SATURDAY 25 MARCH 2023

SAT 00:00 Midnight News (m001k85z)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 00:30 Breaking Mississippi (m001k863)
10. Fresh Hostilities

This is the explosive inside story of James Meredith's battle to smash the system of white supremacy in the most racially segregated state in 1960s America.

By becoming the first black person to apply to the all-white university of Mississippi – Meredith will draw in the KKK and JFK – and trigger the largest number of troops ever deployed for a single disturbance on US soil.

Across 10 episodes and with US public radio journalist Jenn White as our guide - James Meredith takes us from his childhood in rural Mississippi where racism runs deep – to a pivotal flashpoint in US civil rights history that will be described as the last battle of the American Civil War.

This could be our last opportunity to hear James Meredith tell this story in his own words and in a way that's never been heard before.

Episode Ten: Fresh Hostilities

Sixty years on from James Meredith's historic integration - the University of Mississippi is engaged in a new struggle over its history and identity.

Presenter: Jenn White
Producer: Conor Garrett
Editor: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Anne Smith
Audio Engineer: Gary Bawden
Original Music Score: Ashley Beedle and Darren Morris. Recorded @ North Street West

Archive reproduced with the kind permission of: The Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Mississippi State University, JFK Library, Getty Images, Huntley Film Archives, British Pathé Ltd, F.I.L.M Archives, Efootage, Historic Films, The Clarion Ledger – USA Today Network.
With special thanks to the University of Mississippi.


SAT 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001k867)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001k86d)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SAT 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001k86j)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 05:30 News Briefing (m001k86l)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001k86n)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon

Good morning.

Spring is most definitely upon us, despite Jack Frost still nipping at our fingers and toes in the late evenings. In the early morning, as the sun wakens to warm the earth, the dawn chorus heralds the spring. For some people that may be a harmonious and joyful trilling sound while for others it may seem shrill and raucous. For the birds it is their song of joy, letting the garden, the community, and the world at large know that they are present, and that they should be listened to. I am always thrilled to hear the joyful cadence of their singing, as they welcome the day in full voice.

I have been reflecting on that phrase in full voice, and the way in which - many of us who can - use our voices to communicate how we are feeling to those around us. Sometimes our voice stands out above the clamour and clatter of daily living, but most often we are part of the great sea of noise which makes up the rhythm of life. This can sometimes mean that some voices are drowned out or go unheard.

In both testaments of the Bible there are many instances when God speaks into the world, calling us to listen. People often expect God’s voice to stand out above the clamour, but sometimes it comes to us, neither shrill nor trill, not in the earthquake or whirlwind, but in a still, small whisper.

Loving God, give us ears to listen to the sounds of nature and to those around us, always making time for the voices which often seem to go unheard.

Amen


SAT 05:45 Lent Talks (m001k7nw)
The People's Prayer - Forgive us as we forgive

Mike Haines brother, David Haines, was a British aid worker who was beheaded by ISIS. The family had always known the risks but news of his brother’s death left him angry, filled with hate for the killers. But something changed… Mike realised that hate is what they wanted so started on a path to promote tolerance and unity in schools. However, he still didn’t forgive those who had taken David’s life. Last year Mike was invited, along with others, to offer a Family Impact Statement at the trial of ISIS leaders in the States. He read the statement, and then, completely unplanned he added “I forgive you”. He says a weight lifted from his shoulders as others in the court that day were inspired to do the same.

In this series six people reflect on Jesus' ministry, teaching and Passion from a deeply personal perspective focussing on words from The Lord's Prayer. Their life experience is echoed by the words of The Lord's Prayer. These are words shared across Christian denominations but they go further; they are part of our culture and tradition. They express universal themes that speak to the hopes and dreams of humanity, bringing together both spiritual and physical needs.

It could really be thought of as The People’s Prayer.

Producer: Katharine Longworth


SAT 06:00 News and Papers (m001kgbl)
The latest news headlines. Including the weather and a look at the papers.


SAT 06:07 Ramblings (m001k7xs)
Hiking with Hounds

Walking your dog in the countryside can be tricky: What if you need to cross a field of cattle or horses? Should you let your dog off the lead or keep it on? Is it best to poo-pick or ‘stick and flick’ in a remote area? Steve Jenkinson has a unique job, having studied the psychology of people and their pets he now works with a range of organisations helping them develop a harmonious relationship with dog walkers who use their land. He lives on Orkney where Clare met him and his dog, Teal, for a coastal walk which passes by the Broch of Gurness. This Iron Age settlement is around 2000 years old and is on the north eastern edge of Orkney’s west Mainland. The St. Magnus Way, a 58 mile long-distance walking route passes by. This is the third of three consecutive walks that Clare recorded on Orkney where she explored its landscape, rich history and archaeology.

Presenter: Clare Balding
Producer, for BBC Audio in Bristol: Karen Gregor


SAT 06:30 Farming Today (m001kgbn)
25/03/23 Farming Today This Week: cost of producing crab; Pacific oysters; prawn deaths; Precision Breeding Act; Muirburn.

As inflation soars, one Devon crab producer says its fuel costs have gone up more than 500% in the last five years, with additional costs for exporting to the EU since Brexit. However a growth in demand from the USA and Asia means they're still optimistic.

The Duchy of Cornwall is to phase out the farming of Pacific oysters in all the estuaries it owns. Several oyster farms in Devon and Cornwall now face closure. They farm Pacific oysters which are classed as an invasive, non-native species. Defra has introduced tighter restrictions around oyster farms to prevent the spread of Pacific oysters and protect native ones. The shellfish industry says the policy is misguided.

Fishing communities are calling for the government to open a new inquiry into the die-off of crabs and lobsters on England's North East coast. Fishing crews say further dredging in the area is causing problems and is now affecting prawn catches. A previous Defra inquiry concluded dredging was not to blame and say they've ruled out further investigations

The new Precision Breeding Act has become law. It will allow the use of gene-editing technology to create new plant varieties. Defra says the new law will not allow for the indiscriminate use of gene-editing technology, but campaign groups, like GM Freeze, say it could have unintended consequences.

Scottish grouse moors will have to be licensed under proposals in a new bill. The Scottish Government says the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill, if passed, will tackle the persecution of birds of prey. It would also bring in greater restrictions around muirburn, the controlled burning of heather, on peat soils. Gamekeepers say the changes would effectively put shoots out of business.

Presenter = Charlotte Smith
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


SAT 06:57 Weather (m001kgbq)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 07:00 Today (m001kgbs)
Mishal Husain and Simon Jack find out how a former MI5 spy who set up a secret meeting with the IRA during the Troubles helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.

Following the Oscar win for best animated short film for The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, we hear from its creator Charlie Mackesy.

This episode of Today was edited by Victoria Gardiner and Sareen Bains. The studio director was Antonio Fernandes.


SAT 09:00 Saturday Live (m001kgbv)
Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben joins Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles. The multiple award-winning thriller writer has sold over 80 million books, many of which have been adapted for TV. The Netflix adaption of Fool Me Once is currently being filmed. A New Jersey native, Harlan's latest book I Will Find You explores the darker side of suburban living.

Fergus Durrant and Romy Dixon found something unexpected in his father’s effects, a discovery that was to lead them on a journey made 125 years earlier.

James Phillips won the ARIAS Best New Presenter Gold award for 2022 and a Bronze award for his National Prison Radio programme, The Rock Show. James talks about the events that led him to prison and his life now, after serving his sentence.

Matthew Modine shares his Inheritance Tracks: Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto and On My Feelings by Ruby Modine.

Dr Sian Williams has been an anchor of some of the BBC’s biggest shows, including BBC Breakfast. During her career she's also presented Saturday Live, and most recently Life Changing on Radio 4. Ten years ago she retrained as a psychologist and will talk about how her two areas of specialism collide.

Producer: Claire Bartleet


SAT 10:30 Rewinder (m001kgbx)
Endless Pips

Greg James dives into the BBC Archive to track down audio gems, using listener requests, overlooked anniversaries and current stories as inspiration.

This week the government announced that it will test its emergency alert system on mobile phones, so Greg looks back to the nervy days of the Cold War and uncovers the recordings to be played out on the radio in case of a nuclear attack. He also hears about less alarming emergencies, including the time that a steamy gym shower forced Terry Wogan off the air.

In the time before 24-hour broadcasting, when there were long stretches of the day with nothing on TV, the BBC used to fill dead hours with the famous test cards as well as Trade Test Colour Films, short documentaries on a variety of subjects, for the benefit of TV engineers and retailers. The BBC didn't want these filler films to actually be entertaining - but after watching a few, Greg doesn't think they've got anything to be worried about.

As we try to predict how AI will shape our future, Greg looks to the past and hears the sometimes strange, often amazingly prescient predictions of young people as they imagine tech in the year 2000.

Miss Havisham and Pip hit our TV screens once again so Greg revisits previous adaptations of Great Expectations, and uncovers a huge conspiracy: the BBC seems to adapt the Dickens novel every ten years, going right back to 1959!

And as Pink Floyd's seminal album Dark Side of the Moon turns 50, Greg goes loopy about the use of tape loops on the track Money. He explores other influential loops including the Are You Being Served theme - then he cranks up an old reel-to-reel tape machine, digs out some magnetic tape, and creates his own loop... and creates his own loop... and creates his own loop...

Series archivists: Michael Cosgrave and Colin Waddell
Producer: Tim Bano


SAT 11:00 The Week in Westminster (m001kgbz)
Paul Waugh, Chief Political Commentator of the i paper, looks back at a dramatic week in which former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was questioned by the Privileges Committee over whether he deliberately misled Parliament over parties in Downing Street during the pandemic. Paul is joined by the former editor of The Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore, who was given a life peerage by Boris Johnson in 2020, and Lord Sumption, a former senior judge who sat on the UK Supreme Court.

With parliamentary standards in the spotlight Paul is also joined by Dr Hannah White of the Institute for Government and Tammy Banks, an outgoing lay member of Parliament's standards committee, who reflects on her six year stint in the role, including the political fallout from the investigation in to former Conservative MP Owen Paterson for breaching paid advocacy rules.

After Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve the new Windsor Framework Paul speaks to the former Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, to discuss the chances of a return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland and to look ahead to the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

And, to assess whether this week's Conservative soap opera will have any effect on upcoming elections, Paul speaks to Professor Tim Bale, author of a new book about the Conservative Party after Brexit, and Professor Jane Green, co-Director of the British Election Study.


SAT 11:30 From Our Own Correspondent (m001kgc1)
Ukraine's Second Spring of War

Kate Adie presents stories from Ukraine, Malawi, Switzerland and Germany.

Bakhmut has long been a prize for Russian forces since it invaded Ukraine a year ago. Tens of thousands of troops have died in a protracted fight for the city, in what is the longest battle of the war so far. Quentin Sommerville has been travelling through the front line, and reveals the changing nature of the war.

A 14-day period of national mourning is underway in Malawi, after more than 200 people died when the country was hit by Cyclone Freddy. More than 200,000 people have been displaced. Rhoda Odhiambo visited Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, which is among the worst-affected areas.

South Korean pop culture has taken the world by storm in recent years, with K-Pop superstars like BTS and BlackPink scoring number one hits around the world. Korean TV dramas have also been a huge hit - and Sophie Williams says one show in particular has put a small village in Switzerland on the map.

In Germany public nudity has a long tradition, but the question of whether the freedom to go naked in public was a legal right was unclear until two women challenged orders asking them to cover up in a public swimming pool. Jenny Hill reports from Berlin.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling
Researcher: Beth Ashmead
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SAT 12:00 News Summary (m001kgc3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SAT 12:04 Money Box (m001kgc5)
Rental Health: Housing benefits frozen as rents rise

Felicity Hannah starts a week of BBC coverage on the theme of Rental Health. For Money Box she examines the 3 year freeze in Local Housing Allowance (the portion of Universal Credit designed to cover housing) is leaving some on low incomes struggling to afford rental properties.

Also on this episode as NatWest become the latest bank to impose restrictions on how much their customers can spend on crypto platforms and exchanges we ask if it’s ever a good idea to invest in this area.

And we'll have advice for you if you've lost money through a push payment scam.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Reporter: Dan Whitworth
Researcher: Sandra Hardial
Editor: Clare Worden


SAT 12:30 The Now Show (m001k84s)
Series 62

Episode 2

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches. They're joined by Ian Smith with a deep dive on the much anticipated HS2, Sarah Keyworth proving that romance isn't dead & Huge Davies gives his musical take on how different radio stations present big headlines.

The show was written by the cast with additional material from Jade Gebbie, Mike Shephard, Christina Riggs & Cody Dahler.

Voice actors: Gemma Arrowsmith & Luke Kempner

Sound: Marc Willcox & John Hemingway
Executive Producer: James Robinson & Pete Strauss
Producer: Sasha Bobak
Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls

A BBC Studios Production for Radio 4


SAT 12:57 Weather (m001kgc7)
The latest weather forecast


SAT 13:00 News and Weather (m001kgc9)
The latest national and international news and weather reports from BBC Radio 4


SAT 13:10 Any Questions? (m001k852)
Anneliese Dodds MP, Tobias Ellwood MP, Baroness Foster, Bobby Seagull

Alex Forsyth presents political debate from Southampton Solent University with a panel including Anneliese Dodds MP; Tobias Ellwood MP; former first minister of Northern Ireland Baroness Foster; and the teacher, author and broadcaster Bobby Seagull.

Producer: Ed Prendeville
Lead broadcast engineer: Nick Ford


SAT 14:00 Any Answers? (m001kgcc)
Have your say on the issues discussed on Any Questions?


SAT 14:45 Drama (m001kgch)
The Song of the Cossacks

“The Cossacks could have lynched me. Instead they didn’t want to believe me. They continued trusting me. That was horrible. I remember all of it with true horror. It was truly a diabolical plan.” (Rusty Davies, British Liaison Officer for the Cossacks in 1945)

At the end of the war in 1945, the Yalta agreement provided that Prisoners of War were returned to their home country. The Cossacks, bitterly opposed to Stalin, had joined the German forces to fight against Stalin.

Stalin insisted they be returned to their “homeland” in the USSR. All parties knew this would mean certain death.

In this fictional dramatisation of true events, Major Christopher Graham and Sergeant Wilson are in charge of a Cossack prisoner of war camp. The prisoners comprise whole families including women, children and young babies. The two officers, struggling with a lack of resources and manpower, work with the Cossack generals to run an orderly camp. The Cossack generals believe the British to be trustworthy and, although deeply concerned at the prospect of a forced return to the Soviet Union, accept the two officers’ assurances that this will not happen.

When the British government acceded to Stalin’s demands, the army felt obliged to break it’s word and organise the enforced repatriation to the Soviet Union.

Jean Binnie’s original stage-play, dramatised for radio by Stephen Wyatt, examines the dilemma of ordinary army officers ordered to betray the people whose trust they had gained and whose welfare they had been in charge of. Running through this play is the 2022 testimony of survivors of these events, voiced by actors from the Teatr Napadoli in Kyiv, and the testimony provided to the subsequent enquiry by Major Rusty Davies, the British Liaison office of the time.

Cast
Major Christopher Graham: Finlay Robertson
Sergeant Wilson: Phil Carriera
Sir William Temple: David Acton
John Pelham: Lawrence Russell
Colonel Wensley: Jonathan Keeble
General Dorov: Christopher Douglas
General Skiro: Geoffrey Kirkness
Captain Andrei Rostov: Ivantiy Novak
Katya Dorov: Amrita Acharia
And Mikhaila Rostov: Jilly Bond.
The testimony of Rusty Davies performed by Christopher Ettridge
Verbatim testimonies performed by actors from Teatr Napodoli, Kyiv

Drramatised for radio by Stephen Wyatt from an original stage-play by Jean Binnie and with additional material by Kit Hesketh Harvey

Recorded in London and Kyiv, and on location

Sound Design: David Thomas
Director: Jonathan Banatvala.
Producers: Jonathan Banatvala and Melanie Nock

An International Arts Partnership for BBC Radio 4


SAT 16:15 Woman's Hour (m001kgcm)
Weekend Woman’s Hour: Baroness Casey Review with Dame Lynne Owens, influencer Georgina Harrison on 'image-based sexual abuse’

Baroness Louise Casey has published the final report on her review into the Metropolitan Police. A female metropolitan police officer and Deputy Commissioner of the Met, Dame Lynne Owens, discuss the findings.

Known for shows like Love Island and The Only Way is Essex, social media influencer Georgia Harrison talks about her new TV documentary. It follows her successful legal battle against her former partner who filmed and shared a sex video of the two of them without her consent on the OnlyFans website.

Suzi Ruffell is on a mission to find the lighter moments in life as she navigates motherhood, touring the country and anxiety. The comedian's latest show Snappy is a series of confessional stories about settling down, living life with her "bossy toddler" and worrying about absolutely everything.

Mabel Constanduros was a trailblazing female broadcaster and comedian on BBC Radio in the early days of the corporation. She created the sitcom as a genre and brought soap operas to the UK. So why has history forgotten her? Mabel’s great-great nephew Jack Shillito and the academic Jennifer Purcell discuss.

Presenter Anita Rani
Producer: Paula McFarlane
Editor: Beverley Purcell


SAT 17:00 PM (m001kgcp)
Full coverage of the day's news


SAT 17:30 Sliced Bread (m001k7x7)
Mascara

Mascara is a crucial element of many a make-up bag - but can mascaras really deliver on their promises of longer, fuller, or curlier lashes?

Listener Kath got in touch to ask exactly that. She also wants to know if you pay more for mascara, do you get better results? How should we remove it - and what about waterproof products that are tough to take off? Are we potentially damaging our lashes?

Greg Foot sets his sights on investigating by recruiting some regular mascara wearers to try out differently priced products, as well as speaking to a consultant dermatologist and cosmetic chemist to find out.

This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad, and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.

PRESENTER: Greg Foot
PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth


SAT 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001kgcr)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SAT 17:57 Weather (m001kgct)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SAT 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001kgcw)
French police and protesters clash at a demonstration about a new water reservoir


SAT 18:15 Loose Ends (m001kgcy)
Charles Dance, Dyllón Burnside, Thomasina Miers, Sara Wheeler, Sarah Jane Morris, Trampolene, Michelle McManus, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and Michelle McManus are joined by Charles Dance, Dyllón Burnside, Thomasina Miers and Sara Wheeler for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Sarah Jane Morris and Trampolene.


SAT 19:00 Profile (m001kgd0)
Louise Casey

Baroness Louise Casey has this week delivered an excoriating review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police. It’s just the latest of a series of tough reports issued by Casey during a career tackling deep-rooted social issues, including homelessness and anti-social behaviour.

Casey is now a cross-bench peer and go-to troubleshooter for governments of all stripes, but her route to the top of public life has been unconventional.

Profile speaks to close friends and colleagues of a civil servant known for her fearlessness and no-nonsense style.

Presenter: Mark Coles
Production team: Sally Abrahams and Nathan Gower
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot


SAT 19:15 The Infinite Monkey Cage (p0f1wfhc)
Series 26

Magic Materials

You might think materials are a bit boring and inconsequential but without them we would still be living in the stone age. Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by material scientists Mark Miodownik and Anna Ploszajski and comedian Ed Byrne to discover the life changing materials that are hidden in plain sight. Which materials have made us human? Which materials do we completely depend on? And how will materials shape our future?

Producer: Caroline Steel
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem


SAT 20:00 Archive on 4 (m001kgd2)
The Funny Old World of Victor Lewis Smith

Dom Joly celebrates the brilliant, bonkers, difficult, groundbreaking iconoclast, Victor Lewis-Smith.

Loved by audiences, hated by executives, Victor was a truly original creator of radio and TV, making programmes that could be utterly wonderful or absolutely awful - sometimes both.

From his short stint as a Radio 4 producer, when he substituted Libby Purves with Arthur Mullard in one notorious episode of Midweek, to his marvellous and groundbreaking pieces for Loose Ends, incorporating melodrama, word play and hapless members of the public.

From his prank calls to the Vatican, Mary Whitehouse and That’s Life among many others, via his TV series, Inside Victor Lewis Smith and TV Offal featuring a filthy Rainbow spoof and a recurring series Gay Daleks, to his acclaimed documentaries about Peter Cook, Kenneth Williams and Tony Hancock.

Outrageous and often cruel, Victor could, like many satirists, be argued to actually be deeply moral. He hated the inanity of much that the media produced and, as the London Evening Standard’s TV critic for 15 years, he was required reading, dishing out invective and insight in equal measure, fearless in who he would insult or which TV icons he would demolish - from David Attenborough to Ricky Gervais.

The programme features TV and radio archive clips alongside recollections from friends like Laurie Taylor, his collaborator Paul Sparkes, fans including Jon Holmes, John Yorke and Safraz Mansoor, and colleagues Jake Yapp and Libby Purves (did she really throw a chair at him?!).

The title of the programme is from his Private Eye column.

Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
A Yada-Yada Audio production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 21:00 GF Newman's The Corrupted (b0b7f640)
Series 4

Episode 2

It's the 1980s and Brian Oldman is back in jail for a crime he didn't commit. He suspects, but cannot prove, that Joseph Oldman, now Joseph Olinska MP, was the perpetrator.

GF Newman's The Corrupted weaves fiction with real characters from history, following the fortunes of the Oldman family - from small-time business and opportunistic petty crime, through gang rivalries, to their entanglement in the highest echelons of society. It's a tale revealing the nexus of crime, business and politics woven through the fabric of 20th century greed as even those with hitherto good intentions are sucked into a web of corruption.

Joey Oldman, an uneducated Jewish child immigrant from Russia, has a natural instinct for business and a love of money - coupled with a knack for acquiring it. His wife Cath is as ruthless in both the pursuit of money and the protection of her son, Brian. Joey built his empire with the help of a corrupt bank manager in the 1950s, starting with small greengrocer shops before moving into tertiary banking and property development, dealing with many corrupt policemen on the way - and befriending both Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher.

The characters are based on GF Newman's novels.

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


SAT 21:45 The Skewer (m001k7pc)
Series 8

Episode 7

Jon Holmes's multi-award winning satire twists itself into current affairs. This week - Boris on trial in A Few Bad Men, Eyes in the Wires, and Robot Culture Wars.

Producer; Jon Holmes

An unusual production for BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:00 News (m001kgd4)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SAT 22:15 Moral Maze (m001k7nq)
Is Growth a False God?

Is Growth a False God?

Last week’s budget was, according to the Chancellor, about growth. Whenever politicians talk about their plans these days, it’s always about growth. The arguments are clear: Until we generate more growth, we can’t get any richer and wages can’t increase either. It’s urgent too: The UK will be the only major economy apart from Russia to shrink this year, according to forecasts from the OECD. But not everyone is convinced that increasing growth makes us happier, or even that it’s sustainable.

Some believe the pursuit of growth attaches too little value to wellbeing, that it neglects what should be the real priority, people’s contentment and happiness. Government policies lead us, they claim, to work harder and for longer than we want to. They suggest it creates a culture that values our economic activity, earning money and spending it, over other important roles such as caring for children and elderly relatives, maintaining our community, or charitable work. Some ecological economists believe that endless growth is unachievable without climate breakdown, that it simply can’t be sustained without irreversible damage to the planet.

What is the moral case for the pursuit of growth? The political orthodoxy is that a growing economy is good for everyone. Growth drives up pay; welfare payments depend on tax revenues; pension providers rely on stock market growth for their returns. So don’t we all have an interest in continuous growth? Or have we created a world where our leaders care more about GDP than our happiness? Has growth become a false God?

Producer: Jonathan Hallewell
Presenter: Michael Buerk
Editor: Tim Pemberton


SAT 23:00 Counterpoint (m001k7ry)
Series 36

Semi-final 2, 2023

(11/13)
The second batch of heat winners from the 2023 series line up at London's Radio Theatre for a semi-final contest, which will determine which of them goes through to the 36th Counterpoint Final.

Which cellist played at the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Which new opera was premiered in 2022 based on a book by Virginia Woolf? Which Prince songs have been no.1 hits for other artists? The competitors will need to muster their knowledge of music across many different genres - and there are plenty of musical extracts to identify along the way.

Today's contest is between:
Jo East from Orpington in Kent,
Kathryn Johnson from Northwood in Middlesex,
Shanine Salmon from Croydon.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


SAT 23:30 The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed (m001k7lr)
Glyn Maxwell

Glyn Maxwell grew up in Welwyn Garden City, which is where his conversation with Simon Armitage in the shed begins. His mother was in the original stage production of Under Milk Wood, so the young Maxwell was soon staging his own plays in the garden of his parents' house. Simon attended the first of these. They soon found themselves travelling together to make radio programmes and to write new poetry. Iceland came first, followed by the more challenging environment of the Amazon rainforest.

Join them in the shed as they look back on those times and also look forward to what's coming next, including eyeing up the garden around the shed as a possible site for a new drama...

Produced by Susan Roberts

SUNDAY 26 MARCH 2023

SUN 00:00 Midnight News (m001kgd6)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 00:15 Understand: The Economy (m001hwzj)
Series 1

The Economy: 11. Pricing and discounting

On one hand, we’ve all experienced the things we buy getting more expensive, from the price of fuel to a tub of butter. On the other hand, retailers desperately try to entice us to buy with discounts. Shops seem to constantly have their ‘best ever’ sales and there are days like ‘Black Friday’ when prices are slashed.
How can prices go up and up, and at the same time drop?

In this episode, Felicity Hannah speaks to Rupal Patel, Economist at the Bank of England, to de-mystify how prices work and figure out who has the power in the buyer seller relationship. Dr Victoria Bateman, economic Historian from the University of Cambridge brings us the history of bulk buying.

Everything you need to know about the economy and what it means for you. This podcast will cut through the jargon to help you understand the complicated terms and phrases you hear on the news. Inflation, GDP, National Debt, energy markets and more. We’ll ensure you understand what’s going on today, why your shopping is getting more expensive or why your pay doesn’t cover your bills.

Guest: Rupal Patel, Economist at the Bank of England and co-author of ‘Can’t we just print more money? Economics in Ten Simple Questions’
Producer: Louise Clarke-Rowbotham
Researcher: Beth Ashmead-Latham
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Editor: Clare Fordham
Theme music: Don’t Fret, Beats Fresh Music

A BBC Long Form Audio Production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 00:30 Egg (b08hldkj)
Specially commissioned short stories by some of Ireland's most exciting writers.

Recounting the story of her son's birth, a mother explains the unusual gift he brought with him into the world. As read by Roísín Gallagher.

Northern Irish author and winner of the 2016 Harper’s Bazaar short story competition Jan Carson has been described as “a born storyteller” by The Guardian and her debut short story collection 'Children's Children' praised as “sharply written and inventive” by The Irish Times.

Reader, Roísín Gallagher
Writer, Jan Carson
Producer, Michael Shannon


SUN 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001kgd8)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 02:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001kgdc)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


SUN 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001kgdh)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 05:30 News Briefing (m001kgdm)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 05:43 Bells on Sunday (m001kgdr)
The Cathedral Church of St Martin’s in Leicester

Bells on Sunday comes from the Cathedral Church of St Martin’s in Leicester. Previously a Norman parish church, St Martin’s was much restored by the Victorians in the Gothic Style. It was raised to Cathedral status in 1927 and in 2015 the remains of King Richard the third were reburied here. In 1937, John Taylor and Son of Loughborough replaced the old 18th century ring of ten bells with a ring of twelve. The tenor bell weighs twenty five hundredweight and is in the note of D. We hear the bells ringing Cambridge Surprise Maximus.


SUN 05:45 Profile (m001kgd0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 06:00 News Summary (m001kgk3)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:05 Something Understood (b048j435)
The Warmth of Other Suns

In birds and animals, the great migration is a natural and often profoundly moving spectacle - tens of thousands of wildebeest moving across the plains of Africa in search of water, or the 4000 mile annual journey of the snow goose from their warm wintering to their summer breeding grounds.

In human terms, migration brings the chance for a new start, the prospect of wealth and a better way of life - but is frequently associated with pain, persecution and prejudice. The upheaval can bring distress, but also opportunity and the lure of what the poet Richard Wright described as "the warmth of other suns".

From the mournful lyricism of Psalm 137 ("By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept") which describes the yearning sorrow and anger of the exiled Jews after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, to Dvorak's New World Symphony inspired by the Czech composer's encounter with America, John McCarthy considers the way writers, poets and musicians have captured both the human and emotional impact of migration.

He also hears the stories of child migrants who were sent from Britain to Australia in the 1950s and 60s, promised a sun-kissed land in which they could ride horses and pick peaches from the trees, but who found themselves unwanted, ostracised and abandoned.

Producer: David Prest and Gil Percival
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 06:35 Natural Histories (b080t7df)
Cricket

When natural history presenter Brett Westwood is invited to stroll around the streets of London with a ‘singing cricket‘ as a companion he is following a tradition which can be traced back over a thousand years ago to before the Tang Dynasty in China when people kept crickets in cages and enjoyed their songs.

This custom began in the Royal Courts when the Emperor’s concubines placed caged crickets near their pillows so they could enjoy the songs during the night. The practise was soon taken up by local people who carried crickets around in tiny cages.

In London, Brett meets Lisa Hall, a sound artist who has brought the tradition right up to date with a tiny audio player fitted with a set of speakers that are small enough to be concealed in a pocket.

Lisa explains the effect is like wearing ‘a perfume’ of song which masks the ugly urban sounds. Could this audio trend catch on?

Original producer : Sarah Blunt
Archive Producer : Andrew Dawes

First broadcast in a longer form on BBC Radio 4 on November 1st 2016.


SUN 06:57 Weather (m001kgkk)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 07:00 News and Papers (m001kgks)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 07:10 Sunday (m001kgl0)
A decade of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury, Ramadan rules, Jewish housing

We look at a decade of the Church of England under the leadership of Justin Welby. Professor Linda Woodhead and his biographer Dr Andrew Atherstone give their view on his progress so far.

Our reporter Vishva Samani looks a new Jewish housing development in Brighton, which contains a Jewish nursery, co-working space, Kosher restaurant, synagogue and resident Rabbi. We hear from residents, locals and a critic who says such projects are likely to increase misunderstanding rather than build bridges with the wider community.

We hear from British Sikhs who've have been protesting outside India’s High Commission this week as the search for a hardline Sikh separatist in India’s northern state of Punjab has escalated into a diplomatic clash with the United Kingdom. The BBC’s Surbhi Kaul in Delhi explains what the protests are about, why some Sikhs in the diaspora are campaigning for Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland and how they have led to a diplomatic row.

A report into culture and standards into Met Police this week uncovered examples of faith-based bullying; bacon put in a Muslim officer's boots and a Sikh who had his beard trimmed. We talk to two officers, one Muslim and one Sikh about the environment they work in and what needs to happen next.

Dating, sex and swimming: three areas that have inspired frank questions about Ramadan in a BBC podcast called 'Not Even Water'. Emily talks to host Mehreen Baig and guest Farah Raja about the do's and don'ts of the holy month .Find out everything you need to know, but didn't dare ask.

PRESENTER: Emily Buchanan
EDITOR: Tim Pemberton
PRODUCERS: Catherine Murray & Jill Collins
REPORTER: Vishva Samani
STUDIO MANAGERS: Simon Highfield & Sue Stonestreet
PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR: David Baguley


SUN 07:54 Radio 4 Appeal (m001kgl5)
Amref Health Africa UK

Film director Gurinder Chadha makes the Radio 4 Appeal on behalf of Amref Health Africa UK.

To Give:
- UK Freephone 0800 404 8144
-You can donate online at bbc.co.uk/appeal/radio4
- 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 ‘Amref Health Africa UK’.
- Cheques should be made payable to 'Amref Health Africa UK’.
Please note that Freephone and online donations for this charity close at 23.59 on the Saturday after the Appeal is first broadcast. However the Freepost option can be used at any time.

Registered charity number: 261488


SUN 07:57 Weather (m001kgl9)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 08:00 News and Papers (m001kglj)
The latest news headlines. Including a look at the papers.


SUN 08:10 Sunday Worship (m001kgls)
Deliver us from evil

A service of Choral Mattins from the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great in London's Smithfield on Passion Sunday. The Lent theme of the Lord's Prayer focusses on the phrase 'Deliver us from evil'. The service is led by the Bishop of London, The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally, and the preacher is the Rector, Fr Marcus Walker who reflects on the 900th anniversary this weekend of the foundation of the church.

Director of Music: Rupert Gough; Organist: James Norrey; Producers: Ben Collingwood and Philip Billson.


SUN 08:48 A Point of View (m001k856)
Proportional Representation and a New Politics

John Gray makes the case for proportional representation as a means to revive British politics and fuel new political ideas.

He argues that, for the last thirty years, government in Britain has been 'Thatcherism on autopilot'. He says that the 'cult' of the free market has been pursued by both main parties but it has long since run its course.

He believes a change in the electoral system is now urgently needed, to encourage a greater variety of parties entering government and truly present voters with a choice.

'A seesaw between two parties,' he writes, 'can only accelerate our ongoing slide into becoming a poor country in which nothing works.'

Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound: Peter Bosher
Production coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith


SUN 08:58 Tweet of the Day (b08pfqll)
David Lindo on the ring ouzel

David Lindo, otherwise known as the urban birder, recalls his first encounter with the ring ouzel on his local patch near to Wormwood Scrubs in London.

Producer Maggie Ayre.


SUN 09:00 Broadcasting House (m001kgm4)
The Sunday morning news magazine programme. Presented by Paddy O'Connell


SUN 10:00 The Archers Omnibus (m001kgmk)
Writer, Tim Stimpson
Director, Kim Greengrass
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Debbie Aldridge ….. Tamsin Greig
Ben Archer ….. Ben Norris
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
Harrison Burns ….. James Cartwright
Susan Carter ….. Charlotte Martin
Justin Elliott ….. Simon Williams
Clarrie Grundy ….. Heather Bell
George Grundy ….. Angus Stobie
Chelsea Horrobin ….. Madeleine Leslay
Joy Horville ….. Jackie Lye
Jim Lloyd ….. John Rowe
Paul Mack ….. Joshua Riley
Adam Macy ….. Andrew Wincott


SUN 11:15 Desert Island Discs (m001kgn0)
Dara Ó Briain, comedian and television presenter

Dara Ó Briain has toured the world as a stand-up comedian, and hosted the BBC’s satirical series Mock the Week for 17 years. A science graduate with a love of astronomy, he co-presented the BBC series Stargazing Live with Professor Brian Cox, and is a regular guest on television quizzes and panel shows.

Dara grew up in Bray, County Wicklow and attended Irish language schools, playing for the Gaelic football and hurling teams. He studied mathematical physics at University College Dublin where he took part in debating competitions and discovered a flair for getting laughs from an audience.

In 2001 he moved to the UK and, alongside performing at comedy gigs, he started appearing on television shows including Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You. His love of mathematics came to the fore when he presented the game show School of Hard Sums and he has gone on to write popular science books for children.

Dara continues to perform stand-up and, when he’s not touring what he calls his conversational and whimsical style of comedy, he lives in London with his wife and three children.

DISC ONE: Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
DISC TWO: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626: No 1, Introitus and Kyrie - Requiem and Kyrie. Composed by Mozart and performed by London Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony chorus, conducted by Sir Colin Davis
DISC THREE: Glanfaidh Mé - Kíla
DISC FOUR: Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite
DISC FIVE: Cuba Libre - Gloria Estefan
DISC SIX: All About My Girl - Jimmy McGriff
DISC SEVEN: Piazza, New York Catcher - Belle and Sebastian
DISC EIGHT: Adagio for Strings. Composed by Samuel Barber and performed by Berliner Symphoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle

BOOK CHOICE: The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman
LUXURY ITEM: Astrophotography equipment
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Groove is in the Heart - Deee-Lite

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley


SUN 12:00 News Summary (m001kgnd)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


SUN 12:04 The Museum of Curiosity (m001k7sj)
Series 17

Episode 5

John Lloyd and Anna Ptaszynski welcome journalist Isabel Hardman, cop turned comedian Alfie Moore and physicist Dr Jessica Wade to the museum this week for an episode full of discovery, deception, and a very frustrated bee.

The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Turner, Mandy Fenton and Lydia Mizon of QI.

Producer: Sam Holmes & Leying Lee
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound: David Thomas

A BBC Studios production.


SUN 12:32 The Food Programme (m001kgnr)
Glasgow: Seeking Asylum and Finding Refuge in Food

Leyla Kazim and producer Robbie Armstrong explore the central role of food in building community, shaping identity and providing culturally appropriate spaces for refugees and asylum seekers in Glasgow, resettled in the city as part of the UK Government’s asylum dispersal policy.

Leyla speaks to Selina Hales, founder of charity Refuweegee, which distributes welcome packs and emergency food parcels, runs community meals and organises events for people starting a new life in Glasgow.

Teresa Piacentini of the Glasgow Refugee, Asylum & Migration Network outlines how the dispersal system works, the changing landscape in Glasgow, and how food is used to establish community, identity and belonging for those seeking refuge or making a new home in Scotland.

Ibrahim Kamara and Arij Alnajjar take Leyla out for lunch, where they discuss their experience in the asylum system, and how crucial food has been in helping them reclaim their identity and share their culture and cuisine with friends in a foreign country.

Producer Robbie Armstrong visits the Garnethill Multicultural Centre to meet development worker Vivien Opiolka. He attends their community meal, and hears from service users about the importance of shared meals for those in the asylum system. Robbie shows Leyla around his neighbourhood of Govanhill, Scotland’s most multicultural area, and talks about its diverse array of cuisines, restaurants and affordable supermarkets.

We hear from councillor Roza Salih, herself a Kurdish refugee and member of the legendary activist group the Glasgow Girls. She visits Kurdish kebab takeaway Shawarma King to toast owner Majed Badrekhan on his takeaway being crowned ‘best kebab in Scotland’ two years in a row.

Closer to home, Leyla visits the Cyprus House restaurant in the Turkish Cypriot Cultural Association in Green Lanes, North London, where she reflects on her Cypriot heritage, her dad’s escape from war-torn Cyprus, and why food is a central part of her identity.

Presented by Leyla Kazim.
Produced by Robbie Armstrong.


SUN 12:57 Weather (m001kgp4)
The latest weather forecast


SUN 13:00 The World This Weekend (m001kgpg)
Radio 4's look at the week's big stories from both home and around the world


SUN 13:30 Rental Health (m001hwz5)
The New Nomads

The roads and byways of the British Isles are home to a new generation of travellers. Alongside the traditional Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities there’s a booming sub-culture of van dwellers who prefer the open road to bricks and mortar.

For some it's a lifestyle choice. They spend the summer moving from festival to festival, picking up casual jobs as they go. They celebrate their light touch on the planet and those who can afford it take the snowbird route for the winter, heading south through Spain. For increasing numbers, however, there's less glamour in 'van life'. Rapidly rising rents force them into vehicles and a long, cold winter searching for welcoming roadside stops with toilets and taps.

Travel writer and broadcaster, Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent has spent many months living out of her own battered VW van. She understands the fantasy and the practical difficulties. In the New Nomads she hears about both sides of van life and discovers new challenges on the horizon. For many travellers- traditional and new- the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022 feels specifically designed to make their lives as difficult as possible. It creates a new offence of “residing on land without consent in or with a vehicle” and makes it easier for the police to remove unauthorised encampments.

Fresh ideas are helping the increasing number of van dwellers. In Bristol, brownfield areas are being turned into temporary spaces for vans and caravans. The residents are happy with these cheap and cheerful campsites but demand far outstrips supply. Unless more affordable homes are built it seems inevitable that more and more young people will have little choice but the open road.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


SUN 14:00 Gardeners' Question Time (m001k83z)
Wem

Are there any jobs in the garden that can be done in just ten minutes? How can you save your fruit tree crop from the birds? If you had to dedicate the rest of your life to the cultivation of just one plant, what would it be? 

Kathy Clugston and the GQT panellists are in Wem, Shropshire, to answer a bunch of horticultural queries from a live audience. On hand with some astute suggestions are garden designers Matthew Wilson and Bunny Guinness, and plants woman Christine Walkden. 

During the show, Matthew Wilson pops out to chat to a member of the Eckford Sweet Pea Society to discover the fascinating history behind the group’s namesake. 

Producer: Bethany Hocken
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Hannah Newton 

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 14:45 Opening Lines (m001kgpq)
Antic Hay

John Yorke takes a look at Aldous Huxley’s 1923 satirical novel, Antic Hay.

It's a comic novel, set in post-war London and a wicked satire on the glittering hedonism of the 1920s. It tells the story of a collection of upper middle-class characters desperately trying to find meaning in their lives after the catastrophe of the First World War.

Aldous Huxley is most famous for his classic dystopian story Brave New World. To some he’s the inspiration for the cult of hallucinogenics, through his book The Doors Of Perception. But a million miles from both, among the 40-odd other books he wrote, sits Antic Hay – a sardonic snapshot of 1920s English society.

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 30 years, and he shares his experience as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that have made a mark.  

From EastEnders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone.

Contributors:
Emily Pithon, actor, starred as Myra Viveash in Mike Harris’ Radio 4 adaptation of Antic Hay.
Dr Jake Poller, School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London is the author of a 2021 biography of Aldous Huxley

Credits:
Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley, 1923
III. Accidie, On The Margin Collected Notes and Essays by Aldous Huxley, 1923

Produced by Laura Grimshaw
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Readings by Emily Pithon
Sound by Sean Kerwin
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 15:00 Electric Decade (m000qlsm)
Antic Hay

Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley. Dramatised by Mike Harris
When inspiration leads Theo Gumbril to design pneumatic trousers to ease the discomfort of a sedentary life, he decides to give up teaching and seek his fortune in London. But his dreams disappear as he gets caught up in the world of his self absorbed friends. A wicked satire on the glittering hedonism of the 1920s.

Theo ..... James Cooney
Myra ..... Emily Pithon
Coleman ..... Jonathan Keeble
Lypiatt ..... Simeon Truby
Shearwater ..... Graeme Hawley
Emily ..... Verity Henry

Producer/Director Gary Brown
A BBC Audio Drama North Production


SUN 16:00 Open Book (m001kgpy)
Javier Marías

Javier Marías was one of Spain’s foremost writers when he died aged 70 in September 2022. A writer of short stories, essays and novels including The Infatuations, Tomorrow In the Battle Think On Me, and his epic espionage trilogy, Your Face Tomorrow, he was often rumoured to be next in line for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Now Marías's last novel, Tomás Nevinson, has just been published in English. In the book he returns to the figure of the spy, as Tomás is called out of retirement to track down a woman involved in a series of ETA bombings. In typical Marias style, the spy novel becomes a meditation on memory, deception and the inescapability of the past.

Chris Power is joined by the renowned translator Margaret Jull Costa, who worked with Javier Marías for over thirty years. Valerie Miles, co-founder of Spanish Granta, and the literary critic Boyd Tonkin to discuss Tomás Nevinson and the themes of Javier Marías unique brand of fiction.

Booklist – Sunday 26 March and Thursday 30 March

Tomás Nevinson by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
The Infatuations by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Your Face Tomorrow 1: Fever and Spear by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Your Face Tomorrow 2: Dance and Dream by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Your Face Tomorrow III: Poison, Shadow and Farewell by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
A Heart So White by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Berta Isla by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
When I was Mortal by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
All Souls by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Between Eternities by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
The Man of Feeling by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
Dark Back of Time by Javier Marías: Translated by Margaret Jull Costa
The Eye by Vladimir Nabokov
A Thousand Forests In One Acorn: An Anthology of Spanish Language Fiction by Valerie Miles


SUN 16:30 The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed (m001kgq6)
Julie Hesmondhalgh

Julie Hesmondhalgh was born in Accrington in Lancashire and currently lives within a short drive of Simon Armitage's shed over the hills. She has won many awards for her acting performances and is well-known for having played Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street for years - until something Simon did made her rethink what she was doing and take the bold step to leave. Regular TV roles in series such as Cucumber, Happy Valley and Broadchurch followed along with being able to take on work in theatres such as The Royal Exchange in Manchester. Their lively conversation passes from the business of writing, through a discussion of accents, to treading the boards, and starting a theatre company.

Produced by Susan Roberts


SUN 17:00 File on 4 (m001k7wf)
Rental Health: The Social Housing Perfect Storm?

Social housing providers say they are under more financial pressure than ever before.
The sector has warned long-term Government funding cuts and the cost of improving homes to meet new fire safety laws, have now been compounded by high inflation, to create a perfect storm of pressure.
But is it vulnerable tenants who are paying the price?
File on 4 investigates record complaints about social housing providers and hears allegations of "degrading" treatment by some social housing providers.
Reporter Iona Bain also uncovers failings by a housing provider which led to raw sewage flooding into residents' flats.

Reporter: Iona Bain
Producer: Ben Robinson
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Clare Fordham


SUN 17:40 Profile (m001kgd0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Saturday]


SUN 17:54 Shipping Forecast (m001kgqd)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


SUN 17:57 Weather (m001kgql)
The latest weather reports and forecast


SUN 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001kgqt)
Possessing laughing gas is to be made a criminal offence for the first time


SUN 18:15 Pick of the Week (m001kgr0)
Jason Mohammad

Broadcaster Jason Mohammad swaps the football scores vidiprinter and Premier League stats for a copy of the Radio Times. He chooses programmes that ask how we can all be a little kinder; how we should be offering greater opportunities to young people; and that ask some big questions about who we are in Great Britain in 2023.


SUN 19:00 The Archers (m001kgqf)
Tom, Natasha, Helen and Lee have a day out at Netherbourne Hall with the kids and the agreement that they won’t talk about work at Bridge Farm. Tom and Natasha report the approach they’ve had for a modelling job for Nova and Seren for a multinational company. Helen’s relieved to hear they’re not planning to accept, as amongst the company’s products are environmentally controversial agrochemicals.

Lee is subdued on the day out and Helen explains to Tom and Natasha that his daughters left for America last week. Tom kicks himself for going on about his daughters when Lee has had to say farewell to his so recently. Lee tells him not to worry about it. He’s heard from his daughters and they seem to be settling into San Francisco very well. Tom points out that Lee still has family around him in him, Natasha and Helen.

Alice, Adam and Ian help Brian move house from Willow to Blossom Hill Cottage. As Alice and Brian close the door on Willow Cottage, Brian comments that it was only supposed to be a stopgap. Alice reassures him that Jennifer was happy there and she herself is grateful for the time she was there too while she battled alcoholism. Over at Blossom Hill Cottage, Alice starts to search for the kettle but Brian tells her to head home like Adam and Ian have done. She insists it’s no problem to keep him company but Brian ushers her out of the door saying he’ll be fine on his own.


SUN 19:15 The Ultimate Choice (m001kgr7)
Series 1

Episode 6

Steph McGovern is in Leeds to ask some seriously funny minds for their definitive answers to the great questions of our age. Or not. Welcome to the world's most devious game of Would You Rather? With guests Chris Cantrill and Kiri Pritchard-McLean.

Host: Steph McGovern
Guests: Chris Cantrill and Kiri Pritchard-McLean
Devised and written by Jon Harvey & Joseph Morpurgo
With additional material from Laura Major
Researcher: Leah Marks
Recorded and mixed by David Thomas
Producer: Jon Harvey
Executive Producers: Ed Morrish and Polly Thomas

Photo: Carolyn Mendelsohn

A Naked production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 19:45 Funny Bones (b06gtr72)
Fete Worse than Death

A new series of original stories in which Irish writers showcase their funny bones.

In this fantastically funny series, Yasmine Akram tells a tale of young woe and magical intervention. Tara Flynn takes us into the world of competitive baking and zombie hordes in 'Fete Worse than Death'. Finally, a trip to the cinema takes a surprising turn in a new story by comedian Maeve Higgins.

Writer, Tara Flynn
Reader, Tara Flynn
Producer, Jenny Thompson


SUN 20:00 Feedback (m001k84c)
Presenter Josh Baker and Senior News Editor Jonathan Aspinwall join Andrea Catherwood to respond to listeners’ comments on I’m Not a Monster: The Shamima Begum Story podcast.

Jeff Smith, Head of Music at Radio 2, answers audience concerns and gives an insight into the station’s music policy.

And Jeremy Bowen, International Editor BBC News, discusses his report for the Today programme on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war.

Presented by Andrea Catherwood

Produced by Gill Davies

A Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4


SUN 20:30 Last Word (m001k845)
Jacqueline Gold CBE, Lance Reddick, Traute Lafrenz, Lynn Seymour

Matthew Bannister on

Jacqueline Gold CBE – the businesswoman who turned Ann Summers from a couple of seedy sex shops into a multi-million pound high street success.

Lance Reddick, the American actor best known for playing Cedric Daniels in The Wire.

Traute Lafrenz, the last known survivor of the White Rose Group that actively resisted the Nazis in Germany during the second world war.

Lynn Seymour, one of the greatest dramatic ballerinas of the twentieth century.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Interviewed guest: Kevin O’Hare
Interviewed guest: Charlotte Hardie
Interviewed guest: Dr. Renee Meyer
Interviewed guest: Helen O’Hara

Archive clips used:
Desert Island Discs, Jacqueline Gold, BBC Radio 4, 02/11/2018; Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 18/04/2017; Off Camera Show, Sam Jones interviews Lance Reddick, YouTube, uploaded 04/11/2019; In Town Today, Michael Smee interviews Lynn Seymour, BBC Television 27/02/1975; The Wire _Season 1, HBO Films, uploaded to YouTube 25/02/2011;


SUN 21:00 Money Box (m001kgc5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:04 on Saturday]


SUN 21:25 Radio 4 Appeal (m001kgl5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 07:54 today]


SUN 21:30 Analysis (m001k7sw)
Is Britain exceptional?

Is Britain Exceptional? Historian, author and Sunday Telegraph columnist Zoe Strimpel believes so, and sifts through the layers of Britain’s culture, politics and religious history to find the roots for the nation’s scientific, intellectual and cultural dynamism and the germ for today’s culture wars.
With the help of leading historians, political activists and scientists, Zoe examines whether Britain's obsession with the glories of 'our finest hour': WWII determined a version of history that eclipsed inconvenient truths that contradict our national myths and identity. She asks whether Britain's 'long island story' has really been as unruptured and stable as commonly believed, revealing a much more compelling Britishness forged out of military conflict abroad and religious and political turmoil at home.

Does the secret to Britain's historical dynamism in scientific discovery, philosophy and culture reside in dissent from religious and political orthodoxy, rather than unstinting allegiance? Has the hidden history of religious noncomformity - a rebellion within a rebellion - been the hothouse encouraging creative genius to flourish?
Zoe meets the modern-day heirs to noncomformity to examine how Britain's unwillingness to put culture at the heart of our holdall national identity has led to tolerance and cultural diversity on the one hand, but also an acceptance of inequality. This might be the cause of our lost sense of who we are and what Britain is now for; perhaps we need to learn from and incorporate our unexamined history to shake off self-loathing, embrace eccentricity and regain the creative dynamism we now lack.

Presenter: Zoe Strimpel
Producer: David Reid
Editor: Clare Fordham


SUN 22:00 Westminster Hour (m001kgrd)
Nick Watt considers new government plans to crackdown on anti-social behaviour with Conservative MP Chris Loder, Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed and the SNP's Alison Thewliss. They also discuss possible amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill, and look ahead to the conclusion of the SNP leadership contest. The Guardian's deputy political editor Jessica Elgot brings additional insight and analysis.


SUN 23:00 Loose Ends (m001kgcy)
[Repeat of broadcast at 18:15 on Saturday]


SUN 23:30 Something Understood (b048j435)
[Repeat of broadcast at 06:05 today]

MONDAY 27 MARCH 2023

MON 00:00 Midnight News (m001kgrk)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


MON 00:15 Sideways (m001k7mq)
44. Matthew’s been telling tales

There’s a story Matthew Syed likes to tell. And he’s told it a lot. It’s about a turning point in his life. It’s about learning from a failure and working hard to overcome his shortfalls and come back stronger.

Except - he’s realised he’s been getting the story wrong.

A key detail in the timeline is off. The turning point he thought was so important, might not be quite as significant after all. And the story just isn’t as neat…

In this episode of Sideways, Matthew’s exploring how we use stories to make sense of our lives, and why that means they might not always be completely accurate.

With Alexandra Georgakopoulou, Professor of Discourse Analysis and Sociolinguistics at King's College London; Robyn Fivush, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts at Emory University; and bestselling ghostwriter Shannon Kyle.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer and Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Executive Producer: Max O’Brien
Additional Production: Pippa Smith and Leigh Meyer
Sound Design and Mix: Naomi Clarke
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4


MON 00:45 Bells on Sunday (m001kgdr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 05:43 on Sunday]


MON 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001kgrp)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001kgrt)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


MON 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001kgry)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


MON 05:30 News Briefing (m001kgs2)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


MON 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001kgs6)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett.


MON 05:45 Farming Today (m001kgsb)
27/03/23 - Dartmoor management, farm waste and ammonia emissions

Dartmoor MPs are calling for an 'independent process' to work out the balance between farming and conservation on the moors. This follows what some called 'rewilding by the back door' - Natural England's recent decision not to renew some farmers' Countryside Stewardship agreements on the moor, unless the number of livestock was significantly reduced, to try to improve the condition of some protected areas. The three conservative MPs for the area say that despite a working group being set up last year to achieve consensus, Natural England has gone ahead without talking to either the Commoners Association, the National Park or the Dartmoor Owners Association.

From plastic bale wrap to out of date agrochemicals - what happens to the waste from farms? We'll be finding out all this week.

And more than a quarter of urban air pollution starts on farms. A team from University College London looked at particulate pollution in cities, and found that agriculture created, for instance, 38% of Leicester's and 25% of London's in 2019.

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


MON 05:56 Weather (m001kgsg)
The latest weather forecast for farmers.


MON 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b02tyk25)
Little Tern

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

Little terns are our smallest terns. You can pick them out from our other terns by their smaller size, white forehead and yellow bill with a black tip. They look flimsy and delicate but move too close to one of their colonies, and you'll unleash a tirade of grating shrieks as they try to intimidate you out of their territory.


MON 06:00 Today (m001kglm)
A new SNP leader will be announced today as the race to become the successor to Nicola Sturgeon ends. We'll be looking at the task ahead and what will - or should - be top of the new first minister's in tray. This episode of Today is edited by Jade Bogart-Preleur and Purvee Pattni. The studio director is Andy Mills.


MON 09:00 Start the Week (m001kglx)
Climate - past, present and future

The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. Kirsty Wark talks to an historian, scientist and novelist about how to convey the story and impact of climate change.

Floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and solar activity have all shaped the natural history of our world from its formation. In The Earth Transformed the historian Peter Frankopan looks back at how the climate has constantly changed our world, but also at the impact of extreme climatic events on ancient human civilisations – often violent and epic in scale, from regime change to demographic decline. However, since the Industrial Revolution the balance has shifted and anthropogenic impacts on the climate can be seen more clearly. Peter Frankopan tells Kirsty Wark that learning lessons from the past has never been more important in tackling a precarious future.

Professor Dame Jane Francis is Director of the British Antarctic Survey. As a geologist by training, she studies fossils to understand the change from greenhouse to icehouse climates in the polar regions over the past 100 million years. Her research enables others to map the huge changes now happening in the Antarctic and the range of possible scenarios for the future.

“As I grew up, crisis slid from distant threat to imminent probability, and we tuned it out like static, we adjusted to each emergent normality, and did what we had always done. . . .” One of the narrators of Jessie Greengrass’s novel The High House realises too late the disastrous impact of climate change. In what has become known as the literary genre clifi – climate fiction – Greengrass reveals the physical and emotional challenges the survivors face.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: An iceberg in Antarctica


MON 09:45 Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell (m001kgm7)
1. Petrarch and Boccaccio

The new book by the prize-winning writer Sarah Bakewell is about 700 years of humanist freethinking, enquiry and hope. It begins in Tuscany in the 1300s where life is uncertain and conflict and hostilities are rife. Into this febrile atmosphere come Petrarch and Boccaccio. The reader is Emma Fielding.

Humanly Possible is the latest book from Sarah Bakewell, the award-winning author of 'How to Live' and 'At the Existentialist Cafe'. Here Bakewell delves into the lives of the thinkers who throughout history have set about understanding what it means to be human, and so created the school of thought that we know today as humanism.

In our series we encounter Petrarch and Boccaccio who look back to the ancients for models of good living based on friendship, wisdom and the power of words. Then we encounter Erasmus and find out about his views on education and civility. We'll also come across Wilhelm von Humboldt who redesigned Prussia's education system in the nineteenth century and ensured that it was founded on principles of mutual kindness and liberty. Moving on to the mid-nineteenth century we meet Darwin with his ground-breaking theories on evolution, and the writings of T.H. Huxley gave rise to scientific humanism. In the final episode, the twentieth century's humanists are compelled to confront the horrors of WWII and its far-reaching consequences.


The abridger is Richard Hamilton
The producer is Elizabeth Allard


MON 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001kgmv)
Sex education in schools

Earlier this month, the Conservative MP Miriam Cates said in the House of Commons that children were being exposed to 'graphic' and 'age inappropriate' material during their sex education classes. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to bring forward a planned review of the Department for Education’s Relationships and Sex Education guidance in England.

To shed light on what is being taught in schools, and what this review may cover, Nuala McGovern speaks to a range of stakeholders, including headteacher and President of the Association of School and College leaders Evelyn Forde, director of the Sex Education Forum Lucy Emmerson, academic Dr Sophie King-Hill, and Tanya Carter from the Safe Schools Alliance. We also hear from parents and listeners including young people themselves.


MON 11:00 Rental Health (m001kgn6)
All Work and No Homes

Communities in the Scottish Highlands are facing a housing crisis so bad, it’s been described as a clearance for the 21st century. According to the Convenor of the Highland Council, Bill Lobban, “the species most under threat in the Cairngorms National Park isn’t the Capercaillie but the young family trying to find a home”. Ironically one key cause of the problem is also what brings most into the local economy – tourism. Across the region the growth of the tourism and hospitality industry is driving the demand for 2nd homes and many houses are now used for short-term holiday lets, with the result that very little accommodation remains for locals searching for somewhere to live, what does remain is usually unaffordable or unsuitable. The knock-on effect is that businesses across the Highlands are struggling to find staff and even when they manage to find them, they often lose them because there’s no rental accommodation locally. A sector which has been particularly hard hit is hospitality where low wages exacerbate the issue with the result that hotels and restaurants find themselves in the unenviable position of having plenty of customers but not enough staff to serve them.

Often, the only way many businesses can secure staff is if they provide accommodation but that’s not always suitable for long term employees and skilled staff who might have young families plus not all businesses can afford to buy or manage housing for their staff.

It’s not just the hospitality sector either which is suffering, the salmon farming industry is being hit hard too and its not just low paid workers, all professions are being priced out of the housing market by too many people chasing too few properties.

In Rental Health: All Work No Homes Pennie Stuart heads first to the northwest Highland village of Ullapool to hear how the business community is responding to the unintended consequences of the tourism boom while further south in Aviemore, in the heart of the Cairngorms national park, she hears about the radical solutions being proposed to bring staff, homes and tourism back into some kind of balance.

Produced by Dan Holland
Presented by Pennie Stuart


MON 11:30 Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley (p0f7pxz1)
12. Margaret Garner

Lucy Worsley looks at the crimes of women from the 19th and early 20th centuries from a contemporary, feminist perspective.

Lucy explores the story of Margaret Garner, an enslaved mother in 1850s America, who commits a murder that transforms her into an icon of tragedy and resistance. Her life inspired Tony Morrison’s Pulitzer-winning novel Beloved.

To explore Margaret Garner’s remarkable story and its contemporary resonances Lucy is joined by Nikki M Taylor, Professor of African American History at Howard University in Washington DC and the author of Driven Towards Madness: The Fugitive Slave Margaret Garner and Tragedy on the Ohio.

Margaret Garner and her small four children are owned by a farmer in the slave state of Kentucky, and they live a tantalising 16 miles from Cincinnati in the free state of Ohio. Margaret and her husband Robert, who is enslaved on a nearby farm, decide to risk their lives, and the lives of their children, for a chance of freedom on the other side of the Ohio River. On the night of 27th January 1856, in temperatures close to -20 degrees celsius, the family escapes on a sleigh and, against the odds, they evade capture and make it across the frozen river to what they hope will be freedom and safety. But their owners are hard on their heels, and soon Margaret will have to give a terrible answer to the question ‘is slavery a fate worse than death?’.

Lucy wants to know what life was like for Margaret as an enslaved woman, wife and mother. How can we hear the voices of enslaved women when they left so few records of their lives? What does Margaret’s story tell us about the lives of black women in America today? What effect did her story have on the abolitionist movement, and how can her story inform the fight against slavery and sex trafficking today?

Producer: Jane Greenwood
Readers: Moya Angela and Laurel Lefkow
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Series Producer: Julia Hayball

A StoryHunter production for BBC Radio 4


MON 12:00 News Summary (m001kgp0)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


MON 12:04 You and Yours (m001kgpb)
Used electric car prices fall

Used electric car prices have gone right down - what's going on and what does it mean for drivers thinking of switching? As seed sales soar, is grow your own worth it financially? Also - millions of customers pay more for their energy than everyone else because they opt out of direct debits. Charities say that needs to change. And - is a retro Casio watch as good as a Rolex?

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: TOM MOSELEY


MON 12:57 Weather (m001kgpm)
The latest weather forecast


MON 13:00 World at One (m001kgpx)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


MON 13:45 Rental Health (m001kgq5)
Rental Health: Solutions

Vienna

As the cost of rent continues to rise across the UK, Kirsty Lang looks for solutions. This is the first of a series of five programmes which explore some radical alternatives.

Sixty per cent of Vienna’s population lives in subsidised housing. And that reduces the cost of private rental accommodation too. Kirsty finds out the secret of the city’s housing success and gets a tour of a local resident’s home.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Jo Glanville for BBC Audio in Bristol

Photo: Gleis 21, a housing development in Vienna created by its residents, copyright Hertha Hurnaus


MON 14:00 The Archers (m001kgqf)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Sunday]


MON 14:15 Drama (m001kgqm)
Wild Woman of the North

Wild Woman of the North by Esther Wilson
Inspired by a 'Wild Living' Community in Wales, a family moves to the countryside to try a new way of life that is closer to nature. They are recovering from a family tragedy. Will this new way of life heal them?

Laura......................Gillian Kearney
Mark.......................Lee Ingleby
Arlo.........................Tareq Al-Jeddal

Production Co-ordinator - Pippa Day
Tech Team - Tony Wass & Vanessa Nuttall
Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet
Producer/Director - Gary Brown & Pauline Harris

A BBC Audio Drama North Production


MON 15:00 Counterpoint (m001kgqv)
Series 36

Semi-final 3, 2023

(12/13)
The third and last of the 2023 Counterpoint semi-finals comes from MediaCityUk in Salford and features the remaining three heat winners from this year's tournament. With a place in next week's Final at stake, the competition is bound to be tough. Paul Gambaccini's questions range across all genres and eras of music, from the Pet Shop Boys to the operas of Philip Glass, from Wagner and Tchaikovsky to Motown and Philadelphia soul.

Appearing today are:
Charles Dusting from Worcester,
Diane Hallagan from Leeds,
Sally Wilson from Sale in Greater Manchester.

As well as general musical knowledge they'll also each be tested on a special musical topic they'll have to pick from a list, with no warning of the categories on offer today.

Assistant Producer: Stephen Garner
Producer: Paul Bajoria


MON 15:30 The Food Programme (m001kgnr)
[Repeat of broadcast at 12:32 on Sunday]


MON 16:00 Rental Health (m001hwz5)
[Repeat of broadcast at 13:30 on Sunday]


MON 16:30 The Digital Human (m001kgr3)
Series 28

Overturn

"Right now, and I mean this instant, delete every digital trace of any menstrual tracking. Please."

This is a tweet that went viral in the wake of the repeal of Roe V Wade in the United States. Fearing a clamp down on reproductive rights, suddenly people were looking at their online data in a very new way. What does my fitness app say about the state of my body? What could be divined from the details of what I bought? What about the data of the people around me?

This is not the first time a sudden social or political change has thrown up potential problems of big data. But now we live in a world of data brokers, thousands of companies collecting, collating and sharing data around the world - and the data related to pregnancy is the most valuable of the lot. Which means, if there is a sudden change in reproductive rights, there’s a lot of data that could be mined for information if a broker sells it on.

Aleks explores what happens when freely given data suddenly becomes dangerous, if it’s possible to keep any secrets in an online maelstrom of information, and why we keep coming up against this problem again, and again, and again…


MON 17:00 PM (m001kgr9)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


MON 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001kgrf)
It follows a hard-fought contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.


MON 18:30 The Museum of Curiosity (m001kgrl)
Series 17

Episode 6

In this series finale of The Museum of Curiosity, John Lloyd and Anna Ptaszynski are joined by comedian Sikisa Bostwick-Barnes, insect champion Bridget Nicholls and explorer Levison Wood who come armed with a wonder of the ancient world, a wonder of the natural world, and a wonderful artefact of 90s nostalgia.

The Museum’s exhibits were catalogued by Mike Turner, Mandy Fenton and Lydia Mizon of QI.

Producer: Sam Holmes & Leying Lee
Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Nicholls
Sound: David Thomas

A BBC Studios production.


MON 19:00 The Archers (m001kgrq)
Oliver complains to Elizabeth that he’s been allocated the scullery for the next month as a Lower Loxley guide. Elizabeth thinks it’s best he speaks to Freddie. Neil joins them – Oliver’s surprised to find Neil’s task today is even less interesting than his own – minding visitors’ belongings at the main entrance.

Oliver joins Neil mid shift to complain about the more experienced volunteers getting all the plum positions. Neil reckons that Freddie was hoping to find some younger blood in his volunteer recruitment. Oliver takes matters into his own hands and arranges swaps with other volunteers so that he and Neil can lead the tour for Abberton Wood later in the week.

Elizabeth catches up with David while waiting for Jill. The pressure of lambing is starting to ease while Elizabeth is still seeing a lot of Lily even though she’s moved to The Stables. They’re joined by Jim who has come to apologise for his protest occupation last week. Elizabeth persuades David to accept Jim’s offer of joining him on the pub quiz team on Thursday. With no one else available from Brookfield that evening, David ropes in Elizabeth to make up the numbers for the team.

Justin quizzes Jim on his next strategy to protest the planned electric vehicle charging station. Jim explains he’s putting together a crack team of experts to challenge every detail of the station’s planning application. Justin says it sounds like a much more formidable plan.


MON 19:15 Front Row (m001kgrv)
Barbara Demick on North Korea; Dungeons and Dragons controversy; folk musicians Hack-Poets Guild

Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick’s book 'Nothing to Envy' has been short-listed for this year’s Baille Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Winner of Winners Award; North Korean defectors spoke about love, family life and the terrible cost of the 1990’s famine.

Front Row examines the controversy surrounding Dungeons and Dragons, the world's most popular table-top role playing game and now a Hollywood film, as fans protest against a clampdown on fan-made content. Professional Dungeons and Dragons player Kim Richards and Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law, Dr. Hayleigh Bosher, join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss what this means for fans and copyright owners.

Hack-Poets Guild is a collaboration between the renowned folk musicians Marry Waterson, Lisa Knapp and Nathaniel Mann. Their new album Blackletter Garland is inspired by the collection of broadside ballads in the Bodleian Library, news sheets that circulated between the 16th and 20th Centuries.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe
Producer: Olivia Skinner


MON 20:00 Rental Health (m001kgrz)
Hunt for a Home

As tenants desperately try and secure their application for a home, competition is fierce – often dozens of people vying for a single property. With landlords selling up, and mortgages increasingly unattainable, finding somewhere is tough. Who’s coming for a viewing, why are they looking right now, and what’s causing this imbalance in supply and demand? Rima Ahmed of BBC Radio Leeds hears from tenants, landlords and estate agents in her city and beyond as they give us a snapshot of a housing market out of balance. They tell their stories of what life is like in a housing market that has changed beyond recognition in a short space of time.


MON 20:30 Analysis (m001kgs3)
Can the Met police change?

How difficult is it for a police force to change? A review of the Metropolitan police by Baroness Louise Casey says racism, misogyny, and homophobia are at the heart of the force. The Met's commissioner Sir Mark Rowley admits 'we have let Londoners down'. Everyone agrees change must happen – but where to start?

Margaret Heffernan meets experts on police reform and former senior officers to explore the organisational challenge that faces any force which wants to transform itself and re-establish public trust. She hears from those involved in establishing the Police Service of Northern Ireland, following the Good Friday Agreement. What were the political and organisational challenges that faced the PSNI in terms of recruitment from two different communities? What lessons might that process offer to the transformation that is needed across other forces? And how would organisational psychologists suggest tackling and turning round long established cultures?

Presenter: Margaret Heffernan
Producer: Philip Reevell
Editor: Clare Fordham


MON 21:00 Troubled Water (m001kgs7)
Are We Running Out of Water? Episode 3

What’s it like when water no longer flows out of your tap? In this episode presenter James Gallagher visits Cheltenham in Gloucestershire where huge floods in 2007 engulfed a water works which left the town without running water for two weeks. He talks to people who lived through it, and finds out what scientists are doing to help prevent a similar flood happening in the future. And a water sommelier explains exactly why the taste of water changes in different parts of the country.

Presenter: James Gallagher

Producer: Alun Beach

Executive Producer: Martin Smith


MON 21:30 Start the Week (m001kglx)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


MON 22:00 The World Tonight (m001kgsf)
In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


MON 22:45 How One Becomes Lonely (m001743z)
Episode 1

From the comfort of his Perthshire home, 81-year-old Archie Devine dips into the incel community online as he remembers the time he let true love slip through his fingers. Novelist and musician Luke Sutherland’s immersive tale of cowardice, courage and connection tackles the perpetual struggle to make sense of an ever-changing world.


MON 23:00 I Feel Therefore I Am (m001jc4p)
Who Owns the Truth?

Where once facts, evidence and rationality were the path to knowledge, now the logic of feeling, of ‘my truth’ and ‘lived experience’ offers an alternative. Do we know our world through objective facts, or through subjective feelings?

In the second programme in the series, Professor Abigail Williams explores how subjective experience and individual feeling has offered a profound challenge to institutional authority, from John Bunyan's Pilgrims to the French Revolution and beyond.

Abigail looks back at Michael Gove's claim that people 'have had enough of experts' and explores how a new focus on lived experience is reshaping our institutions, from the patients invited onto NHS Lived Experience Panels to Victim Impact statements in courtrooms. Who knows more about crime, illness or poverty, someone who has experienced it or someone who has studied it?

But it's hard to value both 'my truth' and 'your truth' without descending into identity politics, outrage and intolerance. And what happens to our institutions when we no longer agree on who knows best: the person with expertise or the person with first-hand experience?

Producer: Julia Johnson
Presenter: Abigail Williams
Executive Producer: Samir Shah

A Juniper Connect production for BBC Radio 4


MON 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001kgsj)
Sean Curran reports on MPs' reaction to the home secretary's announcement of measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.

TUESDAY 28 MARCH 2023

TUE 00:00 Midnight News (m001kgsl)
The latest news and weather forecast from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 00:30 Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell (m001kgm7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:45 on Monday]


TUE 00:48 Shipping Forecast (m001kgsn)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 01:00 Selection of BBC World Service Programmes (m001kgsq)
BBC Radio 4 presents a selection of news and current affairs, arts and science programmes from the BBC World Service.


TUE 05:20 Shipping Forecast (m001kgss)
The latest weather reports and forecasts for UK shipping.


TUE 05:30 News Briefing (m001kgsv)
The latest news from BBC Radio 4


TUE 05:43 Prayer for the Day (m001kgsx)
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with The Rt Revd Dr Rosemarie Mallett, Bishop of Croydon.

Good morning.

Spring brings sunshine and flowers, and quite a few showers also. My childhood memories of the Caribbean are redolent with the sound of rain on tin roofs, and also the smell that precedes the imminence of rain, and the smell that follows a rain shower. As a child, I did not know that the smell of rain has a name, petrichor, which describes its earthy odour. To me it’s a very similar smell to that of morning dew on wet grass. These smells speak to me in ways that belie the power of words.

Almost everyone who can smell, can connect different scents with different people and stages of their lives. Perhaps the aroma of a special person’s perfume or aftershave, celebratory foods or sweets, the box that held a new toy or game. Smell can elicit our earliest memories and remind us of beloved people and places, and things we treasure.

The sense of smell is critical to our health and wellbeing, since time immemorial, essential oils from flowers, herbs, or the sap or bark of trees have been used in healing practices to improve physical and emotional well-being. That may be part of the reason why during the recent pandemic, the sale of scented candles went through the roof. And yet catching the COVID19 virus caused many people to suffer a temporary loss of smell.

Our sense of smell can also trigger sorrow, and for some people lilies smell of mourning. In some Christian traditions lilies are placed at the foot of the cross on Good Friday.

Creator God, help us remember how interconnected we are with our environment and give us wisdom to care for it well.

Amen


TUE 05:45 Farming Today (m001kgsz)
28/03/23 Environmental reporting; listeria outbreak; agriplastic pollution; recycling farm plastics.

DEFRA has failed to file dozens of reports on environmental legislation, which it is legally bound to do. The reports are essential because they show the public and campaign groups how effective laws are at achieving their goals. The findings are published in a report by the Office for Environmental Protection, or OEP, which was set up to monitor how well environmental regulations are working and whether government departments are implementing them properly.

The Food Standards Agency has confirmed that one person has died following an outbreak of listeria. It is warning people not to eat any Baronet soft cheese products after high levels of listeria monocytogenes were found, although the death has not been specifically linked to this cheese. The Old Cheese Room which produces Baronet told us in a statement that they have now changed their testing regime, and none of their other cheeses has been affected.

A new report suggests supermarkets and the government need to do more to reduce the environmental impact of agriplastics. That's things like polytunnel plastic, plastic mulch - the sheeting that's put on the fields to keep the soil warm - irrigation pipes, fertiliser bags and even the microplastics present in fertiliser pellets and some composts. The Environmental Investigation Agency report says government policy around the production and disposal of agriplastics is lacking.

As we continue our week-long look at farm waste, we visit one firm in South Wales which is turning waste farm plastic into products. They collect and clean materials like wrapping for silage or feed packaging, it's then turned into pellets which can be used to make things like fence posts.

Presenter = Anna Hill
Producer = Rebecca Rooney


TUE 05:58 Tweet of the Day (b03zr0qn)
Great Grey Shrike

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

Kate Humble presents the great grey shrike. Great grey shrikes feed on small birds, which they can catch in flight. They also eat mice, voles and shrews and, as spring approaches, they'll include bees and larger beetles in their diet. Shrikes are also known as "butcher birds" because of their habit of impaling their prey on thorns, just as a butcher hangs his meat on hooks.


TUE 06:00 Today (m001kh1g)
Nick Robinson and Mishal Husain are joined by the Gambling Commission, as the regulator issues the largest fine in its history, after finding William Hill let a new customer bet £23,000 in 20 minutes.

Protests in Israel have continued despite an announcement that plans to overhaul the Supreme Court would be paused. Today hears from one of the leading figures in Prime Minister Netenyahu's party and a major union leader involved in the strike action that has brought the country to a standstill.

We hear from the shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband and we're joined by the Ed Sheeran fan who went to a gig and ended up singing on stage with his hero.

This episode of Today was edited by Jade Bogart-Preleur and Sareen Bains. The studio director was Graham White.


TUE 09:00 The Life Scientific (m001kh1s)
Julie Williams on Alzheimer’s disease

There are almost a million people in the UK living with dementia, and Alzheimer’s is the most common form. But the disease actually starts long before any noticeable symptoms appear, and over the past decade, studies have shown that it is much more complex than previously thought.

Julie Williams has been at the forefront of this effort, uncovering the genes that make us susceptible, and has transformed our understanding of this devastating disease. She has brought researchers together to create bigger datasets and more powerful studies. Her current work with scientists from other fields, like immunology and computational biology, is looking at the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease.

Julie tells Jim about her early interest in science, her time as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Welsh government, and her belief in ‘team science’ – collaborating and sharing research findings across international borders and disciplines.

Produced by Florian Bohr


TUE 09:30 Magic Consultants (m001kh23)
The Craft

Adam Shaw peeks behind the curtain of the consultancy industry.

Worth hundreds of billions of pounds, consultants stretch across almost every industry, government department and international border.

Since the pandemic there’s been an unprecedented demand for their services and many believe our future is determined by what they think and do. Yet little is known about these largely hidden influencers. They are magnetic and mesmerizing yet, to many of us, shrouded in mystery.

Adam asks who these wizards, what do they do and how much do they influence our lives.

On the one hand, they're talked of as genius solvers of the world’s greatest problems and masters of the machinery of management. On other, some think of them in more shadowy terms, whispering their guidance into the ears of the rich and powerful. Adam sets off with missionary zeal to detangle two very different stereotypes.

Across the series he hunts for the first ever consultant, finds out how they shape our language and politics and discovers how they bounce back from appalling scandals. He joins a consultancy fair to meet aspirant consultants, hears stories from the glass towers of late nights and rewards, explores FOMO and addition, turnarounds and triumphs.

In this first episode he asks what value do consultants add and why are they seemingly opaque. And he pulls out his wand and performs a rather impressive magic trick of his own.

With contributions from: Tamzen Isacsson, CEO of the Management Consultancies Association, Andrew Sturdy, Professor in Management at The University of Bristol, Dr Chris McKenna, Reader in Business History and Strategy at the Said Business School, Rosie Collington, co-author of The Big Con, author Eric Edstrom and broadcaster Paddy O'Connell.

Producer: Sarah Bowen


TUE 09:45 Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell (m001kh2l)
Episode 2 - Erasmus and the principles of peace, friendship and civility.

The award-winning writer Sarah Bakewell's exploration of humanist freethinking, enquiry and hope turns to one of humanism's most celebrated figures, Erasmus. Today, his advocacy of the principles of peace, friendship, and civility take centre stage before attention turns to his enduring legacy. Emma Fielding reads.

Humanly Possible is the latest book from Sarah Bakewell, the award-winning author of 'How to Live' and 'At the Existentialist Cafe'. Here Bakewell delves into the lives of the thinkers who throughout history have set about understanding what it means to be human, and so created the school of thought that we know today as humanism.

In our series we encounter Petrarch and Boccaccio who look back to the ancients for models of good living based on friendship, wisdom and the power of words. Then we encounter Erasmus and find out about his views on education and civility. We'll also come across Wilhelm von Humboldt who re-designed Prussia's education system in the nineteenth century and ensured that it was founded on principles of mutual kindness and liberty. Moving on to the mid-nineteenth century we meet Darwin who with his ground breaking theories on evolution, and the writings of T.H. Huxley gave rise to scientific humanism. In the final episode, the twentieth century's humanists are compelled to confront the horrors of the WWII and it's far reaching consequences.

The abridger is Richard Hamilton
The producer is Elizabeth Allard


TUE 10:00 Woman's Hour (m001kh30)
The Power List Reveal Programme - Women in Sport

The Woman's Hour Power List 2023 reveal show is here! This is your chance to hear from the women on our list, showcasing the 30 most remarkable women in sport in the UK right now.

Join Nuala McGovern, our judges Jessica Creighton, Ebony Rainford Brent and a studio audience live from the Radio Theatre.

Producers: Emma Pearce and Alex Webb
Presenter: Nuala McGovern


TUE 11:00 The Spark (m001kh3h)
Rochelle Burgess and social prescribing

Dr Rochelle Burgess, Associate Professor in Global Health at University College London, tells Helen Lewis why she argues 'social prescribing' needs a radical rethink. She sets out why she thinks the current approach, which focuses on relationships, could and should be expanded to take in more societal considerations. And why she thinks this could bring much more significant benefits than are currently achievable.

Producer: Phil Tinline


TUE 11:30 Art and Resistance in Taiwan (m001kh1c)
As the world’s eyes are on Taiwan for geo-political reasons and the island's sense of identity is under scrutiny, Taiwanese-American journalist, activist and DJ Brian Hioe (丘琦欣) takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey into the Taipei underground arts scene.

Day and night, we discover how a new generation of politically and socially engaged artists are exploring what it means to be Taiwanese today, and to live in a highly politicised society under a long-term existential threat from Mainland China.

Taiwan is a cauldron of different cultural influences due to its complex history. There are 16 indigenous groups recognised today, Taiwan was briefly a Dutch colony, then part of China's Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895, then a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945.

After WWII, the Chinese nationalists (ROC) retreated from Mainland China to Taiwan after losing to Mao Zedong's Communist army, vowing to return as the true representatives of China. Initially bankrolled by the USA, the exiled ROC authoritarian government imposed martial law on Taiwan for almost 40 years until democratisation began in the late 80s. But the island became an international outcast from the 1970s, when the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing. Today only 14 or so countries have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. China still views Taiwan as a break-away province and wants reunification. If Taiwan declares independence then China would declare war.

The artists we meet in Taipei were born and raised in a democracy and share very different attitudes to their parents who grew up under the former authoritarian regime often called "The White Terror".

Music:
PTSD by Astrojoke
Pswagi Temahahoi by Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos], remixed by An Chen
Betty Apple: I am in the Rear Room Ohne mich, IT-ME:TIME Travller Beta2021, Mirage City Under the Lake, The Rubber Mermaid

Photo Credit: The Cube Forum Festival

Produced by Victoria Ferran
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 12:00 News Summary (m001kh3w)
The latest national and international news from BBC Radio 4.


TUE 12:04 You and Yours (m001kh48)
Call You and Yours: Can you afford to pay into a pension?

On this week's Call You and Yours we are asking: Can you afford to pay into a pension?

The amount of money you need to have a "comfortable" retirement has gone up. That's according to new research from the Pensions and Life Savings Association.

You now need £37,300 a year for a “comfortable” retirement. That's an increase of 11% in the last year. And three quarters of people don't think they have enough in their pension pots to retire according to a survey by wealth management firm RBC Brewin Dolphin.

So are you about to retire and are worried your pension won't go far enough? Are you having to work longer or two jobs to top-up your pot?

Or are you a young person just starting out in working life - can you afford to pay into a pension right now? We really want to hear from you.

Email us now: youandyours@bbc.co.uk and do leave us your phone number so we can call you back.

And from 11am on Tuesday the 28th March you can call us on 03700 100 444.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: CATHERINE EARLAM


TUE 12:57 Weather (m001kh4l)
The latest weather forecast


TUE 13:00 World at One (m001kh4w)
Forty-five minutes of news, analysis and comment, with Sarah Montague.


TUE 13:45 Rental Health (m001kh54)
Rental Health: Solutions

London

As the cost of rent continues to rise across the UK, Kirsty Lang looks for solutions. The second of a series of five programmes exploring some radical alternatives.

Kirsty talks to two pioneers in the houseboat community, who now have plans to develop low-cost floating housing for rental on the Thames. It could be an affordable way of living in the heart of London that brings new life back to the river.


TUE 14:00 The Archers (m001kgrq)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 on Monday]


TUE 14:15 Drama (m001kh5f)
The Voice in My Ear

Steph’s supposed to be having a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend Matt. But he’s stuck in traffic. When a power cut in the holiday cottage catches her while on the phone to Finn, the voice behind VISUAL-EYEZ (an app for low vision users), Steph finds herself in a crisis that forces her to re-evaluate how capable she really is.

Claudine Toutoungi's sharply observed, real-time comedy drama about skewed perspectives, mixed signals and significant others.

Starring Charlotte Riley (Wuthering Heights, Peaky Blinders), Amit Shah (Happy Valley, The Witcher), Damien Molony (Being Human, Crashing), and Georgie Glen (Call the Midwife, The Crown).

CAST
Steph ..... Charlotte Riley
Matt ..... Amit Shah
Finn ..... Damien Molony
Sonya ..... Georgie Glen

Writer ..... Claudine Toutoungi
Director ..... Anne Isger
Sound ..... Ali Craig, Anne Bunting and Pete Ringrose
Production Co-ordinator ..... Maggie Olgiati

Programme image by Ben Hollands

A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

Claudine Toutoungi's plays include Bit Part and Slipping (Stephen Joseph Theatre). Her latest poetry collection Two Tongues won the Ledbury Prize in 2021.


TUE 15:00 Short Cuts (m001kh5n)
Series 34

On Wheels

Josie Long presents short documentaries and audio adventures about life on wheels. A woman cyclist rolls solo though the Scottish landscape, a car park becomes a vortex of roller skaters and Jungle music at night, and listening to the rhythms of all that spins.

Carpark Cruisers and Jungle Movers
Produced by Olivia Davies

Wheel Talk
Composed and produced by Sami El-Enany

Postcards
Written and produced by Rowan Rheingans
Music composed and performed by Rowan Rheingans
Bagpipes by John-Francis Goodacre

Produced by Andrea Rangecroft
Curated by Axel Kacoutié, Eleanor McDowall and Andrea Rangecroft
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4


TUE 15:30 Costing the Earth (m001kh53)
The Sound of Nature

Waves crashing on the shore, footsteps crunching on the forest floor. Stress levels plummet when we immerse ourselves in nature. Nick Luscombe meets the Japanese scientists working to bring the healing power of nature into the heart of the city. Nature's secret, they believe, isn't the sound you can hear, it's the high frequencies you can't hear. Only in our interactions with natural materials are these particular frequencies produced, frequencies that have a direct effect on our bodies.

Producer: Alasdair Cross


TUE 16:00 Law in Action (m001kh5y)
The Legacy of the Good Friday Agreement

For a special edition recorded on location in Belfast, Joshua Rozenberg returns to Northern Ireland 25 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which he reported on at the time.
Meeting old contacts and new, he finds out what it took to get the negotiations over the line and what legacy the ground-breaking peace deal has had. He also hears about the challenges involved in achieving justice for the murders that remain unsolved; what problems remain with paramilitaries; and the UK government's attempt to bring about reconciliation. Will its Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill help, or rub salt in old wounds?
And on the legal differences between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, Joshua meets a campaigner who had to travel to England to have an abortion. As a result of an intervention by the Westminster government, terminations have since become legal (up to a point in the pregnancy), but some women still have to leave Northern Ireland to have the procedure.

Guests:
Denis Murray, former BBC Ireland correspondent
Peter Sheridan, former senior police officer, now CEO of Cooperation Ireland
Louise Mallinder, professor of law at Queen's University Belfast
Naomi Connor, co-convener of Alliance for Choice

Presenter: Joshua Rozenberg
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Researcher: Diane Richardson
Production coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
Studio engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Editor: Simon Watts


TUE 16:30 A Good Read (m001kh65)
Donna Leon and Margaret Heffernan

The author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series, Donna Leon, is joined by writer-entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan and the presenter Harriett Gilbert.

Donna has chosen a book by an author she greatly admires, Ross MacDonald, who she read before she became a writer herself. His 1971 noir novel, The Underground Man, follows a detective as he tries to track down a missing child, whilst a mysterious fire rages through the hills of Southern California. Margaret loves Butcher's Crossing, the lesser-known book by John Williams, the author of Stoner. Set in 1871, this is about a young Harvard drop-out who heads out into the American West to discover a new way of living and which Margaret describes as an 'anti-Western' novel. Meanwhile Harriett's choice is A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam, which follows a mother's struggle to protect her children as Bangladesh fights for independence.

Produced by Eliza Lomas.
Comment on instagram: @agoodreadbbc


TUE 17:00 PM (m001kh6d)
Afternoon news and current affairs programme, reporting on breaking stories and summing up the day's headlines


TUE 18:00 Six O'Clock News (m001kh6n)
It means an attack is considered highly likely.


TUE 18:30 You Heard It Here First (m001kh6w)
Series 1

Episode 1

Chris McCausland asks a panel of comedians to live in an audio-only world, deciphering brainteaser sound cues for points and pride whilst trying not to muck about too much along the way.

In this episode, contestants try to figure out what on earth is being advertised on the TV, guess what famous objects or locations children are trying to describe, and work out the age of women based solely on the sound of their voice.

The competing comedians are Rhys James and Donna Preston, taking on Alasdair Beckett-King and Ria Lina.

Producer: Sasha Bobak
Executive Producer: Pete Strauss
Production Co-ordinator: Becky Carewe-Jeffries
Sound editor: Jerry Peal

Theme music ‘Colour me Groovy’ by The Rich Morton Sound

Recorded at the Backyard Comedy Club, Bethnal Green


TUE 19:00 The Archers (m001kh0y)
Ed and Will weigh the Texel lambs. Will mentions Clarrie’s still trying to persuade him to allow George to have an eighteenth birthday party. Ed says Susan’s been doing the same with him and Emma. George must have been coaching them both.
Delayed by planning for Bridge Farm’s big open day, Tom’s busy but Natasha has an important update on the Schaeffer Baas modelling job. Now she knows how much they’d be paid, Natasha doesn’t see how they can turn it down. Tom can’t get past how the company clashes with their organic farming principles. Natasha’s confident no-one would know it was Seren and Nova in the campaign. Tom needs more time to think. Later, Tom agrees to the job. Natasha reveals it’s on the same day at Bridge Farm’s open day. They’ll need to find a cover story but even then the family won’t be happy.
Oliver brushes up on Lower Loxley facts for the tour he and Neil have taken on. He breaks off to ask George about his pig biosecurity college project. The more George talks, the more enthused he becomes. Oliver asks if George wants to follow in Neil’s footsteps. George is non-committal but is sure he wants to be in charge. George tries to persuade Oliver to agree to an eighteenth birthday party. Will and Ed overhear and insist there’ll be no party. Instead they’ll chauffeur him and his mates in the limo. Oliver tells Ed he’d like to offer George investment as a birthday gift. Ed’s stunned that Oliver’s willing to put up £5,000.


TUE 19:15 Front Row (m001kh7d)
Musician Natalie Merchant, poet Victoria Adukwei Bulley, library funding

Singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant talks to Samira Ahmed about Keep Your Courage, her first album in nearly a decade.

Libraries were awarded the smallest amount of money from the Cultural Investment Fund, which was announced last week. Front Row speaks to Nick Poole, Chief Executive of CILIP, the Library and Information Association.

And Victoria Adukwei Bulley discusses winning the Rathbones Folio Prize for poetry for her collection Quiet.

Presenter: Samira Ahmed
Producer: Kirsty McQuire


TUE 20:00 Today (m001kpms)
The Today Debate: Policing and us - how can we fix it?

The Today Debate is about taking a subject and pulling it apart with more time than we could ever have during the Today programme in the morning.

Today presenter Mishal Husain will be joined by an expert panel in the BBC's Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House to look at the future of policing in 'The Today Debate: Policing and us - how can we fix it?'

The panel includes Baroness Louise Casey, whose year long review into the Metropolitan Police found the force suffers from "institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia".

Joining her will be Mina Smallman, whose daughters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were murdered in London in June 2020. Two Met officers were subsequently jailed for sharing images of their bodies in a WhatsApp group.

The Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley. Steve Hartshorn, National Chair for the Police Federation of England and Wales, one of the largest police staff associations in the UK representing more than 130,000 rank and file officers and Sir Peter Fahy, former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police.


TUE 21:00 In Touch (m001kh7n)
Has the World Become More or Less Challenging for Visually Impaired People?

We are debating a rather ambiguous question on this episode of In Touch: is the modern world more or less difficult for people who are blind and partially sighted? It is a difficult question because there are many variables to consider: your age, whether you have a job, how comfortable you are with the evolution of technology and, of course, your level of sight. To help us tackle it, we have invited Matt Johnson, who specializes in IT and data law, Roshni Hafeez, who is a VAT tax specialist with HMRC and Mike Lambert, who worked as a English lecturer in further education. There are also many areas to cover within this debate and so we have chosen to touch upon banking and trains and assess how technology interweaves into these and many other aspects of our society.

Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Liz Poole and Paul Holloway

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words 'In Touch' and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.


TUE 21:20 A Point of View (m001k856)
[Repeat of broadcast at 08:48 on Sunday]


TUE 21:30 The Life Scientific (m001kh1s)
[Repeat of broadcast at 09:00 today]


TUE 22:00 The World Tonight (m001kh7x)
Northern Ireland terror threat level rises

In-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspective


TUE 22:45 How One Becomes Lonely (m0017cv1)
Episode 2

Novelist and musician Luke Sutherland’s immersive tale of cowardice, courage and connection tackles the perpetual struggle to make sense of an ever-changing world. From the comfort of his Perthshire home, 81-year old Archie Devine dips into the murkier corners of the internet as he remembers the time he let true love slip through his fingers.

Archie's friends grow worried as he makes connections online with characters from the incel community.

Words and music by Luke Sutherland
Read by Cal MacAninch and Reuben Joseph
Produced by Eilidh McCreadie


TUE 23:00 Please Use Other Door (m0014g0j)
Series 1

Episode 2

From Bill Dare (Dead Ringers, The Secret World). The second show includes a series of sketches in which someone is forced to watch Succession, a man applies for a business loan for a company whose aim is doing evil and a woman dates the Pied Piper.

Performed by: Gabby Best, Will Hartley, Chris Ryman, Rebecca Shorrocks, Witney White and Toby Williams

The series of four is written by; Kat Butterfield and Dan Audritt, Sophie Dickson, Laura Major, Rob Darke, Alex Nash and Sam South, Ed Amsden and Tom Coles, Cody Dahler, Toby Williams, Ed Tew, Anna Goodman, Imogen Andrews, Matt Harrison, Carwyn Blayney, Natasha Dhanraj, Alice Etches and Nathalie Antonia, Chris Ryman, Simon Alcock, Leigh Douglas, Chazz Redhead, Paul F Taylor, Jo Wiggins, Cameron Loxdale, Lewis Cook, Owen Petty, Tom Oxenham, Rebecca Heitlinger and Bill Dare.

Production Co-ordinators Beverly Tagg and Sarah Sharpe
Sound Design Rich Evans
Music composed by Bill Dare and produced by Iona C Vallance
Artwork Lucy Jagger

Produced and created by Bill Dare
BBC Studios Production


TUE 23:30 Today in Parliament (m001kh85)
The former prime minister Theresa May says the Illegal Migration Bill will harm victims of people trafficking.