SATURDAY 05 SEPTEMBER 2020

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m000m60j)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Burning the Books by Richard Ovenden (m000m60l)
Episode 5

A 3000-year journey through the destruction of knowledge and the fight against all the odds to preserve it.

Richard Ovenden, director of the Bodleian Library, explains how attacks on libraries and archives have been a feature of history since ancient times, but have increased in frequency and intensity during the modern era. Libraries are far more than stores of literature, through preserving the legal documents such as Magna Carta and records of citizenship they also support the rule of law and the rights of citizens.

Today, the knowledge they hold on behalf of society is under attack as never before.

At once a powerful history of civilisation and a manifesto for the vital importance of physical libraries in our increasingly digital age, Burning the Books is also a very human story animated by an unlikely cast of adventurers, self-taught archaeologists, poets, freedom-fighters - and, of course, librarians and the heroic lengths they will go to preserve and rescue knowledge. Richard Ovenden demonstrates fundamentally how knowledge of the past still has so many valuable lessons to teach us and we ignore it at our peril.

Written by Richard Ovenden
Read by Anthony Head
Abridged by Siân Preece
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000m60n)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000m60q)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000m60s)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m000m60v)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000m60x)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett


SAT 05:45 Four Thought (m000m5jc)
Telford, Little Yugoslavia

Jelena Sofronijevic tells a story of Serbia, Yugoslavia - and Telford.

In this talk Jelena explores questions of diasporic identity through her family's connection with Yugoslavia, a country which no longer exists. On a visit to Serbia, she discovers that her upbringing in Telford had been more traditionally ‘Serbian’ than that of her Belgrade and Novi Sad relatives. And she finds herself, despite being born after Yugoslavia ceased to exist, drawn to its blended nationalism; her lived experiences traversing harsh borders. And she likens Yugoslavia, a country born of republics, to her home town of Telford, itself a collection of small, independent towns.

Producers: Giles Edwards and Peter Snowdon.


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m000mcb8)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Open Country (m000m4qd)
Cleeve Common

At 330 meters about sea-level, Cleeve Common in Gloucestershire is the highest point of the Cotswold Hills. It's become famous as the backdrop to the racing at the Cheltenham Festival, and Sybil Ruscoe first saw it from a helicopter while covering the Festival for BBC 5 Live.

In this programme she re-visits the common, where thousands of years of history is etched into the landscape. From Roman stone quarries to an Iron Age meeting place...from the original racecourse to a modern golf course.

She finds out about the wildlife that calls the common home - from skylarks to yellow meadow ants - and learns about the centuries old balancing act between recreation, agriculture and conservation.

Produced by Heather Simons

Picture credit: Michael Bates


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m000mcbb)
05/09/20 Farming Today This Week: Animal feed, The Farming Forum and agri-bashing

Charlotte Smith looks into what we feed our livestock. We find out about the challenges and advantages of silage-making, the hopes for the future of insects, and tackle the environment impact of imported soya.

We hear from Clive Bailye - the man behind The Farming Forum - and visit France, where rising tensions between farmers and the public have been subdued by the pandemic.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons


SAT 06:57 Weather (m000mcbd)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m000mcbg)
Including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m000mcbj)
Extraordinary stories, unusual people and a sideways look at the world.


SAT 10:30 You're Dead To Me (p07p2p98)
Young Napoleon

Never mind the famous battles, who was the real Napoleon? Where did he come from? What events conspired to turn him from a young Corsican officer to one of history’s greatest figures? How intense was his relationship with his wife Josephine? What part of his body was recreated in plaster, and how much was somebody willing to pay for it?

And just how did one man manufacture his own hype way before the days of social media?

Greg Jenner is joined by comedian Dan Schreiber and historian Dr Laura O’Brien. It’s history for people who don’t like history!

Produced by Dan Morelle
Script and research by Emma Nagouse

A Muddy Knees Media production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m000mcbm)
Paul Waugh of HuffPost UK and guests look back at the week as MPs returned to Westminster. The discussions explore the UK government's difficult summer, relations between ministers and civil servants, 'Red Wall' voters who switched to the Conservatives and the influential Australians involved in British politics.

Producer: Leala Padmanabhan


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m000mcbp)
Kate Adie presents pieces from Steve Rosenberg in Minsk, Anne Soy on Sudan, Nick Thorpe on Europe's migrants, Kaori Shoji on Japan and Abe and Chris Bockman on French swingers.


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m000mcbr)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m000mbqp)
The 'lost' Child Trust Funds

From this month, young people turning 18 can access money given them by the Government in a Child Trust Fund. All children born from September 2002 were given vouchers to invest, the idea being to provide children with some savings at the age of 18, to help with the costs of university or living alone for the first time. Initially £250 was put into the account and another £250 was added when he or she reached the age of seven. For lower-income families, the payment was £500. But it's estimated about a third of eligible young people and their families have no idea these funds exist. So how do you go about finding them?

The financial regulator is currently consulting on limiting the amount it has to pay out when it fails to operate effectively. Campaigners are concerned it is weakening the current consumer redress.

More than two and a half million people have successfully claimed almost £8 billion from the UK government’s Self Employment Income Support Scheme. The scheme was designed to help self employed people whose businesses had suffered because of the economic crisis caused by Covid 19.. We hear from one man who found someone else had claimed his self-employment Government grant - twice!

And in our podcast we get a leaseholders response to the news that four of the UK's largest housebuilders are now facing court action after "troubling evidence" was uncovered by the Competition and Markets Authority over the way they sold leaseholds.

Presenter: Paul Lewis
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researcher Darin Graham
Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon


SAT 12:30 The News Quiz (m000m601)
Series 103

Episode 1

Andy Zaltzman is the new host of the News Quiz, chewing over a week of headlines with a panel of comics and journalists. This week Helen Lewis, Lucy Porter, Andrew Maxwell and Daliso Chaponda are the guests in this first episode of the series recorded with a remote audience watching and listening from home.

Producer: Richard Morris
Production co-ordinator: Gwyn Davies
A BBC Studios Production


SAT 12:57 Weather (m000mcbt)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News (m000mcbw)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m000m606)
Anneliese Dodds MP, Sir David Lidington, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, Nadhim Zahawi MP.

Chris Mason presents political debate from London Broadcasting House with the Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds MP, the Chair of the Royal United Services Institute Sir David Lidington, the statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, and Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi MP.
Producer: Lisa Jenkinson


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m000mcby)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 One to One (m000k2l5)
Taking Control - Karen Darke talks to Justine Shuttleworth

How do you take control of your life when you find yourself facing a crisis or unexpected events turn everything that is familiar and certain upside-down? In the second of three conversations about taking control of your life, Paralympic athlete and adventurer Karen Darke talks to single mother and property developer Justine Shuttleworth. Six years ago Justine became very ill. She sought medical advice but her condition didn't improve. She felt isolated and fearful as the physical and mental effects got worse. Over the course of 18 months she saw 14 doctors, nine psychiatrists and a hormone specialist. Eventually she was diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease. Here, she shares her experiences and describes how she regained control of her life. Producer Sarah Blunt


SAT 15:00 Drama (m000mcc0)
On a Lost Highway

By Ed Thomas

Remi wakes on a road with no memory of who she is or how she got there. A vivid exploration of identity and sanity from one of Wales' best living playwrights.

Rakie Ayola, Richard Harrignton and Sian Phillips DBE lead the cast in this dark, immersive sonic fable about what it means to be human in 2020. It tells the story of Remi who must try to piece together the fragments of her mind, work out who she is… and what went wrong.

Part of Radio 4's season of drama celebrating some of the most significant writers working in radio with 12 original pieces, On a Lost Highway is also the first audio drama production recorded in BBC Wales’ brand new headquarters in Cardiff's Central Square. Back in 1954 Dylan Thomas revolutionised the world of Radio Drama with the inaugural broadcast of Under Milk Wood. Now BBC Wales’ brand new Dylan Thomas Audio Drama Studio aims to take the medium in new and exciting directions. Though it’s been named in honour of the legendary Welsh poet, the studio looks to the future, not the past. The pace of change in audio is fast – podcasting has created a new frontier for audio innovation – and in their new home, BBC Audio Drama Wales aim to continue to push the evolution of the form.

Ed Thomas is a playwright, director and producer whose award winning work has been widely distributed to over 100 countries. Most recently, Ed wrote and co directed On Bear Ridge at the Royal Court in a highly successful co-production with National Theatre Wales starring Rhys Ifans and Rakie Ayola. Ed is the founder and creative director of film and TV production company Fiction Factory and co-creator of the TV series Hinterland. His plays have toured all over the UK, Europe, Australia and South America and translated into more than 10 languages.

Remi.... Rakie Ayola
The Lover.... Richard Harrington
Mother.... Sian Phillips
The Stranger.... Valene Kane
Johnny Grecco.... Ronan Summers

Directed by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production


SAT 16:00 Woman's Hour (m000mcc2)
Educating Rita at 40, Muslim women on love and desire & Teen mum to midwife

Forty years since Willy Russell’s play Educating Rita was first performed we hear from some real life Rita’s, Willy Russell and Julie Walters on the films influence

Sam Baker, the former editor of Cosmopolitan and Red and author of The Shift, Kelechi Okafor who’s an actor, director and podcaster and the journalist, Rebecca Reid, who’s written The Power of Rude on how to be assertive without coming across as angry and unapproachable .

We hear how a book, A Match Made in Heaven, featuring stories by British Muslim Women about Love And Desire is trying to get beyond the stereotypes of subservient Muslim women. Editors Nafhesa Ali and Claire Chambers and the writer Noren Haq discuss.

Dame Cressida Dick the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tells us how the force is managing during the ongoing pandemic

Stephanie Walker on how she went from a fourteen year old pregnant teenager to a fully qualified midwife.

Plus the author Ann Cleaves talks about her latest novel The Darkest Evening – the ninth in the Vera series

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed
Editor: Beverley Purcell


SAT 17:00 PM (m000mcc4)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Political Thinking with Nick Robinson (m000mcc6)
Nick Robinson talks politics and personality with the new Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross.

Producer: Peter Snowdon


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000mcc8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m000mccb)
The latest weather forecast.


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mccd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m000mbjv)
Jane Birkin, Billy Ocean, James Dean Bradfield, James Acaster, Suzanne Vega, Athena Kugblenu, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Athena Kugblenu are joined by Jane Birkin, Billy Ocean, James Dean Bradfield and James Acaster for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Suzanne Vega and Billy Ocean.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m000mbq7)
Simon Case

Those in the know say he's "the ultimate keeper of secrets" - Simon Case was announced this week as the new Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service. Aged just 41 and with a CV that takes him from GCHQ to Kensington Palace, he's now set to take on a role at the heart of government, heading up a workforce of more than 400,000 people. But with Covid an ongoing problem and Brexit on the cards - and without any experience of running a department - has the so-called "Rolls Royce of Sir Humphreys" got what it takes?

Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Ben Crighton & Beth Sagar-Fenton
Editor: Penny Murphy


SAT 19:15 Simon Schama: The Great Gallery Tours (m000l7q8)
The Prado

The Prado Museum in Madrid is a barometer of the fortunes of Spain. It is one of the great galleries because it is based on the collection of the Spanish monarchs of the 16th and 17th centuries - when they were the richest and most powerful in the western world. So the Prado has an unrivalled assembly of paintings by court favourites Titian and Velazquez as well as Goya.

Sir Simon Schama's choices begin, however, with a painting that spent only a short time in the Prado before being moved to the neighbouring museum of modern art - Guernica by Picasso. For Sir Simon, this is that exceptional thing - a modernist history painting. Epic in scale and ambition, it captures the brutality and carnage of the attack by German planes on the defenceless Basque town. Simon links this to the horror of Goya's painting The Third of May 1808, in which a firing squad is in the business of slaughtering a group of Madrilenos rebels who have resisted the French invasion of Spain . Both paintings prompt a visceral response from the viewer.

We are also treated to an account of Titian's magnificent equestrian portrait of Charles V and of Velazquez's masterwork Las Meninas (the Maids of Honour), which has been described as the greatest painting ever made.

The programme concludes with Zurbaran's exquisite still life, Angus Dei, a sacrificial lamb ready for the slaughter, beautifully rendered down to its eyelashes.


You can find the names of the paintings and a link to the gallery on the Great Gallery Tours programme website.


Written and Presented by Sir Simon Schama
Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio prodution for BBC Radio 4


SAT 19:45 The Californian Century (m000fq84)
The Vanishing

Stanley Tucci tells the story of celebrity revivalist preacher Aimee Semple McPherson who disappeared one day in 1926.

They called her Sister Aimee and she was a powerful figure in the early days of California. Adored by thousands, she embodied the close connection between religion, Hollywood, politics and money.

Right up until she went for a swim one day - and vanished. When she re-appeared weeks later, scandal swirled around Sister Aimee - scandal she could never quite shake off.

California wants to dazzle you with its endless sunshine and visions of the future – but that’s just a mirage.

Stanley Tucci plays a hard-boiled screenwriter uncovering the full truth.

Academic consultant: Dr Ian Scott, University of Manchester

Written and produced by Laurence Grissell


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m000mcch)
Spitfire: From the Ashes

In September 1940, in two factories in Southampton, one of the most iconic planes of the Second World War was being painstakingly assembled, piece by piece. This sleek and beautiful fighter, with record breaking top speeds and a deadly reputation for precision, was to be Britain’s most notorious weapon against the Nazi air invasion. But, the factory making them was about to be completely destroyed in three devastating German bombing raids.

How could the Battle of Britain be fought without the Spitfire? With the factory a smoking ruin, a plan was hatched to keep the planes coming, against some pretty extraordinary odds.

Reconstructed from letters, autobiographies, oral histories and contemporary interviews, historian Victoria Taylor pieces it all together. This isn’t the usual story, about the plane that saved Britain. This is a story about the ordinary men and women, in church-halls, bus depots, laundries and garages, who saved the Spitfire.

Produced by Emily Knight, for BBC Audio, in Bristol


SAT 21:00 Tracks (m00017wd)
Series 3: Chimera

Chimera: Episode Four

Part 4 of the conspiracy thriller. Written by Lucy Catherine, starring Hattie Morahan and Jonathan Forbes.

A near-death experience and a mysterious text message lead Helen to contemplate a sinister connection between her unborn baby and genetically engineered cattle.

A gripping thriller, chart topping podcast and winner of Best Sound (BBC Audio Drama Awards) and Best Fiction (British Podcast Awards), now Tracks is back with another 9 part headphone filling thrill-ride.

Helen…. Hattie Morahan
Freddy….. Jonathan Forbes
Dr Wolfs.... Rhodri Meilir
Sam.... Morgan Watkins
Receptionist.... Jeanette Percival

Lead writer.... Matthew Broughton
Directed by Carl Prekopp
Produced by James Robinson
A BBC Cymru Wales Production


SAT 21:45 Angielski (b06707k8)
Another Kind Of Man by Anya Lipska

Three newly commissioned stories offering different angles on the Polish experience in London.

Estimates vary but there are now approximately 750,000 Poles living in the UK. And Polish is now the second most spoken language in England. Much of this is the result of immigration since Poland joined the EU in 2004 - but there is also an older community that developed in the years after the Polish Resettlement Act of 1947.

Episode 1: Another Kind of Man by Anya Lipska
Janusz Kiszka stands at the edge of an East End cemetery watching the mourners leave. But who have they just buried?

Anya Lipska’s crime thrillers, set in East London, follow the adventures and investigations of Janusz Kiszka, tough guy/fixer to the Polish community and sharp-elbowed young police detective Natalie Kershaw. The third novel in the series - A Devil under the Skin - was published in June 2015. Anya is married to a Pole and lives in East London. Originally trained as a journalist, she now works as a TV producer. Another Kind of Man is her first story for radio.

Reader: Adam Hypki

Producer: Jeremy Osborne
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m000mcck)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Grounded with Louis Theroux (p08hfrwm)
9. Gail Porter

In Grounded with Louis Theroux, Louis’s using the lockdown to track down some high-profile people he’s been longing to talk to – a fascinating mix of the celebrated, the controversial and the mysterious.

In this episode, Louis speaks to television presenter and mental health campaigner Gail Porter. Gail discusses 90s lad culture, having her naked image projected onto the Houses of Parliament, and trying to contact the dead.

Produced by Paul Kobrak
A Mindhouse production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 23:00 Brain of Britain (m000m572)
Heat 10, 2020

(10/17)
Many of us have heard of the Battle of Gettysburg and the famous Gettysburg Address, but in which American state will you find Gettysburg? Which Italian club did the Welsh international footballer John Charles play for in the 1960s? And in which year was the last ever Frost Fair held on the River Thames?

You can find the answers in the latest of the delayed heats in the 2020 Brain of Britain tournament, which comes from Salford, with contestants joining Russell Davies without an audience present. Another of the places in the semi-finals is up for grabs, and possibly even more than one place if the runner-up scores are good enough.

Today's competitors are all from the North of England: they are
Dan Greenwood, a junior doctor from York
Dag Griffiths, a retired teacher from Ormskirk in Lancashire
Richard Payne, a teacher from Huddersfield
Nick Reed, a local government clerk from Masham in North Yorkshire.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets (m000m4b2)
The Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire has a long literary legacy, from early dialect writing by William Wickenden to Dennis Potter and Winifred Foley. Academic Jason Griffiths talks to colleagues at the University of Gloucestershire about Reading the Forest, their project exploring the area’s literary landscape.

Historian Roger Deeks discusses soldier poet FW Harvey and his influence on later Forest writers, while research fellow Michelle Straw offers fascinating insight into the gendered nature of dialect.

Jason also catches up with local publisher Doug McLean to remember dialect poet and performer Harry Beddington, and meets contemporary poets Keith Morgan and Maggie Clutterbuck, and singer-songwriter Dick Brice. Meanwhile, in search of present-day dialect speakers, he visits the Forest’s freeminers, and discovers how local schools are teaching the next generation of Foresters to value their dialect.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4



SUNDAY 06 SEPTEMBER 2020

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m000mccm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 The Way I See It (m000ccm3)
Lady Ruth Rogers on Henri Rousseau's The Dream

Art critic Alastair Sooke, in the company of some of the leading creatives of our age, continues his deep dive into the stunning works in the Museum of Modern Art's collection, whilst exploring what it really means “to see” art.

Today's edition is the choice of award-winning chef, Ruth Rogers: The Dream, by Henri Rousseau.

Producer: Tom Alban

Main Image:
Henri Rousseau, The Dream, 1910. Oil on canvas, 6' 8 1/2" x 9' 9 1/2" (204.5 x 298.5 cm). Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller. Museum of Modern Art, NY, 252.1954


SUN 00:30 Short Works (m000m5zq)
The Blue Folk of The Minch

Hebridean folklore with a contemporary twist is at the centre of Kevin MacNeil's story of the Blue Folk of The Minch - mythical sea creatures found of the shores of his native Lewis. In keeping with tradition such creatures challenge the humans they encounter to a deadly contest of words. There's no escape, as a young man discovers when a poetry slam in Glasgow goes wrong.

Kevin MacNeil is a novelist, poet and playwright

Produced by Maggie Ayre for BBC Audio Bristol


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mccp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mccr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mcct)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m000mccw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m000mbqw)
Tavistock Parish Church

Bells on Sunday comes from Tavistock Parish Church. Before the Reformation, Tavistock was dominated by its great abbey, very little of which remains. However, the tower of the parish church, dedicated to St Eustachius, was originally also the gateway to the abbey cemetery. The bells were augmented to ten in celebration of the start of the third millennium. We hear them ringing Grandsire Caters.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m000mbq7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News (m000mbnx)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b04mh74v)
The Fragile Contract

For the playwright Polly Stenham, the theatre has always provided a laboratory in which to examine and hopefully understand the human condition.

In a programme called The Fragile Contract, in reference to the relationship between audience and performance, Polly reflects on our need for art and talks to the musician Florence Welch. She also draws on the writings of Tennessee Williams, Charles Bukowski and John Zerzan, with music by Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix and Rachmaninov.

Readers: Sienna Miller and Kerry Shale
Produced by Hana Walker-Brown
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 On Your Farm (m000mbnz)
Harvest Fever

It's the time of year when harvest fever grips the farming industry, and Scottish cereal grower Andrew Moir is no exception. He spends every waking hour in the cab of the combine harvester, if the weather is good - and that usually means eating meals in the field to ensure the wheels are turning for as many hours as possible. Andrew farms cereals in the Howe o'the Mearns, one of Scotland's most fertile arable areas. He's also chair of the assurance body, Scottish Quality Crops, and is passionate about the future of his industry.

Nancy Nicolson climbs up into the combine cab to join Andrew, and as they slice through the field of oats she hears about his passion for farming and the importance of his wife Anne to the success of the family business.

Produced and presented by Nancy Nicolson.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m000mbp1)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m000mbp3)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m000mbp5)
Emily Buchanan a look at the ethical and religious issues of the week.


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m000mbp7)
Room to Read

Comedian Sindhu Vee makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Room to Read.

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 ‘Room to Read’.
- Cheques should be made payable to ‘Room to Read’.
- You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4

Registered Charity Number: 1125803


SUN 07:57 Weather (m000mbp9)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m000mbpc)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m000mbpf)
Heaven is a noisy place

Neil MacGregor finds spiritual inspiration in the religious art of the National Gallery. The former Director of the National Gallery and British Museum is accompanied on his walk round the gallery's Sainsbury Wing by the Revd Lucy Winkett.

After months of Covid and confinement, today's service considers how community — within society and across time — has traditionally been fostered by close contact with the saints.

For centuries the saints gave shape to the calendar and cohesion to communities. They helped individuals in distress, constantly affirming that we are never alone. They made the universal local and individual — and they were flawed humans, just like us. Virtually everybody had their own name saint, as did every trade, town and community. Looking at these paintings is like joining a really good party: You immediately recognise a lot of the guests, wearing not name tags, but symbols — Peter and Margaret, Catherine and George — and you know what bits of life they can help you with. They are shown with realism or fantasy, with admiration or humour, as people we have come to know well, and can relax with.

Crivelli’s Madonna of the Swallow is an intact Renaissance altarpiece. In its small, lower scenes, it shows the love of God among fallen humanity. On top of the altar perches a swallow — who builds her nest in the temple (Psalm 84) and who, for centuries symbolised the Incarnation, as out of the dirt and mud of her nest, she soars to heaven. The community of saints includes the natural world, as well as the living and the dead.

Finally, the saints are shown by Jacopo di Cione making music in heaven with all sorts of instruments — even bagpipes. Heaven is being with other people — and heaven is a noisy place.

Producer: Andrew Earis.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m000m608)
Thinking Otherwise

As children return to school, Michael Morpurgo questions whether we are educating our children....or programming them.
"The pandemic has found us out," Michael writes, "shown us how ridiculous and absurd and sad" is the rigidity of a system of education so dictated and dominated by endless data gathering and exams.
He argues that we must use this opportunity - where so much is up for grabs - to take a serious look at what needs to change.

Producer: Adele Armstrong


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0lzb)
Wandering Albatross

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents the wandering albatross of the South Atlantic Ocean. On the windswept South Georgian Islands, a stiff breeze is ruffling the grass tussocks as a Wandering Albatross is billing and coo-ing to its mate. These huge seabirds, mate for life and can live for 50 years (or more). Longevity is vital for a species which produces only one chick every two years. The chocolate brown youngster takes to the air nine months after hatching, the longest pre-fledging period of any bird, but when it does, it breaks another record, as adults have the longest wingspan of any living bird, which can reach over 5metres.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m000mbph)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m000mbpk)
Writers, Katie Hims & Sarah McDonald-Hughes
Director, Peter Leslie Wild
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Alice Carter ….. Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter ….. Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Ed Grundy ….. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Gavin Moss ….. Gareth Pierce


SUN 10:55 Tweet of the Day (m000mbpm)
Tweet Take 5 : House Sparrow

Flocking around our towns and cities, the cheeky calls and playful antics of the house sparrow are a constant background to our urban living. Despite their declining populations these ubiquitous little brown birds make home wherever we make home and inveigle themselves joyfully into our lives, whether we like it or not. In this extended version of Tweet of the Day we hear from three people who have taken the house sparrow into their hearts; rower and a two-time Olympic Gold medalist Alex Gregory, wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan and celebrity television chef Cyrus Todiwala.

Produced by Andrew Dawes for BBC Audio in Bristol


SUN 11:00 The Reunion (m000mbpp)
The GM Crops Debate

Those in favour of genetically modified crops saw them as a way to solve the world’s food crisis and claimed they could bring about “the biggest revolution of a lifetime”. Others thought that genetic modification went against the laws of nature, and would lead to so-called Frankenstein foods.

It all began in 1994 when the FlavrSavr tomato became the first genetically modified crop to be approved for sale in the US. It eventually made its way to British supermarket shelves in the form of tomato puree, but when campaigners found out they boycotted retailers in an attempt to stop them from stocking it and other products derived from GM crops.

Over a series of months, activists ripped up fields of Government backed trials of GM maize and soya, Prince Charles went head-to-head with the pro-GM establishment, and supermarket chains were forced to reassure the public that they were free from GM “contaminated” products.

Kirsty Wark talks to those at the centre of the debate:

Dame Joan Ruddock sat on the Select Committee for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

John Gatehouse was a biochemist who helped develop GM.

Tom Sanders was a member of the UK Committee on Novel Foods.

Sue Mayer was the founder of anti-GM organisation, GeneWatch.

Alan Simpson was the Labour MP who clashed with Tony Blair over GM.

Jim Thomas was a young activist with Greenpeace.

Presenter: Kirsty Wark
Producer: Howard Shannon
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 11:45 The Rise and Fall of the Antique (b0bd7zhp)
The Good Old Days

Travis Elborough charts the rise and fall of the antique, examining how, ultimately, the present always dictates which bits of yesteryear we deem worthy of collecting.
In the first episode, he looks back at the origins of the antiques trade and traces how it developed in Britain during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. He discovers the fashion for buying suits of armour and unearths the significance of “Wardour Street English”.

Producer: Sheila Cook


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m000mbps)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (m0001hkc)
Series 70

Episode 5

The godfather of all panel shows pays a visit to Venue Cymru in Llandudno. Tim Brooke-Taylor is joined on the panel by programme stalwarts Susan Calman, Richard Osman and Rob Brydon with Jack Dee in the chair. Colin Sell accompanies on the piano.

Producer - Jon Naismith.
It is a BBC Studios production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m000mblj)
A different kind of S.W.A.T team: Food in Lockdown

In 2019, Romy Gill met Randeep Singh, CEO of NishkamSWAT (Sikh Welfare & Awareness Team). 10 years previous, Randeep and his colleagues had a moment of realisation. More than 200 people in their immediate local community were living without a home. They were hidden from normal life, living beneath bridges or in refuse collection rooms. Together, they decided they could do something to help them, and they begun a project cooking hot meals and sourcing food donations.

But they didn't stop there. NishkamSWAT was only in it's infancy. More than a decade on, Randeep and his central team now co-ordinate a fleet of vans, and more than 1000 volunteers, who gather several times a week to provide food and drinks, health services and support at locations across the country and the world. The project comes from the Sikh concept of 'Langar', a volunteer run kitchen found in Sikh temples, and inspired by the message of Guru Nanak. But this is food for anyone who needs it.

Then in March 2020, Covid-19 struck and the UK went into lockdown. Suddenly the number of people out on the streets increased, with many people who'd been working in hospitality suddenly out of work. So how have Randeep and his 'different kind of SWAT team' managed to keep running the food service which so many have come to rely on? In this programme, we hear Romy Gill cooking with volunteers, and serving people in central London last year. And Randeep tells how his team have managed to keep their food service going under challenging circumstances. Romy also speaks to chef Ravinder Bhogal of Jikoni restaurant, one of the chefs inspired to help.

Presented by Sheila Dillon with Romy Gill.
Produced by Clare Salisbury.

A BBC Audio Bristol production for Radio 4


SUN 12:57 Weather (m000mbpw)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m000mbpy)
Global news and analysis, presented by Mark Mardell.


SUN 13:30 Punt PI (b066fqcr)
Series 8

The Great Mull Air Mystery

On Christmas Eve 1975, former Spitfire pilot Peter Gibbs took off from the unlit airfield on the Isle of Mull and never returned.

It was a moonless night and having just finished dinner with his girlfriend at the Glenforsa Hotel, it seemed a bizarre and impetuous act.

Then Gibbs’ body was discovered on a hillside, but the plane was nowhere to be seen and the story began to get stranger.

Punt heads to the Mull to investigate, but with every piece of evidence the mystery deepens.

Was Gibbs attempting an illicit flight to Northern Ireland, was he trying to fake his own death, or was it something in creepy Room 14 that was to blame?

As he tries to disentangle myth from reality, Punt hears fishy tales from a suspicious local diver, unearths the original pathologist and scrutinises the man who watched Gibbs vanish into the night.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000m5zn)
GQT At Home: Episode Twenty-Three

Peter Gibbs is in the chair for this week's horticultural panel show. Anne Swithinbank, Matthew Pottage and Chris Beardshaw join him to answer gardening questions sent in by listeners via email and social media.

The panellists suggest climbers to grow on a swing, give tips on bringing a poorly Calathea back to life, and share their biggest gardening fallacies.

Away from the questions, Juliet Sargent chats to Peter Hall from Breaky Bottom vineyard about how best to grow grapes, and Claire Ratinon advises on starting a wormery.

Producer - Rosie Merotra
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Living National Treasures (m000g4zk)
Episode 1

We have become divorced from physicality. Technology detaches us from touch and provenance. This, in part, has contributed to the boom in artisanal crafts. It's a call back to more tactile experiences. We're learning to craft, to forage, to paint, to build; gravitating towards skills which can replace some of the sensory connections from which we've disengaged. We want to literally get our hands dirty!

Living National Treasures seeks to represent this societal shift. This series is about celebrating existing ability and drawing attention to our own Living National Treasures.

Ieuan Rees is a 79 year old Welsh calligraphy slate carver. Ieuan grew up in Tumble where his father was a coal miner at the Ammanford colliery. His slate carving studio is in the old mining building where his father and other miners used to get ready to go down the mine and wash when they returned. Despite the fact Ieuan's work is in most cathedrals around the UK his father was most proud of the fact that he worked in the old mining building. Ieuan has been working at his craft all his life and continues to design and carve headstones in Welsh slate for people around the world.

While the Living National Treasure tradition began in Japan - where they also commend buildings and monuments as 'National Treasures' - the celebratory trend has now been adopted by France, Thailand, South Korea and Romania. Living National Treasures are defined as people who possess a high degree of knowledge and skill in a culturally significant craft.

Living National Treasures is a combination of slow radio, artisanal craft and poignant personal stories. We get under the skin of practitioners, learning why they've chosen rare and unusual crafts.

Produced by Kate Bissell


SUN 15:00 Drama (m000mbq0)
Half of a Yellow Sun

Episode 1

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's remarkable novel set during the Nigeria-Biafra War of the late 1960s, dramatised by Janice Okoh.

Sisters Olanna and Kainene, daughters of a "nouveau riche" tribal chief turned businessman and part of the Igbo elite; Olanna's lover Odenigbo, a revolutionary university professor; Richard, a British writer in love with Kainene; and Ugwu a young man employed as a houseboy for Odenigbo all have their lives drastically changed as they become swept up in the brutal civil war.

A powerful, compassionate depiction of the human tragedy of those caught up in Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic and the chilling violence and trauma that followed.

NARRATOR.....Ben Onwukwe
OKEOMA.....Sule Rimi
ODENIGBO.....Adetomiwa Edun
UGWU.....Valentine Olukoga
MISS ADEBAYO/ MAMA/ AMALA.....Gbemisola Ikumelo
OLANNA.....Susan Wokoma
RICHARD.....Blake Ritson
KAINENE.....Nikki Amuka-Bird
MADU.....Okezie Morro

Directed by Nadia Molinari
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes


SUN 16:00 Bookclub (m000mbq3)
Oyinkan Braithwaite - My Sister, The Serial Killer

Oyinkan Braithwaite talks about her novel My Sister, The Serial Killer, a story full of deadpan wit and dark humour about two sisters in Lagos.

Korede is bitter and jealous of her beautiful sister Ayoola, who is the favourite child. A kind, handsome doctor at the hospital where Korede works is the bright spot in her life and she dreams of the day when he will realize they're perfect for each other. But after Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row dies, and the doctor asks Korede for her sister's phone number, she knows that things can't stay the same.

My Sister, the Serial Killer was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019 and longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019.

Oyinkan Braithwaite talks to presenter James Naughtie and a group of readers from her home in Lagos, Nigeria

To take part in future Bookclubs, email bookclub@bbc.co.uk

October's Bookclub Choice : Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor (2003)

Presenter : James Naughtie
Interviewed Guest : Oyinkan Braithwaite
Producer : Dymphna Flynn


SUN 16:30 Tongue and Talk: The Dialect Poets (m000mbq5)
Ep 4 - The Black Country

Writer and performance poet Emma Purshouse explores The Black Country and its poetry in an attempt to discover why the contemporary writers of the region are still using dialect in their work.

In a programme made during lockdown, Emma considers the impact of industry, heritage, landscape, and the changing nature of close-knit communities upon dialect writers, as she catches up with some of the key players of the current Black Country Poetry scene via Zoom meetings, telephone calls and socially distanced meetings in bell pits, parks, market places and gardens.

Armed only with a mask, a digital recorder, and a bottle of hand gel, Emma talks to, among others, the Keeper of the Geology for Dudley Borough, dialect expert Esther Asprey, and poets Brendan Hawthorne, Roy McFarlane, RM Francis and Liz Berry.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 17:00 Universities in Crisis (m000m5ms)
Sam Gyimah, former minister for universities in Theresa May's government, asks if Britain's universities can survive the crisis they now face.

Many are calling the immense challenge that Britain's universities now face an existential crisis. With access to leaders of universities from the most traditional to the most modern, Sam Gyimah explores whether the business and education models for Brtain's higher education sector are fit for purpose. The Covid pandemic is significant but when that crisis comes together with the major issues that Britain's universities already face over their funding, it's clear that the coming academic year will be like no other in living memory.

Universities in Crisis examines the changes now challenging students, teachers, researchers and all those connected to higher education.

Producer: Jonathan Brunert


SUN 17:40 Profile (m000mbq7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m000mbq9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m000mbqc)
The latest weather forecast.


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mbqf)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m000mbqh)
Stuart Maconie

This week Britpop, Bond and Book Burning. Jane Birkin talks Je T'aime and June Whitfield performs it as you’ve never heard before. Louis Theroux speaks to Troy Deeney of Watford FC,, we hear about the great life of Ernest Bevin,

Olivia Newton John’s Nobel prize winning granddad, that corner of Telford New Town that is forever Yugoslavia. along with music from The Proms and Choral Evensong.

Presenter: Stuart Maconie
Producer: Stephen Garner
Production Support: Sandra Hardial
Studio Manager: Celia Hutchinson

Contact: potw@bbc.co.uk


SUN 19:00 The Whisperer In Darkness (m000mbqk)
Episode 6

An unexpected phone call turns Matthew Heawood’s attention to a mystery in the gloom of Rendlesham Forest. Folklore, paranormal, otherworldly? Up for debate, but fertile ground for a new investigative podcast, that’s for sure. One question still lingers, will our host be re-joined by his roaming researcher, Kennedy Fisher?

The duo’s last venture patched together frantic updates from Baghdad, as they pursued suspected occultists in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Very little hope lingered of solving the mystery, and maybe even less that Kennedy would return home safe. But for now, a new investigation calls.

Following the success of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, (Silver, British Podcast Awards) Radio 4 commissions a return to this HP Lovecraft-inspired universe. Once again, the podcast embraces Lovecraft’s crypt of horror, braving the Sci-Fi stylings of The Whisperer in Darkness.

Episode Six
Heawood receives a warning. So who can he trust?

Cast:
Kennedy Fisher……………….………JANA CARPENTER
Matthew Heawood………………….BARNABY KAY
Albert Wilmarth………………………MARK BAZELEY
Henry Akeley……………….……..….DAVID CALDER
Ben…………………...........…….…….BEN CROWE
Tania…………………..……...............GABRIELLE GLAISTER
Slide……………………....................FERDINAND KINGSLEY
Mystery woman…………........…...NICOLA STEPHENSON
Child's voice…………………..........EDIE SIMPSON

Producer: Karen Rose

Director/Writer: Julian Simpson

Sound Recordist and Designer: David Thomas
Production Coordinators: Sarah Tombling and Holly Slater

Music by Tim Elsenburg
Executive Producer: Caroline Raphael

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds


SUN 19:15 Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups (b07v2ysz)
Series 4

A Dance to the Music of Tom

Episode 4 - A Dance to the Music of Tom. Mr and Mrs Wrigglesworth attempt to bond with the new neighbours. Meanwhile, Tom receives some worrying news.

Series 4 of Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups presents another hilarious helping of down-the-line adventures from Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated Tom. Listen in on Tom's weekly phone calls home to his Mum, Dad and Gran in Sheffield and get a glimpse into the triumphs and tribulations of the Wrigglesworth clan in all its dysfunctional glory.

Starring Tom Wrigglesworth, Paul Copley, Kate Anthony, Elizabeth Bennett.

Written by Tom Wrigglesworth and James Kettle with additional material by Miles Jupp.

Producer: Richard Morris
A BBC Studios Production.


SUN 19:45 The New Adventures of Baron Munchausen (m000mbqm)
Episode 4

Baron Munchausen travels in style as he uses his gift for storytelling to earn passage across the Atlantic.

This specially commissioned series from James Robertson celebrating travel, adventure and the importance of storytelling is read by William Gaminara.

Our hero is a descendant of the original 18th century Baron Munchausen, whose tall tales inspired a book that would forever link the family name with fibs and exaggeration. Eager to redress the balance, the current Baron dedicates himself to setting down the unvarnished truth about his own exploits.

James writes, “The present-day Baron’s adventures are no less incredible, but in his case every detail has a rational explanation and not one word is an exaggeration or a lie. He flies with swans, sails, sledges and balloons his way round the world, is swallowed by a whale, encounters wolves and alligators, fights bush fires in Australia, orbits the moon and plays golf with the President of the USA. He does the kind of things, in other words, that have been denied to the rest of us for the last five months. Realism, escapism or a mixture of the two? Judge for yourselves.”

James Robertson is an award-winning poet, novelist and short story writer whose books include ‘Joseph Knight’, ‘And The Land Lay Still’ and ‘To Be Continued...’.

Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


SUN 20:00 More or Less (m000m5j9)
Schools and coronavirus, test and trace, maths and reality

As children return to school in England and Wales, we hear about what we know and what we don’t when it comes to Covid-19 risks in school settings. What do the numbers tell us about how well test and trace is working? Will reopening universities really kill 50,000 people? Are the UK’s figures on economic growth as bad as they look? And is maths real? When someone goes viral asking maths questions on social media, More or Less finds answers.


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m000m5zs)
Chadwick Boseman, Sir Kenneth Robinson, Lord Renton of Mount Harry, Doreen Davies

Pictured: Chadwick Boseman

Matthew Bannister on

Chadwick Boseman, whose portrayal of the King of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda in the movie Black Panther made him a global star.

Sir Kenneth Robinson, the charismatic education expert whose TED talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” has been viewed online more than 67 million times.

Lord Renton, the Tory politician who was Chief Whip when Margaret Thatcher was forced to step down as leader.

Doreen Davies, who presided over the music policy and daytime output of BBC Radio 1 during its heyday in the 1970s and 80s.

Interviewed guest: Amon Warmann
Interviewed guest: Chris Anderson
Interviewed guest: Dr Andy Hargreaves
Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon
Interviewed guest: Simon Mills
Interviewed guest: Johnny Beerling

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Marshall, directed by Reginald Hudlin, Chestnut Ridge Productions 2017; Get On Up, directed by Tate Taylor, Imagine Entertainment 2014; Jo Whiley, Radio 2 14/10/2014; 42, directed by Brian Helgeland, Warner Bros 2013; Trevor Nelson's Rhythm Nation, Radio 2 19/11/2019; Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler, Marvel Studios / Walt Disney Pictures 2018; Front Row, Radio 4 09/02/2018; Chadwick Boseman – A Tribute from Marvel Studios, JoBlo Movie Trailers 31/08/2020; Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?, TED February 2006; Sir Ken Robinson: How To Escape Education’s Death Valley, TED Talks Education April 2013; The Radio One Story, BBC Two 09/05/2010; Jimmy Young, Radio 2 13/06/1978; John Lennon Dies, Today Archives / NBC News 09/12/1980.


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m000mbqp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m000mbp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 In Business (m000m4qx)
The Tree Trade

Politicians keep promising more trees – seen as good for the environment and for fighting climate change. Trees are also big business sustaining vital rural jobs. So will lots of new planting keep everyone happy? Chris Bowlby explores forestry’s future in one of its key locations – Northumberland. He visits the huge forest at Kielder, and a rural factory turning thousands of logs into essential materials for millions of British homes. But there are problems too – a thicket of bureaucracy surrounding planting, and questions about what sort of trees really do bring environmental gain.

Presenter: Chris Bowlby
Producer: John Murphy


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m000mbqr)
Radio 4's Sunday night political discussion programme.


SUN 23:00 The Film Programme (m000m4qg)
Ladj Ly

With Antonia Quirke

Les Miserables is not another adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel, but an award-winning, autobiographical thriller set in a deprived estate in the Parisian suburbs. Ladj Ly's film made such an impact with French audiences that President Francois Macron asked to watch it. He was so shaken by what he saw on screen that he ordered his ministers to start finding solutions to the poor housing conditions in the French capital.

Tenet was the film that was going to save our cinemas. Or so it was hoped. Kevin Markwick, the owner of the Uckfield Picturehouse, tells us if that dream has become a reality.

In a new round of Pitch Battle, critic Ryan Gilbey pitches a remake of Withnail And I, which brings Uncle Monty centre stage. Industry insiders Clare Binns, Rowan Woods and Lizzie Francke decide whether or not to give the project the green light.


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b04mh74v)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]



MONDAY 07 SEPTEMBER 2020

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m000mbqt)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Thinking Allowed (m000219d)
Surveillance

Surveillance: Laurie Taylor explores the way in which we have become the watchers, as well as the watched. From 9/11 to the Snowden leaks, stories about surveillance increasingly dominate the headlines. But surveillance is not only 'done to us' – it is something we do in everyday life. We submit to surveillance, believing we have nothing to hide. Or we try to protect our privacy. At the same time, we participate in surveillance in order to supervise children, monitor other road users, and safeguard our property. Social media allow us to keep tabs on others, as well as on ourselves. Laurie Taylor explores the contemporary culture of surveillance. He's joined by Kirstie Ball, Professor of Management at the University of St Andrews, and David Lyon, Professor in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University, Canada. Revised repeat.

Producer: Jayne Egerton


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m000mbqw)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mbqy)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mbr0)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mbr2)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m000mbr4)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000mbr6)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m000mbr8)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


MON 05:56 Weather (m000mbrb)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0hjv)
New Zealand Robin

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents the New Zealand robin. The toutouwai or New Zealand robin may share a name with the more familiar European robin, but it is a very different bird to the robin redbreast we know so well. Although about the same size with the same perky upright stance, the New Zealand robin, is appropriately enough nearly all-black, with a pale belly and a white splash just above the bill, but no trace of red. Three subspecies exist; one in north Island, one in South Island, and another in Stewart Island. And like their British counterparts, who they are not closely related to at all, can become quite tame and friendly to humans. The song is very varied and each male has a repertoire of around two dozen different notes.


MON 06:00 Today (m000mbhj)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m000mbhq)
Meritocracy and inequality

As inequality continues to rise and political and social divisions become more entrenched, Amol Rajan discusses what can be done to restore social values and a sense of community - with the political philosopher Michael Sandel, the award winning novelist Elif Shafak, and commentator and author David Goodhart.

Michael Sandel describes how we live in an age of winners and losers, an era in which social mobility has stalled. In the past the answer has been to attempt to increase access by rewarding the most able, regardless of wealth or class. But in The Tyranny of Merit, Sandel highlights the deep inequality this has continued to perpetuate, with hubris among those at the top and humiliation and judgement for those at the bottom.

David Goodhart calls for a radical rebalancing of what we value. In Head, Hand and Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century, Goodhart describes how success, esteem and power have become narrowly associated with cognitive abilities. This, he argues, has disrupted community cohesion and left large swathes of people feeling disregarded and unrewarded.

Elif Shafak responds to the tenor of our time with a short manifesto How To Sane In An Age Of Division. She believes that we have entered a time of pessimism. She explores how storytelling can nurture the empathy, wisdom and tolerance needed to progress.

Producer: Katy Hickman


MON 09:45 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mbhx)
Episode 1

Comedian and award-winning podcaster Adam Buxton takes a warm and witty wander through his life.

In 2015 Adam’s father, Nigel Buxton, was diagnosed with cancer. Adam moved his dad into his house and cared for him until his death. Ramble Book flits between that period and reflections on his childhood with his characteristic mix of charm, insight and self-deprecating humour.

Reader: Adam Buxton
Abridger: Ben Lewis
Producer: Kirsty Williams

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000mbj3)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


MON 10:45 Prostrate (m000mbjb)
Episode 1

Stephen Tompkinson and Gary Wilmot star as buddies grappling the country’s most common and least sexy male cancer, in Martin Jameson’s comedy drama.

Tony – job going nowhere, marriage collapsed, son barely speaking to him - thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Until the nimble-fingered consultant tells him he has prostate cancer.

Head spinning, Tony collides with Lenny’s car in the urology car park. Lenny has been in hand-to-gland combat with the disease for ten years but still lives life to the cantankerous max. Over five episodes, Lenny drags Tony out of the slough of despondency. Together they kick Tony's cancer into touch, and his life into vibrant new shape.

47,000 men are diagnosed every year, with UK deaths from prostate cancer now exceeding those from breast cancer. Writer Martin Jameson was diagnosed in 2013 and endured lengthy treatment in 2014, despite which he discovered a well of humour and life-affirming camaraderie with other prostate veterans whose experiences get to the nub of what it is to be a middle-aged man.

Prostrate - because that's what everyone calls it and that's how it renders you - is a rebel yell of solidarity to every man (and supportive woman) living with the disease. The enemy is silence - the weapons are friendship and laughter.

Part One: The Face That Felt A Thousand Tumours
Tony tries to dodge a midlife crisis and a scary hospital appointment.

Cast:
Tony: Stephen Tompkinson
Lenny: Gary Wilmot
Anita: Anjli Mohindra
Cody: Jack Harper
Mr Troy and Mr McKenzie: Matt Addis
Sarah: Elizabeth Carling
Lillian Stafford: Joanna Brookes
Nurse: Jennifer English

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:00 My Name Is... (m000mbjl)
Julie has become increasingly worried about her children's education over lockdown. She is a single mum on a low income and life changed overnight, bringing financial stress and the challenges of homeschooling. Already aware of the existing attainment gap between the children of disadvantaged households and those in more affluent ones, she asks if she is alone in worrying about the effect of lockdown on children's education and if it has indeed increased these differences.

She speaks to her children Alex and Tom as well as to Sammy Wright, a teacher and Social Mobility Commission lead for Schools and HE; to Kadra Abdinasir, Head of Children and Young People's Mental Health at the Centre for Mental Health; Professor Greta Defeyter, Director of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University; and also to Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee.

Producer: Philippa Geering
Executive Producers: Sean Glynn, Max O'Brien
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


MON 11:30 Loose Ends (m000mbjv)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


MON 12:00 News Summary (m000mbk3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mbkd)
Episode Six

A teenage girl uncovers family secrets and lies in 1990s Naples, in the new novel by Elena Ferrante, author of the Neapolitan quartet of novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).

As Giovanna moves from childhood into adolescence, she becomes fascinated with her father's sister Vittoria, from whom he is estranged. She goes down from the affluent heights of Naples where she has grown up in a wealthy left-wing family, into the depths of the rough neighbourhoods of her father's youth. As she begins to excavate her family history, everything of which she was certain unravels.

Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth


MON 12:18 You and Yours (m000mbkn)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


MON 12:57 Weather (m000mbkw)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m000mbl2)
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 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mbl8)
Lewis and Clark's expedition out west

The Lewis and Clark expedition to reach the Pacific ocean is perhaps the most famous event in the exploration up of the American west. They set off under President Jefferson with instructions to write down everything they saw. "Back then," says the presenter, "we elected presidents who were interested in flora and fauna and botany and minerals and astronomy and anthropology and everything." But the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this vast and mysterious land came at a price - particularly for the people already living there..

Produced by Miles Warde in Bristol


MON 14:00 Trust (m000mblc)
Episode 1

Trust by Jonathan Hall.
Ep 1 W.A.L.T
Yvette Miller is the acting head of an inner city school in Salford that has just joined Quays Academy Trust, a successful group of academy schools headed by the charismatic Sir Ken Bishop. He is a keen advocate of freedom from the shackles of the Local Education Authority. Yvette is a reluctant convert. How will the school fit in?

Yvette ..... Julie Hesmondhalgh
Sir Ken ..... Jonathan Keeble
Andy ..... Rupert Hill
Tim ..... Ashley Margolis
Joy/ Tannoy ..... Susan Twist
Sidrah ..... Purvi Parmar
Emily ..... Molly Ehrenberg-Peters

Director/Producer Gary Brown


MON 14:45 Museum of Lost Objects (b072n8f3)
Looted Sumerian Seal, Baghdad

The Museum of Lost Objects traces the histories of 10 antiquities or cultural sites that have been destroyed or looted in Iraq and Syria.

This is the oldest and smallest object in the series: a tiny Sumerian cylinder seal depicting a harvest festival. It was carved in 2,600 BC and was part of the collection of ancient cylinder seals which disappeared when the Iraq Museum in Baghdad was looted during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We tell the story of this seal and the pillaging of the country's most important museum.

This episode was first broadcast on 11 March, 2016.

Presenter: Kanishk Tharoor
Producer: Maryam Maruf

Contributors: Lamia al-Gailani, SOAS; Mazin Safar, son of Iraqi archaeologist Fuad Safar; John Curtis, Iran Heritage Foundation

With thanks to Augusta McMahon of Cambridge University, Mark Altaweel of the Institute of Archaeology UCL, and Sarah Collins of the British Museum

Picture: Sumerian harvest seal
Credit: Lamia al-Gailani


MON 15:00 Brain of Britain (m000mblg)
Heat 11, 2020

(11/17)
The latest of the postponed heats in the 2020 general knowledge tournament takes to the air, from the Radio Theatre in London, with the contestants competing behind closed doors. Russell Davies asks the questions.

There's also a chance for a Brain of Britain listener to win a prize by beating the Brains with questions of his or her own devising.

Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m000mblj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 My Dream Dinner Party (m000mbll)
Jack Whitehall's Dream Dinner Party

Actor and comedian Jack Whitehall hosts a dinner party with a twist - all his guests are from beyond the grave, heroes brought back to life by the magic of the radio archive.

Jack is joined by James Bond star Roger Moore, comic actor Frankie Howerd, football legend Brian Clough, art historian Sister Wendy Beckett, and Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall.

Things get awkward when Jack's Beef Wellington goes wrong but the conversation soon flows when the dinner table chat turns to living in a caravan, the sting of failure, the need for a father figure - and pubic hair.

There's laughter, an arm wrestle with 007 and Sister Wendy comes out on top in an unexpected round of spin the bottle.

Presented by Jack Whitehall
Produced by Sarah Peters and Peregrine Andrews
Researcher: Edgar Maddicott
BBC Archivist: Tariq Hussein
Executive Producer: Iain Chambers

A Tuning Fork and Open Audio production for BBC Radio 4


MON 16:30 Beyond Belief (m000mbln)
Series exploring the place and nature of faith in today's world


MON 17:00 PM (m000mblq)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mbls)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 18:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m000mblv)
Series 15

Episode 1

Professor of Ignorance John Lloyd and the Museum’s brand new curator Alice Levine are joined by writer and presenter Danny Wallace, broadcaster and tech expert Georgia Lewis Anderson and Agatha Christie’s great-grandson and CEO of Agatha Christie Ltd James Prichard.

This week, the Museum’s Guest Committee donate a giant balloon, a mobile phone inside a crystal ball and Agatha Christie’s favourite mug.

In this series of The Museum of Curiosity, John and Alice are recording from various locations around their fictional Museum. This week they’re out on the front lawn but over the series they will also visit the canteen, the lost property office and the top of the Museum’s roof. This series was recorded remotely in June/July 2020.

The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Shephard, Mike Turner and Emily Jupitus and Lydia Mizon of QI.

The Producers were Anne Miller and Victoria Lloyd.

Edited by Andrew Smilie.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m000mbly)
Tracy finds herself in an awkward predicament and Jolene hatches a plan.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m000mbm0)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


MON 19:45 Prostrate (m000mbjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


MON 20:00 A Short History of Solitude (m000mb11)
Episode Two: Stepping Out

The historian Thomas Dixon explores the surprising history of being alone.

In the past, if people wanted to find any kind of solitude they often had to step outside. For the Romantic poets, solitude in nature was a way of connecting with the self and the imagination. Homes and workplaces could be crowded and the growth of cities meant that, for many, the walk to work itself provided a welcome interlude.

Hobbies offered the chance to find peace - anglers found solace thigh deep in lonely rivers and a growing number of private readers of books could retreat from a busy domestic setting and explore fantasies of isolation like Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein.

Contributors include farmers Richard Betton and Desmond Collinson, Teesdale local historians Lorne Tallentire and Derek Mills, the writer Melissa Harrison whose lockdown podcast The Stubborn Light of Things let listeners accompany her on solitary walks, Corin Throsby who is writing a book about Mary Shelley, and historians David Vincent and Barbara Taylor.

With specially composed and performed music by Beth Porter.

Barbara Taylor runs the research project Pathologies of Solitude and is academic advisor to the series.
Produced by Natalie Steed
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


MON 20:30 Crossing Continents (m000m4pr)
South Africa Moonshine

Pineapple beer is the universal homebrew in South Africa and pineapple prices trebled when the government imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco during the coronavirus pandemic. South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa and the government introduced the ban to ease the pressure on hospitals. With the infection rate now falling the ban has been lifted although some restrictions remain in place. Ed Butler and Vauldi Carelse have been hearing from the brewers, both legal and illegal, on the impact the ban has had on their livelihoods and on people’s health, and since the ban has ended, from those considering what lessons the nation might learn from its experiment with being ‘dry’.

(Image: Barman working at a bar which has re-opened under new regulations in Val, South Africa, 07 August 2020. Credit: EPA/Kim Ludbrook)


MON 21:00 My City in Lockdown (m000m5lr)
As a doctor on the covid wards Fozia Hayat is supportive of measures to control the spread of the virus, but was shocked by the way that partial lockdowns were imposed across Northern cities.

Localised lockdowns took effect on the eve of Eid celebrations and Fozia starts by speaking to people in her own community. She examines the reaction to the government led restrictions imposed across parts of West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Greater Manchester, focusing on what messages are getting through and what sense people across the generations are making of them.

As friends and relatives scrambled to unpick their Eid celebrations they were drawn into the swell of conspiracy theories on social media and the mounting anger felt at the way they were being treated. A few went ahead with their plans anyway, but most obeyed the new rules, becoming increasingly angry at pictures of crowded beaches and packed pubs

As a doctor Fozia is worried about divisions and racist undertones in the wake of localised lockdowns. There were provocative tweets from a neighbouring Conservative MP blaming things on "irresponsible" Asians and in wealthier parts of the borough demanded exemption from the new rules. In the hospital there are now only a handful of patients on the covid wards, but many of the newly infected are young and could put older relatives at risk.

Migrant populations have higher fertility rates and high covid rates amongst the young will clearly impact in cities like Bradford. Fozia is concerned that coverage rarely focuses on a more nuanced understanding of what's happening. Many in the Asian community feel singled out and perplexed at why funerals and family gatherings are restricted whilst bars are open for business.

Producer: Sue Mitchell


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m000mbhq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m000mbm3)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mbkd)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


MON 23:00 Pause the Plié (m000m4pt)
Dancer Tatum Swithenbank is on a journey to explore where her creativity might lie after being diagnosed with a life changing genetic condition.

What does an artist do when they can no longer perform in their chosen medium? Can an artist find an equally satisfying creative outlet when the one they’ve known is no longer available to them?

Artists are often grouped together under the word 'creatives' - the implied suggestion is that being gifted in the arts means you are inherently creative in many ways, and potentially your creativity is transferable. The idea that an artist gets the most satisfaction from the form they are most highly skilled in raises questions around the interchangeability of creativity. Tatum explores these questions with artists who have thrived in different creative mediums as she redefines herself, and searches for a new outlet.

With contributions from fine art photographer Hannah Laycock, dancer and choreographer Suzie Birchwood, musician and teacher David Watkins, artistic director and choreographer Marc Brew, and actor Dylan Mason.

Producer: Raymond Tannor
Executive Producer: Anishka Sharma

Commissioned as part of the Multitrack Audio Producers Fellowship

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Image Credit: Daniel Amoakoh


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000mbm5)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



TUESDAY 08 SEPTEMBER 2020

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m000mbm7)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mbhx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mbm9)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mbmc)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mbmf)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m000mbmh)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000mbmk)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m000mbmm)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0m9x)
Laughing Kookaburra

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents Australia's laughing kookaburra. At 45cm the laughing kookaburra is one of the world's largest kingfishers. Native to south and eastern Australia, they have now been introduced to Western Australia and parts of New Zealand. Although they do catch fish, they hunt mainly on land where they eat reptiles, small mammals and invertebrates. The cacophony of loud hooting laughs from which they get their Aboriginal name, is often produced by several birds in chorus. The cackling call is one of the few exotic bird sounds that is recognised around the world: a captive kookaburra named Jacko became a radio celebrity in Australia through his ability to break into that laughing call on demand. By the time of his death in 1939 he was one of the best known birds in the world.


TUE 06:00 Today (m000mcy4)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m000mcy6)
Steve Haake on technology, sport and health

Steve Haake, Professor of Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, and Jim Al-Khalili discuss how technology transforms sport and the health benefits of Parkrun.


TUE 09:30 One to One (m000mcy8)
Hair changes: Helen Mort & Niamh Kavanagh

How significant is our hair when it comes to projecting an image of ourselves and how we feel? In the second of three programmes about body modification, poet Helen Mort talks to hair stylist Niamh Kavanagh about the role of hair in expressing our personality. Throughout her life Helen has changed the colour and style of her hair and also had her head shaved. She is fascinated by people’s responses to hair and what it says about them and us. Niamh has also experimented with her own hair as well as cutting and styling clients’ hair, which involves trust, empathy and skill. Producer Sarah Blunt


TUE 09:45 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mcyb)
Episode 2

Comedian and award-winning podcaster Adam Buxton takes a warm and witty wander through his life.

Ramble Book moves between Adam’s childhood and reflections on his adult life.

In this episode, he focuses on his early years at boarding school and considers how that shaped him, whilst revisiting the period he brought his ailing father to live with him in Norfolk.

Reader: Adam Buxton
Abridger: Ben Lewis
Producer: Kirsty Williams

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000mcyd)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


TUE 10:45 Prostrate (m000mcyg)
Episode 2

Stephen Tompkinson and Gary Wilmot star as buddies grappling the country’s most common and least sexy male cancer, in Martin Jameson’s comedy drama.

Tony – job going nowhere, marriage collapsed, son barely speaking to him - thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Until the nimble-fingered consultant tells him he has prostate cancer.

Head spinning, Tony collides with Lenny’s car in the urology car park. Lenny has been in hand-to-gland combat with the disease for ten years but still lives life to the cantankerous max. Over five episodes, Lenny drags Tony out of the slough of despondency. Together they kick Tony's cancer into touch, and his life into vibrant new shape.

47,000 men are diagnosed every year, with UK deaths from prostate cancer now exceeding those from breast cancer. Writer Martin Jameson was diagnosed in 2013 and endured lengthy treatment in 2014, despite which he discovered a well of humour and life-affirming camaraderie with other prostate veterans whose experiences get to the nub of what it is to be a middle-aged man.

Prostrate - because that's what everyone calls it and that's how it renders you - is a rebel yell of solidarity to every man (and supportive woman) living with the disease. The enemy is silence - the weapons are friendship and laughter.

Part Two: The Size Of The Apparatus
Lenny comes to the rescue and becomes Tony’s Prostate Spirit Guide.

Cast:
Tony: Stephen Tompkinson
Lenny: Gary Wilmot
Anita: Anjli Mohindra
Cody: Jack Harper
Mr Troy and Mr McKenzie: Matt Addis
Sarah: Elizabeth Carling
Lillian Stafford: Joanna Brookes
Nurse: Jennifer English

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 11:00 Broad Spectrum (m000mcyj)
Autism is a lifelong condition, often seen as particularly ‘male’. Yet a growing number of women are being diagnosed as autistic in their 30s, 40s, 50s - and beyond. Writer and performer Helen Keen is one of them, and she’s found this diagnosis has helped her make sense of many aspects of her life, from growing up with selective mutism, to struggling to fit in as a young adult. In this programme Helen asks why she, like a number of women, had to wait till she was well into adulthood before finding her place on the autistic spectrum. She discovers that for many years psychologists believed that autism was rarely seen in women. Now it is accepted that girls and women often display autistic traits in different ways, for example, they may learn to ‘camouflage’ and behave in a neurotypical way - but at what cost?

Helen talks to women like her who have had late diagnoses and finds out if knowing they are on the autistic spectrum has given them insight into how they can navigate the pressures on them from contemporary society. She also explores how we can value and celebrate neurodiversity.


TUE 11:30 Miles Jupp Is Literally Unputdownable (m000hpcw)
When was the last time you read a story which kept you up at night or made you miss your stop on the train? Miles Jupp goes on the trail of literally unputdownable stories in the company of "The Day of the Jackal" author Frederick Forsyth, "Line of Duty" creator Jed Mercurio, "The Girl on the Train" author Paula Hawkins, critic DJ Taylor and others.

Presented by Miles Jupp
Produced by David Stenhouse
Readings by David Jackson Young


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m000mcyl)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mcyn)
Episode Seven

A teenage girl uncovers family secrets and lies in 1990s Naples, in the new novel by Elena Ferrante, author of the Neapolitan quartet of novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).

As Giovanna moves from childhood into adolescence, she becomes fascinated with her father's sister Vittoria, from whom he is estranged. She goes down from the affluent heights of Naples where she has grown up in a wealthy left-wing family, into the depths of the rough neighbourhoods of her father's youth. As she begins to excavate her family history, everything of which she was certain unravels.

Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth


TUE 12:18 You and Yours (m000mcyq)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


TUE 12:57 Weather (m000mcys)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m000mcyv)
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 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mcyx)
The Dust Bowl

The great migration of agricultural workers from the Dust Bowl states to California. Here they were told that jobs were plentiful, that the streets were paved with gold. This turned out not to be the case. Presenter Joe Queenan immerses himself in the music of Woody Guthrie, the photos of Dorothea Lange and the novel by John Steinbeck to recreate a disaster everyone knew about at the time. Includes contributions by Clive Webb of Sussex University and the play Migrant Mother by Michael Symmons Roberts.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m000mbly)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Trust (m000mcyz)
Episode 2

Trust by Jonathan Hall.
Episode 2: Purple Enough
The school is having budget difficulties and the financial manager is advocating massive cuts including East Salford's beloved brass band. The Deputy Head is going forward with the rebranding including Byzantium purple hoodies. But then an unfortunate incident occurs in a local nightclub.

Yvette ..... Julie Hesmondhalgh
Sir Ken ..... .Jonathan Keeble
Tim ..... Ashley Margolis
Dhruti ..... Mina Anwar
Joy/ Tannoy ..... Susan Twist

Director/Producer Gary Brown


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m000mcz1)
Hinterland

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about hinterlands - areas lying beyond what is visible or known. From how to read the dangers and possibilities of public space to the loving act of re-making the world in your hands.

Production team: Andrea Rangecroft and Alia Cassam
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m000mb3g)
Autopia to Utopia? Car-Free Cities

Lockdown saw many more people jumping on bikes and walking - as much as a way to get out of the house as get around - but pollution levels dropped and nature could be heard without the background roar of traffic. Jheni Osman asks if this the way it could or should be? Has this given us a new way of thinking about how we get around and can city leaders bank on this to change the infrastructure to be 'car free'?

After 100 years of city design being built around the private car, this is a rare opportunity to bank on the behaviour change to reduce pollution, improve air quality and get more of us active. Temporary moves to give over more road space to public transport, bikes and pedestrians may give way to more permanent measures and has accelerated plans for 'Car Free Cities'. Jheni explores models that have been applied elsewhere, looks at changes coming in across Milan, Bristol and Birmingham and asks what's needed to make them work? Will we be zooming about on e-scooters and goods transported underground instead? Plans aren't without cost or controversy but is this a rare moment to make a radical change the new normal?

Presented by Jheni Osman
Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock for BBC Audio in Bristol.


TUE 16:00 Stretch and Listen! (m000k8dv)
Derrick Evans, aka Mr Motivator, tells the global story of fitness on the radio, and hears how audio exercise can be just as sweaty as its video counterpart.

It’s not just lockdown that has us jumping around our living rooms, and it’s not just YouTube, TV and Zoom classes that bring us lycra-clad fitness instructors shouting out the moves. For almost a century, instructional radio broadcasts designed to keep us flexing, stretching and kicking have captivated a dedicated listenership.

The UK’s father of TV fitness, Derrick Evans, leads us around the world of radio exercise – from the USA to Japan, via BBC Radio 4’s Today programme – and discovers how some broadcasts have been shaped by the tides of history and politics.

The story starts with the Daily Dozen, a craze that swept across America’s airwaves in the 1920s. It had listeners jumping, clapping, squatting - and sending in more fan mail than for any other show. When a group of visiting businesspeople heard it, they took the idea back to Japan, where it was adapted to help keep the military fit. It found its way onto public radio - rajio taisō (radio calisthenics), as it became known, still attracts 10 million daily listeners.

Back home, Derrick recalls Laugh and Grow Fit, a 1930s attempt to get British listeners moving in the mornings, and he meets the people behind current programmes and podcasts such as 10 Today and Radio 1’s Workout Anthems.

Presenter: Derrick Evans
Producers: Claire Crofton and Steve Urquhart
A Boom Shakalaka production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 16:30 Great Lives (m000mcqg)
Tom Allen on Kenneth Williams

Comedian and presenter Tom Allen first discovered Kenneth Williams as a young boy, watching the Carry On films and listening to Round the Horne with his mum. He joins Matthew Parris and Kenneth's biographer, Christopher Stevens, to explore the life of the famous twentieth century entertainer. Together, they discuss stealing the show, sexuality and living solo. Featuring clips from Kenneth's performances from Parkinson to Just a Minute, Desert Island Discs to Hancock's Half Hour, the trio reflect on Kenneth's dexterity and complexity, as a performer and as a person.
Producer: Camellia Sinclair


TUE 17:00 PM (m000mcz3)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mcz5)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 18:30 The Lenny Henry Show (m000mcz7)
Episode 3

Another helping of character-based sketch comedy from Lenny Henry, including more from Delbert and Winston who discuss getting out into the countryside after lockdown.

We also hear from Cecilia and Barrington, two elderly Jamaican friends, about a new TV show Britain's Next Great Occultist. There's more adventures from Gavin Stone, the Special Forces soldier-turned-teacher, and we meet Paul and Madison, who run Brixton's best black studies book shop - if only it wasn't so close to Waterstone's.

Cast includes Lenny Henry, Vas Blackwood, George Fouracres, Llewella Gideon, Freya Parker and Cherrelle Skeete.

Written by Lenny Henry and Max Davis, with Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, Tasha Dhanraj, Kim Fuller, Athena Kugblenu, and Benjamin Partridge.

Music by Lawrence Insula, including end song Black People in Coronation Street.

Produced by Sam Michell.
A Douglas Road and Tiger Aspect production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m000mb2g)
Lilian issues some home truths and Susan has a mystery to solve.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m000mcz9)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


TUE 19:45 Prostrate (m000mcyg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


TUE 20:00 File on 4 (m000mczc)
Covid 19: The Long Road to Recovery

After Coronavirus: the survivors left with life-changing and long term conditions. The physical and psychological aftermath of Covid 19 and the pressure on rehabilitation services. Nearly 3 million people in the UK have had symptomatic coronavirus. More than one hundred thousand so severely, they needed hospital treatment.
This is a new disease, so doctors are guessing when it comes to the symptoms people will have long term.
But it’s clear this virus has a sting in its tail. The sickest patients have damage to their lungs and kidney which could be permanent. Some research shows the risk of heart attack or stroke is high. File on 4 talks to people living with the after effects of Covid 19. Surviving was just the beginning.
Doctors say many patients who survived intensive care are showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. People describe flashbacks to the ITU, seeing people die, overhearing their last goodbyes with loved ones on phone or the internet.
Patients who were hospitalised get follow-ups, and referrals for rehabilitation and possibly, counselling.
But what of the hundreds of thousands of other people who fell ill and who, if it weren’t a pandemic, might have gone to hospital, but were told to stay at home?
Researchers say there are at least 330,000 people who have had symptoms of Coronavirus for more than a month – so called Long Haul Covid.
Many are young and previously fit. They say they had a mild case of the virus. But they have been floored by the symptoms that followed – breathlessness, racing heart, weakness. They say the tail end of Covid is ruining their lives and their livelihoods.
They say they’re met with scepticism by medical professionals and being denied follow-up care. They’re creating their own ‘survivors’ communities. Some are buying drugs online to self-medicate.
File on 4 investigates what services local NHS services are putting in place for people who suffered Covid 19 at home.


TUE 20:40 In Touch (m000mczf)
Paralympic Legend Tim Reddish On The Delayed 2020 Games; Who Were Japan's Goze Performers?

Tim Reddish is visually impaired and won numerous swimming medals when he competed in three Paralympics . He's been National Performance Director for the Disability Swim Team and he's chaired the British Paralympic Association. He's currently a member of the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board. We hear from him about the impact of delaying the 2020 games in Tokyo for a year.
And we learn about the blind Japanese women who travelled their country as Goze musical performers.
PRESENTER: Peter White
PRODUCER: Mike Young


TUE 21:00 Science Stories (b06yfcph)
Series 2

The duchess who gatecrashed science

In the spring of 1667 Samuel Pepys queued repeatedly with crowds of Londoners and waited for hours just to catch a glimpse of aristocrat writer and thinker Margaret Cavendish.

Twice he was frustrated and couldn't spot her, but eventually she made a grand visit to meet the Fellows of the newly formed Royal Society. She was the first woman ever to visit.

Pepys watched as they received her with gritted teeth and fake smiles.

They politely showed her air pumps, magnets and microscopes, and she politely professed her amazement, then left in her grand carriage.

Naomi Alderman asks what it was it about this celebrity poet, playwright, author, and thinker that so fascinated and yet also infuriated these men of the Restoration elite?

Part of the answer strikes right at the core of what we now call the scientific method.

Producer: Alex Mansfield


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m000mcy6)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m000mczh)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mcyn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


TUE 23:00 Fresh From the Fringe (b0bf7n69)
Fresh from the Fringe 2018 - Part 1

Hosted by Ahir Shah, Fresh From the Fringe showcases the best comedy from the Edinburgh Festival including performances from Olga Koch, Rosie Jones, Anuvab Pal and sketch comedy duo Egg.

Fresh From The Fringe was produced by Suzy Grant and is a BBC Studios production.


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000mczk)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



WEDNESDAY 09 SEPTEMBER 2020

WED 00:00 Midnight News (m000mczm)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


WED 00:30 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mcyb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Tuesday]


WED 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mczp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mczr)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


WED 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mczt)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


WED 05:30 News Briefing (m000mczw)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


WED 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000mczy)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett.


WED 05:45 Farming Today (m000md00)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


WED 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0mj0)
Greater Hill Mynah

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents the mimic specialist Greater Hill Mynah from Asia. Like many members of the starling family, Greater Hill Mynah's are superb mimics with a remarkable ability to reproduce the tones of the human voice. This makes them popular as cage and now some wild populations have been severely reduced by collecting. Hill mynahs are not just vocally outstanding. They're dapper looking birds too; glossy purplish-black with a white wing-patch and wattles of bright yellow skin under their eyes and around the back of their necks. The wild birds don't impersonate people though; it's only those captive birds which are amongst some of the best mimics of the human voice.


WED 06:00 Today (m000m9zy)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


WED 09:00 More or Less (m000mb06)
Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life.


WED 09:30 Four Thought (m000mb0b)
Series of thought-provoking talks on topics that affect culture and society.


WED 09:45 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mb44)
Episode 3

Comedian and award-winning podcaster Adam Buxton takes a warm and witty wander through his life.

In 2015, Adam’s father was diagnosed with cancer and given months to live. Adam moved him to his house in Norfolk and cared for him, bringing the relationship between father and son into sharp relief. In Ramble Book, Adam reflects on this period of his life with self-deprecating humour, whilst looking back at the childhood that shaped him.

Reader: Adam Buxton
Abridger: Ben Lewis
Producer: Kirsty Williams

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett


WED 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000mb0l)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


WED 10:45 Prostrate (m000mb0r)
Episode 3

Stephen Tompkinson and Gary Wilmot star as buddies grappling the country’s most common and least sexy male cancer, in Martin Jameson’s comedy drama.

Tony – job going nowhere, marriage collapsed, son barely speaking to him - thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Until the nimble-fingered consultant tells him he has prostate cancer.

Head spinning, Tony collides with Lenny’s car in the urology car park. Lenny has been in hand-to-gland combat with the disease for ten years but still lives life to the cantankerous max. Over five episodes, Lenny drags Tony out of the slough of despondency. Together they kick Tony's cancer into touch, and his life into vibrant new shape.

47,000 men are diagnosed every year, with UK deaths from prostate cancer now exceeding those from breast cancer. Writer Martin Jameson was diagnosed in 2013 and endured lengthy treatment in 2014, despite which he discovered a well of humour and life-affirming camaraderie with other prostate veterans whose experiences get to the nub of what it is to be a middle-aged man.

Prostrate - because that's what everyone calls it and that's how it renders you - is a rebel yell of solidarity to every man (and supportive woman) living with the disease. The enemy is silence - the weapons are friendship and laughter.

Part Three: My Guide To All Things Prostrate
Tony is faced with baffling choices in the Land of Prostate.

Cast:
Tony: Stephen Tompkinson
Lenny: Gary Wilmot
Anita: Anjli Mohindra
Cody: Jack Harper
Mr Troy and Mr McKenzie: Matt Addis
Sarah: Elizabeth Carling
Lillian Stafford: Joanna Brookes
Nurse: Jennifer English

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


WED 11:00 A Short History of Solitude (m000mb11)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Monday]


WED 11:30 Jack & Millie (m000mb17)
Series 2

A Terrible Hoo-Ha

Jack meets an unwanted old friend, Melvin gets hot under the collar, Delphine makes a French joke and Shirley and Millie get an unexpected buzz.

So Millie’s son Melvin has given her a new tablet with a voice recorder?

So suddenly Jack and Millie have decided to record everything that happens to them? And for this, we should be grateful?

Well Yes! Because this is the new series of the comedy show written by Jeremy Front (writer of the Charles Paris mysteries for Radio 4) and starring Jeremy Front and Rebecca Front as Jack and Millie Lemman - an older couple who are fully engaged with contemporary life whilst being at war with the absurdities of the modern world...

Cast:
Jack............Jeremy Front
Millie..........Rebecca Front
Shirley........Tracy-Ann Oberman
Harry...........Nigel Lindsay
Melvin........Harry Peacock
Delphine....Jenny Bede

With special guest
Debbie Chazen as Nita Green (née Blom)

Written by Jeremy Front

Produced by David Tyler
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4


WED 12:00 News Summary (m000mdg6)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 12:04 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mb1n)
Episode Eight

A teenage girl uncovers family secrets and lies in 1990s Naples, in the new novel by Elena Ferrante, author of the Neapolitan quartet of novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).

As Giovanna moves from childhood into adolescence, she becomes fascinated with her father's sister Vittoria, from whom he is estranged. She goes down from the affluent heights of Naples where she has grown up in a wealthy left-wing family, into the depths of the rough neighbourhoods of her father's youth. As she begins to excavate her family history, everything of which she was certain unravels.

Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth


WED 12:18 You and Yours (m000mb1v)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


WED 12:57 Weather (m000mb22)
The latest weather forecast


WED 13:00 World at One (m000mb27)
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 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mb2d)
The Blues

In 1964 the Rolling Stones went to Chess Records in Chicago. In a later interview Keith Richards said this was when they first met Muddy Waters, up a ladder, painting the ceiling white. Is it true? Keith says it's true. This is the story of how the music of the Mississippi delta travelled first to Chicago and then inspired a whole generation of British rock musicians, who then brought it back to a white American audience who barely knew who Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon even were.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


WED 14:00 The Archers (m000mb2g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Tuesday]


WED 14:15 Trust (m000mb2j)
Episode 3

Trust by Jonathan Hall.
Episode 3: A Surgical Head.
The biggest success in Quays Academy Trust is Lodestone Academy. This formerly failing school has been spectacularly turned around by Surgical Head Kayleigh Britton. But when East Salford's financial manager is loaned out to help with the books she uncovers some interesting details.

Yvette ..... Julie Hesmondhalgh
Tim ..... Ashley Margolis
Dhruti ..... Mina Anwar
Sir Ken ..... .Jonathan Keeble
Terry ..... Sushil Chudasama
Tannoy ..... Susan Twist
Director/Producer Gary Brown


WED 15:00 Money Box (m000mb2m)
Working From Home

Paul Lewis and a panel of guests answer calls on personal finance.


WED 15:30 Science Stories (b06yfcph)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 on Tuesday]


WED 16:00 Thinking Allowed (m0001jpz)
Au pairing and domestic labour

With her 1974 study The Sociology of Housework, Ann Oakley offered a comprehensive sociological study of women’s work in the home. Analysing interviews with urban housewives, she found that most women, regardless of class, were dissatisfied with housework. It was a finding that contrasted with prevailing perspectives, and a study that challenged the scholarly neglect of housework. Now that this landmark text has been reissued, Ann talks to Laurie Taylor about its significance and reflects on what has changed in the decades since it was published.

Also, Rosie Cox discusses her co-authored study of au pairing in the twenty first century, As an Equal? Drawing on detailed research, the book examines the lives of au pairs and the families who host them in contemporary Britain, arguing that au pairing has become increasingly indistinguishable from other forms of domestic labour. Revised repeat.

Producer: Alice Bloch


WED 16:30 The Media Show (m000mb2q)
Topical programme about the fast-changing media world


WED 17:00 PM (m000mb2s)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


WED 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mb2x)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


WED 18:30 Phil Ellis Is Trying (m000mb2z)
Series 3

Billy Bonker and The Cup A Soup Factory

When Phil and Johnny discover golden sachets in their Cup A Soup packets, they embark on a fantastical tour of the Cup A Soup factory hosted by reclusive owner Billy Bonker, who is opening the gates for the first time in 40 years. Phil cannot believe his luck. He's desperate to meet Billy Bonker and enter his magical world where, they say, the taps run minestrone. If only the other people on the tour weren't so intent on getting themselves killed. Meanwhile, Polly has enlisted Ellie to go on a double date with two so-called celebrities, who may or may not be trying to scam them. Even so, it's still worth going. After all, who can turn down a date with a celebrity? It's every normal person's dream...

Cast includes:

Phil Ellis as Phil
Johnny Vegas as Johnny
Amy Gledhill as Polly
Katia Kvinge as Ellie
Jason Barnett as Captain Birdseye
And
Terry Mynott as Klaus Von Flump/Mr Kipling

With special guest star Mark Lamarr as Billy Bonker

It is produced by Sam Michell and is a BBC Studios Production.


WED 19:00 The Archers (m000mb34)
Lynda attempts to salvage her situation and Kenton is forced to intervene.


WED 19:15 Front Row (m000mb38)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.


WED 19:45 Prostrate (m000mb0r)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


WED 20:00 Grounded with Louis Theroux (p08j2xn0)
10. Chris O'Dowd

In Grounded with Louis Theroux, Louis’s using the lockdown to track down some high-profile people he’s been longing to talk to – a fascinating mix of the celebrated, the controversial and the mysterious.

In this episode, Louis speaks to actor, comedian and good friend, Chris O’Dowd, who is locked down in LA. Chris talks about singing Imagine in a viral video, getting into fights and pretending to be bitten by a dog.

Produced by Paul Kobrak
A Mindhouse production for BBC Radio 4


WED 20:45 Four Thought (m000mb0b)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:30 today]


WED 21:00 Costing the Earth (m000mb3g)
[Repeat of broadcast at 15:30 on Tuesday]


WED 21:30 The Media Show (m000mb2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


WED 22:00 The World Tonight (m000mb3l)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


WED 22:45 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mb1n)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


WED 23:00 Woof (m000mb3q)
Honest Mistakes at Home and Abroad

Parakeet Frenzy

In this third series, Chris Neill continues his comedic exploration of affairs of the heart, the unexpected humiliations of ageing, and what bloody good luck it is that he has met his boyfriend, Rory.

In earlier series, episodes revolved around the terrible blind date Chris was set up on; his fantasy French boyfriend inspired by a school textbook; making a fish pie for his dying neighbour; and his failure to write a novel. As ever, Chris remains entirely willing to expose himself to a late-night, possibly bed-bound, audience and this third series of Woof has more autobiographical stories of his life in love, lust and mediocrity.

In programme four: "Have you got a shoebox?” Chris has an unexpected encounter with a wild bird which puts his friend ‘s woeful love life into perspective. If you love something – give it a banana? Stand-up comedy illustrated with sketches featuring Isy Suttie and Martin Hyder.

Written by Chris Neill
Starring: Chris Neill, Isy Suttie and Martin Hyder
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:15 Bunk Bed (m0003jjf)
Series 6

Episode 2

Everyone craves a place where their mind and body are not applied to a particular task. The nearest faraway place. Somewhere for drifting and lighting upon strange thoughts which don't have to be shooed into context, but which can be followed like balloons escaping onto the air.

Late at night, in the dark and in a bunk bed, your tired mind can wander.

This is the nearest faraway place for Patrick Marber and Peter Curran. Here they endeavour to get the heart of things in an entertainingly vague and indirect way. This is not the place for typical male banter.

From under the bed clothes, they wrestle life's challenges. This week, they discuss the ideal position for human genitals and if evolution should ever get a move on.

Produced by Peter Curran
A Foghorn production for BBC Radio 4


WED 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000mb3w)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2020

THU 00:00 Midnight News (m000mb40)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


THU 00:30 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mb44)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Wednesday]


THU 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mb4b)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mb4g)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


THU 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mb4l)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


THU 05:30 News Briefing (m000mb4p)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


THU 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000mb4r)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett.


THU 05:45 Farming Today (m000mb4t)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


THU 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0mqf)
White Tern

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents the widespread marine species, the white tern. Also known as fairy terns or angel terns, these are very slender, long-winged birds, brilliant white except for a black, slightly-upturned bill, dark eyes and very short blue-grey legs. In flight, their wings appear almost translucent. For such a delicate-looking bird, they have rather harsh calls. Unusually they lay their eggs on a bare branch. The female tern selects a small groove in the bark or on the leaf-stalks of palms where her single egg will be most secure. Here, on its tropical tightrope, the egg is safer from ground predators like rats and because there's no nesting material, there's less chance of parasites.


THU 06:00 Today (m000mcgh)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


THU 09:00 Rethink (m000mcgm)
Cities

Amol Rajan and guests discuss how urban environments should change post-coronavirus. He'll be joined by a panel of influential thinkers and policymakers, plus contributors from across the globe, to examine the changing nature of the city. They have been the driving force in creating wealth, innovation and culture over the last few centuries. But does a combination of Covid-19 and new technology mean that the need for dense concentrations of people is lessening? Many city dwellers - especially those recently forced to work from home - have wondered why they were paying high urban prices during lockdown and looked enviously at those in larger homes in suburbs or the countryside. Is now a moment to rethink conurbations - in terms of transport, planning and amenities - to move from a concrete jungle to a green and pleasant cityscape?
Producer: Pete Hanington


THU 09:45 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mcjb)
Episode 4

Comedian and podcaster Adam Buxton takes us on a tangential wander through his life in witty, moving and insightful ways.

Whilst focusing on the highs and lows of young adult life, he fast forwards to explore an unconventional way of dealing with marital tensions in the present day.

Reader: Adam Buxton
Abridger: Ben Lewis
Producer: Kirsty Williams

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett


THU 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000mcgr)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world.


THU 10:45 Prostrate (m000mcgt)
Episode 4

Stephen Tompkinson and Gary Wilmot star as buddies grappling the country’s most common and least sexy male cancer, in Martin Jameson’s comedy drama.

Tony – job going nowhere, marriage collapsed, son barely speaking to him - thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Until the nimble-fingered consultant tells him he has prostate cancer.

Head spinning, Tony collides with Lenny’s car in the urology car park. Lenny has been in hand-to-gland combat with the disease for ten years but still lives life to the cantankerous max. Over five episodes, Lenny drags Tony out of the slough of despondency. Together they kick Tony's cancer into touch, and his life into vibrant new shape.

47,000 men are diagnosed every year, with UK deaths from prostate cancer now exceeding those from breast cancer. Writer Martin Jameson was diagnosed in 2013 and endured lengthy treatment in 2014, despite which he discovered a well of humour and life-affirming camaraderie with other prostate veterans whose experiences get to the nub of what it is to be a middle-aged man.

Prostrate - because that's what everyone calls it and that's how it renders you - is a rebel yell of solidarity to every man (and supportive woman) living with the disease. The enemy is silence - the weapons are friendship and laughter.

Part Four: The Whirligig of Time
The night before his operation Tony goes on a date with an old flame.

Cast:
Tony: Stephen Tompkinson
Lenny: Gary Wilmot
Anita: Anjli Mohindra
Cody: Jack Harper
Mr Troy and Mr McKenzie: Matt Addis
Sarah: Elizabeth Carling
Lillian Stafford: Joanna Brookes
Nurse: Jennifer English

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


THU 11:00 Crossing Continents (m000mcgw)
The Trouble with Dutch Cows

The Netherlands - small and overcrowded - is facing fundamental questions about how to use its land, following a historic court judgment forcing the state to take more urgent action to limit nitrogen emissions. Dutch nitrogen emissions - damaging the climate and biodiversity - are the highest in Europe per capita. And though traffic and building are also partly to blame, farmers say the government is principally looking to agriculture to make the necessary reductions. They've staged a series of protests - what they call a farmers' uprising - in response to a suggestion from a leading politician that the number of farm animals in the country should be cut by half. This is meant to bring down levels of ammonia, a nitrogen compound produced by dung and urine. The proposal comes even though their cows, pigs and chickens have helped make the tiny Netherlands into the world's second biggest exporter of food. Farmers think they're being sacrificed so that the construction industry, also responsible for some nitrogen pollution, can have free rein to keep building, as the country's population, boosted by immigration, grows relentlessly. What do the Dutch want most - cows or houses? Will there be any room in the future for the ever-shrinking patches of nature? And in a hungry world, shouldn't the country concentrate on one of the things it's best at - feeding people? Tim Whewell travels through a country that must make big choices, quickly.


THU 11:30 Art of Now (m000mcgy)
A Life in Song

Singer-songwriter Sean Cooney has written and performed many songs about real people with his award-winning folk band The Young'uns. Tackling such diverse and difficult subjects as religious homophobia, terrorism, the refugee crisis and The Troubles in Northern Ireland, where do the responsibilities of a songwriter lie? And what right do they have to broach such issues? In this programme, Sean discusses his own techniques and for the first time ever, approaches the subject of one of his songs before it is written, to see how that affects the writing process.

With contributions from folk singer Karine Polwart, TEDx speaker Richard Moore and Thalys train attack survivor Mark Moogalian, we hear fascinating insights into the stories behind the songs.

Blinded by a bullet fired by a British soldier as a child, Richard Moore went on not only to forgive, but to meet up with the soldier in later life. Inspired by his story of compassion and forgiveness, Sean contacts Richard to discuss writing a song about his life. Sean takes us through his process for writing the song, his research, his worries over his feelings of "imposter syndrome" and finally we'll hear song itself - and Richard's reaction to listening it for the first time.

Producer: Elizabeth Foster
Technical Production: John Benton


THU 12:00 News Summary (m000mdds)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 12:04 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mch2)
Episode Nine

A teenage girl uncovers family secrets and lies in 1990s Naples, in the new novel by Elena Ferrante, author of the Neapolitan quartet of novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).

As Giovanna moves from childhood into adolescence, she becomes fascinated with her father's sister Vittoria, from whom he is estranged. She goes down from the affluent heights of Naples where she has grown up in a wealthy left-wing family, into the depths of the rough neighbourhoods of her father's youth. As she begins to excavate her family history, everything of which she was certain unravels.

Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth


THU 12:18 You and Yours (m000mch4)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


THU 12:57 Weather (m000mch6)
The latest weather forecast


THU 13:00 World at One (m000mch8)
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 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mchb)
From New York to LA

"For as long as I can remember," says Joe Queenan, "New York has been afraid of Los Angeles stealing its riches." This then is the story of Johnny Carson, host of the Tonight Show and American TV star, moving to LA. It also embraces baseball, Friends, and LCD Sound System, and attempts to pinpoint the moment star power moved from one coast to the other.

The presenter is Joe Queenan

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


THU 14:00 The Archers (m000mb34)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Wednesday]


THU 14:15 Drama (m00057tg)
Keeping the Wolf Out

Gypsy Dancers

Special Investigator Bertalan Lázár returns in Philip Palmer's crime drama set in communist Hungary in 1964.

The robbery of a foreign goods store leads the police investigators into a dangerous world of mercenaries and drugs. Meanwhile, Bertalan's old nemesis is back in town.

Bertalan Lázár....Leo Bill
Franciska Lázár....Clare Corbett
Tibor Farkas....Andy Linden
József Szabados....Joseph Ayre
Dmitri Dragunov....Simon Scardifield,
Márk Mészáros....Michael Bertenshaw
PuŠomori Žiga....Debbie Korley,
András Vásáry....David Hounslow
Nurse 1....Sarah Ovens
Nurse 2....Susan Jameson
Partygoers....Kenny Blyth and Chris Pavlo
Copper....Christopher Harper

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko


THU 15:00 Ramblings (m000mchd)
Gloucestershire with Dom Joly

Dom Joly, famous for Trigger Happy TV, takes Clare on a walk near to his home in Gloucestershire. Leaving the village of Winchcombe, they walk up Spoonley Hill to see the remains of a Roman Villa. As they walk, Dom talks about his love of walking, discovered later in life after he became a travel writer. Recently he walked the entire length of Lebanon where he was born. His book The Hezbollah Hiking Club is an account of the 27 day walk. And he has been an avid walker since moving to Gloucestershire.

Produced by Maggie Ayre for BBC Audio in Bristol


THU 15:27 Radio 4 Appeal (m000mbp7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 on Sunday]


THU 15:30 Bookclub (m000mbq3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:00 on Sunday]


THU 16:00 The Film Programme (m000mchg)
Film programme looking at the latest cinema releases, DVDs and films on TV.


THU 16:30 BBC Inside Science (m000mchj)
Dr Adam Rutherford and guests illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that's changing our world


THU 17:00 PM (m000mchl)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


THU 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mchq)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


THU 18:30 Between Ourselves with Marian Keyes (m0008wnq)
Happy All The Time

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 whilst in conversation with her friend the actor Tara Flynn. This week's theme is Happy All The Time. Alongside the craic, Marian reads “Foreign Country” from her collection Under The Duvet and “Negative Thinking” from Making It Up As I Go Along.

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


THU 19:00 The Archers (m000mchs)
Susan’s plan looks set to have dramatic consequences and Jolene goes into battle.

Writers, Naylah Ahmed & Caroline Harrington
Director, Julie Beckett
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Jolene Archer ….. Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer ….. Richard Attlee
Lilian Bellamy ….. Sunny Ormonde
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Emma Grundy ….. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Tracy Horrobin ….. Susie Riddell
Lynda Snell ….. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell ….. Graham Blockey


THU 19:15 Front Row (m000mchv)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


THU 19:45 Prostrate (m000mcgt)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


THU 20:00 The Briefing Room (m000mchx)
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.


THU 20:30 In Business (m000mchz)
Wine, Widgets and Brexit

As Brexit talks between the European Union and the UK got under way earlier this year, before anyone was using the word “pandemic”, Caroline Bayley began following two companies which both export to Britain– one in France, one in Germany – to see how they were planning for trade with the UK outside of the EU. One is a vineyard and wine business in Bordeaux and the other makes components for kitchen furniture and cabinets in Germany. Both were knocked sideways by the coronavirus but have still had to prepare for future business with the UK with or without a trade deal.

Presenter and producer Caroline Bayley


THU 21:00 BBC Inside Science (m000mchj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 today]


THU 21:30 Rethink (m000mcgm)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


THU 22:00 The World Tonight (m000mcj2)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


THU 22:45 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mch2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


THU 23:00 Nick Revell: BrokenDreamCatcher (m000mcj4)
Eurasia's Most Eligible Psychopaths and Their Lovely Homes

"Nick Revell has done for magic realism what Austin Powers did for James Bond." The Times

Nick is comfortably one of the best comic storytellers in the UK. An easy claim to make, but one backed up by years of successful touring and sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe. BrokenDreamCatcher is a series of contemporary comic tales that could almost be true. Anything can happen - and it probably will - when this master storyteller combines comedy with magic.

This episode is presented from The Fox and Gynaecologist, one of Islington’s last remaining traditional boozers. Life is rarely easy for a stand-up comedian who has to take on writing for the glossy gossip magazines, just to make ends meet, but the offer of a trip to tiny Transoxania (“Land of Unparalleled Investment Opportunities!”) to cover the wedding of their president, Genghis Khan III, is too tempting to turn down. It doesn’t go well.

These are outlandish stories told with energy, wit and intelligence served with both a smile and a barb. They are illustrated and supported by an original soundtrack written and performed by Paul Clark of London's Clod Ensemble.

Written and performed by Nick Revell
Original music: Paul Clark
Producer: Steve Doherty
A Giddy Goat production for BBC Radio 4


THU 23:30 Today in Parliament (m000mcj6)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament



FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2020

FRI 00:00 Midnight News (m000mcj8)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 00:30 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mcjb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Thursday]


FRI 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m000mcjd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m000mcjg)
BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service.


FRI 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m000mcjj)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


FRI 05:30 News Briefing (m000mcjl)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


FRI 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m000mcjn)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett.


FRI 05:45 Farming Today (m000mcjq)
The latest news about food, farming and the countryside.


FRI 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b04t0msp)
Black Swan

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Sir David Attenborough presents a widely regarded symbol of Australia, the black swan. These stately looking birds are native to the wetlands of south-western and eastern Australia. The New Zealand population was hunted to extinction but has now been reintroduced there. Their plumage is charcoal grey rather than black and beautifully ruched along their lower back, hiding the white primary feathers which are fully revealed in flight. Their only colour is a raspberry- coloured bill. Black swans behave like nomads, tracking local rains and breeding when they can. In Britain as a collection bird, a few have even cross-bred with mute swans to produce a greyish hybrid nick-named the 'Blute Swan'.


FRI 06:00 Today (m000mcnw)
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.


FRI 09:00 The Reunion (m000mbpp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 11:00 on Sunday]


FRI 09:45 Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (m000mcny)
Episode 5

Comedian and podcaster Adam Buxton explores the final days of his father’s life with tenderness, insight and wit.

Reader: Adam Buxton
Abridger: Ben Lewis
Producer: Kirsty Williams

Photo Credit: Matt Crockett


FRI 10:00 Woman's Hour (m000mcp0)
The programme that offers a female perspective on the world


FRI 10:45 Prostrate (m000mcp2)
Episode 5

Stephen Tompkinson and Gary Wilmot star as buddies grappling the country’s most common and least sexy male cancer, in Martin Jameson’s comedy drama.

Tony – job going nowhere, marriage collapsed, son barely speaking to him - thinks life couldn’t get any worse. Until the nimble-fingered consultant tells him he has prostate cancer.

Head spinning, Tony collides with Lenny’s car in the urology car park. Lenny has been in hand-to-gland combat with the disease for ten years but still lives life to the cantankerous max. Over five episodes, Lenny drags Tony out of the slough of despondency. Together they kick Tony's cancer into touch, and his life into vibrant new shape.

47,000 men are diagnosed every year, with UK deaths from prostate cancer now exceeding those from breast cancer. Writer Martin Jameson was diagnosed in 2013 and endured lengthy treatment in 2014, despite which he discovered a well of humour and life-affirming camaraderie with other prostate veterans whose experiences get to the nub of what it is to be a middle-aged man.

Prostrate - because that's what everyone calls it and that's how it renders you - is a rebel yell of solidarity to every man (and supportive woman) living with the disease. The enemy is silence - the weapons are friendship and laughter.

Part Five – Start Making Sense
At the moment of truth – and with Lenny’s help - will Tony’s life finally start making sense?

Cast:
Tony: Stephen Tompkinson
Lenny: Gary Wilmot
Anita: Anjli Mohindra
Cody: Jack Harper
Mr Troy and Mr McKenzie: Matt Addis
Sarah: Elizabeth Carling
Lillian Stafford: Joanna Brookes
Nurse: Jennifer English

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 11:00 The Austerity Audit (m000mcp4)
Episode 1

Its ten years since George Osborne revealed the biggest cuts to government spending since the Second World War. Now, in this post Covid world, the government faces a new, far bigger challenge as it tries to shore up a plunging economy.

In this four-part series, Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, examines a decade of austerity to ask why it happened, did it need to happen, what were the effects and what next? He talks to some of the leading players in the drama such as Alistair Darling, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Nick Macpherson, former minister David Gauke and former policy adviser to Nick Clegg, Polly Mackenzie as well as some of those directly affected.

The first programme looks at the origins of a decade austerity, its roots in the 2008 banking crisis and the key spending reviews of 2010 and 2015 which delivered huge cuts to many government departments. The second programme looks at the impact on austerity on the Justice Department and local government. The third on the welfare system and education and the final programme looks at how austerity has hit the NHS and what economic options the current Chancellor Rishi Sunak faces dealing with a government deficit estimated to be £300bn.

Helping Paul Johnson is financial blogger Iona Bain who asks how austerity has affected her generation of millennials and how the Covid crisis is going to affect the fortunes of those in currently in their twenties and thirties.


FRI 11:30 Mr Muzak (m000mcp7)
Series 2

Just Say No

Richie Webb stars as performance-shy cocktail pianist Nigel Penny.

Nigel Penny’s attempts to live his life like his music, in the background, are constantly thwarted by his entrepreneurial half-brother Pav (Paul G Raymond) who is desperate to find gigs for Nigel and his musical partner, wannabe singer Rachel (Jess Robinson).

Pav has booked Nigel and Rachel as the headline act at the Letchington Arts Festival. Or so he claims. While Stan attempts to find a disguise to enable him to attend without fear of being spotted, Nigel is left wrestling with his growing feelings for Rachel, the challenge of writing original material for the gig and his unfortunate physical reaction to camping. A reaction for which festival organiser Allegra has the perfect herbal remedy.

Cast:
Nigel Penny ..... Richie Webb
Pav Penny ..... Paul G Raymond
Rachel ..... Jess Robinson
Stanislav ..... Dave Lamb
Marco ..... Jim North
Allegra ..... Anna Morris

Directed by Nick Walker
Audio Production by Matt Katz
Written and produced by Richie Webb
A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 12:00 News Summary (m000mcp9)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 12:04 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mcpc)
Episode Ten

A teenage girl uncovers family secrets and lies in 1990s Naples, in the new novel by Elena Ferrante, author of the Neapolitan quartet of novels (My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child).

As Giovanna moves from childhood into adolescence, she becomes fascinated with her father's sister Vittoria, from whom he is estranged. She goes down from the affluent heights of Naples where she has grown up in a wealthy left-wing family, into the depths of the rough neighbourhoods of her father's youth. As she begins to excavate her family history, everything of which she was certain unravels.

Read by Juliet Aubrey
Abridged by Sara Davies
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Mair Bosworth


FRI 12:18 You and Yours (m000mcpf)
News and discussion of consumer affairs


FRI 12:57 Weather (m000mcph)
The latest weather forecast


FRI 13:00 World at One (m000mcpk)
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 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mcpm)
What have we learnt

Unlike most of the expeditions described in this series. the moon landings were pure. No blood was spilt, no bogus treaties signed, no wildlife killed. Nor did any white men claim to have 'discovered' anything .... unlike so many previous trips across the US. In this concluding episode, presenter Joe Queenan travels From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) and asks what he has learnt and which qualities he discovered on his journeys might be useful today.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde


FRI 14:00 The Archers (m000mchs)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Thursday]


FRI 14:15 Drama (m000mcpp)
Death Knock

When a young black teenager is found stabbed to death in a reservoir, local newspaper reporter Nathan can no longer ignore the realities of his past. He increasingly struggles to reconcile the realities of his job with his own sense of guilt and dislocation from his origins, as a middle class black journalist. Stefan Adegbola and Ayesha Antoine star in this radio debut by playwright and former newspaper journalist, Martin Edwards.

Directed by Emma Harding

CAST

Nathan.....Stefan Adegbola
Emma.....Clare Corbett
Janice.....Ayesha Antoine
Brooky/ Ali.....Peter Polycarpou
Sam/ Ms Stone.....Charlotte East
DCI Jones/ Alice.....Cecilia Appiah
Alec.....Ian Dunnett Jnr


FRI 15:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m000mcpr)
GQT at Home: Episode Twenty-Four

Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts. Joining her this week are Christine Walkden, Bob Flowerdew and Matthew Wilson.

Producer - Hannah Newton
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


FRI 15:45 Short Works (m000mcpt)
From Fact To Fiction. An original new story for radio reflecting topical events, written by Colin Hough.


FRI 16:00 Last Word (m000mcpw)
Matthew Bannister tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to unsung but significant.


FRI 16:30 More or Less (m000mb06)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 on Wednesday]


FRI 17:00 PM (m000mcpy)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


FRI 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m000mcq0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


FRI 18:30 The News Quiz (m000mcq2)
Series 103

Episode 2

A satirical review of the week's news.


FRI 19:00 Front Row (m000mcq4)
Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music


FRI 19:45 Prostrate (m000mcp2)
[Repeat of broadcast at 10:45 today]


FRI 20:00 Any Questions? (m000mcq6)
Chris Mason presents political debate and discussion from venues around the UK.


FRI 20:50 A Point of View (m000mcq8)
Weekly reflections on topical issues from a range of contributors.


FRI 21:00 From the Mayflower to the Moon (and Back Again) (m000mcqb)
Omnibus 2

A 400-year journey into the creation of the United States with the writer Joe Queenan


FRI 22:00 The World Tonight (m000mcqd)
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


FRI 22:45 The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante (m000mcpc)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 today]


FRI 23:00 Great Lives (m000mcqg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 16:30 on Tuesday]


FRI 23:30 Things That Made the Modern Economy (m000bgp8)
Series 2

Interchangeable Parts

A sweltering afternoon in July 1785, in the cool of a dungeon east of Paris, was the site of a remarkable demonstration of French engineering – and French insouciance. Honoré Blanc, a gunsmith, showed how he could take apart flintlock rifles, jumble up the parts, and reassemble the rifles. The parts were interchangeable, promising a revolution in maintenance and production. Thomas Jefferson, future President of the US, was in the audience. As Tim Harford explains, the world of engineering was about to change – but could either Blanc or Jefferson take advantage of what was coming?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon


FRI 23:45 Today in Parliament (m000mcqj)
News, views and features on today's stories in Parliament