SATURDAY 22 MARCH 2025

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m00290fw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O'Sullivan (m00290dg)
5: The Future

A thought-provoking new book from the neurologist and award-winning author Suzanne O'Sullivan, asking whether our culture of medical diagnosis can harm, rather than help us.

The boundaries between sickness and health are being redrawn. Mental health categories are shifting and expanding, radically altering what we consider to be 'normal'. Genetic tests can now detect pathologies decades before people experience symptoms, and sometimes before they're even born. And increased health screening draws more and more people into believing they are unwell.

An accurate diagnosis can bring greater understanding and of course improved treatment. But many diagnoses aren't as definitive as we think. And in some cases they risk turning healthy people into patients. Drawing on the stories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan overturns long held assumptions and reframes how we think about illness and health.

Today: O'Sullivan ask what good care looks like, and looks to a future that leaves medical diagnosis to only those who are truly sick.

Reader: Brid Brennan
Writer: Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan has been a consultant in neurology since 2004, specialising in the investigation of complex epilepsy, as well as an award-winning author. Her first book It's All in Your Head, won both the Wellcome Book Prize and the Royal Society of Biology Book Prize.
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00290fy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00290g0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00290g2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m00290g4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00290g6)
Be Ever Mindful of the Natural World

Good morning.

Today is World Water Day, which is a reminder that so many people in our world do not have access to a ready supply of drinking water. When I was growing up, my mum would always suggest that my siblings and I needed to drink up to eight glasses of water per day, to flush our kidneys. The water she had in mind came out of a tap, rather than the fancy, bottled, mineral variety that you buy in shops.

Have to admit, that I've always had a curious relationship with drinking water. It's something that I know I need to consume to stay fit and healthy, but it’s not something that I really like. What’s more, I always feel a bit irked when I buy a bottle of spring water because it's something I associate with nature, and thus regard as free.

Equally, water always brings to mind a series of paradoxes: it makes up to 3 quarters of the earth’s surface, but actual drinking water is generally in short supply. Moreover, precious amounts of drinking water are often used to grow food items that are deemed nutritious, but considered luxurious. Finally, we often drink spring water, which is meant to be healthy, from containers and vessels that are not recyclable, and so potentially bad for the environment.

Having said that, in so many religions and cultures, water symbolises life or new life. Yet in a more prosaic way, it must be recognised that a lack of water invariably results in a loss of life, or as a sign of the absence of life.

So I pray that we may be ever mindful of a natural world, always seeking to both care and share its precious resources, such as water.

Amen.


SAT 05:45 Lent Talks (m00290g8)
The Creed: That God made all things

2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed – the core profession of the Christian faith, which is spoken in churches across the world. This year’s Lent Talks offer personal insights of faith on six key lines from the Creed.

In this episode, theologian and astrophysicist David Wilkinson reflects on the description of God as: “Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible”.

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m00296w7)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 This Natural Life (m002909p)
George McGavin

George McGavin is an entomologist, author, academic and television presenter. In this programme he shows Martha Kearney around the university research woodland at Wytham, just outside the city of Oxford. He explains how the natural world came to take on such a significance in his personal and professional life. He tells Martha why insects hold such a fascination for him, and together they explore the flora and fauna of the woodland.

Producer: Emma Campbell


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m00296w9)
22/03/25 - Farming Today This Week: Hare coursing, Fairness in food supply chain, Covid's legacy on farms, Biosecurity

Farmers fear the rise in violent encounters with illegal hare coursers.

Are biosecurity measures good enough to prevent another major epidemic in farm livestock?

A group of cross-party MPs has told the Government that farmers are way down the pecking order compared to the big supermarkets and food processors, and often feel powerless to challenge questionable behaviour by them.

Five years on we look at how farmers were affected by the pandemic.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


SAT 06:57 Weather (m00296wc)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m00296wf)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m00296wh)
Denise Lewis, Chris Chibnall, Shân Veillard-Thomas, Rachel Burden

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


SAT 10:00 You're Dead to Me (p0f24m1m)
Georgian Courtship: love and marriage in 18th-century England

Greg Jenner is joined by guests Dr Sally Holloway and comedian Cariad Lloyd in the long 18th century to explore Georgian love and courtship. Forget Bridgerton and Jane Austen – this is a historical how-to guide to finding a spouse in Georgian England. This episode takes you through a typical courtship in the era, from where to meet a potential partner, what gifts to buy them, and how much involvement your parents might have in the whole affair. This was a time when penning a love letter was a serious commitment, whilst sweets and spoons were considered flirtations of the highest order!

You’re Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner
Research by: Bethan Davies
Written and produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse and Greg Jenner
Project Management: Isla Matthews
Audio Producer: Steve Hankey
Executive editor: Philip Sellars


SAT 10:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00296wm)
Series 47

Huntingdon

Jay Rayner and a panel of expert chefs and writers are in Huntingdon sharing their top tips with an audience of keen home cooks. Joining Jay are Andi Oliver, Jocky Petrie, Melek Erdal and food historian Dr Annie Gray.

The panellists discuss what to do with a glut of super hot chillis, recipes involving fruit and meat pairings, and the best way to cook an egg. They also chat about what makes a great dining experience, the best sauce to have on a doner kebab, and the food they would most like to ban.

Situated in Huntingdon, home of the Huntingdon fidget pie, Jay stops to chat to Emma Talic of Measures Butchers about the history of the fidget pie and her favourite pie filling combos.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m00296wp)
Ben Riley-Smith of The Daily Telegraph assesses the latest developments at Westminster.

After the government announced savings of £5bn a year from the benefits bill, Ben speaks to Labour MP Clive Lewis, who raised concerns about the plans in the Commons, and David Blunkett, formerly a Cabinet minister under Tony Blair and now a Labour peer.

Also this week Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch ditched her party's commitment to make Britain a 'net zero' carbon emitter by 2050, a policy first introduced by Theresa May's government in 2019. Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister, David Davis, and former Conservative adviser, Salma Shah, debate the merits of the plan.

Crossbench peer, Minette Batters, who is the former President of the National Farmers Union, joins Ben from her farm in Wiltshire to discuss whether Labour can mend its relationship with farmers.

And, following the visit of the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Britain, Ben speaks to the former UK High Commissioner to Canada, Susan le Jeune d'Allegeershecque, and Labour MP Matt Western, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Canada.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00296wr)
Ukraine's fading hopes

Kate Adie presents stories from Ukraine, Serbia, Guatemala, Kenya and the Philippines.

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine are continuing after initial attempts to secure a ceasefire stalled. Russia has refused to support a US-led plan for a 30-day ceasefire and demanded talks about its red lines first. James Landale has been in Kyiv where he says hopes are fading for any meaningful victory.

Serbia saw its largest ever protest last weekend in the capital, Belgrade. Demonstrators blame corruption and corner-cutting by the ruling party for lives lost after a railway station collapsed last year. There have been several resignations, but the protests have only gathered momentum. Guy De Launey has been in Belgrade.

Guatemala is notorious for endemic corruption. For years, state funds ended up in the pockets of a powerful elite known as “the pact of the corrupt." In the last election, political underdog Bernardo Arevalo defied the odds and won power on an anti-corruption platform. But some are growing impatient with his lack of progress, finds Jane Chambers.

Between 2020 and 2022, the Horn of Africa suffered its worst drought in at least 40 years. The UN has thrown its support behind an initiative to help farmers fight drought through early warning systems. Peter Yeung has been to Kenya to find out more.

President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila last week and flown to The Hague. There, he faces charges of crimes against humanity over his deadly 'war on drugs'. During his term, thousands of small-time drug dealers and users were killed without trial. Tim Mansel recalls an illuminating meeting with a priest and a pathologist.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Editor: Max Deveson
Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m00296wt)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m00296ww)
Back Bills and Benefits

We report from Parliament as the Minister for Energy Consumers and the regulator Ofgem face questions from MPs about the banned process of back-billing. That's when energy suppliers wrongly send new bills for energy use longer than 12 months ago. We'll get reaction from Labour MP Bill Esterson who is the Chair of the House of Commons Energy Security and Net Zero committee, which sat on Wednesday.

And the biggest shake-up to benefits in a decade was announced by the government this week. It hopes the changes will ultimately save it five billion pounds a year from a benefits bill which Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told Parliament was 'a failing system that is currently not sustainable'. She proposed major changes to some benefits, what will this mean in practice?

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporters: Dan Whitworth and Eimear Devlin
Researcher: Jo Krasner
Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 22nd March 2025)


SAT 12:30 The Naked Week (m00290f7)
Series 2

Benefits, Borders, and a game of Truss or Towers.

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.

This week we apply for a job in the parliamentary Work and Pensions office, play a game of 'Liz Truss or new ride at Alton Towers', and make a military incursion into Ambridge to steal territory from The Archers.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Sarah Dempster
Jason Hazeley

Investigations Team:
Cat Neilan
Louis Mian
Freya Shaw
Matt Brown

Guests: Rubina Pabani, Alice Stapleton.

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler, Richard Young.

Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m00296wy)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m00296x0)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m00290ff)
Tonia Antoniazzi MP, Pat Cullen MP, Sorcha Eastwood MP, Lord Weir

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from The Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, with the chair of the House of Commons Northern Ireland select committee, Labour's Tonia Antoniazzi MP; the Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Pat Cullen; Sorcha Eastwood of the Alliance Party, who is the MP for Lagan Valley; and Democratic Unionist Party peer and former Northern Ireland Executive education minister, Lord Weir.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Will Rice


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m00296x2)
If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.


SAT 14:45 The Archers (m00290f9)
Rex is still uncomfortable with the idea of being paid to play cricket, and even more so when Lily confirms there’ll be another player getting money too. He thinks it’s all very dodgy; if it’s not, why are they having to keep quiet about it? Tom interrupts them and Lily covers, expressing her optimism for the season ahead. Tom agrees; if nets is anything to go by everyone’s sharp and focused on improving. Martyn Gibson arrives and accuses Rex of being involved in the imminent bellringing protest against the water company. Bemused Rex denies any involvement. Lily gets back to business. She runs her intended team talk past Rex and Tom. She’ll announce a change to Harrison’s previous ‘playing for fun’ approach, and make clear that nets will be compulsory – miss two sessions and you’re off the team. Later Tom and Rex agree this is all a bit strong. Lily clearly doesn’t understand people’s commitments and motives for playing.
As they prepare for the ringing Neil shares with Alan his ongoing sadness that George still refuses to see him or Susan. Alan sympathises. They look forward to the arrival of the bellringing teams, but Emma surprises them by bringing people for a ring-along. They have assorted small bells they’ll ring in support. It was Akram’s suggestion, and Emma’s happy to be involved. If she loses her place on the parish council, so be it. Angry Martyn interrupts proceedings, and issues a veiled threat to Neil’s job. Defiant Emma challenges his attitude, galvanising the crowd, and the rousing ring continues.


SAT 15:00 Drama on 4 (m000rt88)
First Out

by David Eldridge

Jim ..... Peter Sullivan
Mike ..... Sam Troughton
Teenage Jim ..... Tom Glenister
Teenage Mike ..... Josh Barrow
Jim as a child ..... Aaron Gelkoff
Mike as a child ..... Bert Davis

Director ..... Sally Avens

Jim and Mike are identical twins. As children they were inseparable now they barely speak. With the arrival of the pandemic and the death of both their parents they are forced to confront their relationship. Over forty years we see what drove them apart and how both nature and nurture played their part. Can they overcome their entrenched views to concentrate on what they have in common?

David Eldridge is a dramatist and screenwriter from Romford. His plays have been produced on the West End and Broadway. Stage work includes, The Knot of The Heart, In Basildon and his acclaimed trio of plays Beginning, Middle and End (which will premiere at the National Theatre later this year. Radio work includes Jenny Lomas and Picture Man for which he won the Prix Europa.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m00296x4)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Sugababes, Lockdown babies, June Sarpong, History of abortion, Women in construction

The Sugababes started their music career together in 1998 but, after Siobhán left the band in 2001, it wasn't until 2019 that Mutya, Keisha and Siobhán came back together as the Sugababes. All three members joined Nuala McGovern to celebrate the release of their brand new single, Jungle, and their biggest ever UK and Ireland tour.

Five years on from the first Covid lockdown, what can be done to support the 200,000 ‘Lockdown babies’ born when lockdown was at its most restrictive, between 23 March and 4 July 2020? Nuala was joined by Nicola Botting, Professor of Developmental Disorders at City St George’s, University of London, Jane Harris, CEO of Speech and Language UK, and mum of three, Frankie Eshun.

Broadcaster June Sarpong co-founded the Women Inspiration and Enterprise Network and in 2019 was appointed the first BBC Director of Creative Diversity. She joined Nuala to discuss her biography of Una Marson, the poet, playwright, feminist and activist who made history as the first black female broadcaster at the BBC.

A new book Abortion – A History, gives the long view of ending pregnancy. From ancient Greece to Roe v Wade, Mary Fissell charts changing practices of and attitudes towards abortion. She joined Nuala in the Woman’s Hour studio to explain why she wrote the book and what she has learned.

Work has started on a home extension and renovation that is being built and designed entirely by women. In an industry facing huge labour shortages, women remain a minority in construction, only making up 15% of the industry and only 1% of those in manual, skilled roles. Nuala was joined by the project's lead, Kat Parsons and builder, Yas Poole.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Laura Northedge


SAT 17:00 PM (m00296x6)
Urgent investigation into the fire that put Heathrow out of action

We look at how to improve the government's energy strategy and prevent future incidents. We get an update on the latest exchange of fire across the Lebanese border. And the boxer George Foreman has died at 76 - we talk about how he dealt with winning and losing throughout his career.


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m002909c)
Dough - Lawn Mowers

Could the next generation of lawn mowers create any image you like on your lawn?

The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.

In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.

Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.

In this episode on lawn mowers, they hear from expert guests including:

-Yvette Henshall-Bell - President of the European Business Unit at the lawn mower manufacturer, Husqvarna
-Craig Hoare - Sales and Marketing Manager for the lawn mower manufacturers Hayter and its parent company Toro
-Nick Darking - General Manager of the British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association

They trade opinions on the lawn mower's 'game-changing' innovations and its most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what cutting the grass might be like in the decades to come.

Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.

In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00296x8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SAT 17:57 Weather (m00296xb)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00296xd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0027txs)
Bridget Christie, Adam Frost, Louise Young, Richard Dawson, Abel Selaocoe

Clive Anderson's guests in Salford include Bridget Christie who returns with series two of The Change. Gardener's World expert Adam Frost who is on the road with his 'Lessons from the Garden' tour and up and coming stand up Louise Young. Music is from Richard Dawson who has just released a new album 'End of the Middle' and cellist and singer Abel Selaocoe performs from his new album 'Hymns of Bantu'

Presenter: Clive Anderson
Producer: Jessica Treen


SAT 19:00 Profile (m00296xg)
Jonathan Powell

Jonathan Powell, the UK’s National Security Adviser, is used to operating behind the scenes: he’s spent decades working as a diplomat, negotiator and mediator. Recent events in the US and Ukraine have thrust him into the spotlight. After the fiery Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, Powell has been credited with advising Ukraine and ensuring that lines of communication were kept open. He travelled to Kyiv to meet Zelensky and played a key role in fashioning a plan for a ceasefire and the steps that might follow.

Powell began his career in the foreign office before becoming Tony Blair’s chief of staff. He was crucial to the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement which helped bring peace to Northern Ireland. Since then, he’s worked on resolving conflicts and crises all over the world in places like Colombia, Mozambique and Libya.

Mark Coles talks to his friends, family and former colleagues to find out how this veteran negotiator became one of the most important figures shaping British foreign policy.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Viv Jones, Hugh Sheehan, Clare Williamson, Mantej Deol
Editor: Bridget Harney
Sound: James Beard
Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele, Sabine Schereck


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0028d2h)
Series 32

The Sound of Music - Brian Eno, Sam Bennett and Trevor Cox

Brian Cox and Robin Ince explore the history of music recording, joined by acoustics professor Trevor Cox, music professor Sam Bennett and musician and producer Brian Eno. Together they guide us through the evolution of sound recording, a space in which technology hasn’t stood still since its advent in the mid-1800s. We hear the very first recognisable recording of a voice made with a brush making marks in soot and put a spotlight on the Fairlight CMI, a revolutionary digital synthesizer of the '70s, used in Brian’s records (Cox & Eno’s!)

Plus, we run an audio experiment with our live audience who turn themselves into our in-house digital orchestra, with the help of their mobile phones. Now that lots of people have several devices that can play sound, new technology is harnessing this to create a more immersive experience – which (kind of) worked in our experiment!

Producer: Melanie Brown
Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001yghw)
Section 28: Right to be Gay

In 1986 somebody came across a children’s book in a library in Haringey, North London. It was called Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin and it showed a child living with her father and his male partner. This book would become a firing shot for a culture war: a war about what kind of country Britain was becoming.

It would engulf the newly-created Haringey Lesbian and Gay Unit, local parents, the tabloid press, Parliament and Margaret Thatcher herself. She said that: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”

Eventually, it would result in a law banning the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by local authorities and by schools. Section 28 of the Local Government Act - enacted in 1988, at the height of the AIDS epidemic.

The actor Michael Cashman, who campaigned against the law, goes back and tells the story behind it. How and why a local issue turned into a media sensation, created a movement, and sparked a battle over sex education that continues today.

Produced by Dasha Lisitsina
A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 Moral Maze (m0028zys)
How just is our justice system?

Proposed new guidance from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales – which is due to come into effect in April – would make the ethnicity, faith or personal circumstances of an offender a bigger factor when deciding whether to jail them. The independent body is responsible for issuing guidelines “to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing”.

Official figures show that offenders from ethnic minorities consistently get longer sentences than white inmates for indictable offences. Supporters of the guidance see it as an important correction of implicit bias within the justice system, leading to the most effective balance of punishment and rehabilitation for the individual. But critics – including the Justice Secretary – are concerned it will create "two-tier justice". As Shabana Mahmood put it: "As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law, for anyone of any kind". How much should judges consider an offender’s background?

Questions about the “fairness” of sentencing are the symptom of a wider disparity within the justice system: the fact that black and Muslim men are disproportionately represented in the prison population, and how that might be addressed. How much is it the mark of a “rigged” society, which traps multiple generations in poverty and deprivation? How much is it about family and community dysfunction and a lack of role models?

How just is our justice system?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant Producer: Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Ash Sarkar
Tim Stanley
Inaya Folarin-Iman
Giles Fraser

Witnesses:
Kirsty Brimelow
Henry Hill
Sheldon Thomas
Rakib Ehsan


SAT 22:00 News (m00296xj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 The Food Programme (m00290dd)
Are We Prepared? Could the UK Feed Itself in a Crisis?

Five years on from the first Covid lockdown Dan Saladino asks if our food supply can withstand more shock to the system? Is there resilience to face another pandemic or even war?

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.


SAT 23:00 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (m0028xy3)
Series 5

4. Unsweet Charity

Alexei Sayle, the godfather of alternative comedy, delivers his inimitable blend of stand-up, philosophy and memoir as he welcomes made-up customers to buy illusory snacks in his imaginary sandwich bar

In this last episode of the current series, Alexei reflects on the nature of charity, our ultimate life quests and a strange house plant that refused to die.

Written and performed by Alexei Sayle

Producer - Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinator - Jodie Charman

A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4


SAT 23:30 Counterpoint (m00291p9)
Series 38

Semi-final 3, 2025

(12/13)
There's one remaining place in the 2025 Counterpoint Final and it will go to the winner of today's contest. The three players today have all won their respective heats earlier this series, and will be on their mettle as they face Paul Gambaccini's eclectic questions. Anything could come up from film themes to grand opera, ballet music to prog rock, classic jazz to the music of video games.

They will also each have to choose a special topic on which to answer their own set of questions, with no prior warning of what the subjects are going to be.

Appearing are:
Eleanor Ayres from Cambridge
Jim Maginnis from County Armagh
Clive Manning from London.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria

SUNDAY 23 MARCH 2025

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m00296xl)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Take Four Books (m00291p7)
Eimear McBride

Take Four Books, presented by James Crawford, talks this week to the Irish writer Eimear McBride about her new novel - The City Changes Its Face - and the three other works that have helped to shape it. Eimear's new book takes us to London in the 1990s and draws us into the passionate and intense relationship of Eily and Stephen - two characters who also feature in her previous novel The Lesser Bohemians (2016). Eimear's choices for her episode include: the song lyrics of Scott Walker and specifically the song Sleepwalkers Woman from 1984; Venice Preserved by Thomas Otway from 1682; and The Lover, by Marguerite Duras from 1985.

Producer: Dom Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This was a BBC Audio Scotland Production.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00296xn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00296xq)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m00296xs)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m00296xv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m00296xx)
The Parish Church of St Ethelbert in Falkenham, Suffolk

Bells on Sunday comes from the Parish Church of St Ethelbert in Falkenham, Suffolk. Featuring a 14th century Nave and hammer beam roof this church is dedicated to Ethelbert the eighth century saint and King of East Anglia. The 15th Century flint tower houses six bells including two bells cast by John Darbie of Ipswich in 1666. The Tenor bell weighs five and three-quarter hundredweight and is tuned to the note of B. We hear them ringing Cambridge Surprise Minor.


SUN 05:45 In Touch (m002901c)
Benefits Reform

The government has announced its plans to reform the current welfare system with the aim of saving billions. In Touch has brought together a panel of guests to try to outline how the government's plans, outlined in a Green Paper, might affect the benefits that visually impaired people receive.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

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


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m00297sv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Thinking Allowed (m002900x)
Smoking

Laurie Taylor talks to Ivan Markovic, Lecturer in Human Geography at Durham University, about the unique social atmosphere surrounding tobacco use in modern Britain, from its encouragement as part of the Home Front ‘mood management’ during the Second World War to the impact of smoking on 1980s workplace regulations and the UK ban on its use in public places in 2007. Does smoking still play a significant part in the British cultural imagination? Also, Tricia Starks, Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, discusses cigarettes and the Soviet smoking habit. How did the USSR become the first mass smoking society whilst simultaneously opposing this quintessential capitalist product?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m00297sx)
Growing cannabis for medicine

Charlotte Smith visits a glass house where a tomato grower and a chemist have combined their expertise to set up a state-of-the-art nursery producing medicinal cannabis. James Duckenfield and Richard Lewis saw an opening in the market for high tech, high quality production of the crop, which is grown under licence, with the process closely regulated by the Home Office.

At a secret location in the English countryside, thousands of cannabis plants are cultivated and harvested every day. The facility produces flowers for pharmaceutical use and cost £26 million to set up. The end product is prescribed by doctors privately, for pain relief and things like epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, but it’s not available on the NHS.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Rebecca Rooney for BBC Audio Bristol.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m00297sz)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m00297t1)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m00297t3)
Million dollar controversial Muslim TV series; Abuse linked to witchcraft; Protests in Israel

A controversial Ramadan TV series banned in both Iran and Iraq explores the possible origins of the schism between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. We hear from Dr Sayed Ammar Nakshawani- Prophet Muhammad institute for Islamic Studies PMIIS and Khaled Salah, Egyptian Journalist and writer of the Moawiya series .

Government figures show that there have been 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015 in the UK. But what is abuse linked to spirit, possession and witchcraft and why is it happening?

Amrit Kaur- Sarangi player and vocalist, explains why she’s hoping to inspire other female Sikhs to learn a classical instrument.

Pope Francis to be discharged from hospital- reporter Colm Flynn takes us through his upcoming plans and recovery.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Katy Davis and Catherine Murray
Studio Managers: Mike Smith and Tom Parnell
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m002975n)
Comic Relief

Racing driver and broadcaster Billy Monger makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Comic Relief.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Comic Relief’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Comic Relief’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: England and Wales 326568, Scotland SC039730. If you’d like to find out more about the charity’s work visit *https://comicrelief.com/
*The BBC is not responsible for content on external websites

Producer: Katy Takatsuki


SUN 07:57 Weather (m00297t5)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m00297t7)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the Sunday papers


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m00297t9)
The Wisdom of the Desert

Drawing on the ideas of the third and fourth century desert fathers and mothers today's Sunday Worship explores the ideas of wilderness, silence, temptation and freedom as part of our Lenten journey.

Led by Revd Richard Carter Associate Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields and Founder of the Nazareth Community

Producer: Andrew Earis


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m00290fh)
How History Begins Again

The celebrated American theorist, Francis Fukuyama, in his book 'The End of History and the Last Man' argued that US-style liberalism was the ultimate destination for all mankind, 'the final form of human government'.

John Gray explains why he believes his prophecy has been turned on its head.

'As in the past, many human beings will live under tyrannies, theocracies, and empires of various kinds,' John writes. 'Failed states and zones of anarchy will be common. Democratic nations are likely to be rare, and often short-lived.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Penny Murphy


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m00297tc)
Kate Bradbury on the Herring Gull

Brighton is famous for many things, but maybe lesser known is that virtually every rooftop seems to provide a nesting site for herring gulls. Sadly, as garden and nature writer Kate Bradbury recalls, herring gull chicks are clumsy, many fall from roofs and need rescuing. Kate does her bit. Converting her shed into a rescue home for three orphaned chicks Kate nurtured them for a few weeks until they were fit enough to be released on Brighton's beach at low tide.

Producer : Andrew Dawes of BBC Audio in Bristol
Studio Engineer : Ilse Lademann


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m00297tf)
Turkey in turmoil

Istanbul Mayor and Erdogan opponent vows to continue to protest despite detainment - BH has testimony from the clashes with police. Also, the art of the TV theme tune.


SUN 10:00 Desert Island Discs (m00297d1)
Donna Ockenden, midwife

Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review highlighted serious failings in maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which contributed to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers.

Donna grew up in the village of Aberaman in the Welsh Valleys. She experienced a complicated childhood which included a period living in a homeless shelter along with her mother and four siblings. She is also a survivor of sexual abuse and believes her background helped her develop a tenacity and determination which she went on to apply to her work.

She completed her nursing training in Swansea and Neath and trained as a midwife at the Portsmouth School of Midwifery. In 2015 she became Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

In May 2022 she was appointed chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which will be published next year. It is already the largest investigation into a single service in the NHS, hearing evidence from over 2,000 families so far.

Donna lives in Chichester with her two cats.

Details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse or child bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
DISC TWO: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers
DISC THREE: Ukulele Lady - Ethel Merman
DISC FOUR: Isn’t It Amazing - Hothouse Flowers
DISC FIVE: If Only - Hazel O’Connor
DISC SIX: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers
DISC SEVEN: We’ll Keep a Welcome - Harry Secombe
DISC EIGHT: Francesca - Hozier

BOOK CHOICE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
LUXURY ITEM: Red lipstick
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 11:00 The Archers Omnibus (m00297th)
WEEK 11

Writer: Nick Warburton
Director: Rosemary Watts
Editor: Jeremy Howe

Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Tony Archer…. David Troughton
Neil Carter…. Brian Hewlett
Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin
Rex Fairbrother…. Nick Barber
Alan Franks…. John Telfer
Martyn Gibson…. Jon Glover
Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
George Grundy…. Angus Stobie
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter…. Katie Redford
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd


SUN 12:15 Profile (m00296xg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 12:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m00291yx)
Series 2

3. If in Doubt, Be Spanish

Frank & guests Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Simon Evans, Daliso Chaponda and Ania Magliano discover the best place to put a forget-me-not and the worst place to put a floof.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!


Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m00297tk)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m00297tm)
Is Turkey's democracy under threat?

We look at what the arrest of President Erdogan's main political rival means for democracy in Turkey. We hear from the opposition and from the president's former chief advisor. Plus, ahead of the Chancellor's spring statement, Lord Hain tells the programme that Rachel Reeves should challenge Treasury orthodoxy and make bold choices.


SUN 13:30 Currently (m00297tp)
Britain’s Shrinking Army

Ash Bhardwaj finds out why the British Army is shrinking at a crucial juncture for the future of UK defence.

He speaks to new recruits to understand what drove them to a career in the army – and visits secondary schools across the country to ask whether it’s really true that young people don't want to fight for their country.

We hear from insiders who’ve been at coalface of recruitment over the last ten years, who tell us where we’ve been going wrong, and how we might start to get it right.

Presented by Ash Bhardwaj
Produced by Artemis Irvine
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m00290dx)
Bradford: Buddha's Hand, Yorkshire Climate & Upcycled Ginnels

What’s the best time to sow and harvest up north? Why won't my Buddha's hand plant produce fruit? Can nematodes get rid of codling moth?

Kathy Clugston and the Gardeners’ Question Time team head to Bradford, the UK’s City of Culture 2025, to tackle your trickiest gardening dilemmas. Kathy is joined by garden designers Marcus Chilton-Jones, Matthew Pottage and Juliet Sargeant.

Later in the programme, Juliet visits a hidden gem transformed by the Lister Community Action Group. Discover how volunteers have breathed new life into a once-forgotten ginnel, turning it into a vibrant community oasis.

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Carly Maile

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m00297tr)
Kramer Versus Kramer

The novel Kramer Versus Kramer was published in the US in 1977 and was an instant bestseller. Its story of a marriage, a divorce and a fierce custody battle tapped into the highly charged debates of the time about changing sex roles, marriage and parenting. It was immediately optioned by Hollywood, and the film came out in 1979 starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.

Attitudes to custody at the time - which were still rooted in the idea of a wife as a homemaker and carer - were at odds with the sweeping demands for change made by the women’s movement, and it’s this tension that lies at the heart of the story. John hears from Sue Moss, top New York divorce and custody attorney, about how the legal landscape has changed, and from dramatist Sarah Wooley about what drew her to the story.

John has worked in television and radio for 30 years, and shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series. As former Head of Channel Four Drama and Controller of BBC Drama Production he has worked on some of the most popular shows in Britain - from EastEnders to The Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless. As creator of the BBC Writers Academy he's trained a generation of screenwriters - now with over 70 green lights and thousands of hours of television to their names. He is the author of Into the Woods, the bestselling book on narrative, and he writes, teaches and consults on all forms of narrative, including many podcasts for Radio 4.

Contributors:
Sue Moss, partner at Chemtob Moss & Forman LLP, New York
Sarah Wooley, dramatist of BBC Radio 4’s production of Kramer vs Kramer

Reader: Riley Neldam
Producers: Tolly Robinson, Sara Davies
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Production Hub Coordinator: Nina Semple
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Drama on 4 (m00297tt)
Kramer versus Kramer

Episode 1

Episode 1 of 2

New York, 1977 and workaholic Ted Kramer is forced to re-think his priorities when his wife Joanna leaves, making him sole guardian of their five-year-old son, Billy.
Newly adapted for radio by Sarah Wooley, Avery Corman’s best-selling novel led to a sea change in divorce and family relations in the United States.

Ted ..… Jacob Fortune-Lloyd
Joanna ..… Lydia Wilson
Charlie ..… Jonathan Slinger
Thelma ..… Chloe Pirrie
Billy ..… Owen Rye
Jim ….. Jammy Kasongo
Mrs Colby, Ted’s Mom and Martha ..… Laurel Lefkow
Mrs Willewska and Mrs Evan ..… Tracy Wiles
Betty, Mrs Roberts and Cynthia ..… Kelly Burke
Rhoda ….. Sarah Wooley

Researcher: Bethany Woodhead
Studio Production: Keith Graham and Gary Newman
Sound design: Keith Graham

Produced by Gaynor Macfarlane and Carl Prekopp.
Directed by Carl Prekopp.


SUN 16:00 Take Four Books (m00297tx)
David Szalay

Booker-shortlisted writer David Szalay talks to presenter James Crawford on Take Four Books this week about his new novel, Flesh, and the three other works that inspired its creation in some way. In a pared back style, Flesh, follows the life of its protagonist, István, who at fifteen years old has an affair with an older woman, the consequences of which leave a lasting impression on his life. After finishing up in the army, István leaves Hungary and moves to London, where he ends up becoming accustomed to a vast amount of wealth and luxury, but circumstances change yet again, and he returns to the place where it all began, unable to shake off the emotional weight of his experiences. For his three influences David chose: Ultraluminous by Katherine Faw published in 2017; Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf from 1922; and Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad from 1900.

The supporting contributor for this episode was the writer and creative writing lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Andrew Meehan.

Producer: Dominic Howell
Editor: Gillian Wheelan

This is a BBC AUDIO SCOTLAND production.


SUN 16:30 Counterpoint (m00297tz)
Series 38

The Final, 2025

(13/13)
Who will be named the 38th BBC Counterpoint champion? The cream of this season's contenders, who've made it through heats and semi-finals, line up for the ultimate musical knowledge contest.

Paul Gambaccini's questions encompass classical favourites, film musicals, heavy metal, jazz, world music and pop both classic and contemporary. The Finalists have no idea what's going to come up and will have to prove the breadth of their knowledge, and keep their nerve on the buzzer, if they are to take home the silver trophy. As always, there are plenty of musical extracts to identify, from across the widest spectrum of musical genres.

Counterpoint is a BBC Studios Audio production.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SUN 17:00 Witness History (w3ct5ynb)
The discovery that led to Covid vaccines

Dr Katalin Karikó grew up in a small town in Hungary with no electricity or running water at home. She overcame great adversity to become a scientist and publish a groundbreaking paper in 2005 showing how the mRNA molecule could be used to protect the human immune system from viruses. But, her findings were initially overlooked and she even lost her job after failing to attract funding. However, she persisted with her research, which laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines that saved countless lives during the Covid pandemic. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023. She speaks to Ben Henderson.

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

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

(Photo: Dr Katalin Karikó. Credit: Janos Kummer/Getty Images)


SUN 17:10 The Patch (m002624n)
Blackburn

One random postcode and a story you probably haven’t heard before.

In the first of three new postcodes, producer Polly Weston is sent to BB2 3 - a residential postcode in the middle of Blackburn, separated from the centre of town by the Leeds Liverpool canal.

There’s a very obvious landmark as soon as she arrives. Thousands of tonnes of plastic waste are piled into peaks behind a wall alongside the canal. How did the plastic peaks of Blackburn get here?

The story of the former V10 Polymers site is a tale of the plastic recycling industry, of environmental crime, and of politics.

With the help of a lot of furious residents, and a man everyone calls Rasher (“because I used to work in a bacon factory”), Polly tries to understand what on earth happened here. It’s been seven years of noxious fires, of fly tipping and rats. Seven years of planning meetings, council meetings, and disappointment. But is everything about to change?

Produced and presented in Bristol by Polly Weston


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m00297v2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 17:57 Weather (m00297v4)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00297v6)
Canada's prime minister has called a snap election, hoping for a mandate to take on Trump. And, government says it will cut civil service running costs by fifteen per cent.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m00297v8)
Nihal Arthanayake

This week, we revisit the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 and how it’s continuing to impact the children who grew up through it – as well as hear a fresh take on that famous Beckett tragicomedy whilst thinking about hands, face, (and) space. As two astronauts are returned safe to Earth from an unplanned nine months on board the International Space Station, Witness History tells the story of the unspoken speech written for the first men on the moon, should they have never made it home. Plus, jazz legend Herbie Hancock muses on playing music, and hating practice - and a controversial question - Bradford might be the UK City of Culture currently, but is it the UK's curry capital?

Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake
Producer: Anthony McKee
Production Coordinator: Jack Ferrie and Caroline Peddle

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m00297vb)
Emma’s not at all happy to find she’s become the poster girl for the water company campaign; her picture has made the local paper. Robert reckons it’s a positive – it’s all good publicity. But Emma’s worried about the prominence attracting negative comments about George on social media. Her place on the parish council may also be in question, but she’s not worried about that. If they don’t want her, that’s fine with her.
Robert reminds Lynda the decision on Emma’s future on the parish council is this Thursday, but Lynda’s distracted. The Malik family have gone back to Beechwood and the house is quiet. Robert reminds her what good news this is that the Maliks’ house is habitable again. Azra has left them with profuse thanks and some delicious chocolates. Lynda’s happy for the family, but still laments their own house feels empty. She’s cheered by the prospect of Khalil returning from time to time to feed the llamas.
Clarrie feels no matter how much she prepares for her interview tomorrow, she won’t get the job. She’ll have to look for something else. Eddie suggests she might retire, but Clarrie declares they can’t afford for her to do that. Later Emma tells Eddie that Susan’s hating the process too. They agree it’s a rotten situation all round. Emma promises Clarrie any financial help she can, and they’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Clarrie acknowledges she can only do her best.


SUN 19:15 Illuminated (m00297vd)
A Georgian Polyphonic Feast

Welcome to the feast! We’re invited to a traditional Georgian ‘Supra’ to immerse ourselves in the magic of Georgian polyphonic singing.

The table groans with food, the wine flows, and the singing fills the heart. Led by toastmaster Levan Bitarovi, diners are guided through a narrative, weaving together their personal and collective experiences, through song.

At home in the mountains, in Georgia's "singing village" Lakhushdi, people sing like they breathe. A lullaby, a grieving song, a song when the belly is full, a song for milking the cow. It’s a part of everyday life and forms the connective tissue of the community.

For Paris-based singer Luna Silva, these songs bring her the comfort and sense of togetherness of her childhood circus home. Since first hearing the music as an ethno-musicology student in London, she has made several trips to the Georgian mountains to immerse herself in the musical tradition, and now teaches polyphonic singing to her French choir. She even took them with her to Lakhushdi. Now, the French choir has invited their Georgian hosts to attend their first Supra in Montreuil, Paris.

In the pauses during the Supra, as people talk and eat, we hear from singers and diners what makes the Supra so important in Georgia. Luna and Levan also dissect the polyphonic singing style, as voices are added and removed to demonstrate how individual pitches and harmonies are brought together. They are layered over each other, surrounding the listener in a bath of sound which touches the soul.

As the Supra draws to a close, everyone joins together to sing a song to life.

You can hear more from the musicians at https://adilei.ge/en/about-us/

Presented by singer and ethno-musciologist Luna Silva
Featuring singers Levan Bitarovi, Madona and Ana Chamgeliani, Avto Turkia and Lasha Bedenashvili
Produced by Amanda Hargreaves
Executive producer: Carys Wall
Sound recordist: Léonard Ibañez
Sound designer: Joel Cox
With thanks to the Choeur d'Aronde in Montreuil

A Bespoken Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Lent Talks (m00297g1)
The Creed: That Jesus is the Son of God

2025 marks the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed – the core profession of the Christian faith, which is spoken in churches across the world. This year’s Lent Talks offer personal insights of faith on six key lines from the Creed.

In this episode, theologian and foster parent Krish Kandiah reflects on the line: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.”

Producer: Dan Tierney.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m002909t)
Inside Health, BBC Sounds, This Natural Life, The Archers

As the news spreads about access to BBC Sounds being blocked outside the UK, we hear more of your comments on the issue. Andrea Catherwood speaks to Radio Cymru reporter Alun Thomas about what these changes will mean for Welsh speakers living abroad.

A recent episode of Radio 4's Inside Health about hearing loss intrigued listeners - and then baffled those experiencing hearing loss themselves by including a section that was particularly difficult to hear.

After listeners criticised a recent Archers storyline about Linda Snell fasting for Ramadan, we hear from the people who found it enlightening and uplifting.

And what did Martha Kearney do after Today? Well, she's been talking to more public figures - but this time, it's all about their personal connections to nature. Two listeners, Christine and Kate, review her series This Natural Life for our VoxBox. Martha joins Andrea to respond to their thoughts.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m00290f1)
Group Captain John Allman ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC, Dame Julie Kenny, Tuppy Owens, Dick McTaggart

Matthew Bannister on:

Group Captain John Allman ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC , the last surviving pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain during the second world war.

Dame Julie Kenny, the successful businesswoman from Rotherham who led the regeneration of one of Britain’s largest stately homes.

Tuppy Owens, who campaigned for greater openness about sex – and set up charities to help disabled people enjoy fulfilling relationships.

Dick McTaggart, the only Scottish boxer to win an Olympic gold medal. Described as a “legend” in the world of boxing.

Interviewee: Brian Hemingway
Interviewee: Sarah McLeod
Interviewee: Professor Claire De Than
Interviewee: Ray Caulfield

Producer: Catherine Powell
Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan

Archive used: Over the Edge, BBC2, 15th October 1996, Outsiders: Disabled and Looking for Love, BBC3 30th March 2006, Victoria Derbyshire Show, BBC 19th February 2016. BBC News 15th September 2020. BBC News Northern Ireland 9th November 2023. “The Battle of Britain, with Ewan and Colin McGregor” BBC Two 11th July 2015. Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill 20th August 1940. “Hitler's Luftwaffe vs The RAF In The Battle Of Britain, Blitz Spirit” BBC Select YouTube Channel, Uploaded 20th September 2021. “Remembering the Battle of Britain” Reuters, 23rd June 2010. Jamie Veitch, Sheffield Live FM radio, 27th September 2019. Dame Julie Kenny, from the Wentworth Woodhouse Trust. BBC Radio Scotland, The Scottish Olympians, 8th August 2004. Tales of Gold: Jack Beresford, Dick McTaggart and Don Thompson, BBC1, 29/05/1992/


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m00296ww)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m002975n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m00296wr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:30 on Saturday]


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m00297vg)
Vicki Young and her panel look ahead to the chancellor's Spring Statement and the local elections in England

Vicki Young is joined by the senior Labour backbencher Dame Siobhain McDonagh; Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith; and Lib Dem frontbencher Sarah Olney. They discuss the state of the UK economy and look ahead to the Chancellor's Spring Statement. George Parker - political editor of the Financial Times - brings additional insight and analysis. Vicki also interviews the Conservative peer and polling expert Lord Hayward about the forthcoming local elections in England.


SUN 23:00 In Our Time (m002908z)
Thomas Middleton

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most energetic, varied and innovative playwrights of his time. Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) worked across the London stages both alone and with others from Dekker and Rowley to Shakespeare and more. Middleton’s range included raucous city comedies such as A Chaste Maid in Cheapside and chilling revenge tragedies like The Changeling and The Revenger’s Tragedy, some with the main adult companies and some with child actors playing the scheming adults. Middleton seemed to be everywhere on the Jacobean stage, mixing warmth and cruelty amid laughter and horror, and even Macbeth’s witches may be substantially his work.

With

Emma Smith
Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, University of Oxford

Lucy Munro
Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Kings College London

And

Michelle O’Callaghan
Professor of Early Modern Literature at the University of Reading

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

Swapan Chakravorty, Society and Politics in the Plays of Thomas Middleton (Clarendon Press, 1996)

Suzanne Gossett (ed.), Thomas Middleton in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

R.V. Holdsworth (ed.), Three Jacobean Revenge Tragedies: A Selection of Critical Essays (Macmillan, 1990), especially ‘Calvinist Psychology in Middleton’s Tragedies’ by John Stachniewski

Mark Hutchings and A. A. Bromham, Middleton and His Collaborators (Northcote House, 2007)

Gordon McMullan and Kelly Stage (eds.), The Changeling: The State of Play (The Arden Shakespeare, 2022)

Lucy Munro, Shakespeare in the Theatre: The King's Men (The Arden Shakespeare, 2020)

David Nicol, Middleton & Rowley: Forms of Collaboration in the Jacobean Playhouse (University of Toronto Press, 2012)

Michelle O’Callaghan, Thomas Middleton: Renaissance Dramatist (Edinburgh University Press, 2009)

Gary Taylor and Trish Thomas Henley (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Thomas Middleton (Oxford University Press, 2012)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


SUN 23:45 Short Works (m00290dz)
Currants in the Cake by Beth Morrey

Georgie Glen reads Beth Morrey’s new comic short story.

When newly divorced Lila arranges a trip to a wellness retreat, school teacher Teresa reluctantly agrees to accompany her - but it’s not just the holistic gong bath that takes her by surprise...

Beth Morrey is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Saving Missy, Lucky Day, and Em & Me.

Read by Georgie Glen.

Producer: Katie Sayer

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4

www.pozzitive.co.uk

MONDAY 24 MARCH 2025

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m00297vj)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 The Battersea Poltergeist (p097sq0j)
Episode 7: Dead Letters

The Hitchings family experience strange new phenomena, as drawings appear on the walls and rooms are violently trashed, but strangest of all are handwritten letters that appear, seemingly from Donald the poltergeist.

Meanwhile ghost hunter Harold Chibbett makes progress in his attempts to communicate, becoming convinced he is on the verge of discovering Donald’s true identity.

Danny assesses the new developments, alongside experts Ciaran O’Keefe and Evelyn Hollow. How can these things be possible? Are there other more human explanations for what is going on?

Written and presented by Danny Robins, starring Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Toby Jones (Detectorists), Burn Gorman (Torchwood) and Alice Lowe (Sightseers).

With original theme music by Mercury-nominated Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier, this gripping eight-part series interweaves a chilling supernatural thriller set in 50s London with a fascinating modern-day investigation into Britain’s strangest ever haunting – a mystery unsolved... until now.

Shirley Hitchings……..Dafne Keen
Harold Chibbett………Toby Jones
Wally Hitchings……..Burn Gorman
Kitty Hitchings……….Alice Lowe
Lily Chibbett……..Kacey Ainsworth
Ethel Hitchings……….Sorcha Cusack
John Hitchings……..Calvin Demba

Written and presented by Danny Robins
Experts: Ciaran O’Keeffe and Evelyn Hollow
Sound Designer: Richard Fox
Music: Evelyn Sykes
Theme Music by Nadine Shah and Ben Hillier
Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard
Directed by Simon Barnard

Consultant: Alan Murdie
With thanks to James Clark, co-author of 'The Poltergeist Prince of London'

A Bafflegab production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2021.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m00296xx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00297vm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00297vp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:00 News Summary (m00297vr)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m00297vt)
Alicia McCarthy looks ahead to a major overhaul of planning regulations and asks if it's right to keep human body parts in our museums.


MON 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m00297vw)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00297vy)
Treasure Virtues That Do Not Diminish with Age

Good morning.

A close family relative turned 60 a few days ago, and I’m still struggling to comprehend that he’s reached such a significant milestone. I must admit, he doesn’t look 60 - or doesn’t look the way a 60-year-old is meant to. He has all his own hair - or so he claims - and has a physique that most men half his age would envy. Equally, and I don’t mean this in the wrong way, but he doesn’t act like a man of that age.

I suppose some may say that 60 is the new forty! Others would probably roll out that old cliche about ‘age being nothing but a number!’ The truth of the matter is, that nobody grows younger – we get older. So aging is part of life, whether we like it or not. Moreover it's still not possible to turn back, or halt the hands of time, although science and cosmetic surgery are doing their best to address this.

What’s interesting about aging is the fact that we often look at the external aspects of this process - whether a person ‘looks good for their age’ or is ‘wearing well for their years’. However, we rarely consider what wisdom or insight that person may have acquired on reaching a particular milestone. I think it would be worrying if a person of 60, not only looked like a 20-year-old, but also thought like one.

Down the centuries many religious figures and philosophers have spoken about the wisdom that comes with age, and how grey hair, if you still have any at an advanced age, should be your crowning glory, typifying sagacity of a life well lived.

So I pray that we may all value the wisdom that comes with maturity, and treasure those virtues that do not diminish with age.

Amen.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m00297w0)
24/3/25 National pesticides action plan, egg week overview, forced rhubarb

The UK has set a pesticide reduction target of 10% over the next five years. The UK Pesticides National Action Plan from all four UK governments says it will support farmers and growers to reduce the potential harm from pesticides, so rather than farmers using 10% less, the plan wants more sustainable use which reduces the impact on the environment by 10%. While environmental groups have welcomed the plan they describe the target as modest. The government says that UK farmers reduced pesticide use by 60% between 1990 and 2020, at the same time worldwide use in agriculture increased by 90%. We speak to the Nature Friendly Farming Network.

Every year we consume nearly 12 billion eggs in the UK, according to the egg industry, with the vast majority produced in this country. All week we're looking at eggs, from colony cages to free range. We speak to the British Egg Industry Council about demand, different production systems and hen welfare.

Q: Which crop originates from Siberia, grows in the dark and is picked by candlelight?
A: Forced Rhubarb.
Supermarket sales of the crop are surging. The majority of it comes from a small area of West Yorkshire known as the rhubarb triangle, we meet a fourth generation grower near Leeds.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


MON 05:57 Weather (m00297w2)
Weather reports and forecasts for farmers


MON 06:00 Today (m00298gz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m00298h1)
Abdulrazak Gurnah on family and resistance

Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021 ‘for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism.’ In his latest novel, Theft, he returns to the streets of his childhood home in Zanzibar, to trace the intertwined lives of three young people in a story of love, betrayal and kindness.

The Possibility of Tenderness is a memoir by the prize-winning poet Jason Allen-Paisant as he moves from his family home in the rural Jamaican hills, to Oxford’s gleaming spires, to the woodlands of Leeds. It’s a story about the transformative power of plants and the legacy of dreams.

Language, music and food are at the heart of Samantha Ellis’s new book, Chopping Onions On My Heart: On Losing and Preserving Culture. The daughter of Iraqi-Jewish refugees, she grew up surrounded by the noisy, colourful sounds of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, a language in danger of being lost forever.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Shadow World (m0026251)
The Willpower Detectives

6. Falling on Deaf Ears

A man receives compensation after abuse in a Catholic boarding school and wants to know what has happened to some of his money. He asks Sue Mitchell to help him find out more.

The hidden scandal of Power of Attorney - concerned neighbours ask Sue for help.

Giving someone else control of your finances and decisions – through Lasting Power of Attorney – is meant to come with a guarantee that they always act in your best interest. In this series, BBC investigative reporter Sue Mitchell explores a widespread business practice where some people are moved out of their homes and left with no idea what is happening to their money.

Shadow World: Gripping stories from the shadows - BBC investigations from across the UK.

Presented by Sue Mitchell
Produced by Sue Mitchell, Joel Moors and Winifred Robinson


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00298h3)
Protests in Turkey, Adolescence, Women in Revolt! exhibition

Last night saw the fifth night of fierce protests across Turkey, after the main rival politician to the country's President Erdogan, was formally arrested and charged with corruption, having been detained on Wednesday. Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, has been declared as the CHP - the Republican People's Party's 2028 presidential nominee - in the last few hours. Women are being seen on the streets in their thousands and Imamoglu's wife, Dilek Kaya Imamoglu, addressed crowds outside of the Istanbul city hall yesterday. Clare McDonnell discusses the situation with the BBC's Emily Wither and Feride Eralp, a feminist activist in Turkey.

Since its release, the Netflix TV series Adolescence has caused widespread discussion about what’s shaping our teenagers’ lives. The four-part series follows the fallout from 13-year-old Jamie’s arrest on suspicion of murdering his female classmate, Katie. The show is a critique of social media-boosted toxic masculinity and its role in the teenage experience. Clare discusses the issues with clinical psychologist, Dr Amani Milligan and Consultant Forensic Psychologist, Dr Ruth Tully.

The National Crime Agency has launched a month-long social media campaign to combat the threat posed to teenage boys (15-17 years old) by financially motivated sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’. Marie Smith from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Emma Hardy from Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) explain why this campaign is so urgent.

Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 is a landmark exhibition currently on at the Whitworth in Manchester featuring more than 90 women artists and collectives whose ideas helped fuel the women’s liberation movement during a period of significant social, economic and political change. Clare is joined by Linsey Young, independent curator and researcher who curated the exhibition when she worked at Tate Britain, and Amrita Dhallu, also herself a curator.

Presented by Clare McDonnell
Producer: Louise Corley


MON 11:00 Changing the Odds (m00298h5)
Episode 2: Gibraltar; Online betting's birthplace

When you place a bet online, the chances are it will be processed in Gibraltar - the tiny British overseas territory on the tip of Spain.

Gibraltar is a major hub for gambling firms, and not just because it offers tax breaks. In the 90s the major British betting brands started moving over to Gibraltar, and thanks to low tax, the rise of football and innovations in online betting- Gibraltar is now the centre of innovation and tech in the industry.

In the second episode of Changing the Odds, Lydia Thomas who's reported on the industry for a decade travels to Gibraltar to meet gambling industry innovators and find out how British companies like Skybet, Bet365, Betfred, William Hill and Ladbrokes led the charge in developing online gambling platforms.

Alongside her is Stewart Kenny, who founded Paddy Power in the 80s, he explains how his business saw the potential in online gambling but he started to worry about the impact it might be having on people who had gambling addictions.

British companies led the way in developing online gambling after the 2005 Gambling Act liberalised betting - but what have been the consequences of that Act? Lydia and Stewart investigate the treasure trove of data companies hold on its customers, and how it's used to keep players spending. But, could it have been used to spot potential problem gamblers? Stewart thinks so.

Presenter: Lydia Thomas
Producer: Lydia Thomas and Richard McIlroy
Main Contributor: Stewart Kenny
Assistant Producer: Emma Smith
Technical Producer: Michael Smith


MON 11:45 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298h7)
Episode 1

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m00298h9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m00298hc)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m00298hf)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m00298hh)
Turkey protests: more than 1,100 detained

Turkey's government has arrested more than 1,100 people, including journalists, over recent days, amid huge protests against the detention of opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu. We hear from a protester, and speak to Britain's former man in Ankara. With Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Human Intelligence (m00298hk)
Travellers: The Buddha

Naomi Alderman explores the thinking of the Buddha, who, as a young prince, ventured outside the palace walls and began his journey towards enlightenment.

Siddhartha Gautama lived in a life of rarefied luxury until an encounter with suffering changed everything for him. He became the Buddha, the awakened one, urged self-transformation and profoundly shaped the world we live in. But did his many insights come from thinking, as such, or something else altogether?

Special thanks to Kate Crosby, Numata Professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Oxford.

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


MON 14:00 The Archers (m00297vb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Conversations from a Long Marriage (m001k0xh)
Series 4

5. We Are Family

Episode 5 - 'We Are Family'

Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam return in the fourth series of Jan Etherington’s award-winning comedy, as a long-married couple in love with life and each other. This week, Roger’s formidable Auntie Hilda, ‘cut from the same starched underwear as Bertie Wooster’s Aunt Agatha’ announces she’s coming to live with them. Feisty but frail, she bonds instantly with Amy the dog, and is a hit with all their friends. But Amy’s squeaky pheasant alerts them to an emergency, and after a dash to hospital, a nightmare situation unfolds and spins out of control.

Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020. Nominated for a Writers Guild Award 2023.

Conversations from a Long Marriage is written by Jan Etherington and produced by Claire Jones. The production coordinator is Katie Baum, the studio engineer is Wilfredo Acosta and sound design is by Jon Calver. It is a BBC Studios Production.

‘Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ RADIO TIMES

‘Peppered with nostalgic 60s hits and especially written for the pair, it’s an endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones. Unlike many a current Radio 4 ‘comedy’, this series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES

‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY


MON 14:45 The Island (m0028401)
Series 1

Episode 6: The cliffhanger

Having been captured for displeasing Money-Saving Expert Martin Lewis, castaway Stephen Mangan awaits his fate.

From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers), Jon Holmes (The Skewer) and writers Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock, actor Stephen Mangan washes up on the actual island from Desert Island Discs, only to discover that he is not alone.

Living among the palms and rocky outcrops and thousands of copies of the Bible lying in the sand is every former guest of the show - and it’s all gone a bit Lord of the Flies.

Through Stephen’s audio diary, we learn that all TV chef Nadiya Hussain wants to do is hunt, that Richard Madeley’s gone feral, and that Sandi Toksvig has the Conch. But there’s something lurking in the forest, and when Stephen suspects foul play in the power struggle to be chief, he soon finds himself making a dangerous enemy.

Can he win over his fellow islanders before it’s too late? What lengths will he go to to survive? And what the hell is he going to do with this useless coffee machine he chose as his luxury item?

Written by Tom Oxenham and Simon Alcock
Starring Stephen Mangan as himself

Sound Design: Tony Churnside
Executive Producer: Jon Holmes
Producer: Bill Dare

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


MON 15:00 A Good Read (m00298hn)
Lucy Speed and Sarah Mills

EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN by Chris Cleave, chosen by Lucy Speed
THE HUMAN FACTOR by Graham Greene, chosen by Harriett Gilbert
253 by Geoff Ryman, chosen by Sarah Mills

Former Eastenders and present-day Archers actor Lucy Speed and comedian Sarah Mills talk about books set in wartime London, a 1990s underground train, and Graham Greene's MI6.

Lucy's choice is Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave, Which tells the tale of Mary, a woman who becomes a teacher at the beginning of the war, only for her life to take some unexpected turns during the Blitz.

Sarah has selected 253 by Geoff Ryman, the novel originally published on the Internet which tells the stories of 253 passengers on a London Underground train.
Harriett proposes a lesser known a Graham Greene novel, The Human Factor, which takes in apartheid South Africa and communism as well as espionage.

Producer for BBC Audio Bristol: Sally Heaven

Join the conversation on Instagram: agoodreadbbc

Photo: Louise Cole


MON 15:30 Born in Bradford (m0025cxn)
Gasping for Breath

BBC Radio 4 has been reporting on the Born in Bradford health research project since it launched in 2007. Each year Winifred Robinson reports on the latest health findings as doctors and academics work with parents and children in the city to find solutions to some of the most stubborn and complex health problems.

In the latest programme Winifred investigates the launch of a national vaccination programme aimed at preventing thousands of babies being admitted to hospitals with chest conditions caused by the virus RSV. Medical teams at the Bradford Royal Infirmary helped with trials of RSV vaccines and will be tracking babies to see what longer term impact there might be on their health.

The hope had been that enough pregnant women would be vaccinated to make a significant reduction to the number of babies requiring hospital treatment - 30,000 a year - and the number of deaths from RSV - around thirty. This hasn't happened yet and doctors in Bradford share their concerns about both the delivery of the vaccine and the hesitancy being expressed by those offered it.

Since it was launched Born in Bradford has helped shape Government policy on issues ranging from glucose testing in pregnancy, through to the provision of reading glasses in classrooms. The project started with 14,000 pregnant mothers, who filled out detailed questionnaires and agreed to donate cord blood from their babies. Since then these children have taken part in the research, which has been extended to cover all secondary schools in the City


MON 16:00 The Making of a Chancellor (m00298hq)
Last summer, Laura Kuenssberg went to Number 11 Downing Street for Rachel Reeves' first big interview after Labour's victory in the election.

The chancellor had just secured the job she had always wanted and had prepared for decades. 'There's a tradition of chancellors having often their predecessors hanging on a portrait looking down on them above the desk. Have you decided who you're going to put on your wall?' Laura asked. Reeves laughed. The portrait of Nigel Lawson had come down - who would replace him? 'You know I’ve been hugely inspired by many women in politics and economics, women like Ellen Wilkinson… and in economics, women like Joan Robinson...'

But which ideas have formed her most? And what happens when events, both at home and abroad, intervene? On the eve of the Spring Forecast, amidst angst on the Labour backbenches over cuts to welfare spending and a grim economic backdrop, Laura explores these questions by speaking to Rachel Reeves herself, as well as the former US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Labour strategist Deborah Mattinson.

Producer: Stephanie Mitcalf


MON 16:30 The Kitchen Cabinet (m00296wm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:30 on Saturday]


MON 17:00 PM (m00298hs)
Turkish protests denounced as ‘a movement of violence’

We get the latest from the protests in Istanbul after president Erdogan denounces the demonstrations. Polls suggest the public are hoping for a "magic money tree" ahead of the chancellor's statement - we talk through her options. Plus, what is driving thousands of viewers to rewatch popular TV shows from 20 years ago.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00298hv)
Thousands of anti-government protestors have gathered for a sixth night in Istanbul - demanding the release of Turkey's leading opposition figure.


MON 18:30 One Person Found This Helpful (m00298hx)
Series 2

4. The Gresham v Chopmaster

Frank & guests Ian Smith, Lou Sanders, Chloe Petts and Marcus Brigstocke discover how to poke an egg, sleep with a fish and fill a hamper with pâté.

This is the panel game based on what we all sit down and do at least once a day – shop online and leave a review, as an all-star panel celebrate the good, the bad & the baffling.

Everyone has an online life, and when the great British public put pen to keyboard to leave a review, they almost always write something hilarious. And our all-star panel have to work out just what they were reviewing – and maybe contribute a few reviews of their own... and more... So if you’re the person who went on Trip Advisor to review Ben Nevis as “Very steep and too high”, this show salutes you!


Written by Frank Skinner, Catherine Brinkworth, Sarah Dempster, Jason Hazeley, Rajiv Karia, Karl Minns, Katie Sayer & Peter Tellouche

Devised by Jason Hazeley and Simon Evans with the producer David Tyler

A Pozzitive Production for BBC Radio 4


MON 19:00 The Archers (m00298hz)
Emma’s relieved to report that there’s been no negative activity around her media exposure for the water company campaign. Nevertheless she announces she’s decided to resign from the parish council. Robert’s dismayed, and urges her not to be too hasty. Mick praises Emma tentatively for her work with the campaign – he was impressed. Emma snaps that she didn’t do it to impress, rather that it was the right thing to do. Later Robert urges Mick to think again about his complaint to the parish council; Emma’s a good person who’s already suffered enough. Chastened Mick promises he will give it some thought.
Helen and Pat face the challenging task of interviewing Susan and Clarrie. Pat reckons due process will at least take the emotion out of it but Helen doesn’t agree – it’s like being asked to choose between two diamonds. As the time draws near flustered Clarrie needs help from Emma to clean her mud splashed skirt. Susan’s somewhat calmer, but in the interests of fairness Emma offers to make them both a soothing coffee.
The interviews surprise all four women. Susan struggles to be coherent, while Clarrie finds her flow and speaks with passion. Afterwards Helen and Pat agree this wasn’t what they were expecting. Helen needs a few days to think. Does she give the job to Susan, who is more senior, or to Clarrie, who did the better interview? Despite Pat’s protestations that it’s too long to wait, Helen declares she’ll make the decision on Friday.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m00298j1)
Bryan Ferry, Disney's Snow White, the impact of cash prizes on creativity

Bryan Ferry discusses his latest album, Loose Talk and reflects on his long career in music. Disney's new live action version of Snow White has just opened and has attracted criticism from those who felt it departed too far from the original film. Film critics Larushka Ivan Zadeh and Al Horner explore why Disney's reinterpretation of its own canon has become so controversial. The Windham Campbell Prize gives away over a million pounds, shared between eight writers across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Previous British winners have included the poet Zaffar Kunial. Samira is joined by two of this year's winners, playwright, Matilda Ibini and poet, Anthony V Capildeo, to discuss the impact of the prize.

Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves changed cinema forever when the world's first animated film hit screens in 1937. Now the House of Mouse has just released a big budget live action remake of the beloved original that is arriving under a cloud of controversy. Larushka Iven-Zadeh, the Times films critic, and Al Horner, a Telegraph writer and host of the Script Apart podcast, joins to discuss.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Ruth Watts


MON 20:00 The Briefing Room (m002909w)
What's the government trying to do to the NHS?

The Government is reorganising the way the NHS is run in England by scrapping the body that’s been in charge and giving direct control to the Department of Health and Social Care. Jobs will go and the country’s biggest quango will be dismantled. But what is the government actually trying to do to the NHS? What are its aims and how does the restructure fit into the government’s big picture for the health service in the UK?

Guests:
Hugh Pym, BBC Health Editor
Siva Anandaciva, Director of Policy, King’s Fund
Dame Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation
Dame Carol Propper, Professor of Economics Imperial College in the Department of Economics and Public Policy

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Kirsteen Knight, Caroline Bayley
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 20:30 BBC Inside Science (m002909y)
Wild birds in crisis

Every species of wild bird in the UK is continuing to decline at a stark rate – according to the latest data.

Guest presenter Ben Garrod wants to understand why wild birds are in trouble despite government promises to halt nature decline by 2030.

Ben goes birdwatching in Norfolk to see the impact for himself and then heads back to the studio to hear about the kind of threats birds face and what is happening to tackle the problem.

Also this week, after two stranded Nasa astronauts were finally brought home to Earth following a nine-month stint in space, we ask why it was such a big moment for SpaceX – and what this might mean for Nasa.

Science journalist Caroline Steel drops in with her picks of the week’s news, including dark oxygen and floating iguanas, and we find out what makes a good day according to science...

Presenter: Ben Garrod
Producers: Dan Welsh, Sophie Ormiston & Gerry Holt
Field Producer: Stephanie Tam
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth 

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.


MON 21:00 Start the Week (m00298h1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:45 The Bottom Line (m00264vl)
The Decisions That Made Me

Decisions That Made Me: Tom Pellereau (Stylideas, Inventor)

When inventor Tom Pellereau was on the verge of launching his latest invention for his fashion company, Stylideas, he couldn't have known what a key decision was about to face him. The Apprentice winner talks to Evan Davis about his business relationship with Alan Sugar, his passion for design and his experience of dyslexia that all led to a stand off over pricing that would make or break his company.

Production team:
Producers: Simon Tulett and Michaela Graichen
Researcher: Drew Hyndman
Editor: Matt Willis
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m00298j3)
Turkey protests continue despite more than a thousand arrests

Protests continued in Turkey for a sixth night after the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is a major political rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. President Erdogan labelled the protests "evil" and blamed opposition political parties for provoking a "movement of violence". More than a thousand people have been arrested, we speak to a man who saw his fellow protesters being detained during a police crackdown.

A journalist in the US has revealed that he was accidentally included in a messaging group in which the Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed plans to bomb the Houthis in Yemen.

And we explain what's behind a spiral that stargazers noticed in the skies above the UK.


MON 22:45 Twist by Colum McCann (m00298j5)
Episode Six

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean – from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. As read by Declan Conlon.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets John Conway, the mysterious chief of mission on a cable repair ship.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections.

The Author
Colum McCann’s seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents.

Reader: Declan Conlon
Author: Colum McCann
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 23:00 Limelight (m0014xxt)
Who Is Aldrich Kemp?

3. The Black Windmill

In Chapter Three, Clara Page and Kennedy Fisher find some parallels in their separate quests to locate Mr De Jong. And another new name to them both crops up. But whose side is Conrad Spijker on? The Lovecraft Investigations reporter and the Secret Service Research Analyst both need answers ...

Cast:
Clara Page ...............................Phoebe Fox
Mister Bartholomew ...........Tim McInnerny
Aldrich Kemp ........................ Ferdinand Kingsley
Mrs Boone/Eleanor Peck....Nicola Walker
Sebastian Harcourt ..............Kyle Soller
Nakesha Kemp ......................Karla Crome
Aunt Lily ...................................Susan Jameson
Kennedy Fisher.......................Jana Carpenter
Conrad Spijker........................Steven Mackintosh

Created and written by Julian Simpson

Recorded on location in Hove, London and at The Royal Pavilion in Brighton

Music composed by Tim Elsenburg
Sound Design: David Thomas
Director: Julian Simpson
Producer: Sarah Tombling
Executive Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00298j7)
Susan Hulme reports as the Transport Secretary updates MPs after a fire caused major disruption at London's Heathrow Airport.

TUESDAY 25 MARCH 2025

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m00298j9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298h7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00298jc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00298jf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:00 News Summary (m00298jh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m00298jk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament


TUE 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m00298jm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00298jp)
My Gym Journey

Good morning.

Exactly a year ago, I began my gym journey. I decided to join a gym after my son gave me the potential dates of his graduation from university later that summer.

Like many folks, I'd packed on the pounds during lockdown, and my suits became a little too snug for my liking. So I was faced with a dilemma - buy larger sized suits or get back to my pre-lock down shape. I opted for the latter, which at the time seemed the harder, but cheaper option. While I had previously kept myself relatively fit, I’d never joined a gym before. And I've got to be honest with you, the idea of leaving home at an ungodly hour in the morning to pump iron was not appealing – and neither was the idea that I was paying good money for that particular privilege.

However, what made the challenge amenable was the fact that my particular gym has people from all walks of life, who have their specific reasons for joining. Some were getting into shape for big occasions such as weddings, while others were there on doctors’ orders. Like many things, when you have a purpose, it can concentrate the mind. However, for some, the gym is a form of community which allows people with shared aims to come together, and share their journeys to possible improved health and wellbeing.

Just to say, after expending so much time and energy into getting into shape, I was unable to wear my trusted three-piece suit to my son’s graduation, because the moths had been feasting on the apparel while it was stored away in a garment bag in my wardrobe.

I pray that today, we may be able to find a sense of community and wellbeing in the places and the spaces where we find ourselves.

Amen.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m00298jr)
25/03/25 Bird flu in sheep, free-range eggs, restoring lost ponds

Bird flu has been found in a sheep for the first time. DEFRA said the case in Yorkshire was on a farm where avian flu was present in captive birds. One ewe tested positive and has been culled, but her lambs and the rest of the small flock of sheep were negative. Surveillance of mammals for avian flu has been stepped up, partly because in the United States many dairy cattle and even some dairy workers, have gone down with the disease. We speak to the chief vet.

Avian influenza is of course at the forefront of egg producers' minds at the moment, and free range layers in many parts of the country must now be kept indoors. All week we're taking a closer look at egg production. Today we speak to a free-range egg producer in Wales.

A project involving farmers and nature conservationists is celebrating the restoration of 400 "lost" farmland ponds in Essex. A century ago there were more than 17,000 in the county but conservationists say around 10,000 of those have disappeared. We visit a farm which has been part of a big project to restore some of them.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 06:00 Today (m00298nc)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m00298nf)
Brian Schmidt on Nobel Prize-winning supernovae and the joys of making wine

Have you ever pondered the fact that the universe is expanding? And not only that, it's expanding at an increasing speed - meaning everything around us is getting further and further away?

If that isolating thought makes you feel slightly panicked, don't worry: this programme also contains wine!

Brian Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics at the Australian National University, known for his work on supernovae: massive explosions that take place when stars come to the ends of their lives. They are among the most energetic events in the universe and incredibly difficult to find; but that’s what his High-Z Supernova Search Team did, identifying enough of these rare and distant explosions to measure just how fast they were moving away from us.

This led them to the realisation that, contrary to long-held belief in cosmology, the expansion of the universe was speeding up; a discovery which earned Brian a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics. As if that wasn't enough, he's gone on to discover one of the earliest stars in the universe; run a university; and become a winemaker, at his very own vineyard just outside Canberra.

In a conversation spanning the genius phraseology of writer Douglas Adams, the importance of pisco sours, and the similarities between astronomy and viticulture, Brian tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili how his supernovae breakthrough paved the way for a revolution in astronomy - and where the field needs to go next...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor


TUE 09:30 Inside Health (m00298nh)
Assisted dying: Who’s eligible under the proposed bill?

The Terminally Ill Adults End of Life Bill is working its way through Parliament. If it became law in England and Wales it would be one of those moments in history that profoundly changes society. There are similar discussions taking place in Scotland, the Isle of Man and Jersey too.

To be clear about what we’re doing on Inside Health. We’re not going to debate the rights or wrongs of assisted dying. Or go through the politics of the Bill. Instead, over the next few episodes we’re going to explore some of the issues that will come up if assisted dying goes ahead.

We’re going to start with eligibility and who could get an assisted death under the proposed rules?

To discuss we're joined by:

Katherine Sleeman - Professor of Palliative Care at King's College London
David Nicholl - Consultant Neurologist at University Hospital Birmingham
Mark Taubert - Consultant Palliative Medicine at NHS Wales
Erica Borgstrom - Professor of Medical Anthropology at The Open University

Also in the programme we have exclusive research on the differences between men and women’s immune systems and why that affects the risks of infection and even autoimmune disease. James speaks Professor Lucy Wedderburn from the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and Director of the Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology at University College London, and Associate Professor Dr Lizzy Rosser also from the Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology at University College London.

Presenter: James Gallagher
Producers: Hannah Robins & Tom Bonnett


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00298nk)
Domestic violence, Women & the gig economy, Boxing, UN leadership

Deaths by suicide among victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales have overtaken the number of people killed by an intimate partner, for a second year in a row. The figures are revealed in the annual national police report on domestic homicides published today, although police chiefs say the increase is due to improvements in recording, rather than a rise in the number of such cases. They've also said more perpetrators will be charged with manslaughter following their victims' deaths in future. Clare McDonnell talks to Phyllis Daly, whose daughter Jessica Laverack was 34 when she took her own life in 2018, and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton, Chair of the domestic violence charity Refuge.

Amber Anning made history when just a few days ago she fought off a mid-race shove from her chief rival to become Great Britain's first ever women's 400m champion at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. She joins us to talk about her experience in Nanjing in China, and such a promising start to her professional career.

We look at how the gig economy is impacting migrant women working in the UK, especially those in Ecommerce and social care. Clare's joined by director Laura Carriera, whose award-winning film On Falling explores the loneliness of a young Portuguese woman working as a picker in an online retailer's warehouse. We also hear from Dr Dora Olivia Vicol, Chief Executive of the Work Rights Centre, a charity supporting migrant workers, and ‘Rose’ - who came to the UK to work in the care sector - shares her experience of being exploited and threatened by her employers.

The race for the next UN Secretary-General - who will be appointed for five years in 2026 - has begun. Campaigners are fighting for a more transparent, fair and inclusive process to elect the world’s top civil servant, and are demanding that the appointee finally be a woman. We hear from two of the people who are part of the push to make this happen - Maria Noel Leoni, Director of the GQUAL Campaign and Susana Malcorra, co-founder and President of Global Women Leaders Voices - about how the process works and why a woman has not been elected in the UN's 80-year history.

Earlier we heard how victims and survivors of domestic abuse want the police to better protect them from perpetrators, but there's also a very practical and positive way some women have been trying to process their trauma to build a future for themselves. British boxer Lesley Sackey - who previously won gold at the EU Championships - is a survivor of an abusive relationship and now helps other women to gain confidence and move forward by getting into the boxing ring. She joins us along with Olivia Culverhouse, who took part in Lesley’s 10-week Fight Forward course last year.

Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Sarah Jane Griffiths


TUE 11:00 Add to Playlist (m00290fc)
Carol Jarvis and Keelan Carew head for a hoedown

Pianist Keelan Carew and trombonist Carol Jarvis join Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe to add five more tracks to the playlist, as they take us from the great Winifred Atwell to an ambitious prog-rock reimagining of Aaron Copland's Rodeo ballet.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Tickle the Ivories by Winifred Atwell
Pas de Deux: Andante maestoso by Tchaikovsky
Stan by Eminem
Rather Be by Clean Bandit
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Other music in this episode:

Radioactive by Carol Jarvis
Kaigara Bushi by Mitsune
Black and White Rag by Winifred Atwell
Hoe-Down by Aaron Copland, dir Leonard Bernstein
Bonaparte's Retreat by William H Stepp


TUE 11:45 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298nm)
Episode 2

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m00298np)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m00298nr)
Call You and Yours: Antiques and Vintage

On Call You and Yours, we want to talk about antiques and vintage collectibles. Do you buy or sell them?

There's been a surge in interest in vintage homeware and furniture among people in their 30s and 40s. That's according to the The British Antique Dealers’ Association. It's being put down to a desire to live more sustainably, avoiding mass-produced products, as well a trend for older styles.

We'd love to know what vintage items you buy or sell, and why? Furniture, glassware, home accessories - whatever you're collecting, we want to know about it. And if you're one of a growing number of younger antiques dealers, we'd like to hear from you too.

Email us at youandyours@bbc.co.uk, and leave a number so we can call you back. And after 11am you can call us on 03700 100 444.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON

PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


TUE 12:57 Weather (m00298nt)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m00298nw)
Angela Rayner responds to US security leak

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and the President of Finland joins us to respond to the US military security leak. And, we speak to an Astrophysicist about the possibility of life on mars as the Nasa rover discovers the largest organic compounds ever seem.


TUE 13:45 Human Intelligence (m00298ny)
Travellers: Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys' sequel to Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea, changed the way we think about stories forever. Naomi Alderman meets a fellow novelist who put a marginalised character at the centre of the action.

Rhys left Dominica to go to school in cold, grey England, but she had always felt out of place. A perfectionist who needed every word in just the right place, she took decades to publish her masterpiece. She was a thinker ahead of her time, who crammed the whole world and its injustices into her writing.

Special thanks to Sophie Oliver, Senior Lecturer in Modernism at the University of Liverpool.

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m00298hz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m00298p0)
Series 5

Joy and Hopeton

By Rex Obano

1988. Margaret Thatcher is now in her third term as Prime Minister. Hopeton is lonely and frustrated, living at his friend's boxing gym while fighting to get Joy and his family back. Meanwhile Joy is fighting to build a new life with Dhiren, combining their differing cultures. Can both of them succeed in getting their life back?

Joy ..... Cherrelle Skeete
Hopeton ..... Solomon Israel
Dhiren Patel ..... Vikash Bhai
Duke/Waiter ..... David Webber
Glory ..... Trinity Benjamin
Gujarati woman/Customer ..... Chetna Pandya
Job Centre Assistant/Boxer/Store Manager ..... Lloyd Thomas

Production Co-ordinators are Maggie Olgiati and Jenny Mendez
Produced by Pat Cumper
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike
A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

*****
Faith, Hope and Glory began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK in 1946. Three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock. All three are now settled in their lives in 1980s Britain.

We have reached the late 1980s. A new generation of Black Britons is gaining in confidence and and seizing their place in Thatcher’s Britain, making their mark on the political, social, and creative fabric of their home and forming new bonds with other. Joy has married Dhiren and is adapting to his religion and way of life as he takes steps into hers to create a blended family. Joy’s ex-husband, Hopeton, is desperate not to let that happen.


TUE 15:00 History's Heroes (m0028vcy)
History's Secret Heroes: Series 3

The Salon Albahari

Two apprentice seamstresses find an ingenious hiding place for their Jewish colleagues in wartime Sarajevo.

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 Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader
Development Producer: Suniti Somaiya
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Written by Alex von Tunzelmann
Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts


TUE 15:30 Thinking Allowed (m00298p2)
Motherhood

Laurie Taylor talks to Helen Charman, Fellow and Assistant College Lecturer in English at Clare College, University of Cambridge, about her study of mothers fighting for alternative futures for themselves and their children. Is motherhood an inherently political state, one that poses challenges to various status quos? Also, Caitlin Killian - Professor of Sociology, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey argues that US mums are held to ever higher standards and now subject to an expanding list of offences - from falling down the stairs while pregnant to letting a child spend time alone in a park - which were not seen as criminal behaviours a generation ago. Are mothers likelier to be held accountable than fathers?

Producer: Jayne Egerton


TUE 16:00 Artworks (m00298p4)
Talk Talk: Living in Another World

Elbow frontman Guy Garvey explores the mystery surrounding Talk Talk, their reclusive leader Mark Hollis, and the album that saw him eschew fame and fortune in favour of something radically new.

Recorded over a brutal nine months, Spirit of Eden was a critical and commercial flop at the time – but is now lauded as a masterpiece. Garvey speaks to the musicians who witnessed its troubled birth, the friends who understood Mark best, and the new generation of artists who have taken inspiration from his dogged pursuit of true creative freedom.

Featuring contributions from legendary producer Nigel Godrich and Phill Brown, as well as Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien.

A Cup and Nuzzle production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 What's Up Docs? (m00298p6)
How important is willpower?

In a new podcast from BBC Radio 4, doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode they want to know about willpower. What does it do? Can any of us get better at doing difficult things?

Guest Kimberley Wilson, a chartered psychologist, says it's the biggest question and longest standing issue in psychology and philosophy. Does willpower even exist?

If you want to get in touch with us, you can email at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk

And we are also on WhatsApp where you can send a message on 08000 665123

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken
Guest: Kimberley Wilson
Producer: Jo Rowntree
Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar
Editor: Kirsten Lass
Assistant Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis
Researcher: Lisa Lipman
Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable
Composer: Phoebe McFarlane
Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 17:00 PM (m00298p9)
What is in the Black Sea deal between Ukraine and Russia?

The White House says the two countries have agreed a ceasefire deal - but Russia applies terms and conditions. Plus, the CIA director denies air strike chat leak was a major mistake.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00298pc)
Intelligence chiefs deny that classified material was shared.


TUE 18:30 Heresy (m00298pf)
Series 13

Episode 6

Victoria Coren Mitchell is joined by a panel which challenges established ideas. Laura Smyth, Ignacio Lopez and Sally Phillips discuss school, spa holidays and following our passions.

Heresy is written and presented by Victoria Coren Mitchell with additional material from Dan Gaster and Charlie Skelton
Produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Daisy Knight
Series created by David Baddiel

Sound Design - David Thomas
Broadcast Assistant - Jenny Recaldin

An Avalon production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m00298ph)
Lynda wonders to Robert whether she should pay Khalil to feed and walk the llamas. She wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t become a vet. As they approach the paddock they notice Constanza is lying down. To their horror they realised she’s died. They call Alistair to her, and he explains she had bloat. It would have happened very quickly. Lynda’s sad but tries hard to be philosophical; Constanza had a lovely life. At that moment Khalil arrives and is devastated. He’s convinced he must have fed Constanza something she couldn’t eat. Alistair reassures him, but he struggles. He asks what will happen to her and whether there’ll be a funeral. Alistair’s explanations do little to console Khalil and he leaves, distraught. Lynda’s concerned for him.
Joy and Mick are finishing off the cleaning at Home Farm as they prepare to leave the house. Joy can see that it must have been a wrench for Brian and Jennifer to relinquish the the farmhouse, but much as she’s enjoyed her stay she wouldn’t swap it for her Beechwood home. When they get to Joy’s house they’re relieved and delighted to find it’s been refurbished beautifully. However they soon discover Rochelle’s back; she’s used the spare key. Joy asks why she left so suddenly. Rochelle obfuscates. They catch her up on village events, and she wonders whether she might stay with them at Beechwood for a bit. She’s had to move out of her house share. Of course, effuses Joy. It’s lovely to have her back.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m00298pk)
Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly, 100 years of Art Deco, Jonathan Pie

The actor and director Peter Mullan talks about taking on the role of Bill Shankly in the new theatre production in Liverpool, Red or Dead, about the much-loved Liverpool football club manager.

In April 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a seven-month exhibition of contemporary design, opened in Paris. Arts Décoratifs’ was soon shortened to Art Deco, and a movement was born. A century later Art Deco is being celebrated across the UK. Professor Bruce Peter, author of new book Art Deco in Scotland :Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, and Dr Rachael Unsworth, who leads tours in Leeds that look at art deco buildings in the city, join Nick to discuss Art Deco and its legacy.

Art Deco in Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, is also accompanied by an exhibition at the Glasgow School of Art in April 2025. There are also a range of commemorative events in Liverpool this weekend organised by the Art Deco Society UK.

A decade ago, the comedian Tom Walker created the character of the roving news reporter Jonathan Pie, and his creation became an internet sensation, with the New York Times among his many fans. When he brought Jonathan Pie to Radio 4 with the radio phone-in comedy, Call Jonathan Pie, the critics were universal in their praise and it quickly became a podcast hit. As Call Jonathan Pie returns for a second series, Tom discusses creating a show that merges the personal and the political.

And to mark the first week of Spring, musician and broadcaster Tom McKinney, who will be taking on the Radio 3 Breakfast Show, asks for us to listen properly to the music of birdsong.

Presenter: Nick Ahad
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 20:00 File on 4 Investigates (m00238mf)
The Tyre Scandal

Every year the UK produces around 50 million tyres for disposal. They’re supposed to be sent for recycling. Instead, big money is being made by diverting tyres to illegal and dangerous 'pyrolysis' plants they're melted down to extract oil and steel. File on 4 Investigates, together with a team of journalists from Source Material, a not-for-profit group specialising in climate and corruption, follow the tyres from the UK to India using tracking devices. The team discovers just how large scale this largely illicit business has become. Earlier this year, a makeshift pyrolysis plant exploded near Mumbai, killing four people. It had been processing tyres from abroad, almost certainly Europe and the UK. Reporter Paul Kenyon confronts a tyre trader in the north of England who admits to shipping his waste tyres to India for pyrolysis.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Anna Meisel
Technical producer: Craig Boardman
Production coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Carl Johnston


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m00298pm)
Retina UK's Sight Loss Survey; CSUN Assistive Technology Conference

The charity Retina UK are seeking feedback from people with inherited sight loss conditions to learn how they can best support this community and feed into medical research. The charity primarily supports people who are living with genetic conditions, often with a progressive decline in sight. Some of these conditions are well known, such as Retinitis Pigmentosa, Usher Syndrome and Stargardt Disease and others are more rare, such as Leber congenital amaurosis.
To participate in Retina UK's Sight Loss Survey, you can call their Helpline: 01280 821334. Or you can complete the survey online: surveymonkey.com/r/SightLossSurvey2025. The link to the survey can also be found on the Retina UK website.

The CSUN Assistive Technology Conference is an annual showcase of the latest developments in assistive technology. The BBC's Senior North America Correspondent, Gary O'Donoghue and Emma Tracey, presenter of the BBC's disability and mental health podcast Access All, were there and they provide In Touch with an overview of the latest bits of tech that piqued their interest.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole

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


TUE 21:00 The Law Show (m0028zyb)
The human cost of court delays

Justice delayed is justice denied - the court backlog in England and Wales has reached a record high and suspects being charged with new offences are regularly told they may not get a trial until 2027. Some courts are already booking court dates for 2028. The government has commissioned an independent review of criminal courts to work out how to cut waiting times. A victim of crime and a criminal defence solicitor tell Dr Joelle Grogan about the human cost of court delays.

Also on the programme, the MP introducing a law to end the abuse of Lasting Powers of Attorney and what can someone do when their ex refuses to pay child maintenance?

Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan
Producers: Ravi Naik and Louise Clarke
Editor: Tara McDermott

Contributors:
Tracey Moloney, solicitor, Moloney Family Solicitors
Stephen Davies, criminal defence solicitor at Edwards Duthie Shamash Solicitors
Tom Franklin, CEO of the Magistrates Association
Professor Carolyn Stephens, whose father was a victim of LPA abuse
Fabian Hamilton, Labour MP for Leeds North East.


TUE 21:30 The Making of a Chancellor (m00298hq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Monday]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m00298pp)
Democrats slam US Signal security breach

Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have sharply criticised the Trump administration after a journalist was added to a group chat featuring top officials discussing matters of national security. President Trump has dismissed the breach as ‘a glitch’.


TUE 22:45 Twist by Colum McCann (m00298pr)
Episode Seven

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean – from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. As read by Declan Conlon.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets John Conway, the mysterious chief of mission on a cable repair ship.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections.

The Author
Colum McCann’s seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents.

Reader: Declan Conlon
Author: Colum McCann
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 23:00 X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story (m000y5ds)
6. Baby X

In 2020, Elon Musk and the singer Grimes had a baby that they named X, born just around the time that one of Musk’s older children—whom he’d named after Professor Xavier of the X-Men--began to undergo a gender transition. In this episode, Jill Lepore explores the 1972 feminist science fiction story, ‘Baby X,’ that challenged conventional notions of gender. The science fiction that Silicon Valley techno-billionaires like Elon Musk adore concerns gleaming futures in which fantastically powerful, immensely rich men colonize other planets. In this episode, Lepore looks at the science fiction that’s usually left out of this vision - including New Wave, Afrofuturism or feminist science fiction. What does Muskism’s vision of the future—itself so influenced by the visions of writers like Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein—leave out and fail to see?

Jill Lepore is the Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She’s also a staff writer at The New Yorker and an acclaimed author.

Series Producer: Viv Jones
Researchers: Simon Leek, Oliver Riskin-Kutz
Editors: Richard Vadon, Hugh Levinson
Sound design and mix: James Beard, Graham Puddifoot
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Original music by Corntuth
Production Coordinators: Jack Young, Maria Ogundele


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00298pt)
Alicia McCarthy reports as a Minister faces questions on the use of asylum-seeker hotels and as MPs push for a law to stop solar panels, made using forced labour, entering the UK.

WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH 2025

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m00298pw)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298nm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00298py)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00298q0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:00 News Summary (m00298q2)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m00298q4)
Susan Hulme reports as MPs question the Government after a £2bn asylum hotels contract is scrapped.


WED 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m00298q6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00298q8)
Out with the Old

Good morning.

Over the weekend our family bought a new television. The truth is, our old TV set had been playing up for years, and was becoming so obsolete that we were unable to access certain digital channels and use streaming services. But here’s the thing, I'd become so attached to that TV, which when we bought it, it was state of the art technology, in fact, I wanted to hold on to it and get it repaired.

The thing is, back in the day when you had a television problem, there was always a local repairman who could carry out the requisite maintenance to get the thing working again. Sadly for me, those days are gone. I can’t tell you the last time I saw a shop or retail outlet carrying out this work. And when I contacted the electrical department from which I bought the television many moons ago, hoping that they could do something, the salesperson burst out laughing and told me that that particular model had gone the way of a Dodo. His only advice was to buy another.

So now we have a new television, which makes everything look sharper or ‘crisper’ according to the manual, and the sound is so enveloping that it feels as if you’re surrounded. But at the same time, I still miss the old TV and I couldn’t even get myself to dispose of it, but I placed it in the garden shed just in case I come across someone who can repair it.

In our increasingly disposable world, which is characterised by fast fashion and consumer items with a limited shelf life, it would be nice to think that some things do not outlive their usefulness.

So I pray that we may be people who do not treat others in the same way that we often value consumer goods.

Amen.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m00298qb)
26/03/25 Red Tractor responds to farm assurance review, Efra inquiry into border checks, colony eggs

Red Tractor has responded to an independent review into the assurance scheme. A report, published earlier this year, recommended more than 50 changes to the Red Tractor scheme, which is supposed to hold farmers to meet high standards on animal welfare, food quality and business governance. We speak to the interim chair about the changes Red Tractor's making as a result.

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs select committee has been hearing more evidence about how border control points are managing biosecurity for food and plants. Industry experts have been telling MPs that the post-Brexit system of checks which came into force last spring are expensive and inefficient and just not up to the job.

This week we're delving into the different methods of egg production. Today we find out how colony eggs are produced. We visit Farmlay Eggs in Aberdeenshire, a family business with an output of seven million eggs a week, the majority of which are free range. However, the farms also have colony - or caged - hens whose eggs mainly go to the catering sector, although some are also sold to retailers. 

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


WED 06:00 Today (m00298sz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m00297dt)
Could a 2% wealth tax raise £24bn?

Some Labour politicians have been calling for a wealth tax, claiming a 2% tax could raise £24bn. Where are the numbers from and do they add up?

A listener asked why housing in the UK is the oldest in Europe. We explain what’s going on.

The Office for National Statistics has changed how it measures the value of pensions and knocked £2 trillion off its estimates of wealth. Not everyone thinks it was a good change. We find out why.

And Lent is here, but how long is the Christian fasting period? We look at the history of a very flexible 40 days.

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news, and the world around us.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Reporter: Lizzy McNeill
Producers: Nathan Gower and Charlotte McDonald
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Richard Vadon


WED 09:30 The History Podcast (m00298t1)
Invisible Hands

1. The Chicken Farmer

A fighter pilot watches his brother plunge to his death in the Second World War. Grief-stricken, he vows to fight until his dying day for the cause of freedom.

This man would return from war transformed and set out on a journey that would change Britain forever. He would dedicate his life to an idea. An idea that at the time was almost laughed at. That no one in positions of power dared talk about. That idea? Free-market capitalism.

This is the story of the war hero turned chicken farmer who set the stage for Margaret Thatcher.

In this new narrative series, David Dimbleby traces the history of the hidden force that changed Britain - the free market revolution - and the invisible hands that shaped it.

It started on a chicken farm in Sussex, gained traction in the shadows of post-war London and rose to heights of excess in the new champagne bars of the City. It's 2025 and this once radical idea now defines every aspect of life in Britain. An idea that transformed the economy, politics and, ultimately, society itself. But how did it happen? Who are the little known people behind it? What did they want?

And - as Donald Trump threatens to overturn the global economic system - is the free market here to stay? Or are we entering a new era?

Presenter: David Dimbleby
Producer: Jo Barratt
Sound Design: Peregrine Andrews
Executive Producers: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Story Editor: Joe Sykes and Dasha Lisitsina
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

A Samizdat Audio production for BBC Radio 4


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00298t4)
Disability and domestic abuse, Maternity care failings, Authors Labour MP Yuan Yang and Sanam Mahloudji, Gossiping

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to make further cuts to welfare benefits and government departments when she speaks in Parliament later. The government already announced big welfare spending reductions last week - but the Chancellor's been told by the Office For Budget Responsibility her reforms to the system won't save as much as planned. Now dozens of women’s organisations have written to Rachel Reeves urging her rethink plans for disability benefit cuts over fears it will remove a 'vital lifeline' for victims of abuse. Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson Director of the Women's Budget Group and Angie Airlie, Chief Executive of Stay Safe East speak to Clare McDonnell.

In this week’s Women’s Prize discussion, Clare hears from two authors about the debut books they’ve had long-listed for this year’s prestigious literary prize. Sanam Mahloudji’s novel, The Persians, tells the story of the Valiat family from the perspective of five women from 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s. And Labour MP Yuan Yang’s non-fiction book, Private Revolutions, explores the lives of four women born in China in the 1980s and 90s during a time of rapid change in society.

It's emerged that an NHS trust criticised over the avoidable death of a baby was paid £2m for providing good maternity care. It's the latest in a series of developments and failings which have led to calls for a national inquiry into maternity care. It’s alleged that hospital trusts are failing to learn from past mistakes and failing to implement improvement recommendations. The BBC’s Social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan tells Clare what grieving parents want to happen.

Do you enjoy a bit of gossip? The thrill of being the first to hear something and sharing it, or the irresistible urge to be let into the lives of others? What’s the difference between idle gossip and hurtful criticism behind someone’s back, do women gossip as much as men and can gossip be used to keep women safe? American journalist Kelsey McKinney joins Clare from the US to discuss her new book, You Didn't Hear This From Me: Notes on the Art of Gossip.

Presenter: Clare McDonnell
Producer: Claire Fox


WED 11:00 File on 4 Investigates (m00238mf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Tuesday]


WED 11:45 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298t6)
Episode 3

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m00298t8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 You and Yours (m00298tb)
Service Charges, Railway Arches, Fast Homewares

Rent rises in social housing are capped by the government to keep them affordable. However, there's no similar cap on service charges, which rose by 15% on average in England last year. As a result, a number of social housing tenants across the country are struggling to afford these extra charges.

One of the world’s largest commercial property companies has taken full ownership of the majority of Britain's railway arches following their sale by Network Rail in 2018. These spaces have long been hubs for small independent businesses, but as inner-city rents continue to rise, will this continue?

You’ve heard of fast fashion, but what about fast homewares? As supermarkets and retailers grow their range of budget homewares, we look at why people are buying so much for their homes and what this might be doing to the planet.

London's Black Cabs - also known as Hackney Carriages - are recognised around the world. However, according to a new report by the Centre for London think tank, they may not be around for much longer. It suggests that if cab drivers continue to leave at the current rate, the service won't be around by 2045.


WED 12:57 Weather (m00298td)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m00298tg)
Extensive coverage on an extended World at One

Rachel Reeves sets out further cuts to welfare and government spending in her Spring Statement, while boosting defence spending. We'll bring you reaction from Westminster and the markets.


WED 14:00 The Archers (m00298ph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m00298tl)
Series 5

Serena-Hope and Errol

By Carol Russell

It’s 1988 and Margaret Thatcher is well on the way to becoming the twentieth century's longest serving British Prime Minister. Lawyer Serena-Hope gets a call from her ex-, Errol, asking for help with his daughter Hira's legal troubles. Only Errol is also the absent father of Serena-Hope's own 9 year-old daughter. Should she help? And more agonisingly, should she let Errol back into their lives?

Serena-Hope ..... Bethan Mary-James
Errol ..... Kenton Thomas
Hira ..... Sabrina Sandhu
Faith ..... Shiloh Coke
David Wolff/Peter Street ..... Simon Ludders
Judge/Giorgio ..... Enzo Squillino Jr.
Maggie/Sally ..... Adelle Leonce
Prosecutor/Clerk ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr

Production Co-ordinators are Maggie Olgiati and Jenny Mendez
Produced by Pat Cumper
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike

A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

*******

Faith Hope and Glory began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK in 1946. Three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock. All three are now settled in their lives in 1980s Britain.

By the late 1980s, a new generation of Black Britons is gaining in confidence and seizing their place in Thatcher’s Britain, making their mark on the political, social, and creative fabric of their home and forming new bonds with other cultures. Faith’s daughter, Serena-Hope, is navigating a sudden life-changing surprise as her ex-, Errol, re-enters her life just as her daughter Monique is starting to ask about him.


WED 15:00 Money Box (m00298tn)
Money Box Live: Spring Statement

As the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, presents her Spring Statement, Money Box Live sifts through the details about what it all means for your personal finances.

Changes to the welfare system have already been announced. It will be harder to claim a disability benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP) under plans which the government says will get more people into work. We'll analysis any new details on that.

The Spring Statement comes ahead of big plans already announced in last year's Autumn Budget such as changes to stamp duty for home buyers and an increase to National Insurance Contributions for some employers, so as well as dissecting new announcements we'll also remind you what else coming in and when.

Felicity Hannah is joined by Sarah Pennells, Consumer Finance Specialist at pensions company Royal London; Elsa Littlewood, Tax Partner at the accountancy firm BDO and Mike Brewer, Chief Economist and Deputy Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers
Reporter: Emma Smith
Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Wednesday 26th March, 2025)


WED 15:30 Artworks (m00298tq)
I Am Sixteen Going on Sixty

One of Hollywood’s most iconic musicals, The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was released in the UK sixty years ago this week. It won 5 Oscars. It made its child actors the most famous in the world but what are they doing now? Garry Richardson has tracked them down.

The cast members reveal what they have been doing since 1965. Nicholas Hammond who played Friedrich Von Trapp is still acting today, but the career paths of the others have been very different – from landscape gardening to geology.

Julie Andrews filmed Mary Poppins just before The Sound of Music and Angela Cartwright, who played nine-year-old Brigitta von Trapp, remembers how that became a talking point during breaks on set. Kym Karath was the youngest of the child stars and reflects on how instant fame led to unwanted attention from some of the public.

Little did they all know how much was riding on the film! Struggling financially, 20th Century Fox had gambled everything producing this story of the young governess whose courage led the Von Trapp family across the Alps.

Songwriter and lyricist Sir Richard Stilgoe, who is best known for The Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Starlight Express explores the art of songwriting explaining how Rodgers and Hammerstein worked together.

Presenter: Garry Richardson
Producer: Catrin Manel
Editor: Matt Willis


WED 16:00 The Media Show (m0029767)
Peter Kosminsky, AI and publishing, Media crackdown in Turkey

The director of Wolf Hall, Peter Kosminsky, and CEO of Bad Wolf, Jane Tranter, discuss a TV industry in crisis. As the editor of the Atlantic magazine reveals he was added to a White House group chat on Signal, we profile the founder of the messaging app. Also on the programme, how authors and publishers are responding to their works allegedly being used to train AI models. And as protests continue in Turkey, we speak to a reporter about the detention of journalists covering the events.

Guests: Peter Kosminsky, Director, Wolf Hall; Jane Tranter, Co-founder, Bad Wolf; Alex Reisner, programmer and contributing writer, The Atlantic; Rosie Wilby, author, The Breakup Monologues; Catriona MacLeod Stevenson, Deputy CEO, Publishers Association; James Ball, Political Editor, The New European; Selin Girit, journalist, BBC

Presenters: Katie Razzall and Ros Atkins
Producer: Lucy Wai
Assistant Producers: Flora McWilliam and Elena Angelides


WED 17:00 PM (m00298ts)
Chancellor trims spending plans in spring statement

Rachel Reeves sets out new measures to try and balance the books – after the OBR forecasts lower growth for this year. We hear from shadow chancellor Mel Stride, Treasury minister James Murray and two Labour backbenchers. Plus, new details on the US intelligence leak are published - we have a briefing.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00298tv)
Rachel Reeves has defended cuts to the welfare system.


WED 18:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (m0028xy3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:00 on Saturday]


WED 19:00 The Archers (m002975g)
Lynda’s concerned for Khalil after the loss of Constanza yesterday. Khalil assures her he’s okay. They take Salieri for a walk, the start of a regular thing and Khalil loves it. He admits he sometimes feels stupid and his mother has low expectations of him. Lynda assures him this isn’t true. He tells Lynda about a boy whose funeral he attended. Seeing the boy’s mum’s face put him in mind of his own mum and how she might feel if he died. He knows his cancer could return. He apologises for the dark conversation and Lynda comforts him. She knows his mum’s just thrilled he’s alive and thriving, and has complete faith in him.
Joy checks in with Mick, making sure he’s still happy for Rochelle to stay with them. Mick confirms it’s all good; he’s pleased for Joy that Rochelle’s around. Joy declares him a good man. Mick raises the delicate topic of what’s really going on between the two women. He needs Joy to be straight with him. Joy gradually opens up, disclosing the extent of her ex husband’s betrayal as he conducted a string of affairs. She thinks Rochelle might blame her for her father leaving. Joy worries she leaned on Rochelle a bit too much at that time. She confesses she left for a few days, acknowledging Rochelle was probably too young for this. It was a dark time in their lives; they’ve never really got over it. Mick understands, relieved Joy’s been honest with him. He promises things will be better from now on.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m00298tx)
Peter Capaldi's new album, the great Ossian myth, Brian Friel's short stories

Peter Capaldi talks about his latest album – Sweet Illusions – a nod to the thriving 80s music scene in Glasgow where Peter made his musical debut fronting The Dreamboys.

Through the Shortbread Tin is a new National Theatre of Scotland production about the supposed third century Scottish bard Ossian. Its writer – poet Martin O’Connor – and director Lu Kemp, share their exploration of one of the greatest literary hoaxes of all time

Should Brian Friel be known as short story writer, as much as a playwright? A decade after his death, a new edition of his stories has been published, many of which would inspire his plays such as Faith Healer, Dancing at Lughnasa and his breakthrough Philadelphia, Here I Come! Discussing the often overlooked work of the "Irish Chekhov" is a fellow master of the short story Louise Kennedy, and Dr Kelly Matthews, author of Brian Friel: Beginnings.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Caitlin Sneddon


WED 20:00 Moral Maze (m00298tz)
What's wrong with men?

The Netflix drama ‘Adolescence’ has prompted a national conversation about a ‘crisis of masculinity’. In a society where gender roles are changing, progressive attitudes are in tension with traditional ideas about male behaviour.

Studies suggest Gen Z men and women are more divided than those of any other generation on questions about feminism, gender roles and women’s rights. Meanwhile, teachers highlight the alarming prevalence of misogyny in schools, influencers can be influential than parents, and social media algorithms amplify misogynistic content to teens. This is happening at the same time as rising rates of depression, anxiety, and a higher likelihood of suicide among young men.

Traditional ideas about ‘manliness’ - strength, dominance, independence, and emotional stoicism - are seen in many contexts as inappropriate and harmful – both to men and women. While the feminist movement and women’s advances in education and the workplace, for example, are a mark of social progress, some believe they have also challenged men’s sense of purpose in a way that has perhaps been overlooked. Others think this analysis is dangerous because it doesn’t apply to all men, it sets up men's mental health and wellbeing in opposition to the opportunities of women, and denies some men the agency to make the right choices. At the same time, it can be uncomfortable to discuss how men and women are different – physically and psychologically – and how they might have different and complementary roles.

Do we need to re-define or reclaim masculinity? What’s wrong with men?

Chair: Michael Buerk
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant Producer: Peter Everett
Editor: Tim Pemberton

Panel:
Ash Sarkar
Tim Stanley
Matthew Taylor
Anne McElvoy

Witnesses:
Clare Ford
Brendan O'Neill
James Bloodworth
John Amaechi


WED 21:00 The Life Scientific (m00298nf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 Inside Health (m00298nh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 on Tuesday]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m00298v1)
Chancellor defends cuts to disability benefits

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has defended the cuts to disability benefits announced in the Spring Statement. The Department for Work and Pensions’ own assessment warned that the changes would push 250,000 people into poverty.

Also on the programme: Donald Trump announces new 25% tariffs on cars from overseas. And a new film audiences have called ‘intense’ and ‘overwhelming’ - the work of five artists, all autistic, who want us to experience the world as they do.


WED 22:45 Twist by Colum McCann (m00298v3)
Episode Eight

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean – from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. As read by Declan Conlon.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets John Conway, the mysterious chief of mission on a cable repair ship.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections.

The Author
Colum McCann’s seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents.

Reader: Declan Conlon
Author: Colum McCann
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 23:00 DMs Are Open (m00298v5)
Series 4

2. Help!

A helpline for soup, far too many kidneys, and a self-described ‘Empath’ all feature in this week’s show, written by the next generation of comedy writers.

DMs are Open is back for a brand new series. Stevie Martin is your host and she’s brought together an incredible cast of comedy legends: Al Roberts, Charlotte Ritchie, Sunil Patel and Emily Lloyd-Saini.

Written by the public. This week it was written by:

Aruhan Galieva
Marie Hamilton & Christian Loveless
Koren Luddington
Kit Proudfoot
Emily Reader
Christina Riggs
Henry Whaley

Script Edited by Cameron Loxdale and Mike Shephard.

Producer: Georgia Keating
Assistant Producer: Katie Baum
Executive Producer: James Robinson
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Recorded by David Thomas
Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King

Recorded at Up The Creek.

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4.


WED 23:15 Jamie MacDonald: Life on the Blink (m001lrl1)
Series 2

Kermit the Nob

Jamie MacDonald is a Glaswegian stand-up comedian who lives with his blindness, despite those around him sometimes losing sight of what’s important in life.

Jamie examines pre-conceptions about disability, challenges stereotypes, and takes a hilarious trip down memory lane to see how far things have come.

In this episode Jamie shares stories of his time at school and the teachers that had a big influence on him, particularly when learning French. He also crystallises his experience of strangers asking the most ignorant questions about his sight.

Produced by Julia Sutherland
A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00298v7)
Susan Hulme reports on Chancellor Rachel Reeves's Spring Statement, Prime Minister's Questions, and more.

THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2025

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m00298v9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00298t6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m00298vc)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m00298vf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:00 News Summary (m00298vh)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m00298vk)
Alicia McCarthy reports as the Chancellor delivers her Spring Statement.


THU 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m00298vm)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m00298vp)
Unruly Weeds

Good morning.

The clocks go forward this weekend, officially heralding British Summer Time. Like many people, I do look forward to this event as it coincides with all that is springing back to life in nature. However, one thing that I don’t look forward to is sorting out my back garden.

Springtime means that those unruly weeds that I have never been able to root out, will be rearing their unwanted presence all over the garden. It’s one of those situations that you have to address head on. It just won’t go away - it will only get worse. What’s more every time I find myself looking out of the window and observing the growing chaos, I'll feel worse! You know the ideal scenario would be to have a Mary Poppins like neighbour who took it upon themselves to tidy my garden.

But here’s the thing; once I tidy it up - it looks great, and I can spend hours just gazing on my excellent handiwork - either from the window, or while sitting in the actual garden. Yet I know that if I leave it alone for a while - literally take my eye off the proverbial ball – it will be back to square one with the weeds running amok.

I know that much has been written about chaos being the supposed natural order of things in nature, and that our role is to bring a sense of order to that disorder. With regard to my garden, it's a case of little and often to make sure everything is ordered as opposed to chaotic, despite my natural inclination to leave it to its own devices.

I pray that the Lord will give us the courage to face those things we find difficult, and the patience and persistence to revisit those challenges that reoccur in life.

Amen.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m00298vr)
27/03/25 Chancellor's spring statement, pullets, nitrogen inquiry.

The Chancellor's spring statement has drawn a mixed reaction from the rural community. Farming itself wasn't mentioned as such, Rachel Reeves focused on the government's agenda for growth and plans to build more homes. We speak to a professor from Newcastle University's Centre for Rural Economy to assess what it means for agriculture and rural communities.

All this week we're looking at eggs, and today we focus on the farms which supply laying hens. We visit a pullet rearer which supplies egg producing farms with four million birds a year.

The House of Lords Environment Committee is investigating nitrogen pollution in waterways and the air. It's been hearing evidence from the Office for Environmental Protection, a government body set up to ensure compliance with environmental laws. They're investigating Defra after Defra gave advice to farmers which didn't comply with the Farming Rules for Water - the regulations which aim to stop farmers causing pollution to waterways from fields and slurry.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


THU 06:00 Today (m002974q)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m002974s)
Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), who was part of the movement known as phenomenology. While less well-known than his contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, his popularity has increased among philosophers in recent years. Merleau-Ponty rejected Rene Descartes’ division between body and mind, arguing that the way we perceive the world around us cannot be separated from our experience of inhabiting a physical body. Merleau-Ponty was interested in the down-to-earth question of what it is actually like to live in the world. While performing actions as simple as brushing our teeth or patting a dog, we shape the world and, in turn, the world shapes us.

With

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield

Thomas Baldwin
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of York

And

Timothy Mooney
Associate Professor of Philosophy at University College, Dublin

Produced by Eliane Glaser

Reading list:

Peter Antich, Motivation and the Primacy of Perception: Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of
Knowledge (Ohio University Press, 2021)

Dimitris Apostolopoulos, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Language (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019)

Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails (Chatto and Windus, 2016)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Basic Writings (Routledge, 2004)

Thomas Baldwin (ed.), Reading Merleau-Ponty (Routledge, 2007)

Renaud Barbaras (trans. Ted Toadvine and Leonard Lawlor), The Being of the Phenomenon: Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Indiana University Press, 2004).

Anya Daly, Merleau-Ponty and the Ethics of Intersubjectivity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016)

M. C. Dillon, Merleau-Ponty’s Ontology (Northwestern University Press, 1998, 2nd ed.)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Alden L. Fisher), The Structure of Behavior (first published 1942; Beacon Press, 1976)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Donald Landes), Phenomenology of Perception (first published 1945; Routledge, 2011)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-Sense (first published 1948; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Signs (first published 1960; Northwestern University Press, 1964)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Visible and the Invisible (first published 1964; Northwestern University Press, 1968)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (trans. Oliver Davis with an introduction by Thomas Baldwin), The World of Perception (Routledge, 2008)

Ariane Mildenberg (ed.), Understanding Merleau-Ponty, Understanding Modernism (Bloomsbury, 2019)

Timothy Mooney, Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception: On the Body Informed
(Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Katherine J. Morris, Starting with Merleau-Ponty (Continuum, 2012)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, Merleau-Ponty and Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Komarine Romdenh-Romluc, The Routledge Guidebook to Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge, 2011)

Jean-Paul Sartre (trans. Benita Eisler), Situations (Hamish Hamilton, 1965)

Hilary Spurling, The Girl from the Fiction Department (Penguin, 2003)

Jon Stewart (ed.), The Debate Between Sartre and Merleau-Ponty (Northwestern University Press, 1998)

Ted Toadvine, Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature (Northwestern University
Press, 2009)

Kerry Whiteside, Merleau-Ponty and the Foundation of an Existential Politics (Princeton University Press, 1988)

Iris Marion Young, On Female Body Experience: “Throwing Like a Girl” and Other Essays (Oxford University Press, 2005)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production


THU 09:45 Strong Message Here (m002974v)
Seizing the Narrative (with Stephen Bush)

Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.

Are Labour telling a good enough story? Who is the best storyteller in politics? How do you establish a narrative to take control of events, rather than let events define you? To answer these questions, Helen and Armando are joined by Associate Editor and Columnist for The Financial Times, Stephen Bush.

Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode.

Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

Sound Editing by Charlie Brandon-King
Production Coordinator - Katie Baum and Caroline Barlow
Executive Producer - Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.
An EcoAudio Certified Production.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m002974x)
Woman's Hour special: AI and women's health

Technology journalist and author Lara Lewington asks how artificial intelligence can improve women’s health, and what we are ready for it to do for us? From prevention and diagnostics to testing and tracking, we speak to female experts, scientists and practitioners.

Contributors:
Madhumita Murgia, AI Editor of the Financial Times
Nell Thornton, Improvement Fellow, The Health Foundation
Dr Ellie Cannon, GP and author
Dr Jodie Avery, Program manager, IMAGENDO
Meriem Sefta, Chief Diagnostics Officer, Owkin AI
Marina Pavlovic Rivas, Co-founder & CEO of Eli Health
Dr Lindsay Browning – Sleep expert and chartered psychologist

Producer: Sarah Crawley


THU 11:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0028d2q)
Series 32

Nature's Shapes - Dave Gorman, Sarah Hart and Thomas Woolley

Brian Cox and Robin Ince unpick the hidden codes behind the shapes we see in nature with mathematicians Sarah Hart & Thomas Woolley and comedian Dave Gorman.

The panel marvel at how evolution so often beats mathematicians to finding the most elegant solutions, after all, it’s had millennia to experiment. How do trees achieve the optimal distribution of leaves and why are tortoise shells so geometrically exciting?

Plus we learn why the cheetah got its spots, thanks to the work of Thomas Woolley’s mathematical hero, Alan Turing, how numbers can be more or less irrational, and why Dave Gorman has a vendetta against oblongs.

Producer: Melanie Brown
Exec Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Assistant Producer: Olivia Jani


THU 11:45 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m002974z)
Episode 4

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0029752)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 You and Yours (m0029754)
Gap Finders: Alex Partridge, founder of UniLab and LadBible, plus ADHD Chatter podcast

Alex Partridge spotted the potential of advertising on social media almost by accident, when he was a student.

He created UniLad in 2010 whilst studying at Oxford Brookes University, and then the following year started LadBible – both titles became well known for sharing entertaining, sometimes controversial content on their Facebook pages. They grew rapidly, millions followed them, and Alex spotted that he could sell advertising to put in front of all those eyes.

As they grew a lot of controversy followed - many saw their content as sexist and deliberately offensive - and in 2012 an article was published that trivialised rape. Alex issued an apology, sold LadBible in 2012, then took UniLad down briefly before entering in to a partnership and relaunching. All before a lengthy court battle around ownership – which he won.

By the age of 30 he had enough money to retire, but his battles with addiction had left him questioning the way he handled UniLad and LadBible, and a diagnosis of ADHD has led him to use his creative and business skills to make the podcast ADHD Chatter and become a leading voice in mental health and wellbeing.

PRESENTER: Winifred Robinson
PRODUCER: Dave James


THU 12:32 Sliced Bread (m0029756)
Dough - Watches

What is keeping the traditional watch industry ticking over?

The entrepreneur, Sam White, hosts Dough - the BBC Radio 4 series which looks at the business behind profitable everyday products and where the smart money might take them next.

In each episode, Sam, and the futurist, Tom Cheesewright, are joined by product manufacturers and industry experts whose inside knowledge gives a new appreciation for the everyday things that we often take for granted.

Together they look back on a product’s earliest (sometimes ridiculous!) iterations, discuss how a product has evolved and the trends which have driven its profitability.

In this episode on traditional watches, they hear from expert guests including:

-Mike France - a co-founder of the British watchmaking company, Christoper Ward
-Fflur Roberts - Head of Luxury Goods at the data analytics company, Euromonitor International
-Laura McCreddie-Doak - a freelance watch journalist who has written for publications including Wired, GQ & The Times

They trade opinions on traditional watches 'game-changing' innovations and their most pointless, or least effective, ones too, before Tom draws on his expertise as a futurist to imagine what the wristwatch might be like in the decades to come.

Dough is produced by Jon Douglas and is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in the spring when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.

In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds


THU 12:57 Weather (m0029758)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m002975b)
Trump puts 25% tariffs on car imports

We get reaction to President Trump's new import taxes on cars and car parts - and ask how realistic it is that the UK will get an exemption from this or any future tariff announcements. We also hear from the Environment Agency after new data shows England's sewage spills hit a new record last year. Plus, the new Welsh National Opera project aiming to help people suffering with persistent pain.


THU 13:45 Human Intelligence (m00298tj)
Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson

Sir Patrick Manson shook the medical world when he first understood the infection route for vector-borne diseases like malaria. Naomi Alderman dissects the thinking of a scientific pioneer.

In the late 1800s, no one knew how this kind of illness was spread. Manson, a Scottish physician working in China and later in a home laboratory in London, doggedly pursued the answer. Known as the father of tropical medicine, his understanding has undoubtedly saved lives, although he hoped it would also further the Empire. Where might his discovery take us in future?

Special thanks to Kristen Hussey, Lecturer in Environmental History at Newcastle University and author of Imperial Bodies in London (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021).

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


THU 14:00 The Archers (m002975g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Faith, Hope and Glory (m002975j)
Series 5

Jimmy and Cynthia

By Roy Williams

1988. August Bank Holiday. Hope’s son, Jimmy, throws a garden party to impress family and his new white friends. But his desperate pursuit of what he considers success creates family tensions and attracts some unwelcome attention. Has he gone too far?

Jimmy ..... Michael Ajao
Cynthia ..... Ayesha Antoine
Sheila ..... Keziah Joseph
Connor ...... Eugene O’Hare
DC Rogers ..... Dan Li

Production Co-ordinators are Maggie Olgiati and Jenny Mendez
Produced and directed by Pat Cumper
A BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4.

Faith, Hope and Glory began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK from 1946. Three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock.

It's now 1988. Faith, Hope and Gloria are retired and widowed, and our focus shifts to the lives of their children and grandchildren.

A generation of younger Black Britons are making their way with varying success in Thatcher’s Britain. Old identities are being tested and new relationships within, and between, diverse communities are flourishing. Carnivals and festivals celebrate their presence and contribution to British life.


THU 15:00 This Natural Life (m002975l)
Raynor Winn

Author of The Salt Path Raynor Winn takes Martha Kearney back to walk part of it: the south west coast path from Polruan in Cornwall, where her story ended and where the new film of her book is set. She talks about what nature means to her and how it effectively saved her life, and that of her husband, Moth. They set out to walk the 630 mile coast path when they lost their home and livelihood, and Moth was diagnosed with a terminal illness. They walked through it all and came out at the other end with renewed hope.

Raynor Winn is a long-distance walker and writer whose first book, The Salt Path, was a bestseller. Since then she's published The Wild Silence and Landlines, which also ends in Polruan, where she lived for some time. She grew up on a farm in Staffordshire and has always lived in the countryside. She tells Martha Kearney about her isolated rural childhood and how she feels most at home in nature. Her experience of homelessness changed her view of what home is. On a surprisingly blue and sunny but blustery day they walk the path as she and her husband did and Raynor recalls that time and reflects on how that experience has changed her.

Producer: Beth O'Dea


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m002975n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Feedback (m002975q)
Announcement of the end of an era on Radio 4. BBC Sounds and Ireland

Andrea Catherwood shares exclusive news of the end of a long-running Radio 4 programme. Frequent contributors and the programme's commissioning editor give their thoughts on the well-known brand as it nears its final episode.

BBC Sounds is soon to become unavailable outside of the UK. Listeners from all over the world have been in touch to voice their disappointment about the changes, and we've heard in particular from people in the Republic of Ireland who tune into BBC Radio content from north of the border. Will the geo-blocking cause unintended political ramifications? Andrea discusses the issue with Shane Harrison, former BBC correspondent in Dublin.

Presenter: Andrea Catherwood
Producer: Pauline Moore
Assistant Producer: Rebecca Guthrie
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


THU 16:00 The Briefing Room (m002975s)
What is Putin's bottom line?

Securing peace in Ukraine is proving harder than President Trump first thought. Separate talks between US officials and Ukrainian and Russian representatives were held in Saudi Arabia a few days ago. But the tentative ceasefire they reached just for shipping in the Black Sea has already hit problems with Moscow demanding certain sanctions are lifted if it’s to comply. And achieving a full ceasefire that Russia will accept still seems as elusive as ever. David Aaronovitch and guests ask what Putin’s bottom line on Ukraine really is? Have his long term aims changed and what might he accept?

Guests:
Vitaly Shevchenko, Russia Editor for BBC Monitoring
Sir Laurie Bristow, President of Hughes Hall at Cambridge University and the former U.K. ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020.
Angela Stent, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former US National Intelligence Officer for Russia.
Mark Galeotti, writer on Russian security affairs and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Bethan Ashmead Latham
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m002975v)
Is everything we know about the universe wrong?

For the last week or so, the world of physics has had just one conversation.

Have we found a new way of understanding the universe? And if so, what does this mean for our understanding of how we all came to exist – and even our fate?

These big questions were prompted by new data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument team at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. To explain what was found, whether it’s right and just how excited we should be, we’re joined by astrophysics professor Catherine Heymans and cosmologist Andrew Pontzen.

Also this week, what became of the Winchcombe meteorite? We attempt to explain some seriously advanced maths in less than two minutes, and Penny Sarchet from the New Scientist brings us her picks of the week’s science news.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Gerry Holt, Ella Hubber & Sophie Ormiston
Reporter: Gareth Mitchell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth


THU 17:00 PM (m002975x)
Reeves may have to raise taxes - IFS

Cabinet minister Pat McFadden joins us.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m002975z)
The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns of difficult decisions to come for Rachel Reeves.


THU 18:30 Dan Tiernan: Going Under (m0029761)
Dan Tiernan doesn't just perform stand up - he attacks it. In Going Under, he debuts his unique brand of furious, unpredictable and wildly entertaining comedy on the radio, covering living with dyspraxia, becoming a dinner lady, and his sister's cancer diagnosis.

An exhilarating mix of raw personal chaos, cutting observations, and gloriously queasy gags, recorded live at Backyard Comedy Club.

Written and Performed by Dan Tiernan
Produced by Ewan McAdam

Production Manager - Laura Shaw
Executive Producer - Charlie Dinkin
A Daddy's SuperYacht Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0029763)
Eddie approaches Neil in the Bull. The awkward atmosphere between them dissipates as they share fellow feeling over the predicament of their wives regarding tomorrow’s decision about the remaining job in the dairy. Both women are trying not to think about it and remain philosophical. Eddie’s heard a rumour Martyn Gibson’s on the board of Borsetshire Water, but when he realises it’s news to Neil he thinks maybe it’s not true. Neil speculates that it would make sense though, given Martyn’s reaction to the campaign. They could check the website. They go on to chat about George. Eddie acknowledges how painful it must have been for Neil and Susan to report him to the police. The pair agree it’s been good to chat, and that they care about one another.
Emma and Robert make tea before the parish council meeting. Emma’s made the decision to resign – she has no fight for it left in her, and she’s had enough of people talking about her in meetings. Robert’s dismayed. They’re interrupted by Mick, who announces his intention to speak at the meeting. He makes a heartfelt plea to the assembled councillors, extolling Emma’s virtues; he’d like to withdraw his complaint. Afterwards in the Bull Emma declares Mick’s speech brilliant. She appreciates it. Mick doesn’t know about that, but Robert’s words the other day helped him see the error of his ways. Robert reckons they should now let the matter rest. They join Eddie and Neil, and a toast is proposed to Susan and Clarrie: the best of women.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0029765)
Review: The Studio, Grayson Perry, La Cocina

For our review programme Tom Sutcliffe is joined by critics Dorian Lynskey and Briony Hanson.
They are looking at:
New comedy series The Studio, set in Hollywood and starring Seth Rogan and Catherine O’Hara.
Delusions of Grandeur, Grayson Perry’s new exhibition where he selects items from the Wallace Collection, adds 40 new works and a new alter ego.
And the film La Cocina, which gives an insight into the drama of a bustling New York Times Square restaurant kitchen where the largely illegal immigrant workers are serving up to 3000 covers a day.
Plus an assessment of Netflix's most viewed limited series ever, Adolescence.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Claire Bartleet


THU 20:00 The Media Show (m0029767)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Wednesday]


THU 21:00 Loose Ends (m0027txs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


THU 21:45 Strong Message Here (m002974v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0029769)
King Charles cancels engagements following cancer side effects

Buckingham Palace says the King had to return to hospital briefly - after experiencing temporary side-effects from his cancer treatment. Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney, says the US is no longer a reliable partner. Words with no English equivalent make it into the OED. Economic competition in the Artic. And the Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer on his hit Netflix show.


THU 22:45 Twist by Colum McCann (m002976c)
Episode Nine

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean – from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. As read by Declan Conlon.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets John Conway, the mysterious chief of mission on a cable repair ship.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections.

The Author
Colum McCann’s seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents.

Reader: Declan Conlon
Author: Colum McCann
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 23:00 The Today Podcast (m002976f)
JD Vance: does Trump’s VP really hate Europe?

Messages accidentally sent to a journalist by senior members of the Trump administration reveal information about strikes on the Houthis in Yemen and what Vice President JD Vance privately thinks about America’s European allies. Nick and Amol talk to James Orr, who Vance once described as his “British sherpa”, about the vice president's views and how much influence he has on President Trump (7:12).

And after a huge response to last week’s episode we hear some of your messages about the issues raised by the hit Netflix drama Adolescence (42:35).

You can listen to Adolescence and the Crisis of Masculinity here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00290bg

Amol’s full interview with Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ktfd2w

To get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories and insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme make sure you hit subscribe on BBC Sounds. That way you’ll get an alert every time they release a new episode.

GET IN TOUCH:
* Send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346
* Email today@bbc.co.uk

The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson who are both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.

This episode was made by Lewis Vickers with Izzy Rowley and Grace Reeve. Digital production was by Grace Reeve. The technical producers were Mike Regaard and Michal Gorecki. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m002976h)
Alicia McCarthy reports as Labour MPs protest about proposed welfare cuts.

FRIDAY 28 MARCH 2025

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m002976k)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m002974z)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m002976m)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m002976p)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:00 News Summary (m002976r)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:04 Yesterday in Parliament (m002976t)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster as MPs react to British Steel threatening closure


FRI 05:34 Shipping Forecast (m002976w)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m002976y)
I Just Like Cake - All Types of Cakes

Good morning.

They say that confession is good for the soul, so I want to admit that I'm a cake fiend. I just like cake - all types of cake - chocolate cake, fruit cake, Victoria sponges, Madeira cake, carrot cake - you name it. If it's cake then it has my attention.

I say all of this for two reasons: the first is that today is National Black Forest Gateau Day – yes a special day dedicated to that most famous of cakes, which also happens to be a particular favourite of mine. The second is that during Lent I decided to abstain from cake, which has been really good for my waistline and wallet, but not necessarily my taste buds. Consequently I'm doing my best to avoid the cake aisle at the local supermarket, and the patisseries and bakeries where I live.

I suppose my liking for cake stems back to when I was a child, and my mother would bake a cake every Sunday. I would always help her so I could get to lick the cake mix from the mixing spoon. And I would always be the one to eat the first slice of the cake when it was baked.

In a strange way, I suppose cakes, or eating cakes, remind me of my late mother. Pleasant memories of pleasurable times. With this Sunday being Mothering Sunday, and given that Sunday allows us a Lenten indulgence, I will be treating myself to a slice of cake, possibly Black Forest Gateau, as a tiny reminder of my mother, and all that she meant to me.

So let us be thankful for the precious memories we have of those special people who made a massive difference in our lives.

Amen.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0029770)
28/03/25 Investigation into supply chain arbitration, sexing chicks in eggs, small island dairy

Farmers are too afraid to use a government system that was set-up to improve their relationship with the supermarkets, according to a new investigation by BBC One’s Countryfile.

All week we've been looking at the egg industry. Yesterday we heard about pullets, the young female chicks that grow into laying hens. But for every egg that hatches a female chick, there's another that hatches male, and cockerels can't lay eggs, which obviously renders them useless for egg producers. In the UK these chicks are gassed at one day old, but in Europe techniques are being used to sex the chicks before they're hatched, whilst still in the egg.

St Agnes is the most southerly of the Isles of Scilly. It's home to the Hicks family and their very small herd of dairy cows. The herd provides milk for the island’s residents, around 80 people, and summer ice cream for the tourists. For this Sunday's edition of our sister programme On Your Farm Sarah Swadling went to meet them.

Presented by Anna Jones and produced by Beatrice Fenton.


FRI 06:00 Today (m00297cz)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (m00297d1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:00 on Sunday]


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m00297d3)
Stacey Dooley, Lily Gladstone, Ask for Angela, Motherhood

In the documentary Growing up Gypsy Stacey Dooley gets to know three young English Romany Gypsy women. Invited into the traditionally private community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act the young women face growing up in one of Britain’s most maligned ethnic minorities. She meets 23 year old Chantelle who prides herself in keeping with the ‘old’ Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her and shares her ‘Gypsy Cleaning’ videos on social media where she has nearly 400,000 followers on TikTok and 15 million likes on her page. Chantelle joins Kylie Pentelow to talk about her life, alongside Stacey Dooley.

If you've been in a pub you might have seen the posters which tells you to Ask for Angela at the bar if you feel unsafe. In response to hearing the word "Angela", trained staff should offer to help you leave the property safely. The national scheme was set up in 2016 to help anyone who is feeling vulnerable on a night out to get the support they need. It was named after Angela Crompton, who was killed by her husband in 2012. Her name becoming the codeword. However, recent BBC secret filming revealed that more than half of venues visited failed to respond correctly, with many staff members completely unaware of what to do. Angela's daughter Hollie explains why she is calling for government action to ensure it is implemented properly.

The Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone is the first Native American woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award – and the first indigenous woman to win a Best Actress Golden Globe, both for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon. Now she's starring in the romantic comedy The Wedding Banquet. Lily explains her character's journey through IVF, how she chooses roles and the responsibility she feels in representing her community.

In the 1970s, British sociologist, Professor Ann Oakley, led a ground-breaking project called Becoming a Mother. She spoke to over 50 first-time mothers before and after they gave birth. What she found reshaped how we think about motherhood and started a sea-change in practice and policy around maternity care. Now a new project takes that legacy forward. It’s called 50 Years of Becoming a Mother and is led by Professor Ann Oakley and Dr Charlotte Faircloth at the UCL Social Research Institute. They will revisit the original mothers, and study 55 new mothers, to understand how women’s experiences of motherhood have changed over the last 5 decades.

Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Editor: Karen Dalziel


FRI 11:00 The Food Programme (m00297d5)
When Saturday Comes

Restaurant critic and lifelong Charlton Athletic fan Jimi Famurewa finds out how football clubs are upping their game when it comes to serving food for their fans. He’ll taste the world at AFC Wimbledon’s Food Village, hear how Forest Green Rovers went vegan and discover the secret liquor behind Leyton Orient’s pie and mash. Food writers Jack Peat and Daniel Gray pitch in with their thoughts on a world that has moved far beyond Bovril and burnt burgers.

Presented by Jimi Famurewa
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell

The Bovril Song was composed by Roger Jackson and Phil Nicholl and performed by Sing! Cambridge in 2013
Football commentary courtesy of BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Nottingham


FRI 11:45 Underdogs by Joel Budd (m00297d7)
Episode 5

In the introduction to his new book, The Economist journalist and author, Joel Budd describes himself as middle class by every conceivable measure.

He goes on, "I am interested in white working-class Britons not because I want to understand myself but because I want to understand Britain. I cannot see how anybody, from any class or ethnic group, can claim knowledge of the country if they overlook three in ten of its inhabitants. And if that is not enough reason, consider that important decisions affecting everybody in Britain are taken with white working-class people primarily in mind."

No large group of people in Britain is as badly misunderstood as the white working class. Its members have been caricatured as grumpy and backward-looking, as incorrigibly xenophobic, even racist – a tired and simplistic narrative perpetuated by commentators and the media. The truth is entirely different.

Thirty years ago, almost nobody talked about the white working class - in the House of Commons and the House of Lords the term had been used just three times in the previous two decades. Brexit helped to turn the group into a towering social and political force. But, in the aftermath, one-third of the population has been reduced to a cartoon. 

Underdogs explores the myths around the stereotype and visits some of the places where Britain’s white working class live. From heartland towns such as Rhymney in South Wales to the idiosyncratic enclave of Theftord in Norfolk, Joel Budd meets people who although they vary in age and income, are proudly working class. Along the way the subculture of car modification and the decline of the armed robber (due to changes in workplace conditions) are both analysed and celebrated.

Music : Opening song – Oi Oi by Franko Fraize, closing song – Underdogs by Franko Fraize

Written by Joel Budd
Read by Daniel Weyman
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
The Waters Company for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m00297d9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Rare Earth (m00297dc)
How to Clean Up the Shipping Industry

The shipping industry is an enormous source of pollution. Ships burn dirty fuel oil that helps contribute to the industry's global carbon emissions and even in port they continue to belch out noxious fumes that pollute the air of many of our major port cities. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski search for the solutions, from a return to sailing ships to new fuels - and even the possibility of ships being more like penguins - with a panel including:

Paddy Rodgers, Director (Chief Executive) of Royal Museums Greenwich and former CEO of Euronav

Tristan Smith, Professor of Energy and Transport, Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources (UCL)

Aoife O’Leary, CEO of Opportunity Green

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Assistant Producers: Toby Field and Harrison Jones

Rare Earth is produced in association with the Open University


FRI 12:57 Weather (m00297df)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m00297dh)
An earthquake hits Myanmar

Dozens of construction workers are missing after a building collapses in Bangkok following an earthquake. Reform deputy leader Richard Tice launches the party's local election campaign.


FRI 13:45 Human Intelligence (m002975d)
Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer

Naomi Alderman looks at the mindset and legacy of Ida Pfeiffer, a woman who changed the very idea of travel, who is allowed to do it and why.

Traditionally, travelling had always had a purpose – conquering, discovering, negotiating, pilgrimaging. Women were always accompanied by men – husbands, fathers, brothers, guardians. But in the mid-nineteenth century, a separated mother of two upped sticks and travelled twice around the world, all because she wanted to.

Ida Pfeiffer went on bush expeditions with tiger hunters in India and had dinner with Queen Pomare IV of Tahiti. She spent her fiftieth birthday riding camels through Iran. So many people must have yearned for this kind of adventure, thought about it, but never turned the idea into reality. Pfeiffer made it happen. But what was so different about her thinking?

Special thanks to John van Wyhe, historian of science at the National University of Singapore and author of Wanderlust: The Amazing Ida Pfeiffer, the First Female Tourist (National University of Singapore Press, 2020).

Produced by BBC Studios Audio in partnership with The Open University.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0029763)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Limelight (p0d0b9kg)
One Five Seven Years

4. Saul

Imagine you could live for two lifetimes. Would you want to? How would it change you and those you love? What would you do with all those extra years? What second chances might you get? Would this be a blessing or a curse?

This world is an alternative version of our own. Except in this world, a minority of people are discovered to have Extended Life Syndrome (ELS). The condition might give an "Elser" two decades in their thirties, two in their forties, double the time in their fifties, and so on. Little is understood of the biological factors that govern ELS except that it affects a random selection of people. It is the ultimate lottery of genetics, crossing class, race, culture and gender.

And if a simple test existed to check your DNA for this double life, would you take it? Would you want to know?

Now think again. Would you?

Retired couple Elia and Mark are celebrating their pearl wedding anniversary when they discover one of them has ELS. The bond between them is tested as they deal with the fallout and face up to a momentous decision.

Written by Vanessa Montfort

Cast:
Elia ….. Raquel Cassidy
Mark ….. James Wilby
Simon ….. Ben Crowe
Anne ….. Clare Corbett
Keith ….. Jonathan McGuinness
Carol ….. Rosie Cavaliero
Saul ….. Joel MacCormack

Other voices played by the cast

Sound Design ….. Adam Woodhams and Steve Bond
Theme Music ….. Ioana Selaru and Axel Kacoutié

Academic Consultants ….. Tamas David-Barrett & James Fasham
Executive Producer ….. Sara Davies

Series created by Marietta Kirkbride
Directed and Produced by Nicolas Jackson

An Afonica production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 14:45 Why Do We Do That? (p0kv9xck)
Series 2

10. Why do we dance?

Dance seems like such a natural thing, a good beat comes on and you can’t help it, you might find yourself bobbing, even the rhythmically impaired might find themselves tapping their fingers along to the music and it starts early - one study has shown that babies as young as 5 months engage in rhythmic movements.
Every culture on earth dances and yet look around at the rest of the animal kingdom… besides birds, can we say that other animals dance? Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi asks why do we dance?


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m00297dm)
Ridgewell

How do I keep my gladioli coming back?  Why are my hellebores covered in black spots? Why do my courgettes go mouldy so quickly?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of plant and gardening experts are offering advice to an audience of keen gardeners in Ridgewell, Essex. Joining Kathy are grow-your-own guru Bob Flowerdew, garden designer Bunny Guinness, and gardener Matthew Pottage.

Later in the programme, we hear from Peter Gibbs about the increasing number of sponge cities in the UK.

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m00297dp)
A Little Fine

"Everything is more perfect in the story inside your head..."

A man returning home finds old connections strained by a long absence.
Reader Manu Kurewa
Written by Tendai Huchu
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Tendai Huchu was born in Zimbabwe and lives in Edinburgh. He is the author of "The Hairdresser of Harare" and the Edinburgh Nights series of contemporary fantasy novels for young adults.
Manu Kurewa is an actor, artist and filmmaker whose work has been shown around the world and won a number of awards at major international festivals. He is currently developing his first feature film.

A BBC Audio Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m00297dr)
Oleg Gordievsky, Renee Goddard, Professor Richard Fortey, Sofia Gubaidulina

Matthew Bannister on Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB agent who defected to Britain and became a valued source of secret intelligence during the 1970s and 80s.

Renee Goddard, the actress and TV commissioner who fled Nazi persecution only to be interned in Britain.

Professor Richard Fortey, the palaeontologist who used his expertise in trilobites to tell stories about the origins of life on earth. Bill Bryson pays tribute.

Sofia Gubaidulina, the composer whose large scale religious works attracted criticism from the Soviet authorities.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive: Friendly Enemy Aliens, BBC Radio 4, 1980; Kaleidoscope: Simon’s War, BBC Radio 4, 1984; Year of the Great Betrayal, BBC Radio 4, 1977; Reni and the Brownshirts, BBC Radio 4, 2002; Lisel, BBC Radio 4, 1955; Desert Island Discs : Oleg Gordievsky, Radio 4, 10/02/2008; In the Psychiatrist's Chair : Oleg Gordievsky, BBC Radio 4, 26/07/2015; BBC News, 15/12/1984; BBC News, 15/10/1990;


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m00297dt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m00297dw)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m00297dy)
There are fears thousands may have died across the region in the 7.7 magnitude tremor.


FRI 18:30 The Naked Week (m00297f0)
Series 2

Performing, Potholes and Paddington

The Naked Week team are back to place satirical news-tariffs on current events with a mix of correspondents, guests and, occasionally, live animals.

This week we Spring (Statement) into action with a timely tune for - and by - Rachel Reeves, explore a pothole that's opened up in the programme, and accidentally get added to Radio 4's Group Chat.

From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes and host Andrew Hunter Murray comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news in the altogether and parading it around for everyone to laugh at.

With award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists - and recorded in front of a live audience - The Naked Week delivers a topical news-nude straight to your ears.

Written by:
Jon Holmes
Katie Sayer
Gareth Ceredig
Sarah Dempster
Jason Hazeley

Investigations Team:
Cat Neilan
Louis Mian
Freya Shaw
Matt Brown

Guests: Ania Magliano, Bethany Reeves, with music by The Naked Week Wind Section.

Production Team: Laura Grimshaw, Tony Churnside, Jerry Peal, Katie Sayer, Phoebe Butler.

Executive Producer: Philip Abrams
Produced and Directed by Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m00297f2)
Helen tells Clarrie that Susan’s got the job. Clarrie’s pleased for Susan, and entreats Helen not to get upset as it doesn’t help. Helen goes through the process for Clarrie, telling her she doesn’t have to work her notice. But Clarrie insists; she just wants to get back to work, while she can. She tells Susan she just wants an ordinary day, and Susan’s happy to oblige. Clarrie admits to feeling a bit sorry for Helen, but Susan retorts that’s for Helen to deal with.

Mick intimates to Rochelle that Joy has filled him in on their troubled past. It becomes clear to Rochelle that Joy hasn’t told him the whole story. Rochelle tells shocked Mick that the ‘couple of days’ Joy referred to when she said she’d gone away was actually more like a couple of months. Rochelle also discloses she had to deal with their dog dying that summer, assisted by a lad she barely knew. When Joy arrives home and tells them about Constanza, Rochelle makes a barbed comment about disposing of a dead llama. Catching up with the conversation, Joy insists a lot of what Rochelle’s said isn’t true. Rochelle sticks to her guns and Joy defends herself, pointing out she was in a bad way. Rochelle accuses her of blocking out everything that happened. She conveniently forgets and it’s exhausting. Distraught Joy leaves the room, returning with an overnight bag. She needs some time away and will be back soon. Mick protests but Joy’s adamant. Neither Mick nor Rochelle have a clue what to do.


FRI 19:15 Add to Playlist (m00297f4)
Natalie Duncan and Richard Stilgoe celebrate the Red Planet

Lyricist Richard Stilgoe and musician and songwriter Natalie Duncan prepare for a square dance as they add five more tracks to the playlist. With Anna Phoebe and Jeffrey Boakye, they head from Scottish reels to Mars, via California's Santa Monica Boulevard.

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

The five tracks in this week's playlist:

Eightsome Reel by The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra
Scotch Rhapsody by William Walton & Edith Sitwell
All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Mars by Gustav Holst

Other music in this episode:

King by Years & Years
Hoedown by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Boil 'em Cabbage Down, trad, performed by Mark O'Connor
Candy by Cameo


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m00297f6)
Torsten Bell MP, Stephanie Flanders, Sarah Olney MP, Helen Whately MP

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, with Labour MP Torsten Bell, a minister in the Treasury and the department for work & pensions; journalist and economist Stephanie Flanders, head of government and economics at Bloomberg; Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokesperson Sarah Olney MP; and Conservative MP Helen Whately, the shadow secretary of state for work and pensions.

Producer: Paul Martin
Lead broadcast engineer: Chris Weightman


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m00297f8)
Our Revels Now Are Ended

Howard Jacobson reflects on the radio essay, after almost two decades of A Point of View.

With nods to Clive James, body-pierced baritones and with a plentiful supply of svelte notebooks, Howard explains why he believes the radio essay is 'more than words on paper'...why it captures the 'frolicsome spirit of truth'.

And, Howard writes, 'at a time when we no longer have the concentration to read entire books, and what we do read leads us into the arms of madmen, we should love the shards of scepticism with which the best essays dazzle us.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Liam Morrey
Editor: Penny Murphy


FRI 21:00 Free Thinking (m00297fb)
The Middle Classes

Matthew Sweet and guests discuss the impact of the shifting geo political and economic trends on the British class system with specialist guests.
Muriel Zagha is a writer and critic and Author of Finding Monsieur Right and co-host of the podcast Garlic and Pearls.
Lisa Holdsworth is a Leeds based TV script writer who has worked on amongst others Emmerdale, Midsomer Murders, Robin Hood, New Tricks and Waterloo Road. Her latest series Dreamers premiers on Channel 4 this weekend.
Professor Sam Friedman is a sociologist of class and inequality. His latest book with Aaron Reeves is Born To Rule exploring how the British elite has changed over the last 120 years.
Lord Willetts is the President of the Resolution Foundation’s Advisory Council and of the Intergenerational Commission and Chair of the UK Space Agency. He is a visiting Professor at King’s College London and Chair of the Foundation for Science and Technology. Earlier this month he was appointed as Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office.
Professor Melinda Mills is a demographer based at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, who will talk about new research which suggests that socio-economic status ia social construct with heritable component and genetic consequences.

Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m00297fd)
Hundreds dead in Myanmar after earthquake

Hundreds of people are dead in Myanmar with fears for many more after a powerful earthquake struck the centre of the country. The tremors were felt throughout the region. In Thailand's capital Bangkok, rescuers have worked through the night and into the early morning to find survivors from a partially-built skyscraper which collapsed during the quake.

Also on the programme, the Labour MP Diane Abbott has criticised the government's intervention against the Sentencing Council, which has rejected a bid to amend new sentencing guidelines due to come into force on Tuesday.

And Richard Burton's native village in South Wales prepares for an increase in cinephiles as a biopic of his early life is released.


FRI 22:45 Twist by Colum McCann (m00297fg)
Episode Ten

A propulsive novel of rupture and repair in the digital age, delving into a hidden world deep under the ocean – from the New York Times bestselling author of Apeirogon and Let the Great World Spin. As read by Declan Conlon.

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at an unfathomable depth.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets John Conway, the mysterious chief of mission on a cable repair ship.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections.

The Author
Colum McCann’s seven novels and three collections of short stories have been published in over forty languages and received some of the world’s most prestigious literary awards and honours, including the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin in 2009. His novel TransAtlantic was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013, and his most recent novel, Apeirogon, also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is an international bestseller on four continents.

Reader: Declan Conlon
Author: Colum McCann
Abridger: Rowan Routh
Producer: Michael Shannon

A BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 23:00 Americast (p0l0j63t)
Can Donald Trump shrug off the Signal chat leak?

What constitutes a ‘war plan’ and when is information ‘classified’?

After the revelation that the editor of The Atlantic was included in a sensitive group chat discussing plans to bomb Yemen, the magazine has taken the decision to publish the whole conversation discussing operational details of the attack.

The publication says it took the decision after repeated statements from top Republicans stating that no classified information was revealed to Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg.

As the fallout continues from the leak, the Americast team discuss how the mistake will impact Donald Trump, the White House strategy for dealing with the crisis, and whether could prompt the first firing of Trump's second term.

HOSTS:
• Sarah Smith, North America Editor
• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
• Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter
• Marianna Spring, Social Media Investigations Correspondent

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

This episode was made by George Dabby with Catherine Fusillo, Claire Betzer and Julia Webster. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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

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

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


FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (m00297fl)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as MPs consider who should own water companies.