The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
Surfing - a political history. Laurie Taylor looks beyond the tanned bodies, crashing waves and carefree pleasure, talking to Scott Laderman, Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. His study traces the rise of surfing in the context of the rise of imperialism and global capitalism. From its emergence in post annexation Hawaii and its use as a diplomatic weapon in America's Cold War to the low wage labour of the surf industry today; he uncovers a hidden history involving as much blood and repression as beachside bliss. Also, Pelle Valentin Olsen, graduate student at the University of Oxford, explores the Baghdad coffee shop, idleness and the emergence of the bourgeoisie. He's joined by Graham Scambler, Emiritus Professor of Sociology at University College, London.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sheikh Michael Mumisa.
As house prices sour in rural areas, people living and working in the countryside are being pushed out. This is according to a report out today from the National Housing Federation. It says the biggest problem is in the South West, in the countryside surrounding Bristol and Bath as well as the areas around London.
From the middle of July, chicken producers will be able to burn waste 'litter' on the farm to provide heating for their chicken sheds. It's taken several years for the European Commission to agree the safety rules. Anna Hill meets Nigel Joice in Norfolk where he's been running a trial system, burning litter on his broiler chicken farm for two years.
In a week where producers, processors and retailers will meet to discuss the fall in beef prices, Farming Today is looking at the finances behind the production of livestock. Charlotte Smith speaks to Professor Liam Sinclair from Harper Adams University about how the UK compares to other countries.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the red-necked phalarope.
Red-necked phalaropes are among our rarest waders, small and colourful with needle-like bills and they breed in very limited numbers on the edges of our islands. There are probably only around 20 pairs of these birds in summer in the Outer Hebrides or Shetlands.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk; Weather; Thought for the Day.
Andrew Marr discusses how far the brain can change and adapt with the neuroscientist Heidi Johansen-Berg. Decades ago it was thought that the adult brain was immutable but later research has shown that even brains damaged by stroke have the capacity to adapt. The writer Ben Shephard looks back to the turn of the 20th century and the birth of modern neuroscience, while the novelist Charles Fernyhough asks whether knowing more about the way the brain works will have as big an impact as the findings of Darwin and Freud. The clinical psychologist, Mark Williams, is interested in how we can relieve the despair of feeling trapped in our thoughts, and is one of the pioneers of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.
In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.
Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.
In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.
Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.
Woman's Hour wants to hear your experience of the impact of splitting up when you have children. Lines open at
on Monday morning. Call 03700 100 444. Presenter Jane Garvey is joined by guests, psychologist Penelope Leach and Penny Mansfield of couples' charity One Plus One.
Meera Syall returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell and is assigned to help Emma whose 15 year old daughter Caari has inexplicably gone missing.
Emma is a psychic and remains convinced that her daughter is alive and well but, as time passes, even Emma's rock solid faith begins to crack.
Writer Garrett Carr has spent two years walking the Irish border and creating a new map - the Map of Connections.
The border that separates the north and south of Ireland is a place of myth - it's been a symbol of danger and the unknown. But few people know what it actually looks like. Garrett has explored every inch of it and has found a beautiful and strange world of open bogland and unofficial border crossings.
Near Derry, he finds a bridge made out of planks. It connects a farmer's property, in the south, to his son across a stream, in the north.
In South Armagh, he tries to find a border farm he visited years ago. Only now the farm is eerily derelict, with 'No Sale' sprayed on the walls alongside the image of a kalashnikov.
Cross-border movement is quietly happening, unchecked and often unmapped. Garrett takes us back over the land and reveals his border-crossings - not found on any other map.
Adam has created a wedding spreadsheet, and it's down to Richie to intervene to ensure that both the Stag Do, and Doreen's hen night, go off with a Rudy Sharpe Sizzle.
Father and son comedy set in the finest old-school record shop in Birmingham.
Adam ...... Lenny Henry
Rudy ...... Larrington Walker
Richie ...... Joe Jacobs
Tasha ...... Natasha Godfrey
Clifton ...... Jeffery Kissoon
Doreen ...... Claire Benedict
How a listener's plan to free up his pension may not be working out the way he'd hoped.
New data roaming charges come in for mobile phones tomorrow, how will that affect you?
A year into their role we talk to the woman trying to make sure suppliers and supermarkets forge a better working relationship.
And 50 years on from the opening of Habitat, we look at its appeal then and the role it plays now in Britain's interior design schemes.
Forfar has its Bridie and Cullen its Skink but how do you capture Peterhead on a plate? Food Innovator Simon Preston and award winning chef David Littlewood gather a colourful cast of local characters on board a fishing trawler to share stories and songs of the sea in a bid to help them create a brand new signature dish for the town. Local trawlerman Jimmy Buchan tells of a life spent fishing off Peterhead; folk singer and storyteller, Pauline Cordiner, conjures up some of the darker side of life for a fishing community while local photographer Scott Donald sees the town through an alternative lens. The challenge for the chef is how to re-tell all their stories and ideas through one delicious dish!
A tense and riveting drama about illicit love, and the insidious nature of cover up's.
Social worker, PHIL has fallen in love with his client. But when a violent act against the client's child is reported a darker, mysterious tale develops. New original drama. Television writer Peter Mills' first play for radio.
Why would you not need to linger over an Open golf venue in Kent, the flipside of Eleanor Rigby, and six human figures by Rodin?
The South of England take on Northern Ireland in the famous cryptic quiz, with Tom Sutcliffe in the chair. Fred Housego and Marcel Berlins were beaten by Polly Devlin and Brian Feeney a few weeks ago in the first contest of the 2014 series. This is their chance to get their own back, as they face more of Tom's notoriously convoluted questions.
As usual, the programme includes some of the best of the question suggestions sent in by RBQ listeners.
What do our zoos and menageries say about the changing ways we think about animals - and about ourselves?
Zoos are weird places: miniature other worlds designed for non-human occupants.
They're also astonishing artefacts, little cities of architectural fantasy of amazing diversity; some of the greatest architects in the world from Lutyens to Norman Foster have built animal houses.
But how do we, and have we, designed for animals? What kind of architecture results? What are these human interpretations of what we think animals want? And how has our understanding of the natural world changed the kinds of environments we make for them?
Featuring ZSL London Zoo director David Field; writer, zoo historian and former zoo director David Hancocks; architect Michael Kozdon; professor of Environmental Science and Philosophy Dale Jamieson; and CEO of Dudley Zoological Gardens Peter Suddick.
Was William Shakespeare a closet Catholic? This year sees the 450th anniversary of his birth. He lived through a time of great turmoil, when Elizabeth the First tried to impose uniformity on the country's religious practice. How much is that reflected in his plays? How much did religion matter to Shakespeare? Did he have a particular religious agenda? And does he have a message for our contemporary religious - or irreligious - culture?
Ernie Rea discusses Shakespeare and Religion with Clare Asquith, author of Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Practice of William Shakespeare; Eric Mallin author of a book called "Godless Shakespeare:" and Helen Wilcox, Head of the School of English at Bangor University.
Margaret Macmillan chronicles the events leading up to the First World War. Each episode draws together newspaper accounts, diplomatic correspondence and private journals from the same day exactly one hundred years ago, giving a picture of the world in 1914 as it was experienced at the time.
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914, including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
Margaret Macmillan is Professor of International History at Oxford University.
Readings: Stephen Greif, Felix von Manteuffel, Jaime Stewart, Simon Tcherniak, Jane Whittenshaw
The 61st series of Radio 4's multi award-winning 'antidote to panel games' promises yet more quality, desk-based entertainment for all the family. The series starts its run at the Theatre Royal in Norwich, where regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Susan Calman, with Jack Dee as the programme's reluctant chairman. Regular listeners will know to expect inspired nonsense, pointless revelry and Colin Sell at the piano.
Fallon's too scared to ring Don to find out what's going on with Jazz. She looks at new jobs online, but in her heart prefers to be her own boss.
Fallon has a date tonight with Harrison Burns - he must be keen, says Jolene. But Harrison texts to say he has to work late, which angers Fallon. She goes straight off to 'unfriend' him on Facebook.
Tony's up to his eyes with work - and water. He'll need Pat to help him move the pigs to a drier part of the field. They clearly need some proper help - but who?
Tony asks Neil if he fancies some pig work. Neil's not keen but Tony cleverly tugs at his heart strings, complaining about his bad back and Pat's depression, until Neil the softy agrees.
Susan's happy thinking that Neil's working on the harvest, but less so when Neil reveals he'll effectively be a pigman. Susan's aghast that he didn't discuss the pay with Tony and tells Neil that he's taking on a management role and should therefore be paid accordingly - she instructs Neil to get straight back over there... and negotiate.
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern talks about his new BBC drama, Common, which was inspired by a letter from a mother whose son was imprisoned under the controversial Joint Enterprise law. Tony Hatch, composer of TV theme tunes for Crossroads, Neighbours and Sportsnight, looks back over his career and the hits he wrote for Petula Clark, Scott Walker and The Searchers. Amanda Hopkinson reviews a new Royal Academy exhibition, Radical Geometry, which focuses on art produced during a 50-year period in distinct parts of South America, and Ryan Gilbey reviews The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared, a new film adapted from the novel by Swedish author Jonas Jonasson. And as Ed Sheeran's album X - which is pronounced "multiply" - reaches number one, David Quantick discusses numbers in music.
On the eve of the 2014 World Cup, football-daft Peter White follows England's only sure bet when it comes to making it through the qualifying stages.
Howard Webb, a miner's son from Rotherham, is one of the world's most respected referees, and already has taken charge of some of the most prestigious international matches around the world. But Howard Webb is far more than just a ref, and usually a reserved man, he's been giving Peter a rare insight into his other faces.
A policeman by profession, he still patrols the streets of his native South Yorkshire, but his involvement in his community goes far deeper. For some years now he has mentored troubled children in the area, using football and his reputation in the game as a way of giving them a sense of direction, and an understanding of how discipline can be used to get results.
He's set up clubs across the schools in Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham. Over 700 children are involved- girls as well as boys- and as Howard sorts out the footballing Prima Donnas in Brazil, these youngsters will compete in their own championships back in Yorkshire. Howard is particularly proud to be bringing together youngsters from Eastern Europe and Pakistan in a bid to ease tensions between the two groups.
Youngsters who've been heading for trouble talk about the satisfaction they've been getting out of the game; one or two have even been catching the eye of local clubs as potential signings. Howard talks with warmth and enthusiasm about the satisfaction he gets from doing this work, whilst preparing and acclimatising for what could be the highlight of his already illustrious career-refereeing the world cup final.
Why have the Tories attracted the label 'the nasty party'? Tory supporter Robin Aitken explores why the phrase took hold, and why it matters in key national debates today. Senior and influential figures in the Tory party's recent history offer revealing personal accounts of what they believe and how the party is perceived by the outside world.
How does the world of conservation set its priorities? Shared Planet reports from Qatar and the effort being spent to save the Spix Macaw from extinction in captivity. Occasionally, when the battle to save a species from extinction has almost been lost, the only alternative is to catch the remaining individuals to be kept safe and bred in captivity with no certainly of ever being returned to the wild. In this episode of Shared Planet Monty Don asks whether last hope fights to prevent single extinctions are viable or do we need to start prioritising conservation funding to secure the future or greater numbers of species?
Missing Israeli teenagers found dead.
Rolf Harris convicted of sexual assault.
Japan debates its military stance.
Summer, the Texas Gulf coast - and Justin Campbell, missing for four years, is found. His abductor is taken into custody. His parents, his younger brother, his grandfather, and Justin himself, each begin their own uncertain journey towards a new life.
With infinite care for each other they begin to negotiate the wounds of the past four years, the isolation, the betrayal the grief for what has been lost.
As they begin to remake their family they learn that, contrary to reassurances from the authorities, the man who took Justin away has been let out on bail. In the dusty and sweltering heat of high summer the small town prepares to celebrate Justin's return at their annual shrimp festival but the trial date looms over all of them.
"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost." - Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.
"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears....I love this novel."-John Irving
Justin Campbell's family are adjusting to having him back with them after four years of fearful searching. His father Eric has distanced himself from the empty distraction of his affair with Tracy Robichaud, but in a small town paths have a way of crossing.
Josie Long presents a series of mini-documentaries exploring the idea of being in limbo.
From the story of a journalist impersonating a journalist in an Afghan village based in Canada to the music of answer machine messages, Josie examines what happens when we are neither here nor there.
Feat. Jurate Jurkeviciene
Feat. Chris Bowman
Feat. Fernando Maquieira
Feat. Jane Dolby
TUESDAY 01 JULY 2014
TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b047w7c9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b047wnyh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Monday]
TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b047w7cc)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b047w7cf)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b047w7ch)
The latest shipping forecast.
TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b047w7ck)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0483nyh)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sheikh Michael Mumisa.
TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b047z8wq)
Food security, Ash dieback, Beef summit
What can be done to alleviate what beef farmers are calling a crisis over prices? Producers, processors and retailers will meet for a 'beef summit' later today.
Two farmers in Cornwall are fined, after identity ear tags were fraudulently removed from cows which had tested positive for TB.
And Anna Hill takes a walk in the woods with a specialist in ash dieback, who points out the mushrooms ready to release a deadly cargo of spores to infect yet more trees.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Emma Campbell.
TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tyk25)
Little Tern
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the little tern.
Little terns are our smallest terns. You can pick them out from our other terns by their smaller size, white forehead and yellow bill with a black tip. They look flimsy and delicate but move too close to one of their colonies, and you'll unleash a tirade of grating shrieks as they try to intimidate you out of their territory.
TUE 06:00 Today (b047z8ws)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (b047z8wv)
Chris Llewellyn Smith on nuclear fusion
Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith chats to Jim Al-Khalili about quarks, bosons, and running the biggest experiments in history.
In the late 60s and early 70s Chris was one of the theoretical physicists who were busy sketching what would become known as the standard model of particle physics. An early believer in the physical reality of the "Quark Model", Chris's work helped confirm that the protons and neutrons at the centre of atoms are themselves made up of 3 quarks.
He was also influential in showing that Peter Higgs' theory of mass was not just sufficient, but also necessary.
So when later he was made Director General of CERN, he was well placed to know, and to explain to the heads of the member states, that investing in the construction of something called the Large Hadron Collider would be a scientifically fruitful thing to do. Indeed, it has been said that there would be no LHC without Chris' calm international scientific diplomacy.
Since then, Chris has been influential in several other international big-physics collaborations, including the world's most ambitious nuclear fusion programme, ITER.
TUE 09:30 One to One (b047z8wx)
Tim Dowling talks to David Thomas
Tim Dowling fell into journalism by mistake; he is not an ambitious man, never was, never will be, but he's fascinated by what it means to be desperately driven to succeed.
In his two editions of One to One, he talks to those who have ambition searing through their veins.
Today he meets fellow journalist and author, David Thomas. Once the UK's Young Journalist of the Year and the youngest-ever editor of Punch, David believes his Eton/Cambridge education made him feel obliged to succeed.
Both now in their fifties, they discuss the merits and drawbacks of ambition: does it lead to happiness and fulfilment or a never-ending nagging discontent and anxiety?
Producer: Lucy Lunt.
TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b047zkps)
Last Days of the Bus Club
The Green, Green Rooves Of Home
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.
In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.
Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.
In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.
Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.
Writer and Reader: Chris Stewart
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b047z8wz)
Impact of the Rolf Harris case, Bonnie Greer, Victoria Milligan
Jane Garvey discusses the impact of the guilty verdicts in the Rolf Harris case with Joan Smith and criminal lawyer, Marion Smullen.
Victoria Milligan on how she has faced the future after the death of her husband and daughter in a speedboat accident last summer.
Bonnie Greer talks about her mother, role models and her early life - all of which feature in her autobiography.
And, Lib Dem, minister Jo Swinson talks about flexible working - and is joined by her husband Duncan Hames MP to discuss how they manage their work life balance with a small child.
TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b047z8x1)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 2
Meera Syall returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell and is assigned to help Emma whose 15 year old daughter Caari has inexplicably gone missing.
Emma is a psychic and remains convinced that her daughter is alive and well but, as time passes, even Emma's rock solid faith begins to crack.
Cast:
Jackie Hartwell..............Meera Syal
Emma............................Emma Fielding
Peter.............................Matthew Marsh
Nimmy...........................Lotte Rice
Lee...............................John Hollingworth
Ian...............................Nigel Cooke
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 11:00 Shared Planet (b048l0g9)
Hector's Dolphin
Hector's dolphin is the world smallest marine cetacean and one of the most endangered. It's a shallow water specialist endemic to New Zealand that shares its space with commercial and recreational fishing. In this episode of Shared Planet Monty Don finds out why Hector's dolphin is so vulnerable and what's being done to protect it.
TUE 11:30 O Say Can You See? (b047z8x5)
The author and critic Erica Wagner, a New Yorker by birth, explores America's relationship with its national anthem.
The Star-Spangled Banner is embedded in American national identity and yet it only became the official national anthem in 1931. Erica returns to its origins, almost exactly two centuries ago at the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, a decisive moment in the Second War of American Independence, to find out how Francis Scott Key came to write these lyrics about the American flag. She speaks to the acclaimed American poet Mary Jo Salter about the merit of the lyrics, and to the musicologist David Hildebrand about how the music changed over time to become the anthem we know today.
Central to the appeal of The Star-Spangled Banner is the reverence - what some term the religiosity - which the United States has for its flag. Through insights from Annin Flagmakers, the oldest surviving flagmaking company founded in 1847, and Marc Leepson, author of biographies of both Francis Scott Key and the American flag, Erica unpicks this unique relationship - something she is always aware of whenever she returns to the United States - and examines the positive and negative responses to the anthem.
With music by Whitney Houston, Beyonce Knowles and, of course, Jimi Hendrix.
Producer: Philippa Geering
A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 12:00 You and Yours (b047z8x7)
Call You and Yours
Would you be better off with Britain out of Europe?
Join our phone-in by dialling 03700 100 444, email youandyours@bbc.co.uk, text 84844 and Tweet using #youandyours.
TUE 12:57 Weather (b047w7cm)
The latest weather forecast.
TUE 13:00 World at One (b047z8x9)
Israel threatening reprisals as teenagers' funerals to be held. We hear from the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Defence Forces.
The former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is being questioned in custody about allegations that he tried to influence judges inquiring into his affairs. We get the latest from Paris.
The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has promised to devolve 30 billion pounds of spending to the English regions over the next parliament. We hear from council leaders and the Conservative Minister for Cities.
Alastair Leithead reports on California getting on top of its budget deficit under Governor Jerry Brown.
And how safe is the centre of Manchester after midnight? A police inspector debates that with Terry Christian.
Presented by Shaun Ley.
TUE 13:45 The Town Is the Menu (b047z8xc)
Barnard Castle
Stories of Dickens, Richard III, an entrepreneurial community and a unique landscape all provide inspiration for food innovator Simon Preston and local chef Andrew Rowbotham as they capture the spirit of Barnard Castle in Teesdale in a single signature dish. Local antiques expert David Harper shares stories from history; young business entrepreneur Leah Hobson gives her alternative view of the townsfolk through the clothes they buy and sell while retired vet Neville Turner provides a window into the beautiful flora and fauna that surrounds the town.
TUE 14:00 The Archers (b047ws82)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Monday]
TUE 14:15 Drama (b047z9yw)
The Sum
Eve is struggling to keep her family together and make the balance sheet of their life add up. As things get worse her boss offers her a solution - but at what price?
A dark modern love triangle by award-winning playwright Lizzie Nunnery.
The cast is led by Siwan Morris (Skins, Wolf Blood), alongside Steffan Rhodri (Gavin and Stacey & Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and Matthew Gravelle (star of ITV's Broadchurch).
Director ..... Helen Perry
Lizzie Nunnery is a singer-songwriter and an acclaimed playwright. A finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and a winner of the Amnesty International Award for Freedom of Expression.
TUE 15:00 Making History (b047zk6g)
Tom Holland presents BBC Radio 4's popular history magazine programme which takes listeners on a journey in time and space to catch up on the latest research and celebrate the ways that we all engage with the past.
In today's programme Tom is joined by archaeologist and landscape historian Professor Francis Pryor and the public engagement specialist, Professor Owen Davies from the University of Hertfordshire.
We hear how ignorance is a defence when it comes to wrecking an internationally important heritage site. The one in question is the 8th century fortification built by a Mercian king that we know as Offa's Dyke. The damage was done in August 2013 when a landowners ripped out 45 metres of it. Police decided not to prosecute because they couldn't prove that the landowner in question knew how historically important the dyke was. So: is this a loophole in the laws which protect our ancient monuments; what's being done to close it; and how widespread a problem is this throughout the United Kingdom?
Archaeologist Dr Matt Pope from University College London takes a trip to the Irish Republic's biggest freshwater lake, Lough Corrib near Galway. There an off-duty ship's captain, Trevor Northage, has spent years mapping the lough bed using high-tech sonar equipment. In the last three years he has discovered 12 boats, vacuum-packed in the silt, which span the period from the Bronze Age to that of the Victorians. Matt meets Trevor and hears about the archaeological importance of these finds to Dr Kahl Brady of the National Monument's Service in Eire.
Finally, we report from what's been called the Glastonbury of history: the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival which culminated last weekend in a riot of re-enactment and historical discussion. Helen Castor was at the festival and she caught up with the writer Charlie Higson who confesses to his fondness for dressing up and acting out the past.
Contact the programme: email making.history@bbc.co.uk
Write to Making History, BBC Radio 4, PO Box 3096. Brighton BN1 1PL
Find us on Facebook.
Producer: Nick Patrick.
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 15:30 The Human Zoo (b047zk6j)
Series 4
Episode 2
One view of life is as a series of competitions. We compete for jobs; life partners; prestige and almost everything we value. How, though, do we choose where to compete, which battles to fight and when to walk away?
Human beings, we are told, live in a competitive world. The rhetoric surrounding business, sport, indeed life, is so often about winners and losers. The survival of the fittest; the rat race; climbing the greasy pole to the top of the tree. We can't all be good at everything and one of the trickiest decisions we have to make is where to compete. Where, in the myriad of possibilities should we put our effort, how do we work out which races to enter?
In this week's Human Zoo, Michael Blastland asks whether, in this competitive existence, we really are any good at knowing what we're good at.
Presenter: Michael Blastland
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 16:00 Natalie Haynes' Brave New Algo-World (b03nt9vk)
Comic and critic Natalie Haynes attempts to find the algorithm to determine the perfect joke.
Data structures exercise a tight grip on financial trading, but algorithms are now breaking out into virtually all spheres of human activity - from politics to household cleaning. Both university students and schoolchildren are being encouraged to learn computer programming to stand a chance in the brave new algo-world.
Natalie traces the Western World’s increasing reliance on big data and ponders how its analysis could transform comedy, including a University of Edinburgh research project on unsupervised computer joke generation.
Along her mathematical journey, Natalie charts some of the chaotic muddles that algorithms have led us into, from security scares to retail problems, such as the offensive computer generated T-Shirts available recently on Amazon.
Natalie explores how these complex computer programmes are being used to determine not just stock prices but espionage tactics, film scripts, architecture and online dating. She glimpses the future of algorithms and the effect they may have on the things we buy, the partners we choose and the politicians we elect.
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in January 2014.
TUE 16:30 A Good Read (b047zk6l)
Edwina Currie and Nicholas Le Prevost
Author and former MP Edwina Currie and actor Nicholas Le Prevost talk about books they love with Harriett Gilbert.
Edwina Currie's choice is An Awfully Big Adventure, by Beryl Bainbridge, a tale of backstage intrigue and loss of innocence in a Liverpool theatre in 1950. For Edwina it brings not just joy and razor-sharp writing, but personal memories of her home town after the war.
The Priory by Dorothy Whipple is Nicholas Le Prevost's pick. This soap-opera- like story of a crumbling manor house and its eccentric inhabitants, struggling with the fallout of the depression, was written under the looming shadow of World War II. It's characters, atmosphere, and its depiction of women's lives have made it a firm favourite for Nicholas.
Harriett Gilbert takes us to Iran for her choice of A Good Read: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. A memoir which melds the politics of post-revolution Iran with unusual perspectives on western literary classics, it tells the story of a female academic, expelled from her university for refusing to wear the veil, who sets up a book club at her home.
Presenter: Harriett Gilbert
Producer: Melvin Rickarby.
TUE 16:55 1914: Day by Day (b047zk6n)
1st July
The Hungarian Prime Minister Istvan Tisza blocks immediate retaliation on Serbia.
Margaret Macmillan chronicles the events leading up to the First World War. Each episode draws together newspaper accounts, diplomatic correspondence and private journals from the same day exactly one hundred years ago, giving a picture of the world in 1914 as it was experienced at the time.
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914, including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
Margaret Macmillan is Professor of International History at Oxford University.
Readings: Stephen Greif, Felix von Manteuffel, Jaime Stewart, Simon Tcherniak, Jane Whittenshaw
Music: Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 17:00 PM (b047zk6q)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b047w7cp)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
TUE 18:30 Life: An Idiot's Guide (b043xdf0)
Series 3
Breaking Up
Stephen K Amos is joined by comedians Susan Murray, Tom Craine and Josie Long to present a guide to breaking up.
TUE 19:00 The Archers (b047zk6v)
Helen's happy that Tina's settling in well at the shop, leaving her free at home. Helen takes a call from Rob's mother Ursula. Ursula had no idea Rob was engaged or indeed who Helen is. Embarrassed, Ursula apologises - Rob has not been answering her calls.
Hayley and Elizabeth discuss Loxfest. Elizabeth finds Hayley's children's event ideas a bit samey - she fancies something more physical.
Why hasn't Rob mentioned Helen to his family, is it because of Jess? Rob says that's it. His parents were fond of Jess. He has been desperate to tell his Mum about Helen but was waiting for the right time.
Hayley asks Roy why he was awkward with Elizabeth earlier. Hayley thinks Elizabeth's working Roy too hard - he should take some of the load off of her.
Harrison explains to Fallon why he stood her up. He had to deal with a call about a missing child. He explains how his work will make things difficult sometimes. He just hopes he hasn't blown it with Fallon.
Fallon opens up about her work worries. Harrison points out that if Fallon worked with her Mum she could focus on her passion - the vintage business - and there's a perfect opportunity to try it out at the Bull for the world cup finals.
TUE 19:15 Front Row (b047zk6x)
Pet Shop Boys, Ian Hislop on Great Britain, Romesh Gunesekera, ENO cuts
Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe discuss their BBC late-night Prom which includes the world premiere of A Man From the Future, about Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing; Private Eye editor Ian Hislop reviews last night's opening of the Richard Bean play Great Britain starring Billie Piper, which deals with Leveson and the phone-hacking affair; English National Opera's Artistic Director John Berry on today's announcement of Arts Council cuts in funding; and Romesh Gunesekera on Noontide Toll, his new collection of related stories which deal with the effects of Sri Lanka's civil war.
TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b047z8x1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
TUE 20:00 File on 4 (b047zk6z)
A Deadly Dilemma
In many parts of the world, charities are trying to deliver much-needed aid to desperate people living in areas controlled by militant groups. What do they do when counter-terrorism laws ban them from contact with those de facto authorities?
Risk of prosecution has now created a climate of fear in many aid agencies - and the UN wants counter-terrorism policies redrawn to ensure lives can be saved without charity workers risking jail.
Tim Whewell reports from Gaza - and talks to aid workers operating in Syria, Somalia and other places - on the practical and moral dilemmas involved.
Producer: Paul Grant.
TUE 20:40 In Touch (b047zk71)
Benefit Rights Advisor, Tennis, Confirmation bias
Anne Adams is a visually-impaired benefits right's advisor working at the CAB, who, unable to access a DWP form for PIPs, now has to employ a support worker to help her do her job of assisting other blind people to complete their PIPs (Personal Independence Payment) forms.
She tells Peter about her fury and sadness she feels by having to have sighted assistance and explains that it now makes her feel 'disabled' and not independent at all.
Tom Walker takes up his racquet and goes to Leeds to meet some blind tennis players, including Kelly Kronin and Ben Green.
Jane Taylor is a visually-impaired journalist and makes her In Touch debut by delivering a column about confirmation bias.
TUE 21:00 Inside Health (b047zk73)
Statins; improving cancer survival rates; reflux and heartburn; recycling medicines.
Dr Mark Porter returns with a new series to address confusion about statins for healthy people rather than patients. Statins have hit the headlines as doctors debate the draft recommendation from NICE to lower the threshold for offering statins, which could mean millions more will be taking them.
And Mark Porter turns patient when he is investigated for persistent heartburn. Plus should GPs who miss cancers be named and shamed and why drugs can't be recycled.
TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (b047z8wv)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b047zk75)
The ISIS leader calls on Muslims to go to Syria and Iraq to help build an Islamic State. Nicholas Sarkozy becomes the first French ex-president to be detained for questioning. The European Court of Human Rights uphelds the French ban on wearing a full veil in public. And after 40 years - the Monty Python comeback to the stage in London.
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective with Ritula Shah.
TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b047zk77)
Remember Me Like This
Episode 7
Summer, the Texas Gulf coast - and Justin Campbell, missing for four years, is found. His abductor is taken into custody. His parents, his younger brother, his grandfather, and Justin himself, each begin their own uncertain journey towards a new life.
With infinite care for each other they begin to negotiate the wounds of the past four years, the isolation, the betrayal the grief for what has been lost.
As they begin to remake their family they learn that, contrary to reassurances from the authorities, the man who took Justin away has been let out on bail. In the dusty and sweltering heat of high summer the small town prepares to celebrate Justin's return at their annual shrimp festival but the trial date looms over all of them.
"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost." - Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.
"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead-embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel."-John Irving
Episode 7:
As the hot Texan summer moves towards September and the town's annual shrimp festival, the Campbells are jolted out of their new found happiness by a chilling piece of news.
Read by Clarke Peters
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
TUE 23:00 Clayton Grange (b047zk79)
Series 2
Episode 4
Spurred on by Saunders, our weary scientific team tries to impress a visiting Nobel Prize judge with their self-replicating killer robo-ants. But this is Clayton Grange. When do things ever go right?
by Neil Warhurst with additional material by Paul Barnhill
Produced & directed by Marion Nancarrow
Anthony Head returns for the finale of this sparkling comedy series, described by The Observer as "brilliantly funny".
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2014.
TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (b047zk7c)
MPs dicsuss what the murder of three Israeli teenagers means for the immediate future of the Middle East. Sean Curran listens to a statement by a Foreign Office Minister and follows the reaction of MPs. Also on the programme: calls for action to deal with the availability of the substances known as 'legal highs', and why should voting only take place on Thursdays?
WEDNESDAY 02 JULY 2014
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b047w7dj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b047zkps)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b047w7dl)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b047w7dn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b047w7dq)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b047w7ds)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0483p1y)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sheikh Michael Mumisa.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b047zlbs)
Scottish Abattoir, Beef Summit, Farm Safety, Mountain Bike Trail
The farming minister George Eustice reports back from the beef summit, hosted by Defra earlier this week to discuss the ongoing crisis in the industry. Issues discussed by farmers, processors and retailers included increasing exports, and setting up a voluntary code of conduct. Nancy Nicholson also reports from a Scottish abattoir on how the meat processors are coping with volatility in the beef trade.
Figures due to be released by the Health and Safety Executive later this morning are expected to reveal that the number of deaths on farms has fallen since last year. So is the message about farm safety finally getting through? Anna Hill talks to Nicki Whittaker, from the newly-formed charity Farm Safety Foundation.
And Lucy Bickerton gets on her bike in the build up to the Tour de France, which kicks off in Yorkshire this week. Joe Binns is a sheep farmer on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, who opened a mountain bike trail earlier this year. He tells Lucy how this unusual diversification is not only supporting his farm, but making money for the local community too.
Presented by Anna Hill and produced in Bristol by Anna Jones.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tym17)
Red-backed Shrike
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Steve Backshall presents the red-backed shrike.
Red-backed shrikes were once regular summer visitors to scrubby hillsides and heathery commons and are handsome birds; males have a grey head, reddish-brown back, black and white tail and a black bandit-mask. They were known as butcher birds from their habit of storing prey by impaling it on a thorn or a barbed-wire fence. Now they're one of our rarest breeding birds.
WED 06:00 Today (b047zlbv)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b047zlbx)
Emma O'Reilly, Joshua Sofaer, Ruary Mackenzie Dodds, Danny Braverman
Libby Purves meets Emma O'Reilly, the woman who blew the whistle on Lance Armstrong; artist Joshua Sofaer; writer and performer Danny Braverman and dragonfly expert Ruary Mackenzie Dodds.
Artist Joshua Sofaer is the man behind The Rubbish Collection, an exhibition at the Science Museum. Part of the museum's Climate Changing programme - a series of events and exhibitions that support its Atmosphere gallery - the exhibition takes a month's worth of the museum's rubbish and looks at the value and volume of what's discarded. The Rubbish Collection is at the Science Museum.
Emma O'Reilly worked as a soigneur for the US Postal professional cycling team from the mid-1990s. Confronted by a doping culture she despised, she resigned in 2000 and began to speak out about what was happening in the sport. After breaking cycling's code of silence, she was shunned by the sport and endured a decade of personal attacks, broken relationships and the threat of bankruptcy. Her book, The Race to Truth - Blowing the whistle on Lance Armstrong and cycling's doping culture - is published by Bantam Press.
Writer and performer Danny Braverman inherited a shoebox stuffed with thousands of scraps of paper which provided a unique record of 20th century London and Jewish life. From the 1920s to the 1980s Danny's great uncle, Ab Solomons, drew comical and heartfelt pictures on his weekly wage packets before giving them to his wife, Celie. Danny's show, Wot? No Fish!!, invites the audience to discover the history and inner workings of the Solomons family. Wot? No Fish!! is at the Battersea Arts Centre.
Ruary Mackenzie Dodds is a writer and dragonfly expert. In 1985 a dragonfly landed on his shirt which became the catalyst for a lifelong obsession with protecting them. In his book, The Dragonfly Diaries, he shares his fascination for these striking creatures and the ups and downs of establishing Britain's first public dragonfly sanctuary. The Dragonfly Diaries is published by Saraband.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b047zlbz)
Last Days of the Bus Club
How El Valero got its Name
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.
In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.
Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.
In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.
Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.
Writer and Reader: Chris Stewart
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b047zlc1)
Suzy Menkes; Domestic abuse; The evolution of the teenager
Suzy Menkes, the doyenne of fashion journalism. The evolution of the teenager from 1945 to today. Changing the law on reporting domestic abuse. Science writer Gaia Vince on her travels across the world looking at how humans are changing the environment. Jenni Murray presents.
WED 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b047zlc3)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 3
Meera Syall returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell and is assigned to help Emma whose 15 year old daughter Caari has inexplicably gone missing.
Emma is a psychic and remains convinced that her daughter is alive and well but, as time passes, even Emma's rock solid faith begins to crack.
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:00 My Family’s Fight For Civil Rights (b047zlc5)
Baroness Oona King, the former British Labour MP, has an American side to her family that played a variety of key roles in the Civil Rights Movement. Her grandfather and uncles worked with Martin Luther King in The Albany Movement, a campaign of mass protests that tried to desegregate their home town in Georgia.
Oona travelled to Albany to speak to members of the movement on the 50th anniversary of the passing of The Civil Rights Act, the legislation which forced the Southern States to give African Americans the equality which was their right under the Constitution.
Oona discovers that the violence meted out to black protesters by the authorities affected her family directly. Her uncle CB King, the first black lawyer in the town, was beaten up by a local Sherriff for asking to see his client in the cells. And her Aunt Marion lost her baby after she was beaten up by the police.
Interviewees include Pastor Boyd of the Shiloh Baptist Church, who is now in his mid 80s and bravely allowed protesters to meet at his church; Charles Sherrod of the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee, who brought the campaign for voting rights and desegregation to Albany; John Perdew, who came from Harvard to help the fight and faced the death sentence on false charges; Chief Judge Herbert Phipps of the Atlanta Court of Appeals; and Chevene King, the lawyer son of CB King, who is now fighting racial injustice in Georgia.
Producer: David Morley
A Bite Media production
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
WED 11:30 A Charles Paris Mystery (b047zlvh)
Corporate Bodies
Episode 2
by Jeremy Front
Based upon the novel by Simon Brett
Bill Nighy stars as the louche but loveable actor Charles Paris. Charles is filming a corporate video when a young secretary is murdered. But when he comes under suspicion for the murder Charles knows he must find the killer.
Charles ..... Bill Nighy
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Will ..... Tim McInnerny
Maurice ..... Jon Glover
Brian ..... Michael Bertenshaw
Heather ..... Jane Whittenshaw
Trevor ..... Wilf Scolding
Ken ..... David Cann
Paramedic ..... Scarlett Brookes
Directed by Sally Avens.
WED 12:00 You and Yours (b047zm1d)
Child Maintenance, Farmed Salmon, Electrical Safety
Infestations of sea lice are worrying anglers and environmentalists in Scotland, who blame the proximity of fish farms to the sea. What does it mean for the booming Scottish salmon farming industry and what can a consumer do?
We take a look at the new child maintenance systems. Will the threat of financial penalties make parents work together amicably?
WED 12:30 Face the Facts (b047zm1h)
An Unqualified Failure
John Waite investigates a company which claimed to be the UK's leading training provider and held tax-payer funded contracts worth millions of pounds for courses designed to get people back to work. But he discovers how some of its learners were given certificates for courses they never completed and others have had qualifications revoked for sub-standard work. Hundreds - possibly thousands - of other learners, many paying their own way in search new careers, have been left without the courses they paid for. Industry insiders claim it exposes a loophole in the way the system is regulated.
Producer: Joe Kent
Editor: Andrew Smith.
WED 13:00 World at One (b047zmd0)
Shaun Ley presents national and international news.
WED 13:45 The Town Is the Menu (b047zn5n)
Merthyr Tydfil
A fiery history of rebellion and working class spirit from the town that fuelled the industrial revolution provide inspiring ingredients for food innovator Simon Preston and award winning chef Stephen Terry as they create a brand new signature dish for Merthyr Tydfil. A cast of colour local characters gather at Theatr Soar to share some of the more surprising stories from Merthyr's past - from Mario Basini we hear of the town's Italian community; retired nurse Margaret Lloyd reflects on over 80 years in the town while history enthusiast Chris Parry recalls some of the fights which characterise the town's fiery past. The challenge for Stephen and Simon is to bring all those elements together in a single dish which captures the essence of this intriguing town.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b047zk6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Drama (b047zrkq)
Hatch, Match and Dispatch
Losing My Penny by Leah Chillery
Leo is in love with Penny and he plans to marry her. It seems that there is only Penny's possessive father in the way. But Leo has secrets of his own.
A series of linked plays that start in a Register Office and end in either a birth, a marriage or a death.
Leo....................Don Gilet
Penny................Verity May Henry
Rita.....................Kathryn Hunt
Henry.................Conrad Nelson
Duchess.............Tupele Dorgu
Bartholomew......Fiona Clarke
Written by Leah Chillery.
Director: Gary Brown
A BBC Cymru Wales production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
WED 15:00 Money Box Live (b047zrks)
Small Business Finance
Want to be your own boss? Whether you'd like to sell cup cakes, offer a trade or set up an IT company, call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday or e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.uk
If you got a great idea that you'd like to turn into a business where do you start?
How do you build a solid financial plan and what's the best way to access funding or loans?
Should you run your business from home or rent some office space?
Perhaps your business is already doing well and you need some about tax advice?
If you want to expand your company who can advise you about the next steps?
Whatever your question, our panel will be ready to share their ideas and experience.
Joining presenter Paul Lewis will be:
Elaine Clark, Managing Director, Cheap Accounting.co.uk
Emma Jones, Founder, Enterprise Nation.
Amanda Murphy, Head of Business Banking, HSBC.
Call 03700 100 444 from
1pm to
3.30pm on Wednesday. Standard geographic call charges apply.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b047zk73)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b047zrkv)
Russia's upper class, Flip Flops
Flip flops: the world wide trail of an everyday commodity. Laurie Taylor talks to Caroline Knowles, Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, whose study takes a ground level view of the lives and places of globalisation's back roads, via that most ubiquitous of footwear - the flip flop sandal. Also, research into Russia's elite and how they acquire social distinction. Dr Elisabeth Schimpfossl, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, looks at the strategies employed by representatives of Russia's new social upper class to gain status and prestige. Distancing themselves from the 'vulgar' excesses of the brutal 90s, they've moved away from ostentatious displays of wealth, seeking legitimacy for their position by developing a more 'cultured' image.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b047zrkx)
Diversity, Changes to Radio 5 Live and Facebook Controlling Emotions
Radio 5 Live has announced that three of their main presenters - Richard Bacon, Victoria Derbyshire and Shelagh Fogarty - are to leave the station in the autumn. Adrian Chiles and Tony Livesey are to get expanded roles. Although there will be no shortage of female co-presenters on the station, Eleanor Oldroyd's one-hour Friday afternoon show will be the only programme fronted solely by a woman. Steve hears from Jonathan Wall, Controller 5 Live about the changes.
Act For Change, a project designed to address the lack of diversity in British television was launched this week with both ITV and the BBC in attendance. It comes after the BBC Director General announced plans to increase representation of Black, Asian or ethnic minority groups (BAME) on and off screen. Proposals include a new top level leadership programme, a £2.1 million Diversity Creative Talent Fund and, for around one in six people on air to be from BAME backgrounds within three years - an increase of nearly five percent. Steve hears from Simon Albury, Chair of the Campaign for Broadcasting Equality, who is concerned about the amount of money invested in the Talent Fund and Avril Russell, a black writer who says Tony Hall's plans won't help her. They are joined by Alan Yentob, the BBC's Creative Director.
Facebook has revealed that it manipulated the news feeds of nearly 700,000 unknowing, randomly selected users in a psychological study, to determine how positive and negative emotions can spread on social media. The study, which has just come to light, has sparked outrage from some people and the Information Commissioner's Office is looking into it. Steve Hewlett is joined by the web psychologist Nathalie Nahai.
Producer: Dianne McGregor.
WED 16:55 1914: Day by Day (b047zrkz)
2nd July
Margaret Macmillan chronicles the events leading up to the First World War. Each episode draws together newspaper accounts, diplomatic correspondence and private journals from the same day exactly one hundred years ago, giving a picture of the world in 1914 as it was experienced at the time.
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914, including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
2nd July: Gavrilo Princip confesses to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Margaret Macmillan is Professor of International History at Oxford University.
Readings: Stephen Greif, Felix von Manteuffel, Jaime Stewart, Simon Tcherniak, Jane Whittenshaw
Music: Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 17:00 PM (b047zrl1)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b047w7dv)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 18:30 Start/Stop (b03c46ts)
Series 1
Lunch
A comedy about three couples sailing off in to the sunset. And sinking.
This week a lunch invitation looks like it might change everything.
Written and starring Jack Docherty. With Charlie Higson.
Producer: Steven Canny
Jack Docherty
Jack has an exceptional record of making stand-out comedy. He first performed at the 1980 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the comedy sketch group The Bodgers and went on to write for radio and television including: Spitting Image, Alas Smith and Jones, Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Absolutely, The Lenny Henry Show, Max Headroom, Weekending, The News Huddlines and a ton of other things.
He has also performed in a huge variety of comedy shows including in The Comic Strip Presents, The Morwenna Banks Show, Monarch of the Glen, Red Dwarf V, The Old Guys and Badults. He has also featured in the Radio 4 comedies Baggage and Mordrin MacDonald - 21st Century Wizard and has appeared on various comedy panel shows including Have I Got News For You and It's Only TV But I Like It. Jack presented his own show The Jack Docherty Show which ran for 2 years on Channel 5.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b047zrl3)
Kenton tells Jill and Christine about Fallon's vintage teas. Kenton's keen on some Wimbledon promotions at the Bull, but Jolene draws the line at women wearing white skirts. Fallon's relationship with Harrison seems to be blossoming as well. Good luck to her, says Jill - he's a catch.
Jill chairs a fete committee meeting and proposes a stall dedicated to the SAVE campaign. David's getting t-shirts printed and badges made, to raise funds. They'll also get people to sign up to a mailing list and hold a petition. Kenton suggests a WW1 recruitment poster spoof using David's face - they look at images, with various stirring pictures and captions, and Jill becomes rather taken with the idea.
Susan puts Neil up to asking Tony for an answer on his salary. Tony should pay Neil as a manager. But over darts, Neil doesn't actually mention the word 'manager' - when he reports back to Susan she's annoyed - he's such a pushover.
Jill's worried about Peggy and vows to stay more in touch and keep her company. She asks Christine to do the same. Peggy's clearly depressed and it'll take more than Chris's scones to sort her out.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b047zrl5)
Mark Ruffalo, Monty Python Reunion, Yael Farber, one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy
A review of Monty Python's tour which sees John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin on stage together for the first time in over 40 years; actor Mark Ruffalo on playing drunk in his new film Begin Again also starring Keira Knightley; acclaimed South African playwright and director Yaël Farber on her re-imagining of The Crucible; plus ahead of his appearance at the Cheltenham Centenary Prom, one-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy discusses his technique and with historian Alexander Waugh, looks back at music that was created due to the physical effects of war.
WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b047zlc3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
WED 20:00 Moral Maze (b047zrl7)
Freedom of Expression
In Germany an angst-ridden debate has started on the future of Hitler's Mein Kampf. Copyright of the book has been held by the Bavarian state government which has blocked publication in Germany. In 2015 the copyright expires and ministers are now considering whether to ban it all together. The president of Germany's Central Council of Jews says Mein Kampf is a work of irrational hatred that should be forbidden for everyone. When is an opinion, a lecture, a sermon, or a book so abhorrent that it should forever more be banned? It's a question that's increasingly being asked in the UK as more cases come to light of extremist Muslim preachers radicalising young men. Freedom of speech advocates argue bans don't defeat the arguments they just drive them underground where they flourish unchallenged. Public debate and security, they argue, is the best form of defence. But do the normal rules of political discourse apply when it comes to those who preach sedition? Doesn't the state have a right and a duty to protect its citizens against the propagation of such threats? What rules should we apply to make these judgements and who has the moral authority to make those decisions? Is it only the scale and imminence of the threat? Should you make exceptions for a book like Mein Kampf on the grounds that it's now more of an historical curiosity than anything else? Does the cultural context make a difference? Would it make logical and moral sense for the German's to ban the publication of Mein Kampf because of its unique history in that country - even if it was easily available elsewhere? Does the moral value of such a ban vary with the passage of time, the crossing of borders and changes of cultures? Or can we divine some moral absolutes in the debate on freedom of speech? Presented by Michael Buerk.
Witnesses are Douglas Murray, Peter Bradley, Dessislava Kirova and Jonathan Rée.
Produced by Phil Pegum.
WED 20:45 Four Thought (b047zrl9)
Series 4
Serena Kutchinsky
Serena Kutchinsky explains the impact an obsession with the Faberge egg had on her family and why she now believes such priceless objects should belong to all.
Four Thought is a series of thought-provoking talks in which speakers air their thinking, in front of a live audience, on the trends, ideas, interests and passions that affect culture and society.
Presenter: Kamin Mohammadi
Producer: Estelle Doyle.
WED 21:00 Frontiers (b047zrlc)
Swarming robots
Adam Hart looks at how new developments in understanding insect behaviour, plant cell growth and sub cellular organisation are influencing research into developing robot swarms.
Biological systems have evolved elegant ways for large numbers of autonomous agents to govern themselves. Staggering colonies built by ants and termites emerge from a decentralized, self-governing system: swarm intelligence. Now, taking inspiration from termites, marine animals and even plants, European researchers are developing autonomous robot swarms, setting them increasingly difficult challenges, such as navigating a maze, searching for an object or surveying an area. At the same time, an American team has announced that its group of robots can autonomously build towers, castles and even a pyramid.
Adam Hart reports on the latest developments in controlling groups of robots, and asks why models taken from the behaviour of social insects such as bees, ants and termites may be far more complex than previously thought. He also delves deep into the cells of plants looking at how the physical and chemical triggers for plant growth might be useful in robot design.
WED 21:30 Midweek (b047zlbx)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 21:58 Weather (b047w7dx)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b047zrlf)
Jerusalem clashes after teenagers' deaths, Iraqi PM warns of regional threat, first in our series on the UK's role in the world, new autism therapy. With Ritula Shah.
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b047zrlh)
Remember Me Like This
Episode 8
Summer, the Texas Gulf coast - and Justin Campbell, missing for four years, is found. His abductor is taken into custody. His parents, his younger brother, his grandfather, and Justin himself, each begin their own uncertain journey towards a new life.
With infinite care for each other they begin to negotiate the wounds of the past four years, the isolation, the betrayal the grief for what has been lost.
As they begin to remake their family they learn that, contrary to reassurances from the authorities, the man who took Justin away has been let out on bail. In the dusty and sweltering heat of high summer the small town prepares to celebrate Justin's return at their annual shrimp festival but the trial date looms over all of them.
"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost." - Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.
"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead-embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel."-John Irving
Episode 8:
Fear and frustration and anger begin to simmer amongst the Campbells. Dwight Buford's father asks a favour.
Read by Clarke Peters
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:00 Before They Were Famous (b01m179h)
Series 1
Episode 2
Ian Leslie presents the comedy show which brings to light the often surprising first literary attempts of some of the world's best known writers.
A project of literary archaeology, Leslie has found evidence in the most unlikely of places - within the archives of newspapers, periodicals, corporations and universities - showcasing the early examples of work by writers such as Jilly Cooper during her brief and unfortunately unsuccessful foray into the world of war reporting, and Hunter S Thompson in his sadly short-lived phase working in the customer relations department for a major American Airline.
These are the newspaper articles, advertising copy, company correspondence and gardening manuals that allow us a fascinating glimpse into the embryonic development of our best loved literary voices - people we know today for their novels or poems but who, at the time, were just people with a dream...and a rent bill looming at the end of the month.
Produced by Anna Silver and Claire Broughton
A Hat Trick production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:15 Tina C (b01bb7qh)
Tina C's Global Depression Tour
Europe
Country legend Tina C challenges the Secretary for the US Treasury, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the former CEO of Goldman Sachs.
Where they have failed, she can come up with a solution to the Global Recession.
So Tina has set off on a six country tour to prove it - and her next stop is Europe.
Tina C ...... Christopher Green
With:
Paul Mason
Victoria Inez Hard
Musical arrangements by Duncan Walsh Atkins and Christopher Green
Director: Jeremy Mortimer.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b047zrlk)
The Prime Minister and the Labour leader have clashed in the Commons over waiting times in the NHS.
David Cameron says more people are being treated by a health service that is the "best in the world".
But Ed Miliband says the NHS has got worse, not better, under the coalition.
MPs take evidence on the work of academies and free schools.
And peers press the Government over its opposition to the choice of Jean-Claude Juncker as EU Commission president.
Susan Hulme and team report on today's events in Parliament.
THURSDAY 03 JULY 2014
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b047w7gj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b047zlbz)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b047w7gl)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b047w7gn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b047w7gq)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b047w7gs)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0483p66)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sheikh Michael Mumisa.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b048033l)
Livestock Event
Sybil Ruscoe is at the Livestock Event 2014, which for two days transforms the NEC in Birmingham into an indoor agricultural event. She hears from farmers and consultants about the opportunities which lie ahead for British dairy farmers, once milk quotas are abolished in April next year. Efficiency will be the name of the game, if they are to keep up with their European rivals and make the most of the new demand for dairy products from emerging economies. Sybil gets a look at the latest innovation in robotic feeding systems for cattle, which could help farmers compete.
Farming Today also hears about research which for the first time uses computer modelling to examine the spread of bovine TB in Britain. Does it cast doubt on the government's badger cull policy? Farming Minister George Eustice thinks not. We hear from him, and one of the report's authors.
Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Emma Campbell.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378sqk)
Stonechat
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the Stonechat. Stonechats are well named: their call sounds just like two pebbles being struck together. The males are striking birds with a black head, white collar and orange chest and are about the size of a plump robin.
THU 06:00 Today (b048033n)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b048033q)
Mrs Dalloway
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway. First published in 1925, it charts a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a prosperous member of London society, as she prepares to throw a party. Writing in her diary during the writing of the book, Woolf explained what she had set out to do: 'I want to give life and death, sanity and insanity. I want to criticize the social system, and to show it at work at its most intense.' Celebrated for its innovative narrative technique and distillation of many of the preoccupations of 1920s Britain, Mrs Dalloway is now seen as a landmark of twentieth-century fiction, and one of the finest products of literary modernism.
With:
Professor Dame Hermione Lee
President of Wolfson College, Oxford
Jane Goldman
Reader in English Literature at the University of Glasgow
Kathryn Simpson
Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b048033s)
Last Days of the Bus Club
The Rain in Spain Part 1
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.
In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.
Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.
In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.
Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.
Writer and Reader: Chris Stewart
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b048033v)
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton was offered the post of US Secretary of State in 2008 by Barack Obama who just months earlier had been her rival for the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency. She took the job and with it the challenges of representing her country on the world stage. She talks to Jenni about her new book "Hard Choices', about the tough decisions she faced in shaping US foreign policy.
In 1973 Billie Jean King performed in the most watched tennis match ever. She played former tennis champion and keen chauvinist Bobby Riggs in The Battle of the Sexes. In a treat from our Archive she talks about a documentary made to mark the 40th anniversary of the match
Vera Brittain, author of Testament of Youth published a controversial pamphlet in 1943 which argued against the Allied use of saturation bombing in Germany during the Second World War. The German city of Hamburg, two thirds of which was destroyed by Allied bombs has decided to honour her by naming a canal after her. Her daughter Baroness Shirley Williams and her friend Helge Rubinstein travelled back to the City last week and describe what it was like to receive the honour which, for different reasons, celebrates both their mothers.
Glastonbury kicked-off the festival season in true muddy-style last weekend. We look at festival fashion, come rain or come shine. BBC Radio 1 presenter and fashion stylist Gemma Cairney joins us after several days looking good in the fields of Somerset, to tell us what's hot and what's not, and her big tips for a successful festival look this summer.
THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b048033x)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 4
Meera Syall returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell and is assigned to help Emma whose 15 year old daughter Caari has inexplicably gone missing.
Emma is a psychic and remains convinced that her daughter is alive and well but, as time passes, even Emma's rock solid faith begins to crack.
Cast:
Jackie Hartwell..............Meera Syal
Emma............................Emma Fielding
Peter.............................Matthew Marsh
Nimmy...........................Lotte Rice
Lee...............................John Hollingworth
Ian...............................Nigel Cooke
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b048033z)
No More Boat People
Global despatches: in this edition, why hunger is again taking hold in South Sudan - even after a plentiful harvest; Australia gets tough with asylum seekers -- and the problems pile up for those seeking a new life down under; how America's attachment to its First Amendment gives hate groups the freedom to disseminate their beliefs; we visit a cemetery in the Czech Republic: a place of awful history, but also one where you learn about a community determined to create a successful future for itself; and fine dining for only a few pounds? we meet a man in Chile dedicated to reviving his country's culinary heritage.
THU 11:30 With Great Pleasure (b0480341)
Terry Wogan
Sir Terry Wogan chooses the prose and poetry that mean the most to him, with the help of special guests, David Jason and Frances Tomelty who read works by a variety of writers from Yeats to Robert Frost and PG Wodehouse. Finbar Furey provides live music.
Producer: Maggie Ayre
Sir David Jason reads Vitai Lampada by Sir Henry Newbolt
Frances Tomelty reads When You Are Old by WB Yeats
Finbar Furey sings Sweet Sixteen
Sir David Jason reads an excerpt from Elegy In A Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray
Sir David Jason reads Gussie's Prizegiving Speech from Right Ho Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Frances Tomelty reads Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and In Westminster Abbey by Sir John Betjeman
Finbar Furey sings Raglan Road.
THU 12:00 You and Yours (b0480343)
Free hearing aids, fake handbags and the board game cafe
Should free hearing aids be stopped for those with mild to moderate hearing loss? Health commissioners in North Staffordshire are asking that very question. And how a reputable payment site is being targeted by criminals, precisely because it's so reliable. We also visit the café which employs board game sommeliers, game gurus who can tell you the rules and help you pick from 2,000 titles. We'll ask why cheap options for transatlantic travel are becoming increasingly available and the perils of social media for corporate PR teams. How Northern Rail told customers it could meet the manager, then couldn't find him.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Kev Core.
THU 12:57 Weather (b047w7gv)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b0480345)
National and international news with Shaun Ley.
THU 13:45 The Town Is the Menu (b0480347)
Cambridge
Can town and gown be united through food? That's the challenge for food innovator Simon Preston and chef Alex Rushmer as they try to create a dish which will appeal to both the townsfolk and the 'gownsfolk', members of university, in Cambridge - a small city with a huge reputation. University chaplain, Malcolm Guite, shares inspiring stories of the great and the good including a walk with CS Lewis, local historian Caroline Biggs talks of Cambridge's surprising past as an inland port, while tour guide and ex-road sweeper, Allan Brigham, shares his unique perspective on this beautiful city.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b047zrl3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b0480349)
Blurred
by Frazer Flintham.
When old University friends Nikki and Hannah meet up more than ten years after they lost touch, Nikki makes a shocking revelation.
directed by Mary Peate.
This is Frazer Flintham's first play for radio.
THU 15:00 Open Country (b048034c)
Tour de Yorkshire
With the whole of Yorkshire gearing up to welcome the pelotons of the Tour de France, Helen Mark heads for the scene of Le Grand Depart in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Travelling at a somewhat slower pace than the Yellow Jerseys, she soaks up some of the history of this beauty spot in 'God's Own County'.
The first stop is to Aysgarth Falls, a cascading flight of tumbling waterfalls carved out by the River Ure. National Parks Ranger Cathy Bergs tells us about the geology of the 'triple falls' and some of the many creatures which call it home, and lets us in on the frantic preparations being made for the coming onslaught of people for the Tour de France.
From there, it's 'on yer bike!' with Gia Margolis and the Wheel Easy cycling club - "a club for those who don't wear lycra", for a trip to the infamous Buttertubs Pass. One of the toughest climbs on the UK legs of the Tour route, Gia explains what makes it such a haven for cyclists and tries to convince Helen that the impossible climb is worth it!
At the top, Helen peers into the 20 metre deep limestone potholes which dot the countryside - the 'Buttertubs' themselves. Historic Environment Officer Robert White helps us separate fact from fiction, and tells us about the history of lead mining in the area.
But while the mining industry might be consigned to history, the mines themselves are not! Our final stop is at Hard Level Gill Mine, where we meet local heroes Pete Roe and Tony Harrison. They are part of a caving group who delve beneath the Dales to explore the ancient mine-shafts, mapping them and repairing them. We venture inside the mouth of one shaft, and imagine life lived kilometres below the surface of the beautiful Dales.
Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b047w8k7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:55 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b047wb68)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b048034f)
Mark Gatiss, Peter Fonda, World Cup v Cinema
With Matthew Sweet.
In a new series on The Film Programme, Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss reveals his favourite movie detectives, starting with Alastair Sim's lugubrious Inspector Cockrill.
Peter Fonda remembers his Easy Rider co-star Dennis Hopper and recalls their legal dispute about the authorship of the counter-culture classic.
How has the World Cup affected cinema attendances ? Clare Binns of the Picturehouse chain and independent cinema owner Kevin Markwick reveal their figures.
Antonia Quirke argues that social media has killed the movie star and blames James Franco's underpants.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b048034h)
Informed consent, El Nino, Gravitational Waves, Cloud cover
Informed consent
Facebook has been under fire for running a controversial 'emotion manipulation' study on 689,003 Facebook users. The experiment, to find out whether emotions were contagious on the social network, involved minor changes to users' news feeds. It's contentious because the users were not informed that they were taking part in an experiment. Facebook says, check the terms and conditions, but Dr Chris Chambers at Cardiff University says that the ethical standards for science are higher, and should involve informed consent. Dan O'Connor, Head of Medical Humanities at the Wellcome Trust, gives a short history of consent in experimentation.
El Nino
According to the Met Office, the world is almost certain to be struck by the "El Nino" phenomenon this year, with the potential to induce "major climactic impacts" around the world. Roland Pease investigates this flip in the climate state of the Pacific basin, and asks the experts studying this phenomenon, whether it'll be a major event and how it might affect the climate.
Gravitational Waves
The announcement, earlier this year, that the BICEP 2 telescope at the South Pole had detected evidence that gravitational waves exist may have been premature. Gravitational waves are theoretical phenomena, based on observation of polarisation of ancient cosmic light. Finding them, adds to the evidence that the Universe is expanding. The data has now been made public, but the confidence in the numbers is being questioned.
Cloud cover
A listener asks about cloud cover and night time temperatures, and how air temperature and moisture content interact. Our expert Peter Sloss from the Met Office answers.
Producer: Fiona Roberts.
THU 16:55 1914: Day by Day (b048034k)
3rd July
Margaret Macmillan chronicles the events leading up to the First World War. Each episode draws together newspaper accounts, diplomatic correspondence and private journals from the same day exactly one hundred years ago, giving a picture of the world in 1914 as it was experienced at the time.
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914, including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
3rd July: The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Vienna.
Margaret Macmillan is Professor of International History at Oxford University.
Readings: Stephen Greif, Felix von Manteuffel, Jaime Stewart, Simon Tcherniak, Jane Whittenshaw
Music: Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 17:00 PM (b048034m)
Eddie Mair presents coverage and analysis of the day's news.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b047w7gx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 18:30 Ed Reardon's Week (b01gg7g4)
Series 8
Making a Difference
Ed Reardon leads us through the ups and down of his week, complete with his trusty companion, Elgar, and his never-ending capacity for scrimping and scraping at whatever scraps his agent, Ping, can offer him to keep body, mind and cat together.
Ed decides to 'Make a Difference' to impress Fiona and as a consequence finds himself becoming 'a voice for the people' when he joins a group trying to change the railways. As a consequence he finds himself on local radio representing the group and 'channelling grumpy', and astonishingly finds that people agree with his views and find his conversation 'totes legde'. Thus it is that 'Captain Grumblebum' is created.
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas.
Produced by Dawn Ellis.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b048034p)
Over lunch. Elizabeth teases Shula by asking her to play a set at Loxfest (she was the Marianne Faithfull of Ambridge, after all!). However, the stables will be involved at Loxfest. Shula's glad to get away from work, as she's rather depressed about the horse with strangles. More happily, Shula points out how well Elizabeth seems to be doing. She has her energy back, just like the old Elizabeth.
Helen tells Rob she'd like to meet his parents, particularly considering they'll be family soon. Rob agrees to think about it.
Ruth and David visit the NEC livestock event. Ruth becomes rather impressed by the robotic milking demonstration, despite complaining to David about patronising Rob who took it upon himself to explain it to them. Ruth grows interested in all the brochure information, as more sceptical David points out the prohibitive costs.
On the way home they talk about the new road. If it was already in place would it have saved them much time on their journey today? - no. David reflects on the detached bureaucracy of it all. He then receives a text from Lynda which contains a link to the Echo. Opening the link, David's horrified to see the contents.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b048034r)
Caitlin Moran, Maureen Lipman and Harry Shearer, Chelsea Handler
Maureen Lipman and Harry Shearer talk to John in the hours leading up to curtain call of the West End transfer of their critically acclaimed play, Daytona; Caitlin Moran discusses her debut novel and explains why it's the hardest thing she's ever done; American talk show host, comedian, and author Chelsea Handler discusses her stand-up tour, why she's been insulting people all her life, and whether her confessional style is all true; and technology journalist Aleks Krotoski reviews Digital Revolution, a new exhibition at the Barbican Centre which explores the evolution of digital art from the early video games of the 1970s to the visual effects used in the film Gravity.
THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b048033x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b048034t)
E-Cigarettes
More than two million people in Britain are thought to have used electronic cigarettes. Whitehall civil servants think that e-cigarettes are one of the most significant public health success stories of our generation. In Wales however, the principality's government wants to ban their use in public places. Wesley Stephenson asks why the two governments have such different approaches.
Producer: Smita Patel.
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b048034w)
Mental Health
Would you tell your boss you had depression? In The Bottom Line this week, Evan Davis hears from three successful business people who talk openly about what it's like to experience severe mental illness whilst running their companies. They'll explain the risks and rewards of going public about mental ill health problems: the reaction from investors and the impact on staff. And we'll hear why being open about mental illness can lead to a happier, healthier workplace.
Guests:
Lord Stevenson of Coddenham, entrepreneur and former Chairman of HBOS and Pearson;
Andrea Woodside, Founder, Minding Work Limited;
and Charlie Mowat, Managing Director, The Clean Space
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b048034h)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b048033q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 21:58 Weather (b047w7gz)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b048034y)
Iraq: the latest on the ground.
Ebola virus spreads across West Africa.
Tour de France comes to Barnsley.
With Philippa Thomas.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b0480350)
Remember Me Like This
Episode 9
Summer, the Texas Gulf coast - and Justin Campbell, missing for four years, is found. His abductor is taken into custody. His parents, his younger brother, his grandfather, and Justin himself, each begin their own uncertain journey towards a new life.
With infinite care for each other they begin to negotiate the wounds of the past four years, the isolation, the betrayal the grief for what has been lost.
As they begin to remake their family they learn that, contrary to reassurances from the authorities, the man who took Justin away has been let out on bail. In the dusty and sweltering heat of high summer the small town prepares to celebrate Justin's return at their annual shrimp festival but the trial date looms over all of them.
"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost." - Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.
"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead-embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel."-John Irving
Episode 9:
Eric and Cecil have decided to take matters into their own hands. Two guns are cleaned and the truck prepared.
Read by Clarke Peters
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:00 Trodd en Bratt Say 'Well Done You' (b0480352)
Series 1
Episode 3
Nominated for Best Comedy in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2015, Trodd en Bratt Say 'Well Done You' is a comedy sketch show written and performed by Ruth Bratt and Lucy Trodd, stars of Radio 4's Showstoppers.
This week a pair of American tourists visit St Paul's cathedral to confess their sins; there's an unexpected rendezvous at the train station waiting for the
4:18 to Hatfield; and a student council meeting unearths some dark secrets.
Written and performed by Ruth Bratt and Lucy Trodd
Supporting cast: Adam Meggido and Oliver Senton
Script Editor: Jon Hunter
Composer: Duncan Walsh Atkins
Producer: Ben Worsfield
A Lucky Giant production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b0480354)
Sean Curran hears MPs appeal for fast broadband. There's a call for the boss of the Student Loans Company to quit. And why the Rock puts Spain in a hard place.
FRIDAY 04 JULY 2014
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b047w7ht)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b048033s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b047w7hw)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b047w7hy)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b047w7j2)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b047w7j4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0483pkw)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Sheikh Michael Mumisa.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b04807h6)
Yorkshire prepares for the Tour de France
Caz Graham visits a rural village in the Yorkshire Dales to find out how they're preparing to host one of the world's biggest sporting events, the Tour de France. The cycle race starts tomorrow and will pass through the village of Muker in Swaledale, which is usually home to around 40 people. Final preparations are taking place in the village and farmers have opened their fields for camping and car parking, as they anticipate thousands to descend on their narrow streets tomorrow.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Lucy Bickerton.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0378srp)
House Sparrow
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.
Michaela Strachan presents the house sparrow. These birds are more commonly found living alongside us than any other British bird. Perhaps the most enterprising birds were the House Sparrows which bred below ground in a working mine at Frickley Colliery in Yorkshire.
FRI 06:00 Today (b04807h8)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b047w8tm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b04807hb)
Last Days of the Bus Club
The Rain In Spain Part 2
The eponymous Bus Club is the author's term for the three fathers, of which he is one, who meet each morning when they drop their children at the school bus stop. Chris Stewart's daughter Chloe is in her final year at school and times will soon be changing for the author.
In his latest memoir, Chris once again taps into the rich seam of story-telling in the Alpujarras Hills, and brings us tales that are, by turns, warm, funny and moving.
Chris Stewart had a brief flirtation with fame as the drummer in Genesis. But he was, by his own admission, not a very good drummer. After college, he embarked on a peripatetic career that saw him travelling across Europe in a converted ambulance, and playing drums in a circus, before becoming a sheep farmer in deepest Sussex.
In the early days of the Rough Guides, he persuaded the originator and publisher of the series, Mark Ellingham, to let him write the guide to China, and so began his career as a writer.
Over 20 years ago, Chris and his wife Ana settled in the Alpujarras region of Andalucia, buying their own farm. Their experiences in the remote region formed the basis of his first memoir in 1999, 'Driving Over Lemons', which became an international best-seller.
Writer and Reader: Chris Stewart
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Producer: Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b04807hd)
Joint Enterprise; Jude Palmer; Food Rationing; Social Media and Breakups
Joint Enterprise is a 300 year old law under which someone can be held responsible for the criminal acts of others. Charlotte Henry and Saj Tufail discuss whether or not it should be abolished. The official behind-the-scenes photographer for the Tour de France - Jude Palmer - talks about her work. Food historian Carol Harris and cook Grace Mulligan discuss the end of food rationing [60 years ago today]. Social media is playing a bigger role in relationship breakups. Jenni talks to solicitor Andrew Newbury and to agony aunt Kate Taylor about why this is happening. Middle Eastern specialist Alison Baily takes a look at what ISIS means for women.
FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b04807hg)
A Small Town Murder
Episode 5
Meera Syall returns as family liaison officer Jackie Hartwell and is assigned to help Emma whose 15 year old daughter Caari has inexplicably gone missing.
Emma is a psychic and remains convinced that her daughter is alive and well but, as time passes, even Emma's rock solid faith begins to crack.
Cast:
Jackie Hartwell..............Meera Syal
Emma............................Emma Fielding
Peter.............................Matthew Marsh
Nimmy...........................Lotte Rice
Lee...............................John Hollingworth
Ian...............................Nigel Cooke
Written by Scott Cherry
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:00 The Last Wish of a Prince (b04807hj)
Hardeep Singh Kohli follows the campaign trail to have Maharaja Duleep Singh's remains exhumed and returned to India. If successful, this will be history in the making as the dying wishes of the Prince will finally be granted, as some in the Sikh community believe.
Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, was befriended by Queen Victoria during the British Raj. In his later years he was stopped by the British Government from returning to India and he died alone in Paris. His body was brought back to Britain and buried in Elveden in Suffolk.
Now a Sikh charity want his body to be returned to India and to carry out what they claim was the last wish of a Prince. But, as Hardeep Singh Kohli discovers, their campaign is proving highly controversial as the evidence for his last wishes is not clear cut at all.
Producer: Perminder Khatkar.
FRI 11:30 The Stanley Baxter Playhouse (b04807hl)
Series 6
A Dish of Neapolitan
An Old Army colonel and his one time batman reunite after many years at the scene of their greatest glories on the Italian front in the Second World War.
Many secrets are revealed and a new friendship is forged as they conspire to win back what they perceive as rightfully belonging to their old regiment.
Archie ..... Stanley Baxter
Charles ..... Geoffrey Palmer
Luca (Waiter) ..... Alex Madia
Arturo (Launch Driver ..... Alex Madia
Museum Attendant ..... Lara Parmiani
Written by Michael Chaplin
Director: Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2014. .
FRI 12:00 You and Yours (b04807hn)
Telecare and doorstep fraud
The first interview with a man with Parkinsons who, over the course of eight years, gave away more than a quarter of million pounds to fraudsters. You can also hear from his carer who found out what was going on and went to the police. Peter looks at the future of care at home. Some local authorities and housing associations are investigating technology like motion and heat sensors, video cameras and GPS to monitor people who need support. And, as a report is published looking at whether all-inclusive holidays really do save you money, we debate what's attractive about them with two travel heavyweights.
FRI 12:52 The Listening Project (b04807hq)
Jane and Kim - Life Lessons
Fi Glover introduces two friends who both have children with physical and learning disabilities. They feel life has tested them but their Christian faith has sustained them.
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 12:57 Weather (b047w7j6)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b04807hs)
National and international news with Edward Stourton.
FRI 13:45 The Town Is the Menu (b04807hv)
Inverness
How do you capture the city of Inverness in a single dish? That's the challenge for food innovator Simon Preston and local chef Steven Devlin as they gather some colourful local characters at Eden Court Theatre to hear inspirational stories, past and present. Naturalist, Kenny Taylor, shares his perspective on the city's unique blend of wilderness in an urban environment, from journalist Iain MacDonald there's comic stories of the theft of Nessy while Gaelic broadcaster Roddy Maclean draws on a the city's rich multi-lingual and multi-cultural history.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b048034p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b00772tb)
Adrian Mole and the Blair-Mole Project
ADRIAN MOLE AND THE BLAIR-MOLE PROJECT
by Sue Townsend
Adrian Mole, as a "representative voice from Middle England" is commissioned to present a feature on Tony Blair's 10 years as Prime Minister. Adrian, not surprisingly, has a somewhat idiosyncratic view on the Blair legacy.
Producer ..... Gordon House.
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b04807j0)
GQT Summer Garden Party 2014, National Botanic Garden Wales
Eric Robson is joined by Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and James Wong to answer questions at the gardening event of the year, the GQT Summer Garden Party 2014 at the National Botanic Garden Wales.
Produced by Howard Shannon.
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
This week's questions and answers:
Q. Why grow roses alongside grapevines?
A. They enjoy similar conditions. Roses show disease before other plants and so serve to warn gardeners to deal with mildew etc. before it begins to damage the grapevines.
Q. How should I look after my lemon tree?
A. Use an ericaceous, well drained potting mix and add grit or vermiculite. You can even buy ready-made citrus potting mix if you prefer. Use a high potash fertilizer during the summer, something like tomato or liquid rose feed. Choose the brightest location possible as light is more important than heat to a lemon tree. The Eureka variety of lemon tree can be tricky to grow. Make sure the plant is in a terracotta pot so it can lose moisture more effectively and don't worry if the plant is pot-bound, as this will encourage more flower growth.
Q. Can the panel recommend a plant that can be used as a barrier in a boggy garden?
A. Willow will grow well as will Bog Myrtle.
Q. I purchased an 'unusual' Hosta. It looks pot-bound and has now developed brown patches on the leaves. What should I do?
A. Seeing as most of the leaves are brown, it is probably best to dig it up and take it back to the supplier who should refund you. You don't want the disease to spread to the rest of your garden.
Q. I'm planning to plant an olive tree in ashes, what's the best way to do this -in a planter or in the ground?
A. If you want to restrict the size of the plant, use a planter but it will also grow well in the ground. Olive trees are very hardy; so long as they don't get too wet they will do well. Veronique and Frantoio are both good varieties.
Q. What method of slug repellent do the panel find most effective?
A. Garlic spray is a good way of repelling slugs, as is copper tubing around beds and pots. Calcium spray can also be used. Some find sheep's wool and pellets effective while carpet paths in the garden can trap slugs well. Nematodes can be used as biological control and simply removing the slugs by hand can effectively reduce the slug population.
Q. How should I maintain a perfect croquet lawn? The lawn is quite acidic with a PH of 5.8.
A. You can grow fine-leaved grasses that like acidic soils and over sow to encourage dense growth. You must cut the grass regularly but use a cylinder mower rather than a rotary mower. Stay away from lime but feed the lawn regularly with blood, fish and bone meal. You could also use a roller to achieve a level surface.
Q. If your garden were on fire, which plant would you save?
A. Bob would save the plants he has bred himself - yellow-leaved Comfrey, creeping Thyme, Cape Gooseberries with an enhanced flavor. Bunny would save her Home Oaks. James would save his Oxalis Deppei.
FRI 15:45 Food Chains (b04807j2)
Reunited
by Edson Burton.
Bandele refuses to be enslaved by the ghost men who've appeared in his village. He chooses to die rather than be taken with his lover, Amara, on a slave ship.
But the gods do not abandon him. An extraordinary journey across the sea, through generations of creatures, is about to begin. Will he and Amara ever be reunited?
A magical story of reincarnation from poet and playwright Edson Burton, specially commissioned for Bristol Food Connections festival.
Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b04807j4)
Bobby Womack, Stephanie Kwolek, Dermot Healy, Viktor Sukhodrev, Delia Craig
Julian Worricker on
A man described by many as one of the great soul singers, Bobby Womack, who worked with musicians from Sam Cooke to Damon Albarn during a career spanning nearly six decades.
The chemist Stephanie Kwolek, who invented the technology behind Kevlar - a virtually bulletproof fibre that has saved thousands of lives.
Dermot Healy, whose prose and poetry have seen him feted as one of Ireland's finest modern writers.
The English-language interpreter, Viktor Sukhodrev, who worked for every Soviet leader from Kruschchev to Gorbachev.
And the conservationist, Delia Craig, whose Kenyan rhino sanctuary was the setting for Prince William's proposal to Kate Middleton.
FRI 16:30 Feedback (b04807j6)
This week on Feedback, Roger Bolton discusses accusations of false balance in the BBC's climate change reporting with BBC Trustee Alison Hastings.
Also in the programme, if the BBC director general Tony Hall has made a commitment to more female presenters on radio; two of 5Live's top women - Victoria Derbyshire and Sheila Fogarty - are leaving and are being replaced by men. Is Radio Bloke making a comeback?
Plus I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and the art of innuendo and why Any Questions presenter Jonathan Dimbleby sent a profusely apologetic tweet to MP Chris Bryant.
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
4.
FRI 16:55 1914: Day by Day (b04807j8)
4th July
Margaret Macmillan chronicles the events leading up to the First World War. Each episode draws together newspaper accounts, diplomatic correspondence and private journals from the same day exactly one hundred years ago, giving a picture of the world in 1914 as it was experienced at the time.
The series tracks the development of the European crisis day by day, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand through to the first week of the conflict. As well as the war, it gives an insight into the wider context of the world in 1914, including the threat of civil war in Ireland, the sensational trial of Madame Caillaux in France and the suffragettes' increasingly violent campaign for votes for women.
4th July: Tensions in Ulster over the British Government's plans for Irish home rule.
Margaret Macmillan is Professor of International History at Oxford University.
Readings: Stephen Greif, Felix von Manteuffel, Jaime Stewart, Simon Tcherniak, Jane Whittenshaw
Music: Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore
Producer: Russell Finch
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 17:00 PM (b049k25y)
Eddie Mair presents coverage and analysis of the day's news.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b047w7j8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b04807jb)
Series 84
Episode 5
A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, with regular panellist Jeremy Hardy and guest panellists Andy Hamilton, Fred Macaulay and Samira Ahmed.
Produced by Lyndsay Fenner.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b04807jd)
David's preoccupied with the Echo article, which features a photo of Ben holding David's guy. There's a quote that names Ben as well, although it was clearly David's handiwork. Jennifer has written her feature. It looks good, but Ruth's surprised Jennifer went so far. Jennifer's annoyed at the by-line from her editor - Brian feels well and truly stitched up.
Charlie confronts David over the Echo piece. David's genuinely sorry about the guy, but not about anything else. They argue and David warns Charlie not to come between a farmer and his land.
Christine keeps Peggy company over a game of scrabble. Christine tries to cheer Peggy up by suggesting she gets another cat or a kitten. Peggy opens up to Chris. She feels she doesn't have a role anymore - will anyone miss her when she's gone?
Charlie visits Brian, who has to defend himself over Jennifer's article. Jennifer interrupts them, on the phone and shouting at the kitchen people - she's furious about yet another problem and demands to have everything sorted right away. With her blood up, Jennifer vehemently tells Charlie that she's proud of her article, putting him in his place in no uncertain terms.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b04807jg)
Maxine Peake, David Nobbs, Graham Watson, Fields of Vision
As the final preparations are made for the arrival, in Yorkshire, of the world's most famous cycle race, Front Row comes from Britain's largest county with a special edition dedicated to the first cultural festival to accompany the Tour de France. Kirsty's guests include Maxine Peake on making her stage debut as a playwright with the premiere of Beryl; David Nobbs, the creator of Reginald Perrin, discusses his new novel which is set in a small town in the Pennines; Graham Watson on photographing every Tour de France since 1983, and a visit to the Fields of Vision, a project which has turned farmers' fields into works of art.
FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b04807hg)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b04807jj)
Lynne Featherstone MP, David Davis MP, David Blunkett MP, Simon Armitage
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Harrogate Ladies College in Yorkshire with Conservative backbencher David Davis MP, Former Home Secretary David Blunkett MP, the poet Simon Armitage and Junior Minister for International Development Lynne Featherstone MP.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b04807jl)
To See Ourselves
AL Kennedy argues that the British have much to gain from - in the words of Robert Burns - "seeing ourselves as others see us".
Referring to last week's row over the appointment of the new European Commission President, she writes: "the EU's view of Britain might be that we're always yelling in a corner about chips!"
An entertaining exploration of the down-sides of personal and national introspection.
FRI 21:00 Friday Drama (b04807jn)
The Events
Radio adaptation of David Greig's powerful play which garnered five-star reviews at Edinburgh 2013 and a Fringe First. The Events centres on Claire, a priest, and her desperate, compulsive and all-encompassing search for understanding after surviving a mass shooting event in which many members of her multicultural community choir were killed.
Challenging and thoughtful and at times surprisingly funny, this play touches on some of the most fraught areas of contemporary politics - immigration, tribalism, religion and ideas of isolated, demoralised and dangerous youth.
If you'd like to join the discussion on social media search for the hashtag #TheEvents
Directed by Ramin Gray and Allegra McIlroy
Produced by Allegra McIlroy
The Events was commissioned by Actors Touring Company and originally directed on stage by Ramin Gray for ATC.
The community choir taking part are The Bloomsburys, Choir director Laka D, pianist Magnus Gilljam.
Original music composed and arranged by John Browne.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b047w7jb)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b04807jq)
In-depth reporting and analysis from a global perspective.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b04807js)
Remember Me Like This
Episode 10
Summer, the Texas Gulf coast - and Justin Campbell, missing for four years, is found. His abductor is taken into custody. His parents, his younger brother, his grandfather, and Justin himself, each begin their own uncertain journey towards a new life.
With infinite care for each other they begin to negotiate the wounds of the past four years, the isolation, the betrayal the grief for what has been lost.
As they begin to remake their family they learn that, contrary to reassurances from the authorities, the man who took Justin away has been let out on bail. In the dusty and sweltering heat of high summer the small town prepares to celebrate Justin's return at their annual shrimp festival but the trial date looms over all of them.
"In this deeply nuanced portrait of an American family, Bret Anthony Johnston fearlessly explores the truth behind a mythic happy ending. In Remember Me Like This, Johnston presents an incisive dismantling of an all too comforting fallacy: that in being found we are no longer lost." - Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.
"It is as a writer that I admire the architecture of Remember Me Like This, the novel's flawless storytelling. It is as the father of three sons that I vouch for the psychological authenticity of this depiction of any parent's worst fears. Emotionally, I am with this family as they try to move ahead-embracing 'the half-known and desperate history' that they share. I love this novel."-John Irving
Episode 10:
The night before the Shrimporee, a body is found floating beneath the bridge. How did it get there ?
Read by Clarke Peters
Abridged, directed and produced by Jill Waters
Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b047zk6l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b04807jv)
Mark D'Arcy with the news from Westminster and a look back at the parliamentary week.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b04807jx)
Katrina and Steven - Too Good For Me
Fi Glover introduces a couple who have overcome their disabilities to have a happy and fulfilled marriage, proving those who tried to limit their expectations wrong.
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.