SATURDAY 08 AUGUST 2015

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (b063y631)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SAT 00:30 Book of the Week (b064mg4p)
Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

Episode 5

Marine biologist Dr Helen Scales tells the story of seashells; from the molluscs that create them to the humans who have used them as jewellery, symbol and even currency.

Episode 5
Molluscs continue to surprise as researchers pursue medical advances, while scientists look to them as bellwethers of our impact on the seas.

Written and read by Helen Scales
Abridged by Sian Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Helen Scales' doctorate involved searching for giant, endangered fish in Borneo; she's also tagged sharks in California, and once spent a year cataloguing all the marine life she could find surrounding a hundred islands in the Andaman Sea. Helen appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 on programmes such as 'Inside Science' and 'Shared Planet' and has presented documentaries on topics such as whether people will ever live underwater, the science of making and surfing waves and the intricacies of sharks' minds.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b063y633)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b063y635)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b063y637)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (b063y639)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06446dp)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


SAT 05:45 iPM (b06446dr)
'Everyone has a cliff edge coming towards them'

Living on the edge of a crumbling cliff, we discuss one woman's experience and ask whether we should defend Britain's coastline or retreat. More divorce stories and handling finances after a split. Presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey iPM@bbc.co.uk.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (b063y63c)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SAT 06:04 Weather (b063y63f)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (b064418t)
Thomas Hardy's Dorset

Thomas Hardy is one of England's most enduring writers. 175 years after his birth a new film of 'Far From the Madding Crowd' has recently been released and like the original version from 1967 it features scenes shot in the beautiful Dorset countryside. For Hardy the heathland, forests and rivers which surrounded his birthplace at Higher Bockhampton near Dorchester were more than a backdrop. Landscape in Hardy's novel is central to the narrative and it is his vivid descriptions of the stunning setting in which he grew up that lend authenticity and magic to what he wrote. Helen Mark visits Dorset to discover the countryside which Hardy disguised as 'Wessex' in novels such as 'Tess of the D'urbervilles', 'Return of the Native', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' and 'Jude the Obscure' and hears how this landscape is now inspiring new writers in their work.


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (b064sx57)
Farming Today This Week: Harvest 2015

The combines are rolling in Harvest 2015 - we're in the Cotswolds as the oil seed rape is gathered in.

Harvest talk used to be confined to neighbours and friends in the pub - now the savvy, media friendly farmers are sharing their harvest with the world via social media & blogging.

Harvest and drinking beer go hand in hand, so we report on the malting barley harvest in Cornwall.

And pumpkins may make you think of autumn - the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. But think again! We've news of an unusual summer pumpkin harvest just off the M25 in north London.

Presenter: Felicity Evans
Producer: Sybil Ruscoe.


SAT 06:57 Weather (b063y63h)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 07:00 Today (b064sx5s)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (b064sx5h)
Simon Webbe

Simon Webbe is currently playing the part of the Big Bad Wolf in the Three Little Pigs but is perhaps best known for being a quarter of the boy band Blue. Simon made his theatre debut in Sister Act at the London Palladium and has also been a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
Simon tells Kate Silverton and Richard Coles about learning discipline and his hopes for breaking Hollywood.
Simon is at the Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus, London until the 6th September

Annie Humphries is a loyal Saturday Live listener who emailed us with her story. Annie was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2006 and in 2009 had her larynx surgically removed. But that didn't stop Annie. She's a member of a Choir of Laryngectomies conducted by Dr Thomas Moors at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.

Liz Cowley is known as the Gardening Poet. Now approaching her seventieth year she talks about a love of gardening in her slippers and being published late in life. Her book Gardening in Slippers, Poems for Garden Lovers is published by Gibson Square Books August 2015

Mathew Clayton is the author of Lundy, Rockall, Dogger, Fair Isle - a romp around the islands of Great Britain. Mathew's love of island life came from his Grandparents who met while working for the monks on Caldey Island off South Wales. Published by Ebury Press

As usual JP Devlin will be in the studio making mischief and looking forward to hearing your stories.

Comedian Bridget Christie inherited Have you Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival from her late mother and passes on the theme from Steptoe and Son to her children.

Producer: Maire Devine
Editor: Fiona Couper.


SAT 10:30 Punt PI (b064ww02)
Series 8

The murder of Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor

Steve Punt returns with a brand new series of investigations - starting with the unsolved murder of major Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor in 1922.

Taylor was one of Tinseltown's biggest names - until he was shot dead in his bungalow in February 1922. Despite a multitude of suspects, Taylor's killer was never caught.

It's a bizarre case with a multitude of suspects. Was the murderer former child star Mary Miles Minter or her controlling mother Charlotte Shelby? Or was it Taylor's rather shady private secretary Edwards Sands?

Steve casts a fresh eye over the evidence and returns to Taylor's native Ireland where he makes some surprising discoveries about the murdered movie director's past.

Producer: Laurence Grissell


SAT 11:00 The Forum (b064ww0d)
Clay

It is one of Earth's oldest building materials, a natural seal against water, useful for paper making, medicine and lots of other things. Bridget Kendall and guests discuss clay. Why it is so useful, why so many cultures treasure it but why it can also be a source of serious ill health. Chinese-American writer Huan Hsu explains the importance of porcelain in China, Irish ceramic artist Claire Curneen introduces us to the powerful visual language of clay, and British geologist Tim Jones studies a particular type of clay which causes a debilitating illness affecting millions of people in the developing world.(Photo: Guardian by Claire Curneen. Credit: Dewi Tannatt Lloyd).


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (b063y63k)
We Are All Emigrants Now

Insight and colour from around the globe. In this edition: Syrian tears for the waste and suffering of a lost generation; the migrants crossing into Europe via the border between Serbia and Hungary -- they say it'll take more than the steel fence, currently being constructed, to stop them. It's Happy Birthday Singapore! The island state's fifty years old and big business hasn't been slow to join the party. We meet a count in Transylvania who dreams that this part of Romania can one day be as famous for its meadows and its hospitality as it is for Count Dracula. And we're out with a postman in the Malian capital, Bamako, who has a very special delivery.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (b063y63m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 The New Workplace (b064ww0s)
Being Your Own Boss

In the second episode of The New Workplace, Michael Robinson looks at the rapid rise in self-employment in recent years. More than 4.5 million people in the UK are now self-employed and working in this way has accounted for an incredible two-thirds of new jobs since 2008.

So why are people doing it? Some of them are young, a lot of them old and some are in the middle of their lives facing the challenge of paying the mortgage and raising children. For some it's about liberation, for others it's a necessity and for some it's about starting working life without having a boss telling them what to do.

Michael hears about the challenges and the rewards of going it alone from 22 year old Kelly who works as a freelance copywriter in Manchester, 48 year old Juan Carlos who's found work on an online site and 59 year old Nigel who started his own consultancy in Stafford after becoming disillusioned working for his local county council. Michael also talks to Laura Gardiner at the Resolution Foundation about why so many of the self-employed are happy when the statistics show that wages have dropped post-recession.

Producer: Ben Carter
Presenter: Michael Robinson.


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (b064448c)
Series 46

Episode 6

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches along with Laura Shavin, Alice Lowe, David Quantick, Jake Yapp and Harry The Piano. Sports journalist Tom Peck discusses the prevalence of doping in professional sports.


SAT 12:57 Weather (b063y63p)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 13:00 News (b063y63r)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (b06445xf)
Bonnie Greer, Jennie Johnson, Anthony Seldon, Toby Young

Shaun Ley presents political debate from the BBC Philharmonic Studio in Salford with playwright and author Bonnie Greer; founder of northwest childcare company Kids Allowed Jennie Johnson; political historian and outgoing master of Wellington College Sir Anthony Seldon; and columnist and Associate Editor of the Spectator Toby Young.

Producer: Emma Campbell.


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (b064ww18)
Lord Janner, Kids Company, Education's Role in Preparing for Adult Life

Edward Heath and Lord Janner have dominated this week's news so should accusations be investigated even if the accused is old, ill or even dead? Also your views on Kids Company, was it money well spent? And are schools preparing young people for the real world?
Your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?

Presenter: Anita Anand.
Producers Angie Nehring, Alex Lewis.


SAT 14:30 Saturday Drama (b049pc1q)
Red Velvet

by Lolita Chakrabarti.

Adrian Lester stars in a radio version of the Tricycle Theatre's award-winning production, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, about the first black actor of note to play Othello.

The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?

Imagined experiences based on the true story of Ira Aldridge.

Lolita Chakrabarti won Most Promising Playwright at The Evening Standard Awards and the Critics' Circle Awards after the 2012 run of Red Velvet at The Tricycle. Adrian Lester's performance earned him the Best Actor Award at the Critics' Circle Awards.

Music by Paul Englishby

Directed by Indhu Rubasingham
Studio Production by Anne Bunting, Keith Graham and Mike Etherden
Produced by Abigail le Fleming

Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning.


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (b065s0fg)
Weekend Woman's Hour: Lianne La Havas, Women Diplomats, Mack and Mabel

Lianne La Havas sings her latest single What You Don't Do.

America's Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, talks about leading the negotiating team discussing the lifting of sanctions against Iran, and former Diplomat Julie Chappell on what it's like working in the predominantly male diplomatic world.

Rachel Cooker on the significance and impact of Penelope Mortimer and her novel The Pumpkin Eater. Jo McMillan's new novel, Motherland, is about a young girl growing up in the Midlands in the 1970s as the only teenage communist in town. She tells us how fact meets fiction in her book.

Research shows taking the pill may protect against endometrial cancer - Professor Dame Valerie Beral explains the findings. Historian Bettany Hughes on her new TV series about three giants of philosophy: the Buddha, Socrates and Confuscius... and their remarkable views on the role of women.

Our new series on men and relationships: Suzi Godson speaks to three men in their twenties and hears how they feel about love, family and planning for the future.

And with a revival of musical Mack and Mabel this summer, we find out all about the life of Mabel Normand from her great nephew Stephen Normand, archivist of the Mabel Normand Family Estate and Dr Rebecca Harrision, lecturer in British cinema at the University of East Anglia.

Presented by Jenni Murray
Produced by Sophie Powling.


SAT 17:00 PM (b064ww1m)
Saturday PM

Full coverage of the day's news.


SAT 17:30 iPM (b06446dr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:45 today]


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b063y63v)
The latest shipping forecast.


SAT 17:57 Weather (b063y63x)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b063y63z)
England's cricketers have regained the Ashes --- in the fourth test --- in a remarkable turnaround in fortunes since they were whitewashed by Australia just eighteen months ago.


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (b064ww25)
Emma Freud, Christopher Eccleston, Brian Hill, Limmy, Bertie Carvel, Sweet Baboo, Farao

Emma Freud and Christopher Eccleston are joined by Brian Hill, Limmy, Bertie Carvel for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Farao and Sweet Baboo.

Producer: Sukey Firth.


SAT 19:00 Profile (b064ww2g)
Jeremy Corbyn

Suddenly everyone's taking Jeremy Corbyn seriously. Dismissed by many as a fringe 'unelectable' figure in the Labour leadership campaign, a bearded vegetarian lover of Latin American revolutionaries, Commons rebellions and allotments, he's now making the running. Chris Bowlby explores what's shaped him, what sort of leader he'd be, and whether he really wants the top Labour job.


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (b064ww2q)
Diary of a Teenage Girl, Splendour, Death by Video Game, York Art Gallery, Last Man on Earth

Controversial film Diary of a Teenage Girl deals with a 15 year old girl who looks for love and ends up sleeping with her mother's boyfriend.
Abi Morgan's play 2002 play Splendour is revived at London's Donmar Warehouse - 4 women deal with an imminent civil war, separately and together
Simon Parkin's book Death By Video Game looks ta the cultural significance and influence of the industry worth £3.9bn last year in the UK alone.
York Art Gallery has reopened after a 3 year £8m refit. Housing the Centre Of Ceramic Art, how well does it combine old masters with new pottery?
A new US TV comedy series Last Man On Earth has a central character who is a dreadful slob - why bother making an effort when you're alone on the planet? - does that make him too unappealing to like?


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (b064ww32)
Misunderstanding Japan

What images come into your head when you think of Japan?

Dr Christopher Harding explores how Western media representations of Japan, from the very first Victorian travellers through to Alan Whicker and Clive James, have revisited the same themes.

Often portrayed as workaholics driven by a group mentality, with submissive women and bizarre crazes, Dr Harding asks whether many of these stereotypes have led to the country being misunderstood by people in the West.

Have the Japanese had a role in perpetuating some of these stereotypes in an effort to set themselves apart?

What do our images, feelings, fears and fantasies about Japan tell us about ourselves?

Producer: Keith Moore

First broadcast on BBC Radio in 2015.


SAT 21:00 Drama (b063yqqs)
The Great Scott

Heart of Midlothian

"She wouldn't lie in court to save her sister's life - so she had to find another way. "Mike Harris' fast paced adaptation of Walter Scott's most gripping, most contemporary novel.

'Heart of Midlothian' begins with a trial for child murder, and then never lets the tension drop with disguises, thwarted love, hazardous journeys, kidnappings, riots, rescues - and a shy, retiring, heroine who will stop at nothing to undo the terrible damage her virtue has done.

Adapted for radio by Mike Harris

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (b063y642)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4, followed by weather.


SAT 22:15 Inside the Ethics Committee (b0643x61)
Series 11

Teenager Refuses Chemotherapy

Ashley is 14 years old when doctors discover a brain tumour. Tests reveal that it's highly treatable; there's a 95% chance of cure if he has a course of radiotherapy.

Ashley begins the treatment but he has to wear a mask which makes him very anxious and the radiotherapy itself makes him sick. He finds it increasingly difficult to bear and he starts to miss his sessions.

Despite patchy treatment Ashley's cancer goes into remission. He and his mother are thrilled but a routine follow-up scan a few months later shows that the cancer has returned.

Ashley is adamant that he will not have the chemotherapy that is recommended this time. He threatens that he will run away if treatment is forced on him. Although Ashley is only 15 he is 6'2" and restraining him would not be easy.

Should the medical team and his mother persuade him to have the chemotherapy? Or should they accept his decision, even though he is only 15?

Joan Bakewell and her panel discuss the issues.

Producers: Beth Eastwood & Lorna Stewart
Photo Credit: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images.


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (b063zx1b)
Series 29

Heat 9, 2015

(9/13)
Competitors from the North of England join Paul Gambaccini for the ninth and last heat in the 2015 tournament of the wide-ranging music quiz.

In which 20th century choral work would you hear the 'Song of the Wood-Dove'? And which jazz violinist claimed to have been born on board a ship carrying his Italian emigrant parents to the United States?

Today's trio of competitors will have to answer questions such as these in their attempt to win a semi-final place. They'll also have to choose a musical topic in which to specialise, from a list of five of which they've had no prior warning. Every musical genre and era is fair game, all the way from medieval music to opera, jazz, film and TV music and contemporary rock and pop.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


SAT 23:30 The Echo Chamber (b063zkxv)
Series 5

Clive James

Clive James talks to Paul Farley and reads his new staring-death-in-the-face poems. The Echo Chamber returns with new poems on the old subjects. Clive James has been a poet throughout his life as well as a literary critic, memoirist and television pundit. He didn't expect to be alive to see his new collection Sentenced to Life after illness and old age took him in their grip a couple of years ago. But, against the odds, he's still with us. And his recent poems are extraordinarily clear-eyed and fearlessly moving. He manages to be light throughout whilst remaining, as one critic put it, deadly serious. Producer: Tim Dee.



SUNDAY 09 AUGUST 2015

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (b064x31k)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


SUN 00:30 Three Stories by Edith Pearlman (b01rv805)
Unravished Bride

"These stories are an exercise in imagination and compassion.. a trip around the world.."
ANN PATCHETT, author of Bel Canto

Edith Pearlman has been writing stories for decades and is in her mid seventies. Recognition duly arrived in America with various awards, but only recently has her collection, Binocular Vision, been acclaimed in Britain. Now there's chance to hear three of the tales on radio, and be acquainted with a voice that is compelling and new to us..

2. Unravished Bride
They are introduced at somebody's wedding and their meetings will go on for a year. But these are meetings with a difference..

Reader Laurel Lefkow
Producer Duncan Minshull.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x31m)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x31s)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. BBC Radio 4 resumes at 5.20am.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x321)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (b064x327)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (b064x4x0)
Bells from the monastery of the Transfiguration, on the Solovki Islands in Northern Russia.


SUN 05:45 Profile (b064ww2g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (b064x32g)
The latest national and international news.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b064x6vw)
Inside the Institution

Mark Tully discusses the impact and the power institutions have in our lives. From corporations, banks and armies to schools and hospitals, whatever we think of them, institutions are an enormous part of our lives. So how do they influence us and how should we live with them?

In conversation with Professor Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a leading researcher into mental health in the military, Mark Tully investigates the positive power of institutions as well as the dangers of institutionalisation.

There’s music from Henry Priestland, the Buena Vista Social Club and the Band of the Grenadier Guards and readings ranging from Charlotte Bronte to screenwriter William Styron.

The readers are Polly Frame, Peter Marinker and Francis Cadder.

Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique Broadcasting Company production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (b064x6w0)
Royal Special: Prince Charles on Biodiversity

When His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales first visited Transylvania nearly 20 years ago, he was captivated by the region's "timelessness", and said it reminded him of stories he read as a child. Bears roam the forested slopes of the Carpathians, mountain pastures tinkle with the sound of cowbells and farmers scythe their hay meadows by hand. But for Prince Charles it wasn't just about storybook images - it was biodiversity at its very best. He saw a landscape teeming with wildflowers, cacophonous with insect-life and untouched by modern farming methods.
The Prince has been spending holidays in Transylvania ever since and, for this special edition of On Your Farm, he invites Charlotte Smith to join him. He talks passionately about biodiversity - a word mistaken for a new type of washing ingredient when he first started campaigning for its preservation in the 1990s. He is open about his fears for the environment and, with a little help from Robert Byron, describes the natural world he wants his grandchildren and all future generations to inherit.
We also look at environmental projects The Prince of Wales is supporting in Romania and back home in the UK.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced, in Transylvania, by Anna Jones.


SUN 06:57 Weather (b064x32j)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (b064x32l)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (b064x6w2)
Calais migrants, Anglican Communion, North Wales pilgrim walk

The Bishop of Dover made headlines this week when he accused senior political figures, including the Prime Minister, of forgetting their humanity when talking about migrants. The Rt Rev Trevor Willmott and Douglas Murray from The Henry Jackson Society debate how we can address the use of language and discuss what the Churches should be doing to help.

On Sunday in America, the residents of Ferguson mark the first anniversary of the death of black teenager Michael Brown. William Crawley speaks to Pastor Tommie Pierson about his church's plans for the weekend and his fears that planned civil disobedience could turn violent.

Trevor Barnes reports on the future of the Worldwide Anglican Communion as its new Secretary General Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon takes up his post. William interviews the Archbishop about the challenges ahead and whether the Anglican Communion can continue in its current form.

Our series of essays on Christian persecution continues with BBC correspondent Yalda Hakim reporting on the situation in Eritrea.

Last week it was reported that there was an increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK. The Labour MP John Mann is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism. He is the author of a new book, "The Oldest Hatred" which tries to reshape the debate on this hate-crime.

Bob Walker continues our series of summer walks as he explores the North Wales Pilgrims Trail which begins at a site in Holywell which has been sacred to Christians for centuries.

Producer:
David Cook
Peter Everett

Editor:
Christine Morgan.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (b064x6w4)
The Howard League for Penal Reform

The Radio 4 Appeal for the Howard League for Penal Reform, presented by Danielle, a beneficiary of the charity.
Registered Charity No 251926
To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal, mark the back of the envelope 'Howard League for Penal Reform'.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Howard League for Penal Reform'.


SUN 07:57 Weather (b064x32n)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (b064x32q)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (b064x6w6)
Care for Our Common Home

A service of Morning Prayer from the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Manchester. The Right Reverend John Arnold, Bishop of Salford, preaches on Pope Francis' recent encyclical "Laudato Si'- On care for our Common Home". Taking for its basis the Canticle of the Sun, a prayer of St. Francis, which celebrates the wonder of creation, this letter is concerned with the relationship between humanity and the environment. The service reflects on our responsibility to the natural world and to one another in the 21st Century and celebrates the beauty of creation. It is led by Fr Tim Byron SJ, Chaplain to University of Manchester, Man Met and RNCM with music from The Coventry Singers directed by Paul Leddington Wright.
Producer: Katharine Longworth.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (b06445xh)
Adam Gopnik: Long-Form Television

Adam Gopnik reflects on the reason for our obsession with long - form television series and sees a link to the current brevity of all our other forms of discourse.
"As communication, public and political and spiritual, becomes ever more condensed - as newspapers close and are replaced exclusively with Instagram feeds, as texting becomes ever more enciphered and as the demotic slang of teens, which we will all speak sooner or later, becomes ever more abbreviated then we can expect, or dread, ever longer compensatory popular narratives."
Producer: Sheila Cook.


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b03dwy1y)
Golden Plover

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Martin Hughes-Games presents the Golden Plover. If, among a flock of lapwings circling over a ploughed field, you see smaller birds with wings like knife-blades and bell-like calls ... these are golden plovers.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (b064x78g)
News for Sunday morning including a paper review. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.
Including the attraction of Hamlet, the shortage of bassoons and demise of the Land Rover Defender.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (b064x7ds)
Please see daily episodes for a detailed synopsis.


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (b064x7dv)
Dr Bill Frankland

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Dr Bill Frankland.

Frequently referred to as the "grandfather of allergy", his achievements include the introduction of the pollen count to the British public and the prediction of increased levels of allergy to penicillin.

Born in Cumbria in 1912, Dr Frankland turned 103 in March. He studied medicine at Oxford and worked at St Mary's hospital in Paddington, London, before war intervened. He signed up to the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), but spent over three of the six years he spent in the army as a prisoner of war in Singapore.

After the war, he began work in the dermatology department at St Mary's, but quickly switched to allergy which became his passion. During the fifties he served as a registrar to Alexander Fleming who had discovered penicillin back in 1928. In 1954 he published a seminal research paper about a double-blind randomised trial proving that pre-season pollen injections greatly reduced the symptoms of hay fever sufferers.

He has treated high profile patients including Saddam Hussein and given evidence in court - possibly the oldest expert witness to do so. He continues to work in a private practice and has remarked, "I really don't know what people do when they retire at 65.".


SUN 12:00 News Summary (b064x32x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b063zxkx)
Series 63

Episode 4

The antidote to panel games pays a return visit to the Alban Arena in St Albans. Regulars Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Omid Djalili with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell attempts piano accompaniment. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Radio Comedy production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (b064xbpc)
My Food Hero: Tim Hayward meets Len Deighton

Tim Hayward meets the man who changed the whole way he approached food. Someone who inspired Tim, and many others, to look at food and the techniques of cooking in a completely new way.

A surprising food figure perhaps, he is a best-selling author, writer of "The IPCRESS File", creator of Harry Palmer (played by Michael Caine). He is also an illustrator, and pioneering food writer. He rarely gives interviews. He is Len Deighton.

Leonard Cyril Deighton - now 86 - has had a fascinating life - and as he explains, food has always been at its heart. His vivid and extraordinary story takes in post-war London with double agents and off-ration cooking, to a newly opened-up world of international air travel, and into the swinging sixties.

Len Deighton created the totally unique "cookstrips", fusing his skills at illustrating and writing with his cooking knowledge. For a young Tim Hayward, once he had seen these things would never be the same again.

Photograph by David Rose.

Presented by Tim Hayward
Produced by Rich Ward and Dan Saladino.


SUN 12:57 Weather (b064x331)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (b064xbpf)
Global news and analysis, presented by Shaun Ley.


SUN 13:30 Ken, Madge and the Strange Rock (b05nvj7g)
In January 2013 on Morecambe beach, Ken Wilman and his dog Madge found something they believed to be ambergris - an extremely unusual, rare and valuable product of sperm whales. What happened next turned Ken's world upside down.

Overnight, the story hit the international news with excitement at the prospect of a happy financial outcome for Ken. But things turned out not to be so straightforward.

Peregrine Andrews followed the story from the beginning - and he discovered that authenticating and selling one of the world's most mysterious substances is far from easy.

Produced by Peregrine Andrews
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b064447x)
Dalston

Eric Robson and the team are at Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.

Produced by Howard Shannon
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (b064xbph)
Sunday Omnibus

Fi Glover introduces conversations between friends and between a mother and son, about being true to your beliefs and how difficult that can sometimes be, in the Omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen. All conversations were recorded in The Listening Project mobile Booth when it was visiting London.

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 learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


SUN 15:00 Drama (b064xbpk)
The Great Scott

The Antiquary

Richard Wilson stars as The Antiquary, a man who hoards secrets as well as treasures. Will his knowledge allow Lovel to marry his secret love? With David Tennant as Walter Scott.

The Antiquary (1816) is a novel by Sir Walter Scott about an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. Although he is the eponymous character, he is not necessarily the hero, as many of the characters around him undergo far more significant journeys or change. Instead, he provides a central figure for other more exciting characters and events - on which he provides a sardonic commentary.

This is Scott's gothic novel, redolent with family secrets, stories of hidden treasure and hopeless love, with a mysterious, handsome, young man, benighted aristocracy and a night-time funeral procession to a ruined abbey. The romance and mystery is counterpoised by some of Scott's more down-to-earth characters, and grittily unromantic events.

Scott wrote in an advertisement to the novel that his purpose in writing it, similar to that of his novels Waverley and Guy Mannering, was to document Scottish life and manners of a certain period - in this case the last decade of the 18th century.

Music by Ross Hughes and Esben Tjalve
Cello played by George Cooke

Produced and Directed by Clive Brill
A Brill production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 16:00 Open Book (b064xbpm)
Petina Gappah, Michael Foreman, Duelling in literature, Food fiction

Mariella Frostrup talks to award winning Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah about her new novel The Book of Memory. It tells the story of a young woman on death row, and the events of her life in Zimbabwe which led to her arrest. Gappah explains that despite having lived in Europe for many years, her imagination always returns to Africa.
Open Book goes to the National Centre for Children's books in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to meet childrens author and illustrator Michael Foreman. He talks about the inspiration for his work which came from being a child during the war.
With fiction which centres around food in abundance this summer, bestselling author Joanne Harris and Dr Sarah Moss discuss the history of food in fiction and how its been used as a substitute for sex, money and power.
John Leigh gives Open Book a run down of duelling in literature.


SUN 16:30 The Echo Chamber (b064xbpp)
Series 5

Liz Berry and Helen Mort

Two of the most striking and original first poetry collections in the last few years have been Division Street by Helen Mort and Black Country by Liz Berry. Both books are steeped in the places they were made in: West Yorkshire and the West Midlands. With Paul Farley for The Echo Chamber both poets have travelled towards one another and taken some poems back to their source. Helen Mort in the Peaks, on Sheffield streets, and then the memorably twisted spire of the church in Chesterfield. Liz Berry in a Black Country pigeon loft, an echoing canal tunnel and an ancient geological treasure trove. The heart of England is remade in these new poems. The poets end up half way between one anothers' places in a hotel that W. H. Auden (great poet of the unloved world) said served the best martinis in the land. Producer: Tim Dee.


SUN 17:00 Experiments in Living (b0640sp5)
Social historian Juliet Gardiner questions the 1930s dream of a semi-detached home in the suburbs, where 'a man's home is his castle' to live in splendid isolation with his nuclear family.

This ideal was born out of the raw memory of the over-crowded slums which had only recently been cleared, making the idea of a home of one's own so precious. But Juliet argues this dream is doing us no favours at all when facing the challenges of how to live today. She asks if we really want or need as much privacy as we think we do.

Today we are in the throes of an acute housing crisis and people are being forced to experiment with new ways to live to put a roof over their head. Juliet draws parallels with the housing crisis after World War Two, when slum clearances and bombs led to a huge housing shortage. What ideas and lessons can she bring from the experiments of the past to the experiments of the present?

Juliet shares her knowledge of the post-1945 period when people began to live more communally. While they were glad to be out of the shelters, many wanted to retain the greater sense of community, camaraderie and communal living. Big country houses were sold off cheaply and bought by groups of families, sharing resources and child-care.

She meets participants in 'Home Share' an initiative which matches older people who live alone and want company, with younger people who are struggling to afford rents. She also hears about 'property guardian' schemes, whereby participants live in an empty property for a low rent, matching their need for affordable housing with the owner's need to protect the security of their property.

Do any of these experiments present an answer to the housing crisis?

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 17:40 Profile (b064ww2g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (b064x335)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (b064x337)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x339)
The Labour leadership candidate wants to see more companies in public ownership.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (b064xc2r)
Julie Hesmondhalgh

Journey with Julie as we transport you from the many Llans of Anglesey to the Albert Hall, from the devastated town of Hiroshima to the summit of Everest, from the noisy café of the National Gallery to The Garden of Eden, and have a game of Rock Paper Scissors en route.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (b064xc2t)
David reports to Jill, from Prudhoe, on Heather who's better physically than mentally. David feels useless. Jill talks up Pip and tells David not to worry about the farm. David's sad to miss Kenton and Shula's birthday party, as he'd hoped it would go some way to resolving things between him and Kenton. Pip's University results celebration will have to wait as well. Busy Pip can't make the party either - nor can Josh who has to deal with escaped hens.

Dan and Shula share a joke as she prepares for the guests to arrive. Hung over Kenton is depressed about the money needed for the Bull. He's not going to the party - and tells Jolene not to mention their problem to anyone. Jolene phones to say that Kenton has a stomach bug. Shula's unconvinced and she and Elizabeth discuss the rift. They remember David and Kenton's spats from childhood.

Jolene keeps Kenton busy as they clean up the Bull during a quiet afternoon. Jolene tries to get Kenton to see the best in things, but he's so depressed he says he really can't.


SUN 19:15 Wordaholics (b01cvk8d)
Series 1

Episode 3

Wordaholics is the comedy panel game all about words.

Gyles Brandreth presides as Susie Dent, Natalie Haynes, Jack Whitehall and Milton Jones vie for supremacy in the ring.

Wordaholics is clever, intelligent, witty and unexpected. There are toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang, Greek gobbledegook, plus the panellists' picks of the ugliest and the most beautiful words: the whole world of words.

Writers: Jon Hunter and James Kettle

Producer: Claire Jones.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2012.


SUN 19:45 Opening Lines (b064xcfh)
Series 17

Flour Baby by LA Craig

When the couple across the street bring home their new baby, nosy neighbour Rosey is disturbed by its appearance.

But in telling her story - a story full of hardship and humour - Rosey gives away more than she perhaps intended, and finds herself coming face to face with her own buried trauma.

LA Craig's short story selected from thousands of entries for the BBC Opening Lines 2015 initiative, our annual open submission window for writers new to radio.

Read by Liz White

Producer: Simon Richardson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


SUN 20:00 Feedback (b0648ccb)
Quentin Letts' wry critique of the Met Office has had listeners contacting Feedback in droves. The programme was the first episode of a new series of What is the Point of...? and while a few felt the programme exercised a healthy scepticism about climate science, many more felt it allowed controversial opinions to go unchallenged. Roger Bolton hears some of the reaction.

Earlier in the series, Feedback considered the BBC's coverage of migrants and heard concerns about the use of terms such as 'illegal immigrant' and 'swarm' - but now there are suggestions that the Today programme is too soft on migrants. The Editor of Today, Jamie Angus, discusses the BBC's approach to reporting the situation in Calais - and also talks about the future presenter line up on the programme, with Nick Robinson set to replace James Naughtie.

The new interview series Flexagon Radio has had some listeners flummoxed. The programme has guests reacting to sounds and archive randmonly generated by a machine, The Flexagon. Does the device provoke intelligent conversation, or has it just provoked the the ire of listeners? Roger speaks to the series producer, Adam Fowler.

After last week's Feedback special on religious programming, we hear from listeners who are concerned that humanists and atheists are not represented on Thought for the Day. Christine Morgan, the Head of Religion and Ethics for BBC Radio, answers their criticisms.

Producer: Katherine Godfrey
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (b0644485)
Cilla Black, Michael Kidson, APJ Abdul Kalam, Evelyn Gillan, George Cole

Matthew Bannister on

The singer and TV presenter Cilla Black - we go behind the scenes to discover the secret of her success on Saturday night TV.

Michael Kidson who taught history at Eton for thirty years, delighting his pupils by his maverick behaviour.

The Indian scientist and reluctant politician APJ Abdul Kalam, known as the "People's President".

The Scottish public health campaigner Evelyn Gillan who targeted domestic violence and fought for minimum pricing for alcohol.

And the actor George Cole, best known for playing Arthur Daley in the TV series Minder.


SUN 21:00 The New Workplace (b064ww0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:26 Radio 4 Appeal (b064x6w4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (b0644192)
The Californian Drought

California has some of the world's most productive agricultural land. It puts fruit and vegetables on America's tables and exports huge amount of produce too; nearly all of the almonds we consume come from here. But the state is also endured a severe drought, now into its fourth year. Farm land is being fallowed, farm workers are losing their jobs and thousands of wells are drying up. Some farmers believe that this year is the tipping point. If rain does not fall in the winter, they'll be out of business next year. But other farmers have had some of their best years during these testing times. Peter Day explores what happens when water becomes the most valuable commodity there is.

Producer: Rosamund Jones.


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (b064xczc)
Weekly political discussion and analysis with MPs, experts and commentators.


SUN 22:45 What the Papers Say (b064xczf)
Beth Rigby of the FT analyses how the newspapers are covering the biggest stories.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (b064xd1j)
Jonny Greenwood on There Will Be Blood

With Antonia Quirke

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood discusses his score for There Will Be Blood, which he will be performing live in August. He also tells Antonia why he wouldn't like to score a Bond movie or any other blockbuster.

Antonia starts the search for people who saw Buster Keaton's tour of British theatres and music halls in 1951, and consults historian Kevin Brownlow.

Writer Nat Segnit discusses the changing voice of Al Pacino. Hoo ha !

Prop makers FBFX reveals the tricks of their trade, making armour, space suits and creature costumes for the film industry.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b064x6vw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 10 AUGUST 2015

MON 00:00 Midnight News (b064x34c)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


MON 00:15 The Move (b04md4np)
A Move into the Unknown

In a brand new series aims to satisfy our fascination with moving, as Rosie Millard charts the progress of people across the UK as they take the plunge and look for a new home - whether out of necessity or just for a change.

Whether contemplating a mansion or a shoe-box, all her subjects have one thing in common - it's a jump into the unknown, somewhere where there is no network of friends waiting for them, no family and no preconceptions.

In the first programme we follow Hannah and John, cycling fanatics, who are hoping to buy a live/work space in a converted mill in the Yorkshire dales. It's a big step for them both as Hannah has always lived in the far South of England, and now contemplates a new life in the North, whilst John, Cumbrian born and bred has, like so many 30 somethings, still kept his room on at his parent's house. Most of the time he just lives out of a kit bag as he travels the world as a cycle guide, and he certainly never contemplated having a mortgage.

Trudi, meanwhile, is facing eviction for the second time in two years, as her run-down flat in Islington has dramatically turned into prime London real estate. "There was a two bed flat across the road went on the market for £770,000. It was sold in a week!"
The notice to quit has arrived, and as a wheelchair user she's facing life on the streets or in sheltered accommodation, something she's none too pleased to contemplate at the age of 55 - "It's like God's waiting room..."

But as Rosie finds out, things don't always turn out for the worst, or the best, in the moving business.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (b064x4x0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x34f)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x34h)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x34k)
The latest shipping forecast.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (b064x34m)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b064xgtj)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (b064xgtl)
Farming in 'crisis', Invasive weeds, Goats

UK farming unions meet later today to discuss what they describe as a 'crisis' in agriculture. With milk and lamb prices falling, many farmers say they're being pushed to the brink. But as protests continue south of the border, in Scotland dairy farmers are putting their energy into promoting the industry better.

Hundreds of volunteers are going out this summer tackling invasive weeds which are clogging some rivers and streams, and crowding out native species. We join a group as they get to work on Himalayan Balsam, which can produce up to 800 seeds every year.

And we're talking goats all this week. Kept for centuries for their milk and cheese, their produce is now a popular choice on the high street, which has led to an increase in goat farms.

The presenter is Felicity Evans, the producer in Bristol is Sally Challoner.


MON 05:56 Weather (b064x34p)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bksqt)
Crested Tit

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Crested Tit. Although crested tits are quite common in Continental Europe, they are confined in the UK to the central Highlands of Scotland. They're the only small British bird with a crest so identification shouldn't be a problem and their black eye-stripe contrasts well with their grey and white face.


MON 06:00 Today (b064xjms)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Open Book (b0629qxr)
Open Book: Why We Read

Mariella Frostrup and guests discuss why we read, and the pleasure that this strange and solitary activity has given millions. Mariella and her guests John Mullan, Naomi Alderman, Damian Barr and neuroscientist Joe Devlin, will be investigating the history of reading, and the impact it has on our brains and asking what would happen if we didn't read fiction. Clive James will reveal the Book He'd Never Lend and Sarah Dillon will be exploring the pleasures of close reading.


MON 09:45 Book of the Week (b064xjn1)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

Escape and Elopement

Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's extraordinary biography of the pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein.

Mary Wollstonecraft, famous for her polemic A Vindication on the Rights of Woman, died ten days after giving birth to her daughter who wrote one of the nineteenth century's most significant novels, Frankenstein. Though she never knew her mother, Mary Shelley was inspired and influenced by the way Wollstonecraft had lived her life, and her philosophy on freedom. Charlotte Gordon's dual biography brings together these visionary women and illuminates the many similarities between the two. Both acquired fame and notoriety through their writing, they married difficult men, had children out of wedlock and were assailed by tragedy. Above all both left legacies that continue to endure.

Read by Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (b064y9ks)
The killing of Farkhunda, The working life of women judges

Jane hears the latest on the case of Farkhunda, the young woman killed by a mob in Afghanistan, from the BBC's Zarghuna Kargar; Three women judges - Mrs Justice Nicola Davies, Her Honour Judge Eleri Rees and Deputy District Judge Sophie Toms - discuss their careers at different levels of the judiciary; The latest in our series on men and relationships with Suzi Godson of the Times - this week we're hearing from men in their 30s about fatherhood; and two young civil servants, Rebecca Jeffree and Rebecca Baldwin, tell us about how they promoted gender equality in their workplace.

Presenter : Jane Garvey
Producer : Louise Adamson.


MON 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b064y9kv)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage

Episode 1

Karen knows her much-loved husband of 19 years is gay. A new normality reigns. Jack stays with his boyfriend Tom on agreed nights away and slips back into the house before the children get up.

But now he wants to tell the girls. Is there a best way? Karen persuades him to wait until the summer holidays begin. But Jack is impatient - and impetuous.

In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.

She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?

The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.

Written by Nicholas McInerny

Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:00 The Northern Male - and His Mate (b064yd12)
Stuart Maconie spent a year working in a cotton mill, and so can personally testify to the many ways the industrial landscape influenced different aspects of life in northern England. One of those, he argues, is the nature of friendships between men.

While these relationships have much in common with male friendships generally, he says that under the particular conditions of industrial life , the emphasis is more pronounced.

For over two hundred years, a high proportion of men worked alongside each other in tough jobs and tougher locations. This, combined with the long hours spent alongside mates in the bars, societies and sports teams, bred a tightness and loyalty between northern men.

Chatting to miners from the Sutton Manor Colliery in St Helens and to his own friend, singer-songwriter Richard Haley, he considers whether the impact of that former industrial life had ripples that affect today's northern male and his mate.

Produced by Geoff Bird
A Pennine productions for BBC Radio 4.


MON 11:30 Secrets and Lattes (b064yd14)
Series 2

The Plan's The Thing

It's May in Edinburgh and life at Cafe Culture is certainly bursting with life.

Trisha is about to marry her long-term, long-distance lover Richard and, despite being mid-divorce, big sister Clare can't resist meddling in the wedding arrangements.

Relations are strained too between supposedly recovering kleptomaniac trainee Lizzie and laid-back Glaswegian chef Callum over her friendship with his autistic teenage son Max.

There is much uncertainty over living (and sleeping) arrangements all round as everyone works out where home is exactly - and who else is in it.

Will Trisha and Richard actually make it up the (outdoor) aisle and who might still be speaking to who?

Conclusion of series two of Hilary Lyon's caffeine-fuelled sitcom.

Trisha ...... Hilary Maclean
Clare ...... Hilary Lyon
Lizzie ...... Pearl Appleby
Callum ...... Derek Riddell
Richard ...... Roger May
Max ...... Scott Hoatson

Director: Marilyn Imrie

Producers: Gordon Kennedy and Moray Hunter

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.


MON 12:00 News Summary (b064x34r)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b04wwgzc)
Series 1

Electricity

In a new series, David Baddiel sets out to make sense of some apparently puzzling topics.

In this first programme, and after hearing suggestions from his followers on social media, David seeks to understand electricity. He travels to Manchester to learn the basics from a professor of high voltage technology, and to Staffordshire to grasp the operations of a huge power station.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


MON 12:15 You and Yours (b064yd16)
Christmas lobster, Legal highs

Supermarkets are already getting ready for Christmas, and this year they're banking on customers buying lobster.
They've already ordered stocks and we'll hear more about where they come from and how they're fished.

More about the borough of London, which is to become the first in the capital to implement a legal highs ban. Lambeth is getting ready to bring it in on the 17th August. The move essentially bans the use and supply of legal highs in public areas across the whole borough and means anybody caught breaching the new order could face a fine.

The new man at the top of BHS tells us what he's doing to try and turn around the store's fortunes, after it was sold for £1.

Presenter: Winifred Robinson
Producer: Jess Quayle.


MON 12:57 Weather (b064x34t)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (b064ygkp)
Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall says the party has 'robust measures' to check on new members who will have a vote in the coming contest. We hear from the teacher who says he has forgiven the 14-year-old boy who stabbed him. And why we might be falling out of love with nightclubs. With Shaun Ley.


MON 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064ygkt)
Stick by the Sea: A Childhood Tale

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this first episode, he returns to the small Welsh village he was evacuated to during the Second World War, to find the family that took him, his mother, and sister, into their house.

With four of the Thomas siblings, now all in the 80s, he explores their different, sometimes conflicting, memories of the years 1943 to 1945 and remembers and recreates the sounds that surrounded them.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 14:00 The Archers (b064xc2t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (b064ygky)
The Churchill Barriers

by Emma Spurgin Hussey

Orkney, 1944, and clerk George finds common ground with Italian POW Giorgio as they build the famous sea defences.

Pianist ..... Neil Brand

Director: David Hunter.


MON 15:00 Counterpoint (b064ygl0)
Series 29

First Semi-Final, 2015

(10/13)
Paul Gambaccini is at the BBC's historic Maida Vale studios to welcome back the first three of this season's heats winners, ready to face the challenge of the UK's widest-ranging musical quiz.

This week the semi-finalists hail from London and Leicestershire. They've already proved the breadth of their musical knowledge by coming unscathed through the heats. Now a place in the 2015 Final awaits today's winner.

As usual, they'll have to answer questions and identify musical extracts ranging across all styles and eras - from Verdi and Brahms to Prince - and beat their opponents to the buzzer if they're going to gain the vital edge in what promises to be a close contest.

Producer: Paul Bajoria.


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (b064xbpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Necessary to My Happiness (b064ygl5)
The poet Michael Symmons Roberts tells the story of Lord Byron's illegitimate daughter Allegra, who was only five when she died in an Italian convent. Michael goes to Ravenna to find out how Byron came to abandon her, and how she came to haunt his imagination (and that of fellow Romantic Percy Bysshe Shelley).

Through visiting the Palazzo Guiccioli in Ravenna, where Byron lived for a time, and the convent at Bagnacavallo where Allegra died, Michael discovers evidence for her as a spirited little girl, who wrote heartbreaking letters to her father, pleading with him to visit her.

In this documentary, Allegra gets her own voice at last. . .

Presented by Michael Symmons Roberts
Produced by Faith Lawrence

Music composed by Dr Sally Rodgers and Steve Jones (discrete machines)
Allegra was played by Alexandra Mathie.


MON 16:30 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b064yglg)
Series 12

Forensic Science

A Forensic look at Forensics

No dead strawberries this week, but plenty of dead bodies, as Brian Cox and Robin Ince take a gruesome look at the science of death and some of the more unusual ways that forensic scientists are able to look for and gather clues and evidence. From insects that can be used to give a precise time of death, to the unusual field of forensic botany, It's not just DNA evidence that can be used to pinpoint someone to the scene of a crime. They are joined on stage by Professor Sue Black from the University of Dundee, Dr Mark Spencer, a forensic botanist at the Natural History Museum and comedian Rufus Hound.


MON 17:00 PM (b064yglj)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x34w)
10/08/15 Teenage boy who stabbed teacher in racially-motivated attack receives 11-year sentence

A 14-year-old boy who stabbed a black supply teacher in a racially-motivated attack in Bradford has been given an 11-year sentence. Vincent Uzomah says he forgives his attacker


MON 18:30 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (b064ygll)
Series 63

Episode 5

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to Sheffield City Hall. Old-timers Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor are joined on the panel by Susan Calman, with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano. Producer - Jon Naismith. It is a BBC Radio Comedy production.


MON 19:00 The Archers (b064ygln)
Susan's pleased with the new tabards that have arrived at the village shop for the staff to wear. But Lynda's horrified at the pink and orange paisley - and misspelt 'Linda' on the helpful name badges. Susan's looking for a local celebrity for the shop's reopening. Jim suggests Jennifer but Susan thinks they should aim higher. Lynda confides in Pat her plans for the shop - Pat keeps quiet about her own plans for the new Bridge Farm shop.

Helen feels so lucky - it was so generous of Peggy to give her and Rob a cheque. Helen jokes with a slightly worried Pat about seeing the money as a 'dowry'. Helen also plans to open their joint bank account, saying she has no need for her own account anymore.

Charlie calmly interrogates Rob over Berrow Farm's online data, which Charlie has been carefully checking though. Rob's slightly thrown when Helen and Henry show up unannounced to say hello. Is something wrong, asks Rob? No, they've just been baking and brought him some of the spoils. Back to business, Charlie reminds Rob to get him the worksheets to look over.

Later, Rob tells Helen that she should phone ahead next time rather than surprise him in the office.


MON 19:15 Front Row (b064yglq)
Sylvie Guillem

The acclaimed ballet and contemporary dancer Sylvie Guillem reflects on her career spanning almost 35 years and tells John Wilson about her final programme of work.

Producer: Jack Soper.


MON 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064y9kv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 Battleships: The Ashes Voyages (b060z6ly)
To mark the start of the latest Ashes Test cricket series, former England captain David Gower relives the days when England and Australia cricketers went by ship to play in the Ashes.

Legendary Australian players taking part include Neil Harvey (who played in Don Bradman's team in 1948), Alan Davidson, Bill Lawry, Bob Simpson, Graham Mackenzie and Colin MacDonald. Ted Dexter leads the England contingent, joined by such names as Peter Richardson, Peter Parfitt, John Murray and David Larter.

The programme is rich in the colours of a 10,000 mile sea voyage. Stories of life on board include everything from the delights of first-class cabins and fabulous food to fancy dress contests and tricks for fending off fans.

It was a different world as far as keeping fit for a sportsman was concerned, with fiery fast bowler Fred Trueman testily able to refuse training runs in favour of long hours in a deck chair.

There are tales of exotic stopping off points. England fast-bowler David Larter tells the story of the day his 'sea-legs' let him down as he tore in to bowl in Colombo - and fell flat on his face. Twice running. Australians Brian Booth and Colin MacDonald re-live the scenes as local traders surrounded their ships on arrival at port after port. There's poignancy, too, as former Times cricket correspondent John Woodcock recalls a pilgrimage by Yorkshire and England cricketers at Naples to lay flowers on the grave of outstanding spin-bowler Hedley Verity, who died fighting in Italy during the Second World War.

What method of travel would these cricketers choose if they were travelling to play now?

Guess.

Producer: Andrew Green
A Singing Wren production for BBC Radio 4.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (b0643x65)
China's Ketamine Fortress

Celia Hatton goes undercover to The Fortress, the Chinese village at the centre of the world's illicit ketamine problem. She hears how China is a top maker and taker of the drug. Celia visits karaoke bars where ketamine is snorted regularly; she hears from those trying to wean themselves off their addiction; and hears from police who took part in a major raid on a village accused of producing vast quantities of illegal ketamine. A local farmer complains that his land and his crops have been destroyed by the drug gangs and Celia discovers how Chinese ketamine has led to the problem known as "Bristol bladder" back in the UK. John Murphy producing.


MON 21:00 Natural Histories (b05w9b64)
Meteorites

For thousands of years we have marvelled at the stones that fell from the sky. They were mysterious messages from the heavens; omens of luck and favour. Ancient Egyptians buried them in their tomb and Terry Pratchett put meteorite iron into his home made sword to enhance its mystical properties.

Myths and legends about meteorites abound in all cultures. In religious art they are visions in the sky foretelling of the apocalypse. Interest in them rocketed when it was finally accepted, as late as the 1970s that they did kill the dinosaurs, a scientific debate that took many years to settle and was hard fought. Meteorites are marvels; they are fragments of other worlds come to our home to remind us we are not alone and that above the sky there is a dynamic, restless universe.

Today people still believe meteorites contain magical minerals. The bizarre plants, Venus flytraps, only grow in the areas meteorites are found (by coincidence) and were thought to be plants brought down from another planet. We are all touched by the mystery of meteorites and today they are helping unravel the mysteries of our own solar system - and beyond.


MON 21:30 Open Book (b0629qxr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 21:58 Weather (b064x34y)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (b064yj8l)
Case against Rwandan spy chief arrested in London is dropped.

Court throws out extradition proceedings against General Karenzi Karake


MON 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b064yj8q)
Go Set a Watchman

Episode 1

Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.

Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.

Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.

Read by Fenella Woolgar

Written by Harper Lee

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


MON 23:00 Short Cuts (b05s3075)
Series 7

The Conversation

Josie Long presents stories of intimate conversations. A thirty year long conversation comes to an end, an undercover agent reveals how to flatter someone into prison and we discover the secrets of the 'dual form'.

Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4

The items featured in the programme are:

With the Caterpillar
Feat. Bostjan Dvorak
Produced by Phil Smith

Colleagues
Feat. Dr Irene Pepperberg
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft

He Was So Happy to See Me
Feat. Ed Follis
Produced by Leo Hornak

99 Words
http://99words.co.uk/
Feat. Sally Potter

Beverly Eckert
Produced by Vanara Taing with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a nonprofit dedicated to recording and collecting stories of everyday people.
www.storycorps.org.


MON 23:30 Britain in a Box (b01s7t3r)
Series 6

Nationwide

What was the impact and legacy of the BBC’s popular current affairs programme that launched Sue Lawley’s TV career, and spawned the birth of TV consumer journalism?

Series in which Paul Jackson celebrates innovative TV programmes, whilst using them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.

Paul talks to Nationwide’s first presenter, Michael Barratt and the first director, Keith Clement, who recall the early technical mishaps which threatened to take it off air. The BBC circuit system wasn’t quite up to speed with the technical ambition of the programme. When linking to Glasgow, viewers would see wavy lines and hear technical clunks. But within six months, and ever increasing audience numbers, the programme found its feet.

Popular across the nation because of its inclusion of the regions, Sue Lawley explains its success. She also recalls THAT interview with Mrs Thatcher when housewife, Mrs Diana Gould persisted in questioning the prime minister on the decision to sink Argentinian war ship, Belgrano when it 'was sailing away' during the Falklands War.

Producer: Sarah Taylor.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.



TUESDAY 11 AUGUST 2015

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (b064x35y)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


TUE 00:30 Book of the Week (b064xjn1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x360)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x362)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x364)
The latest shipping forecast.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (b064x366)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b066739g)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (b064yjbp)
Farm protests, Rail crossings, Angora goats

Protests by farmers have been in the national headlines, with shelves stripped clean of milk by campaigning dairy producers, and cows set loose in the aisles of a Staffordshire supermarket. But should farmers just face up to the realities of running a business, be grateful for their subsidies, and stop complaining? Sybil Ruscoe talks to one agricultural consultant who thinks just that.

There have been more than a hundred near misses at railway crossings on farmland in the last five years, and some fatal collisions. With harvest underway, one of the busiest times in the farming year, Network Rail and the National Farmers' Union have launched a campaign reminding farmers of the dangers.

And as the week-long look at goat farming continues, we hear from a couple in Wales who have been breeding and showing Angora goats for more than forty years.

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Emma Campbell.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt07)
Yellow-Browed Warbler

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Yellow-Browed Warbler. The delicate yellow-browed warbler breeds in Siberia and winters in south-east Asia. Several hundred birds, sometimes many more, turn up each autumn anywhere between the Isles of Scilly and Shetland.


TUE 06:00 Today (b065t49j)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.

*Correction - Radio play 'Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell' staring John Hurt is on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday at 14.30 NOT Sunday, as said by James Naughtie.


TUE 09:00 Fry's English Delight (b064yjm4)
Series 8

Words Fail Me

Stephen gets emotional as he attempts to measure the gap between feelings and the language we use to express it. He's joined from LA by John Lydon - a man who famously wears his emotions on his sleeve - albeit torn in several places. John describes how anger has been his energy throughout his life and how being the frontman of a band allows him to express 'proper emotions'.

Emotion and language are both held to be proof of our humanity but, as Professor Stephen Pinker explains, there's a mismatch between the two. We often fail to control the emotion in our language. At other times the language we have to express our emotions fails us altogether.

For some, this can be extra challenging. Dr Rebecca Chilvers at Great Ormond Street Hospital describes how people with autism often struggle to express feelings, over-relying on learned cliche or creating startlingly unusual turns of phrase.

And how does emotion translate to text? Poet Kate Tempest describes the raw feelings that go into her live performances. And we hear how mood and food unite in language. A bad restaurant review often employs the language of a trauma victim to express disgust.

Today the old fashioned love letter has been usurped by a new hieroglyphic language - emoji, serving both our need for micro-second communication and our desire to emote. Should this inspire a frown face, single tear drop or a smiley grin? We now have more than 722 emoji to help us out. But how do we assess their sincerity?

And although machines don't have emotions, computers can now detect them in text. Professor Stephen Pulman, computational linguist, explains 'sentiment analysis'.

Producer: Sarah Cuddon
A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 09:30 A Walk of One's Own: Virginia Woolf on Foot (b064yjm6)
In Spain

Virginia Woolf, sun hat firmly in place, scrambling along the dusty footpaths of Southern Spain - an unexpected image of the very English, upright writer more commonly associated with Bloomsbury. But in 1923 Woolf and her husband Leonard made an adventurous journey by boat, train, bus and mule to the remote mountain village of Yegen, where the British writer Gerald Brenan had made his home.

In a burst of intense, exploratory friendship, Woolf walked with Brenan through a landscape of goats and asphodels, opening up to him, and opening herself to the allure of Spain. "The mind's contents break into short sentences. It is hot; the old man; the frying pan; the bottle of wine".

She wrote about riding mules, about village sounds, and as she got into the rhythm of rural Spain fantasised about a new life abroad.

Virginia Woolf was the perfect exponent of the belief that walking clears the mind, expands the soul and strengthens the leg. On the centenary of Woolf's first published novel, Woolf biographer. Alexandra Harris takes us on four walks which inspired her, shaped her writing and character, and tell her story.

In part one Harris seeks out the paths where the determined walker would have tramped - through olive groves, past tangled vines, in thrall to the smell of orange blossom. She is accompanied in this Spanish sojourn by another writer, also seduced by the beauty of the Alpujarras, Chris Stewart, of "Driving Over Lemons" fame. Stewart was inspired 27 years ago to move to the area described in 'South From Granada', Gerald Brenan's classic portrait of Andalucía, in which Virginia Woolf's visit is also described.

They scramble up hillsides, leap into pools of icy water, and are deafened by the sound of cicadas, contemplating Virginia Woolf's time, walking and writing under the Spanish sun.

Producer: Sara Jane Hall.


TUE 09:45 Book of the Week (b064yjm8)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

Writing Lives

Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's biography of the extraordinary lives of the pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today's episode explores the writing that made them famous; Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women and Shelley's Frankenstein.

Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (b064yjmb)
US elections, Grandparents in charge, Staying in a bothy

Jane Garvey talks to Felicity Spector, chief writer for Channel 4 about the role of women in the US 2016 presidntial campaign. Cari Rosen, editor of Gransnet and novelist and grandmother Hilary Boyd discuss how parents can best negotiate with their parents and in-laws when it comes to looking after their children; Writer Meike Ziervogel talks about her new novel, Kauthar and explains why she chose to make her main female protagonist, a British woman called Lydia, convert to Islam. Author Phoebe Smith has written a book about her love for the bothy, an old empty building that is usually left open for anybody to use free of charge.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Lucinda Montefiore.


TUE 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b064yjmd)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage

Episode 2

It's starting to unravel. Naomi disappears to school at the crack of dawn, Ella has decamped to a friend's house, Jack is throwing himself into work (and his boyfriend) and Karen has taken up running. The children want answers.

In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.

She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?

The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.

Written by Nicholas McInerny

Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 11:00 Natural Histories (b05w9b6b)
Mammoths

"Manny" the hairy, grumpy, yet ultimately caring hero of the animation series Ice Age sums up our love of these giants of the past. When a superbly preserved baby mammoth was displayed at the Natural History Museum she became a star attraction.

We are intrigued by the idea of a hairy elephant wandering our land so tantalisingly recently; the last mammoths are thought to have died out in Russia just 4,000 years ago. Bones of these huge elephants have often been found, people believing they were the remains of giants, or that they were the huge burrowing creatures that died underground.

Beautiful paintings of mammoths adorn ice age cave walls, symbolising our close relationships with these animals that provided us with so much cultural material. Not only mammoth meat but bones and tusks to build shelter, skins for walls, ivory for carvings and teeth for musical instruments; the first flute was a mammoth bone.

Music played on instruments made from mammoth bone created haunting sounds. Delicately carved tiny mammoths are found in places many miles from where mammoths lived, dating back at least 30,000 years. If they were alive today we would no doubt be protecting them from ivory traders, but as they are extinct, the mass of ivory bone being exhumed from the tundra (it is thought there are 150 million tusks buried there) is legally sent to China to be made into jewellery, trinkets and pieces of art.

Not far off 50% of the ivory entering China is mammoth. Some think it is a sustainable alternative to elephant ivory, others believe it keeps the whole trade alive. Should mammoth ivory be treated the same as elephant? Should mammoth become the first extinct animal to be listed as an endangered species?


TUE 11:30 The Great Songbook (b064yjnw)
Spain

What makes a song typically Spanish? In a country of autonomous regions and different languages, is there such a thing as a 'Spanish songbook'? Cerys Matthews travels to the capital of Catalonia to meet people who live, breathe and sing some of Spain's complex legacy of popular songs. The discussion ranges from Civil War songs such as 'Ay, Carmela' to Franco-era copla ballads, to Beatles-inspired pop songs. She discovers one Catalan protest song that started life in the Franco era; it was subsequently taken up by protesters in Poland, and then more recently in Tunisia, before returning to the streets of Barcelona amidst protests against austerity. Cerys' guests include veteran rocker and writer Sabino Mendez, musicologist Silvia Martinez, music journalist Nando Cruz and cultural historian Alex Fernandez de Castro.


TUE 12:00 News Summary (b064x36f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b04xrl8t)
Series 1

Cryptic Crosswords

Continuing his new series where he tries to make sense of apparently puzzling matters, David Baddiel seeks to understand something which is meant to be puzzling: cryptic crosswords.

David gets help from a crossword champion and and also from a leading compiler who sets him a special crossword. Can he put his learning into practice and complete it?

Producer: Giles Edwards.


TUE 12:15 You and Yours (b064yjny)
Call You and Yours: Can You Afford to Go to University?

it's estimated it'll cost students £36 k in living costs to complete a standard three year degree. Add on fees of £27 k and the university experience is likely to cost in excess of £60,000. With the government planning to cut maintenance grants and three quarters of students relying on family to see them through can you afford to go to university and if you can is it worth it?


TUE 12:57 Weather (b064x36h)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (b064yjpq)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Shaun Ley.


TUE 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064yk0g)
Wordplay: Theatre in the Open Air

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this second episode he revisits Stowe School where, in the 1950's, he fell in love with Shakespeare's language while acting his plays in the open air. Piers compares notes with present day 'Stoics', in the middle of rehearsing this year's Shakespeare productions, to find out what his language means to them.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (b064ygln)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b01sdr1p)
Becky Prestwich - Chopping Onions

Chopping Onions
by Becky Prestwich

Grandmother Esther has suffered a stroke . Esther's daughter, Ruth, has insisted she come to stay while she recovers. To welcome Esther, daughter Ruth is attempting to make chicken soup and grand-daughter Vanessa is going to make a desert.. But as the three generations of Jewish women come together in the kitchen, they stir up much more than the soup. A poignant and comic new drama about motherhood.

Produced and Directed by Pauline Harris.


TUE 15:00 Making History (b064yk0k)
Professor Pamela King and Dr Richard Blakemore join Helen Castor to discuss some our earliest theatre scripts and what a wreck in the Thames Estuary tells us about Cromwell's navy.

Tom Holland travels to St Just in Cornwall to meet theatre producer Will Coleman who has researched the outdoor locations of medieval plays and how they were staged. Using manuscripts from the Bodleian Library in Oxford he suggests that Country theatre in the 14th century was an immersive experience, more like going to Glastonbury than The Globe. Helen Castor talks to Professor Pamela King who believes that what was happening in Cornwall is happening all over Britain at this time

On Wednesday divers and archaeologists from Historic England will try and lift a gun carriage from a 350 year old wreck which lies on the bottom of the Thames estuary having blown up in 1665. The wreck is that of The London, an important ship in Cromwell's Navy. We hear from a diver working on the wreck and Dr James Davey from the National Maritime Museum and Dr Richard Blakemore from Merton College Oxford who explain the importance of this revolutionary navy in the development of the British Navy.


TUE 15:30 Random Radio (b064yk0m)
Diana Quick

A series which encourages guests to "think with the heart and feel with the intellect." In this final programme, Murray Lachlan Young invites actor Diana Quick to combine her favourite sounds and her most passionately held ideas in unexpected ways by feeding them into an electronic device. Murray has not prepared an interview but, instead, he and Diana respond spontaneously to what the device returns to them in the form of short audio snippets. Neither of them knows which of the sounds, music and speech the device will select, nor how it will combine them. The idea is to throw up connections that might not have occurred to guests otherwise, and to encourage them to think and feel about their concerns and passions in a different way. Diana's sounds include an air raid siren, eggs being beaten in a bowl, waves lapping on a Suffolk beach, nightingales singing and foxes barking. The unpredictability increases as the device introduces some audio of its own, drawn from the BBC Radio archives using keywords and phrases suggested by Diana as search terms - including the women's movement, nuclear power, honesty and friendship. This mix of archive creates even more unusual associations between apparently disparate material, and prompts a conversation ranging from dancing pigs and unexpected Indian roots, to the future of feminism and the quest for serenity. Producer: Adam Fowler An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 16:00 The Move (b04n600y)
Frustrations

Each year about three million people across the country pack their entire life into a removal truck and move home. And for most people it is rarely simple. Even the most meticulously planned move can be complicated and traumatic, the most optimistic people reduced to tears.

This week Rosie meets Romaine, a dynamic, fast-talking businesswoman who loves London, thriving on its energy and opportunities. But bringing up young boys and running a fashion company from their two bedroom flat is proving challenging. Sleeplessness, illness and harassment are plaguing the family and for the sake of them all, Romaine has to confront moving to a sleepy rural village.

Pete has long revelled in the unruly and bohemian side of Brighton and Hove. Now in his early fifties he is weary of jostling with tourists and party-goers and feels like a stranger in his own town. Having recently met someone on line who lives a mobile home in Aberystwyth, Pete prepares to pack up and move three hundred miles to be with them.

Producer: Sarah Bowen.


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (b064z4sw)
Series 37

Vicky Pryce on Melina Mercouri

Matthew Parris's guest is Vicky Pryce, the Greek born economist, who attracted media headlines on her conviction over speeding points incurred by her former husband, Chris Huhne.

Vicky has chosen the film star turned politician, Melina Mercouri who believed culture to be as important as money or power - if not more so. As Minister for Culture, she promoted Greece's cultural heritage and fought for the return of the Elgin Marbles. Some consider one her greatest achievements to be the founding of the European Capital of Culture.

Expert witness is Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London and Victoria Solomonidis contributes

Producer Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.


TUE 17:00 PM (b065gfzv)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x36k)
Athens to get 85 billion euros in exchange for spending cuts, tax rises & privatisations


TUE 18:30 Mitch Benn Is the 37th Beatle (b03szxdh)
Musical satirist Mitch Benn explores his comedy connections to the story of The Beatles.

Mitch has realised that over the years many people have claimed the title The Fifth Beatle. In fact, so many of them have been described as such that there are now at least 36 of them. They can't all be right. But some of them are righter than others...

Fifty years on from the release of 'Please, Please Me', Mitch presents his own definitive list of the Beatles. He presents a whistlestop tour through musical history and the enduring legacy of the Fab Four, whilst shamelessly milking his own - incredibly tenuous- connection to it.

Written by and starring Mitch Benn

Producer: Alexandra Smith.


TUE 19:00 The Archers (b064z4w2)
Helen knows that Charlie's breathing down Rob's neck at work. Helen drops Henry off at Rowan's before catching up with Ian for a natter at Grey Gables. Ian opens up about his relationship with Adam. Ian feels rather ignored, having told Adam that he doesn't have to live in Ambridge. Ian would have gone to Hungary to live with him, as Brian's offer was an 'insult'. Helen focuses on the bright side - they'll be married soon and everything will be fine - just like she is with Rob, having had their difficulties.

Carol and Jill chat over coffee at Grey Gables. Carol has been down to Bristol to see her old friend Hester, whose husband recently died. Carol talks fondly of Ambridge, admitting that she doesn't miss Bristol like she thinks she should.

Rob tells Helen that what would make things complete for him would be to have a child of his own with her. Helen understands but mentions that timing is important - Henry's school and the farm shop are factors. Helen cheers up a grumpy looking Rob, telling him she loves him.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (b064z4w4)
Amanda Levete, Trainwreck, Crystal Moselle, Stephen Kelman

Architect Amanda Levete gives John Wilson a tour of the building site that will be a new £30m addition to the V&A in London, due to open in 2017. The main elements to her designs are a new spacious gallery for temporary exhibitions, and a new entrance and porcelain-tiled courtyard for the museum.

Amy Schumer stars in, and has written, a new comedy Trainwreck, directed by Judd Apatow. Meryl O'Rourke reviews the film.

Stephen Kelman was nominated for the Booker Prize for his debut novel Pigeon English. He discusses his new novel Man on Fire, based on the life of an Indian world-record-breaker whom Kelman befriended after seeing him in a TV documentary.

Documentary film The Wolfpack focuses on a group of brothers raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side but kept hidden indoors by their domineering father for most of their lives. Director Crystal Moselle discusses how she came across their story and the crucial part that cinema played in their sheltered lives.

Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald.


TUE 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064yjmd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 The Other Side of Adoption (b0650jwh)
Tim Whewell investigates the challenges of life post-adoption, discovers the remarkable tenacity of many adoptive parents faced with challenging behaviour, and asks what changes are being made to improve the current situation where a quarter of adoptive families face serious difficulties.

Thirteen years ago, Sarah and her husband adopted two brothers. The younger one had extensive therapy to guide him through a fixation with suicide. The older brother is now living away from the family following years of violence and the revelation that he had been sexually abusing the young son of family friends.

Ten years ago, Mary and Steve (not their real names) adopted two young siblings. The challenges they have faced - truancy, self-harming, drugs, violence - left Mary suffering from depression and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Today, they believe the worst is behind them. But they also believe that adopted children and their adoptive families are the 'poor relations' - compared to children in foster care or in children's homes - when it comes to allocating resources/providing services. "It feels like you're abandoned once the children are placed for adoption with you - as if adoption is a magic wand - and that everything will now be OK," says Mary. "In reality it's very, very difficult."

Forty years ago, most adopted children were given up at birth by mothers escaping social stigma. Today, 70 percent of them come from care. As a result, many adoptive families today need significant support to overcome the history of abuse and neglect that children import into their new family. But are they getting the help they need?

Produced by Geoff Bird
A Pennine production for BBC Radio 4.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (b064z551)
Archery, Conducting, Red Szell

The Paralympics prides itself on having brought recognition to disabled athletes; so can it make sense that in some Paralympic sports visually impaired participants have had to make themselves more disabled, in order to achieve a fair competition? One of the sports in question is archery, and many partially sighted competitors have refused to take part in international competition under such rules. In a further twist, those who would like to take part have been told there aren't enough entrants to stage a viable event. Peter talks to David Poyner, chair of the archery section in British Blind Sport.

Before he went blind at the age of thirty-five Graham Helm had been the conductor of a youth orchestra in Lancashire, using all the visual methods he needed to keep control of the musicians. Determined to carry on, Graham has devised an approach which combines hand gestures and verbal communications to achieve the same results. Tom Walker watches Graham in action, and meets members of the orchestra.

And climber, novelist and reporter Red Szell talks about the subject of risk-taking.

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.


TUE 21:00 Slimboy Fat: The Problem with BMI (b064z553)
Dr Mark Porter puts the BMI, or bodymass index, to the test. BMI calculates whether someone is too fat,too thin or just right but how accurate is it?

As a man of a certain age Mark's aware that his waistband is getting tighter but assumes it is only a statistical aberration - probably. He compares his results with other measures of body fat and discovers hidden risks.


TUE 21:30 Fry's English Delight (b064yjm4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 21:58 Weather (b064x36m)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (b064z555)
Russian missile parts found at site of MH17 airliner crash in Ukraine.

Dutch investigator vows to find out who fired weapon that brought the plane down.


TUE 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gjs0)
Go Set a Watchman

Episode 2

Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.

Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.

Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.

Read by Fenella Woolgar

Written by Harper Lee

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


TUE 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (b064yglg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


TUE 23:30 Britain in a Box (b00ym5fc)
Series 4

Men Behaving Badly

Another chance to catch the programme in which Paul Jackson shines a light on TV classics that helped define their time. Tonight, the 1990s sitcom whose title spelled out exactly what the audience saw: Men Behaving Badly, featuring contributions from producer Beryl Vertue, writer Simon Nye and stars Martin Clunes and Leslie Ash.

Producer: Ed Morrish.



WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST 2015

WED 00:00 Midnight News (b064x37g)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b064yjm8)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x37j)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x37l)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x37n)
The latest shipping forecast.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (b064x37q)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06673vc)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (b064z55c)
Dairy prices latest, with Morrisons, Arla and NFU

Are milk processors and supermarkets beginning to address dairy farmers' concerns over low milk prices?

Sybil Ruscoe examines Morrisons' announcement that they'll be introducing a voluntary 10 pence per litre addition to milk prices in the autumn that customers can pay in stores if they want to support farmers. She asks what if any difference it'll make for hard-pressed dairy farmers, some of whom are not recovering their costs of milk production.

She also speaks to Arla, the milk processor, who're introducing a new milk marque, while the NFU's Ruth Mason, who liaises with supermarkets, gives her response to developments.

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt1q)
Sooty Shearwater

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Sooty Shearwater. Sooty Shearwaters are rather scarce seabirds around our islands as they breed on islands off South America and the coasts of eastern Australia and New Zealand. After breeding, the shearwaters head north to feeding grounds in the North Pacific and North Atlantic undertaking one of the longest journeys of any migratory animal.


WED 06:00 Today (b0667gfs)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 What's the Point of...? (b064z590)
Series 7

The Army Reserve

A government review of defence spending provides a timely backdrop for Quentin Letts to ask what's the point of the Army Reserve?

They've served in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years and more than 30 volunteers have given their lives for their country, but is the Reserve a way of getting an army on the cheap in these times of budget cuts and austerity?

Britain's had a volunteer force since the Middle Ages but the modern Reserve was created in 1908, bringing together militias and Yeomanry to create a trained military back-up. Then called the Territorial Army, Reservists served with distinction in WW1, WW2, Korea and Suez but were relegated to home duties during the Cold War becoming the brunt of jokes about 'Dad's Army'.

Renamed the Army Reserve three years ago, today's part-timers have to be as fit as their comrades in the Regular Army and ready to servce in combat zones.

As the government plans to cut the number of full-time soldiers and boost part-time replacements, Quentin asks is this wise and will we be fighting fit to face our enemies, whether the threat comes from land, sea or cyber-space?

Producer: Vince Hunt
Series Producer: Amanda Hancox.


WED 09:30 Witness (b064z592)
The Inuit Children Experiment

In 1951 22 Inuit children from Greenland were taken from their families and sent to live with foster parents in Denmark. It was part of a social experiment aimed at improving the lot of the indigenous people of Greenland but for the children concerned it was a confusing and often traumatic experience. Helen Thiesen was one of those children.


WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b064z594)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

Revolution and Notoriety

Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's dual biography of the remarkable and pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her extraordinary novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, revolutionary France leads Mary Wollstonecraft to make a life changing decision. Meanwhile, following Frankenstein's publication, Mary Shelley considers a new start.
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b064z752)
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Health tests, Crime writer Margery Allingham

Jenni speaks to Buffy Sainte-Marie. The singer, song writer and activist first came to prominence as part of the 1960's protest movement with songs like Universal Soldier. Over the course of her career, Buffy's made more than 20 albums, and spent five years appearing on Sesame Street.

Health Tests are the focus of a BBC2's Horizon programme. Joining Jenni to discuss whether screening tests can be useful are Dr Iona Heath, former president of Royal College of GPs and Dr Anne Mackie, director of National Screening Committee.

Suzi Godson, the relationships columnist for The Times has been speaking to men from their twenties to their eighties. In this programme, Max from Preston talks about how the impact of fatherhood came as a shock.

Continuing the summer reading season the Queens of Crime, we look at Margery Allingham, the Essex writer who created the bespectacled sleuth Albert Campion. With Margery's biographer Julia Jones and writer Mike Ripley.

Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Claire Bartleet.


WED 10:41 15 Minute Drama (b064z754)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage

Episode 3

Things are looking up for Karen. She's getting ready for a date and looks a complete knock-out. Jack is beside himself with a feeling he hasn't experienced for a long time in relation to his wife - jealousy.

In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.

She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?

The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.

Written by Nicholas McInerny

Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b064z756)
Cathryn and Francesca - Living With Invisible Illness

Fi Glover introduces friends who both suffer from illnesses that are debilitating but not obvious, sharing their experiences of being judged by the public to be swinging the lead, in a conversation recorded in the mobile Booth in Moseley Park, Birmingham. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen. The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


WED 11:00 Three Pounds in My Pocket (b064z758)
Series 2

Episode 2

Kavita Puri looks at a turbulent period for South Asians living in Britain, from 1976 to 1981. There were confrontations and street battles across the country, in largely immigrant towns, between the National Front and anti-racist organisations. Many from the first generation shied away from conflict and ignored racist abuse, but the younger generation - many born here - fought back. "We are likely to die in this country," one interviewee says, "so if it means staying and fighting that's what we will have to do, and we won't give an inch." Kavita explores this generational difference, through candid and heartfelt memories.
Producer: Smita Patel

With help from Dr Florian Stadtler, University of Exeter.

The programme contains archive from "Mind Your Language" written by Vince Powell for London Weekend Television.


WED 11:30 In and Out of the Kitchen (b064z75b)
Series 4

The Panel Show

Damien is persuaded to appear on topical TV panel show "I Beg Your Pardon" in order to boost his profile ahead of his street food series. Meanwhile, Anthony and Mr Mullaney's property business has developed to the point at which they can now start buying somewhere to do up. Will Anthony plump for the right property though?

Starring:
Miles Jupp as Damien Trench
Justin Edwards as Anthony
Philip Fox as Ian Frobisher
Brendan Dempsey as Mr Mullaney
Mark Edel-Hunt as The Auctioneer/Ivan
Alex Tregear as Livi Hollinshead
and
Stephen Critchlow as Gavin Colthorpe

The producer was Sam Michell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


WED 12:00 News Summary (b064x37v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b04ykd7p)
Series 1

Derivatives

Continuing his quest for understanding, David Baddiel explores derivatives. What are they and how do they work?

David begins by meeting journalist Janice Turner, who initially suggested the subject, and she explains why she believes we should all try to understand derivatives.

Then David visits the London Metals Exchange, the last place with open outcry trading in London, where he discusses the history of derivatives with financial historian D'Maris Coffman. And on a trading floor at Canary Wharf he hears how the market works today.

At the end, he returns to try to explain to Janice what he's learned, with D'Maris ready to pass judgement on his understanding.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


WED 12:15 You and Yours (b064z75d)
Bake Off, University 'incentives', Boarding pass campaign

You & Yours sets its own Great British Bake Off challenge, to find out if home baking can ever be cheaper than shop bought. Winifred Robinson assists two WI bakers as they take on the Bargain Biscuit challenge.

A-Level pupils get their results this week, setting off the rush for university places. This year universities are no longer restricted on the numbers they can take in, and some are offering lucrative incentives to attract more students. Would a free laptop convince you to enrol?

Plus will you be supporting the campaign to stop airport shops from pocketing your VAT savings? Some passengers say they are going to stop showing their boarding passes when asked at airport shops after discovering the information is being used by stores to save money.

Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.


WED 12:57 Weather (b064x381)
The latest weather forecast.


WED 13:00 World at One (b065ggjn)
Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Shaun Ley.


WED 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064z75g)
The Chuckler: A Short Ride in a Smart Machine

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this third episode, Piers goes for a drive with his two daughters in a Morris Minor, the same model and vintage as the one he owned between 1968 and 1990. As his only car, he discovers just what made it so special when the family was growing up.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 14:00 The Archers (b064z4w2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Drama (b064z77j)
Gull Therapy

Dan used to be a successful drugs sales rep for a pharmaceutical company but, after a stroke, he finds all kinds of communication difficult and fatiguing. He employs Alice, a private speech and language therapist, to 'make him better'. Recently divorced Alice has moved home and business to a small rented flat where, at night, the sea gulls gather on her skylight.

A play about sound, language and meaning.

With thanks to Connect, the communication disability network, for assistance with information on aphasia.

Written by Anita Sullivan
Music and sound FX composed and performed by Eleanor Gamper

Produced by Karen Rose
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 15:00 The New Workplace (b064ww0s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


WED 15:30 Slimboy Fat: The Problem with BMI (b064z553)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 The Business of Film with Mark Kermode (b053zsn5)
Getting to the Screen

Close to 700 movies opened in the UK last year. Blockbusters, franchises, documentaries, debuts, experiments, low-budget indies and beyond. It's never been easier to make a film and it's said there is an audience for everything. But what is the likely size of that audience? In the second part of this series, film critic Mark Kermode talks to the film financiers and the distributors.

According to the head of Film Four, David Kosse, the film industry is a "break-even business" - the trick is to identify a winner and ensure it's not just a one off. The independent film world - most of the British film industry - spreads the risk of making a film across independent distributors, equity financiers and other tax benefits. We hear from the BFI, Film Four and BBC Films on what films they are looking to finance.

Since the early days of film, rich outsiders have financed the industry. Now, producers who don't fit the studio model are looking to a multitude of ways to finance their film - from crowdfunding to rich kids with cheque books. Director Shane Carruth tells how he distributed his film Upstream Color himself, road-showing cinema screenings and bringing the film out on Blu-ray. And with much talk of Video on Demand, what role will Netflix and Amazon play in the future of film?

Marketing is crucial to the life and death of a movie but it remains the one hard cost in moviemaking. The trailer can be of vital importance and we hear what we respond to and what scenes should be left out.

Producers: Barney Rowntree and Nick Jones
A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 16:30 The Media Show (b064z78f)
Celebrity injunctions; Economist sale; FT editorial independence; football bans

A prominent sportsman has been granted an injunction preventing The Sun newspaper from publishing a story about a relationship he had before he was married, based on the woman's account. The case has raised questions over how injunctions like this, relating to kiss-and-tells, impact on journalism, especially tabloids. Andrea Catherwood talks to The Sun's editor David Dinsmore, and discusses the efficacy of injunctions in an internet era with two media lawyers; Mark Stephens from Howard Kennedy, and Kirsten Sjovoll from Matrix Chambers.

Publishing group Pearson has agreed to sell its fifty per cent stake in the Economist Group for £469m. Exor, the holding group of the Agnelli family, has agreed to buy most of Pearson's shares. Media analyst from Liberum Ian Whittaker explains why Pearson's selling, and why Exor's buying.

Following Pearson's sale of the FT to Japanese media group Nikkei, journalists at the paper have written to Nikkei management asking for assurances that editorial independence will be maintained. Nikkei has promised to protect the independence of the FT, but in a letter, writers have called on the Nikkei to "enshrine" its editorial independence. Andrea Catherwood talks to Financial Times journalist Martin Sandu about what guarantees staff are looking for.

Last week, the NUJ called on the FA to act on what it described as "a worrying trend" amongst clubs about banning journalists from their grounds if they don't like their reporting. Then on Friday, Channel 4 news was banned from Newcastle United's press conference for wanting to ask the club a question about banning journalists! We hear from Channel 4 news correspondent Alex Thomson about what happened.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki.


WED 17:00 PM (b064z78h)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x385)
12/8/15 Record number of EU migrant workers in Britain

Record number of EU migrant workers in Britain.Yuan devalued again


WED 18:30 Sketchorama (b061yh01)
Series 4

Episode 2

Clever Peter, Hennessey and Friends, and In Cahoots.

Award winning actress and comedian Isy Suttie presents the pick of the best live sketch groups currently performing on the UK comedy circuit

Every show spotlights three up and coming groups featuring character, improv, broken and musical sketch comedy.

There are so many incredibly talented and inventive sketch groups on the British Comedy scene but with no dedicated broadcast format. Sketchorama aims to bring hidden gems and established live acts to the airwaves.

Producer: Gus Beattie

A Comedy Unit production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in July 2015.


WED 19:00 The Archers (b064z7dr)
David's on his way home but Ruth's staying in Prudhoe for a few more days. Pip hoped to have more time with everyone before going to start her new job. She's starting in High Wycombe before travelling to Brazil. Pip and Ed discuss Adam's big plans for Home Farm. Toby rolls up with loud music blaring from his truck - he says Pip missed out on a good Game Fair and invites her for a drink, but Pip's busy- she'll be showing David her designs for the new track way layout for grazing.
Jolene talks to Kenton about his slovenly behaviour and drunkenness - he should focus on their success at the pub, but he's being negative about their financial situation. Jolene confides in Lynda, who offers Feng Shui advice. When Robert notices that Kenton seems upset, Jolene tells Kenton he needs to snap out of it.
At Ambridge Hall, Lynda tells Robert about having been to the Bridge Farm shop to escape her awful tabard. Helen's clearly enjoying being married, having possibly shared a bit too much information. With the topsoil in great shape, Lynda vows to make change in the garden. However, she's horrified to discover that Hazel has put in a planning application, to turn the Village Shop into apartments.


WED 19:15 Front Row (b064z7dt)
Paper Towns, Nick Coleman, Jules Buckley and Wretch 32, Olive Edis archive

Cara Delevingne stars in Paper Towns, the latest adaptation of a John Green Young Adult novel. Rhianna Dhillon delivers her verdict on the film.

Former music writer Nick Coleman discusses his new novel Pillow Man, which begins in the bed linen section of a London department store.

Composer, conductor and orchestrator Jules Buckley and grime artist Wretch 32 reveal their plans for the first Radio 1Xtra Prom.

Olive Edis was Britain's first female war photographer. As the Cromer Museum in Norfolk - which holds the largest collection of her photos - receives funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to create the first online archive of her work, curator Alistair Murphy explains what made her such a pioneering figure.

Presenter: John Wilson
Producer: Ellie Bury.


WED 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064z754)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:41 today]


WED 20:00 FutureProofing (b064z7f2)
Life

FutureProofing is a new series in which presenters Timandra Harkness and Leo Johnson examine the implications - social and cultural, economic and political - of the big ideas that are set to transform the way our society functions.

Episode 1: Life.

FutureProofing explores why emerging bio-technology will transform how we understand and control life itself.

Timandra and Leo discuss the consequences for humankind with leading genetic scientists and designers - people who are now able to create and manipulate the very building blocks of life.

The programme examines the results of inventing and editing life forms; how easy it is to become a bio-hacker; why the FBI has decided to adopt a strangely relaxed attitude towards such potentially catastrophic experimentation; and how a new understanding of biology as a software engineering system that we can design has profound consequences for the way we think about Life in future.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert.


WED 20:45 Four Thought (b064z7gw)
Big Charity, Big Business

David Russell asks whether backing big charities is the best way of improving the world.

Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.


WED 21:00 Mind Changers (b062jsn7)
Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset

Claudia Hammond presents the history of psychology series which examines the work of the people who have changed our understanding of the human mind. This week she interviews Carol Dweck, who identified that individuals tend towards a fixed or a growth mindset regarding what they can learn and achieve. She also showed that a fixed mindset can be changed, and that once people adopt a growth mindset, they can achieve more.

Claudia visits a UK primary school where growth mindset is part of the curriculum, and sees how children who don't like maths soon change their attitude at a summer camp in California, once they're shown that getting the wrong answer actually makes their brains grow more than getting the right answer.

She hears more about Dweck and her work from colleagues Greg Walton and Jo Boaler at Stanford University, and executive head Dame Alison Peacock at the Wroxham Primary School.

Producer: Marya Burgess.


WED 21:30 What's the Point of...? (b064z590)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b064z7gy)
Croatian engineer reported to have been beheaded by Egyptian IS affiliate.

Croatian government hasn't been able to verify story -- but says it fears the worst


WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gjvl)
Go Set a Watchman

Episode 3

Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.

Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.

Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.

Read by Fenella Woolgar

Written by Harper Lee

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


WED 23:00 Terry Alderton's All Crazy Now (b064z7h0)
Sizzle!

Thank goodness! No pole vaulting chickens this time, no honey bees, no guinea pig diving. Just cornflakes, Dave, sausages, a gravedigger, and Ed and the bear in an airport.

What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing could go wrong. It's not real. None of this is real. It's just Terry Alderton and a microphone. The microphone was real. Definitely a real microphone.

Written by and starring Terry Alderton.

Additional material from Johnny Spurling, Boothby Graffoe, Richard Melvin, Julia Sutherland and Owen Parker.

Sound designed by Sean Kerwin.

Producer: Richard Melvin

A Dabster production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.


WED 23:15 Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing (b01sdmzn)
Series 2

About Money

The series is a mix of Nathan's stand-up intercut with scenes from his family life.

Janet a.k.a. Mum - loves Nathan, but she aint looking embarrassed for nobody!

Martin a.k.a. Dad - clumsy and hard-headed and leaves running the house to his wife (she wouldn't allow it to be any other way).

Shirley a.k.a. Grandma - How can her grandson go on stage and use foul language and filthy material... it's not the good Christian way!

Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing - tells the story of young, up-and-coming comedian Nathan Caton, who after becoming the first in his family to graduate from University, opted not to use his architecture degree but instead to try his hand at being a full-time stand-up comedian, much to his family's annoyance who desperately want him to get a 'proper job.'

Each episode illustrates the criticism, interference and rollercoaster ride that Nathan endures from his disapproving family as he tries to pursue his chosen career.

Episode 3: About Money

In a mix of stand-up and re-enacted family life - Nathan Caton finds out how his loved ones would react if he were rich. But, sadly, he isn't.

NATHAN ..... NATHAN CATON
MUM ..... ADJOA ANDOH
DAD ..... CURTIS WALKER
GRANDMA ..... MONA HAMMOND
LAYLA ..... CHIZZY AKUDOLU
REVEREND WILLIAMS / MR DANIELS ..... DON GILÉT
SHIFTY ..... OLA

Written by Nathan Caton and James Kettle
Additional Material by Ola and Maff Brown
Producer: Katie Tyrrell

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011.


WED 23:30 Britain in a Box (b01shqc1)
Series 6

Casualty

Paul Jackson visits the purpose-built TV studios of the longest running medical drama in the world. Born out of necessity (as a weapon in the weekly battle for audience-share on Saturday nights) "Casualty" has become one of BBC 1's most consistent performers.

Series in celebrating innovative TV programmes, whilst using them as a window on a particular period in our cultural and social history.

Paul discusses the programme's origins with the show's creators (Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin) and the people who commissioned it and stood by it during its lean years (Lord Grade and Jonathan Powell). He assesses how much it has changed in its long life.

Featuring cast members Patrick Robinson (Ash) and the ever-present Derek Thompson who from the very first episode played Charlie Fairhead. Plus Pete Salt, the medical consultant on whom Charlie is based) and series producer Nikki Wilson.

Paul also gauges the future of the programme with the head of BBC 1's scheduling, Dan McGolpin.

Producer: Paul Kobrak

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.



THURSDAY 13 AUGUST 2015

THU 00:00 Midnight News (b064x39v)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b064z594)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x39x)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x3b1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x3b3)
The latest shipping forecast.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (b064x3b7)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b0667gty)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (b064zlvb)
Role of AHDB Dairy, Amazon Fresh, Goat's milk

With falling dairy prices, Sybil Ruscoe asks what's the role of the quango, AHDB Dairy? Whilst it seems that Farmers For Action and the farming unions have been doing all the talking - and shouting - about milk prices and cheap supermarket milk, we've heard very little from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board - the body that's supposed to work for the dairy industry. Amanda Ball explains what they're doing.

What's the likely impact on UK food producers if online grocery service Amazon Fresh launches in UK? We hear from retail analyst Jeremy Garlick.

And reporter Sarah Falkingham visits Yorkshire Dairy Goats - the biggest supplier of goat's milk in the country.

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt3d)
Leach's Storm Petrel

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Leach's Storm-Petrel. Only the most far-flung islands around our coasts provide sanctuary for Leach's Storm-Petrels, one of the most difficult of our breeding birds to see. Chris Watson tells the story of a perilous 2am climb he made to record the sounds of Leach's Storm-Petrel's in their breeding burrows on cliff ledges on the Island of Hirta in the St Kilda group.


THU 06:00 Today (b064zlvd)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 Fantasy Festival (b064zlvg)
Brian Moore

Former rugby player and commentator Brian Moore joins presenter Tim Samuels to curate and create the festival of his wildest dreams.

Festivals are fast becoming significant events on more and more people's calendars. Whether it's a huge rock fest or a small scale village event, it's somebody's job to imagine the festival before it happens, and to assemble all the pieces of the jigsaw that are needed to bring their vision to life.

But what if you could create your own festival - where you set the agenda, chose the guests, pick the acts, and dictate the weather, the food and the ambience? A festival where anyone - whether dead or alive - can be summoned to perform, and nothing is unimaginable.

Fantasy Festival is a chance for someone to become the curator of the festival of their very own dreams. And the festival curator in this programme is former England and British Lions rugby union hooker, Brian Moore.

Brian outlines his dream festival with a flotilla of boats sailing up and down the Thames. Each boat contains iconic works of art from every genre imaginable. He's attempting to make the greatest examples of human expression accessible to everyone. On board you can encounter Charles Dickens, Dylan Thomas, Elizabeth I, Churchill and Mozart - to name but a few.

Produced by Rosie Boulton
A Monty Funk production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 09:30 Last Day (b04htrp9)
Retirement

We follow Madeleine Broughton, a school administrator, on her last day before she retires. Madeleine has worked at the school for twenty years and in this moving programme we see what an important role she has played during that time. We hear her receiving gifts and tributes from headmasters, children and parents, learn about her reasons for retiring and why she vows she will never return to the school.


THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b064zlvj)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

Lost Love

Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's biography of the extraordinary feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft and her remarkable and famous novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, love and loss loom large for both women.

Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b065hg75)
Frances Kelsey and thalidomide regulation, Sophie Hannah, Cosplay, Mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately

Jenni Murray hears about the life of Canadian Scientist Frances Kelsey who resisted pressure from drug firms to keep Thalidomide out of the US, with Marjorie Wallace the journalist who worked on the campaign to secure compensation for Thalidomide victims in the UK; Sophie Hannah writer and poet talks about her latest psychological crime novel; BBC reporter Celeste Hicks on why abortion laws in Morocco are to be amended; Angela Robson hears from women at the Yorkshire Cosplay Convention about why they like to spend their spare time dressing in the costumes of their pop culture heroines; Kitty Whately, mezzo soprano, and part of Radio 3's New Generation Artist scheme about singing Sondheim at the Proms.


THU 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b064zlvl)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage

Episode 4

Karen's enjoying the attentions of her new lover and has decided to invest in her career - with money from Jack, whether he likes it or not. Jack's taken to sleeping with the dog, for company. But when they learn Ella is being bullied and Naomi is suspended from school, they snap into action - as parents.

In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.

She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?

The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.

Written by Nicholas McInerny

Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (b064zlvn)
Cuba on the Move

Will Grant takes a ride in Cuba to discover how people get around and whether the thaw in relations with the United States will make any difference to their lives. The country is known the world over for its classic cars, a consequence of the American trade embargo imposed after the revolution in 1959, when, as one motoring journalist quipped, 'the tail fin was still a recent innovation in automotive design'. There are a few collectibles but spare parts are almost impossible to come by and most vehicles are held together with sticky tape and glue. It is almost as if Cuba has been stuck in a time warp for half a century with around 60 thousand vintage cars now attempting to navigate the country's notoriously bad roads. Car ownership is still the dream for most people but the reality is a chaotic bus service, a bone shaking ride in a horse and cart or hitching a lift. How do people cope and will things change?
Produced by Mark Savage.


THU 11:30 Decoding the Masterworks (b064zlvq)
Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Dr Janina Ramirez introduces the second programme in a new series on BBC Radio 4 in which three great masterworks are examined in minute detail. Recorded in the galleries in which the pictures hold pride of place, Janina is joined by experts who can provide context, biographical background and artistic insight, all combining to decode these masterworks for today's audience.
Today she visits Tate Modern on London's South Bank, with Professor Dawn Ades and the Tate's own Matthew Gale to look at Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus.
It was completed in 1937 and not long after Dali brought it to London where he showed it to Sigmund Freud. What the picture told Freud about the subconscious of its creator and what that creator wanted to reveal is the subject of this programme. As Prof Ades points out the backdrop, rather than dream or myth-scape, is rooted in the Catalan coastline familiar and loved by Dali. The main figure of Narcissus, doubled and transformed into an upturned hand holding an egg is altogether more challenging. Is there optimism in the flower emerging from the 'split head' as Dali refers to it in his poem accompanying the picture, or is there an inherent darkness in the self-absorption that results in Narcissus melting into the background.

No-one is prepared to claim an absolute decoding but there are fascinating insights into Dali's workings before the days when his staring eyes and flamboyant moustache rather obscured the fact of his brilliance as a painter.

Producer: Tom Alban.


THU 12:00 News Summary (b064x3b9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 David Baddiel Tries to Understand (b050bk90)
Series 1

Sunni and Shia Islam

In the final episode in the series, David Baddiel tries to understand the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam.

David speaks to senior theologians from both traditions, but can he navigate his way through the complicated theological, political and social distinctions?

Producer: Giles Edwards.


THU 12:15 You and Yours (b064zlvs)
Green Deal vouchers, dodgy student accommodation, Naked Wines

Green Deal vouchers: check you have the right guarantee or you may not get your cash back from the government.

We speak to the founder of Naked Wines, Rowan Gormley, about the merger of Naked Wines and also the man in charge of retail banking at RBS about his campaign against price promotions in banking.

At this time of year many people may be looking to find student accommodation - we investigate how safe it is.

And... sales of eggs are up 10% - how do you like yours?


THU 12:57 Weather (b064x3bc)
The latest weather forecast.


THU 13:00 World at One (b064zlvv)
Rigorous analysis of news and current affairs, including Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham answering questions from listeners, presented by Shaun Ley.

Editor: Nick Sutton.


THU 13:45 Stepping Stones (b064zmb4)
Splash: The Water in Winter

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this fourth episode, Piers goes for a winter swim in the Men's Pond on Hampstead Heath and discovers how special the sounds are - wild-life, swimmers, the distant hum of London - on a January morning.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


THU 14:00 The Archers (b064z7dr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (b064zp7h)
Red and Blue

The Futurist

Philip Palmer's series about ex-military wargamer Bradley Shoreham returns to find him back in the City. He has been summoned for an audience with industrialist and international financier Alessandra Pacetti. Thus begins a deadly game that threatens to become all too real for those caught up in its complex schemes.

Directed by Toby Swift

This is the third series of 'Red and Blue', Philip Palmer's drama series focusing on the work of Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Shoreham (Tim Woodward). After leaving the British Army, Shoreham became a Consultant Subject Matter Expert. He spends his working life creating war games for training purposes. Fictional they may be but the higher the level of authenticity, the greater their value to the participants. And when governments and major corporations are paying for training they expect a high return for their money.

In the last series, Shoreham had an abrasive encounter with leading hedge fund supremo, Malcolm Pemberley. Now he reluctantly accepts an invitation back to the City, a world far removed from his natural habitat. Military work was never so dangerous as this.


THU 15:00 Open Country (b064zp7k)
Jersey Shores

Jersey doubles in size when the tide goes out. Helen Mark discovers what the retreating waters reveal, from the evidence of our Neanderthal ancestors to the extraordinary marine life of the island's reefs.

At La Rocque three local guides take her across miles of treacherous shifting sands to Seymour Tower, built to defend Jersey against the French but used by the German occupiers. On the north coast she meets Dusty, the first red-billed chough to be born in the wild in Jersey for a hundred years and in the south-east she searches for evidence of the Neanderthal people who left more evidence of their existence here than in the rest of the British Isles combined.

Producer: Alasdair Cross.


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b064x6w4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (b064xbpm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b064zp7m)
Greta Gerwig, Judd Apatow, Open-air screenings

With Antonia Quirke

Greta Gerwig, writer and star of Mistress America, talks about what it's like to write with her romantic partner Noah Baumbach and her life as a teenage fencer and dancer.

Judd Apatow discusses his bad taste comedy Trainwreck and why Hollywood has a problem with potty-mouthed, sexually unfettered women

As someone whose ideal cinematic experience is watching a movie in an empty auditorium on a Tuesday afternoon, Antonia has never understood the appeal of the outdoor screening. So to find out just what all the fuss is about, she braves an open air showing of Withnail And I with critic Tim Robey.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b064zp7p)
Scottish GM ban, Earth's magnetic field, OCD, Birth of a new galaxy

As Scotland announces it ban on GM crops and with the current post of chief scientific adviser for Scotland vacant, Adam talks to the previous post holder, Professor Muffy Calder about the role of science advice to government and her reaction to news of the ban. The Earth's magnetic field is weakening which could be a sign that the magnetic poles are soon due to flip. Daniel Lathrop and team at Maryland University are trying to model the Earth's magnetic field using a large molten globe of sodium. Should we be worried if a flip is on the cards? Royal Society Winton book prize short-list: Science writer, David Adam, author of 'The Man Who Couldn't Stop' talks to Marnie Chesterton about his experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Adam hears about the birth of a new galaxy seen for the very first time. He talks to Chris Martin from Caltech about his latest galactic research published in Nature.


THU 17:00 PM (b064zp7r)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x3bf)
Labour leadership candidate Yvette Cooper has questioned the credibility of her rival, Jeremy Corbyn.
Experts probe the cause of fatal blasts in the Chinese city of Tianjin.


THU 18:30 Meet David Sedaris (b064zp7v)
Series 5

Leviathan

Two stories from one of the world's best storytellers, David Sedaris, doing what he does best:

Leviathan deals with a family gathering for Thanksgiving at the seaside.

And there's another instalment from David's diary.

Producer: Steve Doherty

A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.


THU 19:00 The Archers (b064zp86)
Pip finds David in the calving shed, where he has delivered a heifer after a very long labour. Pip teases David who's awestruck - you'd think it was his first calf. They discuss Heather, who's bound to be stubborn about go into a permanent care home. Ruth is 'done in', so they agree to make sure everything at Brookfield's as calm and normal as possible for her.
Fallon's worried since seeing Hazel's 'change of use' notice at the shop. She and Kenton agree they hate being skint.

Tony enjoys being at the cattle market with Ed. Tony remembers going with Helen when she was small - they came home once with half a dozen ducklings. Tony helps Ed bid sensibly and they get a few Anguses.

Toby tries to get Pip to take a break from the farm for a night out - he was sure there was a spark between them. But Pip says she hadn't noticed.
Pip finds David up late, still sorting out odd jobs. She tells him to get to bed and conserve his energy for Ruth's sake.

Kenton joins Toby for a night out on the tiles, despite Fallon trying to persuade Kenton not to. Kenton gets drunk and sounds off to Toby, who offers him a place to crash.


THU 19:15 Front Row (b064zp88)
Philippa Gregory, Scottish art, Jordanian cinema, Street art of Stik

Historical novelist Philippa Gregory discusses her latest novel The Taming of the Queen, which takes place in the court of Henry VIII and is told through the eyes of his last wife, Katherine Parr.

The film Theeb is an Arabian Western and coming of age film about a Bedouin boy who escorts a British officer across the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, during the First World War. Middle East journalist Matthew Teller reviews.

As an exhibition of Scottish art collected by the Royal Family goes on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, the critic Jan Patience reviews.

Artist Stik takes Samira on a tour of his studio in London and talks about his love of street art.


THU 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b064zlvl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Report (b064zp8b)
The Corbyn Effect

Left winger Jeremy Corbyn is tipped to win Labour's leadership contest. How has he garnered so much support in a party which has spent the last two decades shaking off the vestiges of socialism? Corbyn's detractors blame far left entryism. But the far left in Britain is too small to account for the tens of thousands of Labour party members estimated to be supporting Corbyn. Reporter Mobeen Azhar talks to party members old and new in an attempt to find out what is behind the popular movement to return Labour to its socialist roots.

Reporter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Anna Meisel.


THU 20:30 In Business (b064zp8d)
A Night at the Opera

Opera is an expensive art form. It receives millions of pounds of public money. Can that be justified? Peter Day gets a range of operatic experiences - from top opera companies, to pub performers and a country house summer festival. The first opera was performed 400 years ago in Italy; how does the future look?

Producer: Penny Murphy.


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b064zp7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 Fantasy Festival (b064zlvg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b064zptk)
Greek parliament votes on bailout agreement.

Tsipras promises harsh spending cuts and tax rises in return for new loans


THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gk5b)
Go Set a Watchman

Episode 4

Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.

Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.

Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.

Read by Fenella Woolgar

Written by Harper Lee

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


THU 23:00 Woman's Hour (b064zqyw)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Reclaiming the Nerdiverse

Lauren Laverne and guests talk about women reclaiming the nerdiverse - science fiction, fandom, fanfiction and cosplay. With author and games designer Naomi Alderman; Deputy Editor of the New Statesman, Helen Lewis; Professor of the Sociology of Religion, Linda Woodhead; Zen Cho fantasy novelist and Lucy Saxon, writer and cos player.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Luke Mulhall.



FRIDAY 14 AUGUST 2015

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b064x3cg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.


FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b064zlvj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b064x3cj)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b064x3cl)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b064x3cn)
The latest shipping forecast.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b064x3cq)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b064zxrd)
A short reflection and prayer, with the Rev David Bruce.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b064zxrg)
Could culling dairy herds help the milk crisis?; Prince Charles; Rural drugs crime

Could the culling of dairy herds help solve the UK's over-production of milk? Sybil Ruscoe speaks to Eifion Huws of the Farmers Union of Wales who argues that it's a controversial but necessary option to consider. As a dairy farmer on Anglesey, he says he loves his herd, but still says that reducing numbers by 10% would be a step forward.

Urban drug gangs are moving out to target rural communities. Detective Superintendent Mark Callaghan of Dorset Police describes the problem his officers are tackling.

And ahead of Sunday's edition of On Your Farm, Charlotte Smith speaks to the Prince of Wales about the ways in which he draws inspiration from the rural communities of Transylvania, a place he's been visiting for twenty years.

Presented by Sybil Ruscoe and produced by Mark Smalley.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03bkt4n)
Cattle Egret

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about the British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Wildlife Sound Recordist, Chris Watson, presents the Cattle Egret. Cattle egrets were originally birds of the African savannahs but they have become one of the most successful global colonisers of any bird species. In 2008 a pair of cattle egrets made ornithological history by breeding in the UK, on the Somerset Levels, for the first time.


FRI 06:00 Today (b0651nty)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Weather, Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b064x7dv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b065008l)
Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley

A New Beginning and a Tragic Ending

Juliet Aubrey and Ellie Kendrick read Charlotte Gordon's dual biography of the pioneering feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft and her novelist daughter, Mary Shelley. Today, Mary Wollstonecraft is surprised by love and makes a compromise. Meanwhile, further tragedy awaits Mary Shelley.

Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b0651nv0)
Camping and Romance

Would you breast feed another woman's baby? The history of the wet nurse; The dilemmas of classifying films which deal with teenagers and sexuality; The story of Joy Davidman, the woman who captivated C.S. Lewis and inspired Shadowlands; And canoodling under canvas - is it possible to get romantic in a tent?


FRI 10:45 15 Minute Drama (b065008n)
How to Have a Perfect Marriage

Episode 5

Suddenly the family are a tribe again, united in adversity. Dealing with events at the girls' school has brought them together. Allegiances shift, in surprising ways.

In this second series of writer Nicholas McInerny's autobiographical look at modern relationships, Jack has come out to his wife Karen but not to the kids. An agreement between consenting adults is one thing - but once you tell the children, all bets are off.

She and Jack may have signed up for a new type of marriage, where small deceptions and unspoken fantasies are replaced with something new - a kind of radical honesty. But can they make this work as a whole family and keep the kids secure?

The same cast come together, led by Julia Ford and Greg Wise, to explore the next chapter of this very modern family.

Written by Nicholas McInerny

Music by Greg Wise
Sound designer: Eloise Whitmore

Director/Producer: Melanie Harris
Executive Producer: Jo Meek
A Sparklab production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:00 Random Edition (b06769zg)
VJ Day Anniversary Special

Peter Snow turns the pages of The Times for 16th August 1945, reporting VJ Day the day before.

Commemorations of the end of the Second World War tend to focus on VE Day rather than VJ Day. Yet, in marking the defeat of Japan, VJ Day celebrated the final end of hostilities.

The newspaper reports of the wild jubilation at Piccadilly Circus, and the programme talks to Gwendolen Hollingshead, who was there. Filling out The Times' description of events in Liverpool, Merseysider Irene Gill recalls joining the crowds while three months pregnant.

Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John, discusses his predecessor's refusal to allow the Abbey to be used for a VJ Day thanksgiving service - because of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Labour peer and historian Lord Morgan talks to Peter about the King's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on VJ Day - when the famous programme of the post-war Labour government was announced, embracing nationalisation and the creation of the NHS. Historian Jessica Reinisch meets Peter at Church House in Westminster where, on VJ Day, the preparatory session for the creation of the United Nations took place.

Gwendolen Hollingshead also describes her memories of Rainbow Corner, near Piccadilly Circus - an American servicemen's club where she was a volunteer worker. She recalls music from Glenn Miller and the death of an American she was planning to date.

Finally, POWs Maurice Naylor and Bob Hucklesby movingly describe coming home after being long-term captives of the Japanese in Thailand.

Producer: Andrew Green
A Singing Wren production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 11:30 Clare in the Community (b0650619)
Series 10

Party On

The Sparrowhawk team hold a leaving do, and take the opportunity to reminisce.

Sally Phillips is Clare Barker the social worker who has all the right jargon but never a practical solution.

A control freak, Clare likes nothing better than interfering in other people's lives on both a professional and personal basis. Clare is in her thirties, white, middle class and heterosexual, all of which are occasional causes of discomfort to her.

Clare continually struggles to control both her professional and private life In today's Big Society there are plenty of challenges out there for an involved, caring social worker. Or even Clare.

Written by Harry Venning and David Ramsden.

Clare ...... Sally Phillips
Brian ...... Alex Lowe
Megan ...... Nina Conti
Ray ...... Richard Lumsden
Helen ...... Pippa Haywood
Libby ...... Sarah Kendall
Joan ...... Sarah Thom

Producer: Alexandra Smith.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.


FRI 12:00 News Summary (b064x3cs)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 Four Thought (b04hyyr0)
Series 4

A World for Children

Daniel Hahn argues that as a society we would benefit from having more children's books translated into English.

A translator himself, and author of a major book about children's literature, Daniel is concerned that few books are being translated today to sit alongside Tintin, Asterix and the Moomins.

Producer: Giles Edwards.


FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b0651nv5)
Gumtree concerns and tattoo safety

Peter White hears about a new drug to treat Hepatitis C that's at the centre of discussions over cost. Concerns over fraudsters targeting sites like Gumtree. And how some tattoo parlours are now being given a star rating.


FRI 12:57 Weather (b064x3cv)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 13:00 World at One (b0651nv8)
Lord Janner to appear in court to face charges of child sex abuse.

Following a morning of confusion and the threat of arrest, it's been confirmed that Lord Janner will appear in court this afternoon to face charges of historical child abuse, we've a report.

Kensington Palace has accused paparazzi of going to extreme lengths to get pictures of Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Prince William's former advisor tells us photographers have been constructing 'hides' and using other children to lure the Prince into view.

We've the latest in the race for the Labour Leadership, as Andy Burnham attacks Jeremy Corbyn's credibility.

And as the death toll in the Chinese explosion reaches 56, has the rush for industrialisation in China left health and safety a low priority?


FRI 13:45 Stepping Stones (b065061f)
True Blues: A Cry from the Heart

Broadcaster Piers Plowright explores five sound-worlds - some from far back in his life and some more recent - which still resonate with him.

In this last episode of the series, jazz pianist and teacher Louis Vause examines, with Piers, one of the great Blues performances of all time - New Orleans pianist James Booker's interpretation of True at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival.

This is a performance that has haunted Piers since he first heard it and has come to speak to him of all the longing and grief - and maybe hope - that the Blues express.

The programme includes an interview with Lily Keber who made the recent film about Booker, Bayou Maharajah.

Produced by Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 14:00 The Archers (b064zp86)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b039d4bn)
Caroline Quentin - My Brilliant Divorce

Caroline Quentin stars in Geraldine Aron's radio adaptation of her Olivier nominated West End hit - a comedy drama about surviving divorce with your sense of humour intact.

Good-natured, slightly overweight, former window-dresser Angela (declared age 39, real age 51) thinks her marriage will last forever. But suddenly her husband Max, who has an irritatingly round head, loses his heart to beautiful young Rosa and moves out.

Cheerful about her unexpected freedom at first, Angela's spirits begin to droop as she copes with a mother who won't acknowledge the break-up because she considers divorce 'common', a misogynous solicitor, and Christmas alone (apart from Dexter the family dog and a number of help-line counsellors).

She gets regular updates on the wild expenditure and goings-on at the love nest via her cleaner, Meena, whose sister Leena - also a cleaner - works for Max.

As she tells us of the ups and downs of her life and wryly observes how society treats freshly single women of a certain age, Angela learns how to deal with - and even enjoy - life on her own.

Eccentric, poignant and funny, Angela's journey will resonate with anybody who's lived through a break up.

Written by Geraldine Aron
Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b065061j)
Kenilworth Castle

Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire. Bunny Guinness, Christine Walkden and Bob Flowerdew answer the audience questions.

Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
Produced by Dan Cocker

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 15:45 Joe Smith and His Waxworks (b065061l)
Duck, Love and Eloquence

An extraordinary account of a showman's life drawn from his memoirs about touring a rough waxworks show around the southern counties of England in the 1840s. Read by Tony Lidington.

Published in 1896, Bill Smith's memoirs recall his early life working for his Uncle Joe, whose touring waxworks show was well-known at country fairs in the south of England in the middle of the 19th century.

It's an extraordinary story of the hardships of an itinerant performer's life in an age when the great historical characters from kings to vagabonds and famous scenes from the Bible, literature and fairy tales were brought to the towns and villages of England by the showmen and storytellers of the travelling fairs.

In today's episode Uncle Joe recruits an odd-job man he finds working with the donkeys on Yarmouth sands, and woos his wife at a country dance.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (b065061q)
David Nobbs, Frances Kelsey, Kyril Zinovieff, Elio Fiorucci, Harry Pitch

Last Word is presented by Reeta Chakrabarti this week. She will be remembering:

The comic writer and novelist David Nobbs - we speak to his friend and fellow writer Jonathan Coe about the man who invented the 1970s anti-hero Reginald Perrin;

Frances Kelsey, the scientist whose concerns about the drug Thalidomide prevented it from being approved in the US;

Kyril Zinovieff, who as a child in Russia saw Rasputin, and as a spy for Britain encountered Hitler;

The Italian fashion designer Elio Fiorucci, who introduced the world to skintight vinyl jeans;

And the musician Harry Pitch, the harmonica player who performed everywhere from jazz clubs to opera houses.

Producer: Neil George.


FRI 16:30 More or Less (b0659q1f)
Migrant Crisis

Migrant Crisis
There is a "swarm" of migrants coming into Europe according to the Prime Minister. Where are they coming from and how many are coming to Calais to try to get into Britain? Are 70 percent of migrants in Calais making it to the UK, as claimed in the Daily Mail? We scrutinise the numbers.

Worm wars
A debate has been raging over the last month about the benefits of mass deworming projects. Hugely popular with the UN and charities, the evidence behind the practice has come under attack. Are the criticisms justified? We hear from the different sides - both economists and epidemiologists.

Football
How useful are football predictions and should we always trust the so called experts? The More or Less team look into the idea that predicting where sides will finish in the Premier League is best based on how they performed in previous seasons. Also, why is Leicester City the most watched Premier League team in the Outer Hebrides?

Generations
Loyal Listener Neil asks: So much is currently reported as the best, worst, least certain 'in a generation' - but just how long is that?
We find out..



(Image: Migrants arrive on the beach of a Greek island. Credit: AFP/Getty)


FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b065061z)
Carol and Kate - Unlucky in Love

Fi Glover introduces a conversation between friends who are now in their 60s and can reflect on the reasons for the broken relationships in both their pasts, recorded in the mobile Booth in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral. Another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen. The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.


FRI 17:00 PM (b0650621)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b064x3cx)
Paparazzi accused of harassing Prince George

Kensington Palace has accused the paparazzi of harassing Prince George. Lord Janner appears in court to face charges of child sex abuse, after a judge threatened him with arrest.


FRI 18:30 Dead Ringers (b0650623)
Series 15

Episode 1

A satirical take on politics, media and celebrity.

Featuring Jon Culshaw, Debra Stephenson, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod and Duncan Wisbey.

Produced by Bill Dare.


FRI 19:00 The Archers (b065086y)
Kenton wakes up at Hollowtree with a stonking hangover. Jolene has called and texted, worried, but he feels she shouldn't waste her time. Toby walks Kenton back to the Bull and morose Kenton reflects - he's sick of life, and sick of himself.

Caroline admires the herb garden at Grey Gables. She can't wait to be in Tuscany and will bring back some recipes for Ian. Jim's keen for the two of them to help him teach Christine some Italian. Caroline suggests they host an Italian themed dinner party for Jim and Christine. It would all enhance Chris's enjoyment of the opera at Lower Loxley.

Ruth returns from Prudhoe with a car full of stuff from Heather's. Ruth has a difficult phone call with Heather, whose neighbour in the care home has complained about her TV noise. Ruth gets frustrated. She feels torn - this is her life now. Ruth decides there's only one thing for it - Heather should come and live at Brookfield. David feels Ruth is exhausted and he explains why it wouldn't work. But Ruth's adamant - they're not letting Heather down again.


FRI 19:15 Front Row (b0650870)
Music of Sherlock Holmes, Simon Pegg in Absolutely Anything, Paul Neagu, Edinburgh Comedy

To mark the first ever Sherlock Holmes Prom, composer David Arnold and broadcaster Matthew Sweet explore the musical world of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective.

Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale star in sci-fi comedy Absolutely Anything, featuring the voices of Michael Palin, Terry Jones, who also directs, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle and the late Robin Williams in his final film role. Larushka Ivan Zadeh has the Front Row verdict.

As a new exhibition of work by Romanian born artist Paul Neagu opens, the sculptor Roger Clarke discusses the importance of the work and its impact on British sculptors.

Critic Stephen Armstrong rounds up the new comedy coming up at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Jack Soper.


FRI 19:45 15 Minute Drama (b065008n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b0650872)
Andy Burnham MP, Tom Conti, Germaine Greer, Matt Hancock MP

Ritula Shah presents political debate and discussion from the Broadcasting House Radio Theatre with Shadow Health Secretary and Labour Leadership candidate, Andy Burnham MP, the actor Tom Conti, the writer Germaine Greer, and the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock MP.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b0650874)
John Gray: Euro Despair

John Gray sees the European currency as a misconceived project from the outset and thinks the austerity policies imposed on Greece are destructive and self defeating.
"Attempting to maintain the euro at any cost can only result in mounting desperation, which will seek expression in violence if no practicable policies are on offer to ameliorate the situation."
Producer: Sheila Cook.


FRI 21:00 What Is a Story? (b065cdgq)
Omnibus: Part 1

Marina Warner - in the company of leading contemporary writers - looks at the world of contemporary fiction, considering writing and storytelling from a number of different angles.

Marina is the Chair of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 and this programme draws on the expertise of this year's International Booker judging panel, the views of the shortlisted writers, as well as other key literary talent.

She speaks with writers as diverse as Julian Barnes, Michelle Roberts, Fanny Howe, Marlene van Niekerk, Alain Mabanckou, Lydia Davis, Edwin Frank, Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Daniel Medin, Nadeem Aslam and this year's Man Booker International winner, Laszlo Krasznahorkai.

Key to this exploration will be questions around the boundaries between fact and fiction, which Marina believes are central to any discussion of the subject, since readers' pleasure depends so much on trust built up between the storyteller/writer and the audience.

In this compilation created from five programmes originally broadcast in July this year, Marina considers why we should read and write, the importance of truth, and story as witness to history. She begins by considering our first encounters with stories.

Producer: Kevin Dawson
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 21:58 Weather (b064x3cz)
The latest weather forecast.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b065096b)
Row after pictures taken of Prince George without permission

How hard is it to take legal action against photographers ?


FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b065gkj1)
Go Set a Watchman

Episode 5

Harper Lee's explosive second novel was finally published in 2015. Believed lost for decades after the publication of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', this book revisits much-loved characters, this time through adult eyes.

Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch travels from New York to Maycomb for her annual visit home. It's always a relief to slip into the comfortable rhythms of the South; to spend time with her beloved father Atticus and rekindle her spiky relationship with Aunt Alexandra. But mid-50s Alabama is not the same place where young Scout spent idyllic summers with brother Jem, and the 26-year old will be betrayed and have her trust shattered before she is able to become her own woman.

Harper Lee was the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', a book which has been studied, loved, wept over and revered by generations since its publication in 1960. She lived in Monroeville, Alabama until her death in February 2016.

Read by Fenella Woolgar

Written by Harper Lee

Abridged by Robin Brooks

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie.


FRI 23:00 Woman's Hour (b065096d)
Late Night Woman's Hour: Secrets and Lies

Is the truth overrated? Why and when do we lie? Joining Lauren Laverne for late night live conversation are Kellie Maloney, formerly Frank, the boxing promoter. Kellie was born a boy, but always felt she was a girl and she lived with that secret for 60-years. Eliane Glaser, author of Get Real: How to See Through the Hype, Spin and Lies of Modern Life. Dr Mahlet Zimeta philosopher and writer and honorary research associate at UCL. Dr Naomi Murphy, a clinical and forensic psychologist who works with pathological liars at Whitemoor Prison and Helen Croydon, author and reporter who worked undercover for tabloid newspapers.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Rebecca Myatt.


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b0650g2j)
Carol and Kate - Missed Generation

Fi Glover introduces friends who share a history of failed relationships and now conclude that things may have been better had they been born later. A conversation recorded in the mobile Booth in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral - another in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.

Fi Glover presents another conversation in the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen. The Listening Project is a Radio 4 initiative that offers a snapshot of contemporary Britain in which people across the UK volunteer to have a conversation with someone close to them about a subject they've never discussed intimately before. The conversations are being gathered across the UK by teams of producers from local and national radio stations who facilitate each encounter. Every conversation - they're not BBC interviews, and that's an important difference - lasts up to an hour, and is then edited to extract the key moment of connection between the participants. Most of the unedited conversations are being archived by the British Library and used to build up a collection of voices capturing a unique portrait of the UK in the second decade of the millennium. You can learn more about The Listening Project by visiting bbc.co.uk/listeningproject

Producer: Marya Burgess.