SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2019

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m0008blq)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:30 Talking to Strangers (m0008bjy)
Episode 5

5/5

Malcolm Gladwell is an international best-selling author and host of the podcast Revisionist History.

In his new book, he explores what we should know about the people we don’t know. And, with his trademark style, he delves into our recent history, in order to understand the world we live in and the people we live amongst more clearly.

Reader: Malcolm Gladwell
Abridger: Anna Magnusson

Produced by Kirsty Williams with the assistance of Pushkin Industries.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008blv)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008blz)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008bm2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m0008bm4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008bm6)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m00088jb)
Life in Letters

Helen Cullen makes the case for the art of letter writing.

In this talk, recorded at the Larmer Tree Festival, Helen reveals how writing letters has been a constant throughout her life and discusses its importance in deepening her relationships with her friends, family and partner. Helen, a novelist whose first book revolved around letters, argues that those of us who have fallen out of the habit of writing letters, or never acquired it in the first place, should take up our pens. And she makes a bold promise to anyone who writes to her.

Producer: Giles Edwards


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m0008h3b)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m0008b9z)
Ricky Ross and Lorraine Mcintosh of Deacon Blue in Fife

Clare Balding is joined by singers Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh of the band Deacon Blue to walk one of their favourite coastal routes in Fife. Starting at Elie they walk along the beach passing through the village of St Monan's ending in the picturesque fishing town of Pittenweem. Ricky and Lorraine have been married for over thirty years and perform together as part of the band, as well as having their own careers in broadcasting and acting. They say the secret to their enduring relationship is doing things together as a couple and sharing the same interests, one of which is walking. One of their favourite areas to walk is the East Neuk in Fife reputed to have some of the driest sunniest weather in the UK because of its sheltered position between the Rivers Forth and Tay.

Producer: Maggie Ayre


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m0008h3d)
Farming Today This Week: Angling

Sybil Ruscoe heads to Lenches Lakes in Evesham to speak to owner Simon Badger about how he stocks and maintains his fishing lakes ahead of the fly-fishing season beginning in October, and why they chose to adopt a 'catch and kill' policy rather than 'catch and release'. They're joined on the side of the lake by fishermen Mike 'The Heron' Sinclair and Patrick Robson and Sybil asks them about the camaraderie of the sport, whether it's attracting any younger people, and how they minimise suffering to the fish they catch. She also has a quick lesson in fly-fishing from Ed Noyes and learns why the mantra "Back, pause, forward, follow it down." is crucial to any successful cast. There's also a chance to hear from Martin Salter from The Angling Trust who maintains that fish don't feel pain, and from Dr Lynne Sneddon from the University of Liverpool who disputes this claim.

Producer: Toby Field


SAT 06:57 Weather (m0008h3g)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m0008h3j)
News and current affairs. Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m0008h3l)
Andy McNab, Axel Scheffler, Veronica 'Fancy Chance' Thompson and Roisin Conaty

Aasmah Mir and Rev Richard Coles talk to former SAS soldier Andy McNab. He was captured in Iraq while leading the Bravo Two Zero mission in 1991. His book on his ordeal became a bestseller - his first of many. His latest book "Get Me Out Of Here" is aimed at young readers.
Children's book illustrator Axel Scheffler has given visual form to Julia Donaldson's characters The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Room on the Broom, A Squash and a Squeeze and many more. But if you find the Gruffalo scary, be aware that Axel's original version was even more menacing. His latest books are "Kind" and "The Smeds and the Smoos" - two stories about tolerance and inclusivity.
Veronica Thompson goes by the stage name Fancy Chance when she performs aerial burlesque while hanging from her hair. Her show Flights of Fancy explores ideas of beauty and her feelings of alienation at having been abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of a South Korean police station.
Actor and comedian Roisin Conaty shares her Inheritance Tracks.
And listener Emma Wyatt-Haines talks about overcoming serious spinal injury to compete in an Iron Man contest.

Presenters: Aasmah Mir and Rev Richard Coles
Producer: Paul Waters


SAT 10:30 My Dream Dinner Party (m0008h3n)
Shappi Khorsandi's Dream Dinner Party

Comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi hosts a dinner party with a twist. All her guests are from beyond the grave, her heroes brought back to life by the magic of the BBC radio archive.

She’s joined by poet and memoirist Maya Angelou, broadcaster and comedian Kenny Everett, actor Richard Burton, post-war Labour politician and feminist campaigner Dr Edith Summerskill and singer songwriter Amy Winehouse.

While the saffron-inspired Persian feast simmers gently, the conversation around the dinner table heats up. But the early tensions soon dissolve as Shappi and her guests discuss the joy of music and the power of the human voice, home and exile, fighting prejudice, and Elizabeth Taylor. Alongside frank confessions, there's laughter, singing and tales of love.

Presented by Shappi Khorsandi
Produced by Sarah Peters and Peregrine Andrews
Researcher: Edgar Maddicott
Executive Producer: Iain Chambers

A Tuning Fork and Open Audio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m0008h3q)
Paul Waugh of HuffPost UK looks behind the scenes at Westminster. The editor is Jonathan Brunert.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m0008h3s)
Cash, Credit and Control in China

Celia Hatton gets caught out in Beijing, when she find nobody wants to be paid in cash anymore - but is the rise of mobile payments about convenience or control?

Turkey has emerged as one of the 21st Century's global players, occupying an area of increasing importance - both geographically and politically. For journalists based there it’s been a busy time. As he prepares to leave, our correspondent Mark Lowen reflects on the 5 years he has spent reporting from Istanbul and beyond.

The Arctic is home to several indigenous tribes, spread out across different countries and continents - but despite the borders which separate them, their culture and experiences are often shared. Juliet Rix travels to the far east of Russia, where she finds a community trying to reconcile tradition with modern-life.

'Gravity biking' is not for the faint-hearted. Increasingly popular in Colombia’s second city, Medellín, it involves hurtling down precipitous mountain roads on specially-modified push bikes, zooming in and out of traffic. Simon Maybin meets a group of 'gravitosos' and finds a complicated relationship with death.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m0008h7t)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m0008h3x)
How digital payments are changing they way we donate

This week Big Issue sellers have started to accept contactless payments. As donations to good causes dwindle we find out how digital transactions are reshaping the way we donate.

Can 20 somethings who are making the minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions still have a comfortable retirement? A recent study found more than half of savers are confident that they will but experts are concerned that this confidence is misplaced. We crunch the numbers for a couple of volunteers to find out.

And we look at the impact of a project to reduce the cost of the school day on the lives of families in Scotland.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Bethan Head
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m0008bl4)
Series 100

Episode 3

This week's guest host is Patrick Kielty and he's joined by Francis Wheen, Susan Calman, Felicity Ward and Glenn Moore.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m0008h3z)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m0008h41)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m0008blb)
Andrew Bowie MP, Baroness Chakrabarti, Peter Hitchens, Sarah Wollaston MP

Julian Worricker presents political debate from St Mary's Church in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, with Conservative Party Vice Chairman Andrew Bowie MP, Shadow Attorney General Baroness Chakrabarti, the political columnist Peter Hitchens and the Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Wollaston.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m0008h43)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:30 Bad Faith (b0151xsp)
Unoriginal Sin

by Peter Jukes
Unoriginal Sin

After the death of his father and the breakdown of his marriage, Jake needed to get away from home, so he has accepted his old friend Sufiq Khan's invitation to come on secondment as Police Chaplain to Khan's West Yorkshire division.

Jake arrives in his new posting the week before Christmas with a mission to clean up a rough division, but he is immediately plunged into the question of original sin as an 11-year-old is investigated for murder.

Jake Thorne ..... Lenny Henry
Chief Supt Sufiq Khan ..... Vincent Ebrahim
Father Frank Gilligan ..... John Rowe
Kevin Stanhope ..... Conrad Nelson
Alyssa Mayes ..... Seroca Davis
Edie Gosling ..... Nadine Marshall
Tony Wingard ..... Clive Russell
Amanda Copley ..... Alex Tregear
French Woman ..... Susie Riddell

directed by Mary Peate


SAT 15:15 One to One (m00035tf)
Mourning - Nine Nights

Euella Jackson explores how we navigate grief with fellow Jamaican Maaureesha Shaw as they discuss the tradition of nine nights - the period that is spent in mourning prior to the funeral. Do rituals help? What can we learn from the rituals and traditions of other cultures and beliefs? Producer Sarah Bunt


SAT 15:30 Art of Now (m00088mk)
Brazilian Art Under Bolsonaro

What is like to be an artist in a country led by a far right President? Brazilian artists and thinkers explore the cultural life of their country in the era of Bolsonaro.

Voted into office on a wave of support in January 2019, Jair Bolsonaro promised to be tough on crime and end the country's long struggle with government corruption. On his way to power he has offended many with his comments on race, homosexuality and the environment. He has also been critical of government funding for the arts and threatened to increase censorship.

In this edition of Art of Now, artists and thinkers from across the political spectrum discuss what Bolsonaro means for Brazil's cultural world. Wagner Schwartz was attacked for his piece featuring his own naked body, Antonio Neto is an experimental indigenous photographer afraid for his community's future, Fernanda Brenner runs a grass roots exhibition space in Sao Paulo and Roger Moreira is a popular musician and strong supporter of the President.

Producer: Sam Peach
Image Credit: Antonio Vittal Neto


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m0008h45)
Waad al-Kateab on her film For Sama, Brexit, Women and science fiction

The journalist Waad Al Kateab documented her life on camera in war torn Aleppo, Syria. She tells us about her documentary and how she fell in love, married and had a baby daughter during the conflict.

We discuss intersectionality in Feminist Economics with Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson the Director of the UK Women’s Budget Group, Dr Zubaida Haque from the Runnymede Trust and Angela Matthews Head of Police Business disability forum.

Adina Claire Acting Co-Chief Executive of Women’s Aid gives her reaction to the cricketer Geoffrey Boycott being knighted despite being convicted by a French court in 1998 for punching his partner.

In 1962 Claire Weeks an Australian GP published a book ‘Self Help for Your Nerves’ in which she said she could cure panic, depression, sorrow, agoraphobia and anxiety. We discuss how her cures would be received today with Judith Hoare the author of ‘The Woman Who Cracked the Anxiety Code’.

Marina Litvinenko and the actress who plays her MyAnna Buring, discuss the play ‘A Very Expensive Poison’. It follows the story of Alexander Litvinenko, Marina’s husband, who died in 2006 after being poisoned with polonium 210 by a Russian man in London.

Listeners give their reaction to how Brexit is affecting relationships with family and close friends with Amber, Ellie, Henry and Gabrielle Rifkind a conflict resolution specialist and psychotherapist.

As Margaret Attwood’s sequel to the Handmaid’s Tale – The Testaments is published, we discuss why Science Fiction should be seen as a woman’s genre with authors Mary Robinette Kowal and Temi Oh.

Presented by: Jenni Murray
Produced by: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Jane Thurlow


SAT 17:00 PM (m0008h47)
Full coverage and analysis of the day's news plus the sports headlines


SAT 17:30 The Inquiry (m0008h49)
Why the race to build a quantum computer?

Quantum computers could transform our lives. Based on a branch of Physics that even Einstein found "spooky", the machines are still in their infancy. But governments and corporations are spending billions trying to turn them into workable technology. Neal Razzell finds out why by talking to four experts:
* Shohini Ghose, Professor of Physics and Computer Science at Wilfred Laurier University in Canada
* Stephanie Wehner, Professor in Quantum Information at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands
* Winifried Hensinger, Professor or Quantum Technologies at the University of Sussex
* Jonathan Dowling, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Louisiana and author of 'Quantum Technology - The Second Quantum Revolution' and 'Schrödinger's Killer App - Race to Build the World's First Quantum Computer'.


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0008h7w)
The latest shipping forecast


SAT 17:57 Weather (m0008h4f)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008h4h)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m0008h4k)
Linwood Barclay, Katherine Parkinson, Cora Bissett, Gary Crosby, Kathryn Williams, Sara Cox, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Sara Cox are joined by Linwood Barclay, Katherine Parkinson, Gary Crosby and Cora Bissett for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Gary Crosby and Kathryn Williams.

Producer: Tim Bano


SAT 19:00 Profile (m0008h4m)
John Bercow

The life story of Commons Speaker John Bercow. He has announced he will stand down at the end of October after ten highly controversial years in the job. In turbulent political times, he’s proved to be a polarizing figure. For some, he is the backbencher’s champion - the most modernising Speaker in parliament’s history. Others accuse him of bias, and deliberately trying to stop Brexit.

Mark Coles talks to friends, colleagues and critics of Speaker Bercow - hearing about his long political journey which started on the far right - and how he wooed his now wife with feats of rhetoric. And with his thunderous shouts of ‘Order Order’ now mimicked and memed around the world, we hear how for some, he has become an unlikely social media superstar.

Producer Smita Patel
Researcher Darin Graham


SAT 19:15 Saturday Review (m0008h4p)
Hustlers, A Very Expensive Poison, Tove Ditlevsen, William Blake, State of the Union

Hustlers is a new crime drama film based on a 2015 article in New York magazine about a group of strippers in the USA who decided to embezzle money from the men who came to their club.
A Very Expensive Poison at The Old Vic in London tells the story of the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB man who was poisoned in 2006 in London by agents of the Russian state.
A trio of autobiographical works by the late Danish novelist Tove Ditlevsen have just been published: Childhood, Youth and Dependency.
There's an extensive exhibition of art by William Blake just opened at Tate Britain
State Of The Union is a BBC TV series written by Nicjk Hornby and starring Chris O'Dowd and Rosamund Pike as a married couple undergoing marital therapy

Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Liz Jensen, Amber Butchart and John Mullan. The producer is Oliver Jones

Podcast extra recommendations:
Liz: Guerrilla gardening
John: Gloucester Crescent by William Miller
Amber: Margate Caves and Leiden Textile Research Centre in Holland https://www.trc-leiden.nl/
Tom: The Lives of Lucian Freud by William Feaver + Evan Davis' Sharpiegate on Thursday's PM on Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008bb7 (listen from 41.22)


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m0008h4r)
Going to the Gay Bar

LGBTQ+ venues are closing across the UK.

Research from the UCL Urban Laboratory indicates that, since 2006, the number of venues in London has fallen from 125 to 53 - with some still at risk of closure. Conversely, there's been a 144% increase in hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people, with one in five experiencing a hate crime this year.

Performance artist and writer Travis Alabanza asks if the venues have served the purpose they were originally built for or if now, more than ever, LGBTQ+ people need these spaces. Speaking to Professor Ben Campkin from UCL, Travis finds out why individual venues are closing and the impact of their loss.

Travis hears personal accounts of how these venues shapes individuals, and visits one of London’s oldest LGBTQ+ venues, The Black Cap, which closed in 2015. Campaigners have since held weekly vigils there, but developers want to turn the upper part into luxury apartments and say a new pub will have an "LGBT flavour". Travis also visits a venue being threatened with closure, The Eden Bar in Birmingham, as well as other LGBTQ+ spaces beyond nightlife; Gay's The Word bookshop, and The Outside Project.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell explains the impact of these venues in the 70s and 80s compared to today, and London’s Night Czar Amy Lamé discusses how London is working to protect venues.

Finally, Travis speaks with Phyll Opoku- Gyimah, the co-founder of UK Black Pride, to consider whether these venues truly serve the entirety of the LGBTQ+ community.

Produced by Anishka Sharma and Sasha Edye-Lindner
Researcher: Eleanor Ross
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

LLGC Oral History clips and First Out Oral History clips courtesy of UCL Urban Laboratory.

Photo credit: Tiu Makkonen


SAT 21:00 Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (m0007wkt)
Episode 3

Timberlake Wertenbaker's adaptation from the French of Marcel Proust’s allegorical reflection on time, memory, art and love.

Charles Swann and his lover, the courtesan and seductress Odette de Crecy, struggle as their relationship finds itself under the scrutiny of the bourgeoise social climber, Madame Verdurin. Swann tries to steer Odette away from this vulgar gaiety but finds he has competition.

Meanwhile, going forward in time, young Marcel and his family have moved to Paris and, in the Champs Elysees, he falls in love for the first time, reinforcing his desire to become a writer.


Cast:
MARCEL (narrator) ………Derek Jacobi
FATHER ………Oliver Cotton
FRANCOISE …………Susan Brown
MOTHER ………… Sylvestra le Touzel
YOUNG MARCEL …………Isaac Watts
GILBERTE (girl) ………Mary Glen
ODETTE ……… Bessie Carter
SWANN …………Paterson Joseph
MADAME COTTARD..………Emma Amos
GILBERTE ……………Emma Mackey
CONCIERGE ……… Finlay Paul
MONSIEUR DE NORPOIS ……… Ben Crowe

Translated and adapted from the French by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Produced and directed by Celia de Wolff
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling
Recording and Sound Design: David Chilton and Lucinda Mason Brown
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News and Weather (m0008h4t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Across the Red Line (m00088kv)
Series 4

Is Discipline the Enemy of Learning?

Anne McElvoy returns with the series that invites two public figures who disagree on an issue of principle to listen closely to each other’s arguments - and then to find out what drives them.

In this edition, Anne brings together author and educator Dr Debra Kidd with Katharine Birbalsingh, headmistress of Michael Community School, to debate whether discipline is the enemy of learning.

And Anne works with conflict resolution specialist Louisa Weinstein to foster a more exploratory conversation, to encourage both speakers to probe the values and experiences that underpin each other’s beliefs.

Producer: Phil Tinline


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (m000897f)
Series 33

Heat 2, 2019

(2/13)
Which title provided hits for both Bruno Mars and Billy Joel even though the songs were different? Which book by F Scott Fitzgerald has recently been on stage in the UK as a ballet version? And who was the first musician ever to be honoured with their own entire set of commemorative Royal Mail stamps?

You can find the answers to these and many other musical questions with Paul Gambaccini in this week's Counterpoint contest. Three amateur music lovers join Paul to compete for a place in the series semi-finals later in the year - and possibly for a chance to lift the 33rd annual Counterpoint trophy. As always, they'll have to prove the breadth of their musical knowledge and answer individual questions on a special topic of which they've had no prior warning.

Taking part today are:
Dan O'Malley, an IT project manager living in Dublin
Lucy Reynolds, a doctor and fitness instructor from London
Harry Shaw, a student from Cheltenham

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Mother Tongue (m0008bsz)
A Sense of Belonging

The globetrotting poetry series. Poet Imtiaz Dhaker explores exciting voices from around the world in their own languages and in translation.

In this episode, she hears poems written in Catalan, Turkish, Kurdish and Livonian – an endangered language from the Baltic coast. As she thinks about the phrase 'a sense of belonging', she discovers how homelands and ties of the heart have inspired these three poets.

Catalan poet Manuel Forcano draws his inspiration from countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Speaking from his home city of Barcelona, he tells Imtiaz about his connection to ancient civilisations and why his poems are often charged with a heady eroticism. He reads poems from his collection Maps of Desire, translated by Anna Crowe.

Bejan Matur writes in both Turkish and Kurdish. She grew up in south east Turkey in a Kurdish Alevi family, and her almost mystical poems engage with the experience of the Kurdish people in Turkey. The English versions are read by the translator, poet Jen Hadfield, who was paired with Bejan Matur by the Poetry Translation Centre. Canan Marasligil produced the literal translations from Turkish to English.

Finally, there’s Valts Ernštreits, who writes poems in the Livonian language. It’s an ancient Finnic language, once widely spoken in Latvia but now classified as critically endangered by UNESCO. Valts talks to Imtiaz about his proud heritage and being part of possibly the smallest literature group in Europe. The English versions of his poems are read by the translator, Ryan Van Winkle.

Producer: Caroline Hughes
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4



SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2019

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m0008h4w)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Autumn Princess (b07xhyx8)
by Sara Maitland

In this sly and playful fairy tale, a princess who has lived by the rules secretly regrets her lonely life of service and good works. When a dragon comes to her kingdom, will she continue to do the right thing?

Read by Pauline Knowles
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie

Sara Maitland is an acclaimed novelist, short story writer and author of “A Book of Silence” in which she explores the challenges and joys of self-sought silence. From her home in a remote part of Galloway, she is working on a book for Granta about migrations of no return.
Pauline Knowles was an award-winning actor who spent 30 years at the heart of the Scottish stage before her untimely death in 2018.


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008h4y)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008h50)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008h52)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m0008h54)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m0008h56)
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Kingsbury in Warwickshire

Time now for Bells on Sunday, which this morning comes from the church of Saints Peter and Paul, Kingsbury in Warwickshire. The first bells were installed in 1610, but the current ring of eight bells were renewed by Taylors of Loughborough in 1969. We hear them ringing Scientific Triples.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m0008h4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Headlines (m0008h58)
The latest national and international news headlines.


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b0bbn6lx)
Trial and Error

Writer and priest Malcolm Doney examines the process of trial and error. He believes it's at the very root of how we find out about the world, how we mature, form relationships, and develop philosophies and religious beliefs.

Although some theologians from different traditions disagree on its meaning, it can be argued that the spirit of experimentation can be seen in the biblical book of Genesis when Adam and Eve taste the forbidden fruit.

Malcolm also considers the process of trial and error in the arts, examining the experimental work of artists, writers and musicians like the composer Terry Reily. These artists push the barriers in their work and appear to be driven by the need to discover something new.

Trial and error is also at the very heart of the scientific method, a process which originated in the 17th Century. Malcolm observes that testing must be rigorous, a belief held by one of the fathers of the scientific method, Ibd al-Haythem, who said, “man must make himself an enemy of all that he reads, and attack it from every side.” Malcolm notes that, while proof is hard to come by in maths and science, it’s even less obvious in the areas of philosophy, spirituality and religion.

Malcolm deduces that living experimentally is an exercise in faith. There is research, calculation, observation - and, out of all that, a theory is formed. He concludes that when people practice trial and error in their own lives it has to be something they have faith in - otherwise why would they invest their energy?

Presenter: Malcolm Doney
Producer: Jonathan O’Sullivan
A TBI production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m0008h5c)
Whiskey: From Field to Glass

Northern Ireland's first new distillery for 125 years uses grain from the founder's farm. Ruth Sanderson visits and samples on the Ards Peninsula. Founder of the Echlinville Distillery, Shane Braniff is about to cut his barley which will be used to make whiskey. He shows Ruth how the grain is floor malted and walks her through the distillation process, after which the young whiskey is put in oak casks for 8 - 10 years until it is ready. Whiskey is all about time and Shane is prepared to give it all the time it needs.

Producer: Beatrice Fenton


SUN 06:57 Weather (m0008h5f)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m0008h5h)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m0008h5k)
Sunday morning religious news and current affairs programme presented by William Crawley.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m0008h5m)
Leukaemia Care

Kate Stallard, who was very ill with leukaemia, makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of the charity Leukaemia Care.

To Give:
- Freephone 0800 404 8144
- Freepost BBC Radio 4 Appeal. (That’s the whole address. Please do not write anything else on the front of the envelope). Mark the back of the envelope ‘Leukaemia Care’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Leukaemia Care’.

Registered Charity Number: 259483 (England) and SC039207 (Scotland)


SUN 07:57 Weather (m0008h5p)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m0008h5r)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m0008h5t)
Meeting God in the mess

From Holy Trinity Platt in South Manchester. Life is as full of ups and downs whether caused by difficult work or family circumstances, sickness, financial difficulty, a run of mishaps, or quite simply our own folly! The Old Testament figure Jacob knew several of these - his name and personal story coalesce around ideas of cheating or deceiving and at times his life certainly seemed a mess - yet God’s presence was strangely persistent in his every day experience. Preacher the Revd Dr Paul Mathole draws contemporary resonances from this ancient account of the progenitor of the people of Israel in the book of Genesis. Leader: Sarah Bradley. Music Director: Olly Hamilton. Reading: Genesis 32:22-32. Producer: Philip Billson


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m0008bld)
A Change of Tack

The economist, John Maynard Keynes once said to someone, "When my information changes, I change my mind. What do you do?"

Tom Shakespeare argues that we need to reconsider our view that changing your mind is a weakness.

"Sticking to your guns", he says, is of little benefit in today's complicated, fast-changing world.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (m00018sd)
Carry Akroyd Black and White Birds

Calling herself a bird noticer rather than a bird watcher, for painter and print maker Carry Akroyd birds are part of the landscape she connects to for her work. Carry illustrated the Tweet of the Day British Birds book in 2013, where she began noticing birds of a single bold colour; black, white, or even black and white.

Carry has chosen 5 episodes from the back catalogue which you can hear Monday to Friday and in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus.

Producer Andrew Dawes


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m0008h5w)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell.


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m0008h5y)
Writer, Nick Warburton
Director, Marina Caldarone
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Jill Archer ….. Patricia Greene
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Josh Archer ….. Angus Imrie
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Phoebe Aldridge ….. Lucy Morris
Neil Carter ….. Brian Hewlett
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Will Grundy ….. Philip Molloy
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Jazzer McCreary ….. Ryan Kelly
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Lexi Viktorova ….. Ania Sowinski
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Leonard Berry ….. Paul Copley
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye


SUN 11:15 The Reunion (m0008jyn)
Cats - The Musical

Sue MacGregor reunites cast and crew from the original stage version of the musical Cats.

Cats had its premiere in London’s West End on the 11th May 1981. The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber was based on a 1939 collection of poetry by TS Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, and featured an array of characterful felines.

The poet had famously turned down Walt Disney because he didn’t want his poetic creations to be made cute. Lloyd Webber convinced his widow to agree to the stage adaption on the basis that he saw them more like performers in the raunchy dance group Hot Gossip.

But the musical had a difficult birth with critics doubting the choice of subject matter, trouble raising money, disagreements over song lyrics, a problematic re-design of the New London Theatre, and a series of freak injuries to one of its stars, Judi Dench. She was forced to pull out just days before opening night, allowing Elaine Paige to perform the central role of Grizabella the Glamour Cat, and the hit song Memory.

The show went on to have an unbroken run of almost 9,000 performances until its closure exactly 21 years to the day later, in 2002.

Joining Sue MacGregor are Cats' director Trevor Nunn and stage designer John Napier, as well as Elaine Paige, Wayne Sleep (Mr. Mistoffelees), Bonnie Langford (Rumpleteazer) and Paul Nicholas (Rum Tum Tugger).

Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m0008h60)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 Just a Minute (m000897v)
Series 85

Episode 6

Graham Norton, Zoe Lyons, Jenny Eclair and Paul Merton join Nicholas Parsons for the panel game where the challenge is to speak without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

A BBC Studios Production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m0008h62)
Island to Island: The journey of Mauritian cuisine

Mauritius recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from the UK – and since that day in the 1960s, tens of thousands of islanders have made the UK their home; bringing with them a unique, diversely influenced cuisine that seems to enthral eaters from the first bite.

For those with Mauritian heritage, food - and the very act of coming together to eat with friends and family - is an almost sacred part of life; a tradition packed with love, laughter and lip-smacking dishes.

So why hasn't Mauritian food made more of an impact on the UK food scene, over the decades? And is that now starting to change?

Food and travel writer Leyla Kazim sets out on a journey to explore her own Mauritian heritage and the island’s growing culinary influence within the UK, learning more about a cuisine that has diversity and family – particularly matriarchs – at its very heart.

Leyla meets with pioneering cooks Selina Periampillai and Shelina Permalloo, two women who learned classic recipes handed down over the generations, who are proving that the second generation of Mauritians in the UK are determined to earn their cuisine the recognition it deserves...

She also learns more about the diverse history of the Indian Ocean island and its multicultural influences - and hears the moving tale of Clancy Phillippe, a Mauritian living in Australia who was inspired by his wife to introduce traditional Mauritian fare to the world.

Presented by Leyla Kazim and produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m0008h64)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m0008h66)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 Annalisa Is Awkward (m0002228)
What are we all so awkward about? Annalisa Dinnella explores this slippery emotion. Can she and a group of comedians outsmart awkwardness - and should they even be trying?

Annalisa has 5% vision and regularly navigates the fog of other people’s awkwardness. Research from the disability charity Scope reveals that 67% of British people feel uncomfortable speaking to a disabled person. While Annalisa sees awkwardness as a daily - and sociologically fascinating - annoyance, she knows full well that the drip-drip effect of everyday awkwardness can be devastating.

Annalisa speaks to comedian and theatre-maker Jess Thom who uses her Tourettes as inspiration for her performances. Together, they discuss the best ways to dissect and diffuse the awkwardness people feel about disability. Annalisa also meets Cariad Lloyd whose podcast, Griefcast, drills into the silences surrounding death and grief. Psychiatrist Raj Persaud explores the potential dangers of not voicing our awkwardness and comedian Bethany Black explains why getting our language right can make all the difference.

Shouldering other people’s awkwardness is a fine art and daily habit for many of us, but is it healthy? Is it sustainable? Annalisa discovers what might happen if, rather than trying to run from awkwardness, we decide instead to turn around and embrace it.

Written and presented by Annalisa Dinnella
Produced by Alexandra Quinn
Executive Producer: Jo Rowntree
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0008bkp)
British Library

Kathy Clugston and the panel are at the British Library, London. James Wong, Anne Swithinbank and Bob Flowerdew answer the audience's horticultural queries.

This week, the panellists help ensure tomatoes are perfectly ripe for a horticultural show, discuss what may be going wrong with some fig trees, and debate the best kiwi fruit variety to grow.

They also advise on growing turnips and the best plants for a green roof.

Matt Biggs meets British Library curators Julian Harrison and Maddie Smith who have brought along some horticultural classics from within the British Library archives.

Producer: Darby Dorras
Assistant Producer: Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 The Listening Project (m0008h69)
Sunday Omnibus - Boaters, Carers and Grandparents

Fi Glover presents an omnibus edition of the series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen - with three conversations about boating, grand parenting and being a carer to your parents.

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: Mohini Patel


SUN 15:00 Drama (m0001x3r)
The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales, Part 2

2/2 Queen of Ambridge amateur theatricals, Lynda Snell, takes charge of this barnstorming new adaptation of Chaucer’s classic tales. Join the cast of The Archers to enjoy more stories of courtly love, deadly rivalry and boisterous sex - with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure.

“A festive feast of spellbinding stories and bawdy banter … Another Lynda Snell triumph!” – The Borchester Echo

Written by Geoffrey Chaucer
Dramatised by Nick Warburton

Director …. Kim Greengrass
Producer …. Alison Hindell

Tellers of the Tales:
Ruth Archer & Chaucer .... Felicity Finch
David Archer & the Host .... Timothy Bentinck
Justin Elliott …. Simon Williams
Lynda Snell …. Carole Boyd
Jim Lloyd …. John Rowe
Susan Carter …. Charlotte Martin

The Pardoner’s Tale:
Roisterer 1 .... James Cartwright
Roisterer 2 …. Ian Pepperell
Roisterer 3 …. Barry Farrimond
Old Man .... John Rowe
Chemist .... Charlotte Martin

The Friar’s Tale:
Summoner .... Simon Williams
Fiend .... Timothy Bentinck
Carter .... Ian Pepperell
Old Woman .... Felicity Finch

The Franklin’s Tale:
Aurelius .... Barry Farrimond
Averagus .... James Cartwright
Dorigen .... Annabelle Dowler
Dorigen’s friend .... Charlotte Martin
Plus a mystery appearance from an unexpected Ambridge resident.

The Bailiff’s Tale:
Symkin .... Timothy Bentinck
Alan .... Barry Farrimond
John .... Ian Pepperell
Kate .... Felicity Finch
Molly .... Annabelle Dowler

Other roles played by members of the company.

Studio Managers .... Andy Partington & Vanessa Nuttall
Production Co-ordinators .... Sally Lloyd & Mel Ward


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m0008h6c)
Robert Harris

In a special edition of Open Book, Robert Harris talks to Mariella Frostrup about his new novel The Second Sleep, and reflects on 30 years of writing fiction.

The author of 13 bestsellers including Fatherland, Enigma, An Officer and a Spy, and Imperium, Harris' stories have taken us from Ancient Rome to the corridors of Westminster, from an imagined world where Hitler won the War, to the code breakers at Bletchley Park and even into the heart of the Vatican.

Selling over 25 million novels to date, his regular focus on the rise, fall and corrupting influence of power remains consistently relevant today, despite his century hopping.

He explains how his fascination with how civilizations fall has informed much of his work, and why he always has to know how a story ends before he begins.


SUN 16:30 Mother Tongue (m0008h6f)
Double Takes

Globetrotting poetry series, presented by poet Imtiaz Dharker.

In this episode, Imtiaz hears poets from Poland, Cuba and Taiwan - in their original language and in translation. Starting with the phrase Double Takes, she reflects on how these three poets have the knack of making their readers look, and look again, at the world around them - shifting perspectives with their idiosyncratic takes on details and experiences.

Imtiaz speaks to Adam Zagajewski, widely considered to be the leading Polish poet of his generation. He writes with great humanity and wry humour, with the ability to elevate the most ordinary things, such as airports and sandals, to epic levels. He takes a walk around his home city, Krakow, and talks about his approach to writing poetry. With poems from his collection, Asymmetry, translated by Clare Cavanagh.

We also hear poems from Legna Rodriguez Iglesias, an up-and-coming Cuban voice, now living in Miami. Her intense and sometimes unnerving work often has an absurdist focus on close-up details. Imtiaz speaks to the poet Abigail Parry who, with Serafina Vick, has translated a new selection of Rodriguez’s poems in a collection called A Little Body are Many Parts.

Finally, there’s Amang Hung, a Taiwanese poet and filmmaker who writes with playful and inventive flair about nature, the digital world and her life in Taipei. She reads poems from her collection Raised by Wolves. The English translations are by Steve Bradbury.

Reader: Vera Chok.
Producer: Caroline Hughes
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m00088nn)
Sex Offenders Fleeing Abroad

Every year thousands of offenders are convicted of sexual offences and subjected to a monitoring regime designed to minimise their risk to the public. But critics claim the system for managing offenders in England and Wales is flawed and allows offenders to slip through the net and flee abroad. File on 4 has discovered there are 559 sex offenders who are currently missing. One of them is Daniel Erickson-Hull – a self-styled pastor who was convicted of downloading hundreds of indecent images of children. On his release from prison he was subject to an order banning him from having unsupervised contact with children, unsupervised use of the internet and from travelling abroad without informing the authorities. But he ignored the restrictions and fled abroad. File on 4 tracks Erickson-Hull down to Bulgaria where he’s immersed himself in a Roma community and posted videos of himself with dozens of children online. File on 4 asks whether the laws designed to keep the public safe from convicted sex offenders are fit for purpose.

Reporter: Paul Kenyon
Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor: Carl Johnston


SUN 17:40 Profile (m0008h4m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m0008h6h)
The latest shipping forecast.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m0008h6k)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008h6m)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m0008h6p)
Anna Foster

This week’s programme is a celebration of teamwork – whether it’s coming together to solve a murder in Mumbai, stage a play in Chicago or find the Holy Grail… which is in Scotland, in case you didn’t know. We meet enemies-turned friends Marwan and Eli in Lebanon – brought together by a love for motorbikes – and we’ll listen in on a fledgling musical collaboration in Casablanca. And don’t worry, it’s not all perfection, we’ll look at the times it goes to pot as well. The last week in politics, anybody?

The Team;
Presenter: Anna Foster
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production support: Vanessa Ford


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m0008h6r)
Ian puts his foot down and Lynda has a bone to pick.


SUN 19:15 Cooking in a Bedsitter (b09hr1g3)
Series 2

Veiled Country Lass

Beattie Edmondson and Nikesh Patel star in Sue Teddern's romantic comedy, inspired by Katharine Whitehorn's cookery classic. Trisha makes a special pudding for her first visit to Robert's parents' house. Extracts from Cooking in a Bedsitter are read by Eleanor Bron.

Directed by Emma Harding.


SUN 19:45 Stillicide (m0008h6t)
6 Dragonfly

Cynan Jones' timely new series, set in the very near future.

Water is commodified and the Water Train that feeds the capital city is increasingly at risk of sabotage. And now ice bergs are set to be transported to a huge ice dock outside the capital city.

Today: a Professor makes an unexpected discovery that could change everything...

Readers: John Bowler and Katherine Press
Writer: Cynan Jones
Producer: Justine Willett
Music: Original music by Kirsten Morrison


SUN 20:00 More or Less (m0008bkw)
Maternal deaths, taxi driver earnings and statistical pop music

Are black women five times more likely to die in childbirth?

Statistics published earlier this year led to headlines claiming that black women are five times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. But we find out that a lot of context has been lost in that statement. We look at the number of women who die, the reasons, and also discover that these death figures relate to a period spanning through pregnancy and the weeks afterwards – not just while women are in labour.

Are Taxi driver’s salaries faring well?

Price comparison website Compare the Market recently published a ranking of which professions have seen the largest salary increase since 2008. Our listeners were surprised to see that taxi drivers topped that list with an increase of 72% in ten years. The More or Less team never tire of fact checking so we’ve looked into the data to see whether this claim is wheely accurate.

Where are our boys? The Polish village that’s gone a decade without.

A one-road village in south west Poland made headlines across the world after they sent an all-female team of junior firefighters to a regional contest. The girls responded to questions by explaining that their village ‘has no boys’. Whilst not strictly true, they haven’t had a boy born in the village for a decade. The village is now on its twelfth girl in a row, but is it really that rare or significant?

A statistically good pop song

Kyle D Evans has taken a look at the 100 most popular recent pop songs in the UK to work out statistically the best ingredients to make his own. He looks at the most popular key and words used to pen and perform his own song.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m0008bkt)
Hans Rausing, Sir Dawda Jawara, Sue Crockford, Terrance Dicks

Matthew Bannister on

Hans Rausing, the Swedish-born industrialist who led the Tetra Pak company. In the 1990s he topped the Sunday Times Rich List ahead of the Queen. His daughter Sigrid pays tribute.

Sir Dawda Jawara the first President of independent Gambia who faced two coup attempts.

Sue Crockford, a feminist campaigner who made influential films about the social history of North London.

Terrance Dicks, who was screenwriter and script editor for Dr Who and also wrote novelisations of the series.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed Guest: Esau Williams
Interviewed Guest: Matthew Sweet
Interviewed Guest: Sigrid Rausing
Interviewed Guest: Margaret Dickinson
Interviewed Guest: Anna Davin


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m0008h3x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m0008h5m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (m0008b8l)
Plain sailing?

How is Rotterdam, Europe's biggest port, preparing for Brexit? The Netherlands port handles millions of tons of goods and thousands of ships every year. Port officials are proud of this vast and slick operation. Much of its efficiency is down to a centralised system known as Portbase, which offers a means of dealing with custom declarations and other formalities electronically, without the use of physical paperwork. All port users – such as customs, freight forwarders, transport firms and ferry companies – must register with the system. Any ships or trucks that arrive and are not registered will be turned away. Now there are fears that a giant spanner may be about to be thrown into the works of this smooth-running machine, if and when Britain leaves the EU. Intense work has long been underway to make Rotterdam ready for this event – but will these preparations be enough to stave off the practical problems that Brexit might cause? Ruth Alexander has been to Rotterdam to find out.

Producer: Neil Koenig


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m0008h6x)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 Radiolab (b098ply3)
Series 2

Emergence

Radiolab asks what happens in life when there is no leader? With Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.

Radiolab is a Peabody-award winning show about curiosity. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and the human experience.

First broadcast on public radio in the USA.



MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2019

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m0008h70)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Mastertapes (m0001qjp)
Series 8

Don McLean (A-side)

John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both episodes feature exclusive live performances.

A-side: American Pie by Don McLean

24-year old Don McLean’s debut album was rejected by 72 labels before it was released by Mediarts. It was only because that label was taken over by United Artists that his follow-up received the promotion it deserved.

His second album contained: a tribute to a 19th-century Dutch painter, which was cited as a personal inspiration by the late rapper Tupac Shakur; a song that was re-recorded 32 years later by George Michael in protest against the Iraq War; and an eight-and-a-half-minute single that in 2017 was designated an “aural treasure… worthy of preservation as part of America’s patrimony.”

Complete versions of the songs performed in the programme (and others) can be heard on the 'Mastertapes' pages on the Radio 4 website, where the programmes can also be downloaded and other musical goodies accessed.

Producer: Paul Kobrak


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m0008h56)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008h72)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008h74)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008h76)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m0008h78)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008h7b)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m0008h7d)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m0008h7g)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (m0001985)
Carry Akroyd and the Snipe

Although Carry Akroyd, who is is President of the John Clare Society, grew up in the countryside, as a child she was never shown or taught anything of the natural world around her.

It was not until adulthood that a revelatory moment occurred. Walking one day in Wicken Fen, that she heard an unfamiliar noise above her, which she discovered was the drumming flight of an overhead snipe, a bird whose long bill the peasant poet John Clare described as "...of rude unseemly length" .

Carry has chosen 5 episodes from the back catalogue to share with you, which you can hear Monday to Friday and in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus.

Producer Andrew Dawes


MON 06:00 Today (m0008hjn)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m0008hjq)
Escaping the past

Andrew Marr discusses how far nations have managed to confront the past. In Learning from the Germans, the philosopher Susan Neiman contrasts the way in which Germany continues to come to terms with its Nazi past, with the failure of the US to deal with slavery and the legacy of racial violence.

The historian Stuart James Ward is interested in how far the ghosts of Empire have haunted the debate around Brexit. From the simplistic caricature of hankering after the past to a global vision of the future, both sides have summoned their own image of Empire. As an Australian academic who has spent his career in Denmark, Ward believes he is in a unique position to observe the unfolding political drama.

The former MP David Howell argues it’s time to look ahead and not back in his new book, subtitled ‘Escaping the Prism of Past Politics’. Howell has been at the centre of government for four decades and was a member of Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet. He believes Britain should be forging new relations and finding a new position in the world.

The political scientist Jane Green looks beyond the present impasse in the Commons over the direction of Brexit to focus on public volatility in voting. Not since 1931 has there been such a fracturing of voter loyalty, but Green asks how much we can learn from the past.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008hjs)
Episode 1

With the building of the railways and new technological advances, 19th Century Europe is hovering on the brink of great change. By exploring the love triangle between a famous opera singer, her husband-manager and a Russian novelist, Orlando Figes’ latest book charts the emergence of a cosmopolitan Europe.

The reader is Hugh Bonneville

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Directed by Gemma Jenkins

The Europeans takes us back to the 19th century and tells the story of the intimate relationship which existed between opera superstar, Pauline Viardot, her husband and manager Louis Viardot and the Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev. Alongside their personal story The Europeans also tells of the role they played in Europe’s cultural renaissance. From the mid-19th century up until the outbreak of the First World War, Europe experienced a cultural revolution which stretched from the British Isles to Imperial Russia heralding in a new age of heady optimism. A thirst for literature, art and music flourished during this period bringing about a commercial demand that was facilitated by technology changes from the railways to the factory scale production of upright pianos.

Each of the five episodes focuses on a different stage of the Viardot’s and Turgenev’s relationship and a selection of the ways in which they and their work contributed to Europe’s evolving cultural landscape.


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0008hjv)
My Best Day - Suzanne Goldberg on the power of laughter

Earlier in the summer we asked you, our listeners, to get in touch and send us a picture that somehow captured you at your best. Not just looking your best, but feeling your best. Hundreds of you got in touch with pictures of your best day, and we’ll be running as many of your stories as we can. Today…. Suzanne Goldberg brings us a picture of laughter.

With continuing division over Brexit in Parliament and a General Election expected soon, the Liberal Democrat party’s president, Baroness Sal Brinton, joins us from the Lib Dem Party Conference. What opportunity does the current chaos offer the party and what is their message to women?

Vicky Phelan has become one of the most well-known and well-respected women in Ireland. She exposed a medical scandal which not only affected her but affected over 200 other Irish women as well. She found out that cervical smear tests, like hers, were mistakenly given the all clear but turned out to be abnormal. This meant women weren’t given important treatment that might have prevented cancer or halted it. Vicky took her case to court and won. She was awarded 2.5 million Euros in compensation. Vicky is now living with a terminal diagnosis but getting treatment. She says she’s feeling strong at the moment. She’s just published a book called Overcoming: A Memoir.

What does it mean to be a woman in the 21st century? Anna Hope’s third novel, Expectation, opens with three young women in their twenties, living a precarious but happy life in a rented house in Hackney, London. Ten years on they are not where they had hoped to be. Anna joins Jane to discuss friendship, love, the pain of infertility, motherhood, work and feminism.


MON 10:45 Blackwater (m0002g4v)
Episode 6

A multi-voiced dark story about secrets and lies in a small town.

Golden girl Zoe’s been dead for ten years, her body dragged from the river Black after a night out to celebrate the end of school. But now a woman who says she’s Zoe has turned up in her hometown of Blackwater, on the Irish border, with no memory of the last decade. She claims she woke up in a forest nearby, bruised and bleeding, and doesn’t know where she’s been all this time. What happened to her? Is she really Zoe? If so, who’s in her grave?

Paul, a local boy whose band were playing in the venue where Zoe was last seen, went to prison for her murder. Now he’s out, but he’s lost everything and is shunned in the town. The people of Blackwater were easily convinced that a black boy murdered Zoe, and the evidence did stack up – but if she’s not even dead, then how did he get convicted? Did someone deliberately frame him? He’s determined to find out the truth and clear his name. But does he really know nothing about what happened?

Could it be that everyone involved with the case is hiding something? There’s Zoe’s uncle Phil, a former detective superintendent with an explosive secret. There’s Steve, the police officer who found ‘Zoe’s’ body in the river Black, and sent Paul to prison for her murder. And there’s Zoe’s friend Danny, who wasn’t were she said she was on that night ten years ago. When Paul and Zoe collide, they realise they’re the only ones who can help each other. As they sift through their conflicting memories of that day ten years ago, they start to discover that not everyone is happy Zoe’s back from the dead.

Clare Dunne ….. Zoe
Sean Kearns ….. Phil

Claire McGowan ..... Writer
Celia De Wolff ..... Producer


MON 11:00 I Can't Be Racist (m0002rkq)
Social psychologist Dr Keon West explores racial bias, and the concepts of both conscious and unconscious bias, drawing on the latest psychological and sociological research. He examines common misconceptions surrounding racism and examines how bias is formed, asking how far we are responsible for our unconscious associations.

The term "unconscious bias" has gained a great deal of popularity as an explanation for continued discrimination in Britain - and Unconscious Bias Training has become the go-to solution for businesses and institutions to counter such bias. Keon questions how useful the concept of unconscious bias is and how effective anti-bias training might be, as well as what other interventions have been proved to increase diversity and inclusion.

He speaks to:
Dr Katy Greenland, Reader in Social Sciences at Cardiff University
Alexandra Kalev, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University
Tinu Cornish, a Chartered Organisational Psychologist and Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion at Work Group sponsored by the British Psychological Society
Femi Otitoju, Founder and Managing Director of Challenge Consultancy
Dr Doyin Atewologun, a Chartered Business Psychologist and Director of the Gender Leadership and Inclusion Centre at the Cranfield School of Management.

Producer: Philippa Geering
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m0008h4k)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m0008hjy)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The Testaments (m0008hk0)
Episode 1

In this brilliant and long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalised readers for decades.

In The Testaments, set fifteen years after the events of her dystopian masterpiece, the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. Now the testimonies of three different women bring the story to a dramatic conclusion. Today we hear from the infamous Aunt Lydia, and Agnes, a young girl who has only known life in Gilead.

‘Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.' Margaret Atwood

‘The literary event of the year.’ Guardian

Writer: Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books, including novels such as Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic, The Handmaid's Tale, went back into the bestseller charts with the election of Donald Trump, when he Handmaids became a symbol of resistance against the disempowerment of women, and with the 2017 release of the award-winning Channel 4 TV series.
Reader: Sara Kestelman, Katherine Press
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m0008hk2)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


MON 12:57 Weather (m0008hk4)
The latest weather forecast.


MON 13:00 World at One (m0008hk6)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


MON 13:45 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008hk8)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Cubesat

Satellites used to weigh several tonnes and be as long as a bus. Now they’re closer to the size of a Beanie Baby. In fact, as Tim Harford explains, the new microsatellites were originally a student engineering challenge: design a satellite that can fit into a Beanie Baby box. So how are these CubeSats changing the way we use space? And how are they changing the way economics itself is done?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


MON 14:00 The Archers (m0008h6r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (m0008hkb)
The House of Unexpected Sisters

A new dramatisation by Alexander McCall Smith from his popular novels set in Gabarone's only detective agency.

The House of Unexpected Sisters
Mma Ramotswe dips a reluctant toe into local politics while the Agency is charged with investigating a simple case of wrongful dismissal.

Mma Ramotswe ... JANICE ACQUAH
Mma Makutsi ... NADINE MARHSALL
Mr JLB Matekoni ... BEN ONWUKWE
Mr Polopetsi ... STEVE TOUSSAINT
Mma Potokwani ... SARAH NILES
Charity ... SAFFRON COOMBER
Charity's mother ... LORNA GAYLE

A BBC Scotland production directed by Eilidh McCreadie


MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m0008hkf)
Series 33

Heat 3, 2019

(3/13)
Cinema, concert stage and even video game soundtracks provide the extracts in today's edition of the most eclectic music quiz of them all. Paul Gambaccini is at London's Radio Theatre with a batch of questions designed to test even those with the very broadest range of musical knowledge.

Joining Paul today are:
Brian Eastty, an actor and teacher from Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex
Jill Goodwin, a retired insurance claims officer from Chiseldon in Wiltshire
Daniel Lay, a student from Kidlington in Oxfordshire.

A place in the semi-finals awaits the winner.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m0008h62)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Art of Now (m0008hkj)
Limbo Land

The poet Seamus Heaney once memorably referred to Northern Ireland as a limbo land - a territory that has existed on the fault line between two different cultures.

In the face of more than two-and-a-half years of a political vacuum following the collapse of Stormont’s power-sharing government, five months since the fatal shooting of writer and journalist Lyra McKee during sectarian riots, and with ongoing Brexit negotiations that put the question of the Irish border firmly back into public scrutiny, some are feeling a sense that Northern Ireland is currently suspended somewhere between the past and the present.

Anna McNamee travels to Belfast and Londonderry to find out how artists like Christopher James Burns and Locky Morris are negotiating the complex relationship between memory, identity and place. The writers at Abridged magazine talk about the way the legacy of the Troubles is impacting on how young creatives define themselves today. At UV Arts, street artists are working to reclaim the walls, hoardings and spaces that have been billboards for political slogans.

Produced by Anna McNamee
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Photo credit:
Christopher James Burns: Limbo Land (exhibition detail).
Image courtesy the MAC, Belfast. Photography by Simon Mills.


MON 16:30 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0008hkl)
Dinosaurs

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return for a new series of their multi-award winning science/comedy show. They kick off with arguably any child's first interest in science - dinosaurs! They are joined by comedian Rufus Hound and palaeontologists Susannah Maidment from the Natural History Museum and Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh to find out what the latest research and exciting fossil finds have revealed about these epic creatures. Are we in a new age of dinosaur discovery? What are the big questions that dinosaur hunters are hoping to uncover, and did they go extinct at all?

Producer: Alexandra Feachem


MON 17:00 PM (m0008hkn)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008hkq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 Just a Minute (m0008hks)
Series 85

Episode 7

Tony Hawks, Phil Wang, Sheila Hancock and Paul Merton join Nicholas Parsons for the panel game where the challenge is to speak without repetition, hesitation or deviation.

A BBC Studios Production.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m0008hkv)
Eddie makes a shocking confession and there's a worrying discovery for Brian.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m0008hkx)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


MON 19:45 Letters from Inside (b07v016b)
Joe Dunthorne, Binyavanga Wainana, Anne Carson

Writers from around the world - Anne Carson, Joe Dunthorne and Binyavanga Wainana - read letters on the theme of imprisonment, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis. Introduced by the novelist Gillian Slovo.

Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners. Wilde’s imprisonment led to one of his last great works - De Profundis, an extended letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas written by Wilde in his prison cell.

Produced by Barney Rowntree and Jeremy Mortimer
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


MON 20:00 Simon Evans Is Right (m0008hkz)
Recently Simon Evans has been labelled as a, if not THE, right-wing comedian so here he takes a look at where those accusations have come from and whether he is guilty as charged.

A BBC Studios production
With thanks to Dr Caroline Howitt at Panmure House.


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m0008b9g)
Colombia’s Kamikaze Cyclists

Precipitous mountain roads, specially modified bikes, and deadly consequences. Simon Maybin spends time with the young men who race down the steep roads of Colombia’s second city Medellin. Marlon is 16 and he’s a gravitoso - a gravity biker. He hooks onto the back of lorries or buses climbing the precipitous roads to reach high points around the city. Then, he lets gravity do its thing and - without any safety gear - hurtles back down the roads, trying to dodge the traffic. This year, two of his friends have died gravity biking and Marlon has had a near-fatal accident. But he’s not quitting. So what drives young men like him to take their lives into their own hands? And what’s being done to stop more deaths? Produced and presented by Simon Maybin.


MON 21:00 The Long and Short of Life Expectancy (m00088mh)
Life expectancy in the UK appears to be stalling after years of dramatic improvements. The science writer and broadcaster Timandra Harkness asks why this is happening, who is affected, and how we should respond.
The average age of death for men and women in the UK was increasing steadily in the early part of the 21st century. But in the last few years, the figures have shown little to no improvement and for some groups life expectancy has actually been falling.
Although experts agree about the broad trends in mortality, there is disagreement about the causes, with a particular debate about the possible role of "austerity". In this programme Timandra talks to public health and policy experts, statisticians and an actuary advising on pension schemes, and her journey of investigation also takes her to a convent in Bedfordshire and to the Castlemilk estate in Glasgow.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m0008hjq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m0008hl2)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


MON 22:45 The Testaments (m0008hk0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 The Angels of the Bayou (m00070my)
Kenny Hill was a bricklayer who arrived in the small town of Chauvin, Louisiana in 1988. He built himself a small home by the side of the bayou and began to make statues. Over the course of 13 years, he created a sculpture park filled with angels, self-portraits, and Americana icons that has been hailed as one of America's great works of 'outsider art'.

Then, one day, Kenny Hill knocked the head off one of his angels and vanished.

Kenny's arrival and his subsequent artistic creations were unusual because Chauvin is a town with a dwindling population. The coastal land loss affecting much of south-eastern Louisiana means that Chauvin is gradually disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricanes are getting more and more severe and, with each passing month, residents are noticing more water creeping into their front yards. The younger generations are moving further north, leaving the future of the town in doubt.

We meet the residents of Chauvin who knew Kenny Hill - and attempt to find out what happened to him after he left the town. And we examine what his artwork and legacy have come to mean for a community that is being eroded.

Producer: Ant Adeane
An SPG production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 The Digital Human (m0000m8c)
Series 15

Harm

Sarah from Ohio went online to escape bullies at her school but they followed her online and the abuse continued. She hoped someone would step in and help her but her attempt at a cry for help was ignored.

We also hear from Vie Clerc Lusandu who was attacked, with her son on a train travelling from London to Leeds. Vie is still trying to comprehend why on a packed train it took ten minutes for someone to come to her aid.

Dr Lasana Harris an experimental psychologist from University Collage London explains that people do not step forward because they are callous but because of the bystander effect. People may just not recognise when they are faced with a helping situation. If there is a large crowd this is exaggerated as people take their cues from other people. If there had been fewer people in Vie's carriage Lasana says it would have been more likely that someone would've stepped forward because the diffusion of responsibility would have been lower. Lasana acknowledges that because the conditions necessary for the bystander effect are magnified people online are even more unlikely to step in.

Jackie Zammuto from Witness an organisation who teach people around the world how to bare witness to injustices using video explains how it is possible to turn from a bystander into a witness whose presence can then be of some use even if they don't step in. This may not have help Vie feel any less scared or vulnerable but it may have helped to deescalate and disrupt the attack.

However documentary photographer, Lauren Pond's story warns us that we need to be careful we don't use our phones as a protective shield in helping situations where we should really put them away and step in or through observing videos online become bystanders ourselves.

Produced by Kate Bissell
Researched by Jac Phillimore



TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2019

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m0008hl4)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 00:30 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008hjs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008hl6)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008hl8)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008hlb)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m0008hld)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008hlg)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m0008hlj)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b0979f3x)
Rosa Gleave on the Goldcrest

Rosa Gleave from BirdLife International, reveals how she recognises the song of the goldcrest and why that has inspired a change in her life.

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. In this latest series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Eliza Lomas
Photograph: Francis C. Franklin.


TUE 06:00 Today (m0008hw5)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Patch (m0001cv9)
Spalding

One producer, one randomly generated postcode, and an unheard story unfolding in a corner of Britain we wouldn’t otherwise know about.

Earlier this year, producer Polly Weston discovered a random postcode generator on the internet. It sparked a radical idea. Maybe by randomly generating postcodes, and then going there, we'd find stories which are being overlooked - stories of national importance which we never would have noticed without stumbling into them.

Each week, a new postcode is randomly generated. This postcode becomes Polly's patch. Near or far, populated or not, this is the area where she must go to make the programme.

Week three takes us to a Lincolnshire town, where cigarettes are a hot topic everywhere you go.

Producer/Presenter: Polly Weston
Exec Producer: Jolyon Jenkins


TUE 09:30 One to One (b09sn7ym)
I'm done with race: Lawrence Hoo

Jay Brave speaks to the poet Lawrence Hoo about his upbringing in a small village near Weston Super Mare, and what it was like to then move to Bristol where other people noticed the colour of his skin. He talks about how his background informs his attitude towards race and identity, and why he is now done with race.

Producer: Toby Field.


TUE 09:45 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008hyt)
Episode 2

Hugh Bonneville continues to read from Orlando Figes’ account of a love triangle set against the backdrop of huge cultural change in 19th century Europe.

Russian novelist, Ivan Turgenev turns his back on his homeland to follow opera singer, Pauline Viardot, to France.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0008hwb)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world.


TUE 10:45 Blackwater (m0002ljw)
Episode 7

A multi-voiced dark story about secrets and lies in a small town.

Golden girl Zoe’s been dead for ten years, her body dragged from the river Black after a night out to celebrate the end of school. But now a woman who says she’s Zoe has turned up in her hometown of Blackwater, on the Irish border, with no memory of the last decade. She claims she woke up in a forest nearby, bruised and bleeding, and doesn’t know where she’s been all this time. What happened to her? Is she really Zoe? If so, who’s in her grave?

Paul, a local boy whose band were playing in the venue where Zoe was last seen, went to prison for her murder. Now he’s out, but he’s lost everything and is shunned in the town. The people of Blackwater were easily convinced that a black boy murdered Zoe, and the evidence did stack up – but if she’s not even dead, then how did he get convicted? Did someone deliberately frame him? He’s determined to find out the truth and clear his name. But does he really know nothing about what happened?

Could it be that everyone involved with the case is hiding something? There’s Zoe’s uncle Phil, a former detective superintendent with an explosive secret. There’s Steve, the police officer who found ‘Zoe’s’ body in the river Black, and sent Paul to prison for her murder. And there’s Zoe’s friend Danny, who wasn’t were she said she was on that night ten years ago. When Paul and Zoe collide, they realise they’re the only ones who can help each other. As they sift through their conflicting memories of that day ten years ago, they start to discover that not everyone is happy Zoe’s back from the dead.

Richard Clements ….. Steve
Aston Kelly ….. Paul

Claire McGowan ..... Writer
Celia De Wolff ..... Producer


TUE 11:00 The Vet with a New Brain (m0008k32)
Adam Tjolle's story of how he discovered by accident that he had a brain tumour and why he decided to go ahead with an operation was featured on Radio 4 in 2018.

There was immense relief for Adam and his family after his operation to remove the tumour was a success. But nearly two years on how much has life changed? We hear from the neuro psychologist who's been supporting Adam, developing strategies to help him deal with the severe fatigue and wandering attention which affect his day-to-day life.


TUE 11:30 Mary Portas: On Style (m0008hwd)
Episode 1

Mary Portas: On Style - the new Radio 4 series where style meets substance. Ever thought judging something by its appearance was shallow? Prepare to have that thought challenged by style doyenne Mary Portas as she takes the helm of a new series on Radio 4.

In the 1990s, as Creative Director at Harvey Nichols, Mary Portas transformed the perception of what many regarded as a department store in decline. After the success of BBC Two series Mary Queen of Shops, Portas, with her clear passion for clothing and design, her ability to ask the tricky question, and her trademark sleek copper bob, became a regular presence on British television. Now she has a berth on Radio 4.

Mary Portas: On Style is dedicated to fashion and design and explores how style reveals attitudes, concerns, passions, desires, and beliefs not just of an individual but of a whole society. Style surrounds us, and in these programmes Mary examines its expression in areas such as clothing, architecture and interiors. She talks to designers in a wide range of areas as well as those analysing and evaluating trends. With the Design Council calculating that Design generates £82.5 billion in gross value added to the UK economy, how are designers responding to the environmental challenges presented by our sheer volume of ‘stuff’? She’ll also hear from listeners about their relationship to aspects of design.

And there's fun with cult star Miss Jason of Jason’s Closet fame – the programme’s on-the-road reporter – as he visits UK cities to find out what people are wearing and buying. So join Mary Portas as she shares her experiences of style on Radio 4.

Presenter: Mary Portas
Producer: Ekene Akalawu


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m0008jd8)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The Testaments (m0008hwk)
Episode 2

Margaret Atwood's long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. Set fifteen years after the events of her dystopian masterpiece, the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is starting to rot from within. Now the testimonies of three women bring the story to a dramatic conclusion. Today: Aunt Lydia continues her machinations, while Daisy, a teenage girl in Canada, receives some shocking news

‘The literary event of the year.’ Guardian

Writer: Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books, including novels such The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy.
Reader: Sara Kestelman, Samantha Dakin
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m0008hwm)
News and discussion of consumer affairs.


TUE 12:57 Weather (m0008hwp)
The latest weather forecast.


TUE 13:00 World at One (m0008hwr)
Mon-Thurs: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: Analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


TUE 13:45 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008hwt)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Rubber

Charles Goodyear was determined to invent a way to make natural rubber withstand extremes of heat and cold. Eventually he succeeded – we now know the process he devised as vulcanisation. When John Boyd Dunlop later figured out how to make pneumatic tyres from rubber, it sparked a boom in demand that had horrific consequences in the Congo Free State, a colony ruled by Belgium’s King Leopold. Tim Harford tells how natural rubber still goes mostly into tyres, and its production still causes a degree of controversy.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m0008hkv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (b0910ndm)
Breaking Up with Bradford

Kasim's return to his hometown of Bradford after three years away at University isn't quite what he anticipated. His time away has changed him, but is Bradford ready for the new Kasim?

Written by Kamal Kaan
Directed on location in Bradford by Charlotte Riches.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m0008hww)
Series 20

Family Ties

A family whose women are bound by activism, poetry between generations and forging new families in later life. Josie Long presents short documentaries about familial connections.

Production Team: Eleanor McDowall and Alia Cassam
Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m0008hwy)
Fire in the Amazon

How can we prevent a repeat of the devastating fires in the Amazon? Tom Heap and Lucy Siegle search for solutions.

Producer: Emma Campbell


TUE 16:00 Born in Bradford (m0001kbc)
Child development and attainment

Beginning in 2007 researchers have recruited 14,000 mothers and babies across this city. Each has donated blood and tissue samples and completed a lengthy questionnaire, running to 42 pages, detailing diet, family structures, relationships, incomes, mental and physical health. The project is run by Professor John Wright, a consultant clinical epidemiologist at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, who said that Born in Bradford had set in motion a quiet revolution in the city:

“There’s much more recognition that just being part of the study has made mothers much more aware of diet and health and many say they have made changes to improve their health.

“What’s also interesting is the effect it’s had on galvanising the city – when we set out on the study we didn’t realise it would become part of the city’s.”
“This spotlight of research makes you think about your health much more: because we’re always asking questions it does trigger changes and the other aspect of it is the results that the study is producing. We’ve found very clear evidence about being in green spaces and the impact on the future long term health of the baby,” says Professor Wright.

The research began in response to poor health in the city and high levels of child morbidity and mortality. Bradford had child mortality rates twice the national average – and rising at a time when they were falling everywhere else. Radio 4 has been given exclusive access to this research and to some of the families taking part, returning year after year to chart progress in a series of documentaries.

Producer: Sue Mitchell


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m0008hx2)
Series 49

Comedian Sindhu Vee on Prince

The comedian Sindhu Vee has loved Prince ever since she was a young girl in India - when her sister gave her illicit cassettes recorded from U.S. radio. Hearing his music changed her life forever, and seeing him perform influenced her career as a comedian.

Sindhu is joined by BAFTA-winning investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar (who's seen Prince live 54 times) and presenter Matthew Parris, to discuss the life of Prince Rogers Nelson - a pop polymath and global superstar, who was also a man of extreme contradictions and multiple personas.

Produced by Eliza Lomas in Bristol.


TUE 17:00 PM (m0008hx6)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines.


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008hxg)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 Paul Sinha's General Knowledge (m0008hxl)
Episode 4

Paul Sinha - comedian, lapsed GP, Chaser and genuinely the fourth best quizzer in the United Kingdom - returns to tell you about... well, everything.

Paul has already told you about history in the Rose d'Or-winning Paul Sinha's History Revision, as well as Britishness (Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test), Magna Carta (The Sinha Carta), the Olympics (The Sinha Games) and, most importantly, cricket (The Sinha Test).

But, as a competitive quizzer, Paul learns fascinating facts all the time. As a curious man, he then looks up the stories behind those facts and they often turn out to be even more fascinating. In Paul Sinha's General Knowledge, he shares these stories with you.

In this final episode of the series, Paul reveals a dazzling list of facts, each one connected to a different year between 1970 and 1995. From the fictional character who got a Times obituary to the woman who ruined her TV career by being too mean, this is the closest a comedy show about facts can get to being a Billy Joel song.

Written and performed by Paul Sinha
Produced by Ed Morrish

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m0008hxs)
Kate exacts her revenge, and Freddie has a hard day.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m0008hxz)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


TUE 19:45 Letters from Inside (b07v0fv8)
Ai Weiwei

In 2011 Ai Weiwei was arrested without notice by the Chinese authorities and detained for 81 days. Here he writes a letter to his son Ai Lao who was two years old when he disappeared. It contains a detailed account of the rules and routines he was obliged to uphold during his detention.

It's part of a series in which writers from around the world read letters on the theme of imprisonment, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis.

Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners. Wilde’s imprisonment led to one of his last great works - De Profundis, an extended letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas written by Wilde in his prison cell.

Produced by Barney Rowntree and Jeremy Mortimer
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m0008hy4)
Harassed students ‘re-victimised’ by universities

File on 4 exposes serious flaws in the way many universities mismanage reports of sexual assaults and harassment and how some students believe they’re re-victimised and bullied into keeping their complaints quiet. Up until three years ago the guidelines for universities said sexual misconduct should never be investigated internally. But in 2016 guidelines published by Universities UK, encouraged universities to take on these cases in-house as civil matters, with allegations to be examined on ‘the balance of probabilities’, rather than the criminal court standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. But students tell reporter Fiona Foster how they believe universities are more interested in protecting their reputation than their students and serial offenders are still at large. Even when perpetrators are dealt with, they’re often given derisory punishments. The Office For Students says it has invested more than two million pounds in initiatives to work out ways of addressing the issue and that it has seen evidence of some universities managing complaints effectively. The organisation says if it sees evidence of a university not dealing with complaints it has the power to intervene.

Reporter: Fiona Foster
Producer: Kate West
Editor: Carl Johnston


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m0008hy9)
News, views and information for people who are blind or partially sighted.


TUE 21:00 Branding Genius (m0002mdx)
Who owns Shakespeare? The English? The tourist industry? The world?

Branding and Graphic Designer Teresa Monachino goes in search of the 21st century phenomenon that is William Shakespeare and uncovers his contradictory brand values, with the help of a distinguished cast:

Rev Dr Paul Edmondson from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,
Nick Eagleton and Katherina Tudball from SuperUnion
Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Vikki Heywood, Outgoing Chairman of the Royal Society of the Arts
Chino Odimba, Writer
Professor Michael Dobson, The Shakespeare Institute
Duncan Lees, Warwick University
Michael Pennington, Actor, Director, Writer and Founder of the English Shakespeare Company
Alicia Maksimova, Filmmaker
Wind up Will

Producer: Ellie Richold.


TUE 21:30 In Tooth and Claw (m0001ycw)
What is the relationship between nature writing and violence? Writer, barrister, vet and philosopher Charles Foster takes himself off into wild places to consider a difficult and often controversial subject, meditating on the tension at the heart of his favourite writing about the natural world.

In encounters with writers and poets who focus on human relationships with the natural world, Charles teases out the threads of violence - human, animal and ecological - which run through so much nature writing and asks why we find solace and peace in places haunted by competition, destruction and death.

In Scotland, with conservationist and author Sir John Lister Kaye, he considers the apparent paradox in the life of the iconic nature writer Gavin Maxwell who, like many of his generation, both loved the natural world and was capable of slaughtering animals great and small without a second thought.

In Yorkshire, poet and secular funeral celebrant Zetta Bear explores the way the poetic and the sublime can emerge from what she sees as the essentially human desire to hunt.

Walking Hatfield Moor with his dogs, poet and writer Steve Ely explores violence, power and poaching, and the conflict in his own life and work between the desire to hunt and the desire to protect nature.

In a wood in the south west of Scotland, poet, writer and editor Em Strang considers the mirror the natural world and nature writing offer to all of us, the beauty and freedom we might find there and the dark reflection, the fear and destructiveness which we all too often encounter instead.

Additional music by Robin the Fog

Produced by Michael Umney
A Resonance production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m0008hyh)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective.


TUE 22:45 The Testaments (m0008hwk)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 The Infinite Monkey Cage (m0008hkl)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Monday]


TUE 23:30 The Digital Human (m0000nmq)
Series 15

Flawless

Aleks Krotoski explores the social and psychological impact of a life lived online, where maintaining a perfectly curated life is key and real life flaws are hidden...

Producer: Victoria McArthur



WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2019

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m0008hyp)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 00:30 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008hyt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008hyy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008hz1)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008hz5)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m0008hz9)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008hzf)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m0008hzk)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09sqgkp)
Helen Moncrieff on the Shetland Starling

Ever since childhood, Helen Moncrieff, Shetland Manager for RSPB Scotland has been fascinated by the ways in which Shetland Starlings can mimic not only other birds but other sounds including a squeaky toy belonging to her own dog!

Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection in our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: John Dixon.


WED 06:00 Today (m0008j6b)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day


WED 09:00 The Sound Odyssey (m0008j6d)
Loyle Carner in Guyana

Gemma Cairney brings together artists from two different countries to combine their talents to make a new piece of music.

In this episode Gemma invites 24-year-old London rapper Loyle Carner to Guyana, South America to join flautist and composer Keith Waithe, a leading figurehead and champion of Guyanese culture. Loyle aka Benjamin Coyle-Larner was raised in Croydon South London by his Scottish mother and stepfather. His biological father is of Guyanese descent, but he has never visited the country.

Loyle earned a Mercury Prize nomination for his debut album Yesterday’s Gone in 2017. His second album Not Waving, But Drowning was released earlier this year exploring everything from his ADHD and the pains of moving away from home, to his mixed race heritage. His other passion is food and he launched the Chilli Con Carner cookery school for kids growing up, as he had, with ADHD.

Loyle will be immersed in the culture, food and music of Georgetown, working with Keith and other traditional Guyanese musicians to learn about the roots of Guyanese music and explore his black identity and create a brand new track together .

Presented by Gemma Cairney
Produced by Jax Coombes
A BBC 6 Music Production for BBC Radio 4


WED 09:30 Four Thought (m0008j6g)
The P Word

Richard Lynch-Smith argues that social workers need to be more open in acknowledging the role that poverty plays in the lives of the families with which they work.

Introducing us to several of his families, social worker Richard details the many ways, large and small, in which poverty affects their life experience. But he also reveals how these experiences are understood, and interpreted, by the state. Richard also describes the movement amongst social workers to acknowledge the role that poverty plays and explains what impact that might have.

Producer: Giles Edwards


WED 09:45 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008j6j)
Episode 3

Hugh Bonneville continues to read from Orlando Figes’ account of a love triangle set against the backdrop of huge cultural change in 19th century Europe.

While Turgenev’s relationship with married opera singer, Pauline Viardot, intensifies, cosmopolitan aspirations falter as cries for revolution spread across the continent.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0008j6l)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:41 Blackwater (m0002rn4)
Episode 8

A multi-voiced dark story about secrets and lies in a small town.

Golden girl Zoe's been dead for ten years, her body dragged from the River Black after a night out to celebrate the end of school. But now a woman who says she's Zoe has turned up in her hometown of Blackwater, on the Irish border, with no memory of the last decade. She claims she woke up in a forest nearby, bruised and bleeding, and doesn't know where she's been all this time. What happened to her? Is she really Zoe? If so, who's in her grave?

Paul, a local boy whose band were playing in the venue where Zoe was last seen, went to prison for her murder. Now he's out, but he's lost everything and is shunned in the town. The people of Blackwater were easily convinced that a black boy murdered Zoe, and the evidence did stack up – but if she's not even dead, then how did he get convicted? Did someone deliberately frame him? He's determined to find out the truth and clear his name. But does he really know nothing about what happened?

Could it be that everyone involved with the case is hiding something? There's Zoe's uncle Phil, a former detective superintendent with an explosive secret. There's Steve, the police officer who found 'Zoe's' body in the River Black, and sent Paul to prison for her murder. And there's Zoe's friend Danny, who wasn't were she said she was on that night ten years ago. When Paul and Zoe collide, they realise they're the only ones who can help each other. As they sift through their conflicting memories of that day ten years ago, they start to discover that not everyone is happy Zoe's back from the dead.

Roisin Gallagher ….. Danny
Sean Kearns ….. Phil

Claire McGowan ..... Writer
Celia De Wolff ..... Producer


WED 10:55 The Listening Project (m0008j6n)
Sarah and Charlie - Dragons, Unicorns, Griffins

Mother and daughter talk about the magical imaginary world the daughter has created. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


WED 11:00 Simon Evans Is Right (m0008hkz)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m0008j6q)
The Family

Marian Keyes is a publishing sensation - her works of fiction (Rachel's Holiday, The Break and others) have sold in their millions, across the globe. In this new series, Marian reads selections from her non-fiction writing while in conversation with her friend and actor Tara Flynn.

This week's theme is the family. Alongside the craic, Marian reads Rapunzel, Rapunzel Throw Down Your Hairdryer from her collection Under The Duvet, and Big Night Out from Further Under The Duvet.

Presenters: Tara Flynn and Marian Keyes
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m0008j6s)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 12:04 The Testaments (m0008j6v)
Episode 3

Margaret Atwood's powerful and long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.

Set fifteen years after the events of Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, the testimonies of three women bring the story to a dramatic conclusion. Today: Aunt Lydia recalls the ruthless birth of the Gilead regime, while the young Agnes hears some devastating news about her own mother

Writer: Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books, including novels such The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy.
Reader: Sara Kestelman, Katherine Press
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m0008j6x)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m0008j6z)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m0008j71)
Mon-Thurs: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


WED 13:45 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008j73)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Postage Stamp

Rowland Hill was annoyed with Great Britain’s expensive and inefficient postal service, so he decided to invent a better system. His ideas proved so popular, the government agreed to put him in charge. Hill made senders, not recipients, pay for postage. And he sold stamps for an affordable sum, convinced that more people would use the postal service if it were cheaper. He was right: in 1840, as Tim Harford explains, the first year of 'penny post', the number of letters sent more than doubled – with consequences that still hold lessons for today.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


WED 14:00 The Archers (m0008hxs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Brief Lives - Series 11 (m0008j75)
Episode 1

Brief Lives by Tom Fry & Sharon Kelly ep 1
Return of Frank Twist and Sarah Gold as the Manchester paralegals. Frank and Sarah are estranged and Sarah enlists her friend Juliet to help run the agency. But when a local gangster's son is arrested can Juliet cope?

Frank..............David Schofield
Sarah.............Kathryn Hunt
Juliet............Maria Major
Dean...........Hamish Rush
Keith...........Stephen Marzella
Lois.............Verity Henry
Helen........Krissi Bohn
Director/Producer Gary Brown


WED 15:00 Money Box (m0008j77)
The latest news from the world of personal finance plus advice for those trying to make the most of their money.


WED 15:30 Science Stories (m00088ns)
Series 9

Alexis Carrel and the immortal chicken heart

Philip Ball tells the story of Alexis Carrel, the French surgeon who worked to preserve life outside the body and create an immortal chicken heart in a dish. His quest was to renew ageing flesh, repair and rebuild our bodies and keep them healthy far beyond the usual human lifespan. In the early twentieth century his science was pioneering but his mission to achieve eternal life was underpinned by a dark and terrifying agenda. Carrel was a racist who advocated eugenics to preserve the superior civilisation of the West.

Philip Ball discusses the history and cultural impact of the tissue culture techniques developed by Carrel with social historian Professor Hannah Landecker of the University of California at Los Angeles. And he finds out about the legacy of Carrel's research from Dr Madeline Lancaster of Cambridge University, one of the pioneers of the growth of brain organoids from stem cells; small clusters of neurons and other cells, rather like mini organs no bigger than a dried pea.


WED 16:00 Mastertapes (m0001qvt)
Series 8

Don McLean (B-side)

John Wilson talks to leading performers and songwriters about the album that made them or changed them. Recorded in front of a live audience at the BBC's iconic Maida Vale Studios, each edition includes two episodes, with John initially quizzing the artist about the album in question, and then, in the B-side, the audience puts the questions. Both episodes feature exclusive live performances.

Having discussed the making of American Pie - his all-time classic debut album - in the A-side of the programme, Don McLean responds to questions from the audience and performs live acoustic versions of some of the tracks on the album.

Producer: Paul Kobrak


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m0008j79)
The programme about a revolution in media with Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor


WED 17:00 PM (m0008j7c)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008j7f)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


WED 18:30 The Quanderhorn Xperimentations (b0b86qzl)
Series 1

Mummy! My Donkey's Head Is Exploding

It's still 1952.

It's always still 1952.

The crew of Professor Quanderhorn (James Fleet) are about to have their space craft shredded like a savoy cabbage by a massive gravitational wave. Only Martian hostage Guuuurk (Kevin Eldon) can save them.

But will the self-declared 'miserable coward and despicable turncoat' risk his life and even his very sanity by mind-leaping into Quanderhorn's 'son' Troy (Freddie Fox), a half-insectoid, touted as 'a major breakthrough in Artificial Stupidity'?

Meanwhile, behind the post office in the nearby village, a glowing, throbbing meteorite is exuding a strange influence on the local inhabitants.

When Dr Janussen (Cassie Layton), Guuuurk, Troy and even Quanderhorn himself appear to be possessed by an alien intelligence, Brian (Ryan Sampson) is faced with a perilous dilemma.

And who is that peculiar hot chestnut seller who bears a startling resemblance to Prime Minister Churchill (John Sessions)?

The Quanderhorn Xperimentations - an adventure beyond human understanding.

An Absolutely production for BBC Radio 4.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m0008j7h)
Brian has bad news to impart, and Ed holds out an olive branch.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m0008j7k)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


WED 19:45 Letters from Inside (b07v2mf3)
Gillian Slovo

Novelist Gillian Slovo’s letter to her mother, the anti-apartheid activist, Ruth First. Part of a series in which writers from around the world read letters on the theme of imprisonment, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis.

Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners. Wilde’s imprisonment led to one of his last great works - De Profundis, an extended letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas written by Wilde in his prison cell.

Gillian Slovo’s novels include Ice Road, Red Dust and 10 Days.

Produced by Barney Rowntree and Jeremy Mortimer
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


WED 20:00 Across the Red Line (m0008j7m)
Series 4

Does identity politics cause more problems than it solves?

Anne McElvoy and conflict resolution specialist Gabrielle Rifkind examine what leads their two guests to disagree on a major issue of the day.

In today's edition, the writers Douglas Murray, author of The Madness of Crowds, and Nesrine Malik, author of We Need New Stories, meet to discuss 'identity politics'. Is this a problematic and divisive development, or a necessary means to correct injustice?

And, after the opening discussion, Anne and Gabrielle invite their guests to explore the roots of each other's beliefs.

Producer: Phil Tinline


WED 20:45 Four Thought (m0008j6g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m0008hwy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Sound Odyssey (m0008j6d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m0008j7p)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Testaments (m0008j6v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 Monty Python at 50: The Self-Abasement Tapes (m0008j7r)
Episode 3

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monty Python, Michael Palin hunts down once-lost Python recordings and historical curiosities.

This third episode digs deep into the archives to excavate recordings relating to the controversial 1979 film, Life of Brian. Eric and Graham negotiate a voiceover fee for the film, John Cleese press-gangs his mother into doing a free radio advert and we meet the infamous freedom fighter Otto - with a deleted scene suggesting that, while the film was causing outrage and offence, even more contentious content was lying on the cutting room floor.

Starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin

Produced by James Peak and Andre Jacquemin
A Goldhawk Essential production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 TEZ Talks (m0001rnj)
Series 3

Mischief

Series 3. Episode 7. Teztopian Society.

In this episode, Tez talks about schemes and pranks.

Written and performed by Tez Ilyas
Produced by Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production


WED 23:30 The Digital Human (m0000qvy)
Series 15

Average

In world where we are constantly told we are all exceptional and unique, Aleks Krotoski explores the unexpected affordances of being average.



THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2019

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m0008j7t)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 00:30 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008j6j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008j7w)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008j7y)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008j80)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m0008j82)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008j84)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m0008j86)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09r4c8c)
Penny Anderson on the Spotted Flycatcher

When a pair of spotted flycatchers decided to build a nest in a gap in the wall, ecologist Penny Anderson had to stop the pointing work being done to her house but she has no regrets as the birds have bred in her garden ever since.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection on our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Ian Redman.


THU 06:00 Today (m0008jd0)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day


THU 09:00 In Our Time (m0008jd2)
Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow

Melvyn Bragg and guest discuss how, in September 1812, Napoleon captured Moscow and waited a month for the Russians to meet him, to surrender and why, to his dismay, no-one came. Soon his triumph was revealed as a great defeat; winter was coming, supplies were low; he ordered his Grande Armée of six hundred thousand to retreat and, by the time he crossed back over the border, desertion, disease, capture, Cossacks and cold had reduced that to twenty thousand. Napoleon had shown his weakness; his Prussian allies changed sides and, within eighteen months they, the Russians and Austrians had captured Paris and the Emperor was exiled to Elba.

With

Janet Hartley
Professor Emeritus of International History, LSE

Michael Rowe
Reader in European History, King’s College London

And

Michael Rapport
Reader in Modern European History, University of Glasgow

Producer: Simon Tillotson


THU 09:45 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008jg4)
Episode 4

Hugh Bonneville continues to read from Orlando Figes’ account of a love triangle set against the backdrop of huge cultural change in 19th century Europe.

Rumours swirl around Turgenev’s relationship with the married opera star, Pauline Viardot. He resumes his nomadic lifestyle. Everywhere he goes money is being made from this new cosmopolitan age.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0008jd7)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


THU 10:45 Blackwater (m0002ycn)
Episode 9

A multi-voiced dark story about secrets and lies in a small town.

Golden girl Zoe’s been dead for ten years, her body dragged from the River Black after a night out to celebrate the end of school. But now a woman who says she’s Zoe has turned up in her hometown of Blackwater, on the Irish border, with no memory of the last decade. She claims she woke up in a forest nearby, bruised and bleeding, and doesn’t know where she’s been all this time. What happened to her? Is she really Zoe? If so, who’s in her grave?

Paul, a local boy whose band were playing in the venue where Zoe was last seen, went to prison for her murder. Now he’s out, but he’s lost everything and is shunned in the town. The people of Blackwater were easily convinced that a black boy murdered Zoe, and the evidence did stack up – but if she’s not even dead, then how did he get convicted? Did someone deliberately frame him? He’s determined to find out the truth and clear his name. But does he really know nothing about what happened?

Could it be that everyone involved with the case is hiding something? There’s Zoe’s uncle Phil, a former detective superintendent with an explosive secret. There’s Steve, the police officer who found ‘Zoe’s’ body in the river Black, and sent Paul to prison for her murder. And there’s Zoe’s friend Danny, who wasn’t were she said she was on that night ten years ago. When Paul and Zoe collide, they realise they’re the only ones who can help each other. As they sift through their conflicting memories of that day ten years ago, they start to discover that not everyone is happy Zoe’s back from the dead.

Richard Clements ….. Steve
Roisin Gallagher ….. Danny

Claire McGowan ..... Writer
Celia De Wolff ..... Producer


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m0008jdb)
The Bitter Song of the Hazelnut

Every August tens of thousands of Kurdish migrant workers, including children, toil long hours for a pittance in the mountains of northern Turkey picking hazelnuts for the spreads and chocolate bars the world adores. Turkey provides 70% of all hazelnut supplies – and the biggest buyer is Ferrero, maker of Nutella and Kinder Bueno. The confectionery giant says it’s committed to ethical sourcing, and by next year its hazelnuts will be 100% traceable. But how is that possible in Turkey, with its half a million tiny family orchards, where child labour is rife? Tim Whewell investigates Ferrero’s complex supply chain and finds that while hazelnuts are celebrated in Turkish culture and song, it’s a sector where workers and farmers feel increasingly unhappy and reform is very hard to achieve.


THU 11:30 Art of Now (m0008jdd)
Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a flourishing youth activist movement with art taking a central role. Yet the spaces for art making are becoming increasingly restrictive, and many artists avoid controversial subjects for fear of reprisals.

Dibarah Mahboob, a young artist and humanitarian worker from Dhaka, is determined to use her art to create change and empower marginalised groups. Sensing the challenges as well as the potential of entering the art scene at this heightened time, she seeks out other artists to learn from their experiences.

Dibarah meets established experimental artists like Tayeba Begum Lipi and Mahbubur Rhaman, co-founders of Britto Arts Trust, who challenge gender and religious conventions and have always sought to revalidate traditional Bangladeshi culture within their work, counter to popular taste. She also talks to newcomers carving out spaces for disseminating art online and offline, away from the more elite gallery spaces.

Dibarah describes the 2018 student protests against dangerous traffic conditions, which resulted in the deaths of two children and brought Dhaka to a standstill for 9 days, as a catalyst for the art scene. Cartoonist Mahakabbo’s striking image of defiant students became a visual frontier for the movement, which was mainly organised via social media. His image went viral.

This is something distinct to Bangladesh’s protest environment - with the lack of interest in and frequent prohibition of public art like murals, socially conscious artists reclaim social media as their public domain and space to share protest art. They have a captive audience - the capital, Dhaka, is the city with the second highest number of Facebook users in the world.

Yet the internet is also being strictly policed under a harsh new digital communications law, and members of the public have attacked people who post controversial opinions.

Photographer Shahidul Alam was arrested after he voiced his support for the protests and condemned government corruption in a TV interview. Out on bail and under intense surveillance, Shahidul tells Dibarah, “The only reason I practice art is because it works....Art gets underneath the skin, art, finds cracks. Art has this ability to enter your shadow...I've continued to speak and I'm doing it now. And I will continue to do so.”

This is the second of two programmes, using art as the lens through which to explore key social and political issues in countries around the world.

Presenter: Dibarah Mahboob
Image: Mahakabbo aka Mahatab Rashid
Field Sound Recordist: Susannah Savage
Additional Recording: Shamim Hossain
Executive Producers: Sarah Cuddon, Andrew McGibbon
Producer: Louise Morris

A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4


THU 12:00 News Summary (m0008jkj)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 12:04 The Testaments (m0008jdj)
Episode 4

Margaret Atwood's brilliant and long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.

In The Testaments, set fifteen years after the events of Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, the testimonies of three women bring the story to a dramatic conclusion. Today we continue with Agnes’ story – still in shock from the discovery that her mother was a Handmaid, Agnes is given a very unwelcome lesson in sex and death...

Writer: Margaret Atwood
Reader: Katherine Press
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m0008jdl)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


THU 12:57 Weather (m0008jdn)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m0008jdq)
Mon-Thurs: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


THU 13:45 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008jds)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

RFID

At the beginning of the Cold War, musical inventor Leon Theremin managed to bug the US embassy in Moscow. The ingenious device he used is a predecessor of a humble technology that surrounds us every day: the Radio-Frequency Identification tag. Tim Harford asks if RFID is introducing an 'internet of things'. Or are its glory days behind it?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


THU 14:00 The Archers (m0008j7h)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (m0008jdv)
Road to Ferrara

Raymond is long since divorced, but still not resigned to his single status. When his mother dies, he looks to her carer for help of a different sort.

An invitation to go with her to Ferrara to witness the oldest Palio in Italy seems to open up the possibility of romance, but Ferrara is a city with a history of lust, betrayal and revenge - and Raymond’s visit there has unexpected echoes of the past.

This is the latest in the long-running series of 'Road to...' dramas and inspired by extensive recordings made at the 2019 Palio at Ferrara. The ancient horse race round a city square was originally dedicated to the d’Este family, Ferrara’s powerful rulers for generations, whose court was a byword for splendour and intrigue. Riding bareback at breakneck pace, the champions of the city’s opposing districts fight for their prize, for their families and for their honour.

Cast:
Raymond.....Peter Wight
Lucia.....Rebecca Lee
Martha.....Joanna McCallum
Marco.....Sebastiano Kiniger
Maid.....Emma Noakes
Restaurant Owner.....Jane Bertish
Maria......Flaminia Cinque

Written by Douglas Livingstone
Directed by Jane Morgan
A 7digital production for BBC Radio 4


THU 15:00 Ramblings (m0008jdx)
LGBT+ Outdoor Adventures Group

Clare Balding is with a group of young LGBT+ ramblers who meet once a month to explore the green spaces close to Manchester. Run by The Proud Trust, the outdoor adventures group is for 18-25-year-olds and is designed to combat social isolation and build both confidence and physical fitness. They always meet within striking distance of public transport and, today, are starting on the Chester Road in Stretford which is a mile from Trafford Park station. From there they walk partly along the River Mersey to Chorlton Water Park. It’s a local nature reserve which was created during the construction of the M60 motorway, when gravel was excavated and the resulting pit flooded to create the lake.

Please scroll down to 'related links' for information connected to the walk location and The Proud Trust.

Location Producer: Tom Bonnett
(Producer: Karen Gregor)


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m0008h5m)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Open Book (m0008h6c)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m0008jdz)
The latest releases, the hottest stars and the leading directors, plus news and insights from the film world


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m0008jf1)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


THU 17:00 PM (m0008jf3)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008jf7)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


THU 18:30 Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar (m0008jf9)
Series 3

Rage and Resentment

Alexei considers the roots of his rage and resentment, explores the dangers of magical thinking and contemplates what the philosophies of Bertholt Brecht could offer Premier League football.

Written by Alexei Sayle
Performed by Alexei Sayle
Produced by Joe Nunnery
A BBC Studios Production.


THU 19:00 The Archers (m0008jfc)
Freddie offers a solution, and Pip turns on the charm.


THU 19:15 Front Row (m0008jff)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 Letters from Inside (b07v2yt3)
Tahmima Anam

Novelist Tahmima Anam’s letter to her unborn child. Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis written in Reading Prison in 1897.

Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners. Wilde’s imprisonment led to one of his last great works - De Profundis, an extended letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas written by Wilde in his prison cell.

Tahmima Anam is a British Bangladeshi novelist whose books include A Golden Age and The Good Muslim.

Produced by Barney Rowntree and Jeremy Mortimer
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m0008jfh)
Combining original insights into major news stories with topical investigations.


THU 20:30 In Business (m0008jfk)
Flying Green

Flying, for many of us, is now routine. For a few of us it is a weekly, maybe even daily, event. At the same time, global protests concerned with the pressing danger of climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions are gaining attention and causing alarm. So, will we ever get to a point where we can indulge our flying habit and keep our conscience clear?
Katie Prescott talks to the flight refuseniks and assesses the impact they are having. Is the long-term solution to change minds or can technological advances provide a fix? Electric cars are here; small planes are already powered the same way. How long until sizeable passenger jets follow? At a number of airports around the world, planes can fill up with biofuels. But the take-up is extremely modest. While the oil price stays low, what's the incentive for airlines to go green?

Producer: Rosamund Jones


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m0008jf1)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 In Our Time (m0008jd2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m0008jfr)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Testaments (m0008jdj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 Kevin Eldon Will See You Now (m0008jfv)
Series 4

God Lends A Hand (Hand Hand)

Kevin Eldon and his all-important cast bring you the sound of multiple flamethrowers, God, and an archivist being flung onto a lorry.

Kevin Eldon is a comedy phenomenon. He’s been in virtually every major comedy show in the last fifteen years. But not content with working with the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, Stewart Lee, Julia Davis and Graham Linehan, he’s also created his own comedy series for BBC Radio 4.

After all the waiting - Kevin Eldon Will See You Now.

Also starring Morwenna Banks, Kate Duchêne, Justin Edwards (The Thick Of It), Miles Jupp, Paul Putner (Little Britain), David Reed (The Penny Dreadfuls), Catherine Shepherd and Dan Skinner.

Written by Kevin Eldon
with additional material by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris (A Touch Of Cloth and those modern Ladybird books).

Produced and directed by David Tyler

A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 The Digital Human (m0000szg)
Series 15

Subservience

Digital Assistant bots are becoming ever more common - Alexa playing music on your countertop, Siri taking notes on your phone, a little voice bubbling out of your watch to rattle off the things you almost forgot you needed to buy during the big weekend shop. They are useful little servants

But, barking orders at something that talks back, something that seems a little bit human but totally subservient… it can be a little uncomfortable. As with any new invention, domestic robots illuminate issues within human society that we may not have noticed before. Are we projecting old social norms of hierarchy and gender onto this new technology, and if we are, does how we choose to design and treat our subservient machines, impact how we treat our fellow humans?



FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2019

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m0008jg0)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 00:30 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008jg4)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m0008jg8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m0008jgd)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m0008jgj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m0008jgn)
National and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m0008jgs)
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m0008jgx)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b09r6f8k)
Penny Anderson on the Heron

Ecologist Penny Anderson wonders whether evolution is at work in her garden as the behaviour of the frogs in her ponds seems to be changing in response to the annual visits by the herons which enjoy a spot of fishing.
Tweet of the Day has captivated the Radio 4 audience with its daily 90 seconds of birdsong. But what of the listener to this avian chorus? In this new series of Tweet of the Day, we bring to the airwaves the conversational voices of those who listen to and are inspired by birds. Building on the previous series, a more informal approach to learning alongside a renewed emphasis on encounter with nature and reflection on our relationship with the natural world.

Producer: Sarah Blunt
Photograph: Ian OK.


FRI 06:00 Today (m0008jny)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m0008jyn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:15 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 The Europeans, by Orlando Figes (m0008jp0)
Episode 5

Hugh Bonneville continues to read from Orlando Figes’ account of a love triangle set against the backdrop of huge cultural change in 19th century Europe.

The Viardots and Turgenev settle in Baden-Baden, turning their home into an artistic haven, but growing tensions between Germany and France look set to disrupt their cultural idyll.

Abridged by Richard Hamilton
Produced by Elizabeth Allard
Directed by Gemma Jenkins


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m0008jp4)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 Blackwater (m0003641)
Episode 10

A multi-voiced dark story about secrets and lies in a small town.

Golden girl Zoe’s been dead for ten years, her body dragged from the River Black after a night out to celebrate the end of school. But now a woman who says she’s Zoe has turned up in her hometown of Blackwater, on the Irish border, with no memory of the last decade. She claims she woke up in a forest nearby, bruised and bleeding, and doesn’t know where she’s been all this time. What happened to her? Is she really Zoe? If so, who’s in her grave?

Paul, a local boy whose band were playing in the venue where Zoe was last seen, went to prison for her murder. Now he’s out, but he’s lost everything and is shunned in the town. The people of Blackwater were easily convinced that a black boy murdered Zoe, and the evidence did stack up – but if she’s not even dead, then how did he get convicted? Did someone deliberately frame him? He’s determined to find out the truth and clear his name. But does he really know nothing about what happened?

Could it be that everyone involved with the case is hiding something? There’s Zoe’s uncle Phil, a former detective superintendent with an explosive secret. There’s Steve, the police officer who found ‘Zoe’s’ body in the river Black, and sent Paul to prison for her murder. And there’s Zoe’s friend Danny, who wasn’t were she said she was on that night ten years ago. When Paul and Zoe collide, they realise they’re the only ones who can help each other. As they sift through their conflicting memories of that day ten years ago, they start to discover that not everyone is happy Zoe’s back from the dead.

Clare Dunne ….. Zoe
Aston Kelly ….. Paul

Claire McGowan ..... Writer
Celia De Wolff ..... Producer


FRI 11:00 The Corrections (m0008jp9)
Olive the Poppy Seller

The Corrections revisits four news stories which left the public with the wrong idea about what really happened, and investigates how and why the narrative went awry.

When 92-year-old Olive Cooke took her own life in 2015 the story seemed clear. A kindly and vulnerable old woman had been taken advantage of by grasping charities and had killed herself when she could give no more.

The Daily Mail ran with ‘Hounded to Death’. ‘Killed by Kindness’ was The Sun’s headline. Olive’s story was covered by tabloids, broadsheets and TV and radio news programmes. It even prompted government action. But the story was wrong.

Produced and presented by Jo Fidgen and Chloe Hadjimatheou


FRI 11:30 Quiz Nite! (m0008jph)
2. PTA

A series of comedy plays on a quizzing theme, written by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.

Episode 2. " PTA"

Lowfield Primary School is looking for a new organizer for the annual PTA fundraising Quiz. But competition among the parents for this coveted post proves greater than expected...

Writers Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis

Mr Fielder... Steve Punt
Marina... Rosie Cavaliero
Joyce... Gbemisola Ilkumelo
Mrs Duggan... Selina Griffiths
Jerry Halliwell... Hugh Dennis

Producer Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m0008jpm)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:04 The Testaments (m0008jpr)
Episode 5

Margaret Atwood's powerful and long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, set 15 years after the events of her dystopian masterpiece.

Today, Aunt Lydia continues her account of the violent birth of the Gilead regime, while back in Canada, the teenage Daisy, still in shock after the car bomb, is hit by even more life-changing news

Writer: Margaret Atwood
Reader: Sara Kestelman, Samantha Dakin
Abridger: Katrin Williams
Producer: Justine Willett


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m0008jpx)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


FRI 12:57 Weather (m0008jq1)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m0008jq4)
Mon-Thurs: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Sarah Montague. Fri: analysis of news and current affairs, presented by Mark Mardell.


FRI 13:45 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m0008jq6)
Series 2: 50 More Things...

Fire

Try to imagine the economy before our ancestors tamed fire. There’d be nothing made with metal or glass or plastic, nothing that requires burning fossil fuels to manufacture or transport. We can hardly call it an 'economy'. Some experts say fire created not only the economy, but humans – that our brains were built by cooked food and evenings around the campfire. Economic development has seen us increasingly confine fire to furnaces, or internal combustion engines. But, as Tim Harford reveals, our fear of wildfires may hold a surprising lesson about the modern financial system.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m0008jfc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (b092rbbt)
The Lesson

'The Lesson' is an explosive drama looking at the long-term fallout of a relationship between a teacher and his eighteen-year-old pupil, and the young woman who tried to destroy it.

James is doing the publicity rounds for his latest novel. His wife, heavily pregnant Alice, is desperate for him not to name the woman upon whom the central character is based. Cara, the woman in question, is vindictive, powerful and dangerous - as she was as a schoolgirl when she set out to destroy their lives a decade ago. Cara has subsequently built her journalist career on those very same qualities.

Though they haven't had contact for a decade, Alice and Cara were once inseparable friends. The friendship soured when Alice and James became close and Cara became jealous of their relationship. Alice and James weren't going to take their relationship further until Alice had left school. However before that could happen Cara made an accusation against James. Although nothing was proven James resigned and his teaching career was over.

James has written the novel from Cara's point of view in an attempt to understand the deep-seated envy and hostility that so clearly drove her actions. He's changed the central character's name to Lizzie but to Cara it is obvious where James got the inspiration for the novel. Now Cara is publishing an article about the truth of their shared history and wants to give James and Alice the right to reply.

The Lesson
by
Virginia Gilbert

Producer/director: David Ian Neville.


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m0008jq8)
Green Synergy Lincoln

Kathy Clugston and the panel are in Lincoln. Matt Biggs, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Wilson answer the audience's questions.

Producer: Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer: Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m0008jqb)
Katy by Bryan Washington

The story of a young man living and loving at the margins of the sprawling, tumultuous American city of Houston. A young man who attempts to find his place amongst family and community - in the knowledge that he is gay. Katy is about all the various, raw, urgent and unexpected ways in which love steals up on us and takes us over.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m0008jqd)
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently.


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m0008jqg)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.


FRI 16:55 The Listening Project (m0008jqj)
Andrew and Jack - Look How Far We’ve Come.

Two friends talk about their shared love of cross-dressing in a more tolerant world. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.


FRI 17:00 PM (m0008jql)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m0008jqn)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m0008jqq)
Series 100

Episode 4

A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Andrew Maxwell


FRI 19:00 The Archers (m0008jqs)
Writer, Keri Davies
Director, Jeremy Howe
Editor, Jeremy Howe

David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Jennifer Aldridge ….. Angela Piper
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Ian Craig ….. Stephen Kennedy
Justin Elliot ….. Simon Williams
Eddie Grundy ….. Trevor Harrison
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O'Hanrahan
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott
Kate Madikane ….. Perdita Avery
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Freddie Pargetter ….. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter ….. Katie Redford
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Oliver Sterling ….. Michael Cochrane
Leonard Berry ….. Paul Copley
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye


FRI 19:15 Front Row (m0008jqv)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 Letters from Inside (b07v35vy)
Jeanette Winterson

Writers from around the world read letters on the theme of imprisonment, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis.

Novelist Jeanette Winterson takes Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale as the raw materials of her writing. The letter is addressed to Perdita, born in prison where her father has sent her mother because he wrongly believes she has been unfaithful to him.

Oscar Wilde was incarcerated in Reading Prison between 1895 and 1897, enduring the Separate System, a harsh penal regime designed to eliminate any contact between prisoners. Wilde’s imprisonment led to one of his last great works - De Profundis, an extended letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas written by Wilde in his prison cell.

Produced by Barney Rowntree and Jeremy Mortimer
Executive Producer: Joby Waldman

A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m0008jqx)
Minette Batters MP, David Davies MP, Liz Saville Roberts MP

Shaun Ley presents topical debate from Penglais School in Aberystwyth with a panel including the president of the NFU, Minette Batters, chair of the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee David Davies MP and the leader of Plaid Cymru at Westminster, Liz Saville Roberts MP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m0008jqz)
A weekly reflection on a topical issue


FRI 21:00 Archive on 4 (b0b4ykkw)
The American Art Tapes

A unique insight into the vibrant art scene of mid-1960s America from an archive of recordings made then and broadcast now for the very first time.

In 1965, the painter and teacher John Jones headed to the United States for a year, intending to record the most important and most influential artists he could find. His wife Gaby and their two young daughters went with him. One of those daughters, Nicolette Jones, is now a writer and critic, and she tells the story of how the family lodged in New York while her father grabbed interviews with Yoko Ono, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and many more.

This was the moment of happenings, pop art and abstract expressionism, while the long shadow of dadaism and surrealism, represented on the tapes by Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, reached forward to Louise Bourgeois.

Later, with nothing planned at all, the family set off on a three-month road trip in their old Ford station wagon, travelling across America from East to West Coast, turning up in little towns on the off chance of getting an interview with artists like Jasper Johns in Florida or a young Ed Ruscha in California.

The unique archive of over 100 recordings, gathered by John Jones, lay in boxes in the family home for decades, waiting for him to write a book based on the tapes. He wasn't able to do this and so the family offered the whole set of recordings to the Tate Archive, which acquired them in 2015.

In this programme, we hear a tantalising sample of this extraordinary material, airing a pivotal moment in 20th-century art and revealing John Jones to be on a par with some of the great audio collectors like Alan Lomax and Studs Terkel.

The programme evokes the mood of the time by interweaving the artists' reflections with a soundscape of mid-60s American music, TV and location sound. Art historian and artistic director of the Royal Academy Tim Marlow gives a powerful sense of the artists' achievement as Nicolette Jones conjures up the feeling of a great American road trip through the eyes of the child she was.

Extracts by kind permission of:
The Easton Foundation/DACS, London/VAGA, NY 2018
Estate of Roy Lichtenstein/DACS 2018
May Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2018

Produced by Emma-Louise Williams
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m0008jr1)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Testaments (m0008jpr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m0008hx2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:25 The Digital Human (m0000xxm)
Series 15

Rescue

Aleks explores how technology can increase self -efficacy and therefore our belief that we can rescue others. Aleks discovers that sharing vulnerabilities online can turn a victim into a rescuer as others who need help will often seek you out giving you the opportunity to help them. Helping others can help detract from your own problems and help empower but as professional therapists know all too well there needs to be boundaries to prevent emotional burnout, but Aleks discovers that setting boundaries online is not easy.


FRI 23:55 The Listening Project (m0008jr3)
Michael and Jasma - The Trial Therapy

Cancer survivor talks to the doctor who treated her- by placing her on gene immunotherapy. Fi Glover presents another conversation in a series that proves it's surprising what you hear when you listen.