mother to daughter Violet, she developed a rapport with audiences by sharing stories from her own life – both funny and sad. She describes her tendency to connect with her fans in this way as her “language of love”.
In 2019, while filming an episode of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are in Canada, she met up with her high school boyfriend, Bobby. They hadn’t seen each other for 20 years but the spark was still there and later that year they married in Denmark and went on to have two children together.
The programme was recorded on September 6th.
DISC ONE: Spice Up Your Life - The Spice Girls
DISC TWO: The Real Slim Shady - Eminem
DISC THREE: La Isla Bonita - Madonna
DISC FOUR: Soul One - Blind Melon
DISC FIVE: 22 - Taylor Swift
DISC SIX: Psychic City (Classixx Remix) - Yacht
DISC SEVEN: Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
DISC EIGHT: 16 Shots - Stefflon Don
BOOK CHOICE: The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
LUXURY ITEM: A hat and skincare set
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Spice Up Your Life - The Spice Girls
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley
SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001r15t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:04 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m001qtds)
Series 2
Episode 4 - Ipswich
What's the worst cockney accent in film history? What award has been won by both Martin Luther King AND Willy Rushton? And which Australian tennis player was born in Ipswich? This week, Paul Sinha is in Ipswich to test his audience's knowledge on these questions, and more.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material: Oliver Levy
Additional questions: The Audience
Original music: Tim Sutton
Sound engineer: David Thomas
Producer: Ed Morrish
A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001r15g)
Local food – is it working?
Local food networks thrived during lockdown with more people turning to local producers, farm shops and veg box schemes as supermarket shelves ran dry. But how are they doing now? The Covid pandemic was a reminder that localised networks give our food system resilience during disruption, but also that they pay farmers fairly to produce food in a nature friendly way, and helps them stay in business. The cost of living crisis has been one of the biggest difficulties for this system recently, as consumers pay a higher price at the till.
Sheila Dillon visits Growing Communities, a local food network in Hackney, East London who run a veg box scheme, to hear what’s needed to help networks like theirs to expand. She also talks to Rana Foroohar, global business columnist and associate editor at The Financial Times, about what the Biden administration is doing to decentralise the food system in the US. Nigel Murray, Managing Director of Booths Supermarket, explains how they support smaller producers and local supply chains in the North West of England and Yorkshire. And we hear from the Food Producer finalists in the 2023 BBC Food and Farming Awards, about how they are carving out their own diverse network of customers outside the supermarket system.
Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol
SUN 12:57 Weather (m001r15y)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001r169)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world
SUN 13:30 Bacteria: The Tiny Giants (m001r16k)
Our Interconnected Planet
Tim Hayward has been in and around professional kitchens for years, and has long seen bacteria as the enemy, attempting to kill them at every opportunity and in every possible way. In this three-part series, he starts to wonder if things are quite as simple as that, and before long discovers that these tiny organisms are unlike anything he had ever imagined.
In this third and final episode, Tim finds unique and unfathomably precious communities of bacteria in unexpected places - and examines the Earth’s past, present and future through microbial goggles.
Contributors:
Pierce Bozeat, research scientist, CyanoCapture
Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, microbiologist, Rutgers University
Laura Hug, environmental microbiologist, University of Waterloo
Valeria Souza, biologist, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Franciska de Vries, soil ecologist, University of Amsterdam
Extract from article by Roger Payne ‘I Spent My Life Saving the Whales. Now They Might Save Us’, Time 5th June 2023. Reading by Michael Goldfarb
Presenter: Tim Hayward
Producer and sound design: Richard Ward
Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones
A Loftus Media production for Radio 4
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001qtnv)
Mousehole
How do I stop my dwarf apple tree from growing too tall? When is the best time to prune back my entwined climber plants? Do you have any top tips for gardening on a slope?
Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts are in the picturesque fishing village of Mousehole for today's episode of Gardeners' Question Time.
Joining her are self proclaimed botanical geek James Wong, gardening writer Anne Swithinbank and garden designer Chris Beardshaw.
Later in the show, Anne Swithinbank is joined by Senior Gardener Jack Beesley as they go against the tides to visit St. Michael’s Mount, where Anne takes peek behind the scenes of their breathtaking gardens.
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001r16t)
Lark Rise to Candleford - Episode 1
John Yorke explores Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson’s much-loved account of rural life.
Lark Rise to Candleford is one of our best loved evocations of rural England, but it's also an evocation of rural poverty, and of the emerging opportunities for young women as a new century dawned.
It tells the story of a girl growing up in a poor rural hamlet in rural Oxfordshire in the 1880s. Eventually she moves to the village of Candleford Green to begin her adult life working in a post office, and her story frames the larger one of Britain at the end of the 19th century, facing seismic social change.
In this first of two episodes, John is keen to explore the puzzle of what sort of book Lark Rise to Candleford is. It appears to be an autobiographical social history of rural England at the close of the 19th century, but at the heart of it is a fictional character, Laura Timmins. And he wants to find out more about how Flora Thompson, a woman who left school at 14 after a rudimentary education, went on to write an instant bestseller which has become one of the 20th century’s most enduring classics.
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 on BBC Radio 4. From EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone.
Contributors:
Emma Griffin, Professor of History at Queen Mary, University of London
Richard Mabey, nature writer
Reading by Emma Griffin
Credits: Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson, Oxford University Press, 1945
Produced by Jane Greenwood
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Sound by Sean Kerwin
Researcher Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m001r172)
Lark Rise to Ambridge
Part One: Lark Rise
The residents of Ambridge take us on a journey back in time, acting as our guides in this sparkling new adaptation of Flora Thompson’s classic novels about a rural childhood in the late nineteenth century.
Born in Lark Rise, an Oxfordshire hamlet some thirty miles from Ambridge, Laura Timmins is an earnest, bookish girl with a vivid imagination, who struggles to fit in with the local children. They have little money but Laura’s parents have big aspirations for Laura and her brother, Edmund, and they are determined to move their family away from the remote hamlet as soon as they have the opportunity. Somehow the opportunity never arises, and Laura's father dies in the same tiny house fifty years later.
Even though the community of Lark Rise may offer warmth and friendship, Laura begins to realise that it can also be stifling and claustrophobic. Laura’s parents may have failed to make the break with the past, but Laura herself must take charge of her own destiny and seek pastures new.
Steeped in a world where small things matter, the cast of The Archers tells the story of Laura's epic, life-changing passage from Lark Rise to Candleford.
Written by Flora Thompson
Adapted by Katie Hims
Producer & Director: Kim Greengrass
Executive Editor: Jeremy Howe
Technical Producers: Andy Partington & Vanessa Nuttall
Musical Director: Rosemary Watts
Production Coordinators: Sally Lloyd & Julie Sadler
Ambridge narrators:
Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell
Chelsea Horrobin … Madeleine Leslay
Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly
Neil Carter … Brian Hewlett
Lark Rise residents:
Laura … Molly Pipe
Young Laura … Beatrice White
Mother … Emerald O’Hanrahan
Father … Barry Farrimond
Edmund … Blayke Darby
Dorcas and Queenie … Louiza Patikas
Twister and Algy … Wilf Scolding
Nellie … Charlotte Martin
Other roles played by members of the company.
A BBC Audio Drama Birmingham production.
SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m001r17h)
Bernardine Evaristo: Mr Loverman
Bernardine Evaristo joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss Mr Loverman, her 2013 novel about Barrington Walker, a married man with a secret life. Ever since his teens in Antigua, Barry has been in love with Morris and despite both men moving to London, marrying and having children, their love affair has never faltered. Now he’s in his seventies, Barry decides it’s time to tell the truth. It’s a funny, poetic, moving novel about love, family, prejudice and forgiveness.
Upcoming recordings, all at BBC Broadcasting House in London:
Thursday 12 October at midday - Katherine Heiny on Standard Deviation
Wednesday 15 November at 1300 - Donal Ryan on The Spinning Heart
Wednesday 13 December at 1830 - Crime Writer Elly Griffiths is our guide to The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Email bookclub@bbc.co.uk to take part.
SUN 16:30 The New Harvest (m001r17q)
Harvests have featured in poetry and songs for centuries, spanning both the beauty and difficulty of farming. Poet Sean Borodale discovers how to write a harvest poem now, as he visits farms and witnesses the rituals and celebrations of this time of year. He'll share poems inspired by harvest time and take a snapshot of our harvests, to hear what has changed and the new reality of farming.
Presented by Sean Borodale and produced by Caitlin Hobbs.
Photo taken by Sean Borodale
Music by Louis Borodale, Flora Mackintosh Allen and Sebastian James Laudicina
SUN 17:00 Today (m001qtfp)
The Today Debate: Drug deaths in Scotland - is decriminalisation the answer?
The Today Debate is about taking an issue and pulling it apart with more time than we could ever have during the morning.
Join Today presenter Mishal Husain, as in front of an audience in Glasgow, a panel of guests discuss the problem of drug abuse and drug deaths in Scotland.
The panel includes people with personal experience of addiction, those who have seen loved ones derailed and people working on the frontline, including Police Scotland.
If you need help with any of the issues raised in this programme there's advice and support on the BBC Action Line website https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
SUN 17:40 Profile (m001r0ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001r180)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
SUN 17:57 Weather (m001r18b)
The latest weather forecast
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r18r)
But some of the Prime Minister's close colleagues want change - including Michael Gove.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001r191)
Sean Cooney
From St George’s Hill to Kinder Scout. From Fiji to Utah. From Vietnam to Bethnal Green. From a football field in Didcot into the arms of a loving Yorkshire mum, take a walk with Sean in the Peak District as he brings you inspiring, moving and wonderful moments of BBC audio.
Presenter: Sean Cooney
Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Production Co-ordinator: Lydia Depledge-Miller
SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001r197)
Alan and Usha chat as the last of the harvest service congregation leaves. Alan’s about to close up the church when Rob arrives. He’d like to be baptised, and discloses to Alan the details of his health condition. It’s forced him to look back on all his mistakes and seek forgiveness. He’d like Alan to conduct the baptism. Alan explains he can’t – Rob doesn’t live in one of his parishes. Rob reveals he’s moved to Penny Hassett. Alan insists it’s difficult; he has the community to consider and some people could be very upset. Usha calls out to Alan, who tells Rob he must leave. Alan’s torn when Rob hands him his address in the hope of a visit. As he goes, Rob reminds Alan that he once told him that no-one’s beyond redemption.
Oliver praises Emma’s reading at last night’s harvest supper. Emma’s pleased. She was nervous, but observes people enjoy an evening of tale-telling. This gives Eddie an idea: ghost tales for Halloween. He tries some out on Emma, who’s not buying them. He’s going to have to come up with better ones than that. Eddie recounts his experience of the hound of Leader’s Wood. This one hits home and Emma thinks he might be on to something.
Flustered Adil calls on Oliver. He’s lost some paperwork for Grey Gables – has Oliver got copies? Oliver finds the relevant email and tries to pacify stressed Adil, who feels time’s getting tight for the relaunch. Oliver offers to take some of the strain, but distracted Adil heads off.
SUN 19:15 Funny Women at 20 (m001r19j)
Jo Brand presents highlights from the 20th Funny Women comedy award final, recorded live at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London.
The finalists are:
Blank Peng
Charlie Vero-Martin
Hannah Platt
Kate Cheka
Nikola McMurtrie
Rachel Baker
Sasha LO
Su Mi
Tal Davies
Victoria Olsina
Producer ... Victoria Lloyd
Editor ... Charlie Brandon-King
Assistant Producer ... Laura Grimshaw
A Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 19:45 Moving Mountains by Jan Carson (m001r19x)
Episode 2 - Darren
In rural Northern Ireland, the locals are horrified to learn that Slemish mountain – traditionally believed to be where Saint Patrick was brought to tend sheep before finding God – has been sold to a Japanese theme park. However on the day Slemish is to be removed and shipped across the world the diggers are beset by protesters, politicians and the Ballymena townsfolk caught in between.
Author
Born in Ballymena, Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ was awarded the EU Prize for Literature 2019 and the author was acclaimed as “one of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation” by the Sunday Times. Her most recent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. She has also written ‘Wings’ for BBC Three, ‘UnRaveling’ for BBC Radio 3, ‘The Last Resort’ for BBC Radio 4 and was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023. Her new short story collection ‘Quickly, While They Still Have Horses’ will be published in 2024.
Reader: Andrew McCracken
Writer: Jan Carson
Producer: Michael Shannon
Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (m001qtb0)
NHS consultant pay, net zero claims and Scotland's ferry woes
NHS consultants in England are striking over a pay offer of 6%. We look at whether they are paid an average of £120,000 a year and examine how much their pay compared to inflation has fallen. Also we fact check some of the claims Rishi Sunak made in his net zero speech, ask whether Britain is really that bad at building infrastructure compared to other countries and investigate the real levels of cancellations at Scotland and the UK's largest ferry company, Calmac.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Nathan Gower, Daniel Gordon, Natasha Fernandes and Calum Grewar
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001qtnz)
Gita Mehta, Matteo Messina Denaro, Irma Brenman Pick, John Stevenson
Matthew Bannister on
Gita Mehta, the author who set out to reveal the truth about India to the West. Her friend the theatre director Sir Richard Eyre pays tribute.
Matteo Messina Denaro, the Italian mafia boss who boasted he could “fill a cemetery” with his murder victims.
Irma Brenman Pick, the psychoanalyst who investigated the emotional reactions between patient and therapist.
John Stevenson, who wrote some of the best loved episodes of Coronation Street. Sally Wainwright shares her memories of working with him.
Interviewee: Sir Richard Eyre
Interviewee: Barbie Latza Nadeau
Interviewee: Daniel Pick
Interviewee: Margaret Rustin
Interviewee: Sally Wainwright
Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies
Archive used:
Gita Mehta interview with Charlie Rose: The complexity and diversity of India, Charlie Rose website, 12/05/1997; Paperbacks: Gita Mehta interview about her book Karma Cola, BBC One, 29/04/1981; Gita Mehta documentary, Dateline Bangladesh, 18/12/2014; Gita Mehta interview, Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 02/07/1990; News report: Falcone killed in bomb explosion, BBC News, 23/05/1992; News report: Anti-Mafia Judge murdered, BBC News, 19/07/1992; Matteo Messina Denaro arrested, The World Tonight, Radio 4, 16/01/2023; Ken Barlow Finds Out About Deidre’s Affair, Coronation Street YouTube channel, uploaded 21/01/2015; Hilda Ogden unveils her new "muriel " , Coronation Street, 1976; Rovers Return scene, Coronation Street, 11/09/1978; Reg’s Waterbed Floods His Apartment, Coronation Street YouTube Channel, uploaded 30 May 2017; Brass opening scene, ITV, 21/02/1983; Ken gives Raquel French Lessons , Coronation Street Facebook page, uploaded 19/08/2020;
SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001r0sl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:04 on Saturday]
SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001r11t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 today]
SUN 21:30 Loose Ends (m001r0tn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
18:15 on Saturday]
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001r1bj)
Ben Wright hosts political discussion from the Conservative party conference in Manchester. His guests are the Transport minister Richard Holden; Professor of Political Science, Rob Ford; and Labour's deputy National Campaign Co-ordinator, Ellie Reeves. They discuss the fate of HS2, the mood among Tory members and MPs, and look ahead to the Rutherglen by-election. Isabel Hardman - assistant editor of The Spectator magazine - brings additional insight and analysis.
SUN 23:00 Moral Maze (m001qtks)
The Language of Freedom
Michael Buerk chairs a special Moral Maze debate recorded at 'HowTheLightGetsIn' festival of philosophy and music.
The language of freedom permeates our political debate. In the US, it may be a decisive battleground in the 2024 presidential election. The problem is that people mean very different things by it. Is it freedom from government regulation or freedom to have an abortion? Freedom of speech or freedom from discrimination? Freedom to own a gun or freedom for communities to ban them?
A distinction is often made between positive and negative freedom. Negative freedom is the absence of constraints (‘freedom from’) – while positive freedom is the possibility of acting in such a way as to take control of one’s life (‘freedom to’). Libertarians often see individual freedom - the private enjoyment of one’s life and goods, free from interference – as the most fundamental value that any society should pursue and protect. This view is challenged by those who believe wealth, health and educational inequalities inevitably mean some people are more free than others, and seek instead to promote the collective freedom of society as a whole.
If a society in which there is a complete absence of restraint is as dystopian as one in which our every action is controlled, how should we navigate the trade-offs between individual freedom and other goods, like security and collective wellbeing? Is the language of freedom helpful or harmful in negotiating our political differences? Deeper question: what does it mean for a human being to be free?
With guests: Konstantin Kisin, Sophie Howe and James Orr.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
MONDAY 02 OCTOBER 2023
MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001r1bx)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m001qth5)
Woke
Woke: Laurie Taylor talks to Susan Neiman, philosopher and director of the Einstein Forum about her analysis of the concept of ‘woke’. Contrary to popular assumption, she argues, it is not a set of attitudes which belong on the left of the political spectrum, but is rather an attack on progressive, universal values and the Enlightenment.
They're joined by Huw Davies, lecturer in digital education at the University of Edinburgh, who offers a dissection of the British ‘war on woke’, suggesting that it is an intensive ideological campaign that is mobilising reactionary tropes within mainstream British political discourse.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001r0vh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r1c9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r1cn)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r1d0)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001r1dh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r1dy)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Angel
Good morning.
It was 1989 and just before the last ‘white-only’ election in South Africa. I was on my way to an ecumenical prayer-meeting in a stadium in the township of Soweto.
The apartheid government had banned the gathering that morning and paramilitary police had cordoned-off the venue. It was before mobile phones but we had heard a rumour that, as an alternative venue, anybody who made it through would be welcomed at the small, local Catholic Church.
In the event, there were only about 80 of us. It was a peaceful encounter with some hymns and a couple of speeches.
But then the police found us, they surrounded the building, and informed the Methodist Bishop presiding that unless we stopped and went home NOW, they could not guarantee there would be no blood-shed.
Thus reluctantly, defiantly and slightly afraid we filed out through a corridor of constables with whips and barking police dogs.
The fact that no one was harmed that day was thanks to the presence of a guardian angel. He had no wings, he said nothing, and made no speeches, but he was there. He was a junior diplomat from the Canadian Embassy.
In the latter days of apartheid, it was policy of the Canadians to quietly dispatch personnel to meetings and potential flash-points, providing a low key protective check, deterring the Government from random acts of violence and risk an international incident.
I was reminded of this occasion because today is the feast of The Guardian Angels, which celebrates the long tradition of the presence of God’s protective emissaries in our midst.
Lord, let your angels, in all their many guises, continue to protect, challenge and walk alongside us; let them remind us that, despite the trials we may face, we are never alone.
Amen.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001r1fb)
02/10/23 Beavers in Scotland; Root veg; Cocksfoot grass
Wild beavers are to be returned to the Scottish Highlands in what will be a series of firsts for the Cairngorms National Park Authority. A licence application to NatureScot is to be made shortly for the release. It'll be the first time they've been reintroduced to the Highlands, and the first re-introduction completely outside the animals' existing range, in the Spey valley, confirming the Scottish Government policy of getting wild beavers to spread across all of Scotland. However, will those farm along the Spey going to be happy?
The nights are drawing in, there is a nip of autumn in the air so what better time to devote a week to talking about root veg - the carrots, parsnips, swedes and onions that warming stews are made of. But with many UK veg growers warning that the cost of growing is increasing way faster than the prices they're paid, what's the future for these staple crops?
Farmers in North Yorkshire are running new trials on a traditional but under used type of grass that could last longer and save costs while capturing more carbon and improving river quality. It's called Cocksfoot, because the splayed-out seed heads look the bird's foot, and it's been thought of as a coarse grass, so not popular commercially. Now new varieties are more palatable for grazing animals and the grass is thought to be better for the environment than traditional grazing swards like rye grass.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
MON 05:56 Weather (m001r1fs)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b020tpmn)
Quail
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Miranda Krestovnikoff presents the quail. Quails are summer visitors in varying numbers to the UK, mainly from southern Europe and Africa - and sudden arrivals of migrating flocks in the Mediterranean countries were once more common than they are nowadays.
MON 06:00 Today (m001r188)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001r18n)
The Iliad and the right to rule
After her translation of Homer’s The Odyssey the classicist Emily Wilson tackles his epic, The Iliad. She brings to life the battle cries between the Greeks and the Trojans, the bellicose leaders, the political manoeuvres and the deals with the gods.
Mary Beard looks at the expression of power in the ancient Roman world in her new study of Emperor of Rome. From Julius Caesar to Alexander Severus nearly two hundred years later, she explores just how much control and authority these rulers had, and the lengths they had to go to in order to cling on to power.
The Westminster journalist Ben Riley-Smith looks at how the Conservative Party has clung on to power over the past dozen years in his story, The Right to Rule. With five Prime Ministers in the last decade, this tale of political control involves betrayal, rebellion and the merciless ousting of leaders, in the bid to remain in government.
Producer: Katy Hickman
MON 09:45 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r18z)
Episode 1
In the Renaissance, women cared what they looked like - they had to, in a world dominated by men. It was hard work, but they were helped by books containing beauty tips and recipes.
Boys were educated, but girls were expected either to marry or enter a convent. To catch your man, it was important to look your best. As the Renaissance visual world became populated by paintings of luscious female nudes by painters such as Titian, a vibrant literary output of beauty tips emerged. Mainly written by men like Giovanni Marinello, they were early versions of the self help books of the 20th century.
Full of advice about cosmetics, with 'solutions' to everything from podgy upper arms and smelly armpits, to droopy breasts, stretch marks, bad breath and drooling while sleeping, with particular emphasis on facial beauty, they were usually sold in the marketplace to aristocrats and peasant women alike.
Sales were in the thousands. Women, by necessity, had a wide knowledge of botanical and chemical remedies needed to help in childbirth and illness, but still had an appetite for self improvement. Some medical remedies recommended were used for other purposes – arsenic was common in beauty products, but was also useful for getting rid of a controlling husband or brother.
Through the stories of female courtesans, business women, artists, artisans, actors, and the first female writers to be published who start to rebel against the male dominance of their time, we find women beginning to discover their own voice. In a world where books are becoming more widely available, and burgeoning colonialism means that travel between nations is on the rise, the beauty of black women begins to be appreciated too as immigrants arrive in Italian cities.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Produced by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001r198)
Russian journalist-in-exile Elena Kostyuchenco, Karen Farquharson, Teleri Glyn Jones, Nerys Evans, Innes Fitzgerald
After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February 2022, Elena Kostyuchenco, one of Russia’s most fearless independent journalists, crossed into Ukraine to report on what was happening in the country. The paper she had worked at for 17 years, Novaya Gazeta, was shut down just months later in response to her reporting. Elena’s latest book, I Love Russia, gives a rare insight into her homeland, bringing us voices we have never heard. She speaks to Emma Barnett.
We hear from Karen Farquharson who has been awarded £37,000 at an employment tribunal after her boss told her she used the menopause as an “excuse for everything”.
In a separate case, a woman assisted by the Equality and Human Rights commission says her menopausal symptoms should be considered, in her case, as a disability. The economist Vicky Pryce comments on the potential implications of the case.
We talk to BBC Wales political correspondent Teleri Glyn Jones about the victimisation of a whistle-blower and a complainant who made allegations of a serious nature about the Plaid Cymru MS Rhys ab Owen. Both say they were harassed by a family member of the MS who has been suspended from his party since last November pending an investigation by the Welsh Parliament’s standards watchdog. Emma Barnett also talks to former Plaid Cymru politician Nerys Evans who recently produced the damning report into Plaid’s sexual harassment complaints procedures earlier this year.
Innes Fitzgerald is the current under 17s UK number one in the 3000 metres and she’s made the conscious decision to no longer fly to any championships or running events abroad. She’s been nominated for Young Athlete of the Year in the BBC Green Sports Awards. She joins Emma to tell us more.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Sue Maillot
MON 11:00 The Gift (m001r30k)
4. Race
It's the go-to Christmas present for the person who already has everything. A gift that promises to tell you who you really are and how you're connected to the world.
Millions of us have spat into a tube and sent a vial of our DNA to a company like Ancestry and 23andMe. Their tests promise to unlock the truth of our heritage - perhaps even a future foretold in our genes.
Across six episodes, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.
Episode 4: Race
The anxieties of navigating a newfound racial identity.
Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Gill Huggett
MON 11:30 The Bottom Line (m001qtrz)
Back to the office
Many employers say they are desperate to get staff back into the office more often, but what's the best and fairest way to wean employees off remote working?
As companies from tech to banking grapple with this issue, Evan Davis and guests discuss the productivity pros and cons, the impact on company culture and career progression, and the future of the office space itself.
With many staff reluctant to give up the flexibility of remote working, is a hybrid model the answer to keeping them happy and how many office days each week should you go for? Plus, where do employees stand legally on return to the office requests, and what happens when workers simply refuse to comply?
Evan is joined by:
Kelly Beaver, CEO of Ipsos in the UK and Ireland;
Stephen White, Chief Operating Officer of Santander UK;
Ranjit Dhindsa, head of employment at Fieldfisher;
and Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics, Stanford University.
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer: Simon Tulett
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
(Picture: A businessman staring out of the window of an empty conference room. Credit: Chris Ryan/Getty Images)
MON 12:00 News Summary (m001r19k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001r19z)
Unclaimed Benefits, Staging Homes and Retail Parks
As much as £19bn in welfare payments remain unclaimed every year, a charity is aiming to change that, and would you hire someone to 'stage' your home for prospective buyers ?
MON 12:57 Weather (m001r1bc)
The latest weather forecast
MON 13:00 World at One (m001r1br)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
MON 13:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m001r2wr)
6. The Happiness Curve
Life has its ups and downs, its sudden successes and unexpected obstacles. But amongst all the unpredictable variation, two economists believe they have identified a deep and powerful influence on our happiness: age. Happiness, it turns out, is U shaped.
Hannah Fry tells a tale of orangutans, joy and misery…and joy!
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Series Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Episode Producer: Ilan Goodman
A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.
MON 14:00 The Archers (m001r197)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 This Cultural Life (m001r0tx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:15 on Saturday]
MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m001r1c4)
Heat 8, 2023
(8/17)
Russell Davies welcomes four keen quiz competitors from northern England and the Midlands to another heat of the 2023 tournament, from MediaCityUK in Salford. They may know plenty about sport and TV drama but how confident are they on chemistry, classical music or the Bible? Russell's questions come from every field of knowledge and are sure to test them.
Appearing today are:
Jim Cook from Stourport on Severn
Ian Fennell from Kidderminster
Ian Mostyn from Ramsbottom in Lancashire
Joanna Munro from Liverpool.
A Brain of Britain listener also stands to win a prize if the Brains can't successfully answer questions he or she has devised.
Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001r15g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 History's Secret Heroes (p0fqnkht)
7. Bela Hazan and the Jewish Resistance
Poland, 1941. Bela Hazan, a young Jewish woman, secures an undercover job at the Gestapo headquarters. She is about to go undercover to fight against the Nazis.
Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.
A BBC Studios Podcast production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
Producer: Amie Liebowitz
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m001r1cq)
The Spirit of Youth
37% of Generation Z believe in God and only 27% identify as religious. So, what is going on in the world of faith for the younger generations?
Aleem Maqbool speaks to JB Gill from the boyband JLS about his strong Christian beliefs and the interactions he has with fans about faith and spirituality. Their conversation sparks a lively discussion on attitudes to religion among younger people and the role of celebrities and social media.
Aleem is joined in the studio by Jewish educator, and activist, Rabbi Lara Haft Yom-Tov who is a Masorti Rabbi at New North London Synagogue, Muslim influencer Nadim Al-Maktar and the musician Paul Bloom who made his career in Christian music but has since then left the Christian faith.
Producer: Katharine Longworth
Assistant Producers: Linda Walker and Olivia Copeland
Editor: Tim Pemberton
MON 17:00 PM (m001r1d4)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r1dl)
The jab - developed by scientists in Oxford - can be produced quickly in huge quantities
MON 18:30 Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz (m001r1f0)
Series 2
Episode 5 - Bridgwater
Which Somerset actor was nominated for an Emmy for each of Third Rock From The Sun, Cheers and Will & Grace? Why is Bridgwater spelled wrong? And which has sold more copies - The Bible, or Jeffrey Archer's Cain & Abel? This week, Paul Sinha is in Bridgwater to test his audience's knowledge on these questions, and more.
Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Additional material: Oliver Levy
Additional questions: The Audience
Original music: Tim Sutton
Sound engineer: David Thomas
Producer: Ed Morrish
A Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 19:00 The Archers (m001r1fc)
Jazzer’s heads down in Lark Rise to Candleford, which to Tracy’s surprise he’s enjoying. Tracy wonders why Brad isn’t planning in university open days yet, like Mia. Brad’s circumspect, before admitting he thought they would be too expensive; he’s happy to research them online. Privately Jazzer and Tracy agree it would be better for Brad to go to the open days and experience the atmosphere. It’s going to be a massive step for him. Jazzer suggests they drive him to one on Wednesday. Later Jazzer and Brad are looking up the course Brad’s considering. Tracy’s a little daunted by it but puts on a game face – she’s sure they’ll have a great day.
Alan visits Rob’s flat. He stresses the need for complete honesty as Rob explains some of his symptoms. Rob emphasises the importance of Helen’s support, giving his own version of events. He asks Alan how he helps people not to be scared when facing death. Alan talks about faith, and asks whether Rob’s only reaching out now because he has nothing to lose. Baptism means him declaring his faith in public. Rob affirms he’ll do whatever’s required of him. Alan asserts he’s not trying to interrogate Rob, he's just wondering why he’s wants it here. Rob declares he needs Jack to remember him when he’s gone. Wincing in pain, he leaves the room. Later Alan says he can’t baptise Rob. He’s not even fully convinced he’s ill. Rob can’t believe Alan isn’t prepared to see the best in him. Alan declares his decision’s made; there’s nothing left to say.
MON 19:15 Front Row (m001r1fv)
Claudette Johnson, ghosts in literature, the Dutch Golden Age
The portraits in the National Gallery’s new retrospective of the artist Frans Hals capture his informal and fresh style which contrasted with other masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt. We hear from the exhibition’s curator Bart Cornelis and by the writer Benjamin Moser whose forthcoming book The Upside-Down World describes his lifelong passion for the art of what’s often called the Dutch Golden Age.
The enthusiasm of politicians for the spectacular U-turn has reached the cultural sphere; in Scotland the government has U-turned a U-turn in its arts funding. Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman’s theatre critic and political columnist, explains what has happened and not happened and what it all means for the arts in her country.
As a retrospective of her work opens at the Courtauld Gallery in London, Claudette Johnson talks to Tom Sutcliffe about her portraits of Black women, her work in the 1980s with the BLK art group and how Rembrandt and Toulouse Lautrec’s approach to painting women has inspired her.
And Ghosts are in the ether… an upsurge of interest in the supernatural often coincides with disruptive events like the Covid pandemic. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Jeanette Winterson whose new book Night Side of the River tells 13 ghost stories, and by Danny Robins’ whose book Into the Uncanny has just been published.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Julian May
MON 20:00 Redeeming Ricky (m001r1g7)
Ex-offender Ricky Gleeson has set up HoodEx, a new sustainable clothing charity in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. Ricky has a remarkable back story – a deeply troubled, chequered past. His mother was in her teens when she had him, a single parent who struggled to cope with life. She became addicted to drugs and alcohol and had a series of difficult relationships.
As a child, Ricky was moved from domestic abuse shelters to foster homes and eventually to children’s homes and hostels. He ended up homeless, at times living rough and turning to petty crime. Somehow, he managed to turn his life around. He joined the Royal Navy, took up boxing, became a husband and father and found his way to a new life. And now in his 40s, he wants to help others who are in the same place as he was in. As he struggles to find suitable premises for his charity venture, he revisits some of the keys places in his past life.
Producer: Mohini Patel
MON 20:30 Analysis (m001r1gn)
The Democratic Brain
Our brain is a wonderful machine, but it can also short-circuit. What happens to us when emotions and politics intersect, when the democratic, listening brain is cut off, or when we succumb to ‘hate speech’? Research using the latest brain scanners shows that the older part of the brain called the amygdala is ‘triggered’ by emotional responses out of proportion to the impacting stimulus. So, perhaps are we after wolves in human clothing? Not necessarily; we have also developed the frontal cortex which the scans show is stimulated by rational argument. What can scanning the brain reveal about our political affiliations? Can the field of neuro-politics improve political discourse or leave us open to manipulation?
Presenter: Matt Qvortrup
Producer: Bob Howard
Editor: Clare Fordham
Contributors:
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge
Dr Darren Schreiber, Senior Lecturer at Exeter University
Skyler Cranmer, Associate Professor at Ohio State University
Dahlia Scheindlin, political consultant and public opinion researcher
Dr Liya Yu, Columbia University
MON 21:00 The Archbishop Interviews (m001np57)
Cressida Dick
In this series, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has conversations with public figures about their inner lives. What do they believe? How does that shape their values and actions?
This week's guest is the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick.
Producer: Dan Tierney.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001r18n)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001r1h4)
Nobel Prize for Medicine goes to 2 mRNA scientists
Also:
Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial opens in New York
And
Helen Mirren speaks about the controversy over the film “Golda”
MON 22:45 Rizzio by Denise Mina (m001r1hg)
Episode 1
1/5. Denise Mina’s historical novella examines one of Scotland’s most infamous political murders. In 1566, Mary, Queen of Scots is six months’ pregnant and is hosting a small supper party in her chambers at Holyrood Palace. Her unfaithful drunk of a husband, Lord Darnley, is plotting with half the nobles of Scotland to murder Mary’s private secretary, the Italian David Rizzio. They plan to kill him in front of the Queen, hoping she might miscarry, or perhaps even die.
Read by Siobhán Redmond, and abridged by Colin MacDonald.
Producer: Bruce Young
MON 23:00 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
MON 23:30 Three Faces of WH Auden (m001qm7y)
Episode 2
WH Auden was one of the most important religious poets of the Twentieth Century, but his relationship with faith was never straightforward. His life as an active and proud gay man put him at odds with the church, and he turned his back on his childhood faith in his teens, returning to it following a moment of quiet epiphany recorded in his poem 'A Summer Evening'. Religion remained important to him for the rest of his life but he remained wary of poetry that dealt with the subject too directly - but poet Michael Symmons Roberts hears from the likes of former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and poet and Archdeacon Rachel Mann, this doesn't stop those poems that do consider faith, such as Horae Canonicae, A Christmas Oratorio and Friday's Child containing sometimes difficult but often beautiful and deeply profound metaphysical meditations.
Produced by Geoff Bird
Poems referred to in this episode include:
The Age of Anxiety (1947)
Horae Canonicae (1948 - 1955)
Friday's Child (1958)
For The Time Being - A Christmas Oratorio (1966)
AS I Walked Out One Evening (1940)
all published by Faber and Faber.
TUESDAY 03 OCTOBER 2023
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001r1j0)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 00:30 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r18z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r1jb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r1jl)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r1jv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001r1k4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r1kd)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Borgias
Good Morning
The Borgias: the family that set the gold-standard for corruption & ruthlessness in Renaissance Italy. Lucretia the serial-widow & poisoner; Cesare, the inspiration for Machiavelli; and Alexander VI, arguably the most scandalous Pope in history.
Yet one character emerged from this murky genetic pool with remarkable holiness. His name was Francis Borgia. He was Duke of Gandia in Spain and was a great grandson of Alexander VI.
Francis’ life was an affront to the Borgia legend – he was a devoted family man, and a source of generosity to the people of Gandia. Emperor Charles V and his wife, Queen Isabella, took the enchanting Francis as their confidante.
It was the death of the vivacious Isabella that broke the Camelot-spell in Madrid; the Emperor was inconsolable and he entrusted the 29-year-old Duke Francis with the task of escorting Isabella’s body across Spain for royal burial in Granada.
On this journey there was a need to open the coffin and Francis was shocked to see Isabella’s rotted corpse. On his return to Gandia, goaded by this image, Francis re-doubled his efforts in prayer and work for the poor.
When Francis’ own wife died a few years later, he signed over the Dukedom to his children, and offered himself for priestly training. For the last 25 years of his life he ministered as a Jesuit vowed to poverty, chastity and obedience. Francis was canonised in 1670 and today is his feast day.
Lord, I inherit my history, but I can choose my future. Give me the insight to see the dead roots that might hold me back, and the courage to break free to seek true life.
Amen.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001r1kn)
03/09/23 Conservative policies on rural affairs; Scottish Agriculture Bill; New variety of salad potatoes
It's party conference season, and Farming Today is following what each one is pledging on rural affairs. This week, the Conservatives are gathering in Manchester, and we speak to Thérèse Coffey, the Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural Affairs.
As the Scottish Agriculture Bill goes before the Scottish Parliament, Scotland's farming leaders are calling on the UK government to commit an extra one billion pounds to the sector across the four nations as farmers face additional demands to deliver on both food security and the environment.
All week we're looking at root veg. One grower in Norfolk has spent seven years developing his own variety of potato and branding it as a local speciality. The Norfolk Peer is a small salad potato which is sold fresh, in season, but it is also stored and sold all year round, as the Norfolk Keeper.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02twhqd)
Coal Tit
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the coal tit.
Coal tits often visit our bird-tables but don't hang around. They dart off with food to hide it in crevices and crannies. What the bird is doing is hiding or cache-ing food to be eaten later. Coal tits are smaller than their relatives and have lower fat reserves, so they store food to compensate for any future shortages. In the winter they store seeds and in summer they will hide small insects.
TUE 06:00 Today (m001r19m)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 Building Soul - with Thomas Heatherwick (m001r1b2)
Why Boring Buildings Are Bad for Us
The way cities get built is a quiet global catastrophe affecting all our lives. Buildings are too flat, too plain, too straight, too shiny, too soulless, too boring. This is the belief of designer Thomas Heatherwick.
In this first part of a new series for Radio 4, Thomas is on a mission to explain why this is far from a trivial issue - that it's bad for our health, bad for society and bad for the planet.
Backed by the latest cutting-edge scientific research, Thomas exposes the damage being done by the identikit modern urban environments scattered across the world.
Producer: Tom Pooley
A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 09:30 How to Win a Campaign (m001r1bn)
2. Polling, focus groups and data
Former Downing Street strategist, adviser to Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings and Vote Leave insider Cleo Watson examines the building blocks and dark art of political campaigning.
We've had many electoral tests in the UK in the last decade or so – general elections in 2015, 2017 and 2019, and the 2016 EU referendum – and the results of nearly all of them have raised eyebrows. Why? Is it just the policies or the parties, or have some of these campaigns had some secret alchemy or luck that made them succeed or fail against expert opinion and the betting markets?
In this series, Cleo Watson sits down with some of the brains behind the biggest campaigns in recent history and tries to piece together where it went right – and wrong – for the teams and parties involved.
Along the way she asks key questions about the role of traditional and social media, the importance of authenticity and charisma in our politicians, and what lessons we can learn ahead of 2024.
What do polling and focus groups really tell us, and what do we mean by strategy, messaging and fieldwork? How are the ‘ground campaign’ and the ‘air campaign’ orchestrated? How are really effective slogans crafted and tested, how do you ace a TV debate, and what is campaigning’s digital future?
How are cutting-edge developments in data science changing the game, and how concerned should we be about these new methods of persuasion? Or do old-fashioned posters, leaflets, rosettes, door-knocking, manifestoes, party political broadcasts and speeches also still shift the dial?
And if you are thoroughly cynical about mainstream elections, what can you do as a citizen to persuade our elected representatives to prioritise the issues you care about the most? Cleo discovers what makes a successful campaign with those who have achieved recent notable successes in public health, gender equality and climate change.
Contributors across the series:
Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Guardian
Dominic Cummings, director of the Vote Leave campaign and former Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Julie Etchingham, ITV election debates host
Ayesha Hazarika, former adviser to the Labour party during the 2010 and 2015 elections, and political commentator
Fiona Hill, former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Theresa May
James Johnson, pollster and Senior Opinion Research and Strategy Adviser to Prime Minister Theresa May, and now director of research company J.L. Partners
Gina Martin who led the campaign to make upskirting illegal in 2019
Charles Ogilvie, former Director of Strategy for Cop26
Craig Oliver, news editor, producer and media executive, and former Director of Politics and Communications for Prime Minister David Cameron
Stephen Parkinson, National Organiser of the ground operation for the Vote Leave campaign
Sarah Sands, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph and The Evening Standard and BBC Radio 4’s Today
James Schneider, co-founder of Momentum and senior adviser to Jeremy Corbyn
Joe Slater, polling strategist at Stack data agency
Paul Stephenson, former Director of Communications of the Vote Leave campaign
Dolly Theis, epidemiology researcher at Cambridge University and public health campaigner
Lucy Thomas, former deputy director of the Britain Stronger in Europe (Remain) campaign
Chris Ward, former political adviser to Sir Keir Starmer
Producer: Eliane Glaser
Executive Producers: Jon Holmes and Richard Danbury
Sound Design: Tony Churnside
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 09:45 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1c1)
Episode 2
In the Renaissance, women cared what they looked like - they had to, in a world dominated by men. It was hard work, but they were helped by books containing beauty tips and recipes.
Boys were educated, but girls were expected either to marry or enter a convent. To catch your man, it was important to look your best. As the Renaissance visual world became populated by paintings of luscious female nudes by painters such as Titian, a vibrant literary output of beauty tips emerged. Mainly written by men like Giovanni Marinello, they were early versions of the self help books of the 20th century.
Full of advice about cosmetics, with 'solutions' to everything from podgy upper arms and smelly armpits, to droopy breasts, stretch marks, bad breath and drooling while sleeping, with particular emphasis on facial beauty, they were usually sold in the marketplace to aristocrats and peasant women alike.
Sales were in the thousands. Women, by necessity, had a wide knowledge of botanical and chemical remedies needed to help in childbirth and illness, but still had an appetite for self improvement. Some medical remedies recommended were used for other purposes – arsenic was common in beauty products, but was also useful for getting rid of a controlling husband or brother.
Through the stories of female courtesans, business women, artists, artisans, actors, and the first female writers to be published who start to rebel against the male dominance of their time, we find women beginning to discover their own voice. In a world where books are becoming more widely available, and burgeoning colonialism means that travel between nations is on the rise, the beauty of black women begins to be appreciated too as immigrants arrive in Italian cities.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Produced by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001r1cd)
Doctors' strike, Organist Anna Lapwood, Máiría Cahill, Suffragette medal
It's day two of the 72-hour joint strike by junior doctors and consultants in the NHS. Dr Helen Neary, deputy chair of the BMA's consultant's committee and consultant anaesthetist in paediatrics and BBC’s Health Correspondent Nick Triggle joins Emma to discuss the strike and parts of the Health Secretary's speech today.
Nicknamed the Taylor Swift of classical music, Anna Lapwood is one of the world's most famous organists, and Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. To encourage more women to try the instrument, Anna initiated the social media hashtag #playlikeagirl. She joins Emma to talk about her music and her new album Luna.
Máiría Cahill grew up in a staunchly Republican family and community in west Belfast. At the age of 16 she says she was serially sexually assaulted and raped by a member of the IRA, and was later subjected to months of meetings about that trauma by the IRA, including being brought face to face with her alleged attacker. In 2014 Máiría waived her anonymity and has been relentless in her campaign to expose those who abused their power, and to get an apology for the way she was treated from senior Sinn Fein politicians. Máiría has written a memoir, Rough Beast, and joins Emma to talk about it.
Glasgow Women’s Library is the UK’s only accredited woman’s history museum. For the last 32 years they’ve championed feminist stories from Scotland and beyond through their research, exhibitions and artefacts that have all been donated. However, for the first time they’re entering an auction to bring a piece of Scottish suffragette history back home. Emma Barnett speaks to operations director Sue John on the day of the auction.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore
TUE 11:00 Young Again (m001r526)
1. Linda Evangelista
Kirsty Young talks to legendary supermodel Linda Evangelista about what she’s learned from her life so far. After a career spanning 40 years, in early September 2023 she released a retrospective book with photographer Steven Meisel. As one of the first international supermodels, she reflects on listening to your parents, the infamous “$10,000 a day” quote, knowing your worth, and she looks back on how it felt to leave her marriage.
If you could have a conversation with your younger self, what would you tell them? In Young Again Kirsty takes her guests back to the pivotal moments in their lives. Reflecting on what they wish they’d known at the time, and what they’ve learned along the way, she discovers the honest – and surprising – advice they’d give their younger selves.
Producer: Sam Peach
Content Editor: Richard Hooper
Executive Editor: Alice Feinstein
Senior Technical Producer: Duncan Hannant
Presenter: Kirsty Young
A BBC Audio Production
TUE 11:30 A Very Australian Scandal (m001r1cs)
The Sydney Opera House celebrates its 50th anniversary on October 20, 2023. The American architect Frank Gehry called it “a building that changed the image of an entire country” and you could argue that the modern perception of Australia has a profound relationship with that stunning structure on Sydney Harbour.
Yet, it has a controversial history. Jørn Utzon, the Danish architect responsible for the iconic shell design, declined an invitation to the opening ceremony claiming he would make “negative comments”.
Also, in speeches made that day, there was no mention of the building’s founding father – the man who proposed the idea of an opera house for Sydney, then lobbied tooth and nail in tricky political circumstances to turn his dream into a reality.
His name was Sir Eugene Goossens, an English composer and conductor who thrived in Australia after the Second World War. He became a celebrity as we understand one now, only to be run out of his adopted home in 1956 “like a diseased rat”, as one commentator wrote, his plans for the opera house in tatters.
The scandal shocked and puzzled Australia in equal measure. What happened and why have this visionary man’s many extraordinary achievements been largely forgotten?
Music journalist Phil Hebblethwaite traces the intriguing story of Sir Eugene Goossens, meeting his niece, a former student, and experts in Australian classical music and cultural life.
We’ll find out that the Goossens saga was just the beginning of the troubles for the Sydney Opera House…
With contributions from Jennie Goossens, Richard Bonynge, Ita Buttrose, Dr Drew Crawford and Professor Marguerite Johnson.
Extra research by Barnaby Smith.
Written and presented by Phil Hebblethwaite
Produced by Alexandra Quinn
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
(Photo of Sir Eugene Goosens c/o Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division)
TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001r1d5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001r1dn)
Call You and Yours: Will public transport get you out the car?
On today's Call You and Yours we want to know how you get around.
HS2 has been talked about for years - but now there's doubt about whether it will ever make it to Manchester. Would that have any effect on your travel habits - and how will we all be getting around by the time it's due to be finished in 2041? Lots of us abandoned trains altogether during the pandemic. Have you got back on board since then? Is using public transport even an option for you? Meanwhile, the prime minister's promised to end what he says is a 'war on motorists'. So tell us - will public transport get you out of the car?
You can call our phone room at 03700 100 44 after
11am on Tuesday, Or email youandyours@bbc.co.uk
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY
TUE 12:57 Weather (m001r1f2)
The latest weather forecast
TUE 13:00 World at One (m001r1fg)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
TUE 13:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m001r1fy)
7. The Gossip Mill
2008, Hungary: a researcher stands on a factory floor quizzing a bemused employee. The tile manufacturing company is in trouble, and the researcher is there to help. But his questions seem silly: Who do you go to for advice? Who do you chat to?
What use is the science of networks to a company producing floor tiles?
Hannah Fry tells a tale about the precarious power of networks.
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Series Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Episode Producer: Ilan Goodman
A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001r1fc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama on 4 (m001r1gc)
We Apologise for Any Inconvenience
Sebastian Baczkiewicz's drama takes us to an anonymous northern station at the heart of the rail network on the day everything grinds to a halt. Hundreds of lives go into limbo but one person claims to have been stuck there longer than anyone else. Will his groundhog day ever end?
June ….. Deborah Findlay
Mason ….. Adam Gillen
Sooz ….. Ruth Everett
JJ ….. Asif Khan
Man from Amity ….. Gerard McDermott
Donna ….. Rosie Mellett
Announcer ….. Hasan Dixon
Sound design by Keith Graham
Directed by Toby Swift
A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4.
Sebastian Baczkiewicz is one of the UK's leading audio writers and the creator of the long-running Radio 4 series, Pilgrim.
TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001r1gp)
Series 36
Echoes
A simple object offers comfort and connection to a grandmother and a long line of Indian women; a wife uncovers the fingerprints her husband left on their world and with them, the microscopic details of grief; and an Urdu language lesson between a father and daughter reveals cultural loss and the father's longing to belong. Josie Long presents short documentaries that reverberate through time.
Silver Cup: A Female Grammar
Written and produced by HJ Radia
With thanks to Laura Barton
In loving memory of J.K Dave (1956-2023)
Fingerprints and Lightbulbs
Written and produced by Amanda Priestley
22 Words
Featuring Safwat Saleem and his daughter
Produced by Safwat Saleem
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 15:30 Bacteria: The Tiny Giants (m001r16k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
13:30 on Sunday]
TUE 16:00 The Mandates (m001r1h1)
Takeover
It is a century since the British and French Mandates in the Middle East formally began. In this new series for BBC Radio 4 marking that anniversary, Tom Bateman draws on his years as a BBC Correspondent based in Jerusalem to examine this critical period in the region’s history – a period when decisions taken by the two European nations shaped so much of what we see today. From institutions and movements of people to ideas and lines on maps, Britain’s role was foundational, yet little understood in Britain today. In this first episode Tom looks at the 1920s, and the consequences of Britain’s and France’s efforts to divide and rule.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m001r1hp)
Vaseem Khan and Lucy Winkett
What does 'home' mean? The three book choices today reflect on what home means to different people. The crime writer Vaseem Khan chooses Deborah Moggach's much loved novel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel that sees a group of elderly English people going to live in a retirement home in India. As well as many hilarious misadventures the book also depicts the stark reality of getting old.
Reverend Lucy Winkett of St James Church Picadilly in London chooses The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak the love story beween a Greek Cypriot man and a Turkish Cypriot woman in a country fractured by division in 1974. The story takes place mainly in contemporary London and examines the personal impact of displacement from one's homeland. And that's a theme that carried on in Harriett's choice which is We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo about a young girl who leaves her troubled homeland of Zimbabwe for a new life in America and finds herself better off materially but lacking the spiritual comfort of her home country.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
TUE 17:00 PM (m001r1j3)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r1jf)
The second part of the inquiry heard accusations of "chaos" at Number Ten
TUE 18:30 Best Medicine (m001r2qt)
Bubbles, Dancing, Masks, GoodSAM
Award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by funny and fascinating comedians, doctors, scientists, and historians to celebrate medicine’s inspiring past, present and future.
In each programme, Kiri challenges her guests to make a case for what they think is 'the best medicine', and each of them champions anything from world-changing science to an obscure invention, an everyday treatment, an uplifting worldview, an unsung hero or a futuristic cure.
Whether it’s micro-robotic surgery, virtual reality syringes, Victorian clockwork surgical saws, more than a few ingenious cures for cancer, world-first life-saving heart operations, epidurals, therapy, dancing, faith or laughter - it’s always something worth celebrating.
Joining Kiri this week are medical historian Dr Lindsey Fitzharris with the story of the pioneering World War I surgeon who transformed wounded soldiers' faces, comedian Darren Harriott and his love of dancing, biomedical engineer Professor Eleanor Stride with cancer-curing micro bubbles, brain surgeon Professor Mark Wilson with the GoodSAM app that can summon a first-aider at the touch of a button, and the man who owes his life to it.
This episode was first broadcast as a pilot on BBC Radio 4 in July 2022.
Hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Featuring: Dr Lindsey Fitzharris, Darren Harriott, Professor Eleanor Stride and Professor Mark Wilson
Written by Jordan Gray, Rajiv Karia, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ben Rowse
Producer: Ben Worsfield
Assistant Producer: Tashi Radha
Executive Producer: Simon Nicholls
Theme tune composed by Andrew Jones
A Large Time production for BBC Radio 4
TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001r1jr)
Alan asks Usha if she’s heard anything about Rob lately. As far as Usha knows, the family’s heard nothing from him since his access application was denied.
Oliver asks Emma how things are at the Tearoom. Emma reports she’s just keeping her head down and doing her job. Oliver mentions he’s still looking for housekeeping staff, but Emma declines. They chat about Emma’s English Literature course, and Eddie’s witch story of Leader’s Wood. Emma thinks it might have some basis in truth. Eddie swears blind he’s not making it up. Later Emma quizzes Alan on heaven, hell and spirits. She’s not sure witches deserved to be punished. Alan accepts she may have a point. Lynda overhears and offers to lend Emma a book on old Borsetshire tales.
Lynda’s keen to get information about the black tie ball, but Adil’s prickly with her. She hopes he’s not regretting ask her to organise things. She’s cancelling a holiday so she can focus on it. Later she asks Oliver whether Adil’s ok. He seems exhausted. Oliver’s thought the same. He asks Lynda to leave it with him. He suggests Adil takes some away. Adil initially resists, but concedes Oliver’s right. He’ll take Friday off.
Alan speculates as to what might happen if Rob turned up again now. Usha retorts he’d be a fool to do that. There’s no reason for him to be around. Alan ventures that people like Rob can change. Usha’s pragmatic. All the law can do is look at past behaviour and weigh up current risk. Redemption is Alan’s arena.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001r1k3)
Patsy Ferran, Rubens & Women, the portrayal of black men in British film
The actor Patsy Ferran talks to Samira about her transformation from flower girl (with some autonomy) to duchess (with none at all) in Pygmalion at the Old Vic, and a career in which she transformed from Edith, the maid in Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury to Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal, via Jem in Treasure Island.
“Rubenesque” has long evoked a voluptuous image of female nudity in art, but a new exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery seeks to explore the complex relationship between Peter Paul Rubens and the women in his life. Co-curator Amy Orrock and critic Louisa Buck discuss how they influenced, and in many cases financially supported, the 17th century Flemish painter.
And as Netflix airs the fifth and final series of ‘Top Boy’, which first appeared on Channel 4 starring Ashley Waters, Clive Nwonka, author of ‘Black Boys The Social Aesthetics of British Urban Film’ and film critic Leila Latif discuss representations of black urban culture on screen.
Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Nicki Paxman
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m001r1kc)
Security Threat: Sham training courses risk public safety
The Manchester Arena terrorist attack in 2017 left 22 people dead and more than a thousand injured. The subsequent inquiry found security arrangements were lacking with some security staff admitting they were untrained in vital procedures. File on 4 goes undercover to reveal how, despite assurances the industry has tightened up procedures, some training companies are offering 'fast-track' courses which don't comply with regulations. the programme also reveals how candidates are told to falsifty time sheets and are given the answers to a final examination to ensure they pass and can subsequently work in an industry which is supposed to keep the public safe.
Producer: Kate West
Reporter: Greg McKenzie
Assistant producer: Nick Holland
Editor: Carl Johnston
TUE 20:40 In Touch (m001r1kl)
Learning Languages
We discuss techniques for learning languages when you are visually impaired. Nowadays there are many methods that can be used; be it braille, smart phone apps, listening via synthetic speech etc and so we invited four visually impaired language enthusiasts to share their tips and experiences. Each of them use languages in different ways such as teaching, social meet ups, family relations and even providing interpretation within European politics.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (m001r1kt)
Migraines and Headaches
1 in 7 people live with migraines around the world, and the condition costs the UK economy billions each year. Attacks can be debilitating and all-consuming, but a new treatment recently approved by NICE might even help the most stubborn cases find some relief.
James Gallagher is joined by neurologist Alex Sinclair from the University of Birmingham, GP Richard Wood from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, and physiotherapist Anne-Marie Logan from St George’s University Hospitals to answer your questions on migraine and headache; from understanding why migraines exist in the first place, to if foods like takeaways could be triggers, and what these new treatments mean for the future of migraine management.
Presenter: James Gallagher
Producer: Julia Ravey
Editor: Erika Wright
Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Technical Producers: Sue Malliot and Donald Macdonald
TUE 21:30 Building Soul - with Thomas Heatherwick (m001r1b2)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001r1kz)
HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line to be scrapped
Haiti welcomes Kenyan police officers to take on the country's gangs
What are "luxury beliefs" and how are they shaping UK politics?
TUE 22:45 Rizzio by Denise Mina (m001r1l8)
Episode 2
2/5. By Denise Mina. The plotters break into Mary’s apartments. While her treacherous husband restrains the Queen, a terrified Rizzio cowers behind her skirts.
Read by Siobhán Redmond.
For details see yesterday.
TUE 23:00 Call Jonathan Pie (p0fsyrdt)
Episode 7: Comedy
When Pie says a very bad word in a meeting he is asked to apologise. Instead of doing just that however, he decides that it was “just a joke” and that he is a victim of cancel culture. He then hijacks the entire show to discuss the state of free speech in comedy. When Jules and Roger both implore him to apologise he is enraged even further. Can Jules persuade him to stop being a tit in time for him to save his job?
Jonathan Pie ..... Tom Walker
Jules ..... Lucy Pearman
Sam ..... Aqib Khan
Roger ..... Nick Revell
Agent ..... Daniel Abelson
Voiceovers ..... Bob Sinfield and Rob Curling
Callers ... .Daniel Abelson, Adam Byron, Jonathan Tafler, and Emma Thornett
Writer ..... Tom Walker
Script Editor ..... Nick Revell
Producers ..... Alison Vernon-Smith andJulian Mayers
Production Coordinator ..... Ellie Dobing
Original music composed by Jason Read
Additional music Leighton James House
A Yada-Yada Audio Production.
TUE 23:30 Lusus (m00176y6)
1. Doppelgänger
Noa (Patsy Ferran) a young Gen Z Urbanite, suffers from continual FOMO. There is always someone somewhere doing something better than the choice she has made. When trying to keep a birthday arrangement with her mum and sister and attend a fun night out with successful friends, her wish to be in two places at the same time turns deadly.
Cast
Episode 1
No - Patsy Ferran
Jen - Susannah Fielding
Mindfulness Narrator - Caroline Faber
Ash - Lainey Lipson
Evie - Karima McAdams
Club Hostess - Nantaara Jafri
Smoker - Jacob Jackson
Mum - Sara Jackson
Taxi Driver - Avril Poole
Bus Driver/Drunk - Paul Fulberg
Kevin - Henry Newton
Crew
Production Company - Clarence Beeks
Co-Creator/Writer - Samantha Newton
Co-Creator/Director - Rachel Zisser
Executive Producer - Sara Johnson
Executive Producer - Daniel M Jackson
Producer - Hannah Charman, Sister Music
Casting Director - Sophie Kingston-Smith
Casting Assistant - Lainey Lipson
Composer - Na’ama Zisser
Vocalists - Tomer Damsky, Aya Gavriel, Ron Sheskin, Quantum Choir
Sound engineer - Laura Blake
Sound engineer - Charlie Braham
Sound engineer - Gareth Wood
Sound Recording - The Sound Company
Vocalist Recording - Marco Milevski, Mazkeka Studio
Sound Design - King Lear Music & Sound
Lead Sound Designer - Dugal Macdiarmid
Asst Sound Designer - Ned Sisson
Asst Sound Designer - Lauren Cooper
WEDNESDAY 04 OCTOBER 2023
WED 00:00 Midnight News (m001r1lj)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
WED 00:30 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1c1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r1ln)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r1ls)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r1lv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
WED 05:30 News Briefing (m001r1lx)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r1lz)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Saint
Good morning.
In the autumn of 1219, a European army was camped on the north coast of Egypt, just outside the city of Damietta.
The Crusader and Muslim troops had fought themselves into a bloody standstill. A grim scenario into which strolled Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone – known to history as St Francis of Assisi.
Francis had determined to take the Good News to all corners of the known world and his simple approach was both disconcerting and effective: he would walk or beg passage on a ship in the direction of conflict. Hence his unexpected arrival at Damietta.
Francis’ charismatic cheerfulness and dishevelled sackcloth bemused the armoured Crusaders, but their bemusement turned into alarm when Francis declared his suicidal intention to cross no-man’s-land to talk to the Muslims.
Francis crossed the neutral-zone and presented himself at the city gates. As one historian noted, ‘the guards were at first suspicious, but soon decided that anyone so simple, so gentle and so dirty must be mad, and treated him with the respect due to a man who had been touched by God.’
Indeed, the Sultan of Egypt was charmed with Francis and although Francis made no converts in Damietta, that single act of courage laid down a marker in the history of Muslim-Christian relationships – to this day, through centuries of invasions, occupations and wars, it is the Franciscans who uniquely have been entrusted with the custodianship of the Christian sites across the Middle East.
So, on this the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, let us pray: Lord, in the conflicts and tensions around me today, give me the courage and imagination to risk an unexpected hand of friendship.
Amen.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (m001r1m1)
04/10/23 Hormone-treated beef row; Migration review; Carrots
NFU President demands an apology from a politician who told a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference that he wanted to see hormone-treated beef allowed into the UK - something which is banned at the moment. MP Jacob Rees-Mogg then went on to accuse the National Farmers Union and its leader Minette Batters of being 'protectionist'.
The government's system of a 'shortage occupations list' is not working and should be abolished, according to a review by the Migration Advisory Committee - the independent body that advises the government on migration issues. The S.O.L. is used to decide which jobs immigrants can apply for, because of the need for labour.
All week we are digging into root veg, today it's carrots. The UK crunches its way through 10 billion carrots every year, nearly all of them grown here. Right now, the main crop is being harvested, and we visit one farmer in Yorkshire who grows 1,000 acres of carrots.
Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkg3b)
Short-Eared Owl
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Short-eared Owl. Short-eared owls, one of our most spectacular birds of prey, are nomads, roaming over vast areas of open countryside and breeding where they find their favourite habitat of moorland or long grass.
WED 06:00 Today (m001r1mn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 More or Less (m001r1mq)
Vaccine claims, Alzheimer's treatment and Tim's Parkrun times
John Campbell, a YouTuber whose posts get millions of views, has made claims about excess deaths and the covid-19 vaccine. We show why he's incorrect. Also will a much vaunted new treatment for Alzheimer's really change lives - and how much longer can Tim expect his Parkrun times to improve? We look at the trends - and the rest of the team's times.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
Reporters: Nathan Gower, Daniel Gordon, Charlotte McDonald
Researcher: Marcus O'Brien
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
WED 09:30 Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley (m001r1ms)
Cook Tomatoes
Tomatoes are packed full of goodness & cooked tomatoes are even better for you! In this episode, Michael reveals how cooking your tomatoes - sautéed, or in a sauce or soup - can reduce your blood fat levels, help your body recover from exercise, and even protect your skin from damage. It’s all to do with a beneficial compound called lycopene which is released under heat. Michael speaks to Professor Richard van Breemen from Oregon State University who reveals his studies on lycopene and why cooked tomatoes can help protect against prostate cancer.
New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB
Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Science Producer: Catherine Wyler
Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu
Trainee Assistant Producer: Toni Arenyeka
Executive Producer: Zoe Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:45 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1w8)
Episode 3
In the Renaissance, women cared what they looked like - they had to, in a world dominated by men. It was hard work, but they were helped by books containing beauty tips and recipes.
Boys were educated, but girls were expected either to marry or enter a convent. To catch your man, it was important to look your best. As the Renaissance visual world became populated by paintings of luscious female nudes by painters such as Titian, a vibrant literary output of beauty tips emerged. Mainly written by men like Giovanni Marinello, they were early versions of the self help books of the 20th century.
Full of advice about cosmetics, with 'solutions' to everything from podgy upper arms and smelly armpits, to droopy breasts, stretch marks, bad breath and drooling while sleeping, with particular emphasis on facial beauty, they were usually sold in the marketplace to aristocrats and peasant women alike.
Sales were in the thousands. Women, by necessity, had a wide knowledge of botanical and chemical remedies needed to help in childbirth and illness, but still had an appetite for self improvement. Some medical remedies recommended were used for other purposes – arsenic was common in beauty products, but was also useful for getting rid of a controlling husband or brother.
Through the stories of female courtesans, business women, artists, artisans, actors, and the first female writers to be published who start to rebel against the male dominance of their time, we find women beginning to discover their own voice. In a world where books are becoming more widely available, and burgeoning colonialism means that travel between nations is on the rise, the beauty of black women begins to be appreciated too as immigrants arrive in Italian cities.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Produced by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001r1mz)
Mary McAleese, Isabel Hardman, Kitty Donaldson, Emma Reed Turrell, Viv Groskop, Dr Bernadette Jenner
Starting today a Catholic synod will take place throughout October in the Vatican to discuss the direction of the Church. Delegates will consider the way in which all members participate and decide the future direction of key issues such as the role of women. Emma Barnett talks to the former Irish president Mary McAleese about the issues facing the Church.
Rishi Sunak will today give his first Conservative Party conference as Prime Minister – but his moment in the spotlight is under threat from the women in his party. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been called the “front-runner” for next leader after her speech, while Liz Truss became the surprise breakout star of conference. So is the future of the Conservative Party now female? Kitty Donaldson, UK Political Editor at Bloomberg News, and Isabel Hardman, Assistant Editor of The Spectator, join us from the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. And what can ordinary women learn from Liz Truss about bouncing back from a public failure? Writer Viv Groskop and Psychotherapist and podcaster Emma Reed Turrell discuss the lessons women can learn from Liz Truss’s return to the spotlight.
The UK’s first and biggest study into pre-eclampsia which can affect the kidneys, liver and brain can cause seizures in women has been launched. The study will monitor women before pregnancy, during and after birth to find out why some women develop the conditions and the long term health implications.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
WED 11:00 Redeeming Ricky (m001r1g7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Monday]
WED 11:30 Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train (m0019xh0)
Series 1
London to Holyhead
Author, actor and comedy icon, Alexei Sayle continues his travels across the country by rail.
Alexei’s mission is to break the golden rule of travelling by train and actually talk to his fellow passengers in a quest for conversations that reveal their lives, hopes, dreams and destinations. There’s humour, sadness and surprise as people talk about what is going on in their lives and, as Alexei passes through familiar towns and cities, he also tells stories and memories from his career and childhood.
Alexei has a lifelong "ticket to ride" in his DNA. His father was a railway guard and the Sayle family benefitted from free travel in the UK and across Europe. As a boy, Alexei and his family roamed far and wide from the family home in Anfield, Liverpool. At a time when most people thought an exciting trip by train was to Brighton or Blackpool, Alexei travelled thousands of miles to mysterious towns with unpronounceable names in far flung corners of the continent.
In each programme in the series, Alexei embarks on a rail journey, taking a chance on who he might meet and inviting them to have a conversation with him. In this episode, he travels from London to Holyhead and meets Alex who is an actor and musician on his way to perform in a musical in Llandudno, Elaine who has been to London to visit her two very eccentric aunts, Jessica, an organisational psychologist whose work involves helping people discover what they really want to do in life, and Stephany who has just celebrated her 20 year service award as a customer service assistant on the railway and tells Alexei of her meeting with two of her most famous customers - Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Producers Peter Lowe and Nick Symons
A Ride production for Radio 4
WED 12:00 News Summary (m001r2gh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 You and Yours (m001r1nk)
News and discussion of consumer affairs
WED 12:57 Weather (m001r1nr)
The latest weather forecast
WED 13:00 World at One (m001r1ny)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
WED 13:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m001r1p4)
8. In the Habit
What is the secret to ageing well?
Humankind has been in search of an answer for millions of years. But one man believes he may have found the beginnings of an answer, and it’s hiding in a convent.
Hannah Fry tells a tale of a single scatter graph which might reveal the key to longevity.
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Series Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Episode Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.
WED 14:00 The Archers (m001r1jr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Fault Lines: Money, Sex and Blood (m0013jdq)
Series 3: Blood
Between Two Worlds
Fault Lines: Blood, Ep 2/5
Between Two Worlds by Kathrine Smith
Constance is trying to find the murderer amongst her family. Could it be her twelve-year-old great-niece, Lily? A child capable of much destruction. But there's a new carer, Josie, a mystery figure whose presence causes ructions. A haunting drama of hidden shame and loss.
Constance - Glenda Jackson
Lily - Poppy O'Brien
Josie - Joy Richardson
Miles - Robert Glenister
Maria - Christine Bottomley
Sound by Sharon Hughes
Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
WED 15:00 Money Box (m001r1pd)
Money Box Live: Cutting Energy Costs this Winter
Money Box Live is looking at how to prepare for the cold nights ahead this winter following a year of high energy costs.
The Ofgem energy price cap has fallen by 7% to just over £1900. The price cap is the maximum amount your provider can charge per unit of gas and electricity. It is the amount a typical home in England, Scotland and Wales will pay a year, but if you use more, you will pay more.
Last year, there was government support to the tune of £400 to help households with rising costs. That isn't coming this year, and standing charges have gone up. It means people may end up paying more this Winter.
So, this week on Money Box Live, we're looking at how what you're doing to keep costs down as well as tips from our experts ranging from how thick your insulation should be to exactly how much it costs to put the oven on.
Matthew Cole, head of the Fuel Bank Foundation, and Madeleine Gabriel, Director of Sustainability at charity Nesta, join Felicity Hannah for this week's programme.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Researcher: Eimear Devlin
Editor: Jess Quayle
WED 15:30 Inside Health (m001r1kt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m001r1ps)
Sugar
SUGAR: Laurie Taylor explores the ways in which the sweet stuff has transformed our politics, health, history and even family relationships. He’s joined by Ulbe Bosma, Professor of International Comparative Social History at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and author of a tour de force global history of sugar and its human costs, from its little-known origins as a luxury good in Asia to transatlantic slavery and the obesity pandemic.
Also, Imogen Bevan, Research Fellow in Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, considers the bittersweet nature of sugar consumption and kinship in Scotland. During extensive fieldwork in primary schools, homes and community groups, she traced the values and meanings attributed to sugar – its role in cementing social bonding, marking out special occasions and offering rewards to children, in particular. Far from being a simple and pleasurable choice, she found it often had a fraught, morally ambivalent presence in family life.
Producer: Jayne Egerton
WED 16:30 The Media Show (m001r1q4)
The Tories, the message and the media
Tim Montgomerie Eleni Courea and Cleo Watson discuss goings on at the Conservative party conference with Ros Atkins. Plus Jennie King and Marco Silva on 15 Minute Cities.
Guests: Tim Montgomerie, journalist; Eleni Courea, Deputy Editor, Politico's London Playbook; Cleo Watson, presenter, Radio 4 series How to Win a Campaign; Jennie King, Head of Climate Research and Policy, Institute for Strategic Dialogue; Marco Silva, BBC Verify.
Producer: Simon Richardson
WED 17:00 PM (m001r1qf)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r1r1)
The Prime Minister said the money would be invested in hundreds of new transport schemes
WED 18:30 Please Use Other Door (m001r1r9)
Series 2
Episode 4
How would middle class liberals plan a jewellery heist? What are the categories for the new Modern Man Awards? Why are people in care homes forced into group singing?
Performed by; Jason Forbes, Will Hartley, Rosie Holt, Rebecca Shorrocks, Witney White and Toby Williams.
The series of four is written by; Ed Amsden and Tom Coles, Simon Alcock, Sarah Campbell, Robert Darke, Julian Dutton, Sophie Dickson, Paul F Tayler, Jim Campbell, Alex Nash & Sam South, Matt Harrison, Katy Swainston, Rhyan Orrick, Charlotte Patterson, Peter Tellouche, Cody Dahler, Davina Bentley, Jon Long and Bill Dare.
Production Co-ordinator Caroline Barlow
Sound Design Rich Evans
Original music by Bill Dare, produced by Iona Vallance
Produced and created by Bill Dare
BBC Studios Production for Radio 4
WED 19:00 The Archers (m001r1rl)
Alan is approached by Miles, who has a question: why is Alan refusing to baptise his brother? Rob is a dying man, and is crushed that Alan won’t do it. Alan questions whether Rob is actually dying. Miles is appalled. He explains that Rob’s prognosis is genuine, and baptism is giving him something to hope for. For his part, Miles thinks it’s a bad idea for Rob to move nearer Helen, and as for religion, their father thinks Rob’s gone mad. However Miles can’t understand why Alan won’t fulfil Rob’s wishes. Alan explains he’s concerned about Rob’s real motivation. Miles becomes desperate; he knows his brother’s made mistakes but he’s not a bad person and just wants to be forgiven. He talks about their bullying father. Alan agrees to think about it.
Jazzer and Tracy set off early with Brad for the university open day. Brad cringes at the smart clothes they’ve chosen, but it’s too late to change them now. Once there panicked Brad has trouble reading the map – it’s all so massive and he doesn’t want to be late for his session. A student comes to their rescue, and while Brad’s in his maths session, chats with Tracy and Jazzer about her work and the fun she’s having. She gives them all a tour, and when she’s gone Tracy seeks Brad’s opinion on his day. Brad’s lukewarm about it; it’s the first uni they’ve seen and he might not even get an offer. Tracy’s so proud of her son: the very first Horrobin to go to university.
WED 19:15 Front Row (m001r1rw)
The Streets, the British Textile Biennial, Kate Prince on her mentor
Mike Skinner helped define an era with The Streets' album Original Pirate Material in 2002. Now he's back with not only new music but an accompanying film, The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light. He talks to Nick Ahad about guerrilla filming in nightclubs and the influence of Raymond Chandler.
The choreographer, writer and founder of hip hop dance company ZooNation, Kate Prince, tells us about a dramaturg who has been a key influence on her. We hear about the advice and inspiration offered by Lolita Chakrabati ahead of her work inspired by the music of Sting and The Police.
The British Textile Biennial 2023 is highlighting the extraordinary influence of Lancashire. From the moors to the mills, it's a region which defined the modern world's approach to the clothes we wear. That troubling and complex legacy is explored by a series of installations. Evie Manning, co-creator of Common Wealth, talks to Nick Ahad about Fast Fast Slow - a community-led catwalk experience which explores throwaway fashion and our relationship with clothes.
Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Kevin Core
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m001r1s6)
Is impartiality a myth?
The BBC has published new guidance on how its big name presenters can use social media. Those working in news and current affairs are still bound by strict rules on impartiality, which the BBC sees as being fundamental to its reputation, values and the trust of its audiences. But the presenters of other programmes are free to express their political views, as long as they don’t “endorse or attack a political party."
While impartiality means not favouring one side over another, news broadcasters are subject to a subtler version of it: “due impartiality”. That means different perspectives don’t necessarily have to be given equal weight. But which perspectives and how much weight? That’s a matter of judgment.
The changing media landscape has brought new challenges to the principle of impartiality. The media regulator Ofcom has recently investigated GB News. Among their alleged breaches of impartiality was an item in which the Conservative Chancellor was interviewed by two other Conservative MPs.
The spiritual heirs of Lord Reith believe that media impartiality is a moral good and a central pillar of democracy in an age of populism and polarisation. Sceptics suggest that the pursuit of impartiality can create problems of its own, putting ignorance and expertise on an equal footing.
Beyond broadcasting, how much should we as individuals strive for impartiality? Is it possible to look at historical events through an objective lens? While psychology tells us we all have cognitive biases, psychologists disagree about how much they can be corrected. Is it possible to be truly impartial about ourselves and others?
Producer: Dan Tierney
WED 21:00 When It Hits the Fan (m001r1sm)
The Taylor Swift effect, GB News and following Feargal
In this episode, David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the soft power of one of the most influential people in the United States right now. It’s not a man, it’s not even a very old man. It’s a 33-year-old woman who seems to have Fox News, Donald Trump and the Republican Party running scared - Taylor Swift. With half a billion social media followers and a growing political influence among her fans, we look at how she might derail Donald Trump’s ambitions to return to the White House.
Turning to GB News after what must have been a week of crisis meetings, David and Simon spotlight the news channel's co-owner Paul Marshall, who may even be the next owner of The Telegraph newspaper and whose reputation is on the line following the disgrace of Lawrence Fox.
And, they’re talking Feargal Sharkey – why the pop star turned campaigner is a thorn in the side of Britain’s water industry.
Producer: Eve Streeter
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: William Miller
Researcher: Sophie Smith
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4
WED 21:30 The Media Show (m001r1q4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m001r1t2)
Sunak's pledge to break 'old consensus'
In the biggest speech of his premiership so far, the Prime Minister has launched an attack on his predecessors. One of those predecessors has gone public to criticise the decision to cancel the northern leg of HS2, confirmed in the speech. Rishi Sunak insists every penny of the £36bn intended for it will be spent on other projects. But opinions among northern leaders are divided - we hear from two of them.
Also on the programme:
The rare testimony of young Albanian man who was trafficked to the UK and forced to work on a cannabis farm.
And as Paris is gripped by panic over a bed bug infestation, our correspondent is on the hunt to see them first hand.
WED 22:45 Rizzio by Denise Mina (m001r1tj)
Episode 3
3/5. By Denise Mina. In the immediate aftermath of the assault on Rizzio, Mary begins to fear for her own life and that of her unborn child.
Read by Siobhán Redmond.
For details see Monday.
WED 23:00 Influencers (m001r1v0)
Series 1
Episode 6
Katy Brand and Katherine Parkinson write and star in a new comedy about the world of influencing, where they play Ruth and Carla – two wannabe stars of the online business world.
They are bound together by a carefully controlled image that can lead to lucrative product placements and well-paid endorsements - but only if the PR is played just right. And that’s a problem because, behind the scenes, things are not always as harmonious as they seem.
Episode 6: Mushrooms
Ruth and Carla decide to experiment with micro-dosing psilocybin. As the mushrooms kick in there are revelations and home truths everywhere, and a new strategy for their online business emerges.
Carla – Katy Brand
Ruth – Katherine Parkinson
Written by Katy Brand and Katherine Parkinson
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:15 Welcome to the Neighbourhood with Jayde Adams (m001r1vf)
Kate Bottley
Jayde Adams and Kate Bottley dive into the world of community apps and messageboards. This week a very strange thing is happening to cats in Retford.
Producer: Cornelius Mendez
An unusual production for BBC Radio 4
WED 23:30 Lusus (m00176zb)
2. Kappa
Tanya (Ella Bruccoleri) is home looking after her baby daughter while her wife Kate (Karima McAdams) works overseas. Their plans to try for more children fuels Tanya’s anxieties about the plastic crisis. As her panic about their impact on the planet grows larger…. so does the fatberg beneath their flat. They learn the hard way that the waste they create will come back to them as either food, or poison.
Cast
Tanya - Ella Bruccoleri
Katie - Karima McAdams
Mindfulness Narrator - Caroline Faber
Police Officer/Newsreader - Annabel Miller
Noa - Patsy Ferran
Kevin - Henry Newton
Crew
Production Company - Clarence Beeks
Co-Creator/Writer - Samantha Newton
Co-Creator/Director - Rachel Zisser
Executive Producer - Sara Johnson
Executive Producer - Daniel M Jackson
Producer - Hannah Charman, Sister Music
Casting Director - Sophie Kingston-Smith
Casting Assistant - Lainey Lipson
Composer - Na’ama Zisser
Vocalists - Tomer Damsky, Aya Gavriel, Ron Sheskin, Quantum Choir
Sound engineer - Laura Blake
Sound engineer - Charlie Braham
Sound engineer - Gareth Wood
Sound Recording - The Sound Company
Vocalist Recording - Marco Milevski, Mazkeka Studio
Sound Design - King Lear Music & Sound
Lead Sound Designer - Dugal Macdiarmid
Asst Sound Designer - Ned Sisson
Asst Sound Designer - Lauren Cooper
THURSDAY 05 OCTOBER 2023
THU 00:00 Midnight News (m001r1vt)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
THU 00:30 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1w8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r1wm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r1x0)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r1xg)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
THU 05:30 News Briefing (m001r1xw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r1y8)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Wasp
Good morning.
There weren’t many flowers around the Jesuit mission station of Kurukubaru in the northern Amazon.
I was looking-out over the remains of the kitchen garden, cultivated 50 years before; the jungle was claiming back the garden, so only a couple of plants were resisting the encroachment.
I saw a wasp hovering over one of the flowers. It was a big wasp – perhaps it was a hornet? I approached to identify it, and (as it didn’t seem threatened) I moved up-close-and-personal and stared.
It wasn’t a wasp. It wasn’t a hornet. It was a tiny hummingbird.
It hovered, its long needle-like beak drinking the nectar in the bell-chamber of the flower.
It was magnificent sight.
Hummingbirds are found across the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The smallest weigh just 2 grammes, but with a metabolism to handle both high speed acrobatic flight and hover motionless at 80 wingbeats a second, they have an ability to respond to both threat and opportunity with lightning speed.
There is story that comes from the Peruvian side of the Amazon. The basic tale is that one day a fire broke out in the jungle and all the animals ran away fearing for their lives.
But the Jaguar saw a hummingbird still darting around. The Jaguar asked what he was doing and the hummingbird replied “I am flying to the lake and get water to help put out the fire.”
The Jaguar laughed and said, “You’re crazy! You can’t put out this fire!”
But the hummingbird replied, “At least I am doing what I can do.”
Lord, when the times seem dark & overwhelming, give me the grace not to panic, but to intuit the need and respond generously, trusting in Your presence to do the rest.
Amen.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (m001r1yq)
05/10/23 HS2 and farmers affected; Milk prices; Parsnips
As the HS2 railway line's cancelled in the north, we talk to farmers whose lives and businesses have been turned upside down by the scheme.
Dairy farmers are warning that what they're being paid for milk no longer covers the costs of producing it. An NFU survey showed that nine per cent of dairy farmers plan to quit this year, with 30% saying they're 'uncertain' about the future.
All week we're talking about root veg. Soil health is particularly important for these crops. Compaction and water logging can mean dramatic drops in yield before they've surfaced above ground. We speak to a farmer in Scotland who's growing six hectares of parsnips.
Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09dyxxr)
Dermot O'Leary on the Greater Black-backed Gull
Presenter Dermot O'Leary hails the greater black-backed gull as an 'Alsatian of the skies' as he marvels at their hardy survival skills and effortless aerodynamics.
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Photo: Simon Richardson.
THU 06:00 Today (m001r1sq)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (m001r1t5)
Plankton
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the tiny drifting organisms in the oceans that sustain the food chain for all the lifeforms in the water and so for the billions of people who, in turn, depend on the seas for their diet. In Earth's development, the plant-like ones among them, the phytoplankton, produced so much oxygen through photosynthesis that around half the oxygen we breathe today originated there. And each day as the sun rises, the animal ones, the zooplankton, sink to the depths of the seas to avoid predators in such density that they appear on ship sonars like a new seabed, only to rise again at night in the largest migration of life on this planet.
With
Carol Robinson
Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of East Anglia
Abigail McQuatters-Gollop
Associate Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth
And
Christopher Lowe
Lecturer in Marine Biology at Swansea University
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Reading list:
Juli Berwald, Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone (Riverhead Books, 2018)
Sir Alister Hardy, The Open Sea: The World of Plankton (first published 1959; Collins New Naturalist Library, 2009)
Richard Kirby, Ocean Drifters: A Secret World Beneath the Waves (Studio Cactus Ltd, 2010)
Robert Kunzig, Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science (Sort Of Books, 2000)
Christian Sardet, Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World (University of Chicago Press, 2015)
Helen Scales, The Brilliant Abyss: True Tales of Exploring the Deep Sea, Discovering Hidden Life and Selling the Seabed (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2022)
THU 09:45 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1tm)
Episode 4
In the Renaissance, women cared what they looked like - they had to, in a world dominated by men. It was hard work, but they were helped by books containing beauty tips and recipes.
Boys were educated, but girls were expected either to marry or enter a convent. To catch your man, it was important to look your best. As the Renaissance visual world became populated by paintings of luscious female nudes by painters such as Titian, a vibrant literary output of beauty tips emerged. Mainly written by men like Giovanni Marinello, they were early versions of the self help books of the 20th century.
Full of advice about cosmetics, with 'solutions' to everything from podgy upper arms and smelly armpits, to droopy breasts, stretch marks, bad breath and drooling while sleeping, with particular emphasis on facial beauty, they were usually sold in the marketplace to aristocrats and peasant women alike.
Sales were in the thousands. Women, by necessity, had a wide knowledge of botanical and chemical remedies needed to help in childbirth and illness, but still had an appetite for self improvement. Some medical remedies recommended were used for other purposes – arsenic was common in beauty products, but was also useful for getting rid of a controlling husband or brother.
Through the stories of female courtesans, business women, artists, artisans, actors, and the first female writers to be published who start to rebel against the male dominance of their time, we find women beginning to discover their own voice. In a world where books are becoming more widely available, and burgeoning colonialism means that travel between nations is on the rise, the beauty of black women begins to be appreciated too as immigrants arrive in Italian cities.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Produced by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001r1v3)
Gunner Jaysley Beck's mother, Wild Hope, Earth Mama, Dangerous dogs
An army investigation has found that 19-year-old soldier Jaysley Beck is believed to have taken her own life after a period of relentless sexual harassment from one of her bosses. The gunner was serving in the Royal Artillery, and was found dead at the Larkhill army camp in Wiltshire in December 2021. Her mother, Leighann McCready, joins Emma along with Emma Norton, director and solicitor for the Centre for Military Justice.
Poet Donna Ashworth has released a new collection of her work, Wild Hope. It is a selection of poems and passages that she hopes will help people to find hope in an increasingly pressurised world. She joins Emma to talk about why she picked up poetry in her 40s, and how it has changed her life.
Savanah Leaf is a Team GB volleyball player turned film director, whose feature film Earth Mama is playing at the London Film Festival this week. Having competed in the 2012 Olympics, Savanah turned to filmmaking as a hobby when recovering from an injury. She joins Emma to discuss the transferable skills between sports and directing and tackling the US foster care system in her directorial debut.
Lakaydia Reynolds was walking through a park in south London on her way to a driving lesson when she was attacked by three dogs. The dog’s owner tried to intervene, but the dogs injured her arm, legs and face. A stranger saw the attack and filmed it happening, rather than moving to intervene. The footage was uploaded to social media, where it has been viewed tens of thousands of times. Emma talks to Lakaydia about what she experienced.
Presenter: Emma Barnett
Producer: Rebecca Myatt
Studio manager: Emma Harth
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (m001r1vh)
Rising tensions in the Balkans
Kate Adie presents stories from Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Russia’s western borders.
A day of shooting in majority-Serb north Kosovo left a police officer and three members of an armed group dead. Guy De Launey reports on one of the most serious confrontations between Serbia and Kosovo since Kosovo declared independence in 2008.
2023 marks the tenth anniversary of Xi Jinping’s announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project to connect China with the Central Asian countries on its western border. Jacob Mardell visits Torugart pass in Kyrgyzstan, an important stop on a planned railway that will connect China with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. He encounters smuggling and nomad hospitality, and asks how the new railway might change this underdeveloped region.
Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees have been returning to the villages they were forced to flee from, during decades of war in the region. On their return they are met with a new danger: landmines and unexploded bombs. In South Sudan it’s mostly women who take on the dangerous job of clearing unexploded ordinance. Sira Thierij joins a team of young women deminers making their country safer.
Sri Lanka has been suffering the worst economic crisis in its history as an independent nation. Sri Lankans have endured power cuts, fuel shortages, rising prices and rapid inflation. After loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the country’s financial situation is improving. But when Archana Shukla travelled across the island nation, she discovered many people are still struggling to make ends meet.
Katya Adler travels from southern Poland to the northernmost point of mainland Norway to ask people what it’s like living next door to Putin, since he brought war back to Europe on a scale not seen since World War Two. She meets ordinary people doing extraordinary things to help the war effort in Ukraine. Katya Adler’s two-part series, Living Next Door to Putin, is available now on BBC iPlayer.
Producer: Viv Jones
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: China Collins
THU 11:30 A Good Read (m001r1hp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
THU 12:00 News Summary (m001r1vy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 You and Yours (m001r1wb)
Gap Finders: Oliver Montague from Swytch, the electric bike conversion kit
Today's Gap Finder is Oliver Montague from Swytch, which sells kits that convert any bike into an electric bike.
Oliver has always been interested in engineering and clean energy. He studied engineering at the University of Oxford, and was interning at Jaguar Land Rover working with electric cars when he had the idea. Oliver was cycling into work because he couldn't afford a car, and would have to shower and change in the office before work. One of Oliver's colleagues cycled in one morning but he wasn't sweaty - because he'd cycled in on an electric bike.
Oliver decided to retrofit his own bike into an e-bike, buying parts from the internet. E-bikes were too expensive for him to buy.
His friends started asking for a kit from him, and he thought there was enough demand to build a real kit that he could sell.
But Oliver wanted the kit to be simple and to fit any bike - so developed a kit where the unit fits between the handlebars with a motorised wheel that customers could fit themselves at home.
The batteries as standard have a 10 mile range. Oliver says many journeys we make on car and bike are much less than that. But you can purchase bigger batteries, with a range of up to 40 miles; or extra batteries to carry around with you. Your bike switches back to a normal bike if you don't have the battery on.
Swytch sells its kits on a pre-order basis so it doesn't waste money on overstock and can keep building the business sustainably.
Oliver joins Winifred to talk about founding the company, as well as e-bike popularity and whether it can help more of us use the bike as a way to make journeys, instead of using our cars.
PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS
THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m001r1wn)
Induction Hobs
Induction hobs are not just a fashionable addition to a new kitchen, but are also sold as a more efficient choice than a gas hob. How do they compare? Is cooking on an electric induction hob better for the planet? And what about our health?
Listener Roisin wants to know if they are an economical choice but worries they might affect her mum's pacemaker, while listener Anna is concerned about indoor air pollution from gas cookers and wonders if induction hobs are a safer bet.
Greg Foot gets them some answers with expert help from Emily Seymour, the Energy Editor at Which? and Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London.
If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad relating to another consumer product and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, then email us: sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807
PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Jon Douglas
THU 12:57 Weather (m001r1x3)
The latest weather forecast
THU 13:00 World at One (m001r1xj)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
THU 13:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m001r1xx)
9. Access Denied
A young researcher gains access to a secretive data set and discovers something shocking.
What happens when a system designed to help people harms them instead?
Hannah Fry tells a tale about the mysterious realm of artificial intelligence.
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Series Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Episode Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Sound Design: Clem Hitchcock
A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.
THU 14:00 The Archers (m001r1rl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama on 4 (m0000t6s)
Swans
‘Swans’ by Eoin McNamee centres on a child being smuggled in through Dublin airport. As Interpol and the local police try to trace the child, they have a very limited window – they have to find him before he’s smuggled through the airside by Ground Crew. After that, he’ll simply disappear. The smuggling operation is dependent on the collaboration of someone with access and possibly even someone who works at the airport.
Starring Lolita Chakribarti and Aaron McCusker, this play highlights the very real problem that is people smuggling and is told alongside one of Ireland's most traditional myths ‘The Children of Lir’.
Anjali Aziz ..... Suzie Seweify
Anna ..... Hilary Rose
Child ..... James Dale
Dan Shanahan ..... Aaron McCusker
Deirdre ..... Phoebe Henry
Du Vassel ..... Richard Croxford
Eva ..... Tina Kellegher
Fiona ..... Clare Dunne
Savita Aziz ..... Lolita Chakrabarti
Writer ..... Eoin McNamee
Producer ..... Celia De Wolff
THU 15:00 Ramblings (m001r1y9)
Out of Portpatrick on the Rhins of Galloway
On a beautiful late summer's day Clare and guests explore a coastal walk on a remote peninsula in southern Scotland - the Rhins of Galloway.
Walking with her are Peter Ross, who runs a walking for health group, and Margaret Hughes who is one of the members. They start their hike in Portpatrick and head along the coast for a few miles before dropping down into Sandeel Bay and returning to Portpatrick on an inland path through woodland.
Margaret is registered blind due to an acquired brain injury, and has had a tough time recovering. Walking is a huge part of her life, and Peter’s group plays a significant part in this especially as Margaret needs a sighted guide to help her along the way.
This is the second of two walks on the Rhins of Galloway: last week's episode was with two friends who are taking what could be the longest, slowest route between Land's End and John O'Groats.
Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer: Karen Gregor
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m001r11t)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Bookclub (m001r17h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D (m001p1qj)
In 1923, a property developer, put up a series of 45 feet high letters on the scrubby hillside of Mount Lee, a peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was there to advertise plots for sale in the newly- developed Hollywoodland estate.
It was only supposed to stay up for 18 months, but quickly became a local landmark. In 1949, the last four letters were removed, and though it has fallen into disrepair on several occasions, the Hollywood sign has survived to celebrate its centenary.
In film, the sign has been shattered by earthquakes, blasted by aliens, eviscerated by robots and bombarded by flying sharks, and has starred alongside Charlton Heston, James Dean, Justin Timberlake, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson and Mr Bean.
The BBC's man in Hollywood, David Willis, tells the story of the sign that has attracted speculators and sinners, the hurt and the hopeful, the lost and the lonely.
We hear the sad tale of Welsh born actress Peg Entwistle, who threw herself off the “H” in 1932, and the unlikely hero who saved an “O” from collapse, Alice Cooper, describes why the sign means so much to him.
Producer: Jeremy Neumark Jones
Executive Producer: David Prest
Additional research: Oliver Morris
Original Music by Theo Whitworth
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m001r1ys)
Life beyond Earth
Under the mighty radio Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, Victoria Gill brings together some of the UK’s leading experts who were visiting the recent ‘bluedot’ science and music festival. They discussed the ongoing hunt for extraterrestrial life.
We hear from Karen Olsson-Francis, a microbiologist who focuses on the tiny living things that have managed to occupy Earth's most hostile environments. Her research is helping shape space missions that are looking for evidence of life elsewhere in our solar system.
Also on the panel is Libby Jackson, head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency, who specialises in preparing humans for the extremes of interplanetary travel.
Finally, we hear from Tim O'Brien, associate director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. He’s explored parts of the Universe that no human can travel to by making the most of the radio telescopes based at Jodrell Bank.
Get the latest ‘inside’ scoop on how the UK is assisting with the search for life beyond Earth.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Harrison Lewis
Editor: Richard Collings
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
THU 17:00 PM (m001r1z7)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r1zl)
If confirmed, the attack would be the deadliest strike for many months.
THU 18:30 My Teenage Diary (m001r1zw)
Series 11
6: Joe Stilgoe
My Teenage Diary with Rufus Hound features six celebrities who will read from the diaries they kept during their formative years.
This week's episode features the jazz musician Joe Stilgoe, who reads letters he sent home from his gap year in Zimbabwe. He obsesses about cricket, falls in love and gets electrocuted by a fence.
Host: Rufus Hound
Guest: Joe Stilgoe
Sound Production and Design: Jerry Peal
Producer: Harriet Jaine
A Talkback production for BBC Radio 4
THU 19:00 The Archers (m001r1sl)
Emma attempts to solve a mystery, and Brad has a confession to make.
THU 19:15 Front Row (m001r205)
Front Row reviews Philip Guston at the Tate Modern and new film Golda
The winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature is Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, who is best known for his innovative plays. Playwright Simon Stephens, who has translated his work, talks about the impact of his plays which are widely performed across Europe but little known in the UK.
Front Row reviews Golda, which stars Helen Mirren as Israeli prime minster Golda Meir, and an exhibition of work by the artist Philip Guston at the Tate Modern in London. Poet Aviva Dautch and art critic Ben Lukes give their verdict.
Musician Tim Ridout discusses recording Elgar’s famous cello concerto on the viola, a performance for which he won the concerto category at this year’s Gramophone Award.
The theme of this year’s National Poetry Day is refuge and to mark it Front Row hears a poem on the theme, A Portable Paradise by Roger Robinson.
Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Harry Parker
THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m001r1qg)
If Trump gets re-elected what does the world do?
David Aaronovitch and guests talk about what a second Trump presidency might mean for America's relationship with the world and discuss what countries are doing to prepare.
Guests:
Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America correspondent
Inu Manak, fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London
Elizabeth Saunders, Professor and Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies
Production: Ben Carter, Claire Bowes and Sally Abrahams
Production co-ordinator: Sophie Hill and Jacqui Johnson
Sound: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (m001r20f)
Tradespeople
From plumbers to electricians, plasterers to builders, most of us need to hire a trader at some point. But what's it like to work in the industry, and how has it been affected by changes such as Brexit, the pandemic and inflation? How should you go about finding a trader who is trustworthy and will deliver quality work?
In recent decades, going into a 'trade' has not been as strongly encouraged as to going to university, but tradespeople of all kinds are in short supply, so what is being done to encourage more young people to take up a trowel or pick up a drill?
Evan Davis and guests discuss.
CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Day - Electrician, Mayday Electrical Solutions Ltd.
Kalece Okunsanya - Decorator - Suave Property Care
Will Davies - Co founder , Aspect Property Maintenance
Tim Balcon - CEO, Construction Industry Training Board
Peter Gordon - Listener
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producer: Julie Ball
Editor: China Collins
Sound: Tim Heffer and Graham Puddifoot
Prod. Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m001r1ys)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (m001r1t5)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m001r20w)
Theresa May on her mission to combat modern slavery
An electoral test for both the SNP and Labour in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election
The stories of women during the 1980s miners' strikes
THU 22:45 Rizzio by Denise Mina (m001r214)
Episode 4
4/5. By Denise Mina. As the plotters discuss their plans, it dawns on a drunken Darnley that he may be the next victim of the coup.
Read by Siobhán Redmond.
For details see Monday.
THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m001r9mb)
Can Rishi Sunak win it for the Tories?
The Today Programme’s got the only interview with the prime minister recorded after his conference speech. What sort of a week has it been for Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives?
Join Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson as they ask whether Rishi Sunak can lead his party to a 5th electoral victory and give their take on a strange week in politics.
Jane Green, professor of politics at Oxford University is in The Today Podcast studio with the latest polling and writer Armando Iannucci joins us to talk about the weirdness of party conferences and that time he nearly got a story on the Today programme.
Plus, it’s Nick’s birthday!
Episodes land every Thursday. Subscribe to The Today Podcast to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week. With insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme.
Get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email Today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is presented by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson. The producers are Tom Smithard and Stephanie Mitcalf. The editors are Jonathan Aspinwall and Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
The Today Podcast music is composed by Nick Foster and Paddy Fletcher.
THU 23:30 Lusus (m0017crc)
3. Rituals
Magnus (Alistair Petrie) is a surgeon who secretly believes that if he doesn’t do his daily rituals, his patients will die. We follow Magnus through the habitual voicemail messages he leaves for his ex-girlfriend Julia, but with each day she doesn’t answer, his rituals are further interrupted. The mindfulness podcast he listens to, in a desperate attempt to change, isn’t helping and might in fact be making things much worse.
Cast
Magnus - Alistair Petrie
Julia - Ella Bruccoleri
Mindfulness Narrator - Caroline Faber
Old Lady - Tamar Baruch
Voicemail/Lift - Stevie Ward
Doctor - Annabel Miller
Man - John Newton
Kevin - Henry Newton
Crew
Production Company - Clarence Beeks
Co-Creator/Writer - Samantha Newton
Co-Creator/Director - Rachel Zisser
Executive Producer - Sara Johnson
Executive Producer - Daniel M Jackson
Producer - Hannah Charman, Sister Music
Casting Director - Sophie Kingston-Smith
Casting Assistant - Lainey Lipson
Composer - Na’ama Zisser
Vocalists - Tomer Damsky, Aya Gavriel, Ron Sheskin, Quantum Choir
Sound engineer - Laura Blake
Sound engineer - Charlie Braham
Sound engineer - Gareth Wood
Sound Recording - The Sound Company
Vocalist Recording - Marco Milevski, Mazkeka Studio
Sound Design - King Lear Music & Sound
Lead Sound Designer - Dugal Macdiarmid
Asst Sound Designer - Ned Sisson
Asst Sound Designer - Lauren Cooper
FRIDAY 06 OCTOBER 2023
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m001r21d)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 00:30 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1tm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001r21m)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001r21w)
World Service
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001r224)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m001r22d)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001r22l)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston
The Compass
Good morning.
In mid-June 1944, my Father, a young soldier of 18 years of age, embarked onto a ship on the river Thames in London. Destination: Normandy.
D-Day had happened a week before, and my Father was part of the 79th Armoured Division being moved into Europe to consolidate the gains in France. He remembers their transport as an ocean liner – not a warship, but a converted civilian ship.
While en route, at the outer reaches of the Thames my Dad noted an unexpected manoeuvre: the ship didn’t start for Normandy – it started cruising in a circle. Then, after a while, he noticed the ship change tack – still not to France, but moving from a clockwise to an anticlockwise circle.
How peculiar.
My Dad, being of a curious disposition, asked one of the Naval Officers what was happening, and the Mariner explained that as the ship had spent its entire life travelling the trans Atlantic route, east-to-west, west-to-east, back-&-forth its magnetic compass was flabby & quite useless for the complex task of navigating to a set point on the Normandy coast, so they were having to re-calibrate the magnet by going round and round in circles.
The image is useful. At first, life experiences can be fresh & novel, but after a while I get into a groove, my habits take over my inner compass. I can lose flexibility, get caught in invisible tramlines and, without my noticing it, I lose my ability to manoeuvre.
Lord, look into my heart and see the intolerances that might be setting in. Allow your Holy Spirit to enter-in and re-calibrate my soul.
Amen.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m001r22q)
06/10/23 Labour shortages and migrant workers; 100 years of young farmers; Exotic root veg
The Migration Advisory Committee has rejected a bid from the National Farmers Union to include eight agricultural jobs on the government's "shortage occupation list" - the list of jobs where employers who face a shortage of labour are given some special dispensations within immigration rules to make it easier to employ migrant labour to fill vacancies. Now the NFU is warning that food production could be affected if farmers can't get the people they need.
Celebrations have been taking place in Caithness to mark one hundred years since the formation of Scotland’s first ever Young Farmer’s Club.
All week we’ve been hearing about root vegetables, a comfort food for the winter, but perhaps not a food that you often associate with fine dining. One small organic farm in Cambridgeshire is trying to change that perception. Flourish Produce grows 750 vegetable varieties and sells direct to high-end restaurants in London.
Presenter = Caz Graham
Producer = Rebecca Rooney
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09388dz)
Tara Robinson on the Common Tern
Theatre director Tara Robinson on the common tern and her grandfathers passion for birdwatching in today's Tweet of the Day.
Producer: Mark Ward
Picture: Dale Ayres.
FRI 06:00 Today (m001r1ph)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m001r14k)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 How to Be a Renaissance Woman by Jill Burke (m001r1t4)
Episode 5
In the Renaissance, women cared what they looked like - they had to, in a world dominated by men. It was hard work, but they were helped by books containing beauty tips and recipes.
Boys were educated, but girls were expected either to marry or enter a convent. To catch your man, it was important to look your best. As the Renaissance visual world became populated by paintings of luscious female nudes by painters such as Titian, a vibrant literary output of beauty tips emerged. Mainly written by men like Giovanni Marinello, they were early versions of the self help books of the 20th century.
Full of advice about cosmetics, with 'solutions' to everything from podgy upper arms and smelly armpits, to droopy breasts, stretch marks, bad breath and drooling while sleeping, with particular emphasis on facial beauty, they were usually sold in the marketplace to aristocrats and peasant women alike.
Sales were in the thousands. Women, by necessity, had a wide knowledge of botanical and chemical remedies needed to help in childbirth and illness, but still had an appetite for self improvement. Some medical remedies recommended were used for other purposes – arsenic was common in beauty products, but was also useful for getting rid of a controlling husband or brother.
Through the stories of female courtesans, business women, artists, artisans, actors, and the first female writers to be published who start to rebel against the male dominance of their time, we find women beginning to discover their own voice. In a world where books are becoming more widely available, and burgeoning colonialism means that travel between nations is on the rise, the beauty of black women begins to be appreciated too as immigrants arrive in Italian cities.
Abridged by Libby Spurrier
Read by Fenella Woolgar
Produced by Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001r1q6)
Food writer Grace Dent, Artist Shirin Neshat, History of enslaved women, Actor Mei Mac
We hear from food writer Grace Dent about her new book, Comfort Eating, inspired by her podcast of the same name. She'll explain why she's so fascinated by the foods to make us feel better behind closed doors.
The Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat’s latest work is called The Fury. It is a short film and series of photographs which explore the sexual exploitation of female political prisoners in Iran. Shirin left Iran as a teenager to study in the US and has lived in exile there since the 1990s. Her art is known for posing questions about how the female body is perceived within Islam and Iranian culture. She talks to Anita Rani about bringing The Fury to London and why she has chosen to deviate from her usual style and include the nude form.
Gloria Daniel is the descendant of John Isaac Daniel, who was a slave. After finding out more about her family history and the lives of her ancestor, as well as other slaves, she has started the organisation TTEACH (Transatlantic Trafficked Enslaved African Corrective Historical) Plaques. She joins Anita to tell us about the exhibition they are currently holding which includes the testimonies and artwork of women.
Mei Mac is an Olivier award nominee who has taken on the lead role of Kim in the ‘untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play' at the Young Vic. The play tackles over a century's worth of stereotypes about Asian women in drama, parodying Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon and South Pacific. Mei tells Anita about confronting prejudice in theatre, 'the bamboo ceiling' and why she has set up a mentorship scheme for British East Asian and South East Asian actors.
Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
FRI 11:00 The Briefing Room (m001r1qg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Thursday]
FRI 11:30 What's Funny About ... (m001r1qs)
Series 3
Alas Smith and Jones
Griff Rhys Jones spills the beans.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (m001r1tl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Archive on 4 (m001r0tz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 on Saturday]
FRI 12:57 Weather (m001r1rg)
The latest weather forecast
FRI 13:00 World at One (m001r1rt)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment.
FRI 13:45 Uncharted with Hannah Fry (m001r1s4)
10. Devil in the Detail
Thomas Herndon was happily studying economics at the University of Massachusetts, when one day is punctured by a discovery. It appears to be an anomaly which, if true, will shake the intellectual foundations of a global movement, and could undermine politicians around the world.
Hannah Fry tells the extraordinary story of a student who will go head to head with two of the greatest economic minds in modern times. But can he win?
Presenter: Hannah Fry
Executive Producer: Martin Smith
Series Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
Episode Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter
A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (m001r1sl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Limelight (m001r1sz)
The System - Series 3
The System - Method 4: Turn into a Cyborg and Fly to Mars
Five Methods for Overcoming Mortality.
Season 3 of Ben Lewis’ award-winning thriller.
A community of activists vowing to make the earth sacred again, a mob of gamers desperate to win the augmented reality game that’s sweeping the nation and an elite group of super rich party goers are all making their way towards Matt Finch’s Scottish castle.
It’s his 50th birthday and tonight he fully expects to be assassinated.
Cast:
Maya… Siena Kelly
Jake … Jack Rowan
Coyote…Divian Ladwa
Carly and Amanda…Lois Chimimba
Robin and Voice of the Game…Ryan Sampson
Matt Finch…Rhashan Stone
Percussion by Alon Ilsar
Original music and sound design by Danny Krass
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams
FRI 14:45 Close Encounters (m001mlqy)
Dame Katherine Grainger and Mercedes Gleitze
The fourth of Martha Kearney's new series celebrating portraits and portraiture through the eyes of ten Great Britons.
Her guest is multi-medal-winning Olympic Rower and Chair of UK Sport Dame Katherine Grainger. Her choice is the swimmer Mercedes Gleitze, the first British woman to swim the channel as well as breaking many swimming endurance records in the 1920s and 30s. Although uncelebrated today, she was the first person on record to swim the straights of Gibraltar.
After three years of closure for major refurbishment and expansion the National Portrait Gallery, just off London's Trafalgar Square is set for re-opening. To mark the occasion the gallery, along with BBC Radio 4 have launched a celebration of great Briton's, with Martha Kearney hosting a Close Encounter between the likes of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Edward Enninful and Arlo Parks and a portrait they choose to champion. For Sir TIm Berners-Lee it's the Suffragette campaigner Christabel Pankhurst.
In each episode we find out about the subject of the portrait, the moment at which their image was captured for posterity and the importance of image and identity for those who find themselves in the eye of the nation's attention today.
Producers: Tom Alban and Mohini Patel
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001r1tg)
Postbag: Trebah Garden
Will my cuttings expire at the same time as the parent plant? How do I attract more wildlife to my pond? If the panel had £100 to spend on their garden per year, what would they buy?
Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts are in the subtropical terrain of Trebah Gardens, Cornwall for this week’s episode of Gardeners' Question Time. Joining her are self-proclaimed ‘botany geek’ James Wong, gardening writer Anne Swithinbank, and Trebah’s very own Head Gardener Darren Dickey.
Entwined between the postbag questions, Darren takes the panel around the unique areas of Trebah Gardens, including a ‘bamboozling’ insight into their bamboo crops, a dip into their Water Garden, and a trip through Trebah’s famous Gunnera Passage.
Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:45 Short Works (m001r1tx)
The Bubble Bursts
The Bubble Bursts by Alex Preston.
Set in the near-future, a man reflects on his life in an empty apartment block during a decade of pandemics.
Alex Preston is an author and journalist who lives in Kent. His personal anthology of nature writing, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, was published in 2017. His most recent novel, Winchelsea, was published in 2022.
Writer: Alex Preston
Reader: Colin Tierney
Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk Production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 16:00 Last Word (m001r1vc)
Michael Gambon, Pat Arrowsmith, Treleven Haysom, Dianne Feinstein
Matthew Bannister on the acclaimed actor Sir Michael Gambon. His son Fergus reveals his love of cars, antique firearms – and lying to journalists.
The peace campaigner Pat Arrowsmith, who went to prison a number of times for direct action protests.
Treleven Haysom, the stone mason who devoted his life to working, quarrying and telling the history of Purbeck stone.
Dianne Feinstein, the US Senator who campaigned for women’s rights and gun control and revealed the CIA’s use of torture.
Producer: Ed Prendeville
FRI 16:30 More or Less (m001r1mq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 on Wednesday]
FRI 17:00 PM (m001r1vr)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001r1wc)
Sir Keir Starmer says it could be a launchpad to winning at the next general election
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m001r1wr)
Series 112
Episode 5
Andy Zaltzman quizzes the week's news. With him to find the answers to all our problems Daliso Chaponda, Susie McCabe, Bethany Black, and Hugo Rifkind
This week, Andy and the panel discuss the cancelation of the world's most delayed train, a very awkward work event, and the most patient guide dog (such a good boy).
Written by Andy Zaltzman
With additional material by
Alice Fraser
Cody Dahler
and Caroline Mabey
Producer: Sam Holmes
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Sound Editor: Giles Aspen
A BBC Studios Production
FRI 19:00 The Archers (m001r1x5)
Writer ..... Tim Stimpson
Director ..... Peter Leslie Wild
Editor ..... Jeremy Howe
Alan Franks ….. John Telfer
Usha Franks ….. Souad Faress
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Brad Horrobin ….. Taylor Uttley
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Azra Malik ….. Yasmin Wilde
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Adil Shah ….. Ronny Jhutti
Miles Titchener ….. Adam Astill
Rob Titchener ….. Timothy Watson
Student ….. Ntombizodwa Ndlovu
FRI 19:15 Screenshot (m001r1xn)
50 Years of Don't Look Now
Ellen E Jones and Mark Kermode don their red raincoats to celebrate the 50th anniversary of haunting British thriller Don't Look Now.
Originally released in 1973, Don't Look Now is a spine-tingling psychodrama in which Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a married couple grieving the death of their young daughter in Venice. Adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier and directed by Nicolas Roeg, the film manages to be an eerie occult chiller, a heart breaking meditation upon love and grief, and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail.
Ellen speaks to Allan Scott, who co-wrote the screenplay for Don’t Look Now with his partner Chris Bryant, about his memories of the film, including its notorious sex scene, and about his long working relationship with Nicolas Roeg.
And Mark talks to two filmmakers for whom Don't Look Now has been a touchstone. Writer, actor and director Alice Lowe reveals how the film, and an encounter with Nicolas Roeg, influenced her black comedy thriller Prevenge.
And the director of Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg discusses the impact Don't Look Now has had on his work, and the new resonance he finds in the film following the tragic death of his own daughter.
Producer: Jane Long
A Prospect Street production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m001r1xz)
Gerry Hassan, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Salma Shah and Emily Thornberry MP
Alex Forsyth presents political debate from the University of Surrey in Guildford with a panel including Gerry Hassan, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Salma Shah and Emily Thornberry MP.
Producer: Robin Markwell
Lead broadcast engineer: Kevan Long
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m001r1yc)
The Piano: A Lifetime of Wrong Notes
Sarah Dunant argues that the patriarchy of the classical music business is finally starting to change.
Reliving her early relationship with music - from excruciating piano lessons to rebellious dancing in the mosh pit - Sarah reflects on the remarkable changes in classical music.
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: China Collins
FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b03c241n)
Yeats and Heaney: A Terrible Beauty
Fintan O'Toole addresses and explores the careers of the two "smiling public men" who have embodied the different political traditions of Ireland and stood at the same podium in Stockholm, seven decades apart, to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
With the sad loss of Seamus Heaney this year, this Archive on Four looks at the journeys of Yeats and Heaney, from being an Irish Poet to becoming a "world poet". How did their lives and work mirror each other and what kind of parallels, deliberate or otherwise, can we see in their poetry and their careers?
Yeats, as the recorded archive of his interviews and readings demonstrates, was acutely aware of his position as a poet who gave voice to the different traditions in Irish politics. Heaney wrote of his admiration for Yeats as a person who "took the strain of both the major ideologies that were exacerbating Irish political life."
As well as admiring Yeats, Heaney consciously emulated him. As early as Wintering Out (1972), a collection which Heaney published after he left Belfast and moved to Dublin, reviewers were noting the influence of Yeats on his writing. But arguably it was in Heaney's public persona that the influence of Yeats can most clearly be seen. Heaney was a poet from Northern Ireland who moved to Dublin and became a powerful poetic voice for the whole island. Also like Yeats he joined an elite band of English Language poets globally known, and who was as likely to be found lecturing at Harvard as at a literary festival in County Sligo or Serbia.
Fintan O'Toole looks back at the reputations of two of Ireland's greatest poets and most important public figures.
Producer Mark Rickards.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m001r1yx)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective
FRI 22:45 Rizzio by Denise Mina (m001r1zc)
Episode 5
5/5. By Denise Mina. Mary begins to hatch an escape plan – but she will need the help of the husband who betrayed her.
Read by Siobhán Redmond.
For details see Monday.
FRI 23:00 Americast (m001r1zq)
We Need To Talk About Kevin McCarthy
For the first time in US history, a speaker has been kicked out. A group of Trump-supporting Republicans carried out a coup to remove him from the chair of the House of Representatives.
How did it come about? What does it say about the Republican Party? Put simply, what the hell happens now? Americast is called to order to shed light on the situation in Congress.
And on the theme of political division, Naomi Klein explains her theory behind what’s making America hard to govern and why not everyone on the left wants to get behind Joe Biden.
HOSTS:
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
• Katty Kay, US special correspondent
• Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent
• Marianna Spring, disinformation and social media correspondent
GUESTS:
• Naomi Klein, liberal writer and activist
• Victoria Spartz, Ukrainian-born Republican congresswoman
GET IN TOUCH:
• Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
• Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480
• Email Americast@bbc.co.uk
• Or use #Americast
Find out more about our award-winning “undercover voters” here: bbc.in/3lFddSF.
This episode was made by Daniel Wittenberg, with Rufus Gray and Catherine Fusillo. The technical producer was Ben Andrews and the sound designer was David Crackles. The editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.
FRI 23:30 Lusus (p0c4nmnv)
4. Gorgon
Alfie (George Robinson) and Lily (Izuka Hoyle) are in the first flush of love, when Alfie - who is prone to hypochondria - develops a cough. His worries about the cancer that killed his father, Lily’s exes and the malevolent fortune cookie at his birthday meal, result in a lump in his throat. Lily’s efforts - and her hair – seem to be as much a part of the problem as the solution as they both soon discover.
Cast
Alfie - George Robinson
Lily - Izuka Hoyle
Mindfulness Narrator - Caroline Faber
Radiographer - Daniel M Jackson
Waiter - Avril Poole
Singing diner - Dugal Macdiarmid
Documentary narrator - Annabel Miller
Kevin - Henry Newton
Crew
Production Company - Clarence Beeks
Co-Creator/Writer - Samantha Newton
Co-Creator/Director - Rachel Zisser
Executive Producer - Sara Johnson
Executive Producer - Daniel M Jackson
Producer - Hannah Charman, Sister Music
Casting Director - Sophie Kingston-Smith
Casting Assistant - Lainey Lipson
Composer - Na’ama Zisser
Vocalists - Tomer Damsky, Aya Gavriel, Ron Sheskin, Quantum Choir
Sound engineer - Laura Blake
Sound engineer - Charlie Braham
Sound engineer - Gareth Wood
Sound Recording - The Sound Company
Vocalist Recording - Marco Milevski, Mazkeka Studio
Sound Design - King Lear Music & Sound
Lead Sound Designer - Dugal Macdiarmid
Asst Sound Designer - Ned Sisson
Asst Sound Designer - Lauren Cooper