The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
'The struggle for the Great Reform Bill of 1832 took place a the crossroads of English history.' - so says Antonia Fraser in her lively and insightful account of the political change that took take place during this period.
Times were in flux. The Industrial Revolution was underway. The reverberations of the French Revolution were still being felt. And the country would be ruled by a new monarch, William IV.
And political change, who and how we would vote, was now in the spotlight. Put there mainly by the
Age-old corruption, rotten boroughs, even hereditary peers would feel these winds of change. But how would the Bill be made law? Bumpily and dramatically, as it turned out, and its path is followed in five episodes, which are abridged by Katrin Williams:
5. Reform of Britain's voting system wins the day and the Bill becomes law. 'It is difficult
to believe that it is done' - is the consensus, after months of dramatic debate and
Reader Adrian Scarborough.
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
Listener Lydia Guthrie has for the last fifteen years worked directly with sex offenders - she talks to Jennifer Tracey about why we need to rehabilitate them back into society. Also veteran songwriter and chair of the Ivor Novello awards, Gary Osbourne, explains how modern songs are made and why so many people get involved. Reading 'Your News' Radio 1 Sony Award winner Chris Smith.
With Jennifer Tracey. iPM@bbc.co.uk.
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
Felicity Evans visits the Minack Theatre at Porthcurno, in the far west of Cornwall. Built into the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea, the theatre was planned, built and financed by one determined woman - Rowena Cade. Local storyteller Mark Harandon has researched and re-created the character of Billy Rawlings, Cade's gardener, who worked for her for 40 years and helped to build the theatre. Mark, as Billy, leads Felicity around the theatre telling stories collected from the family and people who knew him, and reminiscing about how the theatre was built.
Felicity explores the coast further, visiting the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, an area which was the hub of international cable communications from 1870-1970. In WWII secret tunnels were dug by Cornish miners to house an underground building and the entire telegraph operations. These bomb proof/gas proof tunnels provided 14 secure cables out of the UK to its allies.
Going east along the coast path from Porthcurno, near the village of Treen, stands The Logan Rock, a massive boulder perched on the edge of a cliff, and locally known as a rocking stone. Felicity hears how legend has it that it could be rocked with one finger, until it was rocked so much by a rowdy group of naval seamen 1824, that it was dislodged from its perch. This apparently upset local residents for whom the rock was a tourist attraction and source of income, who complained so much that the seamen were forced to restore it - at some effort!
Egg production in Britain is booming. We now consume 12 billion eggs a year. The industry is drawing in farmers from other sectors. Even the banning of 'caged birds' seems not to have affected the economics of the business. Charlotte Smith goes to one of the UK's biggest producers, the Happy Egg company, part of the Noble Foods Group, in Hertfordshire. She finds out how eggs are graded and why GM feed is now becoming standard, other than for organic eggs.
The inquest into the poisoning of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko may have to be abandoned because the judge in charge of it has ruled that any evidence involving Russia will have to be kept secret. The BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports and Annie Machon, former MI5 officer, explains that interested parties now have 14 days to challenge the decision.
How do we stop children in the care of the state from being abused and from having a rough start in life made worse? Jamie (not his real name), a care home manager, explains what it is like working with these children and why they need to be protected.
A campaign which warns women about "sleepwalking into infertility" is being launched today. Kate Garraway, a TV presenter, and Rosamund Urwin, an Evening Standard columnist, discuss whether women are already acutely aware of their ticking biological clocks.
This week fire-fighters took seven hours to rescue a woman from her flat that was so stuffed with junk that it spilled onto pavement when they broke in via an upstairs window. Jasmine Harman, a TV presenter whose mother is a hoarder, and Ian Sparks, who used to hoard newspapers in his bedroom which left him living in cramped, confined conditions, discuss the impact of living with unmanageable amounts of clutter.
How did the recession impact on people's lives in the UK? The Today programme's John Humphrys hears from people from Slough who reflect on their experiences over the last five years.
Caitlin Moran, Murray Lachlan Young, John McCarthy in Kosovo, Bonnie Tyler's Inheritance Tracks
Sian Williams & Richard Coles with writer Caitlin Moran, poet Murray Lachlan Young, and Andy Miller and his recording of Jimi Hendrix & Jim Morrison playing together. John McCarthy travels to Kosovo, JP Devlin drops in on Wolverhampton, listeners Joy Jones and Gillian Scott-Wood explain why their family has been sending each other the same birthday card for 64 years & Bonnie Tyler shares her Inheritance Tracks.
Paul Jackson visits the purpose-built TV studios of the longest running medical drama in the world. Born out of necessity (as a weapon in the weekly battle for audience-share on Saturday nights) "Casualty" has become one of BBC 1's most consistent performers.
Series in celebrating innovative TV programmes, whilst using them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.
Paul discusses the programme's origins with the show's creators (Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin) and the people who commissioned it and stood by it during its lean years (Lord Grade and Jonathan Powell). He assesses how much it has changed in its long life.
Featuring cast members Patrick Robinson (Ash) and the ever-present Derek Thompson who from the very first episode played Charlie Fairhead. Plus Pete Salt, the medical consultant on whom Charlie is based) and series producer Nikki Wilson.
Paul also gauges the future of the programme with the head of BBC 1's scheduling, Dan McGolpin.
Peter Oborne of the Daily Telegraph investigates the Tories and Europe. There's a playwright's view of politics, horror at the latest case of child grooming, and a limerick about UKIP.
Correspondents' stories from around the world: a field day for conspiracy theorists as the White House stumbles in a fog of political scandal; Libya's second city Benghazi is unstable, violent and there's uncertainty there over the presence and degree of influence of radical Islamists; as France slips back into recession, there's a trip to Lot-et-Garonne in the south west where they have their own ideas about how to cope in times of economic difficulty; to the holiday islands of Seychelles to find out why there are Somali pirates there practising their football skills. And it's noisy, dirty, the poverty's shocking, the traffic awful. So why is it so hard to say goodbye to Mumbai?
Marks & Spencer have equipped their tills with not just card readers but with dual function M&S card readers. They accept contactless cards in the same terminal as normal Chip and PIN transactions. But who decides which card is used to pay? The customer - or the terminal? Many listeners tell us the machine takes the payment from a random contactless card in their wallet before they put their chosen card into the machine.
The European Union has strict rules about when air passengers are compensated for delays and how much they get. A passenger who arrives more than 3 hours late is entitled to a payment of between ?250 and ?600 (about £200 to £500) depending on the length of the journey. It applies to any flight from an EU airport or any flight on an EU carrier into an EU airport. But if an airline makes excuses and refuses to pay up, who enforces the rules?
% return on investments of at least £2000 over five years. And it's an each way bet -
% cash and 3% in Rewards4Racing points which you can spend on tickets and refreshments at the Jockey Club's 15 racecourses. More than £3 billion has been poured into similar retail investment bonds issued over the last year by other firms. But are these bonds a good bet? Financial experts also unpick the merits of buying shares or investing in bond funds as part of your portfolio.
Around 3.5 million taxpayers are being sent cheques - typically between £350 and £500 - after overpaying their tax in 2012/13. But two million more will be less happy - they have had too little tax deducted and typically owe HMRC between £400 and £500. HMRC says these are not mistakes but simply a reconciliation. The programme explains what's happening.
Steve Punt and Jon Culshaw present a comedic look at the week's news, with Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin and Sara Pascoe.
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Fowey in Cornwall with Conservative Vice Chairman Michael Fabricant MP, Labour's Housing Minister Jack Dromey MP, Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne MP and the writer Jackie Malton who was the inspiration for Lynda La Plante's character DCI Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect. A former DCI in the Met Police, Jackie now works as a crime drama script advisor, is a writer herself and also works with ex offenders.
A chance for Radio 4 listeners to have their say on the issues discussed on Any Questions. Today, do issues of race or celebrity prevent police from doing their jobs properly when it comes to sexual crimes? Should suspects of serious crimes be named before they are charged, and do you think those who murder police officers should get longer sentences than other murderers? Call Anita Anand on 03700 100 444 or email any.answers@bbc.co.uk or tweet using #bbcaq.
The celebrated theatre director Bill Bryden adapts F Scott Fitzgerald's last and unfinished novel. Starring Aiden Gillen, Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Emmerson.
Haunted by the death of his wife, 1930s Studio Head Monroe Stahr works eighteen hour days, each one a collision of talent meetings, set visits, script brainstorms and preview screenings. He's the "last of the princes", is making the studio millions and seems bullet proof.
At the end of an epic day, an earthquake breaks two water mains, sending a roaring river of water through the studio. And with it, the huge floating head of the goddess Shiva - a film prop.
As Stahr leaves his office to inspect the damage he sees the head floating by and on it two women, one of them the mesmerising Kathleen.
As their affair plays out, we follow the disintegration of one of the great Hollywood legends, and also witness the darker heart of the Hollywood machine as a paranoid fear of communism comes to the fore.
It's a gorgeous, excruciating, heady tale - based on Fitzgerald's own painful experiences working in Hollywood as a screenwriter.
Weekend Woman's Hour. Yoko Ono; Princess Merida; Female Undertakers
Yoko Ono at 80 on curating Meltdown, her career and life with John Lennon. Merida's make-over: did Disney get in wrong? Sharleen Spiteri plays in the studio. Caryn Franklin and Daphne Selfe discuss whether there are more opportunities now for older models. Caring at home for a relative with dementia. Women in the funeral business. Lindsey Bareham Cooks the Perfect...Trifle.
Andy McNab, Jasper Gibson, Simon Reeve, Paulette Randall, Danny Wallace, John Grant, Allah-Las
This week Clive's secret mission is with novelist and former SAS operative Andy McNab, whose bestseller 'Bravo Two Zero' is the true story of eight members of the SAS regiment on a top secret mission to infiltrate deep behind enemy lines. The 20th Anniversary edition is available on 23rd May.
Clive treads the boards with theatre director Paulette Randall, currently directing Lenny Henry in August Wilson's 'Fences', the story of a once gifted athlete denied his turn at the big time and now struggling through daily life in Pittsburgh. It's at London's Duchess Theatre from Wednesday 19th June to Saturday 14th September.
Danny Wallace gets his ribs tickled by Jasper Gibson; co-founder of Britain's largest comedy website The Poke. His debut novel 'A Bright Moon For Fools' is the story of Harry Christmas. He is fat, unattractive, rude, deeply dishonest and unable to dance. On a mission to track down his late wife's ancestral village, Christmas lurches across rural Venezuela from one drunken crisis to another. As the real trouble begins, can redemption survive?
G'day Mate! Clive goes bush with adventurer and presenter Simon Reeve. Following the success of his Indian Ocean series, Simon embarks on another epic adventure, this time travelling across Australia. Simon encounters an extraordinary array of people and exotic wildlife, offering a unique insight into life in Down Under. 'Australia with Simon Reeve' starts on Sunday 19th May at
With music from LA based alt-rockers Allah-Las, who perform 'Tell Me (What's on Your Mind)' from their album 'Allah-Las'.
And a welcome return to former Czars frontman John Grant, who performs 'GMF' from his album 'Pale Green Ghosts'.
In the week in which the Eurovision Song Contest returns to its spiritual home in Sweden, and tensions simmer once again over Britain's future role in Europe, Sandi Toksvig imagines the fight for independence within one UK family.
To complement Radio Four's News and Current Affairs output, this award-winning weekly series presents a dramatic response to a major story from the week's news. Writers who have participated so far include: Lionel Shriver, David Edgar, Amelia Bulmore, Mark Lawson, Bonnie Greer, Laura Solon, Will Self, Alistair Beaton, Lemn Sissay, April de Angelis, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Adrian Mitchell, Stewart Lee, John Sergeant, Jo Shapcott, Ian McMillan, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Kate Mosse, Marina Warner, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, A. L. Kennedy and Lyn Coghlan.
Baz Luhrmann's long-awaited The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan hits the 3D screens promising a great party. F Scott Fitzgerald's book has had a troubled history in film... will Luhrmann be the one to make it work?
Propaganda: Power and Persuasion at the British Library is a major and thought-provoking new exhibition that brings together wartime material alongside public health messages, banknotes and social media. Does it make a convincing argument about the definition of propaganda?
Up the Women (BBC4) and Psychobitches (Sky Arts) are two new comedy shows highlighting women performers and writers; both star Rebecca Front. The number of women featuring in comedy has been the subject of scrutiny in recent years. How funny are these series?
The Round House by Louise Erdrich was the winner of the US National Book Award 2012. It's the story of Joe who lives on a North Dakota reservation. His mother is brutally raped and the book considers the aftermath of that attack, highlighting the difficulties of prosecuting the perpetrator as tribal and federal law fail to bring him to justice.
And Ibsen's play Public Enemy - more usually translated as An Enemy of the People - arrives at the Young Vic in a heavily cut, updated version with a striking set and performances. Does its story of an individual and the masses work for our times?
The novelist Louise Doughty and writers Ekow Eshun and Hadley Freeman join Tom Sutcliffe to review.
What makes a politician tick? How has the business of politics changed over time? Two remarkable archives, eighty years apart, offer some revealing answers.
In the 1930s, Colonel Josiah Wedgwood sent a questionnaire to a wide selection of politicians ranging from the greatest Minister of State to the lowliest backbencher, putting questions no one had the temerity to ask before - including how much they earned, their religious views, their trade or profession and what they most disliked about Parliament. The answers offered a snapshot of their times, class and personalities.
This portrait of political life has lain in the Archives of the History of Parliament Trust for 80 years. Now the Trust is repeating the exercise in a set revealing of audio interviews with veteran politicians who've spent their lives in Westminster. This programme compares and contrasts the two accounts.
The current generation remembers the War, the new Welfare State and Britain's declining global role. They worked through an era of industrial strife, economic uncertainty, social change, Thatcherism, Northern Ireland and mass media. Their careers saw a shift in how we regard politicians - from deference to suspicion.
What beliefs made them enter politics - and do they still retain them now? How did they deal with party, constituency, ministerial office? How did experiences of life outside Westminster - personal and professional - affect them and has something been lost in the gradual professionalisation of politics?
Matthew Parris looks at what has changed and what has remained constant about politics, and examines how individuals felt they could make a difference.
The fortunes of Twigg and Dersingham, Purveyors of Fine Veneers, of Angel Pavement London EC1 were foundering , until the mysterious James Golspie walked through their door.
Bearing a swatch of high quality samples from the Baltic at rock bottom prices, he has given the firm his sole agency on a commission only basis.
Overnight the firm's fortunes are transformed. Orders pour in from every quarter, wages are raised and, in this heady atmosphere, love blossoms.
Let us hope Mr Golspie and his veneers are the genuine article, for it's 1930 and it's very cold out there.
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.
"Though my parents were caring people, I could not escape my own sense of despair," she says. She discusses the influence of sadness on the imagination, and describes how this upbringing took her on a journey that gradually helped her imagine a life for herself as a fiction writer.
Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience.
Kevin O Brien's century for Ireland against England in the 2011 World Cup was the fastest of all time. Irish cricket fans had waited at least a hundred years to celebrate such a victory.
Before the game there had been precious few victories, but also precious few supporters and players to celebrate them. But after the match cricket fans in Ireland slowly started a whispering chorus of texts, tweets and emails, as the enormity of their team's achievement spread from the few who understood, to the masses who didn't.
On the state broadcaster RTE's main tea time show, their chief political correspondent finished a very serious report about the ongoing coalition talks and suddenly broke into an impassioned monologue to listeners:
'I don't know if you remember the Norwegian commentator the night when Norway beat England? He started shouting 'are you listening Maggie Thatcher?'. Well -.are you listening Geoffrey Boycott? Are you listening Mick Jagger? Are you listening Oliver Cromwell? Our boys just thrashed you at cricket!'
It was an extraordinary moment. Cricket had crashed into the national consciousness.
Ireland may have the third oldest cricket club in the world - Phoenix cricket club in Dublin - but in the centuries since it was established, there have been concerted efforts to ban it and relegate it to the bottom of Ireland's sporting fixtures. Viewed as unpatriotic and a colonial imposition, the GAA - the national sporting association - banned its members from playing or watching 'foreign sports'. Playing cricket became a political decision.
In Over the Boundary, Kevin Connolly tells the story of how cricket batted its way into Ireland's sporting arena.
Do you know at which cathedral the England cricket captain Alastair Cook was once a chorister? Or which eccentric musician fronted The Magic Band? The answers to these and many other musical questions are revealed in this week's edition of Counterpoint, chaired by Paul Gambaccini.
The contestants in the second heat hail from London and Bristol, and they'll be hoping their general musical knowledge will be wide enough to carry them through to a semi-final place.
They'll also have to face individual questions on a special musical topic which will be sprung on them completely out of the blue, with no chance to prepare. And there'll be plenty of musical extracts to identify, both familiar and surprising.
Roger McGough presents a wide selection of poetry requests. This week - fresh renditions of classic as well as contemporary poems, as some of the choices will be recited by teenagers taking part in the national Poetry by Heart competition finals. A Poetry Archive initiative, Andrew Motion has described the competition as "A way for 14- to 18-year olds to have serious fun while they extend their reading, deepen their powers of appreciation, and memorise beautiful and intriguing poems which will enrich their lives for ever."
Poems include Love From a Foreign City by Lavinia Greenlaw, a fantastic rendition of Welsh Incident by Robert Graves and a not to be missed recitation in Middle English from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
SUNDAY 19 MAY 2013
SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b01shpd4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
SUN 00:30 Brief Sparks (b019qm1n)
Ladies and Gentlemen
Muriel Spark had one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century writing, was capable of incisive and darkly-comic observation, and won prizes for her writing across the World.
Spark worked as a novelist, dramatist and children's author, but it is perhaps her short stories that best exemplify her sharp eye and beautifully-crafted work, where she coolly probes the idiosyncrasies that lurk beneath veneer of human respectability. The three stories in this series include the wry humour of social comedy 'The Snobs' and the sharp satire of class, aspiration and phobia in 'You Should Have Seen the Mess'.
Here, Muriel Spark enjoys a timely satire on the perils awaiting those who attempt to commit adultery, when a married man runs the terrible risk of taking a walk in the park with his young mistress. Read by Tracy-Ann Oberman.
Producer: David Roper
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shpd6)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shpd8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at
5.20am.
SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shpdb)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b01shpdd)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b01shqss)
The bells of the Church of St.Peter and St.Paul, Tonbridge, Kent.
SUN 05:45 Four Thought (b01sdmy5)
Series 4
Emma Byrne: Why We Swear
The science writer Emma Byrne argues that, far from tuning out, we should listen carefully when people swear, because they often do so for good reasons.
Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b01shpdg)
The latest national and international news.
SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b01shst3)
When Certainties Are Shaken
When things we feel sure of are not actually as they seem, it can be unsettling. What do we do when new revelations throw past convictions into doubt? Samira Ahmed reflects on times when existing certainties in people and events are shaken; when trust is tested.
Is there anything we can be truly certain of in life? Our sense of self might alter with age and experience. The most solid relationship could change or end. Even our most heartfelt beliefs could falter. In the wider world, we might place trust in things communally as a society; things we feel we should be confident of, like financial institutions or the labels on our food. Even with a healthy dose of scepticism, do we need to invest a degree of certainty or trust, for society to work?
When something goes wrong - particularly in these uncertain times - do we feel that trust or faith has been shaken? History has many examples of existing certainties crumbling in the face of new revelations, especially from the world of science.
Perhaps absolute certainty about anything is rare. Maybe most things in life we might feel certain of - people, situations, ourselves - are prone to be shaken up from time to time. In the programme, we hear the Reverend Canon David Reindorp share his experience of depression; a period of great insecurity for him.
The programme includes readings from Angela Carter, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Walt Whitman with music by Etta James, Stephen Sondheim and Sir William Herschel.
Produced by Caroline Hughes
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
SUN 06:35 Living World (b01shst7)
The Yuan Yang
In traditional Chinese culture the mandarin duck is believed to bring lifelong fidelity to couples and frequently used as symbols for wedding presents or in Chinese art. Formerly abundant in their native Far East, numbers of mandarin ducks have declined due to habitat destruction (mainly logging) and over-hunting. It is difficult to estimate exactly how many remain in the world, but estimates are around 60,000 to 80,000 birds, which includes a free living introduced and naturalised population of 7,000 birds in the UK.
For this Living World, presenter Chris Sperring travels to the river Dart in Devon where starting underneath the busy A38 trunk road he meets up with naturalist John Walters who has been studying a winter roost of mandarin ducks here. In mid-winter up to 100 birds can roost here but in early spring they are beginning to pair up and disperse along the river Dart. Leaving this noisy suburban area, Chris and John then head off up the river to search for pairs of these wonderful tree ducks in the Devonian landscape.
The male mandarin is possibly one of the most colourful species of waterfowl and an unmistakable bird with its plumage covering most colours in an artist's palate. The male has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye, a reddish face and "whiskers". In full breeding plumage the most striking of all these feathers are two vibrant orange "sails" at the back which signal his presence to females and other males. Despite all these vibrant colours they are a surprisingly difficult bird to find in the wild as they are well camouflaged against the shrubs and habitat they move into to breed. Unlike most British ducks, these 'tree ducks' nest in tree holes, the emerging day-old ducklings have a perilous fall to the ground below.
Chris discovers in the programme that Britain's wild Mandarin population could probably be more numerous than that of the duck's true home, China and the Russian Far East, where it is now endangered. But how did this exotic alien came to be in Britain in the first place and how it is now on the British Bird List? First recorded in the 17th Century where they were brought to Britain as ornamental waterfowl on stately homes, they eventually escaped; although it was not until the 1920's that they became a truly wild living species, although as Chris discovers, intervention from humans plays a vital role in maintaining this exotic species in the British countryside.
SUN 06:57 Weather (b01shpdj)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b01shpdl)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 07:10 Sunday (b01shst9)
The Church Of Scotland Assembly meets this weekend to commence discussion on issues including whether the church should ordain ministers who are in same-sex relationships and the implications of an independent Scotland. We hear from BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent Robert Piggott.
Reports this week have suggested that Canterbury Cathedral has fallen into disrepair and needs to find new methods of funding vital restoration following a failed bid for a Heritage Lottery Grant. Trevor Barnes goes to Canterbury to see Cathedral for himself and speaks to Andrew Edwards, CEO of The Canterbury Trust to see what can be done.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston, has said he plans to boycott Boston College's commencement ceremony on Monday because Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny is scheduled to speak at the event. Cardinal O'Malley has expressed dismay at the invitation to the Prime Minister who he says has been "aggressively promoting abortion policy". Edward speaks to Michael Sean Winters from the National Catholic Reporter.
The situation in Northern Nigeria is deteriorating rapidly. On Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in North Eastern Nigeria, following a series of deadly attacks by Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group. The three states affected are Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where last week Boko Haram killed dozens of people and freed over a hundred prisoners. We hear from Patrick Smith, Editor of Africa Confidential, to discuss the situation.
Need a new pair of sandals? If so Mahatma Gandhi's old pair are up for auction and will set you back a mere £15,000. Our reporter Sarah Swadling has been to Shropshire to see a collection of Gandhi's belongings which are valued at £250,000.
For the first ever time the Vatican will be exhibiting in the Venice Biennale. We speak to one of the exhibiting artists, Lawrence Carroll to find out what art work he will be contributing and to discuss the themes of the Vatican's pavilion; creation, destruction and rebirth.
This week has seen the outcome of the Oxford Grooming case involving seven members of a paedophile ring who were found guilty on Tuesday of raping and trafficking girls aged from 11 to 15, between 2004 and 2012. Kevin Bocquet explores the range of Muslim opinion regarding the case and if there is now a greater willingness in the Muslim community to engage with possible issues following other similar cases. Edward is also joined by Imam Taj Hargey who argues the Muslim community is at fault.
SUN 07:55 Radio 4 Appeal (b01shstc)
World Child Cancer
Graham Norton presents the Radio 4 Appeal for World Child Cancer
Reg Charity:1120321
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope World Child Cancer.
SUN 07:57 Weather (b01shpdn)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b01shpdq)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.
SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b01shstf)
Inspired by Celestial Fire
'Inspired by Celestial Fire'
A service for Pentecost Sunday, live from Emmanuel Church, Didsbury, south Manchester.
With reflections from Debra Green OBE, founder of 'Redeeming Our Communities', which seeks to transform neighbourhoods by bringing together community groups, churches, the police, the fire service, local authorities and voluntary agencies, aiming to reduce crime and disorder.
Service leader: Andrew Graystone
With the Manchester Chamber Choir
Music director: Richard Tanner
Accompanist: Jeffrey Makinson
Producer: Simon Vivian.
SUN 08:50 A Point of View (b01sdw2v)
The Meaning of Evil
John Gray turns to the writer Patricia Highsmith and her character Tom Ripley for a perspective on the meaning of evil. "For me she's ....one of the great twentieth century writers with a deep insight into the fragility of morality."
Producer: Sheila Cook.
SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sby02)
Nightingale
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the extraordinary duet between cellist Beatrice Harrison and a nightingale recorded live as an outside broadcast and the first broadcast of any wild animal not in captivity.
SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b01shsth)
Sunday morning magazine programme.
SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b01shstk)
For detailed synopses, please see daily episodes
Writer ..... Joanna Toye
Director ..... Vanessa Whitburn
Editor ..... Vanessa Whitburn
Jill Archer ..... Patricia Greene
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Alistair Lloyd ..... Michael Lumsden
David Archer ..... Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ..... Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ..... Helen Monks
Josh Archer ..... Cian Cheesbrough
Tony Archer ..... Colin Skipp
Pat Archer ..... Patricia Gallimore
Tom Archer ..... Tom Graham
Jennifer Aldridge ..... Angela Piper
Matt Crawford ..... Kim Durham
Lilian Bellamy ..... Sunny Ormonde
Eddie Grundy ..... Trevor Harrison
Clarrie Grundy ..... Hether Bell
Nic Grundy ..... Becky Wright
Susan Carter ..... Charlotte Martin
Vicky Tucker ..... Rachel Atkins
Roy Tucker ..... Ian Pepperell
Brenda Tucker ..... Amy Shindler
Lynda Snell ..... Carole Boyd
Jazzer Mccreary ..... Ryan Kelly
Jim Lloyd ..... John Rowe
Paul Morgan ..... Michael Fenton Stephens
Darrell Makepeace ..... Dan Hagley
Spencer Wilkes ..... Jonny Elsmore
Celia Redwood ..... Anita Dobson.
SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b01shstm)
Alice Walker
Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Pulitzer Prize winning writer Alice Walker.
Author, poet, feminist and activist, it was her novel The Color Purple that brought her worldwide attention and acclaim. The story of a poor black girl surviving in the deep American south, between the wars, it is a landmark work, disturbing and exhilarating in equal measure.
If one subscribes to the idea that "art is a wound turned to light", then Alice Walker's early life proved crucial to her future creations. Shot and blinded in one eye by her brother's BB gun it was through the isolation of her injury that she began to write. She once described poetry as "medicine".
She has also said, "I know the world's a mess, but there's so much that's gorgeous in it. I wish everybody could have what I have."
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
SUN 12:00 The Unbelievable Truth (b01sd7fg)
Series 11
Episode 6
David Mitchell hosts the panel game in which four comedians are encouraged to tell lies and compete against one another to see how many items of truth they're able to smuggle past their opponents.
Mark Watson, Tony Hawks, Lucy Porter and Ed Byrne are the panellists obliged to talk with deliberate inaccuracy on subjects as varied as lions, pianos, fingers and the French.
The show is devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, the team behind Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.
Producer: Jon Naismith
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b01shstp)
Food, Cancer and Well-Being
Sheila Dillon asks if food and nutrition should have a bigger role in treating cancer. Is the medical profession too reluctant to see food as an essential component in improving the well-being of cancer patients
Producer: Maggie Ayre.
SUN 12:57 Weather (b01shpds)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b01shstr)
We discuss the fresh challenge faced by David Cameron over gay marriage as grassroot members of his party suggest he's out of touch.
A former leader of the Liberal Democrats' Dutch sister party offers advice on coping with mid-term coalition blues.
And we hear how wildlife poaching is posing a threat to global security.
SUN 13:30 Destination Freedom (b01r9skv)
It's often assumed that the drive for black emancipation in America began with Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. This documentary challenges that perception, taking us back years earlier to the arts broadcasting of Chicago radio's Destination Freedom.
Appearing a whole decade before the civil rights movement, Destination Freedom was truly the first of its kind.
It launched in 1948, a weekly series of 30 minute radio dramas that showcased the lives and accomplishments of prominent African Americans - from Louis Armstrong, Joe Lewis and Duke Ellington, to the 18th century icon of the anti-slavery movement Crispus Attucks and Harriet Tubman, an abolitionist who fought for women's suffrage. The programme's founder and writer, Richard Durham, described it as radio that was "rebellious, biting, scornful and cocky".
Artistically, as well as politically, it was years ahead of its time. Never heavy handed or simple propaganda, the broadcasts were even, on rare occasions, acoustically innovative to the point of being sound-art surreal. The profile of the world class African-American heart surgeon Daniel Hale Williams, for example, is told from the point of view of one of his patient's hearts (in an episode called 'The Heart of George Cotton').
The show walked a daring line between reform and revolution, and was shut down by its network in 1950, as McCarthyism and anti-communism tightened its grip on American broadcasting.
As well as drawing on the archive of Destination Freedom, this programme illuminates a largely unknown, but important, chapter in the history of civil rights and tells how radio drama played its part from the very beginning.
Presenter: Donnie Betts
Producer: Simon Hollis
A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01sdw26)
Postbag edition, Sparsholt
A postbag edition from the potting shed at Sparsholt College, hosted by Eric Robson with Matt Biggs, Christine Walkden and Pippa Greenwood answering listeners' questions sent in by post and email.
Produced by Victoria Shepherd
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
GQT Amended Billings 17/05/13
Q. I live in a flat with no garden. I was given some Amaryllis seeds, which I've grown using the instructions. Now they have flowered and developed seedpods, what should I do with them?
A. You could try growing the seeds on. Let the seedpods mature, and then sow them in some seed and cutting compost. When removing the pods they should be dark green and just beginning to split slightly. Once you've taken them off and sowed them, allow the plant to dry back naturally. Once the leaves turn and intense yellow colour decrease the water till the plant is dry. Place it outside and take off the dead foliage, wait till next September to water it again and bring it back to growth. It can be a few years until you see results, but it's worth it!
Q. I have a small pond that has been ignored for several months and now sprung a leak. It's situated between two garage walls that block out any sunlight. Can you suggest something interesting and low maintenance to put in its place?
A. You could turn it in to a bog garden. Some plants have probably colonized naturally already. This is a great chance to create an area to have some bog or marginal plants as they can cope with the shadiness. Astible, Hostas, Calylophus and Primulas plants (Primula Borealis) would be a good low-maintenance option. Eriophyllum Wallacei is a very usual plant that is also very easy to grow. It is worth bearing in mind that plants suited to boggy areas can be very vigorous so it's best to seek advice from a specialist nursery.
Q. I'm worried about the vast number of trees being killed by increasing ivy infestation. Is there something we as gardeners can do?
A. Ivy does not kill trees. As it grows taller it increases in weight and surface area, which can act as a 'wind sail' in adverse weather conditions, although this would only affect already weak trees. Overall the benefits of Ivy outweigh its ill effects, as it is a valid food source for many animals and insects.
Q. I have recently replaced my boiler and the vapor coming out of the flume is damaging my Passionflower. Can you suggest a climbing plant that give year round interest and withstand the water vapor?
A. Akebia Quinata is a rapid grower with beautiful purple-brown flowers that would appreciate the warmth and humidity. Climbing Hydrangea would be another option as it's self-clinging and always flowers. However no plant can survive if the conditions are too hot, so make sure this isn't the case.
Q. I have just rediscovered a small patch of rich and loamy soil. It's tucked away in to the corner, facing southeast, with mature hedges either side. What does the panel suggest I plant in this space?
A. Just about anything will grow well. If it's well protected it would be a great place to grow something tender or raise crops earlier and/or carry them over at the back end of the season. An early crop of tomatoes or an outside pepper would be well suited. Anything leafy (spinaches, chard, kale) would also do well in this area as they like plenty of moisture.
Q. My Mum's garden is over run with a hardy Geranium. How can we get rid of them without using harsh chemicals? Is there a plant they don't like which we can put next to them?
A. Without using a weed killer, getting rid of it will be very difficult. You could cover the area with a dark material to starve it of sunlight, but this would take 2-3 years before it's effective. Geraniums are very tough and resilient so finding something else to plant that it doesn't like isn't an option. Perhaps purchase a weed killer you can apply directly in gel form, so no other plants will be affected.
Q. My partner would like to grow a Feijoa Tree (Acca Sellowiana). Is it possible to grow a self-pollinated version, in a pot, by an east-facing wall in a London garden?
It would need to be in a sheltered, preferably south or southwest facing spot. It's best to grow it in a loam-based compost using a slow release fertilizer to begin with. Keep an eye on it, as it will need re-potting. It will also need frost protection (some horticultural fleece will do in the microclimate of the city). You don't need a second one in order for it to pollinate, although you can 'tickle' it with a paintbrush to help with this process. Don't expect a massive crop of fruit, but the sepals from the tree taste like fruit salad so definitely give it a go!
Q. Recently in my large London garden I took down a diseased Willow Tree. Now left with a stump, I've decided I would like plant something spectacular on top of it. What do you suggest?
A. Elaeagnus Ebbingei Quicksilver has lovely silver foliage and little cream flowers that smell beautiful. Dephne Odora Aureomarginata also ha
SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b01shstt)
Sunday Edition - Parenting
Fi Glover introduces more conversations from around the UK in this Sunday Edition. They cover life with locked-in syndrome, with terminal cancer, without your grandchild, and with a dominatrix called FiFi, proving time and again that it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
SUN 15:00 Classic Serial (b01shstw)
Eric Ambler - The Mask of Dimitrios
The Origins of an Obsession
Episode 1 (of 2): The Origins of an Obsession
English crime novelist Charles Latimer is holidaying in Istanbul when he first hears of the mysterious Dimitrios - an infamous master criminal long wanted by the law, whose body has just been fished out of the Bosphorus.
Fascinated by the story, Latimer decides to retrace his steps across Europe and gather material for a new book. Fascination tips over into obsession as he gradually discovers more about his subject's shadowy history - involving murder, prostitution, political assassination, drug-dealing and espionage.
The Mask of Dimitrios was written in 1939 by Eric Ambler, a key figure in the evolution of the crime thriller who brought realism and political awareness to the genre and influenced writers such as Graham Greene and John le Carré.
By using the criminal career of Dimitrios as a lens, it enables us to see the dark heart of Europe, a continent riven by violence and corruption. Its demonstration that the pursuit of money is the well-spring from which all other evils flow is as pertinent as ever - and its cast of drug dealers, shady businessmen and displaced refugees makes it seem astonishingly modern.
Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan
Original music by Neil Brand
Director: David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 16:00 Open Book (b01shsty)
Author Louise Erdrich; plus the winner of the Independent Bookshop award
Mariella Frostrup talks to Native American writer Louise Erdrich. She's written a string of novels since first publishing Love Medicine in 1984, all set in and around a fictional Chippewa Native American reservation in North Dakota. Her latest National Book Award winning novel is "The Round House." Narrated by 13 year old Joe, the novel explores the impact on the boy , his family and the wider community when his mother is brutally raped which according to Erdrich is a crime one in three native American women will experience in their life time - while the perpetrators escape prosecution due to complex jurisdictional issues involving state versus tribal law.
The Bookseller Industry Awards in London last week included the coveted Independent Bookseller Industry Award. With the UK publishing industry announcing amazingly buoyant sales figures of
3.34 BILLION pounds this year, nominees - from Biggar in the Scottish borders to Limerick in Ireland - discuss how our treasured independent bookshops can compete not just against online, but with the ubiquitous cut price offers of chain stores, superstores and online giants. And the winner reveals the secret of her - or his- success.
With the latest adaptation of the The Great Gatsby filling cinema screens across the UK this weekend, Professor Christopher Bigsby, Director of the Arthur Miller Centre at UEA and Anne Margaret Daniel, a consultant on the Baz Luhrmann film and currently writing a book about the author, discuss why F Scott Fitzgerald is one of the America's most celebrated authors. Credited with defining the Jazz Age - a term which he himself coined- and writing quintessentially about the American dream at an epoch changing moment in the country's history, he died in 1940, aged only 44, an alcoholic with his dreams destroyed in no less devastating fashion than Gatsby's. Why do experts and readers alike rate Fitzgerald so highly?
Producer: Hilary Dunn.
SUN 16:30 Poetry Please (b01shsv0)
A typically untypical range of poems, read by Kerry Elkins and John Mackay. Sublime and surreal poems nestle comfortably alongside heartfelt tales of loss and longing. Poems include Stevie Smith's macabre work The River God and a more benign reflection on nature from the great pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti in his poem 'Silent Noon'. Alastair Reid's work makes regular appearances on the programme but it's usually in the form of his translations of Pablo Neruda's work, so Roger takes the chance to introduce some of his own poetry; the beguiling 'What's What' and a simply beautiful one called 'Oddments, Inklings, Omens, Movements.'
Producer: Sarah Langan.
SUN 17:00 The Art of the Foreign Minister (b01sdm13)
What makes a great foreign minister? Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's chief of staff, talks to some of the men who have held the office.
SUN 17:40 From Fact to Fiction (b01shqcr)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Saturday]
SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b01shpdx)
The latest shipping forecast.
SUN 17:57 Weather (b01shpdz)
The latest weather forecast.
SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shpf1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b01shsv2)
This week, marvel at the teenage boys who don't like fast food: weep with Maureen Lipman as she chops onions: gasp as our man at the match misinterprets the World Cup Final, and shake your booty to the music of Giorgio Moroder as The Archbishop of Canterbury takes comfort from Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.
So join Catherine Bott for this week's Pick of the Week
Book at Bedtime: A Delicate Truth - Radio 4
Wireless Nights - Radio 4
Signing Up at 16 - Radio 4
Dambusters - Radio Lincolnshire
One - Radio 4
Fried Chicken Feels The Heat - Radio 4
Russell Davies - Radio 2
Woman's Hour - Radio 4
Electric Dreams - Radio 2
A Room For A View - Radio 4
Chopping Onions - Radio 4
In A Prince's Footsteps - Radio 4
The Essay : Living Abroad - Radio 3
The Art Of The Foreign Minister - Radio 4
Front Row: Cultural Exchange - Radio 4
Down The Line - Radio 4
Words and Music: Trees - Radio 3.
SUN 19:00 The Archers (b01shsv4)
Josh signs the agreement to become official partner with Hayley and Neil in the hen business. Neil's shoulder is still giving him grief so Josh offers to lend a hand with the pigs. Josh takes to opportunity to pitch some of his sales ideas to cautious Neil.
Paul unexpectedly turns up at the Dower House. Panicking, as someone could have seen him, Lilian jumps into Paul's car.
Paul drives erratically as he rants on about Celia and Frank's wedding. It's today. After a near miss with some horses, Lilian convinces Paul to pull over. He's angry that the children are both going to the wedding but Lilian suggests he might still be in love with Celia. Paul flips, and insists he loves Lilian. It's time she left Matt. After all, he just wants her for sex and money. Offended, Lilian tells him to shut up, and gets out of the car. Paul speeds off.
Nic is surprised at how much she enjoys church. Jake and Mia seem to enjoy Junior Church. Nic gives Peggy a lift to the Dower House but Lilian is nowhere to be seen. When she turns up in a taxi, Peggy asks if her car's broken down. Flustered Lilian says yes.
SUN 19:15 The Write Stuff (b01shsv6)
Series 16
Mark Twain
Radio 4's literary panel show, hosted by James Walton, with team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh and guests John O'Farrell and Jane Thynne.
Produced by Alexandra Smith.
SUN 19:45 The Time Being (b01shsv8)
Series 6
Marathon
The latest season of The Time Being brings another showcase for new voices, none of whom have been previously broadcast. Previous series have brought new talent to a wider audience and provided a stepping stone for writers who have since gone on to enjoy further success both on radio and in print, such as Tania Hershman, Heidi Amsinck, Sally Hinchcliffe and Joe Dunthorne.
Marathon by Claire Powell
An extra-marital affair - long-nourished by alcohol - starts going badly wrong when the man starts to get fit: training for a half-marathon with his son.
Claire Powell was born and brought up in south-east London. She graduated from UEA's Creative Writing (Prose) MA in 2012, where she received the year's highest mark for a dissertation, and was awarded the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Bursary and Malcolm Bradbury Continuation Grant. She has just signed up for her first half-marathon.
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
SUN 20:00 More or Less (b01sdw2d)
Angelina Jolie's 87% cancer risk; Romanian crime stats
It's been reported that Angelina Jolie's 87% cancer risk led to her having a double mastectomy. More or Less examines cancer risk probabilities, and speaks to Dr Kat Arney from Cancer Research UK.
Has the UK been hit by a Romanian crime wave? Speaking on a recent edition of BBC radio 4's Any Questions, Christine Hamilton thought so. More or Less checks the numbers and speaks to the Romanian ambassador, Dr Ion Jinga.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has been criticised for claiming that 'survey after survey' provide evidence of teenagers' ignorance of key historical events - the surveys turn out to be non-rigorous polls commissioned by a TV company and a hotel chain with the aim of turning the results into press releases designed to create publicity in the media. Tim Harford speaks to Michael Marshall from Merseyside Skeptics Society about how the PR survey industry works, and about how frequently they create stories in the news media.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor say that thousands of jobs are being created by the private sector. This seems surprising as the Coalition Government was formed in the wake of a deep recession and the economy as remained fairly flat ever since. Tim Harford assesses what's really going on with UK employment and speaks to Professor John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics, and Nick Palmer from the Office for National Statistics.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
SUN 20:30 Last Word (b01sdw2b)
A geophysicist, a pro-life campaigner, a former Ford UK chief executive, a composer and an actor
Matthew Bannister on
Joe Farman - the geophysicist who discovered a hole in the ozone layer.
The pro life campaigner Dr Margaret White
The former Chief Executive of Ford UK Sir Terence Beckett, who oversaw the development of the Cortina and the Transit van.
The versatile British composer Steve Martland
And Arnold Peters who played Jack Woolley in the Archers. June Spencer - who plays his wife Peggy -tells us that his Alzheimer's storyline was very poignant as life mirrored art.
SUN 21:00 Money Box (b01shqc7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:00 on Saturday]
SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b01shstc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 today]
SUN 21:30 In Business (b01sdrhf)
New Dimensions
Manufacturing is leaping into the 21st century at some speed. Peter Day hears from the pioneers who are applying digital thinking to the making of things..by using 3D printing and many other techniques as well.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal.
SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b01shsyc)
Preview of the week's political agenda at Westminster with MPs, experts and commentators. Discussion of the issues politicians are grappling with in the corridors of power.
SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b01shsyf)
George Parker of The Financial Times analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.
SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b01sdrgz)
Cannes Festival; The Great Gatsby premiere; Jay Bulger on Beware of Mr Baker; Neil Brand on spy theme music
Francine Stock on the latest from the Cannes Film Festival, including The Great Gatsby premiere with critics Catherine Bray and Jonathan Romney. Baz Luhrmann's latest spectacular has attracted mixed reviews in the US where it's just been released - so how did it go down with the Cannes crowd?
Beware of Mr Baker is an usually revealing music documentary on the life and career of the tempestuous Cream drummer Ginger Baker. The director Jay Bulger describes the lies he had to tell to get Ginger to talk to him and why the drummer broke his nose with a walking stick.
And the composer Neil Brand guides us through spy films from The 39 Steps to the Ipcress Files and JFK and explains how their scores give a clue to the secrets of their plots.
Producer: Elaine Lester.
SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b01shst3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
06:05 today]
MONDAY 20 MAY 2013
MON 00:00 Midnight News (b01shpfz)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (b01sdmjw)
Stammering and Identity; Land of Too Much
Poverty versus abundance in the US - why does America have more poor people than any other developed country? How can its great wealth fail to impact on the 46 million Americans, who, according to official figures, live below the poverty line? US sociologist, , Monica Prasad, suggests some reasons. She talks to Laurie Taylor about her new book, 'The Land of too Much: American Abundance and the Paradox of Poverty", arguing that we can't answer these questions by saying that America has always been a liberal, laissez-faire state - it hasn't. Instead, she claims that a particular tradition of government intervention in America has undermined the development of a European-style welfare state. They're joined by Professor of Social Policy, Peter Taylor-Gooby, who provides a British perspective.
Also, stammering and identity - Dr Clare Butler discusses her interview based research into how people who stammer learn to control, conceal and rise above the stigma of having a style of speech which departs from the norm.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b01shqss)
[Repeat of broadcast at
05:43 on Sunday]
MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shpg1)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shpg3)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shpg5)
The latest shipping forecast.
MON 05:30 News Briefing (b01shpg7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01xqftz)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
MON 05:45 Farming Today (b01shw09)
As gardeners gear up for the opening of The Chelsea Flower Show, Charlotte Smith examines the challenges facing Britain's home-grown flower industry. Bad weather and all-year-round imports are hammering UK producers. And Herdwick sheep have achieved Protected Designation of Origin - or PDO - status, alongside products like Cornish pasties and Melton Mowbray pork pies. Charlotte talks to the chief executive of Meat Promotion Wales and asks if Welsh Lamb has benefited from the scheme, 10 years after it was awarded protected status.
MON 05:56 Weather (b01shpg9)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.
MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyh9)
Shag
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Shag. Perhaps the least vocal of all British birds they hiss and belch to warn off interlopers getting too close to their nest. They are seabirds and their name comes from the shaggy crest on the top of their head.
MON 06:00 Today (b01shw0c)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
MON 09:00 Start the Week (b01shw0f)
Antonia Fraser: Democracy and Reform
On Start the Week Anne McElvoy explores movements and people that have changed the political landscape. The MP Jesse Norman champions the founder of modern conservatism, the 18th century philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke. Lady Antonia Fraser brings to life the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which transformed the way Britain was governed. And one of the co-founders of the Occupy movement, David Graeber, looks afresh at the idea of democracy.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b01shw0h)
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
In this heartlifting book, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s.
In a compelling adventure story, dramatic sequences include an unscheduled early flight over the North Sea, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard and the heart-stopping escape of two families from East Germany.
Early balloons also played a role in warfare - with the legendary tale of sixty balloons that escaped Paris during the Prussian siege of 1870, and a memorable flight by General Custer in the American Civil War.
These are stories where scientific genius combines with extraordinary courage and the power of an imagination that dares to claim the airy kingdom for itself.
Episode 1 (of 5):
Every balloon tells a story, and more often than not it is one of courage in the face of great perils.
Two determined balloonists take to the skies to raise money for charity. Over two hundred years separate them, but both find themselves sailing out over the sea with nothing but danger ahead.
Read by Rory Kinnear
Abridged and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01shw0k)
Civil Partnerships; Men and Childcare; Snooping on a Partner
Snooping on your partner - digital technology makes it possible but is it ever acceptable? Men and childcare - what's stopping them from doing more. What civil partnerships for heterosexual couples could mean for women who co-habit. Ballet choreographer and director Cathy Marston on her new work telling the story of the 'last witch of Europe'.
Presented by Jane Garvey.
Produced by Bev Purcell.
MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01shw0m)
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Pearl
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Episode One - Pearl
Abandoned by her salesman husband an angry Pearl Tull is left to bring up her three children alone.
Director: David Hunter
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant tells the story of two brothers and a sister deserted by their father, raised by their angry mother, moving through the calamities and exultations of their difficult youth into separate strategies for survival, and finally into a shared humanity.
The place is Anne Tyler's Baltimore. The story is Pearl's, her short-lived romance and late marriage to "flamboyant" travelling salesman Beck Tull and her attempt to keep the family together after he leaves. We see her three children pummelled into adulthood through her excesses of maternal energy and spurts of terrifying rage.
Cody, wild and incorrigible is driven to cruel domination over his brother Ezra, boyhood practical jokes and taunts culminating in an unforgivable (and yet seemingly forgiven) act, and is ultimately possessed by the lure of power and money. High-spirited, hard-working Jenny becomes a paediatrician, nurturing strangers as she becomes more and more inaccessible to those close to her. Ezra, his mother's favourite (and Anne Tyler's most enduring character) has a dream of a homesick restaurant "where people come just like to a family dinner" - except that whenever his own family gathers at his restaurant the meal is always left unfinished, appetites dissipated in squabbles and tempests.
There are elements of this family tragedy that we all recognise, details that ring sharply true and characters that are both truthful and entertaining.
HER NAKED SKIN by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was the first play to be performed on the Olivier stage by a living female playwright. THE NIGHT SEASON won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. SARAH AND KEN (Drama on 3) was awarded a special commendation at the 2012 BBC Audio Drama Awards. Other radio work includes CARAVAN OF DESIRE and BLUE MOON OVER POPLAR.
There is a synergy between Rebecca and Anne Tyler - a common precision of language, an understanding of character, a shared angle on the poetry of language and image and a similar sense of fascination with the quirky and the offbeat.
MON 11:00 Signing Up at 16 (b01shw0p)
The Realities of War
Episode 2 (of 3)
Reporter Penny Marshall follows the experiences of a group of 16 year old boys and girls as they undergo a year of training at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate.
As the Junior Soldiers embark on their Realities of War training, Penny considers just how easy it is for a 16 year old to truly grasp the realities of war. They visit the Imperial War Museum in London and the military cemetery at Brookwood to learn more about the realities of the job they have signed up to do.
Yet the hardest lesson comes from real life, when six young soldiers are killed on active service in Afghanistan in March 2012.
Producer: Melissa FitzGerald
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 11:30 Kerry's List (b01shw0r)
Series 1
Episode 4
A four-part sketch show co-written by and starring comedian and actress Kerry Godliman.
Kerry is a married mother of two, a stand up comedian and has two children. Her life can only properly function with her daily list - if she didn't compile this vital list, her life would simply fall apart.
Each week, this series looks at a different list and delves into Kerry's madcap world by looking at various elements of that week's list in sketches, narrative and stand up.
In this final episode, Kerry's List involves changing sheets, buying a kids book on where babies come from, getting her roots done, learning to knit, not drifting off, reading a classic and dusting the plants.
Joining Kerry is her husband Ben (played by her real husband Ben Abell) and her five year old daughter Elsie (played by Melissa Bury) together with a range of bizarre characters - including an enthusiastic council environment worker, some disgruntled satsumas, a bored therapist, a Fairy Jeanmother and a very keen gym instructor.
Any busy parent who's ever compiled a list of their own will relate to Kerry Godliman's incident filled world.
The cast includes David Pusey (who co-wrote the series), Bridget Christie, Lucy Briers, Rosie Cavaliero and Nicholas Le Prevost.
Kerry Godliman is fast establishing herself as a highly skilful stand up comic and actress, from her recent appearances on Live at The Apollo (BBC 1), Derek (C4) and Our Girl (BBC 1).
Producer: Paul Russell
An Open Mike production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 12:00 You and Yours (b01shw0t)
Cheeky brand names, Proms tickets, NHS Psychotherapy
How does the way older people are housed affect broader attitudes to ageing? A new report questions the way elderly people are treated, from the language used to describe them, their interests and role after retirement, and importantly where they live and how they are looked after.
Advance ticket sales for this year's BBC Proms have outstripped the demand seen in previous years. But it's prompted concerns that some music lovers are being forced to make use of touts.
The government wants to help more people with emotional or psychological problems to receive psychotherapy, but there are concerns that the NHS is narrowing the range of therapies it offers, depriving many patients of the help they need.
As the Chelsea Flower Show opens, some top-tips to help you get the best from your garden. The enthusiasts for whom cleaning the car is no Sunday chore, but a highlight of the week!
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Julian Worricker.
MON 12:57 Weather (b01shpgc)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 13:00 World at One (b01shw0w)
Ministers insist the Government will press ahead with gay marriage legislation amid calls from Labour and Coalition MPs for changes.
We discuss what 'swivelgate' means for the Conservatives.
Major Tim Peake tells us what it is like to be heading for the International Space Station.
We're on the dockside as HMS Ark Royal heads off to be scrapped. And hear how the Chelsea Flower Show has changed in its hundred years.
.
MON 13:45 Mother Tongue Interference (b01shw0y)
Gisela Stuart
Five short autobiographies in two languages. 1. The Labour MP Gisela Stuart was born in Bavaria but now represents the people of Edgbaston in the House of Commons. Neville Chamberlain was once the MP for the same constituency and sometimes Gisela Stuart imagines talking to him of the changes that have occurred in Britain and across Europe since the Second World War. She also recalls her rural upbringing in southern Germany, the economic miracle that turned farmers like her father into BMW factory workers, and acquiring an accent that allowed her to share a joke with the last Pope.
Producer: Tim Dee.
MON 14:00 The Archers (b01shsv4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Sunday]
MON 14:15 Drama (b01shw10)
Edward, Edward
A two-hander about Edward VI and Lady Jane Grey starring brilliant young actors Oscar Kennedy and Izzy Meikel Small, first seen together in the BBC's recent Great Expectations.
Aged just nine years old, Edward VI becomes King upon the death of his father, Henry the VIII. Together with his cousin Jane, Edward tries to negotiate the vagaries of life at court and to find a freedom when every move he makes is watched over by the tenacious Privy Council.
Edward Oscar Kennedy
Jane Izzy Meikel Small
Other parts played by:
Paul Stonehouse
David Seddon
Philippa Stanton
Amaka Okafor
Written by Abigail Docherty
Directed by Lu Kemp.
MON 15:00 Counterpoint (b01shw12)
Series 27
Episode 3
(3/13)
Paul Gambaccini is in the chair for the third heat in the 2013 series of the general knowledge music quiz, from MediaCity in Salford.
The three competitors answering questions on all styles and aspects of music come from Dumfries, West Yorkshire and Cardiff. As well as demonstrating a broad general knowledge of music they'll also have to 'specialise' in a topic they've had no preparation for - chosen from a list Paul will give them half way through the show.
There are plenty of surprises and musical extracts to identify, familiar and not so familiar. The winner will go through to the semi-final stage of the 2013 competition in July.
Producer: Paul Bajoria.
MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b01shstp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
12:32 on Sunday]
MON 16:00 Creating Pitch-Perfect (b01shwkq)
Audiences need never suffer out-of-tune singing again, thanks to the development of pitch-correction software. But as well as correcting the inadequate, it has become a tool for new and creative ways of performing and recording.
Presenter Catherine Bott is a Classical singer, broadcaster and experienced session musician. She visits a recording studio to see how the software works, and bravely submits her own voice for analysis by deliberately singing out of tune.
Surprisingly, one of the best-known examples of pitch correction software - Auto-Tune - was developed by a former oil industry engineer working on the development of acoustic tests for interpreting seismic data. Dr Andy Hildebrand realised that the same technology could be used to analyse and modify pitch in audio files without affecting vocal quality. Catherine talks to Andy about how he came to develop the software.
Catherine also looks at the creative use of pitch correction software - starting with the iconic use of the effect in Cher's 1998 single Believe, where extreme use of the effect creates a robotic vocal style used later by Kanye West and Channy Leaneagh singer with from the band Poliça. She visits composer and producer Steve Pycroft in his studio to see how the effect can be used on her vocals on a specially-arranged piece of Baroque music.
And the negative side of pitch correction is also explored - is it encouraging singers to be lazy, knowing that any tuning errors can always be 'fixed in the mix'?
With contributions from studio engineers Tom Bailey and Olga Fitzroy, music critics Tom Ewing and Neil McCormick, and Channy Leaneagh of Poliça.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.
MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (b01shwks)
Fire in Religion
Beyond Belief debates the place of religion and faith in today's complex world. Ernie Rea is joined by a panel to discuss how religious beliefs and traditions affect our values and perspectives.
In Edinburgh a modern festival has grown up around the ancient pagan festival of Beltane, traditionally marked on May 1st, where fires are lit. But does fire have both negative and positive connotations across all religions? Is it always viewed as potentially transforming as well as destructive?
In today's programme, Ernie Rea is joined by Alan Williams, Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester; Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at Bristol University and Canon Loveday Alexander, Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, to discuss the role of fire within religion and its symbolism today.
MON 17:00 PM (b01shwkv)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shpgf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
MON 18:30 Just a Minute (b01shwkx)
Series 66
Episode 1
Nicholas Parsons hosts the linguistically challenging panel game, with panellists Paul Merton, Pam Ayres, Kevin Eldon and Graham Norton.
MON 19:00 The Archers (b01shwkz)
Matt presses Lilian about her visit with James on Friday. Knowing that she has been lying to him, he becomes suspicious when she is not at the office when he returns from a meeting.
Stressed Lilian takes up Alice's offer of a hack. On a borrowed horse, Lilian is glad she went and is happy that Alice didn't take the job in Canada. Alice is now getting more interesting work and Chris is nearly back to full health.
Pat and Tony find a cow whose labour is not progressing. They are concerned to find the calf is tail first. Tony and Alistair are able to get the calf out and clear the lungs. Tony is still having difficulties about the sale but is trying to stay positive. Alistair invites Tony to a drinks party but it transpires that Shula has already asked Pat.
Alistair gets a call from Lilian. Her mount has trodden on a spike. Alistair manages to get the spike out and sends the horse to hospital. When rings Matt to explain that she might be a while, he patently doesn't believe her.
Lilian inveigles unwitting Alice back to the Dower House to prove to Matt that she has been out riding. Matt is forced to be sympathetic about her horrible morning.
MON 19:15 Front Row (b01shwl1)
The Big Wedding; James Salter; Enough Tudors Already; David Walliams
With Mark Lawson
Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton star in The Big Wedding, playing an ex-married couple who must pretend to be together for their adopted son's wedding. The starry cast also includes Susan Sarandon, Amanda Seyfried and Robin Williams as the priest. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh delivers her verdict.
A new series on the Tudors begins on BBC TV this week - so why is this historical period so popular with TV executives, and which other parts of British history deserve the TV treatment? Historians Henrietta Leyser and Don Spaeth pitch their alternatives.
Veteran American writer James Salter has just published his first novel in 34 years. All That Is comes garlanded with praise from writers on both sides of the Atlantic, and draws together many of the themes of Salter's lifetime's work: war, love, sex and marriage. Often considered the great overlooked writer, 87 year old Salter discusses the novel's long gestation, and his trademark economy of prose.
In Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds reflect on a favourite cultural experience, David Walliams discusses the work of Harold Pinter, and recalls the guidance Pinter gave him when he performed in No Man's Land.
Producer Penny Murphy.
MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01shw0m)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
MON 20:00 Safari Surgery (b01shwl3)
The demand for cosmetic surgery is spreading to Africa and is no longer just the preserve of the rich and famous. From Cape Town to Cairo, there's a growing appetite for plastic surgery.
South Africa is already one of the world's top destinations for those in search of a cheap tummy tuck, breast enhancement or facelift, with perhaps a safari on the side.
Up until now, most patients have come from the US and Europe, but this situation is changing fast as increasing numbers of patients from within the continent travel to South Africa for treatment. And there are clinics opening up in other African countries too, including Nigeria and Kenya.
Ayisha Yahya meets doctors and patients, hears about the procedures demanded and explores the dilemmas of offering such surgery in countries where many still have little or no access to basic health care.
And what does it tell us about changing perceptions of beauty in Africa today?
Producer: Ruth Evans
A Ruth Evans production for BBC Radio 4.
MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b01sdnkq)
Romario Tackles Brazil
Brazil is getting ready to host the 2014 World Cup. But the preparations have become marred in controversy. And leading the charge against over-budget stadiums, vested interests and corruption is an unlikely figure: Romario. Brazil's World Cup-winning footballer has transformed himself into a serious, hard-working politician. Tim Franks meets him for Crossing Continents. Is this a genuine transformation for one of Brazil's most notorious celebrity bad-boys?
Producer: Linda Pressly.
MON 21:00 Material World (b01sdrh1)
Quantum computer; Ancient water; Stem cells; Dambusters
One of the world's most powerful, commercially available, "quantum" computers is to be installed at NASA's Ames research centre. It will be shared between Google, NASA, and researchers via the Universities Space Research Agency, providing access to a machine which is up to 3600 times faster than a conventional computer. Dr Geordie Rose, Chief Technical officer at D-Wave Systems, the comparny who developed this computer, and Professor Alan Woodward, from the Department of Computing at Surrey University are on the show.
Scientists have discovered the oldest fluid water system in the world, buried deep beneath Ontario, Canada. The waters have been isolated for at least 1.5 billion years and if microbial life is found, it could suggest that buried biomes might exist deep beneath the surface of Mars. Professor Chris Ballentine from the University of Manchester, head of the research project, tells us more.
Embryonic Stem Cells are cells with the unique capability of being able to develop into any kind of cell in the human body. Now a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, which involves transferring the nucleus of a donor cell into that of a female egg cell, has been successfully applied to humans cells. Dr Paul De Sousa, a stem cell researcher from the University of Edinburgh, explains why these findings are important both to the scientific world and the world of healthcare.
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Dambusters mission, Material World is taking a look at some of the spectacular, yet largely unknown engineering achievements of World War II. Beyond bouncing bombs were the lesser known military operations like PLUTO, Mulberry Harbour and Tern Island. Dr Colin Brown, Engineering Director at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers tells us more.
MON 21:30 Start the Week (b01shw0f)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
MON 21:58 Weather (b01shpgh)
The latest weather forecast.
MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b01shwl5)
Gay marriage - how divided is the Tory party?
Car bombs across cities in Iraq;
Pressure on Tibetan refugees in Nepal.
With David Eades.
MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01shwl7)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
A Bitter Pill
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: A Bitter Pill - Kit learns the truth about the night on the Rock.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
MON 23:00 Word of Mouth (b01sdg46)
English and German
At the Brighton Festival, Michael Rosen explores our linguistic links with Germany. Michael and his guests discuss our shared Anglo Saxon heritage, cultural influences from the Romantics to the Weimar Republic, and how the two languages relate to each other in the modern era. And we hear from other writers and artists having fun with words on stage in Brighton - oratory and story-telling are strong themes at this month-long festival.
Producer: Chris Ledgard.
MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01shwl9)
MPs debate proposals to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales as ministers pledge to press on despite opposition from some MPs.
Conservative critics want to allow heterosexual couples to enter into civil partnerships, if gay couples are allowed to get married. Ministers say this could delay the Bill.
The Foreign Secretary says no options are off the table if Syria's ruling regime refuses to seriously engage in an international conference to broker peace in the country.
And Government plans aimed at providing greater support for offenders given short prison sentences come under fire in the Lords.
Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
TUESDAY 21 MAY 2013
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b01shphg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b01shw0h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shphj)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shphl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shphn)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b01shphq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01xqg1r)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b01sj1sk)
A vaccine against Schmallenberg disease is approved but will farmers use it? Anna Hill hears from the Royal Veterinary College and a sheep farmer who's seen birth defects in his flock, caused by the midge borne virus.
The chairman of the Government's Plant Health Task Force tells Anna what he thinks of plans to ban imports of Sweet Chestnut trees from areas of Europe affected by a deadly blight. The task force has also just published its final report on lessons to be learned from the Ash Dieback crisis.
And Anna talks to a self confessed Delphinium anarchist as Farming Today explores the industry behind the Chelsea Flower Show.
Presenter: Anna Hill
Producer: Sarah Swadling.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyhp)
Greenfinch
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Greenfinch. Often seen singing from the tops of garden trees looking large for a finch with a heavy bill, these are sadly a declining garden bird.
TUE 06:00 Today (b01sj1sm)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b01sj1sp)
Lord John Krebs
As a scientist, John Krebs made his name discovering that the brains of birds that store seeds are different from those that don't. But he gave up his successful research career and job as Professor of Zoology at Oxford University to move into science policy and management. After five years as Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council, John Krebs became the first Chairman of the Food Standards Agency, where he was embroiled in controversial questions such as is organic food better for us and how can the spread of foot and mouth disease be stopped.
Lord Krebs is now Master of Jesus College, Oxford, but is still involved in issues where science meets public policy, in particular the debate over whether culling badgers will prevent cattle contracting TB.
He talks to Jim al-Khalili about his life in science and in the public eye and about how he brings a scientific approach to every issue.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b01sj1sr)
Ritula Shah talks to Dr Michael Irwin
In the third of her interviews on the concept of renunciation, Ritula Shah talks to Dr Michael Irwin about the idea of renouncing life in old age or when faced with a terminal illness. Dr Irwin is a retired GP who campaigns for voluntary euthanasia and has accompanied people to the Swiss clinic Dignitas when they have chosen to end their lives. He talks to Ritula about his belief that people should have a choice as to when and how to die and about his thoughts on the end of his own life.
Producer: Maggie Ayre.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b01sjsys)
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
Episode 2
In this heart-lifting book, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s.
In a compelling adventure story, dramatic sequences include an unscheduled early flight over the North Sea, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard and the heart-stopping escape of two families from East Germany.
Early balloons also played a role in warfare - with the legendary tale of sixty balloons that escaped Paris during the Prussian siege of 1870, and a memorable flight by General Custer in the American Civil War.
These are stories where scientific genius combines with extraordinary courage and the power of an imagination that dares to claim the airy kingdom for itself.
Episode 2 (of 5):
What earthly use is a balloon? Early scientists struggled to grasp the opportunities offered by flight but, in turbulent times, the military were quick to make the most of aerial reconnaissance.
Read by Rory Kinnear
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01sj1st)
The dangers of being a 'cool parent'; Sexual assaults in the US military
Sexual assaults in the US military. The dangers of being a 'cool' parent. Can you stay friends with both sides of a divorcing couple? Fighting to get a medical diagnosis for your child. With Jane Garvey
Interviewees: Becky Halstead; Judy Atwood Bell; Lucy Robinson.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sj1sw)
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Teaching the Cat to Yawn
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Episode Two - Teaching the Cat to Yawn
Young Cody's jealousy of his placid younger brother Ezra accelerates.
Director: David Hunter
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant tells the story of two brothers and a sister deserted by their father, raised by their angry mother, moving through the calamities and exultations of their difficult youth into separate strategies for survival, and finally into a shared humanity.
The place is Anne Tyler's Baltimore. The story is Pearl's, her short-lived romance and late marriage to "flamboyant" travelling salesman Beck Tull and her attempt to keep the family together after he leaves. We see her three children pummelled into adulthood through her excesses of maternal energy and spurts of terrifying rage.
Cody, wild and incorrigible is driven to cruel domination over his brother Ezra and is ultimately possessed by the lure of power and money. High-spirited, hard-working Jenny becomes a paediatrician, nurturing strangers as she becomes more and more inaccessible to those close to her. Ezra, his mother's favourite (and Anne Tyler's most enduring character) has a dream of a homesick restaurant "where people come just like to a family dinner" - except that whenever his own family gathers at his restaurant the meal is always left unfinished, appetites dissipated in squabbles and tempests.
There are elements of this family tragedy that we all recognise, details that ring sharply true and characters that are both truthful and entertaining.
HER NAKED SKIN by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was the first play to be performed on the Olivier stage by a living female playwright. THE NIGHT SEASON won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. SARAH AND KEN (Drama on 3) was awarded a special commendation at the 2012 BBC Audio Drama Awards. Other radio work includes CARAVAN OF DESIRE and BLUE MOON OVER POPLAR.
There is a synergy between Rebecca and Anne Tyler - a common precision of language, an understanding of character, a shared angle on the poetry of language and image and a similar sense of fascination with the quirky and the offbeat.
TUE 11:00 The Truth and Nothing but the Truth (b01sj1sy)
Dr Geoff Bunn discovers that Dick Tracy and Wonder Woman both have starring roles in the history of lie detection. The culture of the comic book influenced the cultural perception of science then, and now colourful brain images from fMRI scans direct the public's view of what science can achieve. But does seeing parts of the brain light up when a subject lies provide any more concrete proof of what is true and what is not than did measuring heart and sweat rate in the traditional polygraph?
Dr Geoff Bunn investigates the latest lie detecting technology with the help of Steven Rose, Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at the Open University and Geraint Rees, Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. He discovers that the early history of the lie detector features a psychologist, William Marston, who went on to create the comic book character Wonder Woman, and an amateur magician, Leonarde Keeler, who was an inspiration for the comic strip hero, Dick Tracy.
He explores the history of the American obsession with lie detection, aided by Ken Alder, Professor of History at North Western University and Garyn Roberts, biographer of Chester Gould, who created Dick Tracy. He investigates Wonder Woman at the Travelling Man comic book shop in Manchester with the help of Dr Joan Ormrod, co-editor of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. And he hears from Bruce Burgess, founder of Polygraphs UK, who uses his company's services.
Producer: Marya Burgess.
TUE 11:30 The Science of Music (b01sj1t0)
Episode 2
Professor Robert Winston looks at music with a scientist's eye in a series which seeks to fully understand our relationship with the power of sound.
In this edition, Professor Winston explores the logic, engineering and physics underlying the musical sounds we hear. Why do some notes sound good together? And are we really simply seeking patterns when we listen to music?
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b01sj1t2)
Call You and Yours
Consumer phone-in with Julian Worricker.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b01shphs)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b01sj1t4)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
TUE 13:45 Mother Tongue Interference (b01skh6g)
Zinovy Zinik
Five short autobiographies in two languages. 2. Russian novelist Zinovy Zinik came from Moscow to London via Jerusalem in 1976. He worked for the BBC World Service and speaks brilliant if cranky English. As he left, the authorities in the Soviet Union took his passport with its hammer and sickle on the cover and cut it in two with a pair of scissors. He was henceforth blacklisted and unable to return to his homeland for fifteen years. Yet throughout that emigration, and ever since, Russian has remained his language. He reflects on his mother tongue and his fatherland and the solace Sidney Bechet's clarinet playing offered a young boy in 1950s red Moscow. Producer: Tim Dee.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b01shwkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b018g6x1)
Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities
The Old Order
Dramatised by Mike Walker
Episode 2/5: The Old Order
Lucie Manette is a witness at Charles Darnay's trial for treason at the Old Bailey, where his defence team includes the dissolute Sydney Carton. Meanwhile, an incident in a Paris street stirs revolutionary fervour.
With Christopher Webster
Music by Lennert Busch
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole and Jeremy Mortimer.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b01sj1t6)
Helen Castor is joined by Dr Lucy Robinson from the University of Sussex and Dr Catherine Rider from the University of Exeter.
We hear about the conclusion to a four year project which helps us understand just how ordinary people worshipped in the sixteenth century. How did the church maintain its hold over a population that could not read or write and certainly didn't understand Latin?
Burnley may seem an unlikely place in the Lesbian and Gay history of Britain, compared perhaps with more metropolitan areas. However, a new project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund is uncovering some remarkable evidence which shows that East Lancashire was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement in the 1960's and 70's.
And Tom Holland is in the Oxfordshire countryside with a leading classicist and a beekeeper to find out how the Ancient Greeks and Romans would have tackled the decline of the bee population.
Contact the programme: making.history@bbc.co.uk
Produced by Nick Patrick
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (b01sj1t8)
GM Update: Pig 26
Tom Heap investigates the latest developments in GM technology.
He visits the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute for the latest on precision genome engineering in animals and discovers the story behind "Pig 26", the first genetically-modified pig.
Scientist Bruce Whitelaw tells Tom Heap that Pig 26 has been genetically 'edited' with the hope that scientists at Roslin can create pigs that are resistant to African Swine Fever, an aggressive disease that is fatal to pigs. It's currently virulent in Russia and there's no reason why the disease couldn't arrive in the UK.
Tom also meets Helen Sang who is currently working on breeding resistance to avian flu into chickens using genetic modification.
Despite the fact the GM technology is being used, according to the scientists Tom meets, to improve animal welfare by making animals disease resistant, will GM technology ever be accepted by the public in the UK?
We also hear from commentators from the USA, where a GM salmon is set to hit the supermarket shelves this year, and journalist and author Joanna Blythman believes that it is unlikely that a similar product would ever reach the shelves in the UK.
Presenter: Tom Heap
Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.
TUE 16:00 It's My Story (b01sj1tb)
The Prisoner Released
Three years after he was sent to prison, PJ is about to be released. But getting out can be more daunting than going in. In prison there's food, warmth, shelter; there's healthcare, education and work; there's discipline, structure and routine.
This is PJ's first prison sentence. He came in aged 18 with a street robbery conviction related to his gambling addiction. He's been counting down the days but is concerned he has become institutionalised. As the big moment approaches, his emotions turn from excitement to trepidation.
In this first person account, PJ speaks openly and honestly about his fears of what's to come. He's worried about finding somewhere to live and getting in to work. But there are other issues he will have to face - re-establishing his relationship with his family, the temptation to commit crime and walking past the bookmakers he believes resulted in him going to prison in the first place.
With rare access inside prison, we accompany PJ during his last few days inside, the final night in his cell and his walk through the prison gates and into the uncertainty of freedom. We then follow him during the days, weeks and months after prison as he attempts to re-establish himself in society. We hear his first meeting with his probation officer, his struggle to find a place to live and his efforts to find work. We also discover whether he'll return to his gambling habit and find out how he reacts when presented with the opportunity to commit crime.
Produced by Chris Impey
A PRA production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b01sj1td)
Series 30
Primo Levi
Edmund de Waal chooses a writer he believes is one of the greatest of the modern age - Primo Levi, author of the Periodic Table. Born in 1919 in Turin, Levi was an Italian Jew, one of the few deported to Auschwitz who would escape alive.
Primo Levi's account of his time in the camp, If This Is a Man, made him one of the first writers to document the Holocaust and it established his name around the world. But Levi was not just a writer. He was a chemist, which gave him the skills that helped save his life in Auschwitz. It was also a day job he never gave up, and his passion for science remained a life-long pursuit.
After the War, Levi returned to Turin, married, had a family and wrote books in his spare time. He also became an enthusiastic letter-writer, corresponding with a new generation of Germans, to help them better understand the effects of the Nazi regime. Yet from his youth, Levi suffered from depression. In 1987 he took his own life, throwing himself down the stairwell in the house where he'd been born.
Ceramicist and author Edmund de Waal joins Matthew Parris to discuss how Levi's work inspired The Hare With Amber Eyes - his own memoir of his family's history as Jews in 19th and 20th century Europe. And biographer Ian Thomson, one of the last to interview Levi, explains why we shouldn't confuse Levi the writer with Levi the man.
Producer: Lizz Pearson
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
TUE 17:00 PM (b01sj1tg)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shphv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Isy Suttie's Love Letters (b01s259m)
Series 1
Bob and Marie
Isy Suttie (Dobby from Channel 4's Peep Show and double British Comedy Award nominee) returns to BBC Radio 4 with these unique tales, recounting a series of love stories affecting people she's known throughout her life, told partly through song.
Sometimes Isy has merely observed other people's love lives; quite often she's intervened, changing the action dramatically - for better or worse. Intertwined within these stories are related real life anecdotes from Isy's own, often disastrous, love life.
In this fourth and final episode, Isy returns to Matlock to take driving lessons from instructor Bob, who she learns has a crush on another pupil, the mysterious Marie. While Isy tries to master an impeccable 3 point turn, she attempts to unite Bob with the girl of his dreams and discovers some important lessons in love of her own.
With her multi-character and vocal skills, plus her guitar, Isy creates a hilarious and deeply moving world, sharing with us her lessons in life and love.
"A voice you want to swim in" The Independent
Produced by Lianne Coop.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b01sj1tj)
Brian and Jennifer are scandalised when Jim's eagerly-awaited article on Brian turns out to be a subtle hatchet job. Furious Brian goes to see Glen Whitehouse, the editor of Borsetshire Life, who does a good job of interpreting the interview in a flattering light
In the Bull, Nic and Joe are amused by the article. Joe is happy as the Grundys get a mention and the truth about Brian is out for all to see. Clarrie is already dreading the single wicket competition as Will and Ed may play each other. The conversation changes to the Flower Festival. Nic and Clarrie decide to base their arrangement on the patron saint of dairy workers, St Brigid of Ireland.
Clarrie and Joe bump into Jennifer at the village shop, laden with copies of Borsetshire Life. When Joe suggests that she's buying them to get them off the shelves, Jennifer claims they are to send to all the family.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b01sj1tl)
Dan Brown; Wagner at 200; Eddie Braben remembered; Mary Beard's Cultural Exchange
With Mark Lawson.
The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown discusses his latest novel about code-breaking called Inferno, a Dante inspired crime thriller set in the streets, museums and ancient buildings of Florence.
Richard Wagner is loved and loathed in almost equal measure. The composer of the musically ground-breaking Ring Cycle, Tristan and Isolde and Meistersingers is also known for his extreme political views, including anti-Semitism. Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of his birth. Former England cricketer and Wagner fan Ed Smith debates if it's possible to look beyond Wagner's politics and celebrate his music.
Comedy writer Eddie Braben, best known for his work with Morecambe and Wise, has died aged 82. The radio critic Gillian Reynolds, who was a lifelong friend of Braben, reflects on his career and legacy.
In Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds reflect on a favourite cultural experience, Mary Beard chooses Laocoön and His Sons, a sculpture from Ancient Greece which depicts a key scene from the Trojan War.
Producer Ellie Bury.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sj1sw)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b01sj1tn)
Superbugs
In the first of a new series, File on 4 asks whether recent stark warnings about the threat posed by growing resistance to antibiotics have come too late.
The Chief Medical Officer of England, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has painted an apocalyptic picture where routine operations could become deadly in just 20 years if we lose the ability to fight infection.
But the programme discovers growing concern among doctors that bugs found in our hospitals have already developed the ability to withstand drugs which are effectively the last line of defence.
Has the Government drive to eradicate MRSA and C-Difficile left the back door open for more challenging strains of superbug to take hold? Does the health service know why numbers of healthcare infections of E. Coli are rising? And where are the new medicines to tackle the resistant strains? The programme hears there's little incentive for drug companies to produce new antibiotics because they won't be able to make enough money.
Allan Urry meets the medics on the front line in the battle to stop infection killing patients. Can the NHS win the war against the microbes?
Producer: Paul Grant.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b01sj1tq)
Peter White talks to Mauri Molinari about the problems faced by visually-impaired users of the music download site Spotify, which is currently inaccessible unless users pay for a premium service..
Tony Shearman talks to opera singers Anne Wilkins and Denise Leigh about the issues facing blind performers and they compare notes on how best to find work.
Listener Norma Davidson emailed to invite visually impaired rock-climbing beginners to attend a tailor-made course in Scotland later in the year.
TUE 21:00 All in the Mind (b01sj1ts)
Big Brain Projects; Anti-depressants; learning disability and bereavement
In the US scientists are working out the details of President Obama's $100 million BRAIN initiative,
and the EU is funding the billion euro Human Brain project. What will these expensive projects tell us, and are we even asking the right questions? Mind Hacker Vaughan Bell analyses the debate.
Novelist Alex Peston talks about his essay on creativity and antidepressants, and Claudia Hammond asks Nooreen Akhtar of Aberdeen University about her analysis of how antidepressants are portrayed in the press.
Noelle Blackman of Respond discusses the benefits of bereavement counselling for adults with learning disabilities.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b01sj1sp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 21:58 Weather (b01shphx)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b01sj1tv)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01sj1tx)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
A Good Man Lost
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: A Good Man Lost - Where on earth is Jeb?
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
TUE 23:00 Absolutely Delish (b01sj1tz)
Grazing
Comedy by Sophie Woolley.
Both Rod and Nadia need to revolutionise their lives. He's job-less and she's in love limbo. Health guru Leone promises to transform them from the inside out with a drastic diet. But she might just turn their lives upside down instead.
Leone ..... Sally Phillips
Nadia ..... Lucinda Raikes
Rod ..... Ben Crowe
Director ..... Helen Perry
Sally Phillips is best known for the award-winning comedy sketch show 'Smack the Pony', which she wrote and in which she co-starred, and for her role in the Bridget Jones films, along with long running Radio 4 series 'Clare in the Community'.
Sophie Wooley is a performer and writer whose Radio 4 credits include 'Carbon Cleansing', 'When to Run' and the London Nights Season. Sophie also wrote the critically acclaimed stage play Fight Face, featuring pioneering subtitles and animations for both deaf & hearing audiences. Sophie played the lead role of Gabby in Channel 4's Cast Offs; which was nominated for a ROSE D'OR. Sophie has been writing/performing her own internet series Deaf Faker.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01sj1v1)
Sean Curran reports as gay marriage clears the Commons. A political row breaks out over the 'crisis' in A & E departments. And peers demand money to make social care reforms work.
Editor: Peter Mulligan.
WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2013
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b01shpjr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b01sjsys)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shpjt)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shpjw)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shpjy)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b01shpk0)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01xqg9b)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b01sj1wj)
The worrying rate of loss of our wildlife. Anna Hill hears from scientists warning that 60% of our wildlife species have declined in numbers over recent decades. This is according to the State of Nature report - a landmark audit of our natural environment by a coalition of wildlife organisations.
Anna Jones revisits her father's sheep farm in Shropshire to hear how he is coping two months after the disastrous spring snow. And Anna Hill visits a plant breeder in Norfolk to hear about the UK's bedding plant industry.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Weatherill in Bristol.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyj8)
Tawny Owl
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents young Tawny Owls. Most of us know the "hoot" and "too-wit" of Tawny Owls but might be puzzled if we heard wheezing in the woods, the sound of the young.
WED 06:00 Today (b01sj1wl)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather, Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b01sj1wn)
Hugh Dennis, David Watson, Carol Highton, Liz Trenow
Libby Purves meets actor and comedian Hugh Dennis; David Watson, a chorister at the Queen's Coronation; campaigner Carol Highton and author Liz Trenow.
Former journalist Liz Trenow comes from a family of silk weavers. Her first novel, The Last Telegram, is set in a silk mill during World War II and draws on her own 300-year-old family history. The Last Telegram is published by Harper Collins.
Hugh Dennis is an actor and comedian. He is best known for BBC Radio 4's The Now Show, satirical panel show Mock the Week and BBC sit-com Outnumbered. His book, Britty Britty Bang Bang, explores the changing image of Britain and Britishness. Britty Britty Bang Bang - One Man's Attempt to Understand His Country is published by Headline.
In 2005 Carol Highton's son Brian Shields took his own life as a result of spiralling debts to a loan shark. The loan shark was convicted and is currently serving a long prison sentence. Following her son's death, Carol set up The Brian Shields Trust to help others in a similar situation. As a result of her campaigning work Carol was awarded an MBE which she received from Buckingham Palace this week.
David Watson was one of three solo choristers who sang at the Queen's Coronation in 1953. His singing talent was recognised early on and at eight he was accepted into the Westminster Abbey choir. He went on to become a Hollywood actor, appearing in Rawhide and Planet of the Apes, and is now a theatrical agent. He features in the documentary Choristers of the Coronation on BBC Radio 4.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b01sk9yl)
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
Episode 3
In this heart-lifting book, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s.
In a compelling adventure story, dramatic sequences include an unscheduled early flight over the North Sea, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard and the heart-stopping escape of two families from East Germany.
Early balloons also played a role in warfare - with the legendary tale of sixty balloons that escaped Paris during the Prussian siege of 1870, and a memorable flight by General Custer in the American Civil War.
These are stories where scientific genius combines with extraordinary courage and the power of an imagination that dares to claim the airy kingdom for itself.
Read by Rory Kinnear.
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters.
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01sj1wq)
Jan Hall; Bollywood Carmen; cot death advice
Jan Hall, powerlister and founder of top headhunting firm the JCA Group.
Preeya Kalidas talks about her new role in Bollywood Carmen.
The Stressed Sex: Why women are more susceptible to depression and anxiety and how inequality affects mental health.
The government is reviewing it's advice on co-sleeping in the light of new cot death research. So how safe is it to sleep with your baby and what risk factors should you consider?
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sj1ws)
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Destroyed by Love
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Episode Three - Destroyed by Love
With Cody at College and Ezra drafted, Jenny is left to deal with the unpredictable Pearl and Ezra's friend Josiah... but an unlikely romance is in the air.
Director: David Hunter.
WED 11:00 Don't Log Off (b01sj1wv)
Series 3
A Tale from the Bush
Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook & Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers.
He never knows who he will be speaking to next or what secrets they will reveal.
Tonight, he hears a moving story of widowhood from 60 year old Jennie in the Australian Bush. The line is so bad that Alan decides to send her a digital recorder so that she can record herself in quality. What emerges is a bittersweet and intensely personal story but one which also touches on key events in Australia in the post-1945 era, including the Vietnam War and the catastrophic Darwin Cyclone.
She also uses the recorder to capture some of the abundant bird life in her remote and rural part of Queensland.
Producer: Laurence Grissell.
WED 11:30 House on Fire (b01sjhdg)
Series 3
Marriage
A new series with Matt and Vicky, the two flatmates who love to hate to love each other - with the usual mixture of somewhat hapless situations brought about by their inability to live in the real world, or indeed with each other.
They are aided and abused as ever by their less than loving parents, who can always be relied upon to wash their hands of any responsibility.
Cast:
Vicky...................................Emma Pierson
Matt....................................Jody Latham
Peter...................................Philip Jackson
Julie.....................................Janine Duvitski
Colonel Bill...........................Rupert Vansittart
Registrar..............................Jane Slavin
Other parts played by Fergus Craig and Colin Hoult.
Written by Dan Hine and Chris Sussman
Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b01sjhdj)
Food hygiene, retail rents and shopping channels
Bexley in London has six post codes in its borough in the bottom ten of a poll looking at hygiene standards in food outlets in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Sit up TV, who operate shopping channels, have been pulled up for more than two dozen breaches of the advertising code.
Are property owners guilty of charging unrealistic rents on the UK's High Streets?
WED 12:30 Face the Facts (b01sjhdl)
The UK Boomtown: North Sea industry suffers staff shortages
At a time when the UK government is supporting billions of pounds worth of investment in the oil and gas industry to help economic recovery and secure thousands of jobs, John Waite asks how the 'threat' of the skills shortage can be overcome. The industry is being promoted as a vital strategic resource that helps fulfil our energy needs and insulates the UK from volatile global markets. However, filling the skills gap is widely considered to be one of the biggest challenges the industry faces. John hears how high levels of activity, global competition and the misconception of UK oil and gas being a 'sunset industry', is leading to talent overlooking a career in the sector. How a shortage of skilled labour drives up costs and impacts on project schedules, and leads to wider concerns over reliability of supply and, therefore, higher prices. He investigates why successive governments and the industry, despite foreseeing this problem, have so far failed to implement adequate policies and measures to tackle it, and asks what is now being done to develop sufficient levels of manpower. Business Secretary Vince Cable and a representative of the industry respond.
Producer: Katy Takatsuki
Editor:Andrew Smith.
WED 12:57 Weather (b01shpk2)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b01sjhdn)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
WED 13:45 Mother Tongue Interference (b01skzjf)
Evelyn Arizpe
Five short autobiographies in two languages. 3. Mexican scholar of children's literature, Evelyn Arizpe, lives and works in Glasgow and brought up two children there - half in Spanish and half in English. She reflects on her own journeys into English and on the way (and the language) in which children learn and think and imagine. And she listens to some old songs from her mother country. Producer: Tim Dee.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b01sj1tj)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b01sjhdq)
Dermot Bolger - Outline Permission
Dublin, 2005, the height of the property boom. Alice and Frank long to move from their city terrace to a bungalow by the sea but with house prices constantly escalating how are they ever going to compete in the bidding wars? The solution comes from their neighbour, a property developer, who proposes a lucrative business opportunity. Is this proposition just too good an opportunity to turn down? With Dublin's property market soaring to dizzy heights, what could they possibly lose?
Written by Dermot Bolger
Produced & Directed by Gemma McMullan.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b01sjhds)
Equity Release
Thinking about Equity Release to help with retirement? To find out how it works, what it costs and to ask about the pros and cons, call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk
Debt charity StepChange say that a growing number of older people are struggling financially. The number of people aged 60 or over contacting StepChange to ask for help has risen by 36% since 2009.
Rising living costs and extremely low savings rates may be putting pressure on your monthly budget. Releasing money from the value of your home could help but is Equity Release really suitable?
Are there other ways to raise money and would you be better off moving to a smaller property?
Will Equity Release affect your existing benefits or tax position?
How much will you have to pay in legal and administrative fees?
What interest rate is applied?
Or perhaps you've been attracted by a cashback advert?
Who can give advice and what qualifications should they have?
Whatever your question, call 03700 100 444 between
1pm and
3.30pm on Wednesday or email moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
To answer your questions presenter Vincent Duggleby will be joined by:
Nigel Waterson, Chairman, Equity Release Council
Vanessa Owen, Head of Equity Release, LV
Tom Moloney, Financial Advice Manager, StepChange Debt Charity
Phone lines are open between
1pm and
3.30pm. Standard geographic charges apply. Calls from mobiles may be higher.
WED 15:30 All in the Mind (b01sj1ts)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b01sjhht)
Live Music - from Dance Hall to the 100 Club
Live music - from Dance Hall to the 100 Club.
The social history of music in Britain since 1950 has long been the subject of nostalgic articles and programmes, but to date there has been no proper scholarly study. The writer and Professor of Music, Simon Frith, is one of the co-authors of the first in a three volume series which addresses this gap. He talks to Laurie Taylor about how the organisation and enjoyment of live music changed between 1950 and 1967 offering new insights into the evolving nature of musical fashions; the impact of developing technologies and the balance of power between live and recorded music businesses. The first volume draws on archival research, a wide range of academic and non-academic sources, participant observation and industry interviews.
Dr Catherine Tackley, musician and lecturer, and Caspar Melville, lecturer in Global Cultural Industries, join the debate.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b01sjhhw)
Radio 1; Police and the Media; Yahoo buys Tumblr
Radio 1's breakfast show has reported its lowest listening figures for 10 years, following Chris Moyles' replacement by Nick Grimshaw. But is this what Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper was expecting when he made the change? He's charged with bringing the median age of listeners to within Radio 1's target of 15-29, so losing older listeners might be part of the plan. Can he bring in more, younger listeners without alienating the older loyal audience?
The new College of Policing has published guidelines on how the police should deal with journalists. The aim is to ensure a more consistent approach across all forces in their dealings with the media but could this compromise the public's right to know? The Guardian's crime correspondent, Sandra Laville and Andy Trotter of ACPO, who drafted these guidelines, discuss.
Plus why did Yahoo! buy Tumblr, what difference will it really make to the business and what lessons are there to be learnt from MySpace, Bebo and Yahoo's own newly relaunched Flickr? Ingrid Lunden is TechCrunch's international editor and reporter - she joins Steve in the studio.
Presenter: Steve Hewlett
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Editor: Andrew Smith.
WED 17:00 PM (b01sjhhy)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shpk4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Down the Line (b01sjhj0)
Series 5
Episode 4
The ground-breaking Radio 4 phone-in show, hosted by the legendary Gary Bellamy and brought to you by the creators of The Fast Show.
Starring Rhys Thomas, with Amelia Bullmore, Simon Day, Felix Dexter, Charlie Higson, Lucy Montgomery, Adil Ray, Robert Popper and Paul Whitehouse.
Producers: Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse
A Down The Line production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b01sjj7v)
Ruth and Emma gossip about Brian's Borsetshire Life article. They think the accompanying photograph paints him as a Dickensian villain. Ruth checks that Emma is still okay to clean Rickyard Cottage for a holiday let. Though it will be a bit strange for her to clean her former home, the extra money will be useful.
Pip has signed up for the single wicket competition and Ruth suspects she is only interesting in beating her brother. Ruth is conflicted about lending money to Josh and not Pip but David is comfortable with their decision. Josh needs the money for business purposes while Pip has ridiculous expectations for a new car.
Helen repeatedly calls Jonathan throughout the morning and doesn't stop until she gets an answer. Jonno attempts to break things off gently by suggesting an old flame has come back on the scene. Helen doesn't believe his story but goes along with it.
Helen recruits Emma for a glass of wine at the Bull and laments opening up to Jonathan about how Henry was conceived. She is also quite embarrassed by her repeated attempts to contact him, Supportive Emma suggests she think of Jonathan as a practice boyfriend - there are plenty more fish in the sea.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b01sjj7x)
Khaled Hosseini; Michael Landy; DJs in film; Cultural Exchange with AS Byatt
With Mark Lawson.
Khaled Hosseini's debut novel The Kite Runner was an international best-seller. As he publishes a new novel, And the Mountains Echoed, Hosseini reflects on being a writer in exile, his creative process, and censorship in his native Afghanistan.
Saints Alive is the new project from the artist Michael Landy, who once destroyed all his possessions for a work called Break Down. Images of saints from the National Gallery's collection have been cast in three dimensions and assembled using materials he sourced from car boot sales and flea markets. He shows Mark around the exhibition.
Novelist A S Byatt reveals her choice for Front Row's Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds nominate a favourite artwork.
DJ and film critic Andrew Collins presents his top 10 of disc jockeys in film, as The King Of Marvin Gardens is re-released, starring Jack Nicholson as a late-night talk show host.
Producer Stephen Hughes.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sj1ws)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Unreliable Evidence (b01sjj7z)
The Law and Cohabitation
In the first of a new series, Clive Anderson's guests struggle to reconcile their differences regarding reform of the way the law treats unmarried cohabiting couples when their relationships break up.
There are over four million co-habiting couples in England and Wales. Research suggests that a great number of them think the law, broadly speaking, affords them the same protection as married couples. It turns out they could not be more wrong.
The programme hears that the widely held belief that cohabiting couples acquire common law marriage status is a complete myth.
Barrister and Lib Dem peer Lord Anthony Lester's argues for root and branch reform to provide legal protection for cohabiting couples. But he is strongly opposed by his cross-bench colleague in the House of Lords, Baroness Ruth Deech, who staunchly defends the special legal status granted those who marry.
While there is little agreement among Clive's guests about what changes, if any, should be made to the law, they all agree that much more needs to be done to make cohabitating couples more aware about their lack of legal rights.
Producer: Brian King
An Above the Title production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b01sjj81)
Series 4
Henry Stewart: Choose Your Boss
Henry Stewart argues that bad management blights the working lives of millions of people, and that the solution is to let everyone choose their own bosses.
Four Thought is a series of talks which combine new ideas and personal stories. Speakers explain their latest thinking on the trends and ideas in culture and society in front of a live audience at Somerset House.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (b01sj1t8)
[Repeat of broadcast at
15:30 on Tuesday]
WED 21:30 Midweek (b01sj1wn)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b01shpk6)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b01sjj83)
Major terrorist alert after man thought to be soldier murdered yards from Army barracks in SE London; Cameron says Britain will never buckle to terrorism. And Lord Hurd warns against intervention in Syria. Presented by Carolyn Quinn.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01sjj85)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
Necessary Precautions
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Necessary Precautions - as Toby puts together his case, he knows he is increasingly at risk.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
WED 23:00 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b01sjj87)
Series 2
About Poorly Relatives
The series is a mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.
Janet a.k.a. Mum - At the end of the day she just wants the best for her son. However, she'd also love to brag and show her son off to her friends, but with Nathan only telling jokes for a living it's kind of hard to do. She loves Nathan, but she aint looking embarrassed for nobody!
Martin a.k.a. Dad - works in the construction industry and was looking forward to his son getting a degree so the two of them could work together in the same field. But now Nathan has blown that dream out of the window. Martin is clumsy and hard-headed and leaves running the house to his wife (she wouldn't allow it to be any other way).
Shirley a.k.a. Grandma - cannot believe Nathan turned down architecture for comedy. How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!
So with the weight of his family's disappointment will Nathan be able to persist and follow his dreams? Or will he give in to his family's interference?
About Poorly Relatives - Nathan Caton is unsympathetic when his parents are poorly as he has an important gig and needs to be on his A game. But he agrees not to tell Grandma that they're poorly as she doesn't believe in poorly.
Nathan ..... Nathan Caton
Mum ..... Adjoa Andoh
Dad ..... Curtis Walker
Grandma ..... Mona Hammond
Reverend Williams ..... Don Gilet
Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Additional Material by Ola and Maff Brown
Produced by Katie Tyrrell.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.
WED 23:15 One (b0093zb2)
Series 2
Episode 4
David Quantick's critically acclaimed sketch show where no sketch features more than one voice.
Featuring the vocal talents of Graeme Garden, Johnny Daukes, Deborah Norton, Katie Davies, Dan Antopolski, David Quantick and Andrew Crawford.
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Random Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b01sjj89)
Susan Hulme reports from Westminster, where the former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd warns the Government about further intervention in the conflict in Syria. Also in the programme: Peers ask why no deal has been done to help people in flood risk areas get home insurance; daylight saving; and current and former MPs tell of the dangers of the campaign trail. Editor: Rachel Byrne.
THURSDAY 23 MAY 2013
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b01shpl3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b01sk9yl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shpl5)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shpl7)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shpl9)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b01shplc)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01xqgc5)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b01sjjxg)
Dutch mink farmers are calling for up to one billion Euros in compensation following the ban on fur farming, which will come into force across the Netherlands in 2024. Charlotte Smith hears angry reaction from Wim Verhagen of the Dutch Fur Breeders Association, whose members have been in court arguing their case for compensation. The Netherlands is the third largest producer of mink fur in the world, producing five million pelts a year from 160 farms.
And is big better, or bad? Livestock experts and scientists are meeting in Edinburgh to discuss the latest technology and experiences from intensive production systems around the world and will ask whether 'big farming' is the way forward for the UK.
And continuing our flowery theme, Emma Weatherill walks among the blooms with an independent flower producer in South Gloucestershire.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced in Bristol by Anna Jones.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbywp)
Garganey
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Garganey. When you hear the male's peculiar call, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Garganey is a grasshopper rather than a duck. One of its other names is 'cricket teal' and the dry rattle is unlike any other British bird sound you'll hear.
THU 06:00 Today (b01sjjxj)
Morning news and current affairs with John Humphrys and James Naughtie, including:
0810
A representative from the Muslim Council of Britain has condemned a machete attack in Woolwich, south-east London, in which one man was killed. Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, and Julie Siddiqi, vice president of the Islamic Society of Britain, discuss the suspected terrorist attack.
0820
Hundreds of files about Britain's secret intelligence services have been released today by the National Archives in Kew. Lord Hennessy, a historian who knows his way round the National Achieves, and Gill Bennett, former chief historian at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, discuss what the archives reveal.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b01sjjxl)
Lévi-Strauss
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. One of twentieth-century France's most celebrated intellectuals, Lévi-Strauss attempted to show in his work that thought processes were a feature universal to humans, whether they lived in tribal rainforest societies or in the rich intellectual life of Paris. During the 1930s he studied native Brazilian tribes in the Amazonian jungle, but for most of his long career he preferred the study to the field. He was the leading exponent of structuralism, a school of thought which was influential for decades, and was involved in a famous debate with his friend Jean-Paul Sartre, who resisted many of his ideas. His books about the nature of myth, human thought and kinship are now seen as some of the most important anthropological texts written in the twentieth century.
With:
Adam Kuper
Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Boston University
Christina Howells
Professor of French at Oxford University
Vincent Debaene
Associate Professor of French Literature at Columbia University
Producer: Thomas Morris.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b01skb21)
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
Episode 4
In this heartlifting book, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s.
In a compelling adventure story, dramatic sequences include an unscheduled early flight over the North Sea, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard and the heart-stopping escape of two families from East Germany.
Early balloons also played a role in warfare - with the legendary tale of sixty balloons that escaped Paris during the Prussian siege of 1870, and a memorable flight by General Custer in the American Civil War.
These are stories where scientific genius combines with extraordinary courage and the power of an imagination that dares to claim the airy kingdom for itself.
Episode 4 (of 5):
Crowd-pleasing entertainments and spectacular displays grew in popularity, with increasing numbers of young women performing aerial stunts from balloons.
Read by Rory Kinnear
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01sjjxq)
Leanne Benjamin
As Leanne Benjamin prepares to retire as Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet Jenni Murray talks to her about a career that's spanned over two decades. Following recent high-profile grooming and sexual abuse cases concerns have been raised about the way the young women involved are cross-examined by a number of different barristers. Do we need a review into how young people are represented and protected in our judicial system? Power lister Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, one of Britain's most successful paralympians reveals how life as a top athlete helped her prepare for a life in politics. And do shared hobbies make or break a relationship?
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sjjxs)
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Heart Rumours
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Episode Four - Heart Rumours
Ezra has plans to modernise Scarlatti's Restaurant.
Director: David Hunter.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b01sjjxv)
A Good Operator
Correspondents around the world: Jeremy Bowen on the increasing difficulties of reporting the war in Syria; Paul Lewis explores how corruption is reaching into the heart of everyday life in India; the diaspora returns - Andrew Harding talks of Somalia at the crossroads; Louisa Loveluck's at the morgue in Cairo - some say it's been covering up cases of police brutality and in Rome, Alan Johnston has been walking the cobblestones beloved of the tourists but held in rather less affection by the locals.
Tony Grant produces From Our Own Correspondent.
THU 11:30 David Vaughan: The Artist Who Fell from Grace (b01sjjxx)
Manchester-born pop artist David Vaughan was a 1960s success story who got to the very top and then lost everything.
Wayne Hemingway takes a fresh angle on an iconic decade and its trendy art and pop scenes, encapsulated in the tragic, but frequently funny and inspiring story of one man.
David Vaughan was in his 20s and had just left the Slade School of Art when he co-founded the BEV Group (Binder, Edwards and Vaughan) with two friends from Manchester, in the early 60s. Their psychedelic furniture, cars, fabrics, wall murals, and posters all commanded an elite list of customers, including Eric Clapton, Princess Margaret and Henry Moore. Vaughan was so successful he went to America to customise aircraft for Pan Am. Briefly, he also ran London's Roundhouse and booked Jimi Hendrix for one of his early UK gigs.
But David fell - literally - from grace, victim of a mental collapse that started after he tumbled 30 feet from a cradle while painting a wall mural on Carnaby Street, injuring his head. A friend's response was to give him a large dose of LSD, from which he never seemed to recover. He quit London and returned north where he continued making art, but his personal style had become darker, earning him the label "modern Goya" for his paintings of victims of the Vietnam War. He became, disastrously, a friend and patient of the anti-psychiatrist, RD Laing, who at the time was possibly in an even worse state, due to alcoholism. But Vaughan's life was deteriorating slowly, and after moving to Ibiza, splitting with his family, remarrying, and then returning to Manchester, he eventually died in 2003.
Featuring deathbed interviews recorded by Vaughan's friend, David Lunt and his daughter, Sadie Frost.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b01sjjxz)
Jay Rayner on food, sewing shops and misleading jobs
Buying local is what we're supposed to do if we care about our food and the planet. But is it always as sustainable as we think? The journalist and restaurant critic, Jay Rayner, is not so sure.
We report on the young people who have ended up working for much less than the minimum wage after responding to misleading job adverts.
And got a special occasion coming up but can't find the right frock? How thousands of women are turning to a new generation of bespoke dress makers.
Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Jon Douglas.
THU 12:57 Weather (b01shplf)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b01sjjy1)
As the Government reacts to the killing of a soldier in Woolwich the Communities Minister - Baroness Warsi - tells us she's pleased British Muslims have expressed their support for servicemen and women.
We have the latest details on the suspects, who were known to the Security Services. And discuss the consequences of the attack with former Home Secretary Jack Straw, Muslim Peer Baroness Hussein-Ece and former top policeman Sir Chris Fox.
We also have a report on the increasing number of sex attacks by children on children.
.
THU 13:45 Mother Tongue Interference (b01skzhz)
Maria Mertzani
Five short autobiographies in two languages. 4. Maria Mertzani moved from Greece to study sign language in the UK. The ways different sign languages vary from language to language has much to say about how the world speaks. In Bristol now Maria still signs in Greek but also in British sign language. She also teaches spoken Greek to the Greek children of immigrant families and also to British adults in the UK. She reflects on the routes into and out of language and her own experiences along the way. Producer: Tim Dee.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b01sjj7v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b01sjjy3)
The Emperor's Babe
A sparkling mash-up of culture and history, set in Roman London.
Zuleika, a stunningly beautiful girl of Sudanese heritage, is neglected by her parents and left till now to run wild in the city's streets.
Bernardine Evaristo's strikingly original and evocative story of Zuleika's short but colourful life is dramatised by Jonathan Holloway. Starring Michelle Asante (fresh from lead role in 'Feast' at the Young Vic) as Zuleika and Olivier-nominated Paul Chahidi as her husband Felix.
In 2013, Zuleika would be scouted to model for Prada or Burberry. In AD 211, Zuleika's prospects are much more brutal.
Dramatised from Bernardine Evaristo's novel by Jonathan Holloway.
'London Calling' arranged and performed by Cousin Dim, featuring vocals by Holly Hockaday.
Director...Mary Ward-Lowery.
THU 15:00 Ramblings (b01sjjy5)
Series 24
Chilterns American Women's Club hiking group
In this new series of Ramblings, Clare Balding will be walking in search of new places, new people and new experiences. In this first programme she joins the Chilterns American Women's Club hiking group, who walk in search of learning more about their new home and meeting other ex-pat spouses. The club offers a range of activities for ex-American and International women who find themselves living in Britain but the walking group is one of the most popular allowing them to discover and explore their adopted home.
Later in the series Clare talks to people who walk in search of a new partner, to discover more about the environment and she walks with the celebrated author Robert MacFarlane who walks to discover the old routes. Producer Lucy Lunt.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b01shstc)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b01shsty)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b01sjjy7)
Cannes Festival hits and misses; director Clio Barnard; Stephen Frears on Ali
Francine Stock on the hits, misses and surprises of the Cannes Film Festival with Geoff Andrew of the BFI and Robbie Collin, film critic at the Daily Telegraph. Plus the British hope at Cannes, director Clio Barnard on her film The Selfish Giant, a contemporary urban fable following two young boys who collect scrap on a horse and cart. And Stephen Frears discusses his latest project Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight which is also screening in Cannes and charts the boxer's battle against conscription. Plus Olivier Assayas on nostalgia and radical politics in Something In The Air, set in France in the early 1970s.
Producer: Elaine Lester.
THU 16:30 Material World (b01sjjy9)
The tornado that tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday 20th May is nothing new to the area, which is situated at the Southern tip of 'tornado alley' and was crippled by an equally devastating tornado back in 1999. But what is it that makes this stretch of land so susceptible to these phenomena and what can its residents do to protect themselves? Professor John Snow from the University of Oklahoma's College of Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences sheds some light on what life is like as a resident of 'tornado alley'.
Year on year, another tree disease or pest is identified within British borders with ash dieback the latest in a long list of pathogens attacking our native species. In light of this, The Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Expert Taskforce has compiled its final report this week. Chris Gilligan, chairman of the expert taskforce and Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Cambridge, talks us through the report's recommendations.
In August 2011, outbreaks of Schmallenberg Virus in cattle, goats and sheep emerged in some countries of Western Europe. The most dramatic effects of the virus can be seen in stillborn calves and lambs with severe deformities. Just over a year since the virus was first discovered in the UK, a vaccine has been developed in time for the breeding season. Professor Peter Borriello, CEO of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, explains how the vaccine was engineered so quickly.
Professor Hugh Griffiths, the winner of the Institution of Engineering and Technology's (IET) A F Harvey Prize, is receiving his prize tonight - £300, 000 to continue his work on bistatic radar and using FM radio waves and TV signals as radar. He joins Quentin Cooper in the studio.
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz.
THU 17:00 PM (b01sjjyc)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shplh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Heresy (b01sjjyf)
Series 9
Episode 2
Victoria Coren Mitchell presents another edition of the show which dares to commit heresy.
Her guests this week are comedians David Mitchell and Alex Horne, and writer and broadcaster Germaine Greer. Together they have fun exposing the wrong-headedness of received wisdom and challenging knee-jerk public reaction to events.
Topics up for discussion are videogames, outer space and horse lasagne.
Produced by Victoria Coren Mitchell and Daisy Knight
An Avalon Television production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b01sjjyh)
Jill and Peggy discuss the Flower Festival. Kenton and Jill both think that David is being overly harsh about lending money to Pip for her car. After all he did crash his van when he was in college.
The fete sub-committee discusses adapting the traditional Highland Games to suit Ambridge. Kenton suggests swapping cabers for fence posts. They could have separate groups for adults and juniors with different sizes of post. Jill insists the women should also have their own class. Lynda and Jazzer are at loggerheads over the whole issue, until Kenton's suggestion of throwing lead-filled handbags unites them in disdain.
Wired Tom thinks his supermarket tasting went well. When Peggy mentions Helen's recent break up, Tom feels that's no comparison with his split from Brenda.
Elona and Darrell are now living separately at home. She is offered a new job with accommodation, so she gives Peggy her notice. It's an emotional goodbye for the two of them. Elona tells Darrell she feels saddest for Jack. She also points out they need to give notice on 3 The Green. Glum Darrell knows he'll need to find his own place.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b01sjk6j)
Erwin Blumenfeld, Lydia Davis, Nigel Kennedy's Cultural Exchange
With John Wilson.
Berlin-born photographer Erwin Blumenfeld (1897-1969) was one of the most internationally sought-after portrait and fashion photographers in the 1940s and 1950s. America's leading magazines, including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, hired him for his imaginative and highly individual shots. Erwin's grandson Remy and critic Joanna Pitman assess his legacy as a new exhibition Blumenfeld Studio: New York, 1941-1960 opens.
Lydia Davis won The Man Booker International Prize last night for a career which includes a novel, translations of Proust and Flaubert and a large repertoire of very short stories, some only one sentence long. She explains how momentary observations inspire her work, including something she spotted on the London Underground yesterday.
For Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds reflect on a favourite cultural experience,
violinist Nigel Kennedy selects Black and Blue, by Louis Armstrong.
John Constable's renowned landscape painting Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows has been bought for the nation at a price of £23.1m - a record figure for a work by Constable. Art reviewer William Feaver reflects on the painting's worth, and looks back at how it was received when first exhibited in 1831.
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sjjxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b01sjk6l)
Investigating Historic Abuse
The Jimmy Savile scandal has prompted a wave of new investigations into alleged sexual abuse of children and young people, some of it dating back decades. But can the police and the criminal justice system deliver on their promise to put offenders behind bars? In The Report, Melanie Abbott investigates whether there really have been improvements in getting justice for both victims and the accused in these complex cases. What results can the public expect from the millions of pounds being spent on Operation Yewtree and the new investigation into abuse at North Wales care homes? Those who have suffered false accusations, and those who have gone through the heartache of failed attempts to prosecute their attackers reveal the human reality behind police and legal actions.
THU 20:30 In Business (b01sjk6n)
Vorsprung durch Technik or Universitat?
Influential experts are worried that the German economic powerhouse is running out of steam. Where is German innovation, they ask? Why do so few German universities rank among the world leaders? Peter Day reports from Munich.
Producer: Caroline Bayley.
THU 21:00 The Truth and Nothing but the Truth (b01sj1sy)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:00 on Tuesday]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b01sjjxl)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b01shplk)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b01sjk6q)
More details are emerging about the Woolwich attack, President Obama has made a major speech laying out his counter terrorism policies, The UN launches a new Intervention Brigade in eastern Congo, riots in Sweden and Nigeria says goodbye to Chinua Achebe with Philippa Thomas.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01sjk6s)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
Falling on Deaf Ears
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Falling on Deaf Ears - Kit and Toby find their efforts to expose the truth rebuffed.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
THU 23:00 Wireless Nights (b01sjk6v)
Nights of Passage
Tonight, Jarvis Cocker's award-winning nocturnal exploration of the human condition takes to the sea. Join him on the midnight sailing of a Channel ferry as he contemplates night crossings mythic and modern.
As he moves across dark waters, he hears the miraculous story of Jeni, a castaway lost and found in the North Sea whose epic struggle took place at night. He meets Sean, a young wrestler who slips through the ropes of the ring for his first fight night and embarks on his own rite of passage. Also on board, a wise old man of the sea, Swilly Billy, keeps Jarvis on course.
The ferryman of dead souls across the ancient River Styx also shadows the vessel, but fear not, sea sickness tablets are available and the lights of Calais are not far off.
Produced by Neil McCarthy
THU 23:30 The Magic Theatre of Hermann Hesse (b01m0lgl)
Hermann Hesse is the biggest-selling author in the German language - responsible for Steppenwolf, a 'bible' for the '68 generation; Siddhartha, which influenced aspects of the New Age movement; and The Glass Bead Game, which is now inspiring game designers.
In this programme, the reasons for the durability of his iconic status are examined by those for whom his appeal has survived beyond a youthful fixation.
Peter Owen is the publisher who first introduced Hesse's work to Britain in the 1950s. John Wilson is a Professor of mathematics at Oxford University and keen musician who has attempted to interpret the rules of Hesse's Nobel Prize-winning Glass Bead Game. Eric Zimmerman is a New York-based games designer who found inspiration in Hesse's writing for a game that evaluates cultural aesthetics. Johnny Flynn is a singer-songwriter who fell under the spell of Hesse's fascination with eastern mysticism. Susanne Voelker runs the Hesse museum in south-west Germany and believes the author's influence is felt by readers of all generations and demographics who are making life decisions.
The Magic Theatre of Hermann Hesse weaves together their testimonies with readings from Hesse's work and music from both his own time and from ours.
Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.
FRIDAY 24 MAY 2013
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b01shpmd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b01skb21)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b01shpmg)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b01shpmj)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b01shpml)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b01shpmn)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b01xqgcy)
A reading and a reflection to start the day with the Rev'd Mary Stallard.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b01sjn51)
Over the past few weeks there has been a steep rise in the price of potatoes. A shortfall due to the weather is being blamed for a threefold increase in the price paid by caterers and small food outlets. The British Potato Council says it expects prices to remain high for the foreseeable future due to the delay in planting this season's crop. Also on Farming Today, The Scottish Government has outlined how it'll share the £6 million it's making available to help farmers hit by bad weather.
Those who lost more than 10% of their ewes, or lost 5 or more per cent of other breeding livestock will be eligible for compensation - as will arable farmers who had to re-sow more than a fifth of their crops. Farmers can apply to the fund from the beginning of June and a committee will then decide who to give the money to. When the package was announced on May 1st , Scotland's Rural Affairs Secretary , Richard Lochead said the money was to help farmers get back on their feet after the worst snow in living memory. And around a third of wild plants in Britain are edging towards extinction. Figures from the charity Plantlife show that out of a total of about 1,400 wild plants, 45 are classed as Critically Endangered, 101 species are Endangered and 307 species are listed as Vulnerable. Presented by Charlotte Smith. Produced by Anna Varle.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b01sbyxy)
Redshank
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. David Attenborough presents the Redshank. Redshanks are one of our commonest wading birds at home in freshwater marshes and on estuaries where you can easily recognise them from their combination of long scarlet legs, white rumps and wing-bars and greyish brown bodies.
FRI 06:00 Today (b01sjn53)
Morning news and current affairs with Justin Webb and John Humphrys, including:
0750
The Children's Commissioner for England says there is compelling evidence that exposure to pornography influences children's attitudes to relationships and sex. The Today programme's Michael Buchanan reports and Sue Berelowitz, deputy children's commissioner for England, explains her opinion on whether sex education lessons in schools should include discussion about access and exposure to pornography.
0810
Preventing the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks would have been "incredibly hard", an ex-senior intelligence officer has said. Ian Blair, former commissioner of the metropolitan police, examines police performance with regards to the Woolwich attack.
0819
The film director Steven Soderbergh has announced that he is quitting movies. Sarah Churchwell, professor of American literature and public understanding of the humanities, and Ed Smith, author of Luck and writer for the Times, discuss the notion of quitting while at the top of one's career.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b01shstm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b01skbc2)
Richard Holmes - Falling Upwards
Episode 5
In this heartlifting book, the Romantic biographer Richard Holmes floats across the world following the pioneer generation of balloon aeronauts, from the first heroic experiments of the 1780s to the tragic attempt to fly a balloon to the North Pole in the 1890s.
In a compelling adventure story, dramatic sequences include an unscheduled early flight over the North Sea, the crazy firework flights of beautiful Sophie Blanchard and the heart-stopping escape of two families from East Germany.
Early balloons also played a role in warfare - with the legendary tale of sixty balloons that escaped Paris during the Prussian siege of 1870, and a memorable flight by General Custer in the American Civil War.
These are stories where scientific genius combines with extraordinary courage and the power of an imagination that dares to claim the airy kingdom for itself.
Episode 5 (of 5):
Perhaps the most daring and ambitious of all the balloon adventurers was the Swede, Salomon Andrée, and his efforts to reach the North Pole by balloon in 1897.
Read by Rory Kinnear.
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters.
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b01sjn55)
Women's football; Ultrasound; TV violence against women
Women's football; The impact of ultrasound on obstetrics; Violence against women in TV dramas.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sjn57)
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
The Country Cook
By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Episode Five - The Country Cook
Cody's obsession with his brother Ezra's fiancee, country girl Ruth, becomes a determined campaign.
Director: David Hunter.
FRI 11:00 The Outsourced (b01pzqpv)
Chris Mullin looks at the impact of outsourcing on the workforce.
For many years government and local authorities have been putting services out to tender, and now, with the drive to cut costs in the public sector, Britain is said to be in the biggest wave of outsourcing since the 1980s.
The outsourced sector is estimated to employ around one tenth of the workforce. Some outsourced jobs are in relatively low wage, low skilled areas. Critics say it leads to a two-tier workforce and a race to the bottom, with damaging effects on pay and conditions. Those putting services out to tender and the outsourcing companies cite greater efficiencies and substantial savings for the taxpayer. Whatever the wider pros and cons, many workers now find themselves in outsourced companies.
In this programme Chris Mullin talks to cleaners, care workers, parking wardens, refuse workers about working in the outsourced sector and finds out what outsourcing has meant for them. He also speaks to outsourcing companies, unions and politicians.
(This programme was first broadcast in January 2013)
Producer: Jane Ashley.
FRI 11:30 Party (b01n6rsf)
Series 3
Radio
The budding politicians get a crucial radio interview ahead of the upcoming by election.
Tom Basden's satirical comedy about a group of young idealists trying to make waves with their new political party.
Simon .... Tom Basden
Duncan .... Tim Key
Jared .... Jonny Sweet
Mel .... Anna Crilly
Phoebe .... Katy Wix
Alison the radio producer .... Rachel Stubbings
Radio Interviewer .... Peter Curran
Drama interviewee ...Jot Davies
Producer: Julia McKenzie.
First broadcast on Radio 4 in October 2012.
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b01sjn59)
Dental tourism, online terms and conditions, visas for cruises
For years, people have travelled to other countries for cut-price dental treatment. But so-called Dental Tourism has been so successful that dentists from eastern Europe are now setting up in the UK, offering highly competitive rates, without the need for their patients to travel abroad. When shopping online, we are often required to tick a box to indicate that we have read and understood the website's "terms and conditions". But how many of us really understand what we are agreeing to, and what are the risks of just ticking the box and hoping for the best? Should travel agents be obliged to tell us if we need a visa for the holiday they are selling us?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Peter White.
FRI 12:52 The Listening Project (b01sjn5c)
Gilly and Jane - The Head and The Tale
Fi Glover presents a conversation between the hind quarters and the front end of the camel which features annually in a Devon village panto, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b01shpmq)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b01sjn5f)
National and international news. Listeners can share their views via email: wato@bbc.co.uk or on twitter: #wato.
FRI 13:45 Mother Tongue Interference (b01skzj5)
Kailash Chand
Five short autobiographies in two languages. 5. Kailash Chand is an Indian doctor in Stalybridge, he grew up speaking Punjabi but worked as a GP for his whole career in the UK. He came to Britain in the 1970s and was beaten up in a racist attack not long after he arrived. Despite this welcome, he stayed, built up his own successful practice, and has recently retired to become the deputy chair of the BMA. He remembers his years in the NHS and the comforts of Urdu poetry and Indian songs. Producer: Tim Dee.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b01sjjyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b01sjn5h)
Dotty Rogers: My Life in Movies
by Charlotte Bogard Macleod.
Dotty Rogers has trouble with reality. She shimmies easily from the mundanity of everyday motherhood to star parts in the movies of her own imagining.
Director: David Hunter.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b01sjn5k)
Chelsea Fringe
Eric Robson chairs this edition of GQT with members of the Chelsea Fringe, London. Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson are on the panel answering the audience's questions.
And listen out for a special musical interlude dedicated to GQT by one of the Chelsea Fringe's comedy acts, Can You Dig It?
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
Questions answered this week:
Q. I recently found police horse manure on the street, how would the panel recommend I treat it before using it for a small front garden?
A. The horse was probably kept inside on a high-protein diet which may have affected the manure, so it should be composted down before use. You can do this by putting it in a compost heap, preferably well mixed up with some shredded paper or straw, as it will be a bit solid on its own, then leave to rot down before use. You could also do a liquid feed. It's a good idea to test the manure on a patch of grass first to measure whether it needs more water before you use it for the whole garden.
Q. What is the correct pruning method for Lavender Munsted year after year to keep them nice and compact and limit the 'blackening' you get at the base?
A. Prune as soon as they finish flowering, which is usually mid August, and never in spring. The next year's flower buds will have just begun to form, you can take these off and reduce the vigor of the Lavender. If you wanted to grow it as a hedge it needs to be pruned more often, probably around 4 or 5 times a year, all through the year. Lavender loves well drained soil which could mean more grit needs to be added if it's grown in a clay soil. Alternatively you could leave the dead heads on the plant as a way to keep the frost off in the winter.
Q. Does the panel have any suggestions for flowering plants that can survive the occasional accident such as being knocked or stepped on? This is for planting around trees in the street and ideally need to be long lived plants with spreading root systems.
A. Creeping thymes are quite durable with lovely flowers. Low hedges would look nice, and work well around trees. For protection you could also use some small fencing around it for the first growing season. This could be a good spot for plants such as Shasta Daises, Saponaria, Groundelder that have previously been vilified in gardens for being too "aggressive".
Q. I have a Camellia Sinensis in a small pot, almost a metre wide, in a north-east facing garden. It has been fine for the last fifteen years with hardly any attention apart from watering. However, this is the first year it hasn't flowered. Should I change the compost? And it is possible to make tea from the leaves?
A. Camellias are surprisingly tough plants and all of them have flowered late this year. However, after fifteen years it's probably time for you to re-pot it for its general health. Plants can often flower before they die and this is a common problem for gardeners. You could use the leaves for tea but it's an acquired taste, the flavour is determined by where it is grown and is best in cool damp areas.
Q. For the first time in 10 years I am without a garden as I have just moved into a flat. Can the panel suggest any house plants that would thrive in a chilly north facing bedroom or a warm south facing lounge?
A. The Swiss Cheese plant (Monstera Deliciosa) would work in either room. This plant fruits with something that looks like a pine cone and tastes like a cross between a banana and pineapple. If planted in a good conditions, with a lots of water and sunshine in a large pot, it can thrive. The friendship plant (Billbergia Nutans) has gorgeous flowers and also do very well in a large pot or hanging basket.
Q. What would work on a north-facing, cold and windy balcony to cover up the metal railings? Preferably something that doesn't need to be watered too often.
A. Christmas trees are durable and can stand a little neglect. Clematis Armandii are recommended for south facing spaces but do grow on north facing walls, they do well in soil and smell great this time of year. Trachelospermum is a neater evergreen plant that you could thread through the bars. Alternatively, Ivy would be great for this space with its durable glossy leaves.
FRI 15:45 David Pownall (b01sjn5m)
The Known Facts
Episode 3 (of 3):
The Known Facts by David Pownall
Read by Hannah Gordon
The last of three specially commissioned stories marking the 75th birthday of David Pownall, the distinguished playwright, novelist and poet.
During a visit to Ireland, a chance encounter with a local museum curator has a profound effect on three elderly academics and their different attitudes towards mortality.
Director: Martin Jenkins
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b01sjn5p)
A comedy writer, a founding member of The Doors, an Argentine dictator, a Pakistani politician and an escapologist
Matthew Bannister on
Ray Manzarek - the keyboard player who teamed up with Jim Morrison to found the Doors.
General Jorge Videla - the Argentinian dictator who presided over the disappearance of thirty thousand people - but never expressed remorse.
Hans Moretti, the magician and escapologist famous for his death-defying stunts on the Paul Daniels Magic Show. Paul pays tribute.
Zahra Shahid Hussain - a leading figure in Imran Khan's PTI political party in Pakistan - who was shot dead outside her home in Karachi.
And Eddie Braben - the comedy writer whose scripts made Morecambe and Wise a national institution. We have tributes from Ken Dodd and Barry Cryer.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b01sjn5r)
Economics of Scottish independence; Ryanair punctuality
Tim Harford inspects the claims the UK Treasury and the Scottish government make about the economics of an independent Scotland; tests Ryanair's claim that more than 90% of its flights land on time; re-runs the Eurovision song contest , excluding the votes of the former Soviet countries to test whether political alliances are affecting the final results; discovers that millions of scientific papers may be incorrect; and learns more about dog years - and cat years.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Ruth Alexander.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b01sjn5t)
Shirley and Janie - A Journey Well-Travelled
Fi Glover presents a conversation between two women born into the traveller community who have come a long way educationally and are proud of the work they now do for the women, children and young people of the gipsy and traveller communities.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.
FRI 17:00 PM (b01sjn5w)
Coverage and analysis of the day's news. Including Weather at
5.57pm.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b01shpms)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The Now Show (b01sjn5y)
Series 40
Episode 2
A Brit blasts off, the French sound-off and the grassroots are brassed-off. Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by Bridget Christie, Laura Shavin and Mitch Benn. Produced by Colin Anderson.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b01sjn60)
Tony is having qualms about selling the cows, and his resultant change of status. But he is going ahead, he assures Pat. He wonders if they should think about investing the sale money in their pension or buy property.
The buyer from Bellingham's wants to meet Tom, to discuss a trial run for both lines of his ready meals.
David has a proposal for Pip. He realises he was a bit harsh expecting her to pay for a new car on her own, so he's willing to contribute towards the insurance, and pay for a suitable car to be thoroughly checked. Pip accepts his offer. She enlists Spencer to help her find a suitable car at the weekend, as well as training her for the single wicket competition so that she can beat Josh.
Lilian assumes Elona must have a new job, as she's given notice on 3, The Green.
Matt thinks they should check out the plots of land that Lower Loxley is selling. It's too much for stressed Lilian, who gets in a state when she spills tea on her brief for the Gilbert's Cross designers. Momentarily sympathetic, Matt gives her an opportunity to confess what's on her mind. But she can't.
It's the last straw for Matt. He abruptly leaves, to give the go-ahead for Paul to be taught a lesson.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b01sjn62)
Paul Morley on the north; lost instruments; Cannes report; Angela Gheorghiu's Cultural Exchange
With John Wilson.
Writer and critic Paul Morley discusses his new book The North: (And Almost Everything In It). The book is part memoir and part history, exploring what it means to be northern and the contribution the area has made to English cultural and political life.
In Cultural Exchange, in which leading creative minds reflect on a favourite cultural experience, soprano Angela Gheorghiu nominates fellow Romanian Virginia Zeani singing Bellini's I Puritani.
Critic Jason Solomons considers the runners and riders for this year's Palme D'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Coen Brothers new offering Inside Llewyn Davis and Blue Is The Warmest Colour, a love story that has already made history for containing the most explicit lesbian sex scenes in a mainstream movie.
Singer-songwriter John Grant has revealed his anguish after his laptop, containing music and notes for lyrics, was stolen after a recent gig in Brighton. Jazz musician Soweto Kinch was also the victim of theft, but is now reunited with his beloved saxophone, and Beth Orton recovered a lost guitar after help from footballer Joey Barton. All three musicians reflect on their losses - and Soweto Kinch plays his returned saxophone in the Front Row studio.
Producer Ellie Bury.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b01sjn57)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b01sjn64)
Maria Miller, Sadiq Khan, Brendan O'Neill, Trevor Kavanagh
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from West Byfleet, Surrey with the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Maria Miller and Brendan O Neill from the online magazine Spiked , Trevor Kavanagh from The Sun and Sadiq Khan MP Shadow Justice Secretary.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b01sjn66)
The Doors of Perception
John Gray argues for another way of perceiving the world inspired by the fantasy fiction writer Arthur Machen. Instead of believing that meaning in life can only be found by changing things around us, "Some of the most valuable human experiences, Machen observed, come about when we simply look around us without any intention of acting on what we see. He thought of the world as a kind of text in invisible writing, a cipher pointing to another order of things"
Producer: Sheila Cook.
FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b01391jw)
Midsummer
Midsummer - a play with songs by David Greig and Gordon McIntyre.
Starring Cora Bissett and Matthew Pidgeon.
It's a Midsummer's weekend in Edinburgh. It's raining. Two thirtysomethings are sitting in a New Town bar waiting for something to turn up.
Midsummer is the story of Bob and Helena and a great lost weekend of bridge burning, wedding bust-ups, chases, bondage miscalculations, midnight trysts and horrible hungover self loathing misery. A warm hearted adult romantic comedy!
Midsummer was first produced by the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh. It was widely acclaimed at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has since toured to Ireland, Canada and England.
Producer/director - David Ian Neville.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b01shpmv)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b01sjn68)
Wife of soldier murdered in London "thought he would be safe in UK". Russia says Syrian government has agreed in principle to go to international peace conference. NASA seeking tenants for launch pad used for first Moon missions. Presented by Philippa Thomas.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b01sjn6b)
John le Carré - A Delicate Truth
Truth Must Out
If the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can they remain silent? Damian Lewis begins reading A Delicate Truth, the brand new novel from the master of his genre, John le Carré, a novel which tells the story of a good man who must choose between his conscience and his duty to the Service.
An undercover counter-operation in the British colony of Gibraltar; a middle-ranking man from the Foreign Office serving as 'eyes on' and reporting to an ambitious Minister; the aim to capture a jihadist arms-buyer - the success, assured.
But back in the UK a junior officer has his doubts and commits an unthinkable act. Three years on, he will find himself facing an impossible choice. In a journey that will take him from Cornwall to Wales via murky secrets in the depths of Whitehall, Toby Bell will try to find out the truth about the night on the Rock and bring it the attention and justice it deserves.
Tonight: Truth must out - whatever the cost.
John le Carré was born in 1931 and attended the universities of Bern and Oxford. He taught at Eton and served briefly in British Intelligence during the Cold War. For the last fifty years he has lived by his pen. He divides his time between London and Cornwall.
Damian Lewis is a British actor best known for his role as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. His many credits include Band of Brothers, Life and The Forsyte Saga.
The reader is Damian Lewis
The abridger is Sally Marmion
The producer is Di Speirs.
FRI 23:00 Great Lives (b01sj1td)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:27 Songs of the Sacred Harp (b01p40h5)
Cerys Matthews visits Alabama to uncover a sacred choral tradition. Widely practiced before the American Civil War, Sacred Harp singing is currently experiencing a global resurgence.
Once called 'white spiritual', this haunting unaccompanied choral tradition survived in the small rural Baptist churches of the American Deep South. Very different to bluegrass and to African American Gospel music, Sacred Harp preserved Anglo-Celtic practices that were subsequently lost in the UK.
Today, this music is spreading from the Deep South around the US and is even developing a following in the UK. Cerys travels to an all-day singing convention in Alabama to find out why the music is not just surviving but flourishing. In an age when church attendance is dropping fast, what is attracting people all over the US and the UK to sing archaic hymns?
Also called 'shape note singing', the music is based around the Sacred Harp hymn book compiled in Georgia in 1844. The pages show different shapes above the words to indicate the notes, enabling songs to be sung on sight. Gatherings are arranged in a hollow square with the self-selected leader entering the middle to call out the number of their chosen song. No applause or audience is allowed. Far removed from 'happy clappy', they are often austere hymns with themes of death and the pain of everyday existence.
Contributors include Hugh McGraw, Jesse Karlsberg, Warren Steele, Reba Del Windom, Henry Johnson, Michael Walker, Emma Rose Brown and Sam Carter.
For information on Sacred Harp singing around the UK:
http://www.ukshapenote.org.uk/
http://londonsacredharp.org/
Produced by Joby Waldman
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b01sjn8r)
Steve and Derek - Things That Go Bump in the Night
Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who hold widely differing views of the supernatural, in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.
The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can upload your own conversations or just learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject
Producer: Marya Burgess.