The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Edwin Counsell, Director of Education for the Church in Wales.
Could changes to Tesco's milk supply chain mean yet more misery for dairy farmers? One analyst tells us that the effect on the industry will be seismic.
Scientists in research centres across the UK have launched a study to find out whether sea creatures like mussels have an impact on the effectiveness of offshore renewable energy projects.
Caz Graham revisits a Cumbrian dairy farmer whose entire herd of cows had to be culled back in 2012 after they fell sick with a complex combination of different strains of a pathogen called mycoplasma.
Michael Palin presents the wild budgerigar from Australia. Budgerigars are small Australian parrots whose common name may derive from the aboriginal "Betcherrygah' which, roughly speaking, means "good to eat" though it could mean " good food" as budgerigars follow the rains and so their flocks would indicate where there might be seeds and fruits for people.
Where food and water are available together; huge flocks gather, sometimes a hundred thousand strong, queuing in thirsty ranks to take their turn at waterholes. Should a falcon appear, they explode into the air with a roar of wingbeats and perform astonishing aerobatics similar to the murmurations of starlings in the UK.
Although many colour varieties have been bred in captivity, wild budgerigars are bright green below, beautifully enhanced with dark scalloped barring above, with yellow throats and foreheads. With a good view, you can tell the male by the small knob of blue flesh, known as a cere, above his beak.
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
The Cambridge cosmologist Professor Stephen Hawking delivers the second of his BBC Reith Lectures on black holes.
Professor Hawking examines scientific thinking about black holes and challenges the idea that all matter and information is destroyed irretrievably within them. He explains his own hypothesis that black holes may emit a form of radiation, now known as Hawking Radiation. He discusses the search for mini black holes, noting that so far "no-one has found any, which is a pity because if they had, I would have got a Nobel Prize." And he advances a theory that information may remain stored within black holes in a scrambled form.
The programmes are recorded in front of an audience of Radio 4 listeners and some of the country's leading scientists at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London.
Sue Lawley introduces the evening and chairs a question-and-answer session with Professor Hawking. Radio 4 listeners submitted questions in their hundreds, of which a selection were invited to attend the event to put their questions in person to Professor Hawking.
Steve Backshall is one of our leading natural history broadcasters; he's also an extreme sportsman who has conquered some of the world's most dangerous mountains. Despite suffering a severe rock-climbing injury in 2008 he continues to set himself extraordinary challenges.
For this edition of One to One, Steve meets explorer Ann Daniels to discover what drives her need for adventure: Ann is the record breaking polar explorer who, in 2002, became the first woman in history (along with a teammate) to have reached both the North and South poles as part of an all-woman team.
Since she reached the age of 80, Dame Joan Bakewell has been working harder than ever - campaigning, writing and sitting in the Lords. Now the former journalist takes a moment to reflect on the passage of time, and the changes she has witnessed in her lifetime. Her theme is 'thoughts on what I leave behind'.
Stop the Clocks is a book of musings, a look back at what Joan Bakewell was given by her family, at the times in which she grew up - ranging from the minutiae of life, such as the knowledge of how to darn and how to make a bed properly with hospital corners, to the bigger lessons of politics, of lovers, of betrayal.
At times joyful, at times pensive, she contemplates the past without regret, and looks to the future without fear, but with firm resolve. Once the 'thinking man's crumpet', Joan remains outspoken and outrageous.
It's the million dollar question - how to enjoy a healthy sex life with your long term partner. Jane Garvey explores the reasons why couples run into trouble and explores pleasurable ways of getting things going again.
What do the results of the Iowa caucus means for women in the race for the White House?
This week a documentary, Camila's Kids Company: The Inside Story shows the fight to save the charity and apportion blame. We'll be talking to the documentary maker as well as the CEO of Children England about the state of services for vulnerable children.
Longer skirts and higher necklines are currently in fashion - is this good news for women who want to cover up. We explore the culture, history and practicalities of dressing modestly.
John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family.
An idyllic summer in 1892 and an unexpected encounter reawakens long-forgotten emotions in Old Jolyon
Over the next 2 years, BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new dramatisation of all 9 books in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. An epic tale of sex, money and power in the lives of an upper middle-class family in London, it spans 50 years from 1886 to 1936.
Today's play is from the interlude "Indian Summer of a Forsyte". Five years have passed since the scandal of Irene and Soames split the Forstye family apart. Old Jolyon has turned his back on Soames's side of the family and contemplates a move to the country.
The story continues every day this week in the 15 Minute Drama slot and concludes in the Saturday Drama at 1430.
Award-winning writers Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan are dramatising the complete novels and Interludes and have taken a new approach to the books - delving deeper behind the Edwardian façade to bring more of Galsworthy's wonderful insight, wit and observation from the page. Although focussed on the period in which they were written - in the first 20 years of the 20th century - the novels feel remarkably contemporary and have much to reveal of our own world and inner lives.
Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife, Jericho) takes a central role as narrator, with Juliet Aubrey playing Irene and Joseph Millson, Soames. Later in the series they are joined by Jonathan Bailey, Max Bennett and Ben Lambert.
Humans have been altering animals for millennia. We select the most docile livestock, the most loyal dogs, to breed the animals we need. This "artificial selection" is intentional. But as Adam Hart discovers, our hunting, fishing and harvesting are having unintended effects on wild animals. Welcome to the age of "unnatural selection".
This accidental, inadvertent or unintentional selection pressure comes form almost everything we do - from hunting, fishing, harvesting and collecting to using chemicals like pesticides and herbicides; then pollution; urbanisation and habitat change as well as using medicines. All these activities are putting evolutionary pressures on the creatures we share our planet with.
Commercial fishing selects the biggest fish in the oceans, the biggest fish in a population, like Atlantic cod, are also the slowest to reach breeding maturity. When these are caught and taken out of the equation, the genes for slow maturity and 'bigness' are taken out of the gene pool. Over decades, this relentless predation has led to the Atlantic cod evolving to be vastly smaller and faster to mature.
Trophy hunting is another example of unnatural selection. Predators in the wild tend to pick off the easiest to catch, smallest, youngest or oldest, ailing prey. But human hunters want the biggest animals with the biggest antlers or horns. Big Horn Sheep in Canada have evolved to have 25% smaller horns due to hunting pressures.
Probably the best understood examples of unnatural selection are the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. By using antibiotics we're inadvertently selecting the bacteria that have resistance to the drugs. The same goes for agricultural pesticides and herbicides.
Even pollution in Victorian times led to the Peppered moth to change its colour.
Adam discovers that our influence is universal; often counter to natural selective pressures and is rarely easy to reverse. He explores the impact on entire environments and asks whether we could or should be doing something to mitigate our evolutionary effects.
Gospel's uplifting and rejoicing sound is world famous, a multi million-dollar music genre that in many ways has ended up the beating heart of American popular music. But can gospel be gospel if it entertains, makes money and praises the Lord at the same time? Financial educator Alvin Hall explores how this American religious music genre has been affected by both commercialisation and secularisation.
In this second part, Alvin explains how gospel became a global force in popular music. He reveals how Aretha Franklin's marriage of pop to gospel sold millions of records, introducing gospel to a world audience in the process. He looks at the rise of the gospel choir in the 1970s and 80s and discovers how it increasingly became a money-making industry. He also meets leading gospel stars Kirk Franklin and Donnie McClurkin to ask whether they think today's gospel stars have been affected by money and celebrity.
On this day, the Board of Agriculture issued a notice advising that convalescent soldiers could be used for farm work, and Isabel tries hard to find something for Cristine to do.
On Call You and Yours we want to know how the internet has changed the way you shop? Email: youandyours@bbc.co.uk
There are five stages to buying - you decide you need something, you search for information, you weigh up the alternatives, part with your money and afterwards decide whether what you bought was worth it or not.
Online is there at every stage - how has it changed the way you shop for food, clothes, entertainment and big ticket items?
Tell us how online shopping has changed your buying habits. How has your local high street changed because of it? If you're a shop keeper, how has online changed your business?
Email us now - youandyours@bbc.co.uk and don't forget to leave a phone number so we can call you back.
We have now got the first real sense of the deal we'll vote on in an EU referendum. The draft from the European Council President does includes an "emergency brake" on benefit payments to migrants, and a so called red card allowing national parliaments to block EU laws. But will it be enough to convince wavering voters?
We'll hear from both sides and pick our way through the detail of the proposal.
Farrah Jarral examines how the end of empire brought a dramatic change of mindset.
Farrah hears how anthropology was forced to reckon with its colonial heritage, raising questions about how knowledge was produced - and by whom. She speaks to Professor Talal Asad, an academic who wrote a seminal book on the subject, and to an activist still fighting the same battles he first fought almost forty years ago.
But anthropology's existential crisis posed other questions about what it can really know, too, and about how research should be conducted; and Farrah meets up with an old colleague to see the results.
When Eddie finds out he has an identical twin brother, Jasper, he sees an opportunity to escape his seedy life of petty crime. He decides to steal Jasper's life. But as Eddie begins to fall in love with Jasper's wife, Caitlin, he discovers a side of himself he never knew existed.
A dark thriller in two parts that reflect each other: The first tells Jasper's story. The second tells Eddie's.
Demon Brother is a story about identity, sex and death. Shaun Dingwall (New Tricks, Young Victoria, Doctor Who) stars opposite himself as the two brothers, Jasper and Eddie - one good and one very bad. Valene Kane (The Fall) makes her radio debut as Jasper's wife Caitlin. With supporting performances from Vera Filatova (Peep Show) and Kenneth Cranham (Made in Dagenham, Layer Cake, Shine on Harvey Moon).
We are all living longer, but for many that means suffering chronic pain for longer too. Dr Sarah Goldingay explores new and groundbreaking research into relieving chronic pain.
Unlike acute pain - when we stub our toe or stand too close to a fire - chronic pain doesn't go away. Conventional medicine cannot cure chronic pain but can only give limited relief to the situation.
With longer life expectancies, it's estimated the NHS will need an additional £5 billion by 2018 to deal with chronic conditions. So a new approach is needed.
Dr Sarah Goldingay from the University of Exeter investigates these new approaches to dealing with chronic pain, which go well beyond traditional medicine. She explores how some researchers are considering the problem in a more holistic and radical way by looking at mind, body and spirit combined. She also investigates how our social interactions can dictate the ways we live with chronic pain.
Dr Goldingay speaks to world experts like Dr Miguel Farias, a neuro-psychologist who's innovative work has shown a link between belief and pain, and Dr Jen Tarr who offers insights into the importance of community on pain management. She also visits Lourdes to discover if the spiritual can offer relief from chronic pain.
Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright guide us through the top 20 words in English. Not the best or most popular (that would include tentacular, ping-pong and sesquipedalian (look it up - it's a cracker). Plus a lot of swearing. No this is the 20 most commonly used. It's actually quite a boring list - full of 'And', 'I', 'of' etc - but look a little closer and it tells you all about the structure of language. The little words you really can't do without that glue all the other ones together.
This kind of list comes from a branch of lingustics called Corpus Linguistics. It looks at the frequency and distribution of words in large bodies of text or speech. You can apply it to anything - political debates, lonely hearts columns or pop songs. Which is exactly what our guest Prof Jonathan Culpeper has done. That's high end linguistics and Pharrell Williams. Only on Word of Mouth.
Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz and David Hepworth, the man behind magazines including Smash Hits, Q and Heat debate their favourite books with Harriett Gilbert. Vanessa champions an unusual tale from Dodie Smith, A Tale of Two Families. The book David loves is a novel of scheming and ambition from Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country. Harriett has chosen Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black, which is perhaps the least prized of her novels, but, Harriett insists, the best. Not everybody agrees.
Milton offers his services as a bodyguard and discovers that a South American diva and a tent full of home-made jam don't mix - as well as he'd imagined.
Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'. Because each week, Milton and his trusty assistant Anton (played by Milton regular, Tom Goodman-Hill) set out to help people and soon find they're embroiled in a new adventure. Because when you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.
"Milton Jones is one of Britain's best gagsmiths with a flair for creating daft yet perfect one-liners." The Guardian.
Written by Milton with James Cary (Bluestone 42, Miranda) and Dan Evans (who co-wrote Milton's Channel 4 show House Of Rooms), the man they call "Britain's funniest Milton" returns to the radio with a fully-working cast and a shipload of new jokes.
The cast includes regulars Tom Goodman-Hill (Spamalot, Mr. Selfridge) as the ever-faithful Anton, Josie Lawrence and Dan Tetsell.
Lynda's keen to join Susan, Shula and the village hall's curtain committee, as she has an idea about how to raise money for new stage curtains - Lent. Everyone can give something up and use the cash they save to contribute towards them.
Rob brings Helen tea in bed and a biscuit, hoping she's up to it as she has been feeling queasy recently. Rob wonders who Helen is texting so early - Helen says it's Pat. But Helen doesn't tell Rob that she has planned a secret trip for Henry and briefs Henry that she'll collect him from school. He mustn't breathe a word.
To Helen's shock and surprise, Rob turns up at the school gates as she tries to take Henry away. Wondering why Helen has driven he wonders whether Henry is ill - why is she talking him out of school? Helen admits they're meeting Kirsty - she pretended he had a doctor's appointment. Rob apologises to the teacher and explains that Helen must have muddled her dates. Henry gets upset and Rob tells Helen it's Kirsty's bad influence.
Alone on the steam train, Kirsty open sup to Roy about her relationship with Helen, suspecting something's up. Kirsty knows she needs to be careful - she wants Helen to trust her again. Otherwise she'd jump off the train now and go straight round to Blossom Hill cottage.
Architect Dame Zaha Hadid will receive the 2016 Royal Gold Medal from The Royal Institute of British Architects this week. She's the first woman to be awarded the prestigious honour in her own right. She talks to John Wilson about her work.
John Irving, author of hugely popular novels including The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany, discusses his latest book Avenue of Mysteries, an examination of miracles, damaged childhoods, the writer's life and the perils of the circus.
Adrian Lester stars as Victorian actor Ira Aldridge in Red Velvet, the latest production from the Kenneth Branagh Company. In 1833 Aldridge became the first black actor to play Othello on the London stage when he was invited to take over from Edmund Kean. Playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi reviews.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder is known for his highly-coloured, earthy and vivid depiction of rowdy peasants in 16th-century Netherlands. But he also painted religious works. For the first time his only three surviving grisaille paintings will be shown together at the Courtauld Gallery in London. Curator Karen Serres explains their significance.
Vaccination has long been one of the greatest weapons in the battle against a range of potentially fatal diseases. Millions of lives have been saved worldwide, and Britain has played a major role in helping to combat new pandemics. But, rarely, things do go wrong and people develop serious side-effects. In the UK, the Government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme is supposed to help those left severely disabled as a result. Among those currently arguing their case are the families of children who developed an incurable and devastating sleep disorder after being immunised against swine flu. But, to date, most have received nothing and Ministers have now gone to the Court of Appeal to try and establish a less generous interpretation of the pay-out rules. Lawyers for the families say the whole scheme is outdated and unfit for purpose. Are they right? Jenny Chryss investigates.
The charity, Guide Dogs, says that depression is not being screened for in the newly blind, leaving some people feeling desperate and hopeless. We explore their findings and their solutions. As more foreign content appears on the TV we hear about developments in audio description. And how can we help others in their time of need, when being blind sometimes makes it hard to be useful?
How low should you go when treating blood pressure? Mark Porter talks to the author of landmark study that was stopped early because the benefits of aggressive treatment were so convincing. This looks set to change the management of high blood pressure and millions more people in the UK will be taking extra medication. Dr Margaret McCartney debates the issues with Professor Tony Heagerty.
Imagine if your high blood pressure could be cured by an operation that meant no pills at all? That's possible if it's due to a condition called Conn's syndrome, now thought to be much more common than previously thought. Mark Porter hears from leading specialist, Professor Morris Brown, plus a school teacher who spent 10 years on pills before being diagnosed and is now cured.
Opponents say EU deal is a "fudge and a farce" - we have a view from Slough and from Poland. America wakes up to a surprise result in Iowa - we talk to Hillary Clinton's former adviser. And Pentagon plans to quadruple its budget in Europe.
In Virginia Woolf's boisterous novel Orlando's adventures continue when a beguiling Muscovite princess skates into view on the frozen Thames at the court of James I. The reader is Amanda Hale
Joanna Shinn reports from Westminster as ministers face pressure from MPs over a draft deal aimed at keeping Britain in the EU and the international response to the Zika virus.
Labour remains critical of the Government over recent job losses in the steel industry. MPs question leading social media companies as they look at how best to counter terrorism. And the Chief Medical Officer defends the latest guidelines on alcohol consumption.
WEDNESDAY 03 FEBRUARY 2016
WED 00:00 Midnight News (b06z17gk)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
WED 00:30 Book of the Week (b06zhjck)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Tuesday]
WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06z17gm)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06z17gp)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06z17gt)
The latest shipping forecast.
WED 05:30 News Briefing (b06z17gy)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06zhhzn)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Edwin Counsell, Director of Education for the Church in Wales.
WED 05:45 Farming Today (b06z2qn1)
Scottish subsidy payments, Starling murmurations, Biosecurity
Two thirds of Scottish farmers are still waiting for their subsidy payments. The Scottish Government says action is being taken to pay farmers and crofters as quickly as possible, but the National Farmers' Union of Scotland say businesses are struggling.
The Royal Society of Biology is asking the public to record sightings of starling murmurations to help establish the reasons behind the behaviour.
The National Stud at Newmarket has closed and cancelled all of its public tours after the discovery of the neurological herpes virus.
Presented by Caz Graham and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0v9m)
Magnificent Frigatebird
Michael Palin presents the magnificent frigatebird a true oceanic bird, and resembling a hook-billed, pterodactyl of a seabird.
Magnificent frigatebirds are some of the most accomplished aeronauts of the tropical oceans. Their huge wingspans of over two metres and long forked tails allow them to soar effortlessly and pluck flying fish from the air, and also harass seabirds. These acts of piracy earned them the name Man-o' War birds and attracted the attention of Christopher Columbus.
Magnifcent Frigatebirds breed on islands in the Caribbean, and along the tropical Pacific and Atlantic coasts of central and South America as well as on the Galapagos Islands. Frigatebird courtship is an extravagant affair. The males gather in "clubs" , perching on low trees or bushes.
Here they inflate their red throat-pouches into huge scarlet balloons, calling and clattering their bills together as they try to lure down a female flying overhead. If they're successful, they will sire a single chick which is looked after by both parents for three months and by its mother only for up to 14 months, the longest period of parental care by any bird.
WED 06:00 Today (b06z2qn3)
Morning news and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
WED 09:00 Midweek (b06z2qv1)
Dame Joan Bakewell, Willard Wigan, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gary Clarke
Lemn Sissay meets broadcaster and writer Dame Joan Bakewell; micro sculptor Willard Wigan; choreographer Gary Clarke and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja.
Willard Wigan MBE is a micro sculptor. He creates minute pieces of art, so small they are almost invisible to the naked eye and can only be viewed through a microscope. His materials range from spiders' webs to grains of sand. His latest exhibition, Homecoming, reflects his view of the Black Country where he grew up and features his latest work - a tiny sculpture of Noddy Holder. Willard Wigan Homecoming is at Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton.
Dame Joan Bakewell CBE is a broadcaster and writer. In her memoir, Stop the Clocks, she muses on the life she has lived through, how the world has changed and considers the values she will leave behind. She sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer - Baroness Bakewell of Stockport. She is also president of Birkbeck College, University of London. Stop the Clocks - Thoughts on What I Leave Behind is published by Little, Brown.
Gary Clarke is a contemporary dancer and choreographer. He grew up in Grimethorpe in the heart of the Yorkshire coalfields and his new show, Coal, is inspired by the mining industry and the miners' strike. Coal addresses the hard-hitting realities of life down the pits and features a soundscape of traditional brass band music mixed with thunderous machinery. Coal - the True story of an Industry and a Community's Fight for Survival premieres at the DanceXchange in Birmingham and then starts a UK tour.
Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a violinist. Born in Moldova, her family emigrated to Austria after the fall of communism. At the age of 17 she entered the Vienna Academy of Music. She is performing with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall at an event called Changing Minds which addresses the impact of mental health on classical music and composition.
Producer: Paula McGinley.
WED 09:45 Book of the Week (b06zhhzs)
Stop the Clocks
Episode 3
Since she reached the age of 80, Dame Joan Bakewell has been working harder than ever - campaigning, writing and sitting in the Lords. Now the former journalist takes a moment to reflect on the passage of time, and the changes she has witnessed in her lifetime. Her theme is 'thoughts on what I leave behind'.
Stop the Clocks is a book of musings, a look back at what Joan Bakewell was given by her family, at the times in which she grew up - ranging from the minutiae of life, such as the knowledge of how to darn and how to make a bed properly with hospital corners, to the bigger lessons of politics, of lovers, of betrayal.
At times joyful, at times pensive, she contemplates the past without regret, and looks to the future without fear, but with firm resolve. Once the 'thinking man's crumpet', Joan remains outspoken and outrageous.
Producer: David Roper
Author/Reader: Joan Bakewell
Abridgers: David Roper and Joan Bakewell
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06z2tj1)
Child refugees, Sam Baker, Preparing for disasters
The experiences of unaccompanied child refugees - we speak to a child asylum seeker and his foster mother. Kirsty McNeill of Save the Children talks to Jane about the growing problem of unaccompanied child migrants.
Sam Baker on her new novel 'The Woman Who Ran'.
Listeners' experiences of keeping a sex life going in a long term relationship.
Dr Sarita Robinson has been studying the psychology of survival for 15 years - she is also a 'prepper' who plans actively for how she and her family would cope in the event of disaster.
Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Eleanor Garland.
WED 10:41 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z2tj3)
The Forsytes
Episode 4
John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family.
Dramatised for radio by Shaun McKenna
Past scandals come back to haunt the present. It's been 12 years since the breakdown of his marriage and Soames Forsyte wants a son.
Original music composed by Neil Brand
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins
Over the next 2 years, BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new dramatisation of all 9 books in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. An epic tale of sex, money and power in the lives of an upper middle-class family in London, it spans 50 years from 1886 to 1936.
Today's play marks the start of the second novel, "In Chancery".
The story continues every day this week in the 15 Minute Drama slot and concludes in the Saturday Drama at 1430.
Award-winning writers Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan are dramatising the complete novels and Interludes and have taken a new approach to the books - delving deeper behind the Edwardian façade to bring more of Galsworthy's wonderful insight, wit and observation from the page. Although focussed on the period in which they were written - in the first 20 years of the 20th century - the novels feel remarkably contemporary and have much to reveal of our own world and inner lives.
Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife, Jericho) takes a central role as narrator, with Juliet Aubrey playing Irene and Joseph Millson, Soames. Later in the series they are joined by Jonathan Bailey, Max Bennett and Ben Lambert.
The Producers are Marion Nancarrow and Gemma Jenkins.
WED 10:55 The Listening Project (b06z2tj5)
Catherine and Nina - Anyone Who's Different Is a Target
Fi Glover with a mother hearing for the first time about the shame her daughter felt when diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and how she now recognises strengths in the condition - 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 Living with Water (b06z5py5)
Amphibious houses? Water resilient houses? Stilted and raised houses? Architects have plenty of ideas for how, with smart engineering, we could build in watery areas in future. They also have a number of suggestions for home owners who endure the misery of flooding in their current homes.
Susan Marling meets the designer of the UK's first amphibious house and takes a trip to Holland, where half the land mass is below sea level, to hear how communities there live alongside vast amounts of water - and what Dutch architects have done to make this not only possible, but enjoyable.
We attend the 'flood fair' in Leeds and look in at the Building Research Establishment where building to mitigate flooding has become a high priority.
But are some of these new ideas being blocked by the conservatism of insurance and investment companies?
Producer: Paul Smith
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 11:30 Bad Salsa (b06z2tj7)
Series 2
The Cycle of Life
Each of the women get to grips with their own particular cancer after-shocks. In this last episode each of them must face their fears.
A second series of the sitcom about three women who meet during cancer treatment and start going to salsa class together to maintain their friendship. As they adjust to life after cancer they realise that they've all changed.
The series is not about cancer, but about life after cancer, how you cope the changes in your outlook, your desires and your expectations. It's also about how other people cope with the change in you.
Written by Kay Stonham
Directed by Alison Vernon-Smith.
WED 12:00 News Summary (b06z17h0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
WED 12:04 Home Front (b06l3l2t)
3 February 1916 - Hilary Pearce
On this day, a wrecked zeppelin was spotted in the North Sea by a British trawler, and Hilary Pearce sets out to catch a very particular fish.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
WED 12:15 You and Yours (b06z2tj9)
Sugary food, Modern slavery in the UK, Dating apps
A factory owner who employed large numbers of Hungarians as a "slave workforce" in a bed-making firm which supplied John Lewis, Next and Dunelm Mill was recently found guilty of people trafficking. The case has highlighted the problem of modern slavery in the UK. New legislation is coming into force which aims to reduce cases of exploitation. We ask the UK's first independent anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, if the Modern Slavery Act is tough enough to make a difference.
One fifth of four to five year olds and a third of ten to eleven year olds are overweight or obese. To tackle this David Cameron has promised a new childhood obesity strategy. Its publication has been delayed but is still expected later this year. We ask how the far the government might go to encourage, or even force food companies to reduce the amount of sugar in their products.
How desirable are you? It's emerged that the dating app Tinder scores its users according to how attractive they are and matches people according to their score. The ratings are kept secret, but are based on how much interest a profile gets from other people using the app. Might the company one day let people know their rating, and what can you do if you feel you are being matched with people who are less attractive than you?
Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Winifred Robinson.
WED 12:57 Weather (b06z17h2)
The latest weather forecast.
WED 13:00 World at One (b06z2tjc)
How will David Cameron sell the EU deal to his own party? We talk to Conservative MPs.
How should political parties be funded? We hear accusations that the government is being partisan over its plans to tackle Labour's money from trade unions.
Lord Lucan is now officially dead. Will that put an end to the conspiracy theories about what happened to him?
WED 13:45 From Savage to Self (b06zh55v)
Anthropology Gets Practical
Farrah Jarral explores the impact of anthropologists, and their research, on policy.
She explores how a turn towards the very practical - from lobbying on the behalf of native peoples to research into infectious tropical diseases - proved one part of the solution to anthropology's existential crisis.
She speaks to some of those involved, including Marcus Colchester, founder of the Forest People's Programme and Melissa Parker, creator of the Ebola Response Anthropology Platform. And she discusses the benefits of an anthropological approach with the world's highest-profile anthropologist: Jim Kim, President of the World Bank.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
WED 14:00 The Archers (b06z2pn4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Tuesday]
WED 14:15 Tumanbay (b06z2tjf)
Series 1
Sword of Faith
The tenth and final episode of this epic saga of revenge, betrayal and deception, inspired by the Mamluk slave-dynasty. As the people of Tumanbay await news of the Sultan’s (Raad Rawi) great victory, Gregor (Rufus Wright) the heartless player discovers he has a heart and that he has been played.
Tumanbay, the beating heart of a vast empire, is threatened by a rebellion in a far-off province and a mysterious force devouring the city from within. Gregor, Master of the Palace Guard, is charged by Sultan Al-Ghuri with the task of rooting out this insurgence and crushing it.
Cast:
Gregor...........................Rufus Wright
Cadali............................Matthew Marsh
Wolf...............................Alexander Siddig
Sarah.............................Nina Yndis
Maya's Envoy.................Nadir Khan
Al-Ghuri..........................Raad Rawi
Heaven..........................Olivia Popica
Slave..............................Akin Gazi
Madu..............................Danny Ashok
Daniel.............................Gareth Kennerley
Ibn.................................Nabil Elouahabi
General Qulan................Christopher Fulford
Hodah............................Nathalie Armin
Pesha.............................Sky Yang
Manel..............................Aiysha Hart
The Hafiz.........................Antony Bunsee
Bello................................Albert Welling
Shamsi.............................Laure Stockley
Don Diego........................John Sessions
Dona Ana.........................Annabelle Dowler
Frog.................................Deeivya Meir
Boy...................................Darwin Brokenbro
Officer...............................Akbar Kurtha
Music - Sacha Puttnam
Sound Design - Steve Bond, Jon Ouin
Editors - Ania Przygoda, James Morgan
Producers - Emma Hearn, Nadir Khan, John Dryden
Written and Directed by John Dryden
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4
WED 15:00 Money Box (b06z2tjh)
Money Box Live: Is UK's business tax regime fit for purpose?
Ruth Alexander and guests ask: is the UK's business tax regime fit for purpose?
The row is continuing after revelations that Google has agreed with HMRC to pay just £130mn in back tax to UK PLC. MPs on the Commons Treasury Select took evidence on the subject of tax avoidance - which is legal - earlier this week to see if urgent reform is needed. We've heard in the news how big corporations move their HQ's and profits to countries with low business tax regimes. This means that individual nations collect less tax and have less to spend on essential services.
Should Corporation Tax in the UK - currently at 20% - be scrapped and replaced by a sales tax or a so-called unitary tax?
What are your views on the changes to Business Rates? By 2020 Local Authorities will have extra powers to levy and keep all receipts from this tax.
Join Ruth Alexander and expert guests. And send us your questions on the topic. Call 03 700 100 444 - lines are open from
1pm on Wednesday. Or e mail: moneybox@bbc.co.uk.
WED 15:30 Inside Health (b06z2pnd)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 on Tuesday]
WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (b06z2v5l)
Consumerism, Work-life balance
Consumerism: a history of our modern, material world and the endless quest for more 'things'. Laurie Taylor talks to Frank Trentmann, Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London and author of a study which examines how the purchase of goods became the defining feature of contemporary life. They're joined by Rachel Bowlby, Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London.
Also, the middle class bias in work/life balance research. Tracey Warren, Professor of Sociology at the University of Nottingham, suggests that working class experience of precarity complicates the debate.
Producer: Jayne Egerton.
WED 16:30 The Media Show (b06z2v5p)
James Murdoch, Guardian cost-cutting, The growth of new media in Africa
James Murdoch, son of Rupert, has returned to Sky as Chairman. It comes four years after he resigned from the position amid the phone hacking scandal, which led to the closure of the Murdoch-owned newspaper News of the World. Since last July, James Murdoch also served as chief executive of 21st Century Fox, Sky's biggest shareholder. Andrea Catherwood is joined by Sarah Ellison of Vanity Fair, who has closely followed the Murdoch media dynasty, and also Ashley Hamilton Claxton, from Royal London Asset Management, a shareholder in Sky, who calls the reappointment 'inappropriate.'
Guardian News & Media, the publisher of the Guardian, is to cut running costs by 20% - a little over £50m - in a bid to break even within three years and support future growth. In the words of its Chief executive David Pemsel: 'We need to be an agile, lean and responsive organisation.' Ian Burrell, Assistant Editor & Media Editor of The Independent newspaper joins Andrea to discuss whether the Guardian's model of free content online, amid a climate of reduced print advertising revenues & the rise of ad-blocking, is a sustainable one.
Africa's internet penetration will reach 50 percent by 2025 and there are expected to be 360 million smartphones, according to data from McKinsey Consultants. Today, journalist Ismail Einashe is discussing what impact new media in Africa is having on journalism, at a talk for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He joins Andrea after the talk. Also joining her is author Anjan Sundaram, whose new book "Bad News" examines press freedom in Rwanda. Together they discuss whether the growth of new media in Africa is a way to improve democracy, or whether it's a mechanism for greater state control?
Producer: Katy Takatsuki.
WED 17:00 PM (b06z2v5r)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06z17h6)
David Cameron has defended his proposed deal on the UK's membership of the EU
Cameron defends proposed EU deal in face of backbench criticism
WED 18:30 Tim FitzHigham: The Gambler (b05pnw2q)
Series 2
Episode 2
Adventuring comedian Tim FitzHigham recreates a 19th-century bet.
Can his pig (Gwladys) cross a bridge quicker than a waterman can row the width of the river beneath?
Producer: Joe Nunnery.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.
WED 19:00 The Archers (b06z2v5w)
Josh wants to collaborate with the Fairbrothers and their pastured egg business, and lays down his terms - talking percentages. Toby's delighted that Tom is interested for his own scotch eggs.
Rob wants Helen to rest before her scan today. He also suggests that they do their work shifts together so that they also have their days off together. Helen apologises for her odd behaviour yesterday - a moment of madness. Rob organises a taxi for Helen, taking charge of her movements. Helen secretly arranges to meet Kirsty this afternoon in Borchester. There, Helen shows off some clothes she has bought - very cheap, including a mauve dress - Helen points out that Rob likes her in mauve. Helen apologises for not turning up yesterday, explaining it away that she wasn't up to it. But Helen's big apology is about not telling Kirsty about Tom before he jilted her on their wedding day. She explains she was trying to protect Kirsty, who says there's no need for apology - she understands. Helen becomes upset, feeling that she has driven everyone away except for Rob. Kirsty can tell something's wrong and probes Helen - does Rob know she's here today? Helen lies and rushes off, leaving her cake.
Back home, Rob admits he was worried - he had called the house phone to see if Helen was home. She tells him that she didn't get a taxi home and went shopping. Rob approves of the cheaper, unflattering clothes she has bought - less tarty, and she's no Kim Kardashian after all. No, I'm not, says Helen quietly.
WED 19:15 Front Row (b06z2v5z)
Bryan Cranston, David Hare, Nikolai Astrup, States of Mind
Bryan Cranston, best known for his role as a drugs baron in hit TV series Breaking Bad, discusses his new role as the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was imprisoned and blacklisted for Communist beliefs, in new film Tumbo.
As Ibsen's The Master Builder opens at the Old Vic with Ralph Fiennes in the title role, David Hare discusses his approach to adapting the play with Fiennes in mind.
The Norwegian painter Nikolai Astrup was a contemporary of Edvard Munch, and his work in Norway is much celebrated but he is little known outside of the country. The Dulwich Picture Gallery hopes to change that with the first UK exhibition dedicated to his work. Jonathan Jones reviews.
Author Mark Haddon and curator Emily Sargent discuss States of Mind, an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection that explores the strange borderland between the conscious and the unconscious, and looks at how mental phenomena such as synaesthesia, sleepwalking, memory loss and anaesthesia have inspired art.
Presenter Kirsty Lang
Producer Rebecca Armstrong.
WED 19:45 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z2tj3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:41 today]
WED 20:00 Splitting the Assets (b06z2v62)
A glimpse behind closed doors of the Family Courts, where divorcing couples are forced to struggle without the help of lawyers through the complex and emotionally fraught court process of dividing their financial assets. Anita Anand is joined by a panel of experts to explore the issues.
The Family Court financial remedy hearings are a battlefield on which couples fight over the division of property, pension rights and other financial assets. Cases involving unrepresented 'litigants in person' can culminate in the divorcing couple having to cross examine each other under oath before a judge.
Legal aid cuts have resulted in growing numbers forced to go through these often baffling proceedings without lawyers. Former high court judge and Chairman of the Marriage Foundation Sir Paul Coleridge is highly critical of the system, both for the stress it inflicts upon litigants and the unrealistic workload it place on the judiciary.
McKenzie Friend Nicola Matheson-Durrant complains that the Family Courts system is too under-resourced to provide litigants in person with the advice and support they urgently need.
Though the head of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has called for increased transparency in the Family Courts, financial remedy cases continue to go almost entirely unreported by the media. Legal academic Marc Mason says that the disappearance of lawyers in a growing number of cases has itself removed a layer of scrutiny.
Family law barrister Lucy Reed says it is important judges and lawyers are continually reminded of the emotional toll of the financial settlement process so that they don't become desensitised to litigants' stress.
Producers: Josie LeGrice and Matt Willis
An Above The Title production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 21:00 Science Stories (b06z2x0j)
Series 2
Einstein's Fridge
What do you do when you've described the nature of the universe?
In the late 1920s Einstein was working on a grand unified theory of the universe, having given us E=mc2, space-time and the fourth dimension. He was also working on a fridge.
Perhaps motivated by a story in the Berlin newspapers about a family who died when toxic fumes leaked from their state-of the-art refrigerator, Einstein teamed up with another physicist Leo Szilard and designed a new, safer refrigerating technology. And so it was that in 1930, the man who had once famously worked in the patent office in Bern was granted a patent of his own. Number: 1, 781, 541. Title: refrigeration.
Phillip Ball explores this little known period of Einstein's life to try and find out why he turned his extraordinary mind to making fridges safer.
Despite considerable commercial interest in the patent, Einstein's fridge didn't get built in his lifetime.The Great Depression forced AEG and others to close down their refrigeration research. But in 2008 a team of British scientists decided to give it a go.Their verdict : Einstein's fridge doesn't work.
Producer: Anna Buckley
WED 21:30 Midweek (b06z2qv1)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
WED 22:00 The World Tonight (b06z2x0l)
Islamic State Group in Libya
Gatehouse in Misrata; UK Cabinet to keep counsel till EU deal done; Syria talks suspended
(Picture shows members of forces loyal to Libya's Islamist-backed parliament General National Congress (GNC) preparing to launch attacks as they continue to fight Islamic State group jihadists on the outskirts of Libya's western city of Sirte. Credit: AFP PHOTO / MAHMUD TURKIA).
WED 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06z9bg8)
Orlando
A Lampooning
In Virginia Woolf's spirited novel Orlando aspires to the life of a poet and is compelled to extend an invitation to an admired writer. Read by Amanda Hale.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
WED 23:00 The Future of Radio (b06z2x0n)
Series 2
Mashup Heaven
These programmes reveal the secret work of the Institute of Radiophonic Evolution in South Mimms - drawing on conference calls, voice notes and life-logs, to tell a compelling and strange story of the technological lengths to which the researchers will go to push forward the boundaries of the emerging digital technologies.
Each week a jiffy bag of sound files arrives at BBC Radio 4. We listen to the contents to discover what backroom boffins Luke Mourne and Professor Trish Baldock (ably assisted by Shelley – on work experience) have been up to.
In this episode, they help audio graffiti artist Skanksy to mashup BBC Radio 4 – and try to unmask his secret identity at the same time.
Luke..................William Beck
Trish..................Emma Kilbey
Shelley...............Lizzy Watts
Felix....................David Brett
Prunella..............Sarah Badel
Pontius...............Chris Stanton
Written by Jerome Vincent & Stephen Dinsdale
Producer David Blount
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in February 2016.
WED 23:15 Nurse (b03wq2j7)
Series 1
Episode 3
A brand new series starring Paul Whitehouse and Esther Coles, with Rosie Cavaliero, Simon Day, Cecilia Noble and Marcia Warren.
The series follows Elizabeth, a Community Psychiatric Nurse in her forties, into the homes of her patients (or Service Users in today's jargon). It recounts their humorous, sad and often bewildering daily interactions with the nurse, whose job is to assess their progress, dispense their medication and offer comfort and support.
Compassionate and caring, Elizabeth is aware that she cannot cure her patients, only help them manage their various conditions. She visits the following characters throughout the series:
Lorrie and Maurice: Lorrie, in her fifties, is of Caribbean descent and has schizophrenia. Lorrie's life is made tolerable by her unshakeable faith in Jesus, and Maurice, who has a crush on her and wants to do all he can to help. So much so that he ends up getting on everyone's nerves.
Billy: Billy feels safer in jail than outside, a state of affairs the nurse is trying to rectify. She is hampered by the ubiquitous presence of Billy's mate, Tony.
Graham: in his forties, is morbidly obese due to an eating disorder. Matters aren't helped by his mum 'treating' him to sugary and fatty snacks at all times.
Ray: is bipolar and a rock and roll survivor from the Sixties. It is not clear how much of his 'fame' is simply a product of his imagination.
Phyllis: in her seventies, has Alzheimer's. She is sweet, charming and exasperating. Her son Gary does his best but if he has to hear 'I danced for the Queen Mum once' one more time he will explode.
Herbert is an old school gentleman in his late Seventies. Herbert corresponds with many great literary figures unconcerned that they are, for the most part, dead.
Nurse is written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings, who have collaborated many time in the past, including on The Fast Show, Down the Line and Happiness.
Written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings with additional material from Esther Coles
Producers: Paul Whitehouse and Tilusha Ghelani
A Down the Line production for BBC Radio 4.
WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06z2x0q)
Sean Curran reports from Westminster as David Cameron is questioned by MPs on his EU deal. Jeremy Corbyn asks about cancer treatment at Prime Minister's Question Time and Labour renews its attack over Google's tax payment. Also in the programme: MPs hear about the experiences of looked-after children. Editor: Rachel Byrne.
THURSDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2016
THU 00:00 Midnight News (b06z17jc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
THU 00:30 Book of the Week (b06zhhzs)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Wednesday]
THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06z17jk)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06z17jn)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06z17js)
The latest shipping forecast.
THU 05:30 News Briefing (b06z17jv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06zhhwb)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Edwin Counsell, Director of Education for the Church in Wales.
THU 05:45 Farming Today (b06z4w6y)
Farm Payments, Homeopathy for Livestock, Food Waste for Pigs
Farming Today has the latest in the long running saga of this year's delayed subsidy payments to farmers. Last week the Rural Payments Agency which runs the system in England and Wales said 'the vast majority' had been paid, though that simply raised questions about the definition of 'vast majority'. Mark Grimshaw, Chief Executive of the RPA explains where things stand, while some farmers say they're still waiting for their money.
Research published today reveals that 1 in 4 people in the UK are discarding food that is safe to eat. Multiply that up across the EU, where around 100 million tonnes of food are wasted annually, but over the next 15 years Brussels is seeking to halve that figure. The European Commission has recently announced that food that's safe but can't go into the human food chain should be exempt from the Waste Directive, with all its strict controls, and go into animal feed. Sarah Falkingham reports from an East Yorkshire company that turns powdered milk and other dry matter into high value calf and piglet food.
Homeopathy for livestock: two Wiltshire-based organic farmers explain that in their experience homeopathy's holistic approach leads to all round healthier herds. John Newman, Farm Manager at Abbey Home Farm near Cirencester, is joined by Christine Gosling.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.
THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0t2k)
Black-nest Swiftlet
Michael Palin presents the black-nest swiftlet deep inside an Indonesian cavern. The Black-nest swiftlet landing on the cave wall, begins work on one of the most expensive and sought- after items connected with any bird; its nest.
The swiftlet's tiny bowl -shaped nest is highly-prized as the main ingredient for bird's nest soup and is built by the male from strands of his saliva which harden into a clear substance which also anchors the nest to the vertiginous walls. Black-nest swiftlets are so-called because they add dark-coloured feathers to their saliva which are then incorporated into their nests.
The nests fuel expensive appetites. A kilo of nests can fetch 2500 US dollars and worldwide the industry is worth some 5 billion US dollars a year. Today in many places in South-east Asia artificial concrete "apartment blocks" act as surrogate homes for the Black-nest swiftlets. The birds are lured in by recordings of their calls, and once they've begun nesting, the buildings are guarded as if they contained gold bullion.
THU 06:00 Today (b06z4w76)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
THU 09:00 In Our Time (b06z4w7p)
Chromatography
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins, development and uses of chromatography. In its basic form, it is familiar to generations of schoolchildren who put a spot of ink at the bottom of a strip of paper, dip it in water and then watch the pigments spread upwards, revealing their separate colours. Chemists in the 19th Century started to find new ways to separate mixtures and their work was taken further by Mikhail Tsvet, a Russian-Italian scientist who is often credited with inventing chromatography in 1900. The technique has become so widely used, it is now an integral part of testing the quality of air and water, the levels of drugs in athletes, in forensics and in the preparation of pharmaceuticals.
With
Andrea Sella
Professor of Chemistry at University College London
Apryll Stalcup
Professor of Chemical Sciences at Dublin City University
And
Leon Barron
Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science at King's College London.
THU 09:45 Book of the Week (b06zhhx7)
Stop the Clocks
Episode 4
Since she reached the age of 80, Dame Joan Bakewell has been working harder than ever - campaigning, writing and sitting in the Lords. Now the former journalist takes a moment to reflect on the passage of time, and the changes she has witnessed in her lifetime. Her theme is 'thoughts on what I leave behind'.
Stop the Clocks is a book of musings, a look back at what Joan Bakewell was given by her family, at the times in which she grew up - ranging from the minutiae of life, such as the knowledge of how to darn and how to make a bed properly with hospital corners, to the bigger lessons of politics, of lovers, of betrayal.
At times joyful, at times pensive, she contemplates the past without regret, and looks to the future without fear, but with firm resolve. Once the 'thinking man's crumpet', Joan remains outspoken and outrageous.
Producer: David Roper
Author/Reader: Joan Bakewell
Abridgers: David Roper and Joan Bakewell
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06z4w7r)
Helen Mirren; Dr Sarah Jarvis gives a Zika update
Presenter: Jenni Murray
Producer: Kirsty Starkey
Dr Sarah Jarvis gives an update about the Zika virus after two confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland.
Helen Mirren plays Hedda Hopper, a 1940s Hollywood icon and notorious gossip columnist, in a new film, 'Trumbo'. Dame Helen speaks to Jane Garvey about playing a poisonous Hollywood diva, who devoted her life to destroying communists in the blacklist era and was known for her love of flamboyant hats.
Robert Schumann's last orchestral composition has a remarkable story, unheard of for 80 years after the composers' death. Conductor and violinist, Marin Alsop and journalist, Jessica Duchen discuss the two women who shaped the concerto's history - Schumann's wife Clara and violinist Jelly d'Arányi.
Two novels that centre on divorce have recently been published. What can we learn from these stories about the experience of divorce and how to get through it successfully? We discuss mediation, custody and communication with authors Julia Forster and Mary Banham-Hall.
The 19th century scientist and women's rights activist, Mary Somerville, is one of three Scottish figures being considered to appear on the Royal Bank of Scotland's new ten pound note. Somerville College - one of Oxford's first women's colleges - was named after her. The College's Principal, Dr Alice Prochaska, explains more about the woman who was the first person to be described as a 'scientist.'.
THU 10:45 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z4w7z)
The Forsytes
Episode 5
John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family.
Dramatised for radio by Shaun McKenna
With divorce on his mind, Soames Forsyte prepares to meet his estranged wife Irene for the first time in 12 years.
Original music composed by Neil Brand
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins
Over the next 2 years, BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new dramatisation of all 9 books in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. An epic tale of sex, money and power in the lives of an upper middle-class family in London, it spans 50 years from 1886 to 1936.
Today's play is from the second novel, "In Chancery".
The story continues every day this week in the 15 Minute Drama slot and concludes in the Saturday Drama at 1430.
Award-winning writers Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan are dramatising the complete novels and Interludes and have taken a new approach to the books - delving deeper behind the Edwardian façade to bring more of Galsworthy's wonderful insight, wit and observation from the page. Although focussed on the period in which they were written - in the first 20 years of the 20th century - the novels feel remarkably contemporary and have much to reveal of our own world and inner lives.
Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife, Jericho) takes a central role as narrator, with Juliet Aubrey playing Irene and Joseph Millson, Soames. Later in the series they are joined by Jonathan Bailey, Max Bennett and Ben Lambert.
The Producers are Marion Nancarrow and Gemma Jenkins.
THU 11:00 From Our Own Correspondent (b06z17k9)
Nervous Sweden
In this edition: how Russian military activity above and below the surface of the Baltic Sea is causing increasing concern in Sweden; Ethiopia's suffering its worst drought in years - but with a buoyant economy why does it need international aid to help it cope? We find out why Finns appear to have fallen out of love with the migrants and why the migrants no longer seem fond of Finland; Belarus might have a reputation as Europe's last dictatorship but a visit to its capital Minsk reveals a positively gleaming city - a cathedral with standing room only and an opera house thronged with the well-heeled and the expensively turned-out. Mali's best-loved export, music, has struggled to make its voice heard during recent years of instability in the country. But a festival's just been staged in the capital, Bamako. Its aim, to show the world there's more to Mali than disorder and violence.
THU 11:30 Invisible Belfast (b06z4w86)
We all like to get lost in a book - but when Danielle, an American visitor to Belfast, stumbles upon a mysterious handwritten note in a 2nd hand copy of Ciaran Carson's novel The Star Factory - she finds herself on a labyrinthine journey through his prose and through the hidden side-roads and alleyways of the city.
As she searches for the elusive Irish author and poet, it soon becomes clear that there's much more to Belfast than meets the eye. This is a city that regenerates itself through layers of history and memory where the main protagonists are want to disappear at any time.
Between the adjuncts and intervening avenues of Belfast and Carson's narrative, Danielle realises she can't read the city like a book as it will always exceed the confines of the pages...
Producer: Conor Garrett.
THU 12:00 News Summary (b06z17kh)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
THU 12:04 Home Front (b06l3l5x)
4 February 1916 - Olive Hargreaves
On this day, Harrods Stores was fined £5 for selling morphine without keeping a register, and Sister Hargreaves has a particularly bad day.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
THU 12:15 You and Yours (b06z4w8c)
Flood insurance, Age UK energy deals, DIY revival
People living in houses that are at high risk of flooding are finding it more difficult to find firms who'll insure them. You & Yours has spoken to two brokers who say they are struggling to find cover for customers.
The Energy Regulator, Ofgem, says it will investigate claims about the relationship between the charity Age UK, and the energy company EON. A major newspaper claims the charity has been selling costly electricity and gas deals to older people and are getting millions of pounds in return from EON. Two listeners talk about their experiences with the company.
Plus are the days of DIY back? Lloyds Banks says its customers are spending more on DIY. While the owners of Homebase and B&Q say they expect to attract more customers this year.
Presented by Winifred Robinson
Produced by Natalie Donovan.
THU 12:57 Weather (b06z17km)
The latest weather forecast.
THU 13:00 World at One (b06z4w8r)
Seventy countries are gathering in London to discuss giving more money for people whose lives have been destroyed by the conflict in Syria. The Foreign Secretary tells us that Russia needs to support the peace process not torpedo it.
We also discuss whether the Prime Minister has negotiated a good deal on the EU.
And another whale has washed up on the North Sea cost in Norfolk. We'll try to find out what's causing these beachings.
THU 13:45 From Savage to Self (b06zh6n8)
We Are All Anthropologists Now
Farrah Jarral shows how anthropology has seeped out of academia to infiltrate everyday life.
Farrah discovers how anthropologists helped direct early research into office automation. She speaks to an anthropologist working with drivers in Birmingham to understand how they use their time in the car, and gets dating advice from Helen Fisher, an anthropologist who has worked for a decade as Chief Scientific Adviser to match.com. And she reveals which British TV show she considers a "modern ethnographic masterpiece".
Producer: Giles Edwards.
THU 14:00 The Archers (b06z2v5w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Wednesday]
THU 14:15 Drama (b06z4w9c)
The Ferryhill Philosophers
Filial Duties and Special Goods
Joe’s aged mother’s a strong character - but now frail, going blind, and incapable of looking after herself properly. The solution is for her to leave her home of 50 years and move into care, but in truth she wants to die now, with dignity - and she wants Joe to help her do this.
Joe is wracked by indecision. What's more important - Bella’s security and happiness, or doing what is the morally right thing? Meanwhile Hermione faces a challenge in the care of her elderly demanding Dad.
The Ferryhill Philosophers is about how we live our lives. A rather unlikely duo, Joe Snowball and the Hon. Hermione Pink inhabit two very different worlds, albeit only seven miles apart. He's an unemployed ex-miner living in Ferryhill, a small town forgotten by the world, and she's a slightly disenchanted philosophy lecturer at Durham University. Between them they wrestle with the collision between moral philosophy and the vexing dilemmas encountered by the not-always-good people of Ferryhill, deprived of jobs, opportunities and the kind of ethical guidance once offered by the Church and the Miners Unions.
The series stars Alun Armstrong (of TV’s popular series New Tricks) and Deborah Findlay, currently starring in Caryl Churchill’s new play at The Royal Court. Award winning writer Michael Chaplin works in consultation with philosopher and presenter of R4’s The Philosopher’s Arms, David Edmonds.
Cast:
Joe Snowball..................Alun Armstrong
Hermione Pink................Deborah Findlay
George ..........................Geoffrey Palmer
Bella...............................Anne Reid
Dr. Dainty.......................Jonathan Keeble
Mrs Cornish....................Tracy Gillman
Written by Michael Chaplin
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
THU 15:00 Open Country (b06z4w9p)
Snowsports at Glenshee, Cairngorms
Helen Mark is on the slopes of Glenshee, the largest ski area in Scotland, as it opens for the first weekend of snowsports this winter season.
The past few years have seen brilliant snow conditions throughout the Cairngorms and there has been a real resurgence in skiing in Scotland. This follows a time when the future of the Scottish skiing industry looked bleak after long period of milder winters and poor snow conditions through the 1990s, which led to the Glenshee resort facing closure in 2003. Helen Mark visits on one of the busiest weekends of the season to find a mixture of locals and enthusiasts from farther afield flocking to Glenshee's 40kms of pistes for skiing and snowboarding, as well as ski-touring in the extensive backcountry beyond the ski lifts.
She's come to meet the dedicated people who live and work at Glenshee who keep the slopes running for the many day visitors. Helen will also meet the snow addicts who come to Glenshee in campervans for snowsports most weekends through the winter, and follow the best snow conditions around the Cairngorms.
Presenter: Helen Mark
Producer: Sophie Anton.
THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (b06z1zdm)
[Repeat of broadcast at
07:54 on Sunday]
THU 15:30 Open Book (b06z1zf6)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:00 on Sunday]
THU 16:00 The Film Programme (b06z4yn9)
Toby Jones on Dad's Army
With Francine Stock.
Toby Jones reveals why he was in two minds about playing Captain Mainwaring in the new film version of Dad's Army.
Director Grímur Hákonarson tells Francine why casting the sheep was as important as casting the actors in his Icelandic drama Rams
Adam Rutherford assesses Matt Damon's portrayal of a botanist in The Martian.
THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (b06z4ync)
UK pollinators' food, Brain implant, Holograms, Lunar 9
Some much-needed good news for our troubled bees and other pollinators: between 1998 and 2007, the amount of nectar produced from Britain's flowering plants rose by 25%. A new study suggests this may be due to reductions in atmospheric pollution. But researchers looked at records spanning over 80 years, and also found that the UK flowers which provide nectar suffered substantial losses during the 20th century. Considering the services that nectar-feeding pollinators perform for agriculture and our ecosystems, this is something worth knowing. Professor Jane Memmott, ecologist at the University of Bristol, explains how bad things really are for Britain's pollinators and what lessons conservation could learn from her team's latest findings about nectar.
In 2014, neuroscientist Dr Phil Kennedy flew to Belize and paid a surgeon to insert electrodes into his otherwise healthy brain, in order to experiment on himself. His aim was to unpick the electrical signals given from his brain during speech. BBC science reporter Jonathan Webb went to his lab in Georgia, US to meet the maverick. Jonathan and Tracey discuss the motivation, scientific outcome and ethics behind Dr Kennedy's highly unusual experiment.
The aim of hologram technology, according to Birmingham University researchers, is to make it cheaper, faster and better. Holographic tattoos are a solution they are developing. Currently, holograms are made with lasers and mirrors. Roland Pease went to visit researchers Dr Haider Butt, Bader Al Qattan and Rajib Ahmed in order to make his very own hologram.
On 4th February 50 years ago, the Soviet lander Lunar 9 sent a signal back from the moon. Scientists at Jodrell Bank intercepted this and realised that it sounded like a picture image. Professor of Astrophysics at Manchester University Tim O'Brien explains how, with the help of a fax machine borrowed from the Daily Express, British scientists scooped the first pictures of the moon's surface.
THU 17:00 PM (b06z4ynf)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06z17l1)
Turkey faces being overwhelmed by Syrian refugees. No 10 dismisses UN Assange ruling.
THU 18:30 John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (b06z5240)
Series 5
Episode 5
John Finnemore's fifth series of his multi-award-winning sketch show, joined as ever by Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.
This week finds John making a heartfelt serving suggestion and Lawry trying to keep himself busy. And, well, since you ask him for a curious tale of murder...
John is the writer and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore's Double Acts, regular guest on The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth.
"One of the most consistently funny sketch shows for quite some time" - The Guardian
"The best sketch show in years, on television or radio" - The Radio Times
"The inventive sketch show ... continues to deliver the goods" - The Daily Mail
"Superior comedy" - The Observer
Written by and starring ... John Finnemore
Original music composed by ... Susannah Pearse
Original music performed by ... Jason Hazeley
Producer: Ed Morrish
A BBC Radio Comedy production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
THU 19:00 The Archers (b06z5245)
Brian promises not to be angry as Kate admits the problems with her business - she is behind with her plans to open properly and the expensive items she needs have broken the bank. Brian loses his cool as he realises she's tapping him for money. He complains to Jennifer - with the important BL Board meeting Brian has enough on his plate.
At the meeting, Justin points out to Brian that absent Annabelle has had to miss quite a few meetings due to other work commitments. He needs a more reliable Chair. Brian's re-election to the Board goes through before Adam successfully pitches for the Estate contract, winning over the sceptical Andrew Eagleton.
Justin celebrates with Jennifer and Brian and drinks to a 'profitable partnership'. Lilian happily joins them. With Justin renting the Dower House, Justin points out that it would be foolish for Lilian to occupy one of her other properties and prevent it making money - so she's staying at Home Farm. What a lovely surprise for Brian.
THU 19:15 Front Row (b06z56m5)
Peter Brook, Howard Jacobson, Angel Costumiers and Hamlet in the Jungle
Arts news, interviews and reviews.
THU 19:45 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z4w7z)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
THU 20:00 The Report (b06z56m7)
Lord Bramall: A Failure to Investigate?
Lord Bramall, a former head of the British army, has now been told he will face no further action by the Metropolitan Police following thirteen months of investigation into allegations of paedophilia. The Met has so far refused to apologise for the way its inquiry, "Operation Midland", was handled.
In his first broadcast interview, Lord Bramall speaks to BBC journalist Alistair Jackson.
The programme also hears from Met insiders and other key witnesses. Their accounts raise serious questions about how the investigation was run and why the allegations against Lord Bramall were not dismissed earlier.
Reporter: Alistair Jackson
Producer: Anna Meisel
Researcher: Kirsteen Knight.
THU 20:30 The Bottom Line (b06z56m9)
Renewable Energy
After the Paris summit on climate change and the global commitment to cut carbon emissions, The Bottom Line is going green - with businesses that generate energy from the sun, the wind - and from cheese. And, whilst the government is committed to getting more of its energy from renewables, Evan Davis and guests discuss why green firms are seeing red over cuts to subsidies they say are vital to update ageing infrastructure.
Guests:
Juliet Davenport, CEO, Good Energy
Jeremy Leggett, Founder, Solarcentury
Paul Cowling, MD, RWE Innogy UK
Producer: Sally Abrahams.
THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (b06z4ync)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 today]
THU 21:30 In Our Time (b06z4w7p)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:00 today]
THU 22:00 The World Tonight (b06z56mc)
London Syria summit warned of fresh refugee exodus
World leaders meeting in London have pledged more than £7bn to help millions of Syrians, displaced by conflict. But Turkey has warned that thousands more Syrian refugees are heading for its border as they try to escape bombardment near the city of Aleppo. We speak to former foreign secretary David Miliband.
THU 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06z9kdv)
Orlando
An Admirer
In Virginia Woolf's celebrated novel Orlando turns his mind to his noble ancestry and an archduchess demands his attention. Read by Amanda Hale.
THU 23:00 Talking to Strangers (b06z5d2v)
Episode 1
Comic monologues in which a range of characters find themselves engaging in that most un-British of activities: talking to a stranger.
Each piece is a character study: funny, frank, absurd, moving... Characters include a sex councillor who loves to draw, a spy who loves to share, a woman who likes to help too much ('I'm a serial helpist...'), a frustrated falconer, and a cheater who has to call her cheatee the morning after. And in this show, the listener themselves 'plays' the silent stranger in the piece...
Written and performed by Sally Phillips and Lily Bevan.
With guest stars including Emma Thompson, Olivia Colman, Jessica Hynes, Steve Evets, Sinead Matthews and Joel Fry.
Producer: Sam Bryant
A BBC Comedy Production first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2016.
THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06z5d64)
Is Parliament about to suffer a serious loss of power to Europe? The Commons has been discussing whether British sovereignty is threatened -- Susan Hulme has the best of the debate.
Also on the programme:
* The Government is accused by peers of dithering on the crucial decision of whether or not to expand Heathrow Airport.
* An MP apologises to the Commons for not making public the size of his earnings outside Parliament.
* MPs plead for a ban on a radical male, anti-feminist group.
* Can more be done to limit the amount of food wasted each week?
* Mockery in the Commons for the number of groups campaigning for a British exit from the European Union.
FRIDAY 05 FEBRUARY 2016
FRI 00:00 Midnight News (b06z17p1)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4. Followed by Weather.
FRI 00:30 Book of the Week (b06zhhx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
09:45 on Thursday]
FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (b06z17p3)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (b06z17p5)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.
FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (b06z17p7)
The latest shipping forecast.
FRI 05:30 News Briefing (b06z17p9)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (b06zhhhx)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Edwin Counsell, Director of Education for the Church in Wales.
FRI 05:45 Farming Today (b06z5g7d)
Antibiotics in agriculture, Thirty years of Send a Cow, Waterproofing oil seed rape crops
The use of antibiotics in agriculture is fuelling drug resistance and must be cut back or even banned where they are important for humans. That was the finding of a report published in December. Just as rising levels of human use of antibiotics are leading to growing resistance, the same is happening in agriculture according to the O'Neil 'Review on Antimicrobial Resistance'. However, Dawn Howard, Chief Executive of NOAH, the National Office of Animal Health, which represents the UK animal medicine industry, explains why they believe the situation is not that black and white.
Thirty years ago a group of English dairy farmers had the idea of sending some of their cows to Northern Uganda to help farmers who were struggling from the effects of a long civil war and famine. Cows that in the UK were being slaughtered because of tight milk quotas, were literally put on planes and sent to Africa. The charity Send a Cow was born. Ali Vowles meets those involved then and now.
In the first trials of their kind a PhD student at Harper Adams University is trying to determine whether waterproofing oilseed rape crops can lead to greater yields. The idea is to limit the amount of water the plants release during transpiration by spraying them with a chemical derived from conifers. First results show increased yields of up to fifty per cent. The man behind it is Michele Faralli, An Italian, studying in the UK and currently carrying out more trials in Germany.
Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Mark Smalley.
FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0v50)
Scarlet Macaw
Michael Palin presents the scarlet macaw from Costa Rica. The Scarlet Macaw is a carnival of a bird, eye-catching, noisy and vibrant, with a colour-scheme verging on bad taste. Its brilliant red feathers clash magnificently with the bright yellow patches on its wings, and contrast with its brilliant blue back and very long red tail. It has a white face and a massive hooked bill and it produces ear-splitting squawks. Subtlety is not in its vocabulary.
Scarlet macaws breed in forests from Mexico south through Central America to Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. They use their formidable beaks not only to break into nuts and fruit, but also as pick-axes.
Colourful and charismatic birds usually attract attention and in some areas where the Scarlet Macaws have been collected for the bird trade, numbers have declined. In south-east Mexico where they are very rare, a reintroduction programme is underway to restore these gaudy giants to their ancestral forests.
Producer Andrew Dawes.
FRI 06:00 Today (b06z9krr)
Morning news and current affairs. Includes Sports Desk, Yesterday in Parliament, Weather and Thought for the Day.
FRI 09:00 Desert Island Discs (b06z1zdt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
11:15 on Sunday]
FRI 09:45 Book of the Week (b06zhhj0)
Stop the Clocks
Episode 5
Since she reached the age of 80, Dame Joan Bakewell has been working harder than ever - campaigning, writing and sitting in the Lords. Now the former journalist takes a moment to reflect on the passage of time, and the changes she has witnessed in her lifetime. Her theme is 'thoughts on what I leave behind'.
Stop the Clocks is a book of musings, a look back at what Joan Bakewell was given by her family, at the times in which she grew up - ranging from the minutiae of life, such as the knowledge of how to darn and how to make a bed properly with hospital corners, to the bigger lessons of politics, of lovers, of betrayal.
At times joyful, at times pensive, she contemplates the past without regret, and looks to the future without fear, but with firm resolve. Once the 'thinking man's crumpet', Joan remains outspoken and outrageous.
Producer: David Roper
Author/Reader: Joan Bakewell
Abridgers: David Roper and Joan Bakewell
A Heavy Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (b06z9krt)
Claire Skinner, Bonnie Raitt, First female head of CBI, Kirstie Allsopp
Actor Claire Skinner talks about her latest role as a mother trying to come to terms with the loss of her four year old son in the play Rabbit Hole, just opened at the Hampstead Theatre in North London.
Carolyn Fairbairn, first female Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), gives her views on female leadership roles. She took up the post in November and has called for a new voluntary target which would mean 25% of senior executives in big UK companies were women.
American blues singer Bonnie Raitt talks to Jenni about her recording career which started in the 1970s.
Television presenter Kirstie Allsopp and independent bookshop owner Cate Olson debate the merits of clutter and the pros and cons of living in a messy home.
Presenter: Jenni Murray.
FRI 10:45 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z5g7g)
The Forsytes
Episode 6
John Galsworthy's epic novels of sex, money and power in an upper class family.
Dramatised for radio by Shaun McKenna
Soames is determined to win back his estranged wife Irene. His relentless pursuit of her brings him into conflict with his cousin Jo, threatening a new family rift.
Original music composed by Neil Brand
Produced and directed by Gemma Jenkins
Over the next 2 years, BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting a new dramatisation of all 9 books in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. An epic tale of sex, money and power in the lives of an upper middle-class family in London, it spans 50 years from 1886 to 1936.
Today's play is from the second novel, "In Chancery".
The story continues every day this week in the 15 Minute Drama slot and concludes in the Saturday Drama at 1430.
Award-winning writers Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan are dramatising the complete novels and Interludes and have taken a new approach to the books - delving deeper behind the Edwardian façade to bring more of Galsworthy's wonderful insight, wit and observation from the page. Although focussed on the period in which they were written - in the first 20 years of the 20th century - the novels feel remarkably contemporary and have much to reveal of our own world and inner lives.
Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife, Jericho) takes a central role as narrator, with Juliet Aubrey playing Irene and Joseph Millson, Soames. Later in the series they are joined by Jonathan Bailey, Max Bennett and Ben Lambert.
The Producers are Marion Nancarrow and Gemma Jenkins.
FRI 11:00 Mao's Little Red Book Goes West (b06z5g7j)
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution, David Aaronovitch tells the extraordinary story of how Chairman Mao's Little Red Book captured the imagination of the West.
A collection of Mao's quotations, packaged with a red vinyl cover, the book is an iconic piece of design and one of the world's most widely distributed texts. In Britain, it was a massive hit. David hears from comedian and former Maoist Alexei Sayle who sold the book in Liverpool. Activist and former Labour councillor Linda Bellos admits that, while she carried the Little Red Book as a teenager, she didn't really read it and was more interested in being trendy.
The Little Red Book was hugely fashionable in late 1960s and 70s Europe. The French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard popularised it with his 1967 film La Chinoise, in which five pretty students plot revolutionary actions from their Paris flat before taking part in a bungled assassination attempt.
Bestselling author of Wild Swans, Jung Chang, argues that Little Red Book wavers in the West were completely ignorant when it came to the realities of life during the Cultural Revolution. She explains that in China the book was a weapon in a literal sense, used to beat those who were deemed to be "class enemies".
Meanwhile, in America, the book found an unlikely audience among the Black Panther Party. Elaine Browne, a former Panther who lead the party in the early 70s, explains that the Panthers saw the Little Red Book as a blueprint for enacting the revolution they were hoping to bring about in the United States.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Max O'Brien
A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 11:30 Agatha Christie - Ordeal by Innocence (b03yqn0n)
Episode 2
Dr. Calgary joins forces with Inspector Huish to try to find out the truth about Rachel Argyle's murder. But the family is still resisting his investigation.
FRI 12:00 News Summary (b06z17pc)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.
FRI 12:04 Home Front (b06l3l6l)
5 February 1916 - Florrie Wilson
On this day, it was proposed that munitions workers be exempted from the conscription bill, and tiredness and grief give Florrie Wilson a very short fuse.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
SECRET SHAKESPEARE
A Shakespeare quote is hidden in each Home Front episode that is set in 1916. These were first broadcast in 2016, the 400th anniversary year of the playwright's death. Can you spot them all?
FRI 12:15 You and Yours (b06z9krw)
Litter fines, Care at home, Cancer drugs
The Government plans to clamp down on litter bugs in England with a doubling of on-the spot fines to £150.
The perfume that aims to preserve your favourite aromas.
And, after our series of reports on the costs of care in your own home, we'll look at what lessons we can all learn from those we've heard from.
FRI 12:57 Weather (b06z17pf)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 13:00 World at One (b06z9kry)
News presented by Mark Mardell including is Julian Assange unlawfully detained? death of PC David Rathband and European Parliament President on timing of the UK's emergency brake.
FRI 13:45 From Savage to Self (b06zh7ch)
Anthropology Faces the Future
Farrah Jarral concludes her series on anthropology by looking to the future, including the anthropology of outer space.
Farrah speaks to the thinker whose writing caused the biggest argument amongst her fellow anthropology students - Donna Haraway. She ponders the anthropology of artisanal cheesemakers, and their cheese, and learns what studying cheese has in common with studying outer space (it has nothing to do with the moon).
Producer: Giles Edwards.
FRI 14:00 The Archers (b06z5245)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 on Thursday]
FRI 14:15 Drama (b06z5jm7)
The Ferryhill Philosophers
Lies, Damn Lies and Conversational Implicature.
Joe and Hermione see the wife of Joe’s friend with another man. What should Joe do? Tell his friend or keep quiet? Should we always tell the truth, especially when it almost certainly will have bad consequences? A moral dilemma in which Hermione’s philosophical expertise is pitted against Joe’s kindly humanity and knowledge of life. And when the dilemma’s resolved, their friendship is strengthened too.
The Ferryhill Philosophers is about how we live our lives. A rather unlikely duo, Joe Snowball and the Hon. Hermione Pink inhabit two very different worlds, albeit only seven miles apart. He's an unemployed ex-miner living in Ferryhill, a small town forgotten by the world, and she's a slightly disenchanted philosophy lecturer at Durham University. Between them they wrestle with the collision between moral philosophy and the vexing dilemmas encountered by the not-always-good people of Ferryhill, deprived of jobs, opportunities and the kind of ethical guidance once offered by the Church and the Miners Unions.
The series stars Alun Armstrong (of TV's popular series New Tricks) and Deborah Findlay, currently starring in Caryl Churchill's new play at The Royal Court. Award winning writer Michael Chaplin works in consultation with philosopher and presenter of R4's The Philosopher's Arms, David Edmonds.
Cast:
Joe Snowball..................Alun Armstrong
Hermione Pink................Deborah Findlay
Polly..............................Gina McKee
Andy ............................Christopher Connel
Sadie............................Jackie Lye
Written by Michael Chaplin
Directed by Marilyn Imrie
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4
FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (b06z5jmc)
Boddington
Eric Robson hosts the horticultural panel programme from Boddington, Northamptonshire. Matthew Wilson, Chris Beardshaw and Anne Swithinbank answer this week's questions.
The panel offer tips on decorating the edge of a lawn, suggest the best plants for sound screening, and help audience members work out what has happened to their winter pansies and leeks.
Also, Chris Beardshaw gets a crash course in horticultural photography while Matthew Wilson follows up on a suggestion that you don't actually need a garden to garden - some pots will do.
Produced by Howard Shannon
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
FRI 15:45 Special Deliveries (b06z5jmf)
Zarafa by Kate Woodward
The tale of Zarafa, a very unusual gift for King Charles X of France.
Adrian Lukis reads Kate Woodward’s short story.
One of a special series about some rather Special Deliveries, commissioned to mark the anniversary of the Royal Mail in 2016, 500 years after Cardinal Wolsey appointed the first Master of the Posts in 1516.
Producer: Heather Larmour
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.
FRI 16:00 Last Word (b06z5jmh)
Terry Wogan, Lord Lucan, Frank Finlay, Denise St Aubyn Hubbard, Maurice White
Matthew Bannister on
Sir Terry Wogan - we have a tale of two cities: memories from his home town of Limerick and accolades from his fantasy town of Leicester.
Lord Lucan, finally declared dead this week after disappearing in the 1970s. Mystery still surrounds his involvement in the murder of his children's nanny.
The actor Frank Finlay, who often played darker characters. His Bouquet of Barbed Wire co-star Susan Penhaligon remembers him.
Denise St Aubyn Hubbard who represented Britain as a diver in the 1948 Olympics and sailed single handed across the Atlantic aged 64.
And Maurice White the singer and songwriter who founded Earth Wind and Fire.
FRI 16:30 More or Less (b06zcg4v)
E-cigarettes: Can They Help People Quit?
Do e-cigarettes make quitting smoking more difficult?
Research last month claimed to show that e-cigarettes harm your chances of quitting smoking. The paper got coverage world-wide but it also came in for unusually fierce criticism from academics who spend their lives trying to help people quit. It's been described as 'grossly misleading' and 'not scientific'. We look at what is wrong with the paper and ask if it should have been published in the first place.
A campaign of dodgy statistics
Are American presidential hopefuls getting away with statistical murder? We speak to Angie Drobnic, Editor of the US fact-checking website Politifact, about the numbers politicians are using - which are not just misleading, but wrong.
Will missing a week of school affect your GCSE results?
Recently education minister Nick Gibb said that missing a week of school could affect a pupil's GCSE grades by a quarter. We examine the evidence and explore one of the first rules of More or Less - 'correlation is not causation'. We interview Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education at Durham University.
What are the chances that a father and two of his children share the same birthday?
A loyal listener got in touch to find out how rare an occurrence this is. Professor David Spiegelhalter from the University of Cambridge explains the probabilities involved.
FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (b06z5jmk)
Olly and Katy - A Love of Biking
Fi Glover introduces female friends who enjoy taking the open road at full throttle and delight in overturning stereotypical expectations regarding bikers and gender - 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 (b06zcg4x)
Eddie Mair with interviews, context and analysis.
FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (b06z17ph)
Zimbabwe declares "state of disaster" in face of severe drought
FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (b06z5jmm)
Series 89
Episode 5
Series 89 of the satirical quiz. Miles Jupp is back in the chair, trying to keep order as an esteemed panel of guests take on the big (and not so big) news events of the week. This week Miles is joined by Susan Calman, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell and Michael Deacon.
Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Radio Comedy Production.
FRI 19:00 The Archers (b06z5jmp)
Is Helen overdoing things? Ruth has lots to share.
FRI 19:15 Front Row (b06zhhj5)
Jimi Hendrix's flat, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, Nick Danziger
Jimi Hendrix's former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham shows John Wilson around the central London flat they shared in the late 1960s which is about to open permanently to the public.
Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig discuss their new film Zoolander 2, directed by Ben Stiller.
Photographer Nick Danziger explains the background to Eleven Women Facing War, his new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, for which he photographed 11 women in 2001 and 2011 who were all living in the world's major conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Gaza and Sierra Leone.
Presenter John Wilson
Producer Jerome Weatherald.
FRI 19:45 John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga (b06z5g7g)
[Repeat of broadcast at
10:45 today]
FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (b06z5jmr)
Lord Campbell, Ruth Davidson, Kezia Dugdale, Patrick Harvie, Humza Yousaf
Jonathan Dimbleby presents political debate and discussion from Sherbrooke St Gilbert's Church in Pollokshields,Glasgow, with the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats Lord Campbell, the Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson, the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party Kezia Dugdale, the leader of the Green Party in Scotland Patrick Harvie, and Humza Yousaf the Minister for Europe and International Development in the Scottish Government.
FRI 20:50 A Point of View (b06z5jmt)
Star Wars Obsession
Helen Macdonald has made her name writing about nature and birds of prey. So why has she become so fascinated with the recent Star Wars movie that she's been to see it six times? In her first "A Point of View" she tries to get to the bottom of her obsession and wonders whether it's all down to nostalgia or something else.
Producer: Richard Vadon.
FRI 21:00 Home Front - Omnibus (b06l3lgf)
1-5 February 1916
In the week when Britain suffered the worst zeppelin raid thus far in the war, all of Folkestone is jumpy.
Written by Shaun McKenna
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
Story-led by Shaun McKenna
Sound: Martha Littlehailes
Composer: Matthew Strachan
Consultant Historian: Maggie Andrews.
FRI 21:58 Weather (b06z17pm)
The latest weather forecast.
FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (b06z5jmw)
Zimbabwe's government has declared a "state of disaster"
A severe drought is affecting about two and a half million people.
Police are investigating a shooting at a Dublin hotel in front of hundreds of boxing fans, which left a man dead.
The government has condemned the finding of a UN panel that the Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, was detained arbitrarily in the UK.
FRI 22:45 Book at Bedtime (b06zcmjq)
Orlando
A Transformation
In Virginia Woolf's sumptuous novel her eponymous hero has been sent to opulent Constantinople by King Charles I to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary. Whilst there he undergoes a miraculous transformation. The reader is Amanda Hale.
Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
FRI 23:00 A Good Read (b06z2pmt)
[Repeat of broadcast at
16:30 on Tuesday]
FRI 23:30 Today in Parliament (b06z5k43)
Mark D'Arcy reports from Westminster as MPs agree to update the 130-year-old system for compensating victims of riots and the Law Commission says election laws need modernising.
The Defence Secretary gives nothing away over the UK's rules of engagement for drone strikes against terrorist suspects abroad, plus a report from the European Parliament.
FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (b06z5k45)
Iain and Claire – No Job Like It
Fi Glover with a conversation about the move to reactive policing and how cyber crime and better car security has changed things since the Bobby on the Beat - another 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